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Good Grief
2008-09-07 15:16
by Alex Belth

Derek Jeter turned on a fastball in the first inning and lined a home run to left field. The sound was true, a resounding crack. You don't see Jeter hit many dingers like this and it felt like a good sign. (It was Jeter's 1000th career RBI; he later singled to tied Babe Ruth on the all-time Yankee hit list.) The Mariner's scheduled starter, Carlos Silva, scratched with pain in his back, was replaced by Ryan Feierabend, who came into the game with just one career big league victory to his name. Xavier Nady added a solo homer in the second and it felt like the Yanks would be able to give Mike Mussina plenty of run support.

But it wasn't to be. Feierabend mixed in a decent fastball with a good change up and pitched seven fine innings. The Yanks did not score again. They had a couple of chances. In the fourth, the Bombers had runners on second and third with one man out. But Robinson Cano had a sloppy at bat at struck out swining; Jose Molina ended the inning with a fly ball to center. The next inning, with two men out, Jeter on second and Alex Rodriguez on first, Feierabend, on a timing play, threw to first, and had Rodriguez nailed. The M's caught Jeter to end the threat.

Meanwhile, Mike Mussina started off well but gave up a two-run homer to Adrian Beltre in the third and a solo shot to Jose Lopez in the fourth. The M's scrapped another run in the fifth and without any hitting, Mussina's bid for his eighteenth win fell flat. Lopez added another solo homer in the eighth, this one against Jose Veras.

The Yanks put two runners on in the ninth against J.J. Putz. Giambi was hit by a pitch and Hideki Matsui singled, the Yankees' first base hit since the fourth inning. With two out, Wilson Betemit pinch hit for Molina, and got ahead in the count, 2-0. He swung through a fastball and took another pitch out of the zone and then fouled a fastball back. He was just a touch late. It was a good hack. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows on the fielders. The hitter, catcher and ump were in the shadows at home plate. Putz poured another heater over the plate, Betemit waved at it and the game was over.

Final Score: M's 5, Yanks 2.

So after beating the Tigers last Monday and then taking two-of-three in Tampa, the Yanks lost a weekend series to the worst team in the American League. The Jays beat the Rays again on Sunday and Toronto moved a half-game ahead of the Yankees into third place.

Yup, your fourth place Yankees. No win for Moose, no win for the Yanks. No nuthin but a whole lot more of the same. Good grief.

Comments
2008-09-07 15:58:49
1.   Mattpat11
I actually told my father than i was excited about a game for the first time in a long time.

This group then reminded me why I wasn't excited.

What a disgusting non effort.

2008-09-07 16:54:41
2.   ChrisS
Not including today's game, which doesn't change much, Xavier Nady in his last 28 games:
.250/.303/.420/.723, 4:1 K:BB, 5HR

The last two weeks he's been Melky-like.

2008-09-07 17:46:33
3.   Mr OK Jazz TOKYO
hate waking up to see a L on the board...Crosseyed & Painless on my way into a Monday morning...
2008-09-07 18:14:52
4.   tommyl
Well, on a positive note Hughes was lights out, 4 hits, 11 Ks through 8 (no runs) and Shelly hit a 10th inning walkoff HR for the win. See, we're already advancing in the postseason!
2008-09-07 18:26:54
5.   williamnyy23
2 I am not sure why the last 28 days would be more relevant than his time with the Yankees, entire season or 109 OPS+ for his 2,350 PA career?
2008-09-07 18:28:02
6.   williamnyy23
4 Hopefully, Girardi has finally accepted what has been obvious to everyone else and is now ready to start thinking about 2009.
2008-09-07 18:35:52
7.   Mr OK Jazz TOKYO
6 So who you got coming out on top? Cubs in trouble with Big Z and Glass Harden on ice, Rays crumbling...oh god, please don't say Boston again..the thought of Dusty, Tek and Paps sweeping the Mets or D'Backs just made me shiver...
2008-09-07 18:38:37
8.   Chyll Will
6 C'mon William, you know better than that; they have their business interests to protect yunnow. It's not easy trying to hold onto such an easy advertising pitch as "perennial playoff contenders"... >;) (and I'm actually being half serious)
2008-09-07 18:40:05
9.   Chyll Will
7 Wait, whatever happened to the Angels... they stopped kickinass?
2008-09-07 18:43:12
10.   Mr OK Jazz TOKYO
10 I really don't have faith in the Angels to beat the Sox in the ALCS..such a free-swinging lineup, if Wakefield is on he gets 12 Ks and Beckett can also mow them down...
2008-09-08 04:18:36
11.   ChrisS
5 You misunderstand. I didn't say that my fear is that he'd hit like Melky. My fear is that he's a slightly above average hitter (109 career OPS+) who had a ridiculous first half (for which Cashman gave away his second best positional player at his lowest worth) and is now regressing to the mean.

I think it's foolish to think that he's a breakthrough hitter or suddenly turned into a great hitter. Projecting a 105-115 OPS+ for next season out of a key offensive position, without making up that production elsewhere, doesn't make the Yankees a very effective offensive team. The BB:K ratio is pretty frightening. And if he's the best OF defender with at least a 90 OPS+ bat that the Yankees have, that makes it more important to have a seriously talented offense.

2008-09-08 05:18:45
12.   williamnyy23
7 My nightmare is LA vs. Boston. If a gun was put to my head, I think I'd have to go with Boston. The NL is too close to call with all the injury implications and close races.

11 I don't think anyone is suggesting that Nady has become a superstar. Instead, I think he is a good bet to at least come in around career levels, which wouldn't be that big of a drop off from what Abreu has done over the past two seasons (and Abreu is 5 years older and a worse defender). More importantly, Nady will come at a fraction of the price with only a 1-year commitment.

2008-09-08 05:23:53
13.   JL25and3
12 So Nady may fill (or almost fill) the hole created by Abreu's impending departure, but he doesn't fill any of the needs that they already have. He doesn't make next year's team better, just no worse.
2008-09-08 05:27:58
14.   williamnyy23
13 If the blueprint is to make the team better by simply replacing Abreu with Nady, then yes, it is a poor plan. I can't imagine that's the intention. Instead, I'd like to think the Yankees will use a lot of the money they are recovering to aggressive this off season.

The nice thing about Nady is he is cheap and a short term commitment. So, the Yankees can pencil him in RF next year and go about filling other holes. If they didn't have him, you'd either have to resogn Abreu and live with his age 35-37 years, or focus your efforts on finding a replacement.

2008-09-08 05:56:12
15.   Mr OK Jazz TOKYO
random: am watching the nightly recap program, they just showed the Cubs lose a shocker to the Reds..am I missing something or do the new "retro" parks in Philly and Cincinnati look as similar as the old cookie-cutter Vet and Riverfront?

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