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Yanks Dump O's; Winning Streak Hits Eight
Man, this is fun.
Phil Hughes struck out a career-high nine batters through five innings and Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera hit back-to-back-to back homers in the second inning as the Yanks cruised past the Orioles 11-4 in the Bronx. Mark Teixeira got things going with a booming RBI-double in the first inning that just missed going over the left-center field wall and Derek Jeter smashed a two-run double during a six-run eighth inning to help lead the Bombers to their eighth win in a row.
If this was Hughes' last start in pinstripes before the Yanks bring back Chien-Ming Wang,
he went out swinging. Hughes' most impressive inning came in the
third. The Orioles had runners on the corners with nobody out and
failed to push across a run. Hughes struck out Adam Jones and Nick
Markakis and Brian Roberts was thrown out trying to steal second for
the final out of the inning (Roberts was actually tagged out trying to
get back to first, but that's just bookkeeping). But it wasn't all
honeydew and cantaloupe for Hughes as the home run bug continued to
bite him in the rear. Hughes gave up two more long balls and has
allowed six dingers in 21 2/3 innings this season. Not good. Still,
Hughes picked up a win and you can't complain too much about that.
The Good:
Robinson Cano. It has not been a good month for Robbie. Cano entered Wednesday night's game batting .161 in May, but he broke out of his slump in a big way. Canu was the middle man during the home run barrage in the second inning as he parachuted his seventh tater of the season just over the right field wall to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead. Don't cha know! The second baseman laced an RBI-single to extend the lead to 5-0 in the third inning and slashed another RBI-single during a six-run outburst in the eighth. Cano entered the game batting .296, but his three-hit night pushed it back over .300 to .307. Nice job, Robbie. Cano finished 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs.
Melky Cabrera. The Melk-Man continues to deliver. Cabrera hit the final home run during the back-to-back-to back in the second and it was by far the most prodigious shot (but they all count, right?). Melky then followed Cano's RBI-single in the eighth with one of his own to give the Bombers a 7-3 advantage. Don't look now (OK, you can look), but Melky is leading the Yankees with a .321 batting average. Cabrera finished 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 2 ribbies.
Nick
Swisher. It's been rough for the people's champion as he entered play
batting .085 for the month of May, but he put together a solid night.
Swisher hit probably the ugliest home run in the short history of the
new Yankee Stadium, but it was the catalyst for the back-to-back-to
back surge in the second. A Swisher Sweet! By the way, I wish I heard
John Sterling's call on the back-to-backers -- I'm sure he pitched a
fit. Anyway, Swisher also caught the ceremonial first pitch from Polly Tompkins.
Tompkins is battling Stage 4 melanoma, breast cancer and pancreatic
cancer and it was great to see her with Swisher before and after the
game. Keep fighting, Polly! Swisher finished 1 for 2 with 2 walks, 2
runs scored and a run batted in.
The Bad:
Kevin Cash. I hate to dump on a fourth-string catcher, but things have been going so well in Yankee Land that I'm left with no alternative. Cash drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, but he's 1 for 13 (.077) on the season. And that hit could have been ruled an error since Minnesota Twins third baseman Joe Crede didn't get his glove down on a ball down the line. Again, if that's what's bad with the Yanks right now then things are going pretty well. Cash finished 0 for 3 with an RBI.
The Ugly:
Unnecessary. I'm not one to rant on managerial decisions, but I don't know why Joe Girardi allowed Mariano Rivera to pitch the ninth inning. Rivera relieved Phil Coke in the eighth inning with two outs, a runner on first and the Yanks clinging to a 5-3 lead. Mo got Melvin Mora to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning. Then the Yanks went on to score six runs in the bottom of the frame and blow the game open. That's it for Rivera, right? Wrong. I was shocked when I saw No. 42 on the mound for the ninth in an 11-3 contest. Mo did his job in the eighth but I think Girardi should have tried to save him some wear and tear by pulling him in the ninth. Rivera threw only 14 pitches in his outing, but I just didn't see the logic in using your closer for more than you have to -- especially since the game turned into a laugher. Rivera gave up a home run to Nolan Reimold (his first career four-bagger), but he still earned his eighth save of the year.
Adam Eaton (2-4, 7.93 ERA) will go against Joba Chamberlain (2-1, 3.76 ERA) in the finale. Eaton had a terrible April (1-3, 7.17 ERA in four starts) and has been just as bad, if not worse, in May. The veteran right-hander is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in three starts so far this month. And to add insult to injury, that one win came against the Yankees on May 9 in Baltimore. Eaton was given a big, early lead and hung on for five innings, allowing four runs on four hits including two home runs against the Bombers. Mark Teixeira is batting .600 (6 for 10) with a double, triple, two homers and four runs batted in against Eaton in his career. Chamberlain is 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA in three May starts, but has pitched better than his numbers -- especially in his past two outings. Joba picked up a no-decision his last time out against the Minnesota Twins -- allowing two runs on just three hits in six innings while striking out six. The hard-throwing righty defeated the Orioles on May 10 in Baltimore -- surrendering three runs on nine hits in six innings. If you remember, that was the game where Aubrey Huff took Joba deep and pumped his fist not once, but twice to celebrate.
Wonder if Joba remembers.
But this is no time for vendettas. There are more important things at hand.
Like nine in a row.
Phil Hughes struck out a career-high nine batters through five innings and Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera hit back-to-back-to back homers in the second inning as the Yanks cruised past the Orioles 11-4 in the Bronx. Mark Teixeira got things going with a booming RBI-double in the first inning that just missed going over the left-center field wall and Derek Jeter smashed a two-run double during a six-run eighth inning to help lead the Bombers to their eighth win in a row.
If this was Hughes' last start in pinstripes before the Yanks bring back Chien-Ming Wang,
he went out swinging. Hughes' most impressive inning came in the
third. The Orioles had runners on the corners with nobody out and
failed to push across a run. Hughes struck out Adam Jones and Nick
Markakis and Brian Roberts was thrown out trying to steal second for
the final out of the inning (Roberts was actually tagged out trying to
get back to first, but that's just bookkeeping). But it wasn't all
honeydew and cantaloupe for Hughes as the home run bug continued to
bite him in the rear. Hughes gave up two more long balls and has
allowed six dingers in 21 2/3 innings this season. Not good. Still,
Hughes picked up a win and you can't complain too much about that.The Good:
Robinson Cano. It has not been a good month for Robbie. Cano entered Wednesday night's game batting .161 in May, but he broke out of his slump in a big way. Canu was the middle man during the home run barrage in the second inning as he parachuted his seventh tater of the season just over the right field wall to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead. Don't cha know! The second baseman laced an RBI-single to extend the lead to 5-0 in the third inning and slashed another RBI-single during a six-run outburst in the eighth. Cano entered the game batting .296, but his three-hit night pushed it back over .300 to .307. Nice job, Robbie. Cano finished 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs.
Melky Cabrera. The Melk-Man continues to deliver. Cabrera hit the final home run during the back-to-back-to back in the second and it was by far the most prodigious shot (but they all count, right?). Melky then followed Cano's RBI-single in the eighth with one of his own to give the Bombers a 7-3 advantage. Don't look now (OK, you can look), but Melky is leading the Yankees with a .321 batting average. Cabrera finished 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 2 ribbies.
Nick
Swisher. It's been rough for the people's champion as he entered play
batting .085 for the month of May, but he put together a solid night.
Swisher hit probably the ugliest home run in the short history of the
new Yankee Stadium, but it was the catalyst for the back-to-back-to
back surge in the second. A Swisher Sweet! By the way, I wish I heard
John Sterling's call on the back-to-backers -- I'm sure he pitched a
fit. Anyway, Swisher also caught the ceremonial first pitch from Polly Tompkins.
Tompkins is battling Stage 4 melanoma, breast cancer and pancreatic
cancer and it was great to see her with Swisher before and after the
game. Keep fighting, Polly! Swisher finished 1 for 2 with 2 walks, 2
runs scored and a run batted in.The Bad:
Kevin Cash. I hate to dump on a fourth-string catcher, but things have been going so well in Yankee Land that I'm left with no alternative. Cash drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, but he's 1 for 13 (.077) on the season. And that hit could have been ruled an error since Minnesota Twins third baseman Joe Crede didn't get his glove down on a ball down the line. Again, if that's what's bad with the Yanks right now then things are going pretty well. Cash finished 0 for 3 with an RBI.
The Ugly:
Unnecessary. I'm not one to rant on managerial decisions, but I don't know why Joe Girardi allowed Mariano Rivera to pitch the ninth inning. Rivera relieved Phil Coke in the eighth inning with two outs, a runner on first and the Yanks clinging to a 5-3 lead. Mo got Melvin Mora to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning. Then the Yanks went on to score six runs in the bottom of the frame and blow the game open. That's it for Rivera, right? Wrong. I was shocked when I saw No. 42 on the mound for the ninth in an 11-3 contest. Mo did his job in the eighth but I think Girardi should have tried to save him some wear and tear by pulling him in the ninth. Rivera threw only 14 pitches in his outing, but I just didn't see the logic in using your closer for more than you have to -- especially since the game turned into a laugher. Rivera gave up a home run to Nolan Reimold (his first career four-bagger), but he still earned his eighth save of the year.
Adam Eaton (2-4, 7.93 ERA) will go against Joba Chamberlain (2-1, 3.76 ERA) in the finale. Eaton had a terrible April (1-3, 7.17 ERA in four starts) and has been just as bad, if not worse, in May. The veteran right-hander is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in three starts so far this month. And to add insult to injury, that one win came against the Yankees on May 9 in Baltimore. Eaton was given a big, early lead and hung on for five innings, allowing four runs on four hits including two home runs against the Bombers. Mark Teixeira is batting .600 (6 for 10) with a double, triple, two homers and four runs batted in against Eaton in his career. Chamberlain is 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA in three May starts, but has pitched better than his numbers -- especially in his past two outings. Joba picked up a no-decision his last time out against the Minnesota Twins -- allowing two runs on just three hits in six innings while striking out six. The hard-throwing righty defeated the Orioles on May 10 in Baltimore -- surrendering three runs on nine hits in six innings. If you remember, that was the game where Aubrey Huff took Joba deep and pumped his fist not once, but twice to celebrate.
Wonder if Joba remembers.
But this is no time for vendettas. There are more important things at hand.
Like nine in a row.
i have no problem in leaving mo in for the 9th. for one mo wanted to get the easy save and 2 if u bring in veras or edwar and co and they start giving up runs and hits who is your safety net?? do u really trust anyone else in the 9th inning? i congrat joe G for a job well done hes taken a lot of heat on here and now its time to give him some credit.. and by the way i doubt joe G would miss a yankee game just becaue he had a bad headache.. no real yankee fan would.
Huh! Rivera is always going to say he can go. You're right -- I don't trust anyone besides Mo in the pen, but I have to believe that somebody out there can record three outs before giving up eight runs. I'm not one to rip on Joe unnecessarily, but I didn't like the call. And Girardi missed some time on the Yankee bench last year with an illness. We all can't be supermen like you.
http://www.inmowetrust.com/baseball/yankees/kennedy-pen-implode-as-rays-st.php
I'm with Mike on this one, obviously. Girardi's horrible. Could've sealed the win with Mo only throwing a couple pitches instead of having him sit for a long stretch, then come back out. Not a smart move. No one really cares about one save, we need Mo healthy all year, preferably without a dead arm.
I don't think Girardi is horrible. I just didn't agree with the move.
Swish-alicious??!!! I never found his homerun calls funny or clever but this is getting out of hand. Something has to be done about this "announcer." I'd rather watch highlights on the news than listen to that idiot for a whole game.
Oh yeah, let's also go for nine in a row.
Aww! I thought his call for Swisher was "Jolly 'ol Saint Nick!" I think you'll like this article about Sterling:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05182009/sports/yankees/baseball_fans_deserve_better_than_sterli_169830.htm
If I didn't know better, I'd think you wrote it.
Thanks for the article. I agree with every single thing in that article. If the Yankees are supposed to be the elite sports franchise, why not extend that thinking to the announcers? Sterling stinks, pure and simple.
It was passed along to me by Vinny and I thought of you while I was reading it. I was listening in the car during that strike 'em out, throw 'em out double-play in the third and Sterling had no idea what was going on. The article had good points, but Phil Mushnick is a douche.
how can u idiots not like john sterling. since imoved to vegas thats the one thing i miss is hearing his home run calls i love when sportscenter plays his calls gets me so fired up. how could u not get pumped up hearing .... AN AAAAAA BOMB FROM AAAA ROD. sterling is great i love all of his calls. anyone who doesnt will be dealt with harshly. if your going to knock an announcer rip on suzy now she is a mf disgrace. u cant tell u dont get chill hearing thaaaaaa yankees win call either. lay off my boy
Sterling always brings a smile to my face, but he's atrocious at, you know, his job.
I laugh every time Sterling complains about strikes not being called fast enough and how baseball is different from other sports. But if you want to know what's going -- well, you're outta luck.