Game 64: I Don't Need No Doctor

When the Yankees and Phillies opened last year's World Series at Yankee Stadium, the pitching match up featured both clubs' aces, as CC Sabathia faced Cliff Lee. If you were to believe the rumors leading up to last year's trade deadline however, there was a good chance that Doc Halladay would have been the Game One pitcher for one of those two teams.

On July 7th last year, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal floated a weather balloon about the Blue Jays shopping Roy Halladay, and the rumor mill instantaneously kicked into overdrive. Almost immediately the defending champion Phillies were pegged as the most likely landing spot, with the Yankees considered another strong match. As the July 31st deadline approached the Phillies continually balked at Toronto's asking price and instead moved to Plan B, scoring Cliff Lee from the Indians for a lesser package. Meanwhile, neither the Yankees nor the Red Sox blinked in a divisional game of chicken, and Halladay woke up on August 1st as Toronto property.

Toronto G.M. J.P. Ricciardi probably overplayed his hand in hanging onto Halladay. When he was dismissed following the season, Alex Anthopoulos took over and he immediately began shopping the Blue Jays' most valuable asset. On December 16th, Anthopoulos unloaded Doc, sending him to Philadelphia in a complex and confusing four team trade that netted Toronto virtually the same package Philadelphia had refused to move five months earlier. As part of the deal, Philly shipped Lee to Seattle.

So while Doc Halladay will take Lee's place in opposing Sabathia in tonight's interleague series opener, Lee once again finds himself sitting atop the auction block. He's been outstanding after spending the first month of the season on the DL, and with Seattle sporting the Majors' third worst record and Lee being a free agent at season's end, he's assured to be traded for the third time in a year by the time the July 31st deadline rolls around.

Predictably, the Yankees are once rumored as a prime landing spot for the prize of the trade market. And it just doesn't add up to me. Last year, there was a demonstrable need for a pitcher like Roy Halladay. Joba Chamberlain was struggling and facing an innings cap. Chien-Ming Wang was ineffective and out for the season following shoulder surgery. Sergio Mitre was plain ineffective. And even at that, the Yankees found the price for a year and two months of Roy Halladay to be too steep.

The Yankees are facing no such issues right now. Their starting rotation is arguably the best in baseball. Yes Javier Vazquez struggled early on, and yes Phil Hughes will face some innings restrictions later this year (albeit less restrictive than Chamberlain's last year), but one through five I'll take my chances with the current rotation. So why would the Yankees surrender a similar package now when the need is much less and when the target in question is under contract for only three months more?

Cliff Lee is amongst the game's best pitchers and he'll make a fine prize for someone by the end of July. While numerous Yankee fans have been salivating over his impending free agency since before this season even began, there just isn't the need for him now nor the justification for paying the likely asking price. The Yankees decided they didn't need Doc at last year's deadline, and they passed on him again when he was up for bid in the off-season. I'm hopeful they'll repeat that decision when it comes to Cliff Lee at this year's deadline. The Yankees know what's ailing them, and at present, it's not starting pitching.

I don't need no doctor
'Cause I know what's ailing me
I don't need no doctor, no, no
'Cause I know what's ailing me

[Song Notes: Originally recorded by Ray Charles, performances of this song by Charles are hard to come by, as we found when I tried to use it in a post about David Robertson last year. The version here comes from Humble Pie, the band with which Peter Frampton first rose to prominence. This performance comes from 1971, shortly after Frampton left the band. It's been covered by several other artists through the years, including blog favorite Gov't Mule, who began using it as a coda to another Humble Pie tune, "30 Days in the Hole".

It was also recorded by John Scofield on That's What I Say, his 2005 tribute album to Charles. I would have used a Scofield version here, which is very true to the original, except the Sco version prominently features John Mayer and I just couldn't bring myself to embed that here].

-Lineups-

Yankees:
Alex Rodriguez is once again out of the lineup, but is available to pinch hit and figures to return tomorrow. Jorge Posada returns to DHing after catching Sunday. Sergio Mitre has been placed on the DL with an oblique injury; Boone Logan has been recalled.

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Brett Gardner LF
Francisco Cervelli C
Ramiro Pena 3B

LHP CC Sabathia

Phillies:

Shane Victorino CF
Chase Utley 2B
Placido Polanco 3B
Ryan Howard 1B
Jayson Werth RF
Raul Ibanez LF
Ben Francisco DH
Juan Castro DH
Carlos Ruiz C

Past World Series Rematches

2010 marks the fourteenth season of interleague play, and the seventh time in those fourteen years that the Yankees are the reigning American League champions. When the Yankees and Phillies start their three game interleague series tonight, it'll be the fifth time in those seven years that the Yankees face their opponent from the previous Fall Classic.

In 1997, the inaugural year of interleague play, the Yankees hosted Atlanta from June 30th through July 2nd. Just as they had in the previous year's World Series, the Braves took two of the three games played in the Bronx. All three games were pitchers' duels, with the Braves taking games two and three with scores of 3-1 and 2-0 respectively, while the lone Yankee win was a ten inning 1-0 victory in the opener.

Three years later the two clubs met in Atlanta, in a rematch of the 1999 World Series. This time the Yanks took the series, winning two of the three games. This series was far more offensive than the 1997 rematch, as each of the three games matched or exceeded the seven total runs from '97 series. The Yanks took the opener 5-2, dropped the middle 7-11, and took the rubber match 7-6.

The six Subway Series games between the Yankees and Mets in 2001 were one more than number of games the teams played in the 2000 World Series. The Yankees took the first two at Shea in mid-June before dropping the series finale. Two and half weeks later, they met again at Yankee Stadium. Once again the Yanks took the opener, then dropped the middle game, before winning the series finale.

2002 was the last time the Yankees played an interleague series against the previous year's World Series opponent, as they hosted the Diamondbacks from June 10th through 12th. In the series opener, New York did what they couldn't do the previous fall: beat Randy Johnson. The Big Unit surrendered five runs through seven and two thirds, two of them coming on the home run hit by Marcus Thames in his first Major League at bat. The Yankees won again the following day, behind the pitching of David Wells, who had walked away from a handshake deal with the Snakes to rejoin the Yankees the previous off-season. The Dbacks avoided the sweep in the finale, as Byung-Hun Kim exacted some measure of redemption, pitching two scoreless innings for the save and fanning Bernie Williams, Jason Giambi, and Jorge Posada in working a flawless eighth inning.

Over those four years, the Yankees went 9-6 in interleague World Series rematches, scoring 65 runs and allowing 62. They dropped two of three to Philadelphia in an interleague series last Memorial Day weekend, but are 11-10 overall against Philly in seven interleague series.

Leftover Weekend Notes

Good morning Fackers. We're easing our way out of the weekend and yesterday's off day, with a World Series rematch against the Phillies looming tonight. Before we turn our focus to that, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out a few items from the weekend series where the Yankees swept up after Astro like they were Rosie the Robot:

On Friday, Andy Pettitte became just the third pitcher in Yankee history to record two hundred wins. Yes, wins aren't a very good means of measuring a pitcher's effectiveness, but for Pettitte to join elite company in the franchise's storied history is noteworthy. Pettitte has been flirting with retirement for the past four off-seasons. Even if he finishes 2010 pitching as well as he has thus far, he's still a good season plus away from catching Red Ruffing (231) and Whitey Ford (236). If he had never left for Houston he'd likely already hold the record.

As Jay mentioned yesterday, Jorge Posada hit grand slams on Saturday and Sunday. He now has 251 career home runs, pushing him past Graig Nettles (250) for seventh place on the Yankees' all-time list. Next up is Bernie Williams (287), but A-Rod is lurking just five behind Posada.

Derek Jeter's leadoff home run on Saturday broke Rickey Henderson's club record for career leadoff home runs.

Marcus Thames injured his hamstring Saturday and was placed on the DL. Chad Huffman was recalled to take his roster spot. Huffman made his Major League debut Sunday, legged out an infield single in his first at bat, and later reached on a walk and a dropped third strike.

Former Yankee Oscar Azocar passed away yesterday at age 45 in his native Venezuela. Azocar was one of several young players the Yankees brought up during their last place season in 1990. He wasn't particularly good, but much like Francisco Cervelli, he had an enthusiastic style play that endeared him to fans and to Phil Rizzuto. Azocar frequently sprinted from his post in left field to back up third base on plays where he was otherwise uninvolved. A free swinger, Azocar walked just twice in 218 plate appearances that season, but he made enough contact where he only struck out 15 times. He was traded to San Diego following his rookie season and washed out of organized baseball after two years there.

Wrapping Up The Weekend

Good morning, Fackers. Hope your weekend was as relaxing as the Yanks' was. En route to a sweep of the Astros, the Bombers hardly trailed at all in three games - only in the early going and for just one third of an inning yesterday - and that latter gap was promptly erased by an RBI single by Nick Swisher and left behind indefinitely by a grand slam by Jorge Posada on Saturday afternoon.

Jorgie had a eventful weekend as he added another salami yesterday, making him the first Yankee to accomplish that feat in back to back games since Billy Dickey in 1939. He also returned behind the plate yesterday for the first time since May 16th, just before being placed on the DL with a stress fracture in his foot. While he was certainly fine on offense, Posada had to give up catching duties after the eighth inning. While he initially complained of "soreness", he later claimed he was just "fatigued". The former is quite concerning, but the latter is to be expected from a 38 year old who hasn't caught a full game in almost a month. Either way, the Yankees are obviously going to be careful about how often they put him behind the plate and the upcoming day off will certainly help him get past any pain or exhaustion.

Taking a step back, now seems like an appropriate time to reflect on what we earmarked as a significant stretch of games for the Yanks.

Heading into Memorial Day Weekend, the squad was starting down a 16 game stretch against the Indians, Orioles, Blue Jays and Astros and looking up at a 4.5 game deficit in the standings. At that point, we surmised that anything better than 10-6 during the soft stretch of the schedule would have been acceptable.

It turns out that the Yankees passed the test. Even though they dropped two of three to Toronto, they ripped through the last place cupcakes at 11-2, bringing their final tally to 12-4, outscoring their opponents 103-61. It was as good of a stretch as can be reasonably expected in the MLB.

Aside from the 13 run disaster (and more specifically, seven run seventh inning) against Cleveland, the pitching was excellent, holding foes to three runs or fewer 11 times. Phil Hughes picked up four victories over that time while Javy Vazquez won three and Sabathia and Pettitte each picked up two.

Of course, as was on display yesterday, putting up almost six and a half runs per game gives starting pitchers a little more cushion in their quest to pick up victories. The Yanks cranked out just about 10 hits and five walks per game and when you put that many men on base, good things are going to happen.

Good things like multi-run home runs, for instance. Of the 18 round-trippers the Yankees hit during this run, five of them have been grand slams (two by Posada this weekend and one each by Granderson, Cano and A-Rod) and just four of them have been solo shots. To put that in perspective, the Yanks had only hit one GS coming into the Cleveland series and over half of their homers to that point were solo shots.

While the Yankees were tearing through a soft portion of their schedule, the Rays began to fall back to earth. Since April 28th, they've gone 7-8 against the White Sox, Blue Jays, Rangers and Marlins. Certainly their slate of 15 games was much more difficult, having to play Toronto twice and face teams that aren't dragging their asses across last place in the division and all, but this is the schedule evening out in the long run.

The Rays' mediocre stretch also allowed Boston to play some catch up. The Sox are sitting just four games behind the two teams at the top and any talk of how there was no way they could make the playoffs now seems pretty foolish.

With four more series of interleague play in queue for all three teams, a lot could happen in the division over the next two weeks, much of it based on a completely unbalanced schedule. The three division rivals share only one common opponent - the Diamondbacks - over that time.

Game 63: Astronomy

So far in this series, as was expected coming in, the Yankees have taken care of business. The Astros are a one of the very worst teams in baseball and anything less than a series victory would have been a serious letdown. Now that the Bombers have taken the first two games by totally different means - one tight contest with no home runs and one blowout with five of them - they look to Phil Hughes to put them in position to complete the sweep.

Phil has gone through a mildly medicore stretch (by his standards) over his last five starts, allowing 15 runs in 30.2 IP (4.40 ERA) but has still struck out a batter an inning (29) - just about five times more than he's walked (6). The difference is that he's been slightly more hittable over this stretch, surrendering 34 hits over that span as opposed to just 22 knocks in the first 39 frames he pitched this season.

Houston sends 38 year old journeyman/swingman Brian Moehler to the mound for his fourth start of the season. Between starting and relief, the junk-balling righty has allowed 22 runs in 31 1/3 innings (6.12 ERA) while giving up 46 hits striking out 13 and walking 11. Jeter, A-Rod and to a lesser extent, Posada are the only three Yanks to have faced him in somewhat significant sample sizes (from his days in Detroit over 10 years ago, most likely) and the results have all been good for our guys.

In terms of the pitching match up, the stars seem to have aligned in favor of the Yankees. Hopefully the cosmos have a sweep in store for the Bombers.

It's the nexus of the crisis,
And the origin of storms,
Just the place to hopelessly,
Encounter time, and then came meeeeee.

-Lineups-

Same deal as yesterday, both Matt and I are all sorts of tied up. You know where to find them.

Game 62 Win Expectancy Chart

[Win Expectancy data via FanGraphs]

I wasn't able to catch any of this game on TV but I did want to share this anecdote from the postgame show on the radio. Suzyn Waldman was interviewing Derek Jeter and in her typical overly-motherly, fawning way was asking him what it mean to tie Rickey Henderson atop the all-time lead off home run list and going on and on about how special it must be.

Jeter sort of laughed and said, "Well, I think it was just his record for the Yankees, and he was only here for what, two years?". It was about four year's worth of games to be precise, but the point still stands. Keep it in your pants, Suzyn.

Game 62: I'm Sorry Houston

Today's game features a match up of two pitchers who were excellent in the National League last year but are struggling to follow up on that campaign this season.

We've heard plenty about Javier Vazquez's 2009 but although Wandy Rodriguez's didn't make as many headlines, it was nearly as good. He pitched 205 innings to an ERA of 3.02 and won 14. Wandy's peripheral numbers didn't compare as Vazquez's (3.06 K/BB, 3.54 FIP vs. 5.41, 2.77) but they were still plenty solid. This year, those same numbers have dipped to 1.84 and 4.01 respectively for Rodirguez and thanks to an even more dismal offense behind him, has lost eight times in 12 starts.

I'm sorry Houston, but hopefully the ninth will come today.

You ain't givin' up on lookin' for your thing,
even if you probably should.
I'm sorry Huston. I ain't got what you need
but I promise you I'd help you if I could.

[Song Notes: This is the Drive-By Truckers, from an in-store appearance in Greenville, SC just over two years ago. It features bassist Shonna Tucker on vocals.]

-Lineups-

Not today, as we are mailing it in. You know where to find them.

Game 61: Recap

The Yanks got to Brett Myers for three runs in the first inning and that was nearly enough to carry them to the finish line.

Andy Pettitte ran into some trouble in the top of the second and allowed a two runs on a double to Tommy Manzella but both pitchers found their respective grooves over the middle innings and only four runners reached base on either team between the tops of the second and eighth.

Derek Jeter booted an easy double play ball in the bottom half of the eighth that would have put Andy Pettitte just one out away from handing the ball to Mariano Rivera, but instead put the tying runs on base with no one out. After a bunt by Micheal Bourne that moved both the runners into scoring position, Joe Girardi called on Joba Chamberlain to preserve the lead. Jeff Keppinger drove in a run on a sac fly but Joba struck out Lanke Berkman on a questionable check swing call to escape with a one run advantage.

Rivera nailed down a perfect ninth and Andy Pettitte secured his 200th win as a Yankee against the only other team he's recorded a victory for. The squads next square off in Saturday afternoon match up between Javier Vazquez and Wandy Rodriguez.

Game 61: Houston Don't Dream About Me

Since their inception as the Colt .45s in 1962, Houston and the Yankees have played just six meaningful games against each other. Yet, despite the scarcity of contests between the two the clubs there is a good amount of shared history between the Astros and Yankees.

When Houston opened the Astrodome - the Eighth Wonder of the World - in 1965, they chose the Yankees as their opponents for the first exhibition game to be played there. Mickey Mantle batted leadoff that day, giving him the honor of being the first batter in the first indoor baseball game. He singled in that at bat, and later hit the first home run in Astrodome history.

Thirty five years later, when the Astros opened Enron Field, it was once again the Yankees who served as their first opponent. Once again, a Yankee hit the first longball in the park's history. This time, it was the slightly-less-famous Ricky Ledee.

After Yogi Berra was fired just sixteen games into the 1985 season, he vowed never to return to Yankee Stadium so long as George Steinbrenner owned the team. In exile from the franchise with which he was most associated, Berra spent his final four seasons in a Major League uniform as a coach with the Astros.

When Andy Pettitte didn't feel the Yankees made enough of an effort to re-sign him following the 2003 season, Pettitte returned home to Texas, inking a three year deal with the Astros. That signing was enough to sway Roger Clemens, who had intended to retire, to sign with his hometown team as well. The two combined with Roy Oswalt to give the Astros a potent rotation, and led the team to their first World Series in 2005. Three years later, both Pettitte and Clemens would return to New York.

Between the lines, the two teams first met in an interleague series in 2003. Seven years ago tonight, six Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the Yankees. It was the first no hitter tossed against the Bombers since 1958*. More recently, the Yankees played an interleague series in Houston in 2008, where Chien-Ming Wang notoriously injured his foot rounding third base.

(*Hoyt Wilhelm tossed that 1958 no hitter against the Yankees. Wilhelm was also the surname of George Costanza's boss on Seinfeld, during George's time with the Yankees as assistant to the traveling secretary. One of Costanza's tasks during that time was to host a team of Astros executives exploring the possibility of interleague play. Hilarity ensued.)

Tonight New York and Houston will begin their third interleague series, with Andy Pettitte taking the ball for his first career start against his former team. He'll be opposed by former Phillie / wife-puncher extraordinaire Brett Myers.

Despite their 5-1 career mark against the Astros, the last two series between these clubs have brought some disastrous results for the Yankees: their only hitless game in the last 51 years and what looks to be the end of Chien-Ming Wang's career as an effective pitcher. As Houston brings the Majors' sixth worst record and an offense bordering on historically poor into the Bronx for this weekend series, the Yankees are hoping for something far less eventful, and that their dreams about Houston don't turn into nightmares this time.

Just trying to make high ground
Has kept us on the run
There's no crime in toeing the line
Cause fortune is smiling on us baby
And we're gonna walk in the sun

I might dream about Houston
But Houston don't dream about me
If I could keep this between the lines
Who knows what will be

[Song Notes: I hate throwing up a video that has nothing but the album cover as its image, but I like this song and it works well for tonight. The Black Crowes have performed the tune in concert only fifteen times since debuting it last year, so live performances are a little scarce, just like Yankees-Astros games. I spent last Friday night catching the Crowes at the Cape Cod Melody Tent, I'll spend tomorrow morning scoring tickets to their local stop on their farewell tour this fall, so it only makes sense to use them for tonight's preview.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
The bad news is that Alex Rodriguez' groin malady will keep him out of the lineup again tonight. The good news is that it's nothing more serious than tendonitis in his right hip flexor and is entirely unrelated to last year's surgery. He's day to day. With A-Rod out, Nick Swisher drops to the clean up five spot and Curtis Granderson moves up to the two spot. Brett Gardner will miss his third consecutive start, but took BP earlier today.

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Francisco Cervelli C
Ramiro Pena 3B
Kevin Russo LF

Astros:
The lineup isn't yet posted, but I'm fairly certain that the lineup the Bad News Bears brought to the Astrodome during Bad News Bears in Breaking Training is more potent than whatever the Astros will trot out tonight. Sure Lance Berkman probably has a slight edge on Kelly Leak as a big bat in the middle of the lineup, but not by much, and certainly not by enough to make up for the rest of their punchless order.

Obligatory World Cup Post

Good morning Fackers. Things have been a bit slow here at Fack Youk this week, as other responsibilities have largely prevented us from living up to our usual mediocre standards. Similarly, things are slowing down in the sporting world at large. The Stanley Cup Finals wrapped on Wednesday night, with the Chicago Blackhawks lifting Lord Stanley's Cup for the first time in 49 years. Congratulations to Chicago head coach, and former longtime Hartford Whaler, Joel Quenneville and his outstanding 'stache. Meanwhile, over in the Association, there are at most three games left in the Finals, as both the Lakers and the Celtics are just two wins away from the title. Soon, Major League Baseball will have the entire professional sporting landscape to itself for the first time since early last September.

Of course, there is an international sporting event kicking off today that will spend the next month captivating the attention of most of the civilized world. The 2010 FIFA World Cup begins this morning, with host nation South Africa facing Mexico at 10 AM. Tomorrow afternoon, the U.S. Men's National Team begins group play with a much-anticipated match against England. The Brits are favored, but the U.S. scored a major upset over England in the 1950 World Cup, and if memory serves, the U.S. fared pretty well against them circa 1776 and 1812 as well.

While the U.S. team is often referred to as the "Yanks", there is another connection between the soccer team and the Yanks we usually follow here. Midfielder Michael Bradley and his father/head coach Bob Bradley have blood ties to a former Yankee.

Scott Bradley, Bob's brother and Michael's uncle, was selected by the Yankees in the third round of the 1981 draft. The New Jersey native made his professional debut at short-season Oneonta that summer and ascended through the Yankee system. In 1984 he arrived at AAA Columbus, where he batted .335, leading the International League. He also led the IL in games played and hits and finished second in doubles on his way to capturing IL MVP honors.

Bradley parlayed his strong season into a September call up to the Yankees, making his Major League debut on September 9th. He appeared in nine games down the stretch, going 6 for 21 (.286) and seeing time in left field in addition to his customary spot behind the plate. He broke camp with the Yankees in 1985, but was soon returned to Columbus, where he again batted better than .300. He received a pair of additional call ups over the course of the season, but didn't fare so well, posting a .163/.196/.245 batting line over 51 plate appearances in 19 games. He spent the majority of his time as a DH rather than catching.

Just prior to the start of Spring Training the following year, Bradley was sent to the White Sox as part of a seven player trade that saw catcher Ron Hassey*, who the Yankees had traded to the White Sox just two months before, come back to the Bronx.

(*Between December 4, 1984 and July 30, 1986, Hassey was traded four times. Each trade was between Chicago and New York, as he went from the Cubs to the Yankees to the White Sox back to the Yankees and back to the White Sox again. The three trades between the Yankees and White Sox occurred in less than eight months' time.)

Bradley spent only nine games with the White Sox, spent most of his time as their property in AA, and then was traded again in June, heading to Seattle in exchange for slugger Ivan Calderon. Upon his arrival Bradley became the Mariners' primary catcher and served as such through 1988 season, before spending three more years as Dave Valle's back up. In 1990, Bradley was behind the plate for Randy Johnson's first career no-hitter. Bradley finished his career seven games split between the M's and Reds in 1992.

While he played his college ball at North Carolina, Bradley's post-playing career brought him back to the Garden State. He spent 1997 as an assistant coach at Rutgers. The following year, he accepted the head coach position at Princeton, where his older brother Bob went to school and had spent twelve years as the head coach of the men's soccer team. Scott still serves as the Princeton head coach today, and in his thirteen years there he has coached three eventual Big Leaguers: Will Venable, Chris Young (the pitcher, not the outfielder), and former Yankee Ross Ohlendorf. Fifteen other Tigers have been drafted under Bradley's watch, including former Yankee farmhand Spencer Lucian.

Nothing will ever replace the Yankees as the primary focus of my sporting attention, but I'll be watching the U.S. team closely for as long as they're alive in the World Cup. For some background on Bob Bradley, ESPN.com had a great piece earlier this week.

Game 60 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

Like they did the night before, the Yankees fell behind the Orioles 2-0 early and fought their way back to take a 3-2 lead. However, the A.J. Burnett couldn't hold the O's there and the offense couldn't come up with a timely hit as the innings wore on.

It probably didn't help that Alex Rodriguez was pulled from the game before he even had a chance to come to the plate. Eariler, Alex felt a cramp and/or some stiffness in his groin - the same thing that sidelined him last weekend against Toronto - but thought he could work through it in warm ups. During the bottom of the first, Adam Jones hit a two out ground ball that A-Rod said he should have fielded "10 times out of 10", but his groin "locked up" on him and the ball rolled past and into left field, allowing Miguel Tejada to score the O's second run.

Alex had warned Ramiro Pena prior to the start of the game that he wasn't feeling 100% and told him to be ready to come in. Nino got his chance in the top of the second and led off the frame batting clean up.

The Yankees offensive problems extended well beyond Pena batting in the heart of the order, though. The line up already had Chad Moeller and Marcus Thames in it and they were facing a good, young pitcher with whom they were unfamiliar. As I mentioned in yesterday's preview, Jake Arrieta has been all but unhittable in the minors so far this year. He brought that ability with him in his Major League debut, holding the Yanks to just 4 hits over six innings. He did walk four but two of them were distributed intentionally in the crucial sixth inning.

During the bottom of the fifth, the Orioles tied the game on a homer by Scott Moore, but Mark Teixiera brought the Yanks right back by leading off the sixth with a double. Ramiro Pena came to the plate and executed what Ken Singleton (whose birthday it was) pointed out on the broadcast was probably the first sacrifice executed out of the clean up slot all year for the Yanks. Juan Samuel had Arrieta put Cano on base, creating the potential for a double play with Jorge Posada coming up. The O's didn't get the DP they wanted but Jorge flew out to shallow center, not deep enough to bring in the run.

Although he obviously wasn't going to go on the play, Mark Teixeira executed a good enough fake to draw the throw. When Adam Jones unloaded the ball, Robinson Cano took off for second. On his way there, Ty Wigginton made a great play to cut off the throw and fired to second base. It looked like Cano might have been out, but he was ruled safe, making an intentional walk of the lefty Curtis Granderson to bring up the righty Marcus Thames the obvious move. Arrieta struck him out on four pitches, three of which were breaking balls down and away.

In the bottom half of the six, Luke Scott "tripled" on high fly ball that brought Nick Swisher all the way back to the scoreboard in left. Swish tracked it, made a leaping effort and thought he made the catch but didn't and momentarily lost track of the ball when it landed. Adam Jones struck again in the next at bat, slashing a double to right center, adding his second RBI of the game and giving the Orioles the lead.

The Yanks worked three walks in the last three innings, but that was it. Their 10 game winning streak over the Orioles came to an end and A.J. Burnett took the first loss of his career at Camden Yards. The Yanks still won the series, however and head home to face Houston tonight as Andy Pettitte squares off against Brett Meyers.

Game 60: Get Up Jake

Now that we've reached the stage of the season where clubs can promote minor leaguers without having to worry about them being eligible for Super Two status, this year has really begun tp produce a bumper crop of top prospect debuts in the MLB.

Jason Heyward began his career as an Atlanta Brave with a bang at the beginning of the season and Ike Davis was called up when the Mets were struggling in mid-April. More recently, we've seen the debuts of Steven Strasburg, former Yankee farmhand Jose Tabata, fellow Pirate Brad Lincoln, and Mike Stanton (who is not related to the former Yankee reliever) to name a few. Still on the horizon are promising youngsters like the awesomely-named Carlos Santana - a catcher in the Indians' system, outfielders Domonic Brown of the Phillies and Desmond Jennings of the Rays, Scott Boras' Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez and Kyle Drabek - now property of the Blue Jays - who was the centerpiece of the Roy Halladay deal. Even these players experience a higher than expected rate of attrition, there's a good chance that we'll look back at this class of rookies as one of the best in the ten or fifteen years surrounding it.

Tonight, a highly-regarded Baltimore prospect will make his debut, but given the performance that happened just two days ago and forty miles down I-95, this one will seem considerably more subdued.

Jake Arietta was a fifth round pick in the 2007 draft but didn't begin his ascent through the minor leagues until the 2008 season. He debuted at High-A ball and struck out 120 batters in 113 1/3 innings while maintaining an ERA of 2.87. Last season, started with the AA Bowie Baysox, pitched 59 strong innings over 11 starts there and was promoted to AAA. While in Norfolk, Arrieta's strikeout rate dropped and his ERA rose, but was still respectable in his 92 innings there, tallying an ERA of 3.92 and a K/BB ratio comfortably over 2.

The twenty four year old right hander broke camp with the Triple-A squad this year and got off to a great start. Although his strikeout and walk rates aren't as strong as they were in the lower levels of the minors, they are better than they were at the same level last year and Arrieta has an ERA of just 1.85 through 11 starts. He has been more or less unhittable so far, surrendering fewer than six hits per nine innings and allowing only three homers in 73 IP.

In the past two years, the Orioles have seen more than their fair share of pitching prospects make their Major League debuts. Brad Bergesen first appeared in the Big Leagues April 21st of 2009, the less-celebrated-but-still-young David Hernandez joined the club May 28th, last night's pitcher Chris Tillman was called up at the end of last July, Brain Matusz made his debut six days later. Tonight, Arrieta will get his shot.

When we talked to Orioles fan and blogger Daniel Moroz before the season began, he surmised that barring a number of injuries, Arrieta wouldn't see more than a cup of coffee this season. Koji Uehara, who began the rotation, is on the DL and Hernandez, who has been ineffective in his eight starts, has been relegated to the bullpen. Those two moves, along with Arrieta's dominance and the O's futility, created Jake's chance to be called up.

It might not be occurring under the greatest of circumstances and it might not pay dividends immediately, but tonight should be a bit of a silver lining for Orioles fans, if such a thing can be found in one of their worst stretches in one of their worst seasons in franchise history.

Get up Jake, it's late in the mornin',
The rain is pourin' and we got work to do.
Get up Jake, there's no need a-lyin',
You tell me that you're dyin', but I know it's not true.

Now, me and Jake, we work down on the river,
on the ferry "Baltimore".
And when Jake don't rise up in the mornin',

People lined up along the shore.

[Song Notes: I've been a fan of this tune for a long time and it was the first thing I thought of when I heard Arrieta was going to be starting tonight. The lyrics don't line up perfectly, but the kid's name is Jake, "Baltimore" and "lined up" are in the song and that's good enough for our purposes. If only there was someone named Dan from Savannah on the Yankees, it would have really sealed the deal.

I had to upload the version from To Kingdom Come because the only "video" on YouTube kind of sucks.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Brett Gardner is once again out of the lineup; Marcus Thames gets the start in left field tonight. Pray for lots of groundballs and strike outs. Francisco Cervelli gets the finale off, with Chad Moeller getting the start against his former team.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Marcus Thames LF
Chad Moeller C

RHP A.J. Burnett

Orioles:

Corey Patterson LF
Miguel Tejada 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 1B
Luke Scott LF
Adam Jones CF
Matt Wieters C
Scott Moore 2B
Cesar Izturis SS

RHP Jake Arrieta

Game 59 Recap

[WE data via FanGraphs]

Unlike last night, when the Yankees got ahead early and stayed there, there were plenty of point when it looked like this one wasn't going to end up in the win column. Through the first three innings, CC Sabathia had allowed eight baserunners (two of whom came around to score) and thrown 63 pitches. Meanwhile, the Yanks had put five men on but stranded four of them, while the other, Derek Jeter, was caught stealing by Matt Wieters.

Although forecasts predicted the rain would hold out a bit longer, the skies opened up as Robinson Cano led off the top of the fourth. With only three half-innings still to be completed before it became an official and a deficit of two runs to make up, it appeared the clock was ticking on the Yankees. But Cano bought a little time with an opposite field base hit. Chris Tillman gave the Yankees a little more when he sailed a pickoff attempt wide of first, allowing Cano to advance to second. Jorge Posada moved Cano over to third on a grounder and Curtis Granderson scored him easily on a deep sac fly to left to bring the Yanks within one.

The bottom of the fourth and top of the fifth came and went with the minimum number of batters and the score stuck at 2-1. Mercifully, when the broadcast returned for the home half of the fifth, they showed the grounds crew retreat from the post behind the tarp back underneath the stands, their presence apparently no longer needed.

It was still raining, but not quite as hard, and the Weather Gods had apparently granted the Yankees a reprieve. Sabathia worked around a lead off single to Miguel Tejada and kept the Yankees one behind heading into the top of the sixth.

The tides were about to turn, but the Yankees needed some help from the O's defense and perhaps the sloppy conditions. Leading off the inning, Mark Teixeira bounced a ball in between first and second just out of the reach of Julio Lugo. Next up, A-Rod ripped a single to left-center that hopped over Luke Scott and allowed Teixeira to advance to third. Cano followed with a smooth game-tying base knock to right that moved A-Rod ninety feet away from putting the Yanks ahead, still with no one out. Posada tapped weak double play ball to first that would have got the run home either way, but Caesar Izturis couldn't deliver the throw back to first in time. Still, the damage was done and the Yanks were up 3-2.

While Sabathia struggled mightily in the early going, he threw scoreless 10, 11 and 11 pitch innings in the 4th, 5th and 6th and was available to come back out for the seventh and was greeted by a bunt single by Izturis. Julio Lugo dropped another bunt to sacrifice him to second and the O's were threatening. After Miguel Tejada grounded out to third, Nick Markakis stepped to the plate with two outs. Instead of hitting it the opposite way like he so often does, he chopped one up the first baseline. Cano had a great read on it and made a ridiculous diving stop, popped to his feet and nearly threw Markakis out at first base to end the inning. He had preserved the Yanks' lead but they weren't out of the woods yet.

Ty Wigginton ran the count full before drawing a walk to load the bases and pass the baton to Luke Scott. Sabathia had allowed a single to Scott on the night but also struck him out twice on sliders. CC started him off with a curveball outside and then Scott fouled back a fastball to level the count. The count was 1-2 after Scott swung over a sinker and Sabathia went back to the well for one more slider and struck him out swinging to escape the inning.

Frankie Cervelli knocked in an insurance run a few batters later and Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth as the Yankees locked up their tenth straight win against Baltimore. It was far from perfect as the Yanks had another rough night with runners in scoring position (2 for 13) and Jeter both grounded into a double play and got caught stealing but they got the job done and look to complete the sweep tonight behind A.J. Burnett.