The most impressive Jon Lester–who has struggled recently, not winning a game since before the All-Star Break–goes against Phil Hughes today at the Stadium. It’s a “must-win” for Boston.
Here’s hoping the Yanks can foil ’em.
Go git ’em, boys.
Saturday
November 23, 2024
Since 2002
"This ain't football. We do this every day."
--Earl Weaver
--Earl Weaver
LoHud says Gardner is sitting for Kearns, which I guess isn't so bad, he has been slumping. I see Berkman is sitting for Thames, which is exactly right vs a LHP. But why is Granderson starting? I'd much rather have even a slumping Gardner in vs a lefty, then to see Granderson out there.
The Yanks face 3 straight lefties after this in Texas, so I really hope Curtis gets some time on the bench this week at the start of games.
[1] maybe that's why granderson is playing. With 4 lefties in a row he's gotta play sometime.
I am a broken record I know but Granderson has been so disappointing. A no impact trade.
[1] [2] yeah granderson probably gets some time off in texas and girardi (hopefully) wants to avoid thames in the field, so one of the lefties plays today.
i hope po can handle the rigors of catching 3 straight days since his body is not really used to that. the personal catcher combination might be rearing its ugly head now.
Texas is gonna be hot hot HOT! I'm sure Girardi will rotate in all our boys.
This "make a Michael Kay sign and you'll get on tv" nonsense needs to stop. Yesterday.
[5] Like the weather in any way affects Girardi resting players. It could be 70 degrees with a summer breeze and Ramiro Pena would still find a game.
20 pitches. 19 fastballs. Phiil's location way off thus far. That k pitch to Beltre missed by about 2 feet.
Oh God. More changeups.
I should probably stop watching now.
Nice strike, blue. We'll be guessing all day at your "zone."
Nice grab, Swish!
Throws to 2nd don't get much worse than that. : (
[4] Not too good after 2 straight days...
Jeter and A-Rod's range .... sigh
Christ. Phil doing his Dice-K impression. 40 pitches. 1 out in the 2nd. Lame.
[15] sounds fun.
Sometimes the Yanks feel every one of those 70 years on the left side of the infield.
Wonderful. Bases loaded. 1 out. 47 pitches. Not one fucking curveball yet for a strike.
Quite a few well placed grounders in this inning.
Sorry, Phil. You friggin' suck today.
this game is torturous thus far. glad i'll miss most all of it...
that said, let's comeback and win. yeah!
all things considered two runs isn't bad.
Late-breaking news: A-Rod JUST got to that grounder to his right ...
Phil hasn't been too good but it's true he's had some bad luck as well with weakly hit balls ...
[14] [17] Yup... and this is 2010. Those 2 could be out there in 2013! We gotta move ARod deeper, and coach our pitchers to field any ground balls that isn't smacked.
I just don't see how we can give Jeter another 3 years.
Phil is way off. We'll be lucky to get 5 IP, However there have been 3 lightly hit GBs that all went for hits.... so some bad luck for Phil.
Sneaking a look at the game while working. Everyone take a deep breath. Not one of the BSox hits were hard hit. Hughes will hopefully settle down and give the team at least five innings.
More disappointing in interest. Will Arod every be able to drive the ball with regularity again?
it's nice to not have to worry about a-rod stealing a base anymore! ; )
Did you notice how Arod would not slide into second to break up the potential DP? He feels a need to always be protecting his hip.
Po smacked hard in the mask from that Papi foul.
Posada has set up on the outside corner at least 4 times and Phil's pitches have missed about a foot and half the other way. WTF!
[31] Deeking the batter? Prolly not. At least Hughes got through the inning with little drama and just a few pitches.
Mariners have just canned Wakamatsu ... convenient scapegoat.
Enough of this no-hitter nonsense! Let's go O!
Good baserunning, Austin.
great. i have to leave for work and we're being NO-HIT!!! : /
[33] On paper at the beginning of the season, didn't we all think that the M's would contend for the AL West this year? Injuries and a year long team hitting slump killed them. Wakamatsu is a likeable, and appears capable, but the team needs stirring up.
[37]
they had no power going into the season, and never addressed that need
[29] His foot (or leg?) may still be tender.
[37] Before they taded Lee, they had 3 pitchers in the top 8 in ERA. Yes, pitching is still goal #1, but ya gotta have at least a decent offense.
Lester STILL working on his no-no.
Wow.... Lester with only 46 pitches. If we don't get busy, we will see him for 8 innings.
Perfect pitch for Strike 3.
Arod's doing a lot of looking lately.
[41] i think if he keeps the no hitter going we'll see him for 9
Ya think Po would at least take one pitch?
god damnit can't someone get a HIT?!?!
Is it ok to talk about no hitters in progress when it is vs. the Yanks?
A hit, a hit, would someone please get a damn hit.
[25] I just don’t see how we can give Jeter another 3 years.
Dude, you just gotta let it go. Whatever decision is made regarding Jeter will simply not conform to straightforward baseball criteria. He's gonna get overpaid for too many years, most likely, because he's, well, Derek Jeter. Worst case scenario is that they have to write off his last year or two, and then make back the money they waste on tee shirts and higher ticket prices. No sense in fretting about it.
Someone just did...wrong team.
Hughes got through five, and will probably start the sixth. The switch for the bats has to flicked on now, and we could still steal this game.
Yay! The seal is broken. More please?
Yuk...Score Truck stalled.
[49] It ain't just the money. That's the lesser part.
It's having 2 guys in wheelchairs both on the left side of the infield.
Teix is signed for 6 more years, so 1B is taken. ARod for another 7, so I assume he's at 3rd for as long as he can still walk. He will probably DH at least 3 years.... more if his ability to move keeps declining.
It's hard to imagine a 39 year old Jeter at SS.
Jerry Remy taking about how he misses OYS... how this stadium just isn't a 'homey'. Guy ain't afraid to state an honest opinion.
In retrospect...Hughes did not "suck today".
He pitched a great game, and only one inning of seeing eye ground balls accounted for the two runs.
[55] Perhaps he would've felt different if NYS was built across the river in Harlem?
I know Lester is lights out today, but Arod's swings are not right.
[56] The 1st 2 innings were painful to watch. "Sucky" even. : )
Innings 3-6 were far better obviously.
Austin did not dive for that. He fell for it. We'll take it.
Hughes did the job. We're in this game but our offense needs to produce.
Atta boy, Woodrow!
Woody warps but does not split.
PInch fucking run for Posada will ya', Joe.
let's get the score truck cranking now boys.
Damn. That was close.
Most fans simply suck at catching foul balls even when they have gloves.
Wake up, Joe. Stuff's happening.
Screw you, Curtis. You're breaking my heart for Mo's sake!!!
oh curtis.
C'mon, Grandpa. Hit one in the gap.
Pick 'em up, Swish...
Not scoring with the bases loaded and no outs is my favorite Yankee play of all time. : (
epic fail. $%#%#$W#%#$#$
Maddon would've squeezed there...
3 staright k's,fuck.
[75] He probably would have, and it would have absolutely been the right move. Granderson has been terrible against all lefties, not to mention ones like Lester, while Jeter has shown he can no longer hit a plus fastball from a righty. So, what did Girardi do...he allowed Francona to dictate both matchups.
Girardi could have at least pinch run Gardner for Posada. Lll G' would have scored on Thames' double. Man, that near homer is going to piss me off all night if they don't pull this one out.
2-1
KAboom! Yay, Teix!
[79] gotta start somewhere. just need the score truck to make 2 more stops.
Unleash the hounds.
Good start to the inning...
Would've gone first move, Gardner better be stealing on one of the next 2 pitches.
Has to go now, Cano's going to be swinging
Someone, please get Rickey on the line to teach Gardy a thing or three about stealing.
Gardner's a wuss. He's wasting his talents. Too bad he's not on 3rd by now.
Gardner is the most reluctant speedster. {86} I was thinking the same thing. The Ricky would school him.
Think they may be trying to set up the double play with an unintentional intentional walk to Posada?
[87] Gardy may be a wuss, but honestly, do the Yankees not have the stolen base sign in the binder? Can't the bench call for a steal?
Uh-oh...Posada walked and now is on the bases. Do you PR for Po here?
Whoa...where was THAT pitch??
I'm surprised that Tito is sticking with Baird so long.
[90] Girardi has said Brett has the green light at ALL TIMES. Him not running is all on him.
Nice work, Lance.
[90] May as well, since Pena's coming in regardless
[93] That 2nd sentence is brutal Oy. Brett decides when to steal. Which is always too late. imo.
For the second straight inning, Girardi has botched the inning. Taking Arod out of the game makes little sense, especially because we all know Gardner is a reluctant basestealer. Having said that, if you do want to pinch run, it makes much more sense to use Pena. Not only does he seem to have a better knack for getting a jump, but he has more than enough speed to steal on the Bard/Martinez combo. What's more, you'd still gave Gardner, who has had some success against Papelbon, around to hit for Kearns.
Sigh...
[93] I'm not talking about green light. I am talking about a COMMAND to run on a given pitch. No option for the base stealer. Especially if Gardner is reluctant, perhaps such a sign should be added to the binder...right next to the squeeze sign!
It's hard to overcome quality pitchers AND your own manager. Brutal last two innings.
[98] iirc, That was an issue in last year's playoffs. Gardner had the command a few times, he simply couldn't pull the trigger. Frustrating.
[98] Leiter just mentioned that Leyland used to do that, have the steal sign for the lesser daring baserunners
It's Ellsbury, no need to go with a 3-2 slider...
Ellsbury showing Gardner how it's done.
Oy Po, Can we please at least cover the bag on a pitch out?
[100] At one point, Kelleher was caught on TV telling Gardner to just run regardless of the jump and he still couldn't pull the trigger.
Meanwhile, Ellsbury's aggressiveness makes Gardner look even worse. But, I don't put it on Gardner. He has a limitation. It's up to his manager to understand it and manage around it.
1-2...so we know that three straight sliders are on tap.
Joba needs to start throwing the slider over the plate instead of to corners. Until he does that, he will not be successful. I can't understand why no makes him do it.
Nice grab by Peña!
Nice play by Pena
Oh, Grandy, Oh...
Granderson has way too many bad ABs.
granderson has been hitting well lately but two bad strikeouts today in critical situations. frustrating.
Swinging at a ball that was never above the knees....
[112] I think he was something like 3-27 coming into today's game.
Dangit, Grandy...
I want Pie!
Nice AB by Jeter. Send him?
Ok, Swisher, keep the line moving
[117] Might as well.
[117] Sure, if only to keep them out of the dp
Close.
Go on with your bad self, Captain.
Swisher better get a hit. Otherwise, Girardi's managerial gymnastics are going to cost us Tex' bat.
Jeter showing Gardner how it's done
Hmmmmm.
At least Gardner will bat instead of Peña after they walk Teix.
[123] Doesn't seem to be the case
Any reason ARod is out?
[128] PR.
[129} Or as Mattpatt would say a PST (Pinch Stand There)
Well, I'm glad I didn't watch all 3:40 of this game.
Well, a combination of some bad luck and absolutely awful managing cost the Yankees a game. For the second time in a little more than a week, Girardi gifted a game to a division rival. Too bad.
Bleh. That seventh inning is what killed Yanks. No runs scored after the bases were loaded with no outs.
All this talk about the Yankees taking 4 games off the schedule is maddening! The Yankees are not playing to have a better record than Boston. They are trying to win the division. The split is a negative for Boston, but not a positive for the Yankees.
[134] They are trying to make the playoffs, whether they do it as a division leader or the wild card
[135] Are you sure about that? I hope not. I was under the assumption the Yankees were trying to win as many games as possible. Maybe they're not, which would explain Girardi's strategy. Of course, if the Yankees can't see the difference between opening up at home versus in Texas against Cliff Lee, well, they'll find out eventually.
Girardi's comments about letting Granderson hit against Lester are scary. He asked, "where I am supposed to go there". Uhm Joe, you're supposed to know that.
He then cited Granderson's two flyballs as reason for liking his previous two at bats. Of course, in those two previous at bats, there was a man on first, not bases loaded two outs. You think maybe Lester might pitch differently there?
The bottom line is Granderson can't hit any lefty. Lester is one of the best. You either have to pinch hit for him there, or try something like a safety squeeze. Granderson is a good bunter with speed, and Mike Lowell is an inexperienced first baseman. At the worst, if he gets the bunt down, you get a force out at home, which removes Posada from the bases.
[136] With the wild card there isn't the sense of urgency in winning the division. Has been that way since the wild card was introduced back in 1994. Doesn't make sense to worry about playoff opponents just yet. I remember back in 2006, they "preferred" to face the Tigers instead of the Twins, and in 1997 they preferred to face the Indians instead of the M's, and neither worked out.
[137] It was either let Granderson bat there, or PH with Pena, Berkman or Cervelli. Squeezing may be an option, but I understand their hesitation with Posada on 3rd. Maybe if Gardner PR for Posada things would've worked out differently.
[138] I couldn't disagree more. There are too many reasons to make winning the division beneficial. In addition to a playing on the road and against a more difficult opponent, losing the division also means you may wind up playing the more condensed series and, from a financial standpoint, potentially forfeit a home game or two throughout the playoffs.
[139] The one thing you can't do is let Granderson bat. There is too much evidence to suggest that Granderson is not going to hit a lefty as good as Lester. Ignoring that because he hit two flyballs earlier in the game is absurd. There were so many poor decisions by Girardi in this game, but that one was indefensible.
[140] I'd say letting Granderson start vs a LHP as good as Lester is indefensible, but I've been down that road already today . . . [1]
These 2-1 kind of losses are maddening to watch, but they do happen. I'm not worried. I still can't believe they loaded the bases in the 7th and scored nothing.
I missed most of the game. I'm told Gardner again came in and just didn't run. That's lovely.