Good pitching match up in the Bronx tonight as Randy Johnson goes against Doc Halladay. Whatta ya think? Will we see two good starts in a row from the Big Unit? The Yankees offense, dormant for the past two games, have their work cut out for them against Halladay, that’s for sure.
Go get ’em, boys.
1. Lets go, Yankees! Mow'em down, RJ!
2. Grumble. It's not on Extra Innings. Instead there's Detroit vs. Chicago, which is blacked out here in Toledo. Why can't they show all games, and just delete the ones that are blacked out. Guess I'll have to settle for Roger vs. Greg, and flip over to Hudson vs. Mulder.
3. That was just horrible! RJ has a great outing, makes 1 mistake and the offense does nothing. RJ must feel like he is back in Arizona. Unfuckingbelieveable. I'm so pissed off.
4. The game in the Bronx featured the best of the three great match ups tonight. This one reminded me of the Pedro vs. Clemens 2-0 Red Sox game in 99 was it? The one where Trot Nixon's two-run dinger was the difference. Tonight, it was one mistake by Johnson that sunk the Yankees. An 0-2 breaking pitch to Eric Hinske, a lefty fer Pete's sake.
I'm feeling pretty low, but really, what can you do? Johnson pitched a whale of a game, but Halladay was even better. He was great actually. There was good defense on both sides. I want to hem and haw about the Yankees only getting three hits, not being able to pick up a man in scoring position, but what's the use: Halladay was the man. He seemed to get tougher as the game wore on.
These are tough times all around for the Yanks. But hurt feelings aside, this was an entertaining, crisply-played game. One that lived up to the hype.
The worst feeling I have right now is that I don't feel as if this team has hit rock bottom yet.
5. 9:20 PM - Yankees Blast 3 hits. I'm not sure when I have seen 3 games in a row with this little offense. Ouch. This is getting painful. I almost can't believe it. RJ must wonder what the hell is going on. Is Mattingly allowed to pinch hit? Will we hear from King George? I'm going to bed!
6. Halladay is a good pitcher but speaking of him with Pedro and Clemens? The AVERAGE teams scores 3.5 runs off Halladay.... not 3 hits!!
7. I'm saying that this game was similar to that game: Halladay is not a Hall of Famer. But he's a former Cy Young award winner who was in fine form. He's an ace, even if he isn't a legend. I'm saying the fact that it was a 2-0 game, and that one bad pitch decided it made it like that other game.
Yeah, I'm vexed with the Yankees offense too, but Halladay is not Bruce Chen, or John Lackey for crying out loud. The guy is a stud.
8. I didn't get to hear much of the game. Would someone be so kind as to summarize the performances of the two pitchers?
What kind of velocity did Johnson have? How was his slider? What and where was the homerun pitch?
Same with Halladay. Did he win with power, location, stuff, both? What was his general line of attack.
Much obliged.
9. Halladay made some nice pitches, but it wouldn't have mattered if my grandmother was pitching, none of them looked like they even had a half-way decent at bat. By the last few innings they were so demoralized it looked like the Iraqi army facing an American tank division, all that was missing was them walking with their hands on their heads on the way to the plate.
10. Yeah that sucked. After RJ struck out the side in the first, I was pumped. I'm beginning to agree with the naysayers about this offense. Yuck...
11. At least, the RJ/Halliday match up was an actually pitchers' duel. The Mulder/Hudson and Clemens/Maddux match ups are pretty much duds.
At least, all the people claiming that RJ is done or not the same pitcher will shut the hell up.
Oh btw, Baltimore has decided to run away with the division.
12. I've seen the error of my ways. This offense is consistent! Consistently awful. But, hey, it's not the offense that's the problem. We're second in the majors in runs scored. Whoop de damn doo. And anyone who thinks Stottlemyre is to be credited for the improved pitching should realize that Billy Connors has been with the team the entire homestand. Check the bullpen numbers since last Friday when Mike Stanton rediscovered his breaking stuff.
13. I'm not wont to check the standings in April. Why? Because it's April and the Yankees for years and years (as far as I can recall) have always been within, say, three or four games of first place, up or down with Boston hanging around to make things semi-interesting. And yes, there was that year when it took us until June to take first place (2002, '03?) but (especially given the wild card) the standings have never been an issue in these last years.
Suddenly they're an issue. I heard on the radio that we're SIX AND ONE HALF GAMES out of first place and must say I was caught off guard. That's a lot of games, even for April. Suddenly the team's poor play isn't just about whether they can win it all, but about whether they can win the division. I really think they will, just on raw talent alone, but man 6 1/2 games is a considerable deficit.
Not good. So I suppose the question is, is Baltimore for real?
14. I'm usually not down about losses like this. Great pitching on both sides, nice defensive plays. But with the way the games have been going lately it's a little harder to take. (And the fact that it felt like half of Canada occupied the last row of the bleachers didn't help either.)
I'm just thankful that Wang doesn't have to go up against Halladay for his first start.
15. Joe in Jersey,
Laughed my ass off at that analogy. Nothing else constructive to say other than I can smell an impending deal for...Helton? Bagwell? Cameron? Any such deal would be disastrous.
16. It's not even May. I can recall a year when we were 14 out in August. I find it difficult to believe Sheff, Matsui, et al aren't going to hit in 2005.
Seeing Randy and Brown pitch so well back to back is more important to me than not scoring any runs. I do think Tino was a mistake, but I don't think Giambi or Posada are going to finish much below their career norms.