Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Each time Mike Mussina takes the mound I think, "Okay, he's going to get ripped tonight." That's just the way it goes with aging control pitchers (just ask Paul Byrd). Much to my delight, Mussina delivered his best outing since beating the Diamondbacks in mid-June, holding the Indians to just two runs in 7.2 innings. It was his fourth good start in-a-row as the Yankees bombed the Tribe, 11-2. Hot fun in the summertime. For Mussina, it was victory #100 with the Yankees, who are now 22-8 since the All-Star break. Boston still has a five game lead in the AL East, and New York trail the Mariners by the slimmest of margins for first place in the wild card standings.
The Yanks drained any tension from the game in the second innings, scoring seven runs off Byrd. Cleveland's offense was jumpy, swinging early in the count all night long, a dream for Mussina. Really, the most entertaining moments of the evening was watching Shelley Duncan's eyes pop out of his head with excitement as he prepared to smash forearms with Alex Rodriguez and, later, Jason Giambi after they hit home runs. Giambi's pinch-hit dinger in the ninth was a rainmaker, an absolute blast. As he returned to the dugout, Joe Torre looked up at his slugger, headcocked to the side, with a perfectly deadpan as if to say, "Are you kidding me?" Meanwhile, Duncan was in the background, shaking like Beavis on a sugar high, ready to pop his forearm into one of the big sluggers who might actually like that sort of thing.
Jose Molina had the first four-hit game of his career (they were all to right center field), Derek Jeter added three hits of his own, and Robby Cano and Bobby Abreu are still rolling. Oh yeah, Rodriguez hit two home runs, giving him 39 for the year, along with 114 RBI. The first one looked like a line drive double to straight-away center--the ball was in on his fists some. But dude is so strong he simply muscled it over the fence. In the YES booth, Paul O'Neill mentioned how envious he was of Rodriguez. The ball just comes off his bat in a way that it doesn't for other players, even other star players.
Onions.
Yanks go for the sweep this afternoon then return home to face the Orioles and Tigers. Ian Kennedy could start in the BX on Tuesday.
Winning another series is a beautiful thing but a series sweep would make for a wunnerful Sunday, wouldn't ya say?
Although I'm beginning to believe our competition is truly Seattle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub7WzLf6F4I
hilarious!
That is unless he is used today. But if he is used today that is a bad sign since it most likely means Pettitte gets knocked out early. So I can't wish for that.
Torre said Jeff Karstens would start Tuesday unless he is needed today. … Asked who his third catcher was, Torre laughed and said he imagined Shelley Duncan would volunteer. "He would do it without equipment," Torre said. … Melky Cabrera has been told to stop sliding headfirst into first base. Not only is it dangerous, it slows you down
Again, I think the 40-man issue isn't finding a space, it's starting the clock on Kennedy.
you have to hope that if karstens spits the bit on tuesday, they'll ship him out and bring up someone else ...
I wouldn't mind seeing Jeter get a couple or few days off--maybe when Posada comes back--and Betemit filling in (rather than Cairo) makes me cringe less.
: )
84 games
326 abs
126 hits
.387 avg
55 runs
34 doubles
2 triples
18 hrs
79 rbi
20 walks
37 ks
yikes ...
And that is the 2nd bad bunt in a row by Melky. It he REALLY our best bunter?
Meanwhile:
Jorge Pipp?
you take the keys to the car away from joey joe joe and he still manages to spill soda in the cd player
The Yankees scored in the most unmanly, morally reprehensible, and fundamentally unsound way possible: a two-out, two-run blast. We don't want to get into that bad habit.
If the bunt is executed, we score a run. Is there something wrong with 'only' one run, when we are ahead by 2, from the bottom of the order.
Giambi HR? 2 in 2 ABs? Gee, maybe he can help this team.
I don't think a sac bunt is necessarily a good play. But depending on situation, it's not always a bad play.
Wang: Not dominant, but a #1 all the same
Phil: Still early, but I'll guess a solid #2, maybe better?
Roger, Andy, Moose: All solid 2.5s.
On paper, it seems this is an excellent rotation. 3rd or 4th best in the AL.
Am I wrong?
Long time, no see.
I finally got my internet back.
It seems we're playing like a baseball team, eh?
Unfortunately, I missed what seems to have been the most exciting game of the year on Friday with Hughes and Joba. I was out on the town. :(
Oh, and didn't our old buddy Mo pitch that game as well? He can still throw a baseball too, lest we forget.
Unbelievable what we're looking at these days.
All cylinders, man, it's glorious.
What quick fucking hands.
48 To quote SG from RLYW, a Moose start is like a box of chocolates.
;)
54 :)
The other night I was remembering back when we botched two rundowns on successive nights between Alex and Jorgie and they stole home on us.
This is as gratifying as those days were excruciating.
We've earned this, man.
Nicely turned.
Derek always keeps the glove down there for just such an eventuality.
You must have passed your internet problems on to me. I'm barely, gasping, tenuously connected.
Man, we've been taking your name in vain a lot ;-) All the awful homers we've been hitting.
Yeah, Mo did pitch in that beautiful game, the one we'll be talking about for many years. But his previous appearance was the one that made all of us weep. It was perfect, vintage Mo, striking out the heart of the order in a close game (against the Jays).
I was about to say that Westbrook is pitching a good game but that he must be tiring!
Just wait until he really fills out.
God I'm loving this team.
What a future we've got.
bunt that!
On the third hand, Melky tacks one on to make the BP question increasingly 'mute.'
Jeter needs his doubles stroke back. I'm tired of seeing these grounders.
and joba's on a day off for every inning pitched ... so he's not available until tomorrow
"Detroit's Magglio Ordonez hit two home runs in the second inning... "
Mute point.
How 'bout my man Molina?
There goes Bobby, shooting it into left!
This is a tough team to get out these days.
See the ball, hit the ball.
; )
Unfortunately, they were against the great John Danks, who sucks.
Be the stud you are...
That 1-2, man.
Fuck.
Get him out inside.
post-injury: 6-5, 96 K vs 29 BB in 107.1 IP, .828 OPS against, 4.36 ERA
I know the first is a really tiny sample and he wouldn't have been that Gibsonesque all year, but man, what could've been.
This is our game.
Andy's all right and besides, we'll get the runs we need...
Fuck, another one!
That was strike three!
Ha!
Whew!!!
NIce job, team, two outs.
ONe more...
;)
; )
Well... I'll just... go... to... my corner... now.
That's a huge boon.
Will be interestng to see what the playoff rotation shapes up to be... What a think Hughes AND Joba in the pen could be.
As long as he hits it hard and doesn't dribble it to second, I'm a happy camper.
I wonder what it is he's doing differently.
It looks to me like his batspeed has increased, but I'm not sure.
Quite a problem to have
Nice try, Alex.
EDLV coming in.
For starters:
GS 3476
INN 20415
INN/GS = 5.87
If he can at least be a .500 pitcher the rest of the way, keep him in the rotation. But if he starts back with that 86 mph fastball, I take my chances with Hughes, unless we have some reason to think a particular lineup is really vulnerable to slop.
Maybe a young, freeswinging lineup, but no team of professional hitters will be fooled by Mike if his velocity is down.
Mo needs to be up now... good, there's the call.
Joe came out to talk to Viz.
2-1 the count.
4-2.
I would have left Andy in, though, myself.
Pull the outfield in, I don't want to see one of those bloop singles to score two runs!
Mo nailed Garko around the elbow on 1-2.
Even when they are on, Moose and Clemens rarely go more than 6--that is, about league average innings when they are at the top of their games.
Rocky inning for Mo. That ball was well-struck.
Let's hope he recovers in the ninth.
Credit to Torre for going to Mo there.
We need some insurance.
I actually has a bad moment there. My bad.
Nicely hit, Andy.
These boys are hitting the fucking tar out of the baseball.
Nice play by Sizemore.
There's my basehit up the middle.
Ok, Derek, it's on you.
Step it up!
If he only flied out, it would be a problem, but he gets his line drives.
Ok, Derek, nice and easy, up the middle.
Basehit up the middle, stolen base, basehit up the middle!
A thing of pure beauty.
:)
Chance for da Boids to do some damage.
I think he'll come back strong, especially with the insurance run.
Attack, Mo, attack!
Indeed. :)
I am happy, this is so glorious to watch.
And you know what? Jorgie's not even in the lineup.
Bring on Boston, man. I want a piece of them yesterday.
Good.
Fuck.
Come on, Mo, come on...
0-2.
All is not lost.
The third one could be an awful charm.
out of there. JOBA JOBA JOBA!!!!
Ok, there's one.
One more, Mo, one more!
Please God, one more.
I can't belive I just wrote that. I feel the need to shower now.
.
.
.
Two straight K's! Please forgive me, Mo.
I'm closing my eyes.
Someone please scream when it's over.
Good.
Oh, thank God that was a strike.
0-1.
Yayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!11
Mo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha!!!!
Fuck, that was hard.
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!
We win, we win!
Even when he has nothing, Mariano Rivera is still better than most. I shouldn't have doubted.
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
Oh well. If he wants to believe in the tooth fairy I'd let him.
98 OYF was concerned about Andy's jam. I said no worries.
Mattpat 243 threw in the towel, ye of little faith. "All is not lost," I said.
Just sayin'.
:)
Oh now come on. Mo may not be unhittable say as in 1996-2003, but come on, name one other guy who is better? Seriously. Putz has, by the numbers, been the best closer, but would you really take him over M0?
No reliever is perfect. No one is unhittable. But Mo is the closest thing to it in the history of relievers.
what he said
YAY!!!
The only thign better than him on the Sawx is if the Sawx end up using the first round and sandwich round picks they get for letting him go on another 2 Daniel Bards.
Tejada homered off Gagne!!!
So you're saying Boston's got this game in the bag, huh?--wink wink, nudge nudge.
One out
Long fly ball to left, one out.
Two outs.
He keeps fouling 'em off.
Still 2-2.
Yes!
Inside fastball rolled to short.
We go to the bottom of the ninth.
Let's go O's!!
I'd like to once again point out that the difference in all ML managers really isn't all that vast.
"Mets C Lo Duca feels 'great', still placed on DL"
Papi, Manny and someone else coming up.
Ortiz popup. One gone.
Two out.
Base hit!
Send him.
You can do this!
Single, Patterson to 3rd.
Do they bring in Pamplemousse?
They're pitching to Tejada?
W.T.F.?
Tejada fouls out to first.
Just hit it in the air
Thhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeee Red Sox LOSE!
YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha!!!
My buddy Kevin Millar!!!
Baseball games.
Out.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Was 14.
Now 4.
H-fucking-a!
Boston is now tasking their drinking seriously.
HA!
Indeed he does.
Ha!
God, I feel great right now.
Gagme throws 7 straight fastballs to Tejada.
#7 leaves the park.
HA!
Gagme with a spoon!
And the Derek-Melky insurance run.
We could really have lost that game, but we didn't.
This is just so sweet.
One day at a time...
Go Tampa Bay ! Go Yanks !
Hey, is it too early to hang my Yankee flag outside my house ?! Don't want to jinx them .....
Also.. 1st and 3rd with no out. A shot back to the pitcher who gets a DP and the run does NOT score. Poetry in motion.
I can fucking taste it too; I'd be lying if I said I wasn't salivating.
But four games is still four games.
More baseball tomorrow.
What's the schedule? We go to Fenway first, right? When is that?
How's he been hitting in pressure situations?
He often gets really jumpy with the bases loaded and such, and kind of lurches at the ball more than he normally would.
Does he look more comfortable in those spots, or is that still his final frontier?
They were talking about him as a future number three hitter on the broadcast, and based on his stroke, I agree, but only of course provided he's better in big spots.
That made my heart flutter a little.
I couldn't watch the ninth, but you guys make it seem like Mo pitched himself into a jam before remembering he's Mo. Just toying with these bitches, I bet.
thought was a check swing.
Danger remains...
415 A comment from the Boston Globe's Sox forum: "This team is dead in the water. The season is over. Congrats to the Yankees on another division title and another season-ending choke to mock us with. Please please please Red Sox fold 100%. I don't want to watch this gawd-awful team limp into a wildcard spot just to lose in the first round."
----
I wouldn't go that far just yet, but my how quickly things have changed...
Yanks "seriously" considering Kennedy, though the credibility of this site is questionable at best: http://tinyurl.com/3cf6t5
SG at RLYW convinced me it's a bad idea.
4 games is still a long road to travel, but just the fact that the gap has closed to 4 at this point is nice, to say the least.
They just cut-and-pasted from King's column, anyway.
Which still says that Kennedy might be promoted if Karstens had to pitch this weekend, which he didn't.
I think Gagne would be considered a difference maker in the playoffs, but the Yanks need Melky to get to the playoffs.
I really like how this team is built. Still a little more tweaking to the bullpen and I don't want to hear Minky's name on the roster this year, but other than that it is looking good.
General manager Brian Cashman refused to part with him for Eric Gagne at the trading deadline even though the Rangers told Cashman Gagne was going to the Red Sox if they couldn't get Kennedy plus something else.
The Bad:
Just because the Padres claimed Kei Igawa on waivers and have until Tuesday to make a deal with the Yankees doesn't mean the Yankees are going to give up on their $46 million investment.
According to several people with knowledge of the Yankees' thinking, unless the Padres overwhelm them with prospects, Igawa isn't going to be dealt before Tuesday. The Padres are the only team he can be dealt to since they claimed him. (Of course, this could be Brian 'PokerKing' Cashman talking)
and the Ugly:
The Baaawston Red Sox
Don't know about you, but that sounds a little like sarcasm to me.
As it turns out, Gagme's ERA really HAS helped the Yankees
Also, his reasoning had nothing to do with skills, but rather time clocks. It might not be the best idea for Joba, Phil, and IK to hit arb and FA at the same time.
Regarding Kennedy, my thought was that it will only be for one start, and you'd be starting his service clock towards arbitration and free agency at the same time you've already started Hughes's and Chamberlain's. Granted, money's not a major issue for the Yankees, but why worry about having to sign all three long term at the exact same time for no reason.
If the Yankees needed a fifth starter for the rest of the year and Kennedy was the best option, go for it. But to take one spot start then get shipped back down makes little sense to me.
Awesome. What a week! What a month!
Like 415 I am really looking forward to listening to sports talk radio tomorrow. It's going to be full panic mode in New England.
Eric Gagne ROCKS!!!
Indeed, What a week. What a month. Indeed.
I'm putting that one in my back pocket for a rainy day.
:)
Who would be a better option for a single spot start on Tuesday, Karstens or Igawa?
456 Karstens, he's pitched well before (last year).
He could give you a five-inning, four-run performance if he has a good day, and that could easily be enough to win the way the sticks are going.
I like Igawa because at least I know what I'm getting out of him. In all seriousness, he actually seems pretty consistently mediocre to sub-mediocre; he probably won't get knocked out in the first or second.
The Yankees are now a full game ahead of the Red Sox in BP Adjusted Standings.
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