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 101: Youthful Expression

Like almost every trade, the one that sent Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris seemed like a fair deal at the time. The clubs exchanged average-hitting middle infielders in the late 20's and each gave up a decent minor league prospect, but the centerpieces to the deal were Garza and Young.

At the beginning of the 2007 season, Garza was the top prospect in the Twins organization. He started the year at AAA in Rochester and was vocal about his frustrations with the way he was being used. The organization called up guys like Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey before Garza, primarily due to a disagreement in pitch selection. The Rochester coaching staff was trying to get Garza to mix more offspeed pitches into his repertoire, but he insisted on throwing almost exclusively on fastballs.

"He's getting a little frustrated so we're going to bring him up here and give him a chance to pitch for us," Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire said. That's not exactly the tone you want the relationship between an organization and a top prospect to sound like.

Delmon Young probably wasn't the most popular character in the Rays franchise either, considering he was the player in the infamous minor league bat throwing incident in 2006, when he was with the AAA Durham Bulls. The idea of the trade was to get a fresh start for both guys and it seemed like a good one.

Since then, Garza has turned into a solid, top of the rotation presence for the Rays while Young has regressed to platooning with Carlos Gomez and batting .264/.291/.346 on the season. Garza pitched 184 2/3 innings for the Rays last year at a 3.70 ERA and is on pace for over 200 innings at the same ERA this year. He was the MVP of the ALCS last year, picking up two wins including game 7.

At the ripe old age of 25, Garza is the elder statesman of the pitching match-up this evening. He's had two pretty strong outings against the Yanks this year (12IP, 3ER) but has been stuck with a no-decision both times. He's coming of a studly outing in Toronto where he pitched a complete game and struck out 9.

Joba goes tonight for the Yanks. He's given up only 5 hits in his last two starts but has walked 6 in 13 2/3 IP. He's gave up a run each time and picked up two wins, bringing his season mark to 6-2. He was tantalizingly close to efficient in these two outings, throwing 107 pitches in the first and 100 in the second.

These two hard-tossin', young guns square off tonight in the rubber game of the series. The first one was lopsided and the second was sloppy. Perhaps tonight's performance will be a little more tightly executed?

Body's healthy, mind is wealthy,
Thoughts, they flow, that will prepare me,
To be a Native, get creative,
Original and designative.

Game 37: Keep It Movin'

As A.J. Burnett looks to move the Yankees winning streak to 5, I'll be looking to keeping it movin' through some Sunday traffic on I-95. 

I am embarking on a bit of a road trip this morning to the homeland of Brett Gardner that should span most of this week. That means content is going to be scaled back a bit, but I'm hoping our other contributors will be able to fill in the gaps. The journey should include a minor league Yankees game, a concert and some other fun stuff, so I'll put up some posts if the experiences are sufficently interesting. 

Keep it movin', (do the K.I.M),
Keep it movin', (do the K.I.M),
Ain't got no time for shuckin' and jivin' (do the K.I.M.).

Game 8: Get A Hold

After last night, I don't know if the significance of the title of this song necessitates much of an explanation. Things got a little out of hand, and now A.J. Burnett needs to put up a quality start, or at least stay out there for more than, you know, one inning. After getting 7 innings out of the bullpen (and one from the Nick Swisher) yesterday, the Yanks can ill afford to go to the well early.

Mark Teixeira is back in the line-up, but Johnny Damon is out with the flu, which buys yet another day for Joe Girardi to tell Xavier Nady that he lost his starting job to The Swish.

Aside from the title, the words to the song aren't all that relevant to the game, but Q-Tip does drop right in with a baseball metaphor:

Drifting, drifting, drifting, drifting, drifting...
The deadly venom, let me start from the beginning,
We always hittin, so yo, there'll be no extra innings,
As I send the mic out the park like Reggie Jackson,
You be the minor leaguer who sees no action.