Triple-A Scranton (4-3 win over Buffalo)
Kevin Russo, 3B: 0 for 5, 1 K
Eduardo Nunez, SS: 4 for 5, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 SB, 1 CS – helluva game right there
Jesus Montero, C: 1 for 3, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 PB – still waiting for that elusive first homer, but it’ll come … don’t worry
David Winfree, 1B-RF: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Jon Weber, DH: 1 for 5
Chad Huffman, LF & Reegie Corona, 2B: both 1 for 4, 1 K – Huffman threw a runner out at the plate … Corona drove in a run, walked & stole a base
Colin Curtis, CF-RF: 1 for 2, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 HBP
Greg Golson, CF: 0 for 4, 1 K – Juan Miranda pinch hit for him late, hence all the outfield moves
Ivan Nova: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 11-2 GB/FB – 61 of 96 pitches were strikes (63.5%) … 18-3 K/BB ratio in 17.2 IP
Royce Ring: 0.1 IP, zeroes, 1-0 GB/FB – threw three pitches, just one strike
Mark Melancon: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 4-0 GB/FB – 17 of 25 pitches were strikes (68%)
Jon Albaladejo: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2-0 Gb/FB – nine of his ten pitches were strikes
Yanks score early and often as Burnett shuts down Texas
Just like the second half of last season, we sit and watch every game this year expecting the Yankees to win. They’ve delivered on seven of ten occasions coming into Saturday’s game against the Rangers, and they took the field with a chance to win their first four series of the season for the first time since 1926. Using a little bit of the classic wear ’em down approach, the Yankees had this one in the bag after three innings.
Biggest Play: Nick Johnson’s bases loaded walk
For the second time this young season, the biggest offensive play of the game was Nick Johnson working a bases loaded walk. Rangers’ starter Scott Feldman came into the game having walked just one batter total in his first two starts, but Johnson drew one in the 1st and came back for more the next inning.
Jorge Posada, Brett Gardner, and Derek Jeter were on base after three singles, and Feldman had already thrown 25 pitches in the inning.Johnson, as he tends to do, took the first pitch even though it was probably the best pitch he saw all game; a fastball belt high and down the middle. A curveball low and two sinkers off the plate later, the Yankees’ designated hitter was staring at a 3-1 count. Johnson let loose in the classic hitter’s count, fouling off a sinker. Two more foul balls later, Feldman’s pitch count in the inning was up to 32 and he was visibly gassed. It’s exactly what the lineup is designed to do, to wear down the opposing team’s pitching staff. The eighth pitch of the at-bat was a cutter high, putting Johnson on first and pushing the first run of the game across the plate.
The Yankees would go on to score another run in the inning for a quick 2-0 lead, and Feldman’s pitch count through the first two frames was over 50.
Biggest Out: Nick Swisher’s fly out
An inning after Johnson gave the Yankees the lead, the other New York Nick stepped to the plate with a chance to really blow things open. Posada and Curtis Granderson were stationed at second and third with one out, chasing Feldman from the game after he needed 73 pitches to record seven outs. Reliever Doug Mathis came in and was able to retire Nick Swisher on three pitches, getting him to fly out to shallow left, keeping Posada on third.
Even though the Yanks were able to score four runs in the inning after Swish recorded the second out, it could have been a whole lot more if he reached base.
Biggest Pitch: Michael Young’s fly out
Just as soon as the Yanks took a 2-0 lead, Texas threatened to get some back the very never inning. Taylor Teagarden was standing on third with two outs, and in stood Michael Young, who believe it or not had more hits than Derek Jeter from 2004 through 2009. Instead of waiting out the perpetually wild A.J. Burnett, Young offered at the first pitch, a 93 mph heater in on his hands, flying out harmlessly to Swisher in right. The threat was over, and the two run lead remained just that.
Burnett rolls along
Perhaps more than any other pitcher on the Yankees staff, Burnett has the potential to go out on any given day and throw a one-hit shutout or give up nine runs in two innings. You could either be upset that he’s inconsistent, or enjoy the surprise every time he pitches.
Today, Burnett kept the Rangers’ hitters off balance all day with his usual mix of fastballs and curves. He got 14 swings and misses in his seven innings of work, all of them coming on a fastball. Five of the six hits he allowed were singles, and his biggest jam of the day – bases loaded, one out in the 5th – didn’t come until after he was staked to a seven run lead.
Seven shutout innings is more than you can ask from any starter, and Burnett was kind enough to deliver on Saturday. Over his last two outings, the Yanks’ number two starter has allowed just a pair of runs in 14 innings.
Happy Moments
Michael Kay had starting bringing attention to it with each at-bat, so it was good to see Alex Rodriguez hit his first homerun of the year. It was a solo shot just to the right of the Yankees’ bullpen, and it pushed him ahead of Mark McGwire for sole possession of eighth on the all-time homerun list. He’s now 16 away from 600.
When’s the last time the Yankees had a team that could beat out three infield singles in one inning? Granderson, Gardner, and Jeter turned the trick in the 5th, and even though they didn’t score, it sure was fun watching a team that can run. Gardner had three hits on the day, none of which left the infield. He almost beat out a fourth too.
Ramiro Pena finally got an at-bat. Good for him.
Annoying Moments
Al Aceves was definitely not sharp, but he gets a pass because the Yanks were winning big and it was only his second appearance in the last 11 days. The three run homer he allowed to league leader Nelson Cruz ruined the shutout, but really did nothing in the grand scheme of things. The Yankees went from having a 99.2% chance of winning to 97.4%. Big whoop.
I don’t know what’s up with Joba Chamberlain pitching exclusively from the stretch, but I’m not sure I see the point. He’s been a starter and pitching from the windup his entire life, why change it up now? I see no reason for him to not work from the windup with no one on. No point in sacrificing stuff.
WPA Graph
Full player breakdowns are available at FanGraphs’ box score.
Next Up
These two teams finish up the series at 1:05pm ET tomorrow afternoon, Andy Pettitte vs. Rich Harden.
Charleston knocks around a top 2009 draftee
Triple-A Scranton (2-0 loss to Buffalo)
Kevin Russo, 3B, Chad Huffman, LF & Chad Moeller, C: all 0 for 3 – Russo drew a walk & K’ed … Moeller committed a throwing error & K’ed
Eduardo Nunez, SS & Jon Weber, DH: both 1 for 3, 1 K – Nunez stole a base while Weber got caught
Juan Miranda, 1B: 1 for 4, 2 K
David Winfree, RF: 0 for 4, 1 K
Colin curtis, CF & Reegie Corona, 2B: both 0 for 2, 1 BB – Curtis K’ed
Jason Hirsh: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 9-8 GB/FB – 63 of 88 pitches were strikes (71.6%) … thanks good enough to win most days, just not today
Jon Albaladejo: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 1-0 GB/FB – 7 of 8 pitches were strikes … how come he can’t do that in the show?
Open Thread: Another win
The Yankees won again this afternoon, and it feels like the second half of last year all over again. The starters are pitching well and the lineup is (for the most part) clicking. Mark Teixeira is still mired in his April slump, though he did pick up an infield single today. All four of his hits this season have come on Saturday’s, which means nothing but I guess is fine open thread fodder.
Anyway, here’s your open thread for the evening. You’ve got both playoff hockey and basketball on tonight, plus the Tigers and Mariners are on MLB Network. Talk about whatever you please, just be cool.
Granderson given the Marvin Miller Award
Via Tim Britton, Curtis Granderson was presented with the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award by the player’s union before today’s game. The award is given for outstanding on-field performance and off-field contributions to the community, which describes Granderson perfectly. The award was given to him by teammate Mark Teixeira, who is on the MLBPA’s executive board. Previous winners include Torii Hunter, Albert Pujols, John Smoltz, Jim Thome, and Michael Young.
Congrats to Grandy, who’s fit in with the Yankees like he’s been here for a decade. For more on Curtis’ off-field community service work, check out this excellent profile by Joe LaPointe from today’s Times.
Game 11: Right back at it
I heart day games on a Saturday, especially after last night’s game was cut short due to the weather. I’ll take the win, but I feel cheated out of high quality baseball. The quick turn around is always a pleasure, nothing like watching two games in the span on 22 hours or so. A.J Burnett gets the ball for the third time this season, and just like CC Sabathia last night, he’s coming off a strong performance against the Rays in Tampa. He’s going to be opposed by Scott Feldman, who surprised pretty much everyone last year.
Here’s the lineup…
Jeter, SS
Johnson, DH
Teixeira, 1B
A-Rod, 3B
Cano, 2B
Posada, C
Granderson, CF
Swisher, RF
Gardner, LF
And on the mound, Allen James Burnett.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:05pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.
Sabathia, Yanks roll in rain shortened contest
For the first time in 2010, the Yankees on Friday night played a team that hasn’t appeared in an American League Championship Series within the last two seasons. The Rangers haven’t made the playoffs in over a decade, but they’re a formidable opponent that features the league’s hottest hitter and some of the best young arms in the game. Luckily for the Yanks, they had their best on the mound to keep the hot start going as the team won a game shortened by rain 5-1.
Biggest Play: Curtis Granderson reaches on a fielder’s choice
All during the postseason, we saw the supposedly fundamentally sound Twins and Angels shoot themselves in the foot with botched plays game after game, and the same was true on Friday. Granderson stepped to the plate against lefty C.J. Wilson in the 4th inning with the bases juiced and the score tied at one. He fell behind 0-2 on fastballs before a third heater missed the zone for a ball. The fourth pitch was a slider that dove down, but Granderson got enough of it to tap it towards first. Long story short, Chris Davis threw the ball away as he attempted to turn the 3-6-3 double play (photo above), resulting in two runs for the Bombers.
As good as CC Sabathia was in this game (we’ll get to that a little later), Wilson matched him up until the 4th inning, and before the frame was over the Yankees led 4-1. With rain in the forecast and Sabathia on his game, that lead might as well have been 30.
Biggest Out: Nelson Cruz goes down on strikes
I’m going to go against the WPA grain here to say that Cruz’s backwards K to end the first was the biggest out of the night. Texas pushed across a run for a first inning lead when Vlad Guerrero drove in Michael Young on a sac fly, which brought the America League leader in homers (six), RBI (12), SLG (1.063), and OPS (1.510) to the plate with a man on second with two outs.
If Sabathia makes a mistake, there’s a very good chance the Yankees could have been down three runs before even coming to the plate, which changes everything. Instead, he got Cruz to foul off both a fastball and a changeup on the outer half for a quick 0-2 count, but couldn’t get him to commit to a slider and changeup in the dirt for the strikeout, so the count went even at 2-2. Cruz is a free swinger, but Sabathia and Frankie Cervelli didn’t mess around by trying to get him to chase something out of the zone, they went with the old reliable number one, pouring a 92 mph heater on the inside for a called strike three. The early threat was neutralized, the Yankees were down just one, and Sabathia would never look back.
For the record, WPA says that Michael Young’s fielder’s choice that saw Julio Borbon forced out at second with no outs in the 6th was the biggest out recorded by Sabathia on the night.
Carsten Charles In Charge
The only thing that could stop the Yankees’ ace tonight was Mother Nature. CC Sabathia rolled right through the Rangers’ lineup after the first inning, striking out six in a row from the 2nd through 4th innings, and retiring 12 in a row from the 2nd through 5th. He threw 61 pitches through the first five innings, just 11 of which were balls.
Rain forced Sabathia from the game after just six innings and 73 pitches (58 strikes, 79.5%), which might not have been the worst thing in the world considering his massive workload last season. Every little break helps. Of the 22 batters Sabathia faced, not one saw a three ball count, and just five worked a two ball count. Only two got a first pitch ball. Two! Take a look at this strike zone plot, that’s what pounding the zone looks like.
CC struck out nine or more five times last year, but the first instance didn’t come until August 8th. He beat that by nearly four months this year. His initials stood for cruise control on Friday night, he had it all working and threw everything for strikes. Over his last two starts, Sabathia’s allowed just six baserunners (four hits, two walks) and one run in 13.2 IP with 14 strikeouts. I thought this guy was supposed to struggle in April?
Happy Moments
It’s so easy to like Cervelli with his big doofy helmet and all out hustle and infectious energy, so it was fun to see him single in a run after Granderson’s fielder’s choice.
Brett Gardner stealing second on a pitch out. Fastest white guy in America. Granderson fouled off six pitches in an 11 pitch at-bat just prior to Gardner’s steal, which qualifies for one hell of an at-bat. Considering it was against a lefty, it’s even more impressive.
This win combined with the Blue Jays’ loss to the Angels gives the Yankees sole possession of first place in the AL East, and they’re tied with the Twins for the best record in the AL.
Annoying moments
There’s not much that could have bothered even the most pessimistic of fans this game. Nick Johnson got thrown out on a straight steal to end the 3rd, but the replay showed he was either safe, or damn close to it. That’s about it.
Oh, wait. What the hell Robbie Cano? Just one measly single tonight? That’s not going to cut it. He obviously needs Melky Cabrera or Larry Bowa or Mike Borzello.
WPA Graph
You can get the full breakdown at FanGraphs’ box score.
Quick turn around, as these two teams are back at it tomorrow afternoon at 1:05pm ET. A.J. Burnett goes for the good guys, Scott Feldman for the Rangers.