Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Having had their eight-game winning streak snapped last night by a lop-sided loss to the Red Sox, the Yankees have to be careful not to suffer a let-down against the lowly Orioles tonight. Being back at the Stadium and having Mike Mussina on the mound should help with that. Moose has a 1.41 ERA over his last five starts and has struck out 31 against just three walks and no homers in that stretch. Then again, his one start against his former team this season was one of the worst of his career as he was unable to compensate for a first-inning error by Derek Jeter and wound up allowing seven runs and getting the hook before the O's made their third out.
He takes on Jeremy Guthrie, who has been far and away the O's best starter this year. Guthrie has alternated starts of four or more runs allowed and starts of two or fewer runs allowed since June 7, but hasn't allowed more than five runs in a game since March. If the pattern holds, he'll allow four or more tonight, but we saw how well that worked with Jon Lester last night.
The Orioles lost their last series in the Bronx 2-1, but are 4-2 against the Yankees in Baltimore. The Yanks haven't seen the Orioles since late May, but the team hasn't changed much. They've rotated through a number of replacement-level shortstops, most recently settling on Juan Castro, but the rest of the lineup remains the same. The O's do have a nine-man bullpen right now (along with a three-man bench and a four-man rotation following the recent demotion of Radhames Liz), but they've made no notable additions to their relief corps.
The top of the O's lineup is solid with Brian Roberts now being followed by Adam Jones (a singles-heavy .305/.344/.416 since late May, but already starting to make the Erik Bedard trade look good for Baltimore), Nick Markakis, and a rejuvenated Aubrey Huff (.293/.354/.533 with 20 homers on the season). In fact, the O's have six players in double-digits in home runs (Huff, Luke Scott with 18, Markakis and fifth-place hitter Melvin Mora with 15, Yankee Killer Kevin Millar with 14, and catcher Ramon Hernandez with 11). Of course, Mora and Hernandez have done very little beyond hit home runs, but Scott and Millar add some extra pop and patience in the six and seven holes. Huff's the real threat, though. Always something of a second-half hitter, he's hit .348/.400/.626 since June 1 and something very close to that since the second half began. Expect to see Joe Girardi deploy Damaso Marte against him as Huff loses more than 200 points of OPS when a lefty is on the mound. I just hope Girardi has the good sense to use Marte for more than just that one hitter.
No surprises in the lineup tonight with a righty on the mound and Xavier Nady having settled in as the left-fielder and seventh-place hitter, nor on the transaction wire.
Baltimore Orioles
2008 Record: 49-55 (.471)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 50-54 (.479)
Manager: Dave Trembley
General Manager: Andy MacPhail
Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Oriole Park at Camden Yards (101/102)
Who's Replaced Whom:
Juan Castro replaced Freddie Bynum (minors)25-man Roster:
1B - Kevin Millar (R)
2B - Brian Roberts (S)
SS - Juan Castro (R)
3B - Melvin Mora (R)
C - Ramon Hernandez (R)
RF - Nick Markakis (L)
CF - Adam Jones (R)
LF - Luke Scott (L)
DH - Aubrey Huff (L)
Bench:
R - Jay Payton (OF)
L - Brandon Fahey (UT)
R - Guillermo Quiroz (C)
Rotation:
R - Jeremy Guthrie
R - Daniel Cabrera
L - Garrett Olson
L - Brian Burres
Bullpen:
L - George Sherrill
R - Jim Johnson
L - Jamie Walker
R - Chad Bradford
R - Dennis Sarfate
R - Lance Cormier
R - Fernando Cabrera
R - Randor Bierd
L - Alberto Castillo
15-day DL: S - Alex Cintron (IF), L - Adam Loewen, R - Matt Albers, R - Chris Ray, R - Jim Hoey, R - Greg Aquino
60-day DL: R- Danys Baez, L - Troy PattonTypical Lineup:
S - Brian Roberts (2B)
R - Adam Jones (CF)
L - Nick Markakis (RF)
L - Aubrey Huff (DH)
R - Melvin Mora (3B)
L - Luke Scott (LF)
R - Kevin Millar (1B)
R - Ramon Hernandez (C)
R - Juan Castro (SS)
http://tinyurl.com/5jwwms
Man, I need to go out somewhere today...
3 There were some whispers about him having a crisis of confidence. I think he was rushed by the Indians, then jerked around as a result. It's what we hope isn't happening to Ian Kennedy. I think he just needed a fresh start. Here's my comment from Baseball Prospectus 2006:
"In 2003, the Indians promoted Guthrie to Triple-A just nine starts into his professional career. It was too much too soon. Guthrie struggled mightily at Buffalo and his control vanished altogether in 2004, prompting an even quicker demotion to Double-A. At that point, the Indians thought the problem was mechanical. They bumped him to Buffalo in 2005, where he continued to struggle, giving reason to believe that self-doubt was an issue."
Something tells me he still hit better than Molina during that bp session, and Sexson, and a few of the other options that remain at Girardi's disposal.
4 Interesting. It's always nice to see that kind of thing work out (of course, I don't want to see him get a W tonight). And if the Dunder-Mifflin rotation holds, I'm going to check out IPK tomorrow night.
Yawn.
OK, they are playing the Rays tonight, but still, it's hard to get excited about the Jays. It is fun to watch them lob softballs at super-overrated GM J.P. Ricciardi at some point during each game.
So, I'm stuck with the "local" team every night, which is the Jays, Jays, Jays.
Because the funny thing about that is, of course, they own the Jays. Hmm.
17 I am guessing you are loving EI, Mattpat.
C'mon Nady, time for your first hit!
2nd time coming up for the order. Hope the Coffee and Red Bull has kicked in.
And just like that, its all done.
who are the commentators - kay, o'neill, and flaherty - no?
i miss cone.
FUCK!
Hardly being bitch slapped, no?
Never happen, though.
as many gidps that jeter has this year, girardi should be putting on more hit and runs with him up and a runner on first
2007 9-9 against Baltimore
2008 4-5 against Baltimore (soon to be 4-6)
98 9-3
99 9-4
00 7-5
01 13-5
02 13-6
03 13-6
04 14-5
05 11-7
06 12-7
07 9-9
The team isn't even competitive offensively.
Bobby Abreu just WALKED to a ball hit down the first base line.
Just go home boys. You don't want to be there, don't prolong this/
this game is not very exciting..any more trade rumors out there that may come true?
Oh, and the fact that we used to dominate the Orioles and now they whip us.....that's exactly what's wrong with our team (from a big picture standpoint).
101 i wondered if you recovered from the flava flav shock yet
at the very least i would like the offense to show some life the rest of the game.
maybe moose wants to prolong win 15 until the yanks get rid of snacks.
Meanwhile, the timer on the bomb that is Snacks Ponson is ticking again with a detonation date of Friday at 7:05 pm.
That said, it IS frustrating to lose to Baltimore. And it they probably ned more like 95 wins to make the playoffs, so they need to pick up the pace somewhere. Two out of three against Baltimore would be a start.
103 Bedard trade a real heist for Balmore..
This night would be a LOT better if those scores hold up and we can SOMEHOW carry Raz tomorrow. Which celebrated Cy Young winner goes tomorrow? Cy Cabrera?
And Torii Hunter hits one over the Monster. 6-2 Angels.
This game (losing 11-0) feels a lot like the game where we lost 10-0 last year on the Rizzuto rememberance day.
Cliff, will you please post your lottery number picks tomorrow? You are on a roll with the predictions.
At least the Sox are losing.
Later, all.
impression when I'm facting the Yanks" Cabrera.
So now we're wasting Edwar in a blowout, the day before Raz is likely to give us his usual 4 innings. Where's Latroy when you need him?
Hopefully the Orioles are trash talking and showing their asses and our Boys will get pissed and win tomorrow.
Seriously though, how often does one feel "If only we had someone who sucks more"?
http://tinyurl.com/5lmgdt
"It's about Manny being only about Manny --
not the team that will have paid him $168 million when this season's over, not "teammates" he leaves to answer for him, not winning or any competitive motivation."
"Manny clearly has decided that he has already fulfilled his obligation to the first eight-year contract, and wants the next $100M right now. In the real world, this is a form of blackmail."
1. ESPN Sunday night baseball would start at 6pm in the east and would ALWAYS involve two teams with off days the next day (so the schedule would be laid out in advance.
2. All teams (Yankees included) would have a daytime getaway game
3. East Coast teams would play twice per season on the west coast ONLY (not 3 times like the Yanks are doing).
4. We'd use modern technology to predict things like the weather. We'd force teams to move game times UP in the case of inclement weather. If a team -- like Pittsburgh in my example -- forced another team (let's say the Yankees) to play at night when the rain is coming (and the game could actually be played in the day) and the rain actually came, the Yankees would win in a forfeit and would not have to return to backwaterville.
5. If a team was winning 3-0 in the 3rd inning and got rained out, the game would pick up 3-0 in the 3rd and the stats would count.
6. DH in the NL
7. Fired - Joe Morgan, Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Steve Phillips and Chris Berman would never work another game the rest of his life.
8. Hired for National telecasts - Al Michaels, Tony Kubek (we'd throw so much money at him he'd HAVE to come back), Harry Kalas and Vin Skully (I know he's old, but he's just so great).
9. No more Kate Smith. Record Ronan Tynan and play him every night.
10. YES would be on the cable station in Birmingham.
Feel free to agree, disagree or add.
Jeter's Splits, 2008:
TOTAL: .749 OPS, 100 OPS+
RISP: .788 OPS, 110 OPS+
RISP 2 Out: .875 OPS, 134 OPS+
Late and Close: .843 OPS, 125 OPS+
Tie Game: .781 OPS, 107 OPS+
High Leverage: .888 OPS, 138 OPS+
129
Last 7 days; .917 OPS, 140 OPS+
Lst 14 days: .836 OPS, 122 OPS+
LAst 28 days: 793 OPS, 111 OPS+
174
11. Fox loses its ability to black out any games. In fact, Fuck fox, they lose the contract and we go back to NBC and they have the game of the week again.
But of course, that would be wrong...
1. OK
2. OK
3. Would this not create scheduling problems? In theory OK.
4. What about paid ticket holders, especially those who need to take time off from work or travel some distance to the game?
5. Could be difficult to make sure that the same players are on the roster, same pitchers, etc. Probably fairer to just restart the game from scratch, IMO.
6. No DH in AL
7. OK
8. OK
9. Don't care
10. OK
Did anyone catch Sterling's homerun call for Nady? What did he say?
we were leading Pitts 3-1 and got fucked, so I really don't like starting over.
2. ok
3. agreed, as long as we return to the balanced schedule.
4. don't think it's effectively possible and not fair to the fans (in many cases, though not all)
5. If a team was winning 3-0 in the 3rd inning and got rained out, the game would pick up 3-0 in the 3rd and the stats would count.
6. agree
7. agree
8. don't care
9. no more GBA, at all.
10. yes would be broadcast on basic cable everywhere!
11. instant replay
12. questec used to enforce rulebook strike zone and measure compliance from umpires.
13. trading of draft picks allowed.
14. protected picks (from free agent signings) would be compensated by a pick at the start of the supplemental round.
15. john kruk and eric young forced to fight to death in Thunderdome battle before start of 2009 all star game.
Actually, let's fire the baseball tonight team replace them with Old Yanks Fan, Chyll, Monkeypants and William (as Peter Gammons). I will also be happy to volunteer for fill-in duty.
bring back Stu Scott, we need more "BOO-yah!" in our lives!
16. bring back real, scheduled doubleheaders.
17. all weekend games in post-season are afternoon starts.
18. mark cuban gets to buy the cubs ... or the pirates.
one of these kids is not the same,
one of these kids is doing his own thing,
now it's time to play our game..."
>;)
Fuck. Sox score 1. 7-4, 2 on, 2 out, bottom of the 8th.
20. No long pants that are baggy around the shoes.
21. everyone wears stirrup socks
22. No more white stripe hats for spring training.
23. Manny gets a haircut by league decree
24. Uniforms can only be 1 size too big, not 5.
"Here's a little story 'bout a man named Jeb?"
Sorry. That's the best I can do with 3 letters.
no damn pocket flaps hanging out.
only sounds are real organists and the announcer. all other fake tell-you-what-to-do noise bullshit will be banned.
2nd: someone here once linked to a "bad annoncing" contest on the web...know where i can find that? i imagine Colin Cowherd must be on there as well...
What a Joke.
By the way, if you guys have not read about Ichiro's All Star Game pep-talk, this is MUST reading.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-ichirospeech071508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Just another example of Ichiro's brilliance.
But that's just me.
A couple of years ago the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) aired CFL games with no announcers, because of a strike of CBC employees (including announcers, apparently). The games featured only crowd and game noise until the strike ended several weeks later. Ratings actually improved.
Also, all players must speak decent English within 5 years of making it to the majors.
Moeller now playing 3rd base.
"To tell the truth, I'm not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to," Ichiro said through an interpreter. "If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying."
Players who go into their HR trot on hits that are NOT HRs are fined 1% of their salary.
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