Bottom 9th
Mo seals it up, 7-1. Overall, a drastic turnaround from the past two games for the Yankees. Now they can actually enjoy their day off tomorrow.
Final Score 7-1 Yankees
Another rain delay.....
Top 9th
Sherrill in relief for Albers. Giambi really needs something to get him going. He's been looking pretty awful lately. Somebody give him a hug. Moeller bloops one to shallow right center that advances Cabrera to third. With bases loaded, Jeter doubles to score Cabrera, Moeller, and Damon. Sarfate in now, and the officials are surely weighing the weather now.
7-1 Yankees
End of rain delay and now it's Brian Bruney on the mound for the Yankees. Roberts' sac fly scores Quiroz. Mo's warming up, getting ready to pitch the ninth inning. With two runners on, Millar pops out to end the inning, but the Orioles tally a run.
4-1 Yankees
Bottom 8th
Chamberlain gives up two hits, and it's now pouring. The tarp comes on...
Top 8th
Albers in now for Baltimore. He gets three quick ones and will send the game Joba's way. Joba pitched a scoreless eighth inning yesterday after missing five games on bereavement while visiting his ailing father in Nebraska. He's given up only 3 hits, and no runs this season.
4-0 Yankees
Bottom 7th
Millar leads off and doubles down the left field line. Update: strained right quad for A-Rod. Also, the grounds crew is hovering.... And the rain has begun. Inning ends on a ground out to third. Seven solid innings from Pettitte, 5 strikeouts and no runs. Giving the 'pen some much-needed breathing room. Can't ask for much more from him. I bet Girardi will be much more willing to talk about "semantics" tonight.
4-0 Yankees
Top 7th
Moeller hits one off the left wall and reaches second. Chad Bradford relieves Trachsel, and Johnny Damon rips him right away for a homer to right. That's Bradford's first home run given up of the season. Jeter goes to work on him, but an amazing leaping catch from Jones denies him an extra-base hit. Seventh inning stretch and it's...
4-0 Yankees
Bottom 6th
Roberts careens one off Jeter's glove to reach first. Giambi makes a bad throw to Jeter, allowing Roberts to steal second. Jeter makes a heads-up play though by faking he had pulled down the ball so Roberts doesn't advance to third, although gets there on a wild pitch on the next play. Roberts stranded on third as Pettitte comes up clutch with a strikeout to end the inning.
2-0 Yankees
Top 6th
Abreu sneaks a ground ball past Roberts for a base hit, but is forced out at second with A-Rods single. A-Rod looks like he's in a little pain. He seems to be stretching his leg....didn't look like he pulled up too hard running to first. Maybe a cramp? Girardi and Steve Donahue pay him a visit, and decide to pull him. Most likely a precautionary move, but Ensberg in to pinch run. With one out and the bases loaded, Giambi can't convert, instead grounding into a double play.
2-0 Yankees
Bottom 5th
Laboring a bit more, Pettitte gives up his first hit on a Payton infield single. And then another base hit on a line-drive to center from Jones that puts Payton in scoring position. Yankees seal it up though without any damage.
2-0 Yankees
Top 5th
Despite giving up two runs in the fourth, Trachsel hangs tough for a three-and-out fifth. This game is just speeding along.
2-0 Yankees
Bottom 4th
Pettitte has been perfect through four. Four strikeouts, and he's keeping the pitch count VERY low. Impressive.
2-0 Yankees
Top 4th
After taking a walk, Abreu steals second, his first stolen base of the year. A-rod drops one into left for a double that scores Abreu. Yanks on the board with one out.
Yankees exorcising some of their demons with Matsui's double to deep right that brings A-Rod home. Two consecutive at-bats where the Yankees were successful with players in scoring position. Trachsel's looking a little frustrated. Expect his delays to start stretching.
2-0 Yankees
Bottom 3rd
Three straight ground outs for the Orioles. Pettitte's looking sharp. Aggressive and going after guys. Young pitchers take notes.
0-0
Top 3rd
Moeller strikes out chasing Trachsel's change-up. This is turning into a pitching duel here. Johnny Damon gets on base, and tests the arm of backup catcher Guillermo Quiroz. Quiroz throws him out at second.
0-0
Bottom 2nd
Three quick outs on only six pitches. Pettitte earns his third strikeout of the day with Luke Scott.
0-0
Top 2nd
Matsui smacks one to the warning track deep center, but Jones pulls it down. Next batter and Jones gets his exercise again, stopping Cano's deep shot with a great catch. Yankees go down in order.
0-0
Bottom 1st
Pettitte starts with a nice 1-2-3 inning, fanning Mora and Markakis to end the first. Looks like a more auspicious start, at least in terms of pitching. We'll see if Pettitte, and the weather, can hold.
0-0
Top 1st
Batting second, Jeter knocks one past Markakis, barely missing a home run. He'll settle for a double, but the recurring problem for the Yankees rears its head early: they can's seem to produce offensively with runners in scoring position. Abreu and A-Rod both go down swinging.
0-0
Game three of the weekend series at Camden Yards. Poor pitching and sluggish bats have caused New York to give away the first two, but with Pettitte on the mound today (assuming the weather allows), the Yankees may be able to stave off a sweep. Pettitte (2-1, 3.38) is 22-6 in his career against Baltimore. Steve Traschel (1-2, 5.65) will start on the mound for the Orioles, so expect it to be a long day. Given his long pauses between pitches, Traschel personifies the human rain delay.
Just a couple things to consider. Of any opposing player, Derek Jeter has the most hits at Camden Yards, with 122. Second on that list? Johnny Damon with 108. Although Jeter had a hit in both games this weekend, Damon hasn't shown much of his affinity for Camden Yards yet this series. Last night he struck out in both at-bats.
Back after top of first.....
Comments (14)
I noticed Toronto just released Frank Thomas buying out the remainder of his contract probably calling for another 9-12 million.It took some guts on the GMs part to cut ties w/the Big Hurt.I also like Ricciardi's press release "I don't know if we have the luxury of waiting 2 or 3 months for somebody to kick in".
Cashman are you listening ??
Giambi
Mussina
There's a big difference between $9-12M and over $30M for Giambi and Moose.
Also, it's worth pointing out that Thomas made a big stink about being benched last night. Perhaps Riccardi saw the writing on the wall and didn't want Thomas's angry barking to become a problem and a distraction to the team.
Giambi isn't going to get released. Neither will Moose. They need him to log innings. Until his last start, he hasn't been that bad.
When a GM signs so many big contracts, he's stuck sleeping in that bed for awhile.
I'm going to be real honest with all you AR groupies. I can't stand to watch him bat anymore because I can predict exactly what he's going to do every time there's RISP. He CHOKES!!!!!
But, Rick, he was 2 for 4 last night and that's hitting .500 blah blah blah. Yeah 2 for 4. One was a trickler to 3B that couldn't even score the man from 3rd with less than 2 out (cardinal sin in my book). And, the two times he didn't get a hit was when we NEEDED it with runners on base and in scoring position. What, a pop to the catcher and a whiff? WOW, awesome. Just what is his avg. with RISP??? Someone please post that? I know he's not alone in that category, BUT he is AR and the cleanup man who is also the GREATEST player of all time. More is expected of him than a Damon, Cano, etc.
You people that think he is so awesome, just aren't watching the same games I am! And no, I'm not looking for HR's. Just give me a single or a sac fly and I'll be thrilled with the guy!
And, your kid phenom pitchers are nothing near the hype they get. If they keep going at this rate, they won't even approach being a Ted Lilly, never mind a Santana. And, yeah, I told you so.
Ahhhhh, now that's feels much better....
Well, apparently AR just doesn't like to start hitting until Rick goes into his AR sucks rant!!! Last year, I came out of the shoot with my game by game analysis of each AB and he had the best April on the planet. And, today, no sooner had my keyboard stopped and he rips a RBI 2B. If that is all it takes to motivate the guy, I will be happy to ablige him!
Now, I wonder, would it work for Hughes and Kennedy too???
3 MVPs, Rick. Nuff said.
You don't collect three MVPs by not hitting with RISP.
Keep playing with your A-Rod dart board and leave the analysis to others who don't have a 100 yr old oak tree shoved up their posterior.
You're the guy who still defends Giambi and rips A-Rod.
Nothing you can say will ever justify that stance.
The only guy in the league who could have gotten down the line slower on that DP than Giambi is the Big Hurt. Oh, sorry, he's not in the league anymore! Go get him, Cash! Maybe we could hit into some triple plays this year. It's exactly what we need, though, another slugging 1st baseman who can't move, can't run and isn't hitting. I'm telling you, after last night, is Posada's arm doesn't come around soon, he's the Yanks' 1b of the future!
You still don't understand this game of baseball, do you Viper???? Hopefully, the light bulb will go off for you someday soon.
Rick,
Anyone who continues to make excuses for Giambi (and Ted Lilly for that matter) and tear A-Rod a new one does not understand the game of baseball.
It's as simple as that.
Viper
Let's do a little experiment. Please give a full narrative description of exactly what you saw last night watching the game. I'd love to hear your perception of what occured.
Um, Kennedy didn't throw strikes and wasn't aggressive at all. The complete opposite of what he was against TB - a far better hitting team.
Plus, the Yanks' offense didn't score any runs. Regardless of how good or bad the starters perform, it's tough to win if they don't score.
Is that descriptive enough for you?
Viper
Good but brief start. Now let's get into a few details on just how and why the offense doesn't score?
I'm not going to play this game with you.
The offense is going to start hitting. It's just a matter of time.
968 runs last season was no fluke. They will score roughly 950 runs again this season.
Just what I thought. We don't want to get into any detailed, factual conversations about legitimate topics. Not on this blog and not with Rick Keyes.
Whatever you say, Rick. A detailed, factual conversation is a two-way street and you're not giving me any feedback - which means I'm talking to myself.
What it boils down to is that I'm not the guy ripping the best player in the game at every opportunity and defending a known roids user who is hitting .104 on the season.