A Biased Look at the New York Yankees, the Greatest Franchise in the History of Sports
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I always get leery when the Yankees go into extra innings. Outside of Mariano Rivera, their bullpen is pretty spotty. They did the job today though. Chien-Ming Wang gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk through eight innings before he left the game. Then the pen gave up only a single run (although it almost cost us) through four innings and that allowed Alex Rodriguez to do his magic. Marcus Giles hit a solo shot in the top of the twelth and then A-Rod answered with a two run shot in the bottom of the twelth to win it.
Randy Johnson got the job done on Monday. Jason Giambi gave him a five run cushion in the first two innings on two homeruns and Johnson threw seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts. Chipper Jones took Scott Proctor deep in the ninth for two runs to make things interesting, but Mariano Rivera slammed the shut and got the final two batters out.
Yesterday was the loss. Jaret Wright took the loss because the Yankees couldn’t score any runs. We did get single runs in the seventh and ninth (both driven in by Melky Cabrera) but it wasn’t enough and Wright took the loss despite giving up only a single run through six innings.
Next up is rivalry weekend, so the Mets come to town. Unfortunately, the Mets couldn’t do jack against the Red Sox so the Yanks are going to be at least three games back heading into the weekend depending on what the Red Sox do tomorrow.
A month ago, if I had seen this series on the schedule, I would have said “easy sweep.” Something has happened in Miami though and the Marlins have been one of the hottest teams in baseball. Fortunately, the Yankees took care of business and at least won the series. And what turned into a three game, three day series turned into a game on Friday and two on Sunday because of the rain out on Saturday.
On Friday, Chien-Ming Wang was given a three game lead in the fifth inning and while the Marlins crept back into the game, they fell a run short. Wang is now 8-3 and he gave up four runs on nine hits in seven innings of work. Kyle Farnsworth made things interesting and he gave up a run in the eighth, but Mariano Rivera did his job and pitched a perfect ninth for his fifteenth save of the season. Jorge Posada drove in three runs and Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi scored twice.
In game one on Sunday, Mike Mussina outdueled Dontrelle Willis. Mussina gave up a single run on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in seven innings. Once again, Kyle Farnsworth made things interesting and he loaded up the bases in the eighth but he got out of his own jam. Rivera was lights out and he picked up save 16. The only offense came from Jason Giambi, who homered and drove in two runs.
In game two, the kids got the better of us although three unearned runs helped out the Marlins’ cause. Some rookie (Anibal Sanchez) made his first start of his career and shutout the Yankees over almost six innings. Shawn Chacon pitched well, but not well enough and Derek Jeter had two hits in the 5-0 loss.
The Red Sox have won eight straight and we’re now 2 1/2 games back. Even worse, Robinson Cano might be the latest casualty. It might be time for Brian Cashman to pull the trigger and make deal. Regardless, next up are the last place Braves (sounds weird saying that) so hopefully the Yankees can roll over them.
The Phillies are a decent team, so only winning two in this one in their own park is somewhat of a success. In the last two games of the series, the Yankees really got the job done, so hopefully they can carry this into their weekend series against the Marlins.
On Monday, Randy Johnson was outdueled but he actually looked good. He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings. Jason Giambi went three for four with his nineteenth homerun of the season.
Tuesday’s game was fun. The Phillies broke a 5-5 tie and scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Then the Yankees answered with four runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach at 9-7. Bernie Williams went five for five in the game and Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada both went deep. Mike Mussina was beat up but the pen picked him up and T.J. Beam ended up with his first career win.
Yesterday, Jaret Wright and four relievers completely shut down the Phillies in a 5-0 shutout. The Yankees only gave up three hits. Miguel Cairo went two for three with two runs and Johnny Damon was a perfect three for three.
Hopefully the Phillys can take care of the Red Sox and the Marlins will revert back into the team they’re supposed to be (they finally lost). We’re two games back and we have to make up some ground.
What a friggin joke. I’m not sure what the Yankees problem have been with these weekend series, but this shit has to stop. I can almost understand losing some games to Oakland, but the Nationals are supposed to be a bottom tier team.
Things actually got off to a nice start on Friday. Bernie Williams showed some of his old self with a four for five performance He homered, drove in two runs and scored three times. Jaret Wright wasn’t so good, but the pen did their job. Mariano Rivera picked up the win after the Yankees came back from a two run deficit in the eighth to win it 7-5.
Just like the 1986 World Series, somebody told me the Yankees played a game on Saturday and lost, but I have no idea what they’re talking about. The Yankees didn’t play on Saturday just like nobody played in the 1986 World Series. It’s all a big joke. Ha ha. Ha ha. Ehhhhhhh.
Today, Chien-Ming Wang went the distance and lost it in the ninth when Ryan Zimmerman hit a two run walk off homer to end it. I can understand why he was still in there. He had only thrown 106 pitches up until the homerun and the bullpen was tired. Jorge Posada hit a sac fly and Alex Rodriguez hit a solo homerun to account for the two Yankees run in this one.
Boston plays tonight, and just like every night I’ll be rooting against them. If the Red Sox lose, we’re back in second place. Next up for the Yankees are the Phillies, who look like they have a split personality disorder. They’ll win a bunch, then lose a bunch. Right now, they’ve been losing a bunch so hopefully that end of the trend will remain intact.
The Yankees got some good pitching finally, and that led to two wins. Fortunately they couldn’t finish up the sweep, so by the end of the night, we could be back to a tie with Boston. I’ll take it though after that debacle in Oakland.
Chien-Ming Wang got the job done on Tuesday and improved to 7-2 in the process. Fortunately, he needed a shutout because the Yanks only put up a single run on Robinson Cano’s solo homerun in the sixth inning. Regardless, Wang went 7 1/3 and gave up only five hits. Rivera closed it out with a perfect ninth to earn save number 13.
Now I’m going to say something that might surprise you, at least this season. Randy Johnson had a really good start. One run on four hits in 6 1/3 with six strikeouts and zero walks. This time, the Yankees picked up the offense though. Andy Phillips homered and drove in two and Johnny Damon hit a solo shot. Robinson Cano continued to hit well and he went three for four with an RBI.
Today’s game was a downer and it looks like Mike Mussina may be reverting back to what we’ve seen the past couple of seasons. He was doing okay until he got tagged for three runs in the sixth. By then it was 6-1 and while the Yankees put three runs more runs on the board, it would have never been enough. In the end, it was an 8-4 final.
Melky Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez and Bernie Williams all hit solo homeruns. Williams was the only Yankee with two hits.
It’s back to interleague play, and in the interleague lottery, we picked a winner this weekend. The Nationals have been playing well, but their time has run out. I’m expecting nothing less then a sweep.
Just when the Yankees look like they’re back on track, they go out and get swept. Oakland appears to be hitting their stride but that’s no excuse for this. The only word that comes to mind is “ugly.”
On Friday, the A’s jumped all over Randy Johnson, who looks more and more like he’s at the end of the road. Johnson lasted only four innings and he gave up six runs. Even worse, he walked five guys. We should have really sweetened that deal to Roger Clemens because we could really use him now. Jason Giambi was pretty much the Yankees offense. He drove in three on his seventeenth homerun of the season.
Yesterday, the Yankees couldn’t get the bats going. We no longer have the pitching staff to where we can score two runs and still be in a game. Mike Mussina was decent, but he wasn’t good enough and he dropped to 8-2. Kevin Thompson hit his first career homerun and Jason Giambi went yard with a solo shot.
Today was the return of Shawn Chacon and while he didn’t throw horribly, he didn’t really come out of the gate with a quality start. He gave up five runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks. Barry Zito walked seven and we still couldn’t squeeze a win out of this one. Kyle Farnsworth gave up a solo shot to Dan Johnson and that ended up being the difference. Johnny Damon scored twice on three walks and Robinson Cano had three hits.
So we’re a game back because Otsuka couldn’t get Fat Papi out today. The Indians, who have been struggling but look good tonight, come to town for three. We get a day off, and hopefully Wang can get us back on track.
I was really, really hoping to be talking about a sweep here, even if it was a rain shortened one. Regardless, the Yankees won two of three, and they’re now in the drivers seat in the American League East.
The bats really showed up for Mike Mussina on Monday. Jason Giambi hit his sixteenth homerun and drove in three. Melky Cabrera scored three times and drove in two runs while Andy Phillips homered and drove in three. Mike Mussina improved to 8-1 and he gave up five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in six innings.
Tuesday’s game was a solid pitching duel. Bernie Williams tied the game with a solo shot in the fifth and then Jason Giambi drove in the eventual winning run by drawing a bases loaded walk. Chien-Ming Wang had one of his better starts of the season. He gave up one run on eight hits in seven innings of work.
Wednesday was the rain out and that must have killed out momentum because the Yankees came out flat yesterday. Jaret Wright was cruising along until he he gave up three runs in the sixth to make it 4-3 Boston. Then the pen gave up five runs in the seventh to bust the game open. Scot Proctor was the primary culprit but Wright took the loss and dropped to 3-4 on the season. All three Yankees runs came on solo homeruns by Bernie Williams, Johnny Damon and Robinson Cano.
Oakland comes to town for a three game set. I’ve been waiting for Oakland to go on one of their runs and it hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully they’ll wait until they leave New York. It’s Danny Haren vs. Shawn Chacon tonight.
Looks like we’re going to have another nice season with our arch rivals. The Yankees were an inning away from sweeping the so-called best team in the majors (Detroit Tigers) and then the Yanks took two of three in Baltimore. And they’re doing it all with about half of a team. Although that’s really not an excuse, because the Red Sox are just as banged up as we are. As it stands, we’re a half game back (one more loss) of the Red Sox and the Blue Jays are hot on our tails two games back of us. And with the White Sox and Tigers on cold streaks, the Wild Card race (I know it’s early) is a lot tighter then it was last week.
On Friday, the Yankees needed a ninth inning run to put the Orioles away. Although that was after Ron Villone and Scott Erickson gave up eighth inning runs to tie the game. Kyle Farnsworth actually gave up the tying run even if it was inherited and while he blew the save, he did pick up the win. Jason Giambi hit his fifteenth homerun and drove in two runs and Derek Jeter had three hits and two RBIs. Johnny Damon scored twice in the 6-5 win.
It was deja vu all over again (thank you Yogi Berra) on Saturday, and the Yankees prevailed by exactly the same score as the day before, 6-5. Johnny Damon’s tenth inning homerun broke a 5-5 tie but once again it was the pen that gave up two eighth inning runs to eventually send the game into extra frames. Johnny Damon finished the game three for five with the homerun, one RBI and two runs. Bernie Williams drove in three runs and Melkie Cabrera scored twice. Scott Proctor picked up the win, and Chien-Ming Wang got into trouble in the bottom of the tenth but he picked up his first career save.
Today, Aaron Small got knocked around. He didn’t even last three innings and he gave up seven runs on nine hits. The final was 11-4. Scott Erickson was also hit hard, and he gave up four runs later in the game. Kevin Thompson, in only his second career game, had a pinch hit bases clearing double to give him three RBIs (his first three RBIs). Miguel Cairo drove in the other Yankee run and Johnny Damon and Andy Phillips both had two hits.
So it all comes down to this. Four games against the Red Sox at majestic Yankee Stadium. If one team can take three of four, they’ll be the one in first place. And I haven’t checked the schedule, but I’m sure at least one of these games is on ESPN, because they’ll be good ones.
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