I personally don't think Hughes is injured.  I would rather he be injured than have the brass lie to us about it because they don't want to demote the guy they wouldn't trade for Johan Santana.  I think they are sending him to Tampa to be closer to Nardi and the braintrust and by DLing him, they can call up someone to take his place, effectively killing two birds with one stone.  That's just my personal opinion.  If a team physician comes forward and says he really is injured, I'll gladly apologize.  Until then, we're being lied to.  But that's okay, the Yankees are a business and they need to protect their bottom line.  We live in a capitalist society, I can understand that.


Our bigger problem is the fact that with or without Hughes, we have no pitching and no offense.  We all had hoped Andy would be the stopper tonight and for a while it looked like he would be, but then the wheels fell off and that was the end of that.  Couple that with the fact that we had the bases loaded in the 1st inning, got diddly-poo out of it and then did nothing for the rest of the game.....it's beginning to show a major flaw in the construction of this team.  Without Alex and Jorge, we've got no offense.  And I know we don't play in a video game where you just hit a button and all of a sudden everyone starts hitting HRs, but at the same time, they should be able to pick up some of the slack.  Someone should be able to do SOMETHING.  I'm tired of watching this team flail helplessly at pitch after pitch, unable to hit even the worst pitcher.  We're not facing RJ in his prime here.  This was Jeremy Bonderman for God's sake.  Something is wrong with this team, something that needs to be addressed soon.

We kept this guy rather than getting Johan Santana?  Okay so he's 21.  Joba Chamberlain isn't much older and he hasn't had nearly the kinds of problems that Hughes has been having.  Okay, so the weather hasn't been optimal.  Wang and Pettitte have been pitching in the same weather, and they're both doing very well; in fact, they're our only dependable pitchers right now.  I'm all for giving the kid a chance to succeed here, but what have we seen from him this season that is going to make any of us feel good?  Every time Hughes, Kennedy and Moose start, it starts as a loss and if we get lucky, we manage to win.  That's 3 pitchers out of 5.....so basically we're punting 60% of our games and if we get lucky, we win a few of them.  How is that supposed to help us win the division and then go past the 1st round of the playoffs? 


And as if our pitching wasn't enough of a problem, our offense has been comatose, stagnant, dead and buried since game one.....with maybe 3 exceptions.  There was that time we scored 15 runs (and then proceeded to jack sh!t offensively afterward) and that time we scored 9 runs (and then did jack sh!t offensively afterward) and then I think there was one more time after that I am forgetting.  Alex in on the DL now according to YES, Jorge will be out for God knows how long, Giambi/Cano/Damon/everyone else except Molina are stinking up the joint....it's no real wonder why we haven't been able to win games.  If pitchers like Hughes and Kennedy don't get offense from the lineup, they're more apt to over pitch in order to try and compensate.  Wang and Pettitte can win with very little hitting going on behind them.  So when we give them 2 or 3 runs, they make it work. 


Another bone to pick about tonight's game:  Girardi should not have sat Melky.  Damon in CF is like watching Bernie Williams circa 2006 out there; it's embarrassing.  A couple of balls hit out there tonight, Melky would have caught.  Maybe that changes the tone of the game, who knows.  I get that he wanted the lefty-lefty match-up, but screw the match-up when it effs with our OF defense, which is already abysmal.  That didn't help us one bit.  Especially since Melky has been hitting the ball well this season and Damon really hasn't.  Overall, this was a sh!t game, one I'm sure we're going to see more of this season.  *sigh*

Mo notched his 450th career save yesterday, joining Trevor Hoffman and Lee Smith as the only closers to achieve that feat.  That's such an incredible statistic.....Yankees fans are very lucky to have had this man on our team doing what he's done for as long as he has.  And he's still throwing 94-95 even now.  I know the day will come when he won't be pitching in pinstripes anymore, I just hope that day comes at the end of a brilliant, WS-winning season.  That way he can go out on top.


A couple things about yesterday's game I wanted to comment on aside from Mo's achievement, is first, this team's complete inability to score runs.  A shutout win is great, especially when it's stopping a slide.  A great pitching performance is great, especially when we blow games like this in the past.  Only scoring one run is unacceptable.  Our offense is so frickin' stagnant, it's not funny anymore.  We'll score something like 15 runs and then be unable to do anything for days after that.  Whether we win or we lose, the story seems to be the same.  NO OFFENSE.  The second thing I wanted to discuss was Jorge Posada's injury.  I think it's more serious than the team is letting on, but we should all wait until Dr. Andrews gives his assessment before we all start freaking out.  Chris Stewart was called up to be Molina's backup since Molina will now be our full-time catcher while Jorge is out for God only knows how long.  Jorge has been one of the few players this season who has been hitting consistently, so who knows what kind of affect this will have on the team.


I had to work all day yesterday so that explains the lack of game summary when it ended.  Here's the Star of the Game (only two because we did jack-sh!t today).


Stars of the Game™

We stink.  That's being kind, but truthful.  I hate that we can't score runs, that our pitching can't hold leads and that our manager is making the same kinds of mistakes we lambasted the previous manager about.  The last three games have been just awful and while in some of them we've gotten good pitching (Ian Kennedy didn't pitch poorly today), we have been unable to get anything done at the plate.  We're digging the same kind of hole now, that we've dug the last few seasons.  And if the hole gets any bigger, we won't be able to climb out of it. 


These are the games we should be able to win; we have the lineup to get runs across the plate.  I just wish they would all hit at the same time, rather than all slump at the same time.  It seems like no one else is really picking the others up, except for maybe Jorge and Jose Molina.  Chad Moeller was doing well for us before he was DFA'd.  Our catchers.  One of whom is going to be 37 in August.  In fact, Jorge was our sole source of offense today, hitting a 3-run triple in the 6th.  Johnny Damon went 4-5 today, Derek went 3-5 and Alex went 2-4.  Other than that.......bupkiss.  Jorge's triple was a PH affair, and if Girardi had put someone else in, we might have been shut out. 


I hope that we can take the last two games of this series and force a split. 

I'M SEEING SPRINGSTEEN TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So needless to say, there will not be a game summary from me tonight.  Because when the Yanks take the field, hopefully Bruce will be taking the stage.  I hope the Yankees kick some ay ess ess for me tonight, because I do not want to come home to a Yankee loss. 

I approached this game with great trepidation.  After all, Mussina was pitching and when he's out there we can get anything from the near perfecto to the 2 inning meltdown.  Thankfully, we got the best we can hope to get out of him this season.  I know he has some good games left in him, I just hope that those good games that are left are what we get from him each time out.  I don't expect a complete game shutout (although one of those would be nice), but a quality start would be more than enough, provided our offense shows up that night.  He went 7 innings tonight, giving up only two runs on four hits.  Stellar, stellar job from him tonight.  Hawkins and Traber were the bridge to Mo tonight, and their bridge had many gaps, holes and missing planks.  We handed them a 6-2 lead and it quickly became 6-4; thankfully we were able to stop their scoring.  I know that the "Joba must be a starter" brigade have a point when saying that he's too good to waste away in the bullpen, but games like this (and frankly, other ones this season) show just how valuable he is to us in the pen right now.  We have two reliable bullpen pitchers.  Just two; Joba and Mo.  That's not going to cut it.  We need someone else in there with a decent arm so that when Joba makes the transition to the rotation, we're not left with a giant hole to try and fill. 


Much like last night, heading into the later innings, our offense was all but dead.  We had scored only one run at this point, and it came in the second inning.  During the fifth and sixth innings, again like last night, our lineup decided to wake up.  And no one was more refreshed and awake than Jorge Posada, who went 4-5 with 3 doubles and 2 RsBI.  Johnny Damon had another good night, going 2-5 with 2 RsBI.  Our final offensive star was Melky Cabrera, who went 2-4 with an RBI than opened our scoring for the game.  And one of the funniest things to happen tonight was when Jason Giambi stole a base.  Speed kills, dude. 


Stars of the Game™


  

Normally we're out there sputtering for offense.....what happened?  I ask because we initially were only able to manage three runs before all of a sudden, some new team decided to bat for us and get us some runs.  So thanks guys, hope you can stick around for a while.  Wang pitched well today; not great, but passable.  He went 6 innings, gave up 3 runs on 10 hits (a tad too high) and struck out 5 while only walking 2.  You could call it a quality start, although that hit total is waaaaay too high for my liking.  Traber, Bruney, Joba and Nuke relieved him (in that order) and the only two to give up earned runs (Joba walked in a run) were Traber and Nuke.  It's funny; we gave Nuke a 5 run lead, and all he had to do was pitch the 9th cleanly.  Too much to ask?  Apparently.  Next time Nuke, get the 3 outs in succession. 


It was nice to see the offense finally wake up.  When Abreu hit that grand slam, I wasn't sure if I was watching the right game.  I had to check the unis to make sure I didn't click on the wrong link.  Some of our more comatose batters this season got their licks in, especially Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi and Abreu.  Giambi is still hitting .120 (dear GOD that's pathetic), but at least he did something.  If not for the offense outburst late in the game, that HR he hit would have been half our offense.  Which would have been typical of our team lately.  Alex was absent from the lineup and will be absent a few more games; Cynthia had their second daughter last night, so he's spending some much needed quality time with the familia.  Felicidades, Alex!


Stars of the Game™

I had to work all day today, in fact I just got home.  Word to the wise, next time you go to a department store.....be nice to the associates.  Don't wad the clothes up and leave them on the floor, don't urinate on them and don't put them back on the hangers inside out.  I had to deal with some of the messiest, sloppiest, most rude customers EVER today, and it was not fun.  Then I get home and my sister tells me that Alex left the game with an injury, but they managed to win anyway.  Geez.  It's always something with this team.


Andy Pettitte needed to pitch a great game today, and he did just that.  There's as reason he was called "the stopper" last season.  Not enough can really be said about what he did for us today.  7 innings, 4 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts.  Joba, Bruney and Mo relieved him, with Bruney getting a hold for his efforts.  Mo's ERA is still a shiny new 0.00.  It is rather sad though, that the only predictably good pitching we have is Wang and Andy.  It's like, when they pitch we have a chance.  I wish we could say the same for the other three. 


The offense woke up this afternoon, although it was a day late and a dollar short as far as I'm concerned.  We scored 7 runs, but we probably won't score more than 3 for the next few games.  In any event, Alex got our scoring started by hitting an RBI double in the 4th, before leaving in the 6th with a leg injury.  Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay.  Chad Moeller, Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter had the other great offensive performances, Derek a little more than others because he hit a huge 3-run double in the 9th.  Not huge in that it gave us the lead or anything, just huge because a 3-run double is big.  So nice work, DJ.  You and Andy get the Stars of the Game for today.


Stars of the Game™


 

Wow.  The last two games have been a display of some of the worst baseball I've seen in a long time.  Part of the blame goes to Brian Cashman, because as great as he's been, we can't rely on a rotation that contains two kids and Mike Mussina.  Wang and Pettitte cannot be our only reliable starters.  He needed to have Plan B in the event that what we've seen actually happened.  He didn't.  So now we're stuck with two pitchers who are working their issues out in the middle of season when we don't have the luxury of letting them do that.  But pitching is only half our problem. 


The offense has f*cking died.  Died and went to hell.  We couldn't get a hit off a crack pipe at this point and what's worse, it's not just one or two people dragging everyone down.  EVERYONE is dragging everyone down.  Giambi is doing nothing, Cano is doing nothing, Damon is doing nothing, Posada has been injured, Jeter was injured, Moeller is a backup's backup, Molina has been good, Alex has had his moments, Ensberg has barely played, Matsui is doing nothing, Melky has been on and off and Bobby has been on and off.   We're supposed to win games with this?  We s.uck.  We s.uck on wheels, that's how bad it is.  Take tonight's game for example.  Alex had 1/3 our team's offense.  And we only had 1 extra-base hit all night.  This cannot continue for much longer.


So Yankees fans I ask you.......if you were Cashman and presented with all these problems, what are you going to do?  What's the biggest priority and what can be left for the off-season?

He wasn't even ejected from the game, but that's not the issue I have with this.  He didn't hit anyone.  Aardvark hit someone, and Mussina hit someone......neither one of them were ejected or are currently facing any disciplinary action for what they did. 


I'm all for application of the rules, provided those rules are applied fairly.  Headhunting is completely stupid and unnecessary, so something should be done about that.  But if NOT hitting someone garners you a reprimand, so should making contact.  Therefore, I want to see Aardsma and Mike Mussina punished as well.  Fair is fair.  Aardsma hit Alex about a few inches from where Farnsworth threw behind Manny, had he missed Alex......nothing still would have happened.  Boston pitchers are very rarely disciplined for hitting our batters, but that's another post.  The HP ump didn't see fit to eject him from the game for doing it, which to me means the ump didn't think there was intent to harm.  If the ump thought that Farns meant to hit him, but missed, his *****. would have been tossed from the game faster than you can say "Yankee Bob".  For once, I'd like to see a Boston pitcher punished for hitting one of our batters. 

It's in the 21st inning right now.  Yes, the 21st inning.  They had been tied 0-0 until the 14th inning when both teams scored a run.  Fast-forward 7 innings later, and both teams have done jack and sh!t since.  Wow.  I couldn't imagine sitting through a 21+ inning game.  Is there a rule about how long these games can go on or can they keep playing until sunrise? 


And on to the bottom of the 21st they go.........


1:02 am (pacific): Tony Clark just hit a single.  Come on Edmonds, bring him home. 

1:03 am (pacific): Edmonds just hit into a DP.  Great.  22nd inning here we come......

1:05 am (pacific): 36Ks so far in this game, only 12 walks.  Can this game end before inning 30?  Stay tuned!

1:07 am (pacific): No one is taking any pitches.  Considering the length of the game, they don't appear to be in a hurry.

1:08 am (pacific): We have a runner on 1st because of an error.  Can he score?  Probably not, but it's fun to think they can get some sh!t done here.

1:11 am (pacific): Runner at 3B!  He stole 2nd and then went to third on a throwing error.  BRING HIM IN!......HE DID!!  On a double.  Sweet.

1:13 am (pacific): Bottom of the 22nd inning we go.  Pads need to tie or take the lead or the Rox win.  At this point everyone must be so loopy with fatigue, I'm surprised people aren't running to third rather than first when they get a hit.

1:16 am (pacific): Khalil Greene, HBP.  Watch this game go another 10 innings.

1:17 am (pacific): DP kills that rally, Pads down to their final out.......

1:22 am (pacific): GAME OVER!!  Rockies win 2-1 in 22 innings.  Holy crap.  I'll do a mini game summary for this, because frankly.....its awesomeness deserves one.



This was a pitcher's duel.  Nothing going until the 14th inning and even then, you needed a ton of mistakes by the other team (which at this point are due to fatigue more than anything else) to scratch a run across.  Both Jeff Francis and Jake Peavy did a tremendous job tonight, especially Peavy, who threw 8 innings and struck out 11 and walked 3.  He only gave up 4 hits.  In fact, all the pitching was great.  37 strikeouts and only 13 walks.  The offense was non-existent and you had a feeling it was going to take someone throwing the ball into the seats for someone to score.  I wonder how the players felt having to keep trudging out there inning after inning after inning, even after no one had done a damn thing all night. Kudos to everyone on both teams for sticking it out that long.....you all deserve a nice hot shower and a bed to sleep in for like, 12 hours. 

Mussina is done.  That's become absolutely apparent.  I could throw better than him at this point, and I'm a 5'2 woman who has never played organized baseball/softball of any kind.  Ever.  With a better starter on the mound, or even with Mike pitching appropriately, we might win this game.  I say might, because our offense took the night off until it was too late.  I hate when they do that.  They'll spot the other team a half-dozen runs and then in the last couple of innings, come back to within one or two.  I hate that. 


The only saving grace from this game was that our bullpen did a really decent job of stopping the hemorrhaging.   One bone to pick though; Farnsworth.....you don't throw at someone's head.  You just don't.  Hit Manny in the ****, walk him, do whatever....you don't throw at someone's head.  If Pingpongball had done that to Alex, we'd be throwing a sh!t-fit.  Stupid, stupid move.  I know that we had to do something, because pitching to him is absolutely out of the question, but hitting him on the elbow would have been better than throwing near his head.  Bad form, Nuke.  Bad form.  All this does is give their goon pitchers more incentive to do the same to our batters and then we have to retaliate for the retaliation.....it makes everyone look bad and this ridiculous circle of stupidity never ends. 


The few bright spots offensively for us tonight were Derek Jeter, who after coming back from a quad injury has looked really good; Bobby Abreu, who went 2-4; and Melky Cabrera, who went 2-3.  So it could have been much better (obviously) but it could have been much worse.  At least we scored more than 3 runs.  Do better tomorrow.  Wait, we're playing the Orioles.  They're the AL East version of the LAAAAAAA Angels for us.  Try to do better tomorrow.

STOP PITCHING TO MANNY RAMIREZ.  EVERY AT-BAT......HIT HIM.

What a weird game.  I thought it was going to be an easy win for us, but when are games against the Red Sox ever easy?  It was nice to see our offense finally break out in a serious way, and it was even better to see the team not succumb to defeat when Wang decided to take the night off.  This could have easily been reversed if we didn't fight back in a serious manner.  Losing this game would have s.ucked.


As I mentioned above, Wang didn't have a great game.  He only went 4 innings, giving up 8 runs on 9 hits.  Ack.  Not a good night for him.  Ohlendorf, Hawkins, Traber and Bruney were the relievers tonight, and wouldn't you know it.....Hawkins got the win.  He pitched really well tonight, hopefully that'll go a long way to shutting up the losers who berated him into changing his number.  Bruney got the save, and he did just as well.  It was nice to see our bullpen step up in a game like this. 


Apparently the Yankees' bats finally showed up, and just at the right moment.  15 runs on 16 hits.  Nice.  Even better was every starter got a hit!  That's right, all of them!  Even Jason Giambi!  So everyone offensively gets a Star tonight for kicking ***, but there are a couple that will get special mention.  Alex Rodriguez hit his 521st career HR, putting him at #15 on the all-time list.  #15.  And he's 32.  Imagine where he could be in 10 years.  Yikes.  Chad Moeller, our backup's backup, went 3-4 and now he's hitting .400.  Our backup's backup.  Now that's cool.  DJ went 2-4 with a couple RsBI and Jason went 2-4 with a couple RsBI as well.  It was great seeing everyone do something, including the guys who haven't done much since the season began.  I'd like to see this offense continue for tomorrow night.  Please.


Stars of the Game™ (offense only tonight)

Another game where we scored more than 4 runs.  !!!!!  Amazing.  Even better, we won with an absolutely atrocious final 4 innings.  That includes leaving the bases loaded in consecutive innings.  Blech.  We scored five runs, but it seemed like we had to struggle to get the runs across the plate and then later on in the game, we couldn't do jack or squat.  Thankfully our pitching held the line.  Andy Pettitte started the game and did a great job, pitching seven strong innings, giving up three runs on nine hits.  He walked three and struck out five; I'd like to see him walk less in his next start.  Farnsworth relieved him and didn't s.uck.  Shocking, I know.  Mo relieved him and got his 5 save of the year.  His ERA is 0.00.  It's just nice to look at.  Great pitching from us tonight. 


The hitting on the other hand.....not so great.  We did score five runs, but we walked nine times and got eight hits.  The Rays pitching at one point did everything it could to help us score runs and we did zippo.  The last four innings were painful to watch.  The lone bright spot tonight offensively was Derek Jeter.  He's coming back from his injury well; last night and tonight he both did very well at the plate.  There are some people in our lineup that are hitting utterly abysmally.  Robbie Cano is hitting .175, Jason Giambi is hitting .094, Johnny Damon is hitting .200.  That's not right.  I hope those three get their sh!t together because they're black holes in our lineup right now.  They come to the plate, I cringe.  Get it together, boys.


Stars of the Game™









BTW, congrats to the jackass Yankees fans that booed LaTroy Hawkins so much, he changed his number.  Way to go.  It doesn't make our fanbase look bad or anything like that.  Just another reason I'm sometimes embarrassed by these people. 

On my way home from work, we were leading 7-2.  When I got home, it was 8-7.  YAY BULLPEN!  I was more excited, truth be told, to see we scored more than 4 runs.  I was beginning to get concerned that our offense was officially DOA and that the guys were on auto-pilot or something.  Good to see that isn't the case, although one can ask "Where the hell was this against Boston?!" and not be wrong about asking.  The last two games of the Boston series were completely winnable on our end and we just p.issed our chances to win away.  Thankfully we rebounded by winning tonight, but as you can see.....our pen made it a tough road to walk. 


Ian Kennedy started the game, leaving in the bottom of the 7th after getting hit in the hip with a line drive.  I really hope he's not severely injured because we've had enough injuries to last a season.  His final line was three run on eight hits, walking two and striking out four.  Not bad at all.  Our pen (aside from Mo).....was a whole other story.  Bruney and Traber both deserved to be caned for their performances.  The horribly odd thing about baseball is that Bruney got the win, since he was still the pitcher of record when Cano hit the HR that gave us the lead.  So the guy that ended up giving up 2 HRs, homers that allowed the Rays to tie the game....he still gets the win.  F*ck the heck?  Eh, as the title states an ugly loss is better than a pretty win. 


DJ returned to the lineup today, and he did well going 2-5 with 2 RsBI.  Nice little "welcome back" present.  Chad Moeller was called up to be our catcher now that our starter and our back-up are both injured.  I would say we could call up Francisco Cervelli, but the Rays made sure he wouldn't be useful for a while.  So thanks for that.  Other players that finally got their isht together were Johnny Damon (2-5, 3 RsBI), Morgan Ensberg (2-5, 1 RBI) and Robbie Cano, who came in as a PH and hit the game-winning HR.  And then there's Alex.  My boo.  He went 4-5, with a HR and that gave him #521 and he ties Ted Williams and Willie McCovey on the all-time list.  I would have loved to see him go 5-5, but he's a chokey mcchoke artist, so he grounded out in his last at-bat.  Lots of offensive stars tonight and Mo definitely did good preserving our fragile lead. 


Stars of the Game™











BTW, someone sent me the link to these "winners" over at SoSH.  And when I say "winners" I mean "complete losers at life".  http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showtopic=30278&st=0


Before anyone accuses me of lumping all Sox fans in with those losers, I'm not.  I'm actually indicting the message board for allowing that trash.  I know not all Sox fans are that mentally unbalanced, but it's sad that the site is run by those who are.  Harlan Chamberlain's illness is not something to make fun of or exploit.  Then again, these are the same people who cracked jokes when Mo had family members drown in his pool, with some of them asking if there was a Yankee who would fly some players there (obviously referencing Thurman Munson).  I know I shouldn't give those swine any press and Lord knows they don't deserve it, but I'd like people to see what happens when you let monkeys run an internet message board.

Harlan Chamberlain collapses; Joba leaves team

 

I think it's pretty much self-explanatory.  If you pray or if you don't, at least say a few words for Joba and his family.  Sometimes things happen that put petty problems and minor issues into perspective; this is one of those times.  I hope Harlan pulls through not because we as fans selfishly want Joba to be able to pitch, but because he's a 22 year old kid who has been through enough in life without losing his father on top of it all. 

Sometimes I'm glad I've missed games, just because I kinda knew the outcome before it started and I didn't want to drive home that disappointment by watching it.  This was one of those games.  It was a close game, so neither team got their butts handed to them, but still.  It's the close ones you wish you could win more than the blowouts.  I had a feeling we might lose this one; Mussina had a great start last time, but anything goes with him and Beckett is Beckett.  So either they were going to score a sh!t-ton or we were going to lose by 1 or 2 runs.  I'm at least happy that the Yanks kept it close and didn't allow it to get out of hand.  Mike actually pitched quite well, aside from one inning.  It could have been much worse and of course it could have been better, but he's our 4th/5th starter, so a performance like this is not the end of the world.  A plus could be that our relief pitchers gave up no runs.....sort of the silver lining on the dark cloud of this game.  Hughes pitches tomorrow and DEAR GOD please throw with a little more oomph this time, okay Phil?  No more 89mph fastballs. 


And the offensively offensive offense train kept rollin' on.  I know it's been what....12 games, and it's not time to pack the season in.....but where the hell is the offense?  We have scored more than 4 runs exactly twice all season.  We were only able to muster 3 this afternoon.  It's getting old.  I know we have Derek out and Jorge playing intermittently, but everyone else can hit the ball right?  Let's get this going.....I'd like to see just what this offense is capable of when everyone is going at the same time.  Win tomorrow and take the series.

In a series that will heretofore be known as The Battle of the Basement, the Yankees took the first game from the Red Sox in impression fashion, winning 4-1.  The title refers to the absolutely monumental number of hits the Sox were able to get off Yankee pitching tonight.  Yankee pitching being Chien-Ming Wang, who threw a complete game.  Hallelujah.  It was even funnier when they only had one hit until the 9th.  I was at work and kept checking the outcome of the game on my phone.  I'm sure my boss thought I was crazy screaming "Yes!" every time we scored, but a Yankee fan has to do what a Yankee fan has to do. 


I could write a whole megaton about our pitching tonight, but it was rather simple.  One man, 9 innings, 2 hits, 1 run.  That pretty much says it all, no?  It was a typical Wang-pitched game; low-scoring and boring, but hey....if that means we win in the end, I'll take it every day and twice on Sunday.  Well done, Wang.  You're definitely our ace so far. 


Counter Wang's impressive box score with that of Red Sox pitching and the damage we were able to inflict on them.  Buckles the Chimp started the game and left in the 6th, which isn't too bad.  He only allowed a run on four hits, it was Mike Timlin who we b.itchslapped some runs off of.  He gave up two runs on two hits and that was it for him.  He now has a season ERA of 54.00.  Nice.  Our other run came off some dude named Aardsma, and I initially thought it said Aardvark, which is way funnier.  So from now on, he'll be Aardvark.  Looking at our lineup and who did what and in what quantity, Jose Molina went 2-4 with an RBI, Godzilla went 2-3 with an RBI, Alex went 2-5, and Jason Giambi went 1-3 with a HR and that is what kicked off our scoring tonight.  This was most definitely the best possible outcome for this game.  Okay, so 20-1 would have been better but anyone who thinks the Yankees can put up 20 runs when they can barely score more than 4 is just silly.  So we'll take the 4 runs and be happy.  Let's do this again tomorrow.


Stars of the Game™

That was something we should have done the last two games, not just tonight.  We've only scored more than 4 runs twice and prior to last night's game, we were at our all-time low in runs scored in the first 9 games, since 1989.  A year we went 74-87.  So it was nice to see the team actually put some runs on the board.  Also, it was great to see some quality pitching from a starter.  Andy Pettitte did a great job tonight, working himself out of jams and keeping us in the game long enough for our offense to finally wake up.  We needed a big game from him and that's just what we got.  He went 6.2 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits.  Can't really ask for much more than that from him.  Joba and Mo relieved him, giving up a combined 3 hits and no runs.  Another MoJob well done.  I only hope this good pitching and hitting continue this weekend.  Not that I'm looking forward to it, mind you......


Six runs!  On 12 hits!  And the players who got the most hits aren't necessarily the ones you'd expect.  Morgan Ensberg, Melky and Jose Molina who I'm convinced is the greatest Yankee ever.  He always seems to have a good game, both at the plate and in the field.  The rest of the team could take a few notes.  We got HRs from Melky and from Mr. High Socks and even got some 2-out RsBI, which was our biggest bugaboo last season.  At first it looked like we weren't going to do jack squat tonight, but I'm always thankful to be proven wrong.  Let's knock Boston's butts into the harbor this weekend.  They love that dirty water, right?


Stars of the Game™

We s.uck.  What the hell is going on with this team right now?  2 runs last night, 1 run tonight.....our high water mark right now is 6 runs, and that appears to have been an anomaly.  Why are we having a hard time beating teams we should be trouncing on?  Tampa Bay, Kansas City....are we going to struggle against the Orioles too?  Again? 


I'm so p.issed, this is all the summary you're getting.  Ugh. 

I guess all that offense and decent pitching were just from last night's game, not necessarily something that will continue.  What a wretched, horrible game.  Everyone played like crap; Alex, our defense, our pitching.....I think the only person who had a good game was Derek, and that's because he wasn't even out there.  Speaking of which; if Derek is out for any length of time, rather than risk having Betemit's glove and bat in the lineup every night, do you move Alex to SS?  I know he hasn't played that position since 2003 and that he's bulked up a bit (NATURALLY) in that same span of time, but would it be worth it?  I think Girardi would have balls the size of Jupiter to even suggest it, and for that reason alone I think he should.  I mean, think of the looks of shock and horror that will cloud over the faces of the "Derek Jeter Can Do No Wrong" brigade.  Aside from Derek being injured, Jorge was injured today as well and might be headed to the DL.  Wonderful.


This is a short recap tonight.....can't think of anything else to say.  It seems like all the problems we've had all season so far just came together this afternoon in one amazing bowl of poop.  Sputtering offense, defensive woes, injuries and poor pitching.  Can we win tomorrow night or is that asking too much?  Speaking of asking too much, is there anyway the Tigers can win the next few games THEN go back to s.ucking?  You know, just for me. 

Rather than opening up with overall impressions of the game, I need to speak on this.....if you'll give me a moment.  Non-Yankees fans always talk about how horrible we as Yankees fans are; how we're bandwagoners, we're spoiled, we're greedy, yada yada yada.  I HATE and I'm emphasizing the word HATE, when they're right.  And you know what?  Some of our fans are complete and utter d.ouchebags.  LaTroy Hawkins has made three appearances with this team.  Two were good, one was bad.  If you listened to the fans while he was pitching though, you'd think he gave up 20 runs in each appearance and then spit on the American flag as he walked off the mound.  This garbage has got to stop.  It's getting to the point where I will turn the game off because it's p.issing me off that much.  You wonder why people hate us and our team and then you see c.rap like this.  You don't wonder anymore. 


Aside from really stupid fans that made the game less enjoyable even though we were winning by 5 runs, this game was great to watch.  Moose pitched a really stellar game, our offense scored more than 4 runs (SHOCK AND AWE) and Farnsworth pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  Yes, you read that right.  A 1-2-3 inning.  Maybe there's hope for Nuke yet.  Now, about Moose's start.  The win tonight moved him into a tie with Bob Gibson on the all-time list, which isn't bad company to hang around with.  He went six innings, gave up one run on two hits, while striking out three and walking one.  Just an all-around AMAZING start from him.....I knew he still had starts like this in him.  Bruney, Farnsworth and the much beleaguered Hawkins closed out the game and did so quite well.....although for one of them, you'd never know it.  Good job, guys.


And the offense....oh my.  More than 4 runs, we even tripled our offense from yesterday.  I couldn't believe it, I thought it was a mirage.  Six runs on eleven hits is something to be happy about, especially since our offense has been a bit on the meager side until now.  Bobby Abreu had the best night, going 3-3 with 2 RsBI, those runs coming on a HR in the 1st.  They would be the only runs we'd need, but we tacked on four more for good measure.  Johnny Damon went 2-5, Godzilla went 2-4 and Alex went 1-4 with an RBI.  It was great to see Abreu and Damon do something, since their bats have been a trifle bit cold since the start of the season.  Let's keep this up and put up even more offense against Kansas City.  I know they're in first place right now, and really.....when was the last time THAT happened, but they're still the Royals underneath it all.  We can take 'em.


Stars of the Game™





 

I like winning, I think most Yankees (and baseball fans) would agree with me on that.  What I like more than winning though.....is offense.  Which appears to be absent right now.  In our last 6 games, this has been on our offensive output; 3, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2.  A w.hopping total of 17 runs.  17.  Our lineup could put up that many in one game if they got on a good roll.  So why are they having such a difficult time getting runs across the plate?  Part of it has to do with the pitching they've faced so far; it's been quite good.  What's the rest of it?  It seems like 2/3 of our lineup left their bats in Tampa.  I know 6 games in is not the time to get worried and I'm not; there's still plenty of time for everyone to get their acts together.  I'm just looking toward the series against Boston next weekend and how I'd like to NOT score only 3 or 4 runs against their pitching, especially since we hit them really well last season. 


One thing we really have had too much of a problem with is the starting pitching and today we got another quality start.  Wang pitched 4-hit ball into the seventh inning and did really well. He struck out six and walked two.  That's two straight fantastic starts we've gotten from him, which is great to see considering how poorly he pitched in the playoffs last season.  Joba and Mo relieved him, and between the two of them, they gave up no hits, no runs and struck out 3.  Nice.


Yet again, as I mentioned earlier, our offense was practically non-existent.  We were only able to muster two runs on nine hits and Hideki Matsui provided those runs with a 2-run HR in the 4th.  The 4th.  That means we did jack squat for 4 1/2 innings after that.  Of our entire lineup, the only two players to get more than 1 hit were Matsui with 3 and Robbie with 2.  Come on guys.....put bat to ball and get something going here.  I'm not digging seeing such low run totals game after game after game.  We can do better and I expect us to do better.  We can take a split if we win tomorrow, so let's do that with more than 4 runs.  That might be a tall order, but I think we can fill it.


Stars of the Game™

My work sucks.  It's long, boring, difficult and I have to deal with some of the most inane people on Earth.  This was not the end result I wanted when I came home and checked the box score for the game earlier this afternoon.  It really, really wasn't.  Losing a series to the Devil Rays (that's what they are, name change or no) s*cks, no matter what time of year it happens.  What is it about this team that stymies us so much?  I mean, we play them and turn into the Bad News Bears, when we're capable of playing eons better.  They're not this good -- are they?


This was Andy Pettitte's first start of the season; he started the year on the DL.  Methinks he should have spent an extra start there.  He went 5.0 innings, gave up eight hits and five runs, three of which were earned.  He struck out three and walked two, giving up a HR.  Bruney and Ohlendorf relieved him and did rather well, giving up only one hit and one run over a combined 4 innings.  Together, they walked none and struck out 5.  It was a case of too little, too late.


The offense went back to scoring less than 4 runs; apparently that'll be our high-water mark this season.  Three runs on nine hits.  Off Edwin Jackson.  Unreal.  Not a lot of standouts for us today, although Alex went 2-4 with an RBI and Jorge went 2-4 with 2 RsBI.  Other than that, we got bupkiss.  Speaking of bupkiss and a bit off-topic, in the break room at work, they had the Fascist News Network on (Fox News, for the uninitiated) and who did I see spewing verbal diarrhea all over the place?  Jose Canseco.  Just when I thought that channel couldn't get worse, it does.  Does anyone else feel the need to wipe the slime off their TVs after he's been on, or is that just me?  In any event, Mr. Magic High Socks and Jorge were our only bright spots today, if you can call them that.  I really hope we win tomorrow, we cannot get swept by them.  Games in April count as much as they do in September and I can almost guarantee that if 5 months from now we're battling with Boston for the AL East crown again, and we're 3 games back.....these games are going to hurt.  Let's reverse this trend tomorrow.

It's going to be a trifle late....okay, a lot late because I won't be home today until about 10:30, 10:45.  So don't worry if the game ends and there's nothing from me about it, it'll be up as soon as I can get it done.  I know some of you look forward to them.  

Oh wow that s*ucked.  Just when I thought we had a chance to win the game (coming back to within two runs), our pitching decides to teach us a lesson for being hopeful.  BTW, I don't know what was worse; Hawkins' pitching or the moronic fans chanting "Paul O'Neill" while he was pitching.  Hey chumps.....GET OVER IT, HIS NUMBER ISN'T BEING RETIRED ANYTIME SOON.  You're making O'Neill look bad with this garbage.  Seriously, you're making Red Sox fans look good, and there's no need for that.  It was more embarrassing than the pitching tonight.  I had to turn off the game because it was p*ssing me off. 


That said, both he and Farnsworth stunk worse than 5 day old fish.  If you ever want the game to get out of hand fast, put Nuke LaFarnsworth into the game.  He'll cure what ails ya.  I just have this horrid feeling that the way we've played this team the last few seasons will continue this year.  I know it's one game, I know it's April, but still......we can do better than this.  At least we scored more than 3 runs!  I mean, that's something.  And Giambi got a hit and saved Derek's *** because of some sh!t throws.  Alex had some nice D over at 3B tonight as well.  Too bad nothing else went right.  Win tomorrow.  Please.

Another great game to come home to, I figure if I have to miss the game, they darn well better win.  And they did, although the last 3 games, the offense has been sputtering, if not completely comatose.  Three runs in the first game, two last night and three tonight.  With the kind of firepower we have, we should be scoring more than that.  I'm not saying this is immediate cause for concern, but come on guys.....let's not give fans flashbacks to the last 2 seasons.  Other than that, we got what we wanted out of this game; we had enough offense to win, great pitching and a series victory.


Phil Hughes started tonight and went 6 innings, giving up two runs on four hits, while striking out four and walking one.  I didn't get a chance to see the game, but I'd say that looks pretty good.  No homers, so all 4 hits were kept in the park.  Traber and Bruney pitched the 7th and Joba/Mo combined to finish out the game, with Joba earning the win and Mo getting his 2nd save of the year.  Can't say much about that, other than it's what we should expect to see all year.  Which will be just fine by me.


Calling the offense "sluggish" would be an understatement, but as I said, I hope that ends soon.  We only got 6 hits tonight and Bobby Abreu was the only player to get more than one.  He's our unanimous Star of the Game for the offense, because he was the only player that did anything.  So this section of the post will be rather short and sweet.  Thanks for the slap hit, Bobby.....you did us proud.


Stars of the Game™









Since Mo and Joba got a Star™ on Tuesday, they don't get one tonight.  Doesn't take away from the outstanding job they did, though. 

Well sh!t.  Not how I envisioned this game ending, but at least we weren't shut out.  I had a feeling it would be a tough game with Mussina pitching, but I really thought we had a shot to win this.  I like and respect Mike as a person, but he's done.  I mean that with all sincerity and appreciation for what he has done for us, but at this stage....he's throwing BP up there.  I could hit those pitches and I've never swung a baseball bat before.  Our relief corps tonight did a good job.....wish I could say the same for our starter.  Maybe next time.  *sigh*


Offensively.....we didn't do jack.  I mean, jack and squat.  Zilch.  Nada.  Zero.  Bupkiss.  That is until Alex hit a HR, but we did nothing after that, squandering chance after chance.  Come on guys.....no repeats of last season, please.  That means no DPs, no running ourselves out of innings and no poor plate discipline.  Let's do better for the 3rd game and win the series. 

Opening Day is usually a happy, fun-filled day where tens of thousands of Yankees fans file into Yankee Stadium to watch their team open a new season.  Some fans though, choose to be complete imbiciles rather than fun-loving attendees.  Which is what happened last night.  When LaTroy Hawkins was introduced to the crowd, rather than applaud him as they did all the others, they booed him.  Why you may ask?  Because he's wearing #21.  Apparently, the most sacred number in the history of sport.  Hawkins chose to wear #21 to honor Roberto Clemente, which is a very admirable and classy gesture.  Such a gesture however, was not responded to in kind. 

 

I know that Paul O'Neill holds a special place in the hearts of Yankees fans and I know that seeing someone wearing his number all these years later is a shock.....but it's just a number.  Hawkins wearing that number does not in anyway detract from what O'Neill did on this team.  He doesn't deserve to have his number retired, and that's not a mark on his abilities at all.  It's just the way it is.  If the Yankees held every single number belonging to a player that a majority of fans hold in somewhat high esteem, they would have no numbers to give out.  It's time the number got back into circulation and of all people who would be embarrassed by the this garbage, Paul O'Neill is at the top of the list.  I'm sure the last thing he'd want is Yankees fans booing another Yankee over a number.  Hawkins hasn't even thrown a regular-season pitch as a Yankee and already he's getting the A-Rod treatment.  We all like to talk about how we supposedly have the classiest fans in baseball.....this is an indicator that we don't.  Such a proud and storied franchise doesn't deserve fans who at the drop of a hat, will turn into boorish clowns.  We're better than this.  Aren't we?

Sorry for this being a trifle late, I was at work and unable to get this done before.  I was beyond thrilled to find out we won, although it would have been nice to watch it live....thank God for MLB.TV.  Personally, I think the idea of "Opening Night" is better than "Opening Day"....I just like nighttime baseball. 

Wang pitched a great game tonight, going 7 innings and giving up only six hits and two runs.  He walked two and struck out two and gave up no homers.  Joba pitched great and set up Mo, who closed it out and got his first game of the season.  The two of them combined for one walk and three strikeouts, giving up no hits or runs between them.  Just a picture-perfect pitching performance (say THAT 5 times fast!) from 3 of our staff aces.  Couldn't ask for a better first game of the season if you tried. 

It was a low-scoring affair, but games when Wang pitches usually are.  Alex went 2-3 with an RBI, apparently thinking it's still 2007, which is fine by me.  Another year like that this year, maybe with the overall team playing better, could translate to fun times come October.  Bobby went 2-4 and Robbie Cano went 1-3....that hit being the game-winning run.  Not much else to say about the offense tonight, as I said, it was typical of a Wang-pitched game.  Let's keep this going for tomorrow's game. 


Stars of the Game™ (Opening Night Edition)











For some reason, I can't find a decent picture of Alex or Robbie or even Melky.....if Yahoo! Sports adds them anytime soon, I'll edit the entry.