05/30: Yankees 4, Tigers 0
Posted by: Jason
"You didn't get me down, Ray."
-Robert De Niro, "Raging Bull"
In his last start, Randy Johnson showed his first signs of life in more than a month by striking out 8 and battling through 5 complete innings against Boston.
In today's matinee start, he took a substantial step toward restoring the confidence of the Yankee universe. RJ was a only few degrees short of perfection as the veteran southpaw dominated a good Detroit lineup. His fastball was improved (recall Ivan Rodriguez blown away swinging in the 4th) and the trademark slider cruelly sliced down-and-in on righties like, well, a Randy Johnson slider!!
Yankees offensive highlights included 2 runs in the 3rd on hits by Robinson, Melky and John Damon. In the 5th, Alex plated Sheffield with a characteristically non-clutch line drive with 2 outs. Did you catch his little bat flip as he left the box? MVP swagger in the face of unjustified criticism...I applaud it and I demand more, Alex. Posada followed with a broken bat RBI to finish the scoring at 4-0.
(Joe Torre lineup criticism du jour: The decision to DH Terrence Long was mind-boggling).
The bullpen was excellent: Torre inserted Villone in the 7th and he shut down the Tigers for 2 innings. In the 9th, Farnsworth did what he does best, that is, push hitters around with his fastball.
The overarching story of this game was the resurgence of RJ. His no-hit bid was unfortunately halted by Pudge Rodriguez (or perhaps Rodriguez's little brother?) in the 6th. One more hit in the 7th ended his stellar outing.
Clearly, major questions hang over Johnson. A warning: Remember that as a boxer gets older, his knockout power remains intact. Underestimate him and the doctor will be breaking the smelling salts under your nose.
-Robert De Niro, "Raging Bull"
In his last start, Randy Johnson showed his first signs of life in more than a month by striking out 8 and battling through 5 complete innings against Boston.
In today's matinee start, he took a substantial step toward restoring the confidence of the Yankee universe. RJ was a only few degrees short of perfection as the veteran southpaw dominated a good Detroit lineup. His fastball was improved (recall Ivan Rodriguez blown away swinging in the 4th) and the trademark slider cruelly sliced down-and-in on righties like, well, a Randy Johnson slider!!
Yankees offensive highlights included 2 runs in the 3rd on hits by Robinson, Melky and John Damon. In the 5th, Alex plated Sheffield with a characteristically non-clutch line drive with 2 outs. Did you catch his little bat flip as he left the box? MVP swagger in the face of unjustified criticism...I applaud it and I demand more, Alex. Posada followed with a broken bat RBI to finish the scoring at 4-0.
(Joe Torre lineup criticism du jour: The decision to DH Terrence Long was mind-boggling).
The bullpen was excellent: Torre inserted Villone in the 7th and he shut down the Tigers for 2 innings. In the 9th, Farnsworth did what he does best, that is, push hitters around with his fastball.
The overarching story of this game was the resurgence of RJ. His no-hit bid was unfortunately halted by Pudge Rodriguez (or perhaps Rodriguez's little brother?) in the 6th. One more hit in the 7th ended his stellar outing.
Clearly, major questions hang over Johnson. A warning: Remember that as a boxer gets older, his knockout power remains intact. Underestimate him and the doctor will be breaking the smelling salts under your nose.
