If I told you that Sergio Mitre would only last 4.1 innings last night, you’d surely lower your head into your palm. Yet it wasn’t that bad. Girardi exercised caution and relieved Mitre before he could cause any serious trouble. Al Aceves fended off the Blue Jays for an inning and two thirds, and that bought the Yankees offense enough time to rally ahead and take their second straight game from the Jays, 8-4.
Mitre didn’t look bad to start the game, striking out Marco Scutaro and Aaron Hill. The Jays then went single happy, hitting ground balls and bloops on their way to four straight hits which resulted in two runs. The box score looked bad, but at least Mitre was keeping the ball on the ground. And striking out guys. Five innings, two runs was still a possibility.
Over the next few innings, it appeared he might just hold up. Mitre was by no means perfect over the next three innings, but he made some good pitches and got a strikeout with a runner on and two outs in the second, and a ground out with two on and two outs in the fourth. Jose Molina assisted in the third, picking off Vernon Wells on a snap throw to fist.
After getting yet another grounder to open the fifth, Mitre left one up to Adam Lind, and Lind did as Lind does, parking it in the right field seats. After a Lyle Overbay single, Girardi had seen enough. His team was down just one and he didn’t want to see any more distance in the score, so he called on Ol’ Reliable, Al Aceves, to finish off the fifth and then some. Al fulfilled his duty, retiring the first five batters he faced.
Meanwhile, the Yankees were thinking rally. Nick Swisher sparked them in the seventh with a leadoff solo homer, tying the game. This led to a multi-run inning, which is strange, because you’d think that a leadoff walk would lead to more multi-run innings. But no, Swisher’s one run started a series of events which would eventually end with Mark Teixeira singling home the Yankees fourth run of the inning. Sandwiched in there was Jose Molina walking and Rod Barajas botching a play at the plate, so it was quite an eventful series of at bats. Even better, it left the Yankees with a lead.
I was a bit surprised to see Aceves back out to start the seventh after a long top of the inning. It made it easy to excuse the lead off home run to Marco Scutaro. Thankfully, the Blue Jays would not get a multi-run inning of their own. Ace got Aaron Hill to hit one right at Jeter, and then Phil Coke took care of the lefties Adam Lind and Lyle Overbay to cap the frame. Hughes and, after a few insurance runs, Robetson cleaned up.
It was encouraging to see the Yanks come back, despite a short start from Mitre. It’s never a welcome sight to see a starter fail to finish five innings, but the Yankees bullpen was good enough to pick up the slack and limit the Jays. I keep thinking back to years past in games like this. Would the offense have come back last year? Would the bullpen have held together for so long in 2007? I’m not so sure. It’s reassuring to know that both can happen in 2009.
The Yanks have now won three straight, and with two straight Red Sox losses they head into the weekend series two and a half games up in the AL East. The Yankees have no excuses this time. They’ve got to take three out of four, though there’s always the thought of a sweep right in the front of my mind. They’ll kick it off with Joba vs. Smoltz tomorrow night. I couldn’t be more excited.
JOBA VS SMOLTZ
AM I SEEING DOUBLE??
besides weight and age whats the difference?
ERA?
stuff? performance? one was the best offseason signing, one was an over draft big ego kid would belongs in A ball? oh wait..
Grit
Why does BBTN love the Melk Man? Just curious.
I’d assume it’s hard to dislike the Melkster from afar, I mean, his name is Melky.
Drew like-a-da-Melky.
Yea, Melky is a funny and happy guy all the time. I assume they like him because he struggled last year.
Tomorrow’s game is probably the biggest of the entire series. Gotta set the tone.
amen sista
OFF TOPIC ALERT THAT CAME UP WHILE GETTING OWNED IN THE SHOW:
Who has better stuff? Felix or Greinke?
saying off topic alert doesn’t excuse it.
+1.
Solid game, Mitre looked better but I wish Joe G showed just a bit more confidence in him. Can’t complain, it’s a W.
Cannot wait for tomorrow, I might have to sleep till 6, 6:30 so I don’t have to wait around all day.
Tomorrow is a must win for this series.
replying to the wrong comment ftw?
Nah, I was agreeing with ya. I hate when people say “sorry for off-topic but….”. Might as well just go off topic without trying to make it seem like it’s okay.
Just had to bring the off-topic back to on topic, ya know what I’m saying.
Cause posting off-topic is wiggidy, wiggidy, wiggidy wack.
hahah ohhh ok, i was just so confused. Im with you though, tomorrow is a big day.
at least mitre didn’t have a head explosion.
Felix. Dude has arguebaly the best pure stuff in baseball.
after Bard of course
This series is either gonna be really good or really bad.
And I’ll be willing to bet even money that the Sunday night ESPN game goes at least 4 hours.
Isn’t ESPN something like the curse Fox is? As far as won-loss.
Yeah, Saturday and Sunday are guaranteed losses.
Saturday
Nationally televised on FOX
Greedy big money & underperforming CC
The homegrown savior Clay Buchholz
Sunday
Nationally televised on ESPN
Jon Lester, who survived cancer
Those are all the reasons right there.
Tyler Kepner “Would you believe that no pitchers in baseball have more victories in August since 2005 than C.C. Sabathia (16), Andy Pettitte (16) and A.J. Burnett (14)?”
So there’s that.
Should be “fail to finish five innings.”
But I love the Robertson sighting
“The Yankees have no excuses this time. They’ve got to take three out of four, though there’s always the thought of a sweep right in the front of my mind.”
Come on, man. Also, RAB needs to rally the troops: “1918″ chants in YS3 all weekend.
I hope Joba throws at Youkilis like the time where he hit him but had it count as a strike because it hit the bat first. Its refreshing to see us on the other side of the beaning fests.
I’d like to see Youk foul tip the ball and hit himself in the helmet (without injury) and charge the mound. IOW I want a Joba/Youk brawl without Joba doing anything wrong or Youk getting hurt.
Thank Mo Mitre is not starting in any of these games. The thought of that almost makes me want to kill myself…not really but you get the point.
Anyways I missed the game today so I’m guessing Mitre was normally decent to bad?
But the thought of getting the Duke is still not impossible. Though I have no idea why I am reading ESPN.
“He doesn’t have a ton of money left, and he’s versatile in terms of being able to relieve and start,” an AL assistant GM said. “I think there will be a lot of teams watching him.”
Since Duchscherer is expected to receive a “B” ranking in Elias’ free-agent ratings, a team could bring him in for a couple of months, offer him salary arbitration and pocket a draft pick if he signs elsewhere.
Health is an obvious concern. Duchscherer underwent elbow surgery in April, and he’s still rehabbing in the minors. He was scratched from a start in Sacramento on Friday for what the A’s called a “non-baseball-related” reason. It’s apparently no big deal, but Duchscherer has yet to make an appearance in the five days since.
If somebody tries to give GM Billy Beane a bag of balls, the A’s might just keep Duchscherer, offer him arbitration and take the draft pick if he leaves Oakland. Or they could bring him back in 2010 and let him be a veteran anchor to a young staff. It’s all academic until Duchscherer shows he can pitch.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....ng9/090805
Aight Yanks, tomorrow we have to win this game
Today!
i am in texas
its still 1130
Not where Dela G lives.
Too slow. Nevermind me.
its ok, we’ll give you a free pass because you are one of the funniest people around here
free pass? who is he big papi?
HA!!!!!!! IETC A lot!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
now that was hilarious
On that note… You guys see this article?
http://www.washingtontimes.com.....on-red-so/
It’s not just him, look at all the reporters. ARod gets caught: 24 hour spotscenter special of how arod ruins baseball, demand he speak, demand he explains, whos his cousin? lets track him down, lets go to DR and get boli, bye HOF.
Ortiz tests positive:
Media: Papi did you test positive?
Ortiz: Um..I’ll get back to you ok?
Media: Cool, we admire you for handling this head on- Hey Yankees are 0-8 against Boston and play in a bandbox!
the reporting of the story is completely different. i dont want to get into any sort of ESPN bias but they had a sidebar with links for any Arod steroid stories for over a month on their baseball page. you’d have to search to even find something about Ortiz and Manny. it was buried the next day.
I’m touched.
(pat bait)
I’m impressed.
I agree. Mondesi is almost as funny as I am.
touche
Good win for the yanks and now they get ready for the sox in a 4 game set at YSIII. Can’t Wait.
“What if I were to tell you that Sergio Mitre would last 4.1 innings? Is that something you might be interested in?”
NO!
Haha, love the entourage reference.
Cant believe Im saying this since I have harped on the 0-8 record vs Boston as being unacceptable BUT splitting this weekend would be fine. Especially since the lead is 2 1/2 games going into the series which makes it ok to split and knock 4 games off the schedule and remain 2 games up in the loss column.
Taking 3 out of 4 though would be HUGE….
usually a split would be ok with Boston. but being 0-8, and the pitching match ups (yes basbeall is won on paper but still) 3/4 seems very very reasonable for this ballclub
A split here would be alright since the Yanks will still be up 2.5 games.
3/4 does sound reasonable because the Yankees have the advantage in starting pitching. The though one would be Beckett vs Burnett so it could go either way. But honestly I’m hoping for the sweep. But I’d still be happy if they even took 2 games.
The even tougher one is Sunday with Lester vs Pettitte.
See below.
Damn it forget that.
?
If the Red Sox rotation did not change form a few days ago then ti should be more like
John Smoltz vs. Joba Chamberlain
Josh Beckett vs. A.J. Burnett
Clay Buchholz vs. CC Sabathia
Brad Penny vs. Andy Pettitte
Or something along those lines.
Lester pitched on Tues, Penny on Wed which means Lester pitches Sunday night unfortunately.
Yeah someone kill me. Sorry. Someone posted a match up thing and I didn’t see Lester. But I checked it and Lester is pitching. So yeah that too will be a hard match up.
Not only are the pitching matchups almost all favorable to us, but they have no Bay in left. I believe he had some sort of injury, and Green will be taking over that spot. Drew I heard was out (saw on Sox board?). Their lineup is rather weak going into this series. They also decided to call up Traber for this series so we have to tee off of him.
How do the Yankees have favorable matchups on Friday and Sunday????
But but what about Victory Martinez?!!!
One at a time … one at a time.
I agree…one at a time, but how awesome would it be to sweep them in the ALCS!?!?!?
Great win. But I am extremely concerned with the situation after Joba hits his innings limit. Why aren’t we tag-teaming Hughes and Joba? . . . . not tomorrow but two weeks ago. The Yankees are going to go into September with only three real starters. They are going to need not just a fifth starter but a fourth as well. I am a Cashman fan and hope upon hope that I am misreading the current situation or I am not privy to some deals Cashman has cooking. I’m sorry to be a downer, but what are we doing for a fourth and fifth starter in September?
If what I have read is true, Cashmoney$ said that regardless if Joba hits his innings limit or not, he is starting during the playoffs.
I find that hard to believe with all the “Joba Rules” unless they shut him down early at 150 innings. And then that begs the question – 4th and 5th startersfor September to get to the playoffs. Boston and Tampa Bay are not going away.
The way I read it, he will be pitching in the playoffs. I’m not so sure he’ll be starting.
I still don’t understand how, given the innings limit, unless they shut him down early. Who starts when he is shut down to save him for the playoffs (starter or reliever)? Kei Igawa?
Just think, if you and I are concerned, Cash and Co are even more concerned. They have a plan in place and I’m sure it’s better than most of the ideas we have.
I trust that they do. From your lips to God’s ears.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08.....f=baseball
Kepner was making a deduction from what is actually quoted of Cashman.
Joba will probably be in the ‘pen for October, which is fine so long as they flip-flop him with Hughes.
i think we should take this series one game at a time…. besides that, the yanks should crush Smoltz tomorrow, no?
CRUSH THEM!!!
Heh I love Swish’s nickname for D-rob…”Robo”
It’s simple but I never thought of it
Great nickname. I love how Swisher keeps things loose in the clubhouse.
Not too much to say about this one. Another good game on both sides of the ball, another W. Ace in the fizzif was huge and that leadoff Swish blast in the 7th was too.
Hopefully Joba shows no ill effects of extra rest tomorrow.
He didn’t seem to have a problem with the extra rest after the break.
Good point!
+1
I am really looking forward to the series with the BoSox. I think the Yanks could sweep but I’ll take a split. The pitching matchups favor the Yanks but that never seems to play out on the field as it does on paper.
Anyone going to boston.com to read the sox fans jumping off the cliff after that Tampa series?
brings a smile to my face
I meant to ask you. Where in Texas do you live? I live in Dallas.
i live in college station, i go to texas a&m
Cool! One of my best friends is an Aggie!
thats awesome! I love texas a&m a lot, although the football has sucked during my four years here ( i have one more year grad school left), maybe it will turn around finally!
You might enjoy this.
that was effing hilarious
I go there everyday. I can’t wait to see what’s being said tomorrow.
The site is down right now. I guess the pain was too great. LOL.
lol yeah I wanted to go see what they were saying but I can’t get on.
On a side note, looks like Bay won’t be available for a couple of games.
It doesn’t really matter. After a torrid start, Bay has disappeared.
:skies opening, angels singing, smoltz pitching
:
damon heating up again just in time
does he have any shot at 3,000 hits?
3000-2375= 625.
Give him 40 for the rest of the season and he needs 585. That’s 4 more years averaging 150 hits a year. He’s 35, so that means he needs to be a full time player until hes 39. doubt its going to happen
From the Boston Herald:
What is wrong with the Red Sox, particularly Theo! He signs Paul Byrd who hasn’t pitched in over a year, except in his back yard. What in the hell is our team coming too, “Reclamation University” cheap wages, but a chance to become sharp for the oldtimers game.Go get Dunn and get rid of some deadwood on this team. Gee, all kinds of potential, but Theo and the brass can’t pull off a trade. The problem is they don’t want to give anything of value to get value. I am sick of it, and I will be further P—–off if I have to watch the Yankees and either the Rays or Texas battle for the wild card!!!!What a wasted season this will be.
thank god
i hate the sox so much. So happy they are jumping ship
Me too. But we still have a ways to go. I don’t want to get too overconfident . . . even in the face of Red Sox Nation panic.
true, but i just love to see them panic. We aren’t assured of anything as yanks fans, but man this feels like the weekend before the 5 game sweep of a few years ago.
+5
who is victor martinez ?
Dela G – Apparently, we are the only ones left here.
i am going to have to head out myself, going to a party
I’m heading out too. Catch everyone tomorrow.
Cano with no one on today 2-3 2 doubles
Cano with men on today 0-1
it’s like magic!
Anyone else impressed on what Melky is doing in CF? Covered alot of ground, nice routes to the ball – still threw to the wrong base last week – which he should never be forgiven for…but overall, nice D.
Vernon Wells .286/.342/.514 vs. the Yanks this year – made a few really nice catches in cf as well.
Looking at VW’s stats vs. teams played this year is odd – some he has great #’s, other he disappears – KC, OAK, LA SEA, Phils,Cin Tex – just odd…
That’s what happens when you break things into small samples. Don’t read too much into anyone’s stats against a given team during a given season.
I had a dream last night about burying the red sox 6.5 games in the standing….man that would be sweet. I was wondering what everyone here thought of the paul byrd signing, all I could think is how many starting pitchers does this team need.
Beckett
Lester
Smoltz
Dice-K
Bucholtz
Wakefield
Penny
Byrd
8 f-ing starters…
Wake and Dice-K are hurt. I would love if they trot Byrd out there every 5th day. Besides, as youve seen with the Yankees, you can never have too much depth.
somebody tell mike that the kittens are safe. CR has been DFA’D FTW!!!!!
the trick to winning this series against the red sox will be to get to their bullpen early in the first game. wear those guys out fast!! smoltz is the guy to do it! this is a big test for joba. can he eat up those innings. . . . . . .
we need a big thread to appreciate the DFAing of Cody Ransom.
+1
+2
Eh… That just seems mean, no? I mean, I’m as glad as the next guy that Ransom is gone, but it’s not like the guy didn’t play hard and didn’t want to help the team. No need to dance on his grave.
I can’t see how they let Mitre start another game. Praying for 4 innings from a starter isn’t going to get it done.
True. I’ve been hoping for Hughes, but it’s looking like they’ve no intention of putting him back in the roration.
You could use Aceves, though the recent “shoulder fatigue” probably rules that out.
There just aren’t any clearly better-than-Mitre options at that point (w/o a trade, of course).
I think they’ve actually decided to live with Mitre, make the playoffs (this may be an unsafe assumption) and never use him again.
Bo says:
I can’t see how they let Mitre start another game.
Okay, who starts Monday against the Blue Jays, then?
Thu v BOS – Chamberlain
Fri v BOS – Burnett
Sat v BOS – Sabathia
Sun v BOS – Pettitte
Mon v TOR – __________
Tue v TOR – Chamberlain
Wed v TOR – Burnett
Thu @ SEA – Sabathia
Fri @ SEA – Pettitte
Sat @ SEA – __________
Sun @ SEA – Chamberlain
You don’t ACTUALLY expect Bo to answer that, do you?
No, not really. But I’m willing to be pleasantly surprised.
good job getting on a roll going into this big series. no Hughes or Aceves tonight I’m assuming right? long outing out of Joba would be clutch to give the pen a rest for the other 3 games.
What was up with those 2 guys behind home plate dressed like umpires?? Making strike calls??
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/0.....ht-of-fan/
Thank You for the info…it was hysterical watching em !!
theyvebeen to the yanks/jays games in ny and toronto. personally, if i was behind them id be psised, but i love watching them on tv.
Things that the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew will bring up:
1. Joba is a headhunter
2. The Yankees Payroll is the biggest, they bought their success.
3. Victor Martinez was a key acquisition, the Yankees failed to make a move and it will cost them.
4. A-Rod is a steroids user!!!1!!1!11ONE!!!
5. Boston fans hate that we got Tex, again we bought the team.
6. C.C. is worse than he was last year… overpaid!!!!
7. Mo loses to Boston. Alot.
8. Hughes is a better reliever. Will not be a successful starter.
9. Torre is successful in LA. Torre > Girardi.
I’m sure there is a million more.
10. Jacoby Ellsbury was the first player in history to steal home.
11. The Red Sox have more depth at every single position than the Mariana Trench.
12. Dustin Pedroia gives out his extra grit to charities around the Boston metro area.
The Sox are glad to be leaving the Trop. Yankee Stadium will feel like home to them. Hopefully they don’t revitalize in the Northeast.