Wrapping Up The Toronto Series

I'm back from Toronto. I was up the middle 2 games of the 4 game series. I saw the Yankees lose to Halladay on Friday, and win on Saturday. I was back home for Sunday's game. I'm going to wrap these 3 games up in one long post, so buckle in. I'll post about the autograph seeking a little later on. So stay tuned for that.

I kind of expected the Yankees to lose to Halladay. I didn't expect them to be held to 1 hit. Halladay looked great. Joba, on the other hand, not so much. I was talking to a couple of my Toronto buddies after the game and some felt it was an embarrassing loss for the Yankees. I have to disagree with that. Sure getting held to 1-hit is pretty bad, but it is Roy Halladay, who is arguably the best pitcher in the game. I'm also not overly concerned about the pitching. With the exception of Joba, none of the relievers (Melancon, Ramirez, Albaladejo, and Dunn) the Yankees used in that game are going to see the light of day once the postseason starts. So it's not like the team the Yankees used on Friday was a fair representation of the Yankees. Even the offense was a little light. If you need proof of that, just like at their 2-hitter. It was Eric Hinske. Ramiro Pena also got the start. Even had the lineup been at full strength it wouldn't have mattered. They weren't going to hit Halladay. I thought that early on. I started pulling for the perfect game/no-hitter around the 5th inning. I thought he had a real shot at it. Doc looked that good. It's hard to believe that Ramiro Pena broke it up. I didn't see that coming. So I saw a 1-hitter. Pretty cool. I once saw Randy Johnson pitch a 2-hitter when he played for the Diamondbacks. He gave up 2 solo shots and lost to the Pirates 2-0. The game took an hour and a half. Talk about quick. One of the things I hope I see before all is said and done is a perfect game or a no-hitter. My buddy Don had the good fortune of being at David Cone's perfect game. Lucky jerk.

Saturday was a much better day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The Rogers Centre is an absolutely beautiful place to be when the sun is shining and the dome is open. Then again, what ballpark isn't, right? I'm glad I was up there for this game. I wanted to see Andy Pettitte pitch one last time in person. Who knows? This could be his final go-round in Pinstripes. AP didn't disappoint. I blogged the other day that I thought the Yankees were going to run into a bump or two with the starters they were using in Toronto. Chad Gaudin, Joba, and Sergio Mitre aren't exactly guys that will go much past the 5th inning, if that. I knew Andy was going to be out there, good or bad, for at least 6. Andy didn't throw a bad game, but it wasn't one of his best. He had some control issues, which I could see from my vantage point. All things considered, not a bad day for AP. He picked up win #13. Andy has surprised me this year. I didn't expect him to be 13-6 with a 4.10 ERA at this point in the season. He's definitely been a bright spot.

Speaking of bright spots, Phil Hughes is freakin' awesome, eh? He was, again, untouchable, striking out 3 of the 4 hitters he faced. I love watching Phil pitch, especially in person. I really hope people are starting to take to Hughes like they took to Joba. I still think it's pretty ridiculous how fast Joba's star rose. I mean, they were selling Chamberlain 62" shirts up here in the local Dick's Sporting Goods after his 1st September in the majors. I still can't believe that. I've said it before. I'll say it again. Hughes is, was, and will always be the better pitcher of the two. If you ask me, Hughes is doing better in his stint as the 8th inning guy. Where's the love for Phil? He deserves it. I can't wait for him to get back into the rotation.

Now speaking of low spots, I've officially dubbed Nick Swisher as "The Rally Killer." I was talking to my buddy about that before the game started. I saw him listed in the 2-hole and I was like, oh crap. I hate Swisher batting 2nd. He has the OBP for it, but the average is too low and the Ks are too high. I prefer to see Swish as low in the order as possible. Let him get on base for the top of the order to drive in. Keep him away from the top. So what's Nick do? He goes 1-5 and comes up empty with 8 runners on base. He popped out with 2 out and the bases juiced in the 2nd. He grounded out to 3rd with 2 on and 2 out in the 4th. He grounded out with 2 on and 2 out in the 9th. Like I said, he's a rally killer. Keep him out of the 2-hole.

I had an interesting exchange with another of my buddies while I was up there. He wanted the Yankees to deal Phil Hughes, Joba, Robbie Cano, and other stuff for Aaron Hill, Ricky Romero, and Roy Halladay. The Yankees would have been ridiculously stupid to do a deal like that. At least that's what I think. Anyway, the conversation focused around Cano and Aaron Hill. He prefers Hill to Cano. What? I did everything I could to try and convince him that Cano is better. Here's my argument: 1)He's 7 months younger than Hill. 2)He hits for a higher average. 3)His OBP is higher. 4)Despite having fewer HRs, his SLG is higher. 5)Cano is a lefty. Hill is a righty. Lefties will do much better in Yankee Stadium. 6)In 709 games, Cano is a career .306 hitter with an .817 OPS. In 610 career games, Hill is a .284 hitter with a .766 OPS. Pretty convincing argument wouldn't you say? He didn't go for it. I think he's blinded by Hill's 31 HRs. Hill has some pop, no doubt, but it's one season. He'll flatten out. I'll take Cano any day.

Sunday's game was an ugly game. Sergio Mitre remembered he was Sergio Mitre, and got hammered. That was ugly. Like with Friday's loss, nobody at all should put any stock in this loss. Mitre, Melancon, and Towers aren't going to be pitching in a few weeks. Anything they do should be of no real concern to any Yankee fan. It was also an ugly game defensively. Just ugly. Ramiro Pena and Jerry Hairston committed 2 of the errors. They won't be playing much come October. Mark Teixeira and Robbie Cano committed the other two. They both have a shot at winning the Gold Glove award this year. I have no concerns about the sloppy defense from that game. While I'm talking about the Gold Glove Award, Jeter, Cano, and Teixeira could each bring home that award. I wonder if that's ever happened in a season. I'm sure it has but I'm too lazy to look it up. The team was fine offensively yesterday. They scored 8 runs on 13 hits. Most days you do that and you win. I guess when Sergio Mitre pitches, 8 runs isn't good enough. All of the offense love right now deservedly is going to Derek Jeter. The Captain is rocking. His 3 hits yesterday put him 3 behind Lou Gehrig for the most-hits all time by a Yankee. He plays two today and could easily pick up the 3 hits needed to tie, or the 4 needed to break the record. He's no doubt going to break that record on this homestand. I really hope he does it today because tomorrow's game is on My9 and we still don't get those games here in Buffalo. I'm assuming the MLB Network will be doing live break-ins whenever he's up so I'm probably covered. But I really hope that record falls today.

The game's about to start. We've got a double-dip today. Not a bad way to spend a Monday. It sure as hell beats work. CC Sabathia goes in the opener. A.J. Burnett goes in the nightcap. One is hot. One is not. A sweep is possible, but a split is more likely. Lots of reasons to watch today. Enjoy the games.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Win 7th Straight With 10-5 Win Over Blue Jays

I have to make this quick because I'm flat-out exhausted and tomorrow morning I'm headed to Toronto to check out the Yanks play the Jays and hopefully pick up a few autographs or two (or ten). I was actually up there this afternoon trying to get a few autos but I whiffed. I could have gotten some but they're either guys I have (A.J. Burnett) or guys I don't want (Ramiro Pena). The reason I don't want some guys, if you're wondering, is that I only get official MLB baseballs signed, and there's just some guys out there I don't want to sign a $15 baseball. And if you're wondering why I went up there and didn't stay for the game, I promised the wife I'd be back to help with the kids. It's hard to get time away from the fam when you have two kids 2 and under. Sometimes you've got to compromise. Consider that some free advice.

I have a minor beef with the way the Yankees are approaching this series with the Jays. My issue stems with the pitching. Chad Gaudin started today and went less than 4 innings. Joba goes tomorrow and I think the new "Joba Rules" say he's only going 3 innings. Pettitte goes Saturday. No problem with that. Sergio Mitre pitches Sunday and odds are good he'll throw less than 5 innings. The bullpen is going to throw a lot of innings this weekend. I know they've got a pretty deep bullpen with the September call-ups, but still, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Aceves is probably out tomorrow. So who's the long man? The Yankees used 4 RPs tonight and will probably need to use 4 tomorrow. These guys could be very tired at the end of the weekend. I'm curious to see how it plays out.

Great outing by the bullpen tonight. Big up to all you guys. Aceves picked up his 10th win. That's a little misleading because he came in quite a bit in games when the Yankees had the lead and the SP couldn't go the 5 innings needed to qualify for a win. Regardless, he is 10-1 and that's still impressive. The 1 loss especially. He's not blowing games. Big up to Ace.

Great night at the plate. Any game that you score 10 runs in is a great game offensively. They've been turning it on at the end of games lately. Jorge Posada has found a nice power stroke. His HR tonight was his 5th in his last 6 games. The HR gives JoPo 20 and that makes him the 7th Yankee with at least 20 HRs. It's a franchise record and it ties the MLB record. 3 more HRs by Derek Jeter and they break the record.

That's 7 straight for the Yanks. They are kicking some major ass. I'm hoping to see that trend continue in person. I doubt I'll blog much while I'm up there but you never know. You'll probably hear from me again on Sunday. Enjoy the games.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

CC Pitches Yanks To 10-2 Victory Over Orioles

I didn't get to see much of the game tonight. My softball playoffs took longer than expected so I didn't really get to watch until the 7th inning or so. Not much to say.

• Looks like CC pitched another beauty. He's rolling now, picking up his league leading 16th win. I can see him winning 20 easy.
• Phil Hughes is one nasty RP. I wonder if there will be a lot of Hughes to the bullpen/rotation talk after the season like there was with Joba. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Hughes is, and will always be, a better pitcher than Joba. The Yankees would be stupid to leave Hughes in the pen.
• The offense came alive in a big way in the 9th, scoring 7 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. All 7 of the hits were singles. It was pretty fun to watch the line keep moving. Great inning.

And that's all I got. The team is hot right now, winners of their last 6. Their lead in the East is up to 7.5 games with 29 or so to play. If they go .500 the rest of the way, they'll finish with 98-99 wins. It's still a little early to punch that postseason ticket, but the odds are very high that there will be October baseball in the Bronx. The team is now off to Toronto. I'll going up there in the morning to hound for some autographs. I'm also going to hit up the Friday and Saturday games. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Hopefully there are no speeding tickets in my future. Knock on wood.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Burnett Brutal But Bombers Beat Birds

Ok, time for another lunch time post. Today's time limit is 18 minutes. Start your stopwatch now.

A.J. Burnett was again awful yesterday. He did everything is his power to lose that game. Lucky for us, the offense and the bullpen bailed him out. A.J. allowed 11 hits and 2 walks in his 5.1 inning outing. That's a WHIP just under 2.50. That is horrible. As I wrote yesterday, Burnett has been inconsistent lately and he hasn't really been good since the beginning if August. Sure he's had a good outing here and there, but by and large, he's been pretty bad. He's now 0-4 in his last 7 starts with an ERA of 6.54 and a WHIP of 1.59. He hasn't been getting the job done.

It was really frustrating watching him relinquish lead after lead yesterday. He gives up a 1st inning HR and immediately out the team in the hole. The answered back with 3 runs in the next two innings and Burnett blew that lead. He got the lead back in the 5th and gave it right back. The Yanks tied it up and then A.J., through no fault of his own, left the game with 1 out and 1 on in the 6th. The bullpen brought it home pitching 3.2 scoreless innings. Well done fellas. Damaso Marte has looked good since being activated from the DL, pitching 3.1 hitless/scoreless innings. David Robertson continues to impress. D-Rob is a K-machine, eh? 58 Ks in 38 innings for the kid. Impressive. Phil Coke even managed to get some outs, something he hasn't done lately. The game was turned over to the legend (Mo Rivera) and that was all she wrote. Take it away John Sterling.

6 minutes to talk about the offense. Cano has been tearing it up lately, going 3 for 4 last night with a double and a jack. He has 9 ribbies in his last 5 games and is 10 for 22 (.454) in that span, raising his average from .314 to .320. Robbie is having a great year. Shame on you if you wanted him traded. He's definitely a HOF-caliber player. He just needs to keep his head straight. They busted out the power sticks yesterday, launching 5 longballs. Posada went deep twice and is now sitting on 19. He hits 1 more to become the 7th Yankee with at least 20 HRs. Jeter will become the 8th if he hits 3 more, which is doable. Crap, I'm out of time. I'll have to go into OT for this one. What's up with Nick Swisher loving Camden Yards? He's hit 4 HRs there and only has 3 at home. That's really odd considering how hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium is. Somebody needs to figure that out.

CC goes tonight for win #16 tonight. The Yanks are facing Jason Berken and his 6.33 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, and .314 OBA. The Yanks faced him and beat him back in July, battering him for 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. The game is a total mismatch on paper. The Yanks are playing well, winners of 5 straight and owners of a 6.5 game lead. I can't think of a reason why they'd lose tonight. Can you?

4 minutes over my limit. D'oh.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Pettitte Near Pefrect In 5-1 Victory Over Orioles

Ok, my lunch break has been cut short this week and I've got 12 minutes left to write this post. Here goes:

Andy Pettitte was absolutely awesome last night. As I mentioned yesterday, he's been kicking some serious ass since the ASB. He's been the Yankees best second-half pitcher in my estimation. His outing yesterday solidified that. It's hard to believe that prior to the season, I was speaking out against Andy's return. I am happily eating crow. I think the main reason Andy has been so successful this year is because he's healthy and isn't having any arm problems. He's rock solid. He was almost perfect yesterday and if not for a defensive miscue by Jerry Hariston, he might have been. A friend of mine was complaining that A-Rod didn't play and would have made that play. Maybe so, but would he have made the bare-handed scoop that Hairston made earlier. Probably, but we'll never know. You can't really play the what-if game. Hairston made a big blunder and it cost Andy the perfecto, but it didn't do any damage. The Yanks won and that's all that matters. I don't think any member of the Yankees, except for maybe Hairston, has a problem with his error. Quickly back to Pettitte. He had everything working yesterday. Impeccable control, throwing 70% of his pitches for strikes and walking none. He was consistently ahead of hitters and quite frankly, they didn't stand a chance. He was dealing.

5 minutes left. The offense didn't hammer Guthrie like I thought they would. They made him throw a lot of pitches, but never really bombarded him like they have in the past. They had their chances, going 3-for-14 with RISP. Swisher had the big day, going 3-4 and was a triple short of the cycle.

A.J. Burnett goes tonight and he needs a W. A.j. is winless in his last 6 starts, losing 4 of them. He's been very inconsistent. I hope he finds a way to get back on track. I'm curious to see if they switch things up and have Molina catch him. I doubt it, but it wouldn't shock me.

Under a minute to spare.....yay me!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Cap Off Series Sweep Of White Sox With 8-3 Win

You know things are going well when Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin combine for a 1-hit shutout. I got to see most of the game before we had to leave for my wife's family reunion (thanks son for taking an extra-long nap). I made it through the top half of the 8th before we had to go. The game was well in hand but that didn't stop me from logging onto the Internet with my cell phone (something I had to pay for) about 30 minutes after we left to check the final. I have to say it. I was impressed with both Mitre and Gaudin. I definitely did not see that coming.

Mitre looked pretty solid. It's a shame he got knocked out of the game though. He was cruising and could have gone the distance as he was only at 73 pitches when he left with 1 out in the 7th. It definitely helped Sergio that the Yankees offense staked him to an early lead. Sergio could afford to be more aggressive and let the Yankees defense back him up. I guess you could say the same went for Gaudin. The offense came through in a big way, scoring runs in every even-numbered inning. It was a pretty good game all-around. Well played.

The series finale was close until the offense exploded for 5 in the 7th. After that it was smooth sailing. I'm not a fan of these new "Joba rules." I get wanting to limit his innings to save his arm but it seems like such a waste to have him start and throw 3 innings. Maybe I'm old school but I think pitch counts and inning limits are ridiculous. I also don't get why it's an inning limit and not a pitch count limit that they're concerned with. It's not the # of innings that affects one's arm, it's the # of pitches they throw. Joba threw 35 pitches today. Seems like such a low amount. Typically, he'd throw that in 2 innings. I wonder what their plan was, 35 pitches or 3 innings? I'm not advocating putting him in the bullpen but they might as well if the plan is to use him for so few pitches. But that's just me. I haven't fully processed it yet so maybe I'll change how I feel about it.

Great game from the Yankee pen, except for Phil Coke, in relief of Joba. Joba left with a 3-2 lead and the pen kept it there until the offense broke through. Phil Coke's slide down the ladder continued today. I wanted to smack him when he pointed up on the HR he gave up. I've written that before about Coke. He points up to indicate a pop-up on deep fly balls. You don't do that, especially on HRs. I vaguely remember reading that Coke got "fined" for doing that when the Yankees' Kangaroo Court convened earlier this year. Coke, unless he pitches tomorrow, is going to finish the month with an ERA of 11.17. That's a quick way to get relegated to mop-up duty. With Damaso Marte back and pitching well so far (no hits/runs in 3 appearances), Coke is probably going to be used very sparingly and not in any big spots. At least I hope that's the case. Phil Hughes continues to dominate as a reliever. He made his 30th appearance out of the pen today and had another great outing. It's been one solid performance after another. As a RP, Phil has allowed only 5 ERs in 38 innings. That's a 1.18 ERA. Talk about being the man. 38 innings, 22 hits, 10 walks, and a whopping 48 Ks. Hughes and Rivera are probably the best bullpen combo out there right now. It's pretty much game over.

The offense again had a nice day at the plate. They were 9 for 23 with RISP over the last 2 games. Derek Jeter continues to stay hot picking up another 2 hits and raising his average to .335. His average for the month of August is .381. Talk about being en fuego. Jeter has to be the Player of the Month, right? Mark Teixeira picked up 4 RBI today and had the big 3-run HR that broke the game open in the 7th. The 4 RBI give him 101 for the year, which is best in the AL by 5. Teixeira and Jeter should each get some serious consideration for the MVP award. They're both very deserving.

The Yanks are 6 games up on the Red Sox. The Yanks are off to Baltimore while the Red Sox are headed to Tampa Bay. The Yanks play their next 7 games on the road, 3 with the Orioles and 4 withe the Blue Jays. The Red Sox also play their next 7 on the road, 3 with the Rays and 4 with the White Sox. It's a good time for the Yanks to put a little more of a cushion in between them and the Sox. Even if they just maintain their 6 game lead, they'll be 6 up with 25 to play. Not a bad place to be. Andy Pettitte starts the road trip off tomorrow. He's been pretty darn good this year in the 2nd half and he's done better on the road than at home. His ERA is over a full point lower on the road, 3.58 (away) to 4.65 (home). AP is rocking a 2.84 ERA in August and it's 2.79 since the ASB. That's pretty good. Let's hope he kicks the roadie off right and does what we expect him to do and that's pitch a beauty.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Win 5-2 On Cano Walkoff In Extra Innings

Great game tonight. Too bad I missed it. Thanks again My9 and the local Buffalo TV stations. I appreciate not being able to see those games. I did follow along a little online and caught the live in-game break-ins that they do on the MLB Network. I did get to see Cano's walkoff. That was a thing of beauty. He's Robbie Cano. Don'tcha know?

I got a text from my friend Tom as soon as the game ended. It read, "Walk off baby......Let's go Yankees......" To which I replied, "I just caught the highlights. I don't get the My9 games." He came back with, "I saw the whole thing. CC pitched awesome." I responded with, "I followed along online, Def looks like he did." He wrapped up the exchange with, "Oh yeah, dominating type stuff." Now that I've bored you beyond belief, I think we can all agree that CC has been worth every penny. I didn't see the game but I'll take my buddy's word that he was dominating. His pitching line certainly supports it. Too bad he didn't pick up his league leading 16th win. He pitched well enough to earn it. The offense fell short several times from what I saw while I was following along. But a win is a win. I'll take it and I'm sure so will CC.

Big up to the bullpen for pitching 3 scoreless. Phil Hughes was again the man. He came in and faced the heart of the White Sox order and sent them down in order via the K. Mo was typical Mo. Brian Bruney picked up the W in relief. Could the Brumeister be back on track? This was his 7th straight outing with out allowing a run. His line in those 7 games: 8.1 IP, 6 hits, 5 BB, 3 K, and as I mentioned and most important of all, no runs. Bruney is probably pitching his way back up the ladder. I still don't want to see him in big spots as he's too erratic. I'm never sure what will happen when Bruney pitches. It's always an adventure.

I'm not sure what I'll be able to see tomorrow. It's time for the wife's family reunion, something I've happened to miss every year since we've been married (5 years this Thanksgiving). No such luck this year. Looks like it's Sergio Mitre versus Jose Contreras. Might not be a bad game to miss.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

One Mistake Will Kill You, Yanks Lose Series With 7-2 Loss To Rangers

I didn't get to follow along with much of the game today. I never fare well with staying up on weekday afternoon games. This thing called 'work' usually gets in the way. I had a meeting today from 1-2 so that killed the 1st hour. I'm in a training class also and that kills my chances to listen to it on the radio. My only option is to follow along online. That gets tricky in a training class. I saw my first update at 2pm when it was 1-0 Yanks. The next time I looked it was 3-1 Texas and Ian Kinsler just went deep. It looked like A.J. Burnett was cruising along up until that point. The HR was the 1st hit A.J. gave up but it came at just the right time, as he just walked two straight batters. From what I've gathered, it sounds like the bomb to Kinsler was A.J.'s one big mistake. And it was a doozy. As a pitcher, you can only hope your offense is there to pick you up. Today, it wasn't.

A.J.'s final pitching line looks pretty damn good. Anybody that whiffs 12 guys in 6 innings has some pretty dominant stuff working for him. If only he could have finished off either Josh Hamilton or Nelson Cruz. I heard on the post-game show he had 2 strikes on both hitters and ended up walking them. I think I heard he had Cruz down 1-2 and ended up losing him. That hurts right there. It's a little Joba-esque, no?

Phil Coke is starting to wear on my nerves. My friend Nick has been saying for months that Phil Coke sucks. I was always defending him. As I thought about him today, I'm wondering why and what Coke was doing that had me fooled? Perhaps I was stuck on how well he pitched in June, posting a 0.71 ERA. Perhaps it's that he tends to be better more often than when he's bad, but when he's bad, he's really bad. He's allowed earned runs in 15 of his 59 games this season. That doesn't sound too bad, especially when I see that 2 of them were in his 1st 3 games of the season, and 6 came in July. He's given up earned runs 3 times in August. He's very hit and miss. I can't really call a relief pitcher with an ERA over 5 good by any means. Right now, I'm still trying to justify that he's good and I'm hating myself for doing it. Back in the day you called a relief pitcher with an ERA over 5 a minor leaguer. Nowadays it's almost par for the course. My advice for Girardi when it comes to Coke: use him for a guy to two and try to keep it to lefties. Anything other than that and it's asking for trouble.

A new series starts tomorrow. The White Sox are coming to town. The big man is going for the Yanks. CC has been pretty awesome lately. He's won 5 straight 8 of his last 10. He's given up only 6 earned runs in his last 4 starts, a span of 30.1 IP. The Pale Hose are sending Mark Buehrle. Buehrle is winless since he threw a perfect game. He's lost 4 of his last 6 starts and has an ERA of 6.21 in those games. The Yanks bombed him the last time the two teams met. They pounded him for 7 runs on 12 hits in 4.1 IP. What's that all mean? Absolutely nothing, as baseball games aren't played on paper. I like our chances though with CC going. But that goes without saying.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Bounce Back With 9-2 Victory Over Rangers

The Yanks got back into the win column yesterday with their 9-2 drubbing of the Rangers. Andy Pettitte pitched a good game and I'm hoping his start ends this recent swing of crappy pitching performances. It's Burnett's turn to keep the good time rolling. Pettitte has returned to form by continuing to pitch very well in the second half. Andy has had an outstanding month, going 3-0 in 5 starts with a 2.84 ERA. He went into the ASB with a 4.85 ERA. 8 starts later and it's down .67 points. He's doing something right. I'm most pleased that he's keeping the ball in the park, giving up only 1 HR in August. I think that's more of a by-product of not pitching as much in Yankee Stadium. Andy has made 26 starts this year, 13 have been at home, 13 have been on the road. He's given up 17 HRs this year and only 3 have come on the road. He's given up HRs in 9 of his 13 home starts. There's no place like home, except when your Andy Pettitte.

It was a good game for the offense too. 5 for 5 with RISP. Talk about being efficient. Everyone had a hit except for, you guessed it, Melky Cabrera. Melky is hitting .193 in August. His OBP (.234) and SLG (.318) are abysmal. According to Pete Abraham's game post, Melky is hitting .209 with a .258 on-base percentage since Brett Gardner went on the disabled list. All I can say is get well soon Brett. Melky is playing his way right out of the OF.

I'd love to stay and chat but I'm late for a meeting. Enjoy the game.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Swisher's Failed Bunt Attempt

Despite my good fortune of having access to last night's Yankees/Rangers game on My9, I didn't get to watch it. Turns out that the suite the fam and I had wasn't conducive to staying up and watching TV while the kids were in bed. There just wasn't enough room. I got see a couple of the early-mid innings. You know, the ones where Joba and Chad Gaudin looked awful. I didn't get to see the 9th inning comeback but did see the highlights, or should I say lowlights, on TV this morning. I would have loved to have seen that ending but it's probably a good thing I didn't. I would have woken up the fam for sure.

I checked out my fave Yankee blogs this afternoon and saw a lot of comments about Swisher's attempted bunt in the 9th inning. More people were against the bunt attempt that I thought. Personally, I had no problem with it. I definitely see the merits for both viewpoints. But here's what I think. Nick Swisher is a major leaguer. Every major leaguer, regardless of who they are, should be able to drop down a bunt. It's something that should be very easy to do. Swisher should have been able to keep it on the ground. Assuming Swisher gets the bunt down, the Yankees probably have the tying run on 3rd and the winning run on 2nd with 1 out. Conventional wisdom says that the Rangers would have issued a free pass to Melky Cabrera, loading the bases with 1 down and Derek Jeter at the plate. If you're a Yankee fan is there anyone else you'd rather have up in that position? Not me. I'll take Jeter every time. Now let's say they didn't walk Melky, which would have been a good possibility because it's Melky. Who knows what happens there? Texas would likely pull the infield in, making the chances of a double play very slim. Let's say Melky fails in his attempt to bring a runner home. Derek Jeter steps in and gets a shot. I'd be happy with that. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way and the worst possible outcome happened. Swisher popped out and Melky lined into a game-ending DP lineout.

Again though, I do see the other side of it also. Swisher is very adept at getting on base. He could have worked a walk and loaded the bases with no outs. He's also a .sub-250 hitter with the propensity to strikeout. If you're a betting man, the odds are that Swisher doesn't deliver. A 1 in 4 chance he gets a hit and a 37% chance he gets on base. I have to side with Girardi on this one, assuming he made the call and Swisher didn't do it on his own. Either way, I liked trying to put the winning run on 2nd with 1 out. Swisher apparently needs some bunting practice.

Yanks are currently up 9-2 in the 8th. I think this one is in the bag.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie