Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
They say, in baseball, momentum is only as good the next day's starting pitcher. The Yankees sure hope that's true, as they have their ace, Chien-Ming Wang, on the hill tonight against lefty Oliver Perez, who has done his best to mimic Andy Pettitte's season by posting a 2.49 ERA in his first four starts and a 6.98 ERA in his last four.
The Yankees seemed to have the momentum early in yesterday's game. Andy Pettitte got his first six outs on five Ks and a pickoff, stranding a David Wright infield single in the process, then had a 1-2-3 third inning. Johnny Damon led of the bottom of the first against Johan Santana with a walk and came around to score on a towering home run down the left field line by Derek Jeter. With the Yanks up 2-0, Damon led off the bottom of the third with a single which was followed by a Bobby Abreu double into the gap in right field.
Yankee third-base coach Bobby Meacham waved Damon home on Abreu's hit. With no outs and the heart of the order due up, starting with Jeter who had already homered, it was a questionable send at best and one that betrayed the Yankees' desperate need for runs. Still, it took a perfect play to nail Damon at the plate. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. Ryan Church cut the ball off before it reached the warning track, spun, and fired to Luis Castillo, who relayed home to Brian Schneider. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Schneider, in one motion, caught Castillo's throw on a hop in front of the plate, turned, stuck out his left leg, and kicked Johnny Damon's foot away just as Damon was sliding into the plate. An overhead replay showed that Schneider's foot guided Damon's around the tip of the plate. Damon never touched home, and Schneider applied the tag to the back of Damon's leg as he slid by.
With that one play, the entire game changed. Abreu was stranded at second, and the Mets took the lead in the top of the fourth by scoring three runs against Pettitte on a series of dinks, dunks, and walks. It was only 3-2 Mets at that point, but the momentum had swung, and it never swung back. Pettitte gutted out six innings, throwing 116 pitches and coming away with a quality start and seven strikeouts, but Kyle Farnsworth came on in seventh to face the top of the Met order and gave up a home run to Jose Reyes, walked Church, and then gave up two-run jack to David Wright to make it 6-2 Mets. Farnsworth's home run rate now stands at an eye-popping 2.7 HR/9.
Jason Giambi answered that outburst by leading off the bottom of the inning with a solo homer off Santana and Abreu added another solo shot off the Mets' ace (whose 1.65 HR/9 this inning is ugly in and of itself) in the eighth, but Joba Chamberlain gave one of those runs back in the ninth following a Carlos Beltran triple, and the game ended with the Mets leading 7-4.
So, yeah, let's hope momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher. Let's also hope that the 8:00 start time for tonight's ESPN game will allow the predicted showers to blow through before game time.
Well, couldnt' help but make the connection. Hopefully the Yanks can float the Wanger to safety tonight, And of course, let's all hope A-Rod is absolutely 100% on Tues.
I hope Wang's on his game tonight, it would be terrible to listen to Joe Morgan with the Yankees losing. That's too much to take.
Berman and Morgan.
Woe is me.
Wow.
That would make me sad.
For Christ's sake.
What a circus, all around.
Hope the game is good to take the edge off and make me forget about them
I watched the Red Sox methodically crush the Brew Crew today and just wished that some of our guys could foul off not-quite-good-enough pitches to get to the meaty ones. In particular, Coco Crisp, while he K'd with the bases loaded and down a run, fouled off about 6 pitches and watched three breaking pitches just miss. Had a Yankee hitter been in that situation they would have leapt out of their shoes trying to hit that outside curve and tapped into a double play.
At least Sterling actually saves his theatrics for actual, well, you know, theater. Not groundouts and the like.
18 Yes. That was pathetic.
(Reminds me of when that Arizona catcher dropped not one, but two popups in the first inning, or whatever it was.)
When we look back at this season and ask "when did the turnaround start?" the answer is going to be "that second game against the mets."
(otherwise the answer may be, "it didn't".)
My huge pet peeve is watching nobody players drive in two runs simply by going up the middle or the other way, something any major league hitter should be able to do, while our guys flail and roll over trying to hit the ball over the court house.
No K's tonight, but he's dealing.
but its a solid .193 ...
what a fucking shill.....
The decision to throw to second itself, meanwhile, is the problem.
Begin discussion about the merits of instant replay in baseball. It would slow the game down? Really? It would be slower than the umpire conference that doesn't get the call right? How does that make sense?
By the way, I don't feel bad if we lose this game. I have seen nothing so far that suggest we deserve the W, even if the ground opens up underneath the visiting dugout (sigh)...
(I'm taking my moral victories where ever I can get them)
http://tinyurl.com/5oa58k
(the inning. the game. the season?)
This year feels more like decline and surrender...literally the walking dead out there with pinstripes. I haven't come remotely close to giving up on the season, but boy, these guys are trying their hardest to make me do so.
And Matsui is a stud.
Parallax error. Look it up.
Love,
mehmattski
And Matsui is a stud.
99 I disagree. Joe Morgan is the devil. See those eyes? (shudder)
Good job Giambi- way to keep the mojo going.
Now anyone want to bet on a ground ball to second by Cano?
Joe is young.
There's 2 different ways of doing things.
I'm going to ask Joe about it next inning.
It looks like Melky has hit a slump, which shortens the lineup even more.
Girardi is changing lineups because he's had to deal with injuries to two main pieces of his lineup ... not because he is trying to shake things up per se ..
JG: Hey Joe, why don't you put some cream in your STFU?
Can they get off the pole... well you know what I mean.
(What, too soon?)
well ..... Eight Belles would at least cross home plate first ....
(but yes .... too soon)
#1 on the Yankees in Runs Created
#2 in OBP
#2 in 2Bs
#1 in RBI
1.055 OPS in 73 at bats with men on base
You must not be easily inspired.
Good night all. This is just too damn frustrating.
BTW, Murcer turns 62 on Tuesday ...
a three legged overweight furball with stubby front legs.
If you want to talk deals, no... Cano should not be traded. And Abreu should not be signed to a three-year deal either. I'm perfectly comfortable with a Damon-Cabrera-Tabata outfield in 2009.
As for trading for Matt Holliday, what exactly do the Yankees have to offer for a power-hitting outfielder in his prime? Large, expiring contracts? Prospects who are either too young to make an impact this year (Tabata, Jackson, Montero) or have been beaten around at the major league level (Hughes, Kennedy, Chase Wright)? What kind of package would make sense for the Rockies?
I do think more pitchers are realizing that some of these Yankee hitters are on the downside and can't handle the fastball as well.
Holliday's OPS on the road for his career is .780. I wouldn't touch him.
Holliday's OPS on the road for his career is .780. I wouldn't touch him.
And what will he cost?
Fortunatly, Cashman has not been panicing over the last few years, and has not made bad, long term deals out of desparation. Expensive quick fixes have not worked over the last 4 years. I don't want to go back in that direction.
151 We share the same alma mater so I hear you on Paul, but he's been having an unbelievable playoff run -- both he and Deron Williams have been great to watch as point guards. I can live with the Hornets because it would be really nice to see New Orleans celebrating something. And I can't stand either the Lakers or Celtics...Kobe's supporting cast is one of the most annoying groups surrounding a superstar that I can ever recall.
I'm rooting for the Spurs to win the whole thing. I think that they are the best team. Also, it would piss off the sports media if they repeat.
BLEH.
There, I said it.
Atkins could be a nice alternative. I know he qualifies at 1B in fantasy. I'm not sure how natural he is at the position.
211 We've been on this carousel before. They look bad, for sure. Still, they ARE competing. The way they are going about it, however, is less than desirable.
209 220 Aren't we loaded with pitching prospects? How about some of them. Perhaps, even Tabata if it's for an OF.
216 Agreed. I know I brought it up in the off-season. Quentin was another one. Going after top talent from teams that have too much of it and so give up early on players. But, going after that young talent doesn't seem to be Cash's thing.
Straight up embarassin'. Man, these guys need to step up or get out.
Ha.
Also, I'm not very impressed by Girardi. Is he on the Hot seat? I think he should be.
Plus, how many guys were on those teams with the vaunted patience? Lots of guys getting PT these days certainly were not.
258 Matt, yes, he's tried a lot of things. To me that shows he's willing to be flexible, and when something doesn't work he drops it. I don't see that as asinine or "doing nothing." This team is bad, its not Girardi that is.
Actions speak louder than words.
You can have the last word, as always. What's the point, you've never had a thought you didn't like or heard another's that you did.
If this MESS is the best they can muster, that's even more depressing.
Good exchanges lead to both parties learning something over time. Hard to do if one party is always right.
I don't care if others don't like my opinions. I offer them with respect to others. I take strong positions and just as many who don't like them also do. If you can't handle that, fine. I am not insisting that you agree with me. I am very comfortable accepting that other people have different opinions...I don't feel threatened by it.
Cliff, optimism, we could use some. Please....
They're shitty.
Just try and be objective for once and understand that no one fears your arguments. It's that it is difficult to have a real exchange with you. You're always right and don't seem to see the value in listening or learning from others.
Anyway, I want off the carousel. Gonna watch a movie.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/plate-discipline-stats
It lets you know whether they're swinging at strikes in and out of the zone, whether they make contact, etc. And you can compare this season with previous seasons, and the league average.
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