Results tagged ‘ Tigers ’
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.
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –
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
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
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!
Move over Mickey
Derek Jeter, the loved and respected captain of the New York Yankees, reached another milestone in yesterday’s loss to the Tigers. He moved ahead of Mickey Mantle on the total at-bats list when he stepped up to the plate for the 8,103rd time. Jeter, one of the all-time great Yankees, can add this record to the list of records he will have aquired by the end of his Yankee career. He was probably upset that he ended the at-bat with a strikeout but he still had the at-bat, he still gets the record, and he is still one of the greatest Yankees of all time. Congrats from me Derek on you record.
On other matters, the Yanks lost 4-0 to the Tigers as the Yanks couldn’t muster anything up against Justin Verlander, who pitched a gem. C.C. Sabathia pitched well overall in his complete game performance. He did get the loss but it was still one of his best performances all season. This game was also the first time the Yanks have been shut out all season. Hopefully the nearing return of A-Rod will spark the Yankee offense so that they won’t be shut out again any time soon.
Yanks vs Tigers Tonight 7:05 ET
Well…..
The Yanks, once again, fell at the hands of the Red Sox. The Bronx vs. Beantown episode three ended in total failure from the boys from the bronx. A first series sweep from the Red Sox does not help us in the season series vs the Sox, the A.L. East standings, or the rights of bragging in the rivarly. It flat out kills us. The Yanks lost all three times as the Sox came from behind. The first two games were the worst. The last game was still disappointing but it wasn’t as heartbreaking as the first two.
The Yanks head off to Detroit to face the Tigers in a three game series. C.C. Sabathia and Justin Verlander, the respective aces, face off tonight for the opener of the series. It should be a good one as the Yanks look to get back on track. The Tigers are potentially a really dangerous team. Players like Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen are just the beginning of a talented team. The Yanks have their share of talented players too. Hopefully, the Yanks can come out on top to stop this skid. Check out the game tonight if you can. 7:05 ET.
“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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