We've done plenty of whining about things related to the All-Star game as of late and I'm sure you can tell that the game (or exhibition or whatever you'd like to call it) isn't all that captivating to us. The level of play is noticeably lower than in a typical game, the process by which the players are selected is terrible, the broadcast is always painfully cluttered with former players, special guests and other unnecessary voices, the first few innings are going to be played through the shadows, etc., etc., etc.
That said, it's a chance to see a lot of great players in the same place at one time, there have been some fairly interesting games in the last few years, the outcome does actually mean something and last but not least, it's pretty much the only thing we have to watch on TV tonight. Oh yeah, and it's definitely better than the NFL Pro Bowl!
Although the circumstances that made this possible are extremely unfortunate, there is another reason for Yankee fans to watch as much of the game as we can stand. The death of George Steinbrenner will take center stage and give Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and whoever else wanders into the booth a chance to capture the immensity of his legacy to the game to a National Audience, something I don't think The Boss wouldn't have minded too much at all.
Yes I'd give my life, To lay my head tonight on a bed, Of California stars.
I'd like to dream, My troubles all away, On a bed, of California stars.
Jump up from my starbed, Make another day, Underneath my California stars.
1. The game began as a bit of a pitcher's duel with three scoreless innings. Vazquez worked out of a minor jam in the second inning when the Rays had runners on second and third with one out by getting Willy Aybar to strike out swinging and Dioner Navarro to ground out to second. The Yankees first baserunner came in the third inning via a leadoff walk by Nick Swisher but he never made it past second.
2. The Yanks drew first blood in the top of the 4th when Nick Johnson led off with a single and Alex Rodriguez blasted a deep line drive over B.J. Upton's head in center field. Johnson scored from first, and when the Rays threw home A-Rod broke for third. Rodriguez slid in safely as the ball went past Evan Longoria into the outfield allowing him to score on what was ostensibly a double (but was scored a triple). Yanks 2, Rays 0.
3. The only lead the Yankees would have all game was short-lived. In the bottom half of the fourth, Ben Zobrist led off with a walk. After getting Longoria to fly out to center, Javy Vazquez grooved a high fastball to Carlos Pena that was launched into the right field seats for a two run homer, knotting the game up at 2.
4. Still with one out in the fourth, Upton singled to to center and stole second. Willy Aybar flied out to left and the Yanks and Vazquez were awfully close to escaping the inning with the score still tied. Instead, Dioner Navarro sliced a single to left, scoring Upton. Sean Rodriguez followed with a shallow base hit to center, putting runners on first and second for Jason Bartlett. After falling behind 0-2, Vazquez battled back to level the count but left a changeup out over the plate that Bartlett pulled into left field, just past the diving attempt of Marcus Thames. It scored both Navarro and Rodriguez, putting the Rays up 5-2.
5. Vazquez came back out for the 5th inning and sat the Rays down in order. He returned to the mound in the 6th but gave up a double to Upton and a two run homer to Aybar. After getting two straight outs, Javy walked Sean Rodriguez and his night was over. Sergio Mitre took over at that point, allowed the inherited runner to score and gave up another run of his own. 9-2 Rays.
6. The final Yankee run came on back to back doubles by Derek Jeter and Nick Johnson in the top of the 8th. The Yanks loaded the bases with two outs but Nick Swisher struck out swinging to end the inning and squash the last bit of hope the Yanks had.
IFs ANDs & BUTs
Considering the score and the situation, I think the biggest blow was the two out Bartlett double. Had Brett Gardner been playing left, he almost certainly would have made that play, ending the inning with the Yankees trailing by just one run. Instead, Marcus Thames couldn't get there and the Yanks chances of winning took a severe blow. Might Joe Girardi remember this play next time he decides to start Thames against a lefty? I think Gardner needs to be given a chance to contribute offensively before he is relegated to the bench every time a left hander starts against the Yanks. His considerable range in left is huge asset and could easily make up for Thames' superior power if Gadner is somewhat respectable at the plate.
Vazquez's return looks pretty terrible on paper (6 2/3 IP, 8H, 3BB, 8ER), but I don't think it was quite that bad. The above play was extremely costly and even with all the damage he was efficient with his pitches, tossing just 98 (62 for strikes) before getting pulled.
David Price was efficient and effective for the Rays giving up three runs over 7 2/3. He allowed 7 hits, walked three and struck out 7. He stayed out for 111 pitches with a considerable lead and if that rubs you the wrong way, Jonah will set you straight.
Nick Johnson finally picked up a couple of hits, going 2-5 with zero(!) walks.
Mark Teixeira, however, did not break the ice and is still hitless on the season. START PANICKING IMMEDIATELY.
After struggling to get the final out of the 6th inning, Sergio Mitre displayed his impressive mop-handling abilities, throwing two scoreless innings in the 7th and 8th.
Note: The game today is at 3:15, certainly an odd hour for an game in the Eastern Time Zone. We'll have the preview and all that jazz for you later on.
Redemption might be my single favorite word in the English language. We all love a good redemption story. The media is squeezing every last drop of redemption they can out of Tiger Woods, and we're not even halfway through the Masters yet.
Sports are full of such tails of redemption. Sometimes it's not good enough just to win. Victories always seem sweeter when they erase the bitter taste of past failures. Winning then, cannot be its own victory in these situations. It has to mean something more to maximize the sense of fulfillment.
Taking the bump for the Yankees tonight is man who will be besieged by redemption storylines this year. Six years ago the Yankees brought Javy Vazquez to New York and signed him to a four year contract extension. After the departures of rotation stalwarts Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and David Wells after the 2003 season, the then 27 year old Vazquez was to be the cornerstone of the new Yankee pitching staff for the next several years.
As our friends at RAB pointed out earlier today, Vazquez got off to a running start, pitching masterfully in his Yankee debut. It was the start of an outstanding first half for Javy, one that saw him go 10-5 with a 3.56 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and a selection to the All-Star Game. It was all downhill from there. Possibly nursing a shoulder injury, Vazquez stumbled down the stretch, posting a 6.92 ERA the rest of the way while allowing close to three baserunners every two innings.
The bottom came in the Yankees' final game of 2004, Game 7 of the historically disastrous ALCS. Vazquez was summoned from the pen in the second inning. Kevin Brown had dug the Yankees a 2-0 hole in the first inning, and left Vazquez a bases loaded jam with two outs to go in the second frame. With Johnny Damon at the plate, the first pitch out of Javy's hand was deposited into the right field stands, effectively ending the Yankees season and assuring the greatest post-season collapse in baseball history. Two months later, Vazquez was shipped to the desert, the centerpiece of a package used to acquire 41 year old Randy Johnson as the next would-be Yankee ace.
In the five years since, Vazquez has been vilified in the minds of several Yankee fans. He's shouldered a disproportionate amount of the blame for failing to clean up Kevin Brown's mess, and for being part of team-wide collapse that involved 24 other players, a manager, an entire coaching staff, and a fractured front office regime. Despite his continued solid to outstanding performance in the years since his departure, his return this past December was greeted with remembrances of "Home Run Javy", and claims that he doesn't possess the testicular fortitude to play in New York. Throughout the media beat and the blogosphere today, all manner of stories, this one included, have been some variation on the theme of Javy's potential redemption on his second turn through the Bronx.
The Vazquez story line has at once become both a personal pet project and personal pet peeve since his reacquisition. I would like nothing more than to see Javier Vazquez redeem himself in the eyes of the not-so-faithful this year. Not because I feel bad for him, or because I think he needs to atone for his 2004 performance, but because it would please me greatly for Javier Vazquez to shut up the naysayers who chose to selectively focus on a half-season of play, or worse yet a singular post-season pitch. I would enjoy it if he were to prove wrong those who have such a sense of entitlement as fans that they feel some sort of special breed of athlete is needed to be worthy of the honor of playing on the greatest stage in sports. It would make me happy if Vazquez would illustrate to the "he's OK as a fourth starter" crowd why he was arguably the best pitcher in the National League last year.
Javier Vazquez doesn't need any redemption for his role on a flawed team that flamed out at the worst possible time. But if he pitches well enough this year to make that simplification the prevailing story line, I'll take it.
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On the other side of tonight's story are the Tampa Bay Rays. After surprisingly taking both the AL East and the AL Pennant in 2008, the Rays took a step back last year. Expected to contend in the always difficult AL East, the team received uncharacteristically poor performances from four spots in their line up and inconsistent pitching from the back end of their rotation. They fell 13 games from their 2008 record, finishing nine games out of the playoff hunt.
Yet the Rays are rightfully considered contenders again this year. They have a talented line up, including premium bats in Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, and Carlos Pena. They have a young and deep pitching staff and play good defense. While this might be their last chance to contend with the likes of Pena and Carl Crawford, there is enough talent in the organization and the front office for them to be contenders for years to come.
David Price, the top selection in the 2007 draft, gets the ball for the Rays tonight. He's already made four appearances, three starts, against the Yankees in his young career. He enters tonight 1-0 against them, carrying a sparkling 2.25 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, and .123/.220/.259 batting line against in 24 innings of work.
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So here we are, six years and one day since Javier Vazquez' Yankee debut, and one year to the day since Fack Youk's first musical preview. The Yankees are back in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area after having just left last Saturday. The Rays are looking to redeem themselves after a disappointing 2009, and are looking to land the first blow against one of their primary competitors in the AL East. Javier Vazquez is just looking to pitch, but many are looking for him to redeem himself after his first stint with the Yankees fell short of expectations. In light of all that, we'll go back to a tune we used once before, a long time ago:
With the lefty Price on the mound, Brett Gardner grabs some pine again and Curtis Granderson takes the nine spot. Nick Swisher moves up to seventh, and Marcus Thames will play left and bat eighth. Joe Girardi's comments prior to Game Two seemed to indicate that Gardner, Granderson, and Nick Johnson would alternate sitting in favor of Marcus Thames against lefties. Thus far, Gardner has gotten the short straw both times.
Jeter SS Johnson DH Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Cano 2B Posada C Swisher RF Thames LF Granderson CF
Way back in May, when Jay decided to take a little getaway, he blindly handed me to the keys to the blog for the week. The Yankees were about to wrap a four game series against the Twins, having won the first three via walkoff. The series finale was a Monday night affair, one I was to attend. But before I could escape the office and get on the road, I had to author my first game preview.
In keeping with Fack Youk tradition, I had to choose a song to work into the preview. After looking at the pitching match up for the night, I decided to riff on the name of the Twins starting pitcher for the night and went with "Carl Perkins Cadillac" from the very awesome Drive-By Truckers.
Glen Perkins started for the Twins that night, and the Yankees touched him up pretty good. It marked the fifth straight start in which Perkins surrendered at least four earned runs. The next day, Perkins was placed on the DL with an elbow issue. He returned a month later, and continued to struggle through another nine starts and a relief appearance. He was disabled again, and instead of being activated at the end of the month when rosters expanded, the Twins optioned him to AAA, despite the fact the minor league season was essentially over.
Though Perkins struggled in 2009, it was still an unorthodox move, particularly for a club that was in a pennant race. Perkins thought so too, and filed a grievance against the Twins. Being optioned out, rather than kept on the DL, prevented Perkins from accruing Major League service time. Not only did he fail to earn a Big League salary in that time, but the lack of service time prevented him from attaining Super Two arbitration status. That in turn has a major impact upon Perkins' salary for this year and beyond.
Back when I wrote that preview, I noted how cool it must have been for Perkins, born and bred in St. Paul and a former member of the University of Minnesota baseball team, to be drafted by and playing for his hometown team. But as we saw in the 1990 Sports Illustrated article about Dave Righetti that we linked to Friday, sometimes living out a boyhood dream isn't all it's cracked up to be. There's now a rift between Perkins and his club, and there's a chance he won't be a Twin much longer. It appears Perkins won't have quite as happy a story as fellow hometown hero Joe Mauer.
In the bigger picture, Perkins' story is part of an interesting and possibly troubling trend around the game: teams questionably optioning out young, but established players in effort to keep them under club control longer. The Twins took a similar tact with Francisco Liriano in 2008, and the Royals treated Alex Gordon the same way last year. We've seen teams delay calling up prospects like Evan Longoria, David Price, and Matt Wieters in order to keep them from Super Two arbitration status. But in my eyes at least, there's a difference between a club doing that to a minor leaguer on the way up as opposed to doing it to established Major Leaguers like Perkins, Liriano, and Gordon.
The past decade has seen Major League clubs look to exploit market inefficiencies. Valuing young, cost controlled talent has been amongst the leading ways teams have looked to gain an edge. Holding back Longoria, Price, and Wieters and sending down Liriano, Perkins, and Gordon are all part of that process. If Dave Cameron is right and veteran players are the latest market inefficieny, it'll be interesting to see if this trend of demoting established young players continues.
CC Sabathia will have to wait until at least next year to finally get his 20 win season. The big man got shelled in a bad way, allowing 9 runs (5 earned) over 2 2/3 IP, raising his season ERA from 3.21 to 3.37. The fact that 4 of the runs don't count against his ERA is nice, but it's also a little misleading since the Yanks committed a grand total of one error behind him and it came with no one out in the first. And although Mark Teixeira was charged with the gaffe, he recovered in time but Sabathia wasn't covering first base. Unfortunately, the 9 run figure does more justice to the performance that the official 5. It was his worst start of the season.
As brilliant as he has been over his last 11 starts, Sabathia was as terrible last night, allowing 14 men to reach base while recording only 8 outs, expending an average of just over 10 pitches to get each out. The Rays slapped 8 hits, drew 5 walks and were hit by a pitch.
Speaking of being hit by pitches, Mark Teixeira was plunked in the left hand by David Price in the first inning, possible retribution for Sabathia breaking two of Carlos Pena's fingers the last time the two teams squared off. Teixeira is currently tied with Pena for the AL lead in home runs and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that Tampa, with nothing left to pay for, was seeking their pound of flesh from the Yankees' first baseman. Teix was visibly shaken and it might have contributed to his fielding error in the first.
But back to Sabathia. It would have been worse in a way if the bullpen blew the game for him, but it's not exactly the best note on which to head into the postseason. After the game he talked about not being able to command his fastball but also said: "It's definitely disappointing any time you lose. It's tough to go out there and pitch for individual things, so I just wanted to go out and have a good outing and keep it relevant to the playoffs."
It was relevant to his previous playoff performances, all right. Typically a great control pitcher, Sabathia has walked 22 batters in 25 postseason innings and has given up 22 runs. It's one start, but it came in the game where he was probably putting the most pressure on himself that he had in a while. He also walked 5 batters on Opening Day and 5 more at the opening of the New Stadium, when all eyes were seemed to be on him. I don't want to be concerned, but yeah, I'm a little concerned.
It doesn't at all take away from the type of season he's had for the Yanks, especially the second half, but falling short of 20 wins, especially in the fashion that he did, just killed whatever slim chance that he might steal the AL Cy Young from Zack Greinke. It's probably better that way, since Greinke wholly deserves the honor.
The final tally was 13-4. It was an ugly game on all fronts and one that the Yanks will forget about soon enough.
A few other notes: B.J. Upton hit for the first cycle in Devil Rays/Rays history in his first four at bats, going triple, double, homer single, and drove in 6 runs in the process. He drew a walk later in the game as well, making it an even more cyclic cycle. The Yankees almost used an entire 25 man roster tonight, calling on 16 position players and 8 pitchers. Juan Miranda hit his first Major League homer, a 460 ft blast that was declared the longest at Tropicana Field this season which also tied the Yanks' record for most HRs in a season at 242, set in 2004. Phil Hughes also had a bad night, pitching 1/3 of an inning and giving up three hits and a run. The AL Central race got a little more interesting as the Tigers lost and Twins won. Zack Greinke faces the Twinkies tomorrow, however.
CC Sabathia will step to the mound tonight in search of his 20th victory of the season. The Big CCheese won 19 along with the AL Cy Young Award in 2007 and coincidentally has the same ERA (3.21) and the same record (19-7) that year as he does with one start to go in 2009. Odds are, one of those three numbers will change tonight, and likely, two of them will fluctuate.
The Tampa Bay Rays, led by David Price will be trying to see to it that the numbers that change are in the "loss" and "ERA" columns. This is not the position the Rays envisioned themselves in when this season began - long since eliminated from the postseason and simply playing out the string. The media darlings were predicted to contend for the AL East crown or at least the Wild Card but instead were pretty much out of the playoff picture when August came around.
A sort of symbol of the Rays struggles, Price has has a disappointing season as well. in 121 1/3 IP, he's stuck out 97, walked 52 and racked up a 4.60 ERA. When he was unveiled during last year's playoff run as a reliever, the general consensus was that he would be a force to be reckoned with one transitioned to the starting rotation. However, much like Joba Chamberlain, he's thrown too many pitches and walked too many batters. He's been better as of late though, carrying a 3.86 ERA over his last seven starts, including six innings of two run ball against the Yanks about three weeks ago.
Like Mr. Sabathia, Mike Mussina made a charge towards 20 wins last season notching victories in each of his last three starts including the last one against a division rival (the Red Sox) on the road, in a meaningless game (although meaningless for entirely different reasons). Paradoxically, Mussina did it with a higher ERA on a team with at least 13 fewer victories.
Should he complete the feat, Sabathia will have gone 10-0 in his last 12 starts to get 20 victories. CC will be the man of the night, whether he wants to acknowledge it or not:
Right now, to be honest, 20 wins is the last thing on my mind. I'm just trying to get ready to pitch on Wednesday. It would be great to be able to look back one day and say I won 20 games one year, but it's not a crazy goal.
He's not the type of guy who is going to make a big deal out of it, but I'm sure he's thinking about getting to the big 2-0. If you work the whole season and are within reach of that milestone for the first time in your career and you're going to want it pretty badly. He'll probably be putting a little more pressure on himself than usual, so it will be more interesting than your average playoff tune-up.
Big Poppa's only got one chance to do it. This year anyway.
Lyrically, I'm supposed to represent, I'm not only the client, I'm the player president.
One more chance, Biggie give me one more chance, All I need is one more chance.
[Sidenote: The song choices have been a bit of a struggle lately, since we've ripped through 160 of them now, but this one might have been the easiest of the year. Sometimes they just fall into place.]
Even though both the Yankees and the Rays have increasingly less to play for with each passing regular season game, it wasn't apparent last night. The game had all the trimmings of a postseason match-up, save for the fact that Chad Gaudin was starting.
Like he did in his previous two starts for the Yankees, Gaudin fizzled out at a certain point. Unlike his previous two, he went deep into the game, holding the Rays scoreless up until Evan Longoria came to the plate in the top of the seventh inning. Longoria ripped an 0-2, lined shot over the wall in left field. Gaudin then gave up a single to Ben Zobrist and a walk to Pat Burrell prompting Joe Girardi to go to the bullpen.
He first called on Damaso Marte causing Joe Maddon to pinch hit for lefty-hitting first baseman Chris Richard with Gabe Kapler. Marte retired Kapler on a fly ball to right on only two pitches, but then with switch hitting Gregg Zaun due up, Maddon summoned switch-hitting Dioner Navarro, who spun around to bat left handed. Girardi countered by signaling for the righty Brian Bruney who got Navarro to ground into a force out at third. The managerial meddling didn't stop there as Girardi tapped his left arm for Phil Coke and Maddon deployed the switch-hitter Willy Aybar. Coke walked Aybar but got Akanori Iwamura to ground out to short, ending the inning.
Ironically, it was the most obvious move to the bullpen of the night that backfired on Joe Girardi. Phil Hughes was given the ball to start the 8th inning and was taken deep on his very first pitch to Jason Bartlett, a no-doubt shot to left field. It was Hughes' first blown lead as a relief pitcher. He gave up a single to the next batter but induced a flyball and a double play grounder to get out of the inning.
Even though lefty sidearmer Randy Choate has massive platoon splits, he was left in to face Derek Jeter in the bottom half of the inning. Jeter ripped one to right, but Gabe Kapler was standing right where it was headed. Johnny Damon then dragged a surprise bunt towards first base that got past Choate and looked to be a single until Choate flipped it to first with his glove, beating Damon by a half of a step.
The score remained knotted at 2 when Mariano Rivera took the hill for the top of the 9th. Mo knocked the Rays down 1-2-3, setting the stage for the Yankees 13th walk off win of the year.
Before his massive blast off of David Price in the second inning, Nick Swisher hadn't hit a home run at Yankee Stadium since June 8th. He had hit only three there all season. He had hit only one other walk off jack in his career. But he lifted his second round-tripper of the night just barely over the right field wall, and continued along with the obligatory jog around the bases, helmet toss and pie in the face. Predicatably giddy, Swish had a giant smile on his face right on through the post game interviews on TV.
Maybe it was the spunky newcomer conquering the demons that had sapped his power at home all year. More likely though, it was a statistical correction that Swisher's 25th and 26th homers on the year were lofted into the New York City night. Either way, it was just another game that the Yankees could have easily lost but seemed destined to win.
One hundred thirty nine games into last season, the Yankees were 75-64, 10 games back in the AL East, 7 removed from the Wild Card and it was becoming apparent that their season would conclude with a bunch of meaningless games at the end of September. The Yanks had the best record in the AL East from then on, but still ended up 6 games behind the Red Sox and out of the mix when October rolled around.
They were also in the process of taking a series from the Rays, but it was Tampa who was sitting atop the Division and holding comfortable cushion for a postseason berth. This time around, however, the roles have been reversed, with the Yanks sitting pretty and the Rays down and out.
One of the Rays' September call ups last year will be today's starter. The first overall draft pick in '07 out of Vanderbuilt, David Price, who emerged as a reliever for the stretch run in '08 was transitioned into the rotation after being called up at the end of May this year. Much like Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, Price excelled in his role in the bullpen, and while he has had some exceptional moments, has struggled to become an effective starting pitcher. Price is averaging just 5 1/3 innings over 18 starts and has an ERA of 4.75 (96 ERA+) and WHIP of 1.469. That's average a best, and actually not as good as Joba has been this year in fewer innings.
As you may or may not recall, on September 14th last year, David Price faced the Yankees for the first time and and Derek Jeter welcomed him to the Bronx with a 9 pitch at bat that ended with a solo home run to right-center field. It has been his only hit in 5 plate appearances against Price but he has also worked a walk.
Making his 3rd start of the year for the Yankees is Mr. Chad Gaudin. In his last one against the Blue Jays, he was staked to a 5-0 lead but hit a major snag in the 4th inning. He gave up a walk, a HBP and 3 singles which led to three runs before being pulled in favor of Alfredo Aceves. He threw 80 pitches that day and figures to be able to extend that number towards 100 today since he is functioning on normal rest.
After the line up was disrupted for several days due to the turf in Toronto and the doubleheader yesterday, the Yanks are nearly at full strength, with the exception of Jeter DH'ing while Jerry Hairston plays shortstop (instead of Ramiro Pena for whatever reason). At this point of the season, I guess that doesn't really matter than much.
The games played this September figure to be almost as meaningless as the ones last year, but since 2008 was so empty and unfulfilling, it makes it that much better this time around.
In the days of my youth, I was told what it was to be a man, Now I've reached the age, I've tried to do all those things the best I can. No matter how I try, I find my way to do the same old jam.
The nice thing about a four game series is that if you're a good team, it's very hard to lose the series. With Friday's rainout however, this has become a three game series, and with yesterday's loss the Yankees will need to win the next two to take the series. They've won three straight series and seven of eight dating back to A-Rod's return in Baltimore. It'd be nice to keep that momentum going.
In yesterday's game preview, I made an off the cuff, sarcastic remark about the Rays moving David Price to the eighth inning. Then in the recap, Jay offered up the story from the telecast that there was never any consideration from the Rays to do so. It must be nice for the Rays fans, not having to deal with the tired, foolish argument over and over again. I wish we were so lucky.
Joba Chamberlain takes to the mound today, coming off his best start of 2009: 8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 5 K in a win over Cleveland. His strikeout total might be somewhat lower than what we've grown to expect from Joba, but that was functional. Not going as deep into counts allowed Joba to get 8 innings out of his 106 pitches, compared to past starts this year where 108, 104, and 108 pitches netted him 5.2, 6, and 6 IP respectively. Getting deeper into games is certainly one thing upon which he needs to improve and Monday was a big step in the right direction. Starts like that will go a long way towards silencing those who want him in the bullpen.
He'll be opposed by Matt Garza. The lanky righty is off to great start and on pace for the best season yet of his young career. He faced the Yankees way back on April 14th, and held them to 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 BB over 7 innings, while striking out 9. Unfortunately for Garza the bullpen imploded in relief of him and the Yankees took the game 7-2.
So today's game is all about doing it again: getting to 10 games over again, taking the AL East lead again, getting in position to take the series again, and most importantly, for Joba to turn in a dominating performance again. Way back for Joba's first start of 2009 we went with Steely Dan, and today we'll do it again as well.
It's a beautiful Sunday. Enjoy it; I know I'm going to. I'll be back later tonight with the recap. Take it away Steely Dan....
You go back jack, do it again Wheel turning round and round You go back jack, do it again
Due to the magic of FanGraph's WPA charts, we can see exactly where it started going South for the Yanks. They had a 75% chance of winning the game entering the 5th inning, but unfortunately it would never get any higher than that.
Early in the game for the Yanks, the offense was entirely ignited by A-Rod. After going homerless over his last 43 at-bats, he smashed the first pitch of the second inning from David Price into the home bullpen.
During the broadcast, David Cone said he talked to Joe Maddon about moving Price, who had great success coming out of the bullpen at the end of last season, back there at any point. Maddon responded that there was never any thought, as he was simply too valuable in the rotation. Although he wasn't efficient today, it was still obvious why the Rays were of that opinion. I wonder how many fans in Tampa are clamoring for him to go back to the 'pen.
The Yanks did their best to escalate Price's pitch count and chase him from the game. With the score still 1-0 in the 4th inning, A-Rod worked a one out, 7 pitch walk . With Posada at the plate, A-Rod got a great jump and took off for second. Dioner Navarro's throw sailed into CF (his second throwing error to that point), and allowed Alex to take third easily. With the infield in, Cano hit a sharp grounder to third, which A-Rod again got a good jump on and Willie Aybar was forced to take the out at first. 2-0 Yanks.
The Rays got to Sabathia in the top of the 5th. Ben Zobrist led off with a homer to left. Joe Dillon followed with what should have a been a single, but ended up standing on third after Johnny Damon threw ball away over Cano's head for no apparent reason since Dillion wasn't going for second. Dillion scored on a sac fly by Navarro and the Rays were right back in the contest.
The third run of the day for the Yanks came on yet another throwing error by Navarro (there were a total of six errors in the game). Melky Cabrera doubled to start off the fifth, and was advanced to third by a Francisco Cervelli sac bunt. Navarro attempted a snap throw to third from his knees, but it bounced past Aybar, and Melky scored easily. Sliding back to the bag, though, the back of Carbera's neck met Aybar's shin. On the way to the plate, he held his hand to the area behind his right ear, but remained in the game.
In a matter of three batters in the sixth inning, the game turned dramatically. After a walk by B.J. Upton and a single by Carl Crawford, Willy Aybar deposited one into the left-centerfield seats to put the Rays up 5-3. It was a bit of a shocker, as CC had been in control for much of the outing.
Price took the mound to start the sixth, but was removed with two outs after having already thrown 105 pitches. Despite only 53 going for strikes, he was in line for the win. The Rays held the Yanks down for the next two innings, but that would change in the bottom of the eighth.
Mark Teixeira left off the inning against Grant Balfour and uncorked a blast as close to we have seen to reaching the upper deck in right field which put the Yanks within one. A-Rod was up next, worked a full count but popped out. Then Posada, Cano, and Swisher all reached base on a walk, a single and a walk. This set the stage, once again, for Melky Cabrera, the resident clutchologist. He grounded into was what very nearly an inning ending double play, but edged the throw at first. Replays showed it was basically a dead heat, so Melky was lucky to get the call and the Yankees to tie the game.
All the while CC Sabathia lay in wait. He was bailed out of a B.J. Upton walk by a caught stealing in the 7th and needed only 8 pitches to work through the eighth, leaving him at 101 for the day. Entering the ninth inning, I felt that Girardi should have left Sabathia in (I sent a message to our Joe on GChat, for the record). Instead, he went with "the book" which dictates a manager bring in his closer in a tie game in the ninth inning at home.
Despite allowing 5 runs, Sabathia had pitched reasonably well. He had only allowed 5 hits and smoothly maneuvered through the 7th and 8th. He could have been left in a batter by batter basis with Mo ready to be deployed from the bullpen.
Alas, Girardi did not, and Mo gave up a triple that died at the outfield fence to Ben Zobrist who scored on a single by Joe Dillon in the next at bat. That unlikely duo combined to score four of Tampa's runs after a two out single to B.J. Upton. It was Mo's worst outing of the year (3ER, 2/3IP), nudging out another game against the Rays on May 7th, during which he allowed back to back home runs to Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton, the only other time this year he did not complete at least one inning. Two inherited runners scored on Phil Coke's watch and by the time three outs were recorded, four men had come to the plate. For what it's worth, 6 of the 9 runs Mariano has allowed this year have come in non-save situations.
The Yanks would not go quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Jeter led off with a single which Johnny Damon followed with a double over the head of B.J. Upton in center. Big Teix mashed a double in the right field gap off of Dan Wheeler, which scored two and brought up A-Rod as the tying run with no one out. Alex grounded out without advancing the runner and passed the buck to Posada. Jorge saw 8 pitches (2 strikes that were visibly below his knees) from Wheeler before lacing a liner right at B.J. Upton who was positioned in deep center. Joe Maddon used his sixth pitcher of the game, former Yankee Randy Choate, to get the last out against Cano. Robby alos worked a full count and lined out to Upton, who momentarily look like he misplayed it.
Let's try this again. After getting washed out yesterday, the Yanks and Rays will kick off their series today when the weather will be much nicer. From a strictly selfish standpoint, I was somewhat happy that last night's game was called early. I had tickets for last night, and will be there today as well, so the last thing I wanted to do was drive in the rain and NYC traffic during Friday rush hour, pay $19 to park, then get rained out or have a game last until 1 AM, then drive home and do it again in the morning. I'm not at all complaining about going to games, but that would have been less than ideal. I've sat through a ton of rain delays the last few years it seems. The early cancellation saved me some driving.
Switching gears for a second, today is also the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. The Sport of Kings was once amongst the most popular sports, if not the most popular sport, in America. I'm by no means a horse racing fan or expert, but I love watching the Triple Crown races, the most exciting two minutes in sports. I'm not really even a gambler; I'm just intrigued. I like watching a one ton animal move that fast. I like watching the drunken spectators go nuts. I like laughing at how funny the jockeys talk before they return home to their gorgeous wives. I like the possibility that something horrific may happen. 2007 was Barbaro; 2008 was Eight Belles; we're running out of time for this year.
The Yankees recently had several loose connections to the world of horse racing. Joe Torre, Don Zimmer, and Jim Kaat all dig the ponies. Hank Steinbrenner has been very involved in the family's thoroughbred business. Torre, Zim, and Kaat are all gone from the Bronx now, and Hank thankfully appears to be under some sort of gag order, so today I'll be your Yankee horse racing expert. Pick Mine that Bird. It's a no brainer. As of this writing he's going off at 2 to 1, but it doesn't matter if it's not a high profitability bet. I don't see anyway he loses this race. He put on a show at the Derby, and if the Preakness were two lengths longer he would have overtaken Rachel Alexandra, who isn't even running today.
Given the relatively weak field and Mine that Bird's knack for coming off the pace, I just see no way he loses. At a mile and a half, The Belmont is the most grueling leg of the Triple Crown. Many a good horse has fallen victim on its home stretch. After leading most of the race, Real Quiet lost the Triple Crown to Victory Gallop by a nose at the wire in 1998. In 1973 Secretariat won by an astounding 31 lengths in a record 2:24, one of the dominating performance in racing history if not all of sports. You couldn't even see another horse when he crossed the finish line. I don't think Mine that Bird will equal that, but I don't expect the rest of the field to even be close to him.
The aforementioned 1998 race is the closest I've come to seeing that elusive Triple Crown. We won't see it this year either as Mine that Bird and Rachel Alexandra split the first two legs. But, in an unorthodox, if not unprecedented, fashion, jockey Calvin Borel (a jockey since the tender age of 8) won both races. With Rachel Alexandra out today, Borel is back on Mine that Bird and has the chance to win the Triple Crown as a jockey. I hope he does it, and you should too if only to listen to his ridiculously amusing Cajun accent during his post-victory interview. I'll likely be driving home at post time, but I'm thinking of stopping at the OTB on the NY-CT border to watch the race. As I found out on Derby Day, horse racing does not translate well to radio.
Back to baseball. The Yanks and Rays send two thoroughbreds to the mound today in CC Sabathia and David Price. It seems as if the Yankees have had many of these lefty-lefty match-ups already this year. Price is the consensus top pitching prospect in baseball. Since making his Big League debut against the Yankees last September 14th he's been lights out, posting a 2.35 ERA and 29 K over his first 23 innings. The Rays really should have him pitching the eighth inning.
CC has been cruising of late, so this should be a good pitchers duel. CC hasn't pitched in a week due to Wang rejoining the rotation and yesterday's rainout, which is a bit concerning, but the big fella should be alright.
Meanwhile last year's Cinderella team is turning into a pumpkin, playing .500 ball and in fourth place. Dioner Navarro, B.J. Upton, and Andy Sonnanstine are all struggling. The double play combo of AkiIwamura and Jason Bartlett is on the DL, with Iwamura out for the year. Pat Burrell, Scott Kazmir and Troy Percival are also on the DL and all have been brutal while healthy. And unfortunately Eliot Johnson is in AAA Durham, so there will be no revenge for Frankie Cervelli this weekend.
Once again, I'll be at the game, but for those of you watching on TV, don't be looking for Kim Jones on the pre-game. She'll be on Long Island, getting ready to break from Gate 11 sometime around 6:27.
In honor of today's day at the races here's some vintage Lowell George era Little Feat and "Day at the Dog Races". I highly recommend you listen to some Feat and I strongly suggest you don't listen to anything from after Lowell died. Since this one's an instrumental, there will be no lyrics today. Enjoy.
I've enjoyed hearing every "expert" say that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to repeat as AL East and AL champions. Reason #1: The pitching will only improve because of the addition of young phenom David Price to the rotation.
Well, it turns out that young Mister Price will start his season in Durham along Nuke LaLoosh. The Rays management feels that this will allow them to more effectively limit his innings considering he pitched only 139 1/3 in 2008. I can't say that I disagree with this innings limit, but couldn't the Rays try something like the Yankees are doing with Joba, i.e. skipping his turn ever so often?
Rays vice president of baseball operation Andrew Friedman said Wednesday Price should be called up later in the season.
I expect this to be around June. Any time earlier than that and Price would become a "Super Two" player, meaning that he would become arbitration eligible at the end of his 2nd season in the Bigs rather than his 3rd as is typically the case. Despite the innings reason that the Rays gave, I believe that this "Super Two" prevention is the real reason for the move. The Rays are notorious cheapskates despite the new ownership group's assertion to the contrary. Just ask Delmon Young, whose withholding from Major League service in order to prevent "Super Two" status resulted in his stunted development.
A Note To The Rays: If you want to play with the Big Boys (i.e. the Yanks and Sawx), you are going to have to consistently put your best players on the Diamond.
Any Rays "fans" out there care to comment on the matter?
"Experts": Do you still think the Rays will beat out both the Yanks and the Sawx?
CC Sabathia will have to wait until at least next year to finally get his 20 win season. The big man got shelled in a bad way, allowing 9 runs (5 earned) over 2 2/3 IP, raising his season ERA from 3.21 to 3.37. The fact that 4 of the runs don't count against his ERA is nice, but it's also a little misleading since the Yanks committed a grand total of one error behind him and it came with no one out in the first. And although Mark Teixeira was charged with the gaffe, he recovered in time but Sabathia wasn't covering first base. Unfortunately, the 9 run figure does more justice to the performance that the official 5. It was his worst start of the season.
Like he did in his previous two starts for the Yankees, Gaudin fizzled out at a certain point. Unlike his previous two, he went deep into the game, holding the Rays scoreless up until Evan Longoria came to the plate in the top of the seventh inning. Longoria ripped an 0-2, lined shot over the wall in left field. Gaudin then gave up a single to Ben Zobrist and a walk to Pat Burrell prompting Joe Girardi to go to the bullpen. 
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