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Pappa Don't Preach
2008-06-17 21:57
by Cliff Corcoran

Rumor has it the Padres were actually on the field at Yankee Stadium last night, but there was little evidence of their presence. Andy Pettitte turned in his second straight dominant outing, tying his season high in strikeouts with nine, and the Bombers stomped on Randy Wolf, cruising to an uncontested 8-0 victory.

Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi got things going with solo homers in the second inning. Giambi then added a two-run shot in the fourth, setting the tone for a five-run inning that was aided by a wild pitch by Wolf and some sloppy play by Craig Stansberry at second base. The Yanks tacked one on in the eight against reliever Carlos Guevara. Meanwhile Jose Veras, Billy Traber (getting an inning ending groundout from Adrian Gonzalez with men on first and second in his return to the team), and Mariano Rivera, who hadn't pitched since last Thursday and struck out the side in the ninth, nailed down the win.

With the win, the Yankees extended their season-best winning streak to five games. They have scored 29 runs in their last three games and haven't allowed a run since the seventh inning of Saturday's game in Houston. Tonight Darrell Rasner faces Jake Peavy, who is making just his second start since returning from an elbow injury. With the way this team is playing, I can't wait for the first pitch.

Comments
2008-06-17 23:59:20
1.   Bob Timmermann
"C. Guevara" in the boxscore always gives me pause.
2008-06-18 00:17:06
2.   cult of basebaal
hey, if F. Castro was a "might have been", why not Che???
2008-06-18 04:02:58
3.   williamnyy23
Too bad Peavy couldn't have taken an extra 2 weeks to make sure he was fully recovered. Facing guys like him can bring a winning streak to a halt. Hopefully Peavy will be on a low pitch count. He only threw 72 last time out, but that was after 6 innings in a 6-0 game against the Dodgers (which is like 12-0 against most teams).

Either way, Peavy will be a nice test for the Yankees offense, as will Volquez on Friday. If the Yankees can beat those two to go along with their victory over Oswalt, I think you can definitively declare that their offense is back on track.

Of course, the real test tonight is for Rasner. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back off of a poor outing. With Wang down, the Yankees need him to remain solid, so a good outing would do a lot to mollify some of the feelings of panic (at least mine).

2008-06-18 04:38:56
4.   Sonya Hennys Tutu
I said it at the end of last night's thread, so sorry for repeating myself...but I'm choosing to be optimistic about Cano's night last night...
2008-06-18 05:42:32
5.   rbj
5 games over .500 -- I think I'm getting a nosebleed here.
2008-06-18 05:52:13
6.   monkeypants
4 I sure hope so. Then I can turn my angst and frustration to Jeter. I know it has become somewhat popular on cynical Yankee's blogs to wonder if we are seeing his decline phase. But he has really dropped off the table this season, and I believe that such steep declines are unusual in great players. So, I can only conclude (well, hope really) that his scuffling is due in large part to some sort of injury.

Anyway, one problem at a time...

2008-06-18 06:03:56
7.   Chyll Will
6 I'm inclined to believe it's a combination of both decline and injury, with more emphasis on injury. The talkies in the YES booth have been beating the drum about him not recovering well and falling into a slump after being drilled in the hand a few weeks back, and with his history of playing through tough injuries (and keeping most a secret), it's not hard to argue. The only thing is, he is older now and won't easily bounce back from DL stints or playing through like he did a few years ago. That said, it causes a problem for the coaches, who want to do what's in his and the team's best interest, when you have a star player and team leader forcing himself through a bad situation and either perpetuating it or extending the circumstances to the rest of the lineup. I think that's one of quite a few reasons why the press, believe it or not, have been light on Joe G in spite of the circumstances... (oops, gotta work!)
2008-06-18 06:05:16
8.   Chyll Will
7 I meant, "it's hard to argue"... sheesh!
2008-06-18 06:12:52
9.   ChuckM
7 Will Carroll constantly writes about how Chipper Jones does that in Atlanta and it creates a problem-partly because Bobby Cox lets him talk his way onto the field when he shouldn't. Granted, Jones is hitting .400 so far this year so the example isn't that timely, but it's applicable to prior seasons.
2008-06-18 06:15:58
10.   JL25and3
2 There've been plenty of Cuban-born major leaguers, but never one from Argentina. I think once you get south of Colombia and Venezuela, baseball's not that big.
2008-06-18 06:20:00
11.   JL25and3
6 Unusual, perhaps, but hardly unheard of. Roberto Alomar comes immediately to mind.
2008-06-18 06:24:00
12.   mehmattski
10 And only one born in Saudi Arabia- incidentally, it's the goat from last night, Craig Stansberry. He was born in Saudi Arabia while his father was on contract there... he grew up in Texas. From one oil spot to another.

And I repeat... "these Stansberry's taste like Stansberries! "

2008-06-18 07:08:50
13.   Knuckles
Nice Super Troopers ref.
Che couldn't figure out the curveball so he went back to rugby.
2008-06-18 07:15:05
14.   Raf
10 Baseball really isn't that big in Colombia. But guys like Renteria & Orlando Cabrera are working on it.

You're always are going to run up against soccer down there. I am trying to make inroads into Peru & Honduras, but baseball is a tough sell for a number of reasons.

2008-06-18 07:21:44
15.   JL25and3
14 I know it's not big in Colombia but, as you say, at least there have been some major leaguers born there. (Including two of the many Goatherds - Cabreras - who have found a place in MLB.) South of that, nothing.

Good luck in Peru and Honduras!

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