This has been an odd series.
The Yankees arrived in Detroit on Ernie Harwell night with Sergio Mitre set to make a spot start for Andy Pettitte, who didn’t think he needed to be spotted for, then found out that the Tigers also had to use a replacement starter because Dontrelle Willis came down with the flu earlier that day. Mitre actually out-pitched the Tigers’ Brad Thomas, but because Jim Leyland took Thomas out after three innings and has one of the league’s best bullpens, and because A.J. Burnett burned the Yankees’ long-reliever on Sunday, Alfredo Aceves was out with a herniated disc (he’s since landed on the disabled list), and Javy Vazquez was set to pitch on Tuesday, potentially requiring long relief himself, Joe Girardi stuck with Mitre as long as he could (which turned out to be 4 1/3 innings), and the Yankees were unable to close the small deficit that resulted.
Then Tuesday got rained out, making all that bullpen-saving on Monday pointless. Then Vazquez pitched very well in the day half of Wednesday’s double-header, but New Jersey native Rick Porcello, who has been awful all year, combined with that bullpen to shut the Yankees out for the first time this season. Suddenly the Yankees had a three-game losing streak and had to scramble to split the series.
After the Tigers all gave each other mohawks during the down time between games, Phil Hughes dominated in the night-cap, handing a slim 2-0 lead to the Yankees end-game relievers, but with Mariano Rivera ready to pitch for the first time in nearly two weeks, the Yanks threw up a six-spot in the top of the ninth (Mo worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th anyway).
Mix in some end-of-the-roster transactions (hello Ivan Nova and Greg Golson, not so fast Jonathan Albaladejo, and now, finally, Juan Miranda, albeit at the expense of Kevin Russo), yet another minor injury (Nick Swisher left the late game on Wednesday with tightness in his left bicep and is day-to-day, Golson will start in his place today), and the chance of another rain out today, and this had been a very odd series.
If the rain holds off, we’ll be treated to the exciting pitching matchup of Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia, who finished third and fourth, respectively, in last year’s Cy Young voting and had a pair of compelling duels against one another last year (which, fittingly, they split).
Of course, even if they get it in, it’s a mid-week day game which most folks will miss while at work.
Odd series.
I wish i could watch. I'd like to see Miranda in action.
Yay, baseball.
Boo, at work. And off to a Dr.'s appointment.
that's some efficient CC we got there.
Quick inning for CC.
did Miranda hit that well?
Winn does walk a fair amount. I like that.
Verlander at 37 pitches through 2 innings. I like that. I hope Jeter can work him some next inning.
Bueller?
You're not alone, seamus! I'm here, for a bit at least.
Is the weather super nice in the City today? That's the only explanation I've got for the quiet. (Its gorgeous up here north of Baahhston - 65, slight breeze, just a couple of puffy white clouds.)
Or everyone is still in the Cardboard Gods thread . . .
Who is this Boesch kid? I don't recall hearing about him before.
[9] haha cool hey Shaun! Yeah, I was just thinking maybe I should give him a try on my fantasy team bench but I don't really have room since I already have Ajax. hmm..
fuck. 1-0 tiggers.
ooh, i wish i could stick around and read the whole wilker interview and follow the game, but i've got lots to do. i'll be checking in here and there for most of the game, i suppose.
[2] hope all is ok, rbj!
Is Posada going to set a record for passed balls? I almost need Cervelli to come to earth when hitting because i'm getting irrational ideas about moving Posada to DH full time.
[11] hey thelarmis! hmm, i just assumed that rbj's appointment was routine. Let's hope so.
Derek continues to look poor.
[14] bummer. I noticed on gameday that it looks like he swung at a pitch way outside. then they jammed him.
That AB is kind of the last straw...I am now very pessimistic about Jeter having his typical season.
I want to see Cervelli as a def. sub. EVERY time the Yanks have a lead after the 7th inning.
[13] oh, i'm sure it is. i just want everyone to be OK! : )
[14] Let's hope that doesn't last much longer. He was gangbusters in April, though.
[10] seamus, do you play in the "Banter Battle" league? I have to believe Boesch is already grabbed in there - EVERY hitter of any value is.
I don't think Posada should DH full-time, but to help keep him healthy, I'm certainly open to seeing him DHing 2 or even 3 times a week, even after the Stick returns.
I'm also not convinced that Cervelli will keep hitting forever, but why not ride it while it continues?
It really feels like game over here.
[19] He actually wasn't. Even in April he was swinging at balls well of the zone and his LD% rate was way down. In the Texas series alone, he was given three hits that should have been errors, so I think that also skewed is numbers. Jeter is in a very different place right now.
Alex, you da man! Javy did have a good game. bout time!
[19] no, i'm in a league with some friends. he is available. not sure who i would drop though. is victorino going to suck this year? he has so far...
and yeah, i'd be game for that kind of heavy rest rotation for posada.
Nicely turned, boys.
Damon looks like a giant.
Was he this big last year?
our best bet is to keep working the pitch counts. Verlander at 56 pitches already.
The Yankee player I am most underwhelmed with is A Rod. I had this idea that he was going to have a monster year, with the pressure finally off. It could still happen but he hasn't been intimidating thus far.
CC is winning the pitch count battle.
I think that's a tie-breaker for Pythagorean Postseason.
Okay, time for some runnage.
It's weird; though I appreciate what Damon did for the team, I really don't miss him. I guess I miss his production but that's about it.
[27] Arod has underperformed, but that's because of his high expectations. He still has an OPS+ of 128, and his contact rates are not that far off. His main problem has been too many pop up and fewer fly balls leaving the yard.
Jeter, however, has red flags all over the place.
[25] i noticed that the other day and in some recent photos. he really looks beefed up.
[29] nice use of "glissando" earlier today! i actually named a song "Ignorance is Gliss"!!! : )
Uh.
The pitch count thing. Please.
Incredible that the first two batters come out hacking. The Yankees effort has been lacking all series. If they keep playing like this, the Rays are going to open up a nice lead.
[33] yes, we are wasting the one advantage we have so far.
[32] Why, thank you.
But you didn't like the double-stop, huh? Don't jazz bass players double-stop?
With Zumaya rested, getting Verlander out early might not make much of a difference.
let's face it, our regulars suck and our scrubs rule.
Let's see if Greg Golson can top Randy Winn and Ramiro Pena for most runners stranded by the ninth place hitter.
I'm finding that my page reloads are very slow. I think it has something to do with wordpress checking Cliff's twitter.
[36] i didn't see "double-stop", but VERY nice on that. much better than glissando. we all double-stop, even us marimbists and drummers! i teach kids that word on a very regular basis.
the term is based on violin, but can spread to many many other instruments. for percussionists, i have to warn them to make sure their double stops are true, and aren't "flammed" (and that their flams aren't double stops, which is called a "flat flam")
and i hereby (hearby?) would like to call Phil Hughes = Phuse! : )
[30] Agreed. He was useful, but not someone I ever got really attached to. Its also possible that the joy I've had in Gardner's fantastic play so far has mitigated whatever feelings of loss I felt with Damon gone.
The Yanks, I think, could survive with a Miranda-Posada DH "platoon", if only they had someone to play LF who crushes RHP the way Thames crushes LHP. Or Winn could start hitting righties again. Or Granderson could get back in a hurry, and be sat vs LHP . . .
[34] If you were a Presidential candidate back in the 1800s william, I'm 99.9% sure you'd have been known as "Old Doom and Gloom". ;)
[40] i was just forbidden to post w/out logging in, yet i was indeed logged in!
fuck word press!
[40] At least half of the times Firefox loaded up the Banter today, Cliff's most recent tweet hasn't appeared. Maybe something with the twitter/WordPress interface?
C'mon Jeter, get yerself a hit - or better yet, a walk.
frack!
Boom.
[41] Sweet.
I knew a very regular bassist once.
Boom boom.
[44] Scratch that last bit - Yahoo! told me Jeter was up, now it says Cabrera just homered.
He's something else this year. Hard to believe he's only 27.
Now that's game over....this lineup isn't capable of three runs off Porcello and Bonderman, so forget Verlander.
If Jeter, Cano and Posada don't wake up again, May is going to be a tough month. Cashman needs to get busy to correct the mistakes he made over the winter or the Yankees will looking up at the Rays in June.
WTF?
[42] Doom and gloom...realistic..I guess that's open to interpretation.
oh no.
well, time to get shit done.
i'll check in later.
go yanks!
[36] Oh, yes, that was brilliant, RI. The whole bit. Delicious.
Oh, fer fook's sake.
That would be the *last* thing we need ...
[54] Hey, thanks! Just keepin' it real.
Verlander seems to have some serious control problems. Why can't we take advantage?
[56] Keepin' it real!
[56] I think it's pretty obvious that our offense is slumping overall. Jeter is obviously have his issues. Cano is obviously struggling right now. In fact both are swinging at all kinds of crap. And of course we're playing with a bottom third that is weaker than usual. I wasn't that big on the NJ signing and it's hard to feel great about it right now. Though obviously, it's always frustrating watching a team slump and yet all teams will slump.
This is looking like an easy CG loss for CC. Weird.
That's the most preposterous fucking story I've ever heard in my life.
I feel strangely calm. I wonder what that means.
[61] "ignorance is gliss"
You again!
I'm so happy we didn't waste four or five runs today, aren't you?
[11] Thanks. Just had a back reaction to the ibuprofen I've been taking for my hip.
So I'm off for an endoscopy in a month.
Looks like I haven't missed much on this game.
Hmmm, this area is under a tornado watch until 9 pm. I wonder if was caused by the sucking of the Yankee offense of late.
hi team - sounds like all the injuries are catching up to the yanks.
hopefully derek and robbie just need some short right porch love.
Well, at least I get to see some Ivan Nova ...
I must admit, Ivan Nova is slightly less white than I expected from his name.
I take it this is Nova's ML debut?
Hmm Nova's MiL stats 155 BB, 321 K. Looks promising.
[69] you are correct, sir. and glad you're alright!
[70] I have some hopes for Nova, but I'm not sure he's more than a 4th or 5th starter. Not that such things aren't useful . . . Its nice to see the Yanks making use of some of their younger arms.
[65] this is plausible.
It wouldn't be so damned bad if Arod were mashing or something. This game is tough to watch. Big picture, big picture, big picture...
[73] and i'm not even watching!
hey gang. at work. no es bueno.
[71] Thanks again. I actually dropped about 15-20 lbs over the winter, and am now under doctor's orders to eat and gain weight.
[72]Maybe have Nova eventually evolve into Joba's 8th inning set up guy?
Someone deliver that man Guitar Hero, STAT!
Or maybe trade Nova for a warm body in the OF. Any Royals outfielders any good? Winn + Thames just isn't going to work out. Yankees can get by with Gardner if the other OFers are able to step up & deliver some power, but this is just brutal.
This sort of loss is kind of depressing. Not very ace-like of Sabathia. Not that he can't have a stinker every now and then, but having it when you're trying to get a split on the road sucks.
[76] i've been under doctors orders to eat and gain weight my entire life! but i don't really like food and i love being skinny! : )
[78] dejesus.
i'm out. see youze guise ovah the weekend!
[78] healthy Grandy is what we need. Thames and Winn are fine as role players coming off the bench, but that's not what they are right now.
Well, thank god that's over.
I suspect Jeter is hurt. He does not look right up there.
A measley 4 hits in two of the games? And even the 8-0 win ws really 2-0 until the Tigers bullpen shat the bed.
they've got three tough (not writing off the sox yet) series in a row now - they have to tread water and get to inter-league where hopefully they can feast on that part of the schedule, and the hopefully paper maiche nj will be ready to come back post inter-league.
[85] One hopeful sign:
Our road record is 11 and 11. Home record is 10 and 2.
As long as the power outage isn't the sign of some long term problem(s), everything should be fine.
So is Nova one & done or is some else going to get sent down.
[82] Indeed.