Game 132: Winning would be a good idea
ByI hate to say that the Yankees ever have to win a game, but I think, for tonight, I’m going to go with this one: If the Yankees don’t win tonight, it will be extremely hard for them to make the playoffs. Of course, even if they do win tonight, it’ll still be extremely hard for them to make the playoffs.
Left to the task of winning tonight’s game is Sidney Ponson. The Aruban is 3-3 with a 5.46 ERA while on the Yankees, and his WHIP remains a lofty 1.61. He last faced the Red Sox on July 3rd and gave up seven earned runs in four innings. The Yanks are going to need a better effort from Ponson tonight.
Opposing Sir Sidney will be Paul Byrd. The righty, a post-deadline acquisition for the Red Sox, is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in 13.1 innings for Boston. On the season, he’s 8-11 with a 4.61 ERA. While Byrd bounced the Yanks from the playoffs last year, he’s been far less successful this year. Against the Bombers, he is 1-1 but with a 6.75 ERA. He has allowed six Yankee home runs in 12 innings this year. Slugfest, anyone?
Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
A. Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Nady LF
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
I. Rodriguez C
Ponson P
Repeating History:Yes, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez are still hitting back-to-back in the lineup. Giambi since the All Star Break is hitting .232/.355/.414 with six home runs, but he’s gone deep twice against Byrd this season.
A “God Bless America” Brouhaha: Deadspin has an alarming report about a fan who got roughed up by the cops and kicked out of the Stadium last night after failing to show what the police officers viewed as proper respect for Kate Smith. We covered this issue in May of 2007, but this development sounds like one ugly incident.
When was the last time Giambi had a “day off”? That might explain things. Still, Giambi should be moved.
I don’t think there will be a slugfest. Ponson will throw a gem.
Will Jody Gerut be a free agent this off-season?
Are you serious? Ponson a gem? This has to be a slugfest for the Yankees sake because Ponson will definately give up a fair share of runs. 6.92 ERA career against the Sox and Big Papi has a lus .400 BA against Sir Sidney
Funny story, my cooking class teacher realized my name was Manny and asked me how I felt about Manny leaving Boston. “I’m a yankees fan so I could care less” Then she told me a story about how her son went to yankee stadium and got beamed with a drink in his head and immediately got asked by the police if he wanted to press charges. are the po-po that strict?
Wait, you take a cooking class?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
its an elective. Its better than the other ones trust me. Atleast I get food from this one.
i dunno, ben, i’d say we’re in for a pitcher’s duel tonight.
This was the game that could go either way I really thought that the yankees were going to win game 1 and 3 but NOOOOO. Arod had a different plan.
I guess you don’t have a short term memory like a cornerback.
Thats why I think this series has sweep written all over it. We HAD to have that first game, I don’t like us facing Lester in the daytime tomorrow.
Alot of media outlets and fans were getting on A-Rod today.
A-Rod needs to step up and shut these people the fuck up.
I still got faith in A-Rod, but I have to admit some of that confidence was lost after last night.
Nevertheless A-Rod is our best player and the best MLB player and while he has struggled in critical spots this seasons, he can turn it around.
A-Rod needs to stop with the BS and go out there and kick some mothafuckin ass. Ya better than that.
Tonight I think A-Rod is gonna do some good things tonight. It’s a clean slate for him and the yanks tonight. Lets go Yanks.
Yanks need a good outing tonight by Sidney.
Thank you, Captain Obvious.
They probably wont get one, which is why they should score off Byrd
The good thing is that Paul Byrd suck so, I would be surprised/piss if the yanks don’t beat the shit out of Paul Byrd.
This season and his inaugural Yankee season are the only two seasons A-Rod has hit under .300 w/RISP and two outs. These two seasons are also the only two seasons where A-Rod hit under .290 w/RISP overall. So to say anything other than “A-Rod has been one of the major reasons the Yankees have made the postseason during his tenure in New York” is wrong.
One could argue “A-Rod was the #1 reason the Yankees made the postseason in 2007″
Jamal: Nobody is saying that ARod is anything other than the main reason we made the postseason.
They (and now I) are saying we need him to to more. Because he can.
Stating that he’s really good overall doesn’t change the fact that he’s frequently been far from good. His standard is higher.
Yo Jamal you watching the Phil hughes start?
oooooh Thanks for reminding me. Punching up the radio feed as we speak.
Scuse me, I gotta take a leak.
How many times is Michael Kay gonna doubt Girardi for saying 2 out of 3 is necessary. It clearly is. The players know it. If they can’t handle the pressure of that, they wouldn’t be in the majors. Mariano, I can’t wait until ESPN takes him full time.
Here’s a nice stat for you: Roy Halladay leads AL starters with a 2.11 GB/FB ratio. Who’s second? That would be Sir Sidney, at 2.04.
http://tinyurl.com/5rassc
Thats a glittering example of how little GB/FB ratios tell you.
Gotta watch the games, people.
Bobby’s like a gun turret in RF. Immobile, has a cannon.
Mike: Do you know what kind of stuff Nik Turley has, and do you think he can be a prospect?
No, and sure.
We will just never, ever develop another lefty it seems.
BTW-Any update on Bleich’s elbow? The thought was he might be hurt worse than we knew since he signed so cheap.
Speaking of prospects, you just gotta love Boras and his Alvarez bullshit.
Hopefully, the Pirates will go back to skipping Scotts clients and some of them will fall to us.
What did he do with Alvarez? I thought the Pirates signed him
Boras is saying Alvarez won’t report until the Pirates renegotiate the deal and give him more money. He wants the extra $200K to surpass Buster Posey’s bonus, the largest given out this year, and the largest straight bonus ever.
They already signed. He cant pull that shit
That’s really messed up. Boras’ rep has taken a major hit the last 2 years or so. The guys still gets his clients paid, but teams aren’t taking his bullshit any more.
Especially when dealing with the low budget Pirates. They wouldn’t even deal with him for years (a Fmr Pirate Exec came up with the slotting system) and suffered as a result, drafting sub par talent. Now they try to rteverse course with the new GM and this shit happens.
Chances are it blows over and goes nowhere legally, but its just so unseemly. But hey, that’s Scott. We all remember last years WS-ARod fiasco.
And Dice-K. And Moustakas.
This could get ugly for Ponson. Bad pitcher + added pressure = DISASTER
Ugh, Ortiz’s numbers against Ponson.
When did Ortiz became Vlad with that scouting report.
No shock there. Ortiz owns Ponson.
Great start for Ponson
Just chill guys, it’s early and it’s not like Roy Halladay is pitching against us.
Mike, thought’s on Luis Sumoza? Player acquired by the Braves.
I no knowing about the guy, the first time I ever heard his name was today.
I saw his numbers the other day. He has 9 homers in Short Season. I think he’s pretty good
There you go Ponson.
Youkilis really shouldve crushed that pitch
Ponson hitting 94 on the gun on ESPN.
Nady+Damon have more balls than all the other yankees combined.
Tough break there. Nady tried like hell to get to that ball.
So much for the gem you predicted
It’s the first inning, relax. He can still throw 7 innings of 2 run ball for all we know.
Yeah. Right. At least we get to face Byrd. We really should blast him
okay not good.
The fact Ponson is starting this game is all the more reason that Brian Cashman
should be serving his final season as GM. Let’s hope Byrd doesn’t throw a 5 hitter
against the Yanks. For some reason their lineup seems incapable of hitting pitchers
that throw 78 MPH instead of 90 MPH.
LOL. Just laughing at your name, funny shit!!
Ponson is starting this game because Wang is hurt. Cashman did not actively seek out Ponson in the offseason and say “this guy is going to be one of our starters.”
Comprende?
Gee it’s not his fault that he can’t tell the future.
bay has become a rbi machine. damn him!
I had enough of Poison. Bring in Aceves
Start pitching inside.
Good luck Varitek trying to get a Posada deal.
he produces outs even after a base hit.
What? Abreu accurate with the throw to home?!! Nice.
Way to not show the play at the plate, YES.
Gotta praise YES’ camera work there. They utterly missed that play.
But they have 12 cameras!
Abreu with the chooch.
I wonder how much the fact Arod got a missed a HR-call had to do with MLB rushing the instant replay. How embarassing is it that they took away a hr from the potential HR king.
The audio for the YES broadcast on my MLB package isnt working so I have to watch the ESPN feed if I want to listen to audio. Actually watching the YES broadcast w/o audio would be a blessing for most of you guys here who hate Michael Kay….
Mike, you see the BA article about the 2 Cuban teens that defected? One’s a interesting lefty.
There was also something in Pinstripes Plus about the Yanks signing 2 Venezuelan 16 year olds.
Heres the Cuban kid
Posted Jul. 31, 2008 10:24 am by John Manuel
Filed under: International
Two Cuban teens have left the Cuban team at the Junior World Championships in Edmonton and are apparently defecting. Here’s the scoop on the two players from BA’s scouting contacts.
The pitcher is lefthander Noel Arguelles, who has pro size at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds. Scouts describe him as tall and lanky with a live arm, with a fastball with natural cutting action and sink. One source wrote that Arguellez sits around 90 mph in his Serie Nacional appearances. He’s thrown as hard as 93 mph and works primarily off his fastball, with more rudimentary curveballs and changeups. His curve has shown potential, however. His exact age isn’t known, though the cutoff for Junior events is 18. Arguellez pitched in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, and according to baseballdecuba.com, he went 3-2, 5.82 with 22 strikeouts in 21.2 innings for the Havana Cowboys this past season.
Arguelles, whose name was misspelled on this blog previously, was pegged as a first-round talent were he draft-eligible by both scouts as well, as both confirmed BA’s earlier scouting report. “It’s a three-quarters slot with a clean stroke,” the scout said. “He’s very intriguing.” Another scout said Arguelles reminded him in some ways of Twins lefty Francisco Liriano.
Here’s the Venezuelan kid
Yankees sign 16 year old Venezuelan CF 5 tool prospect Erickson Lianaro
The talk is he is a premium 5 tool CF, the Yankees view him as a more athletic Jose Tabata more info later as it comes. I guess this is the guy Carlos Rios hinted about.
scouting report makes comparisons to Marquis Grissom, Andruw Jones, and Jose Tabata
I missed that, but I usually don’t get too into the international free agents. Unless one of the Cubans was Yuliesky Gourriell, I’m not too interested.
Christ, where the fuck is that pitch? It was in the damn batter’s box.
OMG on the K-Zone on ESPN that pitch wasnt even nowhere near the corner.
That’s the exact same fucking spot Jed Lowire got a called ball on.
Umps blow this series.
Ponson didnt get the exact same call. This a repeat of last nights bullshit
Come on umps, are we going there again?
holy fucking shit. wasnt that pitch to damon called a ball for lowrie? i hate umpires. i’m so glad that instant replay is starting this week, cause it will pave the road for robots and lasers deciding the strikezone.
Amen. MLB umpiring has gotten embarrasingly bad the last few years.
I guarantee you if I umped Yankees games you guys would LOVE my strikezone!!!!
the amica pitch zone is so biased and they still said it was 2 feet outside.
this inning is truly the “Anything you can do I can do better” except the yankees are falling flat on their faces.
Jesus Christ, this umpire is such a douchebag.
It seems all of them are lately, especially agaist the Yanks. Maybe Selig told them he doesnt want the Yankees in the playoffs
I really want these umps to die painfully. MLB should really consider hologram strike zones. The umps have done an AWFUL job this year
Girardi is going to blow a lid.
Good, cheers for A-Rod. There’s still a few people with a half-a-brain left.
What the fuck is this clown doing?
Unclutch. Only 9 more years of that, fellas.
Clutch these nuts!
YES! A-ROD!!!
If the Yanks lose they lose but I hate when the umps make terrible calls.
That’s what Im talking about A-Rod.
But it’s the first inning, and Bobby Abreu wasn’t in scoring position, so I guess this isn’t clutch.
Heh.
It’s clutch. Given the importance of this game, it’s absolutely clutch. We just whine b/c on the whole, he’s still at sub .250 or something w/ RISP and has THREE RBIs after the 7th inning this year. T-H-R-E-E.
Right, but he’s got 76 RBI in innings 1-7, and they count just as much.
You mean they don’t multiple in inning 7+?
That’s a fair point.
Mike, you know I’ve been beating the drum with you forever, but I think both sides have valuable arguments.
Yes, the 76 RBI in innings 1-7 are just as important, critical, and crucial to our success as anything in innings 8 and 9.
But yes, the fact that our best player seems either too incapable or too unlucky or too fill-in-the-blank to produce anything more than 3 RBI in the 8th and 9th inning should concern the shit out of you and can’t be dismissed.
Why doesn’t he get ticked and do that to the ball more often? Love it.
Way to go ARod anwer the critics
Jason Bay has a girlie man arm.
Jason Bay: Not Xavier Nady.
I’ll admit I stole that from Nomaas, but it’s true.
Johnny Damon
Thats still an upgrade. Manny would have kicked that ball all over the OF and then thrown to the wrong guy.
Two out RBI, but Abreu wasn’t in scoring position so it is meaningless.
God I hate that fucking state. Like I literally hate the combination of letters R-I-S-P.
Game should be tied, but the ump blew that call on Damon.
So true.
Also it screws with the top of the second inning. Instead of Ponson facing a trio of Varitek, Cora, and Ellsbury, he has to face Pedroia at minimum.
Tonight the Yanks will have to overcome Ponson and the umps
E-ROC says:
August 27th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Clutch these nuts!
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Big G needs to go.
Giambi cant become a FA soon enough.
Giambi should be hitting sixth or seventh. How much more would I have liked to have Nady or Matsui hitting there.
Is it just me or do any of you guys have a feeling an Erin Andrews sex tape will be surfacing in due time?
Dont tease me….
Let me know when that happens.
I wish cause she is HOT
I bet there will be interesting things going on with the microphone. Just a hunch.
She seems a little to high-class for that. I’d just settle for her covering this game.
Ugh. So tired of that.
Erin Andrews = utterly average. Stop going bananas just because she’s one of the only people on your TV who isn’t wearing a jockstrap.
Everyone on earth is aware of that, but I think Girardi still wants to wait to see what Matsui has and how much he can play him.
He was asked this very question on the pre game (LoHud has the feed) and thats was pretty much his answer.
Its like Joba, by the time he comes back it will probably be too late. And by the time Girardi gets to see how Matsui is doing, we could be buried. With much of the blame aimed at the inept run production we got from the #5 hole.
Then Nady? I personally am not so sold on lefty-right-lefty-righty.
If you don’t go R-L, you can get killed in the late innings vs hard throwing relievers. Even if your righties hit lefties, they generally don’t hit hard throwers. Or at least not nearly as much.
So if you send up 3 righties in a row late in a game you’re just making the opposing managers job easier.
Check that “If your righties hit righties”
or vice versa
So the key is to keep them on first base…got it. Can’t wait to see how that gets twisted…”he didn’t even hit a HR there…A-rod is a sux lozer. We want Brosius.”
Giambi is very streaky guys.
In re: ARod and clutch, the Replacement Level Yankees Weblog has an excellent post dealing with the above subject if you’re interested. Certainly more in depth than “hitting .250 with RISP”!
Check it.
Obviously he’s having a bad year w/RISP, but I’ll take the second most productive player with men on-base in terms of wOBA any fucking day.
Big G does need to be moved down.
Fatty dives?
Ponson showing athletism.
Shawne Merriman should have the surgery. His knee could end up being bone on bone if he plays on it.
Agreed. And if he does play, he won’t be nearly as effective.
Maurice Jones-Drew or some other RB will knock him on his ass or worse.
seriously theres a point where you are a true team player and your stupid. Sure go into the playoffs with a busted knee but don’t play a couple years on it thats just stupid.
That’s borderline suicide on his career.
LT sits out for a hangnail. I can’t stand Merriman, and I do think it’s stupid, but I do have to give him some props for this.
LT is still helping his team remain a title contender in an age where most NFL RB’s are only relevant for about 3-4 years or so.
Sitting out a game here or there isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the overall competitiveness of your team.
Off-topic, but how bout Merriman, only 24 years old, potentially risking getting a career threatening injury by playing this season. Bro just get your surgery, miss this season and come back like a beast at age 25.
Shit nevermind someone just beat me to this!!
ha, pwnt by .23 seconds.
Mike A. -
Your buddy Cashman did seem to say to himself:
“these guys – Hughes and Kennedy – are gonna win 10 – 15 games each as 2 of our starters.”
That led directly to the current mound problems – and indirectly to Sidney’s encore with the Yanks.
But nice play there from him! (and at least he hasn’t been arrested at 2 AM in an upper
East Side bar.)
“these guys – Hughes and Kennedy – are gonna win 10 – 15 games each as 2 of our starters.”
When the hell did he say that?
He shouldve had an effective backup plan. Yo cant really expect two rookies to be anchors in the rotation
I think the backup plans were (1) Yankees scoring over 900 runs over the course of the season, (2) Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte throwing over 200 above-league-average innings each.
Oops?
Okay but you really shouldt have question marks in a contending rotation if you wanna go anywhere, like the world series. Isnt that the goal?
Hughes, when healthy, provided league-average innings in the AL East last year as a 21-year-old.
I don’t really think he’s as a big a question mark as people are making him out to be; he bombed in April, and that may or may not have been due to the injury that ended up costing him the next three-and-a-half months.
Pelfrey wasn’t all that great to start the year, either, and he’s arguably the Mets’ No. 2 starter right now.
When the question mark is that kind of upside, yes, I roll the dice every time. Especially when I’m reasonably sure I can count on 900 runs of offense and 200 league-average or better innings from two of my rotation anchors.
He had backup plans. They were Alan Horne, Jeff Marquez, Darrell Rasner, Kei Igawa, and Jeff Karstens. Is it Cashman’s fault that Horne and Marquez both went through per longed bouts of ineffectiveness and elongated stays on the DL?
Would anyone have expected Hughes and Kennedy to not record a single win?
Okay, I agree with nyou on Horne and Marquez, but Rasner and Karstens? It was only a matter of time before NL hitters blasted him. That near-perfecto was a fluke
What effective backup plan would you have liked? Who should Cashman has signed?
True dat
You are talking ridiculous.
Nice inning by Sid. Ballsy.
Theres so much grit on the field I feel like telling Gammons!
Nice.
But not scrappy!!!
Web Gem
Mariners suck.
I’ve been racking my brain with this ever since Barack Obama became the Democratic Primary, will Obama get more votes or non-votes because he’s black? Meaning, will more people vote for him just because he’s black or will more people not vote for him because he’s black?
To break it down even further, I really want to know if this country is filled with more morons or more racists.
http://slate.com/
Please pretty please. I come here to get away from politics.
I think, or rather I HOPE, race has nothing to do with it and it will go by the usual crap about party lines. Republicans recently own the Democrats in elections so if anything that would be the reason for Obama losing the election.
Oh no, I don’t think for a second that will decide the election. I just meant that of the morons who will make their decision based on his race (you know there will be), who will have a bigger impact? The idiots who vote for him because of his race, or the racists who will not vote for him because of his race?
that’s the world we leave in.
I get ticked when blk’s vote for Obama (aka Barak Odrama) cuz he’s blk.
Please people, do ya research.
Hughes off to another shaky start
IP 2.0 H 3 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 SO 2
I noticed his LHB/RHB splits are very drastic. I wonder if his struggles are more due to him working on pitches than just plain ineffectiveness.
Yeah, they mentioned that on the broadcast. Having trouble with Lefties.
probably working on pitches than anything else.
Maybe, but he also has a new repertoire. A cutter and a changeup for lefties.
and just as I type that, he threw a change up to strike out (righty) Josh Barfield.
4-0 GB-FB ratio.
He gave up the run on a single, stolen base, ground out to advance the runner to third, and another single. He’s hardly having a shaky start.
He seems to have settled down. Throwing more strikes now.
Mike A.
Don’t take things literally – what I’m saying is the CASH man obviously placed too much
faith on unproven starters and the Yanks are really paying for it now. Of course the lineup
looking like the Hitless Wonders of 1906 White Sox vintage on many nights only worsens the results.
If Chien-Ming Wang doesn’t get injured, the rotation right now is Wang/Mussina/Pettitte/Ponson/Pavano.
If Chamberlain doesn’t get injured, either, the rotation right now is Wang/Mussina/Chamberlain/Ponson.
I think the injury to Chien-Ming Wang hurts this team a lot more than Hughes’ and Kennedy’s injuries and ineffectiveness. And if Hughes doesn’t get injured, maybe he pulls a Pelfrey and gets stronger as he takes his knocks? It’s been known to happen to young pitchers before.
That should (obviously) be Wang/Mussina/Chamberlain/Pettitte/Ponson above.
Also, just to beat everyone over the head with a hammer: most teams end up doing rather poorly when they lose their ace starter for an extended period of time, either to injury (Cardinals and Chris Carpenter) or ineffectiveness (Boston and Josh Beckett, two years ago).
Let be real. The BoSox lost Curt Schilling before the year started, lost Dice-K for a few weeks, now Beckett for a few weeks. They’ve been pitching AAA guys and waiver wire guys all year. Tonight’s starter Byrd is off the scrap heap.
And they’re 6.5 ahead of us. Why? Because they’ve hit and we haven’t.
I was responding to the point that losing Wang hurt the Yankees more than Hughes’ and Kennedy’s ineffectiveness.
I agree that the offense is also a big part, as my other comment above (Yankees scoring 900 runs, or not) suggested.
But of the pitchers you just mentioned, Boston wasn’t counting on Schilling to be an ace. Ditto Dice-K, and it remains to be seen how the Red Sox do over the next couple of weeks without Beckett.
But the Yankees lost Wang – their top starter – for three months. It’s not the kind of loss that’s insurmountable, but it’s hard to do so when, as you correctly point out, the offense is underperforming for an already leaky rotation.
Yeah, I agree with everything you said. My response was less aimed at you than aimed at some others who might be reading.
You know who you are, people! Thats right! YOU!
That was a pathetic at bat by Robby. What the fuck is he doing?
The usual. Swinging at a high pitch with two strikes. He does it every freaking time.
Phillies are winning
But … but … but teh Johan is pitching!!111! He’s to answer to everyone’s problems!11!!
The Fallen Phoenix – your comment was a classic.
Peace to everyone/Good Night.
Im waiting for Ian Kennedy = Chuck Cary
Did Sutcliffe just say that Varitek is the greatest Red Sox ever?
I hate cancer for a reason that will probably get me smited. I hate it because when people have it you can never criticize them or call them teh stupid.
Lol.
Good to see Pudge really smoking the ball.
Sutcliffe is making me ill.
Un-clutch defense.
OMG A-Rod’s glove is teh clutch!1!!
Jesus, he even runs fugly.
hahaha he is one ugly man, that’s for sure.
“The most significant player in Red Sox history is Jason Varitek.” Rick Sutcliffe
“You can’t measure pitchers by sabermetrics.” Too Old For TV
Ted Williams just turn over in his grave.
Yeah, but his head remained motionless in it’s cryogenic chamber.
Correction: Ted Williams’ BODY just turned over in his grave.
Jim Rice really sat Curve on Ryan? I seriously doubt it.
Dude, in his prime, Rice was rarely thrown fastballs, even by those pitchers who chucked it up there at 100mph, because he typically would hit them so far they needed stewardesses. If he says he sat curveball on Nolan Ryan I would guess it’s because Ryan didn’t want to supply any additional power for Jim Ed. Then again, it’s not like he needed it. This is, after all, the man who broke bats on checks swings on more than one occasion.
Good to se Pudge really smoking the ball.
Sutcliffe is really killing me.
I think Schilling was full of it in the bloody sock game.
That’s the softest base hit through the infield in history.
Heh, I think Brett Gardner won that distinction last month.
Cameraman faked me out again.
Ted Williams and Yaz are too easy an answer, any guesses besides those two?
Babe Ruth was pretty good, pitching them to a World Series (or two?) before they sold him to the Yankees.
…although I’m not sure what the question was, I obviously missed it, and my post above therefore might be a bit nonsensical. I thought we were still talking about Red Sox more important than Varitek.
It was: Who has the most RBI’s in Red Sox history?
Ted or Yaz. If I were a mediot, I might be tempted to say Jim Rice, but I’ll guess he doesn’t sniff those two,
At Yankee Stadium.
Oh wow, completely missed the “…at Yankee Stadium?” portion.
Buckner, obviously.
Pedroia, duh.
Damn. In all seriousness, I was thinking Manny.
whats up with the scores in milb.com.
?
They’re working fine for me.
Broussard’s HR tied up the SWB game 1-1.
that was a catchable ball.
John Flaherty is such typical mediot.
I would have a .226 hitter on my team like Varitek.
You take Varitek and I’ll take Manny.
I know that Ponson has been effective thus far, but I would like to see him pitch inside more.
the Yankees defense has not made plays this year. Balls drop in the outfield and get past the infielders more often than not. They need some upgrades…hopefully starting with Tex at first
Xavier Nady should be an upgrade in right over Abreu, too. I’m still not sure why Damon and not Abreu was DH’ing most days after the Nady acquisition, provided Damon was healthy enough to play the field.
why everytime sidney pitches well, the team struggles to score runs.
In re: Flaherty’s gushing about Varitek.
Is Varitek all that worthwhile as a catcher? Would the Red Sox really be that worse off if he’d hurt himself in spring training and someone else was hitting .220 in his spot?
Along with A.J. Perzynski, Jason Varitek is one of the worst defensive Catchers in the A.L. (Caught Stealing Percentage)
But! But! He handles the pitching staff! No one can’t catch a knuckleball better than Varitek, and no one else can do a better job calling terrible games for star prospect Clay “Where are my laptops?” Buccholz!
I’m guessing you only see the 18 or 19 games against the yankees each year….
Varitek does call a good game, doesn’t have a really strong arm (never really has), and doesn’t catch Wakefield’s knuckler.
His bat has slipped tremendously this year, but that tends to happen to cathers when they hit their mid tolate 30’s.
If he played for the yankees over the past decade, you’d have loved him the way we do. We may be dissapointed that his skills are declining, but we still love him and he’s an excellent Captain. You don’t hear him booed at Fenway either.
No one can’t catch a knuckleball better than Varitek
I’m sorry, but that cracked me up.
Well, he’s getting up there in years, so obviously he doesn’t have much of an arm anymore. But here I’m referring to his possibly mythical ability to “handle a pitching staff”.
How much worse would the Sox be if their AAA guy was hitting 220/310/370 for them? How much of an effect does the man have?
I’d argue not much, since he couldn’t make Buccholz very good in the majors, could he?
Why is that the Catcher’s fault. When Buchholtz trusted his stuff in 2007 Varitek guided him to a no-hitter. When he started missing his spots, couldn’t locate his fastball, and lost all confidence, it became an issue for the Pitching Coach, not the Catcher. That’s why he’s in AA working with somebody he had great success with, rather than in AAA.
Because Varitek gets all of the credit in the world for good pitching performances, including the overblown no-hitters stat. Mike Piazza caught 2 no-hitters in his career, Fisk none. Piazza better defensively? In fact, when Fisk was with the Sox, his backup caught 2 no-hitters, was he better than Fisk? If all Sox fans are going to give Varitek the credit for the good, he gets blame for the bad.
I guess if that’s the case then Posada and Molina are largely to blame for the early season failures of Hughes and Kennedy?
I think these are all big boys and they need to take responsibility for their own failures, that goes for Buchholtz, Hughes and Kennedy. Blaming the Catchers is just typical finger pointing and I haven’t heard anybody but the fans do it so far…..
“When Buchholtz trusted his stuff in 2007 Varitek guided him to a no-hitter.”
Umm, just saying, it’s got to be a 2 way street. Guided him to a no-hitter is a total BS line. Bucholz made the pitches, just like he’s not making them this year. End of story. If you don’t want to blame Varitek, don’t make asinine comments about no-hitters.
I don’t think it’s asinine to state that a pitcher’s confidence level has a lot to do with throwing a no hitter, nor is it BS to give a catcher credit for calling a good game during a no hitter.
And thank you for making my point for me, Varitek has been the one calling his pitches, one year he was hitting his spots, the next year he wasn’t. Sounds like the pitcher’s problem to me too.
Unclutch. There was no one in RISP.
Not a HR… unclutch
Lead-off doubles don’t help teams win games.
Damn it A-Rod, why can’t you hit these doubles when there are two outs, runners are on base, and it’s the 7th inning or later!? And preferably after you’ve had the other team score enough runs so that your hit would put the Yankees ahead after they’ve been behind!
You’re such a worthless piece of refuse, you un-clutch money-grubber!
Didn’t I say that A-Rod was gonna have a big night.
Clutch these on yo fo’head!
good job Giambi moving the runners.
Intentionally making an out is not good baseball, Michael Kay.
Especially when one considers this is what Jason Giambi does more often than not; hit right into the shift. He just happened to be fortunate there was someone on 2nd base he could move over to 3rd this time.
Nady’s unclutchness is pissing me off.
come on X-Man.
Brutal AB by Nady.
unclutch by x
Here’s one of the spots where Matsui can make the case for Giambi’s #5 in the batting order.
and. . . he walks.
That was the good ol’ unintentional intentional walk.
how about them yankees
You saw Cano reaction
Pedroia pulled a Cano on that grounder.
Can’t believe he didn’t “grit” it into his glove. If had dove and made the play, everyone would have lauded him for it. The 2007 (and 2008 Pre-ASB) Cano would have made that playing standing up, because he has twice the range of Pedroia
or Cano pulled a Pedroia, depends how you look at it.
woo! robinson! robinson!
Cano!!!
Canooooo!!!
Not as good as upper deck, but I’ll take it.
So two of the most hated Yankees in 2008 combine for the tying run in the consensus “biggest game of the year”.
canos daddy
not enough grit by Pedrioa to get that ball.
Man, Pudge has been just brutal since the trade.
Finally a 2 out rbi.
Phil Hughes has a 19/3-K/BB ratio in his past four starts (including this one in progress). That span covers 16.1-IP. He’s also getting his grounders tonight, has a 5/2-GB/FB ratio.
Irrelevant, the minors are about results and wins, not development. Duh.
Clearly unless you’re a scout watching the game, you’re not gonna have an idea of that, but to us, it’s tough to be encouraged by a 3 inning outing where he gives up 10 hits and 8 runs.
Thankfully, the Yankees have access to more data than I do. Here’s hoping he can get his shit together and have a few successful starts at the ML level before the season’s end.
I still think that kid’s going to be something special, possibly as soon as next season.
Could not agree more. Look at what some of the best MLB pitchers were doing at his age, and they weren’t all lighting up the league.
Just struck out a lefty. Pitching VERY well tonight.
IP 5 H 4 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 SO 6
Throwing lots of strikes as well 68-46
When you think about Pudge, you really can’t be surprised he hasn’t done much. He lost his starting job in Detroit, so that tells you he wasn’t playing great in the first place. Cashman knew this, he was hoping Pudge would get energized in a pennant race, and lets be honest we haven’t really been in one. He came here to take some of the pressure off Molina, and he’s done that.
But he had been on a tear in his last month or so in Detroit.
We gave up Farnsy, who nobody trusted in a big spot, either.
As bad as he’s been, he’s almost as good as Molina defensively and a slight upgrade with the bat. It was an OK deal. People just expect him to play like Pudge of 2003, and he’s not that player anymore.
And age isn’t even the biggest difference between 2008 and 2003 with Pudge, it’s the 50 lbs. of muscle he mysteriously lost.
He must have cut out the In-n-Out Burgers too.
Maybe the beef they use isn’t organic? Loaded with those hormone thingys?
Yeah, I’m sure that was the problem, being loaded with hormones.
That’s the same pitch Lowrie got for a ball and Damon got for a strike. Douchebag.
It’s funny, didn’t Peter Gammons call Ron “Papa” Jackson the best hitting coach in the Majors when he was with the Red Sox?
fuck.
Wasn’t Ponson suppose to pitch inside against Pedroia?
What is so special about June 12, 1999? Well, in the 4th inning of that Yankee game, Paul O’Neill jacked Major League Baseball’s 200,000th Home Run off Marlin’s starter, Livan Hernandez.
That’s grit and gamerism right there. I bet he beat up the watercooler afterwards.
Weak. You put no heart in that post.
I slam my helmet at that remark.
Oneill was a bit more than grit and determination, he could actually hit the ball….
That will give us some momentum.
just BB ortiz
Sean Henn also gave up HR number 240K to David Newhan and the Baltimore Orioles on September 9, 2006.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/250_000.shtml
hughes is ready.
where was that pitch.
If you were going to go inside, Sidney, couldn’t you at least hit him in the ass? It’s a clearer target than this ump’s zone, at least.
The grittyness of Pedroia can suck my ass.
Just get out of the inning!
Clearly A-Rod is willing the Red Sox to score right now so that he can screw up in a clutch situation later this evening.
Come on Ponson!! If you were going to walk that bushy-faced bastard, you could of hit him instead…
I wouldn’t mind Ponson being a three-toed sloth so much if he’d just throw some strikes.
Actually, if he threw a lot of strikes they would probably land in the upper deck.
Now offense, start scoring!
Look, the yanks have coming up Damon, Jeter and Abreu. I assume we can score at least one more run her this inning.
Not for nothing, but Melky Cabrera has been doing what the Yankees asked of him. Including tonight’s game, he has a 5/7-K/BB ratio.
He has, as has Ian Kennedy who has been throwing a zillion 2 seamers and curves just like Girardi asked.
The only complaint about Melky is they also asked him to work on his base running, and he’s been getting thrown out on the basepaths almost every night. But he seems to be more patient at the plate, drawing plenty of BB, and that was his biggest problem this year, not being selective.
Go laserpointer man.
Another easy 1-2-3 inning for Phil Phrachise.
Bring em up.
Might as well, his next start won’t be until after rosters expand.
Touche!
What happened there Youk, your ugly ass can’t make a gritty play now?
It was pastadivingyouk.
Please no GIDP, please no GIDP, please no GIDP …
almost a DP
Dammit!!!
Hughes 6.0 5 1 1 1 6 0 6.65
He’s k’d guys at a good rate.
getting it together
why is the yankees making Paul Byrd look like Greg Maddux in his prime.