Game 39: Second Song

It's been raining in metro-NYC for the better part of the day. The forecast calls for a 100% chance of rain through 6 PM, then a 60% to 70% chance throughout the game. It's no sure bet that this one gets played, and if it doesn't, it sort of underscores my point from yesterday: there isn't much sense in trying to line up your rotation for a series two weeks in the future if Mother Nature can wreck those plans at a moment's notice.

That said, as of this writing there's no official word on tonight's game and since Jay and I will both be occupied with various recreational athletic activities come game time, we're going to put up our preview as if the game will be played.

If it is played, CC Sabathia will make his third start against the Red Sox this year, the second consecutive one that has potential to be altered by the weather. Pitching in Fenway Park ten days ago, the umpires called for the tarp while the Big Fella was one strike away from qualifying for a win. Instead, the rain delay was long enough to prevent him from returning, leaving him with a four and two thirds innings pitched no-decision. He followed that up with a rough outing in Detroit last Thursday, allowing six runs in as many innings while surrendering nine hits. CC also had a bit of trouble with Boston on Opening Night, but in his five starts between his two outings against the Red Sox he pitched quite well: 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 26:12 K:BB over 37.1 IP.

Just as Sabathia has a bit of trouble with Boston in his two starts against them this year, tonight's Boston starter has done poorly in two outings against the Yankees in 2010. Josh Beckett was chased after just four and two thirds on Opening Night, after surrendering nine hits, two homers, three walks, and five runs. Things were even worse for him on May 7th: nine hits, one homer, three walks, and nine runs over five innings.

Also mixed in during that start were a pair of hit batsmen, and a couple near misses, as Beckett entirely unraveled in the sixth inning. Several Yankees were not pleased with Beckett's lack of control that night, CC Sabathia chiefly amongst them. In his start the next afternoon, Sabathia plunked Dustin Pedroia, almost assuredly as retaliation.

That will certainly be a storyline tonight, something Peter Abraham touched upon in a chat today and Bronx Banter relayed earlier this afternoon. I'm all for sticking up for your players, but I still contend that the only purpose pitch Beckett threw two weeks ago was when he buzzed Francisco Cervelli in the fourth inning. That said, I think both teams have too much to lose to go getting involved in a bean ball war tonight. Beckett has pitched extremely poorly this year and a sore back forced him to miss his last scheduled start. He has far more important things to be worried about tonight. Meanwhile, the Yankees are fending off injuries on a daily basis. They're also 14-3 in their last seventeen games against Boston and the Red Sox have struggled through the first six weeks of 2010. The last thing the Yankees need to do is engage in a basebrawl, risking further injury or lighting a fire under a scuffling Boston squad. Sabathia responded appropriately in his start a week ago; there's no need to push this agenda any further.

In roster news, the beleaguered Yankee bullpen figures to get some reinforcements tonight. Mark Melancon is rumored to be on his way to New York, and so long as they're confident the game will be played, he'll most likely be added to the roster at the expense of either Boone Logan or Greg Golson. It befuddles me that like Angel Berroa and Brett Tomko last year, Logan has yet another opportunity to dodge a bullet tonight. But with Damaso Marte likely unavailable after throwing 26 pitches last night, Joe Girardi will almost assuredly want the lefty Logan in the pen. And since we're talking beanballs, it's worth mentioning that Melancon was prominently featured in a couple near dustups last year, including a plunking of Dustin Pedroia last August.

In other bullpen news, Sergio Mitre is listed as being available out of the pen tonight. With only one day of rest since his start it's unlikely he'd be able to go for long though. Despite throwing just four pitches last night, I doubt we'd see Javier Vazquez tonight as he remains on track for a Friday start at Citi Field. Chan Ho Park is likely unavailable after throwing 30 pitches last night, but David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain figure to be back in the fold after resting yesterday.

So this will be the second game of a rare two game series and also the second Beckett-Sabathia match-up we've seen this year. Second game. Second match-up. Second Song.

The second song came softly, he heard it seeping through the vent
The notes were long and languished, they described their circumstance
The rent was halfway spent, the day was peeling hot
She asked "can we leave this place?" He answered "probably not"
They had less than they guessed but more than they knew
That second song was the best they could do
And all of the while there were two: one eyed green and one eyed blue

[Song Notes: Assembly of Dust frontman Reid Genauer first came to prominence with the band Strangefolk. Formed in 1991 at the University of Vermont, Strangefolk is definitely a New England band, with their tune "Sweet New England" leaving little doubt about that. Genauer left Strangefolk in 2000, and formed Assembly of Dust two years later while enrolled in graduate school at Cornell. So as the Yankees and Red Sox play tonight we turn to a musician who has formed bands in the territories of both teams. "Second Song" comes off their latest album, which features a different guest musician on each track and is thus smartly titled Some Assembly Required]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
The Yankees run out virtually the same lineup they used last night. Juan Miranda replaces A-Rod as the DH tonight, A-Rod replaces Ramiro Pena at third base. Jorge Posada's sore foot keeps him out the lineup for the second straight day. He's now started just nine of the last nineteen games. Nick Swisher felt no pain hitting left handed off a tee today, but he remains out of the lineup.

Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Francisco Cervelli C
Marcus Thames RF
Juan Miranda DH
Randy Winn LF

Red Sox:

Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Victor Martinez C
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Bill Hall LF
Darnell McDonald CF

VII

[Ed. Note: Photos from here again. Believe it or not, the wireless

connection at the Econo Lodge can't really handle MLB.tv]

Behind CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, the winning streak hit seven games last night. While lucky number seven lacked the walk-off drama of the three weekend contests, or the late inning nail-biting of Monday night's game, the contest was far closer than the 9-1 final tally indicates.

The good news started before the first pitch was even thrown. Brian Bruney was activated from the DL, and in the first bullpen move to make sense since Melancon and Robertson were recalled last month, Edwar Ramirez was optioned to Scranton.

Ramirez was effective in 2008, but right now his BB rate has nearly doubled from last year, his HR rate has nearly tripled, his Ks are down, his ERA is over 5 and his WHIP is approaching 2. In short, he stinks. He may well be able to turn it around, and I hope he does. But Scranton is the place to work out his issues, not the Yankee bullpen. In typical Joe Girardi Kremlin fashion, the move wasn't announced until shortly before first pitch.

On to the game. The Orioles plated a run in the top of the first, using a Brian Roberts base hit, an Adam Jones infield single, a Roberts stolen base, and a groundout from Jay's favorite Oriole to get their only run of the night. It marked the second time in as many nights that the Yankees would trail before picking up a bat.

The Yankees countered in their half of the first, the second time in as many nights they would take the lead in the first frame and not look back. Damon registered a bloop single, and scored on a monster shot from A-Rod - one that sailed over the visitor's bullpen and into the left field bleachers. Given the newness of the park, it's a little early to tell just what will qualify as a jaw-dropping HR here (e.g. into the black or the upper deck in RF at the old joint), but I imagine blasts like this one will be rare.

From there, both starters settled down. Sabathia dominated the O's for the second time in 12 days, throwing six more innings, striking out 7, surrending no further runs, allowing only two other runners to reach base, and turning in perfect frames in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th innings.

Meanwhile, rookie Brad Bergesen baffled the Bombers' bats. He cruised through innings 2 through 5, sitting down 13 in a row at one point. He allowed 3 baserunners in the 6th, but one (the continually impressive Frankie Cervelli) was erased on a caught stealing, and Bergesen escaped still trailing by a single run. Bergesen finished the 6th with 94 pitches, and despite not having surpassed 6 IP or 96 pitches in any of his five career starts, Dave Trembley sent him out to start the 7th. Bergesen would retire Matsui leading off the inning, before walking Swisher and Cano. That would end Bergesen's night, but his line wouldn't close until he was betrayed by his bullpen (sound familiar?) and two costly errors. He deserved better.

Things got ugly from there. Teixiera deposited one deep in to the mezzanine in right, making it three out of four games in which both he and A-Rod have gone deep (Rodriguez has homered in all four). By the time the seventh was over, the 2-1 pitcher's duel had become a 9-1 blowout.

Despite having pitched masterfully once again, Sabathia's night was over, done in by the 8 run margin and the long bottom of the seventh. Brian Bruney reminded us all why we missed him so much by turning in a perfect 8th. And as an indication of just how good things are in Yankeeland right now, the ninth inning saw Angel Berroa enter a game for just the second time in two weeks, and Brett Tomko touch 94 on the gun in pitching a flawless inning.

Game 39: Hoochie Coochie Man

The Yanks go for lucky number seven in a row tonight as the O's come to town for the middle series of the homestand.

Baltimore should have centerfielder Adam Jones back in the line-up tonight. The centerpiece of the package Seattle swapped for Erik Bedard after the 2007 season, Jones has not played since tweaking his hamstring last Wednesday. Before leaving the line-up, the 23 year-old had really blossomed this year, hitting .370/.426/.669 and combining with Nick Markakis to form 2/3rds of a good young outfield. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the other third of their outfield is an abject wasteland, as the assorted garbage they've trotted out to left this year has hit .219/.318/.320. Yikes.

Rookie Brad Bergesen takes the hill for the Orioles. The Yankees have never faced him before, so that could spell trouble for the Yanks. Hopefully the Yankees will give Bergesen the same treatment they gave Scott Richmond in Toronto last week. After ptiching well in high-A and AA last year, Bergesen was called up after just 11 AAA innings this year. He carries a 5.71 ERA and 1.76 WHIP through his five MLB starts. He's struck out just 4.6 per 9, but has walked only 2.6 per 9. It'll be interesting to see how the Yankees' patient approach fares against a pitcher who appears to be around the plate consistently. The league is hitting .348 against Bergesen thus far, but he may be a victim of bad luck - he has a .364 BABIP against - far higher than the league average of .302. Most pitchers end up around the league average as the season progresses, and since Bergesen rarely registers a K, his unusually high BABIP has a major impact on his numbers.

The Yankees counter with CC Sabathia. The big lefty has faced the O's twice already this year. After a poor Opening Day outing, CC dominated the O's on May 8th, tossing a shutout and stiking out eight against only four hits and a base-on-balls. Sabathia followed that up with another strong outing in Toronto last Thursday.

Brian Bruney is slated to be activated from the DL in time for tonight's game. Bruney will provide some desperately needed help to the bullpen, particularly with Phil Coke likey unavailable tonight after using up 36 pitches to get 4 outs last night. No word on the corresponding roster move yet, but I would imagine Berroa, Tomko, Veras, Aceves, Ramirez, and Albaladejo are all being dicussed. My guess is that it will be Edwar - he, Aceves, and Albaladejo are the only ones with options left. The other two have been good of late; Edwar has not.

The O's come in having alternated wins and losses in each of their last nine games. Having lost their previous game, that would make them due for a win tonight. But the Yanks have some good mojo working, so at 7:05, 7 days after their last loss, the 6'7" Sabathia will throw the game's first pitch, as the Yanks look for 7 in a row. And CC says "Don't you mess with me".



On the seventh hour,
of the seventh day,
of the seventh month,
seven doctors say:
"He born for good luck"
And that you'll see
I've got seven hundred dollars
Don't you mess with me

Hey - with seven hundred dollars you could get yourself a nice Legends Suite for tonight. Plenty of good seats available.