Game 61: Make It Three

June 7, 2014 by Mike Axisa 262 Comments

The Yankees are in position to win their third straight game tonight, something they’ve done only twice in the last month. Winning streaks have been hard to come by lately. Not enough offense, not enough innings from the starters, and lately the bullpen’s been a little leaky as well. That hasn’t been the case these last two days, at least not to the same extreme as the last few weeks, so hopefully the Yankees are starting to dig themselves out of this little hole.

Here is the Royals lineup and here is the Yankees lineup:

LF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Carlos Beltran
3B Yangervis Solarte
RF Alfonso Soriano
2B Brian Roberts
C John Ryan Murphy
RHP David Phelps

It has been raining for part of the day in Kansas City, but it has cleared up and there shouldn’t be any problems for tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm ET and you can watch on FOX. Yankees and Royals on FOX, on Saturday night. What is this world? Enjoy the game.

Yangeddard Solarte

I said just yesterday that we’d take 3/4 in this series and go 7-3 on the road trip and people said I didn’t know what I was talking about. BGDP will shut down this inept lineup and give us 7 strong innings. He’ll finally get some decent run support and won’t be going against Chris Sale or King Felix.
- Mikhel
  
  Yeah…
Darren

I have a feeling this is the beginning of Jeter hitting the ball with authority. He finally got a little rest, he’s always hit well in KC, and the weather’s warming up. Expect at least 2 RBI and some line drives tonight from the Cap’n.
TheRealGreg

Yankees will win another WS before another Triple Crown is won. I will bet on that.
- Winter
  
  That’s a… weird wager.
  - TheRealGreg
    
    When I say Triple Crown, I mean Horse racing of course.
    - Winter
      
      Even weirder.
- vicki
  
  well, obviously. there won’t be another triple crown opportunity before this october. boom.
  - Daniel
    
    How old are you?
    - vicki
      
      what is this, tinder? get your head in the game.
      - Daniel
        
        You fascinate me.
        
        vicki
        
        i get that a lot.
        
        Daniel
        
        You’re an aim bot with baseball knowledge uploaded. I don’t believe you’re real.
TheRealGreg

Luckily, it looks like we will spared Joe Buck and crew who are in Detroit to do Red Sox/Tigers
- TheRealGreg
  
  It will be Matt Vasgersian and Eric Karros.
Winter

I’m loving that FOX broadcasts are now on MLB.tv. Obviously I’d rather a YES broadcast, but it’s better than being blacked out.
Winter

I assume most of you saw this already, but the Yankees drafted Mo’s son, Mariano III.
McLovin

Star studded Yankee lineup?
- Prussian General Jordan Brink
  
  Shit like that is why Fox and ESPN broadcasted games are so annoying.
- TheRealGreg
  
  Names, yes.
  
  Stats, not so much
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    Maybe they hate stats just like John and Suzyn do.
Prussian General Jordan Brink

“Winning streaks have been hard to come by lately. Not enough offense,”

You could stop right there.

For Prussia, Saturday night style!
- vicki
  
  i genuinely think you need to burn your screen name in effigy. at least the jordan brink part. it’s cursed.
Yankeefan91

MLB THE SHOW CREW
TheRealGreg

Our two best hitters are lefties. Duffy murder against lefties. This is going to be bad.
- TheRealGreg
  
  And as I say that…
- http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ
  
  Teixeira?
  - TheRealGreg
    
    Ellsbury and Gardner. Should have said “contact hitters”, although right now Solarte is better than both of them but we’re still kind of in the SSS mode.
Yangeddard Solarte

BGDP has that good two seamer working and a pitcher’s umpire behind the plate. Watch out for double digit K’s.
http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

KC is trying to be patient, and the zone is massive.
vicki

he seriously looks like a parody of himself.
http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

FOX with the fancy maps.
TheRealGreg

I don’t what you can do with him right now. I just don’t know.
WhittakerWalt

Isn’t Soriano at least supposed to hit lefties?
- TheRealGreg
  
  In theory, yes
Liam in Albany

So how much longer does Soriano last on this roster? he looks toasted.
- TheRealGreg
  
  Until the Yankees can get someone better who can play RF and hit.
  - Rolling Doughnut
    
    I guess Suzuki is too old to play every day but he has good splits, granted SSS but Soriano needs to sit for awhile.
- http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ
  
  Not sure. If he can’t even continue to hit lefties now in the platoon role he is going to lose his time to Ichiro.
TheRealGreg

Phelps has no control tonight
WhittakerWalt

I hate the way Suzyn says “thigh high.” It just sounds creepy. It also immediately follows big hits surrendered by Yankee pitchers.
vicki

the fucking royals, phelps.
TheRealGreg

BGDP is getting knocked around a bit
http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

good. Now 1 out, sets up dp.
WhittakerWalt

Oh, I’ll take that out.
WhittakerWalt

This is getting out of hand.
TheRealGreg

But Phelps does nothing with it and it 3-0 Royals
Yankeefan91

Love Jeter’s Range -_____-
http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

TBH Ryan probably makes that play.
WhittakerWalt

Would competent fielders have gotten to that?
- vicki
  
  it looked routine-ish.
Rolling Doughnut

Even Jeter should have made that play.
WhittakerWalt

Outs, please.
- TheRealGreg
  
  Royals felt so bad that they gave us one
TheRealGreg

Even that out was hit hard.
TheRealGreg

No Big Game David Phelps EVER AGAIN, EDDARD
- vicki
  
  well, maybe it’s not big enough a game.
No 2013 again

It takes real skills to allow 3 runs in 1 inning against KC
- TheRealGreg
  
  As I said yesterday, the only way the Royals can score runs is to string hits together. 5 hits in that inning (Including 2 doubles) 3 runs.
  
  Thank you “Big Game”
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    David Phelps is like the personification of everything that’s wrong with our team: every single thing needs to go right for him to succeed. He can’t miss a spot, ever. He can’t try sneaking a fastball by anyone, ever. He has to be perfect to win. He doesn’t have enough talent to get by otherwise.
    - TheRealGreg
      
      Good analysis.
    - Daniel
      
      What if David Phelps parents decided to check out riveraveblues.com tonight and saw that? They would never come back.
      - WhittakerWalt
        
        Uh, OK.
      - JohnnyC
        
        They’re probably watching their DVR’ed Cardinals game from this afternoon right now.
BigBlueAL

This team isnt going to go on an extended good stretch with Whitley as their 3rd best SP. They need CC and Pineda back ASAP.
vicki

i’d hoped for a big lead before i have to go to work. should’ve been more specific.

i also wish three runs didn’t feel like a big lead, but here we are.
- WhittakerWalt
  
  Since we usually struggle to even score two, three definitely feels like a lot.
- Daniel
  
  You work at night?
  - Lukasz
    
    Keep it in the pants brah, I know what ur thinking
    - Daniel
      
      No, I just worry. That’s all.
Lukasz

Can we get more than one extra base hit tonight pozhajlusta? A triple and a homerun in the same game would be nice. Maybe we can even get a multiple doubles
TheRealGreg

Got him by an inch
WhittakerWalt

Can we at least get back one of those runs? Pretty please?
No 2013 again

Brian roberts still has a Job. How?
- TheRealGreg
  
  Because Rob Refsnyder is not ready to go yet.
- WhittakerWalt
  
  Who would you slot in to play second?
TheRealGreg

A little part of me hopes the Yankees go into the tank because we will get to try and:

A: See young talent come up and see what they have
B: Try and get some prospects back by selling. Kuroda will be a nice trade chip for us.
- http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ
  
  Selling is overrated. After many years of mediocrity it makes sense, but this team isn’t that far off from a contender.
- Daniel
  
  There is zero chance the first year the Yankees go into sell mode happens to be Derek Jeter’s last season. No chance whatsoever. They’ll try and fail to acquire Smardja, and then acquire Brandon Mccarthy for Gary Sanchez, Jose Pirela, Greg Bird, Peter O’brien, and Ian Clarkin.
  - The Other Matt
    
    I’d personally hire Donald Trump for the Yankees to have him fire Brian Cashman if that were to happen.
- Need Pitching & Hitting
  
  Pretty sure Kuroda has another NTC, and he’s refused to be traded before.
  
  Also, Kuroda hasn’t been all that good, and he’s making a lot of money.
  Yankees would probably have to eat a lot of $$ to have any chance at a decent return.
http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

A lot of baseball experts thought this was KC’s year?

Who exactly?
- Daniel
  
  Mike Axisa.
- The Other Matt
  
  And every analysts in the world thought the Nationals would win 100 games and the World Series last year. Coming into the year everybody swore that the AL East was up for grabs and every team had a legitimate shot at winning the division, except for the Blue Jays. Things happen. Baseball is a funny game, and can be very difficult to predict.
WhittakerWalt

“Jeter grounded to short his first time”

WOW, really?
Daniel

To me, David Phelps is in a dead even tie for worst pitcher on the roster with Matt Thornton.
The Other Matt

Phelps needed that. Would be nice to put some runs on the board here this inning, or at least a run, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Tom

I know folks keep saying “Jeter is not moving out of the 2 spot”, but is there any sort of time where it actually has to happen, outside of when Jeter retires at the end of the year? Short of Jeter going to Girardi and initiating the move himself, is there any point at which Girardi makes a move or is that just wishful thinking?

He has a .620 OPS now. I know the Yankees have plenty of offensive problems but, your #2 hitting that way is taking an already bad offense and making it worse. It won’t solve the problems but don’t you have to make any improvement you can at this point?

If he goes sub .600, do they still keep running him out as the #2 hitter?
- TheRealGreg
  
  But if they do that, does that solve any problems right now? To me it doesn’t.
  - Need Pitching & Hitting
    
    Solve? No.
    At least slightly help? Probably
    
    They need every little bit of help they can get.
- CashmanNinja
  
  I love Jeter, but he has got to move down now. He is KILLING us in the #2 hole. We need to have something like Gardner lead off and Ellsbury in the #2 hole. Put our 2 best table setters in position to have runners on base with less than 2 outs (since even if the lead off guy gets on Jeter will ground into a double play).
  - TheRealGreg
    
    Jeter has ground into only 5 DPs this year.
  - Paisa
    
    give him the month of june, let him swing the bat in warmer weather, and make a decision from there.
28 this year

Wow Soriano is awful.
WhittakerWalt

Soriano is SO done. Like, he needs to retire yesterday kind of done.
CashmanNinja

Soriano fucking sucks. DFA this guy because he is seriously done.
TheRealGreg

That right there shows just moving Jeter down will solve very little
- Rolling Doughnut
  
  He’s 19th in wRC+ and 21st in fWAR amon shortstops. Below average but not rock bottom. The 76 OPS+ is terrible though. So you’re only going to get singles out of him. Not a pretty way to go out but it could be worse I guess.
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    “Below average but not rock bottom…Not a pretty way to go out but it could be worse I guess.”
    
    Man, it’s just sad to read that.
nycsportzfan

Looks like the Duff’ster is in domination mode of our very bleak lineup. At least score Yanks.
Daniel

Soriano just isn’t an everyday player. It happens to them all. And it wouldn’t be a problem if they hadn’t gone and singed that other guy who also isn’t an everyday player in Beltran to a 3 year deal. They seem to collect these types.
- TheRealGreg
  
  And whose fault is that?
  - Daniel
    
    I blame myself.
    - WhittakerWalt
      
      So do I.
nycsportzfan

3 straight pop ups for Murphy in that AB. He had no chance.
Brandon

Duffy is good, but are the Yankees going to get shut down by every single pitcher? Fuck this offense blows
TheRealGreg

Now this offense sucks and Danny Duffy is a very good young pitcher. I smell a shutout.
- nycsportzfan
  
  I agree, and it smells like shit.
- WhittakerWalt
  
  Yup, the makings of yet another “tip your cap” game.
nycsportzfan

This kinda game has happened to the Yanks almost every other game. Usually they at least scrape something together though. I honestly think they might be the worst offense against Lefties i’ve seen in yrs. Every lefty in the world shuts this offense down.
- WhittakerWalt
  
  Even when they do score it takes some kind of divine intervention/lucky bounce/bad defense to get it done. Even a mediocre pitcher can knock the bats out of their hands.
  - nycsportzfan
    
    Every time you look up the batters in a 0-2 1-2 count. THen they easily groove a fastball that is almost always missed by every one in the lineup.
    
    As I say this , Ellsbury 0-2 count and just missed meat dead red fastball.
TheRealGreg

Axisa said it best:

“The game of baseball has changed. The Yankees haven’t changed with it.”

That’s why we are where we are.
- Daniel
  
  A lot of people have been saying that exactly for like years.
- Rolling Doughnut
  
  Good teams come and go. True dynasties are rare. The Yanks have been alternately bad with some terrible squads to good with some great squads since ’65. Seems kind of like a natural thing to me. Fans from the 90’s were spoiled into thinking the Yanks would be great every year.
  - TheRealGreg
    
    And that “spoiling” is one of the reasons why Cashman and the trust blew up the $189 plan. He saw the ratings and the attendance figures.
Yangeddard Solarte

Another 1-2-3 inning for BGDP, just one inning away from a QS. It’s not his fault the offense never scores any runs for him.
- TheRealGreg
  
  You are an idiot.
- WhittakerWalt
  
  You’re a joke.
- Daniel
  
  I agree with you.
- WhittakerWalt
  
  Please proceed…
nycsportzfan

Over/under 1.5runs for Yanks in this one?
- nycsportzfan
  
  I’d love to take the over by the way but I just don’t see it. I’ve tried to stay optimistic because of where the Yanks are in the standings(wildcard), but this offense is gonna weigh us down. Were getting a good game outta Phelps but can’t do a thing with Duffy.
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    Phelps has been extremely lucky to only have given up 3 runs.
  - TheRealGreg
    
    Not really. 7 hits given up by Phelps, including 3 doubles.
    
    Remember Royals are a bad offense too.
    - nycsportzfan
      
      Hes kept us in the game and is 3outs away from a quality start. Thats good enough from our 4th-5th rotation guy on the road.
      - WhittakerWalt
        
        That’s why the quality start is a foolish stat. This has not been quality pitching.
        
        nycsportzfan
        
        Its a foolish stat why? Because it dosen’t support your argument? It says dude kept you in the game. No one said Phelps threw a David Wells gem, but hes def done enough to keep us in the game and the offense has done less then nothing.
        
        WhittakerWalt
        
        It’s a foolish stat because it doesn’t tell the real story of how he’s pitching. In this particular game Phelps was fooling no one, and got lucky for a long period of time. Then he walked two guys in a row and threw a meatball. He pitched like shit and it finally caught up with him.
        
        Also, 4.5 runs per nine is what your “quality start” works out to. That’s not quality.
      - TheRealGreg
        
        With our offense, what does “kept in the game” mean?
        
        nycsportzfan
        
        Still a Sv situation.
    - Rolling Doughnut
      
      3 runs in 5 innings. No great shakes but not terrible either, IMHO.
      - nycsportzfan
        
        Exactly. At worst, it should be 3-1 3-2 score. But when you can’t even get a single run when your 4th starter is giving up 3runs, you’ll lose 100 outta 100 times.
      - WhittakerWalt
        
        But he’s getting drubbed. It should be more like 5-6 runs. Remember Moustakas gave away an out, and they held the runner at third another time.
        
        nycsportzfan
        
        It should be what you say but yet its 3-1 with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Thank you for keeping us in this one David.
        
        WhittakerWalt
        
        How’s that working out for you?
        
        Rolling Doughnut
        
        He is getting hit hard but there was also a blooper and a seeing eye single that set up two runs.
- Lukasz
  
  Under, the Yankees are OPS’ing .551 in June, and that number is going even further down after tonight’s game
  - nycsportzfan
    
    I was thinking under yet hoping like hell the over hit. We got one at least.
- Tom
  
  Over.
  
  The Yankees at some point will wave the white flag. Betances and DRob are off tonight and Warren is the closer (which means on the road he is only allowed to pitch with a lead).
  
  So at some point the French guy from Friends, Thornton, Daley will give up a couple of runs and the Yankees will scratch together a couple of runs until KC brings in their big guns at the end of the bullpen to shut things down.
  
  They might even push a run or two across against Duffy (and then KC will go to their good bullpen arms)
  - nycsportzfan
    
    The over baby!!!
nycsportzfan

Gardy, Jeter , and Ells gotta get on base. I mean, come on! Thats what those 3 are made to do in baseball.
nycsportzfan

Its hard to keep my eyes open when were up.
nycsportzfan

Boring!
- nycsportzfan
  
  Belty and Solarte have awaken me!
The Other Matt

Vasgersian speaking about the precarious situation regarding the All-Star game this year, with the 1B and DH spots for the American League. Granted, Joe Mauer is going to end up in the game because he’s Joe Mauer and it’s being played at Target Field, but honestly he doesn’t deserve to go. But that’s neither here nor there, because he will be there, regardless. But I envision a situation where, similar to last year when Josh Donaldson was left off the team, although deserving, Brandon Moss may end up being left off the team although he is deserving. Just for the 1B and DH spots you have Jose Abreu, Miggy, Edwin Encarnacion, David Ortiz, V-Mart, Albert Pujols, and Nelson Cruz. Not all of those guys can go, no matter how many players are on the all-star team. And when Mauer makes the team ahead of one or more of those guys, it’s going to be a bit inequitable to say the least.
- Daniel
  
  This is why I put almost no stock in the All Star game to begin with.
- fred robbins
  
  you talk about someone not deserving to be an All Star starter? what about Jeter– he should only be an honorary member of the team, not a starting regular. They lose most of the games he starts and seem to win when he sits. When he sits he can’t make either physical or mental errors or hit weak ground balls.
nycsportzfan

Another thing this team sucks at is hitting fastballs. And it sucks, because nowadays almost everyone throws 95.
Silvio

Why do these network guys waste time with their show-bizzy interviews?
The Other Matt

It would actually be quite nice if Carlos Beltran managed to get a hit here.
- The Other Matt
  
  Ok. Ok. Ok. Me likey.
nycsportzfan

There ya go Beltran.
No 2013 again

Beltran is alive!
Lukasz

>yankees offense this year
nycsportzfan

Solarte!!!
Tom

Bit surprised Solarte is seeing anything to hit in this AB. I realize righhty is his weaker platoon, but….
- Tom
  
  God bless the Royals!
  
  Not exactly the sharpest spoons in the drawer!
Winter

YES! YANGERVIS!
http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

YANGERVIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
forensic

Have I mentioned lately how horrible Sterling is?
- WhittakerWalt
  
  Mention it again. I’m furious with him.
WhittakerWalt

Fucking Sterling. Goddamn idiot. Wait to see whether it’s going out before you launch into your inane bullshit calls.
- Winter
  
  To be fair, Beltran clobbered it. I thought it was gone off the bat, too.
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    But Sterling got through the whole call, all the way through “It is gone!” before correcting himself.
  - forensic
    
    Yeah, but he didn’t even do his normal ‘it is high, it is far, it is… off the wall’ or ‘it bounced’. He finished it all the way off with ‘it is GONE!!!’
  - http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ
    
    Yankee Stadium it would have been.
Winter

C’mon Solarte. Just a single.
- Winter
  
  YES!
Yangeddard Solarte

WHERE ARE YOU NOW GREG!!!!! BGDP outlasted Duffy, kept us in the ballgame and now it’s tied. And you all buried him. Funny what a few runs will do for you.
- Daniel
  
  I was with you the whole time. Or most of the time.
Lukasz

OMGOMGOMGOMG RUN!!!

I thought these were banned by Bloomberg
Yangeddard Solarte

WE ARE TIED! CARLOS! SOLEY! BGDP IS NOW TIED!!!!!
mustang

SOLOAR!!!!!!
Rolling Doughnut

~~If it’s a righty~~ don’t let Soriano hit.
Lukasz

SOLARTEEEEE!!!!
The Other Matt

A little bit of life. Better continue to try and score as many runs as they can this inning, because as of late it’s always been one inning and then nothing else.
Paisa

I thought for sure Cain was gonna fuck them over right there. I still have night mares of his defense at Yankee Stadium last year.
TheRealGreg

But now the pressure goes back to David Phelps. The Yankees offense has picked him up (amazingly). So now it is up to him
Tom

SO they pitch to Solarte (with Soriano on deck)

And they bring in a righty to face Soriano? (Which should allow Girardi to now safely PH Ichiro)

It is Christmas already?
- TheRealGreg
  
  Girardi played the Grinch.
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    “Sori’s my guy, we need to get him going”
No 2013 again

For a guy known for his binder, that was about as dumb as it gets
No 2013 again

Its that time to cut soriano
TheRealGreg

I don’t agree with Joe there. They should have PH for Soriano.
- Rolling Doughnut
  
  Damn straight. Soriano needs to sit. Period.
- http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ
  
  I’m surprised he made contact.
TheRealGreg

Oh David….
WhittakerWalt

Waldman is so full of shit with her excuse-making. “This offense just isn’t gelling” is not a sufficient explanation for poor hitting. This is not a basketball or football team, where you need to learn your teammates and offensive schemes. Baseball is just you at the dish. Hit or don’t. There’s no amount of teamwork or intestinal fortitude or any of that shit. Just hit.
- Daniel
  
  Hahaha. I’ve never heard anyone use the term “gelling” when talking about a baseball offense. That’s priceless.
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    She’s a complete fool.
Rolling Doughnut

Huge zone tonight.
Need Pitching & Hitting

For fuck’s sake…
TheRealGreg

Yeah “Big Game” Yankees tie up the game and then you walk the first two batters.
WhittakerWalt

Way to go, BGDP. We just got you off the hook.
Need Pitching & Hitting

Any word on anybody being unavailable out of the pen today?

I’d guess DRob and Betances are probably out.
- JGYank
  
  Well Betances Warren and Drob have all pitched 2 out of the last 3 days, but it looks like they won’t be needed now. It looks like Thornton is warming up.
- Tom
  
  Warren’s also probably unavailable until the 9th inning or later with a lead (I assume he is designated closer?)
  - Need Pitching & Hitting
    
    Probably.
  - Need Pitching & Hitting
    
    And Phelps is making it irrelevant.
Michahiro Pinaka

Dammit.
CashmanNinja

Add Phelps onto the list of players that fucking suck on this team.
- Daniel
  
  The list doesn’t work that way. Because there are more players that do than don’t suck. So keep him on the list as it is.
JGYank

Glad we tied this up. But we have to pull Phelps. Now.
mustang

Seriously depressing
http://www.staggeringbeauty.com/ ALZ

don’t cough it back now.
BigBlueAL

At least the Big 3 out of the bullpen will get the night off…
Rolling Doughnut

But hey Betances will be available tomorrow.
CashmanNinja

So right after giving up a 3 run bomb he gives up a triple. Fucking crap.
Rolling Doughnut

One more run and turn it over to da Gangsta
TheRealGreg

YEAH WHERE’S YOUR QUALITY START NOW?
The Other Matt

Tic Tic ……… BOOM !
BigBlueAL

If I dont ever see Phelps start another game I wont be disappointed.
- Winter
  
  Okay, who would you have start in his place?
  - BigBlueAL
    
    Unfortunately nobody else right now. Thats why I mentioned earlier tonight that this team will not go on ab extended good stretch as long as Phelps and Nuno are in the rotation. I mean Whitley is the 3rd best SP in the rotation right now for god’s sake.
  - Need Pitching & Hitting
    
    David Huff is available ;)
    - BigBlueAL
      
      Wade LeBlanc to the rotation!!
28 this year

Great work phelps. Can’t throw a freakin strike
Tom

And that should just about do it…
The Other Matt

One more run in and I’d say it’s Wade LeBlanc time.
Daniel

Oh this is beyond over. Goodnight everyone. David Phelps is a middle reliever, nothing more, possibly much less. Perfect example of a career AAAA pitcher. Unbelievable.
luigi

Jason Hammel never looked so good.
Need Pitching & Hitting

I know the bullpen is short, but don’t you have to at least give Daley or Ramirez a shot here?
- CashmanNinja
  
  I get that guys can be tired, but you know what? This is when players put on their big boy pants and get worked a little harder than usual. You don’t want to wear guys down too much, but in the end they have a job to do. They can thank Phelps for not being able to hold the other team to a limited amount of runs. Unless this offense scores a ton (which won’t happen) then it looks like it’s impossible to win with most of the pitchers we have.
- Rolling Doughnut
  
  Right. Phelps has been hit hard all night, and Joe sends him out to face KC’s best hitters. Stupid.
The Other Matt

And with that, this game is effectively over.
Axis of Mike

I just don’t get why Joe didn’t pull him. It was so obvious. Jeez, bullpen fatigue just doesn’t cut it. Do you wanna win or not?
WhittakerWalt

Let’s hear more about Phelps’s awesome quality start, shall we?
TheRealGreg

I know they are going to lose, but Damn, that feels good to say.

What happened to BGDP? What happened to a quality start? What happened to “It’s not his fault the offense doesn’t score?”
mustang

Do they even have a bullpen?

Mother fucker!!!!
JGYank

After struggling through 5 for the most part and walking back to back guys to start of the 6th, I would say that’s a good time to go to the pen. Phelps clearly didn’t have it tonight and it was a only matter of time until he let things get out of hand with all the baserunners he gives up.
TheRealGreg

David Phelps entered that inning with 65 pitches. So fatigue is not an excuse for that. Why Joe didn’t pull him? Judgement call, didn’t work.

But that’s all on David Phelps.
TheRealGreg

I would pulled Phelps after the home run. So in the end, when I would have pulled him and when Joe pulled him didn’t change the outcome.
Lukasz

Giving up three run homeruns to a dude wit .400 SLG is not a good way to win games
- JGYank
  
  That’s about league average. I know it’s righty vs. righty and the ballpark is big, but a .400 SLG is not bad at all especially considering he hits in pitchers park. It’s also higher than the Yanks SLG right now.
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    “It’s also higher than the Yanks SLG right now.”
    
    Damning with faint praise.
    - JGYank
      
      Point is he get can get XBH.
      - JGYank
        
        *he can get XBH
TheRealGreg

Some days you have to put on your big boy pants and pitch. David Phelps needed to do that against a bad offense and failed.
http://www.penuel-law.com/ Cuso

That’s 2014, for ya. Let the ROYALS get 7 runs.
Axis of Mike

Now, this is what really mystifies me. You didn’t pull him because winning the game wasn’t important enough to work the pen, but now that the game is probably unwinnable the pen can suck it?
- Rolling Doughnut
  
  Dumb. I mean, completely fucked dumb.
  - Need Pitching & Hitting
    
    It shows he has no confidence at all in the Thornton, Ramirez, Daley, LeBlanc portion of the bullpen (can’t really blame him much on that).
    They can pitch down 4, but in a tie game he’d rather roll with the starter. (Though that trust in Phelps wasn’t exactly warranted)
Rolling Doughnut

Now Joe takes him out ffsake. Pssst. Joe: coulda done that 2/3 of an inning ago.
- TheRealGreg
  
  I don’t think so.
  
  BB, BB (Larry goes out) HR.
  
  When’s he going to pull him that changes the outcome?
  - forensic
    
    Well, Mr. Fallacy, pulling him anytime in there could’ve changed the outcome. But, the obvious time would’ve been after the back-to-back walks to start the inning.
  - Rolling Doughnut
    
    I meant the 5th should have been his last inning.
    - Rolling Doughnut
      
      But at least after walking the first two in the 6th Joe should have pulled him.
  - http://www.penuel-law.com/ Cuso
    
    After the triple?
Frankie Beans

Joe is a terrible manager. His world series ring camouflages most Yankee fans.
- Need Pitching & Hitting
  
  And I thought it was the empty seats at YS3 that camouflaged the fans.
TheRealGreg

I want to ask, when would you guys have pulled David Phelps.
- JGYank
  
  After the back to back walks.
- Rolling Doughnut
  
  He got hit hard in every inning. You said so yourself. He should not have come out for the 6th against KC’s best hitters. But at least after the walks he should have been yanked.
  - TheRealGreg
    
    He was at 65 pitches. Joe wants to save the bullpen. He was coming out to start the inning.
    
    After two walks, Larry goes out and the bullpen is warming. Who’s going out there?
    - WhittakerWalt
      
      Bullpen should have been up earlier.
forensic

I guess Suzyn doesn’t quite understand the concept of a postgame show and that YES still has one.
JGYank

Remember when the Royals were struggling to hit homers?
No 2013 again

10 hits, 7 runs and even managed to walk 2.. What a joke
Daniel

I find this team more frustrating to watch than last years, really. At least last year’s team had an excuse. They were supposed to be horrible. I’m not saying this team is supposed to be great, but still.
WhittakerWalt

“He’s not just Big Game James because he wins big games, he is such a leader for this team”

I can’t imagine a more bullshit, full of shit sentence than this one.
Jmpnyy

Yanks should take a flier on Jim Johnson as a middle man.Oakland is willing to eat $$$.At least he has had success. FFA Daley, get JJ and keep Ramirez.