Game 153: Funny, it doesn’t feel like Game 153
ByBefore we start, the Yanks have announced that IPK will be scratched from his Saturday start due to an upper back strain. Everyone slides back. You can never have enough pitching. Hat tip to anaconda.
The Yanks are rollin’, but things aren’t going to get any easier over the next four days. The Blue Jays are throwing four guys at us that we haven’t exactly hit well this season.
Tonight’s starter, Roy Halladay, in 14 innings has allowed 5 runs (3 home runs), walked 4 and struck out 14.
Tomorrow’s starter, Shaun Marcum, in 16.1 innings has allowed 11 runs (2 homers), walked nine and struck out 12. Okay, so maybe we’ve hit him well on the whole. I just can’t forget that May 29th start where he held us to two hits and no runs over six innings. Then again, he walked three that night, and we were playing remarkably shitty ball, so hopefully that doesn’t carry over.
Sunday’s starter, Dustin McGowan, in 19.2 innings has allowed 8 runs (1 homer), walked 7 and struck out 16. However, he did allow four runs over five innings back on September 12, so he’s not invincible.
Finally, Monday’s starter, A.J. Burnett, has been a royal pain in the ass. In 15 innings, he’s allowed just one run (on a solo shot to Johnny Damon), walked 6 and struck out 13.
However, the Blue Jays’ offense isn’t in good shape. Vernon Wells and Troy Glaus, in theory their two best hitters, are done for the year. Lyle Overbay hasn’t started since September 14, after getting screws removed from his wrists. However, he has played in the 8th or 9th for defensive purposes pretty much every game since. Basically, Frank Thomas, Matt Stairs, and Alex Rios are the only players left with remotely respectable numbers. Aaron Hill is okay, but he’s still below league average. Russ Adams has fared well lately, but we know how streaks tend to even themselves out.
Remember, you can still vote in the caption contest. It seems voting has slowed in the past few days. Thankfully, Dane Cook is still in the lead.
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Doug Mientkiewicz, 1B
9. Melky Cabrera, CF
And on the mound, No. 40, Chien Ming Wang.
Thanks for the love Joseph, but unless Torre in an unexpected move put Lou Gehrig in the game to pitch tonight I think you have a typo with the pitchers number.
Didn’t you hear about our guest start tonight? Chien-Ming Gehrig.
It’s fixed. Of course, Mike points this out to me and doesn’t change it himself.
IF I had admin rights I would fix it. Hell I would probaly post a thought or two.
By the way I just read that Buster Olney thinks Gehrig is a perfect fit for the rotation.
Ecks is a really great scrappy guy that gives heart to the Cardinal organization. he’s played good also aside from some games that he’s missed this year so I wouldn’t understand why they would let him go but Renteria is having his best season as a pro aside from 2003 with the cards. Renteria’s glove is horrible. I would go the cheaper route with Ecks and I heard somewhere that La russa is as good as gone after season
I’d rather let a cardboard cutout of David Eckstein play shortstop than the real David Eckstein. Grit and scrappiness is nice and all, but an 88 career OPS+ is just not acceptable.
Does anyone else agree that its a good thing that AROD is having a miny slump now? He’s such a streaky hitter and I’m praying that this recent skid will set him up for a monster October.
Gotta love it when 2 groundball pitchers have their A game working. This game’ll be over by 8:30 EST.
Old man Joba’s in the hizzy.
49 pitches for Halladay through 5.1 innings? That’s not good. No, that’s not good at all.
That’s good. That’s very good in fact. Way to go Robbie.
Time for Babe Mientkiewicz to do his thang.
Ack.
I get the idea of trying to sneak in a run, but Posada running? Meh. Especially when they start to get hits off of him, think they’re picking the wrong day to force a running game.
Man, Halladay’s tough. Is he even breaking a sweat at this point?
According to Buster Olney, breaking a sweat would be a good fit for Halladay.
I thought Olney said that Halladay would be a good fit for breaking a sweat.
Argh…not good.
Nice play by A-Rod…but drat.
I take it you haven’t heard that “defensively he lags behind pretty much any third baseman not named Troy.”
Nice 1-6 double play by Mink & Jeter.
(don’t ask me, Mike Kay said it)
apparently the Yankees hate shitty TV(damn you homeboys in space) and therefore refuse to win anytime they are scheduled for Fri night on MY9
and Villone is warming AWESOME
It’s not good when as a fan you’re hoping the opposing pitcher pops a blister or something. While sitting in the dugout.
Huh, we’re struggling against a good strikeout pitcher. Where have I seen this before? Oh right, against every good strikeout pitch we face.
Cant wait for Carmona/Sabathia/Lackey/Escobar. Truly thrilling offense.
Which, of course, explains why we have 2 K’s on the night. I think we’re just struggling against a really good pitcher who happens to own the Yanks.
I wouldn’t call Halladay a strikeout pitcher, his 5.55 Kper9 is 55th amongst qualified starters, somehow behind Jamie Moyer.
When he’s on, like he is tonight, he’s a groundball machine.
slump buster
I think a two run home run would be a good fit here.
Olney…is that you? Cool!
I think you’d be a great fit for this comment section!
It’s nice to see that Buster Olney thinks that Buster Olney would be a good fit for RAB’s comments section.
We should have had 3 runs by now. I don’t think it’s been pitching more than we ran ourselves out of chances.
C’mon Halladay…miss your spot just once!
Fine, I’ll addend:
Huh, we’re struggling against an ABOVE AVERAGE pitcher. Where have I seen this before? Oh right, against every ABOVER AVERAGE pitcher we face.
Cant wait for Carmona/Sabathia/Lackey/Escobar. Truly thrilling offense.
Roy Halliday is one of the top pitchers in the AL. Sometimes, great pitching can utterly shut down great offenses, and that’s what we’re seeing here. It sucks, but what can you do, other than tip your cap to Roy and go get ‘em tomorrow. The Yanks aren’t going to go 10-0 to end the season (or 14-0 for that matter). Win tomorrow now.
Or today. We’ve still got one inning left.
Did Mike Kay just say that Jose Veras has a shot at the postseason roster? Great googelly moogelly.
lol
whewww thank god I was worried there for a minute that Rios might go hitless against the yankees
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the Yanks will get the tying run to the plate in this game.
Booyah!
You’re crazy!! The tying run! That’s just crazy talk I tell you, and Buster Olney told me an I told you so comment would be a good fit on this board.
Halladay should be out of the game by 1:00 pm tomorrow right? I sure hope so.
While I appreciate the body of work the Jays have done over the course of this week, will somebody tell them they can’t make the playoffs anymore? Buster O.?
“It’s not really a great situation when a team that can’t make the playoffs tries to pretend they can by beating teams in contention. I’ve seen it happen before; they just don’t make it. The numbers don’t ever line up–no matter how many wins they pile up after being eliminated.”
Oh crap, Ronnie Villone just had a 1-2-3 inning. That means he’s back in the Circle of Trust™.
Does anyone really think that Derek Jeter drives a blazing copper Ford Edge?
Johnny D!
He kind of was out, like Moose, but you’re never really out. Even if you have 6-7-8 inning. Proctor will probably get the nod across the field someday when we play LA; he’ll start twitching uncontrollably in the opposite dugout.
Wait what, Mike? Of course Jeter drives that crappy car. Commercials don’t lie.
It was on TV, therefore it must be true!
tying run at the plate! wow.
What did I say like, 8 comments ago?
Well, that was almost a clutch DP by Groundball-deki.
Can I get a Hip Hip!
Come on people, don’t leave me hangin’ here!
Fine, I’ll do it myself…
Jorge!
i’m on the west coast, and you’re really making me feel like this one was played three hours previously; the open-ended result just leaves me hanging. seriously, what’s next?
This game is making me naseous. Was supposed to leave about 40 mins ago!
omg; is torre calling the jays bullpen, because i swore only he would allow someone to stick it out like this…
oh, right. i guess the jays took that as a personal insult.
weird how i feel like on a night like tonight, maybe even tampa can stroke a couple balls in the ninth….
!!!!!
Yeah Cano!!!
Tied!!! Holy Crap!!!
Um, so WOW!!!
tonight the my9 curse goes down
mound visit time=changing my pants time
perfect
WOOOOOOOOOO I love baseball in September like this.
Wow…whenever I doubt them, this team just keeps reeling me in!
AHHHHHHHH!!!!! I am overdosing on my crazy pillssss!!!!!!
Melky’s really struggling these days. His OBP is now below .335 and he’s topping everything.
I agree - that first hack was really a waste. Good thing is we’re back at the top of the order.
Shoulda pinch hit Shelley there if you ask me. Or even Betemit. Dude’s got 15 hits with the Yanks…and 20 RBI!
Shelley and Wiiiiiilllllsooooooooooon need more at bats, think they’re both a bit rusty from biodegrating on the bench.
s’ok.
halladay’s been equalyzzzzzddd
i don’t know what that means exactly, but the wang arm of the law don’t uh….
go yanks
Buster Olney felt a 9th inning comeback was a good fit for the Yanks tonight.
Off topic, but 110 pitches for Doc tonight, 82 strikes. Wowza.
BO thought Halladay was a good fit for the pine.
I agree. Totally. That is some seriously lucky pine.
Great outing for Mo - needed that after the last few outings.
3 run HR by Ortiz to make it 7-1 Sox. That’s clutch baby, 3 run homer with the team already up by 3. In no way is that tacking on runs vs an inferior pitching staff. All clutch.
Damn - looks like both games may finish at the same time anyway.
Someone’s on the field. I hope the AP takes a good photo so we can have another contest and pick five comments you all hate for a vote.
Buster Olney thinks sarcasm was a good fit for that comment.
I hope the guy resembles a very unfunny “comedian”.
I think a walk-off slump busting A-Bomb would be an appropriate fit here.
How many innings would we have to go before Joba gets in? Into the 12th?
There ya go
Another way of phrasing that last question is: Funny, it doesn’t feel like game 153 anymore.
Dang. Well-hit ball and nothing to show for it.
Why no Mo for 2?
Harlan Chamberlain kicks ass.
Come on Joba - smoke ‘em!
oh crap! i didn’t realize detwah won tonight!
just kidding…well, they did, but
Way to show off that 5 inch vertical Giambi!
Nailed him!
I was actually a bit worried that that would be the single/scored run that he hasn’t had happen yet. Apparently not for another day!
Is it too early to start a Joba ROY ‘08 campaign? I have some ideas for posters.
Go go Godzilla!
Damn you!
Terrible 3-1 swing by Matsui. His mechanics are well out-of-whack.
Damn, almost.
Yawn, 3-pitch strikeout to start the inning for Joba. That’s 3 straight K.
Make that 4 straight.
Holy crap, Humberto Sanchez is in the dugout!
And we may need him to pitch before long, tonight.
JO-BA! JO-BA! JO-BA!
Did channel 9 run out of commercials?
Lord knows the YES Network wouldn’t have.
Insert Mike A. Hateful Melky comment here.
That was a good at bat for him.
Nobody beats the Viz.
Nobody!
Okay, the comeback was nice. Now win already.
Mighty Matt after the Viz? They’re gonna cut him this offseason, I’d like to see him in a Yankee uniform at least one more time.
the bright side of games like this is we are in game 1 of the series, not headed off to the next tomorrow and both teams can be tired….
but then again a wise man, presumably buster olney, once said:
better to be tired and happy than tired and pissed.
Farnsworth after Mr. Vizzles, I think. This could be like one of those chance where we see Torre’s trust factor lined up: Mo, Chamberlain, Viz, then who?
Bruney/Britton maybe? Would he really trust him to close out a game anymore?
Bruney it is!
one of those chance? no idea what the fingers meant.
Here we go, El Capatain! Single, single and we go for beers.
Captain Clutch!
going back to desalvo, really? cut? i know there’s like 9 guys vying for AAA spots, but is he at the top of the likely gone list of those? i get why, but what else could they do?
and what the shit is joe kennedy doing pitching for the jays
i missed that
Mike Kay just said “If you’re just getting in from a night on the town…”, it’s what, 11:30 EST?
Buster Olney says Mike Kay is a good fit for 1932.
Let’s go Mo(lina)!
Can someone please tell me why it is we are not carrying a third catcher?
I don’t know. Even if it has to be Nieves, so be it. Not having a 3rd catcher in September is pretty inexcusable, especially with dead weight like Sean Henn & Brian Bruney taking up 40-man roster spots.
time for molina to shoot the gap here
miss big Will do you
I miss anyone who is not a defensive liability behind the plate that will allow us to pinch hit for Molina in a spot like that. Shelley or Betemit could have done a better job in that AB.
That was a half-assed AB by Molina. He goes to the Robbie Cano School of Swinging at Everything. Alas.
ugh Bruney try not to walk everyone
Ah crap, Bruney. This guy can’t buy a strike.
Greg Zaun thats a disgrace
Fuck!
Ohlendorf anyone? The guy does have the second highest Kper9 in all of the land,
And of course Bruney gives up a bomb.
MY9 strikes again
I hate to say it but I would rather see Farnsworth over Bruney
Get this fucker off the team. Ross Ohlendorf is a much better choice. Or Villone. Bullshit bullpen managing for a change.
Greg Zaun hitting a homer off Brian Bruney isn’t Joe Torre’s fault, it’s Bruney’s.
The game had entered the realm where all the relievers left were basically of the same quality. If any one of ‘em had come in and gave up that shot, then it still woulda been Torre’s fault somehow.
I’m guessing Jason Frasor will come in and try to nail down the save…
If we can limit to 1 I have a feeling they’ll get a fire under them and score it up. Ha - they just said the same thing
why hasn’t brune-take-a-knee been pulled yet?
all right, well there’s a strikeout
strikes out the side but gets hammered by greg fucking zaun what a joke
Buster Olney thinks a game tying home run would be a good fit here.
Mike: How abou Ohlendorf?
Eh, not much of an upgrade at this point. And besides, you can’t assume that Ohlie woulda put up a zero if he was brought in instead of Bruney.
Call me crazy but I have a feeling we will bring the tying run to the plate.
and michael kay wins the award for the most enthusiastic call of a foul ball ever
I guess you’ve never heard John sterling scream “It is high. It is FAR. IT IISSS…foul”
Even better: It is high, ne-it is far, ne-it is….caught!
I felt the breeze on that one here on the West Side of Manhattan.
where was all this fight from toronto oh i dont the rest of the season
Well, at least Torre pinch hit for Melky.
If we tie it here we could have a chance at 200 comments. I think that would be a RAB record.
We’re already in uncharted waters for comments here at RAB. This is our most ever.
But it was in an extra innings games, so stick an asterisk on it.
i think it’s high time i punched josh towers teeth in if we lose this. we never really got any revenge on him, but then again he’s sort of a league-wide fool now
I guess, Mike. Bruney and Henn are the last two I would ever use in this pen right now.
wow terrible job
Little low, eh ump?
sweet shelley, forsaken
BS last call.
not to mention in the other fucking batters box
bruney sucks
What a way to go: an outside low pitch and a bad call. I gotta take a breather before I write up this crappy game.
That was either a bad call, or the most beautifully placed fastball I’ve ever seen.
Oh well, this one’s over. No point in looking back and getting upset over it. Tomorrow’s game is only 13 hours & 10 minutes away.
Well, thanks y’ll and goodnight.
and MY9 strikes again if only they could have held out a few more minutes than it would have been Sat. but alas 0 for fri night continues
Man, this freaking sucks. I am stuck in a freaking dinner at Gramercy Tavern and then in a freaking play and I get out, see the games still going, cab it home, just to see bruney let up a homer to freaking zaun.
Bummer is an understatement.
Bruney freaking sucks.
I saw Mike already made the comment about comments reaching uncharted waters…. but if Buster Olney’s numbers are correct, then there were only 119 “non-Mike” comments.
ugh. So glad I stayed till the last pitch. I had that bad feeling as soon as I saw Bruney warming. I found myself actually wishing it was Farnsworthless warming up. This is one of those losses that hurts for a few days. All our best relievers got used but no W. What a tough night.