You'll have to forgive my late posting this evening, the last two nights my family and I were at the location to the left watching some local baseball.  Yeah the Bulls are the Rays' affiliate, but we did see them play the Charlotte Knights, who are managed by Chris Chambliss (who Yankees fans all know) and have Wilson Betemit on their roster.  In August we're going back to see Scranton.  Hey, the four of us can get primo seats right along the foul line on the 1B side for $36 total.  You can't go wrong there! 

 

Unlike last night's game which was a pile of wrong.....this afternoon had a much better outcome.  Sabathia didn't have the best of outings Thursday, but AJ did phenomenal today.  7 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs and 7 Ks.  The Twin Phils and Mo combined for 1 hit and 3 Ks over 2 innings and shut the Blue Jays down.  We've really been getting some great outings from AJ the last few starts of his and I hope that continues.  To get anywhere you need consistent hitting and pitching.  Last night we got neither.  We suddenly remembered how to hit the ball after it was too late to mount any real comeback.  I hope we get more of that phenomenal pitching tomorrow. 

 

On the offensive side, we didn't have much going on today either.  We only managed 4 runs on 8 hits.  The only player in the starting lineup with more than one hit was DJ, who went 2-3.  We got RBIs from Tex, Alex and Robbie and a run scored via a passed ball in the 5th.  Aside from that, nothing doing.  We won so I won't harp on it too much, but we really need to be doing better with RISP.  I don't think 4 runs was the maximum we could have gotten.  I'll watch the game later since I just got home about 20 minutes ago, but I'm pretty certain we squandered opportunities to blow the game open and knock Tallet out before the 6th.  Along with the great pitching I want tomorrow, I'd like to see a real blow-out offense.  Score 12 runs before the 3rd or something. 

 

 

Stars of the Game™

 

 

 

 

 

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#25!  Moving up ever so slowly.  Thanks to everyone who has visited my site this past month and I especially want to thank those who have commented as well.  I always appreciate the feedback!  Let's see if we can crack the Top 20 for the month of July.  :D

That was rather quick.  Game started at about 7:10, ended by 9:30.  It was one of our faster games this season, I think.  When the hitting isn't really doing much and the pitching isn't giving up much, it's not hard for the game to go by quickly.  The only other thing flying by besides the time were the baseballs landing in the seats.  All the runs scored in this game save one came on the long ball - all 4 Yankees runs came by way of this.  It's not hard to see how Yankee Stadium got the nickname Coors Field East, although to be fair to Coors Field, once they started putting the baseballs in humidors before the game, the "Coors Field effect" diminished greatly.  So we really aren't benefitting much from that since we're nowhere near the elevation Denver is.  Then again, I have heard that there's an air stream the balls are getting lifted into, but I don't know much of that is conjecture and mindless bitching and how much is fact. 

 

What we do know is fact is that Andy Pettitte has been strong this season, including tonight.  He went 7 innings, giving up only 2 runs on 6 hits and struck out 5.  I wasn't a fan of Aceves coming in for one batter, it would have made more sense for him to just finish the 8th, but between him and Coke, they threw 12 pitches and gave up nada.  Mo came in for the save and was his usual Mo-ness.  MLB Network mentioned that during this 6 game winning streak (obviously prior to tonight's victory), Yankee pitching had an ERA of 2.50 and had given up only 4 homers.  That'll be 6 HRs now, but the ERA should stay about the same.  During our 10 game winning streak earlier this season, we also had some phenomenal pitching, so clearly there's a connection.  We have Sabathia on the mound tomorrow night and he's been our ace all season......I smell a sweep.

 

As I mentioned above, we got all our runs tonight via the HR, and we got them from Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera and Mr. High Socks himself.  In fact, Alex's HR broke the 2-2 tie and gave us the lead.  Quite clutch.  The only other person in the lineup to get more than 1 hit was Tex, and he went 2-4.  Besides that which I mentioned above, our lineup was pretty blah tonight.  Washburn isn't crap, but we could have gotten a little more run support for Andy I think.  I hope we turn it on for CC......I'd love to see a real blowout, something like the 15-0 shelling we gave the Mets.  Let's go for the back-to-back Crazy Steins!

 

 

Stars of the Game™

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know what was more memorable about this game; Mo's 500th save or the fact that he got his first major league RBI when K-Rod walked him.  I mean, Derek thought the idea of Mo batting to start with was hysterical and in a way it was, because that late in a game, usually the pitcher is PH for.  I'm glad Girardi let him bat because otherwise we wouldn't have had that great comedic moment.  Too bad he didn't hit a granny.....now that would have been good!  What more evidence do we need of how monumentally amazing Mariano Rivera is?  I've watched him pitch for the Yankees his entire career and it's been a pleasure the whole time.  He just goes out there and does his job, no stupid histrionics or dramatics on the mound.  Just business.  We wouldn't have it any other way, I suppose.  Congrats, Mo......you are the greatest. 


But enough about Mo, let's talk starting pitching.  Wang didn't do nearly as bad as several at bats would let on.  He gave up only 2 runs on 4 hits which is great, and he even got his first win of the season out of it.  I can't really complain about his performance tonight, but I would say I would have liked it if he was more economical with his pitch count and stayed in the game a little longer.  It shouldn't have taken 5 pitchers to beat the Mets. 


Our offense tonight was rather dead.  We got 3 runs in the 1st didn't do anything else until Mo's heroic bases-loaded walk in the 9th brought in another run.  We squandered opportunity after opportunity to knock Hernandez out of the game and I don't know how many DPs Robbie Cano hit into but it was annoying as hell.  Thankfully the Mets are horrible or else they could have capitalized on our inability to put the game way early.  Tex had a 2-RBI double and Jorge had a sac fly and really.......that was it.  The sac fly was really the winning run as without Mo's RBI we still would have won the game 3-2, but insurance is always great.  For the next game, I'd like to see more than 4 hits.  I'll always take the win, but come on.....don't start getting cheap.  Either way, what a great game and even better......the Crazy Stein has returned.  :-D



Star of the Game™

See that little slice of heaven over there?  That's where I was all day today.  Wrightsville Beach, NC is probably the most beautiful stretch of land I've ever seen.  A 3 1/2 hour drive from where I live, it was well worth it.  The one thing I never quite got used to was the salt water.  Coming from Chicago and going to the beach at Lake Michigan, that's freshwater.  If it gets in your eyes, big deal.  It's like getting hit in the face with bathwater.  Not so much here, though.  That stings like you wouldn't believe and I had the misfortune of getting knocked over by a wave and swallowing some.  EGADS.  I had to drink 2 bottles of water just to get the salt out.  Either way, it was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon and knowing the Yankees were playing this evening, I hoped they'd win and cap off this great day.  And they did! 

 

AJ Burnett pitched marvelously and just continued that which CC started last night.  He went 7 innings of 1-hit ball and walked 3 while striking out 10.  That means in the last 2 games, the Mets have had a grand total of 4 hits.  Maybe tomorrow they'll get 2 hit.  That'll complete the 1-2-3 trifecta, I suppose.  Brian Bruney came in to relieve him and pitched the 8th, giving up no hits and no runs, while walking none.  Robertson relieved him for the 9th and also gave up no hits and no runs.  Can't complain about the pitching again tonight, the shorter the blurb on a winning GDS, the better!

 

We didn't get tons of offense tonight, but when your pitcher is doing as well as AJ was doing, very little is ever needed.  Jorge was the big winner tonight, hitting a 3-run HR in the 6th.  Alex got an RBI as well, knocking a single in the 6th that scored Tex. We got our other run on a solo shot by Swish in the 3rd.  I hope we can go for the Crazy Stein tomorrow on a game that's as easy as the last couple have been.  No drama.  :D

 

 

 

Stars of the Game™

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Coming off a series win against Atlanta, it was imperative we set the right tone against the Mets and with Crooked Cap on the mound tonight, it was a sure bet.  Sabathia has been the closest thing to dominance we have had in our rotation all season and when he pitches, you know you're getting at least 7 innings of quality pitching.  I do apologize for this summary coming late, I'm going out of town today and was running around trying to get everything we need to go and I kind of got sidetracked.  In any event, on to the pitching.......

 

CC went 7 innings of 3-hit ball, giving up only 1 run in the process.  He walked no one and struck out 8.  Brett Tomko relieved him and pitched 2 innings of no-hit ball and struck out 1.  I love when the pitching summary is short and sweet because that means we used at most 2 pitchers, and neither of them gave up anything of importance.  If only we got starts like this out of everyone. 

 

On the offense side of things, again we were able to combine runs with hits and really dominate at the plate.  Brett Gardner gets the absolute Star of the Game for going 5-6 with 2 RBI.  Alex went 1-2 with 2 RBI and passed Reggie Jackson on the all-time HR list.  Robbie went 2-6.  Ramiro Pena, subbing for a scratched Derek Jeter, went 3-5 with an RBI.  I can't really complain about the job we did tonight, it was a combined effort from all sides and it was great.  I hope to see more of this while I'm gone and lounging on the beach.  :-D

 

 

Stars of the Game™

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today was definitely weird.  Farrah Fawcett dies this morning and then hours ago, Michael Jackson dies.  One wasn't that shocking because she'd been ill for some time, the other was literally out of the blue.  They say these things come in threes, so we had Ed McMahon, Farrah and then Jacko.  I hope no one else dies for a while, or else CNN, MSNBC and Fox News will shut down.  They've been going into overdrive the last few hours.  In any event, my condolences to the families of both Farrah and Michael - I can't imagine what they're going through right now.

This crocodile was so excited the Yankees finally won a game, that he jumped in the air in exultation.  When you can make animals dance, you know you've done good.

 

It feels like forever since I last was able to do a write-up like this, and it really couldn't have come at a better time.  While we've gotten some great pitching the last few games, our offense was stagnant.  We just couldn't get anything together.  Thankfully that ended tonight; we were finally able to combine a great start from Joba and some decent offense.  I had hoped Joba could finish out the 7th, but we really couldn't complain with what he gave us; 6.1 innings, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB and 5 K.  Coke, Bruney and Mo all relieved him and combined to give up 1 ER on 1 H, with 2 BB and 5 K.  Mo got 4 of those strikeouts.  Regardless of what we did offensively, no one can complain about the pitching we've been getting during this mini-slump.  Let's hope that streak continues tomorrow night.

 

After what seemed like eons of futility, we suddenly got off our ***** and hit the damn ball.  We can thank Frankie Cervelli for getting that ball rolling if you will, when he hit a solo HR in the 6th inning to end our 15 scoreless innings streak.  Hopefully the 2-run single Alex hit in the same inning to give us a lead is a sign that he's coming around.  I hate when he slumps because a) he's too good for it and b) when he slumps everyone else does too.  After the 6th inning, we scored at least one run per inning until the end of the game.  Now if we could do that in innings 1-5 too, that would be great.  The top of our order did well, going a combined 7-17 with 4 RBI.  Nick Swisher also had a great night, going 1-4 with 2 RBI.  I hope we see more of this in games to come so that we can crawl back out of his small hole we dug for ourselves.

 

 

Stars of the Game™

 

 

 

 

 

Stars™ also go out to our offense, whom I cannot find pictures of at the moment.  Great job everyone!

Hmmm.  The Yankees are mired in a pretty bad slump; we've gone 4-9 in our last 13 games.  I'm disheartened by it, but I'm optimistic that we'll get past it and have a great July.  We can't be slumping forever.