Daily Archives: March 10, 2010

The fifth-starter battle continued to fizzle as the Yankees needed a two-run ninth-inning homer from Greg Golson to pull out a 9-8 victory over the Tigers, who scored seven combined runs off Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes in the third and fourth innings.

Lineup:

L – Curtis Granderson (CF)
L – Nick Johnson (DH)
S – Mark Teixeira (1B)
L – Robinson Cano (2B)
R – Marcus Thames (RF)
L – Brett Gardner (LF)
R – Mike Rivera (C)
R – Jorge Vazquez (3B)
S – Ramiro Peña (SS)

Subs: Juan Miranda (1B), Kevin Russo (2B), Reegie Corona (SS), Eduardo Nuñez (3B), Austin Romine (C), Jamie Hoffmann (RF), Greg Golson (CF), David Winfree (LF), Colin Curtis (DH)

Pitchers: Joba Chamberlain (2 1/3), Phil Hughes (2 2/3), Jason Hirsh (1), Andrew Brackman (1), Grant Duff (1), Ryan Pope (1)

Big Hits: A game-winning two-run homer by Greg Golson (1-for-2) in the ninth. A solo homer by Mark Teixeira (2-for-3, BB) off former Yankee gopherballer Phil Coke. Doubles by Jorge Vazquez (1-for-2), Mike Rivera (1-for-3), and Jamie Hoffmann (1-for-2). Curtis Granderson singled twice and walked in four trips. David Winfree singled in both of his at-bats. Brett Gardner had a walk and a bunt single in three trips and scored twice.

Who Pitched Well: Jason Hirsh pitched around an error for an otherwise perfect sixth inning, striking out two. Ryan Pope pitched around a single, striking out two in a scoreless ninth, picking up the save. Grant Duff pitched around a single for a scoreless eighth. Phil Hughes gave up a solo homer to Ryan Rayburn and a pair of singles, but in contrast to Joba Chamberlain, his 2 2/3 innings, which included a pair of punchouts and no walks, looked sparkling.

Who Didn’t: Joba Chamberlain got through two scoreless innings allowing just a single and a walk, but melted down in the third. Before he could record a second out in that frame, he gave up six runs on three walks and five hits including a grand slam by Gerald Laird, older brother of Yankee camper Brandon Laird. Chamberlain said he felt fatigued in that third inning, but he also struck out just one of the 15 batters he faced in the game (Austin Jackson on a changeup). Compared to that, Phil Hughes looked fantastic, and he did strike out two against no walks, but also he gave up a solo homer to Ryan Rayburn, two other singles, and needed a spectacular catch from Curtis Granderson to escape the fourth inning without further damage. Joe Girardi said before the game that this was the last “tune-up” start for Chamberlain and Hughes before the fifth-starter competition would begin in earnest. Both should be please by that as Joba has struggled in both of his starts (though he had the flu as an excuse for the first), and Hughes has underwhelmed despite better overall results. LoHud’s Sam Borden provides some explanation for those disappointing performances.

Nice Plays: Curtis Granderson made a running, over-the-shoulder catch on a deep drive by Miguel Cabrera, catching it just shy of the wall, more than 400 feet from home plate. That catch saved Phil Hughes from what could have been an ugly fourth inning. Sadly, the game wasn’t televised, but Borden was so impressed by the catch he dedicated a whole post to it after the game.

Oopsies: Jamie Hoffmann made an error in right field.

Ouchies: Francisco Cervelli caught Andy Pettitte’s bullpen session.

Other: Johnny Damon was out of the Tigers’ lineup after stubbing his toe at home. Austin Jackson played center and led off for Detroit and singled and struck out in four at-bats. Teixeira’s homer was the only blemish on Phil Coke‘s one inning of work.

La Prière, by Man Ray (1930)

From WCBS…

Joba goes for the spring training Bomb Squad this afternoon as the Yanks face the Tigers.

Yes my man Ron Carter is on the bass…

When my Old Man was still drinking he’d take my brother and me to the bar at the Ginger Man where we’d drink Cokes on the rocks with twists of lime. Sometimes my twin sister came too but I don’t have any memories of her being there. I was ten, eleven years old but felt like a grown up at the bar so it didn’t occur to me that there was anything strange about a father taking his sons to drink with him.

Eventually, that changed. One day, I was sitting next to a friend of the old man’s who was so loaded, slurring his words, putting his arms around me, that I thought he was going to fall on me. Maybe what the rest of the family said was true, after all–maybe my dad was an alcoholic, though I wasn’t sure what an alcoholic was. 

While the Old Man was getting drunk on Vodka tonics, we pretended to get drunk on Coke, which came out of a magic soda gun, not a bottle. We ate salty peanuts which was special because we never had those kinds of peanuts at home. And on occasion, they’d serve home made potato chips that were still warm.

One of the bartenders showed us how to rim the glass with the slice of lime and to this day a Coke doesn’t taste the same unless it’s on the rocks with a twist of lime.

I was going home last night on the 1 train when a guy with a guitar walked into the car. He was a short Latin man with spiked black hair, a black pea coat (with the collar turned up), grey slacks and polished black shoes. He stood in front of me and put his fingers on his guitar, in no hurry to begin. I made a face when he strummed a few chords because his instrument was not in tune. Then he began to play and sing. I looked at his fingers and saw a white callus on his left index finger that looked like an extension of his finger nail.

He sang with conviction and strummed with force. He was stern almost somber but his voice was emotional, direct. I wondered if he just didn’t care that his guitar was out-of-tune. When he was finished, he spoke so softly that even sitting a foot away I couldn’t make out what he was saying. But as he walked through the car, people gave him dollar bills, not coins.

Nobody cared that his guitar was out of tune. His music still moved them.

Just eight games into the exhibition schedule, the Yankees and Pirates met for the third time. The Yankees won the first two 6-3 and 6-0. This time the invading Pirates got their revenge with an ugly 12-7 win.

Lineup:

R – Derek Jeter (SS)
L – Nick Johnson (DH)
S – Jorge Posada (C)
R – Alex Rodriguez (3B)
L – Curtis Granderson (CF)
S – Nick Swisher (RF)
S – Randy Winn (LF)
L – Juan Miranda (1B)
R – Kevin Russo (2B)

Subs: Jorge Vazquez (1B), Reegie Corona (2B), Eduardo Nuñez (SS), Brandon Laird (3B), Jesus Montero (C), Greg Golson (RF), Reid Gorecki (CF), Colin Curtis (LF), Jon Weber (DH)

Pitchers: CC Sabathia (2 1/3), Dustin Moseley (1 2/3), Royce Ring (1), Romulo Sanchez (1 1/3), Boone Logan (1 1/3), Hector Noesi (1), Jeremy Bleich (1/3)

Big Hits: A pair of solo homers by Nick Johnson in his only two at-bats, both of Charlie Morton, a wall-scraper in the first and a bigger bomb in the third. A triple by Curtis Granderson (1-for-3) into the right-field gap off D.J. Carrasco (Granderson was stranded at third). Hitting for Johnson in the fourth, Jon Weber (2-for-3) delivered a two-RBI single and later doubled in the ninth. Jorge Posada went 2-for-2 with a walk, and RBI, and a run scored.

Who Pitched Well: Back from the birth of his daughter, Royce Ring pitched a perfect fifth, striking out one. Romulo Sanchez retired four men in a row striking out two before walking the last man he faced.

Who Didn’t: CC Sabathia gave up four runs before getting an out (single, double, RBI double, three-run homer by lefty-hitting Garrett Jones), and gave up another double before escaping the first. He then pitched a perfect second inning, but gave up another run on two hits and a walk in the third before hitting his pitch count with just one out in that frame. He later said he was collapsing his back side (said CC, “I have a big back side”) and thus leaving the ball up. That’s a typical and easily correctable mechanical issue he should be able to fix prior to his next start.

In the process of getting just three outs, Hector Noesi allowed three singles and a walk, with all four runners scoring, three on his watch and one after he was pulled for Jeremy Bleich with two outs in the ninth. Bleich should have stranded that runner, but Jorge Vazquez dropped a throw at first base and Bleich gave up a booming RBI double to the next batter before finally getting the final out of the inning. Boone Logan gave up two runs on a single, a double, and a walk i n1 1/3 innings of work.

Oopsies: For those who skipped the last section, first baseman Jorge Vazquez dropped a throw from Corona at second base for what would have been the final out of an ugly ninth inning. It was in his glove and he just dropped it.

Ouchies: Francisco Cervelli (concussion) worked out at 70 percent effort on Tuesday and said he felt “a little weird,” but better than Monday. He will have a full-speed workout on Wednesday with the goal of playing in Friday’s game.

Other: Those of you checking the box score might notice that the Pirates stole two bases with Jesus Montero behind the plate. They stole them both on the pitcher. Former Yankee farmhand Doug Bernier got a huge jump on Boone Logan, and Argenis Diaz’s steal came on a ball in the dirt. Montero didn’t make a throw in the latter case, but did make a nice, strong, accurate throw to second in the former only to find Bernier already standing on the bag. Throughout the telecast, John Flaherty spoke favorably of what he’s seen and was seeing of Montero behind the plate, feeding my optimism about Montero’ s ability to remain a catcher. My impression is that, with first base blocked, Montero would have to be a total disaster back there for the Yankees to move him off the position.

Finally, I’ve promised to lay off Michael Kay, but Bob Lorenz did play-by-play for YES for this game and it was so pleasant to listen to. Of course, I’m sure if I listened to Lorenz do 150 games a year for a decade and a half things about him would irritate me as well, but I’d be willing to take that chance . . .