A better lineup than I thought they'd play today.

I would have gone with the total scrub package (+ Alex at DH) today, the regular 9 for the full game tomorrow and the regular 9 for 6 on Wednesday.

Of course, the real concession is going to be in Coffee Joe's bullpen usage ... and what the TBA start looks like on Wednesday.

From the previous thread:

Hmmm, except for Swisher who is probably nursing his hand that he bruised on the wall a couple of games ago, the Rays get the "A" team.

MLB wants Boston in the playoffs for TV ratings and press buzz. Apparently so do the Yankees.

[2] Posada at 1b makes this more like the B+ team.

This ought to make MattPat happy, Buster Olney tweeted:

It appears Raul Valdes has an excellent chance to be part of the Yankees' postseason roster at some point, to provide second bullpen lefty.

Well, at least we've made Shields throw 12 pitches to 2 batters.

Did you hear that sound?

Sweet Jesus but Robbie can hit the baseball.

Robbie's read AB's title.

ROBBIE THE RIPPER!

That ball was smoked.

[6] Sweet Robbie, but Jesus can smack it, too.

Just sayin'.

Didn't someone summon Monkeypants in the earlier thread? How did that work?

Hey, I think Phil Hughes will be good in the bullpen. He's our sixth inning guy now. Very underrated role, and he'll be much better at it than he was as a starter.

[10] In the playoffs, with our set of starters 2 through 4 ... somebody who can pick up 2-3 innings as a bridge to SoRoMo, could be critical.

Heh.

There's something you won't see everyday.

Upton pulls a Giambi Jr. play!
Man.. Jorge has even forgotten how to throw. He is in 'Early Nunez' mode.

anyone on this list that's out here in san francisco? i'm moving and i have this huge box of great and weird yankees shit. cards, coins, posters, bobbleheads, stickers...mattingly, henderson, winfield, the like....early 80's to 90's. if anyone's here and wants that box....come and get it. i'm on 16th st. email me at briancircus@gmail.com

i need to have it gone by tomorrow.

[11] Also, I think we should carry five catchers in the post-season. Posada, Cervelli (because he will probably get better soon), Martin obviously, Montero obviously, and Romine because it could be important at some point.

Wieters goes OPPO!

1-1!

[15] I know you're kidding, but quiet! JoeyJoeJoe might hear you ...

[17] (I'm attempting to summon Monkeypants.)

Do you think we should have 14 pitchers for the post-season, or is 13 enough?

[18] Don't we just light candles and look in the bathroom mirror and say, "Monkeypants, Monkeypants, Monkeypants?"

[18] 14. Can't leave Proctor off.

DOUBLE.

STEAL.

Jesus, this dude was one low strike zone.

What hands on this guy.

Jesus.

Lightning fast.

If Teixeira wants to hit in the 3 spot, he should seriously consider hitting more than .240.

Cano should be hitting 3rd.

[24] You don't have to convince me.

[19] That seems too conventional.

Man, Posada at first is good for laughs ...

Sigh.

Damn, Valdes up *already*?

Eek.

As Leiter is so obviously fond of saying, Noesi has 4 pitches.

Problem is, I don't know that any of them are plus ...

Way to make the Red Sox sweat.

Wow

Nice. Russell bails out his staff.

NUNE5!

Yeah, Leiter's right, Nune5 does have a bit of Winfield in his swing.

Adventures in the outfield!

Yay, Nune5!

I bet Joe is really impressed with Eduardo today. He's going to get plenty of post-season play.

Is what Verducci said in that article last month true? Did the Yanks lose out on Cliff Lee because they refused to include Nunez in a trade?

What I miss? Cano tater, and..?

Holy fuck, what a catch!

O's threatening.

Grinch walked his nemesis, Mark Reynolds. 2 on no out.
Did something happen to Buck Showalter?

[38] Who knows?
But the story was that Cash wouldn't give up Montero plus Nuñez (or Nova).

Oh yeah!
Beckett on the ropes. Yum.

So, of course, Showalter decides to give Beckett a free out. Sigh.

[42] Sprained ankle.

Gotta love that even Yankees announcers are touting the Yankees unbelievable ability to create right handed middle relievers.

[45] Pitch count up but yeah, O's blew a great chance there.

Beckett pitches out of a bad jam. Idiot sacrifice bunt didn't hoit.

Hey, I missed it, how did Russell get ejected?

Whoa, Gameday says Martin was ejected. Why?

...We're arguing over *that* pitch?

See? I told you we needed five catchers.

[43] Well, that was after the Mariner's had agreed to the deal with Montero and without Nunez8.

8According to the Yankees version of the story, the Mariners said YES ... and then went back to the Rangers to shop the deal around to get more.

Who knows ...

[49] I'm wondering that myself. Must have been arguing balls and strikes I guess, but it seems weird it would come to that in a game like this.

C'mon Phil, could you at least not suck at relieving???

Give us a reach-around here ...

Kontos time!

Beckett's still walking a tightrope. 100 pitches in the sixth, two men on and two out, but still only the two runs.

[51] Hahahahah!

And Beckett tumbles off the tightrope!

Chris Davis doubles in a run. Men on second and third, two away. Josh looks tired.

Oh my god.
Indescribable play in Camden Yards.
Incredible. I'll try to describe it...

Robert Smiley Andino hit a fastball right down the middle! Inside the park home run!! WOW!!!

And Jacoby Ellsbury playing the part of Curly after an encounter with Moe

woo-woo-woo-woo-woo

Officially scored an inside-the-parker for Andino.

Ellsbury went back to the wall, had the ball in his glove, crashed into the wall. The ball came loose. The two runners score easily. Ells flings the ball in, cut-off, relay to the plate, right on line, had Andino dead, and the ball goes right through Saltalamacchia's legs.

Unbelievable.

[60] Dammit. I'm always tuning into the wrong broadcast.

Bah.

Oh, I guess almost everyone here saw it!

Another arrow right through the heart of RSN.

Proving that even Proctor ain't gonna help the Red Cocks make the playoffs

Wow.

Wait.

6-2?!?!?!?

I thought it was 3-2!!!

Man, everytime I think the Sox have picked themselves off the floor, they grab themselves about the throat and throw themselves down the stairs ... yikes.

Oh, right, Ellsbury didn't throw it in -- he had to flip it to Drew. He may be hurt. Geez, right at the climax of his superseason, what a break.

And the look on Beckett's face, great camera work by NESN. Camera right on his face as he watches Ellsbury go back, track it down, glove it... drop it. Priceless.

[67] It was. Before the Andino hard-way round trip.

Ouch! What a f'ing move.

Nunez was safe without a doubt. I call bullshit on that.

Would someone please, please tell me why Montero did not come in for Martin? They can't be thinking of Carrying Romine on the PS rooster.

So, what do we call Nune5 when he is caught stealing? NuneC5?

I cannot believe that play in Baltimore. The crowd in Tampa is sensing the blood in the water. Ellsbury might be hurt [68] RIYank, but not enough that he didn't hit at the top of the inning. (He made an out, though.)

I wonder if that botched play erases his gopherball gift from Proctor last night??

[72] They don't want Montero catching. Although it's hard to see why they don't want him catching Kontos, I will admit.

Is anyone gonna address the really important game of the night - Texas-LAAoC?

[72] Coffee Joe is crazy enough to want 2 lefty relievers in the postseason, you better believe he's crazy enough to take 3 catchers (not counting Posada).

Its kind of silly, but they won't carry 13 pitchers, so they have room for Romine without any problems.

[73] Yeah, he looks to be okay. He looked bad when he was on the ground in CF, but maybe that was just misery.

You mean, karmicly speaking, erases the gopherball gift? I think Proctor still has the Heavenly Debit, but Ellsbury is now even for the week.

[63] YOU MEAN I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE HERE TO GET NESN?????
Quite the play. Andino was out at the plate by 10 feet. Can't believe the throw went through.

Now I root for the Yanks but hope the Rays win.

Montero is not a catcher (right now). He's a bench bat. So it's actually perfectly reasonable to bring Romine to the post-season. It does look ridiculous, on the roster, though.

[74] OK. But why? He can't be that bad, and you can't groom a 21-year-old to be a DH. It will be a long time before there is room at foist.

Damn, mlbtraderumors reporting the White Sox and Marlins are completing a trade involving Ozzie Guillen.

Heh.

[78] It's ridiculous that he gets the HR by the scorer. Maybe a double plus two bases in errors. Maybe a triple.

I like NESN a lot. Sox fans bitch about it constantly, and they do come back too late from the commercial rather often, but it's well produced and I think Remy and Orsillo are excellent.

[81] Seriously?

[80] They think he can't handle the pitchers now.

Hey, Ace is back on the mound! Wow, imagine the pitching problems the Sox have right now. Poor Tito. Both aces shelled, their bullpen is in tatters, that Lackey performance against the Yankees plus Papelbon are their only bright spots.

[80] Yeah he could, and yes you can.

I'd sign up for Edgar Martinez or Frank Thomas in a moment.

[85] Ortiz, too.

[85] Drool . . . If Montero becomes either of those guys, we'll all thank our lucky stars for Nunez, and Cashman not wanting to part with him. Dare we dream!

[82] Me too. Remy and Orsillo are not homers - though you can tell they sometimes are wishing for the Sox to do well - but they stay very objective with the other team and its players. Especially when they play the Yanks. Rarely do they stop talking about the game, which I appreciate.

Compare, for example, Sterling and Suzyn, who just spent 3 minutes on the meaning of the chorus of Naughty by Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray", which Suzyn did not understand, and which Sterling proceeded to sing in the most boring way possible. It was amusing and horrifying - and I didn't quite mind it, but still . . . Remy and Orsillo would never do that.

[85] So you are saying he's done learning. At 21. Can't improve his defense enough to play at the ML level. I don't buy that. No way.

[87] I would gladly pay $10 to hear Sterling sing "Hip Hop Hooray" to Suzyn.

Man, Derek can't catch a break.

Not that I like losing, but a Rays win plus Sox loss means the two remaining games for each team are guaranteed to be significant, huge games. No way the Rays or Sox can line up their starters for the post-season, no way they can rest players. And if they finish the season tied... hoooooo boy.

[88] I think he might well be a catcher. I just think he could still be a great player if he's not a catcher.

Sox with bases loaded, 1 out...

[88] I do. Completely.

Progression paths are a weird thing.

There are any number of players whose first year was actually their best, even though they were of an age that ALL the signs pointed to them continuing to improve.

This is a very real chance that this is as good as Montero is behind the plate ... or at 1st.

Hope it isn't, but there's no guarantee that it is.

Forecasting isn't wish-casting ...

[93] The strike zone is impossible in this game. It became miniscule for Lowrie (first three pitches clearly in the strike zone, count 3-0), and now for Saltalamacchia it's grossly expanded. And he strikes out.

Sox with bases loaded, 2 out...

[92] Understood. I guess I am prejudiced against the straight DH as a complete player.

Also, I just feel like they need to bring Jorge to the postseason as his final act. So I am trying to justify it. Furthermore, Romine can not hit...at least not yet.

The Sox choke. No runs.

Sox with bases loaded, 3 out!
And only 3 more outs to go.

Man, 6-2, Baltimore!

[91] Agreed. We're really very blessed that the rest of the season is housemoney for us. I don't like losing either but I must say, I really want Tampa to win.