Yanks win again, increase lead in AL East

May 30, 2009 by Mike Axisa 83 Comments

It’s Saturday night and we’ve all got other places we’d like to be, so let’s sum this one up bullet point style.

CC Sabathia … man is that guy awesome or what? He pitched better than his line (7-5-3-3-3-8) indicates, taking a no-hitter into the fifth and only laboring in that one inning when a couple of bloops dropped in. He gave up a solo homer to ex-teammate Grady Sizemore on a 3-1 challenge fastball later in the game. Grady won the battle, so tip your hat to him. Sabathia is now second in the AL with 78 IP (four behind Halladay), and every bit the horse the Yanks thought they were getting when they signed him for $161M.
David Robertson threw a flawless inning in relief, and should start seeing some more high-leverage innings. Since he was recalled, he’s faced eight batters, retiring all of them. Jose Veras entered the game with a seven run lead in the ninth and did what the great ones do, he pitched to the score.
The offense seemingly scored at will. Jorge Posada & Nick Swisher clubbed second inning solo homers, and Robbie Cano drove in three. Deter Jeter & Johnny Damon each drove in a pair of runs and Alex Rodriguez reached base three more times. Even Hideki Matsui went 3 for 5. Hugs and hand-pounds all around, the team is firing on all cylinders.
The Yanks have now gone 16 games without committing an error, and are one away from tying the 2006 Red Sox’s record of 17 consecutive errorless games. Kim Jones totally jinxed it on the postgame though.

With the win, the Yanks increase their lead in the AL East to 1.5 games, and their run differential is only four runs worse than second place Boston, amazing considering how bad Chien-Ming Wang was early in the year. Phil Hughes vs. Carl Pavano in an early game tomorrow, 12:40 start time.

Accent Shallow

All I want is for Pavano to get knocked out in the first, after giving up, say, 8 runs.
- southernyankeefan
  
  I agree i want pavano to get HAMMERED by the yanks tomorrow. Mo willing it will happen.
  - JGS
    
    that or he leaves injured. Preferably both
    - yankees=warriors
      
      On second thought, I would prefer this more as well.
    - J.R.
      
      Sliding and bruises his ass again. And injures his shoulder. And tears his elbow ligament that requires TJS. And cracks 2 ribs and hides it. And develops bone spurs in his elbow.
      
      Anything else?
- yankees=warriors
  
  Can’t agree more!!!
- Mike HC
  
  I know you guys are half kidding about Pavano getting hurt, but I am pretty indifferent towards him. I don’t even feel like he was ever on the team to be honest, and you have to feel for a guy who has Alyssa Milano breaking his mental state down to the national press. While the guy was less than honest about some of his injuries, I feel like the Yanks have bigger fish to fry than him.
  - Bill
    
    I sorta feel the same way Mike.
    
    One thing bothers me about his time with the Yankees though–maybe all these injuries of his were fake and he was just taking the team and all of us fans for a ride.
    
    Can’t prove something like that, but some of those injuries were ridiculous and is it coincidental that now that he’s left NY he suddenly is injury free and pitching well?
    
    No way of proving those allegations, so all I can think is wish him the best, while we kick his butt!
stuart

things ae going great presently.

all they need to do is get rid of berroa, tomko, and veras and they are set.

bring up melancon for one of those 2 please..

bring up an OF for berroa…
- Bryan
  
  idk about tomko he seems to be pitching alright so far. Berroa and veras yes.
- Bill
  
  Veras has great stuff and pitched well last year.
  
  As fans we need to stop overreacting each time a player missteps. My feeling is to let him try and work his way through it and get back to being a solid reliever like last year.
  
  Tomko I could live without. Berroa is a role player and fills a need. You don’t need an all star at every spot on the roster. You need guys like him.
yankees=warriors

If tonight’s game and the last one against the Rangers didn’t prove Veras is utter garbage, I don’t know what will.
When will they get rid of him?
- Bill
  
  So when CC was pitching poorly in the beginning of the year, were you also one of those fans calling for his head too?
  
  Maybe not, but stop overreacting. Veras actually did what he was suppposed to do and closed out the game. I think he’ll only get better and become the solid reliever he was last year.
  - Nick
    
    If you honestly think Jose Veras is any good, and for that matter as good as CC SABATHIA, start over and go back to Kindergarten.
kSturnz

Melancon, Jrod and Malec would be awesome
- whozat
  
  Chris Malec? Really?
  
  If Kevin Russo had stayed healthy and hitting like he was early, I could see that…but this is a guy who was old for AA last year when he hit decently…and he’s been shitty this year. It really, really doesn’t seem like he’s worth going to an 11 man pitching staff for.
Reggie C.

Teixeira and ARod combine for 0 RBI, yet this lineup still drove in 10 runs? Wow. Yanks have really hit their stride.
yankeegirl49

Awesome game!
Got a nice win for my birthday. Im not sure I will ever come back to Cleveland, the freakin midges are 10x worse than they looked when they attacked Joba. All over the place…add the bird to that and it was like a scene from a bad B movie.
- whozat
  
  That’s too bad. I had a good time when I saw a game there. It wasn’t midge season, though.
  - Chris
    
    You saw a game in December?
    - whozat
      
      Zing!
      
      It was mid September ’07, actually. The day they clinched the division that year.
Chris P.

Gardy’s been playing well of late. You think we could get a reliever for him? Although, I do like him off the bench.
- J.R.
  
  Brett is sick off the bench. When we get Nady back the bench will be alot better and he will be an amazing asset.
  - Bill
    
    Interesting points.
    
    I only wonder how we work the X Man back in to the lineup now that Swish has solidified his role.
    
    Poor Joe. Such tough decisions!
stuart

they are not trading a 25 yr old OF with great speed for a c level bullpen arm… not during the season with 3 Of’s FA this offseason.

not happening, and gardner is doing just fine..
- J.R.
  
  Completely agreed. Any reliever we could get on the market we could get in Scranton.
  - J.R.
    
    Or with a healthy Marte coming back.
    - JobaWockeeZ
      
      Or Joba. Yeah it happened.
      - http://www.votepaulformayor.blogspot.com jsbrendog
        
        booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Nick

Is anyone else concerned instead of proud about that IP thing for CC? Girardi’s been having him pitch 100+ pitches each time, and he’s sturdy but he certainly is not a robot like Roy Halladay. I wouldn’t be writing this if he hadn’t had two consecutive playoffs where his heavy workload in the regular season hadn’t caught up to him, but he has and here we are.
- J.R.
  
  I actually agree on this. I think CC is going too far into games and could have impact in the post season.
  
  This game was a good example 5+ run lead going into the seventh, let Tomko pitch. He is clearly there for mop up.
- http://forums.projectcovo.com/images/smilies/e6omir.gif OmgZombies!
  
  Well its not like hes going 120+ every time.
- DocBooch
  
  I’m not concerned at all, dude has a rubber arm like Wells. But, they could always pull a Red Sox and shut him down 2 weeks before the end of the season if…and its a big if…a playoff spot is almost locked up
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Benjamin Kabak
  
  At what point did baseball players turn into wimps who can’t throw more than 100 pitches?
  - Nick
    
    Since CC has turned into a pumpkin during the playoffs after being rode hard the entire season, I suppose!
    - Nick
      
      Also would like to point out that CC is currently ninth in Pitcher Abuse Points: http://www.baseballprospectus......cid=465584
      
      AJ Burnett also follows him at 10th despite being terrible for most of the season so far.
      - josh
        
        yeah but didnt cc also pitch sick in late september ( basically playoff games for the brewers at that point) do you really think that is why one startlater he wasnt as effective
        
        DocBooch
        
        Which is why I suggested sitting him down or at least limitting him toward the end of the season.
        
        Nick
        
        What’s his excuse for 2007?
        
        DocBooch
        
        Well, he did pitch 241 innings that year.
        
        Nick
        
        That was my entire point. He’s got a heavy workload and it ends up screwing his teams over in the postseason.
        
        Sweet Dick Willie
        
        I think the whole correlation/causation thing comes into play here.
  - NaOH
    
    “At what point did baseball players turn into wimps who can’t throw more than 100 pitches?”
    
    Not as recently as most think. Basbeall-Reference only has data going back to 1988, but since that time only once has a league had its starters average 100 or more pitches per start. That was the 1994 AL at exactly 100 pitches, and it’s possible the 100-pitch average may not have occurred were it not for the strike-shortened season.
    
    Basically, I’ve concluded that the recent public emphasis on that pitch count has kept most of us from noticing how long it has actually been going taking place.
    
    For some perspective, Roger Clemens had 35 starts in 1988, threw 264 IP (7.5 per start), had 291 strikeouts, 14 complete games, threw more than 130 pitches in 12 of his starts (with a high of 162 in his 23rd start). In fact, he threw less than 100 pitches in only 5 of his starts. For all that, he averaged 120 pitches per start that year.
    
    Today we think of that as unimaginable. But it’s really not too much more per start than the 109 Sabathia averaged last year, or the 110 he is averaging so far this year.
    - DocBooch
      
      10 extra pitches per start equates to 350 pitches for the year or an extra 3 games started in the same time span. That sounds like a lot to me.
      - NaOH
        
        Indeed, 350 pitches per season is a reasonable amount. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise, though that certainly wasn’t clear. My point was just that with top-tier pitchers, the per-game average isn’t down as much as we think considering how often we hear and read about the 100-pitch threshold.
        
        I think it’s better, though, to look at innings actually pitched as a result of all those pitches (because getting outs is the goal of all those pitches). Clemens threw 11 more pitcher per start in 1988 than Sabathia did in 2008. They each had the same number of starts (35), but Clemens only had 11 more innings for those 385 extra pitches.
        
        In sum, then, we bemoan the loss of the workhorses like Clemens in his youth, but a guy like Sabathia basically matches his performance and does so more efficiently. We keep talking about pitchers in terms of the pitch count, but I don’t know that we’re really taking a good look at how well the elite pitchers are doing when we so frequently use this as a key indicator.
        
        LiveFromNewYork
        
        Not all pitchers are created equal. CC is a huge guy who is a workhorse. Putting all pitchers in the same box, with the same “uh oh” count is fairly stupid.
DocBooch

Would really like to see them break this record, although Kim Jones totally did jinx it. I like would Jeter said though..”Well, If I don’t get a hit and the streak ends, no one is going to talk to you tomorrow.” She laughed it off, but you can tell she was like…uh oh
- josh
  
  she is annoying. later in the clubhouse she brought it up again while interviewing arod
  - LiveFromNewYork
    
    Yeah I don’t know why she does that. It IS annoying.
- J.R.
  
  Jeter was pretty bad ass with that comment.
  - Bryan
    
    Yea I saw that, he was pretty serious, and I dont blame him, you never do what she did, talking about a streak and all that.
  - John
    
    Jeter sure showed her!
    
    “Why would you do that to us?!!!”
    
    “There you go again!!!?
    
    She asked that he really doesn’t like this jinx stuff and he straight up said no and you can tell he was pretty serious and not kidding.
josh

i am totally a joba as starter guy but what do you think of getting him to about 125 innings by mid august and putting him in the pen then. do u think it would hinder his development or risk injuring him with the inconsistant schedule? at this rate he wont be able to pitch in october anyway right?
- josh
  
  as much as want him to start and develop as a starter, this team with the CMW that we al know and joba in the 7thand 8th in october would be SICK
- JobaWockeeZ
  
  Yeah we talked about this before. I think we’re going to skip a few of his starts so he can last to September. Then in the playoffs we’ll keep him shut down I believe.
  - josh
    
    thats upsetting that in october our second best reliever and/or starter will be shut down
    - DocBooch
      
      I dont see them doing that unless he’s hurt. They more than likely have a starting innings limit before they relegate him to the BP. Hopefully for the playoffs. The object is to win a WS now, not to groom Joba to win one later.
      - JobaWockeeZ
        
        No the object is win as many championships as possible. Putting him in the bullpen or making him pitch mroe innings will HURT the Yankees in the long run. I would prefer another dynasty than to kill our resources for ONE championship. The Verducci effect will make the Front Office skip Joba’s starts throughout the season so he can pitch all the way to the end of the season. If they don’t he’ll be shut down in August.
        
        And I do not get why many people are against developing pitching. Really, learn some patience.
        
        DocBooch
        
        Shutting down your Ace in the hole while you are in the playoffs is just dumb. The saying a bird in hand is worth two in the bush applies. Keeping Joba from pitching 10 to a max of 20 innings in the playoffs is not going to stunt his growth if they play it right. Second, it would deflate the team morale. How do you explain it to the other 24 guys that Joba reached some arbitrary innings limit so instead of having help us win a WS, we are going to rest his fragile body. That is just plain illogical.
        
        JobaWockeeZ
        
        Joba will only be in the bullpen int he playoffs as a last resort. A really really last resort. First of all he has a starter mentality? How would that affect his morale? Or the rest of the bullpen; that basically means they must all suck if he’s sent there. And the odds of us needing Joba in the bullpen are slim. At that time Melancon will most likely be called and if he’s going to be great if he can pitch at a ML level. He can easily replace Joba in the bullpen. Plus Bruney might be back, and Marte will be back. And at that time a trade would have happened near the deadline if we needed another bullpen arm. Joba will NEVER go back to the bullpen. Cashman just said that today.
        
        And what are you talking about team morale by the way? EVERY team does this to young pitchers due to the Verducci Effect.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Benjamin Kabak
  
  Per our commenting guidelines, please keep comments on topic. This is a game recap and not a thread about Joba. Repeat offenders will be banned from commenting. We’re 100 percent serious about this.
- http://www.retire21.org Mike R. – Retire 21
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3-eavMSBnk
  - josh
    
    love the clip. but we should be talking about playoffs because this team is clicking right now and if they dont make the playoffs again they will be an utter dissapointment
    - http://www.retire21.org Mike R. – Retire 21
      
      Yeah I agree. I thought the clip might break up the discussion, but Ben took care of that. :D
      - DocBooch
        
        Fit perfectly though…made me realize the utter ridiculousness of the discussion.
    - whozat
      
      we should be talking about playoffs because this team is clicking right now and if they dont make the playoffs again they will be an utter dissapointment
      
      Then email the authors and try to convince them that they should put up a post about it…if there’s anything to really be talked about.
DocBooch

Don’t forget, since the advent of the 5 man rotation, the 5th starter goes to the bullpen during the playoffs. They’d be crazy to not account for some extra innings towards the end of the season for him. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
- JobaWockeeZ
  
  And again he is on innings limit. And I’m pretty sure by TOm Verducci those extra “not significant” 10-20 innings will put Joba more at risk to get injured. But whatever think as you please, this has gotten way out of hand. It’s not like it will happen anyways.
DocBooch

Sorry Ben, I couldn’t help myself. Can’t believe how much of a hot topic this still is..
DocBooch

I know Girardi said that Matsui was just taking it easy and he could still run if he wanted, but it looked more than that. He looked like he was running on eggshells all night and that he almost got caught on that double to left center when he tippy toed into second.
josh

sorry ben didnt really mean to start a joba to the pen discussion was more just wondering what is gonna happen if the team is playing in october and joba is at ornear his innings limit and having a great year. what if by the end of the season he has 150 innings and is a dominant force. do you think they let him start a playoff game, relieve, or shut him down? thats all was asking
- whozat
  
  You’re just making it worse. The authors here are really accessible. Email them if you want there to be a post analyzing the tradeoffs between possible strategies for managing his innings.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Benjamin Kabak
  
  I understand. The proper place for those questions is either in open threads or in on-topic threads. We’ve had more than enough Joba discussions over the last few days.
  
  We don’t enforce this rule to be mean. We just don’t want to end up with a MetsBlog comment situation. Thanks for apologizing, Josh. I appreciate it.
  - Bill
    
    Way to go Ben!
josh

i realize how early it is but i am psyched about hughes tomorrow. if he and joba turn out the whole big three thing will be a huge sucess imo. 2 out of 3 is great and hopefully kennedy can get halthy and contribute one day. hughes vs. pavano is like theyankees bright future vs. the ugliest parts of the past 4 years or so personified in one game. HUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHES!
josh

Like luke vs vader
YankeeScribe

The Daily News reported that CC and Bruney were playing RBI Baseball on Nintendo before the game. That’s hilarious. I love new “fun” Yankees
- Mike HC
  
  Yea, I agree. It seems like CC has really been the catalyst for all this. I know that it is a little too early to make any definitive statements, but it is about time a big money pitching free agent has lived up to the billing with the Yanks.
TJ

I’m sick as hell. So I came here to feel better. 10 over .500 after today. 9:30 gametime here on the West Coast. Food poisioning from last night in LA, just say no to Jambalaya from unknown eateries.
Mike HC

I noticed that Jeter has bumped his average above .300 this game. I would love to see a RAB post devoted to Jeter at some point; breaking down his current streak, how he is getting his hits, and what all the complicated defensive metrics say about his defense this year. I know that those defense stats are usually not very kind to Jeter. It cannot be a coincidence that the Yanks current streak has coincided with Jeter’s streak.
TJ

Aceves could be the 2008 version of the 1998 Ramiro Mendoza. Looking at the 1998 roster it’s really amazing they won so many games. Only 2 hitters with 100 RBIs, no one with 30 HRs or more, one 20 game winner. The balance is really amazing.

The current team has more power hands down, great defense (no errors still headed towards a record), SP depth, bench depth very soon. The only lack appears to be a solid set up man for the 8th, but that can emerge. We still have Marte and Coke that could be reliable 7th inning types. A Jeff Nelson type is all thats really needed.

Hope Hughes can continue to do well, if not, send him to the pen and maybe he could fill a spot there. Enough with the AAA dominance.
- Januz
  
  There is no need to put Hughes or Joba in the pen for now (If they make the playoffs, Joba could go in the pen (CC, Andy & AJ will be 3 of the 4 starters needed)). Aceves and Coke look good, and Bruney will be back (Melancon will be an option soon enough).
  I think that if Hughes continues to pitch well, and there are no injuries (A MAJOR question mark of course), then Wang could become trade bait for a good minor league outfielder Texas (who has the best farm system in the game) & Philadelphia come to mind.
Bill

What about Shelly Duncan guys?

He’s mashing the ball down at AAA. I’d really like to see the team give him a chance.