Wednesday night, Phil Hughes held the first 22 batters he faced hitless. Thursday afternooon, CC Sabathia gave up a hit to the fourth man he faced. That wouldn’t have been particularly notable if that hit hadn’t been a three-run homer by A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki that effectively won the game for the A’s.
S
abathia couldn’t locate his fastball in the first inning on Wednesday, and after walking two of the first three men he faced, he was supposed to throw a fastball down and away to start off Suzuki, who had hit two home runs off Sabathia prior to yesterday and also homered of Javy Vazquez on Tuesday night. Instead, he grooved a 93 mile-per-hour pitch on the inside half of the plate (see photo). After Suzuki’s blast, Sabathia worked in more changeups and managed to settle down, facing the minimum until giving up a cheap run in the fourth on a walk, an throwing error by Robinson Cano on a would-be double-play pivot (the Yankees’ first error since the second game of the season), an infield single, and a sac fly. Sabathia got out of that inning when Francisco Cervelli picked Kevin Kouzmanoff off second base, then again faced the minimum until the eighth thanks to an around-the-horn triple play started by Alex Rodriguez in the sixth (more on that below the fold).
Down 4-0, the Yankees cut the deficit against A’s lefty Dallas Braden with solo homers by Marcus Thames (who has successfully shrugged off his awful spring training) and Mark Teixeira, but otherwise managed little more than a series of long outs that were contained by the spacious Oakland Coliseum. No other Yankee reached third base in the game against Braden (who didn’t take kindly to Alex Rodriguez crossing the mound after making an out in the top of the sixth), set-up man Brad Ziegler, or closer Andrew Bailey.
The 4-2 final includes the Yankees’ lowest run tally of the young season. Meanwhile, Sabathia, after tallying a six-inning complete game in a rain-shortened win his last time out, again went a shortened distance, this time to an eight-inning complete game loss, needing just 97 pitches to do so despite six walks and five strikeouts.
As for that triple play, it came in the bottom of the sixth inning with Daric Barton on second via a single and a wild pitch (another high fastball that Cervelli was only able to swat at) and Ryan Sweeney on first via a walk. Suzuki, on the first pitch of his at-bat, hit a hard hopper to Alex Rodriguez’s right. After scooping up the ball, Rodriguez needed just two steps to force Barton at third. In doing so, he used the bag to pivot more than 180 degrees and fire to Robinson Cano at second, who took the ball behind the bag and quickly fired to Nick Johnson at first to beat Suzuki by a step and a half. It was a heads-up play by Rodriguez, who could have settled for a double-play without much second guessing.
It was the first triple play turned by the Yankees since June 3, 1968. That play came with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth of a 4-3 loss to the Twins. Johnny Roseboro hit into it, and reliever Dooley Womack, third baseman Bobby Cox (yes, that Bobby Cox), and first baseman Mickey Mantle (yes, first baseman, that was his final season) were the fielders involved. Coincidentally, the last triple play turned against the Yankees was by the A’s, also in the bottom of the sixth inning. That was an unassisted triple-play by second baseman and ex-Yankee Randy Velarde on May 29, 2000. Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada were the Yankee baserunners eliminated, and Shane Spencer was the batter who hit the line-drive off pitcher Omar Olivares that started the play. Also coincidental, that game also saw the team that hit into the triple play win the game with four runs, that time 4-1.
when i first looked at the title of this post, all i saw was:
"Cliff 'Em All"
i guess these Sierra's really are working! : )
I've used that before:
http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2008/05/08/cliff-em-all/
Incidentally, I noticed from the permalink that this is the fifth time we've used "Can't Win 'Em All" as a game-wrap title. I take the lead 3-2 over Alex with this one. Your move, Belth . . .
dooley womack. of course! i remember him like it was yesterday. actually, not yesterday. the day before yesterday. good ol' dooley.
i do remember the valarde TP. nobody talks about his steroid use. or gabe kapler's, for that matter. i very much remember the Valare station wagon w/ wood paneling my parents drove when i was a kid in far rockaway. all i cared about then was yankee cards from burger king.
i also remember an unassisted triple play by troy tulo in his rookie season, not long ago, against the braves. boy, were the locals upset about that!
well, at least we had a Womack on the team that was part of something positive. i didn't know that before this post. now, i can type "womack" and "woe-mack" and there'll actually be a difference. thanks, cliff!
[2] i'm not even gonna follow that link, as i remember it well!
i also remember when you used "Look Sharp!" a few years back. i mentioned Joe Jackson and you were like: duh! that was before we knew each other... : )
Dooley Womack: the greatest #58 in Yankee history.
[5] aw man, am i ever glad you linked to that post! i just bookmarked. i'm surprised i didn't already have it saved...
that should bring ol' Hoss out (HCE) tomorrow! soriano, colter bean? coolio! my brother has a Soriano #33 t-shirt. he digs it. i hate that Sori has been injured and such a bust. good kid. my only hope is that he eventually steals enough bases to reach 300-300. i also hope boBBy, beltran and cameron make it. they're all getting old and injured (well, not boBBy...)...
[5] if you have any NJ music friends who like metal, please tell them Over Kill are playing next Sat, May 1st, in NYC. 25th anniversary tour. great set list. their new album is *awesome*! i'm spinning it for the umpteenth time right now on the new amazing speakers i got yesterday! : )
Cox was getting ready to manage the Atlanta Braves on Thursday against Philadelphia when he was told the Yankees had turned a triple play.
"They did? Well, I'll be damned," Cox said.
Cox recalled the play -- "I threw to Mantle at first ... I don't know how the guy never got back to first" -- and his claim to fame in Yankees history.
"Everything comes to an end. Somebody is always bringing that up," he said.
So somewhat off topic. Didn't get a chance to post this yesterday.
Anyone know what's up with A-Rod and stuffing his mouth full of junk when he hits? When he hit that triple on Wednesday, I was afraid he was going to choke to death.
That's - umm - kinda weird. I've seen a lot of big cheeks in the major leagues, but that was over the top even for A-Rod. I know it's not new for him - but still. Ewwww.
Anyone know the scoop on that?
here's what will happen the next time A Rod crosses Braden's mound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUnWeHAjRPQ
hopefully Joe West will break it up before it gets that crazy.
Dallas Braden, I anagram you thus!
Anal bladders
Nasal bladder
Blander salad
Snarl, bad deal
And my favorite:
Alas, bald nerd!
ARod thought the punk's name was Braden Arroyo.
[9] What would the scoop be? He has always done that. It must be working.
It would be nice if Derek Jeter would fire back at Braden for invoking his name in this "conflict", but of course, the Captain wont do that.
[13] Braden and ARod both handled the incident like freshmen. Jeter's above that nonsense.
[8] thelarmis, you need to attribute that as I'm assuming you didn't go interview Bobby Cox yourself and the rest sounds like it's all verbatim from an article I'm guessing you didn't write.
Just keep winning series.
I do want to crush Santana and Pineiro though.
[14] I thought Arod handled himself fine. I also don't think defending a teammate is nonsense.
[17] If I'm on the Yankees I would prefer ARod to leave the incident on the field and reserve comment afterwards. I also don't think he requires Jeter's or anyone's defense. He's a big boy.
What would you want Jeter to say?
[18] That's what Arod did...he wasn't the one throwing a tantrum on the field. He only addressed it when asked by reporters after the game.
It's not about Arod needing Jeter to be his lawyer, but in this case, Braden specifically said that Arod needs to be more like Jeter. If it was me, I would go out of my way to say something like, "Arod doesn't have to be like me. If Dallas has a problem with Arod, he should probably discuss with him directly".
[8] here, use this http://twitter.com/fakeapstylebook
[19] I could see Jeter being asked about that today, you never know reporters might've already had their time with him yesterday before all this came out and they couldn't get to him for a quote or something. Jeter's always been good for a quote re: A-Rod drama before (even if its just something like "I'm not gonna get involved with that") so I don't think this should be very different.
I'd much rather Jeter stay out of the petty shit. I think Braden was being a dope, but if Alex Rodriguez winds up getting his hand broken because he just had to get the "just a few wins in his career" dig in, I'm going to be displeased.
19] yeah, the kid threw the tantrum, but ARod exacerbated the incident with his silly swipe about Braden having so few wins. He should have stayed above that.
Jeter doesn't need to get involved in bush league debates, or address comments made by opposing pitchers. Doesn't help the team win in any way.
[22] If, for example, Miguel Cabrera threw some kind of cheap shot at Phil Hughes for "only having a few wins in his career" I think we'd all be clamoring for Sabathia or Burnett to "defend their teammate"
[22] I guess I don't think it was a silly swipe, but a relevant point. Braden doesn't have the credentials to question someone like Arod on unwritten codes.
I agree that Jeter doesn't get involved in debates like this, but I disagree that he should be above them. Defending a teammate does help build chemistry, which can help a team win. Now, I don't think this Yankee team lacks for chemistry, and I also think Arod's 2009 post season insulated him from the "he's not Jeter" argument, but I'd still like to see Jeter more proactive as a captain. If it was my team, and someone called me out like that, I'd appreciate a response.
[23] If Hughes was silly enough to challenge someone like Cabrera over something trivial, then no, I wouldn't be clamoring for someone to defend him.
[24] Relevant or not (I think not) I just dont think ARod's comment helped his "case."
re: the "he's not Jeter" nonsense. I think that refers more to image (golden boy vs lighting rod) than postseason performance, but either way ARod shouldn't be concerned with that kind of garbage.
re: Jeter "more proactive" : he's never going to lead the team through the media. Not his style, and I admire that about him. If I were on his team, I'd appreciate his discretness, keeping his opinions in the clubhouse, especially with respect to silly incidents like this.
[25] In the past, media and opposition have taken shots at Arod by lauding Jeter and then suggesting he should be more like him. In addition to "image", an under current was the rings. Now that Arod has one (and was a force in getting it), I think that line of attack has lost its potentcy. Whereas I think such digs bothered him in the past, I'd imagine they now roll off his back. Still, and I am repeating myself, I think Jeter should reply when this meme emerges.
Clearly, we have a different perspective on what makes a good teammate, but I would point out that Jeter has been vocal about other issues in the past.
[24] IF you believe what A-Rod did was some serious infraction of social law or whatever stupid thing he's claiming, I don't think it matters if he had one win or 300. It would be just as relevant coming from either guy. Alex comes off as a smug jackass
[26] yes, Jeter has been vocal about other issues in the past, but then why did you say in [13] that you didn't think Jeter would comment on this one?
and I think we agree on what makes a good teammate and a captain, but we simply disagree how much Jeter should say about ARod, or what shoud be said on ARod's behalf.
[27] It does matter because another "baseball code" is young players show deferance to veterans, not to mention superstars. Arod’s point was Braden does not have the stature to tell him what he can and can not do on the field. That's not smug...if any other veteran of similar stature said it, he would be applauded. Arod, however, still encounters the same bias.
[28] Because Jeter has never seemed too eager to defend Arod. I guess my issue with Jeter is I think he would respond if the subject wasn't Alex.
[29] and ARod's done pretty good for himself even without the captain leaping to his defense.
I'm not so sure about your last point. I think Jeter prefers not to discuss things like this no matter who's involved. You might be right, maybe but either way, it shouldn't matter much to Alex. He has many more important things to think about, which again, is why I think he just should have ignored the kid's tantrum. That would have ended the discussion there. Now that he's responded in the manner he did, we'll be hearing about this for sometime. Hopefully not long though.
[30] That's true too...maybe a few years ago, I think this issue would bother Arod, but I don't think he cares now. Still, I, as a fan, would like to see Jeter respond, at least if he is asked about it.
I also disagree that Arod's comments created the story. Braden's tantrum did that. I am glad Alex didn't just brush things off because to do so would be phony...and isn't that what Alex gets killed for anyway?
i thought arod was pretty funny in the postgame. i hardly ever watch it but turned it on hoping to show my friends a replay of the triple play, and instead we got the braden/arod drama. we were all laughing. does arod give interviews that much? it seemed kind of weird to see him talking.
[27] That's what I'd like to know - is it really verboten to do what A Rod did? If so is it that big of a deal? Maybe some other MLB pitchers will weigh in. From an outsider's perspective I can't see why Braden would make a big stink about it but if you tell me it's a big deal, then A-Rod shouldn't have done it in the first place.
As far as Jeter goes, he'd be wise to stay out of it. It would be pretty pathetic if he got drawn into this argument because of some minor thing a pitcher with a "handful of wins" said.
[33] Watching MLB and ESPN, about half of the player/commentators said they'd never heard of it, and most of the others said it wasn't a big deal. Of the pitchers, Rick Sutcliffe was the most vocal in saying he had never come across that code over his long career.
[15] uh....wha???
yeah, sometime after i was here, i saw the regular article about the play at espn. that stuff gets copied/pasted all the time. it was late at night after a long day. sorry if i did something wrong... certainly not my intent... no biggie...
[35] Anything taken from a published article should be cited, preferably with a link. It's in the guidelines.
[36] i generally copy/paste from LoHud and always state that. i also usually state "espn" or something. sometimes i leave a link.
it was a late nite dead thread conversation after a really shitty day. i left it out, though i think it was obvious i "didn't interview bobby cox myself" or write the article.
i'm certainly not the only one to commit this oversight. i don't see people being called out on it. i'm sorry. i'll try to never let it happen again. ever.
[37] Dude, I wasn't being as harsh with you as it might have seemed. Sorry if my tone got misinterpreted. I was just reminding, not scolding.