CC brilliant, Yanks sweep Orioles
By Joe PawlikowskiTuesday night I mentioned that the Yankes were hitting .293/.380/.512 from the seventh through ninth innings entering the game. They picked up some hits in that period and upped their numbers to .295/.381/.516. We’ll see them even higher when Baseball Reference updates tomorrow morning. The Yanks went 9 for 17 with three walks and a double in the final three frames, icing the series sweep as they crushed the Orioles, 10-2.
The game was made possible by CC Sabathia, who picked up his 16th win of the season by pitching seven innings of one-run ball. Things started out shaky, as he allowed five hits in the first two innings. This included a bunt base hit and a check-swing bloop in the first, which Nick Markakis took advantage of by slapping a sac fly to left. The Orioles would gather three hits and load the bases with one out in the second, but CC struck out the final two hitters of the inning to escape unscathed.
Only a walk and a single marred his record the rest of the way, and the latter was erased by a 4-3 double play. Nine strikeouts helped keep runners off base. There were questions about CC’s strikeout rate earlier in the season, but no longer. Since the All-Star break he’s struck out 72 in 71 innings. His 6:1 K/BB ratio in the second half currently stands above his insane 5.12 ratio from last year in Milwaukee. This is even more impressive, because he doesn’t have the pitcher to face this year.
Despite CC’s best efforts, the Yanks still found themselves tied at one heading into the seventh inning. That simply would not do. Johnny Damon opened the frame by drawing a walk on a 3-2 count. He’d try to swipe a bag, but Nick Swisher had designs on a pitch breaking down and away from him. It didn’t appear to be a hit and run situation, especially with Swisher up, but it acted as one. Swisher blooped the pitch, and it landed in the exact right place. That set the Yanks up with second and third with none out.
Up came A-Rod, and he delivered exactly what the Yankees needed, a line single to center. That allowed by Damon and Swisher to score, and the Yanks to take a 3-1 lead. Earlier this season, something like this would have called for a sarcastic remark about A-Rod’s lack of clutch ability, but it’s not even necessary at this point. His early struggles affected his overall batting average, but from mid-June on A-Rod has been a force in every way.
Just how insane has A-Rod been since Brian Cashman visited the team in Atlanta? He was hitting .310/.426/.545 since then, and added to that with a 3 for 5 performance last night. There are plenty of reasons the Yankees are the best team in baseball. A-Rod is but one of them, but he’s certainly one of the bigger contributors.
The only downside to the game was Brian Bruney. Girardi gave him the ball to hold a 3-1 lead in the eighth, but he quickly gave back a run. He fell behind Cesar Izturis before retiring him, but he wouldn’t make it back from Nolan Reimold. The rookie home run leader took Bruney deep, pulling the O’s to within a run and forcing the hard throwing righty from the game. Phil Coke and Phil Hughes would split the final two outs, maintaining the lead.
That would all become moot with the Yanks insane ninth, when they walked and singled their way to seven runs, icing the game and the sweep. Derek Jeter, a walk and a single, and Johnny Damon, two singles, reached base twice in the inning. Phil Hughes got some quality work in, striking out the side in the ninth.
The bad news: It appears Mo is suffering from a sore groin and could miss a few days. The good news: the Yankees not only have a capable temp in Phil Hughes, but also have a 7.5 game lead in the East thanks to a Red Sox loss. That puts their magic number, as you can see to your right, at Donnie Baseball with 29 games left to play (30 for the Sox).
After a flight to Toronto, the Yanks will trot out Chad Gaudin tomorrow night in place of Sergio Mitre. Ricky Romero will go for the Jays. Like most games this season, I’ll be eagerly awaiting this one.
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The Mason Williams Watch
CC Was a Muthafuckin Boss tonight
To all those who wonder if he will be good in the postseason, think about this. During his previous postseason runs, CC had to face the yankees in 2007, and in 2008, was forced to pitch on 3 days rest 3 times in a row down the stretch and obviously tired at the end as the brewers abused the hell outta him
He will be well rested and facing a free swinging detroit tigers lineup
He will be just fine
Those games he was pitching for the Brewers down the stretch last year were essentially playoff games. Complete game four hitter on the final day of the season to clinch the division and the franchise’s first postseason berth in a quarter century .. how can people not consider that a playoff start?
because he plays for the yankees, therefore they make up all this crap about how he sucked last year when they asked for him to come up big
the media and most non yankees fans are for the most part uninformed and just plain ol haters
CC Was a Muthafuckin Boss tonight
Mmmmm, chicken strips.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/6631.....ike-a-boss (NSFW)
CC is Teh Pwnzor!1!!!!1!111
It is nice to see the Yankees win convincingly. When this team is firing on all cylinders no one can beat the them.
Life is good.
oh indeed it is
A-Rod had a good night I’ll be happy if he finishes with a .280 average, .290 would be exceptional and he would have to be really on fire to finish the year.
Cano is finally starting to hit with RISP. I think it was just a matter of time. He always puts the ball in play so I think it was just bad luck.
Exactly. He always puts the ball in play, albeit often a high fly to short left field a little too much. Bottom of the 9th, when you need a hit, you can’t ask more from a guy to just hit the ball hard in the field of play and cross your fingers.
Why is average so important? His other, more important stats are right in line with his career avg’s.
Mo has a strain in he’s groin by a report by Pete Abraham.
He’s day to day but the last couple of years in late august and early September Mo seems to have nagging injuries and needs more rest.
We lose Jeter it’s a problem.We lost A-Rod it’s a big problem.We lose Mo or can’t find a replacement…..there is no solution were screwed.
Phil Hughes says hi.
but goose says you need to have that bulldog mentality to be a closer- like Joba has and like Mo has…… oh nevermind
Hughes is the best option when Mo need a break. Bruney certainly isn’t an option and I didn’t agree with him coming into this game when it was tight. Bruney should be left off the playoff roster. I have no confidence in him when he comes into a game even though I want him to pitch like he did before he was injured.
Seriously, just stop.
We lose Mo or can’t find a replacement…..there is no solution were screwed
that’s a worry for next year, when Hughes is back in the rotation where he belongs. for now, Phil is more than capable
Hey, how do all those other teams that don’t have Mo win games?
Joba or Hughes to the pen says:
“…We lose Mo or can’t find a replacement… there is no solution were screwed.”
Yeah, that sucks. Hey, here’s an idea, what if we were to put Joba or Hughes in the pen? Would that solve the problem? If I were to suggest that idea, is that something you might possibly be amenable to? Hmmm? Maybe?
I’m just spitballin’ here…
IETC
Hughes was dealing in the 9th striking out the side. It’s comforting to know he can be as good as Mariano when he’s needed to save a game.
Pitching in a blowout against the Orioles is not the same as a pressurized save situation in the playoffs. And, sorry to break the news to everyone, but Phil Hughes will never be as good of a reliever as MO was and is. It is just not going to happen. Love Hughes, but Mo is a legend.
Many relievers can be as good, or :gasp: better than Mo.
However, no one, NO ONE, can be nearly as good as Mo for 5, let alone 10, years.
See: Gagne, Papelbon, Nathan, etc.
hit the nail on the head there
I was reading an article comparing Mo to Eckersley and while Eck’s five best years as a reliever compare favorably to anyone’s (from 1988-1992, he was pretty untouchable), the five-year peak look at a guy’s career doesn’t work with Mo because his five best years aren’t that different from his next five years, which aren’t that different from his whole career.
“Like most games this season, I’ll be eagerly awaiting this one.”
Absolutely agree. This has been an awesome summer. Hopefully the fall is just as kind to us.
What a great night!
Yankees cruise.
Bahston loses.
Penny dominates (except without the K’s) for SF in his 1st start since being DFA’d by the Bahston.
Giambi gets his first hit for the Rockies and it was a clutch pinch hit 2-run single in the 8th to break a tie and it was ultimately the game winning hit.
don’t forget how well smoltz and lugo have been doing (although smoltz was against the nats and padres…). Also, Has anyone seen what adam laroche has been doing for the ATL? holy cow!
great moves theo…
Meanwhile, Casey Kotchman has an OPS near .600 for Boston…
I saw Adam LaRoche make a nice pick at first base last night, who’s playing better D?
I would imagine Kotchman, he’s excellent at first.
Yeah, Figures… TEH DEPTH!!1!1111111!
that sounds like a murderous bat off the bench for boston….
but tha defense and he doesnt have the kink in his swing!1
Dela pointed out that LaRoche has been great for Atlanta but for those of you who don’t know, he has 1.066 OPS (178 OPS+) with 8 HRs there.
thanks man. I knew it was something to that extent
Yeah, i wonder how things would be if they played good teams in the World Series, still probably be talking about the curse and how they’re not going to win one before the cubs… but, the NL sucked and gave it away.
If the favor is returned to us for this year and several more times in the next 5 years, I’ll be happy and call it even
Yeah, ill take 4 in 5 years again…
i’ll just take one in 5 years if it just ends this drought this year
It’s too bad that A-rod’s screaming liner was caught by Mora because if he gets that hit, he has 5 RBI’s on the night, putting him in sole possesion of 2nd place for most RBI’s this year behind Tex. As of now, he’s tied with Damon with 75.
And Hinske was good for us again with yet another HR. Here’s a stat from Sweeny Murti:
Hinske the Pirate hit 1 HR in 106 AB. Hinske the Yankee has 7 HR in 55 AB.
And half of his hits as a Yankee have been long balls.
I really hope A-Rod finishes with 30 homers and 100 RBI.
Me too. I really really hope so. Not very likely because he’ll be rested plenty of times but I hope so. Mo willing…
+13
Yea, but where was ARod when Pettitte needed him for his perfect game. Oh yea, resting his hip, because he only cares about his own numbers and big contract, and not winning. ARod got his 290 million dollar contract
/Dan Uggla’d
that’s pretty amazing considering he you know, missed the first 28 games of the season.
And here’s this stat from Feinsand:
In “close and late” situations, he’s got eight homers and 16 RBI in 49 at-bats, posting a .446 on-base and .776 slugging.
DAYUM!
In the 7th inning or later, ARod’s 291/.422/.627 line is good for an OPS of 1.049, best in the AL in that split (minimum 50 PA’s.) Only Mark Reynolds and Seth Smith in the NL have higher OPSs.
Oh, BTW, the second and fourth best AL OPSs in the 7th inning or later? Johnny Damon (.331/.424/.613 – 1.037) and Hideki Matsui (.311/.420/.598 – 1.019).
That’s right, the Yankees have three of the top four most clutchiest, big-hittiest batters in the Big Boy circuit.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/b.....S/minpa/50
Nails Krzyzewski: 1st
Johnny Rightfield: 2nd
HazMat: 4th
Grit Guttner: 12th
Tex Message: 13th
Jeets: 16th
Swishahouse: 32nd
The Lazy Dominican: 34th
HazMat? I thought we all agreed on “Oil Painting-face Boyd”? lol
2 out of the top 3 are free agents after this year. Yanks have shown interest in Johnny for 1 year (prob won’t happen)…you have to show at least some support for the human time bomb Hit-deki Batsui though…he’s a machine when he’s healthy…
i personally use Swishdiddy
More fun with splits:
AL Leaderboard, AB/HR, 7th inning or later, minimum 50 PA:
1 Alex Rodriguez – 10.0
2 Mark Teixeira – 11.1
3 Marcus Thames – 12.2
4 Nelson Cruz – 12.7
5 Hideki Matsui – 13.2
6 Evan Longoria – 13.7
7 Andruw Jones – 14.2
8 Johnny Damon – 14.2
9 Ben Zobrist – 14.4
10 Kevin Youkilis – 14.5
What makes this win even better is that Tex never entered the lineup. This just shows how great the Yankee’s bench has become over the course of the season.
Jorge didn’t either so your statement is even more true.
and they only hit 1HR, yet scored 10 runs
Don’t know how I forgot about Jorge.
I forgot to mention, as usual, the yanks get their monthly (now seems like its bi monthly at times) prostate exam from good ol doc halladay. Let’s hope for the best when we face him this weekend.
They scored 5 runs off him each of the last two times they faced him, and he hasn’t been the same since his groin injury. Honestly, I feel like the Jays should have shut him down after they didn’t trade him, let him get healthy, and had him finish strong. Having him limp into the offseason isn’t doing them any good at all.
Not to mention his morale is at an all time low, he’s been wanting to be traded only to have Ricciardi dangle him around like a carrot…now his mentality is all “yea wutever”.
What’s more likely the problem? His groin injury is hurting his results, or his sadness is? While the latter makes for a better narrative, the former is more likely to be true.
Maybe he got the groin injury due to his sadness.
You know what I’m talking about.
(Well, at least pat does…)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Wjtgyk6dA (SFW)
Toronto has quit.
If they cant split at home with Halladay pitching and facing Gaudin and Mitre they should be embarrassed.
http://blogs.operationaldynami.....ponse.html
In August Halliday had a 4.71 ERA, gave up 8 HR in 42 IP.
Yankees against Halladay during career:
Posada .286/.407/.449 in 49 AB
Teixeira .267/.290/.500 in 30 AB
Cano .214/.233/.405 in 42 AB
Jeter .230/.287/.276 in 87 AB
A-Rod .314/.368/.443 in 70 AB
Damon .356/.426/.533 in 90 AB
Cabrera .222/.222/.306 in 36 AB
Swisher .143/.200/.286 in 14 AB
Matsui .241/.281/.481 in 54 AB
I’d say rest one or two of Cano, Swisher, or Cabrera, but the reserves haven’t hit much better. Oh and Mitre has one hit against Halladay in 2 AB and it was a double.
I had a friendly wager on another board on who would end up with the better era, Beckett or CC. Loser gets banned until the start of next season.
Its sickening how much Hate CC gets because hes a Yankee.
I haz a sad that we are late in the season.
those lazy bastards should play all year.
+365
For that to happen, they’d have to get rid of the Dominicans.
I kid. I kid.
Probably too late with this post but noticed something the other day and had nowhere else to share it. This Yankee team is undeniably great – strong lineup 1-9, strong starting pitching, relief pitching, defense, etc. And they’re playing unbelievably well. Right now they look like a lock for the playoffs and should be the favorite to get to and win the World Series.
All that said, if they run the table this year – win every remaining game – they’d still only TIE the 1998 team’s record of 114-48.
That 1998 team was really something!
The glory years baby!!!
What’s even more disgusting about the 1998 team is their overall record including the playoffs…
125-50
That’s just ridiculous. So filthy that team was.
Whenever YES runs a game from 1998 I watch it.
I loved that record because it was such a perfect number. Everything about that feels balanced to me and my little OCD.
Is Mariano Rivera injured? Fox Sports says he has a groin injury and will miss games.
Anybody concerned?
“The bad news: It appears Mo is suffering from a sore groin and could miss a few days. The good news: the Yankees not only have a capable temp in Phil Hughes, but also have a 7.5 game lead in the East thanks to a Red Sox loss. That puts their magic number, as you can see to your right, at Donnie Baseball with 29 games left to play (30 for the Sox).”
-Joe Pawlikowski
Yes, I read that. The Fox Sports thing made it sounds like it was worse than Joe did though. Just wanted to make sure.
But that does answer my question that nobody in here is really concerned I guess. Thanks.
Yes, I read that. The Fox Sports thing made it sounds like it was worse than Joe did though. Just wanted to make sure.
Joe Pawlikowski >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Anything from FOX
Hey Johan,
It’s playing for a team that’s not 18 games back big.
-Your friend ZZ
So that explains why Girardi tried to use Bruney for TEH EIGTH! No big deal. They’ve got a big lead, they’ve got a solid group of relievers even w/o Mo.
I love that they won the game (ultimately making it a blowout) with a B lineup out there (no Tex, no Jorge). Sweet.
I love that they won the game (ultimately making it a blowout) with a B lineup out there (no Tex, no Jorge). Sweet.
Our B lineup >>>>>> A normal team’s A lineup
Obviously you’re confident facing the Phillies…but do you think we’ll have some trouble against all those lefties? One being last years World Series MVP and the other being last years Cy Young winner?
I’m a little worried but the way we’ve been playing…we’ve overcome so much. We win all kinds of ballgames. But if I were to be a little worried about anything…it would be them I guess. Or the Sox in the post season…because those are always ridiculous regardless of statistics…
Obviously Lee and Hamels are stellar, and Haap is apparently real good, too (who saw that coming?) but the Yankees have straight destroyed lefties this year, with an OPSA of .865.
Agreed…but if memory serves me right…the “Good” lefties we’ve faced we’ve had trouble against. Most of which will be in the playoffs…
Cliff Lee, Scott Kazmir, Lester, etc. We’ve certainly beat up on the bad ones…that’s for sure.
I don’t understand what this reply has to do with my statement. You lost me.
You’re so confident that you believe the Yankees “B-team” is better than another team’s “A-team”. So I asked about the Phillies.
I’d say last night was the B- lineup–no Jorge, no Tex–so let’s run down the list, assuming a DH.
Paul Bako = Jose Molina
Ryan Howard > Nick Swisher
Chase Utley > Robbie Cano
Jimmy Rollins < Derek Jeter
Pedro Feliz < Alex Rodriguez
Raul Ibanez Melky Cabrera
Jayson Werth > Eric Hinske
Matt Stairs < Hidek Matsui
Push: C
Phillies: 1B, 2B, CF, RF
Yankees: 3B, SS, LF, DH
So, the Yankees B- lineup is pretty much equal to the Phillies A lineup.
Hm, OK part of this got cut off.
Raul Ibanez Melky Cabrera
Okay something is going horribly wrong here:
I had Johnny over Raul because of a better OBP and better OPS+ and the 10/10 on steals and Victorino over Melky which doesn’t need any justification.
Ok my response was being typed before these were sent in. Sorry.
Ahh. For a second there I thought you put that Raul Ibanez was equal to Melky Cabrera in CF. There wasn’t a symbol but then I looked below. And where is Victorino? 4th outfielder?
Yeah, I think putting one “” on back to back lines prompted the HTML tags.
Yep, did what I thought it did. Anyway, our B- lineup from last night is just as good as the Phillies’ A lineup that they trot out every night. Add Tex OR Jorge to the Yankee lineup to make it the B lineup and the Yankee lineup is better. Add Tex AND Jorge and it’s even better.
You’re so confident that you believe the Yankees “B-team” is better than another team’s “A-team”. So I asked about the Phillies.
No, I wasn’t talking about our B-team versus other A-teams. My response was about our B-lineup, namely, our 1-9 batting order minus Tex and Jorge in this case. That’s what the convo was about.
You asked about the specifics our “B-team” (not sure what that refers to, directly) facing the Phillies lefty pitchers. Apples, oranges.
I was saying simply that our B lineup is better than other teams A lineups. So it doesn’t matter if our B lineup would theoretically struggle against the Phillies lefties, only that our B lineup would theoretically struggle LESS than many other teams A lineups would against the Phillies lefties, because our B lineup is still better than their best lineup.
The particular pitcher the lineups would be facing is irrelevant to the discussion. Our 1-9 lineup of hitters, minus one or two of our stars (our “B” lineup) is just as formidable as many other MLB teams’ very best “A” lineup.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear or if I lead you astray with ambiguity.
Psst. You’re doing it again.
You’re dissecting things I say and trying to take things literally and find things wrong with them. Just answer the question. I don’t see what the big deal is. I saw Our B-team > Other teams A-team. I asked about your confidence against lefty pitching specifically the Phillies.
I don’t really understand why everything has to be dissected and torn apart. Isn’t it much easier to just answer the easy harmless question?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.....projection
It’s ok. I guess I misunderstood. It was just a question based on what I thought you said. Oh well. I’ll be more careful next time I guess.
I think he’s implying that tough lefties, such as the ones on the Phillies, may pose a problem to our rungasmic lineup.
Worrying about the Phillies rotation in the WS? Wow. Relax Mak.
Bo.
Go get me a coffee.
ietc
we also would have accepted
“who is this guy anyway?”
Bo.
Go get me a coffee.
TCWA
haha nice, i reverted back to ietc because it’s just become such a reflex. thank you for reminding me to use tcwa.
Haha, I “unconsciously” typed “IETC” but it would’ve looked lame under your “IETC” so I went with “TCWA.”
What do IETC and TCWA mean?
“I enjoyed this comment” and “This comment was awesome.”
haha thanks
IETC is such a reflex at this point.
Lee/Hamels/Haap is a very good top 3. I’ve been beating this drum so much but don’t pay much attention to Cole’s ERA. It does not even come close to telling the whole story of his season.
Can we all just remember that while Lee/Hamels/Happ is indeed a very good top 3, they do all pitch in AAAA. Point: Yankees.
Yesterday was great for two reasons: the Yankees dominated, and I was traveling and therefore unable to participate in any comment board featuring Jim the Jew.
Maybe just shut Mo down for a week or two? With the way our offense is going, Phil Hughes, and the significant division and home-field lead (7.5 and 6.5 games respectively) I don’t think it would be the worst thing to just sit him down for 10-15 days. Thoughts?
Even if he’s not hurt that badly.
You shut him down til hes healthy. You dont sit him if hes healthy and ready to go. When hes ready to go he plays. You cant manage scared of injury.
Anybody pick up the new Sports Illustrated?
From Sept. 7th Sports Illustrated page 36-
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter might be Public Enemy No. 1 in Red Sox Nation, but don’t count Boston manager Terry Francona among the haters: “If you’re a baseball fan, I don’t know how you don’t love the guy. He’s one of the ultimate competitors.” When I asked Francona if New York’s captain was overrated or just over-covered, he shot back, “I think he’s underrated. The way he plays the game enhances his game, which is already pretty good. If anything, he’s under-appreciated.” -By Dan Patrick
I think what happened to Jeter is that the MSM jumped on him so much that he became a tad overrated, then the stats crowd revealed the holes in his defensive game and everyone sort of overcompensated in tearing his defense down to the point where everyone forgot just how awesome of a hitter he is. The irony about the whole defense thing is that before the season, the MSM realized that Jeter’s range was limited–despite a decent showing last year–and now he’s having his best defensive season ever while Joe Mauer’s being Superman at the plate, and while some think that Tex is the team’s MVP. This season, Jeets just might be a touch underrated.
But Mauer will probably still get MVP anyway. Jeter always gets screwed in the years he excels. There’s always that ONE other person who may be doing a tad better (and on another team not named the Yankees)
I’m sure Jeter really cares about the MVP award. I think he’d rather get the WS ring.
why not both?
Because Bo loves false dichotomies.
Because Bo loves
false dichotomieslogical fallacies.Better.
I think he just likes disagreeing with me.
I honestly haven’t seen him post anything other than a response to something I’ve said lol. Oh well.
except everytime he was talking to someone else
Meh, who knows who the hell Bo is talking to.
Yeah, I’m not too confident in the MSM getting either big A.L. award right.
Agreed.
Lately it seems that every single post puts a huge smile on my face.
I was at a meeting last night and checked the score in the 9th and it was 3-2. I get home and check again and I was just like wtf.