Game 137: What Really Goes On

The Yankees will take the field in Toronto today looking to cap off a road trip which they've begun 5-1. They rebounded from that one loss nicely yesterday after facing Roy Halladay on Friday night, although they struggled mightily to drive home the runners they put on base.

The Yanks lead the AL in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs and runs scored and are second in batting average behind the Angels. Surprisingly, they are also second in BA w/RISP (also behind the Angels) although it seems like games similar to the one last night in which they can't drive in runs have been all too common this year. This might go back to our sushi theory which states that bad experiences are far more memorable than good ones, tainting your overall recollection.

The Yanks will remember Brain Tallet, the converted reliever with the trailer park 'stache they've faced twice this year as a starter and once in relief. He's pitched pretty well in both of his starts against the Yanks, going 6 innings each time and giving up two runs in May and three in July. Tallet has been in and out of the rotation this year, being asked to start in place of some injured Jays early in the year and sent back to the bullpen when they called up Marc Rzepczynski. He returned to the starting role in the second half of a double header on Tuesday and looks to be back until the end of the season since they Jays have shut Rzepczynski down for the season.

Coming off his best start as a Yankee, Sergio Mitre takes the hill today. Mitre cruised through 6 1/3 efficient, scoreless innings against the White Sox his last time out before being hit in the forearm by a line drive. The Yanks gave him a little extra time off in between starts, but the forearm shouldn't be a factor this time out. If he morphs back into his very hittable self, it won't be because of that.

The Yanks have a good chance to win the series against the Jays, complete the road trip at 6-1 and extend their record to 6-2 when Mitre starts if he just puts together something in between his last excellent outing and everything else he's done this year. Whatever happens, we'll have a better sense of who Sergio Mitre really is after today.

Can you explain that? I doubt that very highly,
We got jewels and mo' and the life is type rowdy,
Everybody lookin' shitty like a toe down committee,
Let's make these institutions, body slam for the smitties,
I got girls with plenty tails, smarts and big titties,
And they all stressin' me, yo, really?

Game 112: Don't Let It Bring You Down

The concept of a "letdown game" or a "trap game" is not specific to baseball. If you're skeptical of the conventional wisdom/pop psychology that is so wildly prevalent in sports, then you won't be surprised by the fact that research into this phenomenon has actually shown that in the past 10 years in the NFL at least, there is no such effect.

Anecdotally, you can point to the 2003 World Series and say the Yankees were burned out after going 7 games against the Red Sox, but you could just as easily have said that about the Sox in 2004 except they swept the Cardinals in the Fall Classic and made it look easy. The same was true in 2007 when the ALCS went 7 games and the World Series ended in a sweep as well. Looking back to the "Boston Massacre" of 2006, the Yanks went on to lose 4 of their next 5, so should we be concerned that the Yanks might hit a rough patch coming out of the Sox series this time around? Yes, but it has nothing to do with the concept of a "letdown game".

First and most importantly, the Yanks are trotting out Sergio Mitre to a team that saw him only 5 days ago. Luckily, the Yanks escaped with a victory, but Mitre was shaky at best, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits in 4 1/3 IP while throwing 92 pitches. That outing actually brought his ERA down to 7.50 and he still has yet to have a start this year where he contributed a positive WPA to the team's chances. With Chad Gaudin now waiting in the wings and likely to have a chance to audition in long relief today, Mitre may be on the verge of getting bounced out of the rotation if he can't come up with a decent performance.

The Yanks are going to get another crack at Marc Rzepczynski as well, but the lefty was significantly better against the Yanks than Mitre against the Jays, even if his final pitching line doesn't tell that story. rZep struck out 7 in six innings and allowed only 6 baserunners, although four of them came around to score and only 3 did when he was on the mound. The 23 year old has pitched 33 2/3 innings this year to a 3.74 ERA. He might be a rookie but he's not a pushover, and the Yanks are going to have to have a strong showing at the plate to get to him.

A-Rod is back at 3rd tonight, Posada will be DHing and Jerry Hairston will be spelling Johnny Damon in left, as Hairston has better numbers against lefties than Damon this year, to say nothing of the upgrade in the field. Defense will be a significant factor tonight as Mitre tends to allow a lot of balls to be put in play. The downside of this arrangement is that Nick Swisher moves in to the two hole and the bottom three in the order are Hairston, Melky and Molina.

Another game against the Blue Jays brings another tune by the best Canadian songwriter I can think of. The Yanks are 7-2 against the boys from Toronto this season, 31 of their last 41 overall, have won 7 in a row and are hopefully ready to weather a start by Sergio Mitre and run the winning streak up to 8.

Don't let it bring you down,
It's only castles burning,
Find someone who's turning,
And you will come around.

A Two Game Sweep Is Still A Sweep, Am I Right?

When Sergio Mitire took the mound in the first inninng and struck out Marco Scutaro and Aaron Hill to begin the game, it looked like he might be headed for a solid outing. After he proceeded to give up consecutive four base hits including two run scoring singles to Vernon Wells and Alex Rios and it looked like he was destined for a horrible one. Neither of those tunred out to be true.

Mitre settled down and followed the two run first inning with three scoreless ones, working around two more singles and two walks. Meanwhile, the Yankees responded with two runs of their own in the top of the 3rd, staying right on the Jays' heels.

To begin the 5th inning, Mitre got Aaron Hill to ground out but then allowed a huge blast to right field by Adam Lind. It was the only extra base hit he allowed all night. After giving up a single to Lyle Overbay, he was taken out of the game in favor of Anthony Claggett, who had been brought up specifically for this purpose Alfredo Aceves. Four and a third innings is not nearly long enough of an outing for a starter, but he only gave up three runs which isn't all that bad.

Alf got Vernon Wells to pop out before Alex Rios struck out looking to end the inning. He came back on for the sixth and sat down the side in order, two more via strike out.

After playing catch up until that point, the Yanks finally came alive in the top of the 7th. Nick Swisher led off the inning with a homer, which Robinson Cano followed with a double. That was the end for zep-CHIN-ski. The rookie lefty put together a solid effort, striking out 7 in six innings and left when the game was still tied. That didn't last long, though.

Cito Gaston called on Josh Roenicke, who got Melky Cabrera to ground out to second, advancind Cano to third. He was driven in on a single by pinch bitter Hideki Matsui which put the Yanks on top 4-3. Jose Molina walked, Jeter struck out swinging but Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira both tacked on run scoring singles. In all, 10 men batted in the inning and four of them crossed the plate.

Cano doubled and scored again in the top of the 8th, but Aceves gave up a homer to Marco Scutaro in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 3 run game. According to Pete Abe, if Johnny Damon hadn't hit a solo shot of his own in the top of the 9th, Girardi would have called on Mariano Rivera for the third game in a row, after two four out saves, taking him out of the picture for tonight's game against the Sox. To protect a 3 run lead... More on Girardi's questionable decisions in a bit.

For now, we can take comfort in a few things. First, the road trip ended in the black at 5-4. Secondly, the Yanks' margin in the AL East is, as it was when then embarked on the 9 game swing, 2.5 games over the Red Sox. Third, Alfredo Aceves looked to be back to his normal self tonight, throwing sharp breaking stuff and a fastball that was touching 92 MPH. He struck out three in two innings and the only hit he allowed was the homer to Scutaro. These are good notes to head back to the Bronx upon.

Game 107: On The Way Home

Last night's win combined with the Red Sox 12th inning loss assured that the Yankees would be in first place by at least a half of a game when their 4 game set begins tomorrow. It would certainly be nice to win tonight as well, guaranteeing a lead of either 1.5 or 2.5 games, but that doesn't seem like a very likely proposition given who they are sending to the hill.

Tonight marks Stage Four of the Sergio Mitre experiment. His earned run totals have progressively increased (3, 4, 5) while his innings have decreased (5.2, 5, 3). Both of those trends are headed in the wrong direction, and he's got a 7.90 ERA.

His peripheral stats tell a different story, though. He hasn't walked too many batters (3 in 13 2/3 IP), given up only one home run and his .418 BABIP would suggest that he's been unlucky with the distribution of his hits. No one had high expectations for Mitre, but giving up 5 runs in three innings like he did in his last outing against the White Sox is a surefire way to earn a ticket back to the farm. If the Yanks defense has another night like the one they did behind Andy Pettitte, perhaps the Serg can cobble together 5 or 6 innings and keep the Yanks in the ballgame.

The Blue Jays counter with Marc Rzepczynski, a rookie with 6 Major League starts under his belt, none against the Yankees. The man of few vowels has a 3.25 ERA, but only one win partially because he hasn't thrown more than six innings in any of his starts (and partially because he plays for Toronto). He's averaging almost 19 pitches per inning, so the Yanks could be seeing the Jays bullpen fairly early on tonight if they play their cards right.

In roster news, Cody Ransom was mercifully DFA'd , pointing to the beginning of the end for the "#codyransom" party on Twitter. Ransom did muster 10 RBIs in 86 plate appearances this year but was only hitting .190/.256/.329. To take his place, the legendary Anthony Claggett has been summoned from Scranton. As you may or may not recall, Claggett was the young gentleman who came in for Chien Ming Wang in the 22-4 debacle against the Indians and allowed 8 ER in 1 2/3 innings. He is there presumably as an escape hatch if Mitre continues his descent into Chien Ming Wangdom.

With the toughest match up out of the way last night, the Yanks have a chance to head home from this road trip with a winning record despite dropping three straight to the White Sox. Winning their last three would be a hell of a turnaround. Let's go Yanks.

In a strange game,
I saw myself as you knew me,
When the change came,
And you had a chance to see through me,
Though the other side is just the same,
You can tell my dream is real.