First things first both and left the game with various injuries. also got plunked and exited We’ll keep you posted if anything comes down. Also, apparently has a set of . When it rains it pours, eh?
As for the game itself, it was pretty back-and-forth. The Orioles struck first in the opening inning, getting a run on a single before an out was recorded. Hardy was chased home two batters later by an double. The score stayed 2-0 Baltimore until the top of the fourth. led the inning off with a single to center. The next batter, , also singled. After a groundout, hit a double of the wall in right center, scoring A-Rod and Cano and tying the game at 2.
The very next inning, the Yankees would keep their momentum rolling. led off with a walk, and the Yankees looked poised to break the game at that point, but grounded into a double play. , however, picked up the slack and hit a long home run to right and put the Yankees on top 3-2. Needing a shutdown inning from starter Ivan Nova, the Yankees got anything but that in the bottom half of the fifth. The first three batters of the inning came not only all reached base, but they all scored. started things off with a walk before scoring on an triple. J.J. Hardy followed with a two run homer to break the tie and put the Orioles up 5-3. The Orioles seemed to be wrestling momentum back from the Yanks, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
In the top of the sixth, the Yankees loaded the bases before recording an out thanks to a Cano double and back-to-back walks by Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher. Raul Ibanez then hit a ball down the first base line off of the glove of first baseman Chris Davis, who was charged with an error. The error scored Cano and Teixeira, and tied the game at 5.
The combination of Ivan Nova, Clay Rapada, and held the O’s scoreless in the 6th, despite a walk and a Robert Andino infield single. In the top of the seventh, the Yankees took the lead again and wouldn’t give it back for the rest of the game. After an A-Rod single and a Robinson Cano fly out, Mark Teixeira took ex-teammate ‘s pitch over the high wall in right field to give the Yankees a 6-5 lead. They added a run on a sac-fly in the top of the 9th to make it 8-5, the game’s final score.
Notes:
David Phelps got the win tonight and it was his first Major League win.
Every Yankee starter except Ibanez had a hit tonight. The only Baltimore starters without hits were Nick Johnson and Chris Davis, but Johnson walked twice.
Johnson, Russell Marin, and Nick Swisher all walked twice.
Four of the seven hits Ivan Nova gave up went for extra bases (two doubles, a triple, and a homer).
gave up four earned runs tonight; he’d given up nine all year before tonight.
now has 24 strikeouts in 15.2 innings (14.21 K/9; 35.29 K%).
Sorry for the late thread. The Yanks are down 2-0 in the bottom of the third. Discuss here.
"And then I'm going to be manager of the Yankees and you'll be closing out the World Series for me."
While Yankee fans have always appreciated – to say the least– the fan base may have also taken him for granted. I grew up watching Mo pitch the late innings. That made it easy for me to forget that he makes something exceedingly difficult look deceptively easy. He just runs onto the mound, and far, far more often than not he gets the last three to six outs of the ball game without breaking a sweat, just a few bats. The last week without him has been a quick wake up call: Not everyone can do what Mo does. That’s what makes him special.
Last week I argued that the Yankees would be ok in Mariano’s absence because the team had . If there was one player in baseball who looked primed to step into Rivera’s enormous shoes, it was Robertson. For more than a year he’d been lights out for the Yankees, a strikeout waiting to happen (in the good sense). Of course, no sooner do I write that and David promptly struggles mightily closing. He made us all sweat a bit before he picked up his first save against the Rays, looking a bit more relieved than a professional athlete should once the game ended. The next night, with the Yankees clinging to a one run lead, he imploded, allowing his first run of the year, blowing the save, and looking completely overwhelmed with his new responsibilities in the process.
It would be easy to dismiss Robertson as unprepared to close after those two shaky outings. He didn’t inspire confidence in his first audition for the job. He’s also extremely valuable as a lights out set up man, especially since the Yankees already have a proven closer on the team in . The Yankees have the option to end the Robertson as closer experiment, promote Soriano, and have David get back to doing what he does best: striking out the side in eighth.
There is one flaw to this logic, unfortunately. It is highly unlikely that the Yankees will keep the expensive, petulant Soriano after his current grand theft contract expires. And, sadly, no matter how he returns from injury Mariano Rivera cannot be counted on to save games forever. This season has been a shocking reminder that the legendary Yankee closer is mortal, and one day he really will retire. One way or another the Yankees will need to find a new closer, and soon. David Robertson looks like he has the stuff, regardless of how this past week went.
Those of us who watched the series against the Rays may have noticed that Michael Kay pointed out several times that Rivera himself wasn’t lights out when he first began closing. As much as it pains me to write this, Kay was right. Rivera was anything but legendary when he first took over closing after John Wetteland left.
I’ve written this before, but I’ll write it again because I seem to enjoy writing it every time. I distinctly remember Mo breaking out in 1996. I remember it because I was certain that there was no way anyone could hit his fastball. I was certain Rivera’s 94 mph pitch was rising as it reached the plate (later I would find out that if this were true it would defy the laws of physics). It had a break, and that break appeared to send the pitch up and in on left handed batters. I wouldn’t find out until years later that Rivera was throwing the most devastating cutter the game has ever known, but I knew the Yankees had backed into something special. The Yankees knew it too. In 1996 Rivera tossed a ridiculous 107.2 innings (ridiculous for a reliever) with an ERA of 2.09 and a WHIP of 0.99. Wetteland’s numbers in 1996 were nothing to laugh at, but Rivera was better. When Wetteland left for free-agency, Mariano became the closer.
Mariano became the closer and . He was stellar in his first two opportunities, allowing zero runs and just two hits while striking out four over three innings of work. Then, the wheels came off a bit. In opportunities three and four Rivera was mortal. He allowed seven hits in three innings of work, striking out just one and allowing a run to score in each inning. Rivera righted the ship in his fifth opportunity, before imploding in his sixth chance, allowing two runs to score on three hits in a single inning of work. While I have no memory of this, I trust that Kay is correct when he says the Yankees were questioning whether or not Mariano was up to the job of closing. In the end the Yankees kept running the skinny right-hander up there, he proved up to the job, and the rest is history.
The Yankees made the right decision giving David Robertson the opportunity to close now that Rivera is injured. Robertson hasn’t shined in his first couple of opportunities as the closer, but that doesn’t mean anything. I was a skeptic before, but I’ve now watched enough top flight relievers look like the guy trying to land the plane in Airplane when asked to close to believe that there is something challenging about finishing the ball game that defies the cold reason of numbers. There is something about the job that has to be learned and Robertson hasn’t been given enough chances to learn it yet. There’s no reason to doubt him. After all, not even Mariano was a natural, all those years ago before he was the Sandman.
For the third time this year, and the second time in Baltimore, the Yankees and Orioles will hook up for a matchup. However, this one’s a quick two-gamer before the Yanks fly up to Canada to take on the Jays for two games before coming home to host the Reds over the weekend.
When we last saw the O’s, they had just won two of three games in the Bronx, something they hadn’t done in a loooong time; they allowed just two runs in the entire series. Since then, they’ve swept the Red Sox out of Fenway, lost three of four in Texas, and won two of three against the Rays in Baltimore.
As of Sunday, the Orioles ranked first in the AL in homers (54) followed by the Yankees (53) and Rangers (52); fourth in runs (160); first in Iso (.196); sixth in average (.248); ninth in OBP (.310); fourth in SLG (.444); and fourth in wOBA (.326).
On the mound, they’re ranked ninth in K/9 (7.03) and 8th in K% (18.6); seventh in BB/9 (2;96) and seventh in BB% (7.9); fifth in HR/9 (0.99) and sixth in HR/FB% (10.6); seventh in GB% (45.3); second in ERA (3.30); and sixth in FIP (3.93).
They might be overachieving in the tiniest way, but the O’s are playing well overall right now. The Yanks will see Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen on Monday and Tuesday.
I don't care if he wasn't his old self, it still feels good to see Andy back on the mound.
There are some games you have to win. Count among those games against the piddling Seattle offense when is on the mound. This game had Yankee slug fest written all over it. Kevin Millwood is not a very good pitcher. He entered today’s game with a very hittable 5.09/3.61/4.38 pitching line. Furthermore, the Yankees have been facing him for years. There’s nothing new, or good about him, but in today’s game you could have fooled me. The Yankees managed just three hits over seven innings against Millwood. The Bombers were not without their opportunities. Millwood walked four and the Yankees loaded the bases in fifth with no one out, but Kevin Millwood found a way to battle through. The Yankees scored only two runs on the game, and each of those came via the bases loaded walk.
Not only was this an opportunity to pound Millwood and sweep Seattle, but it was also the first time has pitched in a game in more than a year. Much will be made of Pettitte’s 6.1 innings of work. He was very efficient, but the swing-happy M’s made his job easier. While Andy demonstrated that he has enough left in the tank to help the big league club, his performance was nothing to celebrate. He allowed seven hits, including two homers, and walked three. Pettitte did show some signs of promise, but he also labored to find the zone and his pitches looked a little too flat. A four earned run performance against the lowly Mariner’s easily would have been seven runs against a higher octane offense like, say, the Rangers.
There wasn’t much to be happy about in this one. The Yankees let a very winnable game walk away looking more tired than anything else. With the score still just 4-1 the Yankees did load the bases once more in the 8th, but the team came away with just another bases loaded walk to show for it, and nothing else.
That was annoying enough, but the Yankees added insult to injury in this one. In the top of the ninth with the score still 4-2 Joe Girardi inexplicably let issue two walks to load the bases, facing righties no less. The move completely backfired as Rapada tried to make an ill-advised play on a bouncer up the mound. Clay slowed the ball down instead of fielding it, thereby eliminating the play at home. He then threw the ball away for good measure, letting another run score.
With the 6-2 ball game pretty much out of hand at that point, started the ninth inning by scorching a ball off the wall in the corner in left. Swisher got greedy and tried to turn what would have a been a stand up, lead off double into a triple. While replays showed he was safe, he was called out on the throw, making the team’s first out at third base. Nick brings a lot to the Yankees, so we’ll forgive him for the few times when he takes something away.
All in all this was a cruddy way to end what was an otherwise strong home stand. The Yankees will take to the road next, heading down to Maryland to face the Baltimore Orioles, the first place Baltimore Orioles. Hopefully the reversion to the mean for Buck Showalter’s boys begins tomorrow.
‘s unfortunate injury reminded me just how much I’ve enjoyed watching the Yankees over the years. The team may not feel the same to me on that fateful day when every member of the late nineties dynasty, the Yankees’ incarnation I grew up with, has retired. Fortunately for all of us we are one step FURTHER away from that day today. On Mother’s Day returns to the Bronx, hopefully kicking some life into the Yankees rotation in the process. Granted, the Bombers have been playing the Mariner’s, but the team is starting to look a little livelier. The M’s counter with . All in all this should be fairly one sided, just what Mrs. Pettitte would want. Enjoy.
Earlier in May, I posted about Phil Hughes and his ability/lack thereof to finish off batters once getting ahead of them 0-2 or 1-2. In that game, he threw 23 pitches to 9 batters while up 0-2/1-2. Per batter, that’s 2.5556 pitches per batter. Let’s see how he did yesterday.
| Batter/Count | Inning | Sequence/Result |
| Jesus Montero/1-2 | 2 | B; B; FOUL; K (S) |
| Michael Saunders/0-2 | 3 | B; B; F-8 |
| John Jaso/0-2 | 4 | B; FOUL; B; B; F-8 |
| Jesus Montero/0-2 | 4 | B; B; FOUL B; FOUL; BB (questionable call) |
| Mike Carp/0-2 | 4 | B; B; K (L) |
| Justin Smoak/0-2 | 5 | B; B; K (S) |
| Dustin Ackley | 6 | 1B |
| John Jaso/0-2 | 6 | B; FOUL; 5-4-3 DP |
| Ichiro Suzuki/1-2 | 6 | 4-3 |
| Michael Saunders/1-2 | 8 | B; B; K (S) |
| John Jason/0-2 | 8 | B; 1B |
Yesterday, Hughes threw 34 pitches to 11 batters when up 0-2/1-2, an average of 3.09 per batter. In the last game, only 1 of 9 batters reached base after going down 0-2/1-2; yesterday, it was 3/11, though Montero’s walk was a close call that could’ve gone either way. Earlier, Hughes struck out just 2/9 when going up in the count; yesterday, he struck out 4/11, which is encouraging.
Hughes has had a successful last two starts. They haven’t been against offensive giants (KC/SEA), but it’s still a good sign. Please, Phil, keep it up.
opposite field vs Jim Johnson
Its become conventional wisdom to say that the Montero-Pineda swap from last January has been complete disaster for the Yanks. Brian Cashman himself wouldn’t argue the point, calling all second guessing of the deal fair game in a recent press conference. But so far in the 2012 season, on the field, the Yanks haven’t missed Jesus Montero one bit. Actually, they’ve received better production from the players they signed to take his ABs.
The whole reason why Jesus was traded was he lacked a position on the Yanks, and would be relegated to DH duties. As a righty bat, he was an even poorer fit since the Yanks had plans to DH Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter about once a week to keep their aging bodies strong. Since Jesus would have spent much of his time at DH had he stayed with the team, let’s compare his numbers to the production the Yanks have had from the DH spot this season:
Montero’s
Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 2012 Totals 30 30 121 116 11 31 5 0 5 17 0 1 3 24 .267 .281 .440 .721
Yankee DH’s
Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS as DH 33 144 129 17 38 4 0 8 25 2 0 12 22 .295 .347 .512 .859
As you can see, the replacements Brian Cashman signed (Jones/Ibanez) have more than held the fort, while A-Rod and Jeter have contributed some good numbers as well. While its impossible to know how much effect the weekly half day off for Alex and Derek have had on their 2012 seasons, what we do know is that both have been healthy and productive thus far this year, exceptionally so in Jeter’s case. If they maintain that over the course of the full season, the added production you get from them as opposed to recent years has to be taken into consideration when assessing how much the team has missed Montero, if at all, for the 2012 campaign. Like most other things in life, Baseball doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Of course, the trade isn’t a 1 year deal. If Pineda doesn’t come back healthy and productive next year then we can look at it again and find a very different result. But calling the trade “a disaster” at this point simply doesn’t hold. The Yanks have been just fine, actually better off, without Montero thus far this season.
I don’t think I was the only Yankee fan to give up on Phil Hughes about two weeks ago. Hughes hadn’t put together an effective stretch of more than a month or so since June of 2010. Balls were getting scorched off him early in 2012, and he appeared likely to lose his rotation spot to Andy Pettitte. But that whole time, something funny was happening: his peripheral numbers were pretty good. He now has 34 strikeouts in 36 innings (8.5 per 9) against just 9 walks (2.25 per 9).
Hughes was in control the entire game. Some balls found holes, but in the end he only allowed 6 hits, and one run on a late game home run. He had one of his worst performances in terms of strikeouts of the season (just 4), but by no means was he getting lucky out there. Contact was weak, and didn’t allow free passes.
Is this a sign of things to come? I don’t know. Seattle has the 10th best offense in the major leagues, hitting .233/.289/.369 on the season. Hughes certainly wasn’t challenged. But as David Cone pointed out, his stuff looks as good as it has since he came to the major leagues. He’s throwing 92-94 mph with decent control, and his curveball has bite to it again. Hughes has mostly forgotten his cutter experiment, and the results suggest that was a good idea.
The other story of the game? Raul Ibanez. His two hits were huge – a double and a booming home run to center field. You don’t see a lot of 40 year olds hitting home runs to center field in Yankee stadium. Ibanez is hitting better than the Yankees ever could have hoped, and making us forget about his (still shoddy) defense in the outfield.
Ibanez, Eric Chavez, Eduardo Nunez, Jayson Nix, and Andruw Jones – together the current group that make up the DH spot in the lineup, while the old guys rest – have hit .273/.316/.547. They’ve been playing more than expected due to Brett Gardner’s injury, especially Raul Ibanez, and haven risen to the challenge. The Yankees have managed to cobble together very strong benches in recent years, and this year’s group appears to continue this trend.
Besides that, it was a pretty quick, uneventful game. The Yankees won, and will go for the sweep tomorrow. If all goes right, they’ll be just a game behind Baltimore after the weekend ends.
I really can’t add much to this, other than to give Marc Simon of ESPN credit for retweeting the link, which is how I found it. I can only hope that someone in the Yanks picks up on this, and they start playing it at the stadium between innings. That would be a blast. I’d also love to see Mo’s face the first time he watches it, maybe YES can get going on that.
DON’T STOP RELIEVING!
ACL’S HEALING!
PINSTRIPE HERO, MO!
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