River Avenue Blues, A New York Yankees blog

Moose offers up some perspective
By Benjamin Kabak
Peter Abraham has a few choice words from Mike Mussina:
“We’re leading the wild card now and we want to stay after it. The last four days we haven’t played very well. We’ve been flat it seems like. We’ve got to get our heads on right and play with some energy.”

I was all set to write a post on this tonight, but Mussina summed up my feelings in fewer words. After dropping three of four this weekend, panic has set in a bit among Yankee fans. But the Yanks still lead the Wild Card, and they will win games. I think we’re see a re-energized Yankee team take the field behind Chien-Ming Wang on Tuesday night. Time to go for the kill. · (11) ·

Clemens undergoes MRI
By Joe Pawlikowski
After giving up five runs in four innings, Roger Clemens left the game today. His first stop: New York-Presbyterian Hospital for an MRI. Even if it comes up completely clean, he’ll miss his next start. Mike Mussina, who didn’t look very impressive but at least was hitting 88 and 89 on the YES gun in his 3.2 innings, will start in his place. · (1) ·

Sep

Another year in the books

By Mike Axisa in Down on the Farm. · Comments (11) ·

Today was the last day of the regular season for the 4 full season affiliates, who finished the year with a combined 329-236 record. As I said the other day, that record shows not only how much depth & talent the Yanks have in the minors, but it’s also a testament to the quality of coaching and instruction they have in place.

DotF will of course keep you updated on all the minor league playoff action.

Triple-A Scranton (8-5 win over Pawtucket) Scranton will take on Richmond in the first round of the AAA playoffs, which kicks off on Wednesday…Chad Jennings reports the that postseason rotation could be Steven White in Game 1, followed in order by The Ghost of Kei Igawa, Mighty Matt DeSalvo & Jeff Karstens
Brett Gardner: 4 for 5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 3 SB
Austin Jackson: 1 for 3, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 SB - even if it was just a 1 game cameo, how many of you had Ajax finishing the year in AAA?
Bronson Sardina: 2 for 5, 2 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 SB - his year was a lot better than it appears on the surface
Mike Kinkade: 1 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Eric Duncan: 2 for 2, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB - finished the year on a nice little 26 for 100 streak with 9 doubles, 1 triple, 3 homers, 24 RBI, 10 walks & 23 K
Andy Cannizaro: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B
Anthony Claggett: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HB – 41 of 63 pitches were strikes (65.1%)
Eric Hacker: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Ben Kozlowski: 1.1 IP, zeroes

Categories : Down on the Farm

Comments (11)

Andy Van Slyke will not pay that subway fare
By Benjamin Kabak
When the Tigers were in town a few weeks ago, Andy Van Slyke tried to jump the subway turnstiles at Yankee Stadium. As any astute fan knows, the transit cops lie in wait at the ends of games, and Van Slyke was slapped with a $60 ticket at the time. Read more about it at Second Ave. Sagas. · (2) ·

Sep

Game 138: It’s like the 2003 ALCS all over again

By Benjamin Kabak in Game Threads. · Comments (14) ·

Roger Clemens is starting with Mike Mussina ready in the bullpen. Sound familiar?

Meanwhile, to address a point that Rich raised in the comments to this post, at some point, Joe Torre simply has to go with someone else from the bullpen. Sure, these guys won’t be consistent, but they will get outs. Edwar Ramirez had one great inning yesterday, and he could have done that in the 7th with Joba in the 8th.

No one has a sure-fire bullpen anymore, but other managers trust their relievers enough to go to them in close games. If Torre is willing to use only two people when the Yanks are fighting for a game, the rest of Septembe — not to mention the playoffs — could be problematic too. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than watching Andy Pettitte, who has a history of elbow problems, throw 119 pitches in back-to-back starts.

The lineup that will face King Felix today:

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF

Categories : Game Threads

Comments (14)

Sep

And on the 119th pitch, Joe Torre awoke from his deep slumber

By Benjamin Kabak in Game Stories. Tags: Andy Pettitte · Comments (12) ·

At the end of the 6th inning during Sunday’s painfully long loss to the Devil Rays, Andy Pettitte had topped the 100-pitch mark. His 103rd pitch of the day resulted in an inning-ended force-out off the bat of Josh Wilson. At that point, the score stood at 2-1, and there was no way Joe Torre would let Andy Pettitte come back for the 7th. Right?

Well, not quite. Joe Torre sent Andy Pettitte to the mound, inexplicably, in the 7th. Before the start of that ill-fated inning, six of the last 10 batters to face Pettitte had reached base, and only a great throw by Johnny Damon had kept the game close. So with a very well-rested Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen, Torre opted to have Pettitte throw 16 more pitches.

Following an eight-pitch strike out of Akinori Iwaumura and a two-pitch single off the bat of Carl Crawford, I announced to Emma that Carlos Peña was due for a home run. So instead of going with a well-rested right-handed strike out artist, sleeping Joe left Andy Pettitte in. Peña obliged my prediction by crushing a ball about 700 feet over the right field wall. Finally, Joe came out of the dugout, but it was too little too.

Two innings later, he left the one-inning Edwar Ramirez in for a few batters too many, and by the time we looked up, much of the 54,000 fans at Yankee Stadium had left because the score was 8-2. Ouch.

Now, I know we dump on Joe Torre a lot, but why in the name of Phil Rizzuto would you have Andy Pettitte throw 119 pitches in a 2-1 game when he hadn’t been particularly effective since striking out the side in the 4th inning? Why not use your bullpen? Why not employ the ace-in-the-hole?

Earlier in the day, Joe Torre opined to the New York media that he wanted to return to manage the Yanks next season. With the team getting younger, I can’t think of a worse idea right now. Torre’s inept pitching management killed the team today. Who knows what it will do to the likes of Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and others who may come up through the system? We need a manager that knows what to do in a 2-1 game against the Devil Rays. Joe today proved that he isn’t necessarily the right one for the job. And it cost the Yanks a chance to widen their Wild Card lead on the eve of a series against the Mariners.

Categories : Game Stories

Comments (12)

Sep

Reinforcements arrive for Trenton’s playoff drive

By Mike Axisa in Down on the Farm. · Comments (13) ·

Hey that rhymes!

Triple-A Scranton (4-0 win over Pawtucket)
Brett Gardner: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB - boosts his BA up to .244
Eric Duncan, Bronson Sardinha & Raul Chavez: all 0 for 4 – Duncan K’ed twice…Sardinha drove a run in & swiped a bag
Mike Kinkade: 1 for 2, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 SB, 1 HBP
Jose Cruz Jr.: 3 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 K
Angel Chavez, Andy Cannizaro & Juan Francia: all 1 for 4 – Chavez swiped a bag & allowed a passed ball…Cannizaro doubled & K’ed…Francia scored a run & stole a base
Jeff Karstens: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, 1 WP – 61 of 88 pitches were strikes (69.3%)…this can’t be the same Jeff Karstens that we saw 2 weeks ago, can it?
Ross Ohlendorf: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
TJ Beam: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K – since coming off the DL on June 23rd, he’s got a 27-3 K/BB ratio in 31.2 IP

Categories : Down on the Farm

Comments (13)

Sep

Game 137: Just win baby

By Mike Axisa in Game Threads. · Comments (37) ·

Joba’s fosh 2 game suspension is over and he’s available out of the ‘pen. Pity the D-Rays.

Lineup:

1. Johnny Damon, LF – how good has he been out in left?
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. AL MVP, 3B
5. Hideki “don’t call me Kaz” Matsui, DH
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Robbie Cano, 2B
8. Andy Phillips, 1B
9. Melky Cabrera, CF

Toeing the rubber is Andy Pettitte, who’s been every bit the ace that no one outside of Yankeeland said he would be.

(sorry for the pathetic post, I guess that’s what happens when you leave it to the minor league guy to cover the big league squad)

Categories : Game Threads

Comments (37)

May 2nd, 2007
By Mike Axisa
On that date, I first referred to Ian Kennedy as IPK.

Fast forward 4 months and you’ll see that blogging juggernauts Peter Abraham and No Maas have begun to freely use the moniker.

I’m not looking to gloat or anything like that, I just think it’s pretty cool that it’s spread like it has, and hopefully I get a tiny bit of credit for it somewhere down the line. · (8) ·

Sep

Near no-no for Scranton

By Mike Axisa in Down on the Farm. · Comments (10) ·

So big ups to Clay Buchholz for throwing a no-hitter in his second career start.

What? No smart ass comment here, that’s a helluva thing. I wish Hughes coulda finished it off.

Triple-A Scranton (11-2 win over Pawtucket)
Brett Gardner: 0 for 4, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Jose Cruz Jr.: 0 for 3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Bronson Sardinha: 1 for 3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB – .251-.334-.436-.770, but it seems like it should be alot worse
Angel Chavez: 1 for 4, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
Eric Duncan: 2 for 4, 2 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB – 10 hits (5 doubles) & 9 RBI in his last 9 games
Raul Chavez: 2 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K
Mighty Matt: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, 1 WP – a few too many walks, but hard to argue with no hits
Scott Patterson: 3 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 0-8 GB/FB – beast
Charlie Manning: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – coughed up the no-no with 2 outs in the 9th
Colter Bean: 0.1 IP, zeroes, 1 K