06/30: Farnsworth!
Posted by: Patrick
Everyone's talking about Kyle's outburst last night.
I didn't see it, but if he was actually disrespectful to Torre, what a backwards thing that is considering that Torre has gone back to him over and over again (something that plenty of people have criticized him for - not that that matters) and he gets mad when we're struggling for victories and the winning run is on in the 8th and the Hammer of God is ready? I mean, really, you have to be kidding.
Kyle Farnsworth had pitched himself into trouble yet again. The Yankees' shaky eighth-inning bridge to Mariano Rivera had given up a pair of singles with one out in a one-run game with the A's. The setup man came back with a strikeout, then Joe Torre came out to pull him. ...
"He was upset," Torre said. "But he has to understand, it shouldn't be an embarrassment when you bring Mariano Rivera in."
"He was upset," Torre said. "But he has to understand, it shouldn't be an embarrassment when you bring Mariano Rivera in."
I didn't see it, but if he was actually disrespectful to Torre, what a backwards thing that is considering that Torre has gone back to him over and over again (something that plenty of people have criticized him for - not that that matters) and he gets mad when we're struggling for victories and the winning run is on in the 8th and the Hammer of God is ready? I mean, really, you have to be kidding.
Posted by: David
Mike Mussina pitched seven strong innings and A-Rod contributed with three hits and an RBI as the Yankees held on to beat the A's 2-1 on Friday night in the Bronx.
After a 1-7 road trip, with one game suspended, the Yankees were in dire need of a "W" and they got it. The Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead early and held it until the A's scored late and made it a one run ballgame.
Kyle Farnsworth was summoned for the eighth and put two runners on and got the second out but was pulled in favor of Rivera. Farnsworth was visibly upset and slammed his mitt against the dugout wall as he left the field.
Mo struck out Jack Cust to end the eighth and saved the game in the ninth by striking out two more and only allowing one runner to reach base as he hit Johnson with two outs.
The Yankees resume the weekend series this afternoon with Kei Igawa on the hill.
After a 1-7 road trip, with one game suspended, the Yankees were in dire need of a "W" and they got it. The Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead early and held it until the A's scored late and made it a one run ballgame.
Kyle Farnsworth was summoned for the eighth and put two runners on and got the second out but was pulled in favor of Rivera. Farnsworth was visibly upset and slammed his mitt against the dugout wall as he left the field.
Mo struck out Jack Cust to end the eighth and saved the game in the ninth by striking out two more and only allowing one runner to reach base as he hit Johnson with two outs.
The Yankees resume the weekend series this afternoon with Kei Igawa on the hill.
Posted by: James
Well, the game's not officially over as it has been suspended due to rain. The score is currently 8-6 Yankees in the top of the 8th, with Derek Jeter standing on second with two out and Hideki up at bat.
The game started off pretty easy with both teams matching zeros for the first two innings and Daniel Cabrera looking very strong. In the top of the third however, Cabrera served up a breaking ball right over the plate and Andy Phillips put it over the left field wall to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Those good feelings lasted all of two outs and Wang walked Paul Bako (the backup catcher!!) and served up a 2-run HR to Brian Roberts (his fifth of the year and third in June). Amusingly enough, the Yankees actually showed a little life and stormed right back in the top of the fourth with back to back singles putting Jeter and Matsui on first and third with no one out. A sac fly from A-Rod and then two walks to Jorge and Abreu loaded them up with one out. Unfortunately, the Yankees were only able to plate one more on a Melky groundout, 3-2 Yankees. That remained the score until the Yankees added an additional run in the seventh when Robbie led off the inning with a double. He was sacrificed over to third and brought home on a Damon single, 4-2 Yankees.
Most Yankees fans feel very safe with a lead in Chien-Ming Wang's hands but last night was just not his night as he melted down in the bottom of the seventh. Nick Markakis started things off with a single and came around on a Kevin MillAH triple (a triple? Well, maybe a more astute RF plays that ball a little better...or even catches it). After a ground out, Wang walked Melvin Mora and gave up a two-run double to Jay Gibbons. Corey Patterson came in to run for Gibbons and promptly stole third and then came home on a Posada error on the throw. After Wang walked Paul Bako AGAIN, Torre finally took him out and brought in Luis Vizcaino. Luis got Jay Payton swinging (very big out there) but gave up a single to Brian Roberts putting men on first and second for Mike Myers. Myers got Brandon Fahey to ground out softly but the damage had been done, 6-4 Orioles.
However depressing as that inning was, the Yankees came right back (were you as surprised as I was?) in the top of the 8th with back to back walks to Posada and Abreu to start off. Melky Cabrera doubled home Posada and if you were listening to the radio broadcast, John Sterling and Susan W. would have you believe that Melky hitting away and not bunting the guys over was a managerial decision by Joe Torre on par with the great feats of Connie Mack. In any case, Robbie Cano came up and did his job, grounding out to the right side and getting the tying run home. After a Phillips groundout, Damon came up and singled, putting men on first and third for Derek Jeter who promptly singled them both in and took second on the throw home. 8-6 Yanks and that's when the game was suspended.
The game started off pretty easy with both teams matching zeros for the first two innings and Daniel Cabrera looking very strong. In the top of the third however, Cabrera served up a breaking ball right over the plate and Andy Phillips put it over the left field wall to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Those good feelings lasted all of two outs and Wang walked Paul Bako (the backup catcher!!) and served up a 2-run HR to Brian Roberts (his fifth of the year and third in June). Amusingly enough, the Yankees actually showed a little life and stormed right back in the top of the fourth with back to back singles putting Jeter and Matsui on first and third with no one out. A sac fly from A-Rod and then two walks to Jorge and Abreu loaded them up with one out. Unfortunately, the Yankees were only able to plate one more on a Melky groundout, 3-2 Yankees. That remained the score until the Yankees added an additional run in the seventh when Robbie led off the inning with a double. He was sacrificed over to third and brought home on a Damon single, 4-2 Yankees.
Most Yankees fans feel very safe with a lead in Chien-Ming Wang's hands but last night was just not his night as he melted down in the bottom of the seventh. Nick Markakis started things off with a single and came around on a Kevin MillAH triple (a triple? Well, maybe a more astute RF plays that ball a little better...or even catches it). After a ground out, Wang walked Melvin Mora and gave up a two-run double to Jay Gibbons. Corey Patterson came in to run for Gibbons and promptly stole third and then came home on a Posada error on the throw. After Wang walked Paul Bako AGAIN, Torre finally took him out and brought in Luis Vizcaino. Luis got Jay Payton swinging (very big out there) but gave up a single to Brian Roberts putting men on first and second for Mike Myers. Myers got Brandon Fahey to ground out softly but the damage had been done, 6-4 Orioles.
However depressing as that inning was, the Yankees came right back (were you as surprised as I was?) in the top of the 8th with back to back walks to Posada and Abreu to start off. Melky Cabrera doubled home Posada and if you were listening to the radio broadcast, John Sterling and Susan W. would have you believe that Melky hitting away and not bunting the guys over was a managerial decision by Joe Torre on par with the great feats of Connie Mack. In any case, Robbie Cano came up and did his job, grounding out to the right side and getting the tying run home. After a Phillips groundout, Damon came up and singled, putting men on first and third for Derek Jeter who promptly singled them both in and took second on the throw home. 8-6 Yanks and that's when the game was suspended.
Posted by: Patrick
From Peter Abraham:
Via Eric Schultz.
The Yankees signed third-round draft pick Ryan Pope, a right-hander from the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design. Cashman said the team is working hard on Carmen Angelini, the Louisiana high school infielder who fell into the 10th round because of his commitment to attend Rice University.
Via Eric Schultz.
Posted by: Patrick
No offense. No offense at all. 5 hits and 1 walk. No Yankee had 2 hits - Jeter, Matsui, A-Rod, Posada and Cabrera each had 1 - and no Yankee had an extra base hit. We struck out 10 times.
Meanwhile, they struck out 0 times. That said, if you throw out the 6th inning, they had 0 runs, 3 hits and 2 walks. However, all innings count and the 6th was where they did all of their damage. Coming into the inning, Clemens had pitched 5 innings scoreless. However, in the 6th, he didn't get an out until the 5th batter. Chris Gomez singled to start it off and then Clemens walked Nick Markakis. Ramon Hernandez singled for the first run of the game for either side and then Aubrey Huff followed with a 3 run homer. Clemens then got 3 of the next 4 batters out to get out of the inning. He was relieved by Brian Bruney and Mo, each of which threw a hitless, scoreless inning. Clemens record is now 1-3 with a 5.32 ERA.
Thanks to a walk off double by Jose Lopez in the 11th that gave the Mariners a 2-1 win over the Red Sox, we're still at 11 games back in the division. Oakland beat Cleveland, so we remain at 8 games back in the wild card, as well. Boston is off today and we have Wang (7-4, 3.51) going up against Daniel Cabrera (6-8, 4.98) at 7:05 PM ET. We actually have to give Wang some runs to work with to end this 4 game slide, though.
Meanwhile, they struck out 0 times. That said, if you throw out the 6th inning, they had 0 runs, 3 hits and 2 walks. However, all innings count and the 6th was where they did all of their damage. Coming into the inning, Clemens had pitched 5 innings scoreless. However, in the 6th, he didn't get an out until the 5th batter. Chris Gomez singled to start it off and then Clemens walked Nick Markakis. Ramon Hernandez singled for the first run of the game for either side and then Aubrey Huff followed with a 3 run homer. Clemens then got 3 of the next 4 batters out to get out of the inning. He was relieved by Brian Bruney and Mo, each of which threw a hitless, scoreless inning. Clemens record is now 1-3 with a 5.32 ERA.
Thanks to a walk off double by Jose Lopez in the 11th that gave the Mariners a 2-1 win over the Red Sox, we're still at 11 games back in the division. Oakland beat Cleveland, so we remain at 8 games back in the wild card, as well. Boston is off today and we have Wang (7-4, 3.51) going up against Daniel Cabrera (6-8, 4.98) at 7:05 PM ET. We actually have to give Wang some runs to work with to end this 4 game slide, though.
06/27: Jeter Up for ESPY
Posted by: Patrick
Jeter is up for an ESPY in the Best Baseball Player category. You can vote now.
Posted by: Patrick
This is my weekly recap of the performance of the YanksBlog.com teams in the Yankees Bloggers Fantasy Baseball League.
Last Week
All well rounded performance propelled James to a 7-3 victory over Aziz (Pride of the Yankees). Actually, Aziz's team was pretty well rounded, as well, but James team was simply better. They mashed 12 home runs (with 3 home run weeks from Alfonso Soriano and Brandon Phillips) and hit .328, but failed to steal a single base. Aziz picked it up there, stealing 3, scoring 40 runs and hitting .325. James' offense was led by the aforementioned Soriano, who hit .471 with 4 R, 3 HR and 3 RBI. Lance Berkman hit .444, as well. Ryan Howard (7 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .440 AVG), Howie Kendrick (10 R, 3 RBI, .407 AVG) and Magglio Ordonez (9 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB, .500 AVG) led Aziz's side.
James took 4 of 5 categories on the pitching side, thanks to 4 wins, 50 strikeouts and an incredible 2.73 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. His 4 wins came from Billy Wagner, Kelvim Escobar, Jake Peavy (10 Ks) and Brad Penny. Ted Lilly also picked up 10 Ks (even though he had an ERA of 6.43). The saves came from Jose Valverde (2) and Bobby Jenks (1). Aziz's pitching staff managed to take the saves category with Francisco Cordero contributing 2 and Takashi Saito and David Weathers each chipping in 1. He received wins from Ben Sheets and Homer Bailey.
I had to face the behemoth known as Mike (River Ave. Blues) and I managed to escape with my dignity in tact, thanks to a 5-5 tie. To put it simply: offense was mine and pitching was his. I won R, HR, RBI, AVG and SV. He won SB, W, K, ERA and WHIP. My offense was led by A-Rod (7 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB, .545 AVG) and Dan Uggla (5 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB, .250 AVG). Mike's offense only managed to score 19 runs and drive in 15 with 4 homers and a .263 average to go along with 6 stolen bases. Russell Martin scored 2 runs, hit a home run, drove in 6, stole 2 and hit .304.
As bad as Mike's offense may have been, my pitching was certainly no better. We came up with 1 win, 4 saves, 36 strikeouts, a 5.15 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. For that, I have to thank Octavio Dotel, Andy Pettitte, Matt Cain and Barry Zito, all of who had an ERA of 7.71 or higher. My 1 win came from Justin Verlander who also gave me 11 strikeouts. My saves came from Mo, Joe Borowski, Dotel and Alan Embree. Mike's 5 wins came from Daisuke Matsuzaka (9 Ks), Francisco Rodriguez, Derek Lowe, Felix Hernandez and Yovani Gallardo (12 Ks). All 3 of his saves came from Kevin Gregg.
Seamus fell to Dave (Pride of the Yankees), 6-3. All 3 of Seamus' wins came on the offensive side with Dave taking the rest and them tying on saves with 1. Joe Mauer was Seamus' offensive leader with 8 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB and a .333 AVG. Dave's greatest contributions came from Vladimir Guerrero (5 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .280 AVG) and Paul Konerko (5 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .300 AVG).
Seamus failed to pick up a single victory and only picked up 1 save, which came from Todd Jones. Moose registered 11 strikeouts, as well. Dave had wins from Carlos Zombrano (12 Ks), Tom Glavine and Darn Haren with his save coming from Al Reyes.
Top 3 teams in the league:
1. Mike (75-41-4)
2. James (62-52-6)
3. Ben (River Ave. Blues) (62-56-2)
This Week
James (2nd, 62-52-6) vs. Seamus (10th, 44-69-7).
Patrick (T6th, 56-58-6) vs. Dave (4th, 59-54-7).
Last Week
All well rounded performance propelled James to a 7-3 victory over Aziz (Pride of the Yankees). Actually, Aziz's team was pretty well rounded, as well, but James team was simply better. They mashed 12 home runs (with 3 home run weeks from Alfonso Soriano and Brandon Phillips) and hit .328, but failed to steal a single base. Aziz picked it up there, stealing 3, scoring 40 runs and hitting .325. James' offense was led by the aforementioned Soriano, who hit .471 with 4 R, 3 HR and 3 RBI. Lance Berkman hit .444, as well. Ryan Howard (7 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .440 AVG), Howie Kendrick (10 R, 3 RBI, .407 AVG) and Magglio Ordonez (9 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB, .500 AVG) led Aziz's side.
James took 4 of 5 categories on the pitching side, thanks to 4 wins, 50 strikeouts and an incredible 2.73 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. His 4 wins came from Billy Wagner, Kelvim Escobar, Jake Peavy (10 Ks) and Brad Penny. Ted Lilly also picked up 10 Ks (even though he had an ERA of 6.43). The saves came from Jose Valverde (2) and Bobby Jenks (1). Aziz's pitching staff managed to take the saves category with Francisco Cordero contributing 2 and Takashi Saito and David Weathers each chipping in 1. He received wins from Ben Sheets and Homer Bailey.
I had to face the behemoth known as Mike (River Ave. Blues) and I managed to escape with my dignity in tact, thanks to a 5-5 tie. To put it simply: offense was mine and pitching was his. I won R, HR, RBI, AVG and SV. He won SB, W, K, ERA and WHIP. My offense was led by A-Rod (7 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB, .545 AVG) and Dan Uggla (5 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB, .250 AVG). Mike's offense only managed to score 19 runs and drive in 15 with 4 homers and a .263 average to go along with 6 stolen bases. Russell Martin scored 2 runs, hit a home run, drove in 6, stole 2 and hit .304.
As bad as Mike's offense may have been, my pitching was certainly no better. We came up with 1 win, 4 saves, 36 strikeouts, a 5.15 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. For that, I have to thank Octavio Dotel, Andy Pettitte, Matt Cain and Barry Zito, all of who had an ERA of 7.71 or higher. My 1 win came from Justin Verlander who also gave me 11 strikeouts. My saves came from Mo, Joe Borowski, Dotel and Alan Embree. Mike's 5 wins came from Daisuke Matsuzaka (9 Ks), Francisco Rodriguez, Derek Lowe, Felix Hernandez and Yovani Gallardo (12 Ks). All 3 of his saves came from Kevin Gregg.
Seamus fell to Dave (Pride of the Yankees), 6-3. All 3 of Seamus' wins came on the offensive side with Dave taking the rest and them tying on saves with 1. Joe Mauer was Seamus' offensive leader with 8 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB and a .333 AVG. Dave's greatest contributions came from Vladimir Guerrero (5 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .280 AVG) and Paul Konerko (5 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .300 AVG).
Seamus failed to pick up a single victory and only picked up 1 save, which came from Todd Jones. Moose registered 11 strikeouts, as well. Dave had wins from Carlos Zombrano (12 Ks), Tom Glavine and Darn Haren with his save coming from Al Reyes.
Top 3 teams in the league:
1. Mike (75-41-4)
2. James (62-52-6)
3. Ben (River Ave. Blues) (62-56-2)
This Week
James (2nd, 62-52-6) vs. Seamus (10th, 44-69-7).
Patrick (T6th, 56-58-6) vs. Dave (4th, 59-54-7).
Posted by: Patrick
This is getting depressing. Pettitte goes 7 innings, allowing just 2 ER and we only score 2 runs. How does it ended? Scott Proctor comes in in the 9th and walks 3 guys. First, Corey Paterson to start the inning. Then, Brian Roberts singles and Chris Gomez pops a bunt up to Proctor for the first found. Proctor then walks Nick Markakis to load them up and walks Ramon Hernandez to score the game winning, game ending run. It was a ... walk off walk. Cripes, that is ugly. Hindsight is always fun, but I wouldn't have been sad to have seen Mo used in the 9th instead of Proctor. I mean, I guess, no matter what you have to pitch 2 innings there, so maybe it's 1 for Proctor, 1 for Mo, regardless of it is the 9th or the 10th.
Both of the Yankees runs were driven in on a 2 run home run by Johnny Damon, which also scored Miguel Cairo. Jeter and Cairo were the only Yankees to pick up more than 1 hit with Matsui, Posada (2 walks) and Cano ending up hitless.
The Red Sox lost to the Mariners, so we're still at 11 games back in the division. We're 8 games back in the wild card. The winning streak startstomorrow today!!! with Clemens going up against Erik Bedard at 7:05 PM ET.
Both of the Yankees runs were driven in on a 2 run home run by Johnny Damon, which also scored Miguel Cairo. Jeter and Cairo were the only Yankees to pick up more than 1 hit with Matsui, Posada (2 walks) and Cano ending up hitless.
The Red Sox lost to the Mariners, so we're still at 11 games back in the division. We're 8 games back in the wild card. The winning streak starts
Posted by: Patrick
Ed Price has 33 things you may not know about D. Jeter in honor of it being Jeter's 33rd birthday today. Some of my favorites:
Via Bryan Hoch.
By any other name: At the time of his 33rd birthday, Pete Rose -- who would go on to be the all-time hits leader -- had 2,167 hits, with a .312 average in 1,705 games. Jeter has 2,250 hits, with a .318 average in 1,751 games. ...
Neat feat: Jeter last year hit .343 with 14 homers, 118 runs scored, 97 RBI and 34 stolen bases. Only two players had ever matched or exceeded those statistics in the same season -- Kiki Cuyler in 1925 and George Sisler in 1920. ...
Consistent: Jeter has not gone hitless in four straight games since June 2003. ...
In bunches: Since the start of the 1996 season, Jeter has 659 multiple-hit games, more than any other player in the majors.
Few o-fers: Jeter has hit safely in 63 games this season, most in the majors and is on pace for 140. The record for a single season is 135 games with a hit, which Jeter accomplished in 1999 and shares with Rogers Hornsby (1922), Chuck Klein (1930), Wade Boggs (1985) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001).
Neat feat: Jeter last year hit .343 with 14 homers, 118 runs scored, 97 RBI and 34 stolen bases. Only two players had ever matched or exceeded those statistics in the same season -- Kiki Cuyler in 1925 and George Sisler in 1920. ...
Consistent: Jeter has not gone hitless in four straight games since June 2003. ...
In bunches: Since the start of the 1996 season, Jeter has 659 multiple-hit games, more than any other player in the majors.
Few o-fers: Jeter has hit safely in 63 games this season, most in the majors and is on pace for 140. The record for a single season is 135 games with a hit, which Jeter accomplished in 1999 and shares with Rogers Hornsby (1922), Chuck Klein (1930), Wade Boggs (1985) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001).
Via Bryan Hoch.
06/25: Milton Bradley
Posted by: Patrick
From ContraCostaTimes.com:
Via PSD.
The A's appeared to have a trade worked out with the Kansas City Royals on Friday, but the deal reportedly fell through when news surfaced that Bradley had suffered an oblique injury in his final game with the A's on Wednesday. The Mets, Yankees and Cubs are other teams that have been mentioned to be interested in Bradley.
Via PSD.
