Remember the other Hideki to don pinstripes? Hideki Irabu, George Steinbrenner’s favorite whipping boy, had quite the Yankee debut on July 10, 1997, but it was all downhill from there. The pitcher touted as the Japanese Nolan Ryan never lived up to his hype (cough, cough Kei Igawa), and Irabu bounced around the Majors before ending his career back Japan. Earlier this week, Billy Witz checked in with Irabu, in a way. He’s still living in the states and running some SoCal restaurants.
Two steps forward, one step back
Let me just say, flat out, that the Royals suck. They are 24-37, and prior to tonight, they had lost 11 straight road games. They’ve scored 62 fewer runs than they’ve allowed, and they seem destined for a fifth straight AL Central last-place finish.
Tonight’s starter for this terrible Kansas City team was Kyle Davies. He has a career 6.16 ERA, and opponents have hit .292 off of him. With the Yanks coming off a nine-run game against a better Blue Jays team, the stars were aligning to create a perfect night for a win.
Too bad someone forgot to tell that to the Yankee offense.
In the end, Kyle Davies throw one helluva game. He showed why he’s been so highly regarded — at least by Dayton Moore — both in Atlanta and Kansas City. The Yanks couldn’t muster much of anything, and the Royals couldn’t either. But their two runs — one on a single and one on a double play — held up. C’est la vie.
On the Yanks’ front, Darrell Rasner threw another stellar game. Throwing what must be a Yankee starter season-high 118 pitches, Rasner threw eight innings giving up nine hits and no walks. He struck out four, and the two earned runs allowed lowered his ERA to 2.58. Rasner emerged 3-3, the no-luck loser yet again.
I can’t complain about Jason Giambi’s controversial third strike. He clearly didn’t swing, but the Yanks shouldn’t be in a position in the eighth inning against the Royals to begin with.
So on a night when the Red Sox lost and the dregs of the AL were in town, the Yanks dropped a well-pitched game to the Royals. Let’s just hope Andy Pettitte can do his thing later this afternoon. This team needs some wins to emerge from this flirtation with mediocrity and .500.
DotF(ortenberry)
Jeremy Bleich, the Yanks’ sandwich pick on Thursday (you know, the one I wrote off way too early because I had never heard of him), is starting tonight for Stanford against Cal State Fullerton in Game 1 of their Super Regional matchup. You can catch the game on ESPN2 right now, or follow along on CSTV’s unbelievable Game Tracker. Feel free to talk about it on this thread.
I also want to mention that Brian Foley at The College Baseball Blog previewed the Super Regionals at his site, and also talked NCAA postseason on air with two insufferable LA shock jocks. Make sure you stop by and make fun of his accent. Tell him Mike sent you.
Here’s the AAA, AA, A+ and A- box scores. Crazy, crazy night of action tonight.
- Alberto Gonzalez had three hits and a double. Jason Lane & Ben Broussard also picked up two baggers. Broussard has been a beast since signing.
- Matt Carson picked up 3 hits, including a jack.
- Steven White and Heath Phillips got absolutely creamed, combining to give up 15 hits and 11 runs in 4.2 IP. Both have been lucky that SWB is short on arms right now. See the TJ Watch for JB Cox’s line.
- Trenton was getting no-hit into the 8th inning, but ended up winning 2-1 thanks to RBI’s from Ramiro Pena and Austin Jackson.
- Jason Jones had yet another strong start, giving up 1 run in 6.
- Eduard Nunez & Mitch Hilligoss each picked up 3 hits, Andres Perez picked up 4.
- Seth Fortenberry had a single in the first, a homer in the 4th, a triple in the 6th and double in the 7th, giving him a good ol’ fashioned cycle.
- Zach McAllister tossed 7 shutout innings, and now has a 63-9 K/BB ratio in 73.1 IP. Wow.
- Jon Hovis tossed one of his typical perfect inning after missing over a month due to an unknown injury.
- Brandon Laird had 2 doubles and 2 RBI. No one else did anything significant (Jesus Montero had the day off).
- Charleston’s pitching dominated all game, with 4 pitching combining to throw a 4-hit shutout (10 K).
Regular, full blown DotF returns tomorrow.
Game 61: Time to go on a roll
The Royals are in town. David Ortiz, Dice-K, Manny and Jacoby Ellsbury are banged up. Did I mention the Royals – a team that has been outscored by 63 runs thanks to a 4.58 team ERA and a MLB-low .311 team OBP – are in town?
Thaaaaaaa Yankees’ lineup!
1. Damon, LF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Abreu, RF
4. A-Rod, 3B
5. Matsui, DH
6. Walk-off, 1B
7. Cano, 2B
8. Molina, C
9. Cabrera, CF
On the mound, he of the rotation high 154 ERA+, Darrell Rasner.
Notes: LaTroy Hawkins’ suspension was upheld, so he’s out for 3 games (that’s a good thing) … Chris Britton strained his ribcage while warming up yesterday, and has been placed on the 15-day DL, Dan Giese has been summoned from Scranton to take his spot (I say it’s 50/50 that the Yanks were just looking for an injury so they could recall Giese) … Mariano Rivera has a 1185 ERA+ this year … if you’ve missed any of my draft coverage, go here.
Yanks’ 30th round pick, #920 overall
With their 30th round pick, the Yanks selected Ben McMahan, C, Bishop Moore HS (Fl.)
Scouting Report: Known as a defense first catcher, McMahan also has a potent bat and runs very well for a catcher. His defense is Gold Glove caliber, and he could blossom into a .280-.350-.420 hitter. He’s a strong student and committed to Florida. Here’s his scouting video.
My Take: Great pick. Let’s hope they keep him away from the Gators.
Outlook: If they sign him, we won’t see him in any games until 2009 because it’ll likely go don to the wire. He could survive a full season assignment next year based on his defense alone.
The next Big Thing
We’ve all heard about Mark Melancon. We know he’s one of our Tommy John Rehab Watch guys, and we know that the buzz is growing surrounding Melancon. We heard he could be the next eighth inning guy for the Yanks and a possible replacement for Mariano Rivera when that time finally comes. But just who is Mark Melancon? Today, Tyler Kepner answers that question in a profile on the 23-year-old. Check it out.
Wang’s problems reminiscent of unpopular Yank
Remember April? It’s easy to start off an article that way, since things are so vastly different now than they were then. Now Jason Giambi is helping carry this offense. Now Melky Carbera has cooled off, to say the least. And now Chien-Ming Wang is having his bout with ineffectiveness.
During the season’s first month, Wang was 5-0, picking up his sixth win without a loss on May 2. Since then, he’s 0-2, and has seen his ERA balloon from an even 3.00 to 4.57. The “Wang is an ace” crowd was getting rather indignant in April. They’re not quite eating crow yet, but their arrogance was certainly overstated.
According to pitching coach Dave Eiland and catcher Jorge Posada, Wang’s troubles are in the form of a mechanical issue. I’m loathe to write this phrase, since it was also attributed to Randy Johnson when he came to New York, but it appears Wang is “flying open” during his delivery. This leads him to “drop his right elbow and push the ball rather than drive it down. That means no sink on his sinker and a loss of command.”
Posada notes that because he uses different arm angles for his slider and sinker, he’s having trouble moving from the former to the latter. This seems a bit strange to me. If he’s using different arm angles for specific pitches, isn’t that an easy tip to hitters? Then again, that could be another facet of his recent struggles.
So we’re getting less than expected from Pettitte and Wang, and realizing the worst case scenarios from IPK and Hughes. Yes, we’re getting far more than anyone could have expected from Mike Mussina and Darrell Rasner, but that hasn’t quite balanced things out yet. But as the offense returns to its true form, we’re going to rely on these pitchers to drive us a 15th straight playoff appearance.