Amazing that I don't post for almost 3 months yet the same issues are at the forefront of the Yankees' universe. Situational hitting has been an absolute nightmare all season long. It is almost unfathomable that a collection of hitters with as impressive track records as the Yankees' hitters have can look so utterly incapable of picking up runs when they are ripe for that picking.
I tuned into yesterday's game in the 7th inning. John Lakcey appeared to be on the ropes as he'd yielded an RBI single to Johnny Damon, giving the Yankees a 2-run advantage and a serious threat for more. Damon and Melky were on 2nd and 3rd, respectively, following a head-scratching yet still acceptable sacrifice bunt from Derek Jeter (2 runners in scoring position with 1 out is better than a potential rally-killing double play, something Derek has become extremely familiar with this year).
My viewing seemingly brought extremely bad omens to what appeared to be a promising situation. Bobby Abreu, who has been one of the team's better hitters with RISP this year, sharply grounded to second. Melky, running on contact within the infield, was gunned down at home. That brought up the team's worst offender in potentially run-producing situations lately, the flailing reigning MVP A-Rod. A strikeout later, Lackey was out of the jam.
2 innings later, the Yankees bullpen allowed 10 runs, completely flushing a great performance from rotation addition Dan Giese.
That 7th inning offensive flop carried over this afternoon: 2 for 12 with RISP, 14 men left on base total. They were within a few big hits of winning all 3 games against the best team in baseball. That, considering that Ian "2008's Biggest Flop Award Recipient" Kennedy only lasted 2 innings in his start Friday, makes this weekend's sweep even more disappointing.
The team limps into Minnesota with extremely bleak postseason prospects. Tampa Bay has not slowed down and has a comfortable 8.5 game lead in the AL East. The only solace to take from this so-far disgustingly ugly road trip is that Boston has done nothing to separate themselves in the Wild Card race-a 4 game disadvantage, considering how bad the team currently looks, is in no way insurmountable. Especially since the teams still play each other 6 times before season's end.
Needless to say, though, a lot has to change in order to make this season anything more than a total wash that will ultimately be chalked up to too many injuries and too much inconsistency. A good place for something to change would be in Minnesota, a team that is still ahead of the Yankees record-wise and could ultimately be a team they have to contend with for the Wild Card. Back tomorrow with the pitching match-ups and a preview of the series.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Unbelievable comeback, stemming from the difference between the Red Sox's top relievers early in the season vs. how they're pitching now. April and May, Dice-K was circumnavigating 6 innings against the Yankees, running up the pitch count, constantly being in trouble, but getting away relatively unscathed. His high pitch counts in games at the beginning of the seasonal marathon drastically affected his endurance over the full season.
Ditto for the arms of Okajima and Papelbon, who were the unhittable combination that made the game literally a 7 inning affair in the teams' first meetings. The drastic difference in Japanese baseball for a pitcher, especially ones as heavily relied upon as Daisuke and Hideki for Boston, no doubt is inhibiting their abilities late in the season. The transition is tough overall for Japanese players who aren't Ichiro, seemingly thanks to the combination of the scheduling differences (less games in a Japanese season, guaranteed off-days on every Monday) and an MLB-wide ignorance of this effect. Dice-K was treated like a seasoned American League veteran who can handle throwing a mythic number of pitches because he's so used to throwing every day, or something along those lines.
The difference in the leagues can be seen from even a Yankees perspective, both this year and in the past, thanks to the failures of the combination of Japanese pitchers and the pinstripes, as well as the streaky nature of Godzilla. Still, though, the Yankees have found fresh young arms at the right time in the right places late in the season, and have also found the right combination of effective front of the line starters. For all the talk of the Joba Rules, his unavailability was survived tonight, and you now have the combination of Wang/Chamberlain/Rivera scheduled and available for tomorrow's game. I presume Rivera will be available based on the effectiveness of Luis Vizcaino even with an apparent stiff shoulder. Mariano pitching more than an inning Wednesday, off Thursday, one inning Friday....it would make sense to use him on Saturday, then say he's unavailable on Sunday.
One thing the Yankees should learn, though, is to not guarantee he's available for all three games of the series and play the macho, must-beat-Boston headgames. It's enough that the Official Gutsy Veteran Martyr of the '07 Season starts Sunday, we don't need to hear about Mariano Rivera talking his way into a game that could take some of the crispness off his all-important arsenal heading forward. That lesson should be totally apparent based on the dropped velocity of Big Papi II.
The bottom line is, the game was like drawn-out torture to watch due to its length and pace, and it looked as though the Yankees emotionally were pulled from competitiveness when the deficit hit 5. And yet they won the game, and nobody had to bite the bullet and extend themselves into dangerous territory out of the bullpen. They were able to overcome a shaky outing from their #2 starter and so many men left on base early in the game and pull out a victory.
One of the most gut-wrenching yet entertaining regular season games you can find in a baseball season. So many crucial decisions made during the game, so much speculation to follow after the game about what managers did. A player looking like a defensive disaster, as though he was afraid of the ball at first base, and then getting credit as the ignitor of the spark for the 6-run comeback. Pick any angle to remember it by when you talk about it, it was an amazing game.
