Game 92 - Matsui's Walkoff HR Leads Yanks

For a team record 3rd game in a row, the Yanks won 2-1, beating the Orioles in the opening set of a 3-game series. Andy Pettitte pitched 1-run ball for 7.1 innings, with his only blip a HR by Nick Markakis in the 1st inning. He also struck out 8. After Eric Hinske matched Markakis' HR in the top of the 2nd, his 4th dinger in 15 ABs with the Yanks, Baltimore retired 22 of the next 24 Yankee batters. Only Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon were able to get on via walks.

With one out in the bottom of the 9th, Hideki Matsui blasted his 15th HR of the season against reliever Jim Johnson for the win. It was Matsui's first walkoff hit since his rookie year in 2003. AJ Burnett kept up this year's custom of shoving a cream pie into the walkoff hero's face in the post game interview. It's good to see Burnett does not shy away from delivering the pie treatment to stoic and serious players like Matsui and Posada.

There was a moment in the game though, that looked like the Yanks might have needed more than Matsui's heroics. Pettitte left the game in the 8th with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Phil Coke came in to face Nick Markakis with 1 out. Markakis hit a grounder to Mark Teixeira. Tex threw home to catcher Jose Molina, who tagged out Cesar Izturis for the 2nd out. Coke then threw a pitch in the dirt that bounced away, but Molina pounced on it and threw to Coke to tag the speedy Brian Roberts out at the plate.

Alfredo Aceves came in relief during the 9th with a runner on and 1 out. After a stolen base, he sandwiched the final 2 outs around an intentional walk to avoid any trouble. He was credited with the win and improved his record to 6-1. It also gave Mariano Rivera a much needed, not to mention a deserved, night off after saving all 3 games in the Tigers series.

The Yanks, who lead or near the top in most offensive categories, can credit their 4 game winning streak to strong pitching. In the last 3 games, they have combined for only 16 hits, relying mostly on solo shots for their scoring, while holding their opponents to 3 total runs.

With Boston's loss against Texas, the Pinstripers moved into a tie for the AL East division. Kevin Millwood beat his old Atlanta teammate, John Smoltz, as Boston looks like they haven't been notified the All Star break is over. Adding insult to injury, Tim Wakefield took his 11-3 record to the DL. Laptop thief, Clay Buchholz, will take his place on the roster.

Yankees Record: 55-37

Game 87 - Angels are Hell on Earth for Yanks

Another blown 4-run lead, and another lost opportunity for the Yankees against their arch-nemesis Los Angeles of Inglewood/Beverly Hills 90210, The O.C., Melrose Place of Anaheim Angels. Andy Pettitte, David Robertson, Brett Tomko and Phil Coke did their worse imitations as Major League pitchers, giving up 14 runs on 16 hits, as the Yanks were blown out 14-8 today. Things went so bad, that even when the Yankees recorded strike outs, 2 runners reached base on dropped 3rd strikes. Unfortunately, my wife and I went to the Giants-Padres game at AT&T Park and I had to be reminded of this hideous loss as I sat directly across from the scoreboard and reminded of the Yanks futile efforts all game (see picture above).

Except for the top 3 hitters of the lineup, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira, who went 1-13 combined with 5 Ks, the rest of the lineup did some some real damage, going 8-22 with 5 HRs. ARod and newly acquired Eric Hinske both went deep twice and Hideki Matsui hit the other one. ARod's second blast and Matsui's were back-to-back in the top of the 8th that brought the Yanks within 10-8 before Coke imploded in the 8th, giving up the Angels last 4 runs to put the game out of reach. ARod entered the top 10 on the all-time HR list with #570, passing fellow juicer, Rafael Palmeiro.

The Yanks started this game in grand fashion again, just as they did yesterday. ARod hit a 2-run homer in the first, Hinske connected for a solo blast in the 2nd, and miracle of miracles, Robinson Cano laced a rarely seen for him, 2-out RBI single, giving the Yanks a 4-0 lead. Andy Pettitte cruised through 3 hitless innings before yielding his first run in the 4th. The wheels came spiraling off the bus in the 5th when the Angels roughed up Pettitte and Robertson for 7 runs. How has a lineup that just lost their 2 biggest run producers (Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter) produce 18 runs in 2 games? Simplest answer - the Yankees pitching has been horrendous.

Couple of things I wish manager Joe Girardi would take note of: Jorge Posada should never start as catcher against the Angels. They ran roughshod over him, going 4-5 in steals. Also, David Robertson shouldn't come in the game in the middle of an inning. He has been ghastly in a number of appearances coming into the game in that situation. He should have been sent to Scranton instead of Jonathan Albaladejo earlier this week after walking in 2 runs in Minnesota. Cano's been batting in the bottom third of the lineup and performing better lately. Let's not be fooled again and raise him in the order. Hinske had a great game today and is 4-9 with 3 HRs since being traded for. Girardi should continue to play the hot hand and stop forcing Nick Swisher and/or Melky Cabrera into the lineup. Swisher's best month of the season was April when he started the season as the 4th OF before Xavier Nady's injury. Melky also picked up his game when he lost the starting CF job to Gardner. Competition seems to motivate both of them.

This loss, on top of a Boston win, dropped the Yanks 2 game back in the division. I did enjoy watching the scoreboard at the Giants game jump from a Boston 9-1 lead close to 9-7, as their bullpen imploded again. KC's bullpen, apparently was worse, as they lost 15-9. Hopefully, I've heard the last about Boston having the best bullpen in baseball. They've been horrendous in July. CC Sabathia needs to be the stopper in the series finale.

Yankees Record: 51-36

Game 82 - Yanks Rally Falls Short

The Yanks start to the second half of the season started the same way as the first half - with a loss. Unlike the first one, they made this one interesting, falling just short against Toronto, 7-6. The Yankees offense got off to an inauspicious start when Derek Jeter, inexplicably, got thrown out at third with none out. Replays showed Jeter avoided the tag with a nifty swim move, but 3B umpire, Marty Foster, called him out. Jeter vehemently argued his case, and stated in the post game that Foster told him the throw beat him to the bag and he doesn't have to be tagged! Joe Girardi came to Jeter's defense and found himself being ejected for his efforts. This wouldn't be the last blown call that went against the Yankees today, either.

Safe, out, either way, Jeter shouldn't be trying to steal 3B with no outs and the 2-3-4 batters coming to the plate. Jays starter, Ricky Romero, was clearly nervous, too, in his first Yankee Stadium start. He walked Jeter after being ahead in the count, 1-2. He then balked Jeter over to 2B. Nick Swisher singled after Jeter was thrown out, and advanced on a wild pitch. After Romero induced Mark Teixeira to fly out on a full count, he hit ARod with a pitch in the dirt. Unfortunately for the boys from the Bronx, Romero settled down, striking out Jorge Posada to end the inning.

Andy Pettitte looked sharp - for the first 5 batters. He then walked old Yankee killer, Kevin Millar, owner of a .233 batting average. He allowed a single to the seldom used Jose Batista before another guy that haunts the Yanks - Rod Barajas, singled home the game's 1st run. Pettitte ran into more 2-out trouble in the 3rd. He gave up a 3-run shot to Alex Rios. Doesn't it seem the Jays are stacked with Yankee killers? Rios' HR came after replays showed Jeter clearly threw out base runner, Aaron Hill, at 2B. That bad call cost the Yanks 3 runs.

Pettitte settled down till the start of the 7th, when he gave up a HR to John McDonald, the proud owner of 10 career dingers in nearly 1600 ABs. After walking his 5th batter of the game, he was pulled in favor of Brian Bruney, who's appearance doomed any Yankee chance. Bruney came in and set a torch to the Jays' rally instead of squelching it. His struggles continue since his return off the DL, as he gave up back-to-back doubles that led to 2 runs and gave the Jays a 7-1 lead.

Eric Hinske got his first start as a Yankee today, and he went from early hero to late goat. He got the Bombers on the board with a solo shot in the 5th. The Yanks tacked on 2 more runs in the 7th on a Swisher single. That was after the Yanks had the third bad call go against them when the 2B ump called Hinske out on a force play at second when SS Marco Scutaro was nowhere near the bag. In the 8th, a bases loaded walk to Jeter brought the Yanks to within 3 runs. Entering the bottom of the 9th, it looked like Jays closer, Jason Frasor, would quietly put the Yanks away, retiring the first 2 hitters. The Yanks, however, wouldn't die easily. Posada hit a single, Cano doubled and hot-hitting Hideki Matsui pinch hit for Melky and laced a 2-run single to bring the Yanks within 1. New Yankee, Eric Hinske came to the plate representing the go-ahead run. He worked the count to 3-1, when for some strange reason, he checked-swinged a foul on a pitch nearly in the dirt. He struck out on the next pitch to end the game. A walk would have put the tying run on 2B with Johnny Damon coming to the plate.

Despite 3 horrendous calls from the umpiring crew, the Yanks still had their chances to pull this game out. Brian Bruney didn't do his job, getting hit hard, again. Since his activation from the DL, his ERA has climbed from 3.00 to 4.11 in 6.2 innings. They were also visited by an old friend who's come to visit quite a bit this season - inability. As in the "inability" to hit with RISP. They went 2-12 in those situations. Has anyone seen Tex? He was the main culprit, leaving 6 men on base and hasn't homered in 21 games. Swisher, despite going 3-4, also had a terrible at bat, flying out on the first pitch in the 8th with the bases loaded, right after Jeter walked. What happened to this guy taking pitches?

On to Minnesota for a 3 game set after a 5-2 homestand. Still no word on Thursday's starter for Wang.

Yankees Record: 48-34

Yanks Acquire Eric Hinske

The Yanks have acquired Eric Hinske from the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor leaguer P Casey Erickson and OF Eric Fryer. Both 23-year olds played in Single-A for the Yanks.

Ken Singleton on the Yanks pre-game show on YES said Brian Cashman was looking for some pop of the bench. Cashman realized he could use someone who could knock it out of the yard when Brett Gardner came to the plate against the Marlins as the tying run.

Hinske's an interesting choice and has plenty of playoff experience. He can play 1B/3B and either corner OF position In the last 2 seasons, he won a World Series with Boston and went to the dance again last year with Tampa Bay. Does this mean we will never see the likes of Shelley Duncan again?