Hellickson's Debut Causes Flashback

A.J. Burnett's fifth inning meltdown last night, coupled with another win by the Rays has New York and Tampa Bays knotted atop the AL East. The Rays won last night on the strength of an outstanding Major League debut by stud pitching prospect Jeremy Hellickson. Hellickson went seven innings of two run ball, allowing just six baserunners and fanning six.

That the touted rookie played such a critical role in the Rays climbing back into first for the first time since June 19th reminded of something that happened during the Yankees' stretch run in 1996.

The Yankees had entered a tie for first place on April 28th and never looked back. Three months later, their lead over Baltimore swelled to an even dozen games. But from July 29th through September 16th, the Yanks went just 22-24 while the O's went a blistering 31-15. As Baltimore came to the Bronx for a critical three game series starting September 18th, the lead had shrunk to just three games. The Yankees sent their ace, sophomore Andy Pettitte, to the mound that night. He carried a 21-8 record as he opposed Baltimore's Scott Erickson.

Baltimore took a 1-0 in the top of the first on the strength of Brady Anderson leadoff double, a sacrifice bunt from Robbie Alomar, and an RBI groundout from Todd Zeile. The Yankees used the same blue print to tie the score in the fifth, with a double from Jim Leyritz, a bunt from Mariano Duncan, and an RBI groundout from Wade Boggs. Eddie Murray then singled home Bobby Bonilla in the seventh to put Baltimore up 2-1.

Down to their final three outs and trailing by a run, the Yankees faced Oriole closer Randy Myers in the ninth. Paul O'Neill drew a leadoff walk. Hobbled by a torn hamstring that would plague him for the remainder of the year, O'Neill was lifted for pinch runner Ruben Rivera.

A cousin of the Yankees then set-up man Mariano Rivera, it was Ruben who was more likely to be the future Hall of Famer as the two came up through the minor league system. Ruben won back-to-back MVP awards in the NY-Penn and South Atlantic Leagues in '93 and '94, was named the Yankees minor league player of the year by Baseball America for three years running, was the #2 overall prospect entering 1995, and the #3 overall entering 1996. Though Derek Jeter had beat Rivera to the punch in becoming a Big League regular, the two were considered equally promising prospects by the organization.

Rivera moved to second when Cecil Fielder walked, then scored the tying run on Bernie Williams' RBI single. Mariano held the fort in the top of the tenth. Ruben was due up fourth in the bottom of the inning.

Derek Jeter led off the inning with a base hit. Charlie Hayes bunted him to second, and Tim Raines' groundout moved him to third. With two outs and the winning run just 90 feet away, Rivera stepped into the box for just his 82nd Major League plate appearance. He was batting an impressive .270/.400/.460 on the season, but had been to the plate just 19 times in the three plus weeks since his last recall, going just four for sixteen with three walks in that time.

Former Yankee Alan Mills was on the mound for Baltimore and had two bases open. But he needed just one out to extend the game for another inning, and he had top of his potent line up due to bat in the top half of the eleventh. Mills was going to go after the rusty rookie rather than take his chances with whoever would pinch hit for Pat Kelly (who had run for Fielder the inning before).

Rivera fouled off the first two pitches, leaving him in an 0-2 hole. He battled back to even the count at 2-2, and on the fifth pitch of the at bat he lofted a hump back liner over the head of Robbie Alomar, giving the Yankees the win. The Yankee lead was back to four games; Baltimore would get no closer over the season's final eleven days.

One week later the Yankees clinched their first division title in fifteen years when they took the first game of a doubleheader from the Brewers, a 19-2 rout. Rivera played right field that day, and despite the blowout score, took a pair of opportunities to show off his rocket right arm. The next day he awoke with shoulder soreness, which eventually required surgery the following spring. He never played for the Yankees after that, instead serving as the centerpiece of the package the Yankees shipped to San Diego for the rights to Hideki Irabu in April 1997.

Rivera never fulfilled his promise in San Diego, or in any of his three other Major League stops. He had a chance to rejoin the Yankees as a back up outfielder in 2002, but blew that opportunity when he stole a glove from Derek Jeter's locker during Spring Training and sold it to a memorabilia dealer. After a brief return to the Yankees' minor league system in 2005, Rivera has spent the past four years posting impressive numbers in the Mexican League.

Just as Rivera did fourteen years, Hellickson helped his team to a big victory last night. For Hellickson's sake I hope he fulfills his promise better than Rivera did. For the Yankees' sake, I hope Hellickson's heroics last night prove less decisive than Rivera's were on that September night against the O's.

Game 93 WPA Chart

Game 87 Recap

[WE data via FG]

Highlights:

• Ichiro makes a great catch on Cano's sac fly
  
  
• Posada drives in a run with a single to center
  
  
• Franklin Gutierrez robs Derek Jeter of an extra base with with an incredible, ranging catch up against the wall in the second.
  
  
• A two run, fourth inning double by Jeter
  
  
• Teix with another two bagger in the 4th, driving in the Captain
  
  
• Marcus Thames' dinger off the foul pole
  

Not In The Highlights:

• The Mariners, who are typically play excellent defense, committed two errors in the first inning and had a lot of trouble tracking down balls in the sun.
  
  
• There was a lot of putting the ball in play today, as the Yankees worked only two walks and struck out four times, while the M's worked just one walk and K'd twice
  
  
• John Flaherty caught a foul ball in the booth during the seventh inning
  
  
• CC Sabathia induced 15 groundballs during his seven innings of one run ball. He's now won eight starts in a row, the longest such streak of his career.
  
  
• Mark Teixeira was 4-5 with two doubles one of which only missed being a home run by a couple of feet.
  
  
• Dustin Moseley pitched the ninth inning and allowed a homer to Casey Kotchman

Up Next:

• The All-Star break. The home run derby, which Nick Swisher will be participating in, will take place on Monday night at 8pm and the game itself will be on Tuesday.

Game 83 Recap

[WE data via FG]

Highlights:

• Brett Gardner makes a nice sliding grab in the first
  
  
• Ramiro Pena knocks in Gardner in the fourth to get the Yanks on the board
  
  
• Jeter singles in a run to keep the 4th inning going
  
  
• Teixeira's three run homer, that capped the rally and put the Yanks up 5-0
  
  
• Swisher's 6th inning home run

Not In The Highlights:

• The Yanks loaded the bases in the first inning with one out but Posada and Thames struck out to end the threat.
  
  
• A-Rod fell down trying to catch a pop up in foul territory

Basically:

• A.J. Burnett build on his last strong outing against the Blue Jays with a seven inning, two run effort last night. He only struck out two batters but induced 11 ground balls and allowed just five hits and two walks.
  
  
• In the fourth inning, despite the fact that Francisco Cervelli erased a leadoff single by Marcus Thames with a double play, the Yanks managed to plate five runs. Ramiro Pena and Derek Jeter both chipped in RBI singles and Mark Teixeira launched a three run homer off of Gio Gonzalez to center field.
  
  
• Stop the presses, Damaso Marte pitched a full fucking inning!
  
  
• Joba Chamberlain allowed a single to lead off the ninth inning but erased it with a double play and escaped without allowing a run.

Up Next:

• The Yanks fly up the coast to Seattle for a four game set with the Mariners which will lead them into the All-Star break.

Game 83 Recap

[WE data via FG]

Highlights:

• Alex Rodriguez's DEEP third inning grand slam, his third this season and 21st of his career
  
  
• A-Rod's second homer
  
  
• A-Rod makes a nice catch and doubles off Rosales
  
  
• Teixeira's slick catch in foul territory in the fifth
  
  
• CC Sabathia's 7 2/3 dominant innings

Not In The Highlights:

• Jeter just beating out a double play ball in the third. Not saying it was a great play or admirable in any capacity because he's The Captain Derek Jeter®, but if he gets doubled up there, A-Rod leads off the next inning instead of coming to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded.

Basically:

• It was clearly A-Rod's night, driving in five of the Yankees six runs and playing strong defense, but CC Sabathia was quite impressive as well. CC allowed one run in the first inning and loaded the bases in the fifth, but was otherwise never really in trouble, striking out ten A's while allowing seven hits and three walks. His pitch count climbed to 118 with two outs in the seventh and David Robertson got the final four outs (two via strikeout) without allowing anyone to reach base.

New recap style. Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? There would probably be more in the "Not in the highlights" section if I didn't fall asleep in the 6th inning.

Game 79: Brighter Days

Quietly - because they have taken and maintained the AL East lead in the process - the Yankees have lost seven of their last fourteen games. Aside from A.J. Burnett, their pitching has performed fairly well; it's the offense that's been the problem. After scoring 5.7 runs per game over their first 64 games of the year, the "Bombers" have managed to plate just 3.9 each time out over their last 14, putting them on the wrong side of the league average.

It's a small sample so it's not exactly cause for concern or reason to do something dumb like call up Jesus Montero (who isn't even hitting particularly well in AAA), but production is down across the board. The Yanks are still averaging about one home run per game and actually striking out somewhat less often that usual, but have collected about two fewer hits and one fewer walk over this more recent span. As a result, their slash line is .232/.302/.376 over the past two weeks, as compared to .280/.366/.448 from the beginning of the season until the can of whoop ass they opened up on Roy Halladay two Tuesdays ago.

While Brett Garnder, Derek Jeter and A-Rod all missed a game or two each over that time, aside from the "rehabbing" Nick Johnson, the lineup was mostly at full strength. What gives, then?

Simply put, the Yanks faced a lot of tough pitching recently. They got lucky to get to Roy Halladay, but Cliff Lee, Johan Santana and Clayton Kershaw are some of the most talented left handers in the game. Jamie Moyer and Hinsanori Takahashi are certainly not, but they both put together solid performances when they faced the Yanks. King Felix and Mike Pelfrey are two of the more overpowering young righties out there and the former most certainly was in his full glory on Wednesday night. Hiroki Kuroda isn't widely though of as a top-of-the-line pitcher, but he has a solid Major League track record.

It doesn't work out perfectly, so the Yanks beat some of the better pitchers (Dan Haren) they faced and lost a few of the marginal ones (Rodrigo Lopez), but those are the kind of things that pile up to form a slump. However, even if they break out of that funk in a big way today, a lot still depends on whether their starting pitcher can recover from five consecutive terrible starts.

A.J. Burnett looks to finally steer out of the month-long rough patch he's been in against his former team. Now that Dave Eiland has returned to the team and used his unparalleled expertise and rapport with A.J. to discover the problem that plagues pretty much every pitcher when they aren't throwing the ball well, perhaps it will finally come together for him.

Today will be the second of four consecutive day games for the Yankees, the longest such streak so far this season. So while they literally find themselves in the middle of some games where the sun is expected to be shining, hopefully things will get a bit brighter for Burnett and the Bombers' bats.

If I live till I die, will I be justly rewarded
If I sleep till I wake, will I remember the dream
If I lie to myself, will I have something to believe in
If I face my fears, will I know what they mean

-Lineups-

Yankees: In roster news, Dustin Moseley has been called up from Scranton, lest the Yankees allow him to opt for free agency. He'll likely take Boone Logan's place, but the move isn't official yet.

Francisco Cervelli catches Burnett today, which should probably provide A.J. a little more leeway to find his curveball and probably save him a wild pitch/passed ball or two. A-Rod returns to third base and opens up the DH slot for Posada, who will bat 6th. Brett Gardner is back in the order for the second day in a row, the contusion on his wrist apparently a thing of the past.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

Blue Jays:

Fred Lewis LF
Alex Gonzalez SS
Jose Bautista RF
Vernon Wells CF
Adam Lind DH
Aaron Hill 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
John Buck C

Game 71 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

The last two games that the Yankees played collectively form a great example of why it's better to avoid letting yourself take every up and down of the baseball season. Watching a loss causes you to project it forward so that every downturn seems like an impending freefall and every triumph makes the game seem easier than it really is. Clearly, Monday night was the former and last night's victory was the latter.

If you weren't looking at the Win Expectancy chart, I'd be obligated to inform you that the final score wasn't a good indication of how close the game actually was. But you can see for yourself that the Diamondbacks had a nearly 50% chance of winning the game as late as the sixth inning.

The Yankees jumped out quickly, though. Derek Jeter led off the game with a single and after two flyouts, was still standing on first when Alex Rodriguez came to the plate. A-Rod looked at two curveballs from Dan Haren, one for a ball and one for a strike, before ripping a fat two-seam fastball over the wall in left-center field to put the Yankees up 2-0.

Haren would get his revenge, although not against A-Rod, specifically. Andy Pettitte gave up a single to Justin Upton to lead off the bottom of the second but looked to be out of trouble when he struck out Chris Young on a cutter at the knees, caught Upton going on first motion and picked him off trying to steal second.

However, after throwing a first pitch strike, he tossed four straight balls to Adam LaRoche, gave up a double to Mark Reynolds and walked Chris Snyder after a grueling 12 pitch at bat to load the bases. That brought up the pitcher's slot which, when Haren is in the game, has not been a soft spot this year (he came into the game hitting .425/.425/.575 in 41 PA's). Haren took an awkward, reaching cut and slashed a ball down the right field line, driving in two runs to tie the game up.

Rodriguez would have an answer for that at well. After Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira singled in front of him in the top of the fourth, Alex added a base knock of his own, scoring Swisher and giving the Yankees the lead 3-2.

The score remained the same until the eighth inning when Dan Haren had exited the game, having thrown 109 pitches. Lo and behold, once the Yanks got into the bullpen, they blew the game wide open. I think that means I actually made a decent prediction in the preview. That's a first.

Against Esmerling Vasquez, the top of the Yanks order went single-double-single-walk, scoring a run and loading the bases for Robinson Cano. Chad Qualls came out of the 'pen next, allowed a single to Cano, a sac fly to Jorge Posada and before it was all over, an RBI single to Curtis Granderson and a two run double to ASU alum Colin Curtis. The good news for Qualls is that it only raised his ERA from 8.87 to 8.88 (not kidding). When the dust settled, the score was 9-3 and the Yanks were all but home free.

Thankfully, last night's game gave us a reason to stay up past the first inning. Heck, watching the first inning made me want to stay up for the whole game. Even if you didn't make it the full three hours, you still had something nice to wake up to this morning, right?

It's another 9:40 start tonight as the Yankees look for a series victory. Javier Vazquez faces his old team (he had two good outings against them last year) and squares off against Dontrelle Willis.

Leftover Weekend Notes

Good morning Fackers. We're easing our way out of the weekend and yesterday's off day, with a World Series rematch against the Phillies looming tonight. Before we turn our focus to that, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out a few items from the weekend series where the Yankees swept up after Astro like they were Rosie the Robot:

On Friday, Andy Pettitte became just the third pitcher in Yankee history to record two hundred wins. Yes, wins aren't a very good means of measuring a pitcher's effectiveness, but for Pettitte to join elite company in the franchise's storied history is noteworthy. Pettitte has been flirting with retirement for the past four off-seasons. Even if he finishes 2010 pitching as well as he has thus far, he's still a good season plus away from catching Red Ruffing (231) and Whitey Ford (236). If he had never left for Houston he'd likely already hold the record.

As Jay mentioned yesterday, Jorge Posada hit grand slams on Saturday and Sunday. He now has 251 career home runs, pushing him past Graig Nettles (250) for seventh place on the Yankees' all-time list. Next up is Bernie Williams (287), but A-Rod is lurking just five behind Posada.

Derek Jeter's leadoff home run on Saturday broke Rickey Henderson's club record for career leadoff home runs.

Marcus Thames injured his hamstring Saturday and was placed on the DL. Chad Huffman was recalled to take his roster spot. Huffman made his Major League debut Sunday, legged out an infield single in his first at bat, and later reached on a walk and a dropped third strike.

Former Yankee Oscar Azocar passed away yesterday at age 45 in his native Venezuela. Azocar was one of several young players the Yankees brought up during their last place season in 1990. He wasn't particularly good, but much like Francisco Cervelli, he had an enthusiastic style play that endeared him to fans and to Phil Rizzuto. Azocar frequently sprinted from his post in left field to back up third base on plays where he was otherwise uninvolved. A free swinger, Azocar walked just twice in 218 plate appearances that season, but he made enough contact where he only struck out 15 times. He was traded to San Diego following his rookie season and washed out of organized baseball after two years there.

Game 63: Astronomy

So far in this series, as was expected coming in, the Yankees have taken care of business. The Astros are a one of the very worst teams in baseball and anything less than a series victory would have been a serious letdown. Now that the Bombers have taken the first two games by totally different means - one tight contest with no home runs and one blowout with five of them - they look to Phil Hughes to put them in position to complete the sweep.

Phil has gone through a mildly medicore stretch (by his standards) over his last five starts, allowing 15 runs in 30.2 IP (4.40 ERA) but has still struck out a batter an inning (29) - just about five times more than he's walked (6). The difference is that he's been slightly more hittable over this stretch, surrendering 34 hits over that span as opposed to just 22 knocks in the first 39 frames he pitched this season.

Houston sends 38 year old journeyman/swingman Brian Moehler to the mound for his fourth start of the season. Between starting and relief, the junk-balling righty has allowed 22 runs in 31 1/3 innings (6.12 ERA) while giving up 46 hits striking out 13 and walking 11. Jeter, A-Rod and to a lesser extent, Posada are the only three Yanks to have faced him in somewhat significant sample sizes (from his days in Detroit over 10 years ago, most likely) and the results have all been good for our guys.

In terms of the pitching match up, the stars seem to have aligned in favor of the Yankees. Hopefully the cosmos have a sweep in store for the Bombers.

It's the nexus of the crisis,
And the origin of storms,
Just the place to hopelessly,
Encounter time, and then came meeeeee.

-Lineups-

Same deal as yesterday, both Matt and I are all sorts of tied up. You know where to find them.

Game 62 Win Expectancy Chart

[Win Expectancy data via FanGraphs]

I wasn't able to catch any of this game on TV but I did want to share this anecdote from the postgame show on the radio. Suzyn Waldman was interviewing Derek Jeter and in her typical overly-motherly, fawning way was asking him what it mean to tie Rickey Henderson atop the all-time lead off home run list and going on and on about how special it must be.

Jeter sort of laughed and said, "Well, I think it was just his record for the Yankees, and he was only here for what, two years?". It was about four year's worth of games to be precise, but the point still stands. Keep it in your pants, Suzyn.

Game 59 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

Unlike last night, when the Yankees got ahead early and stayed there, there were plenty of point when it looked like this one wasn't going to end up in the win column. Through the first three innings, CC Sabathia had allowed eight baserunners (two of whom came around to score) and thrown 63 pitches. Meanwhile, the Yanks had put five men on but stranded four of them, while the other, Derek Jeter, was caught stealing by Matt Wieters.

Although forecasts predicted the rain would hold out a bit longer, the skies opened up as Robinson Cano led off the top of the fourth. With only three half-innings still to be completed before it became an official and a deficit of two runs to make up, it appeared the clock was ticking on the Yankees. But Cano bought a little time with an opposite field base hit. Chris Tillman gave the Yankees a little more when he sailed a pickoff attempt wide of first, allowing Cano to advance to second. Jorge Posada moved Cano over to third on a grounder and Curtis Granderson scored him easily on a deep sac fly to left to bring the Yanks within one.

The bottom of the fourth and top of the fifth came and went with the minimum number of batters and the score stuck at 2-1. Mercifully, when the broadcast returned for the home half of the fifth, they showed the grounds crew retreat from the post behind the tarp back underneath the stands, their presence apparently no longer needed.

It was still raining, but not quite as hard, and the Weather Gods had apparently granted the Yankees a reprieve. Sabathia worked around a lead off single to Miguel Tejada and kept the Yankees one behind heading into the top of the sixth.

The tides were about to turn, but the Yankees needed some help from the O's defense and perhaps the sloppy conditions. Leading off the inning, Mark Teixeira bounced a ball in between first and second just out of the reach of Julio Lugo. Next up, A-Rod ripped a single to left-center that hopped over Luke Scott and allowed Teixeira to advance to third. Cano followed with a smooth game-tying base knock to right that moved A-Rod ninety feet away from putting the Yanks ahead, still with no one out. Posada tapped weak double play ball to first that would have got the run home either way, but Caesar Izturis couldn't deliver the throw back to first in time. Still, the damage was done and the Yanks were up 3-2.

While Sabathia struggled mightily in the early going, he threw scoreless 10, 11 and 11 pitch innings in the 4th, 5th and 6th and was available to come back out for the seventh and was greeted by a bunt single by Izturis. Julio Lugo dropped another bunt to sacrifice him to second and the O's were threatening. After Miguel Tejada grounded out to third, Nick Markakis stepped to the plate with two outs. Instead of hitting it the opposite way like he so often does, he chopped one up the first baseline. Cano had a great read on it and made a ridiculous diving stop, popped to his feet and nearly threw Markakis out at first base to end the inning. He had preserved the Yanks' lead but they weren't out of the woods yet.

Ty Wigginton ran the count full before drawing a walk to load the bases and pass the baton to Luke Scott. Sabathia had allowed a single to Scott on the night but also struck him out twice on sliders. CC started him off with a curveball outside and then Scott fouled back a fastball to level the count. The count was 1-2 after Scott swung over a sinker and Sabathia went back to the well for one more slider and struck him out swinging to escape the inning.

Frankie Cervelli knocked in an insurance run a few batters later and Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth as the Yankees locked up their tenth straight win against Baltimore. It was far from perfect as the Yanks had another rough night with runners in scoring position (2 for 13) and Jeter both grounded into a double play and got caught stealing but they got the job done and look to complete the sweep tonight behind A.J. Burnett.

Game 58 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

This is a great example of when a Win Expectancy can put a final score into perspective. The ultimate tally of 12-7 doesn't necessarily represent a blow out, but the Yankees snuffed the Orioles' chances of winning into the single digits as early as the third inning and had them under 1% almost exclusively from the seventh inning on.

It started early. Almost as early as possible, in fact, as Derek Jeter worked a walk to leadoff the game - something that he's only done two other times in 56 plate appearances this season. Moments later, Nick Swisher pounded the first pitch he saw - an 88 mile per hour fastball - over the wall in straight away center field and the Yankees were up 2-0 before Kevin Millwood could record an out. Mark Teixiera and Robinson Cano would both reach base around a strikeout by A-Rod but the two run jack by Swisher was the only blood in the inning.

The hit that really broke the game open came off the bat of Curtis Granderson in the third inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Granderson took a 2-2 slider deep onto the plaza/terrace/patio atop the wall in right field, extending the margin to 6-0.

By the end of the fifth, the O's had plated three runs off of Phil Hughes, but the Yankees blew the game open again in the top of the seventh on a bases-clearing double by Swisher which was promptly proceeded by a two run homer from Mark Teixeira. Fucking finally.

The slumping Teixeira really came to life in his hometown tonight. He went 3-4 (thanks mostly to two well-placed singles) with two walks and might have driven in more than two runs if that selfish bastard Nick Swisher didn't sweep up five for himself. This may or may not be a memorable turning point or a change in the winds of fortune for Teixeira, but it was certainly fun to watch.

The game was played at a glacially slow pace and I can't help but think that it affected Phil Hughes. Even in the innings the Yankees weren't scoring, they were putting runners on base - they had 15 hits and 6 walks while Hughes was the pitcher of record. Still, he made the obligatory quality start of six innings and three earned runs and picked up an easy win.

Chad Gaudin was the main reason the game looked closer than it was. He was asked to pitch the eighth and ninth innings and during the course of his sloppy mop-up work, he allowed four runs, not to mention stranding three more runners in the process. If there was one blemish, this was probably it, but no one is going to remember it in the morning anyway.

Game 57: Sunday Street

Any hopes that the Yankees could have kept the momentum going from the Bronx through Toronto and connect the four sets against last place teams on either side of it have been dashed. The Yanks will take the field in Toronto this afternoon just hoping only to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Jays.

So far, the Blue Jays have put the two strengths that have carried them through the season on display in this series: power hitting and solid starting pitching. Jose Bautista, who came into the game tied for the league lead in homer runs, jacked two off A.J. Burnett Friday night and Edwin Encarnacion added a third. Vernon Wells and Alex Gonzalez both took Andy Pettitte deep on Saturday.

On the flip side, Brett Cecil and Rickey Romero each threw eight innings and allowed a combined three runs. Nick Swisher drove one in on a double play against Cecil, Derek Jeter hit a two run homer off of Romero, and that's it.

It depends on how you want to look at it, though. Perhaps Cecil and Romero were dealing. Maybe the Yanks were just terrible offensively. Or both.

On Friday, the Yanks mustered just eight baserunners in nine innings and plated only one of them. Yesterday, they scored two runs in 14 frames and put only 13 men on base. Mark Teixeira has been at the center of this futility, going 1-10 with with seven strikeouts, but is by no means alone in his awfulness. Robinson Cano is 0-10, Jorge Posada 1-9 and Curtis Granderson a combined 0-5 with 2 Ks. Aside from Jeter, Swisher has been the lone other bright spot with a double and four walks in ten plate appearances.

Saturday's game was especially tough since the Yanks had one run-scoring play in 14 innings and wasted a great start by Andy Pettitte (7.2 IP, 2ER) and some very solid work out of the bullpen by Joba Chamberlain, Damaso Marte, David Robertson and Chan Ho Park.

But not Mariano Rivera, because Joe Girardi believed that the choice was between Rivera for two innings or not bringing him in at all. He chose the latter and the Yanks lost the game with their most deadly round still in the chamber. In his defense, he hasn't used Mo for more than three outs all year long and if the Yankees took the lead, Rivera didn't come back to nail it down and the Jays ended up winning, the ensuing media shitstorm would have dwarfed this one.

Today, the Yanks look to Javier Vazquez to salvage something out of this series. Javy obviously had a solid outing against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium, but unlike the O's, who are near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, the Jays are near the top. They have expanded their lead in home runs this weekend, also have the most doubles and are third in OPS. I'm still concerned about Javy, but much less than I was before his last start. Not that it matters, means anything or least of all, has any predictive value.

The offense will get a crack at Brandon Morrow, who has an enticing ERA of 6.00 but a much less appealing FIP of 3.72. Morrow is striking out over ten batters per nine innings but is also walking more than five. He's had a couple excellent starts, including his last time out against the Rays, but is capable of being both extremely extremely wild and very hittable.

After what was easily their longest and certainly one of their toughest losses of the year, the Yanks look to avoid their first three game sweep of the season. The middle of the order - who have-combined to go two for twenty-four so far this series - step it up would be nice for starters. A solid effort from Vazquez would be a nice bonus. I don't think that's too much to ask.

I'll get a pair of dice that makes me seven all the time,

Gonna be livin' on chicken and wine,

I want caviar, four star and Johnny Walker Black,

Six pretty women in my gold Cadillac,

Gonna move where the livin' is sweet,

From Saturday alley up to Sunday street.

[Song Notes: Vocally, Dave Van Ronk isn't exactly polished (here's cover version for a point of comparison). He gets the job done and has unique delivery of what are some really good lyrics, but the vocal performance certainly isn't what makes this track. That would be the guitar; the elegant, folksy, bluesy fingerpicking arrangement that carries the tune.

Van Ronk, a Greenwich Village native, has a posthumously published memoir called The Mayor of McDougald Street, which my Mom assures me is excellent. The Mayor was quite the character. He was one of Bob Dylan's principal influences, never learned to drive and refused to leave the Village for any stretch of time and used to tote around a vintage stoneware bottle of Tullamore Dew.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

Blue Jays:

Fred Lewis LF
Aaron Hill 2B
Adam Lind DH
Vernon Wells CF
Jose Bautista 3B
Alex Gonzalez SS
Lyle Overbay 1B
Jeremy Reed RF
Jose Molina C

Friday Grab Bag

At Big League Stew, Old Hoss Radbourn reviewed a book about himself. Unfortunately, it more closely resembles an actual book review than the fantastic musings of the legendary Twitter account, but it's still worth a read. That's old Charlie with the mustache on the right there, doing his best Kevin Youkilis impression.

Larry from Wezen-Ball's Tater Trot Tracker has been featured in such illustrious places as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Fack Youk's linkarounds, but he has now he has really hit the big time. Tony Reali of Around The Horn brought it up on yesterday's show and Larry has the clip on his site to prove it. He was interviewed on an CBC radio broadcast for the posts he did on Charlie Brown's team's record and I'd bet you dollars to donuts that he's going to be on TV himself before the season is over.

I like Tim Marchman and understand that this is partially tongue-in-cheek, but come on, dude:

Is the pace at which the Yankees and Red Sox play baseball pathetic and embarrassing? Yes. Derek Jeter takes half a minute after every pitch to readjust his life giving glands, secure his gloves, check the seats for good looking women, read the defense, try to steal signs and so on, and he's probably not one of the five worst offenders on the two teams.

Jeter is scanning the seats for anyone who might be up to no good so he can foil their diabolical plots, just like any superhero worth his weight in salt would.

Speaking of Jeter, he talked to the WSJ about his approach to hitting, particularly when things aren't going well, and said he really doesn't think about what he's doing at the plate:

By his own admission, Mr. Jeter is not a true student of hitting. You will not find him in hitting coach Kevin Long's office too often, nor does he delve deeply into self-analysis. "I really don't dissect things like most people," he said.

It's kind of shocking to think that someone can just go up there without processing what they are doing but it made me think back to something that David Foster Wallace once said:

One more Jeter note: he doesn't use the internet? At all? I mean, I wouldn't expect him to go on read a bunch of stuff and waste his whole day on it like I do, but what about researching vacations or finding other ways to spend his copious amounts of money? For directions? To find a restaurant? EVERYONE USES THE INTERNET!

Marc Carig came up with the quip of the night about the infamous Pork Chop Chomper and his goofy looking pal.

Tom Tango thinks Bryce Harper should blindfold himself and throw the steering wheel out the window. Not literally of course.

In his space in the NYT Bats Blog, Baseball-Reference's Sean Forman explains that having the last at bat isn't the home team's biggest advantage. Instead, it's the amount of extra base hits they amass. Just spitballin' here, but I'm guessing it's probably due to the visiting outfielder's unfamiliarity with the dimensions of the field and to a much lesser extent that hitters are better at finding the gaps at the place they play most often, whether it be consciously or subconsciously.

Does the fact that the Mets swept the Phillies make you feel any better about the Yanks losing two out of three to them? Me neither.

Disappointed by the Phillies anemic offensive output in the first game and a half of the series, Meech from the Fightins went on a hunger strike in the fifth inning of Wednesday night's game which will supposedly last until the Phils score a run. He's going to have to wait until at least 7:00 tonight for a reprieve. Chris Volstad is starting for the Marlins, so fortunately for Meech's health and enjoyment of his Memorial Day weekend, it shouldn't be too long after that.

Although the Yanks won't be visiting it against until October at the earliest, it's still worth reading David Brown's review of Target Field. The wood mural of Rod Carew on the left might be the greatest backdrop of a bar that I've ever seen.

While perusing Twitter yesterday, Rob Neyer spotted an interesting couple of tweets from Rangers' pitcher C.J. Nitkowski. It turns out that C.J. saw Ted Lilly doing something illegal on the mound. Casey Blake noticed from first base and was angry but the broadcast crew didn't pick up on it at first.

Since then, Lilly was questioned about it and acknowledged the possibility that he might have been ahead of the rubber but said that he "wasn't thinking about it" (which means he probably was).

Not baseball related, but this converstion between Ben Stiller and Mickey Rooney pretty much sums up Twitter insomuch as I understand it. (via Aaron Gleeman's always excellent Link-o-Rama)

Since I love podcasts, here is the link to the latest and greatest from the excellent one produced by Pitchers & Poets. Here's an older episode in which Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs is the guest, if you need more listening material to get you through the day.

We talked about John Smoltz's failed quest to qualify for the U.S. Open a while back but it looks like Tony Romo actually got through his Local Qualifier with some late-round heroics that put him right on the cut line with four other golfers. Romo flubbed a chip on the first hole of the playoff (sound familiar?) but managed to save par and sneak in to the Sectional Qualifier with another par on the second sudden death hole.

This is just about the most over the top themed wedding that I've ever seen. Even if you and your spouse really loved baseball and had unlimited time and money, could you see yourselves going to that length?

Game 44.5 Recap

[The suspension did some funky stuff with FanGraphs and they don't have the WPA data from the resumption of the game, hence the hacky photoshopping. Here's the first part of the recap.]

A.J. Burnett got his wish. Derek Jeter was the second batter when play resumed and after Kevin Russo struck out swinging, he smashed a home run into the Twins bullpen in left field. That was the only run of the 2:39 minute contest that lasted more like 23 hours. The win didn't come easy, however, as the Yanks' bullpen had to struggle to keep that one run lead.

David Robertson (not Sergio Mitre or one of the left handers as was widely speculated) was the pitcher that began the game for the Yanks. The first batter he faced was Joe Mauer and the Minnesota catcher hit a line drive off of Robertson's back that deflected to A-Rod in the air for the out.

D-Rob was apparently okay as he stayed in the game and ran the count full to Justin Morneau before walking him. Michael Cuddyer followed with a pop up to Robinson Cano for the second out of the inning but Jason Kubel slashed a double down the right field line that looked like it was going to score Morneau from first, however but he was held up by the third base coach. With the go-ahead runner on first, Delmon Young hit a hard grounder into the hole but Jeter performed a spectacular rendition his patented jump throw and got the out at first, saving the run and preserving the lead.

Robertson retired the first two batters in the seventh but was pulled after giving up a single to Denard Span. Joba Chamberlain was called on to get out of the jam and he got Orlando Hudson to ground out and end the inning.

Joba pitched around a hit and a walk in the eighth inning and passed the ball to Mariano Rivera in the 9th. Mo provided a real scare when J.J. Hardy led off the inning and blasted a ball into deep left center that looked like a certain home run, but Kevin Russo settled under on the warning track. He then walked Jim Thome but induced a game-ending double play from Denard Span. It was far from conventional, but the Yanks got the win and so did A.J. Burnett.

Game 44.5: Finish What Ya Started

At 5:05 EDT, the Yanks and Twins will resume last night's suspended game. The rain delay came at the conclusion of the fifth inning, with the game in a scoreless tie.

In the top of the sixth, the Yankees will send number nine hitter Kevin Russo to the plate, then the lineup will turn over for Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner. No word yet on who the Twins will send to the mound, but if the Yanks can push a run across in the sixth they'll put A.J. Burnett in position to get a win.

For the Twins, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer will bat in the bottom half of the inning, with Jason Kubel due as the fourth hitter. With three of those four batters being left handed, Joe Girardi may choose to match up and turn to Damaso Marte or Boone Logan. If not, it'll likely be designated longman Sergio Mitre. As we mentioned earlier, with Chad Gaudin being added to the roster for the second game, Giradi may choose to use his bullpen aggressively over the remainder of the suspended game. [UPDATE 4:00 PM: It's neither Marte nor Logan nor Mitre. It's David Robertson. Shows what I know]

Both clubs have their full benches and bullpens at their disposal for the rest of the game. Though last night's game began on MY9, both of today's contests will be on YES.

Tonight's regularly scheduled game will begin at 7:10 EDT or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game, whichever comes later. We'll have the preview for that one posted a bit later.

Come on baby finish what you started
I'm incomplete
That ain't no way to treat the broken hearted
I need some sympathy

[Song Notes: As much as I don't want to embed a Van Hagar video here, it fits this game perfectly.]

Here's last night's box score and play-by-play to refresh your memory.

Off Day Linktacular

Mark Teixiera put his beautiful 7,000 square foot house in Vaquero, Texas on the market for the second time, for the princely sum of $4.55M, down from $5.75M. I doubt too many of you have an extra five mil laying around and feel like picking up and moving to Texas but that link is good for some serious house porn. The game room on the right with a pool table, card table, big TV and a bar looks like an ideal place to kick it with several of your closest homies.

According to Bryan Hoch, someone apparently sent Nick Swisher a plush tan bathrobe with #33 and his initials embroidered on it and he was rocking it in the locker room. You know you've got a good job when people send you stuff for free and you can wear a robe around the office.

Hoch also got a great story about the late Jose Lima from Yanks' bench coach Tony Pena. Lima was certianly a character and Joe Posnanski captured the enigmatic hurler's quest for the spotlight beautifully. Walkoff Walk directs us to this video of him ad libbing to Sweet Home Alabama and Craig points us towards a eulogy from his former teammate C.J. Nitkowski.

Has Derek Jeter lost his fade? During last night's game, they showed this shot of him in the dugout and as you can see, it appears as though he has opted for a cut of a more uniform length all around instead of having it longer on top. Is this a recent development?

Although it certainly hasn't hindered his love life, he's caught a fair amount of flack for having an outdated coiff in the past from various haters. Ladies (or metro dudes), care to offer an opinion on the new look?

Katie Sharp of ESPN's TMI (sub. required) blog thinks that the Yankees should move Derek Jeter out of the leadoff spot and notes that he has zero walks in 78 plate appearances when he's leading off an inning. We already discussed why the move not going to happen, but that's a troubling stat.

Hardball Talk had an NBC Sports interview with the Fackin' Youkstah.

Hey look, someone crossed the mound forty years ago without the pitcher throwing a temper tantrum.

The WSJ profiled Kevin Russo and talked about what it feels like for him to finally make his Major League debut on the team his father (who passed away in 2007) rooted for.

Austin Jackson's eye was swollen almost completely shut after getting hit by a pitch on Saturday. The ball hit his helmet but in turn forced the helmet down on to his eye. He wasn't seriously hurt but missed yesterday's game and might be out of the lineup for another couple of days.

Carson Cistulli digs up some purple prose used to describe an extra innings, walkoff grand slam by Babe Ruth.

Joe Girardi did an interview with the Harvard Business Review and talked a lot about his approach to managing.

Baseball-Reference now features photographs of almost every player who made their debut before 1960. It's a pretty cool addition that really brings the site to life.

It appears as though the Roy Oswalt sweepstakes is heating up. David Golebiewski at THT asks how much he's really worth and Aaron Gleeman wonders whether the Twins should make an effort to acquire him but ultimately rules that it's not work the prospects plus salary.

And finally, a bit of whimsy from the Sports Pickle.

Like the Yanks, we are going to take it easy today. If anything comes up, we'll try to get to it, but chances are we won't have anything until tomorrow.

Game 40 Recap

[Slight change of format for the recap for tonight. Because there is no way I'm doing a full blow-by-blow synopsis of this shitshow, the numbers within the chart represent the score at that point, with the Yankees total listed first.]

The first game of this series may have been the worst loss of the year, but this one wasn't too far behind. It had the triumvirate of suck, as the Yanks 1) fell behind early, 2) squandered a great chance to take the lead in the third inning and 3) captured our attention just long enough to let us down in the ninth.

Let's start with the good stuff.

• David Robertson pitched a fantastic two innings, striking out four without allowing a baserunner.
  
  
• Derek Jeter had three hits and drove in two runs.
  
  
• Juan Miranda had a homer and a triple in his first two at bats, but the triple was on a high fly ball that B.J. Upton lost in the lights would have been easily caught otherwise.
  
  
• I didn't see the first inning because I was doing yardwork. (Does that count?)
  
  
• Seriously, that's it.

And now for the bad:

• Just like last night, the Yankees gave up a run before recording an out. This time it was actually three runs, plunging their WPA to 24.8% before the offense had a chance to take a hack.
  
  
• The Yanks tied this game twice - at 3-3 and 4-4 - only to give the lead back to the Rays in the next half inning.
  
  
• Entering the third inning, the Yanks were trailing 3-2. Randy Winn led of with a base hit and Derek Jeter dropped one down for a bunt single. Brett Gardner followed with a bunt that he probably would have beat out but James Sheilds did the Yanks a favor by throwing it over Carlos Pena's head at first base, allowing Winn to score and the runners to advance to second and third with the heart of the lineup coming up. However, Mark Teixeira bounced one back to the pitcher and A-Rod and Cano both struck out swinging, leaving the runners stranded and the game tied.
  

• The Rays hit four home runs, two by Pena, who was six for his last sixty with two extra base hits heading into this game, and one by Ben Zobrist - his first of the year.
  
  
• Despite the fact that Andy Pettitte had thrown 101 pitches and allowed six runs through 5 innings, Joe Girardi let him come out for the sixth, apparently to match up with lefty Pena. And of course, Pettite promptly gave up Pena's first homer in 78 plate appearances.
  
  
• Chan Ho Park entered this game with a 30.8% HR/FB rate actually increased it in his first inning of work. After allowing two deep fly balls to Zobrist and Evan Longoria that necessitated pretty good defensive plays to stop them, Park grooved a changeup to Pena, who smacked his second longball of the evening.
  
  
• The Yanks showed some life in the 9th inning, but it was only a tease. Derek Jeter knocked in two runs with a double, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Brett Gardner grounded out to end the game. On a night like this, if you knew they weren't going to win, you might just wish they had went down in order and got it over with instead of getting our collective hopes up again, only to crush them for the third straight game.

The Yanks have now lost three in a row (all to divisional rivals) and four of their last five (all at home). They travel crosstown to face the Mets at Citi Field tomorrow night, but not before everyone in the New York media proceeds to jump to conclusions and start writing stories about how these two games prove how much better the Rays are than the Yankees. Can't wait.

Thursday Afternoon Linkarooski

Like seemingly everyone on the Yankees, these links are day-to-day.

A recent calculation by Forbes determined that the Yankees have the most valuable brand of any sports franchise in the world. At least internationally, I think this has more to do with this association with New York than their history as a baseball team.

I'm sure others who have traveled abroad have had the similar experiences, but I've talked to a good amount of people in counties like China and South Africa who were wearing caps with the interlocking NY and had no idea what the Yankees even were. To them, the hat stands for New York City and not the Yankees as a baseball team.

On Monday, Curtis Granderson wrote about his road to recovery - which included a case of strep throat - at Big League Stew.

Thanks to everybody who sent this one in: the NC State baseball team's media guide had a fantastic misspelling of "Wolfpack" that us Fackers were all too happy to see.

Apparently Matt Garza hasn't stopped being a complete cock between last July and now.

Still down about last night's loss? The first comment on this page should cheer you up.

Both Larry from the Yankeeist and frequent commenter Jimmy suggested the same thing this morning: moving Derek Jeter out of the lead off spot. As Matt said in the comments, it wouldn't be worth the media backlash and given how many balls Jeter has hit on the ground, particularly to short, he would be on a record setting pace for double plays this year.

So it appears that Josh Beckett is really hurt, unless putting him on the 15 day DL is just another part of the Red Sox elaborate ruse.

The Yankees are purportedly interested in Yunesky Maya, a 28 year old, right handed Cuban pitcher who has recently been unblocked after defecting nine months ago.

Ross from NYYSI discovers the seedy underbelly of Yankee Stadium's Bat Day.

Here's a puff piece from USA Today about George Steinbrenner and his contributions to the city of Tampa.

Joe Posnanski wrote a post explaining his contention that it's "just barely above possible" that Derek Jeter will break Pete Rose's hit record and then made some more predictions about which career numbers players including A-Rod, CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera will reach.

The WSJ says that Rivera is the best Yankee pitcher of all time. I don't agree with their methodology because Mo has a distinct advantage in categories like ERA and I'm not sure how they are isolating his "impact on attendance", but it's hard to argue with their conclusion. Mo is the man.

By now you know that Hanely Ramirez was benched for jogging after a ball that he booted into left field and was back in the lineup last night after apologizing to his team. Morgan Ensberg took him to task for it, David Ortiz told him to apologize, Bert Blyleven thinks how he dealt with it in the media was the real problem, and Posnanski mined some comments from his readers who imagined what Derek Jeter would have done in that situation, such as:

Jeter wouldn’t have chased the ball. The ball would have chased Jeter.

Plenty of words have been spilled about Ramriez think already, and it's basically over, but very quickly, I think it's kind of amazing amazing that we expect athletes to give maximum effort (or at least act like they are) on every single play, and for the most part, they do. We are imperfect as humans but we are capable of trying pretty damn hard.

Theo Epstein went to a Pearl Jam concert during a Red Sox game. Wearing a disguise. No big deal, Matt did the same thing when he saw them in Hartford. Gotta find a way to deflect all the attention from the roving hoards of Fack Youk Floozies, you know?

Ryan Wilkins explored what exactly the addition of historical WAR to Baseball-Reference.com means for the future of baseball history.

Angel Pagan hit and inside the park homer and started a triple play yesterday. And the Mets still lost.

Dave Cameron wonders why the respect for Ken Griffey Jr. is a one way street.

Ultimate Zone Rating just got a facelift. Over at FanGraphs, MGL lays out the updated primer and David Appelman announces the introduction of home/road splits for UZR (which unfortunately will be a small sample size minefield and probably only useful for outfielders).

Carson Cistulli's series at FanGraphs rolls on with Why Tommy Bennett Writes. It's both incredibly well-written and a veritable tour de force in one downsmanship. Here is Will Leitch's installment as well.

Bronx Native Randy Ruiz has been released by the Blue Jays and is heading straight for Japan.

Ben Jacobs from THT was at the game Stephen Strasburg started against the Rochester Red Wings last night and wrote about the phenom's performance.

Game 36 WPA Chart