Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Before the Yankees can bear down and focus on this weekend's five-game showdown in Boston, they need to get the last game of their current series with the Orioles out of the way. Fortunately, it's a day game, which will give them the evening to travel north. Of course, the first game of tomorrow's doubleheader is at 1:05 as well, and the Red Sox not only don't have to travel, but don't have to play today either. But you take what you can get.
Speaking of which, Jaret Wright takes the mound this afternoon. He's been excellent in his three August starts, which include a 6-inning, 1-run outing against these same Orioles. Overall his August line is: 3-0, 1.65 ERA, 16 1/3 IP, 12 H, 3 R, 0 HR, 9 BB, 10 K, 1.29 WHIP. I know I said it before his last start, but I have to repeat it, Wright hasn't allowed a home run since June 16 and has surrendered just four taters in 102 innings on the season.
As was the case when Wright last started against the Orioles, his mound opponent will be Rodrigo Lopez. Lopez gave up five runs in seven innings in that last meeting, suffering the loss despite an excellent 7:1 K/BB ratio. In his one start since then he lasted just 4 2/3 innings against the Red Sox, allowing three runs on seven hits, with a still-solid 5:2 K/BB ratio. An even more encouraging statistic is Lopez's 7.22 road ERA this season.
Here's hoping the Yanks can pull out a win this afternoon to take their fourth series of the season from the O's and head into this weekend's showdown with a 2.5 lead in the East.
Breaking News: The Red Sox just acquired Eric Hinske from the Blue Jays for a PTBNL. I'm unmoved by this transaction. Hinske has some great numbers as a part-time player this year, but he's cooled off of late, hitting .167/.310/.208 while starting the majority of the Blue Jays' games in August. If Hinske was really that useful, Toronto wouldn't have given the former Rookie of the Year to a division rival for chump change. What's more, the Sox made a similar deal obtaining Javy Lopez from another AL East team recently, but Lopez has been riding pine more often than not as Doug Mirabelli gets the starts behind the plate. My only question is if this will force the Sox to drop a pitcher. Right now they have a three-man bench (Cora, Kapler, Lopez) and a eight-man bullpen, which I had assumed was in anticipation of playing five games in four days against the Yankees this weekend.
Johnny Damon CF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Jason Giambi 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Bernie Williams DH
Melky Cabrera LF
Seriously, I would rather see Bernie batting left handed than Wilson or Phillips look lost at the plate again. And moving up the red hot Cano is awesome. I hope Torre is okay that there are two lefties in a row in the middle of the lineup...
On second thought, if Bernie were playing on the Yankees long enough to get to 534 doubles, there wouldn't be much of a Banter left, everyone here would have jammed sporks in their eyes...
Sorry for being extra energetic about posting, but I have a meeting during the game so I have to get my posting in now...
Brian Roberts 2B
Nick Markakis RF
Melvin Mora 3B
Miguel Tejada SS
Jay Gibbons DH
Fernando Tatis 1B
Corey Patterson CF
Brandon Fahey LF
Chris Widger C
6 That's "Millah." Get it right.
Seriously, he will see more action off their bench than Andy Phillips sees off our bench during this weekend. I love Andy, but if we are not going to use him we need someone else in his spot.
Man, I love that stuff too...
Not to make light of a bad situation, but the Yanks do pick up another arm. Of course, they've succeeded in adding a pitcher who looks less like a baseball player than Colter Bean:
http://clippersbaseball.com/team/roster/?id=1678
Apparently Bean, Beam, DeSalvo, White, Karstens, DePaula, and Colome were all in on the Torre's Dog Conspiracy.
Kris Wilson pitched a complete game last night, so he wasn't available. Bean and Beam pitched the other night, though Beam was only a reliever and could presumably go again if needed. I'm kind of surprised they didn't pick him.
Here's my theory. They only want Karstens as a starter, but they won't need him as a starter unless Ponson is forced into action today. So they call up an expendable reliever like Bruney with the idea that if they do use Ponson and have to call on Karstens, they can just send Bruney back Mitch Jones style and not have to worry about not being able to recall him for ten days.
They probably also expect Lidle to be back in time for his Monday start, so there's no need to replace him with another starter. I will be interested to see, however, if they upgrade from Bruney tomorrow if it turns out they don't need Karstens.
For what it's worth, Bruney is a beefy 24-year-old righty who started the season in the Diamondbacks organization. Bruney had 12 saves, but a nasty 7.43 ERA for the D-Backs last year and also pitched 31 1/3 innings out of the Arizona pen in 2004 with a roughly league average ERA. All of his numbers this year are tiny samples, but in 14 1/3 innings with the Clippers he's allowed just ten hits and struck out 22, though he has also walked eight. Over his career he's struck out nearly 10 men per nine innings in both the majors and minors, but has had major control issues.
http://tinyurl.com/jsok8
You can watch the clip there if you like seeing grown men frantically slap at each other...
Hoo boy. That's not a good start...
Now he has five...
Jeter's AVG. down below .340. Damn, his AVG. has dropped .020 in two weeks. I hope Mauer has that Catcher-getting-tired syndrome and cools off.
sorry, cheap shot. my bad.
A mere 34 pitches to get through seven batters.
How the heck are we going to get through this game without wasting the pen for tomorrow??? So predictable, too. I guess there wasn't much Joe could do about it.
Meanwhile, from bobtaco on the previous thread:
http://i8.tinypic.com/24myuz4.jpg
UPPER DECK moonshot.
Bravo, Bravo!
This could be a very weird game.
Gotta be a HR or a triple with an error.
"Yankees Grow Push Brooms, Sweep Red Sox"
Then again, the mustache thing did work pretty darn well for the '72-'74 A's. But do you really think pretty boy Jeter would grow one?
My wife gets too creeped out by the 'stache - says I look like a combination of a used car salesman and my Dad.
"If anyone has seen the strike zone, please report to the Yankee clubhouse."
Here's where Tejada hits a bases-clearing single because he refuses to run out of the box.
Is Ponson warming yet?
http://tinyurl.com/nrp5j
I would love to see the Yanks hang a 10 spot on the board and let Wright throw the last 4 innings with his other arm
I still can't believe Tejada struck out. Oh, there's a ball to Gibbons, that's more like Wright.
DIAF, Gibbons.
If one of the women out there would be so kind - Derek Jeter = hot studly dude. Steve Balboni = fugly sonuvagun. Does Jeter with the stache retain his charms, or does the fact that his face looks like Balboni's ruin the deal?
Retired pitcher Brown in turf battle
The grass apparently is not greener on the other side of the fence for retired Major League Baseball pitcher Kevin Brown, who reportedly pulled out a pistol in a dispute with a neighbor over yard debris.
With Wright throwing the way he is, that's all we can do now is laugh. I hope Ponson pitches because I'd rather see Karstens tomorrow at Fenway than Sir Sidney.
156 I've never actually thought Derek Jeter was all that hot... my heart belongs to Paul O'Neill. However, I'd guess the answer to your question is that in general Derek Jeter can probably get away with whatever facial hair he wants to, being Derek Jeter. If he were just another schlub in Michigan, though, the moustache might well be a dealbreaker.
"Rodrigo Lopez strikes out the side."
It always has to be close when we play the Sox, doesn't it. I don't think we've played a series with them since 2003 where there's been more than 2-3 games between us...
102 currently the only entry.
Is it possible that's Adam Loewen out there, disguised as Lopez? I'm frustrated, but c'mon, this is the Orioles - the Yanks will come back!
Two weeks ago, I knew we were going to win at least 4 of 5 in Fenway. With every day, my confidence faded. And now with us playing below .500 and losing to the Orioles and our bullpen having to go 6 innings today, I have no confidence left. I know we're superior in every way to the Sawx, but same thing with the Orioles, Angels, and White Sox, and we can't beat those fuckers. Damn it.
A-Rod will have the opportunity to hit at least one game-tying grand slam.
Disgraceful isn't the half of it.
BTW, why Villone here instead of Ponson? Is Torre that scared about having Karstens start tomorrow?
I was wondering that. My theory: Joe figures with Ponson and Karsten, he has two chances at one okay start.
Hey, Villone gets the K. Still in this...
Uh, Villone's only in because Joe doesn't want Ponson to start an inning, he'll pitch the rest of the game to save the pen or at least until the Yanks take the lead (silver lining for the pitching staff).
Silver Linings getting greyer.
231 I concur...
Maybe there really are only Three True Outcomes after all.
But now try hoping that's all the runs we need. Oooh, that's hard to hope.
This team needs to start driving in runs, no other way around it...
At least once they get Adam Kryptonite Loewen out of the Stadium.
246 Yeah, Villone and his 2.47 ERA totally suck.
Man, I know you guys like to come here to vent, that it makes you all feel better somehow, but I have the exact opposite reaction. I can't stand the negativity that emerges when the Yanks are trailing in a game. It's as if the current score tells you everything you need to know about this team. Infuriating. I'll check back later.
247 You forgot to note that we lost to said pathetic O's AT HOME.
Limping into Fenway. Hey look, it's a 5 game series between 2 teams who both look like they have golf vacations set for October 3rd. Whoopee.
Maybe Andy Phillips can pitch the last couple of innings? Because he sure hasn't done anything else the last couple of weeks.
I've witnessed far too many comebacks by this team to think this game is over. So its been an awful first 4 innings. So what? Anyone check out the bottom 5 hitters in the Orioles lineup lately? Or their bullpen?
Let's wait until the last out before we talk anymore about the Yanks having mailed this one in.
Still, it's just about the worst possible way to head into this weekend.
Bottom of the 5th we make our move.
Yankees RS MLB Rank
Total 644 4
Inning 1-6 473 2
Inning 7+ 177 14
Very interesting...
I just find it puzzling that we've played so well all year with a beat-up team of kids and castoffs, and now that we've got the best lineup we've had in months...we're struggling. Why? (Other than the Curse of the Bubbino, of course. ;-)
Definitely not saying that they're out of this one though.
Rock on with the rally (So sayeth Abby, not Moses)
(1) BAL pitching has to let us back in (some help in the form of defensive miscues would be nice as well), and
(2) Our pitching has to hold up
(1) I can see, (2)...
Me no likey our chances.
But we're getting to him. It's early yet...
If we win, the comeback would definitely give the team huge momentum.
Losing would also be helpful, serving as a "kick in the butt".
That being said, coming back and losing in extras or something does not apply.
Also, a number of people looked to his August stretch as crucial, given the difficulty of the schedule and the lack of off days. But six games against the Orioles and a seven game homestand was where we figured to gain ground, before having to play five at Fenway, 3 at Anaheim, and play the Tigers and Twins at home heading into Labor Day and beyond.
I'm not panicking, but I'm baffled and not real encouraged by the performance of the team over the last two weeks. I don't think they should DIAF, though. :-)
Must believe! Must believe!
Anything GOOD on TV tonight??
War of the Worlds or Rat Race?
Hey, Myers is alive!
Basically, it means Die In A Fire.
There's also FIAP: Fall In A Pit.
Crude and mean, but we don't literally want that person to die, juse that person happens to piss you off to no end.
For example, DIAF Miguel Tejada.
Yay, 7 runs down! Won't this comeback be a boogie?!
As for the game, just shoot me. That's it, in goes the DVD, NOW.
And A-Rod gets the error.
It will be interesting to see who steps up and who steps back in the Sox series.
And I totally agree on War of the Worlds Cliff, though being that it starts off with Cruise, it can never really dig itself out of that hole to begin with...
Though it's really not his fault. That ball should have been caught.
"Oh, so they just died..."
[NOTE: The thing looks flat-out incredible in HD]
Ready? 1... 2... 3... go!...
what did I miss
After seeing the reply, there were some heat exchanged between Jeter and Arod's eyes after that stunt they pulled.
It went like this with only their eyes talking,
"Did I say I got it, I got it, I got it like three times?"
"Yea, but what I can I do if the ball decided it liked my glove better and than change its mind and bounced out?"
"You are paying for dinner for the whole team while we stay in Boston."
"Well, that's one thing I can easily do."
And they're ugly as sin.
7th inning stretch, 11 run rally, shave, shower, head to Boston. Got it? Break!
Of course, no one even suggested the Yankees using Philip Hughes tomorrow, despite it being 4 days rest for him. I think having him come up and show Boston some of the stuff he'll be showing them over the next few years would've been exciting. He has to be a better chance to win than Ponson is.
Bernie Williams just surpassed Alex Rodriguez on the New York Yankees meanignless late-innings hit list.
Weeeeee!
12-2. How did this happen?
At the end of the day I think the mistake was going for a happy ending (btw - I thought "Collateral" suffered from the same poorly designed ending). How bad-ass would it be for the bad guy(s) to win? That would be some cold sh*t...
Can Torre forfeit?
Was that not right? Was I not supposed to do that?
....5 games in 4 days with a dead pen
....most expensive player in the game taking a year off...
....the ace of the Aruban National Team starting game 2 tomorrow
....lead whittled down to 1.5 from 3 in 36 hours of baseball against a putrid team
So Myers is making up for the pitch count that shoulda happen in the past monthS.
Yeah...that's it...a CONSPIRACY I tell you!!
(I gotta go with something, it just can't be something so simple as our team SUCKING majorly today!!!)
A giant F-bomb on all the umpires!!
And I agree on the tripod thing. Add 15 minutes of them making things "light up like Horoshima" and you got something. They just showed the tripods standing around a lot. The only time we saw them tear ass was in the beginning.
Beam...
How about Fasano heading out and Wilson gets his old catchers mitt out of the closet...
They way Torre chews through relievers they need more fresh meat
The ironic thing will be Myers getting tired and giving up a bomb to Ortiz that lands in Maine after taking a month long paid holiday
The offense better wake up fast as they will need some runs this weekend with the bullpen being shot to pieces heading in....
Silver Lining: Mo is well-rested after this dumbass series.
any good news on Matsui or Sheff ? Matsui is going to get checked out tomorrow ?
Yankees Bullpen tread: Knee high sox.
Speaking of the Clippers...they've been on a tear since the Yanks gave them their players back. And leading the team in slugging is...Bubba Crosby. o_O
434 I heard Bubba only switched to the low pants because of a leg injury that required a brace or something (how's that for lazy reporting) and he was just waiting to get the damn thing off so he could go with the high sox again.
I love that title. I heard they were going to change it to something else but decided to stick with it.
On another note,
Dear Yankees:
Can we please have the real players back starting tomorrow?? Pretty pretty please?
Sincerely,
Fans who are hurting watching all the sloppy games.
Samuel L. helped put the kabosh on that.
If it had been released tonight, after this debacle, chances are good I'd want to go.
Snakes On A Bus
Snakes On A Cruise Ship
Snakes On Yawkey Way
The thing about Snakes is that they didn't screen it for anyone (critics, hosts of shows on which Jackson is promoting the film, no one), so they're banking on that big hype-driven opening weekend and hope that a good showing on the Box Office top-10 will be self-perpetuating. It's total merch, has nothing to do with whether or not the movie is entertaining. It's very meta, really, especially given the influence of the "audience" during production via the internet. Given what I do here, you'd think I'd be more interested in all that, but I'm not.
Bears on a Plane and Alligators on a Plane?
Cliff, I saw your other post in the previous thread regarding Wang. I agree with you that Wang may be tired going on his longest working year. But I think an angry man will do the team some good. And after today, we might just landed ourselves a whole team of angry men, which is awesome!
http://dailygut.com/index.php?i=264
Oh well, guess my brother's going to have deal with the consequences. :-D
2004 ALCS
2002 ALDS
1981 World Series
2005 three-game sweep by the Royals
1995 ALDS
2001 WS
Damn, lead down to 1.5, Snakes on a Plane!
I was at 2001 Game 5, and I can't remember ever seeing a more emotionally-charged ball game in my entire life.
What a stinker. O's 9 hits, 12 runs...crazy.
A-Rod was camped out under the ball, and I can't help wondering if Jeter would have left him to it if was anyone else. Maybe he didn't trust A-Rod with a fly ball.
It has altered the universe in a way that will not be fully comprehended for centuries...
I have lived through 6 WS titles and then next one will be the sweetest as it will help to wash the stench of 04 off...
Also I find myself praying for a team to go down 0-3 and comeback to win it
That's the conversation between the highest paid players in baseball today? Hilarious.
How conveeeenient...
I wonder if Pavano asked Chien how he wiped his ass without winding up on the DL for the season...for a friend of his
I wonder if Pavano asked Chien how he wiped his ass without winding up on the DL for the season...for a friend of his
that is excellent...now they can call up Jesus Colome...because as Pat Robertson will tell you "Jesus Saves" or at least pumps 100 mph gas without any control...
I heard he shared a cab with
Carl "The Afflicted" Pavano and is done for the year....
Maybe after this weekend is over, they'll send down a pitcher and call up a position player.
Ponson? Please? Soon?
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