Game 28 Recap

1. The first three innings of this contest were dominated by the pitchers. Josh Beckett recorded six strikeouts and the only hit he gave up was a seeing eye single just past Dustin Pedroia. Phil Hughes mowed through the Sawx as well, recording only three strikeouts and the only baserunner he allowed as a walk to Jason Varitek.

2. Josh Beckett ran into a little trouble in the fourth, though. He allowed a one out walk to Mark Teixeira and A-Rod followed with a sharp single to right. Robinson Cano struck out by fouling back a 96mph fastball into the glove of Jason Varitek. Nick Swisher took an ugly swing over a cut fastball inside, looked terrible in the process, and then took a 4-seamer away and fell behind 0-2. Beckett wasted a fastball at eye level and then buried a curveball in the dirt to even the count. Swisher must have been looking for the hook again because when Beckett went back to it, Swish smashed it where the cameras are placed over the centerfield wall and put the Yanks up 3-0.

3. J.D. Drew got the first hit off of Phil Hughes and it came via a one out single in the fourth. The Fackin' Youkstah followed with a liner that rolled into the left field corner but was held to a single by a nice defensive play by Randy Winn. Drew was on third with one out out for David Ortiz and Big Sloppy lofted a deep fly to right center that he admired as if it might have been a home run but it fell into Swisher's glove shy of the warning track, putting the Sox on the board. Yanks 3, Sox 1.

4. Josh Beckett officially came unraveled in the sixth inning. A-Rod led off the inning with a double that rolled up to the Green Monster and then Beckett hit Cano in the knee with a pitch. The runners moved up on a passed ball while Nick Swisher was at the plate but Swisher ultimately struck out. With first base open, the Sawx elected to intentionally walk Brett Gardner to face Francisco Cervelli, who was already two for two on the night. After working the count full, Frankie called time just before Beckett delivered the pitch. Beckett was clearly annoyed by the move and lost payoff pitch up an in, walking in a run.

Swinging at the first pitch he saw, Randy Winn popped a single to left, drove in a run and brought Derek Jeter to the plate with the bases still loaded. Beckett plunked Jeter in the ribs, forcing in another run. At this point, Beckett already had 105 pitches and clearly had lost his control but Terry Francona opted to leave him in. Marcus Thames then grounded a ball between short and third that Marco Scutaro fielded and flipped to Adrian Beltre. Beltre had strayed off the bag when the ball was hit and Winn barely beat him to the base, extending the inning. Beckett ran two pitches inside to Mark Teixeira - one dangerously close to his knees - before Teix singled and chased Beckett from the game in the process.

A-Rod (who had led of the inning, if you'll recall) hit a sac fly off of Hideki Okijima to put the Yankees up 8-1. Ramiro Pena struck out to end the inning but the damage had obviously already been done.

5. The Red Sox got one back in the bottom half of the inning off of Phil Hughes. J.D. Drew doubled leading off, moved over to third on a ground out and was singled home by David Ortiz.

6. Randy Winn singled to lead off the eighth, took second and third on wild pitches (from Tim Wakefield to Victor Martinez) and scored on a sac fly by Marcus Thames.

7. David Robertson came into pitch the 8th and after striking out Pedroia, walked Jonathan Van Every and Youk. Ortiz struck out looking then Adrian Beltre knocked an RBI since to make it 10-3. Boone Logan pitched the ninth and allowed a single to Victor Martinez

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• Phil Hughes pitched seven strong innings, striking out eight and allowing 7 hits and walking one. His fastball was sitting in the mid-90s all night, mixed in a cutter that was was between 88 and 91. The two heaters accounted for about 90% of his 101 pitches, with the remaining 10% were curveballs.
  
  
• Beckett really looked like he was in command early in the game but the pitch from Swisher really tipped the balance. Beckett had Swish off balance and 0-2 but couldn't put him away and the Yankees never looked back.
  
  
• You've gotta wonder about the intentional walk to Brett Garnder. At that point there was one out and men on 2nd and 3rd and although Garnder has been solid at the plate this season, he's not exactly a guy Josh Beckett should be afraid to pitch to.
  
  
• Nick Johnson was pinch hit for by Marcus Thames in the fifth because he had to be removed from the game to a sore wrist. Apparently this is something that's been going on for a while, he's going for an MRI and looks to be DL bound. Yes, this kind of sucks, but let's wait to see how serious this is going to be before we start jumping to conclusions like this and this.
  
  
• Josh Beckett hit Robinson Cano square in the knee on a 0-2 pitch during the top of the 6th inning. Cano attempted to stay in the game but had to be punch ran for by Ramiro Pena. Cano almost certainly isn't going to play tomorrow, so it's likely the the AAA call up is going to be an infielder. Good chance it will be Kevin Russo.
  
  
• Frankie Cervelli picked up two hits, scored a run and drove in one via the bases loaded walk from Beckett.
  
  
• Boone Logan pitched the ninth and allowed only a single to Victor Martinez.
  
  
• According to Marc Carig, CC Sabathia was not pleased with Beckett's, um, lack of command. Beckett probably wasn't doing anything intentionally - or at least shouldn't have been since the bases were loaded when most of shit went down - but he kept throwing inside anyway. Something to keep in mind considering that Sabathia is starting tomorrow.

The game is at 3:10 and on FOX.

Game 20: Hard Travelin'

When CC Sabathia took the mound in Oakland last Thursday, the Yankees were riding a six game winning streak and probably expecting to stretch it to seven. Their ace was on the hill in a pitcher's park against the punchless A's and if they could pull out a victory, they'd be heading into Anaheim with an outstanding 12-3 record. Instead, the A's jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. Including that tidy two hour and six minute affair, the Yanks have dropped four out of their last five games and now sit at a much less impressive 12-7.

Now, instead of looking to extend a winning streak, the Yanks need Sabathia to step up with a strong performance and stop the bleeding. In previous Aprils, it might not have been confidence-inspiring to know that CC was taking the mound tonight, but this year he has begun to buck his reputation as a slow starter.

After a shaky 5 1/3 inning inning performance on Opening Night in Fenway, Sabathia has allowed only 5 runs (4 earned), and 18 baserunners (8 hits, 8 walks) in his past three starts, spanning 21 2/3 IP. He was nothing short of dominant against the Rays, taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning and was as good or better in his rain-shortened six inning outing against the Rangers at Yankee Stadium. Even when he took the loss against Oakland, three of the four runs came on one pitch to Kurt Suzuki and he was efficient enough to complete 8 innings despite walking six batters. Total all of his outings up and you get a 2-1 record, a 3.00 ERA, a WHIP under 1.000 and about 8 K's per 9 innings pitched.

Sabathia's opponent tonight will be Jeremy Guthire. Like Kevin Millwood heading into last night, Guthrie has pitched well (3.46 ERA) but has only two losses to show for his efforts. Guthrie managed to throw 200 innings for the first time in his career last year, but he also tallied an ERA over 5.00 and led the AL in losses with 17. This year though, he's lasted longer than 6 innings in each of his four starts and given up fewer than 3 runs in each of them.

Guthrie is a fastball-slider-changeup pitcher, with his heater coming in at around 92-93-94 and both of his offspeed pitches about 84-85. A couple of those fastballs were responsible for a minor dustup during Spring Training between the two clubs. On March 29th, Guthrie hit Mark Teixeira in the elbow, foricing hit to leave the game, and a few innings later, plunked Francisco Cervelli. Joe Girardi was seen yelling from the dugout, informing the O's hurler that we was less than pleased with his lack of command.

Although what happened down in Sarasota is just one of many incidents between the Yankees and Orioles in the recent past, it's unlikely to inspire any bad blood tonight. Neither of Cervelli or Teixeira were seriously hurt that day and the regular season has a way of making what happened in March seem insignificant. Like they were last night, the Orioles are still desperate for wins and the Yankees are anxious salvage the final two games of this road trip, which is looking a whole lot more difficult than when it began.

I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed,
I've been havin' some hard travelin', way down the road,
I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin',
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord.

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Nick Johnson is back in action as the Yanks run their A lineup.

Jeter SS
Johnson DH
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Granderson CF
Swisher RF
Gardner LF

Orioles:

Garrett Atkins replaces Rhyne Hughes at first base tonight. Atkins is awful to a terrible state and manager Dave Trembly has put him on notice that if he doesn't produce, Hughes will take his spot.

Adam Jones, CF
Nick Markakis, RF
Ty Wigginton, 2B
Miguel Tejada, 3B
Matt Wieters, C
Garrett Atkins, 1B
Nolan Reimold, DH
Luis Montanez, LF
Caesar Izturis, SS

Oops Upside Your Head

Saturday saw two very scary incidents take place on the diamond. In the afternoon, a 93 MPH fastball from Matt Cain drilled David Wright in the ear, knocking him senseless. He left the park on a stretcher and was taken to the Hospital for Special Surgery for overnight observation. The Mets placed him on the DL Sunday, and Jerry Manuel conceeded it's possible that Wright could be done for the year. The Mets now have their four best offensive players on the disabled list. They may want to consider encasing Johan Santana in bubble wrap.




On Saturday night and even scarier incident took place in Phoenix. In the bottom of the sixth Rusty Ryal smashed a line drive up the middle that smacked Hiroki Kuroda square in the temple. The ball rebounded off his dome and landed on the warning track by the third base on deck circle on the fly, before one hopping into the stands for a ground rule double. Despite writhing in pain on the ground, reportedly the first think Kuroda asked was "Did anyone catch the ricochet?", which he off course prononuced "lick-o-shay". Kuroda was released from the hospital Sunday and flew home with the Dodgers (so it's clearly appropriate for me to make an insensitive joke at this point).


These two incidents happened just one day short of the 89th anniversary of the most notorious beaning in baseball history. On August 16, 1920, the Cleveland Indians faced the Yankees at the Polo Grounds. It reportedly was an overcast day. In the fifth inning, Yankee pitcher Carl Mays, a submariner, unleashed a fastball that plunked Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman in the temple. He was knocked unconcious and taken to a hospital, where he died the next day. Mays had a reputation as a head hunter, but until his death in 1971 he claimed the beaning was not intentional. Mays purported that the ball was wet and scuffed - not uncommon in those days - causing it to sail high and tight. Given Mays' arm angle, the likely condition of the ball, and the overcast day, it's probable that Chapman never even saw it coming. It remains the only on-field fatality in Major League history.

As scary as things were for Wright and Kuroda on Saturday, they are both far luckier than poor Ray Chapman.

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

The Yankees would have taken a win anyway they could have got it last night and the Baseball Gods responded with a protracted, sloppy, lopsided affair that spanned nearly four hours, included 26 hits, 18 walks and 23 runners left on base.

It didn't appear to bode well for the Yanks when Jorge Posada trotted into home standing straight up in the 2nd inning and walked right into a chest high relay throw from Dustin Pedroia to Victor Martinez. At that point it seemed possible that Posada's baserunning gaffe would come back to haunt them later in the game. That notion vanished fairly quickly when Yanks sent 13 runners to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and scored 8 of them.

Joba Chamberlain, although he got the win, was not sharp at all, throwing 108 pitches in five innings, walking 7 and giving up two home runs. He continually failed to put away hitters but still managed to earn his 8th win of the season and 4th in a row.

Despite the fact that the Yanks were leading by eight runs when they made their first call to the bullpen, Joe Girardi still managed to use four more pitchers. (The Red Sox used only 3 to absorb 45 plate appearances). Girardi also pinch hit and pinch ran comfortably ahead and made defensive switches with a 9 run lead in the 9th inning. Anthony Claggett came on for the final three outs, but apparently couldn't have been trusted with a 7 run lead in the 8th inning or a 6 run cushion in the 7th.

I'm not sure if Mark Melancon purposely threw at Dustin Pedoia with a 13-4 advantage in the eighth, but this is just a fantastic photograph, you know, on an artistic level. (via AP/Yahoo)

It must have been a horrible baseball game to watch if you weren't a fan of the Yankees. Sorry about that. We take what we can get.

Matt Garza: Not A Genius

Look Out! (Sorry, still working on my Ken Singleton impression)

This is what Matt Garza had to say after hitting Mark Teixeira on the arm in the top of the 5th inning last night:

Tampa Bay Rays RHP Matt Garza acknowledged it was more than coincidence than he hit Mark Teixeira the inning after Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain threw a pitch at the head of Evan Longoria, and noted the Yankees threw inside to Longoria and hit him Monday too.

If you'll recall, Chamberlain went up and in on Longoria in the 4th inning on the first pitch of the at bat. Longoria then popped out to Robinson Cano on the next one to end the inning, and broke his bat by slamming it on the ground in disgust. He was hit by Jonathan Albaldejo on Monday.

I just kind of got tired of people brushing [Evan Longoria] back. It’s about time someone made a statement. They did it on Monday night and we didn’t do anything, they didn’t do it too much (Tuesday) and (Chamberlain) did it again tonight. I hate to be that guy, but someone had to take a stand and say, “You know, we’re tired of it.” You can go after our best guy, well, we’ll make some noise too, and that’s what happened.

I'm sure you really "hate to be that guy", Matt. Especially when you consider that (A) Longoria didn't even get hit, (B) no one made you throw at Teixeira and (C) no one would have known it was intentional until you started running your mouth. It was a good pitch up and in, which barely got a piece of Teix. I personally didn't think there was any malice behind it because it hitting Teix brought A-Rod up to the plate with two men on. Not exactly optimal strategy there. A-Rod ended up striking out, but only after a 9 pitch battle.

At least now everyone will know how tough you are while you're serving that six game suspension, Matt. Enjoy!