Another
great late inning win by the Yankees, just proving, once again, that no
matter who the opponent, what the score, who’s pitching, etc. the Yanks
always have a chance and are always in the game. I would like to start
off congratulating Andy Pettitte on pitching a great game at
home…FINALLY!!! I mean, I know I’m being a little over dramatic…over
his last 3 home starts (not including yesterday) he only gave up 4
earned but he didnt look good. Last night Pettitte was there to pitch
and displayed one of the NASTIEST sliders I have even seen him throw.
Now I have to admit I am a little concerned about Pettitte…he seems to
not be at his healthiest and is not dominating batters the way he has
in the past….STOP!!! I know what your thinking…”HEY DUMMY!!! HE’S NOT
27 ANYMORE!!!” I know, I know…I just mean he is throwing meatballs at
points and not using his smarts to get past batters. That 3-2 pitch to
Kapler…SIDE TRACK: I truly believe that Pettitte was ********** that he
didn’t get the call on the pitch before…he threw a 2-2 curvethat,
I REALLLLLY THOUGHT WAS A STRIKE, must’ve just missed the outside
corner…he froze Kapler and should’ve gotten the strike out…instead he
got flustered and made this mistake…was a meatball, batting practice
fastball, that just sat in the middle of the zone and was ready to be
hit into the stratosphere, and that’s where it ended up. He was clearly
upset on the mound and didn’t calm down before he threw that horrific
pitch. But he prevailed and if it wasn’t for the top of the 4th
Pettitte pitched great. My only concern is that Pettitte has given up
WAYYYYY to many homeruns this season so far, especially in Yankee
Stadium….he doesn’t have that 90+ fastball anymore and he needs to
adjust to that…the pitch to Kapler was horrible and with the Rays
lineup he could’ve put the pitch inside and if he ended up walking him
it wouldn’t have been that bad…especially with Reid Brignac coming up
next…but be that as it may in the long run it didn’t matter and the
Yanks still won. (Oh number freaks for Pettitte that’s 8 homers in only
43.1 innings pitched at home…something needs to change here)
Ummmmm….is Teixeira good? Ohhh by the way all those supposed “real
Yankee fans” next time check your stats and don’t overreact to
everything….if you knew anything, you would know Tex is notoriously
horrific in April and that he was going to be off to a slow start…hey
listen I’m not preaching without sin…I got frustrated too…but you can’t
boo the guy when he has that kind of track record!! Look at him now!!
The guy is a flatout beast and is now leading the American League in
Homers and is producing with his bat on a consistent basis and with his
glove, what seems to be, EVERYDAY!!! This guy is one of the best in the
game and I’m glad he’s on our team. Sorry….I had to say that.
I would like to pat myself on the back for predicting a win
yesterday…now I will admit that I thought the Yanks would win by more
than 2 buttttttt that’s baseball and Sonnanstine actually decided to
throw a some what decent game. I also figured Sonnanstine would be out
in 5 (He pitched 7+, he came out for the 8th and gave up a leadoff
homer to Jeter) The bats did attack Sonnanstine though and got him for
4 homers (3 solo) and they rolled to victory thanks to the bullpen
behind Pettitte…and that guy Hughes…ever heard of him? I’ll get back to
that in a minute. Even with the 4 homers off Andy the Yanks could only
muster 6 hits for the night, I obviously figured in for a lot more. A
very weird feat…so in reality Sonnanstine really didn’t pitch that bad
at all…he just made 4 really bad mistakes 
. I would like to see more small ball out of the Yankees at times…we
aren’t stealing bases as much right now…but I guess you have to get on
base to do that too. Power is fine and all but if they lose that for a
period of time…which don’t go crazy people teams do slump…LOOK AT THE
METS!!! who whether you want to admit it or not have a pretty good
lineup…it happens! So with any power shortage the Yankees could be in
trouble so I would like to see small ball once and a while…but I’m not
nervous guys can execute on that team and they will…I just don’t want
to be sooooo dependent on power that we drop a few games if they slump.
This will piss a lot of people off but…Phil Hughes looked really
good and can be the answer to our 8th inning woes. I know he pitched in
the 7th…calm down people…but he looked calm, collected, and very
intense in his new role…and like a good young pitcher he is telling the
media that he will do whatever it takes to help the team win…he’s a
true Yankee. Phil came in and mowed down 3 really good batters,
probably the cream of the crop for this Tampa team and did it with ease
getting 2 groundouts and a very impressive strike out of Longoria. He
looked good people and this might be a good role for him right now…HE
WILL START AGAIN!! DON’T WORRY…but I think he should be our 8th inning
guy…another guy I like actually pitched in the 8th yesterday and that
is Phil Coke…Yes, I am a Coke Bloke as well as a co-founder of the
group…he’s a good pitcher with a lot of talent who is an essential part
of this bullpen…not only as a lefty but as someone who can get key outs
late in the game. He has good pitches and poise and once he gets
settled into being a Yankee and the pressure, he will be fine and will
become a HUGE!!! Fan favorite and everyone will want to become a Coke
Bloke!!! You know it’s true!!!
Tonite’s game…is it raining in Boston? Cuz it’s pouring here! GREAT
MATCHUP BURNETT vs BECKETT, former teammates, good friends….probably
the best one of the series!!! Although it just barely over shadows the
Sabathia/Penny duel…BTW forecast not looking to good for tonite 
…BUMMER!!! Hey, remember 4/25 does that date ring a bell? Well that was
the last time these two pitchers squared off and instead of a great
pitchers duel it was a public bashing!!! Both pitchers gave up 8
earned…and didn’t even factor in the decision!!! THAT’S INSANE…worse
part about it was that Burnett was spotted 6 runs before he fell apart
in the 4 giving up 5 earned then again in the 5th giving up another
3!!! HORRIBLE….but hey that’s the past, let’s not dwell on that…you
defiantly can’t expect that two times in a row these guys are too
good…and actually pitching well as of late…especially Beckett who has
had 6 quality starts in a row along with a 4 and 0 record over that
stretch…Burnett is working off 2 good starts off the Rangers (just
happened to face them in back to back starts) and the Red Sox offense
is very similar to theirs…if anything though the Sox hit more for
average than power..which could hurt Burnett…sorry everyone! This
matchup really intrigues me…both guys have the potential to be lights
out but both have the ability to get smashed…my thought process is that
this game is gunna get called tonite…the Weather isn’t supposed to be
good and if it’s anything like it is here up in Boston the game will be
called at 4pm…But if the game were to happen…I can’t give a good
definite prediction…it depends really on which Burnett shows up…I’m
hoping he has found his groove and is ready to pitch to his talent and
we get to see the Burnett of last year…in his career he has dominated
the Sox…which was a speculative point on why the Yanks wanted him so
bad…with a 5-0 career record and posting a 3.52 ERA which I am sure is
bloated a little due to the horrible start mentioned earlier. If
Burnett shows up I think whoever makes the first mistake loses…I really
see this being a pitchers duel…if the Yankees lefties can take
advantage of Pesky’s poll they will be in good shape…the bats are hot
and need to take advantage of Beckett’s few mistakes…Keys to the game
are the Yankees sitting back and waiting for their pitch from a very
good pitcher…if they are too overeager they will be outmatched and put
a lot of pressure on Burnett…I’m looking forward to this game should be
a good one…if it happens…I know it was a vague perdiction but it really
is a toss up…LET’S GO YANKEES!!!
THAT’S ALL FOLKS…late!!!
River Ave Rant 