For a while there tonight’s game had all the makings of another long extra-innings affair. But Mark Teixeira’s no-doubt homer broke a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning, Mariano Rivera laughed in the face of shoulder soreness, and the Yankees beat Seattle 4-2.
I was thinking tonight about how much I’m going to miss Andy Pettitte, whenever he decides to retire. He’s rarely been the best pitcher on staff at any given time, good rather than great most years, but he’s blissfully no-nonsense – and at this point in his career, he’s one of the best at fighting through on nights when he “doesn’t have his good stuff”. With Pettitte you always know that if he’s going down, he’s going down swinging (so to speak… not in the literal Robinson Cano sense).
Pettitte gave up two runs in the first inning, two singles and a double and an RBI ground out in quick succession. But he pushed through, adjusted just enough, and clawed his way through six innings without any more damage – in fact he struck out 10, a season high, though that’s probably more a reflection on Seattle’s hitters. After Pettitte left the game Brian Bruney, Phil Hughes and a seemingly just fine Rivera pitched a scoreless inning each.
The Mariners’ Ryan Rowland-Smith, whose name evokes a discreet John Le Carré character more than a pitcher, matched Pettitte all the way. The Yankees could only eke out two runs against him, in the second inning when Jorge Posada doubled and scored on a Jerry Hairston Jr. grounder, and in the fifth when Derek Jeter singled in Melky Cabrera (a hit that appeared to be not so much seeing-eye as sonar-equipped). After that things stayed even until Teixeira connected in the ninth, and Nick Swisher knocked in Cano for a nice fluffy insurance run.
The Yanks are 30 games over .500 now and on one of those lovely little rolls where nearly everything goes right. It won’t last forever, but maybe through tomorrow? Mitre! French! Saturday at 10:10 PM Bronx time.
These 10:00 WC games are brutal.
But another good Win for our boys.
good stuff emma - i like the "not in the literal robinson cano sense."
i will definitely miss andy a lot too.
i made it through the first few innings (yes oyf [1] these wc games are extremely brutal for me) and the way andy knocked his cap slightly up as he walked off the field seemed symbolic to me.
and i see he has gotten some more cooler bashing tips from o'neill.
nevertheless he seems to really be battlig through on nights when he doesn't quite have it, and he wants to do well so badly, it is easy to root for him.
i like the battlecat name he has been dubbed with at rlyw.
nice to keep up a run. i'll ignore today's pitcher a bit longer - perhaps the only advantage of a 10pm game to me.
[2] Look at it this way, you stand a good chance of seeing today's starter finish his start before going to bed, despite the 10 pm start time.
like the Nirvana reference in the headline, Emma.
Mitre! French! Baseball nirvana tonight. Pitching matchup like that should be featured on Fox and ESPN simultaneously. Better yet: Buck, McCarver, Miller, and Morgan TOGETHER in the same booth mispronouncing Mitre. I could watch all day.
[2] Isn't it fun that the Yanks get Three West Coast swings, while the Sux and Rays get only two? I'm sure that it's just the vagaries of the schedule, but it seems like every year we get screwed somehow. If it's not late night get away games, it's flying out west too much or having a harder schedule (i.e., 3 series against the damn Angels this year!)
By the way, am I being a nervous nellie or is anyone else worried that Mo was only hitting 90 (and 91 once) on the gun, and didn't get any K's? Yeah, I know he induced three groundball outs, and none of them were particularly hard hit balls; I just hope he's okay.
[5] i think his control has been a little bit off in the last couple weeks, but i don't think he's been much above 90-91 this year or last. he looked fine to me last night.
[5] Mo did NOT look good. He's still in his end-of-year-sore-shoulder-mode. Let's hope we have no real close games for a bit.
Well, as WC trips go, this one is pretty OK. First stop Seattle, and then a modest flight to Oakland. Not too bad. Should take 4 of 6 or better.
If Rivera's shoulder is hurtIng and as Flash said, his velocity was down - an accurate assessment according to my anecdotal evidence - they ought to rest him for a few days.
[5] What I thought about was Mo adjusting to compensate for the weariness by inducing ground balls as opposed to striking them out. He's got a capable defense behind him he can trust at this point, so he doesn't need to pitch harder to get the out. What strikes me as curious is how he's "quietly" become the saves leader again, indicting that not only are the Yanks winning more games in the late innings, but that Joe feels compelled to use him in any and all save situations. That's a little bit unnerving when you're talking about 39-yr old Mo, 1+ yrs removed from surgery that weakened his arm to begin with. I'm all about people knowing their roles, but like it or not, Mo's in the delicate stage of his career and being the league leader in saves should be the last thing on anyone's mind. We need Mo in Alcatraz mode for the post season.
I have always disliked four out saves for Mo except in the most critical situations. Now I hate them. Girardi would be reckless if he continues that misuse, except perhaps in the playoffs. He's almost 40. He is probably as much of an outlier as any other player in MLB history, but it's getting there the end. Why hasten that end by ignoring reality?
[4] having a harder schedule (i.e., 3 series against the damn Angels this year!)
But Sox fans might complain about the Yankees' two series against the Mets every year.
[9] He's projecting to pitch 69 innings right now (per RLYW), which is right in line with the last 6 years (even a tick under those years). That said, however, I agree with you. He hasn't saved 40+ games since 2005, which is a least suggestive of his innings coming in higher leverage situations. I wish the Yanks would give him two days off starting today, let him pitch once in Oakland and twice in Boston (if he's needed). Maybe that would be enough. Remember, though, I think it was 2006 where he essentially took a 3-4 weeks off.
In Seattle for Friday and Saturday games at Safeco. As everyone noted, Andy did battle despite not having his best stuff and I was surprised he had 10 k's. Safeco is one of my favorite places to see a ballgame. There's not a bad seat in the house, you can roam around to take in different views of the game and there are so many fans dressed in Yankee gear that it nearly feels like a Yankee home game. One of the coolest things you can do in the park is stand right behind the bullpens. Because going to Friday's game was a last minute decision, we got seats in the upper deck so we decided to walk around for the last couple of innings. As soon as Tex hit his HR, there was a mad rush down the stairs in left field so folks could get a chance to see Mo warm up. Despite the crowd around the bullpen, I manged to get a few pretty good closeups looks of the great one.
Walking around Seattle before the game with my Yankee colors on (#2 home jersey and a Yankee cap I got from the Stadium on cap day a few years back), I noticed the lack of hostility towards Yank fans as opposed to other stadiums I've visited. There was some good natured ribbing, like the cop who asked if I needed directions Safeco and suggested I walk in the opposite direction of the field, but nothing like the hostility I find in New England. The last time I went home, I went to a PawSox game and I thought I was going to be lynched for wearing my Jeter jersey. Looking forward to tonight's game. Hope there is lots of scoring. Go Yankees.
[11] I'm confused...I was going to ague that "over the last 5 previous seasons I'd say the Mets were harder for the Yankees than the Braves were for the Sox. (in fact, the Yanks went 5-1 against the Muts this year -- one win being extremely lucky -- but Boston was 4-2 against the Braves)" and that "the Sox have whipped Atlanta over that time period."
But while the Yanks have been below .500 against the Muts from 2004-2008, posting an overall record of 13-17, the Sox didn't even have a consistent 6 game rival from the NL. In 2008, 2005 and 2005, the Sox didn't play 6 games against an NL team at all. In 2006 the Sox were 5-1 over Phillly and were 4-2 over Atlanta in 2007.
I would argue that having to play 6 games against a cross-town rival every single year is usually going to be a hard thing to do. The fact that the Yanks went 5-1 against the Muts this season doesn't seem to disprove that to me. If the Sox played 6 against the Phils or Braves every years, then perhaps that would even out.
And I think that's your point -- that these things tend to even out over time. Maybe they do, maybe they don't, but the Sox avoiding 2 emotional cross town series every years is to their benefits. To me it's almost like having 2 extra series with "Sox" like emotion.
[14] correction "In 2008, 2005 and 2004, the Sox didn’t play 6 games against an NL team at all"
[14] correction part 2:
"Maybe they do, maybe they don’t, but the Sox avoiding 2 emotional cross town series every year is to their benefit." DAMN where's my grammar today...OYE
[14] Well, I don't really buy the "cross town rivalry" argument--I think that teams play teams and rivalries and other abstract, unquantifiable concepts have little if no impact. In my view, the Yankees should beat the Mets when the Mets are a bad team (which is most of the time). That the Yankees have failed to capitalize on this opportunity doesn't change my starting assumption. if I were a Sox fan, I would be upset that the Yankees play a different schedule that includes six annual games against an (often) weaker opponent.
In any case, the whole argument could be rendered moot if MLB got rid of the ridiculous way they organize inter-league play, so that each team in a division plays the same schedule as the other teams in the division every season.
I don't think Mo's prior IP mean much because he has never been coming off shoulder surgery before.
[14] the Sox didn’t even have a consistent 6 game rival from the NL.
This speaks to my point at [17]. IL play is half-assed in MLB. A few teams have an annual death-match-rivalry (or whatever) of six games, while the other teams play more of a hodge-podge IL schedule. Add to that that there are 16 teams in the NL and only 14 in the AL (thanks to Bud Seligs successful venture to convert his Brewers into the Milwaukee Braves), and that the divisions don't have the same number of teams....and you are left with a scheduling mess.
Each team in the same division should play, as much as possible, the same number of games against the same opponents. This not mean that they have to return to a balanced schedule (though some call for that). In the AL, teams in five-team divisions could play, for example, 18 games against division opponents (72 games), 8 games against other league opponents (72 games), and 3 games against each IL 6 rotating opponents (18 games) = 162 games. Play the same IL opponents for two seasons, rotating home-away, and the rotate to new opponents.
This works for teams in the AL in two divisions. Similar formats could be adopted for teams in the other divisions.
Or just abolish IL play, which will never happen.
Emma - title of the year, in my book! Heart Shaped Box Score = brilliant!!! : )
i like me the 10pm game starts just fine!!! but, it'll still prove to be too early for me today. i've got two VERY loooong gigs all day/night, and i won't be home til long after the final out is made. i sure hope to come home to a win...
GO YANKS!!!
GO RANGERS!!!
[17] [19] "Well, I don’t really buy the “cross town rivalry” argument–I think that teams play teams and rivalries and other abstract, unquantifiable concepts have little if no impact."
Well, if you don't buy that then we'll have to agree to disagree. I believe that it's better (in the regular season) to play games @ Seattle (for example) than @ Boston. The Yanks are much more likely to win the Seattle games on average than the Boston ones. Boston's been a good team for awhile now. And the Muts were in the playoff chase the last several years, particularly at the time they faced the Yankees.
My overall point is that playing high leverage games against: (1) teams with good records; (2) who happen to be blood rivals, takes energy out of a team. Emotional series require a recovery. If you don't believe that over 162 games that those types of things exist, then so be it. But I'd much rather play Atlanta 6 times a year than the Mets.
The glass half empty people will find something to moan about despite the amazing hot streak.
My money's on Mitre and Gaudin. : D
[0] Hey, wait. I've got a new complaint.............
[21] I simply don't see the evidence for the Mets being "blood rivals." The fans make take thse things very seriously, and FOX sure likes to pump up the volume on the "Subway Series," but I suspect that for the players--especially in the free agency era--these games are not all that important relative to any others.
From my perspective, I would rather play six games against a bad team (Mets or otherwise) than against a good team (Red Sox or otherwise).
Andy's a golden god, for exactly the reasons Emma states.
Well said, Emma.
Man, I'll miss him.
In fact, I *DID* miss him. The day he signed with Houston was probably the blackest day for the Yankees in the last decade, not counting on-field stuff, of course.
I remember it was a cold winter day when I read the news and literally felt ill, like I'd been punched in the gut.
I hope he'll hang around as long as he can be at least a .500 pitcher.
[0]
Great wordplay on the title Emma, and great recap as always.
Unfortunately, we don't have a "Frances Farmer" in our midst for this series ...
[25] Could Phil Hughes be the Scentless Apprentice? He don't stink.
[26] Yeah, he's a real "killer" on the mound!
Grrrrrr. Having Carl Pavano on the air in the Fox afternoon game.
Ask him if he thinks he should give back some of the $40 mil he stole.