Yanks heed Hank (Postgame Notes 13 May 2008)

Someone ought to offer Hank Steinbrenner a motivational speaking contract.

Every week now, it seems, on the day before a Mike Mussina start, Hank berates the team for a lack of ______ (pitching/offense/effort/spirit/clean and pressed uniforms), and every evening, Mussina surprises the fans with a near gem of a pitching performance, getting just enough run support to pull it off.

Only now that Mike Mussina has won five straight starts, Yankees fans might consider no longer being surprised when he pitches well, but instead start thinking about how lucky they are that it is this year Mussina has chosen to have a comeback player-like performance.

Tonight was easily one of Mussina's best performances of the season, and one has to think that if the Yankees had scored more than two runs, Mussina would have been left in a little longer instead of pulled in the bottom of the seventh after the lead off runner reached base. With a performance like tonight, Mussina seems to have fast become the Yankees' stopper, giving the Yankees far more out of the #2 spot than they likely hoped to have gotten.

Also, superb infield defense didn't hurt, either.

On the offensive side of things, tonight was hardly a coming out party for the bats, but they were able to do just enough to eke out the win, scoring as many runs tonight as they have in the past two games combined (which isn't saying much).

OPTIMIST TAKE: Robinson Canò was 4-4, perhaps a sign that he's breaking out of his April slump. Joba was Joba, and Mariano Rivera was vintage after the poor outing last night.

Mo innings Mo Porblems (Postgame Notes 13 May 2008)

Winning extra innings games on the road is one of the hardest things to do in baseball.

However, there is no statistic for games lost in extra innings, as there is in hockey, and thus when you have a game like the Yankees had tonight, the loss stings even more.

This game was, for the most part, an old-fashioned pitcher's duel, though, at times, it felt more like the product of good pitching and an anemic offense on the part of the Yankees. Chien Ming Wang did everything he was supposed to do and like his last start, it wasn't enough. In fact, in Wang's past two starts, the Yankees have given him literally no run support.

Hideki Matsui's home run in the ninth was a jolt of life, and it certainly gave the Yankees a chance, but when the Yankees failed to score another run in that inning, it greatly lessened their chances of winning because they were on the road.

Mariano Rivera's ERA was not going to remain at 0.00 for the course of the entire season, but the loss always hurts.


OPTIMIST TAKE: Alex Rodriguez may be back next Tuesday. Kyle Farnsworth had another strong outing and Jason Giambi is beginning to look like he belongs in the line up (if not on the field)

Death Rays--Postgame Notes 12 May 2008

I'll be honest. I missed most of tonight's game to catch House, and it seems I made the right choice.

There has to be something worrying about the struggles of Andy Pettitte. Four starts in a row now, and three of four especially, he seems to hit a wall in the fifth inning, and on occasion, even before that.

If it was just one start that it happened, it wouldn't be worthy of note. Even two starts, it might get a passing glance, but little more than that.

Now, however, the Yankees have got to be concerned. Pettitte's coming back to pitch for the Yankees was supposed to be a boon; a way to stabilize the rotation which had two first year pitchers and one veteran nearing the end (and there is a slight irony that Mike Mussina is turning out to be the more reliable of the 2 and 5 tandem). Pettitte has made his mark as being the Yankees' stopper, the one that they can turn to when they need a win the most.

If he can't give the Yankees five or six quality innings, the Yankees have a major issue on their hands.

For incredibly obvious reasons, I can't say if it's fatigue from "old age" or a barking elbow or something unrelated, but whatever is going on has got to be addressed.

The Yankees had contingency plans for Hughes and Kennedy; they can ill afford an ineffective Pettitte.

Even the arguments of a lack of run support can't hold much weight--they help to explain why the Yankees don't win games, but they do not explain Pettitte's recent ineffectiveness.

Yankees fans have got to hope that whatever it is, it will pass quickly.


OPTIMIST TAKE: For such a prolonged outing, the bullpen was fairly effective. Jose Molina had a double; he has been slumping recently.

Greetings from a University Graduate

It doesn't feel any different, but it is fun to say!

Greetings from a University Graduate!

Now that I have my BA in history in hand I can...go unpack. Yeah, that liberal arts degree, so stimulating.

At least n ow I have time to blog. More later.

Yay, .500... again. (Guest Post, Postgame Notes 10 May 2008)

Brent here again. Becca graduated from Syracuse today, and I moved back home from Fordham (which is why the post is this late).

Now, about the game, I had the "privilege" to watch the game today on FOX, and I have to say, it was one of the most painful viewing experiences of my life. I have no idea who FOX had to announce the game, but watching and listening to them was worse than the homerism of the Chicago White Sox announcers. Yes, it was that bad. From their fumbling of the players' names to not being able to handle the speed of the game, today's game actually made me miss Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

In fact, Dick Stockton said at one point in the first inning: "You don't want to go out here and have to always outscore the other team". I think that says it all.

The Yankees got on the board early with Derek Jeter's solo shot, which was actually called by the announcers who spent 5 minutes talking about Jeter's home-run-less streak. Though Robinson Cano grounded into a double play (after the bases were loaded and up 2), the Yankees were able to get at Jeremy Bonderman and knock him out of the game by the 5th inning.

Darrell Rasner pitched brilliantly today: 6 innings, 4 hits and 2 earned runs against the supposedly #1 most dangerous line-up in baseball. He is supposed to pitch like a 5th starter, but he's putting up 2nd/3rd starter numbers. Can't ask for anything more.

Great game to win and a great game to watch... except with the announcers. Wilson Betemit apparently pulled something after his double in the 4th inning and is now on the DL, even though Joe Girardi said the injury wasn't that serious.

Andy Pettitte will go against Nate Robertson for the rubber match of the 3-game series.

OPTIMIST TAKE: If Shelley Duncan can't become a star on the Yankees, he showed before the start of the game that he has the potential to become a ring announcer. He had me rolling on the ground with his line-up announcing: remarking on Jeter's dancing skills and giving Rasner a new nick-name: Razz-a-tastic. Kyle Farnsworth got out of a jam... he created with a very strong showing. Joba and Mariano were supreme and Mariano still hasn't given up a run.

Could You Expect Anything Different? (Guest Post, Postgame Notes 09 May 2008)

Hi everyone, this is Brent Nycz from The Bronx Block, guest posting again in honor of the graduating Becca. She shall be graduating tomorrow, I believe, so these next two posts (tomorrow's as well) are in honor of her achievement (and in honor of going to grad school at my school: Fordham University next year).

What can we say? Who here expected Kei Igawa to blow up and not get out of the fourth inning? Ok, you can put your hand down and I gotta do the same, it's hard to type with one hand.

The bullpen pitched valiantly today, but unfortunately, Jonathan Albaladejo, who pitched 2.1 great innings of work, left with an injured elbow. The offense was quiet for most of the game, except in the 9th inning with a 3-run comeback against Todd Jones. Also unfortunately, the Yankees were down 6-2 in the start of the inning.

What can you say but to get them next time? This team is up and down and up and down. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Rasner vs. Bonderman.

OPTIMIST TAKE: Jason Giambi hit his 7th home-run tonight. Robinson Cano had his second straight multi-hit game. The bullpen held strong. Simple as that.

Bronx Bombin' (Postgame Notes 08 May 2008)

In a lot of respects, this game was eerily similar to the first game of the series--a close game where the Yankees' offense was mostly a product of Jason Giambi and Robinson Canò--but, unlike that game, the Yankees won this one.

Mike Mussina started the game great, giving up a lead-off single to Grady Sizemore and then retiring twelve in a row before hitting a wall in the fifth. It was certainly not Mussina's best start of the season, but it was good enough to give the Yankees a chance, and one cannot ask for much more than that from a (supposedly) back end starter.

Ross Ohlendorf, who has not pitched in a while, had an excellent outing and is making a strong case for the eighth inning when Joba makes the transition to a starter.

Joba Chamberlain rebounded from his poor start--this time striking out David Dellucci, and he did not bother to hide the emotion.

On the offensive side of things, Johnny Damon had two crucial hits, Jason Giambi hit at least two balls to the left side (even if they were outs) and a two run home run, and Robinson Canò had (arguably) the best game of his season. Even Wilson Betemit had his first home run of the season.

Hideki Matsui now has a 17 game hitting streak, getting a hit in his first at bat.

OPTIMIST TAKE: The Yankees' offense was able to pick up Mussina after he hit a wall, and they combined for four home runs. Mariano Rivera had a "poor" outing for himself, but his line is still sick. Although the Yankees finish the home stand at 4-5, one can argue that it should have finished at 5-4, had Joba not had the bad outing.