Damon’s Homer Lifts Yankees Over Rays

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!!!

Weird Win by the Yanks

First I would
like to start off by thanking Mike Carver, 1240am and his show Sports
Radio New York for inviting me to call into to talk Yankees last night!
Mike you have a great show and thanks for letting me come on to talk
and give my thoughts on the New York Yankees!…even though I was in some
hot water when I got back to the wedding :-/…LOL…anywho what a wacky,
wild and overall GREAT win by the Yanks yesterday…I can’t remember the
last time, actually any time for that matter, when a team won a game by
way of a bases loaded walk, followed by an error at 3rd, with the bases
loaded, and a fielder’s choice…in which Matsui must’ve ran his butt off
because he got down the line pretty quickly! What a great and exciting
win, and one that proves that this year is a whole lot different…calls
are going the Yankees way and they are making sure to take advantage of
them…I am very impressed by yesterday’s win and it just goes to show
you that you don’t always need the longball to win games. I would also
like to say that my prediction was right this
game ended up being, for the most part, a pitchers duel with both
starters pitching beyond their years…getting into tight situations and
working their way out of them by way of outsmarting the hitter. Joba
showed some fatigue and loss of command in the 6th and got nicked up a
little bit…but the truth of the matter is that those hits fell in the
perfect places, just out of the reach of Cano both times…Gross came
up….Yeah that’s right Gabe Gross, hit a 2 run single that if Cano
wasn’t shaded in the hole probably would have still been a hit but
Robinson might have got to it before it reached the outfield…but that’s
neither here nor there and what happened, happened…back to the point.
Joba had a very good quality start yesterday and like I said worked out
of tough situations and had his slider working amazingly. People might
be yelling that he gave up 3 earned…hey guys, he’s Joba, he’s still
young and actually didn’t pitch bad in that inning it was just a
product of perfectly placed balls.  I was impressed by his poise and
confidence as well, especially when he was shaking off Posada to go to
the slider in situations where he knew it would work…AND IT DID!! That
slider spun for, what seemed to be, 63 ft then fell off the
table…hitter’s were fooled and didn’t know what to expect from
him…hmmmm I guess they haven’t realized that his fastball is going to
set up that devastating slider…but that’s even better, make the batters
keep guessing! I’ll get back to Joba in a second…

Matt Garza pitched an equally good game…he made only one mistake…AND
IT WAS A BIG ONE!!! Swisher…or Swishalicious…REALLY STERLING???
REALLY??? Side Track: I have shown my distaste for John Sterling in
posts past but really man? You invented “A Bomb for A Rod!”…sorry that
was sarcasm…you really couldn’t think of something better for Swisher?
Better yet maybe you should drop those stttttttttuuuuuppppppiiiiidddd
calls!!!…I’m sorry but it had to be said Swishalicious is the WORST!!!
nickname I have ever heard! Sorry about that…a little angry
hahahaha…but I don’t like to praise opposing pitching but I do have a
mini man crush on Garza…yes for real..the kid is good!! But he did
pitch good yesterday…getting ground balls and getting his first pitches
over for strikes…the Yankees tried to rattle him by calling time…he was
taking extremely long between pitches yesterday…and taking him deep
into counts…but it didn’t phase him whatsoever. The only good thing
about Garza…for the Yankees…was the fact that they knocked him out in
the 6th and got to that abysmal bullpen. Wait, there is something
wrong…they are pitching good today!! Ummmmm what’s going on? That’s
what most Yankee fans…at least the avid fan…was thinking…but don’t
worry the showed up in the 8th…PHEW!!! Side Track: Two quick
points…both teams only got 6 hits yesterday…these guys pitched
extremely well…sorry was just counting the Yankees hit and were
surprised they didn’t get a few more…back on track…The dominating Grant
Balfour…what? that was last year?…just isn’t where he was last year
when he busted onto the scene to head the great Rays bullpen of
2008…but wait? this year is really more like his career path…he has a
4.28 career ERA so last year is seeming to be more of a
fluke…anyway…Balfour has struggled for 2 straight days, yesterday he
came in to relieve Joe Nelson and trouble started right away…after a
quick put away of Jeter the wheels fell off the bus…after 2 singles, by
Damon and Tex, Balfour walked A Rod to load the bases…putting 3 batters
on is inexcusable…The dominate J.P. Howell comes in, probably the
bright part of this horrible Rays bullpen, and walks Cano!!! with the
score being 3-2 the rays fell apart with an error by Aybar, allowing
Tex to score, then he got what seemed to be a double play ball by the
lumbering Matsui but he beat out the throw to first to allow A Rod to
score and give the Yanks the lead at 4-3. Mo came in and shut the door,
maybe the day before was a fluke but I still think we should explore
other people in non-save situations, but he did prove why he is still a
dominate closer and will be for a few more years to come.

I really think Joba is proving more and more why he is a reliable
starter and why he needs to be in the rotation…I have the feeling that
people are going to point to yesterday’s game as a reason why he should
be in the pen…but really? he had a quality start and showed poise in
tight situations along with not allowing many baserunners and walking
only 1 batter…to me it’s NO CONTEST! I don’t see why you would want to
keep him in for 1 inning when you can get 6 – 7 innings of dominate
pitching…HE’S ONLY GUNNA GET BETTER!!! He’s 23 and shaking off Posada
because he knows he can get people out…it’s not young cockiness it’s
his skill level and trust in command that is allowing him to do that…I
know I’m some people are sooo against him starting but I really don’t
see why…our bullpen isn’t bad and if Veras learned how to pitch he can
be a great 8th inning guy or for now Aceves has been great and we
should give him some looks as well…JOBA should be a starter no doubt
about it.

On to tonite…”The battle of the Andy’s”…or atleast that’s what
Michael Kay called it yesterday…I had to slap my head for that one too.
Sonnanstine vs. Pettitte two guys who are having less than stellar
years right now…well Pettitte is a product of pitching poorly at home
on the road he is flat out pitching great. This matchup is really one
sided in my opinion and the Yankees shouldn’t have a problem with a
struggling Sonnanstine, who has to go at least 7 innings for the
bullpens sake. Sonnanstine, who is an average at best pitcher, has
posted a robust 7.07 ERA this year over 11 starts and needs to get back
on track if the Rays want to make a run for any type of playoff hopes.
Like I said the Yanks should handle him fine, after yesterdays loss the
Rays might be fired up but I don’t think it will last long, the Yanks
have been jumping on horrible pitching all year and with their bats
right now they should jump all over Sonnanstine…case closed…Key to the
game is definitely Pettitte…if he pitches well and keeps the Rays at
bay the Yanks should run away with this one and take the series. Over
his last 3 home starts Pettitte has given up 4 earned in each one…he
MUST pitch better today and get back on track…the Yankees score a ton
but Pettitte has to start pitching better for his own sake…yes I said
‘sake’ twice…like I said I can’t see the Yankees losing this game, I’m
sure the bookies can’t either…LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

Other Notes:

Red Wings: They win tomorrow…can’t see how they don’t, at home with the cup on the line…no doubt about it in my mind.

Lakers vs Magic: Not a surprise…wish I could’ve seen more of the
game…but I thought the Lakers would win this series in 5 and it’s
looking like it might not even get that far.

That’s it!! late!

Yanks lose in 9th

A very, very
disappointing game today…one with many peaks and valleys but at the end
of the day the Yanks put themselves in a 4 run hole that they can only
half way dig out of. I, and probably every other Yankee fan, thought
that with the way they battled back there was noooooo shot they would
lose, especially with Mo coming in. Side Track: Hey Joe!!! Maybe it’s
time you realize that Mo can’t come in, in non save situations!!!! He
doesn’t have the same intensity and doesn’t have the same focus.
Please!!! we have other guys in the bullpen, definitely not as good or
with even close to the same track record but maybe Mo should only be in
during save situations…it has been said by many closers and many
pitching experts that when a closer comes in in a tie game they don’t
have that same fire or adrenaline rush…Joe, we have some talent in the
bullpen, including Phil Hughes lets give them a try too…Sorry Mo lovers
I am one too but you have to admit there is something wrong there.
Anyway the Yanks in the top of the 9th looked horrible, really can’t
blame them I guess…they got beat by the bats of the Rays and by Mo
getting just a bit too much of the plate. Although disappointing it is
just one loss, and the Sox still have to play a powerful offense today,
but as of right now we are tied for 1st.In
the long run the ONLY bad thing about this game was the
pitching…Sabathia’s performance was lackluster, although he did eat up
a ton of innings, 8 to be exact…but he kept the team in the game
despite giving up 5 earned on 2 homeruns. Price pitched extremely well,
he gave up 3 runs but only 1 of them was earned and the other 2 runs
were either caused or set up by Navarro who had 3 errors in the
game…OUCH! Without these errors the Yanks really had no shot, but
because of them it kept them in the game and the crowd was pumping, and
kept their adrenaline running…Side Track: Now you have to understand I
am a huge fan of Michael Kay’s radio show, I think it’s great but today
he really really made me mad. Jeter smacked a ball to right field in
the bottom of the 7th, and if it was a homerun it would have tied the
game but it wasn’t really that close, and Michael called it the whole
way like it was 20 rows deep and it was a no doubter…I understand the
job of the commentator is the keep the game entertaining but…Stop being
a superfan Michael….and you’ve been around this game long enough to
know when it is a no doubter…C’mon man I know people make mistakes but
that was a Sterling mistake.

Sorry…so like i said the pitching was the Achilles heel of the
Yankees today and it wasn’t from their inexperienced bullpen or their
journeymen pitchers but from two pitchers who you wouldn’t expect it
from. It really is just one loss, and everyone has their bad  days but
you just wish, with the way this team fought back, that both wouldn’t
come across bad performances today. O well, chalk it up to bad luck.
The Rays bats were on fire today and they took advantage of every bad
pitch they got, especially their position players and three guys you
really wouldn’t expect it from. One is Ben Zobrist, taking over for the
injured Bartlett, he went 2 for 3 today, with a solo homerun and the
most important hit of the game a triple in the 9th, followed by scoring
a run on a single by Joe Dillon…another unsung hero…Joe went 3 for 3
today and got key hits off of two really great pitchers and more
importantly the go ahead RBI off of Mo. The thrid player is Willie
Aybar, who hit a bomb in the top of the 6th to give the Rays a 5-3 lead
which they would eventually blow. But let’s not dwell and praise the
Rays, this is a Yankee blog hahaha.
YANKEE HITTERS!!! My prediction was right from the other day, in that
the Yanks MUST get Price out of the game early and get to this depleted
bullpen, who struggled ALL OVER today including the bottom of the 9th.
Until the bottom of the 8th the Rays bullpen actually showed up and I
thought the Yanks couldn’t come back with the way they were
pitching…but then Balfour decided to throw Tex a fastball down the
middle of the plate, btw he had him in either a 0-2 or 1-2 count,
Navarro wanted to the ball higher but Balfour made a HUGE mistake and
Tex hit the longest ball in Yankee Stadium so far…NOTE: I JUST MADE
THAT UP BUT IT WAS A BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMBBBBB!!!!!…After a couple of
close calls going the Yankees way the bases were loaded for Melky…seems
to be a theme Melky in clutch situations…anywho, he grounds a weak ball
to short and there is a very close play at first that could’ve went
either way…My opinion he was out…but it doesn’t matter the Ump said
safe…YES!!! the Yanks are tied…Matsui struck out swinging on a call
that went to Rays way…my opinion he checked his swing. After the worst
top of the 9th inning I have ever seen, Tex does it again, after a
single by Jeter and a misplayed double by Damon, Teixeira hits a double
in the gap to bring the Yankees within 2 runs…but to no avail Randy
Choate comes in and gets Cano to hit a long fly ball to Center…which
almost went over the head of Upton…but didn’t.

So if there is something positive to take away from this game it is
that the Yankees will show fight in every game, and even though they
were battling back into the game, it seems like they always have
enthusiasm and the desire to win…I’m liking this team this year, the
kids are showing the Vets how to have fun and enjoy the game again…our
pitchers are showing up…most of the time…and the bats are on fire and
seem like they will never stop…let’s forget this loss….even though it
is a tough one to swallow…and take the next 2.

Tomorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrow! Chamberlain against Garza….Great matchup of
two perennial all stars and two pitchers who in 2 or 3 years will be
among the ELITE in the game. This matchup does intrigue me ALOT…it can
really go either way…can I be more vague? I thought today’s game would
be a pitchers duel…I was half right (Price did pitch great)….but
tomorrow I don’t see much offense coming through…both pitchers do have
the ability to get knocked around but this game determines the series.
Chamberlain proved over his last start why he is an asset to the
starting rotation and why he really wants to be here…if he can keep his
pitch count out of his mind, and let his ability and skill take over he
will dominate this matchup…Garza is a head case who usually throws
first ball fastballs to get ahead in the count…I don’t like over
aggressiveness but tomorrow the hitters might have to be. I’m gunna
call this game being a coin toss with either teams having to take
advantage of first pitch strikes and having the runners, those who do
get on, making the pitcher pay too much attention to them…if the
pitchers aren’t challenged and taken into late counts this game could
be a 1 – 0 victory by either team. The Yankees have to be aggressive
tomorrow in both pitching and hitting…the Rays strike out a lot but
don’t throw too many fastball because they have a lot of power. If the
bats get to Garza he gets flustered…swing early in counts if the pitch
is there…but if he is a little wild take him deep into counts and
rattle him a little…Gunna be a good game tomorrow…LET’S GO YANKEES!!!

No notes…can’t really think of any….late

Teixeira Slides in Hard!

SORRY FOR THE
DELAY! I gotta say I’m feeling good about this team…I know that
shouldn’t be a surprise but over the past couple of years we have had
teams perform like this only to fail in the playoffs. I don’t know what
it is, and I honestly don’t really care…the Yanks are winning big and
playing like champions. I say this over and over again but these guys
are just playing to have fun…and the new guys (and even younger
players) are breathing life into this team and making the vets realize
what it was like to be young and play for the YANKEES!!! You can’t get
any better than that! Most importantly the fans see this and are
reacting, the buzz around this team is astounding and I think I can
speak for every Yankee fan when I say this really looks like it might
be the year. I hate saying things like that soooooo early in the
season, BUT this team has that feel…we have pitching, hitting,
running…you name it we got it! (sorry for the sales person cliche
there). Last night proved what this team is capable of and more
importantly what they will do to win!Granted I didn’t get to see the play (I was working and OF COURSE! the one TV in front of me had on the Met game
), well that’s kind of a lie I saw it quick on an ESPN highlight, but
Teixeira’s slide into second was the play of the night, and seemed to
be the catalyst for this team to perform. In case, like me, you missed
it with 1 out in the bottom of the 4th Tex comes up to the plate and
gets hit by a Vincente Padilla pitch, he got hit in consecutive at
bats. (There are a lot of murmurs that it was intentional, however
given the position in the game, with Arod coming to bat, and hitting
Tex to load the bases, it isn’t likely). Padilla got the job done, or
so it seemed, with a double play ball hit by Arod, but Teixeira slid
hard in to second breaking up an inning ending double play and allowing
the Yanks to score 5 more runs in the inning, for a total of 7. Many
people are coining this as Teixeira’s first “Yankee Moment” and you
kind of have to agree with that, if it wasn’t for him breaking up that
play the Yanks are tied at 3 going into the top of the 5th, but instead
the inning went on and was capped off by a 3 run A BOMB…O sorry…that’s
what John Sterling thought…Hey John stop flirting with Susan and get
over your man crush for a moment and give Matsui credit…he did correct
himself right after but I love bashing him
. BTW Matsui’s homerun was CRUSHED! Hopefully he is getting his swagger
back. Anyway the Yankee bats stay hot and they go on to win the game
12-3…which I will get back to but I want to touch on Burnett first.

A.J.!!! Besides the one blemish, I can’t lie though…Nelson Cruz
hammered that ball in the 3rd…it was pretty impressive, SIDE TRACK:
Nelson Cruz is showing why he was so sought after in every fantasy
draft and a huge asset for the Rangers…Look out for this kid in
upcoming years I see good things for him. Back on track: Burnett
pitched the same way he did a week earlier against this team,
dominating them at every turn and keeping them guessing. Burnett isn’t
going to be C.C though so I really hope people aren’t expecting that,
don’t get me wrong he is a great pitcher with tonssss of potential but
he ISN’T going to give you back to back complete game shutouts. What he
will give you is 6 – 7 innings of good pitching, he will usually give
up a few runs, in some places he will get shelled though, but all
pitchers have the bad games…but he backs up his games with a ton of
strike outs and the ability to work out of tight situations. His stuff
is so great that almost any jam, in any situation, he can work out of
it with his unhittable stuff. Sometimes he doesn’t trust it enough
though and you find him working the fastball to much and that’s when he
gets into trouble. Sorry for being a downer…but AJ pitched amazing last
night, giving up only 3 earned while striking out 8 and eating up 7
innings…I LOVE WHEN PITCHERS LET THE BULLPEN REST!!!! The only concern
was the amount of batters he put on the bases but the runs didn’t come
around so it was fine! My man Tomko came in and held it down and Veras
showed some promise…but lets not think that means anything the game was
out of reach so he didn’t really feel any pressure. However the Yankees
keep on rolling and our rotation is getting even stronger now! YES!!!

The Yankees offense took care of business against a mediocre
pitcher, which is what they need to do, and we have to believe they
will keep on rolling. These games are essential right now, they aren’t
must wins, but they are facing beatable opponents (ummmmmm….Texas is in
first place in the West though, just proving how much better the AL
East is than the rest of the AL) so they must take advantage of this
home-stand, especially going into Boston next week. It’s also good to
see other players hitting the ball well and coming back strong. The 5
through 9 hitters accounted for 9 of the 13 total hits the Yankees got
last night and 9 of the 11 RBIs….of course 4 of them came from Posada
who hit a 3 run bomb and Matsui brought across 3 as well with a homerun
of his own. Also Jeter has obviously become accustomed to his new role
at lead off…he went 3 for 4 yesterday and has a 16 game hitting
streak…he is blistering hot right now and is hitting everything!

Well on to tonite’s game…Yankees have another matchup, which on
paper, is in their favor. Another one of Texas’ youngsters, Scott
Feldman, against the veteran Pettitte. Most of us can see that the
Yankees should have the advantage in this game but…Pettitte has been
struggling at home this year posting a 5.57 era and giving up a
******** 7 homeruns! The Rangers lineup is balanced however most of
their power comes from the left side…but this is an advantage
considering that their biggest threat Josh Hamilton is on the DL and
will obviously not be facing Pettitte tonite. Feldman is a young right
hander who is having a good season posting a 3.91 ERA, which is
actually better than it seems considering his home ball park is
Arlington. I haven’t seen much of him but from what I have seen he has
good stuff and he is a groundball pitcher. He will get you the
occasional strikeout but don’t expect them to exceed 5 in any of his
starts. Also for this year Feldman has only given up 5 homeruns in 7
starts and only 2 of them are on the road, that could change tonite at
the rate balls are flying out of Yankee Stadium. The keys to tonite’s
game are the Yankees sitting back on pitches and waiting for Feldman to
get the balls up in the zone and taking it from there…being impatient
will only lead to groundballs and killing rallies. The Yankee runners
must also take advantage of a young pitcher who might pay too much
attention to them…but beware the Rangers do have a good young catcher
behind the plate who can throw out runners…so they can’t go too crazy.
Pettitte must take advantage of aggressive hitters…get ahead in the
count and work your fastball early to set up your off speed stuff…get
them swinging early to hit the ball in the ground. This team is
aggressive and they will attack especially if Pettitte is struggling. I
don’t feel real confident in this matchup, not that I don’t trust
pettitte but Yankee Stadium has not been kind to him…It’s a toss up,
but if the Yankees are hitting they take the game…LET’S GO YANKEES!

Other Notes:

Red Wings: Take the next game and take the Pens back to Detroit with
the series on the line…they won’t win on your ice and you can take Lord
Stanley’s cup for consecutive years

Ichiro: 26 game hitting streak…pretty impressive

That’s it I think….Late

Joba Wins!

Well if you are
a supporter of Joba being in the rotation your prayers have been
answered!!! I have been saying all along that I want Joba in the
rotation, his stuff is too good to keep to one inning. I understand
that the 8th inning is a huge gap right now, however if Joba has the
ability to be dominant like that every time he pitches, where would you
rather him be? I can’t imagine many people saying that he should be in
the bullpen if he performed like that every start.

EARLY SIDETRACK: Wow that was quick….Let’s hear it for the Yankee
defense!!! 18 straight with no errors, a major league record, and they
had a bunch of role players in, probably thinking “Oh man, I hope I
don’t screw up”…way to make us proud boys.

Last night’s game was a big one and I am confident we will see more
of this in June, we are 1 game up on the saux…even though I do believe
it is too early to care about that…but it does build confidence and fan
support so let’s keep that gap growing. I’m thinking more and more that
the AL East and wildcard is turning into a 2 team race…yes I believe
both will come out of the East (Yanks and Boston)…but again to early to
tell if certain teams woes will continue throughout the season. The
Yankees didn’t dominate Sowers like I thought they would, but the kid
is a smart pitcher who has had his moments of clarity and brilliance
(might be a slight over statement). He was fooling hitters, getting
them to hit ground balls, and getting out of tight situations with 2
double plays, one of which scored a run for the Yanks. I wanted the
Yankee bats to be aggressive, but maybe that was my mistake…I know, I’m
acting like they take advice from me, I’m not George Costanza
JEEZ!…taking pitches and working the count might have been the better
approach, but it’s too late for that now. But when it really comes down
to it…WHO CARES THEY WON!!! I just don’t want to see them fall in the
holes of years past when they got dominated by sub par pitchers because
they are conflicted on how to handle them.

Side Track: To get back to Joba for a second…is it possible that he
is trying too hard? That he isn’t trusting his pitching ability? One
thing that I haven’t heard anyone mention is the way a pitch
count/innings restriction might affect a young pitcher. Putting this on
them might make them overexert themselves, trying too hard to work
through innings and get people out so they can keep their pitch count
down. You can’t say they don’t think about because they have to, that’s
all anyone talks about…ESPECIALLY WITH JOBA!!! The bottom line and my
point about this is that being hard on Joba for not pitching late into
games might be the product of him trying too hard to work later in to
games. Knowing that you have a pitch count to worry about HAS to work
its way into a young pitcher psyche and in turn force them into trying
too hard. Please take pitch restrictions away, or don’t make them
public, don’t let us know what your plan is, once the media takes hold
of it they ALWAYS blow it out of proportion…well, this is just a
thought. As for my reason about last night, Joba is a great pitcher and
maybe Joe told him to calm down and trust his stuff…or maybe he said
you have no pitch limit, to keep his mind off of it.

Alright, back to last night…Give it up for Jeter!!!! Over the last 9
games, he has raised his average 34 points!!! 34 points!!!..sorry, but
that is incredible…Jeter is the catalyst for this team winning and
there is definately a corrolation here. I know they were winning when
he was struggling, but over his 15 game hitting streak the Yankees have
gone 11 and 4 and scored an average of 6.2 runs per game…not too
shabby! Anyway as I said before the Yankee bats where confused by
Sowers and didn’t produce many runs off him…actually it was only 1 and
that was on a double play by Nick Swisher…play was close at first but
Garko might have stayed on the bag. OH by the way…V-Mart…you know,
probably the 2nd best hitting catcher in the game…behind Jose Molina of
course…hit a moonshot last night, I finally saw the replay and it was a
BOMB (ending Joba’s perfect game bid
)…unfortunately I had to listen to John Sterling who makes every pop
fly by the Yankees sound dramatic but can’t say anything when a guy on
the opposite team hits an epic shot. Sowers finally left the game, with
the lead, in the 5th inning, but not before he loaded the bases, with
walks…patients…WOW!!, he was replaced by Greg Aquino who put the threat
away, NOT GOOD!!…btw that means the Yankees DIDN’T SCORE WITH THE BASES
LOADED AND NO OUTS!!!…pathetic. Joba is still cruising at this point
only giving up that BOMB to V-Mart.

No one can deny that Swisher has been struggling as of late, but
last night he came through HUGE for the Yankees…with the bases loaded
in the top of the 6th Swisher hits a deep shot off the left field
wall…probably 2 feet away from a granny…which scores two and breaks a 2
inning stalemate…Arod follows with a 2 run single to give the Yanks a
5-1 lead. Joba was still stifling batters and only gave up 2 earned,
the latter of which came on a ground out to Jeter in which Choo scored.
Joba handed the game over to Mo in the 9th and, to sound like a typical
Yankee fan, with a 5-2 lead, for get about it! The Indians had no
shot…But let’s cheer for Joba a great pitching performance…exactly what
he needed, exactly what the Yankees and their bullpen needed…a great
series win…and getting the momentum back for the 7 game home stand. Be
careful AL East the Yankees are back and looking to destroy anyone in
their way to the pennant.

Tonite! The Yanks welcome the Texas Rangers…who are first in the AL
West (Really?)…into their home for a quick 3 game series. The last time
they faced eachother the Yankee bats came alive and they took the 3
game series 2 to 1. Tonite Burnett faces Padilla…a decent matchup in
favor of the Yankees…if Burnett can build off his last performance we
will be in good shape, Padilla is making his first start coming off the
DL and the Yankees must attack the rust that he inevidably developed.
The same old story with Burnett if he can keep the ball down and keep
the Rangers batters baffled (obvioulsy) he will pitch fine. The
powerful Rangers are scary though, they have huge bats, even though it
is unlikely we will see Hamilton play, and with the way this ballpark
is playing we could see a ton of balls fly into the seats. Burnett will
set up his fastball…he must keep it away from the right hand batters
and set up his curveball when he is in counts in his favor…I can see
Burnett getting in and out of trouble in this game but if he is calm
and confident we should see a similar performance to the one he had in
Arlington on 5/27. I see the Yankees winning this game as long as they
attack Padilla, most pitchers have to transition a little bit after
coming off the DL and the Yankees must exploit that…the bats are
hot…the gloves are hot…the pitching has been what we expected…LET’S GO
YANKEES!!!

Other Notes:

Ichiro: 25-game hitting streak…and no one is talking about it!

Red Wings: They can go up 3-0 tonite in a very tough series, but
expect both Malkin and Crosby to show up tonite at home, they can’t
lose a third straight…and can’t go back to Detroit if the Wings can
clinch.

Ummmm…I think that is it…ohhhhhhhhh Tom Brady is looking good and
healthy and has been regularly participating in practice..he’s back and
looking sharp…hopefully he shakes off the rust in the pre-season.

Yeap that’s it…who knows might be back later….lates