A Biased Look at the New York Yankees, the Greatest Franchise in the History of Sports
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Mike Mussina pitched a good game today against the Cincinnati Reds, making a couple mistakes. But it was those mistakes that were his demise. He gave up a home run in the 2nd inning, and a costly 2-run double in the 5th inning. Those three runs were all the Reds needed today as their pitcher Edinson Volquez had the Yankees number, no matter what they did. Mussina left the game after the 8th inning, giving up a total of 10 Hits, 4 Earned Runs, Striking Out 4. A very solid performance, but not good enough for the Win.
The only offense came from two 1-run innings, in the 3rd and 7th innings, snapping a 7-game winning streak. Having swept the last two series, I suppose you can give the club a break on this one, especially when they run into a buzz saw like Volquez. The good news is that both Boston and Tampa Bay lost their respective games today as well, so they did not lose any ground in the American League East. They remain 5 games behind Boston, and look poised to make the Rays their next victim on their way to the top of this tough division. The critics are awful quiet, and rightfully so.
Once again Chien-Ming Wang took the mound on the road for the Yankees and dominated the opponent, leaving the game after pitching 5 innings of shut-out baseball. The difference in this start was that he left due to injury. As he was running the bases in this interleague game with the National League’s Houston Astros, he hurt his right foot, and had to be helped off the field, not returning to pitch in the 6th inning. Instead he was replaced by Ohlendorf, and faces the prospect of being out for a long time, wearing a cast, and walking boot, possibly, through early September. Yikes!
Even though he left in the bottom of the 5th inning, he still pitched the Major League minimum to get the decision (another Win), and took his road record to 5-0. He dropped his ERA to 4.07, and looked as dominant as he has looked all season. He spread 6 Hits over that time, and did not allow a Run, a Walk, or any offensive threat by the Astros all day. Wang will be missed greatly.
The offense, on the other hand, does not have any bad news following these facts. 13 baserunners crossed home plate for the club today, matching their second highest point total of the year, behind only to the 15 Runs they posted on that horrible team from Boston (who wear red sox), at Yankee Stadium, on April 16th.
So many good things happened today for this team offensively that it would take pages of details to sort through them all. However, looking through the lineup, it is nice to see that 7 RBI’s came from the bottom of the list (Posada 3, Cano 3, and Cabrera 1), and the rest picked up from the meat of the order (Jeter 2, Matsui 1, Rodriguez 3).
This was an impressive win, although shadowed by the lose of their ace, and sends the Yankees speeding away from that dreaded .500 record that has been hanging around for months now, at 37-33, and they are starting to make a move in the East. They are sitting alone in third place, 6 games out, and climbing the ranks, leaving Baltimore and Toronto behind.
The team heads home on their day off Monday, and hosts the Padres at the House that Ruth Built for a 3-game series. They look to make this their third straight series win, and keep up their winning ways. Any information on the condition of Chien-Ming Wang will be passed along.
Darrell Rasner took the mound in Oakland today in front of many family and friends. Coming from this lovely California climate (mid to low 70′s again today), he did his best to fight back the nerves and pitch to impress his hometown fans. However, just like most homecomings in sports, it was a bust. He was beat up pretty good in his 3.2 innings of work, having his day ended in his dismal 3rd inning. His day accumulated 9 Hits, 7 Runs (6 Earned), 1 Walk, and 4 Strike Outs. Not the way he wanted to perform for his family and friends.
The Yankees struck first with a team leading 15th Home Run for Jason Giambi (with that crazy moustache), in the 2nd inning. Little did they know what was in store for them in the next inning. Other than a late mini-rally in the top of the 9th inning, that was the only offense the club could put together today.
The bullpen, coming in so early in this contest, put together an impressive 4.1 innings of 2 Hit ball, with only 1 Earned Run. Good enough to hold them back, but the damage had already been done.
The Yankees lose this one 4-8, and drop to their familiar .500 record at 33-33. They drop back to 7 games behind Boston, and for the forth straight day have a 3-way tie for 3rd place (or basement, depending on how you see the glass).
Chien-Ming Wang took the mound today in beautiful California, needing a win to start the clubs ascend toward the leaders in the American League East. The team gave him a 2 Run lead by the time he took the mound to start the game, and that was all he would need.
Wang went 7.1 innings, scattering 7 Hits, allowing only 1 Run in the 7th inning off the bat of Ellis. Other than that, it was your typical dominating performance from our ace. There really wasn’t any threats produced by the A’s offense, until the shaky 7th inning, but then the bullpen entered and ended the game without allowing any more runs. Rivera entered in the 9th inning, and looked unphased pitching his typical inning of shutout ball, picking up his 17th Save of the season.
The scoring came early, in the 1st inning, with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi hitting runners across homeplate, and they never looked back. The combination of excellent pitching, and that early offensive blast was good enough for the victory here in Oakland.
This brings the Yankees to within 6 games of Boston (losing today to Baltimore), along with a continuing tie with Toronto and Baltimore. The East still looks to be wide open, and well within reach, given a nice little winning streak. You can’t control what the other teams do, but you can maximize your chances by continuing to win, and put pressure on the leaders in the division.
The Yankees entered this game with a comfortable 2-1 lead in this series with the Kansas City Royals, but could not come up with the win today, ultimately splitting the series, 2-2. The way the Yankees have been hovering around .500 all year, it should not be that much of a surprise. It would have been nice to get that win, and take 3 games in this series, but it seems that the Royals wanted it more, winning this close contest, by a score of 3-2.
The biggest disappointment for the club with this lose is that they played good baseball. Mussina came in and pitched 8 innings of solid ball, giving up only 7 scattered Hits, and if it was not for that 7th inning blast from Olivo (with one man on), he would have pitched 8 shut out innings. But that homer tagged him for 2 Runs, but that was all they got. Believe it or not, it was the bullpen (Rivera) that gave up the game winning run in the top of the 9th inning. This is the second time that Rivera gave up a home run in the last three games. Not something that Yankee fans are accustomed to seeing. The good news is that Rivera does not seem to be injured, and these are the types of games that he is famous for putting in the past, not letting it have any effect on his future save opportunities.
The Captain said it best, as interviewed by MLB.com, “He’s human, he makes mistakes. But the thing with him is, he forgets about it. The next time he pitches, he won’t be thinking about what he did.”
The offense for the Yankees also came in the 7th inning, as Alex Rodriguez smacked his 528th home run (10th of the season), with one man on, tying the game at 2. This offensive strike could have been the direct result of the award he was given by MLB.com as the distinguished hitter of 2007, as voted by you, the fans. So even though those 2 Runs were not enough, a congratulations is still in order. Hopefully, he can keep up the pace he is on this year, with his .313 AVG, 10 Home Runs, and 31 RBI’s. Another Yankee player trophy to add to the long list.
This lose brought the Yankees back to .500, at 32-32. It also takes them into a 3-way tie for third place in the East, with Toronto and Baltimore, at 7 games behind league leader Boston (just 1 game ahead of those pesky Tampa Bay “Devil-less” Rays.
It is off to the west coast now, as this home stand draws to an end. Oakland, and Houston are next on the schedule before returning home to host San Diego, starting on June 17th.
These are those types of games that you hate to lose. The close ones that could have gone either way. The key to winning these types of games is to give your pitcher just enough run support to get the job done. That did not happen today, as the Yankee bats were silenced by a young buzz saw, by the name of Kyle Davies. Does that name sound familiar?
Kyle Davies was on the mound for his first Major League appearance as a Royal (after 2.5 years with the Braves), about a year ago, against your New York Yankees, when Alex Rodriguez finally pulled that monkey off his back and hit his 500th Home Run. Ironic how time changes things. He looked confident, and poised, shutting down these mighty, Yankee bats.
Normally an 8 inning, 9 scattered Hit, 2 Run, and 4 K’s outing would be good enough for a Win on any team in the league. Not today, as Darrell Rasner picked up his third lose of the season, taking him to 3-3 on the year.
The only run support came from Melky Cabrera’s bat, as he drove home Robinson Cano in the 7th inning, starting a late inning run that fizzled out, leaving that as the only Run scored in the inning, and in the game, losing this one 1-2.
This lose puts them at 6.5 games out of first place in the East. They are only, however, 1 game away from eclipsing Toronto, and sliding into third place. Finishing the rest of this home stand strong, put together a few wins in a row, and who knows what can happen?
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