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.

Game 39: Second Song

It's been raining in metro-NYC for the better part of the day. The forecast calls for a 100% chance of rain through 6 PM, then a 60% to 70% chance throughout the game. It's no sure bet that this one gets played, and if it doesn't, it sort of underscores my point from yesterday: there isn't much sense in trying to line up your rotation for a series two weeks in the future if Mother Nature can wreck those plans at a moment's notice.

That said, as of this writing there's no official word on tonight's game and since Jay and I will both be occupied with various recreational athletic activities come game time, we're going to put up our preview as if the game will be played.

If it is played, CC Sabathia will make his third start against the Red Sox this year, the second consecutive one that has potential to be altered by the weather. Pitching in Fenway Park ten days ago, the umpires called for the tarp while the Big Fella was one strike away from qualifying for a win. Instead, the rain delay was long enough to prevent him from returning, leaving him with a four and two thirds innings pitched no-decision. He followed that up with a rough outing in Detroit last Thursday, allowing six runs in as many innings while surrendering nine hits. CC also had a bit of trouble with Boston on Opening Night, but in his five starts between his two outings against the Red Sox he pitched quite well: 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and 26:12 K:BB over 37.1 IP.

Just as Sabathia has a bit of trouble with Boston in his two starts against them this year, tonight's Boston starter has done poorly in two outings against the Yankees in 2010. Josh Beckett was chased after just four and two thirds on Opening Night, after surrendering nine hits, two homers, three walks, and five runs. Things were even worse for him on May 7th: nine hits, one homer, three walks, and nine runs over five innings.

Also mixed in during that start were a pair of hit batsmen, and a couple near misses, as Beckett entirely unraveled in the sixth inning. Several Yankees were not pleased with Beckett's lack of control that night, CC Sabathia chiefly amongst them. In his start the next afternoon, Sabathia plunked Dustin Pedroia, almost assuredly as retaliation.

That will certainly be a storyline tonight, something Peter Abraham touched upon in a chat today and Bronx Banter relayed earlier this afternoon. I'm all for sticking up for your players, but I still contend that the only purpose pitch Beckett threw two weeks ago was when he buzzed Francisco Cervelli in the fourth inning. That said, I think both teams have too much to lose to go getting involved in a bean ball war tonight. Beckett has pitched extremely poorly this year and a sore back forced him to miss his last scheduled start. He has far more important things to be worried about tonight. Meanwhile, the Yankees are fending off injuries on a daily basis. They're also 14-3 in their last seventeen games against Boston and the Red Sox have struggled through the first six weeks of 2010. The last thing the Yankees need to do is engage in a basebrawl, risking further injury or lighting a fire under a scuffling Boston squad. Sabathia responded appropriately in his start a week ago; there's no need to push this agenda any further.

In roster news, the beleaguered Yankee bullpen figures to get some reinforcements tonight. Mark Melancon is rumored to be on his way to New York, and so long as they're confident the game will be played, he'll most likely be added to the roster at the expense of either Boone Logan or Greg Golson. It befuddles me that like Angel Berroa and Brett Tomko last year, Logan has yet another opportunity to dodge a bullet tonight. But with Damaso Marte likely unavailable after throwing 26 pitches last night, Joe Girardi will almost assuredly want the lefty Logan in the pen. And since we're talking beanballs, it's worth mentioning that Melancon was prominently featured in a couple near dustups last year, including a plunking of Dustin Pedroia last August.

In other bullpen news, Sergio Mitre is listed as being available out of the pen tonight. With only one day of rest since his start it's unlikely he'd be able to go for long though. Despite throwing just four pitches last night, I doubt we'd see Javier Vazquez tonight as he remains on track for a Friday start at Citi Field. Chan Ho Park is likely unavailable after throwing 30 pitches last night, but David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain figure to be back in the fold after resting yesterday.

So this will be the second game of a rare two game series and also the second Beckett-Sabathia match-up we've seen this year. Second game. Second match-up. Second Song.

The second song came softly, he heard it seeping through the vent
The notes were long and languished, they described their circumstance
The rent was halfway spent, the day was peeling hot
She asked "can we leave this place?" He answered "probably not"
They had less than they guessed but more than they knew
That second song was the best they could do
And all of the while there were two: one eyed green and one eyed blue

[Song Notes: Assembly of Dust frontman Reid Genauer first came to prominence with the band Strangefolk. Formed in 1991 at the University of Vermont, Strangefolk is definitely a New England band, with their tune "Sweet New England" leaving little doubt about that. Genauer left Strangefolk in 2000, and formed Assembly of Dust two years later while enrolled in graduate school at Cornell. So as the Yankees and Red Sox play tonight we turn to a musician who has formed bands in the territories of both teams. "Second Song" comes off their latest album, which features a different guest musician on each track and is thus smartly titled Some Assembly Required]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
The Yankees run out virtually the same lineup they used last night. Juan Miranda replaces A-Rod as the DH tonight, A-Rod replaces Ramiro Pena at third base. Jorge Posada's sore foot keeps him out the lineup for the second straight day. He's now started just nine of the last nineteen games. Nick Swisher felt no pain hitting left handed off a tee today, but he remains out of the lineup.

Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Francisco Cervelli C
Marcus Thames RF
Juan Miranda DH
Randy Winn LF

Red Sox:

Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Victor Martinez C
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Bill Hall LF
Darnell McDonald CF

Game 34: I Wish It Would Rain

It's getaway day in Motown, as the Yankees and Tigers wrap up their four game series. The Yankees dropped the first two games of the set, but rebounded to take the nightcap of yesterday's day-night doubleheader. They'll look to second that emotion today, as they try to salvage a split and avoid just their second series loss of 2010.

Playing their second matinee in as many days, the Yanks will send their ace to the bump. CC Sabathia had his last start spoiled by rain in Boston, with the umps calling for the tarp while the Big Fella was a mere strike away from qualifying for the win. He may not even get the chance to be robbed thusly this afternoon.

There's heavy rain in the forecast for Detroit this afternoon, and another rainout is real possibility. While makeup games are generally an inconvenience, this time around the Yankees may not mind so much if the skies open up. The two clubs have three mutual off days the rest of the way, including one in September that could be easily managed once rosters have expanded. Not only would a rainout today allow the Yanks to miss Tigers' ace Justin Verlander, but the Mother Nature induced off day would also negate the need for a spot starter on Sunday. Given that, and all the nagging injuries the team is currently nursing, a rainout today might be welcomed.

If they do in fact play, Nick Swisher won't be in the lineup. The right fielder was pulled from last night's game with a sore bicep. Knowing Swish, he probably injured it by asking the ladies if they had "tickets to the gun show" one too many times. With Swisher out, and Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson on the DL, the Yankees' outfield and DH situation is fairly punchless.

To that end, it appears Juan Miranda will finally be activated, two days after being summoned from Scranton. Miranda will provide a more palatable DH option, as Ben Kabak at RAB touched upon this morning. Under normal circumstances defacto longman Ivan Nova might be the one to go, but with the possibility of a lengthy rain delay today and the potential need for a spot start Sunday, Nova will stick around. Greg Golson is still needed with the Swisher injury, so for now, it'll be Kevin Russo heading back to Scranton.

Day in, day out, my tear-stained face, pressed against the window pane
My eyes search the skies, desperately for rain
‘Cause raindrops will hide my teardrops
And no one will ever know.
That I'm cryin’, (crying) cryin’ (crying) when I go outside
To the world outside my tears, I refuse to explain.
I just wish it would rain. (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh let it rain, rain, rain

[Song Notes: We can't let the Yankees only scheduled trip to Detroit this year pass by without selecting a Motown song. With acts like the Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles to choose from, there is no shortage of excellent options. But instead we'll go with perhaps the most famous of all the Motown groups: The Temptations.

Of course, we did use a Stevie Wonder song on Sunday night, and he got his start on Motown, but I don't think of Wonder as a Motown artist. Part of that has to do with much of Wonder's career, including his best work, coming after the label moved to Los Angeles, which essentially ended the classic Motown era. A bigger part of it though, I think has to do with the fact that Wonder played his own intstruments, creating a sound that was distinct from the other Motown arists. The other Motown acts were strictly vocal groups, but were all connected by the same "Motown Sound" courtesy of the label's session musicians: The Funk Brothers.

The Funk Brothers were as integral to Motown's success as owner Berry Gordy, the hit machine songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, or any of the recording artists, but they didn't have nearly the same level of fame. In 2002, Standing in the Shadows of Motown was released, an excellent documentary chronicling the careers of the Funk Brothers. If you like Motown and you're looking to kill time during a rain delay today, I highly recommend checking it out.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
Miranda makes his 2010 debut not as the DH, but as the first baseman, as Mark Teixeira gets a half day off. With Swisher out of the lineup for the moment, Brett Gardner is entrenched in the two spot. Greg Golson takes Swisher's spot in right field, and combines with Gardner and Randy Winn to produce the outfield with the lowest slugging percentage in Yankee history. I might have made that last part up, but it can't be too far from the truth. On the flip side, virtually anything in the air today should be an automatic out.

Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Juan Miranda 1B
Randy Winn LF
Greg Golson RF

Tigers:

Austin Jackson CF
Johnny Damon DH
Magglio Ordonez RF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Brennan Boesch LF
Brandon Inge 3B
Gerald Laird C
Scott Sizemore 2B

Three More Days

And thus concludes another mundane pre-season day Fackers. But take heart: we're getting close. The rain has stopped, the flood waters are receding, and the ark has landed somewhere atop Mount Ararat. It was a beautiful spring day today, and that's what we have in sight for several days more. We're one day closer to baseball.

In fact, we're just three days from Opening Night. Three. More. Days. See you in the morning.

Game 6 Postponed

Check out that radar. It doesn't take a meteorologist to figure out that ain't baseballing weather.

So much for walking between the raindrops, Fackers. No game tonight. Someone better tell Andy Pettitte.

That doesn't sound safe.

I pulled back the preview I wrote but I'll touch it up and re-post it before the game tomorrow, cause I sure as shit am not going to write a whole new one. Woulda been nice to be done with this series already, huh? Brutal.

The Weather Gods May Not Be So Kind This Time Around

The Yankees truly lucked out with the weather during Games 1 & 2 of the ALCS. Despite forecasts indicating a 90% chance of precipitation and generally dismal atmospheric conditions in the New York metropolitan area, both games were finished without delay, much less postponement.

This allowed them the option to start CC Sabathia on short rest in Game 4, which in turn allowed him to be available for a possible Game 7 on regular rest. Since the Angels have four capable starting pitchers while the Yankees truly only have 3, the series playing out according to the schedule was a big advantage for the Yanks.

They will have to get lucky once again in order for the rain not to wreak havoc on their plans. The Bombers can help their cause greatly by winning Game 6, whenever it takes place. Should the game tonight be postponed, it would be annoying - especially for the fans and writers - but it could have some actual unfavorable ramifications on the team should there be a do-or-die Game 7.

Having to play a pivotal Game 7 would be awful because the Yanks would need to start CC Sabathia, thus making him unavailable until Game 2 of the World Series (should they be fortunate enough to win that game). It would be especially bad if tonight's game was pushed back until Sunday (partially because the Giants have the 8:30 PM game on NBC), but mostly because the extra day would allow the Angels to start John Lackey on short rest and Sabathia wouldn't be available until Game 3 of the World Series and wouldn't be able to make two starts unless the Series went 6 games.

The Yanks have two more chances to make it to the World Series, but it would greatly behoove them to take care of business as soon as possible. As ridiculously exciting as it would be to witness a Game 7 for the rest of the baseball viewing public, no one with a vested interest in the Yankees wants to endure the stress of watching them play with the season in the balance. Let's hope they can walk between the rain drops once again.

Game 156: Symbol In My Driveway

The Yankees have the opportunity to record a symbolic victory in a number of different ways this afternoon. First and foremost, they can close out the division with a win over the Red Sox. In so doing, they can also secure homefield advantage throughout the playoffs since the Sox are the only team that still has a mathematical chance to catch them in the standings. The Bombers also have a chance to notch their 100th win of the season, complete a three game sweep and even out the season series which seemed like a pipe dream at best after losing the first eight against Boston.

Andy Pettitte will take the ball for the second time since skipping a start due to shoulder fatigue. Against the Angels, he wasn't dominant but was efficient, meeting the minimum requirements for a quality start (6IP, 3ER) and needing only 91 pitches to get through those six frames. While Andy's last start did alleviate some of the worry surrounding his status for the postseason, another solid outing would certainly further that cause.

As he did last year, Paul Byrd joined the Red Sox in August. However in 2008, he was exchanged in a waiver wire deal with the Indians but this season Byrd hadn't pitched for another team at all before signing with the Sox. At 38 years old, the soft tosser probably didn't have enough gas to make it through an entire season but the Sox brass felt he could help for the stretch run after they cut ties with both Brad Penny and John Smoltz.

In his first start, Byrd was solid, throwing six shutout innings but in his 4 outings since has given up 34 hit and 17ER in 19IP while striking out 8 and walking 8. He last faced the Royals on Tuesday and gave up 5 runs in the first inning but recovered to throw 5 2/3 scoreless after that.

According to PeteAbe, the tarp is off the field and they should be primed for a start close to 1:00. [Update: 1:16] Not so much... the game is being delayed as there are a couple of patches of rain currently over New Jersey but the coast appears to be clear after that. [Update: 1:40] According to various tweets start time is tentatively scheduled for 2:05.

Since Yom Kippur begins at sundown tonight, the three major New York sports teams in action have been bunched into action at 1:00 so as to cater to the large Jewish population in the New York area and avoid conflict with the most solemn of the Hebrew holidays. The Yanks and Sox were originally scheduled to play on Sunday Night but were moved to the early afternoon. The Giants visit Tampa Bay and the Jets play the Titans, which should probably lead to some furious channel changing throughout the overlapping fan bases.

I know I said that I didn't really want the Yankees to sweep in the preview on Friday night, but now that the blood is in the water, superstition and the Law of Averages be damned. No one wants to see the Yanks celebrate against the Royals tomorrow. Let's drive the nail into the coffin, reach the century mark, complete the sweep, even the season series and knock all this symbolism out in one fell swoop.

I've got a symbol in my driveway,
I've got a hundred million dollar friends,
I've got you a brand new weapon,
Let's see how destructive we can be.

Game 142: Who'll Stop The Rain

[Update: The game is scheduled to start at 8:20]

As the Yankees return from a rare day off in the middle of a homestand, they start their final series against the Orioles this season. It's the first team in the division they will complete the requisite 18 games against which is appropriate since they opened the season at Camden Yards.

Despite dropping the first two against the O's, the Yanks have roundly dominated the season series, going 11-1 since. The last time the O's took a game from them was on May 9th, back when the Yankees were 14-16, A-Rod had just made his triumphant return, and Phil Hughes was still in the starting rotation. Since then, the Yanks have been on the good side of 3 three-game sweeps in a row and have won 10 straight dating back to the series before.

Andy Pettitte allowed four runs in six innings against the Blue Jays his last time out but didn't derail his streak of 4 consecutive wins. The Yankees have won in each of Pettitte's last 7 outings dating back to the beginning of August. Since the All-Star break, he has an ERA of 2.88, a record of 5-1 (Yanks are 8-2 when he's pitched), and has held opposing batters to an anemic line of .208/.267/.305. To give some perspective, that .573 OPS is notably lower than Zack Greinke's .612 over that same period.

Taking on Pettitte will be the ninth starting pitcher the O's have thrown at the Yankees this year, Chris Tillman. A part of the package sent from Seattle in return for Erik Bedard (which apparently is the gift that keeps on giving), Tillman is only 21 years old and was called up from AAA at the end of July. He threw 96 2/3 IP for the Norfolk Tides of the Eastern League this year, posting a 2.70 ERA and striking out 99 while walking only 26. Since he's been up in the Majors, Tillman as made 8 starts to a decent 4.66 ERA but has only struck out 17 while issuing 13 free passes in 35 1/3 IP leading to an ugly FIP of 6.23.

Johnny Damon is scheduled to take a breather tonight with Melky Cabrera taking his place in right field and Brett Gardner manning center. However, if someone doesn't stop the rain that's currently blanketing the NYC area, everyone might be getting the night off.

Long as I remember,
The rain been coming down,
Clouds of mystery falling,
Confusion on the ground.

Good men through the ages,
Trying to find a sun,
And I wonder, still I wonder,
Who'll stop the rain.

Game 129: Riders On The Storm

Sergio Mitre has the unenviable task today of wandering around the clubhouse and biding his time while Tropical Depression Danny shifts shapes amorphously out in the Atlantic and tosses rain down on Yankee Stadium. Sergio might be used to the suspense by now though, since he's only appeared in two of the last 15 games for the Yanks. He makes Phil Hughes seem taxed by comparison.

Mitre had his best start of the year (still not all that good) in Seattle on the 15th, but since then has only popped up once, in two innings of relief during the Red Sox game the Yanks won by 9 runs. After working a perfect 8th inning, Mitre allowed 4 runs in the 9th including two homers before recording the final out. Who knows which Mitre we are going to get today, but the recent inactivity doesn't bode very well for his success.

Former Yankee Jose Contreras will take the mound for the White Sox today. El Titan de Bronze got off to a rocky start this year, getting sent down to AAA after an 0-5 start with an 8.19 ERA. He reemerged triumphantly, however after being called up for the first game of a double-header a month later. He pitched 8 innings of scoreless ball and then duplicated the feat in his next start out. Since then, his ERA has hovered around 5, mixing some good performances with some terrible ones. Since he varies his arm angle his control is erratic, sometimes allowing too many walks, and other times compiling lots of strikeouts while walking hardly anyone. This is the essence of Contreras, brilliant at times, but consistently inconsistent.

Jose Molina will be doing the catching again today as Jerry Hairston Jr. spells Melky in centerfield. Other than that, it will be the usual suspects, including Hurricane A-Rod at 3rd.

Last night's game went late, but not for the reason I envisioned in the preview. Today however, with Danny slowly meandering his way up the East Coast, it's clear there are going to be some delays involved with riding out this storm.

Riders on the storm,
Into this house were born,
Into this world were thrown,
Like a dog without a bone,
An actor out on loan,
Riders on the storm.

Since there will likely be some time to kill before game time, here's a Snoop Dogg remix of the song that I didn't know existed until I searched for the original on YouTube today. Truth be told, I think it's pretty damn good.

Game 105: Perfect Day

CC Sabathia remains the Yankees last hope to scoop the last game of this series, leave Chicago with a portion of their dignity intact and guarantee that they will still have a share of the lead in the AL East when play ends today. The Red Sox are just a half of a game back now and begin play in Baltimore at 1:35, so you can expect some scoreboard watching.

The Big CCheese hasn't been especially good as of late, and the offense hasn't been particularly productive behind him all year. Over his past 7 starts, he's been mixing in some solid performances (three games with 7IP and one or fewer runs) with some stinkers (three starts with more than 5 runs allowed). He's allowed more than a hit per inning over that time in addition to 12 walks while striking out 39. The Yanks need their man to step up in order to get their first win against a team with "Sox" in their name this year.

The White Stockings will counter with their own lefty ace. Mark Buerhle has been pitching in some rarefied air as of late, following up his perfect game against the Rays by retiring the first 17 batters he faced in his next start against the Twins. Dating back to his previous start against the Orioles, Buerhle had retired a Major League record 45 batters in a row without allowing a walk, hit, hit by pitch or having an error committed behind him. Pretty remarkable stuff.

Of course, the wheels came off for the lefty and he ended up getting tagged for 5 runs and the loss against the Twins. But such is the delicate balance of being a pitcher. For all of the efforts to reduce it down to mechanics and execution, it remains incredibly difficult to have extended runs of dominance and when they do occur, they can vanish instantly. It's not like golf where the ball is stationary. It's not like basketball where the hoop is. It's not like football where the person you are throwing it to shares a common goal. As evidenced by the at bat I detailed last night, a batter can intervene at any time and spoil the hurler's plan.

As a reminder of how rare elusive perfection can be, before Buerhle, the last perfect game thrown by a Pale Hose pitcher was by Charlie Roberston in 1922. It was followed by a league-wide perfect game drought that lasted over 34 years and ended with Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

It's yet another rainy shitshow on the East Coast, but it could scarcely be nicer out in Chicago. Great day for some baseball. Some might even say it's a...

Just a perfect day,
Problems are left to know,
Weekenders all night long,
It's such fun.

Just a perfect day,
You make me forget myself,
I thought I was someone else,
Someone good.

Worth The Wait

By the time the players and fans had sat out the 2:43 minute rain delay last night, they could have watched a replay of Mark Buherle's perfect game in Chicago and still had 40 minutes to spare. It was almost 10:00PM at gametime, a brisk 66 degrees and windy with a slight drizzle still falling down. The weather system that had caused the delay had moved off the coast, leaving only scattered pockets of light rain behind.

Early on, Vin Mazzaro seemed poised to out-pitch CC Sabathia in front of a huge cheering section in the upper deck that was a mix of #54 Mazzaro jerseys, Oakland hoodies and Yankees logos.

He blazed through the first three innings, holding the Yanks scoreless and striking out six in the process, all the while be staked to a 3-0 lead. The runs came on a sac fly by Jack Cust and a single by Bobby Crosby in the second and a single by his battery mate Kurt Suzuki in the top of the 4th.

However, not all went according to plan for the 22 year old righty from Rutherford. Mark Teixeira ripped a two run homer to right after being green-lighted on a 3-0 pitch in the 4th to get the Yanks off the schneid. A-Rod followed that with a walk, stole second and was rewarded for his timely thievery by being promptly doubled in by Jorge Posada. Eric Hinkse continued his Swisherific start as a Yankee by adding a two out single and putting the Yanks ahead for good.

Two more runs came to the plate against Mazzaro in the 5th inning, bringing his total to six and sending him to the showers. He pitched well in the early going, but once the Yanks woke up from their rain delay slumber, he couldn't hold on. The win last night brought the Bombers' record against rookie starters this year to 18-7, which is the best in the AL and second only to the Braves (10-4) in the Majors, according to the YES broadcast last night. You think we can put that myth to rest for a while?

Sabathia settled down after his rough 2nd and 4th innings and held the A's to three runs though seven. He gave up 9 hits but didn't walk a batter while striking out 4. Phil Hughes came on for the 8th inning and sat the A's down 1-2-3. To be honest, I thought Joe Girardi would probably bring on Rivera in the 9th to close it out but to my surprise (and delight) he gave the new found bullpen stud a shot at his first major league save. Hughes sat them down in order in the 9th and seized the opportunity.

The Yanks are making it look easy right now. This was their largest margin of victory since the All-Star Break, a whopping three runs, and they did it in comeback fashion. In those 7 games, the pitching staff has given up only 17 runs (2.4/game) while the offense has scored 29 (4.1 per). They haven't blown their opponents out of the water, but they've found ways to win close games, which might be even more satisfying. This victory, coupled with an off night for the Sox stretches their lead in the AL East to 2.5 games.

What A Weekend

Good morning Fackers. Well, we have another weekend in the books, and I don't know about you, but we sure enjoyed ourselves. Jay was participating in another golf tournament. I had a helluva a cookout at my place Saturday, starting just after I watched the Yanks take game two of the series from the Tigers. I now have enough empties on my porch to get more than $10 in bottle deposit refunds. You could say it was a pretty fun Saturday.

Sandwiched around the cook/drinkout, I attended both the Friday and Sunday games. The biblical downpour on Friday night was something else. In the past three years I've sat through more rain delays than I can even remember. It seems as if it rains every other time I go to the Bronx. But none of them compare to Friday. We stayed at our seats in the very last section of the left field terrace until the official rain delay was called. And we got under cover just in time to avoid the worst of it.

I don't know how much footage YES showed of the rain, but it was incredible. The upper deck concourse has down spouts coming down from the roof. They were running like fire hydrants. There was a full pond back around the home plate area of the concourse. Thankfully, that would be the last inclement weather of the weekend, and in some ways, the torrential downpours were preferable to the oppressive humidity that preceded it.


More impressive than the rain was the performance from Phil Hughes. I still have some serious concerns about how he's being deployed. But watching him record all six outs via K on Friday, and 8 of 9 total on the weekend is very impressive.

With the possible exception of Opening Day, Old Timers' Day is my favorite day of the season, so it was very cool to be in attendance with my brother, father, and uncle on Sunday. I love a good pitchers' duel, and Sunday certainly was one of those. I'm not ready to say all is well with Joba based on just one start, but Sunday was a leap in the right direction.

Last week started with the end of an ugly three game sweep at the hands of the Angels. With no baseball for the next four days, there was much talk of the Yanks' troubles against the division leading Angels (2-4) and Red Sox (0-8). But baseball is a funny game. Just as the Yanks found a way to lose all three games in Anaheim, all games that they led at one point, they found a way to win all three games against Detroit this weekend, all games that they trailed at some point. The sweep ran the Yankees record against the division leading Tigers to 5-1. It's almost as if the baseball gods put things back to equilibrium as soon as possible. I'm sure Detroit is happy they won't be seeing Joba, Hughes, or Mo again this regular season.

In all, a great weekend. An exciting three game sweep of the division leading Tigers, featuring two classic pitchers' duels. That coupled with two Sox losses pulled the Yanks back to within a game of first. The tenth anniversary of David Cone's perfect game, the annual Old Timers' Day celebration, great weather, etc. It all adds up to make this Monday morning look a little less daunting than most.

Back with more later.

Off Night: Call It Stormy Monday

As we discussed last week, these off nights are a real pain in the balls. It's a Monday, what the hell else am I doing if I'm not watching the Yankees game? Unfortunately, this is the second of three consecutive Mondays during which there'll be no Yankee baseball. So what are our options?

There are four MLB games scheduled for tonight. The Mets and Cards will be on SNY at 7:10, so you can do some advance scouting before this weekend's Subway Series. For those outside the metro-NYC area, that game will also be broadcast on ESPN2. The mothership will have LSU vs. Texas in the College World Series, which I believe is now in its 43rd round.

The Cubs visit the Braves tonight in a make-up of a rainout from earlier this month. My cable system carries WGN and TBS, but unfortunately CSN has the Cubs' telecast and TBS doesn't carry the Braves any longer, so there'll be no advance scouting of the Braves for me. Of course if you sprung for MLB.tv or the Extra Innings package, you can watch this. They'll probably replay the final round of the U.S. Open somewhere too since virtually no one could watch it today.

There's a probably a bunch of shit on premium channels I don't get: Weeds, a re-run of Friday's Bill Maher, Carmela Soprano's new show, but I'm not watching any of that. Unfortunately Joe Buck Live doesn't return for another few weeks, so there will be no televised train wrecks tonight.

For those of you who want to venture out into the world, don't forget Bernie Williams plays two shows at The Iridium tonight. Alternatively, you could head to Home Depot and start buying enough lumber to construct a large wooden ark. Then tomorrow you can start rounding up the animals two by two.

A few quick news items:

• A.J. Burnett had his suspension reduced from six games to five and began serving yesterday. Thanks to the off day today Burnett won't miss a single start. That's the type of hard line discipline I like to see out of MLB.



• Don Fehr is stepping down as the head of the MLBPA. Good riddance. Take Orza with you and see if you both can convince Bud to retire too. I hope some sort of unrest amongst the players regarding Fehr's blind-eye PED policies was behind this.



• In music news, while the Yankees invade Atlanta, about 75 miles east in Athens the famed Georgia Theater burned to the ground Friday. No word as to whether General William Tecumseh Sherman was involved. The Georgia Theater had hosted many a good band in its time, and served as a launcing pad for Athens bands Widespread Panic and the Drive-By Truckers. Two of my favorite live albums were recorded there: Panic's Live in the Classic City and the Derek Trucks Band's Live at Georgia Theater.

That's all I got. It's still raining here in CT, and the radar says it's on and off in NYC as well. Summer's gotta get here eventually. Stormy Monday is one the most-covered blues tunes in history. YouTube has great versions by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers Band, Bobby Blue Bland, and B.B. King. But we'll go with the original. Take it away Mr. T-Bone Walker...

Yet Another Reason Why Interleague Play Sucks

Tonight the Yankees kick off a nine game swing through National League parks, meaning their pitchers will have to bat. And run. Which, as we learned last year, could be a disastrous proposition.

Regardless of where you stand on whether the DH belongs in the game, it presents one of the biggest problems with interleague play. It isn't particularly fair to have NL clubs, whose rosters aren't constructed with a DH in mind, enter an AL park and play with a DH. And it certainly isn't fair to have an AL team enter an NL park and have their pitchers bat, when many of them haven't done so regularly since high school.

Yesterday, Mother Nature helped teach us another lesson as to why interleague play sucks. Sure, a rainout during the Subway Series leads to the novelty split stadium doubleheader. But in any other case, as detailed earlier, a rainout wreaks havoc. Because of the gimmickry of interleague play, teams only see each other once. So an interleague rainout can create serious problems and is thus avoided at all costs. That's why MLB forces fans to sit through five hour rain delays on days like yesterday. At least the Yankees had the good sense to reward yesterday's ticket holders with freebie tickets. All else being equal, there was no way the Yankees should have played yesterday. Of course, you could make the argument that given their performance, the Yankees really didn't play yesterday.

This was a lesson I learned the hard way three years ago. After forking over a small fortune to take my father and brothers to Old Timers' Day against the Marlins, we spent hours sitting in the rain. The tarp stayed on the field as the Old Timers were introduced. There was no Old Timers' game, which surely prevented a few broken hips.

After a delay, the game finally started. After an inning plus of baseball, the tarp was called for again. An interminable delay ensued before the game was finally called. Because it was an interleague series, the game was rescheduled as the back end of a day-night doubleheader the following day.

I was one of 6,809 who showed up for the make-up game. Our seats were in the tier boxes along the rightfield line. With the Stadium being virtually empty, after the top of the first we chose to move directly behind the plate for a better view. As the second batter in the bottom of the first, Derek Jeter lined a foul ball exactly where we had just been sitting. There wasn't a soul within four sections of it, but from our new location we had no chance of getting to it before the other seventy-five people in the upper deck.

A couple innings later, the Yankees closed the upper deck, just as they did yesterday. We moved down to the main level. After choosing our new seats, I noticed that there were some cameras in the seats directly in front of us. While we were seated much closer than we had been, we still weren't close enough to be near any of the TV cameras.

After about a half inning, I realized we were seated behind the cast of YES' Ultimate Road Trip, the since-cancelled reality show that had a group of Yankee fans attend every game of the season. That season, one of the girls on the show was pretty cute, so I was satisfied with our new location.

A few innings later, Stadium staffers showed up to move the Road Trippers down to field boxes. I made some smart-ass remark about how we couldn't get upgraded since we didn't have a TV show. The cute one said something like "Oh, but we never get good seats". Yeah, but you get to go to every game for free; my heart really goes out to you.

That was about as exciting as it got that night. I managed to sneak into a couple shots when the episode aired. In the end, the Yankees and future G.M. tosser Shawn Chacon were shutout 5-0 by rookie pitcher Anibal Sanchez. The team played like they didn't care to be there. Sound familiar?

That Was Kind Of Painful

When Kevin Millwood threw out the first pitch of last night's game, it was already 10:30 EDT and there was still a faint drizzle coating the field. Ken Singleton first estimated that the delay would only last about an hour when the game was scheduled to start and a thunderstorm cell was moving through the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but as I periodically refreshed the radar, it seemed to have stalled out right over the park. It didn't start raining for more than an hour, but when it did, chunks of hail and bolts of lightning caused the Rangers to ask fans to clear the upper decks. The final length of the delay: 2:24.

Derek Jeter busted a single to left-center to start the game, but the Yanks failed to get anything going in the first. The bottom half of the inning was significantly more eventful, and not in a good way for the road team. 

Ian Kinsler, the first Ranger to come to the plate, took a 2-2 pitch out to deep center field. Melky Cabrera tracked it, came close to making a nice catch, but couldn't slow down and face planted into the wall. 

He came away clutching his shoulder as his right arm hung limp. He still managed to throw the ball back towards the infield with his left hand, but Kinsler had already reached third with a stand-up, lead-off triple. It seems as though the Yankees simply can't make it through a series in the state of Texas without suffering an injury. Brett Gardner came in as a replacement, and the latest word on Cabrera is that he had sprained his shoulder and is day to day.

With Kinsler standing on third, Michael Young came to the plate and pulled one to A-Rod, who was standing about 10 feet from thrid base. Alex looked at Kinsler, who stutter-stepped over towards home, and instead of throwing to first, A-Rod made a dash and narrowly tagged out Kinsler at third. 

The aggressive, heads up play gave Joba some breathing room, but it was short lived.

There were two outs and a man of first after Chamberlain retired Michael Young on a force out to second base and it looked like Joba was poised to escape the inning unscathed. But Nelson Cruz laced a double to left, then David Murphy worked a walk. With the bases loaded, Marlon Byrd knocked a base hit and the Rangers grabbed the lead 2-0. 

In the second, Brett Gardner hit a one out single and proceed to steal second and third with Hideki Matsui at the plate. Matsui stuck out, Swish worked a walk and Gardner was stranded after Frankie Cervelli grounded out to second. 

The Rangers plated another run in the bottom of the 4th via a Chris Davis homer, his tenth of the year. True to his nature, Davis also struck out twice last night, bringing his league-leading tally to 66 in only 162 plate appearances. Joba made it through the fourth, but that was where his night would end. He had only thrown 84 pitches, but the combination of having to wait out the rain delay and his obvious ineffectiveness (4H, 4BB) cut his night short.

Mark Teixeira finally put the Yankees on the board with a deep blast in the the right field upper deck in the bottom of the fifth that the announcers somehow estimated at only 391ft. I demand a recount. It was his 14th of the year putting him in second place in the AL. 

Trailing 3-1 entering the 6th inning, Brett Gardner led off with a single and promptly swiped second, Gardner's third and Yankees fifth base nabbed from the battery of Millwood and Saltalamacchia last night. 

Matsui capitalized on this robbery and drove Gardner home with a double. Godzilla scored two batters later on a Cervelli single. 

Appearing for the second night in a row, Alfredo Aceves came on in relief of Chamberlain. He worked a scoreless fifth inning, but coughed up the lead in the sixth. AA allowed a single and a double to begin the 7th and was replaced by Phil Coke, who allowed both inherited runners to score. Coke served up Chris Davis' 11th homer of the year in the 8th before David Robertson pitched a scoreless frame in his first outing since being recalled from Scranton. Final score: Yanks 3, Rangers 7.

Between the rain delay, the injury to Melky and Joba's struggles, this was a particularly excruciating contest to sit through. Play was sloppy and the contest didn't wrap up until 1:39AM, although the outcome felt like it was decided when Coke couldn't clean up for Aceves about a half hour earlier. You win some, you lose some, and some kind of suck. I think we know which two apply to this one. 

A Man Of The People, A Walker Of Walks: Kevin Youkilis

[Ed: Note: Reader(s), I'd like to introduce you to our newest contributor, Matt. Although if you've been around here for a little while, you probably already know him.]

With Jay away this week, he's asked me to contribute to the site to keep some content going. Either that or he's gotten tired of the paragraphs long comments I've been leaving as "mmb1980" and figured I should leave my thoughts as actual posts. So to make my official introduction to all you Fackers out there, I'd like to tell you a story about a brief encounter I had with this little blog's namesake last year.

I've always had a bit of a different outlook on the Yankees-Sox rivalry. I'm by no means a Sox fan, but growing up in Connecticut, I've spent my entire life on the front lines of the Rivalry. Several of my closest friends, and even some of my relatives, are fans of the Sox. I spent the better part of four years living right in the belly of the beast while I attended Boston College. So you might say that compared to your average Yankee fan, I'm a little more tolerant of the members of Red Sox Nation - except for guys named "Sully" or "Murph". They are invariably drunk, ignorant, and looking for a fight.

So with that in mind, a few Sox fan friends of mine planned a trip to Baltimore last May to see the O's host the Sox. They invited me to come along, and since I was already going to be in D.C. that week for a family function, I decided to take them up on their offer. The Saturday game was scheduled for 7 PM - the game where Manny would eventually hit his 500th fertility drug aided career HR - allowing us all to sleep off our hangovers from Friday night before heading out for a late breakfast. As we walked back to the hotel from breakfast, it began to rain a little bit.

We arrived back at the hotel and stood waiting for the elevator when who should we find standing there next to us but Boston's crome-domed, goateed first baseman, his infant child, and his baby-momma. They were standing with a security guard, to whom Mr. Youkilis was explaining that they were intending to go for a walk, but were now unsure if they should go on account of the rain.

Having just been outside and wanting to be a good samaritan, I piped up. "It's not raining too badly. I think it's going to pass." No response. I was summarily ignored, big leagued by a Big Leaguer. So much for trying to be helpful. As the elevator arrived, Youk spoke again to the security guard, saying something along the lines of "I don't think we're going to go".

So there you have it. Kevin Youkilis: walk enthusiast both on and off the field, lacking in social graces, and quite possibly hydrophobic.

Realizing that we were staying at the Sox hotel, my old college roomate and I promptly returned to the lobby bar to do some day time drinking and see who we could see. Several players came and went over the course of the afternoon: Beckett, Wakefield, Delcarmen, Papelbon, Ellsbury, Jerry Remy. We saw that the players really enjoy their Starbucks, frequenting the barista next to our bar. We saw that Varitek, despite getting paid 10 million dollars to hit .220 last year, is a lousy tipper. And we saw that Manny utilized distractions created by his teammates to sneak in and out of a side entrance without being bothered. The throngs of Sox fans applauded and crowded around each and every guy, but I was unimpressed, and spent my time wondering if there was a way I could Nancy Kerrigan one of them without getting caught.

So that was my first meeting with the Sox last year. Later on in the season I had a little run in with Alex Cora and the artist-formerly-known-as Big Papi. If I don't wear out my welcome here, maybe I'll tell you all about that one another time.

A Long, Hard, Wet One (TWSS)

That's not how the stands were supposed to look during the 5th inning of the first Yankees vs. Red Sox game of the season. I hate to say it, but from that angle, it almost looks like Tropicana Field. The weather has been atrocious as the New Stadium so far this year, resulting in two rain outs (against the Angels and the A's), and the lengthy postponement leading up to this game. 

It couldn't have been fun for Phil Hughes, who had to sit around the clubhouse on Sunday, wondering if he was going to pitch, only to have t do it all over again last night. His turn finally came at 9:20 last night, with the wind still whipping the rain around the Stadium. 

Last night, Hughes looked a lot a like the pitcher he was last year, needing 94 pitches to get through 4 innings and allowing 4 walks and 4 runs on May FOURTH! Ahhhhhh. Luckily for the Yanks, Alfredo Aceves had just been called up from Scranton and filled the role of long man out of the bullpen that the Yanks had been so sorely lacking this year. 

Aceves's performance allowed for the Yankees to claw their way back into the game trailing 4-3, after back to back home runs from Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira. These immediately followed Joe Girardi's ejection for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Jerry Meals. Jeter, never the type to argue (never having been ejected from a game in his career) made a comment to the ump after Jon Lester struck him out. Girardi charged out from the dugout, got in Meals' face and was bounced immediately. I guess it worked...

Pictured below is Jason Bay eyeing what would prove to be all the cushion the Red Sox needed. Bay hooked the 1-0 change-up from Aceves down the left field line, and it dinged off the foul poll before deflecting back into play. 

Teixeira homered again, bringing the score to 6-4, but that would be the last run the Yankees plated that night. They threatened in the bottom of the 9th inning, but couldn't convert. Swisher, looking for another signature Yankee Moment (c) ripped one right just of the right field foul pole with men on second and third. He wasn't the only one who thought it had a chance.

The game ended in a "woooosh" at 1:22, when Cano struck out swinging. 

A long, tough night that dropped the Yanks to just one game over .500 and 0-4 against the Sox this season.

Game 25: Have You Ever Seen The Rain?

As of 5:29PM:

I'm sort of rooting for this one to get called off, if it would mean a Red Sox doubleheader tomorrow. Were that the case, I would most likely attend both games and do some intrepid reporting via iPhone. We'll see.

(Keep it coming, Weather Gods, I've got rain songs for weeks...)

Someone told me long ago theres a calm before the storm,
I know, it's been comin for some time.
When its over, so they say, it'll rain a sunny day,
I know, shinin' down like water.

I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain?
I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?