Morrow's Sorrow Recalls Stieb's Near No-Nos

Good morning Fackers. Despite merely splitting this weekend's four game wrap around series against the Red Sox, things couldn't have gone much better for the Yankees over the past four days. The split against Boston leaves the Yankees six games up on their archrivals with more than two thirds of the season completed. It's far, far too early to start counting magic numbers, but as the wounded Red Sox continue to limp along, this weekend's series pushed them four games closer to elimination.

Of greater importance to the Yankees right now is the favor that the Blue Jays performed for them over the weekend, sweeping the Rays in a three game series, allowing the Yanks to extend their lead over Tampa Bay by a game and a half. Toronto snuck by with a narrow 2-1 victory on Friday; dropped a 17-11 beatdown on Saturday, featuring eight home runs by the offense and a four for five, eleven total base debut by J.P. Arencibia; then took another pitcher's duel with 1-0 victory on Sunday.

It's of course Sunday's game that is most memorable, as Toronto starter Brendan Morrow came within one out of being the third pitcher to no hit Tampa Bay this season, and the fourth in the last thirteen months. Morrow was masterful, striking out a 2010 MLB high 17 batters, walking just two, allowing just six balls out of the infield, and losing his no-no on an infield single by Evan Longoria with two outs in the top of the night.

The instant Longoria reached first base safely, my thoughts immediately turned to former Toronto ace Dave Stieb, something that wasn't lost on the good folks at Big League Stew as they recapped the game yesterday. The heartbreak suffered by Morrow yesterday and Armando Galarraga earlier this year is something the Jays' mustachioed and criminally underrated 80's ace could relate to all too well. And the Yankees played a role in two of Stieb's near misses.

In 1988, Stieb carried no hitters into the ninth inning in both of his final two starts. In Cleveland on September 24th, Stieb struck out Andy Allanson leading off the ninth, then got Willie Upshaw to ground out. With just one out separating him from a no hitter, Stieb faced Indian's leadoff hitter and future batting champ Julio Franco. Already thirty years old at the time and with nearly twenty years left on his Major League career, the jheri curled second baseman took a ball, then two strikes, then fouled off three straight pitches before working the count even at 2-2. On the eighth pitch of the at bat, Stieb's 123rd on the night, Franco bounced a base hit through the middle. Stieb then retired Dave Clark to the end game, settling on a one hit, two walk, 1-0 victory nearly identical to Morrow's outing Sunday.

Six days later, in the opening game of Toronto's final series on the season, Stieb took the mound at Exhibition Stadium as the Jays hosted Baltimore. Once again, Stieb was outstanding. He was perfect through six and a third, with his lone walk of the day being erased on a subsequent double play. Facing the bottom of the order of a feeble Baltimore team that would finish a Major League worst 54-107, Stieb once again came within one out of a no-no. Both Brady Anderson and Jeff Stone tapped back to Stieb. With just one out to go, O's skipper Frank Robinson sent Jim Traber to pinch hit for rookie third baseman Craig Worthington. To that point, Traber was just one for eight against Stieb in his career. But Traber lined a 2-2 pitch to right field for Baltimore's first hit, and for the second time in as many starts, Stieb had his heart broken just one strike away from finishing a no hitter.

His luck didn't get any better in 1989. He started in Kansas City in the second game of the season, and held the Royals to four hits, two walks, and a lone run over eight frames, but his offense could only manage one run of their own, courtesy of a solo homer by Jesse Barfield, who was just 25 days away from being traded to the Yankees. For the ninth inning, Stieb gave way to Todd Stottlemyre, son of former Yankee ace and future Yankee pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre. After getting two outs, Stottlemyre surrendered a double to future Yankee Danny Tartabull and a single to former Yankee first round pick Pat Tabler, allowing KC to walk off with a 2-1 win. But compared to his two previous starts and his next start, Stieb's hard luck no-decision in Kansas City was nothing.

Five days later, Stieb took to the hill at Yankee Stadium in the opening game of a three game series. Again, Stieb would allow just one hit. This time at least, he got it out of the way early, yielding a fifth inning single to Jamie Quirk.

Stieb wouldn't have any more near misses until four months later, when he faced the Yankees at Skydome on August 4th. This was perhaps Stieb's best start of all. He needed just 82 pitches to retire the first twenty six batters he faced, eleven by strikeout. For the third time in eleven months, Stieb stood a lone out away from a no hitter. If he could retire the young Yankee center fielder Roberto Kelly, he would complete just the eleventh perfect game in baseball's modern era.

Kelly was in the midst of his first full season as the Yankee center fielder. He made a brief cameo in 1987 and entered 1988 as the starting center fielder. But after a slow start, he lost his job to Claudell Washington, and by July he was back in Columbus. 1989 was a different story. With Washington having signed with the Angels in the off-season, center field was Kelly's to lose. This time, he got off to a strong start, and with Dave Winfield out for the year following back surgery and Rickey Henderson's contract demands resulting in a June trade back to Oakland, Kelly was the Yankees best outfielder on that woeful '89 team and the best player outside of Don Mattingly. As he stepped in against Stieb with two outs in the ninth, he was batting .328/.389/.448.

Not quite nine years old at the time, I can recall watching the game with my father. At some point in the ninth inning, referencing Stieb's tough luck over the previous year, Dad predicted the Yanks would find a way to spoil Stieb's night. Kelly got ahead 2-0, then lined a double down the left field line. Steve Sax followed with a single to spoil Stieb's shutout. A groundout from Luis Polonia put an end to the game, but once again Stieb had come so close without sealing the deal.

In a span of 25 starts, Stieb had pitched three one hitters and a two hitter. Three times he had lost a no hitter with just one out to go, one of them a would-be perfect game. In the history of baseball, just four men (Johnny Vander Meer, Allie Reynolds, Virgil Trucks, and Nolan Ryan) have pitched two no hitters in one season. Stieb was four batters away from recording four within eleven months. Over the four starts, Stieb tossed 36 innings, allowed five hits, one run, seven walks, and recorded twenty eight strike outs, four complete games, and three shutouts. Still he failed to get his name into the record books.

Just over a year later, Stieb would finally break through. The 1990 season, much like this year, was marked by an unusually high number of no-nos. As Stieb made his start on September 2nd, there had been six already on the season, not including the Yankees' Andy Hawkins' lost no-hitter against Chicago on July 1st nor future Yankee Melido Perez' rain shortened no-no against the Yankees on July 12th.

Facing the Indians at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the site of his first heartbreaker nearly two years earlier, Stieb recorded the seventh and final no hitter of 1990, and the first in Blue Jay history. He walked four, but struck out nine, getting Jerry Browne to line out to right for that elusive twenty seventh out.

Stieb pitched two more injury plagued seasons for the Jays before signing a free agent deal with the White Sox. He made just four appearances in a Chicago uniform before being released less than two months into the season. He spent four full years out of baseball before resurfacing with Toronto as a 40 year old swingman in 1998. His second to last Major League appearance came on September 20th, against Tampa Bay, the team Morrow nearly no hit Sunday. Stieb came on in relief of a Blue Jay making his Big League debut: Roy Halladay, who of course tossed a perfect game of his own earlier this season.

Hellickson's Debut Causes Flashback

A.J. Burnett's fifth inning meltdown last night, coupled with another win by the Rays has New York and Tampa Bays knotted atop the AL East. The Rays won last night on the strength of an outstanding Major League debut by stud pitching prospect Jeremy Hellickson. Hellickson went seven innings of two run ball, allowing just six baserunners and fanning six.

That the touted rookie played such a critical role in the Rays climbing back into first for the first time since June 19th reminded of something that happened during the Yankees' stretch run in 1996.

The Yankees had entered a tie for first place on April 28th and never looked back. Three months later, their lead over Baltimore swelled to an even dozen games. But from July 29th through September 16th, the Yanks went just 22-24 while the O's went a blistering 31-15. As Baltimore came to the Bronx for a critical three game series starting September 18th, the lead had shrunk to just three games. The Yankees sent their ace, sophomore Andy Pettitte, to the mound that night. He carried a 21-8 record as he opposed Baltimore's Scott Erickson.

Baltimore took a 1-0 in the top of the first on the strength of Brady Anderson leadoff double, a sacrifice bunt from Robbie Alomar, and an RBI groundout from Todd Zeile. The Yankees used the same blue print to tie the score in the fifth, with a double from Jim Leyritz, a bunt from Mariano Duncan, and an RBI groundout from Wade Boggs. Eddie Murray then singled home Bobby Bonilla in the seventh to put Baltimore up 2-1.

Down to their final three outs and trailing by a run, the Yankees faced Oriole closer Randy Myers in the ninth. Paul O'Neill drew a leadoff walk. Hobbled by a torn hamstring that would plague him for the remainder of the year, O'Neill was lifted for pinch runner Ruben Rivera.

A cousin of the Yankees then set-up man Mariano Rivera, it was Ruben who was more likely to be the future Hall of Famer as the two came up through the minor league system. Ruben won back-to-back MVP awards in the NY-Penn and South Atlantic Leagues in '93 and '94, was named the Yankees minor league player of the year by Baseball America for three years running, was the #2 overall prospect entering 1995, and the #3 overall entering 1996. Though Derek Jeter had beat Rivera to the punch in becoming a Big League regular, the two were considered equally promising prospects by the organization.

Rivera moved to second when Cecil Fielder walked, then scored the tying run on Bernie Williams' RBI single. Mariano held the fort in the top of the tenth. Ruben was due up fourth in the bottom of the inning.

Derek Jeter led off the inning with a base hit. Charlie Hayes bunted him to second, and Tim Raines' groundout moved him to third. With two outs and the winning run just 90 feet away, Rivera stepped into the box for just his 82nd Major League plate appearance. He was batting an impressive .270/.400/.460 on the season, but had been to the plate just 19 times in the three plus weeks since his last recall, going just four for sixteen with three walks in that time.

Former Yankee Alan Mills was on the mound for Baltimore and had two bases open. But he needed just one out to extend the game for another inning, and he had top of his potent line up due to bat in the top half of the eleventh. Mills was going to go after the rusty rookie rather than take his chances with whoever would pinch hit for Pat Kelly (who had run for Fielder the inning before).

Rivera fouled off the first two pitches, leaving him in an 0-2 hole. He battled back to even the count at 2-2, and on the fifth pitch of the at bat he lofted a hump back liner over the head of Robbie Alomar, giving the Yankees the win. The Yankee lead was back to four games; Baltimore would get no closer over the season's final eleven days.

One week later the Yankees clinched their first division title in fifteen years when they took the first game of a doubleheader from the Brewers, a 19-2 rout. Rivera played right field that day, and despite the blowout score, took a pair of opportunities to show off his rocket right arm. The next day he awoke with shoulder soreness, which eventually required surgery the following spring. He never played for the Yankees after that, instead serving as the centerpiece of the package the Yankees shipped to San Diego for the rights to Hideki Irabu in April 1997.

Rivera never fulfilled his promise in San Diego, or in any of his three other Major League stops. He had a chance to rejoin the Yankees as a back up outfielder in 2002, but blew that opportunity when he stole a glove from Derek Jeter's locker during Spring Training and sold it to a memorabilia dealer. After a brief return to the Yankees' minor league system in 2005, Rivera has spent the past four years posting impressive numbers in the Mexican League.

Just as Rivera did fourteen years, Hellickson helped his team to a big victory last night. For Hellickson's sake I hope he fulfills his promise better than Rivera did. For the Yankees' sake, I hope Hellickson's heroics last night prove less decisive than Rivera's were on that September night against the O's.

Game 89: Inspiration

When this evening's game gets under way, barring any inclement weather, it will be the first 7:00 ET start the Yankees have had since June 30th - everything since then has either been a day game, a late night west coast start or an off day. It will be the Bombers' first home game since the 4th of July, which was also George Steinbrenner's birthday. The atmosphere will no doubt be enhanced this evening as there are plans to honor the Boss as well as the Voice of God during ceremonies which are scheduled to begin at about 6:45.

As was the case when they left off last Sunday, CC Sabathia will be taking the hill for the Yankees. Getting the first start after the break lines the Big Fella up for the best shot at 20 wins among him Hughes and Pettitte, who both have 11 victories. Given that Sabathia is sitting with 12 and figures to get the most chances from here on out (15 or 16, perhaps), if he pitches well, that milestone should be well within his grasp.

CC will be squaring off against James Shields and the Rays, who are two games behind the Yankees in the standings, meaning that this series could potentially transfer the lead in the division. On the other hand, it might give the Yankees a chance to establish a little breathing room from themselves.

Even though this isn't technically the start of the second half - as it is so often referred to as - it does represent somewhat of a new beginning for the Yanks. They are now officially without the one person who is responsible for making them the team they are and the most recognizable voice associated with the franchise. Let's hope the Yanks can find some inspiration in the recent losses of Sheppard and Steinbrenner and start the rest of the season off on the right foot.

I barely knew the guy, but shit it hit me fairly quick,
We all forget how much life should be admired,
Sometimes we all forget how our music does inspire.

-Lineups-

Yankees: The Yanks have called up Juan Miranda to take Kevin Russo's place on the 25 man roster and he gets the start at DH tonight.

Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Granderson CF
Miranda DH
Gardner LF

Rays:

Upton CF
Crawford LF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Zobrist 2B
Shoppach C
Aybar DH
Kapler RF
Bartlett SS

Wrapping Up The Weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Extraneous Thoughts On The Draft

Some leftover opinions on the draft that I didn't want to bury at the bottom of the Culver post:

• Wow, those five minute intervals were way, way too long. I understand that the whole reason for putting this thing in prime time was to make money off of it and the longer you stretch it out, the more commercials you can sell. But if you pace it too slow, no one is going to be around to watch those ads. I DVR'd this joint and I tried to watch it at regular speed at first, but ended up fast-forwarding between the breaks and ultimately just turning it off until the Yankees were up.
  
  
• Mysteriously, every fucking team took their allotted five minutes, right down to the second. Yes, that probably made the broadcast flow much smoother since the hosts knew right when to kick it back to Bud Selig. However, in other sports, they might need to use that time since they can trade away their pick, and if the team is ready with the selection, they just go sooner and save everyone the time.
  
  
• After the first round was said and done, I somehow despised Bud Selig even more than I did at the beginning. I hated the fact that he had to go through the same protracted spiel before every pick:

  With the seventeenth pick in the Two Thousand and Ten (that's M-M-X in Roman numerals) Major League Baseball First Year Players Draft, the Tampa Bay Rays of Tampa, Florida select Josh Sale, and outfielder from Seattle High School In Seattle, Washington, down the street from the Mobil station on the right, about a block and a half west of the hospital.
  
  The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have the next pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball First Year Players Draft and will have five minutes, which translates to 300 seconds, and are on the clock - metaphorically speaking, not literally on top of a clock - starting now.

  AAAAAAAHHHHHH! We know what draft we are watching and don't care what town the college or high school the kid goes to is in. I hate hearing you speak. Less is more. Shut the fuck up.
  
  
• Judging by his suit, if Selig wasn't announcing the picks last night, he might have been trying to sell you a 2002 Nissan Maxima with 140,000 miles on it. "All highway. You can drive one of these to 250,000, easy!"
  
  
• By the time they got to the supplemental round, the pacing was much better and it was far more interesting, even though the players were ostensibly less heralded. Even the guys at the desk thought it was better and said so on air (oops!). This thing didn't need to be drawn out for three and a half hours and by pick number #35 or so, it was painfully obvious.
  
  
• It was also pretty cool to see the team's representative announce the pick (and mispronounce the name) during the supplemental round. Jeff Bagwell got stuck with "Mike Kvasnicka" and Roberto Alomar had to try to say "Noah Syndergaard" and "Asher Wojciechowski". As someone with a last name that everyone butchers, I found that amusing.

That's all I got. If they don't ditch the contrived intervals and cut this thing down to about an hour and a half next year, I promise I won't turn it on until the Yanks are on the clock.

Game 40 Recap

[Slight change of format for the recap for tonight. Because there is no way I'm doing a full blow-by-blow synopsis of this shitshow, the numbers within the chart represent the score at that point, with the Yankees total listed first.]

The first game of this series may have been the worst loss of the year, but this one wasn't too far behind. It had the triumvirate of suck, as the Yanks 1) fell behind early, 2) squandered a great chance to take the lead in the third inning and 3) captured our attention just long enough to let us down in the ninth.

Let's start with the good stuff.

• David Robertson pitched a fantastic two innings, striking out four without allowing a baserunner.
  
  
• Derek Jeter had three hits and drove in two runs.
  
  
• Juan Miranda had a homer and a triple in his first two at bats, but the triple was on a high fly ball that B.J. Upton lost in the lights would have been easily caught otherwise.
  
  
• I didn't see the first inning because I was doing yardwork. (Does that count?)
  
  
• Seriously, that's it.

And now for the bad:

• Just like last night, the Yankees gave up a run before recording an out. This time it was actually three runs, plunging their WPA to 24.8% before the offense had a chance to take a hack.
  
  
• The Yanks tied this game twice - at 3-3 and 4-4 - only to give the lead back to the Rays in the next half inning.
  
  
• Entering the third inning, the Yanks were trailing 3-2. Randy Winn led of with a base hit and Derek Jeter dropped one down for a bunt single. Brett Gardner followed with a bunt that he probably would have beat out but James Sheilds did the Yanks a favor by throwing it over Carlos Pena's head at first base, allowing Winn to score and the runners to advance to second and third with the heart of the lineup coming up. However, Mark Teixeira bounced one back to the pitcher and A-Rod and Cano both struck out swinging, leaving the runners stranded and the game tied.
  

• The Rays hit four home runs, two by Pena, who was six for his last sixty with two extra base hits heading into this game, and one by Ben Zobrist - his first of the year.
  
  
• Despite the fact that Andy Pettitte had thrown 101 pitches and allowed six runs through 5 innings, Joe Girardi let him come out for the sixth, apparently to match up with lefty Pena. And of course, Pettite promptly gave up Pena's first homer in 78 plate appearances.
  
  
• Chan Ho Park entered this game with a 30.8% HR/FB rate actually increased it in his first inning of work. After allowing two deep fly balls to Zobrist and Evan Longoria that necessitated pretty good defensive plays to stop them, Park grooved a changeup to Pena, who smacked his second longball of the evening.
  
  
• The Yanks showed some life in the 9th inning, but it was only a tease. Derek Jeter knocked in two runs with a double, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Brett Gardner grounded out to end the game. On a night like this, if you knew they weren't going to win, you might just wish they had went down in order and got it over with instead of getting our collective hopes up again, only to crush them for the third straight game.

The Yanks have now lost three in a row (all to divisional rivals) and four of their last five (all at home). They travel crosstown to face the Mets at Citi Field tomorrow night, but not before everyone in the New York media proceeds to jump to conclusions and start writing stories about how these two games prove how much better the Rays are than the Yankees. Can't wait.

Game 41: Mr. Big

Somewhere along the line, tonight's Tampa Bay starter, James Shields, picked up the nickname "Big Game James". Apparently started as a joke during his minor league days, the handle has stuck on Shields, even if no less an authority than JoePos himself questioned if it was really deserved.

Deserved or not, it's a pretty cool nickname, and one that Shields is doing his damndest to grow into. He was the top starter on Tampa Bay's 2008 pennant winning team, got the win in the first post-season game in Tampa Bay history, and threw five shutout innings in Game Two of the 2008 World Series, the first, and thus far only World Series game ever won by the Rays.

Shields took a small step back in 2009, seeing increases in his ERA, FIP, as well as jumps in his BABIP, walk and home run rates. Still it's splitting hairs. Despite a sub-.500 record, he was still worth 4.1 WAR, his xFIP was right in line with what he'd done in previous years, and he led Tampa Bay pitchers in innings for the third consecutive season, finishing in the top ten in the AL for third straight year.

He's off to an outstanding start this year, leading the AL in strikeouts and K:BB. There are a handful is statistical anomalies in his overall line: his HR rate has jumped up, but his walk rate is down, his strand rate is up, but he has an insanely high BABIP. All in all, they balance out as his ERA (3.00), FIP (3.45), and xFIP (2.94) all seem to indicate a pitcher who's quietly become amongst the twenty or so best in the game over the past three plus years. He may not have fully earned his "Big Game James" nickname just yet, but if Shields keeps pitching this way the Rays will be playing in plenty of big stage games in which he can prove his mettle.

Shields will be opposed by a pitcher who lacks the Big Game nickname, but certainly has the Big Game reputation. Through fifteen Major League seasons, Andy Pettitte has appeared in the post-season twelve times. Though his 3.90 ERA through 40 post-season starts doesn't stand out as overwhelmingly ace-like, he's won twice as many as he's lost (18-9), and his big game reputation extends from his 1-0 Game Five masterpiece against Atlanta in his second season, to winning the clincher in all three rounds of the 2009 post-season. Yes, he's tossed a clunker or two along the way, but when the stakes are highest, you'd be hard-pressed to find another pitcher Yankee fans would rather have on the mound.

Tonight's contest isn't exactly a Big Game, but a typically solid Pettitte performance would go a long way towards calming the nerves of a suddenly on edge fan base. The Yankees suffered bullpen meltdowns in three straight games to start the week, then followed that up with their worst overall performance of the season last night. They're a Jonathan Papelbon implosion away from having lost four straight against three teams who figure to have a good a chance to be playing when the Big Games come along in October.

Compounding matters is the seemingly never-ending string of injuries that adds to the-sky-is-falling sentiment that's starting to crop up. Pettitte himself was part of the leading edge of those injuries, exiting his May 5th start after five innings due to tightness in his elbow. He was skipped next time through the rotation, contributing to some of the pitching staff woes from which the club is just now emerging. He returned to the mound last Saturday, tossing 6.1 shutout innings during the last game in which the Yankee bullpen allowed fewer than four runs. Pettitte's strong performance in that game did much to quell concerns about him having lingering elbow issues. A similar performance tonight will go along way towards talking some fans back from the ledge and reminding folks that all is not lost after a rough patch in May.

So we'll see two Big Game pitchers take to the hill tonight. Much like Thunderdome, only one of them can emerge victorious. Will it be the wily veteran or the up-and-comer? Just remember, if the Yanks can't bury Big Game James tonight, a five game deficit with four and a half months to go isn't the end of the world.

So Mr. Big, you'd better watch out
Don't you come hanging around
Because for you, I will dig
A great big hole in the ground

[Song Notes: "Mr. Big" was initially recorded by Free in 1970, but Gov't Mule immediately made it part of their repertoire upon forming in 1994. And while Free is a fine band, I'm not choosing them over the Mule. YouTube has several excellent Mule versions of this tune, including one featuring Chris Robinson and Marc Ford of the Black Crowes during their joint tour in 1996. That tour took place in the fall, and that performance took place in Atlanta. The same time and place that Andy Pettitte established his big game reputation.

The video above is of better quality than the one featuring Robinson and Ford, but is of the same vintage, coming from Martyrs in Chicago on 6/7/96, one day after Andy Pettitte threw a one run complete game gem against the Blue Jays in the Bronx. It features the late, great Allen Woody on bass - the above video that is, not the complete game.

Lastly, the cheesy pop rock band Mr. Big also covered this tune, and presumably took their name from the song as well. I'll be damned if I ever embed a Mr. Big video here, but I bring this up if only to mention that 17 years later I still can't believe that my buddy Arty got the out-of-his-league Becky to slow dance with him to Mr. Big's "To Be With You" at the junior high Halloween Dance. But I digress.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:
First, the roster moves. Jorge Posada has been placed on the DL. Kevin Russo has been recalled to take his place. Nick Johnson has been shifted to the 60 day DL, opening a spot on the 40 man roster. Chad Moeller's contract was purchased from Scranton, thereby placing him in that open 40 man spot. Mark Melancon was optioned back to Scranton, and Moeller was recalled to take his place. In terms of roles Moeller is clearly replacing Posada, but because Kevin Russo hasn't been down for ten days yet, he can only be recalled in place of a DL'd player. As such, he is technically taking Posada's spot on the roster, with the Melancon/Moeller move happening independently. Meanwhile, Boone Logan lives another day.

Russo is a bit of interesting choice as he isn't a pure outfielder, but he's seen a lot of action there in Scranton recently, with four appearances in center field and one in both corners. As the nagging injuries heal up though, the need for a strict outfielder will diminish and Russo's versatility will be an asset heading into interleague games in NL parks.

The lineup is currently on hold thanks to Nick Swisher. He is expected to play tonight, but Joe Girardi wants to watch him take BP before penciling him in officially. Nick Swisher returns to the lineup. I wouldn't call 6 through 9 formidable, but it's far better than what we've seen for the past three games.

Please note tonight's game is on MY9, not YES

Jeter SS
Gardner CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Miranda DH
Cervelli C
Winn LF

Rays:

Jason Barlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Ben Zobrist 2B
Ecan Lognoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Willy Aybar DH
Dioner Navarro C
Gabe Kapler RF

Game 40 Recap

1. Jason Bartlett launched the second pitch of the game over the left field fence. 1-0 Rays.

2. The Rays loaded the bases in the third with two walks sandwiching a hit by pitch. With one out, Evan Longoria hit a sacrifice fly to right. 2-0 Rays.

3. In the fourth, B.J. Upton and Hank Blalock started the frame with infield singles, then moved up on a double steal. A ground rule double from John Jaso plated them both. Two batters later and two outs later, Carl Crawford doubled Jaso in. After a walk to Ben Zobrist, Longoria singled Crawford home. 6-0 Rays.

4. A leadoff walk to Alex Rodriguez and a single by Robinson Cano set the Yankees up with runners on the corners and no one out in the bottom of the fourth. Francisco Cervelli brought A-Rod home with a sacrifice fly, but Wade Davis shut it down from there. 6-1 Rays.

5. Alex Rodriguez led off the sixth as well. After falling behind 3-0, Wade Davis battled back to a full count. A-Rod then fought off four straight 3-2 offerings before absolutley destroying the tenth pitch of the at bat for a home run that landed in Monument Park. 6-2 Rays.

Robinson Cano followed with a single, but was erased on a double play off the bat of Francisco Cervelli. The Yankees loaded the bases when Marcus Thames singled, a Juan Miranda walked, and Randy Winn reached on an error, but Derek Jeter ended the threat by grounding out to short.

6. The wheels completely came off in the eighth, and as you might expect Boone Logan had something to do with it. It was comically bad. Logan walked Jaso, then surrendered a double to pinch hitter Sean Rodriguez, scoring Jaso. Logan gave way to Mark Melancon who offered little relief. Rodriguez scored on a single from Barlett, who then took second on a somewhat errant throw from emergency right fielder Ramiro Pena. Bartlett moved to third on Crawford's flyout, then scored on Zobrist's basehit. Evan Longoria followed with a single of his own. Brett Gardner made a circus catch on the warning track to retire Carlos Pena, but it allowed Zobrist to tag and score from second base. B.J. Upton followed with a double, but it mercifully bounced into the stands for a ground rule double, keeping Longoria from scoring. 10-2 Rays.

7. Too little, too late for the Yankees in the ninth. After making two quick outs, Brett Gardner doubled, Mark Teixeira walked, and A-Rod reached on an infield single. Robinson Cano laced his fourth hit of the night to score Gardner, and a walked to Francisco Cervelli forced in Tex. Ramiro Pena followed with a sinking liner to center field, that B.J. Upton misplayed, allowing Pena to take second and two runs to score. A Juan Miranda strikeout ended the game. Final score 10-6 Rays.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• Hands down, this was the ugliest game of the year. Bad, just bad in all facets of the game. It happens. It doesn't mean it's time to hit the panic button. But man, it was tough to watch.


• Worse than the game is the post-game news that Jorge Posada has a hairline fracture in his foot and will miss three to four weeks. More on this tomorrow. The Yankees will need to add a catcher, most likely Chad Moeller, to the 40 man roster and recall him. The 40 man is currently full, so a spot will have to be cleared.


• Adding injury to insult (and all the other injuries), Marcus Thames worked a seeing eye single in the sixth, then sprained his ankle when he stepped on his own bat while running to first. He's day-to-day.


• Want to hear me beat a dead horse? Because the Yankees are carrying thirteen pitchers and because Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher are injured enough not to play but not badly enough to be DL'd, they had a one man bench last night. The Thames injury forced Ramiro Pena, he with seven minor league appearances in CF and one Major League inning in RF, to take over in right.


• The Rays ran at will. They stole six bases and advanced on flyouts four different times.


• As frustrating as this game was, not to mention the game before, and the bullpen meltdowns on Sunday and Monday, let's keep a little perspective. The bullpen is a little banged up. Four of the Opening Day starters are on the DL or on the bench with injuries. Of the remaining five starters, three of them are slumps of various severity. Every season has it's rough patches. Nothing that's happened this week has derailed the year.


• Wade Davis went five and two thirds for the Rays, marking just the eighth time this year a Tampa Bay starter didn't complete six.


• After leading the AL in walks last year, A.J. Burnett entered his start against the Twins last Friday with a walk rate that was nearly a career best. He walked four that night, four more tonight, and now sits at 3.4 BB/9, closer to his career average of 3.8.

The two clubs meet again tomorrow night, closing out the brief two game set before interleague play starts up. It'll be Andy Pettitte against James Shields.

Game 40: Da Two

After splitting a rollercoaster two game series with the Red Sox, the Yankees welcome in the division-leading Rays for another couple of games in the Bronx.

Starting for Tampa Bay is Wade Davis. The right-handed Florida native has already faced the Yankees once this year, starting against CC Sabathia during the game the Big Fella took a no-hitter into the 8th inning. The Yankees got seven hits and worked four walks against Davis, the biggest blow coming on a two run homer by Robinson Cano.

Since then, the twenty four year old has been pretty effective, allowing only 11 runs in 34 innings (2.91 ERA). However, he's walked 17 while striking out only 24 during that span, leading to an FIP and xFIP of almost 5.00. Davis is averaging fewer than six innings per start and given that the Yankees are seeing the fifth most pitches per plate appearance in the Majors, if they are patient enough or potent enough tonight, they should be able to get him out of the game relatively early.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the Rays relievers have allowed the second fewest runs of any team in the MLB this season - fewer than one per game. Perhaps some of their effectiveness will rub off on the Yanks bullpen and help them escape the terrible stretch they've been going through.

It's A.J. Burnett's turn to go for the Yankees and if he's right, the bullpen won't need to do very much. After a scintillating start, Burnett has cooled of considerably, thanks mostly to his dreadful start in Boston. He bounced back from that 9 run shellacking with a much more respectable 6 2/3, 2ER effort against the Twins.

Burnett had talked about pitching to contact and throwing his fastball with movement to both sides of the plate during his run of early success, but ever since he dominated the Orioles and supposedly found his curveball, he's been giving out more free passes; he's walked seven batters in his last two starts, where as he only walked 11 in his first six outings.

One of those first six was against the Rays at Tropicana Field and while he struggled early - giving up two runs in the first inning - Burnett held on to throw six scoreless frames after that en route to his first win of the year.

As of now, the Rays have a three game lead over the Yanks and when this quick meeting wraps up tomorrow, the most likely outcome is that the two teams split and the margin is still three games. However, a mini-sweep in one direction or the other could put the Yanks either one or five games back in the standings. While most of the media attention will be devote to the tilts with the Red Sox and Mets throughout the week, these are the two games the Yankees most need to win.

Don't start what you can't finish,
When you bubble with skills that never diminish,
Your best team against mine is a light scrimmage,
So play like popeye and eat spinach.

-Lineups-

Yankees: The same exact lineup as last night, which is not exactly a good thing. Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada are still out, as Swish tried to swing left handed and felt more pain in his biceps and Posada's ailing foot isn't getting any better. Jorge is going for an MRI but no such procedure has been ordered for Swish.

Jeter SS
Gardner CF
Teixeira DH
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Cervelli C
Thames RF
Miranda 1B
Winn LF

Rays:

Jason Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Ben Zobrist RF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Hank Blalock DH
John Jaso C
Reid Brignac 2B

Friday Afternoon Link Party

How convenient, I only sleep with supermodels...

The Steinbrenners aren't the only ones with Yankee affiliations involved with thoroughbred horse racing. Joe Torre owns a horse called Homeboykris (I'm guessing he didn't name it) that has a good chance of running in the Kentucky Derby.

Over at the NYT bats blog, Sean Forman took a look at marathon games that used lots of pitchers (the Mets/Cardinals epic had 19, the second most since 1952).

Tonight, NYY Stadium Insider and Bronx Goblin are putting together a outing at Finnerty's on 2nd Ave between 13th ad 14th for the Yankees game. They've got some excellent specials so if you are in the city tonight and don't have plans, check it out.

Although the series with the A's is over, it's still worth checking out this piece by Jack Curry about Billy Beane and the expectations in Oakland.

Via BBTF, a 12 year old girl from Plant City, Florida threw back to back perfect games in Little League (yes, against the boys). Chelsea Baker primarily relies on her fastball now, but also learned a knuckleball from fellow Plant City resident Joe Niekro before he passed away in 2006. The knuckler could be her ticket to making it to the higher levels of the game, a la Eri Yoshida.

Carson Cistulli previews a host of games scheduled for this weekend at FanGraphs.

In honor of Earth Day yesterday, Steve Slowinski from DRays Bay collected a few ways that you can enjoy baseball more sustainably. My personal suggestion: don't start drinking hard liquor until the third inning.

Remember when the umpires weren't granting hitters time in the Yanks vs. Red Sox series earlier this year? Well they did it to the Rays too and Joe Maddon isn't happy.

Max Marchi ran down platoon splits by pitch type over at the Hardball Times.

The musically-named AAA affiliate of the Brewers - the Nashville Sound - is having Roy Orbison Night tonight. "The first 1.000 fans through the turnstiles will receive free Roy sunglasses and a case of unrequited heartache". (h/t Iracane on GReader)

Another explanation of Bill James disease, this time from the excellent Rogue's Baseball Index.

Late Monday night, Meech from The Fightins put out a call for help, asking if anyone had DVR'd the Phillies game on ESPN. The reason? There was some accidental nudity on the broadcast (obviously NSFW because of the bewbs).

Speaking of the Phils, Roy Halladay is off to an almost identical start to the one that Cliff Lee had for them last year, Bill Baer of Crashburn Alley takes a closer look at Doc.

Dave Allen at FanGraphs looks at how Ben Sheets shifts on the rubber and throws his pitches to right handed and left handed batters from distinctly different spots. There was a Yankee reliever who used this approach in the past couple years but I can't recall who it is now.

Over at the Hardball Times, Pat Andriola did a good job of rounding up some opinions on Bryce Harper's supposed character issues. Dave Cameron, Tom Tango, Rob Neyer and Keith Law all weigh in on Kevin Goldstein's initial take.

This is non-baseball, but the Giants selected pass rushing defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul with the 15th pick of the NFL Draft last night and are apparently not going to be trading Osi Umenyiora. Is Jerry Reese saying this to salvage some trade value for Osi? Is this like the Yankees stocking their farm system with catching prospects or Matt Millen habitually picked wide receivers for the Lions. Obviously somewhere in between, but the Giants now have 5 good defensive ends. It doesn't take a geometer to figure out that's probably a bit excessive.

Hang in there. Only a couple hours left.

Rays Sweep Sawx, Ruin Patriots' Day

[Screengrab via Schiff, courtesy of 30fps]

It wasn't an especially enjoyable Patriots' Day for the Fenway Faithful, as the Sawx were already losing 6-0 by the time high noon rolled around. John Lackey got pounded, allowing 8 runs in 3 1/3 innings, the biggest blow coming in the form of a 3 run homer to B.J. Upton that Bill Hall ran into the wall, ribs first, trying to catch. Jeremy Hermida broke up Jeff Neimann's shutout with a two run shot in the 7th inning, but it was too little, too late.

The Rays won 8-2, extended their winning streak to 7 and their TV crew captured a most exquisite visual representation of Soxenfreude in the process.

Off Day Linkaround

Make of the above picture what you will. Use your imagination. Create a caption if you'd like.

Now, from elsewhere in the intertubes:

How should Curtis Granderson reply to his first roll call when he takes the field tomorrow? Here's your chance to tell him yourself.

Greg at Pending Pinstripes took a numerical look at the Gardner and Thames platoon in left field. One of them came out slightly ahead but you're going to have to click through to find out who.

'Duk over at Big League Stew doesn't care for the Yankees' complaining about Evan Longoria's catwalk single yesterday. He says (somewhat tongue-in-cheek):

But if the Yankees really don't like the rule, then let them pay for the new Rays ballpark that St. Petersburg-area taxpayers don't seem interested in footing.

How about we let them play at lovely George M. Steinbrenner Field instead? Then they might actually sell some games out!

After he pretty much blew the game yesterday, DRays Bay defends the use of Randy Choate, citing his high groundball rates and the opportunity for a double play with Jorge Posada at the plate. Good idea, really bad execution.

Our buddy Ross discussed a few of the changes that have been made to the Stadium over the winter.

Joe Posnanski dove into the pace of play issue, and it turns out that Yanks/Sox battles are even longer than the article in Business Week said, averaging 3:39 last year. The post is packed with interesting numbers and other nuggets.

On Saturday, Ben from River Ave Blues explained how the City was able to save part of Gate 2. Also via Mr. Kabak, here are some pictures of the famous Joe DiMaggio quote on the outside of the Stadium crumbling to the ground. Ouch.

Bonus points to the person who can find the most factual errors in this post.

The Blue Jays (you know, the team we all picked to finish last in the AL East) are leading the division. If you need to be reminded why they doesn't matter, Joe Pawlikowski will set you straight at FanGraphs.

The hilarious DJ Gallo rounds up the best and worst MLB stadium giveaways of 2010. Was anyone at Citi Field on Saturday to snatch up a fabulous free Mets scarf??!?!

David Pinto notes that compared to the first week of the 2009 season, offense this year is slightly lower. The reason? Teams have hit 30 points lower with runners in scoring position.

Excellent news: FanGraphs now has John Dewan's +/- and the Hardball Times Revised Zone Ratings freely available on their site. Although they are all imperfect, the more defensive ratings we have, the closer we will be to accurately determining as player's defensive skill level.

At The Hardball Times, JT Jordan looks at the differences between UZR and +/- and there is considerable disagreement. Mark Teixeira is one of the players who scores high on Dewan's system but low on UZR. FanGraphs looks at the differentials, how else, graphically.

Also at THT, Matt Lentzner interviewed Morgan Ensberg about some of the finer points of hitting in the Big Leagues.

Torii Hunter gave Hideki Matsui a new nickname, which combines his old one dating back to Japan with the roundabout name of his new team.

Drunk Jays Fans put together a guide to attending Opening Day at the Rogers Centre. Even if you're not going to be there today, it's worth reading for A) DJF's usual vulgar levity and B) tips that you can use any day of the year.

That's about it for us today. We'll leave you with a smooth jazz adaptation of Mariano Rivera's entrance song. You won't know whether to be psyched or soothed.

Game 6 Recap

I didn't watch this whole game, but what I missed on TV I was following on the FanGraphs app for my iPhone. As such, I can tell you that the steep face the Price is Right Yodeler is attempting to scale was the turning point of the contest.

Robinson Cano chased James shields from the game with a double in the top of the 6th and Randy Choate came into face Jorge Posada. Choate grooved a 1-1 fastball to and Jorgie smashed it into deep left center for a home run, putting the Yanks up 3-2. Curtis Granderson then singled to center, stole second and advanced to third on a grounder by Nick Swisher before scoring on a wild pitch.

A-Rod added a two run double off the wall in the 7th while Swisher socked a solo homer in the 8th with a 34 ounce bat, three ounces heavier than the one he typically uses.

A.J. Burnett earned the win by lasting 7 innings and giving up two runs. He threw only 49 of his 92 pitches for strikes and got just one strikeout but was aided by two double plays and a pickoff. One of the DPs came on a sliding catch by Granderson which he threw to first to double off Pat Burrell. The Rays didn't help themselves by going 1-7 with runners in scoring position either.

Joba Chamberlain came in for the 8th inning but looked a lot more like the somewhat average pitcher that showed up a week ago at Fenway than the one who struck out both batters he faced on Tuesday. I'm eagerly awaiting retractions from those who proclaimed that Joba had returned to relief pitching dominance based on those two at bats.

Mariano Rivera pitched the 9th inning with a four run lead and gave up a hit and a walk. The off day tomorrow gave Girardi the leeway to use Mo and he took advantage of it.

Game 6: Ready To Go Home

For the second time in as many series, the Yanks look to take two out of three after dropping the first. Unlike the nip-and-tuck set in Boston, however, neither of the past two games were remotely close. Yesterday's win had more than it's share of drama and intensity, but not from the usual part of the scoreboard. I get the feeling that we'll be treated an entertaining contest this afternoon - one that hasn't already been decided by the 5th inning, anyway. But if the Yanks want win 10-0 again and flirt with a no-hitter, that would be fine too.

Like CC Sabathia did last night, A.J. Burnett made a run at a no-no in the beginning of last season in Tampa. After Chien-Ming Wang completed his second implosion of the season and Joe Girardi blew through their bullpen so badly that Nick Swisher had to pitch the night before, Burnett vowed to go deep into the game to save the 'pen. He followed through on that promise. A.J. held the Rays hitless through 6 innings, but unlike CC's game yesterday, the Yanks were only leading by 2. Burnett gave up three straight hits to start the 7th and in the blink of an eye, the Rays tied the game, shifting the emphasis from entering the record books to salvaging the win. Fortunately, the Yanks regained the lead in the top of the 8th, Burnett pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half and Mo nailed down the save.

The catcher that night was Jose Molina, but Burnett's security blanket is long gone. Coming off a marginal start at Fenway on Tuesday night (5IP, 7H, 3ER, 5K) made worse by some shaky receiving, Burnett and Jorge Posada forge ahead with they renewed partnership. Hopefully those two will tighten up as the season moves on.

For the Rays, their rotation turns over for the first time as Opening Day starter James Shields gets the call. The 28 year old right hander threw six innings of three run ball against the Orioles with all the damage coming on three solo home runs.

Shields tweaked his pitching arsenal a fair amount this offseason, decreasing his reliance on his excellent changeup and placing more emphasis on his cutter, both trends which have been developing throughout his career. In his first outing, 22% of his pitchers were cutters, more than three times the proportion he's thrown in the past. It will be interesting to see how long it takes the Yankees to adjust to Shields' new approach.

If Shields' comes through with an inspired performance today, we might be able to chalk it up to the fact that his wife just gave birth to their second daughter on Wednesday. For some odd reason, "Big Game" James won't disclose the little girl's name yet, referring to her only as "Baby Game".

Today's matchup represents the last game of the short road trip the Yankees began their season with; after the last pitch is thrown, it's time to head back to the Bronx. Burnett's near no-hitter last year was the second to last game before the opening of the New Yankee Stadium. Back then it was new and foreign. After five months away from it and a new World Series title to celebrate upon return, now it truly seems like home.

As you travel day by day, down life's long highway,
Are you on the wrong that leads to wrong?
If you'll just travel in his light, and pray both day and night,
Then you'll be ready to go home.

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Jorge is back and Swisher drops down to the 8 slot.

Jeter SS
Johnson DH
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Granderson CF
Swisher RF
Gardner LF

Rays:

Bartlett SS
Crawford LF
Zobrist RF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Upton CF
Burrell DH
Navarro C
Rodriguez 2B

Game 5 Recap

[WPA data via FanGraphs]

1. The Yanks put runners on first and second with one out for Derek Jeter in the 3rd inning but Jeter rapped into a double play. It was the biggest shift in WPA in the game at the time but didn't end up mattering much.

2. With the game still scoreless in the top of the 4th, Mark Teixeira worked a six pitch walk from Wade Davis. After A-Rod popped out to just behind second base and slammed his bat to the ground in disgust, Robinson Cano launched a 1-1 fastball from Davis into the right field seats, 2-0 Yanks. As he did with his first homer in Fenway, Cano dropped his lumber and took a moment to admire his handiwork. I can't blame him, but I'm guessing that's the kind of thing opposing pitchers don't take too kindly to.

3. In the 5th, the Yankees plated another two runs but went with a small ball approach instead. Brett Gardner led off with a single and was moved over to 2nd by a well-placed bunt off the bat of Francisco Cervelli that was almost good enough for a hit. Jeter then flipped a single to center, scoring Gardner. Two batters latter Teixeira finally got his first hit of the season, driving in Jeter to put the Yanks up 4-0.

4. CC Sabathia was perfect through 4 innings but allowed a leadoff walk to Evan Longoria to begin the 5th, lowering his best case scenario to a no-hitter.

5. The tension of the possible no-no began to mount in the 6th inning. Kelly Shoppach hit a sharp line drive to left field which Brett Gardner was in good position to field for the first out. With two down, Jason Bartlett battled through a 7 pitch at bat, fouling off three before being robbed of a base hit by a diving Mark Teixeira.

6. Carl Crawford walked to leadoff the 7th. Next, in a rather odd play, Ben Zobrist bounced one back at Sabathia and the big fella threw a little wide of second. Crawford arrived in time but overslid the bag and a heads up Cano was right there to apply the tag. Technically, he was safe and then made a base running error but the play was ruled a fielder's choice. Either way, the no-hitter was still intact. Upton was at the plate next and ripped a line drive right at third base but A-Rod made a diving stab, popped to his feet and threw a frozen rope to nail Upton at first. Inning over.

7. The Yanks blew the game open in the 8th, which wasn't exactly good for Sabathia. He was at 100 pitches and although any pitcher would enjoy four additional runs of support, it took the Yanks almost 20 minutes to tally them up and the anxiety of wanting to complete a no-hitter probably made it feel like even longer. 8-0, Yanks.

8. To begin the bottom of the 8th, Willy Aybar hit a bouncer up the middle that Sabathia deflected with his pitching hand. It bounced towards Cano who made the play in stride. One away. Next, Pat Burrell lofted a high fly to center. Two down. With Sabathia 109 pitches deep, Kelly Shoppach came to the plate and flailed at a first pitch change up. The crowd urged the big lefty on, but on the next pitch, Shoppach lined one to left field in front of Gardner, breaking up the no-hit bid. Joe Girardi immediately popped out of the dugout to remove Sabathia and CC was greeted with a standing ovation on his way back to the dugout.

9. The Yanks tagged on two more runs in the top of the 9th and David Robertson, who took over for CC in the 8th - got the final three outs. Yanks 10, Rays 0. Fin.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• Clearly, the story of the game was Sabathia's performance. The Yankees haven't had a no-hitter since David Cone's perfect game back in 1999 and every time a pitcher gets close, the game, no matter how out of hand, becomes highly captivating. This was about as much fun to watch as an early season game gets.
  
  
• Sabathia also made a slick play on a ball hit by Carl Crawford in the 4th. On a grounder back up the middle, CC's follow through left his glove hanging in the right place at the right time. He was able to snag it gracefully and throw to first seemingly before Crawford even got out of the box.
  
  
• The Cervelli-Sabathia tandem got off to a great start least year as well, combining for a complete game shutout in Baltimore.
  
  
• Cervelli also contributed offensively as well, knocking in a two-run double during the Yanks' onslaught in the 8th.
  
  
• When the no-hitter was broken up, Old Hoss Radbourn informed the Twitterverse what he would do under similar circumstances.

The series finale is tomorrow at 1:40.

Game 5: Bron Yr Aur

The Yanks won't have to spend too much time thinking about last night's tough loss as they take the field shortly after 3 PM to face the Rays today. The game will be televised on FOX so that means we will be treated to the nonsensical stylings of Tim McCarver and the smarmy proclamations of Joe Buck. On the bright side, we get a day off from Michael Kay.

For the Yanks, CC Sabathia looks to improve upon his 5.2 inning, 5 run outing against the Red Sox facing a Rays lineup that tagged Javier Vazquez for 8 runs last night. Like Vazquez did against the Rays, Sabathia started off strong on Sunday but saw the wheels fall off as the game wore on.

Jorge Posada gets the day off (day game after a night game) meaning that Francisco Cervelli will see his first start of the year. It works out well because Sabathia and Cervelli were an excellent battery last year, holding opponents to a .551 OPS in 10 starts.

Twenty-four year old Florida native Wade Davis (not be confused with the noted Canadian ethnobotanist) gets the start for the Rays. About three quarters of the pitches Davis throws are fastballs, but he can get away with that because the pitch sits in the low-to-mid 90's with considerable sink. He can throw his curveball for strikes and occasionally mixes in some sliders and change ups.

Taken in the third round of the 2004 draft, Davis has avoided injury and steadily worked his way up through the Rays system, pitching a full season in AAA before making his Major League debut late last year. Davis has had consistent success throughout his 5 year minor league career and his time in the Big Leagues last September was no different. He made six starts for the Rays last September, averaged more than six innings per start and tallied up an ERA of 3.72.

The last of those six starts came against the Yankees in the regular season finale. The Bombers plated 5 runs in 5+ innings against Davis that day at the Trop, chasing him from the game during the huge inning that A-Rod hit his 29th and 30th home runs of the season. We went with some Zeppelin for that game and we're going back to the well today.

This tune is a beautiful acoustic arrangement - played in the rather obscure open C tuning - off of the album Physical Graffiti. It doesn't have lyrics but the title roughly translates to "golden hill" which makes me think of the pitcher's mound and the YouTube video below depicts a lovely April day similar to the one we are having here in the northeast.

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Cervelli's presence pushes the hot Nick Swisher up to the #6 slot and keeps Brett Gardner out of the #9 hole for his first start of the season.

Jeter SS
Johnson DH
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Granderson CF
Gardner LF
Cervelli C

Rays:

Bartlett SS
Crawford LF
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Upton CF
Aybar 1B
Burrell DH
Shoppach C
Kapler RF

Game 4 Recap

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.

Game 4: Redemption Song

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:




Lineups

Yankees:

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

Rays:

Bartlett SS
Crawford LF
Zobrist RF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Upton CF
Aybar DH
Navarro C
Rodriguez 2B