Ace’s high tonight in Chi-Town. Every game for CC feels like a must-win. Lots of pressure, but he’s usually game.
Fresh from the Lo-Hud Oven, here’s the line-up:
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Austin Kearns LF
Brett Gardner CF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
I say Nunez has a good night….
Let’s Go Yan-Kees.
[Picture by Bags]
Let's go Yan-kees!
Swish swat!
SWISH!!!
game on wgn. sounds like no hawk! too bad i have to head out to a gig in a few...
[0] speaking of "Aces High" - there's a new Iron Maiden album out. i haven't heard it yet, but a buddy of mine said it's great....
nice bit of hitting by robbie.
they need to show a replay on that phantom tag...
Ho hum, another missed call.
fuck. that was roped. a good throw woulda gotten him. not even close.
2-1
That was weird...Pierre stopped on the way home from third, then kept going when he saw the throw offline.
it is hawk. he's slightly less annoying with - i believe - it's steve stone. still terrible, however...
Congrats, Nunez!
Good on 'ya, Rook. That was a rope.
Nuñez!
0) Good call, Alex.
NUNEZ!!!!
YOU CAN PUUUUUUUT IN ON THE BOARD!!!
congrats, kid. hope he gets the ball back...
crushed lined drive over the left field fence.
4-1
that pitch was low...
Well, that sucks.
I thought tonite was another 8pm start.
Bah.
Uh oh ... Granderson pinch hitting for Teixeira.
FuckityfuckityfuckFuckFUCK.
Crap. Teix hurt now?
Where's my teddy bear & security blanket?
Hm...Teix is out of the game. I guess that means we'll see Miranda. Oh...right...
So, if Teix is hurt, does that mean they will call up a 14th pitcher?
They call him MR. THAMES!!!!!!
Hot Damn. Thames CRUSHED that.
Thames!
I like this new policy of a 2 run homerun every inning.
[19] Dunno, maybe Swisher or Kearns @ 1b with Granderson in CF.
Thames continues to crush the ball.
[16] yeah man, we gotta get the "upcoming schedule" box at the top left back in working order!
FUCK on Tex. motherfucker. that's gonna ruin my gig, dammit.
Cult, i may need you to text me an update on Tex later...
Timmy Tims!!!
Can we pull CC now and have him start again tomorrow?
23) yes, I concur, wholeheartedly.
[26] Sure, will do.
My heavens, even Granderson's are aw-shucks-cute.
See, Teix just knew Curtis' folks were there so he felt a "tweak." Presto.
[31] I see Curtis takes after his mama
31) ...Granderson's parents...
33) yep.
Um, no. That was supposed to be delivered to the Yankee's side in the top of the next inning.
"I say Nunez has a good night…."
Sox up 1-0, top of the 4th.
Nunez Pipp Jeter?
38) a more complete analogy would be: Nuñez Pipp Rodriguez, right?
Crud.
I do NOT approve, however, of this new policy of allowing the other team to hit a two run HR every inning.
Ugh.
Now Sabathia can't even hold a 6-1 lead. This is what a collapse looks like.
[41] Yes. Has the Score Truck been hijacked?
44) or maybe it made a wrong turn on route 57.
Settle down, Kay. Robbed? Really?
I'm almost afraid to watch.
Now would be the time to PH the LH for Thames...oh...right...
Hip-hip!
I strongly approve of two run doubles.
Not a homer, but I'll take a two run double.
Andruw Jones played that weirdly.
Bruised right thumb? I guess Mark's day-to-day. Glad it wasn't a sprained ankle.
Sit on a first pitch fastball, Kid, and hit another homer.
I'm not sure you wanna walk Gardner to get to Eduardo "Home Run" Nuñez.
Or that. : )
I also approve of 2 run singles.
Wally Pipp!
Wow, that's like a month's worth of production for Ramiro Pena.
Keep hittin' Nunez!
Hip hip Jorge!
Pipp Pipp Nunez!
57). Yes, indeed. Now maybe Jeter can get in on the two run action. Or not.
[59] Unfortunately, it's also about a month's worth of production from Derek Jeter these days ...
The thought that Swish was once considered the future every day 1b is bizarre.
Mom and dad are not amused.
Jorge needs his friggin' eyes checked.
Time to pull CC.
[63] How so?
65) him and Cervelli. i can't rcall any big league catchers missing and failing to catch as many balls as those two.
Hey, Wheels Posada with the two bagger.
[67] Teix has spoiled me (us) defensively. After seeing some of Swish's travails in right field, I'm guessing he'd be just as scary at first.
A legs double from Jorge. Yikes.
Why does Kay get soooooo excited about every fly ball? i mean, that was a nice running catch and all, but it was clear that Pierre had a bead on it when he started to circle back in from the wall. This is the big leagues...catching the ball somewhat in the vicinity of the warning track is not that exciting.
69) I suspect that Swisher at first base would be less of an adventure than Teixeira in RF.
[71] No way. Teix goes back on fly balls better than Gardner, Curtis, or Swish. : )
Does CC HAVE to throw 120 pitches everytime out?
What a play by Robbie!!!!!!!!!!
[72] And you can't fall on a fly ball.
Oh great...did Nuñez just hurt himself?
These two teams have looked like little leaguers the last two games.
Jeter going to RF? How novel!
[74] Oh ye, of little faith.
I also approve of one run singles. Not as much as two run singles and doubles and home runs. But I still approve.
ot, but I saw the video of the 5 year old kid hitting 85 mph pitches a few months ago and that was that. Then I read his aticle in SI a few days ago. It truly is an entertaining read. fwiw
http://tinyurl.com/3868bms
Of the many reasons I like Sabathia better than Burnett, when CC has less than his best stuff, he can still give you length and a chance to win a game.
Kay's voice just cracked shrieking "that's 99!"
Yo, banterers.
I've been watching the competition tonight, mainly. Great game. The Sox have two runs on two solo homers by V-Mart. The Rays have two, one on a sac fly after Clay Buc threw wildly to try to pick of Peña, and the other on a BJ Upton solo shot.
Another pitching change, in a 10-5 game. Imagine the chess matches to come when rosters expand.
[84] Chess -- or is tonight's game roulette? Or maybe it's just the Wheel of Fortune.
[84] Oh, and remember: this one goes to eleven.
Mo's jacket will be off. Soon.
Okay, enough of this.
The Rays go to Soriano in a tie game (9th inning), against the bottom of the Sox' order. Interesting.
[87] He hasn't pitched in a week. It might not be that bad of an idea to get him in regardless.
86) I can't say that I am paying the closest attention..this game and last night's have not been exactly riveting.
Rafael Soriano retires the Sox on seven pitches. So, it looks like Maddon made the right move.
That dude's a nut.
Yay Marcus!
I'm not a player but I crush a lot.
Bard to face the scary part of the Rays' order.
that was one hell of a hit i thought.
[96] Is 19 innings asking too much? : )
Bard gets Longoria, Peña, Joyce, on ten pitches, and they go to extras.
Playing the IF in down five in the ninth?
[98] Yeah, huh? I don't care who wins if they play nine extras.
[100] It's the right call, actually.
102) why? Because Nuñez is a light hitter? What are the Sox chances of victory down five (playing the IF in and it works), down six (playing back and giving up a ground ball) or down seven (playing in and giving up a base hit) going into the bottom of the ninth?
Anyway, the best move of course is to play for a DP by Jeter!!
I was talking to my wife's friend at a Minor League game the other day. She and my friend saw a Rays-Yanks game in Tampa when Alex was going for #600. She said the cowbells were nauseating. They showed on the big screen a video guide on using them. Opportune and inopportune times and such. What a joke.
DO NOT PULL THE BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 for 19!
2/$25m and not i nickel more..
If the Old Boss was still around he'd say Jeter needs to settle down and find a wife. His carousing is really starting to wear him out.
106) yep. And if he asks for a nickel more, you play the entire season with Ramiro Peña as the starting SS. That'll show 'em. Seriously, you're obsessed with Jeter's contract.
The Rays call on Chad Qualls for the tenth. Hm, I expected Soriano since he only threw 7 pitches in the ninth. Qualls does well -- V-Mart gets a 2-out infield hit. Maddon goes to Choate to face Papi.
[103] Yeah, obviously it doesn't make much difference. But you play the infield in when the next run is worth significantly more than the ones after that, and that's the situation here. The next run isn't worth much, but the next ones are worth even less.
Anyway, didn't matter.
109) that sounds like quite a chess match...maybe I'll tune into it once this game mercifully ends.
Oy. That Victor Martinez play was nonsense.
Here's Papi against Choate. No shift -- anyway no overshift, they leave the SS in position.
Ortiz squawks about a called strike one. He chases a big curve for strike two...
[112] Bad hop.
The Tampa OF is playing very, very deep. Joyce is standing on the warning track in right.
110) yeah. I guess if I was managing in that circumstance, i would pretty much be playing to end the game as quickly as possible and gear up for tomorrow night.
Papi hits the 1-2 to LF, fairly deep but Crawford has to come in to get it, side retired.
Oh Christ
[114] He grounded out weakly to the left side but claimed it went off his foot. Replay showed it missed by about 8 inches. That led to him getting on base.
Like fucking little league. The good news, it's almost a Save Situation (tm).
[119] Whoops. I meant he hit it to the right side.
[119] Oh, that one! I didn't see the replay. I thought you meant the IF hit.
120) Hey...when I typed "tm" inside parentheses on my iPad, it autoformatted to the special character (tm). Hm, this opens up new possibilities.
Wow, Dan Johnson walk-off homer!!!
[124] who?
Good try, Boston.
Weakest hitter on the Rays, by a long shot. And he hits a long shot off Scott Atchison.
Oh Jesus
Save Situation(tm)!!
There has to be something particularly galling about losing to Dan Johnson
Don't punch anything with your right hand, Dave. Yeesh, he sucked tonight.
129) hmmm...that didn't work.
Okay, I obviously have to focus on the Yankee game, since you guys can't manage to hold a 5 run lead.
This is pathetic.
(tm)..
[133] Its always been my weakness.
Mo is always a tad rusty. Here we go.
133) I take full responsibility...I tempted the baseball gods about six different ways.
Nope...
Well let's see....
CC starts....
We score 12 runs...
Mo is in for the Save...
What is wrong with this picture?
WOO-HOO!
That there was real pretty.
OMG!
Andruw Jones is having an entire season tonight.
Okay, NO MORE. I'm serious. That's it. End the game now.
[139] If Robertson had gone straight from the bullpen to the showers, this would never have happened...
We have no chance in the PS.
I'm not looking forward to the pain...
Oh thank God.
All Rise. Yikes.
Thanks be to Mo.
And...exhale...
[146] LOOK AT YOUR CALENDAR.
Thames may be our best player of late.
That tells you how far this team has fallen.
152) or much Thames has risen.
[153] Well, it's been a very rainy summer north of London.
Sox fans are furious at Tito for his bullpen use. They think he's "an idiot, the dumbest manager in the American League." Many think losing that game was the end of their season. (Of course, if they win tomorrow that will give the fans enough hope to allow more torture later.)
[154] http://instantrimshot.com/
:D
[155] Yeah, well thank heavens for Chessmaster Hex...