Game 130 - Tex, Yanks Bullpen Help Yanks Sweep

Joba Chamberlain only pitched 3 innings with his new set of "Joba Rules", but the Yankee bullpen tossed 6 solid innings in their 8-3 victory and 3-game sweep of the White Sox. In an effort to limit Joba's innings but keep him in the 5-man rotation, the Yanks will mete out his unknown innings limit in his starts till the end of the season. The limit is believed to be in the 150-inning range. Joba currently is at 133+. Joba allowed 2 runs in his short stint, but Alfredo Aceves tossed 3 scoreless frames to pick up his 9th win of the season.

The Yanks marched out 4 other relievers after Aceves, using Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Phil Hughes and Phil Coke to finish the final 3 innings. Hughes came on in the 7th with 2-out and 2 men on with the Yanks holding a slim 3-2 lead. He got them out of the jam and pitched a scoreless 8th. In the bottom of the inning, the Yanks offense put 5 runs on the board to put the game out of reach.

Mark Teixeira was the offensive hero, knocking in 4 runs to give him a league-leading 101 RBIs. He hit a 3-run shot in the 8th. Johnny Damon's homer earlier in the game, his career-high tying 24th dinger, put the Yanks up 3-2. The Captain collected 2 more hits in his quest to pass Lou Gehrig for the team's all time hit record and Jorge Posada had 2 hits in his return after injury his ring finger 3 games ago.

Although the new version of "Joba Rules" has riled up some fans and media members, it's essential they protect their young talented arms. The Yanks don't want Joba to fall victim like Dwight Gooden or worse, Mark Prior, both tremendously talented pitchers who were overused (abused) in the early stages of their careers. I assume the plan is to have Joba build up his innings as the season nears its conclusion to gear up for the playoffs.

With the win, the Yanks still have their 6-game cushion over Boston, who once again defeated a dead from the neck down team in Toronto. Even Roy Halladay, who hasn't pitched well since his "near" trade can't save them.

Yankees Record: 82-48

Game 125 - Joba Brutal After Week Layoff

The Yanks came out smoking for 4 runs in the bottom of the first, but the Rangers had the last laugh, crushing Joba and holding on to beat the Yanks 10-9. Joba Chamberlain allowed 7 runs in 4 innings, all after he retired the first 2 batters of the inning. He allowed 2 runs in the 2nd and 5 in the 4th, as the bottom of the Rangers batting order chewed him up. In both rallies, he allowed Pudge Rodriguez, Chris Davis and Elvis Andrus to reach base both times against him.

Pudge was absolutely useless in his short stint with the Yankees and his best days are long behind, but Joba found a way to allow a single and walk a guy who's only walked more than 40 times in a season twice in his whole career. Davis has been so bad, he was sent back down to the minors after he was on pace to shatter the strikeout record, but he touched Joba for 2 singles. Andrus came into the game with 23 RBIs all season, but he knocked in 3 runs. Pitiful performance as Joba continues to go full count to way too many hitters.

The mysterious 2-out run scoring rallies continue to haunt the Yankee pitching staff and it certainly cost them tonight. 9 out of Texas' 10 runs came after 2 outs were retired. Chad Gaudin relieved Joba and wasn't much better. He allowed 2 HRs and 3 runs. He did break up the monotony of 2-out runs when he allowed a 1-out, solo shot to Nelson Cruz. He almost allowed more runs with 2 outs when he escaped a 2-out bases loaded jam. All runners reached after he got 2 quick outs. This epidemic began in the White Sox series in Chicago and has gotten worse. According to a post by River Ave Blues, the Yanks have allowed over 42% of their runs to come with 2 out. The league average is near 36%. It appears the pitching staff is not buckling down or focusing on ending innings without further trouble. Trends like this could hurt the Yanks against playoff-caliber teams, especially a team like the Angels who have players that make contact and force things to happen.

The Yanks made one last charge in the 9th, plating 4 runs before Texas recorded an out. But with runners on 1st and 2nd, Joe Girardi inexplicably had Nick Swisher bunt. He fouled out to 3rd. Why in the hell would Girardi have Swisher bunt against a reliever who was clearly struggling and hadn't recorded an out? Swisher was up in the count 1-0 and he could work out a walk, take him deep or perhaps hit a fly out to move the runner to 3rd. But a bunt? Terrible managing, absolutely terrible. The next batter, Melky Cabrera, lined into a double play to SS to end the game and dreams of another miraculous comeback.

Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano both went deep in the losing effort. Cano's HR was his career high 20th, as he became the 6th Yankee this season to hit 20 or more. That tied a team record set in 1961 and 2004. Posada and Derek Jeter have outside shots to be the 7th player for 20 or more HRs. Speaking of The Captain, he continued his hot streak, going 2-3 and ended his Cano-like walkless streak at 114 plate appearances. In fact, he walked twice.

The Bosox defeated the Chisox and now trail the Bombers by 6 in the division. They were able to complete a trade with the Mets earlier in the day for Billy Wagner. This season is far from over.

Yankees Record: 78-47

Blown Game: 7

Game 118 - Joba, Pen Terrible in Loss to M's

With a chance to go for the jugular against Seattle for the 4-game sweep and increase their division lead after a Red Sox loss, Joba Chamberlain and the Yankee pen fell flat on their faces in a terrible performance against the worse hitting team in the American League. Seattle Mariners smacked them around for a 10-3 victory. All 10 of Seattle's runs came with 2 outs, as they touched Joba for 4 runs, Alfredo Aceves for another 4 and the newly acquired Chad Gaudin for the final 2.

Yankee pitching struck out 32 Mariners in the previous 3 games, but Joba could only muster 2 in his weak performance. After cruising through 2 innings, he labored in the next 3. Twice the Yanks gave him the lead, 1-0 and 3-2, but he surrendered 2 runs in the 3rd and 2 more in the 5th. He allowed 7 hits and 3 walks to the anemic Seattle lineup in 5 innings of work.

Aceves came into the game in the 6th to keep the game close. With the Yanks down by 1 in the 7th, he appeared to be on the verge of escaping a bases loaded jam, but hit the career .217 hitting Josh Wilson that led to a 5-run outburst in the inning. Gaudin came in relief and gave up 3 straight 2-out hits to blow the game wide open. Jose Lopez did most of the damage for Seattle, going 3-5 with 3 RBIs, but weak hitting throw away infielders Jack Hannahan and Wilson were a combined 4-8 with 2 RBIs. Hannahan is hitting .226 for his career and was traded this season from Oakland for a song. The Yankees pitchers inability to buckle down and get the final out of the inning was very disconcerting today.

Lost in today's lackluster performance was Derek Jeter setting the all time hit record for shortstops. He went 3-4 and passed Hall of Fame SS, Luis Aparicio, and now has 2, 675 hits at the SS position. He trails Lou Gehrig by 33 hits for the all time Yankee hits leader.

Fortunately, the Yanks loss this game while the Sox lost. With Boston's defeat to the Texas Rangers, they now trail to them in the wild card standings.

Yankees Record: 74-44

Game 113 - Back 2 Back Jacks Lead Yanks

The night began to look a lot like last night. The Yanks went up 3-0 after 2 innings, but Joba Chamberlain allowed the Blue Jays to tie it up in the 3rd on a Lyle Overbay bases loaded double. Joba gave up a solo HR in the 4th to Bronx-born and bred, Randy Ruiz, that put the Jays out in front, 4-3. Jays starter, Scott Richmond, settled down and pitched 6 innings and Jeremy Accardo pitched a scoreless 7th, as it looked like the tying run would elude the Bombers for the 2nd night in a row.

But this year's team is a far cry from the team of last season. The boys from the Bronx would have gone down quietly last year, but this team never thinks of quitting. Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada led off the 8th with back-to-back HRs to put the Yanks out in front. Godzilla hit a bomb to deep right, and Posada hit an opposite field shot that barely cleared the RF wall. The ball landed in a fan's mitt positioned right behind RF Joe Inglett's leaping glove. Replay review confirmed the ball landed over the fence without fan interference. The Bombers tacked on 2 more runs on RBI singles from Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon.

Joba looked strong for 2 innings, working quickly and appearing sharper than his last appearance against Boston. He ran into trouble in the 3rd, when he walked Inglett, a guy who has spent his career on the minor league shuttle bus. He hurt the Yanks last night, too, with an RBI triple. A single and another walk, Joba's only 2 free passes of the night, loaded the bases with 2 out. But Joba grooved a fastball to Overbay and he drove it into the right-center gap to clear the bags. Another grooved fastball led to Ruiz' shot in the 4th, but Joba settled down to pitch an effective 6 innings.

Brian Bruney, Phil Coke and David Robertson pitched 2 scoreless frames. Robertson picked up the win when the Yanks rallied in the 8th. Mariano Rivera came on in the 9th and allowed a dinger to Edwin Encarnacion to dead center. Good thing Melky and Damon tacked on those insurance RBIs. With Marco Scutaro as the tying run at the plate - Mo's ol' nemesis that beat him with a walkoff blast last season, Mariano struck him out to earn his 33rd save of the season and #515 of his career.

With the win, the Yanks remained 5.5 games ahead of Boston.

Yankees Record: 70-43

Yankees Record since ARod's return: 57-28

Yankees Record since I said they would have to go 60-40 in their last 100 games to make the playoffs: 34-17

Game 108 - Beantown 8, Bronx 1

The Bronx Bombers pounded the Beaneaters, 13-6, unleashing 8 games of frustration against their archrivals. After dropping the first 8 games this season, the Yanks finally put 1 in the win column and increased their division lead to 3.5 games. HRs by Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, Jorge Posada and Mark Teixeira paced an 18-hit attack as the Yanks smacked around future Hall-of-Famer, John Smoltz. Cabrera's 3-run blast in the 4th led an 8-run inning that put the Yanks a ahead to stay and bailed out a struggling Joba Chamberlain. The Yanks batted for 37 minutes that must have been grueling for the Boston fielders.

Joba was not sharp, giving up 4 runs, 6 hits, and 7 walks in 5 innings of work. Things looked grim early. Yoda Pedroia and Damon swapped fence scraping solo HRs to RF in the 3rd and newly acquired Casey Kotchman gave the Bosox a 3-1 lead with another new Yankee Stadium special to RF. For the game, Yankee pitchers walked an astronomical 12 Red Sox batters. Boston left an astounding 15 men on base, led by Big Fraudy Ortiz, who left 8 by himself. The immortal Anthony Cleggett made his return to the Bronx, after getting shelled in his major league debut in the Yanks embarrassing 22-4 loss to Cleveland earlier in the season. I didn't think I'd ever lay eyes on him again, but there he was in the 9th inning, performing mop-up duty. I'll say it one more time - I'll be surprised if I ever see him grace a Yankee uniform again. 1 inning, 2 walks, 2 hits, 2 runs and he lowered his career ERA by nearly 10 runs!

Damon, Tex and Posada each led the attack with 3 hits. Posada atoned for his hideous non-slide at the plate in the 2nd when he was thrown out for his lackadaisical base running on a Nick Swisher single. If he slid, he would have been clearly safe. His 3-run blast in the 4th put the exclamation point in the big inning. Every Yankee starter had at least one hit. John Smoltz looked every bit the old man who's hung around 1-year too long in what is otherwise a brilliant career. Boston sacrificed ex-Yankee, Billy Traber, in 3.2 innings of relief to save their bullpen. Well played, Terry Francona, well played.

With the win, the Yanks improved to a season-best 24 games over .500 and guarantees a division lead after this series no matter the rest of the outcome. Hopefully, the Yanks saved some runs and hits for AJ Burnett tomorrow, who goes up against Josh Beckett.

Yankees Record: 66-42

Game 101 - Joba Pitches Gem Against Rays

After losing a game on bad pitching, bad defense and bad hitting, the Yanks returned to form and captured the rubber match against Tampa Bay, winning 6-2. Joba Chamberlain had his best game as a major leaguer, tossing 8 shutout innings, and limiting the Rays to 3 hits. He walked 2, both in the 5th inning, while striking out 5. Sticking with his faster tempo pace he's employed since the All Star break, he won his 3rd straight start and improved to 7-2. He only needed 101 pitches to match his career high for innings in a game. Joba has only allowed 2 runs and 8 hits in 21.2 innings since the break.

The Captain set the tone early, tripling to leadoff the game. Mark Teixeira singled in Derek Jeter through a drawn-in infield for a quick 1-0 lead. Rays starter, Matt Garza, though, was up for the challenge. In the 4th, the Yanks were in business when ARod singled and Godzilla doubled to lead off the inning. Jorge Posada embarrassed himself with a first pitch foul out to 3rd, failing miserably to knock in a run and moving Matsui to 3rd with the infield playing back. Robinson Cano came through, not with a hit, but with a run scoring groundout. Garza limited the damage by striking out Nick Swisher.

The Yanks touched Garza for one more run with a Cano blast in the 6th. It came 2 pitches after Cano fouled a pitch off his shin. Despite hitting his shin guard, the TV cameras showed a nice looking knot forming on Cano's leg as the trainer worked on him. The Pinstripers were able to tack on insurance runs off the Rays bullpen in the 8th with a Posada RBI single and solo blasts from Melky Cabrera and Tex in the 9th. Tex's blast was his 26th of the season, tying him with Twins' Justin Morneau for the league-lead.

It took the Rays 8 innings to collect 3 hits off of Joba. It took them 4 batters to do the same against reliever Brian Bruney in the 9th. Carl Crawford led off with a triple and Evan Longoria followed up with a 2-run shot. With 1 out, Bruney allowed a double to Carlos Pena and Joe Girardi and Yankee fans everywhere had seen enough. It was time to bring in the great Mariano. Rivera sandwiched 2 Ks around a walk to seal the victory. As for Bruney, his ERA is now an unseemly 6.16 in 19 innings of work.

There was a little showdown earlier in the game, though no fireworks came from it. In the bottom of the 4th, Joba buzzed Longoria's clock tower with a high hard one that sent the overrated slugger sprawling. Garza glanced a high and tight fastball off of Tex's shoulder in the top of the 5th. Garza stupidly admitted to hitting Tex after the game. I smell a 6-game suspension coming. Are things even now? Perhaps something to watch in future series.

Elsewhere: Boston must have still been stunned from Oakland's comeback win last night. The Athletics came out and put up a 5-spot on the board in the 1st inning. They would hold on and beat the Sawx 8-6 as the Yanks now lead them by 3.5 games. The Rays fell behind by 7.5 games. Phillies traded for last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee, and OF Ben Francisco from Cleveland for a slew of prospects. The Pirates continued their fire sale, dumping SS Craig Wilson and P Ian Snell to the Mariners and then pawning off the other half of their middle infield, Freddy Sanchez to the Giants. When will baseball begin contracting these non-competitive, joke of a franchise teams? I would start by eliminating the Pirates and Nats.

Yankees Record: 62-39

Game 96 - Joba Pitches Yanks to 8th Straight Win

Oakland traded it's biggest weapon, Matt Holliday, earlier in the day, and Joba Chamberlain took advantage of their depleted lineup in the Yanks 8-3 victory. Joba tossed 7 solid innings, limiting the Athletics to 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 6. He improved his season record to 6-2 as he settled down after giving up a run in the 1st inning on an Orlando Cabrera double, stolen base and a sac fly. After Ryan Sweeney's single in the second, Joba didn't allow another hit in the game.

For the second straight night, it appeared the Yankee batters might be in for a long night. Last night, Vin Mazzaro dialed up 6 of the first 10 Bomber hitters. Tonight, Oakland starter, Brett Anderson, struck out the side in the first inning and retired the first 6 hitters. Coming into the game, he had a 21-inning scoreless streak, including a complete game, 2-hit shutout against Boston. In the 3rd inning, the Yanks ended Anderson's scoreless streak and scratched out 2 runs on RBIs from Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon. They tacked on single runs in the 5th and 6th on RBI groundouts from Damon and Hideki Matsui.

Last night, Phil Hughes picked up his first major league save. In the 8th, the other half of the Philtys, Phil Coke, came in to bail out Joba who walked and hit a batter to put runners on 1st and 2nd with none out. Coke sandwiched a fly out with 2 strike outs to escape the inning. The Yanks broke the game open when they put up a 4-spot in the bottom frame. Jorge Posada deposited a shot deep into the night to left field. They scored their other runs on an error and singles from Jeter and Damon. Jeter and Damon combined for 5 RBIs in the game.

In the 9th, there was a David Robertson sighting, though it wasn't pretty. He allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, but on a positive note, he did throw strikes, getting the ball over the plate on 15 of 20 pitches.

Now an ex-Athletic, Matt Holliday went 4-5 with an RBI and stolen base in his St. Louis Cardinals debut tonight. His 4 hits were 2 more than his old team had against Joba Chamberlain. According to the baseball experts, the A's brought in a good haul for Holliday, including a first rounder from last year's draft, Brett Wallace. It must be hard being an Oakland fan with such a high player turnover. I don't know why they print t-shirts with players names on the backs. I can't count the number of former players' names I see on shirts and jerseys when I attend games in Oakland - Zito, Harden, Haren, Mulder and Swisher, just to name a few. It looks like all those Eric Chavez jerseys should be a safe bet - chances are his playing days are numbered.

Yankees Record: 59-37

Game 91 - Joba Leads Yanks to Sweep Over Tigers

Perhaps the All Star break gave Joba Chamberlain time to reflect on his mixed first half performance. In his first start after the respite, Joba held Detroit to 1 run in 6.2 innings and struck out 8, demonstrating the ability and potential he has as a future ace. He wasn't exactly sharp, but unlike recent starts, he was able to dance in and out of trouble by inducing pop outs and striking out hitters at key moments. Joba did finish with a flourish though, retiring the final 7 batters he faced, 5 on strikeouts. Joba's only blemish of the day came on a Clete Thomas HR when he hung a fat, hanging slider.

ARod and Mark Texeira provided all the offense for the Yanks, respectively hitting solo shots in the 4th and 6th innings. Tigers All Star starter, Edwin Jackson, limited the Yanks to 5 hits, although he did walk 5 hitters, too.

The Philtys, Coke and Hughes built the bridge to Mariano Rivera. Coke retired the dangerous Curtis Granderson for the last out in the 7th, and Hughes pitched a scoreless 8th with 2 more strikeouts against the Tigers after striking out 6 on Friday.

The Yankees received good news when the fraudulent Red Sox finally faced Roy Halladay after ducking him twice in 2 previous series vs. the Blue Jays. Halladay led the Jays to a 3-1 victory in a complete game effort. The Sox loss left the Yanks one game behind the division lead.

Yankees Record: 54-37

Game 86 - Angels Bedevil Yanks

After 1 inning, things appeared golden for the Yanks. The offense spotted starter, Joba Chamberlain, with 3 runs, and he responded with a quick 1-2-3 first inning. Plus, the Angels were playing without their sluggers, Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter, both placed on the DL this week. The Yanks tacked on another run in the 2nd when Johnny Damon's single knocked in Jose Molina, fresh off the DL from his quad strain. The Angels came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the 2nd, and the score remained 4-1 till ARod's long bomb in the 5th, put the Yanks in great position with a 4-run lead. In the bottom of the 5th, the train derailed off the track.

After the first inning, Joba wasn't particularly sharp. He gave up 5 hits in his next 3 innings before he got lit up in the 5th. A couple of singles, a couple of stolen bases, an ARod error and a jack to dead center for Kendry Morales tied the score at 5. After the homer, Joba gave up a double, and he headed for an early shower. In his past 2 starts, he's been absolutely dreadful. He's given up 18 hits, 13 runs, 7 earned in only 8 innings. That's not even acceptable for a 5th starter. Perhaps it's time for Joba to be sent down to the minors and find his rhythm, regain his confidence, and learn to attack hitters like he did when he came out of the pen. As the season has gone on, he's regressed as a starter.

Things got worse for the Yanks after Joba's departure. With the Yanks bullpen depleted after tossing nearly 6 innings the game before, highly touted reliever, Mark Melancon, was recalled from Triple A and the Yanks optioned Jonathan Albaladejo back to the Scranton shuttle. Melancon hasn't impressed in his brief stints with the big league club this season. He gave up 3 runs, 2 earned, in 2.1 innings. He wasn't helped out in the 7th, when Derek Jeter made a very rare drop on a pop up and Brian Bruney came in to relieve. Bruney walked the first batter and coughed up a dinger to the 9th hitter in the lineup, Erick Aybar, that gave the Angels a 10-6 lead after 7 innings.

The Angels banged out 9 runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings, as the Yanks suffered the consequences for their overextended bullpen. Melancon, despite all the high expectations, has shown nothing in his short time. Bruney better start pitching better, because he's may find himself in garbage time situations a la Brett Tomko. At this point, I'd rather see Tomko in a tough spot than Bruney.

Derek Jeter's 4 hits and ARod's 3 hits paced the Yanks offense in their 14-hit attack. On most nights, 6 runs would have been more than efficient, particularly with the way the Yanks have been pitching lately. But Joba's recent struggles has to be troubling to the Yanks hierarchy.

Yankees Record: 52-34 - 1 game back again

Game 81 - Aceves Restores Order

At exactly the season's halfway point, the Yankees find themselves in good shape. They defeated Toronto, 10-8, today in a slugfest to put them a season-high 15 games over .500 and 1 game back of the Red Sox. Today's game was sort of a microcosm of their season so far - it started with high hopes, followed by a slight setback, and ended with a flourish.

The Yankee bats rallied for a quick 4-0 lead in the first 2 innings, highlighted by The Captain scoring 2 of those runs and Jorge Posada knocking in 2. Yankee starter, Joba Chamberlain, quickly squandered his early gifts from the lineup, as he was tattooed for 8 runs in the 3rd and 4th innings. In the 3rd, he gave back 3 of those runs with 2 out, including a 2-run shot by Adam Lind. Things got much worse in the 4th. With one on and one out, Cody Ransom, playing for the resting ARod, misplayed a grounder at 3B. Joba retired the next batter. Unfortunately, it would be the last out he'd register for the day.

Raul Chavez, a career backup catcher toting a career batting average of .228, laced his 2nd double of the game to tie the score at 4. Marco Scutaro followed up with a 2-run single. Joba then surrendered his second homer of the game to Aaron Hill, putting the Jays up 8-4. Granted, all 5 runs of the inning were unearned, but Joba had an opportunity to stop the threat with 2 outs. Instead, he got lit up for 3 straight run-scoring hits. He also gave up another single to Adam Lind before manager Joe Girardi had seen enough. Joba's line for the day: 3.2 innings, 9 hits, 8 runs, 3 ER and only 1 K. Terrible.

The Yanks desperately needed Joba to give them length today after their bullpen tossed 6.2 innings in yesterday's extra inning affair. Obviously, he failed miserably. Phil Hughes, Phil Coke and Brian Bruney were all unavailable out of the pen due to their numerous appearances lately. The Yanks brought up Jonathan Albaladejo from the minors in place of the injured Chien-Ming Wang. He tossed 1.1 shutout innings in his return to the big league. In the meantime, the Yanks began their comeback.

In the bottom of the 4th, Hideki Matsui, batting 5th in the lineup instead of the inept Robinson Cano, rocketed a 3-run shot, bringing the Yanks within 1 run. In the 5th, The Captain put the Yanks ahead to stay with an opposite-field 2-run shot. Posada followed up 3 batters later with an RBI double to give the Yanks a 10-8 lead. Both Jeter and Posada finished the day going 4-5.

The Yankees brought in Alfredo Aceves in the 6th, hoping to piece together some innings for the tired bullpen. Aceves' performance today was nothing short of spectacular. Aceves pitched the final 4 innings, giving up only 1 hit while striking out 5 and recording his first save. He threw 43 pitches, 33 of them for strikes. When he retired the side in the 6th and 7th innings, it marked the first time either team went down in order. Not only did he rest the young arms of Bruney, Coke, and Hughes, he also rested Mariano Rivera, who had pitched in 5 of the previous 6 games. I applaud Joe Girardi for sticking with the hot hand and not going to the well again with Mariano. Aceves ended the game in style, too, striking out his final 2 hitters.

Yankee notes: Chien-Ming Wang went on the 15-day DL with a shoulder strain. No word on who will start next Thursday in his place. Robinson Cano ran his streak to 0-21 with RISP. It's the longest streak in the AL this season. Absolutely abysmal. He shouldn't see the light of day in the middle order again if Girardi has any brains. With the Angels and Rangers tied atop the AL West, they both trail the Yanks by 2.5 games for the wildcard. The Rays have fallen 5 back. Maybe they want to stop their socialist ways and spend some money to help that talented team.

Yankees Record: 48-33

Game 76 - Yanks Streak Reaches 6

The Bombers continued their winning ways, prevailing 8-5 over Seattle, despite their struggles with RISP and blowing two different 2-run leads. Joba Chamberlain squared off against Seattle's own flamethrower - Brandon Morrow (picked ahead of Tim Lincecum!). Both starters were less than impressive. Joba allowed 9 hits and 3 walks in only 5.1 innings, and repeatedly found himself in a full count on most hitters. He allowed a HR to the .133 hitting Ronny Cedeno and blew a 3-1 lead in the 5th, allowing the Mariners to chip away for 2 more runs to knot the score. Morrow wiggled through 3 bases loaded jams, minimizing the Yanks to 3 runs in his 4.2 innings of work, despite giving up 5 hits and 5 walks. The Yankees certainly didn't help their cause or provide Joba with a comfortable lead, starting the game 0-10 with RISP.

ARod gave the Yanks their second 2-run lead of the night when he absolutely crushed a high-inside fastball in the 7th. It wouldn't last long. Brian Bruney gave up 2 runs in the 8th after he relieved the impressive Phil Hughes who tossed 9 pitches in the previous frame. I guess Joe Girardi is intent on Bruney being his 8th inning bridge to Mariano. However, Bruney's been ineffective since his return from the DL. In 4.2 innings, he's given up 3 runs, 4 hits, 5 walks with only 3 Ks. Brian Cashman said today that the Yankees may be hampering Hughes long term as a starter, but the team's current needs require him to be in the bullpen. Perhaps it's time to let Hughes throw multiple innings, a la Mariano in 1996, and be the 8th inning reliever, at least till Bruney can rediscover his form.

Luckily, the Yanks had one more rally in them in the 8th. Melky Cabrera laced a run scoring double and The Captain followed by knocking in 2 more runs with a single to give the Yanks the 8-5 lead. They finished the game 4-16 with RISP. Better late than never. In the 9th, the great Mariano came on to record his 501st career save, characteristically ending it with a punch out. The Yanks honored Mariano before the game by having him throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Notes: Great night overall for Yankee fans. Boston blew a 10-1 lead to Baltimore, giving up an astronomical 10 runs in the 7th and 8th innings. What happened to the "best" bullpen in baseball? Justin Masterson, Hideki Okajima, Takashi Saito and Papelbum were bitch-slapped in Baltimore's epic comeback. If I were a Red Sox fan, I'd want to throw up tonight. Thank the good Lord, I'm not. There's nothing to like about this smug team. They're so smug, they walked off the field in the 6th with only 2 outs! How embarrassing. Speaking of smug, the Rays won their 7th straight. Look out.

Yankees Record: 44-32 - season high 12 games over .500

Game 71 - Joba, Yanks End Slide

Things looked grim, as the first 15 Yankees were retired through 5 innings. Despite a closed door meeting between the hitters, and Joba Chamberlain knocking out Braves starter, Kenshin Kawakami, with a line drive to the neck in the 3rd, the Yanks could muster nothing. Not even against Braves reliever, Kris Medlen, owner of an ERA just under a tick of 6.00. When Jeff Francouer took Joba deep in the bottom of the 5th, I'm sure a lot of Yankee fans, including myself, felt that could be the ballgame.

Brett Gardner finally broke up the perfect game with a leadoff walk in the 6th. However, all hope appeared dashed when Gardner was horrendously called out on a pickoff at first. Replays clearly showed Gardner beat the tag back to the bag. Joe Girardi jumped all over the ump for his terrible gaffe and earned an early shower. Girardi's boot finally awakened the slumbering bats of the Yanks.

Francisco Cervelli tied the game up with his 1st ML home run, providing a huge lift to an offense that was clearly pressing. With 2 out, hits by Jeter and Damon, and a walk to Tex loaded the bases for the enigmatic ARod. Struggling through a 1-25 slump, ARod quickly fell behind 0-2 in the count. After fouling off a pitch, he laced a single to right to knock in 2 runs and giving the Yanks a 3-1 lead on what was considered an endangered species around these parts - the 2-out hit with RISP.

Nick Swisher, who had a mysterious closed door meeting with GM Brian Cashman and Girardi earlier in the day and then found himself in the lineup after being initially left off of it, laced an opposite field HR to left to make it 4-1 Yanks in the 6th. Joba pitched into the 7th before he ran into trouble. The Braves rallied to make it 4-3 with Phil Coke closing out the inning, thanks in part to a circus catch by Swisher in RF. The Yanks would "rally" for 2 more runs in the 8th, despite Robinson Cano's best efforts to sabotage the whole inning. With the bases loaded, no outs, Cano embarrassed himself, yet again, by hitting it to 1B for a force out at home. Braves catcher, Brian McCann, hit Cano in the back in an attempt to double him up at first, leading to the 5th run. Swisher knocked in another run with an RBI groundout. Someone please tell me how Cano is still hitting 5th in this lineup.

There was a Brian Bruney sighting in the 8th, but with 2 outs, he ran into trouble, setting the stage for another rare sight - Mariano Rivera. Mo hasn't pitched in 8 days, but it didn't show in his performance tonight. He struck out all 4 batters he faced, recording his 16th save this season and 498th of his career. He even got to bat with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th, while the Yanks cushioned the lead to 8-4. Mo hit a hard liner to CF to end the inning, as his amused teammates were hopeful it would fall in for a hit. It's been awhile since these guys had any fun.

After starting the game 0-15, the Yanks ended it by going 10-20 after Girardi's ejection, with 2 dingers and scoring in every inning after the 5th. Joba improved to 4-2 on the season, 4-0 on the road. They'll face an old foe in Derek Lowe tomorrow in the rubber match.

Other AL East notes: Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay all won. Big Sloppy hit his 7th HR of the year, 6th this month, as the Sawx beat Craig "Yankee Killer" Stammen. They've never seen him before either, yet they proved it is possible to beat someone the first time a team faces a pitcher. That excuse is getting old for the Yanks. Other teams are beating these first timers like a drum, so why can't a club of the Yankees caliber do the same? Besides, they've faced the likes of Josh Beckett and Roy Halladay all the time and they still beat the Yanks regularly, so that "facing a pitcher the first time" theory is garbage. Pat Burrell helped Tampa beat his old team, the Phillies. I'm sure that will be a topic of discussion in Philly tomorrow.

Yankees Record: 39-32

Game 66 - Yanks Lose Their Bats During Rain Delay

The Yankee game was delayed 5.5 hours by rain today, and someone must have packed up the Yankees bats for their upcoming road trip to Miami. The pesky GNats shutout the boys from the Bronx, 3-0, as another no-name pitcher from nowhere, Craig Stammen, befuddled, bamboozled, hoodwinked and stymied the Yanks for 6.1 innings. For Stammen, who entered the game with a robust 5.86 ERA, it was his first major league victory.

The Yanks embarrassed themselves by dropping 2 of 3 to the worst team in baseball. Until yesterday, the Nationals hadn't won a road game since May 13th. Coming into the series, they had lost 25 of 30 games. In the 3 game series, they combined for 7 runs and 19 hits against the worse pitching team. Totally inexcusable and absolutely unacceptable. After being swept in Boston last week, this was the perfect series to gain those 3 games back. Unfortunately, the Yanks lackluster performance during this series negated all chances of that happening. If Elijah Dukes made some plays on 2 catchable balls in game 1, we might be discussing a Nationals sweep.

As for the game, Joba Chamberlain's performance was nothing to write home about. It was a quality start, 3 runs in 6 innings. He yielded 7 hits and 4 walks, with six of the hits to Ryan Zimmerman and Christian Guzman combined. He struck out 6. One of his walks came with the bases loaded for the second game in a row. He walked Wil Nieves, yes, the same Wil Nieves that started his Yankee career 0-26. That was after he walked Willie Harris to load the bases. Between these guys, they have 1 HR this year, and Nieves has 1 lifetime HR to his name in 400+ career at bats. God awful. But Joba could have walked 10 runs in, because the Yankee hitters weren't going to do anything tonight.

Unfortunately for the Yanks, the lineup has gone in a collective slump, with the exception of Cano. Jeter is nursing a sore ankle and Damon is struggling. Teixeira, who like Icarus, flew too close to the sun, looks like he is coming back down to earth. And who can blame Tex, because no one stays that hot forever. ARod looks lost or injured or both. He's using all upper body on his swings and doesn't appear to be getting the torque his strong lower body usually gives him. Is that hip bothering him? Posada's in a small funk and Matsui is looking closer to 55 then his reported age of 35. Melky has also been slumping. Of course Cano is hitting - there's no men on for him! Before Swisher's 2 hits tonight, he was in an 0-16 slump.

The Yanks had a scare in the 8th inning. Brett Gardner made a great catch crashing up against the CF fence, but nearly knocked himself out as he hit the plexiglass. Initial tests revealed no concussions and he is expected to travel with the team tonight to Florida. The Yanks need to be careful - they don't want a Ryan Church issue like the Mets had last year when they brought him back too early.

As usual for the Yanks, now that they're not hitting, their pitching is coming around. The bullpen has been outstanding lately. Aceves, Coke, Hughes and Robertson have all been exceptional this month and now they have Brian Bruney back. If this team can having everything clicking at once, I don't think anyone in baseball could beat them. Hopefully, the bats will come around again - soon. Especially with a 9-game road trip in the National League parks - they'll be unable to use a DH.

Other notes: The Sawx lost to the Marlins in a rain-shortened game. I thought Boston would keep Florida there till the wee hours of the morning to give them an opportunity to rally. Thank you Mother Nature. Luckily, the Rays loss as well. Look out, Toronto! Despite losing Roy Halladay to the DL, they just swept Philadelphia and sit one game back of the Yanks. The Bombers hold a tenuous 1 game lead over the Jays and Angels for the wild card, but there's plenty of season left. KRod blew a save tonight against Baltimore with Joba's fist pumping buddy, Aubrey Huff getting the walkoff hit. Yanks are 8-8 this month.

Yankees Record: 37-29

Tex - flying too close to the sun, had to come crashing down.

Game 61 - The Popup Heard 'Round the World

In a game with more twists and turns then the Coney Island Cyclone, it was only fitting how the intraleague rivalry game between the Yanks and Mets ended tonight.  Before the start of the game, it looked like a total mismatch with Joba Chamberlain facing off against Mets pitcher, Livan Hernandez.  The depleted Mets lineup is missing Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado and Hernandez came into the game with an 0-3 record and 6.37 ERA against the Bombers.  It seemed the perfect recipe for the Yanks to put the Boston embarrassment behind them, but there's a reason why these games are played on the field and not on paper.

Amazingly enough, the first inning went quickly and quietly, as both pitchers retired the side.  Cano got things started with a homer in the 2nd - solo, of course, because Cano has no clue how to hit with men on.  I feel like a broken record when it comes to Cano, as he left 2 more men in scoring position tonight.  

Joba looked real good for 2 innings, but took a trip on the wild side in the 3rd.  He walked the light-hitting Brian Schneider and the punchless Alex Cora, before hitting the overmatched Fernando Martinez to load the bases for Carlos Beltran.  Joba walked him after a 10-pitch battle, tying the game at 1.  It looked like Joba would work out of trouble when he struck out the dangerous David Wright, but then he hit Ryan Church with a pitch, gift-wrapping 2 runs without a single hit for the Mets.  It also took him a whopping 43 pitches to get out of the inning.  

The Yanks took the lead for the second time in the 3rd on Mark Teixeira's league leading 20th HR.  The 2-run shot put the Yanks up 3-2.  Joba ruined the good mood in the 4th.  After quickly retiring the first 2 batters, he walked the equally punchless Luis Castillo and Cora (his 2nd walk) before getting out unscathed.  Unfortunately, that frame cost Joba another 25 pitches, giving him an even 100 on the night, only 52 for strikes.  It also ended Joba's night after 4 innings.  He only allowed 1 hit, but his 5 walks and numerous full counts did him in.  Joba and Jorge Posada didn't connect all night on signs, as Joba continually shook him off and Jorge wore out a path to the mound.  Jorge, at one point, barked at Joba, probably telling him to stop throwing breaking balls and throw his damn fastball.  Joba just wouldn't ease up on the slider tonight, despite having no control with it.  Why anyone with a plus 90's fastball would shy away from using it is astounding.

Enter Bret Tomko in the 5th - goodbye Yankee lead.  He got shelled for 4 runs, including a bomb to ol' Yankee buddy, Gary Sheffield.  The Yanks have been very charitable this week to struggling, overaged sluggers (see:  Ortiz, David).   The Captain, Derek Jeter, got one back in the bottom frame with a solo shot, bringing the Yanks within 6-4.  Hernandez, despite yielding 3 homers, was being efficient, not allowing the Yanks any rallies - until the 6th.  With 1 out, Cano singled (again, no men on) and Posada walked.  Mets manager, Jerry Manuel brought in freshly called up lefty, Jon Switzer, to face birthday boy, Hideki Matsui.  Last year, I saw Matsui hit a grand slam, live, at Oakland.  This year, I watched him take Switzer's first pitch on TV and deposit it into the rightfield seats.  With the game's 5th lead change, the Yanks went up 7-6.  

It didn't stay that way for long, as ol' man Sheff led off the 7th with a gapper for a double.  2 batters later, the game was tied.  In the bottom frame, both ARod and Cano (seeing a pattern here with this guy?) left a man on 2nd.  In the top of the 8th, Phil Coke quickly retired the first 2 hitters.  He retired the last 4 overall.  Joe Girardi then panicked.  Apparently, he spent most of his day reading Yankee blogs or listening to the sports radio about how he should have used Mariano Rivera in the 8th against Boston yesterday.  I thought Girardi was in a tough spot in yesterday's loss and gave him a pass.  Not today.  As soon as he called for Mo to face Beltran, I didn't understand why he would turn the switch-hitter around to bat left-handed at Yankee Stadium.  Mo walked Beltran and then gave up a run scoring double to David Wright.  Absolute terrible call.  And historically, Mo is not as dominant when he enters a game tied.  

Entering the bottom of the 9th, trailing 8-7, things looked grim for the Yanks as KRod entered the game, a perfect 16-16 in save situations.  The Captain provided a small window of hope as he singled with 1 out.  He stole second on Johnny Damon's strike out, leaving it up to Big Tex.  KRod pitched around Tex, bringing up ARod.  He fell behind ARod, and to my horrors, I was afraid he would walk ARod, too, and leave the fate of the game in Robinson Cano's hands.  It never got that far - on a 3-1 count, ARod lifted a popup towards 2B.  Angrily slamming his bat to the ground as he trotted to first, Mets 2nd basemen Castillo circled under the ball - and dropped it!  Jeter scored and Big Tex hustled all the way from 1B with the miraculous winning run.  It looked like the bad dream of a little leaguer and it's something I've never seen end a baseball game (the Bill Buckner play comes the closest thing to it).   

For one night - the sins of Cano, Rivera and Girardi could be forgotten as the Yankees bless their good fortune.

Yankees Record:  35-26    

Game 56 - Cardiac Kids Come Through Again

For 7 innings, the Yankee bats looked lethargic, collecting only 4 hits and a run on a Nick Swisher HR.  Meanwhile, Joba Chamberlain pitched 6 solid innings, limiting Tampa Bay to 5 hits and 3 runs.  He only walked one and struck out 4.   The game was tied 1-1 till the sixth, when Joba, who had only thrown 70 pitches coming into the inning, lost command of his fastball.  In his last inning of work, he labored through 30 pitches and surrendered a 2-out, 2-run single to Gabe Gross to give the Rays a 3-1 lead.  

Things looked grim for the Yanks coming into the 8th.  Joe Nelson, coming into the game toting a robust ERA over 6.00, relieved Tampa starter, Matt Garza, and retired 6 straight Yanks without even giving them a whiff of first base.  Grant Balfour answered the bell for the 8th and retired his first batter.  But, as the hometown heroes have done time and again in this young season, they rose from the deck and mounted their signature rally.  Johnny Damon started it off innocently enough with a hard fought single on a 1-2 count after fouling off a couple of mid-90s fastballs.  Mark Teixeira followed with a rip off the right field wall, but held to a single because he hit it so hard.  ARod loaded the bases with a walk and then things really starting going the Yankees way.  

Robinson Cano pulled off the rare feat of actually walking with the bags juiced.  Cano has been swinging at a lot of first pitch swings lately, bringing on his old, terrible habits of yesteryear, but looked patient at the plate as he drew a 5-pitch walk.  Posada then stepped up to the plate with the tying run at 3rd, the same position he found himself in last Sunday's loss when he failed miserably by ending that threat with a double play.  Posada failed again today, but was spared by the ineptitude of the Rays defense.  3B Willie Aybar couldn't handle Posada's potential double play grounder, allowing the tying run to score and keeping the bases loaded with 1 out.  Hideki Matsui then chopped the ball up the middle to the 2B, and once again, Posada almost blew the Yanks chance of taking a 4-3 lead when he ran straight into the Ben Zobrist's tag, but Matsui found another gear in those old, tired legs of his, and beat the throw to first.  Without the ball leaving the infield (because they're the Yankees and they wouldn't know a sac fly if one came up and bit them on the ass), they scored 3 runs to take the 4-3 lead.  

Mariano Rivera avenged yesterday's poor outing by retiring the side in the 9th for his 13th save.  Alfredo Aceves picked up his 4th win, pitching 2 brilliant innings in relief of Joba, striking out 4, including the side in the 8th.  As for the Rays, it's enjoyable to watch their socialistic ways catch up to them in the bullpen.  By signing cheap retreads like Troy Percival and Jason Isringhausen and mixing and matching the rest of the bullpen with hacks (although JP Howell is not too bad), they are costing themselves a good shot at challenging for the division.  I can only imagine how good this team could be if they signed someone like K-Rod in the offseason.  Why wouldn't they even make an offer?  Their weak-ass bullpen nearly cost them the game yesterday as well, as the Yanks tied the game in the 8th and almost came back from a 4-run deficit in the 9th.  I'm glad I don't root for this team - their bullpen would give me a stroke.  Are Tampa fans calling for David Price to pitch in the pen a la Yankee fans with Joba?  Better question - are there any real Tampa fans in existence?

Yankees Record:  33-23, .5 game up on the Sox who lost today to Texas.  One more with Tampa Bay tomorrow and then 3 games in Boston.  Should be an interesting test.

Game 51 - Yanks Walk Out of Cleveland With Win

With Chien-Ming Wang pitching decently in relief and Phil Hughes coming into his own, the "Joba to the bullpen" fanatics started circling their wagons again.  In response, Joba Chamberlain came out and threw a career-high 8 innings, limiting Cleveland to 2 runs on 4 hits with 5 Ks in the 5-2 victory.  Who still wants Joba in the bullpen now?  Joba came out with ace-like stuff, flashing all 4 of his pitches as he was perfect for the first 3 frames.   In the 4th, he made his only real mistake of the night when he surrendered a solo homer to Victor Martinez, tying the game at 1.  

The play of the game came in the 5th, with Joba showing off his catlike reflexes.  He turned a Kelly Shoppach popup bunt into a highlight play, going full out on a dive (Joe Girardi characterized it as a bellyflop) and miraculously speared the ball as he hit the turf.  Runners were on 1st and 2nd, no out, and as he caught the ball, he jumped up and threw a strike to Derek Jeter to double up the runner.  

The Yankee hitters almost didn't provide Joba any support tonight.  Going into the top of the 6th, they loaded the bases on 3 walks with none out.  ARod, Posada and Cano were coming to the plate.  They all failed miserably and all runners were stranded.  ARod struck out.  Posada, after blowing yesterday's game, promptly swung at the first pitch and tapped back weakly to the mound, forcing the runner at home.  And, to finish off the humiliation, Cano lined out to left to end the inning.  

In the top of the 7th, like deja vu all over again, they loaded the bases on 3 walks.  With one out, Nick Swisher, batting in the 2-hole with Johnny Damon resting, ripped an opposite field double to left that just missed a grand slam by a foot.  After an intentional walk to Tex to reload the bases, ARod hit a 2-run single to finish up the Yankees scoring.  The Indians walked the Yanks 11 times tonight and the score could have been much worse, if the Yanks had come through with all of their opportunities.  They were 3-13 with runners in scoring position, and with Posada failing in yesterday's loss, I hope this doesn't start becoming a trend like earlier in the season.  They've been playing exceptionally well for the better part of a month now and cannot let up, playing in the brutal AL East.  

The Yanks defense went errorless tonight for the 18th straight game, setting a major league record, and to make it sweeter, broke the 2006 Red Sox record.  Joba wasn't the only pitcher to make an outstanding play tonight, either.  On the final batter of the game, Mariano Rivera fielded a Baltimore-chop over his head from Shin-Soo Choo and threw him out by a step at first for his 11th save in 12 opportunities.  With tonight's win, the Yanks gained a half game over the idle Red Sox.

Yankees Record:  30-21

       

Game 41 - Joba Hurt - Can't Stop Yanks

Despite losing Joba Chamberlain after 2/3 inning tonight, the Yanks won their 9th straight for their longest streak of the Joe Girardi era.  In the top of the 1st, Joba took a liner off his leg from Baltimore's Adam Jones.  Joba recovered to throw him out, but after attempting to tough it out, he was taken out of the game after giving up back-to-back singles while clearly limping around.

Though it was a setback for the Yanks, it didn't slow them down as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead after 2 innings.  The hit barrage started with 3 straight doubles from Jeter, Cano and Teixeira in the 1st.  Cano would also tack on a 2-run shot in the 2nd inning en route to a 3 hits and 3 RBIs.  Matsui would add a solo blast to the upper deck in the 5th.

After going 2 pivotal innings last night, Alfredo Aceves came up big again, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings.  Jonathan Albaladejo relieved Aceves and looked terrible getting slapped around, giving up all 4 of the Orioles runs in 2.1 innings, including 2 dingers.  Jose Veras surprisingly made an appearance and even contributed, pitching 1.2 innings, and for a change of pace, didn't walk a batter.  The great Mariano finished up for his 9th save in the Bombers 7-4 victory.  

Aceves has been a Godsend for the Yanks bullpen (and their fans), giving up just 2 runs in 13.2 innings of relief this season.  He picked up his 3rd win tonight, all coming during this streak.  Aceves could prove to be a dual threat for Joe Girardi, able to be the long man out of the pen, or the bridge to Brian Bruney and Mariano.       

Big test for the Yanks win streak this weekend.  They'll be hosting the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies as they wrap up their 10-game homestand.  They'll be sending out their top 3 guns:   Burnett, Pettitte, and Sabathia.  It should be a good test for the Yanks.

Yankees Record:  24-17

Game 16 - Brutal Loss

Tonight was a brutal loss to swallow for Yankee fans. Up 4-2 in the bottom of the 9th with 2 out, Mariano Rivera served up a game tying gopher ball to Jason Bay. And then to top off the evening, Kevin "Please Don't Throw at my Big Head" Youkilis won the game in the 11th with a moon shot off of Damaso Marte.

Joba Chamberlain started the game for the Yanks and apparently was visited by the ghost of Chien-Ming Wang past, using 4 double plays in 5 1/3 innings to constantly duck out of trouble and avoiding the big innings by the Bosox. He walked 4 and struck out 2, both Ks coming against the blow hard, hypocrite Big Sloppy Ortiz, who called out Joba for throwing near the Nugget Youkilis' head a couple of times. When Joba left in the 6th with one out, I must admit, I had no confidence the Yankees bullpen would be able to reach Rivera with a lead. Never in my imagination did I imagine Rivera would once again collapse against the hated Red Sox after a brilliant effort by the Yankees pen to bridge the gap to him.

Although the Red Sox had many chances early in the game to break this game open, the Yankees had just as many, if not more, and were a putrid 4-19 with runners in scoring position, blowing one opportunity after another. It seemed like they had 2 runners on base every inning, but couldn't come up with the big hit to put the game out of reach. Hopefully, this game will not carry over the rest of the weekend, however, they must face old nemesis Josh Beckett in Saturday's afternoon match.

Yankee Bomber Doghouse: Rivera. C'mon, you can't be serving up a game tying HR with 2 out in the 9th. Haven't you blown enough saves against the Sox? And of all teams, this just kills Yankee fans. Nick Swisher makes the list for failing to get in a run with the bases loaded and no outs. Different season, different players, and yet the same old results that haunted and killed this team last year - failing to get that runner in from third with less than 2 outs. Others who also failed: Cano, who hit into a miserable double play with the bases loaded in the 9th with 2-out, failing to bring in any insurance run for the Yanks. And Jeter, Teixeira and Cabrera all failed in extra innings with a runner in scoring position.

Where is Brian Bruney? Apparently, he has a cranky elbow and was sent back to NY to have it checked out. They could have used him instead of the ineffective Marte. The Yanks put the ghost of Chien-Ming Wang present on the DL with "weakness in the abductor muscles of both hips". I don't know what this is, but bravo to the Yanks for coming up with this mysterious ailment. They just can't send this guy out again till he's right. The reign of the Interstate King may have come to an end tonight. Cody Ransom was pulled from the game in the 8th for a pulled quadricep and placed on the DL after the game. The Yanks called up Dave Robertson from AAA and probably will call up Angel Berroa to replace Ransom till Arod returns. The only good thing that came out of tonight's game was watching Big Sloppy get the Golden Sombrero with 4 Ks. Time for someone to retire maybe? Or has someone's secret source dried up? Interesting.....who are those 103 other names that tested positive back in 2003? Hmmm.

Yankees Record: 9-7

Blown Wins: 2

Game 6 - Girardi Blows Game

The Yanks flushed a nice comeback today, falling to the Royals 6-4.  Manager Joe Girardi overmanaged himself, trying to play mix and match with his relievers in the 8th inning.  His relievers coughed up the 4-3 lead, and a nice performance by Joba Chamberlain, by giving up 3 runs - all after 2 outs.  

I actually blame Tony LaRussa for this loss.  He's the one that started the reliever parade in the late 1980s-early 1990s and has every manager mimicking this overblown stategy ever since. 

It's also led to the game averaging over 3 hours in length.  Girardi brought in lefty Damaso Marte to start the 8th inning and he promptly retired the first 2 batters he faced.  Marte relieved Brian Bruney, who had pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning.  Bruney has been tabbed the 8th inning bridge to Mariano Rivera, but I thought Girardi made a good move, keeping Marte for the 8th to face the Royals lefty batters.  However, that was his last good decision of the day.  

Girardi started getting cute by overthinking and overplaying his hand.  Instead of staying with the hot hand, Marte, he brought in Jose Veras to face pinch hitter, Billy Butler.  Veras promptly walked Butler and Girardi made another trip to the mound. Out goes Veras and in comes Phil Coke.  The lefty Coke promptly got lit up for 3 straight hits and when the dust settled, the lead was gone and the Yanks were down 6-4.  The Yanks promptly went down quickly in the 9th, with Royals closer Joakim Soria striking out the side.  

I don't understand why managers won't stay with the hot hand when it comes to relievers. Marte cruised through the first 2 batters.  He was in the game, already warmed up, and throwing strikes.  Let him face the righty hitter - if he gives up a hit or walk, then you can start tinkering with the idea of bringing in another reliever.  Instead, Girardi opted for the merry-go-round of relievers and paid the price.  What Girardi should have thought about, and obviously didn't, was what would he have done if the Royals just tied the game and not gone ahead?  This game could have gone 12, 13 or 14 innings and his bullpen was near depletion!  If you want the win that badly, just bring in Mariano to get the last out in the 8th and pitch the 9th.  If Mo gives up the tying run, at least Girardi still would have had plenty of relievers in the pen. 

Unfortunately, this loss will bring out the people who think Joba should be in the pen.  I think Joba should get his chance as a starter, and has the potential to be an ace someday.  I think he's more valuable giving 150-175 innings a year, opposed to 60-75 innings.  

Other disturbing trends from the game and series:  I hope Teixeira's wrist injury is minor, because Matsui is killing this lineup.  This guy is starting to look like the 53 year-old that he is. He took strike 3 right down the pipe to lead off the ninth.  Nice job.  Also, I don't want to see Melky Cabrera anywhere near a game unless the Yanks are up by 10, down by 10, or as a defensive replacement in the 9th inning.  He went 0-3 today, hitting into 2 double plays.  For the season, he's now 0-4, with a K, the 2 DPs, and a pop up.  I'd rather see some other young kid getting a chance.  Melky is what he is - a below average player.  

Nick Swisher finally played the goat, allowing a weak grounder to go through his wickets at first, leading to 2 unearned runs against Joba.  What's really disturbing for this team though, were all the strikeouts this series.  The Yanks struck out 29 times!  That's nearly 10 a game, and equivalent to a whole game worth of strikeouts.  This team needs to put the ball in play and make things happen.  Without Arod and with an aging, decrepit Matsui being run out there everyday in the lineup, their offense needs to make things happen.  You can't put pressure on a defense without hitting it into play.

Wang will need to step up tomorrow against the socialist Rays.

Yanks Record:  3-3 

Games Blown To Date:  1

P.S.  Dear TED - Please see response under Game 5 comments.

CC, Joba and Tex

Oof. Rough outing for C(rooked) C(ap) today. Let's hope he was just throwing fastballs and working on location. I haven't seen him in a Yankee uniform yet, but I hope the team makes him wear his cap the proper way instead of like a $2 thug. If I were the Yanks, I'd start collecting some of that $161M back in fines if he wears it crooked. Then again, if the guy goes out and wins 20 and brings a World Series championship, I guess I could live with it.

Speaking of wearing the cap weird, good to see Joba having a solid start yesterday. I still don't understand Yank fans who insist he stay in the bullpen. Those guys are dime a dozen - Billy Beane has proved that for years in Oakland. The guy has potential to be an ace. I'd rather have 150-175 innings out of Joba instead of 60-75 innings. During a season, there is roughly 1500 innings - why not have Joba pitch 10% or more instead of 5% or less of that total? Besides, I don't think I can stomach watching a $200M team trot out the Scranton-Wilkes Barre shuttle bus again. Please, let spring training be the only time I see Kei "Deer in Headlights" Igawa.

Hey Tex - save some of those hits for the real thing. We don't need a repeat of your slow start to the season with Arod gone for the first month+.