Results tagged ‘ Angels ’
“Godzilla” Comes Through For Yanks
Yanks win, Yanks win! Read all about it.
When Hideki Matsui signed with the New York Yankees from Japan, everyone in New York and the rest of the baseball community expected him to continue his “monstrous” play that earned him the nickname “Godzilla.” In Japan, he was one of the most deadly batters that could ever step into the batter’s box. Unfortunately, that “monstrous” play has not been with him all that much since signing with the Yanks.
His first couple of seasons were good with respectable numbers. But the “Godzilla” we aquired from Japan wasn’t present. It was just Hideki Matsui, a GOOD baseball player. He wasn’t all that at the plate and wasn’t filling the highlight reel with great defensive play in the outfield. He was just an all around average player. Too bad, because he was really good when he was in Japan.
Yesterday, “Godzilla” showed up in the eight inning to help the Yanks pull ahead of the first place Jays. He hit a homer to break the 2-2 tie that the Yankees forced after scoring a run in the seventh inning. This homer led the Yanks to the 3-2 victory and the 2-1 victory in the series.
CC got the call for the start against Brian Tallet who went for Toronto. CC did his job to keep the Jays offense at bay and went eight strong innings giving up only two runs on five hits and four walks. Again, the Yankees’ pitching gave up too many free passes for my liking, but he still got the job done and that’s really all that matters. Sabathia also struck out five in his terrific performance. When Sabathia was pulled after the eighth, Mariano Rivera came in to close things out and he ended the game the same way he has done it for so many years. He pitched the whole ninth giving up nothing. He also struck out one guy.
The offense also did their job to support the pitching by scoring on the Jays early. With the 1-0 lead, CC went until the fourth when he gave up a homer to Alex Rios. The offense then scored again in the seventh to tie the game at 2 apiece (the Jays scored a run in the fifth as well). Then in the eighth, “Godzilla” pulled through for the clutch homer to give the Yankees the lead and the victory. It was a great game all around.
Even the defense was great. That throw by Gardner to get whoever that was going home out was amazing. I didn’t know he could throw like that. I knew he had some kind of arm (better than Johnny Damon) but I didn’t know it was that good. Sure it took a couple bounces but it was right on line and got the job done.
The Yanks got two victories over the Jays in this series and that was huge. This moves the Jays down in the standings and moves the Yanks up. The Angels have also helped us out by beating the Red Sox two straight times. Yesterday, it took them twelve innings to do it but they got it done.
The Yanks are still 4.5 games down, but it’s better than being ten games down. Since the Yanks were already so many games down in the standings before the Jays series, it seems like we haven’t gone anywhere. But when you think about it. 4.5 games out isn’t nearly as bad as 10. It’s a lot easier to get out of a 4.5 game hole than a 10 game hole.
Next up is the Minnesota Twins. In the opener, we’ve got Phil Hughes, who will hopefully bounce back from a couple tough games, going against one of the better Twins pitchers, Francisco Liriano. Go Yanks!
-Dillon
King of the Hill
Burnett vs Halladay was a great opening game matchup for the Yanks and Jays. Unfortunately, Halladay got the better of the Yanks and pitched a gem. Burnett pitched well too but gave up a few runs and ended up getting the loss. Of course, he didn’t get any run support from the offense but we know, you don’t really need any of that right…?!?!?
Yesterday’s game was a sight for sore eyes. We had Andy Pettitte go out against Scott Richmond who is another young guy that is having a surprisingly good season. He was 4-1 going into yesterday. Key word- WAS. Pettitte pitched pretty well. He only gave up four hits on the day giving up two runs (1 earned). He did give up four walks. My advice to MR. Pettitte… find the strikezone more often. Don’t give ‘em free bases. He was able to find the zone on a couple of at bats as he struck out two in the game.
The Yanks offense jumped on Richmond in the second and chased him from the game not letting him finish the second. Brett Gardner led the offense yesterday with two hits including a two run shot, his first of his career. Way to go Brett! He also walked once, had three RBI’s and two runs scored. Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, and Robby Cano also pitched in two hits each with four RBI’s and four runs among them. A-Rod got on three times, all by walks, but the Yanks couldn’t tdo anything with him on and he was stranded all three times.
Overall, the game was a success. The pitching was good and was able to hold the Jays to two runs. The bullpen only sent Alfredo Aceves and Jonathon Albaladejo out to the mound to pitch three total innings. Aceves pitched two and gave up only one hit and had a K. Albaladejo pitched one inning allowing a hit and two walks but no runs. I didn’t go to be feeling extremely disappointed about the performance of the bullpen. Way to go guys. With the win, I think it’s safe to say we are close to being the King of the Hill.
The victory puts us just one game closer to the top of the AL East. The loss for the Jays puts them one game down in the standings. Its a typical in-division series. Win and you go up in the standings, lose you go down.
Yanks win wasn’t the only good news that found its way to my ears yesterday. The Angels pulled through for me and beat the Red Sox 8-4. Mike Napoli and Torii Hunter went yard in the cause and the result was the Red Sox went down a game in the standings. Overall it was a win-win day for the Yanks. We went up a game in the standings, and both the Jays and Sox went down. Just one more step up the ladder for the Yanks. Hopefully we can keep it going.
My final thoughts:
Tough luck Ryan Zimmerman on your hitting streak being over. It’s all right. You don’t need to feel bad. You’re on the Nationals. Any hit streak of over five games is something worth celebrating. Too bad the hitting streak really didn’t help you guys. The Nats were still down at the bottom of the NL East standings during the streak.
Congrats again to Brett Gardner who hit his first career shot yesterday.
The Roger Clemens story is starting to get old. Who’s telling the truth. Clemens, who insists he didn’t take steroids or human growth hormones and wasn’t given them by his trainer Brian McNamee. Or is it McNamee who is telling the truth. He insists he gave “the Rocket” steroids and HGH. Ugh would one of you just fess up already. It’s getting old.
The Dodgers are doing all right without Manny. I didn’t think they would go totally downhill withouth him but they aren’t doing that bad. They are definitely going to miss the long ball aspect of the game he excelled at but hey, what can you do about it now.
Go Yanks!
-Dillon
Why It’s Always Good To Pay Attention
Paying attention and staying focused during a game are key to a player’s success. Especially in the field. If you are just sitting around twittling your thumbs, a ball might sore over your head, pass right by you, or even (probably the worst scenario) go under your legs making you the new Bill Buckner. You should always pay attention during the game because you never know what is going to happen.
If you aren’t paying attention you may end up doing this.
Or even worse, this may happen.
But If you are paying attention, you could do this.
And If you have a ton of athleticism, you may be able to pull this off.
Bottom line, always stay focused.
Check out this video and see if you can keep up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4
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Yanks Win 5-3
The Yanks and Orioles faced off in the series finale Sunday and the Yanks were able to take the game from behind. After going down 3-1 in the first, the Yankees relied on the long ball to bring them back. Mark Teixeira and Robby Cano pitched in solo shots in the seventh to bring the game to a tie but the hot Johnny Damon went yard with one on to give the Yanks the lead and eventually the victory. The pitching from Chamberlain was good but not great. He only allowed three runs on nine hits (1 homer) and two walks. He also got five guys down by way of the K. An overall GOOD performance by Joba who is now 2-1 on the season.
Tomorrow, AJ Burnett goes against his former team and the guy that taught him a lot of what he knows. Roy Halladay will go for the Jays as the Yanks try to take down the first place Jays. While Burnett was with Toronto, Halladay was the ace of the staff, as he has been most of his career, and taught Burnett a lot. Both pitchers are tough guys that have good stuff. It will be a very intreaguing matchup.
The Yanks are back in third place behind the Red Sox and Jays. We are 5.5 games back of first and are 4.5 games back of the Sox in second. This series with the Jays may be key to the Yankees success in the near future. If the Yankees can take at least two from the Jays, the series will be considered, at least by me, a success. We can get a couple games on the Jays and if we get any help from the Angels, we may be able to get a couple games on the Red Sox. Lets go Yanks!
-Dillon
Another Day, Another Loss… To The Red Sox!
Right up front I’d like to thank Jeff from Red State Blue State for giving me the idea for the title of this post. Thanks Jeff!
The Yanks and Sox faced off again on Monday night. And the rain was still coming down a day after the game between the Yanks and Halo’s was postponed. Lucky for us, they did eventually play the game. And I mean eventually. The game seemed to go on forever. It ended at something like 1:30 the next morning. It was a LONG game.
Phil Hughes looked to get his second win on the season after a great performance on April 28th against the Tigers where he made his season debut. For the Sox, Jon Lester. Both young pitchers have good stuff and are going to be great pitchers in the future. Lester has a little more experience than Hughes does but both are good reliable young pitchers.
The Red Sox got off to the hot start scoring once in each of the first four innings. But in the fifth, the Yanks started their comeback with homers from Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira (first of two). After a scoreless sixth, the Red Sox scored two in the seventh on a Jason Bay who has been a Yankee killer so far this season. The Yanks another run in the eighth but they would be unable to score any more on a tough Jonathon Papelbon in the ninth. The final score was 6-4.
When I watched the final out be recorded last night, it reminded me of a song by the band Forever the Sickest Kids. The start of the chorus describe exactly what the Yankees must be thinking every time they play the Red Sox this season. Here are the lyrics.
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Whoa oh whoa whoa oh
Why do I put myself in these situations
Whoa oh whoa whoa oh
I keep pushing myself even though I can’t take it at all
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Whoa oh… why do I put myself in these situations… I can’t take it at all. If you think about it, it’s really does describe what the Yankees must be thinking every time they face the Red Sox. They haven’t beaten them once this season. Jason Bay has absolutely killed us along with the rest of the offense. Yesterday’s game wasn’t that bad. It’s not like we played terribly. It’s just that the Red Sox played better on the offensive side and their pitching kept us from scoring more than they did. It happens.
The Yankees are now sliding back down in the A.L. East standings. We’re currently only one game above .500 at 13-12. But hey, it’s better to be where we are now than where the Nationals are. The Nationals are the biggest joke among professional sports teams in the country (other than the Detroit Lions, sorry Lions fans but it’s true. You can have Matt Stafford). Despite the apparent “okay” record, we are only 3.5 back and in easy reach of first. We’ll have to work for it but it’s early in the season and it is easily reachable.
We play one more against the Sox today and I am hoping that Joba Chamberlain can give us another solid start against Josh Beckett today. We also need the offense to show up. Let’s go Yanks!
-DillonMcT
Yanks-Angels Postponed, Red Sox Come Into Town, Marte on DL
The Yankees and Angels game that was scheduled for Sunday has been postponed due to weather complications… haha, I sound like a reporter.
Well, it’s true. The game got delayed and was eventually called. There has been no make up date announced yet so we don’t know when it is going to be played, but that is definitely not the biggest thing on Yankee fans’ minds.
That’s right. The Red Sox are coming to town. The opening game of the first series between the dreaded rivals at the new Yankee Stadium goes down tonight at 7 ET. It’s going to be Phil Hughes, who was supposed to start agaisnt the Angels yesterday, against Jon Lester. It should be a good pitching matchup.
In the opening series between the teams for this season, the Red Sox swept the Yankees. Much of the blame can go to the bullpen, including Mariano Rivera. In one of the games, he let up a game tying homer to Jason Bay. Hopefully, the Yankees will have better pitching in front of the home crowd.
On other pitching news, the Yankees placed Damaso Marte on the DL. FINALLY! Marte has been terrible all season. He has racked up a wopping 6 K’s in 5.1 innings pitched. He has a 15.19 ERA. That is absolutely ridiculous. He has given up nine runs on nine hits, including three homers, he has hit a batter, and has given out three walks. Inexcusable. Marte definitely needs to go on the DL, figure out what the problem is, and hopefully come back and be a little more successful coming out of the ‘pen. I mean seriously… I’ll take an ERA of 10 as long as he is improving.
And well, that’s about it. Until next time…. adios amigos!
-DillonMcT
The ‘Pen Is Out of Ink
The Yanks finally ran out of steam today as they faced the Angels for the third game of this series at Yankee Stadium. C.C. Sabathia went for the Yanks against Matt Palmer. Both pitchers pitched well. Sabathia and the Yanks had the lead into the sixth when the Angels tied the score on a Kendry Morales groundout. It was tied until the top of the seventh when Sabathia let up three runs. After a Torii Hunter doubled to bring in two, Jonathon Albaladejo came in to try and get out of the inning. He pitched the rest of the inning giving up a hit but no runs.
Going into the eight, the Angels had the 5-1 lead. And then… Jose Veras came in. And you know what happens when Veras comes in. That’s right. He either blows it or makes things even worse. He gave up a homer to Kendry Morales to start off the inning which made the score 6-1 Angels. Finally, the ninth inning came around and you would’ve thought things were over by then. Yeah Right! Dave Robertson came in and gave up two more runs on a single from Torri Hunter. It didn’t help that Melky Cabrera made an error that let another run score.
The Yankees then came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth. At this point, I knew we were done. But then I had to think about what I said after Posada homered. That made the score 8-3. Jeter also drove in one on a fielding error from Matthews Jr. And that was all he wrote. Final score, 8-4.
Today’s game can’t be blamed on the bullpen totally. Sabathia gave up half the runs which gave him the loss. It didn’t help that the bullpen gave up four runs as well but it wasn’t totally their fault that we lost the game. Jose Veras continues to be probably the least reliable and worst pitcher the Yanks have in the ‘pen. So far this season, he has pitched 12.1 innings, has an ERA of 8.03, has given up 9 hits including two homers, and has given up 9 walks. He is having an absolutely terrible season. Sabathia definitely had a frustrating day.
Every time the Yanks bring him in to the game, my first thoughts are, “Here we go again.” Sometimes I know he is coming in because for some reason, the Yankees like him a lot. More than Phil Coke and Edwar Ramirez. And don’t even get me started about Damaso Marte. A 15.19 ERA is absolutely unacceptable. It’s getting to a point where if we are losing after the starter comes out, I almost give up. It’s a good thing the offense has proven they can make a comeback late in the game or I would be giving up totally.
When we get Brian Bruney back, he will be such a huge part of this team. Right now, the only guy out ofthe ‘pen that has proven, to me, that they can consistently get guys out. That has been Phil Coke. He has had some trouble this season but overall, he has been the best out of the bullpen. I know I wrote a post about how Phil Coke was involved in one of the bullpen’s blown games. That was earlier in the season when he had only appeared a couple times. Right now, he is clearly the best pitcher out of the ‘pen. When Brian Bruney comes back, he will make the bridge to Rivera easier. One thing that the starters will need to do is go deeper in games so that the bullpen will not have to appear as much. This will save us from having the bullpen blow more games.
The season finale tomorrow will have a matchup of Phil Hughes, who dominated in his season debut, against Joe Saunders, who is probably the Halo’s best pitcher. It will be a good matchup. There really isn’t anything else I can say about keys to the game. Obviously the offense needs to put up runs to support the pitching. The pitching needs to not give up runs to the other team to make the runs the offense score worth their while. And of course, the bullpen needs to be good and be able to avoid putting guys on base and get guys out. It’s that simple. But it really is easier said than done. Hopefully the Yanks can figure all this out and finish the series with a win. Go Yanks!
-DillonMcT
More Late Inning Heroics Save Bullpen
A couple days ago, it was Melky Cabrera who got the hit to give the Yankees the lead. Yesterday it was Jorge Posada who, in front of the home crowd, hit the walk off two run double into left-center to win the game for the Yankees and save the bullpen from yet another disappointing performance.
Andy Pettitte got the call to start the game for the Yanks and to give his bid to keep this winning streak going. Unfortunately, he didn’t have his best stuff. Pettitte gave up five runs on nine hits and four walks. He did have two strikeouts but his performance was ultimately a failure. The bullpen wasn’t much better. Mark Melancom pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up one run with a hit and a walk. Jose Veras was even worse. He also pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up three runs on two hits and a walk. Edwar Ramirez and Jonathon Albaladejo were the only pitchers yesterday to not give up a run. Ramirez pitched an inning and 2/3 giving up a hit and a walk. Albaladejo pitched an inning with no hits and no walks.
The offense was what eventually saved the bullpen yesterday. Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, and Ramiro Pena led the offense with eight hits among them. Cano had an RBI and scored two runs while Pena had two RBI’s. Jorge Posada, of course, had the walk off hit to bring in two of his four RBI’s. He also scored two runs, including one on his first inning jack off Weaver. The offense was huge yesterday as they were able to bail out the pitching which clearly didn’t have their stuff. Now that the offense has started to play extremely well, they have been able to put more runs on the board to help the pitching which has not been top notch. Hopefully the pitching will get better so they won’t have to continue relying on the offense to score late in the game to bail them out.
After a month of baseball, the Yankees are 13-10 and are only two games behind the first place Blue Jays. And even more good news is coming. The Rays, who are currently 10-14 in fourth place, continue to beat up on the Red Sox who are occupying second place. If this continues and the Yankees’ hot play does as well, we can assume the Yankees will easily take second place and maybe even make a run at the first place spot. It all depends on if the surprising Blue Jays will be the “Rays of 2008.”
The Yanks finish up their series with the Angels today at 1:05 ET. They have C.C. Sabathia going to the mound to face off against Matt Palmer. It’s going to be a good series finale and the Yankees look to continue their hot streak by sweeping the always tough Angels. Go Yanks!
-DillonMcT
Oh Happy Day
It really is a happy day for a Yankee fan. Just last night, the Yankees defeated the Angels 7-4. Everything is clicking for the Yankees right now and it is great to see. But the Yankees’ victory yesterday was not the only good news.
The Red Sox were destroyed by the Rays last night in Tampa in a 13-0 rout. Matt Garza pitched a great game against the Sox bringing a perfect game into the seventh when he allowed his first hit of the game to Jacoby Ellsbury. Also, the Blue Jays lost at the hands of the Royals. The final score was 8-6.
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Last Night’s Overview
Last night, the Yankees sent A.J. Burnett to the mound. In seven strong innings, Burnett gave up four runs on eight hits including a homer. He struck out five and only walked one. Overall, Burnett’s performance was good. He stayed in control despite the four runs. He kept his cool and finjshed the game strong.
At the plate, the Yankees were led by Derek Jeter and Melky Cabrera with two hits and an RBI each. Every starter finished the game with a hit. Johnny Damon was the only Yankee to go deep in the affair and did it in the third. It was only a solo shot but still… it’s better than nothing. Jeter, Damon, Cabrera, Matsui, and Ramiro Pena all drove in runs.
The bullpen was good… finally. Phil Coke put in his second outstanding performance in a row throwing a perfect eighth with one strike out and no hits or walks. He also got the win as the Yanks offense kicked it up a notch late in the game. Rivera was, well, Rivera. He gave up one hit in his one inning pitched. He picked up the save as the Yanks went on to win their fourth straight.
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The Blue Jays and Red Sox have been tied for first for about a week-a week and a half now. But the Yankees, with their great play of late, have started to creep up on them in the A.L. East standings. We are currently only 2 games out of first. Hopefully, the sharp all around play from the Yanks will continue through the series with the Angels and ultimately, through the rest of the season. Go Yanks!
-DillonMcT
Swish Brings Sweet Swing To Yanks’ 8-6 Win
Joba Chamberlain vs. Rick Porcello was going to be a great matchup in the series finale. So far, the series had been split 1-1, each team shutting out the other in their victory. It was going to be a good game.
That’s exactly what it was. Nick Swisher had an outstanding game at the plate hitting two
homers and driving in four. Hideki Matsui had a big game with a two run double in the fourth. Johnny Damon also pitched in with two hits and one RBI.
The pitching was great for the majority of the game but the ninth inning proved to be just short of disastrous. Jonathon Albaladejo pitched 2/3 of the ninth in which he gave up four runs on three hits and a walk. Mariano Rivera then came in to try and finish the game off. But I think he was still a little out of it after he gave up a game tying homer to the Red Sox’s Jason Bay. He gave up a run on a homer by Curtis Granderson. Other than the tough ninth, the pitching was fantastic. Joba pitched seven with only three hits and three walks. He also had six strikeouts. He is finally starting to look comfortable in the starting role. It has taken him a while but he is finally coming around. Phil Coke pitched a perfect eight, which was probably his best performance on the season.
In the end, the Yanks were victorious and that is really all that matters. The ultimate goal as a team is to win.
Now here are my thoughts on one of the biggest stories from the Yankees so far this
season. Nick Swisher. We knew he was going to be a great backup for the Yankees seeing that he can play both outfield and first base. This would allow the Yankees to rest some of their outfielders as well as their first baseman, Mark Teixeira. Swisher could easily sub in at any of those positions and play well. Unfortunately for the Yanks, starting right fielder Xavier Nady went down with an injury early in the season and forced the Yankees to put either Swisher or Melky Cabrera in the outfield to replace Nady. Since Swisher had already been playing well during the time he filled in for Teixeira due to a slight hand injury, the Yanks went with Swisher and well… it has been a terrific decision judging from the way Swisher has played. He has been on fire. He has a .307 batting average, 7 homers and 19 RBI’s. Nine of his 23 hits this season have gone for extra bases. He has a .720 slugging percentage that… well it pretty much speaks for itself. All of his stats do. Overall, Swisher’s presence has helped the Yankees on the field as well as off the field. He has really been the spark plug of this Yankees team. He has been the most consistent player at the plate. When A-Rod comes back, the Yankees will get just another weapon on offense to add to the ones they already have. Swisher has been huge and will continue to be whenever he plays.
Next the Yanks head back home to face the Angels. A.J. Burnett is set to go after a shaky last start. The Yankees are on a run right now and hopefully they can keep up the hot play from the offense as well as the good pitching. Again, the key is the bullpen. As long as the bullpen pitches well, we should be good. As long as the offense keeps up the great play and the starting pitching is as good as it has been the last two games, I’m thinking we will have a pretty good chance at winning at home against the Angels.
-Dillon
“The Bird” Has Flown
Mark “The Bird” Fidrych (1954-2009)
The 2009 MLB season has only been under way for a week and so far three deaths have hit hard in the MLB community. Thursday morning, Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident. Yesterday, the voice of the Phillies, Harry Kalas, died after fainting in the video booth. Now, Mark “the Bird” Fidrych, a former Tigers pitcher, died in an apparent accident today. Fidrych was known for his strange rituals on the mound such as talking to the ball, fixing the dirt on the mound, and more. Fidrych brought so much to the game of baseball and he will be missed. There’s nothing more I can say but that Fidrych and his crazy style of playing baseball will be missed.
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