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Bomber Bats Blister Orioles
The first one is always the toughest.
Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano combined for six hits, two home runs and seven runs batted in, Mark Teixeira belted his first dinger of the year and A.J. Burnett pitched 5 1/3 innings of serviceable ball as the Yanks pounded the O's 11-2 in Baltimore. The pen had another solid showing as the four horsemen of Phil Coke, Jose Veras, Brian Bruney and Mariano Rivera went a perfect 3 2/3 innings and rookie Ramiro Pena recorded his first Major League hit to give the Yankees their first win of 2009 and avert the sweep.
I was working in the acid mines again, but I listened to John and Suzy into the sixth inning and caught the highlights when I got home. Let's see if that's good enough to wrap this up.
The Good:
Nick Swisher. The lineup had a different look as Joe Girardi sat Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada and that meant Swisher got the call in right field. And did he ever respond. Swisher snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-run shot in the fourth inning to give the Yanks a lead they would never relinquish. The Swish Man (I know, weak nickname, but it's early) started a four-run rally in the sixth with an RBI-single and capped the scoring with a two-run double in the ninth. Not bad for his first start of the season. Swisher finished 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 5 RBI.
Robinson Cano. We're only three games in, but Cano looks poised for a huge season. The Yankee second baseman cracked his first round-tripper of the year in the seventh (a two-run job) and scored the final run of the game in the ninth (his fourth of the afternoon). And Canu also picked up his third walk of the season in the fourth. Why is that significant? Well, it took Robbie 19 games to record his third base on balls last season. In honor of Cano's new-found eye, I'm dedicating a little live "Walk" from Pantera to him. Cano finished 3 for 4 with 4 runs scored, a walk and 2 runs batted in.
A.J. Burnett. It wasn't a dominating performance, but it was super-terrific-fantastic compared with the starts by CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang in the first two games of the series. Burnett ran into trouble in the third as he allowed an RBI-single to Brian Roberts that gave the Birds a 1-0 lead, but he settled down and struck out Aubrey Huff with the bases loaded to end the threat. Luke Scott took Burnett deep in the fourth to cut the Yankee lead to 3-2, but that was as close as the O's would get. Again, not a great start by Burnett, but he did enough to get into the win column. Burnett's first win as a Yank went like this: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR. Congrats, A.J.
The Bad:
Derek Jeter. The Yanks banged out 11 runs on 13 hits, but two starters were unable to join in the fun. One of those players was Jeter. The Captain failed to reach base for the first time this year and that dropped his season average from .556 to .385. The other Yankee who went 0'fer in the box score Thursday was Johnny Damon, but Jeter earns my scorn since he left four runners on base and struck out once. Hey, I nitpick because I care. Jeter finished 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Sticks and stones. I guess it's all part of being a professional athlete. Joba Chamberlain's arrest video the night he was pulled over for driving under the influence in Nebraska was released and it has caused a bit of a stir. To some, anyway. In the video, a drunk Chamberlain called New York drivers rude and Yogi Berra short. The nerve! This has to be the biggest non-story of the baseball season (so far). Chamberlain later apologized for his remarks. "I mean no disrespect to anybody in New York. Everybody has driven in New York and gotten mad at one another, so that happens. I love this place, it's my second home and it's embraced me and my family. I couldn't ask for anything better," Chamberlain said. He also cleared the air with Yogi. "I wanted to tell him man-to-man that there was no malicious intent. Yogi's great. He knows I love him and he loves me, too," Joba said. OK. Great. Just don't drive drunk again.
The Yankees will travel to Kansas City and take on the Royals in a three-game set beginning Friday afternoon. Andy Pettitte (14-14, 4.54 ERA) will oppose Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.04 ERA) in the opener. Pettitte finished 1-0 with a 6.20 ERA in three starts against the Royals last season. The crafty lefty has terrific career numbers against KC. He's 12-3 with a 3.59 ERA in 22 games and 7-2 with a 3.34 ERA in 12 games at Kauffman Stadium. Ponson is 6-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 28 career appearances against the Bombers. Derek Jeter is 29 for 77 (.377) with five homers and 12 RBI in his career against the Arubian Knight.
Friday is the Royal's home opener.
Let's see if the Yanks can spoil the party.
Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano combined for six hits, two home runs and seven runs batted in, Mark Teixeira belted his first dinger of the year and A.J. Burnett pitched 5 1/3 innings of serviceable ball as the Yanks pounded the O's 11-2 in Baltimore. The pen had another solid showing as the four horsemen of Phil Coke, Jose Veras, Brian Bruney and Mariano Rivera went a perfect 3 2/3 innings and rookie Ramiro Pena recorded his first Major League hit to give the Yankees their first win of 2009 and avert the sweep.
I was working in the acid mines again, but I listened to John and Suzy into the sixth inning and caught the highlights when I got home. Let's see if that's good enough to wrap this up.
The Good:
Nick Swisher. The lineup had a different look as Joe Girardi sat Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada and that meant Swisher got the call in right field. And did he ever respond. Swisher snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-run shot in the fourth inning to give the Yanks a lead they would never relinquish. The Swish Man (I know, weak nickname, but it's early) started a four-run rally in the sixth with an RBI-single and capped the scoring with a two-run double in the ninth. Not bad for his first start of the season. Swisher finished 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 5 RBI.
Robinson Cano. We're only three games in, but Cano looks poised for a huge season. The Yankee second baseman cracked his first round-tripper of the year in the seventh (a two-run job) and scored the final run of the game in the ninth (his fourth of the afternoon). And Canu also picked up his third walk of the season in the fourth. Why is that significant? Well, it took Robbie 19 games to record his third base on balls last season. In honor of Cano's new-found eye, I'm dedicating a little live "Walk" from Pantera to him. Cano finished 3 for 4 with 4 runs scored, a walk and 2 runs batted in.
A.J. Burnett. It wasn't a dominating performance, but it was super-terrific-fantastic compared with the starts by CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang in the first two games of the series. Burnett ran into trouble in the third as he allowed an RBI-single to Brian Roberts that gave the Birds a 1-0 lead, but he settled down and struck out Aubrey Huff with the bases loaded to end the threat. Luke Scott took Burnett deep in the fourth to cut the Yankee lead to 3-2, but that was as close as the O's would get. Again, not a great start by Burnett, but he did enough to get into the win column. Burnett's first win as a Yank went like this: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR. Congrats, A.J.
The Bad:
Derek Jeter. The Yanks banged out 11 runs on 13 hits, but two starters were unable to join in the fun. One of those players was Jeter. The Captain failed to reach base for the first time this year and that dropped his season average from .556 to .385. The other Yankee who went 0'fer in the box score Thursday was Johnny Damon, but Jeter earns my scorn since he left four runners on base and struck out once. Hey, I nitpick because I care. Jeter finished 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Sticks and stones. I guess it's all part of being a professional athlete. Joba Chamberlain's arrest video the night he was pulled over for driving under the influence in Nebraska was released and it has caused a bit of a stir. To some, anyway. In the video, a drunk Chamberlain called New York drivers rude and Yogi Berra short. The nerve! This has to be the biggest non-story of the baseball season (so far). Chamberlain later apologized for his remarks. "I mean no disrespect to anybody in New York. Everybody has driven in New York and gotten mad at one another, so that happens. I love this place, it's my second home and it's embraced me and my family. I couldn't ask for anything better," Chamberlain said. He also cleared the air with Yogi. "I wanted to tell him man-to-man that there was no malicious intent. Yogi's great. He knows I love him and he loves me, too," Joba said. OK. Great. Just don't drive drunk again.
The Yankees will travel to Kansas City and take on the Royals in a three-game set beginning Friday afternoon. Andy Pettitte (14-14, 4.54 ERA) will oppose Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.04 ERA) in the opener. Pettitte finished 1-0 with a 6.20 ERA in three starts against the Royals last season. The crafty lefty has terrific career numbers against KC. He's 12-3 with a 3.59 ERA in 22 games and 7-2 with a 3.34 ERA in 12 games at Kauffman Stadium. Ponson is 6-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 28 career appearances against the Bombers. Derek Jeter is 29 for 77 (.377) with five homers and 12 RBI in his career against the Arubian Knight.
Friday is the Royal's home opener.
Let's see if the Yanks can spoil the party.
jose molina is the best defensive player in the game peroid
It's too bad we can't Frankenstein his defense with Posada's bat.
Feels good to get that win.
It sure does, Phil. It sure does.
CANO BABY!
Team seems more complete last year with having a guy like Swisher/Nady off the bench.
For the record I think Swisher should start over Nady.
Huh! I don't know. Swisher's off to a hot start, but I think Nady is the better player. I still wish the Yanks re-signed Bobby Abreu.