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Game 123: Getting Javy back on track

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(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

It’s Javy day, and the Yanks’ coaches have their work cut out for them. Vazquez, brought in to give the Yanks some quality innings from the back of the rotation this season, has hit a speed bump as he suffers through a dead-arm period. After running through May, June and July with an 8-4 record and a 3.29 ERA, Vazquez’s stuff has all but deserted him.

Over his last three outings, Vazquez has gone 0-2 with a 7.24 ERA, but those numbers tell only part of the story. Against Boston two weeks ago, Vazquez was throwing low-80s fastballs, and he hasn’t regained the velocity he flashed earlier in this summer. Opponents have hit .306/.403/.597 off of him over his last 13.2 innings, and he’s allowed four home runs while walking 12. Earlier this week, it took him 106 pitches to get 12 outs.

The Mariners may very well be the cure for what ails him. Against Seattle this season, Vazquez has pitched quite well. In 13 innings over two starts, he’s allowed just three runs on nine hits and four walks while striking out 15. He was in line for the win in his last outing, but an eighth inning Joba collapse gave the Mariners the win. Seattle will counter with Jose Vargas who is 9-5 with a 3.15 ERA. In his July 8 start against them, Vargas held the Yanks to one run on nine hits over seven innings, but the Bombers rallied late against the Seattle bullpen to take the game.

The lineup please:

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Austin Kearns LF
Curtis Granderson CF
Eduardo Nunez 3B – First Major League start

The game starts at 1:05 and will be on the YES Network.

A-Rod Injury Update: Joe Girardi updated the media on the State of A-Rod this morning, and the news, while not very different from what the team said last night, it sounds as though A-Rod won’t be available any time soon. “I don’t expect him to play this series, and I’m not sure he’ll even play in Toronto,” Girardi said. Clearly, having him attempt to play last night was a mistake.

Yanks drop opener to Sox, 6-3

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For the fifth time in seven games, and for the fourth straight game, the Yankees took a lead with a two-run homer in the first. For the fourth of those five, the Yankees lost the lead and eventually lost the game. It seems backward. With two runs in the first it feels like the Yanks should score more later on. But in those five games they’ve scored just seven runs after the first-inning homer.

Biggest Hit: Kalish extends the lead

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

While some ridiculous antics in the second inning provided the emotional low point of the evening, it was Ryan Kalish’s home run four innings later that really put away the Yankees. It started when Vazquez threw Mike Lowell an 0-1 slider that hung, allowing Lowell to pull it into left for a one-out base hit. That brought up Ryan Kalish, a 22-year-old rookie outfielder from Red Bank, NJ.

Vazquez had struck out Kalish twice to that point, both on three pitches. The first time he set him up with two high, mediocre at best breaking pitches before finishing him with a letters-high fastball. Then in the third he dropped a curveball over the plate for a called strike and then went with two changeups, the second low and out of the zone, inducing yet another swing and miss. To open the third at-bat Vazquez again went to the changeup, and while this was low it was still in the zone. Kalish hit it on a line and it carried all the way to the Yankees’ bullpen, his first big league homer, giving the Sox a 6-3 lead.

The Yankees had just closed the gap the previous inning, and a 4-3 game seemed manageable at the time. But with one swing of the bat the Red Sox created a much tougher comeback situation.

Communication breakdown

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Despite a David Ortiz solo home run in the first, it looked like Javy was pitching reasonably well. He did allow a leadoff double to open the second, but he quickly got two pop ups — only Francisco Cervelli dropped the second one. That turned a runner on second, two outs situation into a runners on the corners, one out one. Vazquez then recorded his first strikeout of Kalish, though again the pitches didn’t look sharp. A walk to the No. 9 hitter loaded the bases, and another walk tied the game. Marco Scutaro’s double put the Sox ahead for good.

On the pop-up, it was absolutely Cervelli’s ball. Infielders are taught that the pitcher never comes off the mound to field a pop up. Why pitchers don’t abide, I guess, is purely instinctual, but they nevertheless sometimes get in the way. It was clear — made transparent by their grimaces seen on YES-Mo — that neither was comfortable as the ball fell towards the infield. Vazquez has to get out of the way there, just like Cervelli still has to catch it. It wouldn’t have been the easiest catch, as the spin of a pop-up makes it more difficult to catch when facing the outfield. (I once got a baseball in the mouth trying to do this, though in my defense it wasn’t a high pop up and I had to bound out of my squat to get under it.)

Please, pitchers: if there’s a pop-up in the infield and another fielder can get the ball (and this is almost always the case), let him.

Granderson brings the heartache

The Red Sox had the lead, but the Yankees had time. In the fourth it looked like they might strike. Robinson Cano started the inning with a shot through the hole and into right field for a base hit. Lance Berkman then sent one towards the middle, and while Scutaro fielded it he couldn’t make the flip to Jed Lowrie, allowing both runners to reach safely with none out. But time was running out, as Curtis Granderson was followed by Francisco Cervelli.

Granderson, of course, produced the worst possible outcome, a grounder to first that resulted in a 3-5 non-force double play. It was the worst because 1) Granderson’s speed makes a triple play awfully difficult, and 2) his speed also makes a double-force play a bit tougher. Hitting it right to Lowell, who was standing near the bag, allowed for the quickest way of retiring two on one play. It let Cano move to third, but with Cervelli coming up that didn’t matter much. His strikeout was tragically predictable.

The Yanks did score in the fifth, but with runners on the corners and one out they could only manage one run, an RBI single for A-Rod. The Red Sox widened their lead a half-inning later, and the Yanks managed just two hits the rest of the way. Jeter did work a tenacious at-bat in the ninth, but with two outs it wasn’t quite enough to jolt the Yanks.

Miscellany

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

This was the seventh game in which Vazquez has allowed multiple home runs. He has only seven homerless starts this season.

As Alex Speier of WEEI tweeted, “Clay Buchholz is the first pitcher this year to go more than 7 innings in fewer than 100 pitches this year against the Yankees.” Alex will be at tomorrow’s event, so we’ll temporarily forgive his affiliation.

With his 1 for 3 night, Jeter is now 25 for 75 since July 18, with a line of .333/.390/.440.

Since June 22 Gardner is hitting .208/.341/.305. He hasn’t drawn a walk in his last six games.

Box and graph

Sad, sad green line. Perk up tomorrow.

More at FanGraphs. You can read the traditional box, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It ain’t pretty.

Up Next

Up next: RAB/FanGraphs Live Discussion. But for the Yanks, they’ll meet the Red Sox again tomorrow at 4 on Fox (sigh). CC Sabathia tries to put the Yanks back in the win column. John Lackey gives it a try for the Sox.

Javy and the Red Sox

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(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

When it comes to Javy Vazquez facing the Red Sox, one memory stands out more vividly than the rest. It’s led to the perception that Javy is not a big-game player, especially against the Red Sox. Ozzie Guillen didn’t help change that perception when he questioned Vazquez’s fortitude. And then Javy didn’t help his own case when he opened the season with a series of terrible starts. Plenty has changed since Javy had a start skipped against these very Red Sox — including the fact that they’re not at all the same Red Sox that the Yankees faced in May.

Even more, of course, has changed since 2004. That year not only did Javy serve up the effective season-ending pitch, but he also fared horribly against the Red Sox in his four starts. He lasted just 22.2 innings and gave up 16 runs, 14 earned, on the power of eight Red Sox home runs. He struck out 25 and walked just eight, good signs for sure, but those eight homers ruined him. It’s understandable, then, why that perception was created that year.

What’s not understandable is why it has carried over six years later. The Red Sox used 25 different position players at various points during the 2004 season, and of those only two remain on the team. One of them is not only on the DL and won’t play in this series, but also never faced Vazquez in 2004 — and is just 3 for 18 with eight strikeouts in his career against him. The other, of course, is not quite the hitter he once was, producing a .408 wOBA in 2004 and .380 this year.

In other words, Vazquez’s historic production against the Red Sox means little, because most of those players are no longer on the team. There need be no worry about Manny and his 8 for 22 with two homers line, because Manny is in LA and injured. Dustin Pedroia’s 8 for 15? Non-factor. We only need to worry about the current Red Sox, and even then the results can be a bit misleading. For instance, Mike Lowell might have a career .817 OPS against Vazquez in 49 PA, but since 2006 he’s 1 for 10 with a single.

Three current Red Sox have hit Vazquez particularly hard. J.D. Drew is the best of the bunch, going 10 for 28 with two doubles and four homers in 32 career PA. That rests mostly on a 5 for 10, three-homer performance that came all the way back in 2005. In the five PA he’s had since he’s 1 for 5 — though the one was a homer. Adrian Beltre has destroyed Vazquez, going 15 for 34 with three doubles and two homers — though, surprisingly, that has led to just 5 RBI. They haven’t faced since 2008, when Beltre went 2 for 3 with a homer. And then there’s Ortiz, the lone holdover from 2004, who is 8 for 25 with two doubles and two homers in the regular season, plus 2 for 3, both singles, in the postseason.

Other than that, Vazquez has either performed well against the current Sox or otherwise has not faced them. Victor Martinez, for example, is 5 for 26. Jacoby Ellsbury, Marco Scutaro, and Jed Lowrie have yet to record a hit. Eric Patterson is just 1 for 5, though the one was a homer. Bill Hall is 1 for 3.

What does that mean for Vazquez facing the Sox tonight? Absolutely nothing. Not only are these all small samples — yes, even the 30-plus PA crew — but they represent a time when Vazquez was a different pitcher. We’ve seen the changes this year. HIs fastball velocity is down. His slider, the main weapon during his superb 2009 season, has been placed in his back pocket in favor of a two-seamer and, more recently, his changeup. So while some Sox hitters have had success, and some failures, against Vazquez in the past, only one of them, Youkilis, has faced Vazquez this year, and he won’t be in the starting lineup for the rest of the season.

Vazquez might get bombed tonight. He might plow through the depleted Sox lineup. But whatever the outcome it won’t stem from something that happened six years ago. It won’t even stem from something that happened two years ago. It will depend only on how the Sox hitters are seeing the ball, and how well Vazquez is delivering it. The rest is just lore and mythology.

Patience with Vazquez pays off

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Photo credit: Ben Margot/AP

The patience the Yankees have shown with Javier Vazquez, it appears, has paid off. His excellent start last night was not only his eighth quality start of the season, but also the sixth time he’s pitched seven innings. That’s an invaluable contribution for a Yankees team that has some question marks in the bullpen. The timing of his turnaround also came at an excellent time, when A.J. Burnett slipped. He has been a stabilizing force in the rotation, something that seemed unlikely the last time Javy pitched in Oakland, back on April 20.

After starting the season with two poor performances against two of the AL’s better teams, Vazquez needed to put together a quality outing in Oakland. As he began the game it looked like he might do just that. Two of the four batters he faced in the first whiffed at strike three, and while he allowed at least one baserunner in each of the first five innings he still held the A’s to just one run, a lead-off shot by Travis Buck to lead off the fifth.

Things took a turn for the worse in the sixth. Javy struck out Ryan Sweeney to open the frame, but a single and a homer put the A’s within three. That was it for Vazquez, who labored enough through the first five innings that he ran his pitch count over 100, 107 to be precise, with just one out in the sixth. Considering Javy had thrown just 98 and 100 pitches in his previous two starts, Girardi gave him the hook. The Yanks went on to win the game, but all the baserunners, along with Javy’s inability to finish the sixth, had some still worried. It didn’t help that Javy got rocked in his next start.

In terms of results, Vazquez had a much better return trip to Oakland. He allowed just five baserunners in seven innings last night, while he allowed nine in 5.1 innings last time. He prevented the home run this time, whereas he let two leave the park last time. He was also much more efficient, using 110 pitches to complete seven where he used 107 to complete 5.1 last time. All of this, combined with the two-earned-run difference, makes it tough to call this start in any way worse than his last one. Yet there were a few concerning aspects of his pitch data.

On April 20 Javy got 11 swinging strikes out of 107 pitches, or 10.3 percent, leading to six strikeouts. Last night he generated just four swinging strikes in 110 pitches, 3.6 percent, which led to two strikeouts. That meant more balls in play, and with Javy it means more fly balls. The difference, of course, is that two of the A’s nine fly balls in April left the park, while none of their 12 did last night. Javy did get pretty unlucky in terms of fly balls leaving the park earlier in the year, but even at his best he’s going to allow at least one homer for every 10 fly balls. That’s why strikeouts become important for Vazquez.

It can’t be purely luck, though, that Vazquez kept all 12 fly balls inside the park last night. In both starts he threw a lot of fastballs high in the zone, which will certainly lead to more fly balls. There was a difference, however, in the vertical break of his four-seamer. On April 20th it was at 7.75, a below average mark. Last night it was at 9.27, a vertical break that works more in the pitcher’s favor. The vertical break, remember, is the “rise” of the ball compared to a theoretical ball with no spin. It was part of the reason the A’s weren’t able to make quality contact off Vazquez, and probably a good reason why none of those high fastballs left the park.

Another difference, not only last night but in Javy’s turnaround in general, is the effectiveness of his changeup. In his first start against the A’s he threw it 19 times, but only eight for strikes and only one swinging. The pitch averaged 81.36 mph against his 88.89 average fastball, had 7.48 inches of break towards righties, and 4.95 inches vertical break — again, against the 7.75 on the fastball. Last night the pitch averaged 80.76 mph against an 89.18 mph fastball, so he did realize a bit more separation. The vertical break was up to 6.05 against the 9.27 for the fastball, so again there was more separation. He got more horizontal break, 8.34 inches into righties. But most importantly he threw it for strikes, 14 of 25, and generated two swings and misses, half his total for the night.

The movement differences appear to be across the board. Here are the breakdowns from the April 20th start and the July 5th start, courtesy of Brooks Baseball. Click for larger images.

April 20:

July 5:

Almost everything other than swinging strikes looks better. That includes velocity, movement, and number of strikes.

Because of his monumentally terrible start, there will still be reservations about Vazquez. Fans will still claim that he can’t handle the pressure of New York and will still expect the worst when he starts. As he has shown, though, he’s a much different pitcher than he was earlier in the year. He’s getting much better movement on all of his pitches, and has even recovered some, but not all, of his velocity. We can say now that Vazquez is a solid No. 3 pitcher, which goes well with the rest of the staff. We could see quite the pitching show in the second half.

Vazquez excellent as Yanks take opener from A’s

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Javy Vazquez’s last trip to Oakland was his first good one of the year. While he didn’t make it out of the sixth, he did hold the A’s to one run in the first five innings. He appeared to run out of gas in the sixth, giving up two runs on a homer, though the Yankees had already scored six by then. This time around went even better, with Vazquez finishing seven innings and allowing just one run. The Yanks offense didn’t get much off of Ben Sheets, but it was enough to complete a 3-1 victory.

Biggest Hit: Tex widens the lead

Photo credit: Ben Margot/AP

Remember when Tex started May on a hot streak and everyone said hey, look, Teixeira’s back? It looks like it’s happening again. With a 1 for 4 night that included a home run, he is now 8 for his last 18 with three walks, four doubles, and a homer. So Tex is back. Until he isn’t.

Heading into the later innings the Yankees needed runs. They held a 2-1 lead, but with the way the bullpen has been struggling lately the Yanks can always use more runs. Unfortunately the offense has been slumping a bit. They did have a number of hard-hit balls off Sheets, but many of them found a fielder’s glove. Mark Teixeira had a solution to that problem.

With none on and one out in the sixth Ben Sheets got working against Tex with fastballs, mostly away. On the last one he caught a bit of the plate and Tex whaled it over the center field wall to extend the Yankees’ lead. It wasn’t much, but it provided the more-comfortable two-run lead.

Biggest Pitch: Vazquez quells the mini-rally

Photo credit: Ben Margot/AP

Javy Vazquez had one of his best starts of the season, despite the lack of strikeouts. The A’s did manage to put the ball in play, but few balls were particularly well-struck. As a result, they didn’t have many baserunners during Javy’s seven innings, just five. Only once did they put two men on base in the same inning, the fourth, when Jack Cust walked and then beat Derek Jeter’s leaping throw to second. That put runners on first and second with two down.

Gabe Gross worked a 2-1 count, but then fell behind when he fouled off the next two pitches. With the count 2-2 Vazuez delivered a high fastball and Gross got on top of it, grounding it to Cano and ending the threat. That was the last time in the game the A’s would have a runner in scoring position.

Miscellany

Photo credit: Ben Margot/AP

Francisco Cervelli is a lucky dude. He made weak contact three times yesterday, and the one time it went for a hit was when the Yanks had a runner on third. Luck of the BABIP. I’ll take it.

Joba’s last seven innings: 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K. That’s a pretty good start right there. I think we make too much of the times he does give up runs. Because, contrary to what 2007 Joba™ may lead you to believe, he’s going to do that from time to time.

With Mo having pitched in four of the first five days this month, I expect he’ll be unavailable tomorrow night. Gotta score runs against Cahill, which many a team has struggled at this year.

Oh hey, 2 for 3 with runners in scoring position.

Graph and chart

More at FanGraphs. Also, the box score.

Up Next

CC’s back on the mound to face the aforementioned Cahill. It’s Game 2 in the run of five straight 10 p.m. starts.

As The Rotation Turns: Leveraging the situation

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Throughout most of the mid- to late-00s we grew used to the Yankees having mediocre pitching staffs. Some of those staffs had promise — 2007 comes to mind, when we dreamed of a rotation that included Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, and Phil Hughes. That year, as was the case for all years from 2004 through 2008, the hopes never manifested. Something always went wrong, as we should have expected given the pitchers on the staff. That changed in 2009 with the additions of CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. The Yankees ranked third in the AL in ERA and fourth in FIP. Finally, a pitching staff we could be proud of.

The rotation seems to be even better this year. The Yanks are still third in ERA (though they are sixth in FIP), but this time it feels different. It feels like that one poor stretch in mid-May has put a dent in the record. Outside that blip, the staff has kept the score close for an offense that has, at times, sputtered. That’s the biggest difference, at least as I can remember, between this year and last. The staff seems a bit more dominant, and I think that will really show up in the numbers once we get closer to season’s end.

The last two turns through the rotation have put this on display. The Yankees are 7-3 in that stretch and the rotation, outside a couple of iffy starts from A.J. Burnett, has been stellar. One particular aspect I noticed these times around: the offense and the starters have kept the high-leverage situations away from the middle relievers. In fact, during this stretch only Joba, Mo, and the starter has faced a Leverage Index of above 2.00 — in regulation, that is. That’s not good bullpen management. That’s the starter pitching deep into games and the offense keeping the pressure off.

6/3 vs. Baltimore: CC Sabathia – 7 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Photo credit: Seth Wenig/AP

The Leverage Index got above 2.00 just twice. Both came in the ninth inning when Mo allowed the first two batters to reach safely. The Orioles then got three chances with the tying run at the plate, but couldn’t bring anyone home.

Credit this one to the offense, which scored five runs by the third. Combined with a solid effort from Sabathia, the Yanks never let this turn into a high-leverage affair.

6/4 @ Toronto: A.J. Burnett – 6 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K

Burnett got off to a poor start, surrendering a pair of homers to Jose Bautista and one to Edwin Encarnacion. The Jays were up 3-0 in the fourth and 4-0 in the fifth, so we didn’t see many high leverage situations. The only one above 2.00 came during A-Rod’s at-bat in the fourth. The Jays were up only 1-0, and the Yanks had first and second with none out. A-Rod grounded into a double play, which was the illustrative moment of this game.

6/5 @ Toronto: Andy Pettitte – 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K

Credit: AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Darren Calabrese

Andy was great, the offense was not. They somehow gave him a 2-1 lead, but he allowed a home run late which put the game into extra innings. That meant there were plenty of high-leverage situations. This is the only time during this stretch in which a middle reliever pitched in a high leverage situation. During regulation, however, the only pitchers who faced situations with a LI over 2.00 were Pettitte and Joba Chamberlain. Chan Ho Park faced the highest leverage situation overall. That came in the 13th, when the Jays had runners on first and second with two outs. He got John Buck to ground out to shortstop.

6/6 @ Toronto: Javy Vazquez – 7 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K

As we knew he could do, Javy carved up the Jays’ heavy swinging offense, using a mix of breaking and off-speed pitches to keep them from turning on an inside fastball. The game was close, thanks to another poor offensive performance, so we saw a few LI situations above 2.00. The only Yankees pitchers to face these situations were Joba and Mo. Joba allowed the only run there, but on the next hitter he induced a double play. That brought the LI down to 1.27, which made Tony Pena’s decision to go with Damaso Marte over Mo a bit more justifiable.

6/8 @ Baltimore: Phil Hughes – 6 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Photo credit: Gail Burton/AP

Hughes had a bit of trouble facing the Orioles for the third time this season, though it came mostly on dinks and dunks that found holes. The Yanks offense came alive for this one, scoring 12 runs. There were only two situations where the LI rose above 2.00. The first came in the second inning, when the Orioles were down 2-0 but had runners on first and second with one out. Phil Hughes induced an inning-ending double play. All those singles came when there wasn’t much at stake. The zero walks was also encouraging.

The other? That came in the third, when Curtis Granderson came up with the bases loaded and two outs. That situation ended just a bit differently than Hughes’s just a half inning before.

6/9 @ Baltimore: CC Sabathia – 7 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K

Once again the Orioles got hits, but they didn’t hit for many extra bases and they didn’t bring around many to score. The offense wasn’t quite as good in this one, scoring just four runs, which means a few higher leverage situations. Sabathia himself faced five batters with the LI above 2.00, but he allowed no runs in those situations. In the highest leverage situation, when the Orioles had bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, Sabathia delivered by striking out Luke Scott. Joba and Mo each faced LI situations above 2.00 as well.

6/10 @ Baltimore: A.J. Burnett – 6.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Photo credit: Rob Carr/AP

A decent but not great, or even really good, start by A.J. Burnett, in which he was wild early, settled down, but couldn’t finish the job in the seventh. He faced just one situation with the LI over 2.00, and that came in the sixth when Adam Jones doubled to put the O’s ahead.

Orioles pitchers faced nine situations with the LI above 2.00 and three with it above 3.00. They recorded seven outs and two walks, one intentional.

6/11 vs. Houston: Andy Pettitte – 7.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

It is unbelievable how good Pettitte has been this year. The Yanks needed him in this one, as the offense scored just four runs. He faced two situations with the LI above 2.00 and pretty much succeeded both times. With a runner on first and no outs in the eighth he induced a double play ball that Derek Jeter botched. The next hitter, Michael Bourn, sacrificed, which Pettitte couldn’t do much about. Joba came in and faced two high leverage situations, above 3.00, and recorded outs in both. Mo also faced two high leverage situations in the ninth, retiring the hitter both times.

6/12 vs. Houston: Javy Vazquez – 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Photo credit: Seth Wenig/AP

Other than a couple of home runs, both solo shots, this was an excellent outing for Javy. He’s really come around lately. He pitched so well, and the offense picked up so many runs so early, that there were no situations where the LI crept above 2.00. There was one situation where it hit 1.99. Jorge Posada, however, is a high-leverage kinda guy.

6/13 vs. Houston: Phil Hughes – 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Maybe he tired down the stretch — he was over the 100 pitch mark and he’s been at or above that for plenty of starts this season. Remember, too, that in 2006 Hughes rarely pitched more than five innings, and he didn’t throw too many innings in any of the following years. So fatigue is a concern. That’s a topic for another post, though.

Hughes faced two situations where the LI got above 2.00, and he recorded outs in both, a strikeout and a fielder’s choice groundout. Again, score this one for the offense, which scored enough runs to cover for almost anything, including Hughes’s sixth-inning meltdown.

Yanks offense makes life easy for Javy in 9-3 win

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Today’s game might not have been as smooth as last night’s, but that’s for a good reason: the Yankees offense needed some more time to run up the score. It made for a comfortable game, where the Yanks had the lead most of the way. There was that microscopic length, which lasted just three outs, where the Astros had a one-run lead, but we knew that wouldn’t last. In fact, before the Astros could record an out in the bottom of the third the Yanks had essentially put the game away.

Biggest Hit: Jorge don’t need no stinkin’ rehab assignment

Photo credit: Seth Wenig/AP

In last night’s recap I mentioned Jorge’s poor numbers, including high strikeout total, since returning from the disabled list. It appears he could have used a rehab assignment, but given that he’s been back since the beginning of the month he’s basically been through one already. While his strikeout to lead off the second was discouraging, he made up for it in his next at-bat.

The entire bottom of the third was one long string of excellent. The Astros had just taken a 2-1 lead, and the Yankees just couldn’t stand for that. Derek Jeter started the inning by drawing a walk on a 3-2 count, and got a bit aggressive on the bases. He bolted for second and would have made it even if the throw didn’t get deflected into shallow center. That allowed him to take third and score easily when Nick Swisher lined one to left-center. Tie game.

Mark Teixeira continued showing a more discerning eye at the plate, drawing another walk. This is nothing but an encouraging sign. Robinson Cano followed with what Michael Kay called a potential double play ball, but probably would have accounted for only one out had the ball landed in Wandy Rodriguez’s glove rather than deflecting off it. That loaded them up for Jorge with no outs. It took just two pitches to put the Yanks out ahead again. Wandy came inside with a fastball for a called strike one, and then tried to go low and away with a curve. Jorge picked it up and smashed it the other way. Over the right field wall it went. 6-2 Yanks.

Jorge got on base in his next two times up as well via a single and an HBP. If he and Teixeira are staring to get into a rhythm, and if rest really does cure A-Rod’s ailing hip flexor, the Yanks will be set for the summer. Also, I might be sounding a bit like Peter Gammons there.

Biggest Pitch: Stros take a puny lead

Photo credit: Seth Wenig/AP

Javy Vazquez looked good right at the start of this one. He was using his fastball and changeup well, retiring the side on 14 pitches, including a first-pitch pop out Carlos Lee to end the inning. He had a few hiccups, but nothing especially worrisome. In the second, Hunter Pence led off with a game-tying home run on the first pitch. It was a high fastball, a pitch Javy just can’t throw if his fastball is clocking under 90 mph. While he’s improved on that aspect of his game since April, I’m sure it’s easy to forget that his lack of velocity precludes him from throwing certain pitches in certain places.

The biggest blow came in the top of the third. Tommy Manzella, who apparently can hit only Yankees pitching, led off with a single. Javy then had one of the most amusing sequences in the game, throwing Michael Bourn six straight changeups, eventually getting him to tip one into Cervelli’s glove. He actually started off the next batter, Jeff Keppinger, with two changeups, both of which missed low. His next pitch, a slider, caught a bit too much of the plate and Keppinger lined it to the wall in left. With Marcus Thames out there at the time it was a no brainer to send Manzella home.

From there, however, Javy rolled. He retired 10 straight before Carlos Lee hammered a belt high fastball over the left field wall. He then got four of the final five hitters he faced. He threw just 95 pitches through seven innings, which made me wonder why Girardi removed him. But with the top of the order coming up I guess he wanted to get Javy out.

Strange fact of the game: Javy threw more changeups, 39, than he did fastballs, 24 four-seamers and five two-seamers. He also went to the curveball 16 times. The slider he threw most infrequently, 11 times. After the Keppinger double he threw only one, a first-pitch later that inning, until the seventh, when he attacked Manzella with it.

Stuff

Derek Jeter’s two-homer game was the ninth in his career and his first since August 27, 2006. He did it twice, in the same month, in 2004.

Another 1 for 3 with a walk day for Teixeira. Not only is he performing better, but he’s looking better at the place. Though I suppose the two go hand in hand.

Marcus Thames left the game with hamstring problems. He had an MRI. As of this writing I haven’t heard anything.

Jorge will catch tomorrow. I’m guessing they’ll recall Miranda and play him at DH if Thames hits the DL.

Yanks with RISP: 4 for 7. Thaaaaat’s more like it.

Six strikeouts and no walks for Javy. He’s been quite excellent lately.

Graph and box

You know it’s a good game when the graph goes flatline towards the end.

Box and graphs.

Next Up

Another matinee to close out the series. It’ll be Brian Moehler for the Astros against Phil Hughes.