Just like the one before, last night's game went according to the script. It seemed like a forgone conclusion that the Yankees would be dominated by Roy Halladay on Tuesday but some of us had doubts as to whether they would get to Scott Richmond. The 29 year old rookie fit the profile of a certain type of starter who have given the Yankees troubles in recent years. Facing minor league journeymen with limited scouting reports had already lead to a few losses this season.
As I sarcastically suggested last night, the bottom of the line-up actually did help the Yanks by triggering the rally in the 2nd inning that knocked Richmond out of the game. Brett Gardner hit his first home run in 222 Major League plate appearances and was followed by Ramiro Pena's first big league hit better than a double (a three-bagger). I think the look of of disbelief of Jeter's face in the shot above says it all (how much do you want to bet he was behind this?). Pena then scored on a triple by Johnny Damon and as the Yanks left the Jays in the dust.
Andy Pettitte needed 106 pitches to trudge through his six innings, only 64 of which went for strikes. He allowed five hits, four walks and survived two fielding errors but held the Jays to only two runs, one earned. Aceves and Albalajedo combined for three innings of scoreless ball, with Albie inducing a game-ending double play ball in the bottom of the 9th with the base loaded.
It wasn't the most captivating contest. You'd take the result twelve times out of ten, but after the Yanks established their lead, there were essentially no moments when it felt like the game was on the line. However, as always, there were a couple of funny/interesting occurrences worth highlighting via screenshot.
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If you were watching the YES broadcast, I'm sure you noticed the guys in full umpire's gear mimicking the signals all along the way. You what's even sadder if you are a Yankees fan? They only paid $210 for their "Action Seats", (and they got to watch a first place team).
YES offered a poll via text message which asked if fans felt the Blue Jays were a playoff team:
What do you think YES Network viewers thought...
Pretty rich coming from Yankees fans, considering the team's current circumstances, but what did YES expect when they asked a dumb question like that? And I saw one of my favorite things in baseball... A hitter ducking out of the way for a breaking ball, which turns out to be a strike.
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If the Blue Jays are a playoff team, then the Yankees will be in some trouble. I don't think anyone saw this coming.
ReplyDeleteIt's really incredible given the fact that they done it with one proven starting pitcher. Granted, Halladay is awesome, but they've had 9 guys start games for them this year and their combined record is 16-9. The Yanks only have 16 wins as a team and their starters are 10-11. Sure, there is probably some smoke and mirrors going on, but that's impressive nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI saw him collapse like a doll on that pitch and knew there would be a screen cap here in the morning. You did not let me down, Jay.
ReplyDeleteAnd did you hear Singleton say "get hep to the step" describing [I think] Gardner's triple?
Awesome. He called a great game last night.
Pena was killing me in the field, though. Melky got robbed again on that throw.
It is incredible, but I don't know if it's sustainable. The AL East should be pretty brutal (especially if the Yanks can right the ship) - let's see if Toronto can hold up when the schedule gets tough this summer. Between their pitching injuries and their hack away approach at the plate they've got to come back to earth at some point. Then again, I thought the same thing would eventually happen to TB last year, so what do I know.
ReplyDeleteGrib - I much prefer the games with Singleton doing the play-by-play opposed to Kay. In fact, short of Sterling and Waldman I think I prefer anyone to Kay. The series that Singleton and Cone did in Detroit a couple weeks back was great. But I think the performances from Hughes and Joba had a lot to do with that.
I don't think it's sustainable either, but like you said, that was the prevailing sentiment with the Rays last year. If you look through their offensive stats they have guys like Scott Rolen, Aaron Hill and Rod Barajas with high averages and not much of an on-base buffer, which would lead me to believe that they are coming back to earth. You've gotta assume the same would hold true for the pitching as well given that aside from Halladay, those guys are marginal major loaguers at best.
ReplyDeleteVery much agree about Singleton. If he was the Yankees man play by play guy the world we be a much better place. The only thing I don't like is when Cone calls him "Singy". That's fucking annoying.
These are the Blue Jays first AL East games of the year. Once they get going against the Rays Sox and Yanks more often, that record will start to drop.
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