Game 86: Time to do our best Tampa Bay impression
ByNever though you’d hear a Yankee fan say that, did you?
Fresh off a heartbreaking three game sweep in an absolutely electric Tropicana Field, the Red Sox limp into town having lost their last five games by a total of six runs. They’re 4-8 in their last twelve, and are just a Chad Qualls meltdown away from being 3-9. The Yanks haven’t been much better, going 5-7 in their last twelve, but they’re just a Mariano Rivera hiccup from being a passable 6-6. Of course everyone is looking up to Rays this season.
Boston has taken three of five against the Yanks this season, winning two of three in the Fens before splitting a two game set in the Bronx. That was back in mid-April. Before David Ortiz hurt his wrist, before Joba moved to the rotation, before Manny put up a .544 OPS in his last 17 games (and physically abused a 60-yr old team official), and before Robbie Cano hit for a .956 OPS in his last 16 contests.
Jon Lester takes to the mound having been rocked for 6 runs in 5 innings his time out, but he money before that, posting a 2.13 ERA in his previous 72 IP. That’s especially impressive considered he’s coming back from, you know, shoulder tightness in June 2004.
Thaaaaa Yankees’ lineup!
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. The Power of the ‘Stache, DH
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Robbie Cano, 2B
8. Wilson Betemit, 1B - .333-.391-.524 since last Wednesday
9. Melky Cabrera, CF - .083 OPS since July 27th
On the mound, he of the 1.00 ERA & 0.96 WHIP since June 6th, Andy Pettitte.
Notes: Matsui’s knee isn’t getting better, and he’ll likely be out until the All-Star Break, at this point you have to assume that whatever the Yanks get out of him the rest of the season is gravy … Derek Jeter’s next homer will be the 200th of his career, this season he’s averaged one homer every 78 at-bats, and it’s been 65 ABs since his last jack … there figures to be lots of comments with the Sox in town, so please review our Commenting Guidelines.
Are you ready to rumble?
Im having sox fans over. Gonna be fun considering I had the last laugh in the superbowl
Man I wish that throw by Jeter hit Manny is his fat head!!!!! The Sox sux!
Please tell me we’re Bruce Lee.
I was thinking the same thing.
Not that it matters, but your Manny gamelog link doesn’t work. It has “http://” twice in the url I believe
Fixed. Thanks.
Jason Stache will homer tonight…
Manny gamelog link still doesn’t work. -wink wink-
Okay, NOW it works. Sorry. And thanks again.
I think tonight is Melky’s “Get A Hit or You’re Demoted Night”
the ghost of bruce lee gave the hair he pulled from chuck norris’ chest to giambi and he glued it to his upper lip, giving him magical powers
go andy!
Im watching the NESN pregame show and they kept on showing Beckett’s reaction to Farnsworth throwing behind manny. You can clearly read his lips repeatedly saying “You Fucking Cunt, You fucking Cunt” Excuse my french.
YANKEES FACKIN SUCK! GO BAHSTON! CHECK OUT THIS RETRANSMISSION OF THE GAME FROM A WEBCAM I SET UP AT MY PAPS’ BAH! GO SAWX! FACK ALL YOU YANKEES FANS!
/just kidding
//seeing how many rules I can break at once
Also, I just moved to Brooklyn (South Park Slope). Anywhere good around here to watch the game?
Ben’s place!
As in, place of residence? Or his bahhhh? Where is it/is it OK for random strangers to go there?
His place of residence. No idea where the hell it is, but it’s in Park Slope somewhere.
So Gardner get a hit and they sit him? I guess Lester is a lefty
Yeah but melky sucks against everyone. Righty. Lefty. switch pitcher. He sucks. See the logic there? Obviously Girardi does because I dont.
This is a stupid post.
You’ll all be happy to know that I probably can’t be around to comment much tonight. I’ll be watching in the basement as my wife colors her hair and does her nails in the bedroom (where the computer is located). I can’t stand the smells of all those chemicals together and she also won’t take kindly to me bad mouthing her boy Varitek for being a gutless turd these days. On a positive note, I know if he homers and the Sox win, I’m probably gettin’ some
Have a great night guys and enjoy the game!
Melky needs to hit or he needs to be benched!
Melky is god. We need to start respecting his grind, at least according to Girardi. As Cashman did with Scott Proctor, he needs to take away one of Girardi’s toys.
I thought Ellsbury was supposed to be good? He has a 90 OPS+.
According to Mr. Steve Phillips he has a lot of “hidden power” and will be a perennial .300+ hitter.
*Derek Jeter, you fail.
Gardner would have caught that.
If he’s not grounding into double plays, he’s screwing them up defensively. Amazing.
not smart!
Why did Johnny Damon not throw to the cutoff man?
I guess we just needed to remind us of his great arm
Maybe Jeter should be plinking Madonna….he seemed to be better when he was on Page Six and not selling Hybrid Fords
Jeter is one of my favorite player but he has to make that play. That’s an easy double play
Could have been a quicker feed, but no doubt Jeter makes that play 999/1000 times - in fact the one thing i have taken from Jeter and Cano ( since they both have been poor at the plate ) is that any double play which should get made does get made…until now
the captain hasn’t been playing like one much this year.
Both teams have that problem to one degree or another…
My goodness I hate Kevin Youkilis.
did you hear al leiter call him a “gamer” and “gritty”? because i screamed at the tv, WE WANT CONE
He’s so gritty, he intentionally misses balls between innings to give himself black eyes.
I didn’t SEE any cutoff man.
the play was to second base anyway. the cutoff-man could have been Jeter (playing on the 2nd base angle, not home-plate) or A-Rod off 3rd base
Dammmit Jeter! I hope he starts taking turns at 1st base next year because he is not capable of defending his position! Andy isn’t doing much to help himself though, as well……thank goodness it’s the 1st inning!
Offensively, Damon has surprised me this year - a few more homers would not hurt, but the extra-base power seems to be back and he is like 2006 again
We really should try to trade him, he clearly can’t help this team any more.
Interesting thought that both left-fielders are having nice seasons - i wonder if pressuring them to play better / playing time made a difference, especially when Girardi demonstrated Giambino was going to play every day. Matsui was hot at the beginning, but stayed hot all along
BTW…that was strike 3.
not only was it a hair inside, it was definetely low
as opposed to Pettite’s strikeout? Cant take that pitch on 3-2 count with runner going
Stop whining. You don’t get that call when you’ve been missing the plate all game.
Hey, here we go………..14 pitches, 10 balls by Lester. Let’s hope he keeps it up!
Lester needs to grow up and wear his hat straight. Lugo for MVP.
the picture on nomass with youkilis is great
I give it two snaps and a twirl.
Allright ARod, sniff your finger and put Madonna out of your mind and give us a hit!
Two lucky calls this inning they better do something with it.
Maybe they should both stop plinking Madonna
So Girardi started all righties against Perez, and put out a AAA lineup, but against Lester they play?
Yes, exactly.
Arod sucks. His mentality when he goes to the plate is “Oh he just walked so I will just wait until I get 0-2 or 1-2 and then i will consider swinging”
Yes. Why would you take pitches against a guy who has literally JUST shown an inability to throw the ball over the plate?
This team makes me want to scream more then any other team I can remember.
This is EXACTLY what is wrong with this team, 2 walks to lead off the inning and NOTHING! No clutch , no guts! Why not bunt…oh that’s right noone can on the this team…..nor hit a sacrifice fly.
Is it just me, or has Melky looked a little “uninspired” going after the balls that have dropped in so far?
I agree Mike.
Love how Andy P walks a guy who can’t get a hit to save his life.
Man, you just CAN’T walk Jason Varitek. He might be the worst hitting everyday player in the majors.
you mean other than melky?
Why the hell is this team so mentally weak?
Why do you say they’re mentally weak? Because Ellsbury hit a bloop double?
Its been 1+ innings and we can already see which team looks like crap.
the only way pettitte gets anyone out these days is picking them off base.
the only way pettitte gets anyone out these days is picking them off base.
That’s just retarded.
relax, hes given up 4 seeing eye singles and a bloop double, no runs in the first if jeter makes that play. the only problem i have with pettitte so far is that walk to varitek
we gotta score at least 1 if we get 2 on and none out though
This team has no balls.
Could you guys stop bitching man.
You greedy bastard.
I’m saying they are weak because Pettitte can’t go after a guy who has 3 hits in 48 ab. A rod swings at a pitch way outside. Doesn’t seem as if they are in the game at all.
Time to get another 6 pack!
can YES please hop off the red sox players’ balls, first al leiter is all over youkilis and now lester. JESUS what are you going to do next celebrate the 2004 alcs?
I dislike the Red Sox but you have to admit that Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester are good players. Lester has his heater back up to 91-95MPH and Youkilis has great plate discipline with above-average power. He also is a plus defender at the corner infield spots (which is not anything to be all ga-ga over, but still). You can hate them but don’t hate on them.
umm i dont care i dont need to hear from my announcers that youkilis is a “gamer” and “gritty” and i don’t need to see footage of lester’s no hitter and i DEFINETELY don’t need to see footage of Manny’s 500th HR. If i wanted that shit I would change the channel to NESN
Why can’t you just appreciate great baseball moments? Who gives a crap what the name on their uniform says, a no hitter and a 500th Home Run are amazing feats.
Kevin Youkilis is a whiny bitch that gets bumped up from good to great because of Moneyball and the fact that he plays for Boston. Todd Helton dwarfed him offensively, defensively and in gamerishness (to name one player), but he never got his kind of love.
This lineup is week. Betemit and Melky are like Automatic outs.
Betemit is a solid hitter, Melky on the other hand suck though.
Except that Betemit has a .915 OPS over the last week.
Are you suggesting he get consistent play?
No, I’m just pointing out that he’s not an automatic out like Manimal said he is.
I am, If it aint broke don’t fix it.
I thought we had the advantage in 3 of these games pitching wise, now not so much.
Chill out man, the series is 2 innings old.
and quickly getting out of hand.
I got good news for you, the red sox can’t spread thses four runs throught the four games, so we get a fresh start tommorrow at 0-0.
you mean that great beckett - rasner matchup we have to look forward to tomorrow? can’t say i like the looks of that one much.
Oh Great now Lester is fucking Cy Young. He can join Perez and Millwood.
Jon Lester has his stuff back, a LHP that can hit 95-MPH is a dangerous SOB.
sean henn too? velocity aint everything.
You’re right, that’s why Jon Lester is actually a decent pitcher and Sean Henn is not.
you’re contradicting yourself. you just said a southpaw that throws 95 is a ‘dangerous sob’. i believe you need a qualifier.
could andy be distracted by his possible court appearance?
Nope, he’s jealous that Alex is dating Madonna
No. I can’t stand when fans and media types always think something is a distraction. Put yourself in his shoes, would you be on the mound with a 1-2 count in the top of the sixth inning, down by one run with Manny Ramirez at the plate with the bases juiced and two outs thinking about what you might have to say if you go to court? Or in the dugout would you be sitting there thinking about court appearances instead of thinking about what you did right or wrong in the previous inning and preparing for the next three hitters in the upcoming inning? That distraction crap is BS, pure BS.
Like The A-Rod situation.
Thats very frustrating, very very frustrating
What happened to the team that used to grind at bats?
Derek Jeter GIDP’s so much, YES should find sponsors for them.
“This Derek Jeter GIDP is brought to you by Viagra, helping men with ED turn two since 1998.”
he’s representing that #2 on his jersey.
Michael Kay, “huge” is a four letter word and has the letter “H” in it.
No I gotta side with Mikey. In Ny no one pronounces the H.
THROW STRIKES TO JASON VARITEK
Please don’t walk Varitek again. If you throw it over the plate, he’s likely to swing and miss.
Jeter can’t turn a DP but sure hit into one.
Lol!!!! So true!
Jason Varitek has a Slugging Percentage of .364 coming into this game, that is lower than his On-Base Percentage in four of his eleven seasons.
but the leadership and grittness behind the plate out weights it.
In all seriousness, I would laugh in a sox fan face if he said that Varitek is a better hitter than Posada.
What the fuck, Lester’s thrown like, 10 pitches over the last 2 innings…
12.
How many times have we seen this. Yankees let a pitcher off the hook and the pitcher bress through rest of the game?
Ian Kennedy is likely finished tonight after pitching two innings (rain delay) in his Triple-A start. His likely final line reads: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 48-27 Pitches-Strike ratio, 5-1 Groundout-flyout ratio.
You wonder if the yankees continue not to play well, would they let Kennedy pitch in the Majors for the rest of the season? Same with Hughes.
As long as they can hold their own, why not? They need experience but have to be able to handle losing. If they are going to get shelled than that is bad for their psyche’s but if they pitch well and still lose it could help them……as stupid as that may sound?
Holy shit the yankees don’t get any breaks. But I guess the saying of “you make your own breaks” applys because the yankees look DEAD. They are barely trying it seems. Abreu looks god awful in right.
You are never as bad as you look, and certainly the yankees are a better team than this but man they look like a bad baseball team.
This is getting out of hand. Lester stunkup the joint in the first and now can do no wrong. Pettitte got screwed by Jete’s error in the 1st and now has 8 hits against him in 4 1/3.
4 2/3
I’m fairly certain baseball has bigger issues than it’s official scorers not being able to assume the souble play.
Peter Abraham sure is a fair, non-agenda driven columnist:
“UPDATE, 7:49 p.m.: Poor start for the Yankees, now down 4-0. This next two weeks will be a real test of Joe Girardi’s leadership. Hideki Matsui is out and won’t be back any time soon. The clownish antics of A-Rod have popped up as a distraction. Meanwhile the team is struggling and falling precipitously behind in the division. This is when the manager has to earn his money and keep the team focused and together.”
Translation: If Joe Torre were still here then A-Rod’s marriage would be perfect, the Tampa Bay Rays would suck, the Yankees would be hitting .350 w/RISP and Joe Girardi sucks because he took away my candy and ice cream and actually makes me work for my stories.
No Girardi sucks because he stupidly keeps running Melky Cabrera out there. The team never seemed to play this way under Torre, that’s for sure.
you mean when we didn’t play this way when we were under .500 on this day last year?
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....e=20070703
“The team never seemed to play this way under Torre”? So when they were horrid to start the 2005 and 2007 seasons how were they playing? Were they losing with a lot of life, energy, heart and grit? Did they look energetic in Games 4, 5, 6, and 7 in the 2004 ALCS? How about the 2006 ALDS?
Come on man, that really is unfair to Girardi.
Sorry, change that to Games 6 and 7 of the 2004 ALCS.
You know damn well Torre would run melky out there all the time like Girardi would. He manage the bullpen better than Torre. Plus, it’s only Girardi second year as a manager in his career. Hey give the guy a break.
Pete is cool but he does make some questionable comments.
It’s not like Torre is lighting things up in LA.
Nevertheless, I said it before and I will say it again, alot of things that could go bad went bad and I just feel the yanks are a little bit unlucky.
Mentioning Torre’s job in LA thus far is a great point. How the fuck could he have the idea to platoon Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier in order to make sure Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre were in the lineup everyday (this was of course before Pierre got injured, when Jones returned to the DL his plan was to platoon Kemp and Ethier in RF).
He benched Pierre. He didn’t start playing him everyday until Jones got hurt. Plus it’s not like Kemp and Ethier are lighting the world on fire either, both have an OPS+ of exactly 100.
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb......mp;c_id=la
If any thing Girardi has done his best to keep this afloat despite all the bad luck ad etc.
Torre’s team is underachieving in the NL and specifically in the worst division.
That allstar game commercial is pretty sick.
This is one of the ugliest games this year.
And isn’t it ridiculous that we might have to look back and thank Melky for breaking up another no-hitter for Lester?
Thank god, not anymore.
So…..what will everybody be doing tomorrow?
watching beckett get shelled at the stadium
That’s 13 pitches to record the last 7 outs for Lester.
The Yankees will bring the tying run to the plate in this game. You watch.
Seriously. We got to the rangers bullpen. The Sox’s Bullpen has sucked. Their era in the Rays series was 12.00
Who is going to drive in the winning run?
if we keep swinging at this kid’s junk we’re not gonna see a bullpen
And Cano is more patient than Posada!!
This is the kind of game where Brett Gardner can be the CPR that gets the offense going
I mean, why wouldn’t you run the same lineup that scored 18 runs yesterday back out there today? Because Lester’s a lefty? Stupid reason.
Lefties have actually hit Lester better than righties over his short career, although not this season.
Mike, he had a soft 1B to RF, come on.
he also walked, stole a base and lined a shot up the middle that was caught - just saying.
You’re right, he did have a good game yesterday but IMO Melky Cabrera does not deserve a demotion.
59 pitches in 5 IP, YIKES.
Impressive inning by Dan!
He’s so great coming out of the pen.
Another horrible Cashman signing. If only he signed All-Star caliber players to sit in AAA and serve as back-up plans.
kei igawa?
Oh my goodness, they flew from Tampa. Shut the fuck up Kay, your idiocy has reached new heights. The Yankees are lucky they don’t have to travel like that, those poor Red Sox.
LOL, I have become quite annoyed by Kay as well.
LoL, I know you usually get on Mr. Kay but you seem a tad bit pissed tonight.
Because they’re playing with their heads up their asses. It’s no secret Lester suffered through bouts of wildness, yet they constantly swing early in the count. Jeter is playing like shit, Abreu is playing like shit, it’s frustrating.
yea, but, thank god he just shit all over manny ramirez and called him out
That doesn’t count.
Jeter kinda deserves those boos…
just got home…did Jeter really get boo’d?
The Yanks have had two baserunners since the first inning.
When has “Manny being Manny” EVER been cool?
If your rooting for the other team its fucking hilarious!
Bad precedent? Michael Kay, treating great players like kings is not unprecedented.
Wow, Dan Giese has another 1-2-3 inning.
He’s been rather impressive. Might have to start using him in higher leverage situations.
I second that.
How about Geise? A little something positive
Maybe he solves the Joba no longer in the pen problem.
i suppose the Yanks like seeing Lester’s arsenal as they are trying to keep him in the game as long as posible
Hawkins warming up - time for me to take my girl to Starbucks!
Seriously. Is there a bigger sign that Girardi’s waving the white flag?
Are u serious? That is utterly depressing. I would much rather see Giese finish the game than see Hawkins pitch.
We’re not getting to their bullpen… Lester’s gonna complete it himself.
Latroy?! Girardi’s given up on this game.
This HP umpire is a dick.But most of the calls have gone our way so more power to him!
Complete inability to make fucking adjustments.
this is a night to see who did well in the minors.
lol I already checked. Great pitching by Jones, 7IP 0ER
i’d like to know how many times we’ve swung at pitches out of the zone, are there any sites that keep track of that?
I think Fangraphs does.
If only Abreu could do that…
We get em tomorrow.
Yessir.
Beckett vs Rasner, they’ll have to earn it, even if the Yanks own Beckett during the regular season.
LaBoy is in so I guess Girardi conceeded the game? Btw, nice work by Giese!
here we go
As a manager what would be your leash for your starting pitcher if he had a no-hitter in the 9th inning with a 1-0 lead. How about a scoreless game or a 2-0 lead?
No-hitter? When he gives up a hit. If it happens to be a homer, what can you do. He was obviously on his game.
So in a 0-0 game in the 9th inning and your pitcher has not given up a hit all game but walks the first two batters, you leave him in there?
Depends. Was he missing by a mile, or did they grind out two tough at-bats and truly “work” the walks?
I see your point. How about if you have Mariano Rivera in the bullpen regardless of how they got the walks?
If it’s just any other regular season game, I think you owe it to the pitcher to let him go for it. If it’s a playoff game or a game late in the season that has playoff implications, I think you have to go to Mo.
Screw the no-hitter. Even if some guys reach base whoever is coming up next hasn’t had any success against him. Even if it is Mo ready behind him, you owe it to yourself to go with the hot hand.
If he was still throwing well I’d have to stick with him regardless. Wild or losing velocity is another story but I’d let him continue after a hit.
If it’s a pitcher under 25, I would pull him if his pitch count is up there. There’s no reason to blow out his arm just for a no hitter that the bullpen could nail down. In particular, the careers of pitchers that throw no hitters before age 25 is very very poor.
The best example I can give is Justin Verlander. He’s basically been an average or slightly below pitcher since he threw a no hitter last year. In contrast, the only pitcher in the last 20 years to throw a no hitter before age 25 and come back and throw another one is Kent Mercker, who only pitched 6 innings in his no hitter before age 25.
When are they ever going to get rid of Hawkins?
I just heard tha Carter III. You know it’s a solid album. Some of the songs are pretty cool. It’s not a classic but it’s good. It’s better than that Curtis album. Lil Wayne is nice, overrated but nice.
I don’t know if he is necessarily overrated because I think people realize that his myriad appearances are not attributed to just his skill. Seriously though that dude is nasty. “Tha Carter II” is one of my favorite albums, haven’t really listened to intently to “Tha Carter III” as of yet.
Lil Wayne is nice but people dick ride him like he’s the greatest ever. But I give him credit, selling a milli in one week is impressive especially for a rapper.
A base hit by Jason Varitek? Eww.
I was hoping Hawkins would not suck just enough to earn Type-B FA status this year. At this rate, we’re going to have to give a draft pick to whoever signs him as compensation.
This grease monkey walks Coco Crisp and gives up an RBI single to Jason
Vared!ick! Get rid of him Cash.
I see Betemit has been hanging out with Jeter.
Cano might really be back this time!
Ugh…DP…
Looks like Melky will be starting tomorrow.
hopefully gardner starting those three games over him is a wake-up call?
He’s increasing his trade value.
Melky and Cano have all four hits?
Something is wrong here…
Who cares how good Waynes album actually is….he pushed a “milli” which is near impossible to do considering downloading, and the fact his album was leaked before it released. Overrated, yes.
Thirty albums have gone Multi-Platinum so far this year.
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/riaa/index.jsp
You can’t spell crap without rap.
What is Girardi doing?? Make Hawkins pitch two innings. Why waste Robertson?
wouldn’t pitching robertson in games like this wasting him.
Ah ha! I finally figured out who Robertson reminds me of - a smaller Matt Cain.
Is it just me or is this bullpen looking more and more like a powerhouse strength?
Just to follow that comment up, if Chien-Ming Wang was healthy this staff could probably go toe-to-toe with anyone in baseball. I would not be hesitant to put this five man staff (Darrell Rasner as the #5 guy) against Toronto’s and put this bullpen up against anybody.
I agree about pitching being the team’s strength. The offense and defense are where this team is lacking.
To further make the point:
From Pete Abe:
“This will be the 38th time in 86 games the Yankees will be held to three or less runs.”
lets not get carried away here, they’ve been in 1 hold situation since june 22nd
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if they were given leads?
Push a couple across this inning, guaranteed win tomorrow according to Joe’s theory of scoring late in blowout loses, which has yet to be disproven.
Thinking the same.
In “Fever Pitch” (ducks rocks) Jimmy Fallon was upset that he missed a game where the Red Sox overcame a 7-0 deficit in the 9th inning against our Yanks, was that a real game?
im 99% sure no
A sub-three hour game that involves the Yankees and Red Sox? What…the…fuck?
GIDP is name of the game… and swinging at the first pitch. I guess they were trying to get out of there pretty quickly. This blows!
Can’t agree more.
Don’t know if I wanna watch tommorrow’s game…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
That felt good.
we did our best late 90’s imitation of the rays, lifeless disheartened and lacking any substance