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Orioles Slam Hughes, Yankees
This game showed why the Yankees rank near the bottom of the league in pitching.
Phil Hughes couldn't get out of the second inning, Gregg Zaun rattled off three hits and Aubrey Huff ripped a three-run homer as the Orioles buried the Yanks 12-5 in Baltimore. Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira all went deep for the Bombers, but it wasn't nearly enough. The O's put this one away early, exploding for eight runs in the second as the Yanks tumbled to 2-6 in May and 14-16 overall.
The Yanks made a roster move before Saturday's game. Reliever David Robertson was sent down to Scranton and right-handed pitcher Brett Tomko was called up to take his place. Tomko was dominant in Triple-A, going 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in 10 appearances. He jumped right into the fire against the Orioles and allowed one run on three hits in his one inning of work. Welcome aboard, Brett!
Let's get this unpleasantness over with.
The Good:
Johnny Damon. There are a lot of guys in the lineup who are slumping right now, but Damon isn't one of them. Johnny D continued to wield a hot bat as he collected two more hits, including his fourth homer in his past six games. Damon has hit safely in 10 of his past 11 games and is batting .371 with 12 RBI so far in May. I hope the rest of the guys on the team are paying attention. Damon finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and 2 runs batted in.
The Bad:
Phil Hughes. Leadoff batter Brian Roberts lined a bullet to Teixeira for the first out in the bottom of the first inning and I thought it was a good omen. You know, a guy hits the ball hard, but right at someone for an out. Well, it was an omen all right. Hughes managed to get out of the first unscathed, but it all went to hell in the second. The Yankee defense didn't help -- Swisher air-mailed a throw to the plate that allowed a run to score and Tex was eaten up by a ground ball at first that turned into single -- but Hughes deserved the bulk of the blame. The right-hander didn't have a problem throwing strikes or getting ahead of hitters, but he just couldn't put anyone away. In fact, Hughes jumped ahead 0-2 on five of the first eight batters he faced in the second and the only out he recorded came on a sacrifice fly. That ain't good. Hughes fell to 1-2 with this mess: 1.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 1 hit batsman.
Edwar Ramirez. There should be two goals for a reliever when he enters a ballgame early. Give the team some length and hold down the opposition. Ramirez finished 1 for 2. Edwar completed Hughes' ledger when he gave up an RBI-single to the first batter he faced in the second and followed that by allowing three runs in his next two innings. It didn't matter in the end since the Yanks were never able to recover from the Orioles' eight-run second, but it would have been nice to see Edwar pitch better. Ramirez's night went like this: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR.
The Ugly:
Scary stuff. It's amazing how fast things can change in a year. Ian Kennedy was diagnosed with an aneurysm under his right armpit and will undergo surgery Tuesday. The 24-year-old righty was taken out of a game April 27 after experiencing numbness in the middle finger of his pitching hand. Dr. George Todd, the same doctor who performed surgery on David Cone when he was diagnosed with an aneurysm in 1996, will take care of Kennedy. "I told him [Kennedy] today, Cone came back and threw a seven inning no-hitter," Joe Girardi said. "This guy does really good work." Kennedy was 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in four starts for Scranton, with 25 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings. There is no timetable for Kennedy's return.
Joba Chamberlain (1-1, 3.77 ERA) will try and give the Yanks the rubber game Sunday afternoon. Koji Uehara (2-3, 4.42 ERA) will go for the Orioles. Uehara began the season 2-0 (which included a 7-5 victory over the Yanks on April 8), but the O's have dropped the past four games in which he has started. The 34-year-old right-hander allowed six runs (three earned) over 6 2/3 innings in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start. Chamberlain started poorly against the Boston Red Sox in his last start, allowing four runs in the first inning. Joba turned it on after that and finished with 12 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings, but he was still tagged with the loss. The Yanks got a scare Saturday when Chamberlain broke a blood vessel on his right thumb playing catch, but he is expected to make his start.
Good thing. The Yanks can't afford to lose another pitcher.
Phil Hughes couldn't get out of the second inning, Gregg Zaun rattled off three hits and Aubrey Huff ripped a three-run homer as the Orioles buried the Yanks 12-5 in Baltimore. Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira all went deep for the Bombers, but it wasn't nearly enough. The O's put this one away early, exploding for eight runs in the second as the Yanks tumbled to 2-6 in May and 14-16 overall.
The Yanks made a roster move before Saturday's game. Reliever David Robertson was sent down to Scranton and right-handed pitcher Brett Tomko was called up to take his place. Tomko was dominant in Triple-A, going 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in 10 appearances. He jumped right into the fire against the Orioles and allowed one run on three hits in his one inning of work. Welcome aboard, Brett! Let's get this unpleasantness over with.
The Good:
Johnny Damon. There are a lot of guys in the lineup who are slumping right now, but Damon isn't one of them. Johnny D continued to wield a hot bat as he collected two more hits, including his fourth homer in his past six games. Damon has hit safely in 10 of his past 11 games and is batting .371 with 12 RBI so far in May. I hope the rest of the guys on the team are paying attention. Damon finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and 2 runs batted in.
The Bad:
Phil Hughes. Leadoff batter Brian Roberts lined a bullet to Teixeira for the first out in the bottom of the first inning and I thought it was a good omen. You know, a guy hits the ball hard, but right at someone for an out. Well, it was an omen all right. Hughes managed to get out of the first unscathed, but it all went to hell in the second. The Yankee defense didn't help -- Swisher air-mailed a throw to the plate that allowed a run to score and Tex was eaten up by a ground ball at first that turned into single -- but Hughes deserved the bulk of the blame. The right-hander didn't have a problem throwing strikes or getting ahead of hitters, but he just couldn't put anyone away. In fact, Hughes jumped ahead 0-2 on five of the first eight batters he faced in the second and the only out he recorded came on a sacrifice fly. That ain't good. Hughes fell to 1-2 with this mess: 1.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 1 hit batsman.
Edwar Ramirez. There should be two goals for a reliever when he enters a ballgame early. Give the team some length and hold down the opposition. Ramirez finished 1 for 2. Edwar completed Hughes' ledger when he gave up an RBI-single to the first batter he faced in the second and followed that by allowing three runs in his next two innings. It didn't matter in the end since the Yanks were never able to recover from the Orioles' eight-run second, but it would have been nice to see Edwar pitch better. Ramirez's night went like this: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR.
The Ugly:
Scary stuff. It's amazing how fast things can change in a year. Ian Kennedy was diagnosed with an aneurysm under his right armpit and will undergo surgery Tuesday. The 24-year-old righty was taken out of a game April 27 after experiencing numbness in the middle finger of his pitching hand. Dr. George Todd, the same doctor who performed surgery on David Cone when he was diagnosed with an aneurysm in 1996, will take care of Kennedy. "I told him [Kennedy] today, Cone came back and threw a seven inning no-hitter," Joe Girardi said. "This guy does really good work." Kennedy was 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in four starts for Scranton, with 25 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings. There is no timetable for Kennedy's return.
Joba Chamberlain (1-1, 3.77 ERA) will try and give the Yanks the rubber game Sunday afternoon. Koji Uehara (2-3, 4.42 ERA) will go for the Orioles. Uehara began the season 2-0 (which included a 7-5 victory over the Yanks on April 8), but the O's have dropped the past four games in which he has started. The 34-year-old right-hander allowed six runs (three earned) over 6 2/3 innings in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start. Chamberlain started poorly against the Boston Red Sox in his last start, allowing four runs in the first inning. Joba turned it on after that and finished with 12 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings, but he was still tagged with the loss. The Yanks got a scare Saturday when Chamberlain broke a blood vessel on his right thumb playing catch, but he is expected to make his start.Good thing. The Yanks can't afford to lose another pitcher.
Why did Joe G send in Edwar to relieve Hughes? Isn't Tomko a better long reliever?
We should have watched this game instead.
IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Greinke 8.0 4 1 1 0 5 0 0.51
Saunders 9.0 5 0 0 1 6 0 2.66
That's a tough way for Greinke to lose his first.