The Pennant Race - 9/25

Pandemonium in Flushing. Mets fans woke up this morning with a September hangover, unsure if it was 2007 or 2008. The Mets blew a 5-1 lead to the Cubs last night, blew a chance to win it in the ninth inning, and then lost to the Cubs in 10 innings, 9-6.

Dan Murphy tripled off of Bobby Howry to lead off the bottom of the ninth, sending the Shea faithful into a frenzy. But Howry struck out David Wright and after intentionally walking the Carloses, Beltran and Delgado to load the bases, got Ryan Church to ground to second baseman Ronny Cedeno, who forced Murphy at home. Howry then made a better escape than David Blaine could any day, by striking out Ramon Castro to retire the side.

Derek Lee doubled in the go ahead run in the tenth and Aramis Ramirez put the game away with a 2-run home run.

C.C. Sabathia pitched the Brewers into a tie for the wildcard lead with the Mets in Milwaukee's 4-2 win over the Pirates. The big left-hander won his 10th game in 16 Brew Crew starts, and his 16th win overall, by limiting Pittsburgh to one run and four hits in seven innings, while striking out 11. Sabathia was working on three days rest and is expected to duplicate that feat again on Sunday.

The Twins beat the White Sox for the second straight night, this time 3-2, to move within one-half game of the AL Central lead. Nick Blackburn threw a solid five innings and four relievers limited the White Sox to just one hit from the sixth inning on. Gavin Floyd faces Kevin Slowey in tonight's series finale.

The Dodgers magic number to clinch the NL West is down to one. Manny Ramirez hit his 17th home run since "going west coast" and the Dodgers pounded the Padres 12-4. Meanwhile, Adam Wainwright and four relievers limited the Diamondbacks to two runs in the Cardinals 4-2 win over Arizona. A Dodgers win or Diamondbacks loss today will give LA the western crown.

While the Angels are prepping for the playoffs, Francisco Rodriguez is improving his resume. K-Rod added to his record setting season with his 62nd save of the season.

The Rays maintained their three game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East with an 11-6 win over the Orioles. Aki Iwamura drove in three runs and Edwin Jackson, despite allowing six runs in 5.1 innings pitched, won his career high 13th game.

The Red Sox won their second consecutive 5-4 decision over the Indians. Mark Kotsay snapped a 4-4 tie with an RBI double in the eighth inning. Fausto Carmona got yanked after just one inning and an inconceivable 51 pitches thrown.

News and Notes

Twenty year veteran first baseman Mickey Vernon has passed away at the age of 90. The seven time All-Star won two batting titles and spent most of his career playing for the down trodden Washington Senators.

The Seattle Times is reporting that there is much animosity in the clubhouse towards All-Star Ichiro Suzuki. Teammates have nearly come to blows with the outfielder's selfish attitude.

The Diamondbacks' Mark Reynolds became the first player in major league history to strike out 200 times in a season when he k'ed this afternoon against the Cardinals. Reynolds had broken Ryan Howard's year old single season record last night. The record may not hold though since Reynolds has just four more than Howard this year. Oh, and Reynolds has committed 34 errors.

The Rockies' Todd Helton has opted for back surgery next week to correct a disk problem.

Share

Yankees Rally to Sweep Mariners

Just as they have been for most of this season, the Yankees were struggling against a left-handed starter. In this case it was the Mariners Jarrod Washburn. Thankfully, Mariners manager John McLaren pulled him after the 6th inning. The Yankees rallied for 4 runs in the 8th inning to beat the Mariners 6-5 and completed a 3-game sweep in the process. The victory also extended the Yankees winning streak to 5 games, and it was also the first game that the Yankees came back, in 23 attempts, this season to win when being down after the 7th inning.

Derek Jeter lead off the 8th with a walk against Sean Green and he came around to score on Bobby Abreu's double off of lefty Arthur Rhodes, cutting the lead to 5-3. McLaren quickly went to his closer J.J. Putz for a 6-out save, but the big right-hander walked Alex Rodriguez. Putz got a break when Jason Giambi was called out on strikes a 2-2 pitch that was well out of the strike zone, for the 1st out. But Hideki Matsui, pinch-hitting for Shelley Duncan, hit a little dribbler to the right out of the mound. Putz (1-2, BS 3) lunged for, going to his knees as he fielded it. His throw was wild to 1st Base, allowing Abreu to score and A-Rod to move to 3rd. Robinson Cano's sac fly to deep center not only tied the game at 5-5, but allowed Matsui to reach 2nd Base. Jose Molina then delivered a 2-out double to deep center to give the Yankees their first lead of the day, 6-5. Then it was all up to the Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and the king of the bullpen came through again with a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 12th save in as many chances.

The Yankees got the opportunity to win because reliever Edwar Ramirez gave them 1.2 innings of shutout relief after starter Chien-Ming Wang faltered. Ramirez (1-0) has now thrown 12.2 scoreless innings over 11 appearances this season. He's also struck out 15.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 3rd, Wang issued walks to Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, sandwiched around a single by Kenji Johjima, to load the bases. Yuniesky Betancourt singled through the left side for a 2-1 Mariners lead and Duncan mishandled Ichiro Suzuki's grounder to 1st to allow another runner to score. If not for an odd double play, the inning could have been bigger for the Mariners. Duncan dropped Jose Lopez's line drive, but threw home to force Johjima at the plate. Molina then fired to Cano at 2nd to complete an odd 3-2-6 double play.

The Mariners finally drove Wang to the showers in the 7th after Joe Girardi probably left him in too long. Wang allowed 1-out hits to Betancourt and Lopez to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Vidro then singled to right-center to plate both runners and pushed the Mariners lead to 5-2.

News and Notes

Derek Jeter's RBI double in the 2nd and Johnny Damon's RBI ground out in the 5th were the Yankees runs prior to the 8th.

The victory was the 2nd of Edwar Ramirez's brief major league career.

Ichiro Suzuki homered in the 2nd inning, his 3rd of the season.

May 25, 2008

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

Seattle	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Suzuki, CF	5	2	2	2	0	0	2	.289
Lopez, 2B	5	1	1	0	0	0	3	.299
Vidro, DH	5	0	2	2	0	1	0	.239
Ibanez, LF	4	0	0	0	1	1	1	.273
Beltre, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.253
Johjima, C	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.219
Sexson, 1B	3	1	0	0	1	3	1	.197
Balentien, RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	4	.215
Betancourt, SS	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	.278
Totals	36	5	9	5	4	6	15
BATTING 2B: Lopez (13, Wang). HR: Suzuki (3, 3rd inning off Wang, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Suzuki 5; Lopez 2; Vidro 2; Johjima 2; Betancourt 2. RBI: Suzuki 2 (13), Betancourt (18), Vidro 2 (24). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beltre; Suzuki. GIDP: Lopez. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Putz (1, throw). DP: 2 (Lopez-Betancourt-Sexson, Betancourt-Sexson).

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Washburn	6.0	4	2	2	3	2	0	6.54
Green (H, 4)	1.0	1	1	1	1	0	0	4.10
Rhodes	0.0	1	1	1	0	0	0	5.59
Putz (BS, 3)(L, 1-2)	1.0	2	2	2	1	1	0	4.50

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	1	1	1	0	0	2	.266
Jeter, SS	3	1	1	1	1	0	1	.287
Abreu, RF	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	.294
Rodriguez, 3B	2	1	1	0	2	0	0	.295
Giambi, DH	2	0	0	0	1	2	3	.230
Duncan, S, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	.176
a-Matsui, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.321
Ensberg, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.203
Cano, 2B	2	1	0	1	1	0	2	.229
Molina, C	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.216
Cabrera, CF	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.255
Totals	28	6	8	5	5	3	14
a-Singled for Duncan, S in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Damon (14, Washburn), Jeter (7, Washburn), Abreu (11, Rhodes), Molina (10, Putz). TB: Damon 2; Jeter 2; Abreu 2; Rodriguez; Matsui; Molina 3; Cabrera. RBI: Jeter (23), Damon (20), Abreu (32), Cano (19), Molina (5). 2-out RBI: Jeter; Molina. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Abreu; Jeter; Duncan, S; Cabrera. S: Cabrera. SF: Cano. GIDP: Cano; Duncan, S. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (2, 2nd base off Washburn/Johjima), Damon (6, 3rd base off Washburn/Johjima). FIELDING E: Duncan, S (2, fielding). DP: (Duncan, S-Molina-Jeter).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wang	6.1	7	5	5	4	2	1	3.82
Ramirez (W, 1-0)	1.2	2	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Rivera (S, 12)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.45

Green pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.
Rhodes pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

HBP: Giambi (by Washburn).
Pitches-strikes: Washburn 95-53, Green 16-9, Rhodes 9-6, Putz 18-11,
Wang 112-70, Ramirez 24-17, Rivera 16-12.
Ground outs-fly outs: Washburn 12-4, Green 3-0, Rhodes 0-0, Putz 1-1,
Wang 12-5, Ramirez 1-2, Rivera 0-1.
Batters faced: Washburn 24, Green 5, Rhodes 1, Putz 6, Wang 30,
Ramirez 7, Rivera 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Rhodes 1-1, Putz 1-1, Ramirez 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Tim McClelland. 2B: Mike DiMuro.
3B: Larry Vanover.
Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, Out to LF.
T: 3:10.
Att: 54,269.

Share

Moose Calls Return to the Stadium

Mike Mussina has been hearing more boos than calls of "Moose" over the past 2 seasons, but the boo birds were in hiding today as Moose mastered the Seattle Mariners 6-1.

One night after Chien-Ming Wang dominated the M's, Mussina did the same on Saturday afternoon. He pitched a relatively unscathed 6 innings, allowing a run on 7 hits, and recorded 5 strikeouts, including K'ing the side in his final inning of work. More importantly he didn't walk a batter.

For the second straight game, the Yankees struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first on a lead off double by Johnny Damon and an RBI single by Bobby Abreu. Ichiro Suzuki singled in the tying run in the top of the 3rd, but the Yankees took control in their half of the inning against Mariners starter Felix Hernandez.

Damon stroked his second double, the 400th of his career with one out, and came home on Derek Jeter's historic double for a 2-1 lead. Hernandez retired Abreu for the 2nd out, but Hideki Matsui slapped a fastball over the 3rd Base bag for an RBI single. Matsui advanced to 2nd Base on the play when left fielder Raul Ibanez's throw slipped from his hand and went sideways. The Yankees took advantage of the miscue two batters later when Melky Cabrera lined an RBI single to center for a 4-1 lead.

The Yankees got to Hernandez one more time in the 6th when Molina snapped an 0-23 skid with a single and came around on Damon's 4th home run of the year.

Meanwhile, Mussina threw his pitches where he wanted, and unlike the Mariners in this series, the Yankees, for the most part, backed him up with solid defense. Mussina induced double play balls to thwart rallies in both the 3rd and 4th innings. But his big moment came in the 6th.

Mussina struck out Raul Ibanez swinging. After Adrian Beltre reached on Morgan Ensberg's error, Mussina struck out both rookie Jeff Clement and veteran Richie Sexson swinging to finish his day with a bang.

LaTroy Hawkins, Edwar Ramirez, and recently recalled Jose Veras each worked one scoreless inning to preserve the win.

News and Notes

Mike Mussina's win was his 3rd straight and number 254 for his career, putting him in a tie for 39th place on the all-time wins list with Jack Morris and Red Faber. Mussina struck out Sexson with an 89 mph fastball.

“I cut it loose!” Mussina said with a chuckle. “I know the ball’s not going to come out of my hand going 93 ever again. So I’ve got to go with what I have, and so far it’s been OK.” (- Mike Fitzpatrick, AP Baseball Writer)

Both Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter had 3 hits to raise their averages to .290.

Ichiro Suzkuki stole his 11th base of the season and 4th in 2 games. With Yuniesky Betancourt's theft, the Mariners are 5-5 in the series.

The slumps continue- both Robinson Cano (.150) and Jason Giambi (.154) were 0-3.

Hideki Matsui was 2-5 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

Share

Yankees Hope to be Mariners Alabatross

Or is it Albaladejo? The Yankees open a 3-game series tonight against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium. Chien-Ming Wang hopes to put an end to the Yankees 3-game slide as he goes up against Erik Bedard.

The Mariners, who we picked to win the AL West have started out as badly as the Yankees, going 13-16 in their first 29 games. Bedard had a stint on the DL as did closer J.J. Putz, who has still not fully recovered command of his pitches. The Mariners woes can't be attributed to starting pitching. Three starters have an ERA under 3.00 - Bedard, 2.04, Saturday's starter Felix Hernandez, 2.22, and Carlos Silva, 2.79.

But the Mariners offense has been scuffling for runs. With a lack of output from the right field and DH positions, the Mariners recently cut veteran Brad Wilkerson and benched Jose Vidro against right-handers. The M's called up prospects Jeff Clement to DH and Wladimir Balantien to play right field. Balentien homered in his first major league game.

Raul Ibanez is off to another fine start with 5 home runs and 20 RBI to go along with a .296 average, and though Adrian Beltre also has 5 home runs, he's only driven in 11 runs. 1st Baseman Richie Sexson recently had a hot stretch that gave him 6 home runs and 17 RBI, but he's still hitting just .230. The offensive malaise has even effected Ichiro Suzuki, who enters tonight's play at just .266. His countrymen, catcher Kenji Johjima is below the Mendoza line at .175.

The Yankees are hoping Wang can repeat his dominant performance from his last start against the Indians. Wang has won all 6 career starts against the Mariners with a 2.51 ERA. He had a perfect game going in the 8th inning against the Mariners last May 5 at the Stadium. Ben Broussard hit a solo home run with one out in the inning to break up the perfection, the no-no, and the shutout.

Mariners vs. Wang

Beltre 3-15 1 HR 1 RBI
Betancourt 2-10 1 RBI
Ibanez 3-17 1 RBI
Johjima 2-10
Lopez 2-7 1 RBI
Sexson 4-13
Ichiro 4-20
Vidro 1-7

Yankees vs. Bedard

Abreu 3-17 1 RBI
Cabrera 1-10
Cano 3-14
Damon 3-20 1 RBI
Giambi 3-13 1 HR 3 RBI
Jeter 6-26
Matsui 5-16 1 RBI
Molina 1-8


Bedard will be happy not to have to face A-Rod (.417-2-6) and Jorge Posada (.286, 1 RBI).

Cano sits tonight and Duncan once again in the clean up spot (ouch).

Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Duncan 1B
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Ensberg 3B
Molina C
Gonzalez 2B

Share

Around the Horn - 3/10

The annual spring training aches and pains are starting to kick in. Red Sox ace Josh Beckett left his last start after 1 pitch due to back spasms. Teammate Coco Crisp has been limited by a sore groin.

The Rockies' Luis Vizcaino returned to the mound on Sunday after missing time with a sore elbow (another victim of Torre overuse?).

The Marlins' Scott Olsen played catcher on Saturday after missing time with a sore shoulder.

The Phillies' Brad Lidge is working his way back from knee surgery. He threw 25 pitches today.

Texas Rangers pitcher Brandon McCarthy got bad news; he'll be out 4-6 weeks with severe inflammation in his forearm. The Rangers also signed Sidney Ponson to a minor league deal this weekend. What could they be thinking?

Jordan Tata of the Detroit Tigers violated the Kevin Brown-Julian Taverez rule; do not punch hard objects. Tata broke a knuckle after getting upset at 3 straight rough outings. He also has a sore shoulder too boot.

Do not adjust your monitor: Ichiro Suzuki really is 0-14 this spring.

Share

Ichiro About to Go Off the Market

The Seattle Times is reporting that Mariners' center fielder Ichiro Suzuki is on the verge of a signing a 5 year contract extension. The deal is said to approach $100 million and could be announced as early as Friday.

Ichiro was set to be a free agent following the 2007 season. Source.

Share