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Damon's Homer Keys Yankees Comeback
This time early-inning woes were canceled out by late-inning thunder.
Joba Chamberlain gave up three runs in the first inning, but settled down and pitched a decent ballgame, Robinson Cano drilled a solo homer in the seventh and Johnny Damon followed with a three-run bomb as the Yanks turned back the Orioles 5-3 at Camden Yards. Phil Coke pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Mariano Rivera rebounded from a shaky performance against the Tampa Bay Rays his last time out to nail down his sixth save of the year. Mark Teixeira went yard for the second straight game and Francisco Cervelli contributed with two hits and a run scored to help the Bombers take two of three against Baltimore.
I was stuffing my fat face at my mom's (Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!) during this one and therefore missed most of the action. But I watched the CliffsNotes (which is me fast-forwarding through the game on my DVR when I got home) and feel I can contribute a solid half-assed recap of things. Let's do this.
The Good:
Johnny Damon. The day didn't start out well for Johnny D (he struck out swinging in his first two at-bats and grounded into a double play in this third), but it ain't how you start, it's how you finish. Then again, Damon also struck out in his last at-bat in the ninth. Maybe the saying goes, it ain't how you start, but how you do in your fourth at-bat. Yeah, that must be it. Anyway, Damon stepped up to the plate in the seventh with runners on first and second and two outs and the Yanks down 3-2 and launched his ninth dinger of the season to give the Yanks a surprising 5-3 lead. Damon nearly walked during the at-bat, but home plate umpire Mark Carlson called 3-1 pitch that looked like ball four a strike that kept Damon at the dish. Good thing. Damon finished 1 for 5 with a run scored and 3 RBI.
Robinson Cano. There's just something about Cano and the road greys. Cano is off to a hot start overall this season, but he's batting just .250 while wearing the pinstripes. But he entered Sunday's contest with a sizzling .366 average away from home. Those numbers will go up. Canu started the Yankees four-run seventh inning with his fifth home run of the year to close the gap to 3-2. Maybe Robbie should think about wearing a grey Yankee T-shirt underneath his jersey from now on. Cano finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and 1 ribbie.
The Bad:
Hideki Matsui. The Yanks collected 11 hits Sunday afternoon and every starter contributed with at least one. Well, almost everyone. Yes, I'm looking at you Godzilla. Matsui went hitless for the second game in a row and his average, which was sitting at .290 on May 1, has dropped to .265. I don't think it's anything to worry about since Matsui has always been a streaky hitter, but it would be nice to see someone other than Cano or Damon get hot. Matsui finished 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
That's not really how you do it. They say you never know what you'll see during a baseball game and I can safely say without hyperbole that the Yanks may have pulled off one of the ugliest caught stealings in the history of the game in the bottom of the first. OK, maybe I am exaggerating (a little), but it still was an unusual series of events. Melvin Mora took off for second base with one out and got hung up. I don't know if someone missed a sign or if Mora tried a delayed steal (probably a delayed steal since the count was 0-2 on Luke Scott). Anyway, Cervelli fired to Teixeira who threw to Jeter who threw back to Cervelli who threw to Cano who finally threw back to Tex for the putout. I was listening on the radio at that point and John Sterling made an absolute mess of the call. I had no idea what was going on. He followed it up by saying he didn't know how to score it and didn't really seem like he wanted to know. Why, it's just your typical 2-3-6-2-4-3 putout, John.
Monday is an off day as the Bombers head to Toronto and will begin a three-game set against the first-place Blue Jays Tuesday night. Former Jay A.J. Burnett (2-0, 5.26 ERA) will go against Roy Halladay (6-1, 3.29 ERA) in the opener. Burnett hasn't factored in a decision in his past four starts. He allowed three runs over six innings in the Yanks' 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on May 6. Burnett is 1-0 in one career start against the Blue Jays and is 22-8 with a 3.74 ERA in 40 career appearances at the Rogers Centre. Halladay is coming off a dominating performance against the Los Angeles Angles his last time out (8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K) and has pitched at least seven innings in all seven of his starts this year. The hard-throwing righty was a force of nature against the Bombers last season. Halladay finished 5-1 with a 2.40 ERA in six starts against the Yanks in 2008 and is 15-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 career appearances against New York.
It will be an early test for both teams. Let's see which one is up to the task.
Joba Chamberlain gave up three runs in the first inning, but settled down and pitched a decent ballgame, Robinson Cano drilled a solo homer in the seventh and Johnny Damon followed with a three-run bomb as the Yanks turned back the Orioles 5-3 at Camden Yards. Phil Coke pitched two scoreless innings of relief and Mariano Rivera rebounded from a shaky performance against the Tampa Bay Rays his last time out to nail down his sixth save of the year. Mark Teixeira went yard for the second straight game and Francisco Cervelli contributed with two hits and a run scored to help the Bombers take two of three against Baltimore.
I was stuffing my fat face at my mom's (Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!) during this one and therefore missed most of the action. But I watched the CliffsNotes (which is me fast-forwarding through the game on my DVR when I got home) and feel I can contribute a solid half-assed recap of things. Let's do this.
The Good:
Johnny Damon. The day didn't start out well for Johnny D (he struck out swinging in his first two at-bats and grounded into a double play in this third), but it ain't how you start, it's how you finish. Then again, Damon also struck out in his last at-bat in the ninth. Maybe the saying goes, it ain't how you start, but how you do in your fourth at-bat. Yeah, that must be it. Anyway, Damon stepped up to the plate in the seventh with runners on first and second and two outs and the Yanks down 3-2 and launched his ninth dinger of the season to give the Yanks a surprising 5-3 lead. Damon nearly walked during the at-bat, but home plate umpire Mark Carlson called 3-1 pitch that looked like ball four a strike that kept Damon at the dish. Good thing. Damon finished 1 for 5 with a run scored and 3 RBI.
Robinson Cano. There's just something about Cano and the road greys. Cano is off to a hot start overall this season, but he's batting just .250 while wearing the pinstripes. But he entered Sunday's contest with a sizzling .366 average away from home. Those numbers will go up. Canu started the Yankees four-run seventh inning with his fifth home run of the year to close the gap to 3-2. Maybe Robbie should think about wearing a grey Yankee T-shirt underneath his jersey from now on. Cano finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and 1 ribbie.The Bad:
Hideki Matsui. The Yanks collected 11 hits Sunday afternoon and every starter contributed with at least one. Well, almost everyone. Yes, I'm looking at you Godzilla. Matsui went hitless for the second game in a row and his average, which was sitting at .290 on May 1, has dropped to .265. I don't think it's anything to worry about since Matsui has always been a streaky hitter, but it would be nice to see someone other than Cano or Damon get hot. Matsui finished 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
That's not really how you do it. They say you never know what you'll see during a baseball game and I can safely say without hyperbole that the Yanks may have pulled off one of the ugliest caught stealings in the history of the game in the bottom of the first. OK, maybe I am exaggerating (a little), but it still was an unusual series of events. Melvin Mora took off for second base with one out and got hung up. I don't know if someone missed a sign or if Mora tried a delayed steal (probably a delayed steal since the count was 0-2 on Luke Scott). Anyway, Cervelli fired to Teixeira who threw to Jeter who threw back to Cervelli who threw to Cano who finally threw back to Tex for the putout. I was listening on the radio at that point and John Sterling made an absolute mess of the call. I had no idea what was going on. He followed it up by saying he didn't know how to score it and didn't really seem like he wanted to know. Why, it's just your typical 2-3-6-2-4-3 putout, John.
Monday is an off day as the Bombers head to Toronto and will begin a three-game set against the first-place Blue Jays Tuesday night. Former Jay A.J. Burnett (2-0, 5.26 ERA) will go against Roy Halladay (6-1, 3.29 ERA) in the opener. Burnett hasn't factored in a decision in his past four starts. He allowed three runs over six innings in the Yanks' 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on May 6. Burnett is 1-0 in one career start against the Blue Jays and is 22-8 with a 3.74 ERA in 40 career appearances at the Rogers Centre. Halladay is coming off a dominating performance against the Los Angeles Angles his last time out (8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K) and has pitched at least seven innings in all seven of his starts this year. The hard-throwing righty was a force of nature against the Bombers last season. Halladay finished 5-1 with a 2.40 ERA in six starts against the Yanks in 2008 and is 15-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 career appearances against New York.
It will be an early test for both teams. Let's see which one is up to the task.
Speaking of Cano wearing grey under his pinstripes, maybe they should start Joba in the second inning.
Ah, touche, Phil. Touche.