Great Starting Pitching Plus Flawless Defense Equals A Yankee Victory

The Yanks picked a great way to end this 7 game road trip. Outstanding starting pitching from Joba. Flawless defense. What wins championships again? Oh yeah, pitching and defense. I've been waiting to blog about the errorless game streak but didn't for fear of jinxing it. 18 straight games without an error. They broke the record previously held by the 2006 Red Sox. Suck on that Sox fans. Anytime the Yankees can break a record held by the Red Sox is a good time. This team is playing some great baseball. 5-2 on the roadie. Headed home with a 1 game lead in the East. Things are going well in Yankees Universe.

Joba had one of the best outings of his career. I hope the WWE belt was hanging in his locker before the game ended. Hell, he deserved it as soon as he flew through the air and snared that pop up bunt. That was the play of the game right there. It's the best fielding play I've seen by a pitcher in a long time. I can't even think of a better one of the top of my head. It definitely saved the game. What would have been bases loaded no outs quickly turned in to 2 out with a runner on first. What a game saver! I really hope this outing silences all of the dopes out there who think Joba belongs in the bullpen. You can't put a guy with Joba's stuff in the bullpen. You just can't. A SP who can go 8 innings is much more valuable than a RP. Tonight was Joba's longest outing of his career. To pitch that deep into a game you have to be economical with your pitches. Doing that is a weakness of Joba's. Not tonight. 8 innings, 106 pitches. 62% were for strikes. The best thing about his outing was the spike in his velocity. He's been consistently in the mid-low 90s but he was steady rocking 96 and hit 98 close to the end of the outing. Way to get it done.

The Yankee offense should be a little ashamed of themselves. They should have blown the Tribe out. Jeremy Sowers entered the game with an ERA of 7.71. The Yankee O managed 1 measly run off him. They walked 11 times! 11! But they only managed 6 hits. Unreal. The key players (Jeter/Teixeira) kept their hitting streaks alive. Nick Swisher must be really glad that May is over. He was absolutely brutal in May. He opened June with a 2-for-4 performance with 2 doubles. He came close to clearing the bases in the 7th. That was a clutch hit right there. The Yanks had bases juiced in the 6th with nobody out and didn't score. I "tweeted" during the game that I thought Swish would ground into an inning-ender. Glad I was wrong. The bottom of the order, 5 thru 9, was abysmal, going oh-fer 16 with 5 walks. Yikes.

I saw something tonight I never thought I'd see. A team intentionally walked someone to pitch to Alex Rodriguez, with bases loaded no less. What the heck was Eric Wedge thinking? That was Girardi-esque right there.

The Yanks are headed home now to face the Rangers, holders of the AL's best record. A win tomorrow and the Yanks have the best record in the AL. Win or lose, for my money, the Yanks are the best team in the AL right now. Maybe even in all of baseball. They're pitching. They're hitting. They're playing D. They're playing great baseball and most importantly, they're winning.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

A Friendly Reminder

Just a quick reminder that you can follow this blog on Twitter. If interested, there's a link you can click on the left sidebar, or you can click here. I've been "tweeting" now for a few days and I have to say it's pretty cool. It's kind of like live-blogging, but easier to do, though I'm still getting the hang of it. There's a whole slew of Yankees bloggers on Twitter so if you feel so inclined, come join the community.

Oh, and you can also follow the blog on Facebook. Link is also to the left.

J-Boogie

Yanks Lose A Very Winnable Game

I'll have to make this short and sweet. I let the day get away from me and I wanted to post something tonight as opposed to tomorrow. I say that and by the time this post is done, it'll be lengthy.

Today's game in a word: winnable. Today's game in another word: disappointing. What made it disappointing was that they lost (of course) and that they couldn't do more against that sad sack, and I guess Yankee killer, Carl Pavano. What made it winnable is that Eric Wedge channeled his inner Joe Girardi and let the Yankees get back into it by stupidly going to his bullpen. Joe Girardi, not to be outdone, decided to one up his counterpart by making the wrong moves in the 9th. The Yankees very easily could have won that game. Very disappointing.

I thought Phil Hughes looked good. He had exceptional control, throwing about 70% of his pitches for strikes. The only problem was he threw 95 pitches and was done after 5. But he looked good. I wonder if he'll make his next start or if it will go to Chien-Ming Wang? Wang pitched a pretty good game in relief. He kept the Tribe from scoring which let the Yanks get back into it. He looked like the Wang of old. Wang's line since his return: 8 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 2 ER, 2.25 ERA. I don't think any of us would complain if CMW could bust out a game like that. The Wang of old looks to be back. And for those keeping track at home, Wang's road to respectability, a 4.50 ERA, is now 36 scoreless innings and counting. He's got a long way to go but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets that ERA down under 6 before long. If I'm running the show, I give the ball to Wang when Hughes's spot in the rotation comes around. I love Hughes and all, but it's Wang's spot. If he's healthy, he should get it back. But that's me. With Girardi running the ship, who knows what will happen.

Phil Coke should be shot for issuing a leadoff walk to the #9 hitter. You know, the guy hitting a buck eight four. Brutal. Absolutely brutal. Sam goes to you David Robertson. You guys need to stop with the free passes. As I tweeted during the game, here's a novel idea: try throwing strikes. You guys are freaking major leaguers. The best of the best. Start playing like it. As much as I'd like to chew Girardi's ass out for this, he has little choice in the matter. The other options are Veras (good God no), Aceves (probably unavailable), Mariano (not the right situation) and Brett Tomko (hasn't pitched since 5/24). I can see why he went with Coke since he was rested, but why Robertson when he threw an inning yesterday? What doesn't Joe like about Brett Tomko? He's certainly no worse than the rest of the bunch. Why can't you be healthy Brian Bruney? It's painfully obvious that the bullpen is the weak link when it comes to the 2009 Yankees. Brian Cashman needs to find a way to fix it and fix it fast.

I was screaming at my TV when Brett Gardner didn't try to steal 2nd in the 9th. I read on Pete Abe's blog that he didn't go because he was worried about getting picked off. What? Aren't you worried about that every time? Opposing teams know you're fast. You don't think they're going to throw over and try to nab you? WTF? I couldn't believe it when I read that. Brett not running in the 9th is inexcusable. What's the opposite of the WWE belt that the team gives out? Whatever it is, give it to Gardner. That non-steal attempt and misplay in the OF were 2 huge factors in the loss. It just wasn't your day Brett. Melky is supposedly back tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed that PT because you're probably benched. Inexcusable.

So much for short and sweet.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

The Yankees Lead In The East, Like Leon, Is Getting Larger

The Yankees win. The Red Sox lose. The lead is now a game and a half. All is right in the world.

CC Sabathia looked strong again. That's 5 straight outings where CC has looked really good. Here's a quick glance at his line over his last 5 starts: 4-0, 39 IP, 26 H, 9 BB, 32 K, 9 ER, 2.08 ERA. That's pretty damn good. CC was on for most of the game tonight. He was throwing strikes (62% were strikes) and most importantly he was throwing strike one. If a pitcher can stay ahead of hitters, he'll typically fare pretty well. CC is proving to be well worth every penny the Yankees gave to him. As nice as it would have been to have landed Johan Santana before last season, I'm glad that things worked out the way they did. The money would have been the same, but the Yanks kept their prospects, namely Phil Hughes. Hats off to CC for another great one. Give that man the WWE belt. I wonder if it fits?

13 hits, 4 walks, 10 runs. That's what I call offense. Everybody was getting in on the action. Brett Gardner was the only starter not to pick up a hit but he walked and scored twice so no biggie. The hit streaks (Jeter & Teixeira) stayed in tact. For Kim Jones' sake, I hope Jeter gets a hit tomorrow. She is doing everything in her power to jinx these guys. Funny thing is she thinks these guys are kidding when they bust her balls on it. You think she'd know better. The offense is firing on all cylinders right now. Coming into today's game, they had the 2nd highest team batting average in the AL and the highest team OPS (by a 28 point margin) in all of MLB. Considering A-Rod missed time, Posada missed time, and Teixeira's slow start, they are doing well. Very very well.

I have 3 letters for Jose Veras: DFA. Your days in Pinstripes are running out. Hopefully, the end is near.

The pitching is there. The offense is there. The defense is there. The team has won 3 straight, 4 of 5, 5 of 7, 14 of 17, and 15 of 19. The are 16-5 since A-Rod returned. Simply put, they are playing great baseball. Phil Hughes takes on Carl Pavano tomorrow. Last time the Yanks faced Pavano, CP pitched pretty well. It's hard to believe that Pavano has 5 wins this year, tied with Sabathia. The last thing I think any of us want to see is Pavano pitch well tomorrow. He's facing a much different team than he did last time around. The boys better light him up.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

All Alone At The Top, Yanks Are King Of The Hill

Tonight's 3-1 victory over the Tribe moves the Yankees into sole possession of 1st place. It's a place they haven't been since the end of the 2006 season. Wow. It's been 2+ seasons since the Yanks have been in first by themselves. Unbelievable.

Whoever is in charge of handing out the WWE championship belt in the Yankee clubhouse better give that thing to Alfredo Aceves. He's definitely tonight's hero. Aceves came up huge there in the 6th. Bases loaded no outs and he allows only 1 run and then proceeds to pitch 2 more scoreless innings, turning a 2-run lead over to Mo to close it out. Ace is becoming a very integral part of the Yankees bullpen. I was a little surprised that Girardi didn't pull him after the 7th. It just goes to show how little Girardi trusts the bullpen. Everyone was rested and available but Girardi left the ball in Aceves's hand. I'm astonished I'm saying this, but wise move by Girardi. Aceves has been one of the team's better pitchers and it'll be interesting to see how Girardi uses him going forward. I wouldn't mind seeing him as a 7th and 8th inning guy, at least while Bruney is on the DL. Give him the ball for 2 full innings and then give it off to Mo. Starters for 6, Ace for 2, and Mo shutting the door. Sounds like a plan.

Pettitte had a tough go of things tonight but came out relatively unscathed. Word on the street is that he was experiencing lower back spasms. I thought I noticed after the 2nd or 3rd inning that something was bothering AP. YES had a shot of him walking off the field after the 3rd out and I swear he grimaced a little. If you blinked you probably missed it and there was no mention made about it after the commercial so I didn't think much of it. I guess it was something. Andy pitched pretty damn well considering the back issue. If it really started in the 2nd or 3rd and he made it into the 6th without giving up a run, that's pretty damn good. Andy is now 5-1 on the season. Andy was pretty much the team's 4th starter. I think it's safe to say he's moved up the ladder and is the team's 3rd. And it has little to do with Wang's injury. Andy has earned it. I'm a little concerned about the back and hope it's nothing that causes him to miss a start. But if it does, paging Dr. Wang. Dr. Chien-Ming Wang. Get those legs ready CMW.

Offensively it was kind of a blah game. Then again, they did face Cliff Lee, the reigning Cy Young winner. Talk about a tough luck loser. Including tonight's loss, Lee is 2-6 with an ERA of 3.16. The Tribe have scored 7 runs in his 6 losses. Talk about pitiful. I did like the approach the Yanks had at the plate. They ran up Lee's pitch count and chased him after 6. It was great to see Jorge back in the lineup. The great Yankee offense just got a million times better. JoPo went 2-3 with a double and a walk. Not a bad return. The team struggled with RISP, going 2-for-12. You can only hope when the bats aren't there that the pitching is. Tonight it was.

Big up to Teixeira for his play in the field. I'm loving the glove. Also, congrats to Andy and Mo on their 58th win/save combo. The duo now holds the record for the most # of win/save combos. Now if someone can explain to me why that's a record I should care about, I'm all ears.

Just a friendly reminder that you can now follow me on Twitter. There's a link to the left or you can just click here.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Start Spreading The News, The Yanks Are In First

Extra! Extra! Read all about it. Yankees beat Rangers 9-2, move into first place tie with rival Red Sox. The best part of waking up isn't Folgers in your cup. It's knowing that the Yankees are in first and all is right in the Yankees Universe. I wrote a song about it. I'm tempted to record it as a video blog and post it, but I probably won't. It's a spoof of Sinatra's "New York, New York." Maybe someday. When I convince myself it won't be a jinx. Anyway.....

A.J. Burnett won a game!! 3 cheers for A.J.! It's his first win since April 14th, a span of 8 starts. It was a pretty solid outing. The only drawback is that he only went 6 innings which is a by-product of walking 4 and throwing only 59.3% of his pitches for strikes. But he got the job done, allowing only 3 hits and 0 runs in his 6 innings of work. Pitching 6 shutout innings isn't anything to scoff at. A.J. now has 10 starts under his belt and his record sits at 3-2. I don't think it's the start that we Yankee fans envisioned or hoped for, but there is a silver lining. I don't think any of us would have any beef if A.J. could pitch like he did last year, when he went 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA. Last year thru his first 10 starts, Burnett was 4-4 with a 4.71 ERA. His WHIP was 1.48 (58 hits, 27 walks, 57.1 IP). This year after 10 starts, he's 3-2 with an ERA of 4.78. His WHIP is lower at 1.41 (59 hits, 31 walks, 64 IP). The biggest difference is that he's given up 10 HRs this year and had only given up 4 at this point last year. I'm sure part of that has to do with pitching in the new Yankee Stadium. My point is that AJ will get better as the season moves on. Hopefully last night's outing is the jumping off point.

Joe Girardi. WTF man? Why did you bring out Veras and Robertson to pitch the 7th when you could have easily gone to Chien-Ming Wang for 3 innings? Today is an off day so it's not like it's a question of making Wang fatigued. I don't get it. As I was "tweeting" I noticed a lot of people felt the same way. It's as if we were all on the same wavelength. I just don't get what Girardi is thinking most of the time. Inquiring minds want to know. Wang looked very good in his 2 perfect innings of work. His sinker was sinking. His velocity was there. All in all a great outing for Wang. He's on the road back to respectability. For those keeping track at home, the Wanger needs to pitch 39 scoreless innings to get his ERA down to 4.50. That's quite the tall task but he's on his way. I hope he gets there. I think we all do.

The offense is clicking right now. They put on a nice display while in Texas, scoring 23 runs on 47 hits. You know things are going well when Kevin cash goes 5 for 9. Jeter is on a tear. The Captain is in the midst of an 11 game hit streak that's seen his average jump 31 points, from .266 to .297. He's knock-knock-knocking on the door of .300 and should enter that room real soon. He's hit safely in 15 of the last 16, and 19 of the last 22 games. Hitting leadoff seems to suit the Captain.

Mark Teixeira is also ripping it up. He's got a 10-game hitting streak going on and has hit safely in 14 of his last 15, and 16 of his 18 games. That piss-poor start has been pretty much wiped out. It's hard to believe the tear he's been on over the last 18 games. The average is up 83 points to .275. He's gone deep 10 times, knocking in 24. Talk about blowing up. If only A-Rod started the year healthy and in the lineup. Wow.

How 'bout Hideki Matsui going yard twice? Was it just me or was it painful to watch him trot around the bases? He looked so uncomfortable jogging. I'm hoping those 2 bombs break him out of his funk. you can always tell when Matsui is scuffling because he's pulling his body out on every swing. Correct those mechanics Godzilla.

I'm really curious to see if Girardi makes any changes in the OF when Melky Cabrera comes back. Brett Gardner is playing really well and has to be raising some questions about whether he should be starting over Swisher. Gardner is 8 for his last 16. Swisher has 9 hits in the month of May. The Yankees would be better defensively if Gardner played over Swisher. Gardner can also ignite something with his speed while Swisher can't. I love Swish and his personality. I think he's great for clubhouse chemistry. But if he's going to play, he needs to kick it up a notch.

And if things weren't good enough already, Jorge Posada should be back behind the plate on Friday. The offense, as good as it is, just got exponentially better.

Enjoy the off day and don't forget that the Boogie Down is now on Twitter. Click the link to follow me.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

The Boogie Down Is Now On Twitter

Baseball & The Boogie Down is now on Twitter. What does that mean? I have no idea but apparently you can follow me by clicking here. I figured all the cool kids were doing it so why not me? I do have a pretty good idea of what Twitter is but I'm not sure how exactly I'll use it. Right now I have this blog's feed set up to post there. If you feel like following me, please do. You can click here or look me up. I'm JBoogieDown. I'm not sure how much "tweeting" I'll do. It's hard enough watching the games and blogging with a crying 1-month old to take care of. It took me 20 minutes to write this post.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Joba Goes 4, Needs To Go More, Yanks Lose 7-3

Due to the super long rain delay last night, I didn't get to listen to the whole game. I had it on my XM and I think I fell asleep sometime around the 4th inning. The Yanks were down 3-0. Within about 48 seconds of waking up, I was on my laptop checking the score. 7-3 Rangers. Bummer. I pulled up the box score expecting to see that the Yanks were down 7-0 and scored 3 late runs. I was surprised to see they tied things up but then blew it. Since I didn't see the game I don't have a lot to say about it. Here are some quickies:

• Joba needs to be better than he was. 4 innings isn't going to cut it. I get that he was possibly thrown off by the long rain delay, but he's pitching at the highest level and he should be able to deal with that. He threw 84 pitches, 46 for strikes, which is 54.8% of his pitches. That's not good. Joba needs to throw more strikes and stay in the game longer. The Yankee bullpen isn't good and the Yankee starters need to go as deep as possible.
• 9 hits plus 4 walks plus 5 stolen bases shouldn't equal 3 runs. Not an efficient night at the plate. 3 DPs and 2 for 12 with RISP won't get it done. Those games will happen. You just hope when it does that the pitcher keeps it close.
• Anybody know why Girardi went to Aceves and not Wang? I like Aceves and all but he pitched the night before and I'm confused why Wang wasn't the go-to guy? Girardi has made some very questionable moves lately. It's easy to second guess him on this one because it didn't work out. I know Chien-Ming has been far from good this season, but I thought he was going to be the long-man with Hughes pitching well. I'm puzzled by the move, but I get it. I don't necessarily think it was the wrong call. I just wonder why he didn't go to Wang.
• I liked the lineup last night. I liked seeing Swisher in the 8 hole. If he's going to continue to walk and not hit, that's where he needs to be. He's not knocking in the runs. He came up short yesterday in his 2 big chances. He whiffed with a runner on 2nd and nobody out in the 6th. An inning later, he grounded into an inning-ending DP with the bases loaded. I would almost prefer to see Swisher bat 9th, especially in games when Cervelli starts. His does get on base and that will benefit the guys at the top of the order. Cervelli is doing pretty well at the dish and I think could knock in a few. He's knocked on 4 in 40 ABS, batting at the bottom of the order. Swish has knocked in 8 in 67 ABs batting closer to the middle. Cisco's average is 78 points higher than Swisher's. What can it hurt? The only hiccup in the plan is the severity of Melky's injury. Hopefully, he just misses 1 game. If it's longer, you almost have to bat Swisher 7th as you can't really bat Cervelli or Gardner in the 7 spot. We'll see.

A.J. Burnett goes tonight and he really needs to come up big. He's winless in his last 7 starts. He really needs to get things going. Here's something I heard today that really makes me sad. CC Sabathia leads the Yankees with 4 wins. Carl Pavano has 5 under his belt. I think I just vomited in my mouth.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

My9 Means No Yankees Baseball In Buffalo

**update on 4/12/11- click here to go to a more up-to-date post.

**update on 4/15/10- click here to go to a more up-to-date-post

**update on 8/6: Verizon Fios channel 461 was a bust. Friggin' Knight Rider is on. I e-mailed RTV to ask if they would ever carry the games and didn't receive a reply. I also e-mailed the local My Network affiliate (WNYO) and they did reply. No chance there. They advised the contract is still held by WNGS, which has no way to show the games since they're defunct or something. So it looks like we won't have any My9 games the rest of the way. The kind-of good news, per WNYO, is that the WNGS contract is up at year's end and they're looking to pick it up. I'll continue to keep my eyes open and hope for the best. **update on 8/5: I just noticed on my FIOS guide that they've added the Retro Television Network (RTV/RTN) on channel 461. My hopes are high that tomorrow's Yankees/Red Sox game will be on this channel since they used to carry the My9 games. According to the FIOS guide, it won't be. Per the schedule, The A-Team will be on. I love me some B.A. Baracus, but I want my Yankees. I've seen it before with this channel where the guide is wrong. My fingers are crossed. I don't know if Time Warner or Direct TV carry the channel yet, but look for it. You might find the game. I'll make sure to come back and update this post to let everyone know if it's on or not. **update on 7/21: I haven't quite figured this out yet but as I was watching the local NBC affiliate the other day, I noticed a commercial that had a clip in it for the RTN network, the channel that was showing the Yankee games on My9. WGRZ has picked up the channel and is broadcasting one of its digital subchannels, WGRZ-DT3 2.3. I know it's not carried on FIOS. I'm not sure if those are carried on Direct TV or Time Warner. I think you may need one of the converter boxes to watch it. There is promising news though. WGRZ's 2.2 subchannel, Universal Sports, is carried on FIOS. I'm hoping RTN on 2.3 will follow suit, and I'm hoping they'll carry games. Tonight's game (7/12 vs. Orioles) was not listed on RTV's broadcast schedule, so I'm not sure if it was even on. But if you're coming here looking where you can find the games on My9, look for RTV on WGRZ 2.2. If you find it, let me know. Ugh. Tonight's game is on My9. Unfortunately for me, and the rest of the Buffalo area, that means no Yankees baseball. WTF? If anyone from the Buffalo area is being directed here from web searches looking for info, here's what I know: The channel that used to carry the games, WNGS RTN-11, is still on Time Warner, but I've been told by friends that the games are gone as the station is now a religious station. My TV provider, Verizon FIOS, stopped broadcasting the channel months ago, prior to their programming change. As far as I know, nobody in the Buffalo local market can watch these games. Sucks to be us. If I'm wrong, let me know. UPDATE: according to a comment from AJ (thanks!), the game was on channel 13 on Time Warner. Channel 13 is a Time Warner sports channel so it's possible. I'm not sure if that's true b/c I'm a FIOS customer. I also got a lot of page hits yesterday from people searching for My9 info, presumably from the WNY area, so I'm assuming people couldn't find the game. The next My9 game is on June 9th. Hopefully by then, we'll all have the games on. I've looked around the web and couldn't find anything about any other network picking up the feed. The only thing we can hope for is that another local station picks them up. It certainly can't hurt to scroll through the local channels whenever the games are on My9. Hopefully, one day it'll be on. There isn't much the cable providers can do as it's up to the networks to broadcast the feed. If you still want to get access to the game, here are your options: 1)Yankee games are back on the radio, now broadcast on WECK 1230 AM here in Buffalo. Or if you have an XM radio subscription, like me, you can listen to that. 2)Follow along online using the gamecast from MLB.com, ESPN.com, Yahoo.com, etc. I can't think of any other options, but if anyone local happens across this post and has an option, let me know. Peace, love and Pinstripes, J-Boogie

The Francisco Cervelli Story

Got an e-mail from the guys at Bleacher Report. Their senior Yankees writer has written a great piece on Francisco Cervelli and I wanted to share the link. Cervelli has been a great addition to the Yanks since filling in for Posada and Molina. He calls a good game and hasn't been too bad with the stick either. I said I'd be happy if he hit .260. He's rocking a .306 average. Cisco is doing a great job and is definitely, as the article calls him, an unsung hero.

Give it a read. Enjoy.

J-Boogie