Game 40: Going out on top
ByTonight very well could be Phil Hughes‘s last start for the Yankees — for now, of course. With indications that Chien-Ming Wang could be back soon, Hughes could be headed back to AAA to continue building up innings. There’s a chance he could head to the bullpen, but given the Yanks’ care in developing him I don’t think that’s a strong possibility. Not right now, at least, when he could stand to get in the every-five-days routine and accumulate innings.
Taking the mound for the Orioles will be Jeremy Guthrie. He’ll be making his third start against the Yanks this season. The last one is still fresh in Yankees memory, as it came when CC dominated the Orioles in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago. Guthrie threw quite well that night, hurt only by A-Rod‘s debut three-run shot. After that he allowed no runs over the next 5.2 innings, striking out eight and walking just two. It was a slight improvement over his Opening Day start, in which he also pitched six innings and allowed three runs, but struck out only three to three walks.
I’m guessing Brett Gardner is still only available in limited capacity due to the contusion on his right rotator cuff. I say this because Nick Swisher could use a night off. He has just five hits all of May, and has posted a .102/.262/.184 line in those 16 games. He’s had a few hard-hit balls lately, which is encouraging. But the hits just aren’t dropping (.143 BABIP). Then again, he’s not putting nearly as many balls in play: just 29 in 49 AB (62 PA). It’s be real nice to see Swisher get a base knock tonight.
Lineup:
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Melky Cabrera, CF
9. Kevin Cash, C
And on the mound, number sixty-five, Philip J. Hughes.
313 Comments»
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I’ve been burning to ask this question for ages and now I can:
Who’s your favorite AB/intro music?
I love Evan Longoria’s, but I don’t know what song that is. On the Yankees I’m a fan of Swisher’s and A-Rod’s is growing on me.
JOhnny Damon’s “Handlebars”.
He also comes out to “bleed it out” by linkin park later in the game. Another song I like.
I really think Cervelli should catch Hughes. Honestly, Cervelli has handled the pitching staff well and Hughes needs a good start.
i guess this guarantees me seeing Cervelli catch tommorow night.
I think Cerevelii caught Hughes really bad outing maybe they want a little more experience in the battery
From Hoch:
“The Yankees held their first Kangaroo Court since 1995 this afternoon at Yankee Stadium, with Mariano Rivera – the elder statesman of the clubhouse – doing the honors as judge. Xavier Nady served as the secretary and court stenographer, and Derek Jeter, A.J. Burnett and Johnny Damon served as the jury.
What’s the court all about? Basically, Nady has been keeping track of infractions for weeks, called out by teammates. Derek Jeter said that he can’t ever remember one being held in his pro career, even in the Minor Leagues, but word is the practice disappeared when Joe Torre took over in 1996.
The guys seemed to love the process. Nick Swisher did a television interview in Detroit shirtless and Burnett hit him with a $20 fine for that. Phil Coke’s wallet was $30 lighter as a result of the home run he served up to the Twins’ Joe Mauer. Coke pointed to the drive off the bat, thinking it was a fly ball that could be easily tracked by center fielder Brett Gardner, but the ball carried out and hit the netting over Monument Park. Johnny Damon was fined $100 for showing up late to court, blaming New York City traffic. But no fine was crueler than this one — Alex Rodriguez got hit for being late … for the season. “
that’s cute
Wow, I need to find a copy of that Swisher interview.
Hughes for Jason Heyward…do you guys do it?
I don’t know what prospect in the Yankee system I wouldn’t trade for Jason Heyward.
Ha. Perfect.
Hughes for Jesus and Pujols. You do it?
+1
Wow, ur an asshole
Wow. Learn to take a little ribbing on the internet.
whatever
lol. whatever.
A couple of assumptions:
1- You meant Jesus Montero and not Jesus Christ.
2- You meant Hughes and Jesus for Pujols.
Doesn’t really matter either way the answer is “Anyone who says no to that should lay off the pipe.”
tex-A-Rod-Pujols, even with a bad elbow, as 3-4-5?
*shudder*
Would have to be hands down the best 3-4-5 ever, no?
When healthy, yes.
Nope, meant Jesus like the deity of the Christian religion. Trying to drive home the lopsided nature of the trade.
Really not that lopsided….you’ve got a potential, cost-controlled ace and a potential superstar who has yet to prove anything
There isn’t a GM in the sport who doesn’t trade Hughes for Heyward in half a second. For the Yankees, it is even more lopsided. The Yankees have no one similar in their system.
If it bothers you, we can go with Moses instead.
Dont we already have Jesus in the system?
Pujols yes, but that Jesus guy, dunno, he seems to have a durability problem and might die young. plus he’s a stats padder (making too many bread) and can’t save his own life if he was getting, crucified.
HUGHES PERFECT THRU 1/3
Oh shush
2/3!!
3/3!!
4/3!!
Hughes’ projection for this game.
9.0IP, 0ER, 0H, 0BB, 18K, 108 pitches
And people would STILL say he should move to the pen, or (like KLaw and Dierkes of mlbtraderumors) that they should send him to AAA to “rebuild” trade value and then flip him to the NL.
Bust.
We can has eight more of those Phil?
He socked it to the red….oh wait
fail
“A 94mph piece of cheese…”
Say what you want, but at least Kay makes you laugh.
I beg to differ.
Aren’t yanks tickets on stubhub supposed to be real cheap now or has that time period passed already? Cause when I’m looking now everything seems pretty expensive..
They’re cheapest when you buy day of game.
Looked today and saw lotsa cheap tiks. Depends on the game. And the sooner the game, usually the better the price.
Phil Hughes came to New York to chew bubblegum and kick ass.
…. and he’s all out of bubblegum.
gameday says 94 on most 4 seamers, 92-93 on the two seamers, 89 on the cutters, for those who care
I know im late wit this but persoanlly I really like da new yankee hat for memorial day. Besides, Yankee hats are the best design hats in sports (whether u hate da yanks or not)
I’m pretty sure that’s the best inning I have ever seen Hughes throw. he was attacking the zone, and was in total command, against three very good hitters.
It was pretty awesome.
I think the question on everyone’s mind is…With interleague play coming up how many pitchers are going to have more HR’s than David Ortiz in a couple of weeks?
I know Dontrelle Willis is gonna be ahead of Ortiz.
If Felix Hernandez can hit a grand slam off Johan Santana I don’t really want to know the answer to this.
That was AWESOME.
Yanks have two:CC and Swish
Johnny Damon doesn’t do slides.
I wonder what inning(s) the Yanks will get their obligatory Teix and Arod homeruns?
I’m not exactly gonna complain about a run-scoring double, either.
I know it’s a couple games but rite now A-Rod is da MVP right now. No?
Okay maybe Longoria.
Thank Mo Jim Palmer has the night off from the MASN. Anyone else watching from DC/Balt?
Wats up wit Jim Palmer.
yea I live in Baltimore…I hate watching Jim Palmer, and the other guy for that matter
Gary Thorne
That man loves his own voice.
Yeah. I can’t stand Palmer. Or when MASN feels it necessary to show me the 5 split screens when the bases are loaded instead of the at bat.
I usually watch the Yanks on my laptop and the Nats on my T.V. Unless the Yanks are playing the O’s. Have any of you heard Dibble on the Nat’s broadcast? Hilarious.
Dibble’s probably the best part about watching the Nats. They’ve been pretty brutal this season.
Chien-Ming Who?
Having six (potentially) really good starters is a really cool problem to have.
So is having a really good catcher from double a.
yeah and it feels so awk, I mean last year we were starting Rasner and Ponson ahahahaa
Hughes>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Giese, Rasner, and Ponson’s talents all combined.
I guess somebody ticked off Hughes today.
That was a great pitch.
“Look Kevin Cash is a reeelly good backup catcher” – Peter Gammons
So nice to see him getting ahead of people.
Michael kay just said Phil Hughes has a lot pitches he can use. Good job on the research, Mike.
Thorne’s not too good either, but I think I write him off because of his work with the Mets. Buck Martinez isn’t too bad.
Nice piece of hitting by Mora, almost looked like he double clutched the swing waiting for the breaking ball.
That was not a great pitch. Stick with the fastball, Phil.
He has to mix it up a bit. He just needed that one to hit the dirt.
Damn, i hate it when Hughes gives up these hits when ahead in the count…oh well, it’s part of the learning process of playing in the Majors.
Man, I can’t believe there were whispers of bringing Wigginton in for the bench.
Pena/Berroa/Ransom>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Wigginton
Yeah, he benefited from the Astros park last year BIG TIME.
http://tinyurl.com/pszve4
Just horrible.
Just awful…My prayers go out to her family and friends.
I’ve had enough dead people this year to last the rest of my life, thank you very much.
That came off more assholeish than I intended.
My thoughts and prayers are with the family.
Send my prayers towards scott and his family and the wifes family as well.
trying to nibble…
That is very sad and tragic. It puts everything else in perspective.
2 scoreless
Hughes loses a little something when there’s men on base.
Everyone loses something from the stretch.
Wasn’t saying otherwise, but it’s something he definitely has to work on as he develops.
he’ll get better at that as he ages and matures.
Bobby Murcer’s birthday today.
Thanks for mentioning it. I miss Bobby Murcer a lot.
Bronx Banter had a nice little post on him today.
It is also the birthday of Blue Jeans
Even though Swish is struggling, he’s still putting together good at-bats.
Well timed.
Yes, yes he is.
SWISH!
Go Swish!!!!!
Hooray for Swish.
SWISH!
There we go Swish! Lets make it a habit.
SWISH AND CHIPS!!
“Swishalicious”
-John Sterling
Bandbox! Almost looked like he was jammed on that. Nice job bringing in the hands, Swish.
Am I the only one to hear Kay almost say Swish socked it to the red sox instead of the o’s?
….Swish-alicious!? If Kay didnt put me to sleep I’d never turn my radio back on.
So yeah, Swish will be rockin’ the high socks again tomorrow.
I like it
Sweet, more fantasy HRs. Now I need A-Rod to go deep again.
Back to Back!!!!!
What an AB…starts off 0-2 and then homers like on the 8th pitch
Back-to-back! Yeah Robi!
I’m guessing Sterling is saying back to back and belly to belly?
a back-to-back-to-back
and…
a belly-to-belly-to-belly
Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish
Obviously its all the ballparks fault.
/Buster Olney
Kind of concerned with Howard and Utley coming into town this weekend and that short porch, perhaps the pitching will keep them in check though
They’re going to love RF.
I wonder if the Yanks have the fire power to break their own team record for home runs this year
Nuttin but Net, Swisher.
back-back-back!!
Wow!!!
LOL. Melky and Siwhs were on my fantasy team! Ballpark = FTW!
I almost started Swish tonight…but then I didn’t. My bad.
Hot Damn!!!
Hey, I just got here what did I miss — OH SHIT — BANGWAGON
4 in a row?????
Can someone explain to me why Kevin Cash is getting so much playing time when he sucks?
Cervelli can’t catch every day. What is this, Cash’s third game?
LOVE IT.
Damn you Cash, he just wanted the Sox to be the most recent team to go back-to-back-to-back-to-back
Sorry about the technical issues folks, bear with us.
thank god, i thought it was just me
Hey, we’re back from the dead!
Nice double play to end a threat!
server crash?
Oh Mo, not Melky too.
Okay, I think we’re back for good now.
What happened?
To Melky.
better be, that was frustrating
Melky needs some liniment on those boys
what happened
what happened to him?
my bad for the double post…it wasnt posted originally when i refreshed and the site was having problems
ballplayers are tougher than we give them credit for.
The Tigers hit into a triple play against the Rangers.
Inside scoop: Hughes is using a secret motivational song to help him get the important outs with men on base; it goes something like this:
“Miked up! He’s ready to go! on the FAN, New York sports radio
Miked up, Miked up!
He’ll get you the sports any way that he can, it’s Mike Francesa on the Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!”
That was a meatball.
That was fucking kobe beef.
9 K now.
are we good now? for sure?
No idea.
We seem to be back now
Hey, sorry to ask a somewhat random question, but I’ve seen it a few times on the blog and have been meaning to ask…what does “FAIL” stand for or mean?
doesn’t it just mean that the poster made some type of foolish mistake and are either admitting it or being told by someone else? im not sure either
David Ortiz hit his first HR of the year tonight.
Brett Gardner still has more HR.
I am amused.
syringes do wonders.
So by that logic, or lack of it, does that mean Cano was on the juice when he hit .340 and was off it last season?
WTF? Only 89 pitches for Phil.
That was weird. He was having a perfectly respectable outing.
this is a test…
Can’t wait to see “Ortiz is back and going to own again” articles I’m going to see on ESPN.
Are the Yankees trying to avoid Baltimore’s bullpen?
Had trouble getting into the comments section. Anyone else sick of pop ups and fly outs?
We know, we’re working on it.
wouldnt happen on lohud
Well it might, but they’d just blame A-Rod.
ill take a win even if they pop up for all 27 outs
Ughhh. Yankees go back to back to back, and then: blog explodes, Hughes gives up two homers, Girardi pulls him after 89 pitches, and Ortiz hits a homer.
it’s ok, the gangster is here.
Check out the Mexican Gangster getting some setup work in.
el gángster mexicano parece esta noche sobresaliente
Aceves to the ‘pen!
Wait….
2 Melky’s = 1 Home run each tonight.
Aceves is Ace.
BTW, Bruney, Coke and Aceves = Three Bullpen Baldies?
When trying to come up with the cheesiest lamest thing I could possibly say about this. I was left with only:
The Bald Pen.
Strasburg leaves game early with back cramp http://www.baseballamerica.com.....ge/?p=1144
Yeah but he’s fine.
No hes not his stock will now drop all the way the yankees!!!! this way they can develop those young players that they dont seem to develop. Heres John Minko with the updates.
I hope Coke is okay after that liner to the mound
Heh, you could totally hear Harkey ask Mo if he was ready yet right there.
Yeah – Never seen that before
Lets you know about Joe’s faith in Veras.
It seems like everyone has left after we had the tech problems
Ah, it works again.
Found the problem. We’re back. Just minus a cool feature.
No more Yankee logos in the corners of comments?
The Yankees logos were an important feature, made the blog much easier to navigate.
Are we ever getting cool feature back, or has it been the cause of too much trouble?
Ah, it works again!
Disregard
Let’s hope it remains up and running
Base knock here so Mo doesn’t have to pitch the 9th.
C’mon Cano – RBI – We need some insurance runs
Ahh nice swing melky
Nice hits by Cano and Cabreara
Hey guys,
I went on vacation post-Melky’s walkoff against the Twins. What did I miss? If the Yankees start losing, should I go back on vacation?
If I were superstitious, which I am not, I would say definitely!!
Nice try by Moeller to claim he tagged Swish
Not. Even. Close.
We complain, often fairly, about our pen, but damn. The Orioles pen is criminal.
Ours looks great by comparison tonight
And they’re paying them far more than the Yanks are paying their relievers.
You don’t always get what you pay for!
Nice nice nice nice.
Love the tack on runs.
Amazing job by this offense.
The O’s are helping us a lot.
As nice as the walk offs are, you gotta love these last two games.
Amen.
11-3 Yankees!!
This team is kind of amazing.
OMG Andino FAIL
They ruled that shit a hit. Official scorer FAIL.
Tex 3-run jack right here
Does Andino have money on these games?
PURE GOLD-
http://www.camdenchat.com/2009.....s#comments
IETCT
I enjoyed this exchange:
-Motherfuck!!!
-Is that because Jamie Walker came in?
-That’s because
this team is not good at baseball.
hahah, they’re so angry it’s awesome
I kinda feel for them.
I’m sure Teix is upset he didn’t go to Baltimore.
Who wouldn’t be? gritty uniform>>>>>>>>>>>>>$
If this score holds up, and I think it will, the Yanks finally have more Runs Scored than Runs Allowed for the season. They came into tonight at -5 (214S, 219A)
foregone conclusion that the yankees will win.
WTF, why is Mo still pitching?
Why are they saying its a save?
Because it was a save when he came in. That’s the rule.
Because he came in during a save situation and he’s finishing the game.
MY bad i thought once the game was a blowout it was no longer a save
So what, that is absolutely not a reason to waste your best reliever whos 39 years old’s arm
A save is dependent on the situation the pitcher came INTO, not the situation he finishes it in.
Because of the silly way saves work.
See: Wes Littleton.
Conventional baseball wisdom is to never remove the closer once he’s in the game, lest lesser relief pitchers lose the game.
Kinda BS, at least in this situation.
I’d put Alphabet in there.
8 runs … let Swisher pitch!!!
Why the FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF is Rivera in the game??????
nice play MO! 1 away.
OH WHAT THE FUCK SIT MO DOWN
11 runs, 10 hits = Efficiency!
make that 11 runs on 9 hits!!!!!!!!!!
GODDAMN IT WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT
another hR given up by mo
Thanks for that info
wtf mo, keep the ERA low for my fantasy team.
Hey everyone, just finished dinner.
If anyone cares to think back, and I understand if you don’t considering that glorious 8th, did Phil get squeezed in the 5th? It seemed two pitches to Jones before the HR could have been strikes, and a couple to Markakis too.
I would have commented at the time, but I was eating, so, like, nobody get mad at me.
Oh and Mo just gave up a HR. And I am not close to worried about it.
I had that same thought. I think Jones was given a stike there because earlier he was called out on a questionable check swing on an appeal. If you believe in umps giving calls back anyway.
Definitely agree. And for anyone questioning Hughesus’ potential, see tonight’s game.
Yankees win! THE-E-E-E YANKEES WIN!
HAHA I think someone just told swisher to put his hat on before his interview with Kim.
In fairness, he Mo threw 3 pitches, and then had to sit a long inning. That easily could have thrown him off.
or it could be he didn’t care and just tried to save energy
he had almost no warble tonight
The kid was happy that he jacked off Mo. Very heartwarming.
We accommodate.
Ew.
No comment.
hilarious
Okay, rushed comments are a bad idea.
This is the comment of the night!
Is that you, David Cone?
Y keep mo in?
A link if you’re curious about who Polly Tompkins is. Nice little story.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....8;c_id=nyy
Great story – My prayers are with her for a full and speedy recovery.
Thanks for the link, that’s a great story.
Reimold’s a real prospect, not a scrub. But, oh well, that’s what you get with Mo in a low leverage situation – here it is, try and hit it.
Exactly, it was 11-3, he isn’t trying to paint corners, he is throwing stikes and daring guys to hit it and one guys out of four did.
Bard got smacked around in Boston tonight. 3 hits and a run in two thirds of an inning, left with runners at 2nd and 3rd. But he could close right now for everybody but the teams with craig hansen and Manny Delcarmen.
Mark Melancon is happy.
I missed Hughes pitching tonight, how did he look? 9 Ks is excellent, especially if they’re mostly swinging. 1 walk is also encouraging. 2 jacks, not so much . . .
He had much better command and really attacked the strike zone with fast balls early. In the first few innings he tossed alomst all fast balls. Unlike previous games he wasn’t trying to paint the corners. Just firing heat in the zone at 92-94mph. He also got a lot of guys to strike out with high heat.
he looked awesome. he made some mistakes, but he’s not a finished product.
very encouraging.
Eh the two jacks were 2 really bad pitches they capitalized on. He looked very confident today the fastball was on and they flailed at his offspeed stuff as a result.
Yep. Minimizing the mistakes is a key part of the learning process for any young pitcher and Hughes is still in that process.
mu favorite thing about tonight’s game every runner to reach scoring position in the 8th inning scored
A couple with two outs too, right?
It seems like that is no great accomplishment against Baltimore relief pitching.
Baez did have a 2.11 era in 21 innings this year
Walker is a lefty specialist but they brought him against what 3 righties in a row before Damon got to bat?
I think the story of the night was how good Aceves looked and Joe’s Mendoza-esque use of him.
I’m sure its been mentioned, but Big Papi actually homered . .
•
Mike has an easy ass DOTF tonight.
Couple of things about this game..
1. Hughes may have k’ed 9, but the pitches he threw that got homered on were pitches that will almost always get launched by ML hitters
2. There is no reason for Mo to have pitched the 9th there, that was fuckin stupid
3. We are tearing apart every team in our path right now
4. Melky has shown no signs of slowing down
5. Kevin Cash just flat out sucks
I agree with all your points except that Mariano may have needed the work.
1. Didnt we make a big deal Joba K’d 12 in 5.2 but ignored his 4 runs?
2. Bring Veras in, walk 2 guys, bring Alby in, give up 3 hits, etc. Just end the game
3. Agree
4. Agree, I think YES showed he hit safely in 23 of his last 26 starts
5. 4th string catcher, what do you expect
+1
Hope Mo not get Bruney-like injury due to long waiting for the 9. I think Joe should put Tomko at that 9.
uhh, Mo was in the DUGOUT. Bruney claims he got hurt by warming up too long in he bullpen.
is there anything we can’t blow way out of proportion?
The only difference between this year and last year is we are actually beating up on bad teams and bad pitchers.We will have trouble with good teams but we need to destory the bad teams.
For anyone watching the Magic-Cavs game it is one of the worst officiated games i’ve seen (and i’ve seen quite a few bad ones). Im no magic fan, but its obvious that they’re completely giving the Cavs all the calls
Yet Orlando keeps fighting back. God i wish the Knicks were good.
did you expect something different?
I would love for Trey Hillman to explain using Ponson in the 8th of a tie game.
Was Farsny unavailable to blow the game?
Remember when basketball ended in April?
It always does in new york.
I meant the whole season. It should not be going into June.
whats basketball ?
Schowenweises wife found dead.
hitting enter too early fail.
Schowenweisses wife found dead, Mickelson wife with breast cancer, Sad day for both families.
Hedo is so underrated.
Got to love Girardi. 8 game win streak and an 8 run lead and puts Rivera in for a totally useless 9th inning.
Girardi said he wants Mo to build arm strength, that’s why he let him pitch.
also, you’re an annoying troll.
What he said.
I didn’t mind Mariano coming out for the 9th but he has been pitching a lot lately, so it’s not like he needed the work.