Yankee Bats Absent In Loss To The Sad, Sad Red Rox

I'll give credit where credit is due. Hat tip to Josh Beckett on pitching a masterpiece. 8 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 walk, 10 Ks, no runs. That's a shutdown performance right there. As they say, good pitching beats good hitting, and that's exactly what happened tonight. Josh Beckett was everything the Red Sox needed him to be. And that's a good thing because if not for Josh Beckett, the Red Sox probably don't win that game.

The fact that the Red Sox won tonight does not change the fact that they're a sad, sad team. CC Sabathia for all intents and purposes was ineffective tonight. He allowed 9 hits, 4 walks and hit a batter. And somehow, he managed to leave the game down 1-0. The Red Sox managed to put 14 runners on base against CC and they scored once. That is terrible. I'd like to give CC credit for getting himself out of jams but he showed me very little tonight on the hill. The Sox were 3-14 with RISP and left 16 men on base. CC got out of the jams because the Red Sox offense is terrible. Bad pitching apparently beats bad hitting. And that sums up the Red Sox offense. Bad. Very bad.

If I was a Red Sox fan, and thankfully I'm not, I wouldn't be super-excited about this win. Sure I'd be a little geeked up but I wouldn't take this win as a sign that the tide has turned. Again, as I said, the Red Sox are a sad, sad team. It's very laughable, and kind of sad, that the Fenway Faithful bust out the "Yankees Suck" when they're team is 2-7 and playing so poorly. But I guess with a sad team you get sad fans. They've got to hang their hats on whatever they can. The Sox now have the good fortune of getting to play another sad team in the Tampa Bay Rays. It should be an interesting series to say the least.

Not much else to say about this loss. It sucked but what can you do? Josh Beckett was on his game. All you can do is tip your cap and get past it. Consider it done.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Blast Beckett, Beat Boston 7-2

Boone Logan just got David Ortiz to ground out with the bases loaded in the top of the 7th to keep the lead at 7-2 Yankees. I'm writing this before the game ends in hopes to save myself some time. I'm either getting up for work at 6am or I'm getting up earlier if the wife goes into labor. Her due date is today and she's been getting some major contractions. So who knows what's in store?

I'm going to write this one a little differently. It's going to be a mash-up of thoughts on the last 3 games. I listened to Friday's loss on the radio. I missed the 1st half of Saturday's game but caught the 2nd half on the radio. I saw all of Sunday's game. Not ideal when it comes to taking in the Yankees/Red Sox but it is what it is. I'm glad I at least got to see Sunday's game. I thought for sure I'd be tuned into the radio again since we're currently a 1 TV house and I'm low man on the totem pole.

• Congrats to Derek Jeter on passing Babe Ruth on the all-time hit list.
• Congrats to A-Rod on stealing his 300th base.
• Congrats to Lance Berkman for finally showing up. Pathetic that prior to tonight his best hit as a Yankee was during BP when he took out A-Rod.
• Dustin Moseley is the man. He's pitching his tail off and is earning his keep.
• Mariano Rivera is insanely good. I'm not sure how he keeps getting better and better as he gets older. His ERA is now below 0.90. Unreal. 1 pitch 1 out on Sunday. He's God.
• CC Sabathia is worth every penny of his salary. He hasn't allowed more than 3 ER in his last 13 starts. He's 10-2 with a 2.38 ERA in that span. The team scored 1 total run in his 2 losses.
• I hate Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. Seriously, how hard is it to pronounce the name "Beltre?"
• I wrote before that something always seems to prevent me from seeing Phil Hughes pitch. Add back spasms to that list. A.J.'s "injury" moves Phil up a day and it's a day game. No chance I'll be in front of the TV for it. Hughes v. Lester. If there's ever a game to call in sick for that's it.
• When did Boone Logan become good? 8 straight appearances without allowing a run and 7 straight without allowing a hit. 6.2 IP, 1H, 6K. Who knew?
• Not that he has been but so much for Josh Beckett being a Yankee-killer. In case there's any question about it, his membership in that club has been officially and permanently revoked. In 4 starts this year against the Yanks, JB is 0-2 and has only thrown 19.1 IP, allowing 33 hits, 11 walks, and 24 ER. That's an ERA of 11.17. Career ERA against them is now up to 6.23. What a bum.

The game's over. Yankees won 7-2. The win guarantees that the Yankees can do no worse than split this 4 game-set. Even if they lose on Monday they come out ahead. Nothing wrong with knocking 4 games off the schedule and keeping the distance between you and the team chasing you the same. But who wants to split, right? Go for the deathblow. The Red Sox are currently 8 behind the Yankees in the loss column with 52 games to play. Time is running out for the Red Sox when it comes to catching the Yankees. Big up to the Blue Jays for sweeping the Rays. The Rays have now lost 5 straight and the Yankees lead in the East is up to 2.5 games (3 in the loss column). How quickly things change!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Beckett = Good, Moose = Bad, Me = Unhappy

I think the only thing that was enjoyable about tonight's Yankees/Sox game was watching David Ortiz go 0-5. Other than that it was a pretty crappy game.

My man Moose did not have anything tonight. He was downright awful. Talk about ineffective. I got a called from my friend Dave during the game. Needless to say he's not a big Moose fan. and right now I can totally understand where he's coming from. I know people are going to be ragging on him and wanting him yanked from the rotation, but that's not the answer. It's a bad outing. It was really no different than Wang's outing the night before. Both were awful. You could even argue that Wang's outing was worse. So before anyone decides to bag on Moose, just remember that he's pitched pretty well so far, today not counting of course. He pitched pretty well last week in Fenway. The only mistake was pitching to arguably the best right-handed hitter in the game. Manny is on the verge of hitting his 500th HR. He's made many good pitcher look bad during his career. Manny absolutely owns Moose. I don't think you can look at this start and assume Moose will continue to pitch this way. With the exception of David Ortiz, the Sox bats are pretty hot right now.

Derek Jeter continues to show what timely hitting is all about. Jeter is absolutely amazing with 2 out and runners in scoring position. He's now 3-6 w/ RISP and 2 outs. As I pointed out yesterday, he hit .418 in 67 ABs with RISP and 2 outs last year. In 2006 he hit .369. If there's a guy you want up with 2 out and runners on, it's Captain Clutch. Right now the opposite of Derek is A-Rod. His foul out to the catcher now makes him 0-7 on the year with RISP and 2 outs. you'd think the reigning MVP would do a little better there. I think Alex's problem is he's looking longball. He needs to shorten up that swing and concentrate on keeping the line moving. Base hits score runs.

As much as I dislike him, you've got to tip your hat to Josh Beckett. He threw a pretty good game. He didn't really give the Yanks much of a chance tonight. When the Yanks got to him in the 5th and I thought maybe they could scratch their way back into the game. Beckett retired every batter he faced from the end of the 5th on. The Yanks just couldn't get it going.

Joe Girardi definitely needs to figure something out with the rotation. The short starts are going to kill the bullpen. They had this problem last year and that didn't work out to well. There's speculation that once the off day comes along that they're going to slide someone in between Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. I hope they do that because right now they're running the risk of too many short outings in a row. It makes total sense to move Pettitte up a day and have him throw between the 2 youngsters. Pettitte and Wang should be able to throw 6-7 innings per game. A rotation of Wang-Moose-Hughes-Pettitte-Kennedy should give the bullpen the relief it needs, especially if Moose has a decent outing.

So we're done with Boston for a few months. I like the break. These guys play way too often and it takes away from the rivalry in my opinion. I thought they matched up pretty well against the BoSox. The Yankees never play them well in April and going 2-3 against them isn't that bad.

Phil Hughes gets the call tomorrow against Baltimore and he needs to have a good outing. His last 2 outings were horrendous. He definitely needs to put those starts in the past and pitch the way we all know he can. Another short outing isn't going to cut it.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

2 Steps Foward, 1 Step Back

Just when you think maybe the Yankees are turning a corner, they fall right back into the offensive funk that's plagued them all season. The 1-5 hitters were a combined 1-16. The bottom 4 were 5-14. That won't win you a lot of ball games. Absolutely horrible. This team needs to start hitting with runners in scoring position. How they're 6-6 is beyond me? Oh yeah, it's the pitching.

Mike Mussina had another decent outing. He was economical with his pitches. His pitches had good movement. He had pretty good control on everything he threw. The only mistakes he made were to Manny Ramirez. Not the hitter you want to make mistakes on. Manny will make you pay and he did just that. Maybe they should have walked him? Who knows? I would have pitched around him. That might have been the game plan. Whatever happened, it wasn't a good pitch.

Brian Bruney didn't do Moose, or the team, any favors by giving up a hit to Youklis on an 0-2 count. He had Youk and he let him go. I like Bruney. He's done a phenomenal job so far, but he has to finish that off.

LaTroy Hawkins pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Good times.

Beckett pitched pretty well. I don't think the Yankees had a good game plan for facing him. They really only got to him in his last 2 innings when they were taking pitches and working the count. They were swinging at early pitches and Beckett was getting through innings with an extremely low pitch count. Considering Beckett's back trouble, his shortened spring training, and the cold weather, I would have thought the Yankee hitters would have been a little more patient at the plate, working counts and getting his pitch count up. The Yankees really have gotten away from making pitchers work. They've been very aggressive, swinging early and often, and I'm starting to think it has a little to do with the sub-par performance of the offense.

I like the small ball approach but it's really the only way they're scoring runs. They're failing to hit the ball with runners in scoring position. Two of the Yankees runs today came after a sac bunt, a sac fly, and a wild pitch. They're relying way too much on the pitching. The Yankees are an American League team playing a National League style game. That's not going to work in the American League. An offense the caliber of the Yankees should be knocking the ball all over the park. The pitching has been outstanding. If the offense would do its part, the Yankees would be rolling.

I thought the Yankees missed a huge opportunity in the 7th. Beckett walks A-Rod on 4 straight pitches. Giambi, with his blazing speed and amazing bat, steps into the box. Why didn't they send A-Rod? As Alex was trotting to first I'm thinking to myself, "here comes their first SB of the season." With each passing pitch I'm wondering why hasn't he gone? Giambi works the count to 2-1. There's no chance of a pitchout. Send him already! He doesn't go and Giambi predictably hits into a double play. The Yankees very well could have tied the game if they tried a swipe of 2nd. And while I'm on the subject of Giambi, I know he hit a big HR yesterday, but could there be a more useless bat in the Yankees lineup? Who does he think he is? David Ortiz?

We waited 2 hours and 11 minutes just to watch Alex strike out on 3 pitches. Personally I thought he'd ground out on the 1st pitch. It was a big spot and Papelbon got the best of him. I originally thought the whole rain delay was BS. It seemed all to convenient for the game to be halted when Papelbon was being called upon to pitch without being fully warmed up. I changed my opinion after the delay lasted 2 plus hours.

I think it's safe to say Papelbon won't pitch tomorrow. 3 warmup sessions and 20 plus pitches. Cano made him work for that last out. I love how Papelbon pointed to first on Cano's grounder. Where else is he going to throw it dummy?

It's a good thing I'm not a betting man. I predicted a Red Sox win yesterday and a Yankees win today. Shows what I know. I'm predicting a Sox win tomorrow. Hopefully the trend of me being wrong continues. Hughes vs. Dice-K on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. The last time a Yankees rookie faced the Sox on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, the Red Sox hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back HRs. Phil Hughes is no Chase Wright so I don't think we'll see that feat again tomorrow. But if tomorrow's game is anything like the first 2 of the series it'll be all about the pitching. The Sox have never faced Hughes before so that might work to his advantage. Matsuzaka has pitched pretty well this year and the Yankee bats aren't hot. It's a coin flip but I like the Sox.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Sox V. Yankees Game 2 Preview

First off, I want to send a special greeting to all my visitors from Taiwan. I hope you keep coming back so we can all celebrate our love of Wang together.

Today's lineups w/ career #s against opposing pitchers:

Yankees
Johnny Damon LF .238 5-21 w/ 3 2B, 2B B, 5 K
Melky Cabrera CF .318 7-22 w/ 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 K
Bobby Abreu RF .180 9-50 w/ 2 2B, 2 HR, 18 BB, 17 K
Alex Rodriguez 3B .223 6-22 w/2 2B, 1 HR, 4 BB, 6 K
Jason Giambi 1B .333 5-15 w/ 2 HR, 5 BB, 5 K
Jorge Posada DH .400 6-15 w/1 2B, 1 BB, 3 K
Robinson Cano 2B .389 7-18 w/ 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 K
Jose Molina C .000 0-3 w/ 2 K
Alberto Gonzalez SS .000 0-0

SP:Mike Mussina

Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury CF 0-0
Dustin Pedroia 2B .375 3-8 w/ 1 K
David Ortiz DH .259 14-54 w/ 3 HR, 6 BB, 19 K
Manny Ramirez LF .253 24-95 w/ 5 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 8 BB, 20 K
Kevin Youklis 3B .267 4-15 w/ 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
J.D. Drew RF .000 0-7 w/ 1 K
Jason Varitek C .133 8-60 w/ 1 HR, 4 BB, 25K
Sean Casey 1B .375 3-8 w/ 1 HR
Julio Lugo SS .267 8-30 w/ 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 K

SP:Josh Beckett

This from a post yesterday regarding the pitching matchup:

Mike Mussina (1-1, 3.09 ERA) vs Josh Beckett (0-1, 9.64 ERA)This game is a total question mark. Which version of each pitcher will show up? Moose has done well so far but we saw this from him last year. He'd have a string of good outings followed by a string of poor ones. Moose has done pretty well in his career vs. Boston. He's 19-15 with an ERA of 3.66 in 52 career starts. Different times, different teams, different Moose. So who knows? Beckett's spring was cut short by back problems and that might cause problems for the Sox ace. The weather forecast for Saturday is a high of 49 and showers. It's not ideal weather for either but I think it would have more of an impact on Beckett than it would Mussina. Beckett's first start was in a temperature controlled climate (Rogers Centre in Toronto). He hasn't been subjected to the elements yet. It could bring up more back problems if he's not fully recovered. The Yankees have also been able to hit Beckett. The old Yankee killer ain't what he used to be. Beckett has a career ERA of 6.56 against the Yankees. His career WHIP against them is 1.74 with an OBA of .303. Not too shabby. But again, the games aren't played on paper.

Random notes:

• Jose Molina has hit safely in his 7 starts this year and in 19 of his 23 career starts with the Yankees I've said it before, I'll say it again. I love Jose Molina. Best. Backup. Ever.
• The Yanks have 5 wins this season when scoring 4 runs or fewer. They were 12-49 last year when scoring 4 or less. It really is hard to believe they're 6-5. It's all about the pitching.
• The Yankees still don't have a stolen base and have been out stolen-based 14-0. That stat would be so much worse if Molina hadn't thrown out 50% of basestealers. In 12 attempts, he's gunned down 6. Just another reason why I love Jose.

Prediction: Moose pitches well and Yankees win. Thuhh Yankees win.

Enjoy the game.

Let's Get Ready To Rumble

It's that time of year again. Round 1 of what is by far the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Red Sox vs. Yankees. I'll admit it. For me, this rivalry isn't what it once was. The peak of the rivalry was 2003-2004. Boone's HR and the great Yankee collapse. Since then it's become a little watered down and slightly on the boring side. It seems like they play way too much and way too often. They haven't met in the playoffs since 2004 so there have been no do or die meetings between the two. The fire for the rivalry still burns. It's just not as hot. The Red Sox were definitely the better team last year. Every expert also favors them this year as well. I like being the underdog. The roles are reversed and I like it.

The pitching matchups for the series are as follows:

Game 1: Chien-Ming Wang (2-0, 1.38 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

The Yankees have never faced Buchholz before and the Yankees typically struggle with pitchers they've never faced before. Considering this season's struggles at the plate, this might be a tough one. Wang has fared well against Boston in his career. He's 3-1 with a 4.11 ERA in 5 career starts against the Sox. He's made 2 starts at Fenway, where he's 1-1 with an ERA of 6.35. Wang's numbers in Fenway aren't great, but baseball isn't played on paper. He's off to a great start so far and the Yankees will likely need another solid outing from their ace.

Game 2: Mike Mussina (1-1, 3.09 ERA) vs Josh Beckett (0-1, 9.64 ERA)

This game is a total question mark. Which version of each pitcher will show up? Moose has done well so far but we saw this from him last year. He'd have a string of good outings followed by a string of poor ones. Moose has done pretty well in his career vs. Boston. He's 19-15 with an ERA of 3.66 in 52 career starts. Different times, different teams, different Moose. So who knows? Beckett's spring was cut short by back problems and that might cause problems for the Sox ace. The weather forecast for Saturday is a high of 49 and showers. It's not ideal weather for either but I think it would have more of an impact on Beckett than it would Mussina. Beckett's first start was in a temperature controlled climate (Rogers Centre in Toronto). He hasn't been subjected to the elements yet. It could bring up more back problems if he's not fully recovered. The Yankees have also been able to hit Beckett. The old Yankee killer ain't what he used to be. Beckett has a career ERA of 6.56 against the Yankees. His career WHIP against them is 1.74 with an OBA of .303. Not too shabby. But again, the games aren't played on paper.

Game 3: Phil Hughes (0-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-0, 1.47 ERA)

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. This will be the Sox first look at Hughes. He's been inconsistent in his first 2 starts this year. It works in his favor that the Sox have never gotten a firsthand look at him. It often takes a few at-bats for a hitter to adjust to a pitcher they've never faced. Hughes has good stuff so he just might give the Sox bats fits. I thought the same about Chase Wright and we all know how that went. I'm still not sold on Dice-K. He may be off to a good start but I don't think he's all he's cracked up to be (see Hideo Nomo or Hideki Irabu). He faced the Yankees 4 times last year. His ERA against them was high but the Yankees didn't exactly knock him around. His biggest problem when he faced them was issuing too many free passes. The Yankees haven't exactly been patient at the plate thus far and that might remediate any control problems Dice-K runs into.

It has the making of a great series. Neither team has been exactly knocking the cover off the ball. Both teams are 5-5 and coming off a win. The Sox will be a little more fresh as they avoid having to travel for the series. The weather doesn't look favorable for Friday and Saturday as rain is in the forecast. Sunday's weather looks a little better but it's a night game and it could get chilly. I always think that the Sox will take 2 of 3 at home, and vice-versa when the games are in New York. I think the Yankees win Saturday. The Sox win Sunday. And tonight's game is a toss-up. I give a slight edge to the Sox because their at home, didn't travel, and the Yankees lackluster offense will probably struggle against a starter they've never faced.

Be back later with pre-game thoughts.

J-Boogie