The Yanks scored three runs in the first inning and Russell Martin added a three-run homer a little while later as C.C. Sabathia cruised through the Orioles hitters. The big lefty was in fine form, throwing hard, until the seventh when he gave up a three-run homer of his own. Just as I started to grumble about the possibility of Soriano and Rivera being needed, however, the Yanks got those runs back in the eighth when Jorge “Dinger or Bust” Posada went deep and Russell Martin hit his second home run.
On Martin: A good friend of mine who roots for the Dodgers tells me that Martin’s good run won’t last. If he’s correct I suspect that Martin will spontaneously combust like a Spinal Tap drummer come August 1st. In the meantime, it’s been a pleasure to watch the dude hit and field.
Oh, before the inning was over, Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam, putting him one behind the Iron Horse for the most all-time. Yeah, and with six RBI tonight, he’s now 12th on the all-time RBI list.
In the 9th, Josh Rupe hit Martin in the upper back with a pitch. Dirty pool. Fortunately, Martin did not lose his cool though his teammates were riled plenty. And then sweet karma, Brett Gardner, the very definition of a banjo-hitter these days, cranked a two-run homer. It was retribution enough as the Yanks didn’t throw at Orioles in the bottom of the inning.
Love and happiness for the Yanks and their fans…
Final Score: Yanks 15, Orioles 3.
[Picture by Susumu Fujimoto]
Still need to his Wieters in the ass tomorrow. Buck should know better. He clearly doesn't, so someone needs to learn him.
Yeah, that was horseshit. But how classic that the chump serves up a dinger to Brett Gardner? Now, that's payback, bitch.
We can do both.
According to BR, ARod is now 12th on the RBI List.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/RBI_career.shtml
And Again, the Angels are dying at the hands of the Red Sox,
On Martin: A good friend of mine who roots for the Dodgers tells me that Martin’s good run won’t last. If he’s correct I suspect that Martin will spontaneously combust like a Spinal Tap drummer come August 1st.
You should tell your good friend that Girardi isn't likely to ride Martin like a cheap rented mule the way our good buddy Joe Torre did.
He's not the only one who watches Dodger games; 151 and 155 games played in 2006 and 2007 might go a ways to explaining Martin's late season woes ...
[5] I figure he'll catch about 100 games this year
Martin's splits are certainly better early in the season than late, but they aren't hugely different. We're talking about 105/95, kinda thing. But yeah, he isn't going to slug .600 all season long, we know that.
Uh, actually Russell is slugging .722. Yoiks.
Four of the top sluggers so far are Yankees, and none of those four is Cano.
Carl Crawford is dead last in OPS.
Fangraphs is awesome.