Last night was a rarity. The bullpen blowout that cost the Yankees a lead late in the game has generally been rare this year, although not lately (see: the debacle in Anaheim this past Saturday). Mariano Rivera serving up the game-tying gopher ball is the shocking part of the equation. The offense, specifically the Golden-Rod, producing a timely home run to give them the lead, was surprising. Even more so was their ability to tack on 2 more runs after A-Rod’s blast to give 12th inning closer Edwar Ramirez a 3-run cushion.
What’s most shocking to me, though, is that they actually won an extra-innings game on the road. They had lost their only three extra inning road games this year, including one on that same Minnesota field on May 31st. Since 2007, their record in such games was a whopping 1-10. Not a huge sample size when you consider how few games it is total. However, all those circumstances make the win last night a satisfying one. The problem, however, is that there’s no way to predict if that win will have any positive residual effect on this afternoon’s matinée affair in the Hubert H. Humphrey Dome. The cliché is that a team’s momentum is based on the next day’s pitcher. That doesn’t seem to favor the Yankees, as Darrell Rasner is fresh off a demotion to the bullpen that he escaped thanks to Ian Kennedy’s physical and mental implosion in Anaheim. They are going to have to put some runs up on the board, early and often ideally. Kevin Slowey is a good candidate to comply, as the Yankees have already touched him up on two occasions so far this year. Should be an interesting game, for a number of reasons:
--A terrible Rasner performance could force the organization’s hand in deciding what to do next with the rehabbing Phil Hughes. This weekend’s starters are set, with Pettitte, Ponson and Mussina scheduled to toe the rubber. Next Tuesday in Toronto, however, is where it gets interesting, and Dan Giese is the central figure of interest. Giese deserves another start based on his performance Saturday in Anaheim. However, Dan is also the team’s best long reliever. It’s feasible that he’d be needed to pitch today and perhaps one game this weekend, if either Rasner, Ponson or Pettitte flame out early in their starts.
If he pitches twice between now and Tuesday, Phil will be up and starting in Toronto. If he doesn’t pitch today but is used over the weekend for an inning or two, I still think he starts on Tuesday. All of these scenarios aside, though, I think barring injury or poor performance at Scranton, Hughes is back in the rotation next weekend in Baltimore.
--Derek Jeter fouled a pitch off his instep of his left foot last night, and even though Girardi said that he thought he’d start today’s game, Jeter is on the bench. Wilson Betemit is starting at SS today, and you assume that Jeter will be well enough to start Friday night in the Bronx. It’s unbelievable to me how bad Betemit has looked at the plate all this season, yet how much confidence Joe Girardi has in constantly putting him in the lineup. How can occasional home run power overcome tons of strikeouts and defensive mediocrity? The Yankees’ bench has not been good in 10 years because of players like Betemit littering the roster.
--Tampa lost last night in Oakland so the Yankees picked up a game, and they’re now 8 back in the AL East race. No advance in the Wild Card hunt, as Boston won a football game against the Texas Rangers, 19-17. They were winning 10-0 after the first inning, yet Charlie “Tim Wakefield 2.0” Zink gave it all back in his major league debut.
It’s still unrealistic to be gunning for the Rays based on the size of the deficit, but Crawford and Longoria out of their lineup change their dynamic a whole lot. They have been winning all year with pitching, but their young pitchers have thrown a lot of innings and have never experienced the wear and tear of pennant race games in August and September. The possibility is still there, but the Yankees need to pretty much win or split every series they play from here on in, including against teams like the Angels, Rays and Red Sox. A tall order, for sure. Boston is more vulnerable head-to-head without Ramirez and with people like Lowell and Varitek struggling, but they are still winning games and scoring runs. The Yankees have to almost become a different team over the next 6 weeks, and a short-term personality makeover is hard to do in baseball. Usually by August, you are what you are as a team and your identity isn’t changing drastically.
--Mark Melancon gave up the 2 runs that Phil Hughes was charged with in Pawtucket last night, as he relieved Hughes in the 6th after Phil had allowed two men to reach base and had hit his magic pitch count number of 85. Still, though, bringing Melancon into the middle of an inning is a sign that the Yankees have to be considering promoting him to help their bullpen, which has struggled lately after a season of overachieving. It should be interesting to see if their from-within reinforcements (Hughes, Matsui, maybe Melancon) pan out this year. Kennedy is already firmly in the “didn’t pan out” category of reinforcements, and unlikely to move from there before October. But three out of four would be a great ratio.
Back later with more about today’s game.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Much was made of how Joe Girardi would be a great motivator, how he was a natural leader of men and would bring a spark that the Yankees had been missing during the stoic and calm Joe Torre years.
But this year has been full of nights like tonight, where the team looks as though it is going through the motions. It's as though the offense fails once early on, and then starts pressing and pressing, attempting to make it all up with one swing. Not the right way to get what is supposed to be a good offensive team off the snide.
Ivan Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera spit the bit bigtime tonight, stomping out the only rally the Yankees were able to muster against randomly unhittable Glen Perkins. It is amazing to me that Melky Cabrera has nine lives this season. How does a team that presents itself as a contender, plugs in 3 major league veterans at the deadline, allow a literal automatic out all year long to remain in the everyday lineup?
It's not as though Cabrera is some 10-year veteran who has a long track record of steady play. He's had one good full offensive season. This year he looks completely out of sync at the plate. Girardi seems to love Justin Christian enough to sit Johnny Damon, who is only leading the AL in hitting, but he won't sit Cabrera for an extended stretch after he keeps burning the Yankees' offense with a terrible approach and complete offensive futility?
The problem is that Gardner and Christian are not good enough to make anyone forget Melky. At the same time, though, they can't be too much worse at the plate. Gardner looked pretty terrible in his cameo, but are there no repercussions for 4 straight months of terrible baseball? Atlanta demoted what they considered a future offensive star, Jeff Francouer, for his terrible hitting throughout the year in an effort to get him started. Didn't work.
Isn't it worth a shot? And, this is in no way intended to point all the team's offensive blame at the feet of Melky, the expected #9 hitter who in a perfect world would be an offensive afterthought. But if he's going to remain in the lineup, there's going to be a chance for him to have important at-bats. And if he fails in those at-bats all year long, why does he keep getting the opportunity?
4 straight losses and a 2-6 road trip is a complete disaster. Best case scenario of 4-6 is ugly, and just getting to that point seems like an extremely up-hill climb considering Rasner throws on Wednesday afternoon. Things are looking bleaker by the day with the 2008 Yankees.
Games 118-120
@ Minnesota Twins
Pitching Probables
Tonight, Monday August 11
Sidney Ponson (7-2, 4.23) vs. Glen Perkins (8-3, 4.38)
Tuesday, August 12
Mike Mussina (15-7, 3.27) vs. Nick Blackburn (9-6, 3.60)
Wednesday, August 13
TBA (Darrell Rasner, Dan Giese, Chase Wright?) vs. Kevin Slowey (8-8, 4.07)
Series Predictions
Yankees will take 2 out of 3, winning the first two games and having a letdown on getaway day with TBA on the hill. Ponson will struggle tonight but the offense will have a good game against Perkins, who could have beaten the Yankees in his last appearance against them, if not for his second baseman forgetting how many outs there were in an inning and also being matched up against a locked-in Mike Mussina.
The Moose will not have his best start on Tuesday, but he will persevere and pick up his 16th W.
TBA will get shelled.
-Good news out of Tampa today, as Matsui continues to progress while he's now strapped into a clunky knee brace. He is running the bases again tomorrow, and he could end up playing in rehab games as soon as this weekend. Girardi said he might come back as early as next week, barring any setbacks. That would change the dynamic offensively, and might actually provide the lineup a good situational hitter, something they sure could have used in Anaheim.
Also, Chamberlain says he's ready to begin throwing again. He wanted to start building himself back up on Wednesday, but Girardi pushed him to Friday. Probably a smart move, Girardi's rationale in the pre-game was that they wanted to have his own staff present to evaluate Joba throwing, thinking that they would pick up if he was trying to mask discomfort better than minor league coaches or organizational execs.
-Even more good news out of Tampa, as well: the Rays lost Longoria to a fractured wrist, a stunning turn-around after he and the team downplayed his injury as a short-term problem. He joins Carl Crawford on the DL, who is out with a ligament sprain in his middle finger which could linger and prove serious, as well. Frustrating considering that the Yankees have dug themselves an enormous hole in the division race and this is the first true prolonged adversity that team will have to face, possibly for the rest of the year. Until they show signs of cracking, the Wild Card has to be the focus.
-In non-baseball news, I had my greatest moment ever watching the Olympics last night. The U.S. swimmers winning that 4x100 relay race, outstretching the thuggish smack-talking French and keeping Michael Phelps in line to win 8 gold medals...it was absolutely riveting. The pure passion that Phelps and his teammates displayed upon winning reminded me why I love watching sports, something that has been dormant throughout this extremely flat Yankees season. It stirred awake my still-fresh muscle memory of February and the New York Giants vs. New England Patriots, albeit for only a few fleeting seconds. Great stuff. Hope Phelps wins another gold tonight.
Back again soon with updates. Can't wait to see which version of your #3 Starter Sidney Ponson shows up tonight.
8:35 PM, End of Top 2nd Inning: Couldn't have played out any better for the Yankees. 1st and 3rd nobody out and they manage to completely squander that opportunity. Pudge pop-up, Melky GIDP. Unbelievable is the word that Michael Kay used. Nothing unbelievable about it if you've been watching all year.
10:00 PM, Bottom of 8th Inning: Eight listless, completely pathetic innings from the Yankees' offense tonight. Strong outing for Sidney Ponson, but now Girardi is trying to stretch him for 8 innings. Going down by more than 3 is lights out, although it seems highly unlikely that any lights are coming on in the top of the 9th, whether they're facing Perkins (another underwhelming lefty the Yankees have made look like a #1 starter) or Joe Nathan. Michael Kay will undoubtedly ask, going into the commercial break, "Do the Yankees have a rally in them?", and the answer, as it has been all year, seems like it will be no.
