Game 34: I Wish It Would Rain

It's getaway day in Motown, as the Yankees and Tigers wrap up their four game series. The Yankees dropped the first two games of the set, but rebounded to take the nightcap of yesterday's day-night doubleheader. They'll look to second that emotion today, as they try to salvage a split and avoid just their second series loss of 2010.

Playing their second matinee in as many days, the Yanks will send their ace to the bump. CC Sabathia had his last start spoiled by rain in Boston, with the umps calling for the tarp while the Big Fella was a mere strike away from qualifying for the win. He may not even get the chance to be robbed thusly this afternoon.

There's heavy rain in the forecast for Detroit this afternoon, and another rainout is real possibility. While makeup games are generally an inconvenience, this time around the Yankees may not mind so much if the skies open up. The two clubs have three mutual off days the rest of the way, including one in September that could be easily managed once rosters have expanded. Not only would a rainout today allow the Yanks to miss Tigers' ace Justin Verlander, but the Mother Nature induced off day would also negate the need for a spot starter on Sunday. Given that, and all the nagging injuries the team is currently nursing, a rainout today might be welcomed.

If they do in fact play, Nick Swisher won't be in the lineup. The right fielder was pulled from last night's game with a sore bicep. Knowing Swish, he probably injured it by asking the ladies if they had "tickets to the gun show" one too many times. With Swisher out, and Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson on the DL, the Yankees' outfield and DH situation is fairly punchless.

To that end, it appears Juan Miranda will finally be activated, two days after being summoned from Scranton. Miranda will provide a more palatable DH option, as Ben Kabak at RAB touched upon this morning. Under normal circumstances defacto longman Ivan Nova might be the one to go, but with the possibility of a lengthy rain delay today and the potential need for a spot start Sunday, Nova will stick around. Greg Golson is still needed with the Swisher injury, so for now, it'll be Kevin Russo heading back to Scranton.

Day in, day out, my tear-stained face, pressed against the window pane
My eyes search the skies, desperately for rain
‘Cause raindrops will hide my teardrops
And no one will ever know.
That I'm cryin’, (crying) cryin’ (crying) when I go outside
To the world outside my tears, I refuse to explain.
I just wish it would rain. (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh let it rain, rain, rain

[Song Notes: We can't let the Yankees only scheduled trip to Detroit this year pass by without selecting a Motown song. With acts like the Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles to choose from, there is no shortage of excellent options. But instead we'll go with perhaps the most famous of all the Motown groups: The Temptations.

Of course, we did use a Stevie Wonder song on Sunday night, and he got his start on Motown, but I don't think of Wonder as a Motown artist. Part of that has to do with much of Wonder's career, including his best work, coming after the label moved to Los Angeles, which essentially ended the classic Motown era. A bigger part of it though, I think has to do with the fact that Wonder played his own intstruments, creating a sound that was distinct from the other Motown arists. The other Motown acts were strictly vocal groups, but were all connected by the same "Motown Sound" courtesy of the label's session musicians: The Funk Brothers.

The Funk Brothers were as integral to Motown's success as owner Berry Gordy, the hit machine songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, or any of the recording artists, but they didn't have nearly the same level of fame. In 2002, Standing in the Shadows of Motown was released, an excellent documentary chronicling the careers of the Funk Brothers. If you like Motown and you're looking to kill time during a rain delay today, I highly recommend checking it out.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
Miranda makes his 2010 debut not as the DH, but as the first baseman, as Mark Teixeira gets a half day off. With Swisher out of the lineup for the moment, Brett Gardner is entrenched in the two spot. Greg Golson takes Swisher's spot in right field, and combines with Gardner and Randy Winn to produce the outfield with the lowest slugging percentage in Yankee history. I might have made that last part up, but it can't be too far from the truth. On the flip side, virtually anything in the air today should be an automatic out.

Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Juan Miranda 1B
Randy Winn LF
Greg Golson RF

Tigers:

Austin Jackson CF
Johnny Damon DH
Magglio Ordonez RF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Brennan Boesch LF
Brandon Inge 3B
Gerald Laird C
Scott Sizemore 2B

By A Thread

Is it possible for a one run game to have been closer than the score indicated? Neither team scored more than one run in an inning, nor did they lead by more than one. It wasn't a protracted, tense affair but there were close breaks in either direction and this one could have easily gone either way. The starting pitchers both turned in solid performances, the difference was that by going eight innings, Sabathia only had to turn the ball over to Mariano Rivera, while Brian Tallet was pulled after allowing a walk and a single in the 7th.

The Jays' starter had only thrown 91 pitches and was in line for the win, but Jason Frasor blew the save and Jesse Carlson was tagged with the "L". Tallet gets an A for effort and a M+ for an excellent 'stashe piece. It looked like someone travelled back into 1986, plucked him out of a truck stop in Decatur and said, "Hey pal, can you throw a fastball?" 

Come on, if someone told you that Brain Tallet had driven some truck is his day, would you be that surprised?

Our own formerly mustachioed lefty ran into a scary moment in the first when Aaron Hill ripped a line drive right back up the middle towards him. Maybe it's just because he is such a large individual, but it seems as though this has happened to Sabathia more than his fair share of times this year. Helped out by an instinctual reaction, CC's glove ended up right in the path of the ball, narrowly missing his pitching hand and elbow.
 

He had it for a second, dropped it, but still made the throw to first in time.  

Sabathia wasn't exactly sharp, issuing 4 walks, but did a good job of limiting the damage. He allowed a HR to Yankee-killer Alex Rios in the fourth inning, and then ran into some trouble in the fifth. With one out, Sabathia had already walked Scott Rolen, who was doubled home by Rod Barajas. The next batter, John McDonald, hit a bouncing single up the middle, which figured to score a run. Gardner fielded and fired to the plate where Francisco Cervelli made a lunging ass-tag (pictured up top) on the slow-footed Barajas for the second out of the inning.

The play at the plate is one of the most exciting events in baseball. Only if an outfielder robs a hitter of a multi-run homer is there more at directly stake. There was both a run and an out on the line which would have been more than enough to alter the outcome of this game. Sabathia got Marco Scutaro to ground out an end the inning, diffusing the threat and keeping the score at 2-1. 

The Yankees tied it up in the 7th inning on a little squib to right field by Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui hit a home run over a giant picture of Brain Tallet in right center, which would prove the be the game-deciding run. 

Coming into the series, if the Yankees were offered a deal that would have allowed them to take two out of three, I think they would have gladly accepted. It was a respectable (if predictable) showing. They got undressed by Roy Halladay, then rocked Scott Richmond and finally got a solid performance from their ace. They return home tonight to begin a ten game homestand. Their mini-Divisional road trip ended up at 4-2, so I guess that all is well that ends well. 

Game 34: Acadian Driftwood

It's not everyday you see a match-up of 6' 7" left-handed pitchers.

This will be the sixth start of the season for 31 year old Brain Tallet. In his three previous seasons as a Blue Jay, Tallet only only made one other start and you'd have to go all the way back to his time with Cleveland in 2003 to find another. He's been solid as a reliever for the Jays, especially last year, when he threw 56.1 innings to a 2.88 ERA, but the injuries to their staff this season forced him into the rotation on April 18th. For the time being, it looks like he's there to stay:

"They (management) do have to make a decision and it's tough to take him out of the rotation now," Jays manager Cito Gaston said of Tallet. "I'd like to have another lefty in the bullpen, but if he continues to pitch the way he has, there's no reason to take him out of the rotation."

His ERA sits at 4.95, but that is severely inflated by one hellacious outing against Kansas City during which he gave up 10 ER in 4 innings. Since then, he's lasted 7 innings in each of his two starts and allowed only 10 baserunners combined.

Of course, jumping the bump for the Yanks tonight will be CC Sabathia. When last seen, Sabathia was letting out a primal scream in Baltimore after throwing a complete game shutout to stop the Yankees' five game skid. They are 2-2 and since then. His second complete game of the year (the first in a losing effort) brought his ERA under 4.00 but CC's won-lost record is still 2-3. After issuing 14 walks in his first four starts, he has given up only 2 in his past three. It seems as though the Hefty Lefty (we can use that for him now that Jared Lorenzen is gone from the Giants, yes?) is starting to hit his stride. 

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As the Yanks head out of Canada and back to New York tonight, I thought it would be appropriate to bust out Acadian Driftwood by The Band. As is the case with some of their other songs, this one is based on historical events, even though the lyrics take some liberties at times. 

Acadia was a French Colony in Canada founded in 1604 which consisted of the modern-day Maritime Provinces, Eastern Quebec, and parts of New England. The colony changed hands numerous times, going from France to The Netherlands to England, back to France. In 1755, at the beginning of the Seven Years War, if Acadians did not swear allegiance to the English crown, they were forcefully deported throughout the American colonies. 

Robbie Robertson (a Toronto native) was the one who wrote the lyrics and did so from a first person historical narrative, similar to The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (except, unlike "Virgil Kane", the narrator is never named). The It's a pretty long song, but this article provides a thorough breakdown of the background behind it and an assessment of the historical validity of it line by line. 

Everlasting summer filled with ill-content,

This government had us walkin' in chains,
This isn't my turf,
This ain't my season,
Can't think of one good reason to remain.

[...]

Acadian driftwood,
Gypsy tail wind,
They call my home the land of snow,
Canadian cold front movin' in,
What a way to ride,
Ah, what a way to go.