Joba-mania Is Running Wild, Bullpen Still Sucking

Joba Chamberlain picked up his 1st win this season pitching a gem of a ball game. They referred to his outing as "strong" on the YES broadcast. I agree with that, but at the same time I don't. His pitching line suggests a really strong outing. 7 innings, 3 hits, 3 walks, 6 Ks, and 1 earned run. His velocity was better and his strike-to-ball ratio was good, 50 strikes to 38 balls. The only reason I'm not overly sold on the outing was how he pitched before being staked to a 6-run lead. Having a lead like that allows the pitcher to be more aggressive. A pitcher with a lead like that should attack the strike zone and that's pretty much what Joba did. Thru the 1st 3 innings, before the lead, Joba threw 47 pitches, 21 for strikes and 26 for balls. Joba in his next 4 innings threw 41 pitches, 29 for strikes and 12 for balls. I can't help but wonder how he would have done had the lead not been as large. Either way, he still had to make pitches that would likely result in an out. If only A.J. Burnett could have done that last weekend in Boston. But overall, a strong outing by Joba. I just want to see him throw less balls and more strikes.

The offense had another great night, exploding for 7 runs in the 4th. That's 2 straight games where they've had a really big inning. Nick Swisher had a huge night at the plate, going yard twice and knocking in 4. How can you not love Nicky Swish? Xavier Nady can pretty much forget about playing when he comes back, eh? Mark Teixeira went oh-fer-3 and his average is now below .200. I know he starts slow but come on Mark, you need to start hitting the ball! You're the 3-hitter for the New York Yankees. Get with the program.

Thank God the Yankees had such a big inning. The bullpen certainly made things exciting there in the 9th inning. I kind of expect outings like that from Jonathan Albaladejo but not Mariano Rivera. Should we be worried about Mo? He's given up dingers now to 2 of the last 5 hitters he's faced. Mo typically doesn't give up a lot of longballs. He gave up 4 all of last year. Not counting the 1st year of his career, Mo has allowed more than 4 HRs only twice. I checked out some game logs and Mo last gave up HRs in back-to-back appearances in August of 2003. He finished that season with an ERA of 1.66. Mo is Mo. He'll be fine.

Winning 2 straight behind 2 solid outings by the SPs and a nice outburst by the offense is a pretty nice way to finish the road trip. A.J. Burnett opens up the series tomorrow night against the Angels. Hopefully, I'll get to watch the game. Believe it or not, I haven't gotten to see any of A.J.'s starts this year. I'm kind of looking forward to it.

And I guess, congrats to Joe Girardi on win #100 as the Yankee skipper. Yay, you made it into your second year. Good for you little buddy.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie