Yanks Make The Look-A-Likes Look-A-Like Chumps

I was worried there for a little while. It was the bottom of the 6th and the Yanks were down 2-1 and only had 2 hits. It had the making of the typical Yankee game. Good pitching, little offense, and headed toward a 1-run win or loss. And then Bobby Abreu stepped to the plate and put the Yanks back on top with a 2-run HR. Next thing I know, the Yanks are sitting on a 6-run lead, the bullpen has the ball, game over.

I'm impressed that the Yankees offense again bounced back after the team fell behind. This is the 4th straight game where the Yankees tied the game or went ahead in the same inning where they lost the lead. Yesterday, the look-alikes knotted the game at 2 in the 2nd and the Yanks scored 4. On Sunday, the A's tied the game in the 6th and the Yanks scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of the inning. On Saturday, the A's scored a run in the 9th to take a 1-run lead and the Yanks tied it up in the bottom of the 9th. Heck, on Friday the A's scored in the 1st inning and the Yanks tied it right up. That's impressive.

Overall it was a pretty good night at the plate, with the exception of the bottom of the order. Melky Melky Melky. Horrible. Just horrible. Melky has really worn out his welcome in my book. I wouldn't mind seeing him dealt but right now his value is in the toilet. I've been suggesting they deal Melky for years now. Every time i bring him up he goes on a tear so maybe I'll have that effect on him again. It's very nice to have Johnny Damon back in the lineup. It makes it so much more formidable. He did a great job tonight of setting the table, picking up 2 walks and a single, scoring twice. Glad to have you back Johnny D. Cano still has the hottest bat in the lineup and it's about time Robbie is consistently stinging the ball. Robbie now has 5 straight multi-hit games and is 12-23 since coming back from the break. I don't think it's a coincidence that the team wins when Robbie hits. His average, up to .263, is now somewhat respectable. It's not quite what we Yankee fans have come to expect from Robbie but if he keeps this up, he'll be at .300 in no time. All in all, a good night at the dish.

Rasner pitched pretty well. Michael Kay called it his best outing of the season. Oh Michael Kay. You're such a tool. He was good, but not that good. He did allow 8 baserunners in 5.2 IPs. He did leave the game on the hook for the loss. His 1st 2 outings of the season were much better than tonight's effort, which again was solid, but not his best. D-Raz did do his job. He only gave up 2 runs, which is right up there with his counterparts in the rotation. Raz has been real shaky lately and his start tonight was encouraging. Let's chalk his success up to Chad Moeller. My research department (Pete Abraham's blog) tells me that opponents have a .675 OPS against D-Raz when Moeller is his battery mate. With Posada it's .933 and with Molina it's 1.014. I think it's safe to say that Chad Moeller needs to be Rasner's personal catcher. If the rotation can keep this going, it'll make Cashman's job a little easier come the trade deadline, and it's going to leave Yankee fans saying Johan who? I think they still need an arm because the roof is eventually going to cave in on Sidney Ponson. He can't keep this up by allowing all these baserunners. A hired gun would be nice, but again, it won't be as necessary if these guys throw like they're throwing.

Again, the bullpen was awesome. 3.1 IPs of 1 hit, 1 walk, 5 K ball. David Robertson picked up a huge out in the 6th, on 1 pitch, and earned his 2nd win of the season, on 1 pitch. Not a bad night's work. Robertson has been extremely impressive since his debut, and who wouldn't be shaky in their major league debut? Since his 1st outing, D-Rob has thrown 9.1 IPs, given up 3 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, and 13 Ks. Coming into tonight, including his 1st outing, opponents are only hitting .184 off him. Joba who? Kyle Farnsworth is no longer Farnsworthless. I'm still in amazement over how well he's thrown lately. K-Farns in his last 10 games, has thrown 9 innings and hasn't given up a hit! K-Farns has technically thrown a no-hitter. Color me dumbfounded. Again, Joba who?

The Rays have lost to the A's and the Yanks are now only 3.5 back of first. They've won 5 straight and they look good. They're pitching extremely well and they're hitting the ball. Imagine how we'd be if Chien-Ming Wang were around? My man Moose is on the hill tomorrow for an afternoon game. Ugh. I have meetings from 1-3 so I'm going to miss 2/3 of the game. I'll get to follow along with the Yahoo gamecast for the first hour but I'll totally miss the 2nd. It's Moose's turn to start this all over again. None of these guys want to be the starter that breaks the streak of solid outings. You can do it Moose. Make me and my fellow Mike Mussina Fan Club members proud.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Bruney Out For Season

Pete Abraham mentions on his blog today that Brian Bruney is done for the year. This is a huge blow to the Yankees bullpen. Bruney was one of the more reliable pitchers the Yankees could call on in close games. It's unfortunate because we're likely going to get stuck with Farnsworth or Hawkins late in close games. Ugh. The Yankees called up Jonathan Albaladejo and Chris Britton to fill in down in the bullpen. Chad Moeller was DFA'd. Hopefully he clears waivers and can stick with the team. He served the Yankees very well in his short stint with the club.

Bad news for me. Pete Abe also mentions that Shelley Duncan will likely join the club tomorrow. I was really hoping he'd be with Scranton when they roll through Buffalo on Monday/Tuesday. Doesn't look like that will happen. What can you do? I wonder if his impending arrival has anything to do with Giambi stroking 2 bombs so far tonight? Maybe the Big G is reading the writing on the wall?

J-Boogie

Weekend Wrap-Up

Considering today was an off day (finally!), I thought I'd take a little tiny break from blogging and combine my last 2 recaps into 1 post covering the last 2 games. I spent the bulk of the weekend enjoying the weather and hanging out with my 8-month old son. We of course though made time for Yankees baseball.

Saturday's game was absolutely horrible. As I stated so succinctly the other day after the game, "The Yankees suck right now. The pitching sucks. The offense sucks." It was pretty brutal watching the game on Saturday. They couldn't get anything going. Ian Kennedy was absolutely horrible. I'm so glad there's an off day today because it finally gives them the chance to break up Hughes ad Kennedy in the rotation. With Pettitte in between them the bullpen should at least get some kind of break when Pettitte throws. Kennedy and Phil Hughes suffer from the same problem right now and that's that they're trying way too hard to nibble around the strike zone as opposed to attacking it. If any of you saw Joe Girardi's post game interview after Saturday's game you could totally tell he was frustrated with the free passes and the short outings. While I understand the growing pains that comes with young pitchers that are basically learning on the job, there is no excuse for not throwing strikes. We're only 20 games into the season and both Hughes and Kennedy have only made 4 starts. It's way too early to think that they'll continue to falter. Give them time and they'll be fine. Look at last year's Cy Young award winner. He's not doing too much better. They'll both be fine.

Hughes and Ian need to watch a replay of Sunday's game because Andy Pettitte showed everyone how it's done. 7 scoreless innings and no walks. He was economical with his pitches (89) and he was throwing the ball for strikes (59). Andy gave the Yankees exactly what they needed. He pitched deep into the game and finally gave the bullpen some much needed rest. I'm so glad that Andy came back for one more year. We'd be in trouble without him. But back to my point. I hope Phil and Ian were paying attention because Pettitte gave a pitching lesson. Throw strikes. Don't be shy. I don't know if Phil and Ian are trying to pick up cheap strikeouts getting guys to chase outside pitches, but they don't have to do that to be successful as Andy showed them. Throw your stuff over strikes and you'll get your Ks.

It might help the pitching staff if the offense could put some runs up on the board. Maybe the results would be a little different if these guys could pitch with a lead. Their inability to hit with runners in scoring position boggles my mind. I can see maybe 1 or 2 guys failing to deliver but it's pretty much the whole team, with the exception of maybe Derek Jeter. A-rod has been absolutely horrible. The one time he gets a hit with a guy on 3rd the runner fails to score. I'm sick of watching Melky strike out with runners on. And Giambi? I'm not saying the Yankees should follow Toronto's suit and release the Big G a la Frank Thomas but the guy has to start hitting. I'm wondering when the monster that is Shelley Duncan will reappear. Hopefully he spends the rest of them month with Scranton. They come to Buffalo a week from today and I'd like to see him.

It was nice to see some offensive production on Sunday. Figured that it happened the one time the starter gave up no runs. It's still hard to believe that as a team they're hitting around .200 with RISP, especially when about half the lineup is hitting north of .300. When it rains it pours. How awesome has it been to have backup catchers that can hit the ball? Moeller has definitely been a pleasant surprise. Never in a million years would I have expected him to hit above the Mendoza line. Thankfully he's showing me to be wrong. I couldn't stand our last few backups for the sole reason that they couldn't hit. You've got to give it up to Jeter too. He's the MVP of the team so far in my estimation. Leading the team in RBI when you typically hit in the 2 hole is pretty impressive especially when you look at the other bats on the team. A-Rod may have been on to something when he predicted Jeter would have an MVP type season. I won't go as far as saying he will, but I definitely think he'll be the team's MVP.

So they're sitting at 10-10 and headed to Chicago. It could be a heck of a lot worse all things considered. They've struggled mightily yet are still managing to play .500 ball. They've been pretty bad in recent Aprils. I'm encouraged for the most part about what I've seen. They'll only heat up. If they can just finish out the month at around .500 I think they'll do just fine.

Here's hoping the starters bounce back from last week's abysmal performances. Enjoy your night/day.

J-Boogie