My Pinstripes Alpha

Okay there is no correlation between our small rant yesterday and the Yankees winning last night, be we'll delude ourselves that there is. Joba Chamberlain had his best start of the season and the Yankees offense dominated in a 10-0 blow out.

The best sign last night was the awakening bats of Robinson Cano, Bobby Abreu, and Derek Jeter. Each had 3 hits, Cano for the second straight night, and Abreu homered for the second straight night.

Chamberlain would only need one run as he reached new high marks in innings pitched, 6.2, and pitches thrown, 114. He scattered 6 hits, struck out 7, and more importantly, only walked 1 batter to pick up his first win as a starter.

A hard double play break up by Alex Rodriguez and a subsequent throwing error put the Yankees on the board in the 1st inning and they added it to it an inning later with the help of another error. Both errors were charged to Pirates shortsop Jack Wilson, who fielded Derek Jeter's 2nd inning grounder, but threw it in the dirt to 1st base. Adam LaRoche couldn't handle it and Jeter advanced to 2nd base as he was credited with a hit as well. Two batters later Jason Giambi singled off of starter Zach Duke to right to score Jeter for a 2-0 lead.

Leading 4-0 in the 6th, the Yankees broke the game open with a pair of long balls off of former Yankee T.J. Beam. Cano lead off with a deep shot to right-center field that reached the back of the bleachers for his 5th home run of the year. After walks to Melky Cabrera and Jeter, Abreu nearly hit one into the Allegheny River as well, sending a towering shot half way up the bleachers in right field for an 8-0 lead. Abreu would later add an RBI double, giving him 6 RBI in the last 2 games.

Chamberlain left a considerable impression on the Pirates with a fastball that was regularly clocked in the upper 90's. The Pirates best threat came in the 2nd inning when Ryan Doumit and Jason Bay started things off with consecutive singles. After Chamberlain retired the next two hitters, Wilson hit a bullet to right that Abreu fielded on one hop and fired a frozen rope home. Pirates 3rd base coach Tony Beasley mistakenly waved Doumit home and he was easily tagged out by Jorge Posada, who could have had a sandwich between the time he received Abreu's throw and Doumit reached home.

News and Notes

Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to 13 games. He's hitting .322 in June with an .852 OPS, his best monthly numbers this year.

Joba Chamberlain has allowed 5 earned runs in his 25 innings (1.80 ERA) as a starter.

Robinson Cano's .241 average is the highest it has been since opening day.

June 25, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
NY Yankees	2	0	1	1	0	4	0	1	1	10	16	0
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	2

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Cabrera, CF	5	1	2	1	1	0	2	.254
Jeter, SS	3	3	3	1	1	0	0	.286
a-Gonzalez, PH-SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	.184
Abreu, RF	5	2	3	4	0	0	2	.279
Rodriguez, 3B	3	0	1	0	1	0	1	.324
b-Molina, PH-C	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.215
Giambi, 1B	4	0	1	2	0	0	2	.266
Ohlendorf, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Veras, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Posada, C-1B	4	0	1	0	1	0	1	.306
Cano, 2B	5	1	3	1	0	0	2	.241
Christian, LF	4	2	1	0	1	0	1	.375
Chamberlain, P	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000
Betemit, 1B-3B	2	1	1	0	0	0	3	.254
Totals	40	10	16	9	6	0	22
a-Flied out for Jeter in the 8th. b-Grounded out for Rodriguez in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Jeter 2 (13, Duke, Duke), Abreu (17, Osoria). HR: Cano (5, 6th inning off Beam, 0 on, 0 out), Abreu (10, 6th inning off Beam, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Cabrera 2; Jeter 5; Abreu 7; Rodriguez; Giambi; Posada; Cano 6; Christian; Betemit. RBI: Giambi 2 (44), Jeter (33), Cano (28), Abreu 4 (50), Cabrera (32). 2-out RBI: Giambi; Jeter; Abreu 3; Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano; Abreu; Ohlendorf 2; Gonzalez. S: Chamberlain. GIDP: Christian; Betemit. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING SB: Cabrera (6, 2nd base off Beam/Doumit). FIELDING Outfield assists: Abreu (Doumit at home).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Chamberlain (W, 2-2)	6.2	6	0	0	1	7	0	2.03
Ohlendorf	1.1	0	0	0	0	3	0	5.35
Veras	1.0	2	0	0	0	1	0	3.22

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Morgan, RF-LF	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	.143
Sanchez, F, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.234
McLouth, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.289
Doumit, C	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	.354
Bay, LF	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.287
b-Michaels, PH-RF	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	.241
LaRoche, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	3	3	.221
Bautista, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	.261
Wilson, Ja, SS	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	.309
Duke, P	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.103
a-Rivas, L, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.231
Beam, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Burnett, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c-Mientkiewicz, PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.262
Osoria, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.400
Grabow, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
d-Chavez, R, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.237
Totals	34	0	8	0	1	11	15
a-Grounded into a forceout for Duke in the 5th. b-Struck out for Bay in the 6th. c-Singled for Burnett in the 7th. d-Flied out for Grabow in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Doumit (12, Chamberlain). TB: Doumit 3; Bay; Michaels; Wilson, Ja 3; Mientkiewicz. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Morgan 2; Michaels; Chavez, R. Team LOB: 9. FIELDING E: Wilson, Ja 2 (4, throw, throw). DP: 2 (Wilson, Ja-Sanchez, F-LaRoche, Bautista-Doumit).

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Duke (L, 4-5)	5.0	7	4	3	2	0	0	3.99
Beam	1.0	3	4	4	2	0	2	19.29
Burnett	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	6.16
Osoria	1.0	3	1	1	0	0	0	6.02
Grabow	1.0	2	1	1	2	0	0	3.38

HBP: Wilson, Ja (by Chamberlain).
Pitches-strikes: Chamberlain 114-76, Ohlendorf 19-13,
Veras 17-11, Duke 79-44, Beam 31-16, Burnett 10-8, Osoria 11-8, Grabow 21-9.
Ground outs-fly outs: Chamberlain 8-4, Ohlendorf 1-0,
Veras 0-2, Duke 9-6, Beam 1-2, Burnett 3-0, Osoria 1-2, Grabow 2-1.
Batters faced: Chamberlain 27, Ohlendorf 4, Veras 5,
Duke 24, Beam 8, Burnett 3, Osoria 6, Grabow 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Ohlendorf 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Kevin Causey. 1B: Chuck Meriwether.
2B: Bill Welke. 3B: Chris Guccione.
Weather: 80 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 9 mph, R to L.
T: 3:01.
Att: 38,952.

Labels: Bobby Abreu, Derek Jeter, Game Recap, Jack Wilson, Joba Chamberlain, Robinson Cano, Yankees Read My Pinstripes Win, Yankees vs. Pirates - June 25, Zach Duke

All right, enough of the bullshit. This is the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 37-40 Pirates (granted that's not far behind the Yankees record). A team with a major league worst 5.06 ERA- okay they held up their end of the bargain. But that ERA is built mainly against weaker hitting National League teams.

The Pirates offense isn't as bad as you would think. They're 5th in the majors in runs scored and have hit more home runs than the Yankees. BUT THIS IS THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES. A team that has finished under .500 for 15 straight seasons. The Yankees MUST take 2 of 3 in this series.

Joba Chamberlain will try to get even things up tonight when he goes against Zach Duke. Like last night's starter, Tom Gorzelanny, and tomorrow's starter Paul Maholm, Duke is a left-hander. He's never faced the Yankees outside of Spring Training.

Bobby Abreu, who is desperately trying to shake a batting slumber, is 3-7 against Duke, while Chad Moeller is 1-6. Wilson Betemit has a hit in his only at-bat and the Yankees might want to think about sending up Andy Pettitte to pinch-hit. He's 2-2 lifetime against Duke.

The only member of the Pirates to face Joba, was Jason Michaels, who as a member of the Cleveland Indians, went 0-1.

Here's tonight's lineup courtesy of Peter Abraham:

Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Christian LF
Chamberlain RHP

Labels: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Joba Chamberlain, Tonight's Lineups, Yankees vs. Pirates - June 25, Zach Duke