Another Sweep Of The Birds

Despite what the final score indicates, the series finale against the Orioles was a tightly contested game - at least it was for eight innings.

Coming off his superb August, CC Sabathia struggled a bit at the outset of his first September start. He allowed singles to two of the first three batters he faced, then fell behind 1-0 on a sacrifice fly. In the second he gave up three singles to load the bases, but fanned the next two batters to end the frame. It was his last real scare for the night, and the Big Fella continued his recent hot streak with seven innings, seven hits, a lone run, a walk, and nine Ks.

Like the Orioles, the Yankees had no problems putting runners on base, but had difficulty bringing them home. Orioles starter Jason Berken allowed eight hits and two walks in 5.1 innings of work, yet was charged with just a single run as the Yankees left nine runners on base through the first six innings. The Yankees did manage to tie it up on an Eric Hinske solo shot in the third.

In the seventh, the Yankees finally managed a lead. Johnny Damon led off with a single, then Nick Swisher - batting third as Mark Teixeira got a night off - doubled to put two runners in scoring position for Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod, who tallied his 2,500th career hit in the fifth, added number 2,501 and gave the Yankees a lead they wouldn't relinquesh.

Brian Bruney, Phil Coke, and Phil Hughes recorded an out each in the eighth, but the O's cut the lead to one as Bruney gave a up a Nolan Reimold homer. With Mariano Rivera unavailable for the ninth due to a sore groin, the Yankees lead seemed even more tenuous.

The Yankee offense took all the suspense out of the game in the ninth, plating seven runs as they nickel and dimed the O's to death with two walks, seven singles, and zero extra base hits. The first five Yankees to come to the plate in the inning reached base safely, as did four of five Yankees batters between the first and third outs. While the Yankee offense got to pad their stats a bit more, the inning served as an apt representation of both the depth of the current Yankee line up and the general state of affairs in Baltimore for the past 12 seasons.

Despite the eight run lead, Phil Hughes, in need of innings, pitched the ninth to earn his second Major League save. He'll serve as the acting closer until Mo's ready to return. The bullpen will warrant watching this weekend with Mo out and Chad Gaudin, Joba Chamberlain, and Sergio Mitre starting three of the four games in Toronto, followed by a double header on Monday. The bullpen, currently at nine mortals and one dinged-up Mo, will likely have a lot of work ahead of them.


The game closed the season series against Baltimore. After dropping the first two games of the season in Baltimore, the Yankees have gone 12-1 against the O's, takiing the last ten in a row, and the sweeping the last three series between them. They'll meet three times more, in the Bronx next weekend.

Game 133: Hot House

In the first inning of last night's game, A.J. Burnett left a pitch out over the plate that Felix Pie drove the opposite way for his third homer in as many games and 4th in his last 5. Burnett was none too pleased and made the hand gesture shown above in Pie's direction as he was rounding the bases. Burnett later claimed that he said "That's the way to hit a spot" to himself, but to my untrained eye it sure looked like he said something to the effect of "That motherfucker?", in disbelief that he would give up the homer to Pie, of all people. I think the facial expression above sort of speaks for itself.

Baltimore broadcaster Gary Thorne agreed, describing it as referring "to [Pie] in a way that would have upset Pie's entire family, especially on the maternal side". Regardless of what Burnett actually said, some members of the Orioles coaching staff didn't take too kindly to it and informed Pie when he got back in the dugout.

In the top of the 8th, Matt Albers and Nick Swisher exchanged some words, after Swisher struck out on a pitch that was well off the plate inside. According to PeteAbe, Albers suggested that he should have swung at it, and Swish is still pretty ticked off about the incident and not opposed to retaliating.

The Orioles have already been mathematically eliminated from winning the division and with a rookie pitcher like Jason Berken on the mound, it isn't too difficult to envision a scenario where a Yankee batter gets plunked in the early going and things get ugly. Berken hasn't been good this year, tallying a 6.33 ERA in 91 innings since being called up at the end of May, so it's not like he's going to tell the team "no" if he's told to take action.

CC Sabathia, on the other hand, has every reason to stay above the fray. He had notched 5 straight victories in a row before getting a no-decision after a solid 7 innings of two run ball against the White Sox last Friday. His ERA is as low as it has been since the beginning of June and he looks to carry his dominant August over into September with a long outing tonight.

The Yanks don't need any suspensions, or worse, injuries resulting from the fact that the O's have nothing to play for right now and nothing better to do than pick fights. Our boys most certainly do have stuff left to play for. Namely completing a sweep of The Birds on their home turf.

Here's to hoping that cooler heads prevail if things get a little heated this evening.