Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
As I detailed in my catchup post yesterday afternoon, the Yankees are giving Mike Mussina a chance to prove that he's still got something left to offer tonight primarily because having Moose start tonight pushes Andy Pettitte back for the Red Sox series and sets up Phil Hughes as a possible alternate to Roger Clemens on Sunday. It also gives them a low-risk look at Moose before they have to make any hard decisions about Clemens' elbow or taking rookies in to the postseason. With all of that in mind, this should be an interesting game. Mussina, if you need reminding, has been dreadful over his last four appearances, putting up this line:
13 1/3 IP, 32 H, 22 R (21 ER), 1 HR, 5 BB, 4 K, 2.79 WHIP, 14.18 ERA, 0-3
Moose's 3 2/3 innings in relief of Roger Clemens a week ago Monday was his second longest outing in that stretch and far and away his best, despite the seven hits and two runs he allowed. The low walk and homer rates in the line above are somewhat encouraging, but that dreadful WHIP comprised almost entirely of hits is all you need to see to know how much trouble he's had getting hitters out. That, more than anything else, has been his problem, though it is worth noting that 12 of those 32 hits have been doubles, so it's not as though they're all dinks that can be blamed on bad luck and the defense.
Moose, of course, is still thinking about his four starts previous to those in which he did this:
25 1/3 IP, 29 H, 8 R, 2 HR, 2 BB, 19 K, 1.22 WHIP, 2.84 ERA, 4-0
Opposing Mussina is Dustin McGowan. McGowan is 2-0 against the Yanks this season having held them to two runs on nine hits and four walks in 14 innings across two starts. Inclusive of that last start against the Yanks in mid-July, McGowan has a 2.62 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP and a 7.47 K/9 over his last ten starts.
Combine Mussina and McGowan and tonight's game is one of those that you have to chalk up as a loss going in, setting up an exciting rubber-game duel between A.J. Burnett and rookie Ian Kennedy tomorrow night.
The lineup is unchanged tonight save for Matsui and Damon switching positions. So Moose gets Matsui and Giambi in the field. Off to a great start . . .
Which is exactly why the Yankees will win.
Even with good knees, Mats doesn't come close to catching that liner that JD got last night. That would have changed the whole complextion of the game.
I believe Torre know's what's going on. It seems he is tying to keep everyone playing and loose. I just would rather have JD in LF more often.
and speaking of HATE, this umpire is really loud and annoying with his obnoxious strike call. Poor Posada is going to be def after the game.
PS-sad music note. RIP Joe Zawinul, will pull out 'Sweetnighter' tonight and groove to '125th St Congress'
And they're going to lose AGAIN.
Maybe it's all the rings the yanks won during that time that makes me so nostalgic about Sterling and Kay.
Skydome sounds empty again..depressing place to play no doubt...
1. Does that take into account that it's the D-Rays and they will surely choke and
2. Why would NESPN ever post anything negative about the Sux?
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Someone's nostalgic for Kay and Sterling?
I prefer Rizzuto/Messer/White.
And, whatever Pro-trade is, it should take the team's record and stats of hitters and pitchers into account. Obviously it's just calculating odds based on the number of times in history a team has trailed 4-0 after 2 innings at home. That's not sabermetrics, it's garbage.
bit of a dull game tonight..
Why do I remember Fran Healy being so bad? Did he call the Mets at one point? Uggh, he was on the Monday Night Baseball poster one year.
I initially would have said no, despite the HR totals (given how many more HRs are hit these days). But then I looked up his career numbers--awfully good.
Well, Sterling is a goddam idiot and he thinks the game is about HIM. Sherman is probably just trying to keep up.
More interesting to think about whether Sheffield makes it in..
Ok, that's an exaggeration--they are not this bad. But then, they weren't THAT good when they were winning.
I hope he doesn't try to wing a fastball down the middle of the plate and blow it.
Edvar the Phantom is in!
I was really hoping Moose could finish the inning. But it was right to pull him.
I thought that was hit harder. My heart rate increased more than necessary.
What do we think? Joba for 2 and Mo for 1. Or Britton, Joba, then Mo.
That ump's strike zone has been more than a little inconsistent, Edwar pitched a lot yesterday, and has trouble with the long ball off of his fastball. Could have been real ugly.
McGowan 22 batters faced, 99 pitches, 4.5 P/AB
Downs 6 batters, 25 pitches, 4.2 P/AB
Those are not hacktastic numbers.
137 hahaha
141 Yes, playoff. And it's in our house, because we won a coin toss for it.
Jesus.
I hope I never take Joba for granted. That was just awesome.
Of course, using Joba in the 7th against the bottom of the lineup and Farns against the top doesn't make sense either...unless...Torre is thinking he can use Mo to bail out Farns in the 8th, but can't use Joba to bail him out in the 7th.
So our team has a batting average of .120 tonight. And we're kicking ass.
This one's not over boys- I hate we do this lay down shit!
Could this be it? The end of the run?
Oh, and another, nice.
Now Stairs. 170 Thank god it isn't Overbay, or we'd be cooked.
Detroit's schedule is much easier than the Yankees', so those games against the Sox are very important.
i thought it a little too good to be true that mussina was hitting 90 on the RSN gun, but gameday clocked him at 91-92 several times.
A-Rod's fault.
Bad throw by A-Rod. It reminded me of last season, when he got all those errors.
ER streak alive at least.
And if Mo let's any of those baserunners score, they'll all be unearned. So Joba lives to streak another day. Ewww.
So his error reminded you of his errors?
; )
Order restored.
And Minky flashes both the leather and the lumber.
You get more total pitches from Joba if you use him two innings at a time. There's less stress per inning that way. And the game was/is still close enough for it to matter whether you have a good pitcher or a bad one in the game.
Glad he didn't shatter any misconceptions I may have had 87 .
Fortunately, he was leading off and it's not a huge AB.
If you're going to hit like he does, he better be a vacuum.
Oh well. Nice play.
He was more concerned about 'selling' the catch than he was about playing the game. I guess he knew Melky would score easily.
Let's go DevilFish!
280 Playing the game is running, catching, throwing, hitting. Selling a catch is advertising.
Makes sense to me.
FUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC...
Al Reyes needs to DIAF.
Well gnite guys.
Oh, well, 7 in a row and 21 over .500.
I can just picture Torre giving that speech in the clubhouse...
314 To me, a great player comes up throwing. Instinct, he can't help it. He isn't thinking about how he can trick an ump into making an incorrect call. Willie Mays would have come up throwing; Bernie would have.
322 Perhaps. I assume that even great players think about certain game situations and react to them consciously, not entirely instinctively. I have a hard time believing that Willie Mays never tried to sell a play.
Whatever, I'm not gonna get worked up about it (mainly b/c the blown call had, mercifully, no impact on the outcome).
Does essentially facing the same pitcher two days in a row (Big Moose and Little Moose) prove to be an advantage or disadvantage?
Dimitri Young = WSN
I'm ready to cry. I missed the game, but I turn on the television and Joe's talking about Mike's good outing, a Hideki double, and, what's this?--Joba allowed a run?
That's sad to have missed Joba's first run and a solid outing by Mike.
Must have been a nice game.
It was a good game, yes. Moose had good control, and a somewhat faster fastball.
How cool is that?
Mo came in, walked a guy, but then restored order and got the last four outs.
Oh, and Vernon Wells made* a shoestring catch to rob Damon of a hit and the Yanks of a run in the ninth. But in fact he trapped it. And there was much consternation, but Mo made it all irrelevant.
I love this guy.
Hot damn.
"Hey it happens. We won, that's all that matters." So confident.
Fucking love this kid.
Yes, mp, I suppose I am.
I'm in a good mood.
:)
1109 AB, 181 singles, 68 doubles, three triples, 25 HR 125 BB.
.250/.332/.384
He barely cracks a .700 OPS
And this guy is fucking up in the field.
http://tinyurl.com/359lqu
As for Delmon, any time the D-Rays don't want him, I'd be glad to take him.
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