Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
With the exception of a dominant starting pitching performance, the last four games have given Yankee fans everything they could have hoped for coming into the five-game showdown with the Red Sox that concludes this afternoon. So what's left for the finale? After the last four games, I wouldn't rule anything out, though I'd like to rule out a Red Sox victory.
Cory Lidle, who was activated from the bereavement list yesterday with T.J. Beam returning to Columbus, makes his fourth Yankee start. David Wells takes the hill for the Sox. Wells has spent most of the season on the disabled list with a right knee injury. In fact, he made just two starts prior to his most recent activation at the end of July. Since then he's taken four turns, the first of which was rough, but the last three of which have been solid. In fact, the 43-year-old Wells looks to be more or less up to his old tricks, surrendering a ton of hits but very few walks and emerging with a 2-1 record and a 2.75 ERA over those three starts.
Joe Torre is sending out a day-game-after-a-extra-inning-night-game/house money line-up against the big lefty, with last night's heroes Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada, as well as series MVP Johnny Damon, getting the day off, Derek Jeter taking a turn at DH, and Nick Green, Bernie Williams and Sal Fasano in the line-up and in the field. Bernie is a career .211/.256/.355 hitter against Wells and Green and Fasano are a combined 2 for 20 career against Boomer. Melky Cabrera, whose lead-off double against Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth last night was as big as any of the other hits in the game, will lead off.
The Red Sox counter with their usual starting nine, but with Eric Hinske replacing Kevin Youkilis at first base. The Sox, who demoted Jermain Van Buren after his poor performance on Saturday in favor of former Rockies hurler Javier Lopez, have also made yet another move in their bullpen, sending down last night's loser Craig Hansen and promoting former Texas Ranger Bryan Corey. It is the fourth time in as many days that they've shuffled relievers.
There's a big difference between 4.5 games ahead and 6.5.
Today's lineup is better suited for a tilt against Seattle than a potential 5 game sweep of the Sox.
Nothing about Melky. That kid hasn't had a day off for months. C'mon, Joe, Guiel can play LF. I know you don't trust in him CF, but he can play left!
I also understand the season is a marathon, but when you have a chance to beat your division rival straight up, you suck it up, and go for it.
As far as I'm concerned, unless a starter asked for the day off they should all be in today.
Let the Yanks starters sleep through Seattle if necessary, while the Sox mix it up with the Angels.
It's not a sprint, it's a ... Okay, it's no longer a marathon, but it's still a 10K race.
Jeeeez-us.
Since the start of this series, we're a 1.000 team. I have to conclude that Boston sucks. Therefore, when better to rest the veterans? We can win without them.
And you know Torre will bring in the big guns if they're needed.
when was this guys last HR ? I remember he and Giambi with the 9th inning back to back about a week ago...
Fenway...righty....shitty pitching...nothing
It just seems like these games either turn into laughers for the opposition, or the subs hang in their and all the starters and BP get used anyway. Of course, half a day off is better than none.
19 You got it. The guys resting today were dictated by the lefty on the mound. Note that the lefty batters are the ones getting days off.
I'm with you, but it's amusing to see how many times it's been said and we're still waiting.
16 If Joe says they're too tired to play, they're too tired. Like Paul Simon sang, "Who am I to blow against the wind?"
But there were two hard-hit balls.
I hate Whales.
No one is sitting because they don't hit Wells. They're being rested. This weekend has been brutal. It's just a question of when the best time to rest them is.
Any regular infield alignment and it's an easy out.
Long answer:
2006: .271/.323/.390
Career: .285/.330/.419
Short answer:
Yup.
And certainly, Joe is not going to put Guiel in, as monkeypants wants, with a lefty on the mound.
That's pretty good for a young CF, and one might have expected he'd improve entering his 26-29 y.o. peak. On the other hand, he has been hurt this year.
Come on, Cory, bear down now.
Well, a gift infield shift single for Ortiz, walk to manny, and now mvp Hinske...Let's go Corey, you need to keep this game very close with this lineup!
It should have been an out, but the overshift came back to bite us.
Whew, I thought that infield hit was going to bite Lidle.
Cano hustles out a 2 out double! Nice. Bring him home!
Every day I'm Hustlin'.
I have never seen a guy so dominant in his sport look so bad for a whole season....
Too many 'almosts', though. Maybe Sal and Green can get us going next inning.
Boomer looks heavier than ever. Really round around the middle. Jeter's first inning fly ball was deep, it took Pena to the warning track. Wells was jawing at Jeter as DJ passed by the pitcher on his way back to the dugout.
Funny.
Wells: "I'm going to put BBQ sauce on you and eat you little man."
Jeter: "Uh dude, you're weird."
87 So if Rodriguez does go on a hot streak, we can say, "Oh, that's just Alex being Manny."
Luckily, Wily Mo Strikeout is in the house.
better start proctor up in the bullpen...
leave Melky out of the pile....Green and FasaNO are straight roster filler and Melky is a 22 pretty complete offensive and defensive player...minus power
sorry.
Seems like he's fooling the sub-good batters by changing speeds.
Wells is facing an out-of-sorts lineup- I wouldn't discount that.
my first impression: dude wears a TON of aftershave.
WHo will and who should he bump if he makes the rotation??
Ah well. I enjoy his game calling.
that depends on how lidle does.
(not soley today's performance, but it would be a good start.)
and yes... faster game
But this game is flying, which is a nice change of pace.
yup....straight NESN
Now we know.
Bobby A does his thing...
Oh, cripes. A-Rod does HIS thing.
And Bobby gets a walk of Wells. Abreu could draw a walk in tee-ball.
Oh man, A-Rod scorched that one. Hey Papelbon, was that a 'bad break'?
this guy is the kiss of death with a man on, unless he is tossing in the 3rd RBI in a 5 run inning....
His swing is flat-out dog tired.
Sometimes he lays off a first pitch meatball and I think, "What the hell could you possibly be waiting for??!" and others he swings at the first pitch and kills a burgeoning rally posthaste, as he did by popping up last night.
Let's leave the man alone, though, he is a human being and at this point, he's a figure of deep pathos to me.
But really, could there be a less pressured situation than what A-Rod was in? Seeing a replay, he did seem to hit the ball hard, but jeez.
Quietly and consistently getting the job done like Justice did too.
are you kidding ? has he been "flat out" dogged tired all summer ? He DH'd yesterday....he already raised the spectre of some injury that no one else knew about and Torre basically told him to shut it....if he ever dared mumbled anything about being tired Villone and Proctor should pick up Beam and beat A Rod to death with him
Joe's a genius, no doubt about it. He saw that smash coming and knew Giambi would never handle it.
My God, any callled called strike on a Sawx player is moaned to no end, especially on Shrek. "Ortiz not swing at a strike? Impossible!" Idiots.
Great eye, grinding at bats, speed and baserunning acumen, great OBP, consistent if unspectacular hitting, some great defensive talent (great arm) with subpar range. Steady, calm demeanor. It's like he has a combination of some of the best attributes of the Cap'n and Gee-bombee.
And Beam's back in Columbus, so A-Rod is safe from that fate. ;-)
he's actually doing really well. pleasantly surprising. (to me anyway.)
This is awesome. The Sawx line-up is shit. If we just get the Cookie Monster and Manny being Manny out, it's like a AAAA line-up.
Both good, solid, even underrated (or understated?) players, both of them dangerous in big spots, both solid fielders, and both seem(ed) to quietly blend in.
Interesting about Justice's styling. Honestly, I never picked up on that. Can you think of any examples?
The biggest difference in the two guys in their prime is that Abreu is a great baserunner, and Bernie, despite his track star speed has always been a disaster on the bases.
a corpulent cat.
They were just discussing how the Yanks have played "Wilson Philips" at 1B this year when Giambi has sat. And then they discussed who that was, and how much they liked Wilson Philips (the group).
They did mention that Manny has 9 walks in the series, and is otherwise hitting 8 for 11. So 17 times on base in 20 PA - and 3 runs scored, 2 by his own homers, 1 by another Sox.
1) Manny
2) Ortiz
3) Lowell
4) Loretta
That's it.
Corey, dude...
1) Soriano
2) Cano
3) Baldelli
4) Willy Mo Pena
It's Javy Lopez, Corey. Just go get him.
215 Maybe he's an expert on player's colors. You know, lets us know that Khalil Greene is white.
I'm sympathetic -- Lidle threw a couple of good pitches to Pena, but didn't want to keep throwing the same pitch...
WHEW. Robby gobbling up assists today.
Any idea what happened to Manny??
Funny how people can see such different things in the same guy.
Maybe.
Tried both IE and FF. Cleared cache, cookies, etc. WTF? Had it playing Friday. Any ideas?
same thing happened to me at first... try clicking on the orange TV icon over to the right in the window... it restarted the stream for me... but you might have to sit through that commercial again... i did.
Sort of like, "There's no way the Yanks win today. It's impossible to go into Fenway and sweep a 5 game series." No way at all.
Nice fielding.
(Couldn't resist)
Oh, hey, A-Rod saves a run!
They'll walk Ortiz now, right?
A-Rod got props from the 'EEI guys for that play, who also mentioned Melky's 'strong arm'.
And Alex gets Lidle out of trouble. Very nice.
Standuptriple, I was actually thinking, in the field.
Inconceivable!
You see that hit right there? Just reaching out and sending the ball softly and safely into center.
What will become of him next season?
His D is better than Andy's, though, so he might stick around. Andy won't be back until rosters expand.
Giambi for Wilson if there are men on base, though. Next inning?
And if I'm partly responsible for robbing Jeter of a hit, I abjectly apologize.
Bobby, get a HIT.
But who knows if he'll be back this season? It seems to have been a pretty bad hamstring strain.
I'm going to send Cashman a present.
I mean really, can you believe him?
He Bobby, where you been all my life?
Should I buy a number 53 jersey, or a Ca$hmoney 06 jersey?
Good Guys 1, Them 0
It's just so balanced right now. They go the other way, slap the ball around, walk, and in a pinch, we still have Giambi for the power.
I mean, how many sluggers does one team need?
Give me a team full of solid line drive hitters every day of the week.
And a little note to Mad Dog, maybe.
yeah. lidle's actually pitched a heck of a game.
Traded by Detroit Tigers with Frank Catalanotto, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Justin Thompson and Alan Webb to Texas Rangers in exchange for Juan Gonzalez, Danny Patterson and Greg Zaun (November 2, 1999).
I love this team.
Would Abreu have run on Manny on that play? Maybe not: Manny would have been playing even closer to the infield.
Go Donuts!
Baseball is a very strange game.
Catch.
The.
Baseball.
95 pitches after the hinske K.
Jeter would have kept Robby twenty feet away on that play.
352 I think its actualy Robby's numbers with men in scoring position.
Can Nick Green be the next to be DFA'd, please? I'd take Menechino over him at this point. Or even Escalona - where's he these days anyway?
Ha-Ha, Kaat said "Holla".
And now we're blowing this. Fucking morons.
The man is a revelation, both in the field and at the bat.
Plus he's young.
I wouldn't trade him for anyone in major league baseball.
OK, maybe Menechino.
Cashman's gotta be speed-dialing Mad Dog now, huh?
SCORE SOME RUNS!
This is David WELLS!
(i'm watching as i work in a library... no audio...)
that looked like a jar of mayonaise.
Another nice play by A-Rod.
I'd love this less if we'd split the first four games, I guess.
I love baseball.
Way to go Myers!
Oh my God! ESPN is already deleting this game from their database, this DID NOT HAPPEN!
Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!...
... he's hitting .269 against righties.
hinske is on deck. he's a left-handed batter. would it kill myers to face three hitters?
He came up big on that Myers deal to Ortizzle.
that would be amazing.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Mo make an appearance, yesterday or no...
And Kapler didn't miss a dinger by much.
Yeah, sure.
I like how Cano basically ran in the opposite dirction as Green on that last pop-up.
Mo in the 9th?
Oh, of course, pitchers will probably be yanked anyway from here on. So maybe that's good, yeah, I'm with you Cliff.
Bottom of the order hitless.
I love baseball.
455 I was think that, too. Not good. If we can't expect much from Dotel, we shouldn't have activated him. We could make better use of the roster spot.
Whoa! Nick the Stick comes through!
Six outs from a ____ of the bleepin Red Sox. I don't want to say it... I may not believe in jinxes, but this would be too sweet for me to mess up. (No Mr. Kay, I am not a Nazi slave owner.)
Now, Can we GET THE RUNNER on 3B with less than 2 Outs to SCORE?!
When all the fielders charge, why don't more runners at 2B try to steal third?
Totally clutch wave home by Jeter!
Joe's a genius.
...but i'll take it.
You don't catch balls in the dirt...
YOU BLOCK THEM!
That ball bounced in the dirt and then off his glove.
On the other hand, pathetic AB by Jeter against KEITH FOULKE there. Damn, the AVG. keeps going down. He's running out of time to take the Batting title lead.
Or did you mean in general?
My excruciating boss, however... I'm going to mock him until he fires me.
anyway, torre said he wouldn't use him... lets hope he changes his mind with the chance for the win
Proctor still in? I guess it's Farns in the 9th.
New idea for a Tee Shirt.
says: "Red Sox" on the front.
says "2090" on the back.
I'd still rather have him than Gordon.
That said, I'd have him on a verrry short leash here, with Mo warming up.
Hey, look! Damon in center.
Is it 5 PM yet?
Such an intellectual group (with short memories).
No we HAVE to go to Mo. This game means a lot more than tomorrows...
We NEED 2 runs in the 9th now.
Ah, Craig snags it!
/sarcasm
now, get another run guys. i'm looking at you a-rod.
Is it too much to ask for Farnsworth to get three outs?
(I like to check when I feel nervous.)
More insurance runs would be nice.
really?
Although I do remember what, a couple of months ago, when Farns fanned Ortiz and Manny for the save.
But no, it's gotta be Mo if it gets that far.
Win Expectancy still 81%.
I imagine Ortiz has been dreaming about seeing that pitch again.
Here's hoping if Farns faces him, he doesn't try that again.
I think he's on a very short leash, as in, 1 runner and it's Mo time.
Giving up the DH, but yeah, I like this move.
Did Alex Cora just hit a foul bullet? WTF?
I want it because, if the Red Sox win, all we'll hear about will be the gritty, clutch Red Sox.
ugh. true dat. (but a sweep would make for a nice, hefty lead.)
Now do NOT walk Loretta. Kyle. Do NOT.
FINISH THEM
POTG!
FIVE GAME SWEEP!!!
Holy Cow!
Maybe the leg injury was all Farnsworth needed? That was way way too easy. POTG, Lidle??
Wow, what a birthday weeekend...
FIVE GAME SWEEP!!!
I don't believe what I just saw.
Meanwhile, notice that Tom Gordon is down with a shoulder issue IIRC.
Bring out the brooms!!!
thank you, yankees.
thank you.
This is nothing short of amazing. I can't wait to tell my dad.
This is nothing short of amazing. I can't wait to tell my dad.
I feel like Conan the Barbarian:
"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!"
Wowee wow wow.
Hot dang, smoked those turkeys with the House Money line-up, the throw-in deal pitcher, and no Mariano. Every kind of beating.
See you folks in Seattle.
(he he he he he)
NOTHING will ever make up for 2004.
BUT THIS COMES PRETTY FUCKING CLOSE!
5 GAMES!
IN FENWAY!
AFTER 10 STRAIGHT GAMES!
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
97 No Mo, no Posada, no Giambi. And a lot of Proctor.
619 MFD this time of year it just doesn't get better than this. Papi contained, ESPN has to shut up and Dan Shaughnessy is scheduled to go ber-freakin-serk in the Globe on Tuesday. Oh God am I happy.
Just think of 6 games in Seattle and Anaheim...
https://bronxbanter.baseballtoaster.com/archives/475043.html#18
I hope the Red Sox and their fans are now completely demoralized, after the Yankees beat them every way possible. Piling on the runs in the ugly slugfests of the doubleheader. Working the counts and walking their way to victory on Saturday. Waiting out their "ace" and exploiting the bullpen on Sunday, and winning a game in which their 2 best pitchers pitched. And winning a tight low-scoring affair today.
Nice work!
Lidle, Abreu, Cabrera, Green standout as unlikely heroes. They weren't on the Opening Day roster.
Great game, Mr. Torre. I second-guessed you at the start, and we won! Myers k's Ortiz! Nick the stick! Farnswacker!
SWEEP! SWEEP! SWEEP! SWEEP! SWEEP!
They don't spend enough money and now the local media is pulling a DePo on them! Ladies and gents, the 2006 Boston Red Sox!
BTW, anyone else listen to 'EEI for the game and hear all the ads for the Sox fantasy cruise in January? What does that cost, a couple grand a passenger? Yeah, they sure are poor, those poor Red Sox.
"The Yankees really blew it this weekend. Sure, they won four straight over Boston at Fenway Park to increase their lead in the AL East to a seemingly insurmountable 5½ games, but everyone knows that baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. All the Yankees did by knocking the Red Sox starters out early in the first three games of the series was give the Boston rotation more time to rest for the stretch run. Real swift, Joe Torre. You were out-managed. Again."
That Gallo dude sure got the pessimistic vibe on.
Oh, and when I asked the question about Farns, it really was rhetorical. I think the guy is talented and was happy to see him finish today's game quickly (though I was very nervous about Loretta)...and what a kick to see him slap Fasano on the helmet after the last out. Two of the least heralded (and most maligned) Yankees sharing a moment of joy in capping off a historic sweep...it doesn't get better.
FJM is one of those comfort sites I look to when I'm on the road. Those guys are smart and often very funny.
Now back to your regularly scheduled celebration ....
THEEEEE YANKEEEEES WIN!!!!!
And they're interviewing "Nick the Quick." I have to admit, I would never have predicted that when I posted today's lineup...
Baseball is THE best game. All other games are merely prologue. That was true in 2004, its true today and I suspect it will be true 50 and 100 years from now. Beautiful.
If it were the other way round and we were swept would we be discussing how we have to get them when they come to NY? I hope that's the way it goes over at Sons of Sam H and elsewhere. I hope Sully and Debris and the rest of them are still full of piss and vinegar. There's too much baseball left to stick a fork in anything.
Today though their squealing and bleating sounds awfully good.
The only way it could be better is if it were the final series of the regular season and the end result eliminated the Sox from playoff contention.
BTW, the Braves and Marlins are closer to the NL wildcard than the Red Sox are to the AL East lead...
While that may be true, it takes offense & a decent amount of timely hitting to win 5 games such as they did. Somehow I doubt the Royals would sweep the Sox if they - errr, oh wait - nevermind. ;-)
Talk on WFAN is how a lot of the national media was in attendance and how Jeter may have taken the lead in the MVP race.
Now how sweet would that be?
According to Peter Abraham, that crow died. They took it outside and let it go, and one of the hawks that hangs out at Fenway got it.
667 Yes, sweet as this victory is, the only thing I read into it is that the Red Sox really suck. They've been horrible this month.
If the Sox continue to crash and burn, it's going to be hard to give Big Papi the MVP.
Anyone want to post the numbers comparing the two this series?
Jeter: 24 AB, 7 H, 6 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR
Ortiz: 20 AB, 6 H, 5 R, 4 RBI, 3BB, 3 K, 2 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR
I know there were some HBP in there, but this is close enough. Ortiz probably had the better series overall--Jeter's greater number of 'clutch hits' is debateable.
It's funny, when Jeter was streaking a couple of weeks ago he clearly was more valuable than Ortiz, at least according to most advanced metrics. Now, he has one baseclearing double in a 'clutch' series and everyone is getting on the MVP bandwagon. More evidence how flaky the whole MVP process is.
Still, there are at least three players probably more MVP than Ortiz, and I certainly wouldn't mind Jeter getting the make-up call for 1999.
i hope i see some people up here in boston cry tonight... these games make me wonder what i do from late october until spring training.
I fully expect the Yanks to lose tomorrow in Seattle. And that is just fine, what needs to happen is have Proctor & Villone not pitch for a couple of days.
I really feel like the WPA (and related WXRL stat for relief pitchers) extremely exaggerates the impact of individual events in a baseball game. Further, unlike poker, the expected results are not set at all, and are fluidly changing. Who knows if a one run lead in 1977 means the same thing as a one run lead in 2006. I like a lot of the complicated stats, like EQA, VORP, and FIP. But I have a lot of problems with Win Expectancy.
Ortiz could win the MVP and Crapelbon could win the ROTY and Cy Young, and I wouldn't give two sh1ts if the Yankees won the World Series.
I think if I had to vote today, I'd vote for Manny. He's pretty much free of responsibility for this past weekend; you couldn't ask someone to do more than he did. And that's every bit as much a make-up call for 1999 as Jeter would be.
Jeter has his cologne, Drive. Now Ortiz has, um, this: http://tinyurl.com/nkgu
I'm calling him Elevex from now on.
http://tinyurl.com/nkguq
This is just surreal. I felt that the Yankees were a far superior team until the letdown in Baltimore, but it looks like that was just a hiccup. What a series.
You and your winky-eyed emoticon smirk.
Now back to shopping for shoulder bags (Can this be right? An Eagle Creek Guide Bag for 30 bucks, hey thanks rabid stan!)
Nice shoulder bags, too.
Oh well, I guess Papi needs some help to get big.
Actually, I'm just glad it wasn't porn or something. You know the internet.
Didn't Gibbons challenge Shea Hillenbrand to a fight, too?
Memo to Ted Lilly: When you give up 7 runs and 8 hits in 2.2 innings, and the manager comes to take you out of the game, give him the freaking ball. You stink that day.
"4 Days Later, Race for First Is a Runaway"
That's not quite an AL East concession line from the Sox's corporate uncles, but at least they're crying uncle today.
When was the last time the NY Times ran baseball on the front-page in August?
Watch out for a club like that. Weird incidents like that can actually motivate a team, as Billy Martin taught us.
The Yanks have enough of a lead on Toronto that they shouldn't have to worry about the Jays, even though they play them six times next month, including the final 3 games of the season in Toronto.
But the Jays are only 3 games behind Boston, and would probably love to knock the Sox out of 2nd place. At this point, Toronto has a fighter's chance of doing that.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.