Game 44.5: Finish What Ya Started

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Melky Magic Not Quite Enough

When Melky Cabrera redirected a Brad Lidge fastball back up the middle to score Ramiro Pena and tie the game in the ninth inning, it seemed as though there was room for another walk-off this homestand. It was even more realistic of a possibility in the 10th inning, when Jeter and Damon were standing on first and second with no one out. 

Mark Teixeira came to the plate with two hits already, one of which was a broken bat home run. This was the first of it's kind I have seen; Teix was left holding just a shard of maple in his hand while the ball carried the wall and nearly into left field bleachers. 

There were warnings of a strong wind blowing out to left, but that's still a pretty super-human act. Unfortunately, that would be the last of his heroics for the day, as Clay Condrey got Teix to ground into a double play and effectively killed the threat in the 10th. Girardi neither double stole Jeter and Damon, nor started them on the 3-2 count, both of which would have likely kept the Yanks from suffering a inopportune twin killing.

Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless 10th frame but was removed in favor of Brett Tomko in the 11th. Girardi was willing to use Mo for more than three outs even after the game turned into a blowout on Thursday night, but with the game on the line today, opted not to.

Tomko got two quick outs, but gave up a walk to Chase Utley what would turn out to be a game winning double to Carlos Ruiz. Despite only playing in two games this series, Ruiz reached base 9 times (6H, 3BB) and drove in three runs. He was also at the plate for both of Johnny Damon's ill fated attempts to score, in the first inning on Friday night, and during the third today.

That run would prove to be important as both starting pitchers held up their end of the bargain and made crossing the plate difficult. Hamels went 6 innings and surrendered 2ER while Sabathia lasted 8 but gave up 3. 

After the Phillies took the lead in the 11th, the Yanks went down quietly in the bottom half of the frame, and leveled their record in extra innings this year to 3-3. Had the Yanks managed to score first in extras, it would have been their 5th walk off win in the 10 game homestand, but as it stands, they went 8-2, and picked up 3.5 games in the standings. Despite losing all five games against the Red Sox this year, the Yanks trail them for the division lead by only one game. 

The Yankees embark on a seven game road trip tomorrow, which will take them through Cleveland via Texas. The Rangers are a surprising 26-17 while the Indians are a disappointing 17-28. The Bombers won't have to worry about any of those momentum-killing off days, as they only have one in their next 19 games (this Thursday), which includes series against the Red Sox and Mets.

Game 44: Aces High

It's a beautiful afternoon on a holiday weekend, but this game makes it pretty tempting to stay inside. Perhaps you have a screened-in porch you could watch it on? This afternoon will feature another lefty on lefty tilt, except this time it occurs at the top of the rotation. CC Sabathia will oppose Cole Hammels for the tenth and final game of the current homestand during which, the Yanks are 8-1 with four walkoffs. It has been a ravishing success so far, regardless of what happens this afternoon, but doesn't 9-1 just look so much better than 8-2? The Bombers are tied with the Red Sox and a half game behind the Jays. 

Like Sabathia, Hamels got off to a bit of a rough start, but his ERA has declined in every start since his first. Back on April 28th, Hamels rolled/twisted/sprained his ankle fielding a bunt against the Nationals. He didn't end up on the DL and only missed 10 days - essentially one start. Since his return, he has given up 5ER, 15H and 5BB, and in the process, lowering his ERA to 4.95.

The last three times CC Sabathia has taken the ball, he's averaged 8IP, 1ER, and 4H. If the Yanks didn't explode for 7 runs in the bottom of the 7th during his last start, he probably would have come back out for the 8th. He has struck out 20 and walked only 6, and hasn't needed more than 112 pitches in any game to do it. This is one of the stretches that the Yankees paid the big money for. If every one of your starters gave you eight innings of one run ball, you'd have a lot more nine game winning streaks. 

A-Rod is back at 3B today, as Nick Swisher rides the pine. After hitting .312 with a 159 OPS+ in April, Swish has plummeted back to earth (and possibly into the mantle), with an anemic .117 and 25 OPS+. He is slugging .233 this month. Ouch. Robby Cano, who is hitting .435 over the past week will bat 5th (behind A-Rod) today. 

Will it be a pitchers duel or a slugfest? If this song was a baseball game, the final score would be like 14-10.

Running, scrambling, flying,

Rolling, turning, diving, going in again,

Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die,

Run, live to fly, fly to live. 

Aces high.