The Yankees hosted the Angels for three games last week, facing the same three pitchers that they will in this weekend’s three-game set against the Halos, and took two of three. Doing that again won’t be as easy. That’s because, after leaving the Bronx with a 3-7 record, the Angels flipped the switch, pealing off five wins against the Blue Jays and Tigers; because Jeff Mathis’s broken wrist has pushed Mike Napoli’s superior bat into the lineup; because Scott Kazmir, who pitches against Javy Vazquez on Sunday, shook off the rust against the Tigers in his last turn; because Joel Piñeiro was as dominant against the Tigers as he was against the Yankees; and because these games will take place in Anaheim, where the Yankees went 3-6 last year.
Tonight erratic stuff-misers A.J. Burnett and Ervin Santana face off. Burnett has gotten better in each of his starts in the early going and is coming off seven impressive shutout innings against Texas on Saturday. Santana lost his first two starts–one of which came in the Bronx and saw him give up five runs on five walks and eight hits (including solo homers by Nick Johnson and Derek Jeter)–but is coming off a sharp, 106-pitch complete game win against Toronto in which he walked none while allowing just one run on another solo homer (by Adam Lind). I’ll be impressed if either can manage a second straight dominant outing tonight.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2010 Record: 8-9 (.471)
2010 Pythagorean Record: 7-10 (.412)
Manager: Mike Scioscia
General Manager: Tony Reagins
Home Ballpark: Angel Stadium
Bill James Park Indexes (2007-2009):
LH Avg-104, LH HR-94
RH Avg-102, RH HR-107
Who’s Replaced Whom:
- Robb Quinlan (minors) has replaced Jeff Mathis (DL)
- Reggie Willits (DL) has replaced Terry Evans (minors)
- Scott Kazimir (DL) has replaced Bobby Cassevah (minors) by pushing Matt Palmer to the bullpen
25-man roster:
1B – Kendry Morales (S)
2B – Howie Kendrick (S)
SS – Erick Aybar (S)
3B – Brandon Wood (R)
C – Mike Napoli (R)
RF – Bobby Abreu (L)
CF – Torii Hunter (R)
LF – Juan Rivera (R)
DH – Hideki Matsui (L)
Bench:
S – Maicer Izturis (IF)
S – Reggie Willits (OF)
R – Robb Quinlan (4C)
R – Bobby Wilson (C)
Rotation:
R – Jered Weaver
L – Joe Saunders
R – Ervin Santana
R – Joel Piñeiro
L – Scott Kazmir
Bullpen:
L – Brian Fuentes
R – Scot Shields
R – Fernando Rodney
R – Kevin Jepsen
R – Jason Bulger
R – Brian Stokes
R – Matt Palmer
Lineup:
S – Erick Aybar (SS)
L – Bobby Abreu (RF)
R – Torii Hunter (CF)
L – Hideki Matsui (DH)
S – Kendry Morales (1B)
R – Juan Rivera (LF)
R – Howie Kendrick (2B)
R – Mike Napoli (C)
R – Brandon Wood (3B)
15-day DL:
C – Jeff Mathis (fractured wrist)
OF – Chris Pettit (labrum surgery)
RHP – Anthony Ortega (triceps tendonitis)
Erratic Stuff-Misers: great name for a band!
[1] Nice.A lot of the Angels sound like musicians names actually. How about "The Jeff Mathis Band"? "Mike Napoli and his Swingin' All-Stars"? "Kendry Morales y su Caballeros"? "The Hideki Matsui Experience"?
[1] if they need a drummer, i'm very available for work! tonight is the first friday since september i don't have a gig... : (
fat papi hit his first homer. a solo shot.
[2] I like "The Jeff Mathis Band," though I'm sure I'd hate their music. I'm more into The Howie Kendrick Experience and Torii Hunter and the Colonists.
[4] Watching it on tv here. Man, the Orioles are just terrible..what happened to all their supposed young talent?
[6] Jones is still there. Very slow start, but I saw that kid at YS last year and he's ferreal.
[6] I still believe, and I'll write about it on Tuesday.
I just read this on LoHud. : )
No surprise, Alex Rodriguez’s run-in with Dallas Braden was again a topic of discussion this afternoon. “I have no problem with what Alex did,” Girardi said. CC Sabathia said it wouldn’t bother him if a player ran across the mound, and Mark Teixeira said he’s never heard of such an unwritten rule. “Once we heard his comments, we’ve been laughing about it ever since,” Teixeira said.
[7] Jones just crushed a D.Bard fastball into the monster seats..great AB there.
Howdy ..... I'm not gonna be commenting too much tonight, as I'm doing the recap for this game (my first time ... I hope its gentle with me).
[10]
Of course, I had just benched Jones tonight from my $$$ roto team. :-)
[11]
Of course, it WOULD be nice if the Yanks posted their game notes sometime BEFORE the start of tonight's game. They still have Wednesday's notes up. :-(
OMG. braves just looked like the Muts at citi field.
reyes popped up. infield fly rule. chipper called off escobar and dropped the ball. runners on 1st & 2nd advanced (there were 2 outs, so they were running). no one was covering home and pagan scored. (3rd base coach was yelling for him to go)
i can't believe the teams here weren't reversed!
[9] Nice to see the team stick up for Arod. Even Jeter did in his own way. Marc Craig of The Star Ledger tweeted the following from the Captain:
“It ain’t like he brought it from home.”
[11] looking forward to your first recap, diane!
[15] i was just about to post that! but the braves aping the muts got me sidetracked.
i like how Derek even used "ain't" - a word he normally doesn't use and i generally hate - for effect.
it looks really windy in new york.
[15] Now I LIKE that one from The Captain. ha. very nice.
hey everyone. what's chill?
I'm working tonight, and therefore will be listening to sterling/waldman, and unless they've changed something, it'll be on about a 2 minute delay. Stupid mlb gameday audio.
aw, it's good to see melky here w/ the braves! he's facing k-rod in queens. top 9, braves down 5-2 after committing 4 errors tonight...
melky's having a rough start away from his bff. but gets a nice single here!
o's tie it up in the 8th!
rays trying to do the same in their game. scary team down 'ere in tampon...
[22] f'n rays. they're the DEVIL!
[23] well, the devil fishes did not tie it. still down by a run, headed to the 9th.
o's didn't take the lead, but they tied it up.
k-rod is struggling. all those damn warm up pitches...
OH MAN!!! mclouth came *this* close to hitting a 3-run game tying homer. just foul. damn.
i can't wait til May (for Tex)...
That's a good start.
Talk about a game of inches.
Burnett or Cano have to cover there....the Yankees have been very sloppy over the last 10 innings.
What's happening in Disney Land. I'm waiting for NHK to get the stupid Sawx vs. Horrible game off. The first set of our morning matinee in Tokyo.
Man there have been two awful calls at 2nd base in Fenway tonight. Both going the Sawx way.
Orioles may be the worst team I have ever seen. Bullpen walks 5 guys in the 7th & 8th, now Markakis gets thrown out by 2 miles trying to get into 2B after hitting one off the Monster..also 2 errors this game. Bad fielding, hitting, running, pitching and managing..gift win for the Red Sox as their bullpen sucked too and the O was nothing special.
middle of the 2nd. 1-0 LAA. Arod got a hit and then stranded. 21 pitches a-piece for Burnett and ESantana (only Santana over 6 outs).
'at's about it...
[32] He was safe, Dude
[31] Yo Boat! Same here man, only can get on the Banter now & then as got Thomas the Tank Engine on a YouTube loop...
Papelbon stinks. Gave up a hit and a walk here in the 9th, but bet the O's won't take advantage.
I Hate the Angels.
[33] Thanks.
c'mon AJ. Stop being a turd.
[35] I'm all alone my friends, coffee and baseball. Will they please get that game on!
Finally, Rogers Sports Net has decide to cut to their coverage of the Yankees-Angles game...at 10:42 pm. Wait, check that...we get some commercials first.
[32] I had a Sunday package to Camden Yards in 2002. They stunk then. They've stunk for a good long time. Makes me happy.
Pappelbon is walking Wigginton to pitch to Jones. GAH!
Man, poor Jorgie. He's got nothing.
Great managing by Trembley earlier, pinch ran for Wieters and now Julio Lugo batting in his place in the 9th with men on..they deserve to lose for that.
Sorry, it's Lugo. That' makes sense. And he struck him out. Yankees, please.
damn oreo's
[44] Could you imagine having to root for a team like Baltimore 162 times?
Lucky for me (sort of), laboring, inefficient, deliberate AJ is pitching tonight, so I only missed less than two innings.
Has the entire Yankee team taken the criticism of Nick Johnson to heart? For the last 11+ innings, they have been a bunch of hackers.
Look at Brett slapping that thing around.
[49] Gotta be aggressive and go for hits...the OBP thing will work itself out. Flash says so.
.
.
.
Yay! Now Gardner's BA ≠ SLG.
[47] Seriously, except for A.Jones' homer they were bad in every single area this game, it was painful to watch.
Ah, now we have real baseball on! Gardy with the two-bagger!
Yo Boatzilla, get in touch later!
Jeter missed that cookie.
[47] sigh... my sister and brother-in-law are die hard Os fans. It's... uhhh.. depressing. My OTHER brother-in-law is a Phillies fan, so I don't care about him. But with Cam, it's kinda sad...
GRITNER!
But not that one!
Nice hit, Derek.
Jetes is only 1 2B behind Mattingly.
Donnie was the double king.
Jeterian!
[57] Yes he was.
I have to admit...that was a pretty awful AB.
Sigh. Anyone looking at Gameday? Were strike 2 and 3 actually strikes?
On teevee, strike two was a strike, strike three was borderline.
The Angels announcers are making fun of Nick Johnson's Stadium at-bat music. One guy just said, "Nothing gets you fired up for an at-bat like Miley Cyrus." And the other guy says, "Either that or It's Raining Men." Cracked me up.
[62] Gameday agrees!
Beautiful, Alex.
Beautiful.
The Code Breaker strikes again!
Ouch!!!
I have to be consistent...I hate that play by Teixeira. Not necessary to kill the catcher like that.
[68] Agreed. Didn't even slide. Catcher wasn't even blocking the plate. Seems like a cheap shot to me.
Yikes. Just saw that. Wow.
That was sort of cheap shot by Teixeira on the catcher, who was not really blocking the plate. Teix was going for contact purposely.
I hate that fucking play.
Awful by Tex.
Wow.
[68]
cheap play by Tex .... blech
[63] i played "it's raining men" for a high school performance!
alex! robbie!
His slump must really be getting to him.
Or something.
Wow.
That really was unnecessary.
The boys in the booth are not fans of Teix's slide.
On the other hand. Fuck Scioscia.
Tex never really been known as a dirty player..but that was ugly. Chin music coming to him later I think..
btw, "Frank Robinson was the greatest all-round player the game has ever seen" from Angels announcers earlier..did i miss part of that conversation? Frank was amazing but that seems excessive..
Btw, that was a nice hit by Robbie.
[68] I disagree. Split second decision. Solid hard-core baseball. It's horrible the guy got hurt, but you have to score.
In defense of Tex, if Wilson fields the ball cleanly, he did have a chance to make the tag. Having said that, the slide was excessive...and even if Wilson was blocking plate, I still think it is wrong to crush the catcher. MLB really needs to change its thinking on this kind of play.
interesting. of course, my entire perspective is via radidio. And Sterling/Waldman are blaming it all on the throw. No critisizm on Tex from them. AT ALL.
[76] Getting again might not have made him happy either.
[81] Specifics of the play aside, I think barreling into the catcher is ALWAYS a bad play. MLB tolerates it, despite it being illegal, but I;ll never accept it as a good baseball play.
[81] Maybe split-second, but it sure looked to me like he was gunning for the C the entire play.
[83] Never any criticism on the John Sterling show!
[84] Getting *hit* again, I meant.
That was kind of ucomfortable
[85] You and I have always agreed on this point. Maybe the "kill the catcher play" has become "part of the game," but it shouldn't. it's not baseball and simply *should* not be tolerated.
Maybe he should have jumped over him and broke his own neck. ;>)
This has all the appearance of a five inning AJ start. The only question will be whether he can manage to keep the lead.
Maybe not a good idea to throw to 1B there, A-rod.
Mark Teixieira was just drafted by the Jets in the third round. Rex Ryan is going to use him blitz packages.
Dangerous plays at the plate are rarities. Far less than close double plays. Far more leg tangling and torn knee possibilties happen around 2b base than collisions at home plate. No reason to change any rules imo.
[94] You're right. No need to change the rules---the play is already illegal They simply need to enforce the rules.
Classic bad Godzilla. Thank you, Hideki.
[94] A rule change isn't needed. The rule book currently forbids crashing into fielders who possess the ball. It also forbids blocking a base without the ball. Both rules are ignored at home plate.
Cripes, AJ has nothing tonight.
Shit and Bollocks.
Posada wanted no part of that play at the plate. I for one am glad Cano's throw was off line.
They are crushing AJ...
When AJ is bad, he doesn't fool around.
Angels announcers ripping Jorge Po for not even trying to make a tag or block the plate..I missed the play, are they right?
this was easily predicted
Paging Dr. Aceves..Dr. Aceves you're wanted at the pitching mound immediately...
[103] It did look like Posada was more than happy to move up fro the throw.
I know it's not the case, but AJ seems to just quit when he doesn't have his stuff. Girardi really needs to give him a quick hook because he seldom recovers.
[95, 97] I don't think enforcement is on the radar of any of the powers that be. I don't think I can blame them. They can't even speed up the game let alone enforce rules. Good work, AJ. bleh.
The Angels look like the Yankees
remember that game when moose gave up like 10 doubles? i think it at comerica. this is reminiscent.
Has Eiland visited the mound yet?
What is the point of not warming up the bullpen?
[103] Darn. I had the Nihongo on. I think he made the right play. There's no way he had a chance to catch the ball cleanly and make a tag. I think the "expectation" of another collision could be clouding our judgment of the play.
Grandy is scuffling a bit now.
Kaboom.
Nice job, Swish!
Yes!
Swisher is the Road Warrior.
So this is going to be a 10-8 affair, is that it?
MotherFUCKER he is fast.
[116] what's the deal with his splits? 90% ½ mental?
Gardner is so damn fast, he really should bunt half the time.
[119] No idea...its passing the fluke stage though.
Welcome back, Grandpa. : )
He swings! He swings!
A hit!
Welcome back, Private Pyle.
Do they plunk Tex here?
He's just not seeing the ball at all.
How many more days until May?
I'm really growing weary of this.
I hope Eiland is sewing a new arm on ol' AJ right now...
Please take AJ out...now.
Oh, come *on!*
It was 0-2!
We can't afford this shit.
Ah, so the Yankees' strategy is to kill all of the opposing catchers?
[131] Agreed.
I get the plan...leave the Angels without a catcher.
Surely I am not the only one that hates seeing Scioscia giving "signals"?
G'nite AJ...
I want to see Girardi vs. Scioscia on Fox sometime soon.
That was a bad pitch.
Do the statheads think Abreu is underated? His career seems pretty quiet.
Good punchout.
Nice job, AJ.
Ole!
Lucky > Good.
Hot Damn. That's the good stuff.
71 pitches through 4? c'mon... how about a coupla 1-2-3's AJ? Pleeeeeeeeease?
Nice AJ. Good comeback inning. Let's see if he can stay cool and get the win.
[139] Career 131 OPS+ and never higher than 12th in MVP voting. I'd say he is somewhat underrated. BTW, everything is quiet in my mother's basement.
I really dig Ervin's pj bottoms.
[147] Why should they have basements in Canada? I never hear about Canadien Hurricanes. : )
[147] Where else would the puck loving sons live if their moms didn't have basements?
If Aj can suck and get 15 outs I'll consider it a minor success.
Come on AJ...stop moping around.
[151] I'd call it a minor miracle. I have a feeling he's gone after he walks Matsui.
I used to hate those groundballs to second base.
OK, maybe I was a little too pessimistic.
[154] When you used to watch Matsui hit them for the Yankees, when you used to watch Chuck Knoblauch play 2b, or when you used to play 2B?
Nice.
I'll never forget a game I pitched when I couldn't throw strikes. We lost to my home town team to a kid throwing knuckleballs. Bleh. Hey. Maybe AJ can get 18 outs.
Nobody is safe tonight.
Ooops, caught me daydreaming.
Run, Curtis, Run!
Do not bunt, Swish, do not bunt.
Yankee Stadium needs some Pine Trees.
[156] Yes...Yes...and I still do. Always love having the ball hit to me.
As I said, nobody is safe...
Boy, this game is being played in a warped dimension.
[163] Tear down that dumb bar and turn the space into Monument Garden...that's the only change I'd make at the new Stadium.
Poor. Very poor.
Why don't the Yankees teach Gardner how to bunt? Are they too busy?
How does a guy like Gardner fuck that up so wretchedly?
Fuck!
Son of a bitch.
Damn it.
Really, nobody is safe tonight.
probably the fastest guy on every team he played for since he was 7 years old and he never learned how to bunt?? That's a hell of an oversight...
NJ and Teix for the ribbie. Not looking too good right now.
I think it time for that double steal now
[175] Unless his little league coaches thought, "man, this kid sucks at bunting. Let's just forget it." Then it would make sense. Maybe.
At least fire the ball to the pitcher...the fake throw isn't going to fool anyone.
Oh...my...goodness.
Santana got screwed.
Whoa...that looked like strike three.
Holy fuck.
That was a strike.
[178] or, his hitting was probably so far above average that it wasn't ever necessary. But still.. that's what the rookie leagues are for, no?
Sigh.
Atta boy, Nick. Strike out looking AND ground meekly to second. Bollocks.
Damn it.
We really could have used that run.
[175][178] Presumably every kid "learned to bunt" in little league. More relevant is why he was not encouraged or compelled to hone the skill at a higher level of competition. He did have 11 SH in 94 games at AAA in 2008, so it's not like he has never been called on to bunt.
So, both starters are gone after this inning, no?
It is truly disheartening to hope that NJ can deliver a clutch hit at this stage of the game, and as feared, he doesn't deliver. It would have been nice if we scored one, because this will prolly be AJ's last inning. Maybe Grandy should have tried to steal home...
Flash makes a good point about AJ and Jorge. They're making it work
Never before have so many starters had so little and accomplished so much.
i dunno. i think AJ comes out for the 7th. that was a great, easy, fast inning and he's only at 90 pitches...
Close game, middle innings...not a save situation...not an eighth inning guy situation...not a long man situation...not a mop up situation. It's a Boone Logan situation!
Thank you, AJ. I'm sorry I said I wanted a new arm sewed on you. thankyoudrivethrough...
Jepsen is good...was hoping Sciosa would fool around with middle relief.
[188] I hear you. Some of his bunt attempts just look sad. But I guess lots of swings also look bad so It is bound to happen. Mickey Mantle had lots of bunt hits, right? Some guys made bunt hits their forte. But they've all had moment of wtf was that?
NJ and MT are a lethal combo...it's not amusing when the team doesn't win.
That's a nice play. F him.
I predict Gardy and NJ redemption.
Posada has also cooled down a bit. We really need for Teix and NJ to start hitting. On Bretts bunt.... I think he was over anxious. That pitch was way high and impossible to lay down. He never should have offered.
I hope Girardi has a quick hook this inning, and I am not normally a fan of the quick hook.
I guess he wasn't looking for the fastball.
And I bet Posada will be blamed for Burnett's start... Ridiculous.
[201] Lots of guys are cooling down...if NJ and Tex don't start hitting, this team will start losing. It might make sense to move NJ down in the lineup some until he figures things out. He isn't even walking now.
[204] Blamed? How about be given credit?
evening folks, have I missed anything?
I'll go on record and say Ave was the right call here.
Not even close.
Jorge "Canon" Posada.
You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.
I hate that message!
[206] Come on, you know when the NY media gets a good meme, they can't let go... Burnett struggled, Posada caught him, therefore Posada can't handle Burnett and Cervelli or some other catcher who has the magical ability to prevent Burnett from pitching the way he normally does, can.
[212] I don't dispute that...my point was Burnett pitched pretty well with nothing, so if anything, Posada would be in line for credit.
Hitting the corner isn't "coming right at the batter"
[205] He isn’t even walking now.
He didn't walk tonight or last night. In the six previous games he walked 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1 times. It's a little early to say he's stopped walking.
That said, I agree that they should---for now--break up Teix and NJ. I would think about moving Cano and/or Granderson down in the lineup.
[215] I guess I'm thinking 1,1,0,0.
Lots of near misses havent gone the Yankees way tonight.
[216] Nope, you got that backwards. I listed the walks in reverse order from today.
Run, Gardy, Run!!
The Yankees are going to lead the league in backwards Ks.
[218] Then I'm not thinking at all.
Gardner has to learn how to go on the first pitch.
[222] Yep.
Is there anyway to keep track of how many times we run on the first pitch? It seems like almost never.
Do any base-stealers slide feet-first?
That was ball three
I'm gonna be irked if my first Banter recap turns out to be a 15-inning game ending at 3 am. :-P
[225] Can't think of any off the top of my head.
[227] I'm going to be irked if this turns into a Boone Logan/Sergio Mitre game.
Not optimal. Gardy tried, but my prediction [200] fell short.
So, let the bullpen roulette begin...
Nice play by Swisher!
I wish I could say I had confidence in Joba.
This game could come down to Willets' ability to bunt versus Gardner's inability.
[234] Scratch that...sorry.
Matsui=professional hitter
That wasn't a shocker.
[233] damn...
Good thing Girardi annointed Joba the 8th inning guy.
Made no sense to put Joba in this game right now...Morales kills him. Girardi and this bullpen could get dicey this year.
[225] Ichiro. And he actually has a very odd and dangerous (to him) slide, where he plants his leading foot, spikes in the ground, instead of keeping it up on his heel. It's amazing he hasn't broken an ankle yet.
[233] I also lack confidence in Girardi in this situation (and I am generally much more a fan of his than you are): he will start burning through relievers (Robertson for six pitches?).
.
.
Oops, Morales v. Joba makes my concern about Girardi "mute."
Well...that's special
Gack .... I'm a jinx ... :-(
[236] More properly:
Matsui = Professional Hitter™
Robertson threw well in the 7th, so going to Joba was formulaic nonsense.
I think the Yankees have to start to consider that Joba might not be that good.
So wait, Morales is now 5-7 against Joba? Girardi pulled Robertson after six pitches to go with that match-up?
WTF! Ruined my day and now it's cloudy out.
jesus christ.
[241] It didn't come into play tonight, but Chan Ho Park's injury could be disastrous if Joe gets to keep two lefties for any length of time, especially when one of them is horrendous.
I have no desire to return to the six reliever games of last year.
Remember when Joba had something?
[243] Look on the bright side...you won't need to stay up for 15 innings.
[247] my day was already ruined, so i was kinda expecting this.
[251] Brian Fuentes is still looming
Oh no
[246] Yes, because it's the 8th inning... Roles trump numbers.
[252] But soon my wife will be home to yell at me for not cleaning the house yet. Gad!
Joba keeps hitting that low and away slot to RH batters..
Missed it, Joba came in for D-Robertson? Why??
[253] Yes, still a chance!
This time last year, I'd be going nuts about Girardi and Joba, but after a World Championship and 11-4 start, why bother.
[255] I still get confused about that. In a tie game you can't use your closer because it's not a save situation, unless you're on the road and there can't be a save. But are you always supposed to use the eighth inning guy even when it's tied?
[251] The Angels announcers just said, "But you can never count the Yankees out." Well, NJ and Tex are leading off....
Three smoked outs to outfield. It could have been worse.
Time to counteract that friggen monkey.
[261] I smell redemption!
Did we just get Jeter Ass Cam for like 2 seconds?
[263] Check that, I smell pinch hitter.
[260] That is correct, and will be the case until the "hold" becomes a recognized stat.
[263] Not so much
It does seem odd to bench the guy with a .400+ OBP when you need a base runner.
Well that worked.
Whoa, Thames can't catch up to a sub 90's fastball?
[266] Right! I forgot that the H is not recognized and therefore cannot drive startegy to the same degree.
Now that was awful....way to get the job done Marcus.
No matter how much he is struggling, you can't hit Thames for NJ. That's a panic move pure and simple. Girardi still has figured out the close games.
I can taste the Angel bile starting to rise up in my throat.
Are the Yankees going to be completely stymied by Brian Fuentes and his 86 mph fastball?
[268] It makes perfect sense... Thames is a RH hitter who would be looking to swing the bat. NJ is a LH batter looking to get a walk. Swinging = good, walking = bad.
[273] Actually, this isn't a case of the Angels beating the Yankees, but the Yankees beating themselves all game.
[275] I have much to learn from you.
Anyone think NJ could have worked a walk of Fuentes?
[275] Well, if Thames could connect with a mid 80s fastball, swinging would be great.
3-1 swinging? Really?
Halos=Yankee Killers, tonight.
Well that was familiar.
The Yankees can't be very proud about how they played the last two games.
[279] I suppose so, but Fuentes usually is wild. So it's either Thames hitting a mediocre fastball, or Johnson walking because Fuentes can't find the zone.
Teix's slide had bad mojo.
No need to panic, but I wonder if the Yankees are considering a demotion for Joba, or finding some "injury" and placing him on the DL.
According to the Angels announcers, a "big statement victory!" On April 23rd. And now they're interviewing Kendry Morales, live to TV and the stadium, without benefit of a translator. An odd choice.
[265] Joba's slider had worse rotation.
What did Teix do in his last at bat, K? I missed it.
[286] I am ready for something drastic with Joba...he really is hit or miss. What Girardi was thinking when he installed him as the 8th inning guy is beyond me. If Girardi is married to his formulas, the bullpen will blow more games.
[289] F-9
[286] I couldn't even guess who they'd call up. Maybe a third lefty so we can mix and match some more.
Or someone that comes in to walk a batter and go away. We seem to like them too.
[287] I guess it's expected, since it was their first meeting since the playoffs. As for Kendry, is he speaking english or spanish? The interview could be the spanish language station, or maybe the producers think that subtitles will show up like they do in the MLB 2K10 commercials.
[291] At least he hit the ball. So he gets plunked tomorrow and we have fight. Something to look forward to.
Goodnight. Thanks to all who create this opportunity to hang with the die-hards.
[292] Presumably Melancon for a week or so, until Chan Ho Park returns.
How has Joba done the job all year?
I heard the radio calls -- 3 hits for 2 runs.. but did Joba look like he couldn't place his pitches well? Was he missing spots?
[298] Joba looked awful...missing spots and nothing on his pitches. I think the Yankees need to reconsider his role on this team.
Ugh. Dead Ball Joba. No es bueno.