Results tagged ‘ Edwar Ramirez ’
Youngsters Get It Done
Not much time to write anything here but I’ll get as much in as I can.
Brett Gardner electrified the crowd with an inside the park home run, the first in the new Yankee Stadium. This homer got the crowd into it and started what would be a five run rally for the Yanks who would end the game on a Melky Cabrera walk off single.
Phil Hughes started the game and failed to keep the Twins offense at bay over his five innings. Hughes ended the game giving up six hits, two for homers, three runs, and four walks. Jonathon Albaladejo came in to replace Hughes and pitched a great inning. He gave up only a walk and struck out two. Phil Coke and Brett Tomko combined to pitch the seventh giving up one run (Coke) on a homer. Tomko then pitched for the first out of the eighth and handed the ball to Edwar Ramirez who finished the inning and completed 1.1 innings with two walks and two K’s. Jose Veras came in to finish the game off and got a strikeout in his .1 inning performance.
Derek Jeter homered to give the Yanks their first run of the game. Gardner hit the inside the parker in the seventh to get things going. The game ended on a walk off single by another youngster, Melky Cabrera, who drove in the winning run. Mark Teixeira went 2-4 with a walk and had a good game at the plate. A-Rod walked a bunch of times to help out in his first game at the new Yankee Stadium. The game was a success and the Yanks now have a three game winning streak.
Hopefully we can keep this up. Go Yanks!
-Dillon
Second Inning Slaughter
Eight runs in the second inning did Phil Hughes in and ultimately, the Yankees’ chance at victory. The second game of the series between the Yanks and O’s ended in failure for the Yankees. The final score was 12-5.
Phil Hughes took the mound, well… not for long. He gave up eight runs on eight hits and two walks. He didn’t get anyone to go down by way of the K and his day was done after 1.2 innings. The second inning was what did him in. He gave up a three run jack to Aubrey Huff which was just the three of the runs they scored in the second inning slaughter. When Joe Girardi came out to take the ball and pass it on to Edwar Ramirez, my first thoughts were, okay, maybe Ramirez can stop this. Yeah right. He was just as bad. He gave up three runs in a 3.1 inning performance. He gave up two homers to Markakis and Montanez. It was just terrible.
Although much of the blame for the loss yesterday can go to the pitching, the offense didn’t do much to help out. Four of the five runs came on homers from Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, and Johnny Damon. The final run came on a Nick Swisher hit. Overall, it was a really disappointing game. The Orioles’ Adam Eaton didn’t have a great performance but the Orioles offense was able to support him with so many runs. The Yanks were able to get to him but the Orioles were able to get to Hughes more. In case any of you are wondering, I’m shaking my head right now.
In any MLB game, a two hit game would be a successful game for most players. The Orioles had four guys with three hits in the game. Usually when you have that many people with that many hits, the game went into extras. This game didn’t. It just proves even more how bad the pitching was. Adam Jones, Nick Markakis, Luke Scott, and Greg Zaun all had three hit games. Lou Montanez had two hits in the game and the only guys to not have a hit in the game were Brian Roberts (0-4) and Cesar Izturis (0-3). The pitching was dreadful overall and it needs to improve if the Yankees are going to go anywhere this season.
With the loss yesterday, The Yanks have slipped into fourth place behind the Rays. The only team worse than us in the division, currently, is the Orioles. And we’re not even beating them. Man!
I just hope we can pull it together because it is extremely hard rooting for a team that doesn’t win. I’m used to rooting for the Celtics, who have recently been good. I root for the Patriots, who are one of the best teams in the NFL. Now the Bruins are good and I root for them too. The Yankees are my other team and they are playing terrible. Ughh!
Let’s pick it up Yanks!
-Dillon M
Posada Shelved
The Yankees have now lost their current RBI’s leader to the DL. Yup, it sucks. Jorge Posada, who has been a huge bonus on offense, has been placed on the DL. Posada has been one of the biggest offensive producers in place of Alex Rodriguez. Other than Posada, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano have been big offensive producers so far this season (See “Team Leaders” May 5). Posada’s absence will be a huge hit on the Yankees offense but the talk of Alex Rodriguez possibly coming back as soon as this weekend should calm Yankee fans’ nerves. If Rodriguez can come back and get right into the groove of things, the Yankee offense will benefit SO much. Posada will be replaced by Jose Molina who is a good second choice at catcher. With the number of catchers in the big leagues so scarce now, very few teams have two quality catchers, let alone veterans that have proven themselves reliable. The Yanks have both Posada and Molina who are two of the best in the game right now.
The Yanks and Red Sox faced off last night in the first game without Posada. The Red Sox, again, got off to the hot starter and were led by none other than the Yankee killer himself. That’s right. Jason Bay. Bay went yard off Joba in the first to put the Red Sox up 4-0.
Joba gave up five straight hits to open the game and gave up the four runs in the first inning. When he finished the first, I was thinking, “Finally it’s over.” Joba then went on to exceed any expectations people had for him the rest of the game. He ended the game having pitched 5.2 innings and had 12 K’s. He was absolutely stellar after the first inning. If we didn’t count the first inning, this would easily be Joba’s best start of the season. He was shutout after the first.
Johnny Damon, another guy that has come up big this season so far hit a three run jack into the second level in right field to shorten the lead to one. But unfortunately, the bullpen couldn’t hold the Red Sox to the four runs.
Jose Veras had his first good performance of the season. He pitched 2/3 of an inning and gave up nothing. Phil Coke then came in to pitch 2/3 of an inning as well. He gave up a hit but nothing else. Jonathon Albaladejo was the first guy to let up more runs to the Sox. None of them were earned but nonetheless, they count on the scoreboard. Edwar Ramirez proceeded to take over for Albaladejo and pitched 1/3 of an inning getting the only batter he faced to strikeout. Mark Melancom didn’t even get 1/3 of an inning in the scorecard because he couldn’t even get an out. He gave up three walks and let one run score. He was terrible. Dave Robertson ended the game on the mound for the Yanks and pitched an inning. He had one strikeout and didn’t let up any hits or walks. He was pretty good.
The Yanks have now been swept by the Red Sox in the first two series of the season. It’s getting to a point where whenever we play them, I don’t know if I should watch them because we haven’t been able to stop them. It’s a little ridiculous. I’d like to see the Yanks get at least one victory over the Sox this season. If they do that, I will be happy. Because all it really is is bragging rights over the other team. We are in the same division but unless the end of the season comes and the season series records come into play, the fact that we lost so much to them doesn’t even matter.
The Yanks continue their homestand against the Rays who come into town tonight. We play them for a short two game series. AJ Burnett is set to go against Andy Sonnanstine. Many people are probably wondering how the Yankees will fare against the speedy Rays who have so many speesters on the base paths. Jose Molina who will be filling in for Posada has a great throwing arm and has had a career full of throwing people out. I think we’ve got a pretty good chance of stopping them from running all over us. But maybe we should ask Carl Crawford what he thinks about that, because we all know how much he loves to run. Six steals in a game is absolutely amazing. It’s also a sign that the other team’s catcher and pitcher didn’t do a good job at all stopping him from running.
A-Rod’s possible return this weekend is something that I am looking forward to seeing. Hopefully he can come back so we can get another big bat in the lineup. We have definitely missed his bat. He says he is ready to come back. So far he has proved that he is ready offensively but his defense at third base may not be ready. Right now, I think the Yankees will end up bringing him up because of the fact that his offense is sorely needed. His defense will come around as he continues to work at it.
That’s enough for today. Au Revoir. Go Yanks!
-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
Happy Birthday to Me
An 11-0 win including a ten run seventh is a great birthday gift. Especially since the win ended the Yanks’ four game skid. The Yanks offense exploded while Phil Hughes pitched a great game. It finished off what was already a great birthday.
Jose Molina’s granny in the seventh was the icing on the cake. (see what I did there?) When he hit it out I just new that the way the Yanks continued to play wouldn’t allow the Tigers to do anything other than sitting around trying to end the game. It was a great game to watch as a Yankee fan.
Here’s the breakdown.
- Offense- It was a fireworks show. The ball was being hit all over the field. Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, and Hideki Matsui led the way on offense with two hits each and a few RBI’s mixed between them. Jose Molina, of course, had the grand slam which was his only hit of the day. All around, everyone contributed to the offense in some way. The only starter that didn’t get on base was Ramiro Pena. The offense was great and will need to get into a grove to keep up with the Red Sox and Blue Jays in the East. The Yanks are getting there but still have a long way to go.
Pitching- Phil Hughes, well what can I say… it was about as good a debut as you can have. He threw six shutout innings, with six k’s and only two hits. He also walked two. The performance he had yesterday is definitely something to be proud of. On the back side of the pitching staff, the bullpen actually pitched well. So far this season, the bullpen has been anything but reliable. They have blown so many games that I can’t even think about it anymore. Melancon pitched an inning with a strikeout allowing no hits. Ramirez and Veras both pitched an inning with a hit but no runs. Overall, I was impressed with the performance from the bullpen.- Overall performance- Overall, it was clearly a great performance from the boys in pinstripes. Hughes pitched great and will a huge help with Wang on the DL. The offense was able to get on base and score at will, especially in the seventh. That was huge. With A-Rod still out, the offense is lacking the constant long ball. Although the team still has guys that can still hit it out, they don’t have the centerpiece of that aspect of the game. A-Rod is sorely missed but his soon return will possibly be a turning point of these early season struggles for the Yanks. The pitching will have to continue to succeed, especially the bullpen. As long as they don’t blow any more games, they should be fine. I keep making this clear but the bullpen has yet to show any sign of reliability. Hopefully, the Yankees will be able to turn around and start to win more. It is kind of hard as a fan to have to root for a team that isn’t consistent. The Yankees have won consistently in the past and it is hard to change now that that consistency is gone. They are currently third in the A.L. East behind the Red Sox and Blue Jays. Let’s go Yanks!
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