Game 22: The Last Laff … ey
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That’s not Ben Affleck in a Yankee hat sitting next to Spike Lee, is it? (Jim McIsaac/Getty)
I do 162 of these a year not counting Spring Training and the postseason. I’m allowed a cheesy headline once in a while.
Anyway, the Yankees will not be facing hard-throwing right-hander Josh Johnson tonight as originally scheduled. The former Marlin has a triceps issue and has been scratched, so former Yankee and slow-tossing left-hander Aaron Laffey will make the start instead. Talking about replacing someone with their polar opposite. The Yankees stink against lefties — last night’s beatdown of Mark Buehrle aside — but I’d much rather see them face Laffey than Johnson. No doubt about it. Here’s the starting lineup…
- CF Brett Gardner
- 3B Jayson Nix
- 2B Robinson Cano
- LF Vernon Wells
- C Frankie Cervelli
- RF Ichiro Suzuki
- SS Eduardo Nunez
- LF Lyle Overbay
- DH Ben Francisco
And on the mound is the man an awful lot on the line, right-hander Ivan Nova. His leash is getting shorter by the start and he absolutely needs to start pitching well if he wants to remain in the rotation. Everyone’s patience is starting to wear thin.
Lovely weather in New York tonight, great for baseball. The game is scheduled to start a little after 7pm ET and can be seen on YES locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy.
Kevin Youkilis Update: Youkilis (back) still isn’t ready to rejoin the lineup. Joe Girardi indicated he could be placed on the DL if he isn’t able to play in tomorrow’s game.
Mark Teixeira Update: Teixeira (wrist) is still limited to dry swings right now. He has not been cleared to hit off a tee or anything like that.
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Off-speed guys sometimes give the Yanks trouble, but some hitters (I’m lookin’ at you, Sam Francisco) should thrive…Hope Nova has better control of his breaking ball. Let’s win this one!
Off-speed guys sometimes give the Yanks trouble, but some hitters (I’m lookin’ at you, Sam Francisco) should thrive…Hope Nova has better control of his breaking ball. Let’s win this one!
We continue to watch the 9 lives of Ben Francisco. It is a part of this young season which continues to be a mystery. Will Girardi be rewarded for his faith with Ben? I hope so but I would like a younger player to be given some opportunities in his place.
The only thing that I hate more than Nix in the #2 hole is that Francisco is still in the lineup.
Mr. Axisa,
You have the best job ever!!!
Sincerely,
Someone that has made being a Yankee fan better from reading this blog
PS. I will out cheese you every day motherfu*****
If Cashman and Hal want to know why they hit lows on attendance this week, they should check their lineup and look closely at Ben Francisco and Jason Nix….you can’t sell this as a championship quality lineup but they are happy to charge championship quality prices for their seats….if they can’t figure it out, they are really more arrogant than they appear.
That is probably more of an ownership thing, but when 80 million dollars is on DL that is usually a pretty good explanation and fans usually will come for an exciting player over an expensive one every day of the week.
Well, Francisco was at least demoted from 2nd to 9th so there’s progress at least. I knew Girardi would let Hafner continue to wilt away on the bench. There’s a lefty on the mound, we have to play the righty at all costs!
Really, Joe? Hafner can’t play against a soft-tossing lefty?
What’s the old adage? Managers can’t win games but they can lose them.
Why are so many people somehow surprised at this? He hasn’t played twice against Buehrle who he at least has history and a little power against. Why would he suddenly play against Laffey? Girardi is amazingly and overly stubborn with these things.
“No, you must be Don Francisco’s sister.”
If only Youkilis wasn’t 90 years old with that bad back. Sure needed to be back before now.
Sorry, frustrated at how much they’re forced to play the terrible Overbay because he can’t get past this. It’s sad, but I’d almost prefer to see Boesch at 1B instead of Overbay all these games against lefties.
I get a YES feed tonight. With Paulie, no less. This is quite an exciting thing for me.
FOR PRUSSIA!
The Jays sure wear those blue tops a lot.
Well, that just sucks.
It wasn’t that possible for the lineup to get much worse but it just did.
So of a crap.
There goes Cervelli. This has to be a joke.
Ouch
That’s just….ARGH.
Argh.
Argh. Argh. Aj;gshdfijgijzdrjhgp9
That’s the last thing we need…more injuries… Cervy you gotta put that hand behind you.
Hooray for Chris Stewart batting 5th now. Is it too late to change the order again???
Alright Stewart. Make us proud.
Für Preußen.
Please get well soon Frankie.
It looks so empty there
It’ll still probably finish up between 30-40K.
That Nova out there? Wow.
So, what actually happened to Cervelli anyway? Did the ball foul off the bat or was it just on the pitch?
Shocking, I know, but Sterling and Waldman barely mentioned what actually happened in between wiping away the tears at losing Cervelli.
Off the bat and hit him straight on the top two knuckles of his right hand.
Thanks everyone.
foul tip
Foul tip right into his bare hand.
I hadn’t noticed until Mike pointed it out, but that Frankie was catching Nova’s start is pretty clear evidence that the “Girardi is just sticking with The Plan!” crowd was totally incorrect.
I’m betting at least one intent walk for Wells tonight.
Did anyone mention yesterday if TSJC was shown on TV at the draft again?
Never came up. Unfortunately.
The dude might be gone for good.
I know. I hope he’s alright.
That was Nova-nice . Good stuff, good command, let’s get him a lead.
Where and how did frankie blue eyes get hurt?
Foul tip into his bare hand on the 5th pitch of the game.
Doesnt the catcher put his non catching hNd behind his back?
Not Cervelli. He finds that doing so slows down his fist pumps.
Cervelli has never done that. I remember reading years ago that the Yanks had spoken to him about it. Still does it.
Nix batting 2nd. I just…I don’t even know anymore
Options are pretty limited, unless they bring somebody up.
Oh, Robbie. We’ve talked about getting yourself out, and how it’s a thing you shouldn’t do. He was pitching around you. Take it.
Robbie was clearly being pitched around and still swung at a pitch out of the zone and made an out.
Couldn’t be more obvious. Robbie has to learn to take the walk.
Shit.
Encarnation juiced
yay for being down early yet again
URGGGH
Can’t wait until this scrub Nova is gone.
Should have traded him a few years ago.
How many years do you think he’s been on the team for?
Oh, well.
Another guy just gave a HR ball to a kid that he seemingly had no connection to.
Yankee fans showing class the last couple nights.
According to MLB Gameday:
Ivan Nova didn’t stick to the scouting report; Edwin Encarnacion is hitting .000 this season against two-seam fastballs in that location.
So how long is his leash tonight? Or the season for that matter.
Till wanger builds up arm strength. 88- 90 right now.
That could quite easily be his max, you know.
I’m with Mike and Jennings, I think he’s got a couple more starts before they even think about calling Nuno or Wang up.
Now stewart is not protecting his throwing hand. Who catches if stewie goes down?
Um….I honestly don’t know. Third catcher was Swisher before (for reasons never adequately explained to me). Now it’s even money that Pena puts some spare gear on and gets out there.
How’s Girardi’s arm?
Have you ever watched his postgame presser? Dude’s got arms like a longshoreman. He could probably throw it into Monument Park from a crouch.
Tony Peña
Nix probably.
Girardi
Nix is the emergency catcher.
Is he really? Makes sense but I didn’t know he had any background there at all.
He doesn’t, but he’s the guy they always talk about being the 3rd catcher.
Well there you go then.
Nova got lucky.
get healthy michael. stay patient and yanks will score a ton of runs tonight
Encarancion now on a 4 game HR streak
He has a biotech giftcard.
Fail.
Niiiice
Defensive catcher.
Melky’s too fat and slow to steal that base.
Wow. That was a heck of a throw. I know Melky isn’t the fastest guy, but that throw was perfect.
Defensive catcher my ass
Stewart took a runner from 2nd bases and put one back on.
Defensive wizard Chris Stewart.
There is a certain circle of Hell reserved for ex-Angels like Maicer Izturis.
20 pitches in the first. 26 pitches in the second. What else is new? He’s so damn frustrating.
Just start warming up Warren now. They all seemingly own Nova anyway.
Paulie knows all the food secrets of the Stadium.
Hurr durr O’Neill likes to eat, hurr durr.
Here’s our chance. If one of the bottom 4 can break out we can put a couple runs on the board here.
Alright Ichiro. Do it for Prussia and Frankie.
I’m going to really hate the inevitable bunt here…
Ok, much better. If only it had snuck through.
This would be a terrific time for Nunez’s first hit with RISP all season. But, gotta at least get one run home…
Romine removed from AAA game. I wonder if it’s bad news on Cervelli, or just in case.
Oof. That’d suck.
this does not make me happy
No way they’ve gotten x-rays back yet. Gotta be just in case. Especially if they’re playing far from NY and he’s gotta maybe get an early flight if absolutely necessary.
I’m hoping it’s just in case.
Scranton’s at home.
iirc, they have an x-ray machine at the stadium. It’s possible they already know something.
They do have one at the Stadium.
By the way, how do you even know that that happened? I know you’re an Information Zealot, but this seems like a bit much even for you.
twitter
https://twitter.com/RailRidersTT/status/327930573278556160
More power to you. I very much appreciate it.
Yay BABIP!
That would’ve been hilarious if he’d made contact. Seeing everyone scramble.
I’ll take the final result.
C’mon Nunie.
The bunt attempt set that up. Nice
Yeah. That was smart on someone’s part. Good chance it works if he makes contact and it was the only reason the 3B didn’t have 4 extra feet to make the play.
nunez is soo bad
Helmet off.
“hasn’t quite done it offensively” is a pretty diplomatic way to describe it, Kay.
The fuck kind of a flip was that??
Slipped out.
Seriously, why does Nunez even wear a helmet when he runs? He should just throw it off while running and be done with it.
Well, it’s not his first hit but at least it’s a run.
Now let’s see if Overbay can fluke his way into getting the job done on this second run.
overbay is overdue
Wow. The contact we put on the ball that inning was putrid.
Yeah. That was pretty painful.
Just glad we got a run in.
Ugh we could have done more there. Oh well.
Fuck. Someone tell Loverbay that he doesn’t need to replace Teixeira in GIDPs.
That’s all he does these days.
That was definitely not a fluke that time. Blah, men left on base, story of our lives.
Overbay knew who was on deck so he just decided to kill two birds with one stone.
You fucking blow Overbay. I’m so done with him. 1-22 against lefties now.
I seriously would’ve considered double-switching when Cervelli left just to get Overbay the hell out of there too.
Included in that 1-22 are no walks, 5 K’s, and 4 GIDP’s…
No, you wouldn’t have.
Yes, I would have. I was absolutely thinking about it since it also gets Stewart out of the 5-hole.
I get the thought, but probably not a good idea to use their last remaining healthy position player in the first inning.
Yeah, I’m sure you considered it (I did too) but actually DO it? Who’ve you got playing 1st?
Boesch, who’s been playing there a bit anyway, and though he sucks, he is better against lefties than Overbay.
Its only downside, and why I didn’t say I’d definitely do it, is that it’s your last remaining position player (though you could move Francisco out of DH if absolutely necessary).
I honestly didn’t know Boesch could play first, so there’s that. Still though, Overbay is much better defensively and there wouldn’t be much/any offensive upgrade.
There actually is potentially a rather large offensive upgrade when it’s a lefty on the mound. And this is coming from me, someone very down on Boesh.
I suppose the potential is there (power-wise, at least) but I’m don’t think it makes up for the defense unless Boesch is a lot better over there than his historic playing time would suggest. And certainly not when it’s the last guy on the roster.
Didn’t even get a chance to get pissed at Benny Boy for killing that rally.
Overbay’s job is “guy who bangs into pathetic DPs against nondescript lefties.”
pathetic, absoutely pathetic
Overbay is overmatched
Nobody should be overmatched by Aaron Laffey.
And yet,,,
Fuck you Nova. You fucking ass.
I’ve said this exact phrase about 20 times already this season.
We’re still in April.
Ouuuuuch. That’ll leave a mark.
Lyle Inning-Overbay
Romine scratched !!!!!!
As Havok said, at least we’re tied.
Not for long…
Now, now. Have hope in Phelps.
Nevermind.
I have faith in Phelps, but this just isn’t happening tonight it seems. Two whole pitches for that to happen.
It all started when everyone was so happy that Laffey was in there instead. It was all downhill from there. I still may have really preferred Johnson because this was a little too predictable.
Yeah, it’s only the 3rd inning, but I’m just not feeling it tonight. Sorry.
I don’t blame you.
I don’t agree, but I don’t blame you.
ugh
What the hell?
Nova also can’t field his position worth a damn. Good to know.
LOL! They’re not going to have enough ballplayers left to put on the field.
Yankees call up
David adams
Austin romine
And nuno
Youlk cervy nova dl.
I am so down..don’t think the yankees brass will be
You’re insane to actually want this to happen.
Do you have a better plan for tomorrow’s game? And besides, they already took Romine out of his game tonight.
That’s not what he meant by “want(ing) this to happen.”
If they’re DL worthy, then sure, do it. But you sounded like you were in favor of doing that whether they are or not.
Not sure the Yankees can call up Adams yet even if they wanted to.
That’s unclear. From what I understand, no one’s yet sure if the 40-man rules apply to people with no MLB service time.
I believe the rules are the same regardless of service time for the 30-day scenario, but I don’t think that applies anyways because he was released before opening day. A player released between Aug. 31 and Opening day can’t sign a MLB contract with the same team until May 15. I’m just not sure if that applies only to a free agent contract or if being called up from the minors would be treated the same.
Interesting.
Again, my thanks.
This is crazyness.
either replaces these major scrub or find a gm who is willing to
Susan: “What happened? I was looking down.”
John: “I don’t know, I just saw a ground ball.”
They’re so very helpful…
I’m so glad those two are on the job.
In fairness to them, I was watching and still have no idea what happened.
In fairness, I’m watching, and I still can’t figure out what happened to Nova.
Get out of my head!!!
I know… they need to be so replaced.
Susyn: “Lets see what can we see…”
And my personal fav;
John even said: “I don’t know what they saw.”
Do you think I should know, you clown? I’m listening to you.
Rage much? Schmuck.
I think they knew something might be wrong before he went back out to pitch and had discussed it in the dugout, then knew it was wrong after the hit.
Welcome to tonight’s game, The New York Injuries vs. the Toronto Blue Jays.
Alright, which one of you fuckers has put a permanent injury hex on this team? Did someone murder stuart and this is our punishment?
I’m blaming Eddard, based on what the commenter of the future (or something like that) said.
Yea, about that…
Heh.
Is Nova hurt or is it can’t-get-an-out-itis?
Hurt/sick. They knew something was wrong.
Yanks under a black cloud this season with respect to injuries. You couldn’t make this shit up.
What happened?
I don’t think anyone knows, he didn’t really do anything to show what was up but the trainer was out quite quickly.
Weird. If its indeed an injury… I think I’m going to lose it. Everyone should just play in bubble wrap. My god.
Sweeney is saying that cervelli has a fracture. That’s too bad for him. But now Romine gets a shot. The rest is up to him…
This makes me really unhappy
Romine will never go down again. Hell be here until Sanchez takes his job.
That would be pretty great.
I don’t even care if we win, I just want us to make it through the game without losing anybody else. Ridiculous.
I hear ya, but what about losing Ban Francisco for a month?
#i’llburninhell
And out of st phelps has lost that great change up due to inactivity.
David Phelps -the man you don’t use for high-leverage outs- in for high-leverage outs.
I should have waited until after the inning to eat.
Maybe they took Nova out because that thing on his face was starting to scare children.
Seriously… what is that?
Maybe spider eggs?
*gags*
Big K. DP next.
Called it. +1 to you good sir
Well done.
At least Stewart is making this game slightly more bearable
Your username is no longer amusing. Lost the wrong Francisco.
Agreed. Gotta change that now.
Crap, I didn’t even make the connection. Think I jinxed it…
You’re one to talk about handle names not being amusing.
Also agreed.
I’ll change it when he proves me wrong.
It has nothing to do with whether or not he proves you wrong. It was simply never amusing.
It’s witty. But not amusing for Yankee fans. We actually need the guy to be decent to good.
I’m sorry you are so unamused by my handle. It was never intended to amuse. You can kiss your A-Rod bobblehead if it makes you feel better.
First of all, I don’t believe you when you say your handle was not intended to amuse. You picked it at the very least to amuse yourself.
Second, if your handle isn’t meant to amuse, then don’t tell other people that their handle isn’t amusing.
And the only bobbleheads I own are Darth Vader and Creed Bratton.
His handle was very amusing, but took an ironic twist after the first inning.
And I can’t argue with either of those bobbleheads, well done.
Why do you think personal attacks are the way to go? What directs you toward that in what could just be a jokey discussion over handles?
In all seriousness though I chose the handle in frustration after watching his pathetic stretch run last year. I actually hope he proves me wrong and comes back strong. Then I can become Better-Get-Out-Of-His-Way-Rod
Fair enough. Sorry if I sound like a prick, I’m just really, really frustrated right now.
It’s all good, frustration understood. I likewise apologize for being snippy. We’re all on (well, just rooting for) the same team here.
See, this was good.
I also hope you get to change it to that after his return.
Stewart strikes again! Nice job by Phelpsy all things considered.
That DP was impressive by all involved. Not a great throw, but good reaction.
By far my favorite ben francisco moment. He just walked to lead off an inning.
Definitely one for the highlight reel. Along with his reversed call infield hit yesterday. That was a straight up Triumph.
Section 109, reprazent!
Ben-wa Fransisco is ON BASE. The Earth’s magnetic poles will now reverse…
Well he’s on base at least. If Robbie can just hit another one of those homers.
Ohh shit, Sterling is fucking singing!!
Wait, really?
I swear, I didn’t catch the name of the song though.
Yeah, he was going Frank Sinatra, then Sgt. Bilko, then the NFL draft.
I don’t know if they’ve mentioned a thing about the game this whole damn inning.
As a guy who regularly sings Sinatra songs for money in a reasonable likeness…blech.
DEAR LORD
a sacfrice with laffey not throwing strike.giradri a joke
Fucking bunting in the third inning when the on deck hitter is Nix.
Well, I’ll just be watching the draft and the Knicks game if this is gonna keep up.
now nix walks great job giradri
Nuno, Romine and Montgomery should get the call up, put Nova and Cervelli on the DL. Send down Phelps or Warren for ML starting depth and release BenFran and also call up Adams while we’re at it, for good measure.
Now would be a good time for another one of those homers, Robbie.
grand slam please
This absolutely can’t just be another of those bases loaded, settle for one run innings.
They need to put a crooked number up given this situation with the lineup and their pitching.
Swinging so much there was just…wrong. Oy.
Cervelli broken hand per swenny murti
Nova elbow issue
Maybe that’ll teach Cervelli to put that hand behind his back.
I really feel bad for Cerv… He was doing very good.
Damn.
Romine will get a shot but girardi will promote stewart to 1st ca knowing joe.
That’s a given.
Hey, at least our manager didn’t have Jeff “Mendoza line” Mathis higher on the catcher depth chart than Mike Napoli like Scoscia did for however long it was.
Swung at ball 4 and 5.
C’mon Vern.
I’ll take it, tie game.
Another ben francisco moment yeah
only tied because giradri is a idiot
….I love baseless assumptions.
The bunt was pretty lame, though.
Agreed, but there’s no reason to think it was Girardi. None. What little speculative evidence there is from the dugout camera makes it seem as if it WASN’T Joe.
Well at least they tied it. Disappointing though because Laffey couldn’t do anything other than lay in an 86 mph right down the middle.
Now Pronk can replace BF right?
Hopefully, but I could absolutely see Girardi not doing it if he thinks he needs to keep another position player available in Francisco who they could take out of the DH spot if necessary.
Hopefully with Boesch available he won’t feel that need though.
He was laying them in there to Wells but walked Stewart on 4 straight pitches.
PLEASE ICHIRO!!!
2-4 with a double against Lincoln. Also had good numbers against Laffey.
Please get a hit!
Well back to the old generic handle now that Benny reached base… and also because I probably jinxed the better Francisco. Ugh.
Big spot for Ichiro.
That was a great handle though. Major props for it. Now you gotta find another so you get away from the “random male first name = troll” bias.
Haha, thanks. I’ll think up another clever one soon enough.
So I jumped in my truck to run to the store and Sterling was trying to sing a Sinatra song. I am now currently Googling “How to remove an ice pick from the ear canal”.
You might just want to leave it in.
Another blue balls game. Ugh.
Brutal.
And another pitiful inning. They almost deserve to lose after all this crap, basically trying to give it away.
7 million baserunners, 2 runs…
I was hopieing sweni was wrong.
Six weeks for Cervelli, minimum.
Lovely.
RISPFAIL it’s baaaaaaaaaaaaack….
This team has been much, much worse than last year’s team with RISP so far.
Poor Frankie. I’ve really always like him, but more importantly…this was his year and his time. Even if he’d fallen back to earth offensively he’d still be above average overall with the state of catching in the MLB right now. This injury could be the difference between having a regular, if unspectacular, job for the next decade and needing a pillow contract to get regular work.
Well said. Tough break for Cervi. He works hard, and was starting o put together a good season.
So in a deep league with 2 catcher positions, I had Cervelli for one. I guess I’ll be picking up the salad soon.
Surely there’s a better catcher available somewhere unless you’re just determined to have Yanks on your team.
Top ones in FA right now are K. Suzuki, Tyler Flowers, Rob Brantly, Laird, etc. Slim pickings, haha.
Disclaimer, I have McCann and Yadier, but McCann is on the DL.
I don’t know what kind of work those guys are getting right now. But Romine might come up and just play once a week. Hard to tell.
Yeah, probably. It’s a free league, 20 teams, 25 per team. It’s for shits and giggles and I somehow am in second place, haha.
I know next to nothing about fantasy. Just enough to be dangerous. I’m just spitballing to help you think out your options.
It helps! Much appreciated! I might be better just waiting till McCann gets off the DL
Phelpsy looks much better tonight. Hitting his spots and painting the corners. That’s what he needs.
Also: this is a Phelps second chance at an audition. Rise to the occasion, man.
The award for the biggest douche in baseball goes to…Brett Lawrie! Walk back to your dugout and collect your award, ass.
Such a douche.
I know that Lawrie is a douche but whenever the league contains guys like AJ Pierzynski and Mr. Awesome O’Clock, it’s hard to say he’s the BIGGEST douche.
Good point, and with that scruffy scurvy fuck, Bautista he may not even be the biggest douche on his team.
Well done calling on the scurvy meme.
Thanks, I think Pat D’s actually the one that started it a couple years ago.
Which I take full credit for starting!
And so you should.
We need to send a team to SWB to go and GET Romine and Wang. Like, with plenty of styrofoam peanuts and bubble wrap. I don’t trust those moving sidewalks in the airport.
It won’t, and shouldn’t, be Wang.
Agreed.
Who will it be then?
Nuno/Monty. There are other candidates.
Have to see how hurt Nova is, if he’s hurt at all.
My guess is Phelps will be in the rotation and they’ll call up a reliever.
I’m hoping for Montgomery, but I’m guessing it’ll be Eppley instead.
Yeah, depends on if they’ve deemed Eppley ready or needing additional regular work to get ready.
If they honestly think Eppley’s ready, I won’t mind him getting the call ahead of Monty. There’s no regular role available yet.
And if they actually want a guy in the Aceves-type role they’ve had Phelps in. If they do, that almost needs to be Nuno.
That’s a nasty herpe on Kyle Overbuys lip.
Its amazing but pineda coming back this year may save our season. Nova goes on dl one of the big four stumbles
Lets see a SB here Nuney
Did they show the trivia answer yet?
They did but I missed it.
Chris Chamblis?
Yep. That was it.
Chris Chambliss.
Nuney almost got hit again and we would have been forced to play Hafner in the field.
If the Blue Jays injure one more Yankee they should be ejected from the league. Ridiculous. I know Cervelli and Nova weren’t plunked or anything but I’m still blaming the Jays.
Send Nuñez WTF
Overbaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Loverbay being useful!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSS.
Lyle with the 3 bag!!
This is the most bizarre game ever
Rasmus misplayed the shit out of that one.
He’s not looked good at all this season. On either side of the ball.
What just happened?
My screen just fucked up and showed something absurdly weird (Overbay getting a triple, which I can’t believe actually happened…)
TRIPLE FOR OVERBAY!!!!
Hooray for Herpes!!!
One downside of the Yanks facial hair policy.
Sweetness.
Well done PH’ing Hafner, well done taking home on the PB.
Yeah. The team’s been fun to watch, IMO. I’m more carefree and just enjoy watching the Yanks regardless of outcome, but it’s been a good way to unwind after a day of hard word.
Yep, this team is much more fun to watch than last year’s.
Meh. I don’t go with that.
The only reason it’s more “carefree” is because expectations were so molten-center-of-the-planet low. Last year’s team was fun because they won. A lot.
Absolutely. Last year was just as fun to me. It just seems to many that it isn’t as fun this year, but I disagree. Yankees baseball is yankees baseball. I’ll watch the team and cheer just as hard regardless of expectations or outcome.
I’m right with that. I wasn’t bummed with the team being what it was; I wanted baseball. I’ll make it fun no matter what.
Half of me loves the fact that Joe is trying to bring the pain with Hafner here this early, the other half worries about this game ending in pitchers playing positions because the bench is empty.
Loverbays got herpes
For real. He should prob grow a Joba to cover that shit up.
Overbay…triple…wha? Look at that, its 4-2. Funny how things work out. Your move, D Phelps.
I hope he gets his shit together.
Hafner getting the Chris Stewart treatment….
Boesch only one left on bench in 4th inning. Pretty weird. Hope no one else goes down.
On the other hand it would be cool to watch Mo get to play CF just once.
Yeah, but would be scary in this jinx of a season.
Not so early in the season. Too much can go wrong and we need him.
Who’s the backup catcher? Nix?
Right now, yes.
That dude can do it all! Super sub FTW!
Nice, that would be fun.
Playing match-up in 4th inning. Seems a bit jumpy. Sad comment on Jays season.
Well, I am just getting home to a game that is good, except that the starting pitcher and starting catcher are apparently broken.
I started counting on my way home, and this team is missing a starting 1B, 3B, CF, SS, BACKUP (!) 3B, and now starting catcher and one of their starters. These injuries are fucking nutso!
Not to mention Pineda who would likely be in the rotation.
Him too.
Completely forgot about him too.
Plus another starter started the season hurt. It’s insane.
You said it.
Robbie get serious dude
fail cano
Now it’s up to Phelpsy. Give us 2 more solid innings. He looks much better tonight, painting the corners and getting strikeouts. I think he’ll get us to the 7th with the lead.
Yes. Tonight he has good control, with movement.
I’ll be very impressed if he rises to this occasion. This is a big night for him in terms of earning a rotation spot. Lots of pressure.
So,I am afraid that Cervelli will regress with his throwing to 2nd. He’s defense was getting so goddam good. Bummer.
Eh. That seemed to have more to do with his form than anything. And he seems to be cured of his bad form.
More concerned with overcompensation from the injury, coming back rusty, etc etc etc.
I’m more worried that this bit of power he has developed will turn back into warning track power.
Yeah, I’m bummed about that more than anything.
Whether he was just streaking or not, the guy was clearly the hot hand. Hard to think that’ll keep up through a DL stint.
Freezes Davis with the heater. Nice
Irrational bright side guy says: Looks like we are about to see the beginning of the Lettuce Era! Let the non stop puns begin!
A lotttttt of people wanted him on the roster to start the season.
I’m kind of excited to see what he’s got.
Well, hard to blame people for wanting him up to start the season (well, before Cervelli and Stewart became Pudge Rodriguez and Carl Yaztremski, respectively)…
He’s been hitting the snot out of the ball down in Scranton, and you’re absolutely right… He should be a ton of fun to watch. Eddard will approve
Yeah. I never really agreed with wanting him up over Cerv/Stew, but it wasn’t unreasonable.
I got to see Romine twice in the first week of AAA. He looked pretty solid even with it being 30some degrees those two nights.
I really hope he’s ready to win a job. It’d be great to see.
So when does Nova book his flight to go down and see the good Dr Andrews? Any takers?
I’d be willing to bet the flight is already booked. They’ll just wait until tomorrow to see if they need it.
You think James Andrews works on Sundays? Monday 9am appointment I would imagine.
I wonder if they book the appointment ahead of time too. You think Andrews has a secretary who just scours ESPN looking for keyword “elbow” & “pain”? These are all things I want to know…
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if teams have a standing appointment with him. It honestly depends on how busy his regular practice is. He might be too specialized in sports for anyone to ever need a “just in case” appointment. Heck, I can see MLB having several reserved appointments for use by any teams that need him.
I could also see him not taking any other appointments outside of athletes and rich white dudes who can afford him after they sprain their elbows golfing or some shit. I could imagine he does “well” from just TJS surgeries…
Definitely.
This motherfucker needs some vitamin C in his life.
Kay and O’Neill have totally left the game behind.
I think it’s fun though. Kay’s keeping up with the play-by-play, just a lot of chatter.
Kay and Paulie never actually call the game though.
Phelpsie with the breaking ball! NASTY pitch, Joey Bats can eat a dick!
a herpe infested one.
Two out of three pitches were pretty nasty breaking balls. That last “ball” call was a HECK of a curve.
Atta boy phelps. This would be a really good win tonight. Hopefully we can add on another run or two.
But….Mo needs another save.
/totallykidding’d
At this rate, I am scared he would get injured tonight. I swear there is a greater power at work. Baseball gods must be pretty pissed off at us.
Too many playoff runs.
And homers.
While he was off to a good start, in AAA last year Cervelli was .2467/.341/.316, wRC+ 89. So it could be a SSS thing. Just saying.
Oh, of course. It probably was. But he was still the hot hand.
Switching off between Stewie and Cervelli depending on who was hot was probably the best possible outcome of this catching platoon.
Austin Jackson, Austin Romine, other Austins? Is Kearns still active (Miami?).
Austin Powers, Tyler Austin, Steve Austin, Austin Texas…
Chris Stewart providing a preview of the next 6 weeks.
Really though, with this team, it would have just happened to Martin. And Cervelli would have tripped on the stairs or something.
Yeah… Russell Martin used to disappear for weeks on end, at least Stewart will lay a bunt down or sneak one through a hole on (rare) occasion…
The loss to nova really is not the worst of things for us. Sucks he got hurt, but it’s not like he was doing much for us. The loss of cerveli is going to hurt, its going to be even more painful watching stewart play everyday. I doubt Romine will play much.
We’ll see. I could easily see Girardi going back to an even split until someone wins the job.
Lettuce wait and see what Girardi does with the catching situation.
#andsoitbegins
If we carrot all about winning we’ll give romaine a chance.
Slow clap…
My second most visited website is one where puns are a beloved and encouraged aspect of the comments section.
Even there this would cause facepalming. Generally in the form of another pun.
If Phelpsy can give us one more we should be in good shape. The pen should be able to close it out. You used them last night but you use them again tonight with confidence that CC can go deep tomorrow. Get the W tonight and let CC carry you tomorrow.
No way do they let him get around 80 pitches.
This is his last inning
Melky off PED 100 PA .253/.310/.308
Glad the Catcher is paying attention.
Man. What an impressive outing by Phelps. Lots of swings and misses.
Yup. I have no doubt that he can fill in for nova for the time being. He gets the Astros next, right? He should be fine.
Wow… Anibal beasting for me in Fantasy. 14 k’s. Yikes.
make that 16.
<3
Phelps did his job getting us to the 7th with the lead. Now you use up the 4 good relievers to close it out and have confidence CC can carry the team tomorrow.
Insurance runs would be nice.
Phelps threw 77 pitches tonight so I’d be shocked if he doesn’t move into the rotation. He’s good for 90+ in the next game.
Do they call up Montgomery or Nuno? Donnie Collins is predicting they’ll call up Eppley. Which would be awful and not surprising.
My guess is either Nuno or Eppley.
I’d be surprised if it’s not Eppley.
I could see maybe Cedeno instead, if they want a second lefty.
Unless they’ve decided that Eppley just isn’t ready for MLB work, it’ll be him.
He’s been awful down there though. So who knows.
Yep. So we’ll see. I could easily see it being him, Monty, or Nuno.
If they want a direct replacement for what Phelps has been doing, it’ll have to be Nuno.
Not impressed by a 2.29 WHIP in AAA?
Eppley and awful just about says it
Ashmore just tweeted that Jose Ramirez hit 96 in Trenton. No velocity problems for him.
17 strikeouts for sanchez in 8 innings.
Fucking crazy. Just funny to see how bad a good team can look at any given night…
I never would have guessed that Nunez would be giving us a glimpse at how awful an all defense/no hit SS is.
I’m legit loving Kay and Paulie just having fun up there.
Hilarious trying to imagine Michael Kay playing stickball.
Giants take Damontre Moore! Gig’em.
Is that good? I’m a huge Giants fan but I don’t know this draft class.
He was awesome for us last year, but he really came out of nowhere.He left too early in my mind. As long as he is not rushed, he could end up being a good pickup.
Tuck and JPP will school him right.
That’s the hope.
Giants get another pass rushing beast D Moore love jerry reece.
Really liking the Texans draft so far. We finally got ourselves a true number 2 for Andre. Denadre Hopkins is a very physical WR with sure hand. Then we got a Very Physical Saftey that will get to lern from ed reed the next few seasons. Kind of wish we would have gone with a offensive linemen in the second round, but I trust our front office.
Step up Jobber
I have no doubt that the braves are a good team, but they are now 7-6 after their first 10 games. They played the Phillies, Cubs, Marlins, to start the year. I think the tigers will sweep em.
Noooonie. Oh my
Wow. That’s exactly the kind of throw Nunez normally botches.
He’s like Ozzie Smith out there. Just needs to pick it up with the bat and he’ll be a complete player.
Almost positive Ozzie Smiths batting helmet stayed on though….
Ozzie Smith? That is a s t r e t c h.
I might buy Ozzie Guillien, and that’s even pushing it.
Damn this has been one difficult game to watch…
NunE! Nice play.
Looking forward to seeing Romine up, and… whoever they decide comes up to replace Nova, be nice if it was Monty but I’m betting it’ll be Nuno.
Very, very nice inning Joba.
You, too, Overbay.
Thanks for sparing us from Boone, Loverbay.
Joba rules? Joba RULES.
Woah just saw the J-E-T-S took Geno Smith? Wow, that’s going to be a fun camp. As a Giants fan, I can only sit back and admire the clusterfuck that’s going to be.
Jeff Loria needs to buy the Jets…
LoverBay has been phenomenal with the glove.
He’s sure made a lot of good plays.
Not all that sure handed so far, but he’s made plays I don’t think most first basemen make.
So Robertson gets the heart of the order.
He handled them last night. Bautista isn’t doing anything right now. The big out is Encarnacion. He killed them last year and is doing it again this series.
I’d want it for either him or Mo anyway.
Yep.
Oh absolutely.
This game is making me nervous. With all the bad news today, the last thing I want to see is the bullpen blow this game. Hopefully we can tack on a run here.
If the bullpen blowing the game is the worst thing that happens for the remainder of the day, then I am OK with it. Just make it though 9 without anyone else getting hurt, k?
Haha, hopefully we can get the W and finish the day injury free.
Sure but given the choice?
Mike Ashmore ?@mashmore98
Jose Ramirez in his Double-A debut: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 K. He gets the save, his first in 89 MiLB appearances
Stewart can not catch everyday!
Losing Cervelli is a real shame, but on the other hand he was almost certainly going to regress big time and end up being a below average player anyway, so oh well.
This sounds harsh, but I really don’t give two shits about losing Nova.
Right on both counts. Cervelli was .253/.310/.308 wRC+ 89 last year in AAA. Nova has no control of his “great stuff.” Sorry he’s hurt but glad Phelps gets a shot. God knows Girardi wouldn’t have pulled Nova until he was 2-8
Thanks for the help.
That Blue Jays defense comes back to haunt them again. They’re awful.
Toronto Blue Jays… Not defensively sound baseball.
Noonie down to .150 yet?
Has he even gotten TO .150 yet?
Hell yes. Texans make another very good pick, two seconds later Yankees score. Best 10 seconds of my day.
I’m not buying a Toyota from Lee’s or anywhere else, but if I take a test drive can I see that chick naked?
Racist.
No. You must shop at Phil Hughes Honda, in Athens.
http://www.philhugheshonda.com/
Klong was working with Francisco. Abandon that waste of time and fix Nuney. We need him to start hitting better since he has to play.
Thank God for that safety run.
See, Toronto, if you guys actually played defense then this might have been a really cool moment for you.
If not for my post today in defense of naked gloating, I’d reprimand you for the “chickens pre-roost” moment.
But I made that post, so carry on.
Hey, even if they tie it later that particular moment still wouldn’t have been particularly cool.
Jesus, it’s HR or bust for Encarnacion the way he’s swinging.
Pastadiving….oh, wait, nevermind. Nice play Nunee.
Fuck man, who would have thought that Nunez would become a defensive wizard?
Your only mistake is posting this where Eddard can see.
I just regretted making this post almost immediately.
Nuñez?
Off the bat, I was afraid the Batista shot was going to hit my house in Georgia.
That guy at short can pick it, wouldn’t you say?
Yeah, and sometimes even throw it!
Jeez, YES. Nice camera work.
I thought the exact same thing.
Darren Oliver. Isn’t he like 70 or something?
Him and Mo.
Insurance run please.
Nice call!
You get full credit.
I thought it would be Hafner, but Gardner with the blast! Nice!
Why certainly sir.
Gardy!!!!
Fuck Yes
GONE!
….
GOOOOONEEEE.
HUGE! Way to go, Gardner!
Nice laser shot, Gardy.
He’s got an awfully pretty homerun swing. He rarely uses it, but it’s fun to watch.
Gardner can’t hit lhp. lol
One from Cano now.
Oh well. Didn’t work this time. Bring on Mo.
I thought so too. If mayor bee was here, I’m sure there’d be free honey for everyone.
Alright, Mo.
FOR PRUSSIA AND OUR WOUNDED, DAMMIT!
What’s Sterlings Gardy call?
“Gardy goes Yardy.”
Thanks, not his best work.
I think it’s “Gardner planted one!”
That’s better.
Fuck the ravens for taking Brandon Williams one spot ahead of us. We really could have used him.
I think Gardner can hit righties and lefties, he just struggles with trying to be patient as a leadoff hitter. Just seems that he’s more successful the more aggressive he is at the plate.
Umph. I wanted that. Good call by the ump though.
Anibal Sanchez struck out 17 over 8 innings.
Maybe an anterior labral tear that does not affect the rotator cuff or shoulder capsule isn’t the end of the world.
Mo throwing some heat. Hitting 91! Nice to see he’s still got a bit left.
Hypothetically the Yankee’s had a 3 run lead in this situation , should the Yankee’s consider not using Rivera tonight knowing they are facing a decent lefty tomorrow and are likely to be e in a close game with D-Rob and Joba possibly unable to pitch 3 days in a row?
Theoretically? Sure. But I don’t think they should do it. We need wins.
With a two run run lead I definitely agree, but if they were 3 up I thought it might be worth the risk
because not having either 3 would significantly reduce our chances of winning tomorrow. I guess we do have the guy with the best chance of going deep tomorrow. Hope CC can go very deep. Not expecting an offensive outburst by the Yankee’s tomorrow. It was just a passing thought.
Depends who they used in his place. They could have used Joba for 2 tonight. He only threw 7 pitches. The DRob in the 9th or Mo and save DRob for tomorrow.
Yes bu Joe wouldn’t have done it because it’s not binder-friendly
That’s really, really cool. (the shot of Mo talking to all the Jays)
I’m out of my chair now. Damn. Finish it Mo.
Even only 2/3s full the stadium can still get loud when Mo gets a big K.
Oh come the fuck on.
Awesome play, Robbie. If that goes into CF it’s a run.
Not Nunez’s fault. That dude is FAST.
Don’t like the look of this one bit.
C’mon Mo! Buckle down!
Definitely not used to this from Mo.
How does Ramus even think that hair looks remotely okay?
Nunez, maybe taking two fucking steps back and not planting was something a fucking high school SS knows.
Eh. I prefer the planting. Better than him trying to throw off balance where a bad throw = run.
Plus, I would argue that no one aside from elite SS in High School should throw off balance, but that’s just IMO.
Exhale.
Outstanding!
Yes (and still fuck you NunEz).
And no runs come around.
Hell. Freaking. YES.
I was getting flashbacks of that time Rasmus clobbered one off Soriano… phew. Nice job Mo.
I don’t know how they keep winning these ballgames. Great job by Phelpsy tonight. He saved us. We’ll need a long outing from CC tomorrow.
And breathe! Whoa, what a game!
Big time win. Would have been really depressing to take a loss tonight. We get the split at the absolute worse. Would be awesome to take 3 of 4 before the astros come to town.
Wheww! Someone tell CC to take a few more warmup tosses (or something) tomorrow. This starting lineup looks pretty damned feeble. They’ll need some stellar pitching the next two days.
That last cutter straight up rose
Two slap singles a a FC but Mo gets out of it. Well done.
We are now on pace to win 95.7 games in 2013.
Hehehehe
This is awesome. Of course it won’t last, but it’s still awesome.
IF the pitching holds up you never know.