Numbers game: Melky Cabrera now wears Bobby Abreu’s old No. 53. Brett Tomko, today’s starter, took Cabrera’s No. 28.

1:20 p.m. Tomko pitched a 1-2-3 first. Talk about a difference of opinion. This from Mark Feinsand of The New York Daily News: Tomko is “a decent pitcher during his career, and could be a find as a long man. It appears to be between Tomko, Dan Giese and Alfredo Aceves for the spot.” Steven Goldman wrote about Tomko this morning and pulled no punches.

Tomko’s line: two scoreless innings, one hit. Jose Veras in.

1:48 p.m. Tied at 1 after Alex Rios’ sacrifice fly. Veras got into immediate trouble after allowing a double, hit a batsman and threw wild pitch. He’s looking smart for declining the Dominican Republic’s invite to play in the WBC. Spots in the underbelly of the Yankees bullpen will be scarce.

2:05 p.m. A-Rod smacks a two-run homer off Ricky Romero to put the Yankees ahead 3-1 in the top of the fourth. Yankees fans cheer, everyone else boos. One pitch before the blast, writes Feinsand, a fan shouted, “That was a steroid-induced foul ball!”

2:18 p.m. 4-1 Yankees at the end of 3 1/2 thanks to Todd Linden’s RBI single off Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan. This morning, commenting on an earlier entry, The Max touted Linden to start Opening Day in left field. These boys live in an alternate universe, but are a lot of fun.

2:25 p.m. Quick Mets update: Luis Castillo has driven in four runs. Castillo for NL Comeback Player of the Year and Jerry Manuel for Manager of the Year.

2:37 p.m. 6-1 Yankees, bottom 5. A-Rod went 1-for-1 with two walks and two RBIs thanks to that fourth-inning homer. The Bergen Record‘s Pete Caldera gauged a 70-30 cheers-to-boos ratio when Rodriguez stepped up for his final at-bat of the day.

Dan Giese pitched a scoreless fourth, allowing one hit. Hold your breath, Kei Igawa is next in line.

2:49 p.m. Stop the presses! Kei Igawa allowed only a hit in the fifth, striking out one without walking a batter. Igawa = AL COY.

4:02p.m. Yankees win 6-1. David Robertson finished up with two strikeouts and a walk in a scoreless inning. Looks like Robertson and Giese moved up the bullpen pecking order while Veras was knocked down a few pegs.

The sure things
Marte wasn’t the reliable set-up man he was in Pittsburgh. His ability to strike out a batter per inning is neutralized by his 4.04 BB per 9 IP walk rate. I’d prefer him as a LOOGY and to see Phil Coke emerge as the second left-hander who can pitch multiple innings and get key outs late in games.

Bruney has meant business since reporting to camp last season 25 pounds lighter, but his 2008 campaign was interrupted when he injured his right foot trying to cover first base on April 22 in Chicago. Although it was the same injury that put Chien-Ming Wang out of commission, Bruney not only defied the odds and returned on August 1, he was brilliant, pitching to a 1.83 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 18 hits allowed in 34 1/3 innings. Any concerns over Joba Chamberlain starting should be assuaged by Bruney’s presence.

The underbelly candidates
Edwar Ramirez has tendinitis in his right shoulder and will be examined today by Dr. Allen Miller. I’m not sold on him anyway. Yesterday I mentioned there’s no middle ground with him; once opposing hitters figured out how to read his change-up, Ramirez was unable to adjust. He’s either real good or real bad, as indicated my these monthly splits once he became one of Joe Girardi’s key relievers:

May: 1-0, 0.77 ERA, 8 H, 5 BB, 10 K, 11 2/3 IP
June: 0-0, 7.36 ERA, 10 H, 6 BB, 13 K, 11 IP
July: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0 H, 3 BB, 16 K, 11.1 IP
August: 2-1, 6.94 ERA, 15 H, 4 BB, 13 K, 11 2/3 IP
September: 0-1, 8.44 ERA, 8 H, 5 BB, 6 K, 5 1/3 IP

Coke was a pleasant surprise last year, holding opponents to a .160 batting average while allowing one earned run in 14 2/3 innings. He whetted the Yankees’ appetites to where he was considered a candidate to start before the team re-signed Andy Pettitte. I’m excited to see a lot more of Coke, 26, who showed me in a small sampling of work and through brief discussions he’s emotionally equipped to handle pressure situations. 

Jose Veras is lights out when he’s on his game, but like Ramirez was vulnerable to the gopher ball (7 HRs in 57 2/3 innings) and issued 4.53 walks per nine innings pitched.

David Robertson will get a longer look for as long as Ramirez is on the shelf, but ultimately may fall victim to a numbers game. He turns 24 in April and may not be ready for significant innings, so more seasoning in Triple-A can only help.

The super sleeper
Mark Melancon earned a ton of press in today’s papers and for good reason. Despite the bevy of righty relievers vying for roster spots, Melancon showed off his electric stuff throwing 30 pitches during Sunday’s session, even getting Derek Jeter to whiff on a couple and breaking Robinson Cano’s bat. He is already being projected as the next Chamberlain in an eighth-inning role and perhaps Rivera’s successor in two years.

Melancon, the Yankees’ ninth-round pick (284th overall) in 2006, went 6-0 with a 1.81 ERA in 19 outings at Scranton – this after missing all of 2007 due to Tommy John surgery. He’s probably ticketed for Scranton in April, but Girardi said he’s “in the mix” and you could see him with the big club sooner rather than later, especially if the Yankees are looking for another Joba-like spark to their bullpen. 

2008 Topps Mets Jerry Manuel

After a couple days of junk mail filling the mailbox, I got three more envelopes from Florida and my first two from Arizona today.

The highlight was this Jerry Manuel card, signed in silver Sharpie.

It’s from the Mets gift set that Topps put out last year that included cards for the coaches and some bench players that were left out of the regular set. (I hope that Topps brings back the concept for 2009, but I wish they’d leave out the autograph and lower the price back to $19.99.)

Manuel did a good job handling the mess he inherited last year and I’m very interested to see how things go this year when he starts with a clean slate.

I also got a pair of Yankees autographs today. It may seem a bit funny for a Mets fan to pursue Yankees autographs, but I will usually write to the Yankees rookies each spring if I have cards for them. I think it’s the whole familiarity thing, since they keep getting coverage in the local media.

2008 Topps Update Dan Giese

Dan Giese pitched reasonably well in limited time with the big club last year, making 3 starts and 17 relief appearances. He’ll be trying to win the long relief role this spring, and at age 31 is not likely to become a big star.

Giese has an unusual signature that I’m glad I don’t have to decipher. He appears to have made a reference to Psalm 23.

2009 Topps Phil Coke

Lefty Phil Coke also pitched well in limited duty for the Yankees last year, though all 12 of his appearances came out of the bullpen. At age 25, he has a much better chance of developing into a solid major league player. He seems to be ticketed for a bullpen spot in 2009.

This is my first signed 2009 Topps card; this year’s design looks much nicer signed since it doesn’t already include a pre-printed autograph. I like the posed spring training shot; it is nicely reminiscent of the old-style cards. I don’t think I’d want to collect a whole set with photos like this in 2009, though.

2008 Topps Heath Bell

From Arizona, I got a Padre and a Mariner. Heath Bell came up through the Mets farm system, but he couldn’t stick in the Mets bullpen. The Mets traded him off to San Diego before the 2007 season, and Bell blossomed there.

Bell is in good shape this spring; thanks to Wii Fit, he lost 25 pounds since last season. The Padres’ closer job appears to be his to lose this year.

During Bell’s tenure in New York, he was one of the good guys who always seemed to have time to sign a few autographs for the fans before a game. It’s nice to see him enjoying some success, but he would have looked good out in the Mets bullpen last year.

2009 Upper Deck Historic Firsts Don Wakamatsu

Don Wakamatsu was a career minor league catcher who spent a little bit of time in the big leagues with the Chicago White Sox in 1991. Since his playing days ended, he went on to coach. As Upper Deck helpfully points out, last year the Seattle Mariners made Wakamatsu the first Asian-American manager in the Major Leagues.

This is my first signed 2009 Upper Deck card. I guess I was lucky to pull a 2008 Historic Firsts card that was baseball related.

So far, I’m 6 for 60 this spring.

Even so, it appears the time for callups will pass relatively quietly for the Yankees. Girardi confirmed Sunday that catcher Chad Moeller will return to the club Monday, and left-hander Phil Coke will also join the team as a member of the bullpen as the Bombers head to Detroit to kick off a 10-game road trip.

Girardi said the bullpen is a focus for the Yankees right now, and it will get a big boost soon. Righty Joba Chamberlain is set to be activated Monday if all goes according to plan, and Dan Giese will likely join the team Tuesday in Tampa Bay. New York already called up one hurler from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when Alfredo Aceves joined the club Thursday after a rough couple of days for the Yankees relievers. To make room on the roster, the Bombers optioned Dave Robertson, but hope to recall him soon.

Other potential callups include outfielders Melky Cabrera and Justin Christian. Both have spent significant time with the Major League club this season, but with Xavier Nady, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu in the lineup every day, there may not be room for both Cabrera and Christian on the roster. 

Guess what. The injury is rotator cuff tendinitis…again. And yeah, history repeats itself as Giese got himself a seat on the 15-day DL. The news came out after Giese was examined by Dr. Chris Ahmad at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. Giese was originally scheduled to face the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday (next) but now that hes’ injured, the most likely candidate will officially be Darrell Rasner. I, for one, would like to see Phil Hughes instead of Rasner, though. Hughes can’t be worse than Kennedy, can he?

The other topic shouldn’t be addressed as much, because everyone in Yankee Nation knows this already. Every Game is Important. The Yanks have 41 games remaining on the schedule—and they must go 30-11 to make the playoffs. Now I’m just saying 30-11 because the Yanks have 64 wins currently. 30 more would give them 94, and 11 more losses would add up to a grand total of 68, which is probably unlikely. I figure 94 would be the minimum number of wins to make the playoffs. The Rays would probably falter with several stars injured, and the Sox would likely end up with a win-loss record along the lines of 96-66 or 98-64.

Every game down the stretch is crucial. The pitching, hitting and luck must come alive again. 30-11 is a major miracle, but the Yanks at least have a chance of getting it.

Ivan Rodriguez followed A-Rod’s blast, with a double; and, then, Xavier Nady added some insurance, by hitting his 6th homerun as a Yankee, to cap-off the scoring on this night, 9-6 in favor of the New York Yankees.

Johnny Damon, (3-for-6), led off the game with a homerun, to give the Yankees an early, 1-0 lead. Damon’s three hits tonight, upped his league-leading batting average to .325; and, sent a message, that if the Yankees are going to make the playoffs, Johnny Damon has to be in the lineup in all of the Yanks remaining 42 games.

The Twins took the lead, 2-1, in the bottom of the 2nd, on back-to-back sac-flies, by, Brian Buscher and Adam Everett.

Scoring from third, with less than two outs, has been a problem for the Yankees this season, and hopefully, the Yankees took some notes from the Twins on how easy it is to get the runner home from third when the batter just focuses on hitting a long fly-ball to the outfield, as opposed to trying to power the ball into the seats.

Small Ball by the Minnesota Twins has kept them in the pennant race all year.

The Yankees battled back in the 4th inning, when Nady drove home, Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi, on a hard hit double in the left-centerfield gap, for the 3-2 Yankees lead.

The Twins tied the score, 3-3, with a run in the bottom of the 4th; but, a RBI single by Derek Jeter (3-for-5), that drove home Jose Molina in the 5th, regained the lead for the Yankees, 4-3.

The Yankees knocked out Twins starter, Nick Blackburn, in the middle of the 5th inning, after he allowed, 4 runs, on 6 hits, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts. 

The Bombers increased their lead to, 5-3, on a force-play RBI by Abreu in the top of the 7th.

Meanwhile, Yankees starter, Mike Mussina, was pitching a good game into the 7th inning, but, this was not one of Mussina’s best outings. He still held the Twins to only three runs, on 8 hits, one walk, and 5 strikeouts, through the end of the 7th inning.

In the top of the 8th, the Yanks plated another run to make the score, 6-3.

Then, as the game entered the bottom of the 8th inning, my thoughts were brought back to this past Saturday’s game in L.A., the second game of the three-game series that the Angels swept the Yankees.

Dan Giese was pitching a brilliant game throughout 6 innings, allowing the Angels only one run, on 3 hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. The Yankees were leading at the time, 3-1, after scoring one run in the top of the 7th. Dan Giese had only thrown 83 pitches in his 6 innings of work, and was clearly in command of the Angel batters in this game.

But, Joe Girardi elected to go to the bullpen; and, by now, everybody knows what the result was. Jose Veras replaced Giese to start the bottom of the 7th inning, and promptly gave up two runs that tied the score, 3-3, thus depriving Dan Giese of a possible win in this game.

Then, the flood gates opened up “very wide”, in the bottom of the 8th, as the Angels scored 8 runs off relivers, Edwar Ramirez and David Robertson, that blew the Yankees away, 11-4, in this very damaging loss.

Once again, it was the “pitch-count” that determined a managers decision, in this case, Joe Girardi of the Yankees, to remove a starting pitcher from the game — way too soon — when the pitcher is throwing a great game, and delivering a outstanding pitching performance.

Well, in last night’s Yankees vs. Twins game, the dreaded “pitch-count” reared it’s ulgy head one more time.

Mike Mussina had thrown 103 pitches after 7 innings [a little over the "mystical" 100-pitch count number]. And, almost as if by rote, the decision was made to take the starter [Mussina] out of the game.

Every time this happens, I keep asking: Why? … Why? … Why? 

It’s good to see that the all-time great pitcher, Nolan Ryan, who is now V.P. of Basball Operations for the Texas Rangers, also agees that the “100-pitch count” is “so-overrated”, that he has ordered all managers and coaches throughout the entire Texas Rangers Organization to stop being so strict in regards to pitch-counts.

Ryan wants to build-up the arm strength of the starters by having them pitch longer in games that they start [staying in games 7-8-9 innings], and throwing more in the range of 115-125 pitchers per start. This will also put less pressure on the middle relievers in the bullpen(s), which have been very ineffective throughout all of baseball in recent years.

Good for Nolan Ryan. I hope other teams [including the New York Yankees] follow Mr. Ryan’s thought process on the “over-reliance” of pitch-counts.

Anyway, Mike Mussina, who was looking for his 16th win in this game, and had a 6-3 lead through 7 innings, was replaced by Damaso Marte, who started the bottom of the 8th.

In my view, based on the importance of this “must-win” game, and the fact that the Yankees bullpen has not pitched too well over the last few weeks, Girardi should have let Mussina pitch the 8th inning. Mussina earned the right to take the mound in the 8th to protect his start, and possible 16th win of the season. Also, the way Mussina has been pitching as compared to the inconsistency of the bullpen — I would much rather take my chances with Mussina on the mound.

Marte was hit hard in the 8th inning, giving up two hits while retiring only one batter. This forced Girardi to go to the pen again in this inning, to bring Mariano Rivera into the game for a five-out save.

We can never question Joe Girardi bringing Mariano into a game at any time, but in this case, I think, if Mussina stayed in the game to pitch the 8th, and Rivera entered the 9th for the save, the Yankees would have won this game without going into extra innings.

As it turned out, Mariano gave up a three-run homer to Delmon Young, that tied the score, 6-6. This was Rivera’s first blown-save of the year, and the way this game was going — it looked like it was going to be another tough loss for the Bronx Bombers on this road trip.

It was interesting, also, to watch [on the Yes Network] Mariano Rivera in the dugout after that game-tying inning was over. You could see how “upset” Mariano was with himself, looking up at the ceiling in the dugout, and down to the ground.

Ian Kennedy, take note. The “Great Mariano” was visibly “upset” about his poor performance yesterday.

Mariano Rivera did pitch a scoreless 9th; Jose Veras (3-1), the winning pitcher, pitched scoreless innings in the 10th and 11th; and, after the 12th innng heroics by A-Rod and Nady, Edwar Ramirez closed out the 9-6 Yankees victory, throwing a scoreless bottom of the 12th, for his first “save” of the year.

This was a “Big Win”, as they all are, for the Yankees at this time in the season. But, also, it was a little disappointing that Mike Mussina was not allowed to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning, to protect the 6-3 lead at the time, as he was going for his 16th win.

The Dan Giese start against the Angels; and, Mike Mussina’s start [yesterday] vs. the Twins, hopefully, will at least start the process of the Yankees re-thinking their approach to the “pitch-count” for starting pitchers in their Organization.

Following the lead of Nolan Ryan, on the ”pitch-count” issue, would be a successful approach to take. 

Edit: Thursday, August, 14, 2008  –  The New York Yankees lost the final game of the three-game series against the Minnesota Twins, 4-2. This game was also the final game of a very brutal, 10-Game Road Trip for the Bronx Bombers.

The Yankees split the four-game series against the Rangers, (2-2), in Texas. Then, the Yanks were swept by the Angels in all three games they played in L.A.; and, finally, lost two out of three vs. the Minnesota Twins.

So, on a trip that the Yankees really needed to go [at least], 7-3 … The Bombers, finished the trip with a 3-7 record.

The Yankees have the day off on Thursday, August 14th; and, then return to the Bronx for a three-game weekend series against the K.C. Royals at Yankee Stadium. There are only 41 games remaining in the 2008 season, so these games vs. the Royals are very important [as are all the remaining games the Yankees play]. Time is running out, and the Playoffs are looking further and further away, each day, for the New York Yankees.

AL EAST STANDINGS (as of Thursday, August 14, 2008)

Tampa Bay Rays       72 – 47  .605    —

Boston Red Sox         70 – 51  .579   3.0

New York Yankees    64 – 57  .529   9.0  

What’s interesting to note is that the Yanks had a lead in each of the 3 games against the Angels this weekend and could not hold any of them. Ian Kennedy got rocked again Friday night and said..

“I felt like I made some good pitches,” he said. “I’m not too upset about it. … What was it, a bunch of singles and three doubles? I’m just not real upset about it. I’m just going to move on and I’ve already done that.”

…wow, did he really say that? That earned him a first class ticket back to AAA Scranton. Good move by the Yankees. He later apologized for those comments, but come on you got to be smarter than that.

Saturday, Dan Giese pitched 6 solid innings giving up only 1 run, but the bullpen blew up thanks in part to an 8-run 8th inning. The first 6 runs came before the Yankees recorded an out. Ouch! Joe Girardi was asked how he felt watching that 8-run 8th unfold…

“What do you think? You think it’s fun watching that crap?” Girardi snapped. “Silly question.”

…I agree.

Sunday, the Yankees were again ahead in the score, but could’nt hold on. This time a baserunning mistake by Alex Rodriguez in the 7th ended a chance at a rally that could’ve broke a 3-3 tie and a walk by Damaso Marte in the 9th to the 9th place hitter set up the game winning single by Chone Figgins. Those two plays sealed the Yanks’ fate this weekend.

“We had a lot of opportunities. We have to blame ourselves,” said Abreu, who grounded to second with the infield in and a runner on third in the fifth inning. “I wish I had an explanation. I don’t think we understand what’s going on.”

The Yanks have a chance to redeem themselves with 3 games against the Minnesota Twins. A team they trail in the wild card by 2.5 games. It’ll be worth watching to see how the Yankees respond to being swept this weekend in Anaheim. 44 games left to go.

Leave a comment or visit the forums.

We lost to the other Sox, 3-5.  Lester went seven innings.  Long starts, good or bad, are crucial this time of year.  They rest the bullpen, and the more pitchers you have that can burn through the late innings, the better.  So in that sense we’re in good shape.  Lester gave up four runs on six hits with three walks and two K’s.  Not really his best work, even if we did get to see his pinpoint pickoff move in action.  And Delcarmen didn’t help things with that solo homer he allowed in the eighth.  I really hope this isn’t him sliding back to the inconsistency he’s seemed to overcome in recent weeks.  On the home stretch we’ll need all the relief pitching we can get, especially for the close ones.  On the bright side, we used two pitchers to Chicago’s five.  That says something about the quality of our pitching, even if we couldn’t pull it out in the end.

The offense was a one-man show.  Dustin Pedroia the Destroyah with the long ball, ladies and gentlemen.  An impressive three-run shot he smoked off Octavio Dotel in the eighth, scoring Drew (reached on a walk) and Varitek (hit his way on; the captain is coming back, baby!).  Youk’s hitting streak ended, but Bay continued to hit safely in each of his games in Red Sox letters.  And it’s so reassuring to see us down by four so late in the game and come up with three runs in a single inning.  We have a team in 2008 that can come back.  Kind of makes you think of 2004, doesn’t it?

And as for the lineup, I have to say I like it.  This one makes sense to me.  Drew leads off because he can walk, Pedroia second because he hits everything, Ortiz followed by Youk who’s just on fire, then Lowell followed by Bay, Lowrie because he’s quick with the RBIs, Varitek in the No. 8 spot as he slowly gets out of his slump, and Crisp batting ninth.  I’d have Bay batting fifth, but other than that I could definitely get used to this one.

In other news, Major League Baseball is investigating Manny Ramirez’s departure from Boston.  Apparently, the Red Sox’ holding of options on Manny for ’09 and ’10 hurt him and Scott Boras, so Manny did everything in his power to get out, like sitting out for two games and strolling to first after hitting ground balls (by the way, he’s hustling pretty nicely in LA).  Can we say ripoff? I know he’s done a lot for us, but if this is confirmed as true, it’s just disgusting.

And of course good luck to Team USA in Beijinng.  Should be a great Olympics.  But apparently this is the last year for baseball and softball as Olympic sports.  I think that’s ridiculous.  Think of how many athletes are representing us and other nations in those sports.  That’s how many athletes are going to be told in the future that they can’t be Olympians anymore because their sports aren’t internationally popular.  Ridiculous.

Dice-K at Contreras, Giese at Lackey, and Garza at Rowland-Smith.  Should be an interesting night.

AP Photo

As I said before, Joba is in the good news. That’s great. Now, I’m sure most of you Yankee fans were thoroughly dissappointed and mad that Joba got hurt in the Rangers game. Yeah, everyone thought that meant the end of the Yanks’ postseason run. Hold your guns, Joba might be coming back sometime this month! He’s already going to throw in a week. Looks like his injury won’t be as bad as Wang’s. That certainly is great news.

Now, a piece from the LoHud Yankees Blog

Joba Chamberlain plans to start a throwing program next week and expects to rejoin the New York Yankees’ rotation this month.

Chamberlain was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday due to rotator cuff tendinitis in his pitching shoulder. The right-hander saw Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday, one day after an MRI on the rookie’s ailing shoulder.

“I’ll be throwing in a week. I’ll probably throw the beginning of next week,” Chamberlain said Friday when he arrived at the Yankees’ spring training complex. “Everything feels fine now.”

The 22-year-old was removed from Monday night’s start against Texas in the fifth inning with stiffness in his shoulder. He never thought the problem was serious.

“No. Not at all,” Chamberlain said. “It would have been different if I wasn’t still throwing 99 [mph]. It was a different feeling that I never had, so I just wanted to make sure.”

When asked if he would be ready to start again for the Yankees by Sept. 1, Chamberlain said “I’ll throw way before that in a game.”

Well, you know what? Joba is fine. Not 100%, but fine. Getting him back will be a huge push to the struggling club. Anyway, before we talk about Ian Kennedy, here are the remaining pitching matchups for the Yankees-Angels series:

Saturday: RHP Dan Giese (1-3, 2.51) vs. RHP John Lackey (9-2, 3.10), 3:55, FOX

Sunday: LHP Andy Pettitte (12-9, 4.34) vs. LHP Joe Saunders (14-5, 3.03), 3:35, YES

We MUST get a win at least from Pettitte. I don’t have high hopes for Giese, since he is facing Angels ace John Lackey. A miracle might happen, though. (Don’t forget the last time we faced Lackey!)

The Yankees were defeated BADLY 10-5 by the powerful Los Angeles Angels. Since we’re playing on the road, every game matters very much. Well, IPK got belted hard by the Angels bats, and only survived for 2+ innings before being relieved by converted reliever Darrell Rasner. Rasner pitched better than IPK, at least. So, Kennedy remains winningless and hittable.

Now we hear all these Ian Kennedy arguments. None of them matters much, except that Kennedy must give us wins everytime he takes the mound in the 1st inning. Looks like he doesn’t even care. If it was Andy Pettitte or Mike Mussina who got beaten like this, they’d be trying to drown themselves. But Kennedy? No remorse at all. Check out what Kennedy feels about his terrible performance here

Bad news about the staff all around. We need to activate the “Super Emergency Button” in the clubhouse right now. The batters look like they are alerted (Nady and A-Rod homered) but the staff (besides Mike) apparently has not. Hopefully Joba’s return would spark the Yanks a lot. And, oh yeah, Kennedy has to win.

First. I want to congratulate Mike Mussina as he beat Texas with 7 strong shutout innings Thursday night to improve his record to 15-7 on the season.

Now that I got that out of the way, should we consider Moose for a possible Cy Young Award in 2008? The writers have overlooked Yankee hurlers over the last handful of years. When Bartolo Colon took home the hardware, Mariano Rivera probably should have won. Each of the last two years, you could probably have made the argument for Chien Ming Wang one way or the other. Will the BBWAA get it right this time? Should the fact that Cliff Lee at 15-2 plays for a sorry Indians team? Does his great season really make the difference between 90 losses and 100? If the Yankees come all the way back and reach the postseason for the 14th consecutive year, more of the kudos have to be handed to Mike Mussina that any other Yankee arm on the staff outside of Mariano Rivera. Moose is on pace to win 20 games for the first time in his career. Yes, I said it. For the first time in his career. He has won 18 and 19 games numerous times during his hey day in Baltimore, but as he closes in on 300 career wins, this could be his crowing individual achievement. The writers tend to get emotionally attached to certain players, and from what I have seen and heard, Moose could be that favorite in 2008. Good luck to you Moose and keep up the good work.

As for the rest of this team, I was glad to see Derek Jeter finally decided to show up and hit before the series in Texas ended. Jeter is having his worst statistical season of his career. Is this the start of a downward spiral, or is this a one time aberration and he will be back to his usual self in ’09? We will have to wait and see. A-Rod, earning not one red cent of his $27.5 million annual salary went 0-14 in the series-not what the Yankees need heading into a crucial weekend series at Anaheim. He did however, play solid defense during the finale, making a great dive and throw to help out his pitching staff. I am also excited that Robbie Cano is continuing to awaken from his first half+ slumber, going 3-3 with a pair of doubles in the victory. Mo Rivera came on in the 9th and slammed the door to complete the shutout and get the Yankees their second straight split against an AL West foe.

As for the continuing drama that is the starting rotation, the Yankees will have to use Darrell Rasner on Sunday against the Angels as Andy Pettitte will miss his next scheduled start due to left arm stiffness. My advice, get it rubbed out and nut up Mr. Pettitte. Your team’s season is on the line, and Darrell Rasner isn’t the answer. With yet another starter on the shelf, it is time for the daily Freddie Garcia fix. The following came from Newsday:

Desperate Times for Yankees Call for Garcia

Even though Freddie Garcia didn’t knock over the teams that attended his open throwing session on Tuesday, the righthander could find a new employer within the next few days. The Yankees, said by one insider to be “lukewarm” on Garcia, aren’t in a position to be choosy given their desperation for starting pitching. They appear to be among the most interested suitors, whereas the Mets occupy a lower tier. Peter Greenberg, Garcia’s agent wrote in an e-mail yesterday, “We’ll have a better idea in the next couple of days” about Garcia’s future. Greenberg told cbssports.com that Garcia could remain umemployed and work toward 2009 if no offers come in.

I called for the Garcia signing weeks ago. Not because I knew injuries were going to come in droves, but simply because the backend of the rotation has made me puke in my mouth. They are awful, and let me remind the readers, former 20-game winners with a proven postseason track record don’t fall out of trees everyday. This move is a no-brainer for Cashman. Hell, he gave Ponson not one but two chances to pitch in NY. Then again, I would be giving Mr. Cashman entirely too much credit for believing he has a brain. Stay tuned…

As for the upcoming series in Anaheim, I will personally be attending the Sunday game with my lovely wife Karri, and my mother, as Saturday will be Mom’s birthday, and this game is part of her gift. Unfortunately for Mom, and every other Yankee fan in attendance this weekend, odds are extremely high that a sweep is inevitable. Why? Ian Kennedy, Dan Giese, and Darrell Rasner. Enough said. Now tell me Freddie Garcia isn’t worth taking a chance on. Besides Garcia, don’t forget Eric Milton is getting healthier everyday, and yes, he too has Bronx experience, however little that may be. A proven lefty in the Stadium could prove to be a better bet than any of the three pitching this weekend in California.

I will be making another entry later today, as the game out in California gets closer. As always, take care of yourself, be good, and take care of the buddy next to ya!  

If you are wondering who the other left-the-rotation-starter (besides Wang) is, it is Darrell Rasner. Rasner has officially joined the “Worthless Gang of Pitchers” consisting of Carl Pavano, the departed Kyle Farnsworth, Ian Kennedy, the departed Ross Ohlendorf, and the departed Orlando Hernandez. Of course, there’s countless others, too. Rasner’s appearance in the “Worthless Gang of Pitchers” ended up in a bullpen assignment. Dan Giese will officially replace Rasner in the rotation. Considering his few solid starts, I’d say good riddance for Darrell. If this doesn’t work out, the Yanks may be forced to bring up some minor leaguers to fill the void. At least Moooosssseee and Pettitte and healthy.

Joba is expected to take a MRI at the New York Presbyterian Hospital. Hopefully he’ll miss just one start, unlike Chien-Ming Wang. However, Joe Girardi also said that when Wang got injured. All we Yank fans can do is to pray that Joba’s shoulder isn’t too injured, and hope for the best.

As I write my first post for the blog [yeah, I came a little late with the whole MLBlogs thing], I am in East Patchogue, NY, a town in Long Island’s Suffolk County that only my folks can handle. To make the long story short, I lived with my aunt in Queens for all of last year to finish high school at Bushwick High School in Bushwick, New York. Now, I live with my folks in LI and I work in the grocery store they manage. So anyway, I saw the Yankees game from around the fourth inning until it was done and I was real nervous. Sheesh, Razel-Dazel left me wishing that Phil Hughes would come back and prove to the Yankee Universe that he really HAS improved, because I’ve heard that he’s throwing shutout innings in the minors. X-Man’s performance was just a career-best with a combined 6 RBI that included a three-run homer that drove in good ol’ Bobby and A-Rod home. Seventh inning was where an amazing four-run rally had the Yankees trailing by only one run and converted their five to zilch score turn into five to four. Bobby tied the game when Jeter, on second with a fly-ball error thanks to OF Gary Matthews, ran home on Abreu’s single to left-center. After X-Man made the game 8-5, [many thanks to  Dan Giese for his three-inning shutout], Edwar Ramirez replaced Giese and allowed a grand slam courtesy of Texeira, which made the game 9-8. Afterwards, Pudge opened the bottom eight with a single and was replaced by pinch runner Justin Christian, who stole two bases [without the aid of his helmet] after Halo SS Aybar missed Jeff Mathis’ throw and tied it up 9-9. Later on, Damon and Abreu walked with Got Melky? on base and Lucky Number 13 hit one that had Figgins looking like an amateur and drove in Got Melky? for the go-ahead run to lead 10-9. Nady hit another RBI to make him 4-for-4 and the rest of the runs were scored to end the game 14-9. Man do I hate these kinds of frenzies, but whatever. We split the series and that’s something I wanted to see, so I can’t complain! And to close things off, all I gotta say is that I want to see Marte play [amazingly aggresive!!!!!] and I need to see more hits from New York’s very own Richie “Sex in the City” Sexson.     

Preview:
The Yankees welcome the Mets to Yankee stadium in the first game of a two-stadium double-header.††Both of the†previous times they have done this, the Yankees swept.† However, the Yanks are 0-2 against the Mets this season.
Dan Giese will start for the Yankees.† After a few appearances in long relief, Giese made his first Major-League start last Saturday against the Reds.† He performed admirably in that game, giving up zero earned runs in 6.2 IP.† However, he had three runs score unearned, which was enough to†get him the loss.
He will face off against Mike Pelfrey.† Pelfrey has been wildly inconsistent for the Mets this year, allowing 2 runs or fewer in eight starts this season, but also allowing five runs or more in five starts.† In his most recent effort, he walked five batters, but managed to keep the Rockies scoreless over 5.2 innings.
Justin Christian will start in left, with Johnny Damon getting the first game off.† Hideki Matsui will also be on the bench, and is expected to be placed on the DL after the game to make room for game 2 starter Sidney Ponson.

In Other News…

The Yankees are expected to start Mike Mussina tomorrow against Bucs pitcher Paul Maholm. Dan Giese and recently-signed Sidney Ponson are getting starts against our crosstown friends the New York Mets, in a doubleheader. I don’t know what the results will be, but based on Giese’s last start, we’ll probably have to ride some good offense to win the game.

Pettitte (8-5) has not allowed a run over the last 19 innings he has pitched, and has only allowed one run in his last three starts. Andy might have pitched one more inning, but there was a 56 minute rain-delay after the 6th inning, that ended Pettitte’s day. Ramirez replaced Andy Pettitte when the game resumed in the 7th, and pitched a scoreless inning to hold the Yankees 4-0 lead at the time.

The shutout was broken when Kyle Farnsworth gave up an eight inning homerun to Ken Griffey, Jr.

The Reds starter, Johnny Cueto (5-8) also pitched a great game, the third great start of the series for Cincinnati. He threw 5 innings, and gave up one earned run, on 4 hits, no walks, and 7 strikeouts. 

The one run the Yankees scored off Cueto came in the 5th inning. Jason Giambi (3 for 3), with 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI’s, led off the inning with a single, and advanced to third on a double by Jorge Posada. Giambi then scored the run on a sacrifice fly by Robinson Cano.

After the rain-delay the Yankees scored three runs in the bottom of the 6th, on a two-run double by Giambi, who was then driven home by another double by Posada, scoring the Yanks fourth and final run of the game. 

Mariano Rivera, gave up two hits in the scoreless 9th, and closed out the game to record his 21th save. The “Great Mariano” now has a 0.76 ERA.

Reds startrer, Edinson Volquez (10-2), out-pitched, Mike Mussina (10-5), in the 4-2 win by Cincinnati in game one of this series.

In the second game against the Reds, the Yankees 31-year old rookie, Dan Giese was pitching a gem throughout the first 6 innings, but made a costly throwing error in the top of the 7th, that opened the flood-gates for the Reds, as they scored 4 unearned runs that turned out to be the winning runs in the Reds 6-0 victory.

Ken Griffey, Jr. led off the 7th with a single. Then, the next batter, Brandon Phillips, hit an easy grounder back to Giese, that was a perfect double play ball; but, Giese made a bad throw to second base that pulled Cano off the base. This error by Dan Giese opened the door for the Reds to keep the inning going.

Now first and second, with no outs, the Reds first baseman, Joey Votto hit another easy infield grounder, this time to Alex Rodriguez at third. A-Rod tried to tag Griffey, but was too far back to make the tag, so he made the throw to first for the first out. Giese got a big strikeout of Adam Dunn, for out number two. Then, Edwin Encarnacion got a big, two-strike, two-run, single, to give the Reds a 3-1 lead.

Dan Giese was replaced by Jose Veras, who gave up a homerun to the first batter he faced, Corey Patterson, that upped the Reds lead to, 4-1. Cincinnati scored two more runs off Billy Traber in the top of the 8th, but the game was really over in the 7th.

The Yankees are now, 41-35, still five games behind the Red Sox, who also lost 2 out of 3 over the weekend – to the St. Louis Cardinals. Boston leads the AL East with a record of, 47-31.     

The Reds offense made the Yankees pay for the second day in a row, collecting four runs in the seventh inning, thanks to a error by New York starter Dan Geise, who has taken the spot of injured ace Chien Ming Wang. After Ken Griffey Jr. started the inning off with a single, Brandon Phillips reached on a poor throw by Giese. Joey Votto moved the runners over to second and third with a ground-out, leaving Adam Dunn with a chance to drive in a pair of runs. He couldn’t as his abysmal season continued with yet another strikeout, his 76 on the year. Edwin Encarnacion wouldn’t let the Yankees get out of the inning unscathed as he ripped a two run single to give the Reds all the runs they would need while knocking Giese out of the game. Jose Veras, who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous 10 outings, made sure that personal streak wouldn’t continue, as he gave up a moon-shot 2 run homer to Corey Patterson. Brandon Phillips ended the scoring for Cincinnati in the eighth with a two run single of his own to plate Griffey and Paul Janish, both of which reaching previously on singles.

No matter what the Reds offense did, the spotlight was on Thompson’s outing. His superb play gives the Reds yet another young pitcher to complement a staff that will certainly turn heads not only the rest of this year, but many years to come. I do hate the Yankees bitterly so forgive me when I say that I am happy that they have had to face Volquez and Thompson, with the way they have pitched in the first two games of the series. Now Yankees good luck figuring out another young fireballer in Johnny Cueto.

Then in the top 7th, Dan Giese showed his inexperience as a likely double play he botched and a terrible 0-2 pitch with 2 outs both combined to doom the Yankees in their 6-0 loss to the Reds.  Before I really begin to pick apart Giese’s 7th, let me first credit the Cincinnati Reds with a great combined pitching performance from 22-year old Daryl Thompson and the bullpen and also cast some blame on the Yankee offense for not being shutout.  

Back to the Reds half of the 7th.  After Giese allowed Ken Griffey Jr. to get on base with a leadoff single, Giese managed to get Brandon Phillips to hit a tailored made double play ball back to him.  The sure double play was quickly reduced into 1st and 2nd, after Giese’s bad throw to Robinson Cano off of 2nd base.  Everyone was safe.  

Next up, Joey Votto grounded out to Alex Rodriguez, but on this play, A-Rod should have been able to get Griffey Jr. out by making sure he actually tagged him as opposed to just waving his glove hand towards Griffey before throwing on to first base.  This play resulted in 2nd and 3rd with one out.

Giese got the second out by striking out Adam Dunn, but followed that at bat with a costly pitching error.  After jumping ahead of Edwin Encarnacion, 0-2, Giese through a pitch right over the plate that Encarnacion crushed for a two-run single.  Ahead in the count, Giese should not have thrown that pitch near the plate.  I hate when pitchers do this, because there is no reason to through a hittable pitch with such a great advantage in the count.  Try and see if the batter will get himself out rather than giving him a chance to hit a decent pitch.  

Dan Giese gave the Yankees 6 innings of brilliant baseball, even as the Bombers gave him no support offensively.  The worry though is that his breakdown in the 7th is what Giese takes away from this start and the successes he had through the first 6 innings were lost.