The Daily Yankeeland - 9/16

New York state assemblyman Richard Brodsky claims that New York City manipulated the assessed value of Yankee Stadium in order to get a tax break. Brodsky is expected to issue a report later today.

The Yankees have already moved some artifact's and mementos out of the Stadium.

A great story in today's Star Ledger on some of the long time vendors at the Stadium. We walked right past Mike McNamara as we entered the Stadium on Sunday.

Dan Graziano has a nice story on a long time Yankees fan.

Thanks for stirring the pot again Jorge. Joba Chamberlain is tired of the starter vs. reliever talk.

The South Bronx's Humberto Sanchez has finally made it to Yankee Stadium.

Pedro Martinez exploded over Posada's comments about him. Perhaps they shouldn't have told him after the Nationals kicked his ass.

Hideki Matsui will most likely have his knee surgery as soon as the Yankees are mathematically eliminated, if not sooner.

Share

Angels Put Yankees in a Clinch

The Yankees are used to celebrating September clinches and October victories. Yesterday they sat and watched the Los Angeles Angels become the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a combined 4-2 win over the Yankees and an 8-7 Rangers loss to the Mariners.

Things started out all right for the locals, Andy Pettitte had a 2-1 lead entering the fifth inning. Then the Angels loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Gary Matthews Jr., Garret Anderson, and Vladmir Guerrero (the killer 'G's?). Pettitte bounced back, striking out both Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales looking. But Robb Quinlan singled home two runs to put the Angels ahead and Guerrero came home home as well on Xavier Nady's errant throw to third base.

Just like that the Yankees were down 4-2 and rolled over. They managed just a walk over the next three innings and then had to face Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth. The Yankees did have a chance with two outs, as Jason Giambi drew a walk and Nady singled, but Hideki Matsui went down looking for the final out. The save was K-Rod's 56th, leaving him one behind Bobby Thigpen for the most saves in a single season.

The Yankees got off to a good start in the first inning against Angels right-hander Dustin Moseley, but, as usual, couldn't build off it. Derek Jeter drew a one out walk and stole second base. Bobby Abreu followed with a walk of his own and the Yankees were in business. Alex Rodriguez struck out for the second out, but Jason Giambi picked him up with an RBI single to right, for a 1-0 lead. Moseley then balked home Abreu for a second run. Giambi was stranded in scoring position, however, when Nady went down swinging.

The Angels got a run back in the first after a one out double by Matthews. Guerrero struck out, but reached on a wild pitch, with Matthews moving to third. Juan Rivera put the Angels on the board with an RBI ground out.

Box Score


News and Notes

The Yankees struck out 13 times in the game with A-Rod collecting three of them.

Joba Chamberlain threw two scoreless innings in relief, striking out three. It was the first time he went more than an inning since returning from the DL.

Derek Jeter stole his 275th career base.

Robinson Cano is in a 2-25 slide.

Share

Pavano (W 1-0)

We had the craziest dream last night. Carl Pavano pitched and won a game for the 2008 Yankees. We woke up laughing. Then we picked up the sports page and remembered that it really did happen. After a bit of a shaky start, fragile Carl threw 5 yeoman-like innings to earn his first win since April 9, 2007.

The Orioles had three runs and a number of runners on base by the end of the second inning, but Pavano began to pitch better after that and the Yankees got enough runs off O's starter Jeremy Guthrie to get Pavano a 5-3 win.

With two away in the third inning, Guthrie tattooed Alex Rodriguez in the left arm with a 96 mph fastball. The next hitter, Jason Giambi, tattooed the baseball into the seats in right-center field for his 25th home run of the season and a 4-3 Yankees lead.

Hideki Matsui's 9th home run of the year, and the second since his return from the DL, gave the Yankees a big insurance run in the seventh inning. It wouldn't be needed as Brian Bruney, Jose Veras, and Mariano Rivera easily put the O's away over the final four innings. Rivera reached the 30 save mark for the 11th time in his career. (A 28-save 2002 season stopped it from being 12 years in a row).

But all eyes were on Pavano in this one, and it seemed to affect him in the early going. The Yankees handed him a 2-0 lead in the first with the help of the Orioles defense, but it appeared Pavano would give it right back. A fine defensive play by Robinson Cano, however, bailed him out.

Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis led off the bottom of the first with singles, but Melvin Mora hit a blooper up the middle that Cano grabbed and, in one motion, tagged out Roberts, who was returning to second base. Roberts put up a mild protest to umpire Ed Hickox, but manager Dave Trembley didn't argue the call. The play proved to be huge when Aubrey Huff followed with what would have been a run-scoring single to center field. Pavano then retired Ramon Hernandez on an inning-ending ground out.

The injury prone right-hander wasn't so lucky in the second inning. Luke Scott led off the inning with a double and Pavano, who struggled with his control early on, walked Kevin Millar. Jay Payton's single then loaded the bases with no one out. Juan Castro's deep fly to left-center brought home one run and both runners advanced when the weaker-armed Johnny Damon called off Xavier Nady, who was poised to throw to second base. Instead, Payton easily moved into scoring position. A Roberts ground out brought home the tying run and Markakis' single to center gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead.

The inning ended in controversy when Mora struck out on a pitch in the dirt. He started to walk away and then- realizing the ball had bounced in the dirt- ran towards first base. Both he and Markakis advanced another base as the Yankees continued off the field. The umpires were going to allow it at first, but Joe Girardi came out and vehemently argued with home plate ump Joe West, who then gathered the other umpires for a conference. It resulted in Mora being called out for the final out, which sent Trembley into a rage that would get him ejected from the ball game.

“The hitter walked toward the dugout to throw his bat and helmet away. He, in doing so, has abandoned his effort to reach the next base,” West said. “He’s called out, according to the rule.”

Given the lead back in the third, Pavano retired the O's in order, for the only time, in the bottom of the third. He got in trouble in the fourth, hitting Millar, possibly in retaliation for A-Rod being hit, and allowed a single to Payton. But then he struck out Castro, Roberts, and Markakis in order, getting the latter two looking at beautifully located pitches on the outside corner. Pavano hit Mora to start the fifth, but retired the final three batters he faced to give the Yankees a chance to gain ground on Boston in the wildcard race.


News and Notes

Jason Giambi's home run was the 389th of his career. Between Japan and the U.S., Hideki Matsui now has 444 home runs.

Alex Rodriguez is 3-8 in the series with all three hits being doubles. Derek Jeter picked up hit number 2,501 and is just 17 hits away from Babe Ruth and second place on the all-time Yankees hit list.

Phil Hughes was hammered in his start Friday night for Scranton. He allowed 8 runs in just 3.1 innings pitched.

August 23, 2008

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

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	4	1	1	0	1	0	1	.311
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.296
Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	3	.293
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	.309
Giambi, 1B	4	1	2	3	0	0	0	.253
Ransom, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
Nady, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.327
Matsui, DH	4	1	1	1	0	1	2	.312
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.263
Rodriguez, I, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.285
Totals	35	5	8	5	1	9	8
BATTING 2B: Rodriguez, A (29, Guthrie). HR: Giambi (25, 3rd inning off Guthrie, 1 on, 2 out), Matsui (9, 7th inning off Guthrie, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Rodriguez, A 2; Giambi 5; Nady; Matsui 4; Cano. RBI: Rodriguez, A (78), Giambi 3 (76), Matsui (38). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez, A; Giambi 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Matsui; Abreu. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING DP: (Cano).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pavano (W, 1-0)	5.0	7	3	3	1	5	0	5.40
Bruney (H, 5)	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2.11
Veras (H, 8)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2.72
Rivera (S, 30)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.57

Baltimore	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Roberts, 2B	5	0	1	1	0	1	4	.298
Markakis, RF	5	0	2	1	0	2	2	.302
Mora, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.281
Huff, DH	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.301
Hernandez, R, C	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.257
Scott, LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.272
Millar, 1B	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	.248
Payton, CF	4	1	3	0	0	0	1	.246
Castro, J, SS	2	0	0	1	0	2	3	.198
a-Cintron, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.278
Totals	34	3	9	3	1	9	20
a-Grounded out for Castro, J in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Scott (23, Pavano). TB: Roberts; Markakis 2; Huff; Hernandez, R; Scott 2; Payton 3. RBI: Castro, J (10), Roberts (46), Markakis (77). 2-out RBI: Markakis. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hernandez, R; Markakis; Roberts. SF: Castro, J. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Payton (6, 2nd base off Bruney/Rodriguez, I).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Guthrie (L, 10-10) 6.2 7 5 5 1 7 2 3.28 Castillo, A 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.79 Cormier 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.47

HBP: Millar (by Pavano), Mora (by Pavano), Rodriguez, A (by Guthrie). Pitches-strikes: Pavano 91-54, Bruney 29-19, Veras 21-13, Rivera 10-6, Guthrie 115-76, Castillo, A 4-3, Cormier 28-18. Ground outs-fly outs: Pavano 5-4, Bruney 2-3, Veras 1-0, Rivera 2-0, Guthrie 7-6, Castillo, A 0-0, Cormier 3-2. Batters faced: Pavano 24, Bruney 7, Veras 4, Rivera 3, Guthrie 29, Castillo, A 1, Cormier 7. Inherited runners-scored: Castillo, A 2-0. EjectionsBaltimore Orioles Manager Dave Trembley ejected by HP umpire Joe West. (2nd). Umpires: HP: Joe West. 1B: Ed Rapuano. 2B: Ed Hickox. 3B: CB Bucknor. Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 8 mph, Out to LF. T: 3:08. Att: 48,817.

Share

A Drubbing

There's no other way to describe last night's game with Toronto. Sidney Ponson got his ass kicked from the start, and the weak-hitting Yankees weren't staging a comeback against one of the best pitchers in the game, Roy Halladay. The result was a 14-3 drubbing that dropped the Yankees a half-game further back in the wildcard race and moved the Blue Jays back to within one game of the Yankees for third place in the AL East.

The lone bright spot for the Yanks was Hideki Matsui's first home run since June 12. It accounted for all three Yankees runs. Every Yankees pitcher, with the exception of Edwar Ramirez, was touched up for at least one run. After Ponson, who allowed seven runs in two innings, Billy Traber was the next biggest victim, allowing four runs in just 2.1 IP. The Blue Jays had 21 hits in all, led by light-hitting Marco Scutaro, who had a 4-hit, 4-RBI night.


News and Notes

Derek Jeter was 1-4 to give him 2,499 hits.

August 21, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0		3	7	1
Toronto	1	1	5	3	3	0	0	1	X		14	21	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF-LF	3	0	1	0	1	2	1	.313
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	0	0	2	3	.297
Ransom, SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.288
Molina, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.227
Rodriguez, A, 3B	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	.308
Betemit, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.259
Giambi, 1B	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	.250
Gardner, CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.189
Nady, LF-RF	4	1	1	0	0	1	3	.327
Matsui, DH	4	1	1	3	0	0	2	.317
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.261
Rodriguez, I, C	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.288
Totals	32	3	7	3	2	10	13
BATTING HR: Matsui (8, 7th inning off Halladay, 2 on, 1 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Giambi 2; Nady; Matsui 4; Rodriguez, I. RBI: Matsui 3 (37). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Jeter. GIDP: Abreu. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING SB: Damon 2 (23, 2nd base off Halladay/Barajas, 2nd base off Halladay/Barajas). FIELDING E: Giambi (7, fielding).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ponson (L, 7-4)	2.0	8	7	7	1	0	0	4.67
Robertson	1.1	3	2	2	1	1	0	5.96
Traber	2.1	7	4	4	1	2	1	7.02
Ramirez	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.57
Britton	2.0	3	1	1	0	2	0	4.61

Toronto	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Inglett, 2B	5	3	4	0	1	0	2	.308
Scutaro, 3B	6	3	4	4	0	1	4	.268
Rios, RF	6	2	3	3	0	1	2	.289
Wells, V, CF	4	1	0	0	1	0	2	.284
Lind, LF	5	3	3	1	0	1	0	.303
Overbay, 1B	4	0	1	0	1	2	4	.267
Stairs, DH	5	0	2	3	0	1	5	.248
Barajas, C	4	1	2	1	0	0	4	.255
McDonald, SS	5	1	2	2	0	0	4	.222
Totals	44	14	21	14	3	6	27
BATTING 2B: Inglett (10, Ponson), Rios (37, Ponson), Stairs (11, Traber), Barajas (18, Britton), Scutaro (14, Britton). HR: Scutaro (5, 5th inning off Traber, 2 on, 0 out). TB: Inglett 5; Scutaro 8; Rios 4; Lind 3; Overbay; Stairs 3; Barajas 3; McDonald 2. RBI: Rios 3 (58), Barajas (41), Lind (36), McDonald 2 (16), Stairs 3 (44), Scutaro 4 (47). 2-out RBI: McDonald 2; Stairs 3; Scutaro. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Inglett; Barajas; Scutaro 2; Overbay; Rios 2. SF: Barajas. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING CS: Rios (8, 2nd base by Ponson/Rodriguez, I). FIELDING DP: 2 (Inglett-McDonald-Overbay, Inglett-Overbay).

Toronto IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Halladay (W, 15-9) 7.0 5 3 3 2 9 1 2.68 Downs 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.38 League 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.08

Ponson pitched to 5 batters in the 3rd. Pitches-strikes: Ponson 51-31, Robertson 31-19, Traber 48-34, Ramirez 6-4, Britton 38-27, Halladay 94-66, Downs 13-10, League 8-6. Ground outs-fly outs: Ponson 2-3, Robertson 0-3, Traber 1-4, Ramirez 0-0, Britton 0-4, Halladay 7-4, Downs 2-0, League 3-0. Batters faced: Ponson 14, Robertson 8, Traber 15, Ramirez 1, Britton 10, Halladay 27, Downs 3, League 4. Inherited runners-scored: Robertson 2-2, Traber 2-2, Ramirez 3-0. Umpires: HP: Lance Barksdale. 1B: Doug Eddings. 2B: Ted Barrett. 3B: Dana DeMuth. Weather: 73 degrees, clear. Wind: 5 mph, Out to LF. T: 2:57. Att: 37,037.

Share

The Daily Yankeeland - 8/15

Hideki Matsui's rehab assignment couldn't kick off yesterday due to rain.

Tyler Kepner reports that Yankees' top pick in this year's amateur draft, Gerrit Cole, has opted to attend UCLA instead of signing with the Yankees. Ed Price reports that a source close to second pick in the first round, Jeremy Bleich, says he wants to sign with the Bombers. Negotiations with second rounder Scott Bittle are said to be far apart. Makes you wonder if the Yankees did more harm than good when they gave sixth round selection Brett Marshall an 850K bonus.

Darrell Rasner will get another start next Tuesday, meaning Phil Hughes will definitely make his minor league start on Sunday.

Dan Giese has been diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis.

Joba Chamberlain will begin his throwing program today, but you have to wonder if it would be smarter just to shut him down for the final month and a half of the season.

The Yankees will open their new Stadium on April 16 against the Cleveland Indians. The season starts on the road in Baltimore.

In an interview yesterday, Jon Heyman referred to Robinson Cano as the most overrated player in MLB right now. That's a stinging criticism, but you can see why Heyman is saying it. Cano is clearly wasting his talent and it would not be surprising if the Yankees moved him this winter.

Update 4:15 PM EDT

The Yankees have fired two Latin American scouts as part of the on-going kickback scandal.

Share

Breathe In Breath Out

No Yankees baseball today. No chance to lose and drop another game in the standings. Woo hoo!

Go to the park, read a bike, wash the car, play with your pets.

For tomorrow they play again.


Derek Jeter says he will play in tomorrow's series opener with the Royals.

Anthony McCarron knows that Hank is the kinder, gentler Steinbrenner.

Phil Hughes will have a 100 pitch count when he takes the mound for Scranton on Sunday. Carl Pavano will go again for Trenton then as well.

Hideki Matsui is scheduled to start a rehab assignment today.

Tomorrow is the deadline for signing 2008 amateur draftees. The Yankees top two picks, pitchers Gerrit Cole and Jeremy Bleich, remain unsigned. Scott Boras(s) is their agent.

Share

The Daily Yankeeland - 7/29

By now you know the Yankees and Jorge Posada have mutually agreed that his shoulder surgery should be done now to allow him enough rehab time to get ready for 2009.

Phil Hughes' rehab was delayed one day due to foul weather in Florida. He'll be on the mound in Charleston today rather than Tampa.

Hideki Matsui took 20 swings off the tee yesterday and 5 swings with soft toss. He's hoping to be back in 2 weeks.

Carl Pavano will be pitching, could this really be happening?, for the Charleston as well today.

Mike Ashmore reports that Mark Melancon and Chase Wright have been promoted from Trenton to Scranton. Steven White is going in the opposite direction.

Share

Yankees vs. Padres - June 17

The Yankees begin a 3-game series this evening with the San Diego Padres at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are 3-2 in interleague play thus far, with all the wins coming against the Astros and the two losses against the Mets. The Padres, under second year manager Bud Black are playing better of late after a bad start.

The Padres have been perennial NL West division contenders since the new millennium, but they started this season with an 11-17 April. The dropped 7 of their first 8 games in May and were 23-34 at the end of the month. But after a 3-game losing streak start this month they've won 8-11 to get back to 9 games (31-40) under .500 and 6.5 games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West.

The Padres starting rotation was supposed to be among the best in the NL and all of baseball lead by Jake Peavy, Chris Young, and Greg Maddux. But both Peavy and Young, who was hit in the face by an Albert Pujols line drive, have missed significant chunks of time due to injury. Peavy recently returned and picked up a victory. Guys like Randy Wolf and Josh Banks have recently stepped up to help the Padres start to turn things around.

On offense, Adrian Gonzalez is quietly having one of the best seasons in baseball. He's hitting .293-19-62 with 25 walks. His OBP/SLG is .358/.555/.913. Shortstop Khalil Greene hit 27 HRs and drove in 94 runs last year, but has struggled this season, with just 6 home runs and 27 RBI in 69 games. Second year 3rd baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff is putting up numbers similar to his rookie year (.275-18-74). His play has allowed the Padres to move stud prospect Chase Headley to left field. Headley is expected to get his major league call up tonight.

Brian Giles is the biggest name at the plate, but his numbers aren't reflective of his ability. His power continues to decline (4 home runs in 67 games) and there are rumors he could be moved.

The Padres bullpen has not performed as well it has in the past, though in a typical Trevor Hoffman season, there are plenty of big saves and plenty of blown ones.

* * *

The Yankees last faced San Diego in 2004 when the Yankees took 2 of 3 at the Stadium. The Yankees lost the opener 10-2 after Mike Mussina had to leave after 3 innings with a groin pull. The All-World trio of Felix Heredia, Paul Quantrill, and Gabe White (whose mustache would fit in today) got lit up.

The Yankees took the second game 3-2 behind good ol' Johnny Lieber's 6 innings. The angry old man, Gary Sheffield, drove in 2 runs against one of his many former teams. The Yankees came back not once, but twice to win the finale 6-5 in 12 innings. Hideki Matsui and Kenny Lofton hit back to back 2-out home runs in the 9th off of Trevor Hoffman (remember what we said) to tie it. Then down 3 runs in the 12th the Yankees came back again. A walk by Bernie Williams, a double by Derek Jeter. Alex Rodriguez's ground out drove in one run and it was 5-3. Sheffield's single put men on the corners for Jason Giambi who delivered an RBI single to center to cut it to 5-4.

Then manager Bruce Bochy sent for a guy we all hated in NY, Jay Witasick or Witasuck as he was known. He delivered as usual. Jorge Posada tied things up with a double, and after an intentional walk to Matsui, Ruben Sierra brought home the winning run with a sac fly.

Of course the most famous meeting of the two teams was the 1998 World Series when the Yankees finished off their magnificent season with a series sweep.


Pitching Probables

Tuesday: Randy Wolf (5-3, 3.83) vs. Andy Pettitte (6-5, 4.64)

Wednesday: Jake Peavy (5-3, 2.64) vs. Darrell Rasner (3-4, 3.64)

Thursday: Josh Banks (2-0, 1.29) vs. Joba Chamberlain (1-2, 2.48)


Yankees vs. Wolf

Damon 1-6
Jeter 0-3
Moeller 3-6 1 HR 2 RBI
Joe Girardi may want to grab a bat. He was 3-9 against Wolf.

Padres vs. Pettitte

T.Clark 5-28 1 HR 3 RBI
Gerut 1-3
Giles 3-13 1 RBI
Gonzalez 1-5
Greene 2-10
S. Hairston 3-9 1 HR 2 RBI
Iguchi 0-2

Share