CLICK

That's the sound that followed the sound of a pitch thrown by Andy Pettitte making contact with the bat of Jack Cust. The result was a 3-run HR and a shut off television. Why get aggravated for 7 more innings.

The Yankees managed to score 5 runs this afternoon, but Pettitte (4-6) got rocked for 8 runs (7 earned) in just 1 2-3 innings and the A's took 2 of 3 in the series with an 11-5 win. Danny Haren (10-2) entered the game with a 1.91 ERA, but the Yankees roughed him up for 5 runs in 5 1-3 innings. It jumped Haren's ERA up 2.20.

Ron Villone threw 3 1-3 scoreless innings out of the pen, saving the bullpen and giving the Yankees the chance to chip away. Derek Jeter's 5th inning single cut the margin to 8-5, but the A's pushed 3 more across against Brian Bruney, Mike "I can't get anyone out" Myers, and Luis Vizcaino.

Already leading 1-0 entering the 2nd, the A's made it a short day for Pettitte. Bobby Crosby, Jason Kendall, Mark Kotsay, and Kurt Suzuki strung together 4 straight singles for a 2-0 lead. A Mark Ellis sac fly pushed across a 3rd run before Cust broke it open with his 14th home run of the season.

Joe Torre was hoping Pettitte could still give him some innings, but after an Eric Chavez double and 2-run HR by Dan Johnson (9th), Torre had no choice but to go to the pen.

After Haren exited, the trio of rookies Dallas Braden and Santiago Casilla, and veteran Alan Embree shut down the Yankees over the final 3 2-3 innings.

~~~

As a move to bolster his confidence, and yet continue to overwork him, Torre used Scott Proctor for an inning and a third. Thankfully, nothing was burned after the game.

Share

One Hit Wonder

We barely had time to enjoy Friday night's win against the A's, before the Yankees went out and embarrassed themselves, yet again, on Saturday. The Yankeed had 1, count 'em, 1 hit this afternoon. Chad Gaudin, who was cut loosely in a premature move by the Blue Jays, has started to emerge as a starter for Oakland this season. He had struggled in his last 3 starts, but took a no-hitter into the 6th inning today at Yankee Stadium.

Johnny Damon finally singled up the middle to snap the hitless streak, but Gaudin and Rich Harden combined on a 1-hit shutout as the A's won 7-0. It's the 5th time this season the Yankees have been blanked, already one more than all of last season.

Kei Igawa was up and down in his start for the Yankees. He retired the first 8 hitters he faced, then gave up back to back HRs to Jason Kendall (2nd) and Shannon Stewart (7th) in the 3rd. Meanwhile the Yankees could only manage two base runners - walks to Hideki Matsui in the 2nd and Melky Cabrera in the 5th - against Gaudin.

Igawa settled back down after getting out of the 3rd and kept the Yankees in the game until the 6th. That's when he issued a 2-out walk to Eric Chavez. Igawa nearly struck out Dan Johnson looking to end the inning, but home plate ump Angel Hernandez disagreed. Igawa then left a hanger up in the zone and Johnson (8th) pounded it into the upper deck in right for a 4-0 A's lead.

The A's picked up 3 more runs in the 7th against Scott Proctor and Mike Myers (2 batters faced - 1 walk, 1 hit- I hate this man) and the game was all but done. Gaudin went 7 before Harden, who due to arm troubles is pitching out of the pen, allowed 2 walks in a pair of scoreless innings.

~~~

In Friday night's 2-1 victory, Alex Rodriguez picked up his 34th RBI of June. It's tops in the majors and ties the amount he had in April. Imagine if he had a decent May!

Kyle Farnsworth's tantrum when he was pulled in the 8th inning of Friday's game - in case you missed he was shaking his head and muttering on his way to the dugout, then slammed his mitt from the top step - is just more reason this jerk has to go. How he even had the balls to complain is beyond me. He's been nothing short of awful in his 1+ years here and is considered a jerk by most who deal with him. And take Myers with you.

Share

Tonight's Lineups

Joe Kennedy vs. Mike Mussina

Time for Moose not pitch like a horse's ass.

A's
M. Kotsay cf
N. Swisher rf
J. Cust dh
E. Chavez 3b
M. Ellis 2b
D. Johnson 1b
B. Crosby ss
J. Kendall c

Yankees
D. Jeter ss
H. Matsui lf
A. Rodriguez 3b
J. Posada dh
B. Abreu rf
A. Phillips
R. Cano 2b
W. Nieves c

Share

Oakland Brings Their A's Game

Yankees return to the Bronx tonight to kick off a 10 game homestead against the A's. The pre-All Star break stretch ends July 8 vs. the Angels. The Yankees lost 2 of 3 to Oakland back in May. All three games were decided by one run.

Pitching Probables

Friday - Joe Kennedy (2-5, 3.98) vs Mike Mussina (3-5, 4.98) - try not to scream every time Michael Kay refers to Kennedy as "the patriarch". I need nearly put my foot through the TV when he said it during a promo on Thursday.

Saturday - C. Gaudin (6-3) vs. K. Igawa (2-1, 7.13) - Hopefully Igawa doesn't pitch like himself.

Sunday - Danny Haren (9-2, 1.91) vs. Andy Pettitte (4-5, 3.24) - 1.91, in this day and age?!

Share

Paging George Carlin

Those 7 words you can't say on television? I'd like to add the seventy-some odd ones I said as the Yankees game ended. I could have called this "Why I Hate West Coast Games, Part III", but decided against it.

What could have been a feel good 4-2 road trip through Minnesota and Oakland, turned into a fair 3-3 crap fest. The Yankees lost 3 of the last 4 on the trip and really blew the two in Oakland.

First inning of this one looked like the rest of games lately. Derek Jeter, who is going to take Roberto Duran's nickname, Manos De Piedra (hands of stone), if he keeps playing shortstop like is, made yet another error. Which lead to 2 runs off of Andy Pettitte, who hadn't allowed a first inning run in a Zimmer's age.

But the Yankees battled back as they did Saturday night, and took a 4-2 lead into the 9th. Mariano Rivera came on to pick up the save. 2 outs, none on, and Todd Walker up. Base hit to left. No problem. Jason Kendall walks on a 3-2. Okay two men on, but light hitting Marco Scutaro, hereto referred to as "The Little Shit" was coming up. Not Nick Swisher, not Eric Chavez, just The Little Shit. Mo got ahead 1-2 and then...and then...this is really difficult to put in writing without getting angry again...The Little Shit hit a walk off 3-run HR. At least it
wasn't in extra innings.

Andy Pettitte gave the Yankees just what the Dr. ordered again with 7 solid innings and Scott Proctor threw a 1-2-3 8th inning.

~~~

With 3/5 of the starting rotation now on the DL, the Yankees are calling up lefty Chase Wright to start Tuesday's game vs. Cleveland. Wright has been phenomenal in his 2 starts in Trenton this year, and the Yankees can only hope some of that magic continues.

Speaking of the Thunder, they pulled off quite a feat on Saturday. Not only did they sweep a doubleheader, but they pitched back to back shutouts. Oh and by the way, the 2nd game went 15 innings. That extended the Thunder's pitching scoreless streak to 46 innings!

Share

Sunday's Lineups - 4/15

Courtesy of USA Today

New York Yankees

Johnny Damon CF	Season	.286	1	3
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Derek Jeter SS	Season	.318	0	3
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Bobby Abreu RF	Season	.286	1	8
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Alex Rodriguez 3B	Season	.350	7	17
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Jason Giambi DH	Season	.200	2	8
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Jorge Posada C	Season	.342	1	7
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Robinson Cano 2B	Season	.333	0	4
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Melky Cabrera LF	Season	.179	0	3
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Doug Mientkiewicz 1B	Season	.115	0	1
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0

Starting Pitcher

Name Season/vs Wins Losses Saves ERA Andy Pettitte P Season 1 0 0 1.64 vs. Athletics 0 0 0 ---

Oakland Athletics

Lineup

Name Season/vs AVG HR RBI Shannon Stewart LF Season .170 0 1 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Nick Swisher CF Season .282 1 4 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Bobby Kielty RF Season .188 0 2 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Mike Piazza DH Season .300 1 3 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Eric Chavez 3B Season .250 1 6 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Mark Ellis 2B Season .216 0 9 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Todd Walker 1B Season .211 0 1 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Jason Kendall C Season .146 0 2 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Marco Scutaro SS Season .059 0 0 vs. pitcher --- 0 0

Share

I Hate West Coast Games, Part II

Okay, so this time it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The Yankees rallied from a 3 run deficit and Jason Giambi sent us to bed happy with a 13th inning game winner. It was approximately1:30 EDT. We're too tired to even write (see I just had to correct this because I put right) to much.

What we're definitely not happy about is the Yankees defense. Derek Jeter committed 2 more errors, one that opened the flood gates to a 3 run first inning. Bobby Abreu committed an error for the 2nd straight night.

Kudos to Darrell Rasner though. He didn't fall apart after the 1st inning and kept his team in it as the Yankees chipped away.

And the pen did the job again. 7 2-3 shutout innings to be precise. Brian Bruney lost the game on Friday night and won it on Saturday.

Trailing 3-2 in the 7th, A-Rod stepped up big again. His 7th HR of the season, off of A's starter Joe Blanton, evened things up. Then it was up to Giambi in the 13th to break out of his April doldrums and he did just that with a blast well over the 388 sign in right-center.

Share

Tonight's Lineups

YES, WCBS-AM

Rasner vs. Blanton

Yankees

J. Damon cf
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
J. Giambi dh
R. Cano 2b
J. Phelps 1b
M. Cabrera lf
W. Nieves c

Oakland

S. Stewart lf
N. Swisher cf
M. Piazza dh
E. Chavez 3b
T. Walker 1b
B. Crosby ss
T. Buck rf
J. Kendall c
M. Scutaro 2b

Share

I Hate West Coast Games

Last night was a perfect example of why I hate games on the left coast. Specifically those games that start at 10 EDT or later. Usually this form of aggravation occurs in Seattle or Anaheim, but once in a while Oakland chips in.

This is how the typical scenario goes. Game moves at a fairly decent pace as the Yankees take an early lead. The margin is usual 2-4 runs. A quick peek at the clock - looks like we won't be going to bed too late. Then about the 6th inning things begin to change. The starting pitcher (Kei Igawa), who to this point hasn't looked too bad, begins to lose it. This usually happens right after one of the announcers points out that fact.

Now the game begins to slow as a steady stream of relievers march in from both team's bullpens. There's wasted opportunities (bases loaded no one out in the 8th - no runs score), blown leads by a particularly aggravating pitcher (Kyle Farnsworth), and a guy who keeps stranding runners (Doug Mientkiewicz).

Now the next scenario happens either while sleeping (by which time it's already 1:15 am on the east coast) or if I'm dumb enough to stay up and watch someone other than Mariano Rivera lose the game (Brian Bruney in the 11th). Thankfully, I went to sleep after the top of the 10th, which this morning left me pretty tired, but not quite as aggravated as if I had stayed up until the bitter end.

The next morning, flip on the TV, the Internet, or open the newspaper (which doesn't always have the late score) to read the obvious. A's 5 Yankees 4 in 11.

~~~

Kei Igawa only lasted into the 6th, but it was a big improvement over his 1st start. Unfortunately, that's still not good enough.

Bobby Abreu didn't help Igawa any when he dropped Mike Piazza's fly to right for a 3 base error that lead to a 1-1 tie.

Alex Rodriguez hit the ball sharply all night and had a pair of hits.

Farnsworth was demoted to the 7th inning role and served up a 2-0 fat fastball to Nick Swisher who quickly turned a 4-3 deficit into a 4-4 tie.

Share

Yankees vs A's Lineups 4/13

Name	Season/vs	AVG	HR	RBI
Johnny Damon CF	Season	.444	1	3
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Derek Jeter SS	Season	.353	0	3
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Bobby Abreu RF	Season	.281	1	7
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Alex Rodriguez 3B	Season	.355	6	16
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Jason Giambi DH	Season	.167	1	7
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Jorge Posada C	Season	.323	1	5
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Robinson Cano 2B	Season	.286	0	3
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Doug Mientkiewicz 1B	Season	.158	0	1
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0
Melky Cabrera LF	Season	.179	0	2
	vs. pitcher	---	0	0

Starting Pitcher

Name Season/vs Wins Losses Saves ERA Kei Igawa P Season 0 0 0 12.60 vs. Athletics 0 0 0 ---

Oakland Athletics

Lineup

Name Season/vs AVG HR RBI Mark Ellis 2B Season .219 0 9 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Nick Swisher CF Season .267 0 3 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Bobby Kielty LF Season .273 0 1 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Mike Piazza DH Season .350 1 3 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Eric Chavez 3B Season .275 0 2 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Bobby Crosby SS Season .190 0 0 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Todd Walker 1B Season .250 0 1 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Jason Kendall C Season .154 0 2 vs. pitcher --- 0 0 Travis Buck RF Season .261 0 1 vs. pitcher --- 0 0

Starting Pitcher

Name Season/vs Wins Losses Saves ERA Dan Haren P Season 0 2 0 0.69 vs. Yankees 0 0 0 ---

Share