Game 15: Tough act to follow (+ chat!)
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That about sums the series up for Oakland. (Photo Credit: Ben Margot, AP)
It would be tough for anyone to top Phil Hughes‘ masterful performance from last night, but if there’s one guy on the Yankees’ staff can do it, it’s CC Sabathia. I’m sure the A’s must love having to go out and face this guy after getting nearly no-hit less than 24 hours ago. The vast majority of Oakland’s hitters are lefthanded (Ryan Sweeney, Eric Chavez, Daric Barton, Travis Buck, Gabe Gross), so hopefully CC holds it down, because Joe Girardi said both Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera are unavailable of heavy workloads of late.
Going to the A’s is lefty Dallas Braden, who sports one of the best changeups you’ll ever see. You can see it in action here, it looks like it stops in mid-air. He doesn’t throw hard at all, but that change is the equalizer. Here’s the lineup Braden will have to deal with…
Jeter, SS
Johnson, 1B
Teixeira, DH
A-Rod, 3B
Cano, 2B
Swisher, RF
Thames, LF
Cervelli, C
Gardner, CF
And on the mound, the hometown kid, CC Sabathia.
Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Matt Carson is in the lineup for Oaktown. He spent six years as a organizational soldier in the Yanks’ system after being drafted in the 5th round of the 2002 draft, and joined the A’s as a minor league free agent last year. He received my 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. Great to see him in the show.
It’s a get-away day, so first pitch is scheduled for 3:35pm ET and can be seen on YES. We’re also having our weekly game chat today, so make sure you come back around 3:30ish and join the chat after the jump.
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The Tyler Austin Watch
12:30 local time. Strange time. Haven’t seen that very often.
wasn’t there an 11am start for one of the TB-Bos games?
There is every year on Patriot’s Day
Yeah, Boston always has a 11 am game on Patriots’ Day (day they run the Boston Marathon). It is the only pre-noon game in MLB.
last year the last game of the Angels/Red Sox ALDS was at noon EST. That means the Angels’ fans in California had to watch that at 9 AM. Yeesh.
OT but good God, Brewers are beating the Pirates 16-0 in the seventh
“I’ll hand it to the Pirates: when they lose, they don’t mess around. They go out there and lose with gusto. So far this year they’ve lost games by scores of 10-2, 9-1, 15-6, 9-3, 6-0, 8-1, and 8-0. It’s almost a courtesy when you think about it. It’s as if they’re telling the good people of western Pennsylvania “Hey, it’s cool. You can turn the game off now and go make sandwiches with fries in them or whatever it is you do all day. There’s no chance we’ll make it close.”
-Hardball Talk, just this morning
I gotta say…after staying up until 1am the last 2 nights and being exhausted for a 7:00am shift…I’m pretty excited about today’s game starting at 3:30.
/redbull_emptie’d
that’s hilarious, thank you for that.
I read that entire thing and holy crap Arizona’s bullpen is SO BAD right now. SO BAD!
Calceterra is awesome.
It means nothing, but CC’s slash stats against with Cervelli
.180/.230/.280/.510
Note: The BABIP is .212
I love watching Frankie behind the dish almost as much as I love watching CC pitch.
Woohoo chat!
Carson also had his first HR ball held for ransom by some douche fan.
The douchiest fan I’ve ever heard of was the guy that caught Jay Gibbons’ first HR ball. He wanted like a Cal Ripken Jr. bat and jersey signed by Ripken and an interview with Ripken. After hearing what the fan wanted, Gibbons just said (paraphrasing) “Let him keep it, I plan to hit others).”
Haha, nice.
Ha and now hes stuck with a worthless baseball.
Did he say that while he plunged a needle full of steroids into his haunches?
All praises be to Mo
Braden is on my fantasy team, I have to sit him, right?
If not today then never?
Yes, because you’ll be secretly hoping he kills teh Yanks.
For a lefty with a dirty changeup, he isn’t exactly lock down vs RHP
.287/.342/.433 and 1.81 k:bb for his career vs righties.
Watch for those 1-0 and 2-1 changeups from CC. If those are working for him-ballgame over.
Dont feel good abt this one… the lineup and the supreme pitching the last 5 games… plus a getaway game…. i dont like this
You crazy man.
i know… this team has done nothing but stellar things… i shud feel good.. but its baseball… anyway i hop i reverse jinx them
While I think the Yanks will win, the fact that CC struggles in this stadium lends credence to your concerns.
touche
but he bought tix for 300 friends and family!
is he one upping Hughesie… Perfect game then
what does the good pitching in the last five games have anything to do with the Yankees winning or not winning?
i am saying we are due for a stinker… regression to the mean
the Yankees’ mean is still awesomeness.
Momentum is today’s starting pitcher. Not sure how you can’t be confident with CC on the mound. Although you never know. We can’t win em all.
yep.. and i wud much rather sweep the Angels .. hehe
Nick Johnson in the field? OH NOOOOOOO
there will be blood
I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE!
i drink your milkshake, but i drink it too fast, choke on it, and somehow tear my acl!
/nj’d
You drink my milkshake, I get very angry with you, try to attack you, but get restrained and tear my ACL.
/MiltonBradley’d
better!
You drink my milkshake for $500 and I get suspended for six games.
/BradPennyMilkChallenge’d
Screwed that one up. Try again:
You drink my milkshake for $500 and then get suspended for six games.
i drink your melkshake!
/atlanta braves’d
I know this has been thrown around here in the past, but thought it was worth bringing up again.
In last nights eighth inning, why not bring in Mo with two runners on, and let Joba pitch the 9th with nobody on base. I would think the 8th inning situation was a far more important situation then a new, clean inning.
is oakland the only multi-purpose stadium left?
Miami too right?
Miami, Oakland, Toronto (CFL & Bills). And there are college bowl games at San Fran and Tampa.
Well by those definitions, Yankee Stadium is multi-purpose too. Heck, if we’re throwing in college bowl games, basically every stadium that hosts concerts is.
Oh Jeter. Whyyyyy
Jeter is really starting to piss me off. Man. 1 pitch per PA is not going to get it done in the long run.
TEX…oh I thought that was gone
/Sterling’d
Wow. That half inning was not a Yankee half inning.
yanks using their getaway day approach at the plate
Obviously Cervelli can’t call a very good game
/MSM’d
Suzuki owns CC.
Very un-CC like so far.
Goddamn Suzuki
Ok. This sucks.
With the way CC pitched the last 2 starts I forgot he struggles in April. Oh well.
Hopefully the homerun pissed him off and he shuts it down from there.
Remember when we realized CC was something else?
“That’s all they get”
aaargh this stadium
Both of those outs would have cleared the fences at YSIII.
Something odd: There are more Giants fans than A’s fans here.
Meh, not really. There are way more Giants fans than A’s fans in the Bay.
Finally.
why couldn’t we do this during the pre-game? i like kim jones, but this in-game segment is a terrible terrible idea
I too have had enough of this broad in-game. I like her otherwise though
Milwaukee beat the Pirates 20-0 today O_O
That’ll murder Pittsburgh’s Pythag W-L, if it’s not dead enough already
……. the Brewers brought in Trevor Hoffman for the bottom of the ninth in this game, by the way.
Saw the Yankees were down 3-0, looked out to the ledge but happy to report no one was there, yet.
I would respond to this but I cannot hear you as I am lying face-down in the water after jumping off the bridge
Hilarious! Well done!
Technology has come so far, hasn’t it?
Ellsbury has hairline fractures in 4 ribs.
Dice-K’s next start will be in the bigs.
Buchholz to the pen? Buchholz to the minors? Wakefield to the pen? Wakefield to the pasture? A six-man rotation?
Don’t know, they didn’t announce that. I’d guess Wake to the pen, I don’t think they want to Joba around the laptop theif.
That reminds me of the last time I was in the bigs…Same result.
Is anyone else subjected to the Nissan of Rt. 23 Automall commercials? They make me want to burn that place to the ground. Seriously.
I’m going to guess the answer to that question is Zito just because of the lefty hint.
What was the question?
John Flaherty has one career HR in Oakland. Who did he hit it off of?
wooooo I was right
Congratulations, you get to drink from the fire hose!!!!!
/movie reference no one will get’d
Thames has brought it within three. Now to chip away.
I guess he does hit lefties back to the platoon don’t go away from the “master plan”
Thames mashes LHP.
i thought the yankee line-up didn’t allow starters into the 6th inning?
/spoiled’d
Tex!
Uh oh! An incident!
Between Dusch, Gonzalez, and now Braden, I think the As pitchers just have a case of the crankies.
I really wanna know what A-ROD did to get Braden that pissed off..He was like Paul O’Neill on an 0-25 skid.
TRIPLE PLAY. HOLY SHIT.
WOW!!!!!!!!
Holy balls, a triple play just happened!
Whaaaaaaaaaat teh triple play?
OMG
I JUST got in the door for that. I hope they didn’t throw the ball away!
i changed it to YES to see them celebrating coming off the field!?!? i figured triple play
first time I have ever seen one in a live game in all my years watching baseball.
me too i guess i can across that off
I was watching the game where the Mets ended it by lining into an unassisted triple play last year, that was HILARIOUS
This was better though
This going to be a special year.
I’m so angry I’m Gamedaying this in class. I want to see that. Score some runs now!
That rocked! That rocked! That rocked!
Well that was exciting
(Thank you for sitting next to Andy when you know the camera is gonna be on you a lot, A-Rod.)
no wonder I have never seen one..its been 40 years since Yankees did it lol
Seriously, does arod make mental mistakes on the field??
He is a robot
Faceplant.
Ken Singleton seemed a bit underwhelmed by the whole triple-play thing. First I’ve seen as a Yankee fan and only the second I’ve seen period, the first being last year in person for my first and only trip to Citi Field when the Mets hit into an game-ending triple play against the Phillies.
I remember watching that on TV. It was awesome.
triple plays are so sudden, it’s easy to just sort of be like “Whoah! Triple play!” and get slightly taken aback.
That’s true. Even as I was watching this one unfold, I’m calculating in my head if I’m actually watching a triple play…and then it’s over. Singleton is low-key by nature, something I appreciated, but there are times that the Michael Kay/John Sterling, over-the-top emotion is welcome.
When I was at the Met game it was even more stunning because there was no announcer. The Met fans were like “what just happened,” and I’m thinking we not only just saw a triple play, but it was a game-ending, unassisted triple play. I was actually thinking it might have been the only time in the history of the game it ever happened. Turns out it wasn’t, but it was close.
I have to say, even though I’m a Yankee fan and enjoyed seeing the Yankee turn one, it was a pretty amazing experience to see the unassisted one at Citi. And being a Yankee fan, there was joy that it happened to the Mets!
this is really well-put. I was watching that Mets game, like I said, and it was just sort of like, the Mets might actually win! Wow! Ooh a line drive… OMG TRIPLE PLAY! Can’t even imagine being at Citi, though at this point when they play the Phillies it’s gotta be at least 50% Phils fans, no?
It wasn’t 50-50, but I’d say about 20 to 25% of the fans in my section wore Philly red. I had very good seats that were gifted to me for the day by a company I do business with so they weren’t the cheap seats. Field-level boxes. Some of the Philly fans were trying to figure out how rowdy they could be around me (meaning if I was a Met fan), but once I told them I was a Yankee fan and was here to hopefully watch a good baseball game, they seemed happy. They knew I wouldn’t care if they cheered loudly for the Phils.
The Mets fans around me weren’t too happy, though. I’m sure they were thinking, “oh, great, we have Philly fans and Yankee fans in our expensive seats!” I actually didn’t care who won. I just wanted to see a good game, and I was rewarded.
It was unassisted, IIRC
Someone had an unassisted one last year or the year before, can’t remember who, but when he was running off the field he tossed the ball into the crowd! :O
It was cabrera for the Indians actually
yep, sure was. That would only happen to the Mets.
If Tampa plays the way they are playing now, no one is going to catch them.
-JP Ricciardi
If the queen had balls, she’d be king.
-Andy_C_23
That was excellent, can I use it outside the world of RAB?
If I say no, will that really hinder you from doing so?
I think Tampa is extremely good this year and all but I was watching BBTN the other day and of all the things to go on about with Tampa, they were praising the bullpen. The Tampa bullpen, really?!!?
Must be talking about the wild card, then again his resume as a GM would suggest hes just that stupid.
I’m 95% sure he wasn’t, but there is a chance.
Yea I am chalking this one up as JP being JP
come on offense, CC doesn’t need no CG Loss
Does CC have good stuff today, just no command? He’s working on quite a strange line.
nasty changeup, his command of ol’ number 1 tho is horrendous
these low strike calls are annoying as fuck
dalelama just got more excited about that than the triple play.
Naw, getting kinda of used to it by now. The dainty one can’t even say, “hey but I drew a walk” after today’s performance. So much for the attempt to get his bat going by letting him play the field. At least he didn’t hurt himself.
well we got TEX, A-GOD, and Robbie in the 9th
that Cano error is looming large..bummer
maybe Bailey having a few days off he will be rusty
People who only post when the Yankees are doing bad things are really annoying. (it’s not happening here, but in other places)
Why would you check out other places for game threads?
wow I want someone to firebomb this stadium
Man. This ballpark holds EVERYTHING. How many deep flies have they hit today?
seriously. ten million, I would guess.
cannot wait to get out this crap=ass stadium
Well, we took the series, but I was greedy for more.
Still alive
Does CC get credit for an actual complete game if he “only” goes 8 innings? I can’t remembver the rule since complete games don’t happen a whole lot any more. I know if he had no-hitter but still lost he wouldn’t get credit for a no-hitter (I’m pretty sure that’s the rule), so why would he get a complete game?
yea and I think the rainout complete game counts too, but don’t quote me on that
it does. A 6-inning CG.
Yankees are human afterall…Kurt Suzuki Yankee Killer Supreme
they actually are not
Man, and if the A’s had the Rangers’ infield defense, the Yankees would have won 10-4.
angels are hot
let’s keep winning series!
Don’t mind a 4-2 loss when there was a 20-0 loss the same day.
+20
The A-Rod interview was wonderful (referring to the Braden comments). He actually looked like a really natural speaker. It was strange and wonderful to see.
Alex didn’t really seem to give a shit. That’s what I enjoyed from his interview.
I missed the interview, what happened with the Braden exchange?
A bit unfortunate that the two most memorable plays of the season, a steal of home and a triple play, happened in Yankee losses. NOT that I’m dissatisfied with their level of play (glad to see Tex and A-Rod heating up) but it is kind of annoying.