May 2010
Angsty Joba
Let me start with the bad news.
This sums up this afternoon’s game quite nicely, I think.
Throughout this season, Joba Chamberlain has displayed a Burnett-like tendency to either be lights-out dominant or really, really awful. There were many (myself included) who thought during Spring Training that Chamberlain, and not Phil Hughes, was the wisest choice for fifth starter and would be wasted in the eighth inning role. So far, while sometimes we have seen flashes of the raw stuff and command that would constitute a top-flight starter or reliever, we have seen maddening inconsistency and a tendency towards total meltdown.
Today, unfortunately, we were faced with very, very Bad!Joba.
CC Sabathia was unspectacular against the Cleveland Indians, but the bats of Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano have been on fire and we went to the 7th inning holding a 10-5 lead. David Robertson recorded an out, hit a batter, gave up a double, and was removed with stiffness in his lower back; Sergio Mitre, inexplicably used for only one batter, issued a walk; Damaso Marte retired the one lefty he faced, and then Joba came in with a 10-6 score, two runners on, and two men out.
Joba, while sporting a fastball that touched 97 mph, not only allowed the two inherited runners to score, but gave up four more of his own before recording the final out with the Yankees down 12-10. The final score was 13-11, as the Yankees lost a crusher.
As to more bad news, early in the game Alex Rodriguez lined a double off the skull of Indians starter David Huff. It was scary, but Huff apparently never lost consciousness and gave the crowd a thumbs-up as he was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Beyond all that, however, there is Good News.
- After losing an embarrassing series to the Mets, the Yankees took two of three from Minnesota, winning two one-run games on strong pitching performances from AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte (who sports a 2.62 ERA in addition to a 6-1 record). Mariano Rivera recovered from a few hiccups, saving two tight games (1-0 and 3-2) in the span of a few hours.
- Phil Hughes also recovered from two consecutive sub-par starts to strike out eight Indians over seven innings in the opener of this series, running his record to 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA. (Yankees won 8-2.)
- Curtis Granderson is back.
- Robinson Cano is a beast of a ballplayer. He hit a grand slam yesterday, drove in three runs today, and now has a .359/.403/.604 triple slash with a team-leading 10 home runs and 37 RBI.
- Nick Swisher’s getting married to actress girlfriend Joanna Garcia. Doesn’t have much to do with baseball, per se, but it still makes me happy.
Too frickin’ cute, right? Congrats to Swishalicious!
Anyway, the Yankees, still holding onto second place in the East, look to continue righting their ship and take their second series in a row.
Record: 29-20.
Next up: Justin Masterson (Cleveland) vs. AJ Burnett, Sunday, May 30, 1:05 PM.
Till next time,
Ana
Now Playing: Tightrope – Janelle Monae
When You’re Bad, You’re Bad
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” … cliched as it is, this phrase, in chronological terms, described the Yankees’ 2010 rather well so far. For the first thirty games, we were golden. Then everything went wrong at once, and … well, it was (is) the worst of times in Yankeeland, at least in the comparative sense of 2010. So bad.
Angsty Joba’s right.
We just lost a series to the Mets, y’all. The Mets. The Empire State Building is going to be all lit up in Mets’ blue and orange this Monday. …Now that’s just cruel.
The Yankees are 5-10 in their last 15 games, and we are specifically not firing on all cylinders. Our starters, once golden, now can’t pitch, with the exception of Javier Vazquez (who woulda thunk it?); we can’t hit unless it’s the ninth inning and the game is already too far gone.
Slumps happen. Of course they do. It’s no reason to give up on the season, and no fan in their right mind would count us out yet. It’s just frustrating to watch. What was 21-8 turned into 26-18 so quickly. And just as quickly we can turn back into the winning machine we once were (hey, Curtis Granderson‘s due off the DL anytime now)… for now we just wait it out, right? Of course right.
Record: 26-18.
Next Up: A win. Maybe. Please? AJ Burnett goes against Scott Baker (Minnesota), Tuesday, May 25, 8:10 PM.
Till next time,
Ana
Now Playing: The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles
The State of the Yankees
Well hello there.
I’m finally done with finals and freshman year, and I’m at home and have enough time to re-devote myself to blogging.
The Yankees are 25-13. Not bad at all, considering that Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher are currently missing time due to minor injuries, Andy Pettitte missed a start with a sore elbow, and Nick Johnson, Curtis Granderson, Alfredo Aceves, and Chan Ho Park have all hit the disabled list. Javier Vazquez is currently pitching to an ERA around 8.00, and that’s after an outstanding start in Detroit last week and a brief, effective relief appearance against Boston today. But we still win, even though sometimes we run a lineup out featuring Randy Winn, Marcus Thames, and Ramiro Pena intimidating no one in the bottom third.
But we get picked up by people like Brett Gardner and his .323 batting average, on-base percentage near .400, and 17 stolen bases; Francisco Cervelli and his unsustainable .400 batting average; Pettitte, refusing to show his age at 5-0 and 1.89; and Phil Hughes, who, despite a mediocre-to-poor showing today against the Red Sox, is still rocking out to the tune of a 5-0 record and a 2.25 ERA.
Today was the first game the Yankees played against the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium this season. …Boy, was it a weird one.
The Yankees staked Hughes to a 5-run lead in the first inning, beating up on Daisuke Matsuzaka. By the 5th, they were leading 6-2. Hughes wasn’t “Hughesian,” per se — that is, he wasn’t god-like — but he was pitching perfectly respectably until J.D. Drew took him deep with two outs in the 5th for three runs, cutting the score to 6-5.
By the 8th, it was 7-6 Yankees, and Chan Ho Park, fresh off the disabled list, was in the game (it was a day off for Joba). The hope, of course, was for him to get the ball to Mariano Rivera – fresh off his first runs-allowed and blown save of the year, but still a God among men and the only person I want to see in the ninth inning — but it was not to be. Kevin Youkilis and Victor Martinez took Park deep back-to-back before he could record an out in the 8h, and the Yankees were in a 9-7 hole with 6 outs to go and Damaso Marte in the game. The bottom of the order plus a slumping Derek Jeter went quietly against Daniel Bard, and, despite effective relief by Marte and Javier Vazquez, the Yankees were still down two runs in the ninth, facing Jonathan Papelbon.
Brett Gardner doubled. And then it was Alex Rodriguez.
And, after a Cervelli hit-by-pitch, it was Marcus Thames.
Papelbon got owned to the tune of four runs in 2/3 of an inning, the Yankees walked off with an 11-9 win, and it was Pie Day once again in the Bronx.
It was the Yankees first walk-off this season, and it was an instant classic. Papelbon is probably the pitcher I most appreciate beating up on. I simply don’t like him. I think he’s a punk. Therefore, I enjoyed tonight very, very, very much. The Red Sox are floundering at slightly under .500 (19-20) and are a full 8.5 games back of the Rays in the AL East. Good times, man, good times.
Record: 25-13.
Next Up: The Yankees finish a short two game set against the Sox, looking to win their 11th of 13 series on the season. Josh Beckett (Boston) vs. CC Sabathia, Tuesday, May 18, 7:05 PM.
Till next time,
Ana
Now Playing: Nothin’ on You – B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
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