My Pinstripes Alpha: Yankees Keep Stumbling Along

Ian Kennedy was better than he's been, but one bad inning put a sour note on his performance yesterday. The Yankees got him off the hook, but couldn't stop Cleveland from coming away with a 4-3 win yesterday at the Jake. Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th and no Joba Chamberlain to turn to, Joe Girardi opted for Ross Ohlendorf.

Ohlendorf struck out Casey Blake to start the inning, but then gave up consecutive singles to Grady Sizemore and David Dellucci. A wild pitch moved the runners up and forced the Yankees hand. An intentional walk was issued to Travis Hafner, which meant Ohlendorf had to face Victor Martinez with the bases loaded and just one out. Moments later Martinez singled to left field to score Sizemore with the game winner.

Kennedy had plenty of pressure on him in this one. He knows that he could be just one more bad start away from being sent to the bullpen or, more likely, down to Scranton. And in yesterday's 2nd inning was as bad it gets. Singles by Jhonny Peralta and Asdrubel Cabrera put two aboard with no one out, and Franklin Gutierrez moved the runners up with a sac bunt.

Kennedy pitched from behind for much of the game and walked Blake to loaded the bases. A 3-2 pitch to Sizemore missed for ball four and a 1-0 Indians lead. Dellucci's sac fly brought home a second run and Hafner hit a blooper to center for an RBI single and a 3-0 lead. Martinez finally flied out to end the frame. Kennedy was done after just 5 innings and 105 pitches.

The Yankees had at least one base runner on each in the first 5 innings against Indians emergency starter Jeremy Sowers, but could nothing with it. Finally in the 6th they were able to break through.

The Yankees loaded the bases with one out on a single by Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi's hit by pitch, and a walk to Shelley Duncan. Indians manager Eric Wedge sent for right-hander Jensen Lewis with Morgan Ensberg due up. Girardi countered with Robinson Cano, whose miseries continued with a called third strike for the second out of the inning. But Jorge Posada, pinch-hitting for Jose Molina, delivered in the clutch. The less than fleet footed catcher tripled to left to tie the game, and in usual Yankees fashion, he was stranded.

The Yankees had one more chance in the 9th against Masa Kobayashi when they put two men aboard. But Derek Jeter's hard hit grounder through the middle was deadened by the mound and ended up an inning ending double play.

That's the Yankees this year- no clutch play and no luck, except for bad.

News and Notes

Jorge Posada's pinch-triple was the first by a Yankee since Paul O'Neill in 1995.

Johnny Damon stayed hot with a 4-5 that raised his average to .273.

April 26, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	12	0
Cleveland	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	8	1

NY Yankees

RBI

LOB

AVG

Damon, LF

.276

Cabrera, CF

.289

Jeter, SS

.282

Rodriguez, DH

.302

Giambi, 1B

.177

Duncan, S, RF

.143

c-Abreu, PH-RF

.293

Ensberg, 3B

.281

a-Cano, PH-2B

.152

Molina, C

.286

b-Posada, PH-C

.302

Gonzalez, 2B-3B

.316

Totals

a-Struck out for Ensberg in the 6th. b-Tripled for Molina in the 6th. c-Struck out for Duncan, S in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Damon 2 (9, Sowers, Lewis, J).
3B: Posada (1, Lewis, J).
TB: Damon 6; Cabrera; Jeter 3; Rodriguez 2; Posada 3; Gonzalez.
RBI: Posada 3 (11).
2-out RBI: Posada 3.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera; Ensberg; Gonzalez; Giambi.
GIDP: Cabrera; Jeter.
Team LOB: 9.

BASERUNNING
CS: Giambi (1, 2nd base by Sowers/Martinez).

FIELDING
DP: (Gonzalez).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Kennedy	5.0	4	3	3	4	2	0	8.53
Hawkins	2.0	1	0	0	2	0	0	8.56
Farnsworth	1.0	0	0	0	2	2	0	3.97
Ohlendorf (L, 0-1)	0.1	3	1	1	1	1	0	6.48

Cleveland	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Sizemore, CF	3	1	1	1	2	0	0	.266
Dellucci, LF	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.271
Hafner, DH	3	0	1	1	2	0	1	.233
Martinez, C	4	0	2	1	1	0	2	.373
Garko, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	.247
1-Carroll, PR-3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Peralta, SS	3	1	1	0	1	1	1	.259
Cabrera, 2B	2	1	2	0	2	0	0	.232
Gutierrez, RF	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	.222
Blake, 3B-1B	3	1	0	0	1	2	2	.229
Totals	28	4	8	4	9	5	13
1-Ran for Garko in the 8th.
BATTING TB: Sizemore; Dellucci; Hafner; Martinez 2; Peralta; Cabrera 2. RBI: Sizemore (12), Dellucci (8), Hafner (14), Martinez (9). 2-out RBI: Hafner. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Garko; Martinez; Gutierrez. S: Gutierrez 2. SF: Dellucci. Team LOB: 11. BASERUNNING SB: Carroll (3, 2nd base off Farnsworth/Posada). CS: Sizemore (1, 2nd base by Hawkins/Posada). FIELDING E: Sowers (1, missed catch). DP: 2 (Blake-Cabrera-Garko, Cabrera-Blake).

Cleveland	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Sowers	5.1	7	3	3	1	3	0	5.06
Lewis, J (BS, 1)	1.2	3	0	0	0	3	0	4.15
Kobayashi (W, 1-0)	2.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	1.74

WP: Ohlendorf.
IBB: Cabrera (by Farnsworth), Hafner (by Ohlendorf).
HBP: Giambi (by Sowers).
Pitches-strikes: Kennedy 105-60, Hawkins 22-8, Farnsworth 22-10,
Ohlendorf 15-7, Sowers 98-55, Lewis, J 32-24, Kobayashi 23-16.
Ground outs-fly outs: Kennedy 7-6, Hawkins 1-3, Farnsworth 1-0,
Ohlendorf 0-0, Sowers 4-8, Lewis, J 1-1, Kobayashi 4-0.
Batters faced: Kennedy 23, Hawkins 7, Farnsworth 5, Ohlendorf 5,
Sowers 24, Lewis, J 8, Kobayashi 7.
Inherited runners-scored: Lewis, J 3-3.
EjectionsCleveland Indians Manager Eric Wedge ejected by
2B umpire Derryl Cousins. (8th).
Umpires: HP: Eric Cooper. 1B: Marty Foster. 2B: Derryl Cousins. 3B: Angel Hernandez.
Weather: 64 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 16 mph, L to R.
T: 3:27.
Att: 35,765.

Labels: Ian Kennedy, Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, Ross Ohlendorf, Victor Martinez, Yankees Keep Stumbling Along, Yankees vs. Indians - April 26