Results tagged ‘ Hughes ’
*DOUBLE OR NOTHING*
- *WHAT’S GOING ON TOMARROW?*
Sabathia and Burnett came up huge for us yesterday, in an exciting double header against division rival Tampa Bay. In BOTH games, the Rays were held to one single run – and their hits never breached double digits.
The star of the earlier game, (at the plate,) had to be A-Rod – going 3 for 3 with an RBI. Cano, Posada, and Hinske drove in the runs that ultimately sealed the deal, (in the 8th,) but Rodriguez batting 1.000 labels him “the best at bat” in my book…
As for the mound, Sabathia dominated! 7 solid innings, with 10 strikeouts and 1 earned run makes him the real “player of the game.” Unfortunantly, CC came ouf of this one with a no-decision – but 17 wins is just around the corner. Yankees win game uno, 4-1.
SABATHIA: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 10 K’s
- *ON TO GAME TWO*
This game was a tad more exciting for Yankee fans to watch. Not because pulling ahead in the late innings isn’t exciting, but because watching New York go on a scoring frenzy has you jumping out of your seat a whole lot more! The Yanks posted 8 runs in the 3rd inning alone, with a three-run shot from Teixeira, (among many, many other runs…)
Burnett returned to form, and looked every bit as dominant as CC. Though 6 innings, AJ allowed one earned run, notched his own 8 strikeouts, and only let up 4 real hits. I’d crown him the “player of the game” in this one, but the true MVP had to be:
“Big Tex.” Teixeira ended this one going 3 for 4, with 2 runs scored, 2 homeruns, and a commendable 4 RBI’s… I would say he sent us a “Teix message,” but I’m seriously getting tired of hearing that everyday lol. Let’s switch it up and say he made some “Teix-book plays.” That one isn’t nearly as played out…
BURNETT: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 8 K’s
- *BUMMER*
Jeter had a miserable day at the plate, going 0-8 and leaving Lou Gehrig’s record in-tact. I feel for you Derek… You’ll get ‘em tomarrow! We know the record’s coming…
- *CONGRATULATIONS!*
I just wanted to send a special *high five* to my blog-buddies who made the latest Top 100 list! Jane, YankeesChick, and of coarse Virginia – GREAT JOB!! I’m jelous lol, but I’ll get there one of these months when I reach out to more then just the Yankee fans… (I can’t help it. I don’t enjoy watching any other team outside of the Pirates…) The only other teams I enjoy watching are the teams we beat, and you can’t hate a man for that! Good job ladies!
- *ON PAPER*
GAME 1:
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .332 |
| Swisher, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| 1-Hairston, J, PR-RF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .254 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .279 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .282 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .316 |
| Posada, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .286 |
| Hinske, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .247 |
| Cabrera, Me, LF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .277 |
| Gardner, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .271 |
| Totals | 30 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Sabathia | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 3.40 |
| Hughes, P (W, 6-3) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.07 |
| Rivera, Ma (S, 39) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.75 |
GAME 2:
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .329 |
| 1-Pena, R, PR-SS-2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .283 |
| Damon, LF | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .288 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .282 |
| Gardner, CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .270 |
| Matsui, H, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .269 |
| Swisher, RF-1B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .251 |
| a-Hinske, PH-3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .246 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .316 |
| b-Duncan, S, PH-RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF-RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .281 |
| Cervelli, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .263 |
| Hairston, J, 3B-SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .257 |
| Molina, J, C-1B | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .245 |
| Totals | 38 | 11 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 24 |
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Burnett, A (W, 11-8) | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 4.19 |
| Ramirez, E | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.58 |
| Albaladejo | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.20 |
| Dunn, M | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10.80 |
*Until tomarrow – it’s bed time!
*PIE IN YOUR EYE*
- *WHAT’S GOING ON TOMARROW?*
The White Sox entered New York yesterday with an even .500 record, and every intention of climbing the latter to first in their division. The Yankees were coming out of a shakey series with Texas, looking to get their act together and maintain their 6 game lead in the AL East. With Sabathia and Buerhle on the mound for this matchup – one could only speculate which team would come out on top…
If you only caught a fragment of the game, it was clear heading into the 7th that the pitchers were doing their jobs. Jeter hit his 17th homerun of the season in the 1st, followed by Damon’s 23rd of the season in the 3rd. Outside of these clutch runs, Buerhle held the Yankees to a commendable 8 hits before being replaced with reliever Matt Thornton. Unfortunantly, Sabathia didn’t make it out of this one unharmed either – allowing his own 2 runs before being replaced by Phil Hughes.
With both sides unwilling to budge, the 9th inning came and went – and an extra inning fell into our laps again. Bruney was called in to handle the top, which left New York in position to finish the job in the bottom. The situation suddenly became all too familiar…
With 2 runners on, (and 2 outs already established,) – Robinson Cano stepped to the plate. I have to admit, I expected Robby to get a single and juice the bases for Melky – but to our surprise, he opted to clobber one over the fence to give the Yanks their 12th walk-off win of the season! You couldn’t ask for a better outcome to get these guys hyped-up again… These “extra inning antics” almost always result in us catching fire – so sweeping the Sox and kicking off another win streak is surely in our forecast. Cue Burnett with the pie – and it’s a wrap!
- *ON PAPER*
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jeter, SS | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .329 |
| Damon, LF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .290 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .286 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .267 |
| Matsui, H, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .268 |
| 1-Hairston, J, PR-DH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .260 |
| Swisher, RF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .241 |
| Cano, 2B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .313 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .268 |
| Molina, J, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .239 |
| Totals | 39 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Sabathia | 7.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 3.56 |
| Hughes, P | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.28 |
| Rivera, Ma | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.83 |
| Bruney (W, 4-0) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.34 |
*GAUDIN’S BIG DAY*
- *WHAT’S NEXT TO COME?*
- *PLUCKED, BUT PROVIDED!*
Chad Gaudin took the mound last night, and despite being pulled by Girardi in the 5th – Yankee fans witnessed a job well done. Although he headed to the bench with the bases juiced, this last minute slide was hardly enough reason to knock the solid day that Gaudin provided.
- *ACE TO THE RESCUE*
With the bases loaded, Girardi made the decision to bring in Aceves as Gaudin’s pitch count climbed. He couldn’t of made the swap at a better time, because in the blink of an eye – Aceves created a ground-out double play that retired the sides before disaster struck.
- *TEX GOES DEEP*
Suggesting that one player is responsible for a win never sounds very fair… but consdering Teixeira had all 3 runs batted in to give us our final score – I think it’s safe to say that we “couldn’t of done it without ‘em.” The ball he clobbered yesterday was his 31st of the season – and trust me, it was a SHOT to left that Yankee fans will remember.
- *ON PAPER*
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .331 |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .285 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .283 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .254 |
| Matsui, H, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .265 |
| Swisher, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .245 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .313 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .267 |
| Molina, J, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .244 |
| Totals | 32 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 5 |
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Gaudin | 4.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4.94 |
| Aceves, A (W, 8-1) | 2.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3.82 |
| Coke (H, 15) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.68 |
| Hughes, P (H, 13) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.39 |
| Rivera, Ma (S, 36) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.90 |
*SWEEP NO MORE*
- *WHAT’S GOING ON TOMARROW?*
Andy Pettitte (8-6) vs. Roy Halladay (11-4)
It’s anyone’s ballgame with these 2 on the mound…
– *MELKY HITS FOR THE CYCLE!*
Despite three losses in Chicago, the Yankees managed to avoid the sweep and maintain first place in the AL East. The entire game was epic, with both clubs notching a combined 26 hits, 13 RBI’s, and 76 at bats.
The highlite of the game had to be Melky Cabrera hitting for the cycle, (the first cycle recorded by the Yankees since 1995.) The final checkmark Cabrera needed as the game came to a close was the dreaded triple… and with a shot to the wall in right, (in the 9th inning no less,) – he slid into third safely for the milestone…
Sabathia walked away with the win thanks to the rally – and New York avoided what would of been the first sweep since the All-Star break. Signal Hughes and ‘Mo to wrap things up, and you blow the whistle with another clockwork finish.
- *ON PAPER*
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jeter, SS | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .322 |
| Damon, LF | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .276 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .282 |
| Rodriguez, A, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .261 |
| Swisher, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .241 |
| Cano, 2B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | .304 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .292 |
| Hairston, J, 3B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .259 |
| a-Matsui, H, PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .260 |
| 1-Ransom, PR-3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .190 |
| Molina, J, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .254 |
| b-Posada, PH-C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .272 |
| Totals | 40 | 8 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 25 |
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Sabathia (W, 11-7) | 7.0 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3.95 |
| Hughes, P (H, 9) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.43 |
| Rivera, Ma (S, 30) | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.01 |
*KNOCKING OUR SOX OFF* – 7/30
- *WHAT’S GOING ON TOMARROW?*
Sergio Mitre (1-0) vs. Clayton Richard (4-3)
*My money’s on the Bombers stealing game 2.
– *WHITE SOX TAKE GAME 1*
Despite a solid performance from Pettitte, the White Sox managed to snag game one in Chicago on Thursday. (Talk about epic.) The Sox led 2-1 through 8 innings, and although things were looking grim – Nick Swisher hit a solo homer in the top of the 9th to tie things up.
It was now on Chicago to finish what they started. Phil Hughes entered the game in the 6th, and Girardi made the decision to keep Hughes on the mound for the remainder of the game. (Or so he hoped…) After allowing 2 hits, he was plucked – giving Phil Coke the opportunity to close with runners on, striving for extra innings.
That’s when Dewayne Wise, (the ‘perfect game maker,’) came to the plate. A strong shot up the middle streaked past the Yankees defense, and before you knew it – we had witnessed a walkoff that wouldn’t result in a pie to the face. Sox win 3-2.
The specifics look like this:
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .323 |
| Damon, LF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .276 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .282 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .247 |
| Matsui, H, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .255 |
| Swisher, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .239 |
| Cano, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .305 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .290 |
| Molina, J, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .255 |
| a-Posada, PH-C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .283 |
| Totals | 33 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 10 |
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Pettitte | 6.1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4.51 |
| Hughes, P (L, 4-3) | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.47 |
| Coke | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.77 |
*Until tomarrow: brush 3 times a day…
*A JOBA WELL DONE*
– *WHAT’S GOING ON TOMARROW?*
Andy Pettitte (8-5) vs. David Hernandez (2-2)
- *CHAMBERLAIN GOES DEEP*
What can I say? When I wrote my little Joba article yesterday, (see “The Joba Debate,”) – I knew that the All-Star break could do wonders for the ‘short outing’ funk he’s been in. More importantly, I believed that the critics had yet to see a solid start they could reference when debating his position in the rotation.
Last night, he proved that when he’s comfortable – he’s good to go. Not only did he lower his ERA to 4.05, but he navigated us through 6 innings, allowing one single run. Tack on 8 more strikeouts, and you have a start as good as anybody…
“Probably the best I’ve seen him all season,” said Teixeira. True indeed. I think the more time we give Joba to blossom, the more impressive he’ll become.
- *WHAT ELSE WENT DOWN?*
*Yesterday’s game was also “Old Timers Day.” Legends such as Goose Gossage, Yogi Berra, and Ken Griffey Sr. came out to play. How wierd was it seeing Mussina in the mix? He doesn’t even have a gray hair on his head, and he’s already pitching on “Old Timers Day” with the likes of Whitey Ford… Talk about retiring young…
The rest of the game was what’s becoming ‘beautiful clockwork.‘ Let’s see if this sounds familiar: A-Rod homered. Teixeira homered. Hughes setup ‘Mo to perfection. ‘Mo closed the game and got the save. Go figure…
We’ll end here with the specifics, and the Tigers swept under the rug:
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .321 |
| Gardner, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .277 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .280 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .255 |
| Matsui, H, DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .263 |
| Posada, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .282 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .308 |
| Swisher, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .235 |
| Cabrera, Me, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .281 |
| Totals | 27 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Chamberlain (W, 5-2) | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4.05 |
| Coke (H, 10) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.96 |
| Hughes, P (H, 6) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.70 |
| Rivera, Ma (S, 26) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 |
*Now on to the Orioles…
*THE JOBA DEBATE* – 7/19
- *THE STARTER*
Since his first start on the mound, the “Joba debate” has been swirling around the league like a 3rd grade rumor.
“Should he start?” asks Guy Number 1.
“No way! He was electric in the pen!” shouts Guy Number 2.
“But what if he can carry that fire through 9 innings?” asks Guy Number 3.
“Doesn’t matter! Keep ‘em where he got the job done!” snaps Guy Number 4.
In the end, we can write a 20 minute song about Joba’s current role in the rotation – but Girardi’s decision to let Chamberlain ‘go the distance’ is out of our hands. We can judge the man by every little run he allows – or we can go with our gut and see what he has to offer on a larger scale.
- *KEEP IN MIND*
1. Wang fell off, big time. The debate would be just if Joba was the worst in the rotation, but with Chien-Ming Wang taking half a season to catch fire – we needed Joba to stay put.
2. He’s honestly not doing that awful. Here’s how he matches up against pitchers that ‘should be superior‘ by fan standards:
CHAMBERLAIN: (4-2) 4.25 ERA 78 K’s 89 IP
*All jokes aside, he has 6 decisions in 17 games. I’m not going leave out the gossip that can stir up… but let’s point out the finer things he brings to the table. With 78 strikeouts in 89 IP, he’s nearly whiffing batters once an inning. His 4.25 ERA right now is lower than Tim Wakefield’s, Gil Meche’s, and even Barry Zito’s to name a few.
Now I know that Tim Wakefield has 11 wins this season, but think about it: if your ERA is high, than what’s the source of the wins at hand? RUN SUPPORT. I won’t go as far as saying that Joba has none, but sometimes we confuse ‘awful starts’ with ‘awful luck.’ I’ve seen the games where he’s been plucked in the 2nd, 3rd, etc… but he’s NOT the first starter to do so.
- *SO WHAT NOW?*
Luckily for Joba, we have a void in the rotation with Wang on the DL right now – and it seems as though his spot is sealed for the time being. Quit jumping the gun people. Joba has what it takes to perform as well as anybody – and he’s more trustworthy at the moment than anyone else we can turn to.
Even if we scoop Halladay, (which I’m dieing to see,) – we still need Chamberlain to complete the 5 man rotation. Everyone’s insisting that ‘Joba to Hughes’ would be the perfect solution… but the perfect solution to what!? We have Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte…
And then blanks. Are we forgetting that Aceves is amazing in the pen? Are we forgetting that Bruney’s excellent in the pen as well? If we can give Wang 800 chances to get his act together… Why can’t Joba gain his experience when he’s allowing far less runs?
*That’s all I’m saying.
*A.J. OK – HUGHES INCREDIBLE*
- *WHAT’S GOING ON TOMARROW?*
CC Sabathia (8-6) vs. Justin Verlander (10-4)
*You don’t need to be a Yankees/Tigers fan to appreciate this match-up. I expect goose-eggs across the board…
- *YANKS RALLY AFTER ALL-STAR BREAK*
Yesterday’s game was what the doctor ordered. Although it wasn’t the Burnett we’re becoming accustomed to seeing, he managed to keep the runs at a minimum – and with a little run support, we pulled off the victory. (After the recent Angels fiasco, thank god…) This biggest surprise of the night came when A.J was plucked in the 7th, and Hughes came in to offer his services from the pen. In a mere 2 innings, Phil managed to whiff 6 batters and grasp the ‘W’ for his 4th of the season… Believe the ‘pen hype people – he’s on fire.
Mo managed his 24th save of the season. (Yawn…) Blow it in the 9th? That’s a language he can’t seem to translate.
Here’s a look at the other noteworthy mentions:
JETER: 2 for 4, 1 run
DAMON: 2 for 4, 3 runs
TEIXEIRA: 3 for 5, 1 HR, 3 RBI’s
MATSUI: 2 for 4, 1 RBI
CANO: 2 for 4
*YANKS LOSE TO LEAGUE WORST*
– *HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN IT?*
*First, let me start by saying that I’m now 2 for 2 with my predictions. (Take a look at my last two Yankee posts…) – My scores weren’t 100% accurate, but my win/loss guesses were golden. I had a funny feeling that Wang would screw things up as usual, and that’s exactly what we saw. Why should I butter things up for him? Should I pat him on the shoulders for finally making it into the 5th? (Which is expected, and still an awful game…) Should we pat him on the back for lowering his ERA to 12.65? (Also pathetic.)
– Brain Cashman FINALLY acknowledged recently, that ‘the team can’t keep putting up with his bad starts.’ Thanks Cash! If you pulled the brakes a little sooner, we wouldn’t of just lost an embarrassing game to the worst team in the league! This Washington series was the perfect opportunity to climb back toward first… and thanks to the ‘Wang experiment,’ – we’ve wasted another day.
– Hughes came in and pitched a solid two innings, allowing one single hit. Don’t be surprised if he’s etched into the starting rotation now… NOT for a month, but for the remainder of the season. I’m calling it – I think the organization’s seen enough. I KNOW the fans have seen enough…
– The bats weren’t cracking tonight either. Despite Wang’s slip-up, losses are never a one-man occurance. Damon and Cano put up the only runs, and we finished this matchup with a mere 4 hits. Does anyone else find it a little creepy that EVERY game comes down to Alex Rodriguez?
– *TOMARROW’S GAME*
*I’m trying to go 3 for 3 here. (Since I first started predicting outcomes on my blog… I’ll have to start putting the time so that people don’t think I’m just editing my entries.) Joba’s on the mound, and it’s a must-win considering last night came down to the 9th. (*AND* because the Red Sox keep winning…) With that said, here goes nothing:
MY PREDICTION: (4:09 EST) Yankees 6, Nationals 3
*CC VS. THE NATS*
- *WHAT CAN WE EXPECT?*
*At this point, most Yankee fans can agree that CC Sabathia was worth the bread. Although his win-lose ratio is nearly even, (5-4) – he’s been the “gem” of a struggling rotation all season for New York. It’s not like our pitchers have been ‘god-awful,’ – but let’s be honest… What was predicted to be the best pitching staff in the league – quickly became the prime negative example of ‘trying to buy talent.‘
Luckily for us, some of the positive predictions were true. Most baseball analysts suggested that Mark Teixeira slumps in April – and that prediction was 100% correct. The analysts also predicted that Sabathia slumps in April – and this was also correct, (with the exception of a few lost starts.) As for Burnett… well – his last outing against the Mets was perfect, but we all know that he’s not playing to the best of his abilities day-in and day-out.
However, A.J’s the least of the Yankees worries at this point. He’ll get it together, as will Joba, as will Pettitte… (We’ve yet to see any of these guys sabotage a game…) – which can’t be said for Wang. The Hughes/Wang starter swap is getting frusterating, and it’s a situation that Girardi needs to figure out. We’re 2 games behind Boston, and eventhough there’s plenty of season left to play – the AL East pattern is all too familiar. The Yankees are in first, the Red Sox are in first. We know all too well that it’ll be a ‘fight to the finish’ from here on out – so we honestly don’t have the time to experiment. Hughes has proven that he can handle more than Wang this year – so eventhough the Yankees organization wants to BELIEVE that Wang ‘ll get it together… they need to believe what they see. After numerous starts, the guy hasn’t been able to handle pitching more than an inning or two this year – so that’s enough. Draw the line before he blows another game, and draw the line before he blows our playoff chances…
Back to CC. Todays game against the Nationals should be cut and dry: we out-pitch Washington, and we out-score Washington. No excuses today boys… Baseball’s always been an unpredictable sport, but how do you explain a pitcher being 10-1? (Halladay.) How do you explain a hitter batting .364? (David Wright.) The answer is simple: talent is talent. WE’RE A TALENTED TEAM, and when we face a team that’s in dead last – there’s no reason not to get the sweep. There’s no reason not to creep back into first while Boston handles the Phillies… (or better yet, while the Phillies handle Boston!) The time is now.
MY PREDICTION: Yankees 5, Washington 1
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