Game 54: Alabama Getaway

The Yanks look to bust out the brooms this afternoon and go for a sweep of the lowly O's. It'll be a match up of former teammates on the Cleveland Indians, as CC Sabathia and Kevin Millwood face off.

Millwood was arguably the better of the two pitchers on that 2005 club, posting a 2.86 ERA and despite a 9-11 record, finishing sixth in the AL Cy Young voting. Millwood was worth 3.9 WAR that year, third on the Cleveland staff to Sabathia's 4.1 WAR.

Millwood hasn't been quite as unlucky this year, but he certainly has deserved a better fate than what he's received so far. He enters today 0-5, despite a 3.89 ERA (110 ERA+) and a 3.99 xFIP. The woeful O's offense just hasn't given him any run support.

On the flip side, CC Sabathia hasn't pitched all that well of late. He enters today at 4-3, despite a 4.16 ERA (98 ERA+) and a 4.11 xFIP. His last win came one month ago today, and in his five starts since he's gone 0-2 with a 6.28 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and a .291/.346/.538 batting line against. He'll look to get away from that sort of performance this afternoon.

The conclusion of today's game marks the end of the first third of the season. It also marks the end of the Yankees' seven game homestand. A win today would give them six wins on the homestand, five in a row, and put them on pace for 102 wins on the year. For Alabama native David Robertson and the rest of the Yankees, it's getaway day in the Bronx, as they look to make it three in row against the O's.

Twenty-third Psalm Majordomo
reserve me a table for three
in the Valley of the Shadow
just you, Alabama and me

Alabama getaway
Alabama getaway
Only way to please me
turn around and leave
and walk away

[Song Notes: It's a good day for some Grateful Dead. This tune is the lead track from their 1980 album Go To Heaven, the first to feature keyboardist Brent Mydland. Keyboardist for the Dead has been the real life equivalent of drummer for Spinal Tap, as Mydland was the fourth in a line of five keyboardists in Dead history, all of whom have now in fact gone to heaven. This performance comes from their appearance on Saturday Night Live on April 5, 1980, three weeks before the album was released.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
Nothing to report here. Same deal as yesterday.

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

Orioles:

Julio Lugo SS
Miguel Tejada 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 3B
Luke Scott LF
Garrett Atkins 1B
Adam Jones CF
Craig Tatum C
Cesar Izturis SS

Remembering The Weekend

Welcome back, Fackers. In a perfect world, the time away from work afforded by holiday weekends would give you some time to catch your breath and recharge your batteries. However, if you really try to make the most of the relatively brief hiatus and shoehorn a bunch of things in, you typically end up tired and foggy at your desk on the morning you come back, finding ways to avoid beginning the arduous process of digging through emails sent by assholes who actually got things accomplished over the weekend and trying to remember where you left off on Friday (or possibly Thursday if that's when you mentally checked out). That's probably why you're reading this post, in fact.

In general, I find that the more time I spend away from work, the less I want to go back to it. In that case, I suppose that a taste of honey is worse than none at all. Maybe that's just because I've never had a job that I actually liked, but how many people can honestly say they do?

/hacky talk radio segue

Well, the Yankees certainly embraced their occupation this weekend as they gave the Indians a signature Bronx beatdown!!1/!11!

Our song choice for the four games was somewhat presumptuous but the Bombers did not disappoint, taking three games out of four. Of course, the one that they lost was in spectacular fashion due to a bullpen meltdown which begun with an ineffective and ultimately injured David Robertson, was exacerbated by Joe Girardi matching up with a four run lead and completed by Joba Chamberlain, who faced six batters and got only one of them out. The Yanks had a 97% chance of winning the game after the completion of the fifth inning on Saturday but allowed the Indians - who hadn't scored 10 runs in a game all year - to plate seven in the top of the seventh and win by a score of 13-11.

There was a very scary moment earlier in that game, as Alex Rodriguez lined a pitch right off the side of the head of Cleveland's starting pitcher, David Huff. The 25 year old left hander was wheeled off on a stretcher after lying motionless on the ground for several minutes but gave raised his hand to signify that he was okay while being lifted and luckily, a CT scan didn't show any serious damage. When it happened A-Rod appeared to be legitimately torn up over it as he put his hands on his head and took a knee in the infield while the medical staff tended to Huff.

After the game, Rodriguez tried unsuccessfully to make it to the hospital where Huff had been taken only to find out that he was back at the Stadium, but did finally get in touch with him. Huff called the effort "one class act", something that you don't typically hear directed towards A-Rod from a low profile player on another team.

In other comparatively minor injury news, David Robertson suffered some back issues and had to be removed from Saturday's game and Derek Jeter left yesterday's contest after getting hit in the back of the thigh with a pitch. Both of those are thought to be minor issues and each player should be available tonight. Perhaps Jeter will DH just to be safe.

Now that we've got the bad out of the way, the most encouraging sign of the weekend (despite the fact that the Indians' pitching is one of the worst staffs in the league) was the resurgence of the offense. The Yanks plated 37 runs in the four game set and scored more in every single one of the games than they had in any contest since they hung eleven on Boston two weeks ago in Fenway. They tallied 55 hits and hit two grand slams, one by Robinson Cano on Sunday and one by A-Rod (the 20th of his career) after the Indians threw an intentional ball four to Mark Teixeira yesterday. A-Rod is now 5-5 when Teix is given a intentional free pass in front of him.

The offensive resurgence coincided with the return of Curtis Granderson but his four hits (three doubles) only went so far. Derek Jeter had a solid weekend, collecting nine hits and scoring five runs. Cano was the best of the bunch, picking up ten hits (two homers) while extending his hitting streak to 14 games and driving in ten runs.

With the exception of Saturday's poor showing by CC Sabathia and the bullpen, the Yanks' pitching was solid in the balance of the series, allowing just four runs over the other 27 innings. Phil Hughes tossed seven frames of two run ball on Friday night, A.J. Burnett gave up three (only one earned) in his eight innings on Sunday and Andy Pettitte improved upon his career best start to the season with seven innings of one run ball yesterday. Having throw only 90 pitches and given up just four baserunners to that point, Pettitte wanted to go deeper into the game, but the offense batted around and plated six runs during the seventh inning. The 45 minute wait was too much for Andy and he took the easy win, leaving a little bit in the tank.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the weekend (from my recollection, anyway) came from Mariano Rivera. In the process of getting the final out of Sunday's game, Mo dodged a broken bat from Luis Valbuena and fielded the soft grounder that arrived considerably after the lumber in enough to to easily convert the out at first base. The ultra slow motion replays make it look like something out of The Matrix.

Rivera jumped over the bat but kept his glove down and reached for the ball, nearly snagging it in mid-air, but still knocking it down in the process. It happened incredibly quickly in real time, but the the super slow replay revealed that every motion that Mariano made was smooth and purposeful, completely unfazed by the fact a sharp, heavy object was flying at his shins.

They say the greatest athletes can process things so quickly that time seems to go by slower in their minds. Watching that replay affirms what Matt and countless others have said about Rivera: he's more than just a great pitcher.

=====

Of course, part of the reason that the Yankees looked so good over the weekend was because they were playing the hapless Indians, but the Yanks performed like the team that started the season 21-8, not the one that went 5-10 in the fifteen games following that.

It's foolish to keep taking the temperature of the team and attempt to project it out onto the rest of the season, but it's hard not to be optimistic after this weekend. The Yanks lost one game they should have won (Saturday), won one they should have lost (Sunday) and utterly dominated a team that they should have beat in a wraparound series.

In a similar vein, hopefully this weekend foreshadows a great summer ahead. The weather couldn't have been much nicer. I played fairly decent in my golf tournament even though my partner and I got beat in two out of our three matches, and despite not having spoken to Matt yet, I have reason to believe he returned home alive from Charleston.

Today might be a little slow around here as we attempt to work through the mental cobwebs that have built up from not writing at all for three days, so in the meantime, I'll leave you with this phenomenal feel-good Slick Rick jam and "bring that lovin' feeling back to rap".

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 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.

About Last Night

Before I pass along a few thoughts from last night's game, let me throw one more thought out about the much-discussed bullpen. Rebecca Glass at Purist Bleeds Pinstripes has a nice post about an impassioned answer delivered by Joe Girardi during last night's post game media session. Girardi bristled at a question suggesting Javier Vazquez was skipped against the Red Sox due to past performance, and emphatically explained that Javy was needed there due to the state of the bullpen last night.

First off, kudos to Girardi for defending Vazquez and painting him in a positive light. Regular readers here know where Jay and I stand on Vazquez, so I'm glad to see that Girardi did all he could to squash the avoiding-the-Red-Sox storyline.

That said, as I explained yesterday, I still have some objections to thought process behind skipping Vazquez. Yes, the bullpen certainly did need a longman last night, with Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson unavailable. But that longman did not need to be Javier Vazquez. If the ineffective Boone Logan, instead of Ivan Nova were optioned out to make room for Chan Ho Park, Nova could have been last night's longman. In fact, if they made that move Sunday, when Park was ready to return, CHP might have pitched Sunday leaving DRob or Joba available last night. Or, if they were so hell bent on getting Nova off of the roster, they could have given him the spot start Sunday, burned him, and sent him back down, thereby allowing Sergio Mitre to return to his longman role. It's all moot now I suppose, but the explanations still don't fully add up in my eyes.

On to happier news. As I mentioned yesterday, my buddy Gripp and I had batter's eye seats last night. When I first went to the Stadium during the exhibition games against the Cubs last year, I immediately singled out those two rows atop the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar as the best seats in the house. Sitting there for the first time last night, that opinion has only grown stronger.


We arrived right when the gates opened and were able to catch the tail end of Yankees batting practice. Unfortunately, Robinson Cano had already finished hitting, so we didn't get any BP home runs hit up there. We did, however, have the pleasure of watching Mariano Rivera shag flies in center field. It's been said that Mo is the best center fielder on the Yankees, and watching him last night didn't disappoint. Just as he does on the mound, he moves gracefully, gliding underneath flyballs. His throwing accuracy isn't just limited to his cutter either. At one point, Mo fielded a one hopper in deep center and spotted Curtis Granderson stretching behind first base. Mo wound up and unleashed a one hopper that caught the unaware Granderson square on the hip.

In addition to stretching, Granderson also took some hacks in the cage, marking the second consecutive day he's taken BP as he works his way back from a pulled groin. He also took some flyballs in center last night, but since gates open an hour later this year than they did last year, we weren't able to catch that.

David Robertson was shagging flies in left field, as most pitchers do during BP. Unlike other pitchers though, Robertson was fielding and throwing with his opposite hands, sporting his glove on his right and throwing with his left. Unlike Pat Venditte, Robertson wasn't trained to be a switch thrower, he did it out of necessity. As a high schooler, a bout of right shoulder soreness caused Robertson to learn to throw left handed. He was able to stand on the left field warning track and throw balls to the screen behind second base. As someone who was forced to throw with his opposite arm for a year following elbow surgery, I can assure you that's no small feat.

Alex Rodriguez launched a BP homer off the same Monument Park wall that Jorge Posada hit during Saturday's game. Unfortunately for us, this one didn't carom up into the seats. Fortunately for the people in Monument Park, it hit the retaining wall. Six inches to the left and it would have fallen in the small gap between the wall and the netting that covers the park, right where two girls were having their picture taken at the time.

After BP, I had the chance to meet up with Ben, Mike, and Joe from RAB, as well as Moshe from TYU, who I didn't know was going to be in attendance. It wasn't until this morning that I found out that Mike from Yankeeist was also at the game, otherwise I would have attempted to say hello to him as well. Quite a few us dorky bloggers in the house last night.

As for the game itself, there isn't much I can add that hasn't already been said. Aside from Game Two of the ALDS last year, it was probably the best game I've attended in person. I can't overstate how great the vantage point is from the batter's eye seats. You're right on top of the field, you have a clean view of everything, you get a true track of the ball's flight right off the bat. The latter was particularly valuable last night as homer after homer was hit. If you ever have the opportunity to sit there, I highly, highly recommend it.

How Bad Has The Yankees' Bullpen Really Been?

The Yankees' relief pitching has left a lot to be desired over the last two games. On Sunday, their two best relievers - Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera - combined to turn a two run lead into a three run deficit against the Twins. Last night, Boone Logan and Chan Ho Park allowed three home runs between them and if wasn't for the heroics of A-Rod and Marcus Thames, would have allowed the Red Sox to steal a game the Yankees had a stranglehold on starting in the first inning.

There have been other notable failures by relief corps throughout the year as well. Chan Ho Park gave up the lead on a two run homer to Dustin Pedroia on Opening Night. Kendry Morales hit a go-ahead, two run bomb off of Chamberlain in Anaheim that led to another Yankee loss. David Roberston coughed up the lead in Baltimore and combined with Damaso Marte to blow a game against the White Sox.

Of course, injuries have been a problem as well. Alfredo Aceves is on the DL with back problems and Chan Ho Park has just returned from a hamstring injury. Mariano Rivera was sidelined with a pulled muscle in his side and went nearly two weeks between appearances - not a DL stint, but in terms of his lack of contributions to the team, it nearly was.

This morning, Mike from River Ave. Blues talked about the Yankees "bullpen problem", Larry from the Yankeeist called the unit, save for Rivera and Chamberlain, "downright deplorable", and E.J. from TYU called the 'pen (aside from Mo) "a glaring weakness".

But has the bullpen really been that bad this year, especially considering the amount of injuries they've suffered?

Right now, the Yankees are roughly in the middle of the pack in terms of ERA with a mark of 4.02. In terms of Win Probability, they have about twice as many shutdowns as meltdowns but have cost the Yanks approximately one third of a victory overall.

Importantly, though, the Yankees have had the second fewest innings pitched out of any team in the MLB with 96 1/3 through their first 38 games, which averages out between 2 1/3 and 2 2/3 per contest. As a result, they have allowed the fourth fewest runs per game, which is possible given their middling ERA because they aren't being asked to shoulder very much of the load.

All told, I wouldn't say the bullpen has been all that bad this year. At worst they've been about league average. However, on a team with the second most wins in baseball, a part of that whole that functions as average is probably holding them back somewhat. And of course, any failure by the bullpen is going to stick out like a sore thumb. Which is probably why RAB, TYU, The Yankeesist and we are all talking about it today, on the heels of two very poor performances. When the bullpen gets the job done, no one bats an eyelash. When they fail to shut it down, everyone gets anxious, us Fackers included.

Going forward, it's tough to say if the Yanks' bullpen are going to get better or worse. There are two different forces at work which should more or less neutralize each other. They are near the bottom of the league in FIP, which suggests that they've been somewhat lucky to have given up as few runs as they have. On the other hand, that inflated FIP comes as a result of the fact that the Yanks have the 4th highest HR/FB rate in the Majors at 12.6% (driven by Park at 30.8% and Robertson at 23.1).

Robertson has been unsustainably bad in general. He might not improve on his dreadful 8.49 ERA and 2.314 (!!) WHIP, but if he doesn't, he'll be replaced by someone like Mark Melancon, resulting in a net upgrade one way or another. Eventually we may see Boone Logan optioned to AAA as well.

Furthermore, many of the innings that have been pitched so far have gone to guys who are replacing first line relievers who have been injured. Rivera, Park and Aceves - ostensibly three of their best five bullpen arms - have missed time.

If you are still dissatisfied with the Yanks' performance out of the 'pen, look no further than the space between the bleachers and left center field tonight. The Red Sox relievers have been absolutely dreadful this year, giving up 19 more runs than the Yanks and have the second worst FIP in the league.

If It Wasn't For Bad Luck, D-Rob Wouldn't Have No Luck At All

Good morning Fackers. Entering play yesterday, the Yankees pitching was second in the AL at 3.56 R/G and third in ERA at 3.45. All that despite the well-documented problems with Javy Vazquez as well as some spotty relief work, particularly from David Robertson. In fact, as my friend and frequent commenter Gripp pointed out to me, Vazquez and DRob have combined to allow 38.9% of the Yankees earned runs while pitching just 12.5% of the innings.

There are any number of theories about Vazquez' troubles. Aside from speculation about his head and his guts, he's having noticeable mechanical issues. The numbers also suggest Vazquez has been a bit unlucky. Both his FIP (7.94) and xFIP (5.56) are ugly, but not nearly as ugly as his 9.78 ERA.

But Javy's bad luck has nothing on David Robertson. The New York Times' Bats Blog touched on it last week, and it's only gotten worse since then. Robertson has been knocked around in each of his last three appearances, allowing eight baserunners, two home runs, and six runs over just 1.2 IP. Opponents are hitting .545/.615/1.182 against him over that stretch. But it's not as bad as recent events would suggest.

On the season, Robertson sports a comical 14.21 ERA and 2.37 WHIP. His FIP is a still ugly 8.13, but his xFIP is a respectable 3.91. His peripherals are good. He's striking out 11.37 per 9, just a tick off from the 12.04 mark he posted through his first two seasons. He's walking 2.84 per 9, a major improvement on the 4.62 rate he had entering the year. His LD% is a career low 13.0%. So why have things gone so bad for DRob?

First, his HR/FB rate is currently at an unbelievable 33.3%, as three of the nine flyballs he's allowed have gone over the fence. When he's kept the ball in the yard he hasn't had much better luck, as his BABIP sits at a lofty .504. His strand rate is an absurdly low 50.9%. A third of his flyballs are leaving the park. Half of his balls in play are turning into hits. Half of the runners he allows to reach base come around to score. That's a recipe for disaster, and a disaster it has been. It's also a recipe for a big time regression to the mean, and with any luck that'll be coming very soon.

Compounding the problems for Robertson has been his sparing and sporadic use. Of his nine appearances this year, seven have lasted less than an inning, including his last four in a row. Three of them have been six pitches or fewer. Four of his appearances have come on three days rest. One came on a full week's rest. He hasn't been pitching often, and when he has, he hasn't stuck around for long. He's thrown just 2.1 innings in the last three weeks. Part of that is a function of his own ineffectiveness thus far, but much of it is due to the strong performance of the Yankee starters coupled with Joe Girardi's hair trigger tendencies with his middle relievers.

The good news is that Robertson's poor numbers have accumulated over just 6.1 IP. It's an extremely small sample size. His HR/FB rate, BABIP, and strand rate are beyond unsustainable. As they correct themselves and as Robertson accumulates more IP, the results will straighten themselves out. Further, his K rate remains amongst the best in baseball and he's made improvements in his walk rate and LD%. Of course these metrics are also subject to small sample size caveats, but whereas the bad numbers are so bad that they can't possibly last over time, the good numbers aren't so good as to be unbelievable.

Depending upon what the Yankees choose to do with the Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte injuries, the team could find themselves in need of a roster spot in the coming days. Robertson is one of the few players who both has options and isn't too indispensable to consider sending down. That, combined with Robertson's poor performance thus far, could land Robertson on a bus to Scranton. While he would certainly benefit from regular use and perhaps from the confidence that would come with getting back on track, I don't think there's anything wrong with David Robertson that can't be worked out on the Major League level. I wish Joe Girardi would stop using him as a sporadic ROOGY; his results are overdue for a nice turnaround.

Yet Another Linkaround

A fresh batch of links everyday is what you get when one blog author goes away on business and the other one has essentially no original material to offer. Better than nothing though, right?

Alex Remington of Big League Stew wonders if David Ortiz is nearing his end, the cartoon by Tuck from The Hardball Times implies that Papi already has.

If you only read one of these links, check out Jason Fry's post about finding a connection with someone he never knew through baseball.

Ben Shpigel of the NYT notes that a big part of the reason David Robertson has an ERA of 10.80 is that he's sporting a ridiculously high BABIP of .600 right now. Shpigel also recalls some of the unfortunate luck D-Rob has had in the past.

Larry from The Yankeeist mediated on the subject of Yankee blogging and hit on a lot of things I've thought about (and a few I hadn't).

The Yankees are looking for nominees of people and organizations to honor during HOPE Week. What's that? Oh well, that's awfully nice of you, but I don't think they would accept a vulgarly-titled sports blog for the honors.

Jorge Posada's knee was pretty swollen after the game and he probably isn't starting tonight. Joe Girardi stopped short of blaming Jeremy Guthrie and didn't imply that any of the plunkings were intentional but made it clear that he was frustrated by the incident.

Via Iracane, the Yankees single-A affiliate - the Charleston River Dogs - are now offering a pickle dog. Instead of a bun, the frank is served on a pickle. Yes, please.

Check out this graphic from Wezen-Ball which charts the careers of some of the longest tenured baseball broadcasters.

Parkes over at Drunk Jays Fans and Will Leitch both explained why the alleged MLB.com beat writer Twitter crackdown is completely counterproductive.

It's probably safe to say that Rob Neyer is not in favor of expanding the rosters for the All-Star Game. Jason gives a point by point breakdown of his feelings on the issues.

Ross from NYY Stadium Insider has a small but helpful tip for the next time you are looking to buy tickets for a Yanks game. He figured out how to find out how many seats are in your row so you can determine how close you are to the aisle.

For those scoring at home, I believe this brings the tally to Craig Calcaterra, 156; Jon Heyman, 0.

Russell Adams at the WSJ came up with a formula to rank the greatest Yankees of all time. Guess who comes in first.

Over at his blog, prolific commenter Matt on Earth asks a few questions about Ken Singleton and a few more about Kate Smith. Lisa from Subway Squawkers provides some answers in the comments.

Carson Cistulli gives a thoughtful response to a simple question.

Orioles prospect Chris Tillman threw a no-hitter in AAA last night and will probably be working his way back into their rotation soon.

Tango looks at the value split between pitchers and non-pitchers and finds that hurlers account for just over 40% in most years.

Matt Klaussen notes that while fans are likely to give GMs a hard time over a bad deal, they are far less inclined to rake a player's agent over the coals if they are the one who takes the short end of the stick. It's interesting, because a good fan roots for the organization and understands that the team is much larger than any one player can be. It usually doesn't make sense to root for management over labor, but it does when you are a fan of a team.

Dave Cameron talks about Mariners Manager Don Wakimatsu, the courage he has in his convictions and the way he attempts to transfer confidence to his players. You know, the kind of stuff that mangers do on a daily basis but fans never give them credit for.

Be back a little later with the preview.

Game 19 Recap

1. Phil Hughes gave up back-to-back singles to Luke Scott and Ty Wigginton to lead off the second inning and after retiring Rhyne Hughes, walked Nolan Reimold to load the bases. Caesar Izturis, the number 9 hitter, was up next and Hughes walked him on four pitches, only one of which was particularly close. That forced in a run and put the Orioles up 1-0, but Phil avoided further damage when he got Adam Jones to ground into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play.

2. The Yankees led off the top of the third with consecutive singles of their own, this time by Nick Swisher and Randy Winn. Derek Jeter advanced the runners with a ground out to first. Brett Gardner slapped a 2-1 slider to Miguel Tejada at third, but it ate Miggy up and allowed Swisher to score, tying the game at 1.

3. Jorge Posada gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the 4th as he led off the inning with a homer. He jumped all over an 87mph cutter from Millwood and pulled it over the scoreboard in right field.

4. The Yankees made two outs on the basepaths in the 6th inning. After singling, Cano got was gunned down by Matt Wieters trying to steal second despite getting a good jump. After working a walk, Jorge Posada strayed too far from second base when a ball hit by Nick Swisher was knocked down by Miguel Tejada and trickled into the outfield. The only out the Yanks made at the plate in the inning was a strikeout by Curtis Granderson.

5. The bottom of the 6th was even worse for the Yanks. After Phil Hughes recorded the first two outs, Girardi went to the bullpen and called on Boone Logan to face lefty Luke Scott. Logan promptly walked him and on came David Robertson for the right handed Ty Wigginton.

Robertson plunked Wigginton on an 0-2 count on a fastball that rode too far inside. He then allowed a RBI single to Rhyne Hughes that tied the game at 2. Reimold and Izturus followed with RBI base knocks of their own and before Robertson struck out Adam Jones, the Orioles were up 4-2.

6. The Orioles struck again with two outs in the 8th. Ty Wigginton reached on an error by Derek Jeter to lead of the inning and was pinch ran for by Julio Lugo. Alfredo Aceves, in his second inning of work retired the next two batters, bringing up Izturis. Lugo took off for second during the AB and Jorge Posada sailed his throw into center field, allowing Lugo to advance to 3rd. Izturis blooped a single to right and drove in his third run of the game to make it Orioles 5 - Yankees 2.

7. The Yankees came oh-so-close to stealing this one in the top of the 9th facing Alfredo Simon who had been called up from AAA earlier in the day. Swisher poked a single through the right side (his third hit of the night) and then Nick Johnson (pinch hitting for Winn) worked a walk. With one out, Derek Jeter struck out swinging on a 91mph slider, leaving the game in Brett Gardner's hands.

After quickly falling behind 0-2, Gardner grounded a ball to short that slipped past Izturis and was scored an error, bringing the Yanks within 2. Mark Teixeira then lined the first pitch he saw from Simon into right for an RBI single, closing the gap to one run. A-Rod came to the plate with runners on the corners and lined a ball directly up the middle, right under the feet of Simon but it was fielded by Izturis and flipped to Lugo to force out Teixeira and end the game.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• Hughes was missing his spots by quite a bit tonight and those balls that were clearly not worth swinging at out of his hand that led to some long at bats. The Orioles had 10 plate appearances of 6 pitches or more, which were the main reasons Hughes needed 109 pitches to get through 5 2/3 innings.
  
  
• While he recorded only 2 strikeouts, Hughes remained relatively unhittable, as 4 of his 6 baserunners reached via a walk. This wasn't one of his finer performances, but if you're going to have an off night, one run over 5 2/3 ain't bad.
  
  
• Cano is now 2 for 4 in stolen bases this season, dropping his career mark to 19 for 44. He should probably stop trying.
  
  
• Randy Winn had a chance to throw out Luke Scott at the plate and get the Yankees out of the 6th inning with the lead but he slipped and yanked the throw so badly that it landed on the outfield grass and barely rolled to first base. It would have been absolutely hilarious if it wasn't as such a crucial moment in the game.
  
  
• There will be plenty of second guessing of Girardi playing the matchup game in the 6th inning. Hughes had 109 pitches and I honestly thought that he might have been done after just 5. Instead Girardi allowed him to come back out, but played the matchup game for Luke Scott - who had a .270 OBP coming into tonight. Instead of Boone Logan, I would have liked to see Aceves in that spot, or someone else who wouldn't have been removed after one batter regardless of the outcome of the AB, you know, just in case it doesn't go right.
  
  
• Would someone like to remind Joe Girardi that David Robertson has fucking reverse platoon splits? Including tonight, he has 7 appearances this year every time the Yanks have been leading or the score has been tied, he's been used primarily to face right handers and pulled after less than an inning. He's not a ROOGY.
  
  
• The freebie run that the O's plated in the 8th, in part due to Jeter's error and in part to Posada's errant throw, made the comeback in the 9th that much more difficult.
  
  
• Apparently Nick Johnson isn't the only person man enough to use Miley Cirus for his at bat music. Ty Wigginton also chose to come out to "Party In The USA". Hopefully he did it for his daughter as well.
  
  
• Curtis Granderson was 0-4 on the night with three strikeouts and is now 1 for his last 20.
  

That would have been a brutal loss even if it weren't for the near comeback in the 9th inning. The boys are back at it tomorrow night, same time, same place.

Tuesday Afternoon Link-A-Roo

It's slow going on the Fack Youk factory floor today, as I prepare to be banished to Atlanta for the remainder of the week.

Here are a few links to hold you over until preview time:

Quick - if someone told you that a former Yankee pitcher would issue the first walkoff walk of 2010, who would your guess be? Yeah, mine too.

Over at RAB, Mike Axisa takes a further look at what I touched upon this morning: the under-utilization of David Robertson.

Staying in the bullpen, Mike also examines a minor tweak made by Boone Logan this year that may allow him to be more successful than he's been in the past.

Over at Fangraphs, RAB's Joe Pawlikowski extends upon what Steve Goldman and Rob Neyer have already commented upon: the unsustainability of Austin Jackson's early season success. If you thought AJax's BABIP was off the charts at Scranton last year, take a look at his 2010 numbers so far.

Neyer's ESPN colleague and former Major Leaguer Doug Glanville is transitioning nicely to his role in the media. Glanville reflects back upon his time with the Texas Rangers, and remembers when Mark Teixeira was an emerging third baseman.

So, Jason Bay isn't terrible defensively after all?

Via Bronx Banter, here's a nice look at Bob Sheppard.

In both the New York Post and his Hardball blog, Joel Sherman takes a look at the continued acrimony between Joe Torre and the Yankees' organization. I really, really hope they all bury the hatchet at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Via BBTF, comes a very worthwhile read from Faith and Fear in Flushing. If I am ever so unfortunate as to meet an untimely end, someone is going to have a lot of old baseball cards to sort through.

Late last week, the NCAA officially approved The New Era Pinstripe Bowl, issuing it a four year license rather than the customary three years.

Unfortunately, the existence of the Pinstripe Bowl comes at the expense of another potential bowl game, one dedicated to a cause far more worthy than wringing more money out of Yankee Stadium and printing more cash for the NCAA.

Meanwhile, as we mentioned last year, the existence of the Pinstripe Bowl all but assures that the inevitable New York-based NHL Winter Classic will not take place at Yankee Stadium.

Back with the preview in a bit.

[UPDATE 4:00 PM: Friend of the blog Matt on Earth weighs in with his thoughts on Curt Schilling's comments on Javy Vazquez.]

Balancing The Bullpen

Good morning Fackers. Lost in all the wailing and rendering rending of garments over Javier Vazquez' first four starts is that the Yankees have been getting damn good starting pitching from the rest of their rotation this year. Entering play yesterday the Yankees tied for the League lead with two complete games and tied for for fifth in quality start percentage (56% overall, 71% non-Vazquez division). Perhaps most noteworthy though, the club is third in the AL in innings per start, averaging 6.3 IP per outing, just a tenth of an inning off the league lead.

The flip side of that is that there are far less innings to go around for the bullpen, particularly when you consider that the Yankees have lost five road games this year in which they didn't have to pitch the ninth inning and have had one game shortened to six innings due to rain. The bullpen has logged just 42.1 IP through the first eighteen games, easily the lowest total in the League.

In the age of the 12 man pitching staff, that just isn't enough innings to go around, especially when the team has had four relief appearances of two innings or more thus far. It's a nice problem to have no doubt, and one that will likely rectify itself as the season wears on. While I easily get annoyed at Joe Girardi's love of late game match ups and his proclivity for making one move too many, he has utilized his bullpens rather well in his two plus years as Yankee manager. In the early going in 2010 however, Girardi has not been spreading the load too evenly.

Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain, and Damaso Marte have borne the bulk of the appearances thus far. Marte is the LOOGY, and for much of the season was the only lefty out there. Chamberlain is The Official Eighth Inning Guy and has shown flashes of his former brilliance (while looking more ordinary in his other appearances). Rivera is without question the best reliever in the pen. So it's no surprise that these three top the list, even if each of their appearances haven't been absolutely necessary.

But the Yankee bullpen is deep, and the remaining relievers have struggled to find enough work. Consider:

• David Robertson, who was needlessly and disastrously pulled after two thirds of an inning in Game Three of the ALCS last year, has seen similar usage patterns this year. He's made six appearances this season. Four of them have been less than one inning; three of them have been six pitches or fewer. I'd love to see him and his obscene K-rate utilized more often.


• Alfredo Aceves' appearance in Sunday's game was his first in in eight days. Prior to that, he had thrown just one third of an inning since April 14th. With any luck, Aceves' lack of use is a result of lack of opportunity and not at all related to the back and shoulder problems that have bothered him intermittently since last July.


• Sergio Mitre is clearly the last man in the pen. There's no point in using him just for the sake of using him, but as a sinkerballer, Mitre needs regular work to keep sharp. His appearance Sunday was just his second of the season and his first in sixteen days. Just for comparison's sake, between Mitre's two appearances the following happened:


• The starting rotation went through two and four fifths turns.


• CC Sabathia made three starts, one of them a near no-hitter and the other two complete games.


• Phil Hughes made his second simulated start at the minor league complex, rested for four days, made his first start of 2010, rested four more days, nearly threw a no-hitter in his second start of the season, and was a game away from making his third start of the season.


• Chan Ho Park appeared in a game four days after Mitre's first appearance. Three days later he was placed on the 15 day DL and is eligible to be activated as soon as Thursday.


• Joba Chamberlain made seven appearances; Mariano Rivera made six; Damaso Marte made five and added his sixth shortly after Mitre's second appearance of the season.


• Boone Logan made two appearances for Scranton and two more for the Yankees.

These things have a way of working themselves out. I certainly hope that the Yankees starters continue to work deep into games. I understand that the twelve man staff is a given these days and I don't advocate dropping any of the current pitchers from the staff. But if the Yankees are going to carry a seven man pen, the guys further down the pecking order need to see the mound a little more often to both justify their presence and ensure they're ready when needed.

Game 7 Recap

[WPA data via FanGraphs]

1. The Yankees got it going in the bottom of the first, as Nick Johnson jumped on a 1-1 Ervin Santana fastball and crushed it to the right field bleachers to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

2. In the top of the third, Derek Jeter followed with a solo shot of his own to right-center

3. The next inning, the Yankees stretched the lead to 3-0, as a bases loaded infield single from Jeter plated Curtis Granderson.

4. Andy Pettitte pitched himself into a bit of a jam in the fifth, allowing a leadoff single to Jeff Mathis followed by a walk to Brandon Wood. Erick Aybar's groundout to third put both runners in scoring position, but Pettitte wriggled out of trouble by inducing a pop up from Bobby Abreu and a groundout from Torii Hunter

5. The Angels threatened again in the sixth, with back-to-back singles from Kendry Morales and Juan Rivera leaving runners on the corners with one out. Pettitte then induced a double play ball off the bat of Howie Kendrick, costing the Angels 11.9% of Win Expectancy.

6. The Yankees made it 5-0 in the bottom half of the inning. Walks from Nick Swisher, Nick Johnson, and Mark Teixeira loaded the bases. An infield single from A-Rod plated the Nicks. Raise your hand if you thought you'd see Nick Johnson score from second on an infield single this year. Yeah, me neither.

7. The Angels got on the board in the top of eighth, as Kendry Morales blasted a solo shot into the second deck in right field. The Yankees responded in the bottom half. Nick Johnson led off with a double and came around to score on a Jorge Posada two bagger. Curtis Granderson continued his hot start by driving Robinson Cano home with a base hit. Though seemingly pile-on runs at the time, they would prove crucial.

8. David Robertson had a rough top of the ninth. He gave up three straight singles to start the inning, the second of which was supposed to be a bunt attempt. After retiring Aybar for the inning's first out, D-Rob surrendered a grandslam to Bobby Abreu to make it 7-5. Even so, the Yankees' Win Expectancy still stood at 95.9%. Mariano Rivera came on to get Torii Hunter and old friend Hideki Matsui to shut the door.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• Outstanding job by the Yankees with the ring ceremony. From the 27 championship flags flying from the Stadium, to the presence of living legends Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford, to the surprise guest appearance by Jerry Hairston Jr, who took a cross country red eye from San Diego last night to spend his off day getting his ring, it was well done. If only Bernie didn't bounce the first pitch, and if only YES wasn't late in getting back on the air for it.


• Extremely classy move by the Yankees to give World Series MVP Hideki Matsui the final ring. It was also very nice to see the entirety of the Yankees come forward to greet Matsui after he received his ring. While that move spoke volumes of how Matsui's former teammates feel about him, the fans took the opportunity to express their gratitude with a standing ovation for Matsui's plate appearance in the first inning. Nice job by Andy Pettitte to take his time and step off, giving Matsui an opportunity to tip his batting helmet.


• As nice as the reception was for Matsui, the best moment of the day was to see Gene Monahan in attendance. As we mentioned this morning, Monahan has been away from the team battling illness, reportedly cancer. His appearance today was the first of the season. It was very poignant that he received the first ring in the ceremony and touching to see the warm reception from the fans and how much it moved Geno.


• The very first ring of the day was presented to George Steinbrenner. Joe Girardi and Derek Jeter visited his suite early in the afternoon to deliver his ring. Hal said his pops was very appreciative.


• Another solid outing for Andy Pettitte, who was very sharp through four and gutted through jams in the fifth and sixth. It was good to see that Pettitte was able to receive his ring on the field before heading to the bullpen to warm up.


• Nine walks by Angels pitching today, including three to Nick Swisher and two each to Nick Johnson and Mark Teixeira.


• Robinson Cano continues to swing a hot bat, picking up a double and a single, and making good contact on his fly out to the right field warning track.


• Nick Swisher has been replaced for defense in three consecutive games and five of the last six. I know he can look bad at times and that his arm isn't great, but as we discussed a couple weeks back, he's not a terrible defender.


• Chan Ho Park looked good for his second consecutive outing. Perhaps those who were ready to write him off following his Opening Night performance might have reacted a tad too quickly.


• David Robertson's ERA is going to take a looooong time to recover from today.


• I don't want to jump to conclusions after just one game, but Torii Hunter looks like he's aged in dog years defensively. He got poor jumps on about three or four fly balls today. Perhaps the wind played a factor, but that doesn't explain away his failure to cut off Nick Johnson's eight inning shot in the right-center gap.

See you in the morning Fackers.

Bruney To The Braves? Nats

[UPDATE 1:50 PM: According to Joel Sherman, Bruney has been dealt to the Nationals for a PTBNL. Makes more sense than the Braves; Yanks realize the same benefit. h/t: TYU]

According to George A. King III, the Yankees are close to sending Brian Bruney to the Braves for prospect(s).

Putting aside for a second that this rumor is coming from The Post, it still makes no sense. The Braves have already signed Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito for more than $10M guaranteed in 2010. They're about to get blindsided by Rafael Soriano accepting arbitration for around $8M next year. Why in the world would they acquire another reliever - with a spotty track record at that - when he's arbitration eligible and due to make anywhere from $1.5M to $2M next year? The Braves desperately need and want an OF bat and need to free payroll from their starting rotation to acquire one. Why then would they accumulate $20M worth of relief pitching before the Winter Meetings even wrap?

From the Yankees standpoint, I think this would be a good deal. Bruney was initially thought to be a non-tender candidate, but all recent indications have been that he will be offered a contract. By moving him now, the Yankees free an incremental amount of payroll - not a major issue for them - but also give themselves some 40 man roster flexibility. Furthermore, it gives them some latitude with next year's bullpen as it takes an optionless pitcher out of the mix. Bruney would likely have been a candidate to be the "7th inning guy" or even "the 8th inning guy", but we've seen that movie before. The club has enough options with David Robertson, Mark Melancon, Damaso Marte, and potentially either Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain to cover the late innings.

I'm not buying this one yet, but it'll be interesting to see where it goes.

Lee, Utley Spur Phils To Victory

Through the first seven innings, Game One unfolded like the pitchers' duel it promised to be. CC Sabathia needed just five pitches to retire the game's first two batters. The next two plate appearances however would foreshadow things to come. Sabathia got ahead of Chase Utley 1-2, but continued to pitch carefully to the Phillies' dangerous number three hitter. Utley worked a walk, then moved to third when Ryan Howard ripped a double on a fastball that was supposed to be outside, but caught too much of the plate. With first base open, Sabathia elected to be cautious with Jayson Werth, issuing a free pass to him as well. The Big Fella escaped the jam by getting Raul Ibanez to ground out, but the heart of the Phillies' order forced Sabathia to throw 19 pitches between the second and third outs.

CC cruised through the bottom of the Philadelphia order in the second, retiring the side on seven pitches. In the third, eleven more pitches got him two outs against the top of the order. Then Utley stepped to the plate for the second time. Again Sabathia jumped ahead 1-2, but Utley fought off three tough pitcher's pitches and worked the count full. On the ninth pitch of the at bat, a Sabathia fastball ticketed for the outside corner caught too much plate, just like against Howard in the first. This time Utley lofted it into the right field stands to give the Phils a one run lead.

Meanwhile, Cliff Lee was dealing. He surrendered only a single to Jorge Posada the first time through the order, and stranded Derek Jeter after his two out double in the third. After a perfect fourth, Lee faced the minimum in the fifth. Hideki Matsui led off with a single, but thanks a bit of a baserunning blunder on his part and an astute play by Jimmy Rollins at short, he was erased on a double play.

Heading into the sixth, Sabathia had retired seven consecutive Phillies following the Utley HR, four by strikeout. Shane Victorino flew out to lead off the sixth, running Sabathia's streak to eight batters as Utley stepped back into the box. Once again CC got ahead, this time 0-2. Once again, Utley fought off a tough pitch, fouling away a 94 MPH fastball coming up and in on him. Sabathia came back with another heater, but left it over the heart of the plate and Utley absolutely destroyed it, depositing the ball in the right field bleachers for his second solo shot of the night.

By the time Sabathia exited the game following the seventh inning, he had surrendered just four hits and three walks while striking out six. But the two Utley home runs left CC and the Yanks down 2-0. They were still in the game, but Lee's continued dominance and a shaky pair of innings from the Yankee pen dug the hole deeper.

Phil Hughes began the eighth. Facing the top of the Phillies' order he issued back-to-back free passes to Rollins and Victorino. With the two big lefties due and Damaso Marte ready that was it for Hughes. As he departed he had a few choice words for home plate umpire Gerry Davis, and Pitch FX seems to indicate he had a legitimate gripe. Marte did his job, using a K to finally retire Utley then getting Howard to fly out. Marte gave way to David Robertson, who walked Jayson Werth with the aid of more questionable calls. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ibanez put a seeing eye single between Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira, making it 4-0.

Inexplicably, Brian Bruney was on the mound to begin the ninth. In his first appearance in twenty six days Bruney got a quick out, gave up a double, an infield single, and an RBI single to run it to 5-0. With Chase Utley coming up again Joe Girardi decided to either A). get Phil Coke some work or B). go back to matching up despite allowing the designated mop up man to start the inning. Coke got Utley to fly out, but a Ryan Howard double played the sixth run before Victorino got gunned down at the plate to end the inning.

The poor relief pitching and a few questionable calls from Davis didn't really matter. Cliff Lee was that good. He went the distance on just 122 pitches, scattered six hits - just one for extra bases, walked no one, and stuck out nine - eight swinging. He never threw more than 16 pitches in an inning, went to a three ball count on just three batters, and the only run he allowed was unearned thanks to an error on a would-be double play ball in the ninth.

The Yankee bats have been prone to periods of silence this post-season; the bullpen hasn't pitched the way most thought it would, and the Phillies have just captured home field advantage. Before anyone starts claiming the sky is falling, let's give credit where it's due. The Phillies are a good team. Chase Utley is one of the top hitters in baseball; Cliff Lee is one of the top pitchers. Sometimes you just get it handed to you. The good news is it's only one game, the first game at that, and that the Yankees are just as capable of doing tomorrow what the Phillies did today. We'll see you then.

Four Bad Decisions

Good morning Fackers. Over the course of the season we haven't been shy about being critical of Joe Girardi, particularly as it relates to his bullpen management. That said, I've been very pleased with his tactics this post-season. Over the course of Game Two on Saturday night, I thought he might have been burning through his relievers too quickly, but in thinking about it over the past few days he was consistent. His decisions were very similar to ALDS Game Two: aggressive, keeping the pressure on the opposition, and trying to leverage the advantage his deep bullpen offered him as much as possible. Outside of allowing Freddy Guzman to hit once and not using Francisco Cervelli to pinch run for Jorge Posada in the twelfth, he managed "all in" all game.

That said, there were a few decisions made yesterday that were downright ponderous. I know this is going to come across as Monday morning quarterbacking and second guessing, but I can assure you, and Jay can attest, these were first guesses. I imagine Girardi has his explanations for why he made these moves and others have their thoughts on them as well. In order to not let those things cloud my opinions, and because I'm probably a bit burned out at this point, I've intentionally avoided reading anything following the conclusion of yesterday's game. Without further ado, here are my thoughts as they unfolded:

• Pinch running with Brett Gardner in the seventh. After Hideki Matsui's leadoff walk, pinch running was the absolute right move. However, pinch running with Brett Gardner was the wrong move. Freddy Guzman is on the roster exclusively as a pinch runner. Hideki Matsui is on the roster exclusively as a designated hitter. Subbing one for the other goes together like chocolate and peanut butter. Putting Brett Gardner in this spot confined the best defensive outfielder to the DH spot. (As an aside, I thought attempting to steal with Gardner as the potential tying run was a bad idea too, particularly in a count that was ripe for a pitch out, but that's not my main gripe here).
  
  Sure enough, later in the game Girardi used Jerry Hairston Jr. to pinch hit for Gardner, which he just as easily could have done had Guzman been in that spot. Then in the tenth, Hairston, rather than Gardner, was sent in to substitute for Johnny Damon for defensive purposes, costing the Yankees their DH and necessitating Frankie Cervelli pinch hitting in the eleventh. Lastly, even though Hairston barely missed Jeff Mathis' game winning hit, I can't help but think that had Melky Cabrera been in left and Gardner in center that the ball would have been hauled in for an out.


• Substituting Phil Coke for Damaso Marte to start the bottom of the eighth. For the life of me, I can't figure this move out. The whole point of carrying two lefties is to have the option to match up twice over the course of the game. After Joba Chamberlain got knocked all over the yard in the seventh, Girardi summoned Damaso Marte with two outs. In doing so he forced Chone Figgins back to the right side of the plate, where he is far, far weaker, and had Marte on the mound to face Bobby Abreu should Figgins have reached. Marte retired Figgins on a lone pitch.
  
  I have no earthly clue why Girardi chose to burn his other lefty immediately thereafter. I realize the Yankees had a rather long top of the eighth, leaving Marte sitting for quite a while. But he couldn't face one more batter? If Coke was the guy he wanted to face Abreu, why not just bring him in the inning before to face Figgins? Why not just let Phil Hughes, who replaced Coke after a single batter and is far and away the best pitcher amongst the three, come in to face Abreu to start the inning? Instead, Girardi burned his two lefties, in back-to-back plate appearances with a grand total of four pitches. Unfathomable.


• Pinch hitting for Mariano Rivera in the eleventh. I'll fully admit this one is borderline. It might be equally questionable to risk sending Mo to the plate, for fear of injury, but it didn't stop Girardi from doing it twice over the course of interleague play in June. I thought of it this way: There were already two outs, and no one on. The Yankees had little chance of scoring in the eleventh at that point and had three equally craptastic pinch hitting options on the bench: Cervelli, Guzman, and Jose Molina. Mo had thrown just 17 pitches, albeit high stress pitches. Why not concede the at bat, keep Mo on the mound for one more inning, and take your chances with Teixeira, A-Rod, Hairston, and Posada in the twelfth? I realize Mo threw 20+ pitches Saturday, and I realize there's a game today. But, Girardi has been very aggressive all post-season and has utilized the off days to his advantage. I would have been tempted to push Mo for another inning in Game Three and take my chances at the back end of Game Four with the off day Wendesday.


• The entirety of the bottom of the eleventh inning. This entire half inning was a managerial abortion in my opinion. First off, I would have brought Alfredo Aceves in to start the inning. Once again, the bullpen was thin, down to just Alf, David Robertson, and Chad Gaudin (of course). There was no telling how long this game would go. And no matter how long it went, if the Yankees were going to win they would need to close out the Angels at some point and to do it without Mo. Given that there's not a huge discrepancy in talent between the two, that Alf could give them three innings if needed, and that D-Rob is the more "closer-ey" of the two, I'd rather Aceves have started the inning. Plus, that would leave Robertson and his league leading K-rate at the ready in the pen in case Alf pitched into a jam where a big strikeout might be needed.
  
  Instead D-Rob started the inning. Not even close to my biggest disappointment on the night. Not the move I would have made, but one I could live with. D-Rob made it look wise by retiring the dangerous Juan Rivera and the more dangerous Kendry Morales. Then, inexplicably, Girardi yanked him, after just 11 pitches, in favor of Aceves. I have absolutely no idea why this move was made. I'm completely, totally, and utterly stupefied by it. Seven pitches later Howie Kendrick had singled and light-hitting Jeff Mathis had driven him in with the winning run.

Sometimes shit just happens. The Yankees had plenty of opportunities to win this game in the earlier innings. They caught some big breaks when Torii Hunter got caught stealing, Bobby Abreu made an inexcusable baserunning gaffe, and Mo pitched out of a seemingly inescapable jam in the tenth.

While the Yankees are undoubtedly a very good team, they've also caught some unbelievably good breaks over the course of this post-season without ever really getting burned by a bad one. It was almost as if they were due for something like this to happen. I certainly didn't expect them to go 11-0 in the post-season. But, the four decisions above certainly didn't help matters at all last night.

The Honeymoon Is Over

For the first five games of this postseason, it was easy to fantasize about the Yankees steamrolling through the playoffs without so much as a hitch. However, the reality was that an 11 game winning streak would have been their longest of the season by two games. To expect them to better that against the best competition they've faced, under the most extreme pressure was wishful thinking, and we were reminded of that in the 11th inning in Anaheim.

Perhaps four home runs should have been enough to win the game for the Yanks, but some missed chances, homers by the Angels and questionable decisions led to their undoing. Before we start debating the managerial moves (which we certainly will tomorrow morning), let's look at what actually did happen.

Derek Jeter began the 1st inning by depositing the third pitch he saw from Jered Weaver into the left field seats, his third tater of the postseason in only 25 plate appearances. It was as good a start to the afternoon as possible for the Yanks and they looked to add to that lead in the second inning.

After a lead off single by Hideki Matsui, and a walk to Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano grounded out thereby moving Matsui to third base. Nick Swisher had a chance at a cheap RBI but flied out to shallow left after which Melky Cabrera grounded out to end the threat.

Andy Pettitte had held the Angels scoreless through the first three innings when A-Rod led of the fourth with yet another October homer. Weaver left a 3-1 change up floating over the plate and Alex mashed it to deep left field, putting the Yanks up 2-0. Like they did in the second, the Yanks followed with a walk, single and a force out, again putting runners on first and third with one out for Swisher. This time Weaver threw all off-speed pitches, ultimately getting Swish to swing over a curveball in the dirt.

A homer by Johnny Damon in the 5th inning put the Yanks on top 3-0, and after a walk to Mark Teixeira, the Bombers looked poised to blow the game wide open. With Weaver still in the game, A-Rod ripped a ball to left center which looked at first like it had a chance to become his 6th homer off of Jered Weaver in career 18 ABs, but it fell short into the glove of Juan Rivera.

And it was pretty much all downhill from there...

Howie Kendrick knocked the first home run given up by Yankees pitching this postseason in the 5th inning to cut the Angels' deficit to 2 runs. Then, with Bobby Abreu on base in front of him in the 6th, Vlad Guerrero (who many had suggested be replaced at the Halos' clean up hitter) lofted a high drive off of Andy Pettitte and paused to watch it sail towards the visitor's bullpen, tying the game at 3.

Pettitte came out to start the seventh inning but was replaced by Joba Chamberlain after retiring Kendry Morales. Cue the Rally Monkey. Joba promptly allowed a triple off the right field wall to Howie Kendrick, putting the go ahead run on third with one out. Mike Napoli was due up but Mike Scioscia inexplicably pinch hit for him again, this time with Macier Izturis. The decision worked out, as Izturis smashed a deep line drive, scoring Kendrick easily.

The Yankees hadn't trailed for more than two times at bat during this postseason and this situation was no different. Hideki Matsui led off the 8th with a walk and was pinch run for by Brett Gardner. Unfortunately, the move backfired when Gardner was nabbed stealing on a well-timed 0-1 pitch out. If you subscribe to the FotPO, it cost the Yankees a run when Jorge Posada jacked a solo homer, tying the game at 4.

Damaso Marte needed only one pitch to get the 3rd out of the 7th inning, but Joe Girardi called on fellow lefty Phil Coke to pitch to Bobby Abreu to start the 8th. Abreu ripped a ball in the gap but took an extra wide turn around second and was tagged out thanks in part to a strong throw by his old pal Melky Cabrera, a nice relay by Jeter and Mark Teixeira's diligent back up of second base.

Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira both made outs to begin the top of the 9th inning but the Angels intentionally walked A-Rod anyway. Brett Gardner was hitting 5th after replacing Matsui, but he was pinch hit for by Game 2 pie recipient Jerry Hairston, Jr. There was no magic for Hairston this time as Fuentes struck him out easily, giving the Halos their first chance at a walk-off.

Phil Hughes had cruised through an inning and two-thirds without giving up a hit, so Girardi left him in to begin the 9th. Hughes would only face one batter, Jeff Mathis, who drove a lead off double into the gap in left. After some stalling on the mound, Girardi pulled the escape hatch and called on Mariano Rivera to face Eric Aybar. In an attempt to sacrifice, Aybar laid a bunt down the third baseline. Rivera, spry as ever on the mound, sprung off mound to field it. He looked to have Mathis at 3rd, but botched the throw. It bounced in the dirt past A-Rod and rolled into foul territory but Johnny Damon was there to back it up. At that point, the Angels' Win Expectancy was 93.8%.

Rivera had his work cut out for him and began by getting Chone Figgins to bounce out sharply to Mark Teixeria, holding the runner at third and getting the out at first. With Bobby Abreu due up and men on second and third, the Yankees walked the bases loaded, putting a force at every base. There were a lot of ways to get the run across, but Rivera got both Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero to ground out to first and squirmed out of a death-defying jam.

Because Girardi chose to swap Jerry Hairston for Johnny Damon in the 10th inning for defensive purposes, Rivera was due up at the plate in the top of the 11th. After Ervin Santana got both Melky and Jeter out, Girardi pinch hit for Rivera with Francisco Cervelli who struck out on a slider in the dirt.

Since Rivera was out of the game, Girardi went to David Robertson. After getting Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales - Girardi, to this dismay of many - called on Alfredo Aceves to face Howie Kendrick. The decision backfired in a major way. Kendrick singled and Jeff Mathis - the far inferior hitter of the two Angels' catchers who could have been pinch fun for in the 10th - ripped his second double of the afternoon, this one a game-winner.

This game is bound to leave a bad taste in some people's mouths, but luckily it won't linger for too long. CC Sabathia will take the hill on short rest in a pivotal Game 4 tomorrow night at 8.