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Yanks win game, lose Pettitte in sweep of Tribe

June 27, 2012 by Mike Axisa 31 Comments

The Yankees pulled out a nail-biting 5-4 win to sweep the Indians on Wednesday — their fifth straight win and 15th in the last 18 games — but they lost quite a bit as well. Before the game the team announced that CC Sabathia was placed on the DL with a left adductor strain, and during the game Andy Pettitte was struck by a batted ball that fractured his ankle. Just like that, two-fifths of the rotation is gone.

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Zombie

The Yankees forced Cleveland’s pitchers to throw a total of 83 pitches (!) in the first inning this series, but they were unable to capitalize on Ubaldo Jimenez’s two first inning walks on Wednesday. The Tribe took a one-zip lead in the second and Ubaldo settled a bit, retiring nine in a row before Robinson Cano singled with one out in the fourth. It was New York’s first hit of the game.

Mark Teixeira struck out on a nasty Bartolo Colon-esque inside two-seamer, but Raul Ibanez managed to work a walk before Eric Chavez drove a two-run, two-out double the other way into the left-center field gap. Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me, but I don’t remember Chavez hitting balls with this much authority last year. Last season it seemed to be an awful lot of ground ball singles and stuff like that, but now he’s driving the ball well and being rewarded with extra-base hits. His latest gave the Bombers a 2-1 lead.

The Bad Inning

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Everything seemed to go wrong in the top of the fifth. The inning started with Pettitte’s injury, a hard-hit one-hopper that resulted in Casey Kotchman’s infield single. Joe Girardi went to Cody Eppley, but another infield single put two men on. A sac bunt moved them up to second and third with one out. Clay Rapada came in to get a ground ball to first, a ball that was hit hard enough for Chavez to make the throw home to keep the run from scoring.

Freddy Garcia — Friday’s scheduled starter at that point — was warming up in the bullpen but Girardi elected to keep Rapada in to face the switch-hitting Asdrubal Cabrera. I know he’s been quite good of late, but Rapada is awful against right-handed batters (career .439 wOBA against) and he predictably allowed the game-tying single. Jason Kipnis, a lefty, followed with a bloop single to give the Indians a 3-2 lead. I like that Girardi matched up in an effort to escape the jam in the middle innings, but he ended up having to bring Freddy into the game in the middle of the inning anyway. Garcia struck out Jose Lopez but the damage was done, both on the scoreboard and to Pettitte.

(Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

En Fuego

Cano has been his team’s hottest hitter of late, coming into this game with a .331/.407/.703 batting line in his last 46 games and six homers in his last nine games. He made it seven homers in ten games with a two-run shot in the sixth, a two-strike opposite field job off Ubaldo after Alex Rodriguez started the inning with a double to right. I didn’t think Robbie got enough of it for a homer, but it definitely looked like extra bases off the bat. The ball just kept carrying though, and it clanked off the front wall of the left field bleachers. It didn’t just sneak over the fence. Cano’s been coming up with some monster hits of late, and this one turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead.

Shutdown

I feel like Garcia’s 2.1 innings are going to get lost in the mix of everything else that happened, but he was the unsung hero of the day. Pettitte was out of the game and Freddy retired all seven men he faced to give the offense a chance to get back in it. You know what this was? It was a vintage 2009 Al Aceves appearance. Garcia came in, soaked up some innings, and kept the Yankees in the game. He deserves some serious props for his effort on Wednesday, and his reward is a start in Pettitte’s place on Monday.

David Robertson took over in the eighth and threw a rare 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. The Yankees tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the inning — Chavez singled in Teixeira, so a big day for him — and that run proved to be important because Rafael Soriano had a tough time in the ninth. Pitching for the fourth time in five days, he loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before walking in a run and escaping the jam on a Cabrera fly ball. He also struck out the oh-so-clutch Johnny Damon for the second out. It wasn’t pretty but it was effective.

Aaron Cunningham really wanted to get to second. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Leftovers

I feel like I should mention the defense a bit. A-Rod made a throwing error in the second that led to the first run of the game, though Jayson Nix made a sweet bare hand play on a slow chopper in the same inning. Nix also made a nice tag on the pickoff play you see above to end the inning. Chavez made a real nice stretch to corral an errant Cano throw to end the third, then he teamed up with Russell Martin for the play at the plate in the fifth. There was a little bit of good and a little bit of bad with the gloves, which is kinda par for the course these days.

The 3-7 hitters went a combined 7-for-17 with two doubles, a homer, and three walks. The other four lineup spots went a combined 0-for-14 with one walk, a stolen base (by Curtis Granderson after that walk) and seven strikeouts. As a team, the Yankees went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position and 8-for-19 (.421) in the series. It’s almost like hitting .220-something in those spots with this lineup wasn’t going to last forever.

Yet again, MLB.com won’t let me embed it, but here is video of Wednesday’s HOPE Week event. The Yankees brought five-year-old Andy Fass to Yankee Stadium and played tee-ball with him after the game. Andy suffers from a rare disease called oculocutaneous albinism, which impacts his eyesight and skin pigmentation. He’s legally blind and has to avoid long exposure to the sun. Suddenly losing two starting pitchers in one day doesn’t seem so bad.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the advanced stats, and ESPN the updated standings. The Red Sox won and the Rays lost, so the Yankees are currently seven games up in the loss column on both.


Source: FanGraphs

Up Next

The Yankees have played every AL team but one so far this season, and that will change Thursday night when the White Sox come to town for a four-game series. Ivan Nova will kick things off against rookie right-hander Dylan Axelrod. Check out RAB Tickets if you want to head up to the Stadium for that one.

Filed Under: Game Stories

Betances demotion headlines night on the farm

June 27, 2012 by Mike Axisa 33 Comments

A trio of notes…

  • Big Story: RHP Dellin Betances was demoted to Double-A Trenton. Something had to be done here, the poor kid must have zero confidence left after these last three months. Hopefully getting away from the traveling circus in Triple-A and closer to home allows him to catch his breath for a bit and get back on track. RHP Preston Claiborne went from Double-A to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
  • Medium Story: RHP Adam Miller was released. I kinda called it after his latest dud outing last night. Miller was a very intriguing minor league free agent pickup as a former top prospect, but it just wasn’t working out. He wasn’t missing bats or consistently throwing strikes.
  • Small Story: Triple-A Empire State has just one All-Star representative: LHP Juan Cedeno. DH Jack Cust, UTIL Ronnie Mustelier, and RHP Ramon Ortiz all had great All-Star cases, though Mustelier may not have been with the team long enough. I guess they just wanted to go prospect-heavy for the first time in basically ever.

Triple-A Empire State (3-2 win over Gwinnett)
CF Chris Dickerson: 3-4, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 K, 1 SB — nine extra-base hits in 16 games since coming off the DL
C Frankie Cervelli & LF Ronnie Mustelier: both 1-3, 1 RBI, 2 K — Cervelli got hit by a pitch … Mustelier drew a walk
DH Jack Cust: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 K — up to 59 walks on the season
1B Russell Branyan & SS Doug Bernier: both 0-4 — Bernier struck out thrice and committed a throwing error
3B Brandon Laird: 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K — 22nd homer in 923 plate appearances at Triple-A after hitting 23 homers in 506 plate appearances at Double-A
RF Cole Garner: 3-4, 1 K, 1 CS
2B Ramiro Pena: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Ramon Ortiz: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 4/8 GB/FB — 63 of 100 pitches were strikes
LHP Juan Cedeno: 0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K — 11 pitches, six strikes
RHP Manny Delcarmen: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 4/2 GB/FB — 29 of 49 pitches were strikes (59.2%) … nice effort even though he Clip’d the win

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Down on the Farm

Yankees had scout at Zack Greinke’s start today

June 27, 2012 by Mike Axisa 36 Comments

Via Jon Morosi, the Yankees had a scout at Zack Greinke’s start against the Reds today (box score). Given their past history with Greinke, this was likely routine coverage more than anything else. A week or so ago we heard that they had someone watch Wandy Rodriguez as well.

About two weeks ago Joe wrote that the Yankees are likely to be connected to every available starting pitcher between now and the trade deadline just because. There’s no such thing as too much pitching — look at how quickly the rotation thinned out today — and getting involved could theoretically drive the price up for other interested teams. If the Yankees do add a pitcher before the deadline, I would be surprised if it was someone of Greinke’s caliber. A smaller depth move seems more likely.

Filed Under: Asides, Trade Deadline Tagged With: Zack Greinke

Wednesday Night Open Thread

June 27, 2012 by Mike Axisa 221 Comments

(Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

So today kinda sucked. Yeah the Yankees won, but I would gladly trade a loss for a healthy CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte. Both left-handers hit the disabled list today — Sabathia with an adductor strain, Pettitte with a fractured ankle — meaning that pitching depth we spent all winter talking about will be put to the test. Joe Girardi confirmed that Adam Warren will take Sabathia’s place on Sunday and Freddy Garcia will take Pettitte’s on Monday, but D.J. Mitchell and David Phelps are looming as well. It’s these guys’ time to shine.

Anyway, here is your open thread for the evening. The Tigers and Rangers will be on ESPN at 8pm ET (Fister vs. Oswalt), and that’s pretty much it for nationally televised sports. Talk about whatever you like here, go nuts.

Filed Under: Open Thread

2012 Draft: Yanks sign second rounder Peter O’Brien

June 27, 2012 by Mike Axisa 31 Comments

June 27th: Via Jim Callis, O’Brien signed for $460k. The Yankees didn’t save all that much even though he’s a college senior.

June 23rd: Via K. Levine-Flandrup, the Yankees have officially signed O’Brien. Still no word on the bonus, however.

June 21st: Via K. Levine-Flandrup, the Yankees have reached an agreement with second round pick Peter O’Brien, a catcher out of Miami. Slot money for the 94th overall pick is just shy of $508k, but he has little leverage as a college senior and is likely to sign for less. No word on the exact number just yet.

O’Brien is a legitimate prospect and was not just a draft pool saving selection. He’s a right-handed hitter with big power and leadership skills, though most think he’ll continue to outgrow — he’s already listed at 6-foot-5 and 225 lbs. —  the catcher position down the road. You can see all of the Yankees’ draft picks at Baseball America and keep tabs on the draft pool situation with our Draft Pool page.

Filed Under: Asides, Draft Tagged With: 2012 Draft, Peter O'Brien

Phil Hughes talks about his two curveballs

June 27, 2012 by Mike Axisa 10 Comments

In last night’s game recap I mentioned that Phil Hughes seemed to be throwing two different curveballs against the Indians, one his regular 12-to-6 downer and another that was more 11-to-5 (from the catcher’s point of view). The PitchFX data was unable to help confirm because the difference between the two pitches wasn’t that significant, so they were all classified under the same curveball umbrella. Thankfully, Chad Jennings spoke to Hughes this morning, who confirmed that he is in fact throwing two different curveballs…

Apparently there was some thought during yesterday’s game that Phil Hughes was throwing his slider again. Hughes said this morning that he’s been occasionally using a slightly lower arm angle and throwing a harder, tighter curveball that might look a little bit like a slider. It’s not a new pitch, just a different way of using his curveball. I know he’s done it in the past, and he said he’s been working on it the past six starts or so.

The 11-to-5 curve didn’t look much like a slider to me just because it had a bigger break, but it was clearly different that the 12-to-6er. Obviously this won’t help cure Phil’s homeritis or anything like that, but it does give the hitters something else to think about. As long as he feels confident throwing it and can locate it either down in the zone or (and) on the corners, then it’s a great little addition to his arsenal. If he can’t command the pitch and starts getting beat on it regularly, well then it’s time to shelve it. For now, let’s just keep an eye on when Hughes uses it and how effective it is.

Filed Under: Pitching Tagged With: Phil Hughes

Update: Pettitte out six weeks with fractured left ankle

June 27, 2012 by Mike Axisa 194 Comments

3:37pm: The Yankees just announced that Pettitte suffered a fractured ankle and will miss a minimum of six weeks. He is not expected to need surgery. Crud.

2:27pm: Andy Pettitte left today’s game in the fifth inning after getting hit by a hard one-hop ground ball in the left ankle/foot. He remained in the game despite looking uncomfortable while testing it out, then was removed after throwing one pitch to the next batter. Stay tuned for updates.

Filed Under: Asides, Injuries Tagged With: Andy Pettitte

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