Hold on just one minute.
Cancel the half-written obituaries.
Perhaps the Yankees are really going to make this a race after all.
Anyone who was of the mind the previous six wins the team had going into this past weekend's edition of The Rivalry got a good glimpse of whether or not the streak was real or a byproduct of slightly above average American League competition.
Make no mistake now.
Despite losing the finally to the Red Sox on Sunday night, the weekend at Fenway Park was a tremendous success. Taking two of three from a team with baseball's best home record is very difficult to do. Add to that the heist...err...trade for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte that came down on Friday during the game. In addition, there is the sudden appearance that Boston appears to be vulnerable in one key area (and that is before we get to the latest Manny episode, which I will get to). Suddenly, in what has been a season of starting...stopping...stumbling and bumbling, the Yankees have begun to firmly plant their tentacles in the American League East race.
Make no mistake, the Yankees are picking up steam and have the Red Sox on the run.
Friday – Yankees 1, Red Sox 0
What will be remembered for this season at least will be Friday night’s classic. Josh Beckett, the established championship ace, and Joba Chamberlain, a future ace in training going head to head in a great pitchers duel.
The only run of the game came on a softly hit groundball of the bat of Jason Giambi that found a vacated hole because of the exaggerated shift the Red Sox employed. While Beckett gave up nine hits, he was never in any real danger. Yankee hitters were getting on base, but many of their rallies would happen with two outs as the team struggled to string multiple hits together.
Chamberlain was magnificent. No amount of adjectives could illustrate his performance. From the first inning, you could see he was a man in control. No hesitation. No lack of confidence. Throwing his fastball for strikes and getting great movement on his slider and curveball. He was getting stronger as the game went on. In all, he went seven innings, giving up just three hits and no runs, while striking out nine.
As Red Sox hitters continue to flail away at Joba’s stuff, it vindicated the organization who believed in him as a starting pitcher. Hank Steinbrenner felt that he could be “The Yankees Josh Beckett”. On the road, in Fenway Park, Joba left an impression on the minds of both teams.
The most controversial play came in the bottom of the 7th inning. With a 2-0 count, Chamberlain’s pitch found the direction of Kevin Youkilis’ head. It was the third pitch he had thrown in less than a year in that direction. Youk was upset, but I still contend that there was no intent. Why would Joba intentionally try to hit a batter with a 1-0 lead and pitching great? It makes no sense. The ironic part was that the pitch actually hit part of his bat, just missing his head and the umpire called a strike. Clearly intimidated, Youk waved weakly at two successive sliders and struck out.
Mariano Rivera came on for a five out save after Kyle Farnsworth left him runners on first and second and one out. If Girardi really had confidence in Farnsworth, he would have entrusted him to get out of the jam. When you have the greatest relief pitcher in reserve, those decisions are easier to make.
Rivera struck out Jacoby Ellsbury looking and got Dustin Pedroia to hit a comebacker to the immortal reliever to end the eighth. In the ninth, he got Ortiz to fly out and struck out both Mike Lowell (debatable call) and J.D Drew looking to end the game. It was another dominant performance.
Saturday – Yankees 10, Red Sox 3
Consider this game to the best all around Yankees performance of the season.
Offensively, after trailing 2-0 against Tim Wakefield, the Yanks rallied. Robinson Cano (the hottest hitter in baseball) homered to dead center to tie the game in the fourth. In the sixth, with Wakefield taken out of the game, the team hammered rookie Justin Masterson for three more runs.
Andy Pettitte grinded out one his more satisfying victories. He struggled in the first three innings with his control, but once the Red Sox were unable to take advantage, he settled in. Six strong innings of two earned run ball later, Pettitte was en route to notching his 12th win of the season.
The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings. Damaso Marte got his first taste of The Rivalry when he came on to face David Ortiz with first and second with one out. Four pitches later, Marte won the battle by striking him out and making him look uncomfortable in the process. Edwar Ramirez pitched 1 1/3 innings of dominant relief.
Coming from this game was another controversial hits batsman. With the Yankees comfortably ahead in the eighth inning, Red Sox reliever Craig Hansen chose to carry over the lingering anger over Youkilis being “thrown at” (he was not) on Friday. On a 1-0 pitch, Alex Rodriguez was drilled in the left shoulder and was in pain for short period. He took his base, and Boston felt as if they (somehow) got retribution. For the Red Sox to feel as they are now being thrown at is to simply ignore the last five years of history where the statistics are lopsided in their side in terms of the amount of batters hit. Apparently, they feel as if Chamberlain has decided to use Youkilis as his personal punching bag. Oh well, too bad.
Sunday – Red Sox 9, Yankees 2
After taking the first two, the team was playing with house money with Sidney Ponson on the mound. His numbers against Red Sox hitters and pitching at Fenway Park screamed “Death to Sidney”.
It was.
Three runs in the first inning followed by two more runs in both the third and fourth chased him from the game. With the way Jon Lester was pitching, it was going to be a difficult game to come back and win. Lester created an opening in the fifth inning giving up two runs and the bases loaded with nobody out. Unfortunately, that was all the Yankees could get. After that, the game took on the feel of an extended spring training game.
Gone was the winning streak, but the weekend was not a disappointment. Many positives to go around and very little to complain about.
The Good:
Joba Chamberlain showing that he has “future ace” written on him.
Bobby Abreu and Johnny Damon at the top of the lineup sparking the offense is great. The team comes and goes depending on what those two along with Derek Jeter do as the front three.
Andy Pettitte. Clutch.
The Bad:
Joe Girardi still does not fully trust Kyle Farnsworth in a big situation. The quickness he showed with the hook on Friday despite giving up a base hit and a slow ground ball that by luck he could not handle signals that when times get tough, he will not be on the mound to get the big out.
Sidney Ponson. He has used up his value to the team. The Yankees needed him to hold the fort down for one month and not pitch like a disaster while reinforcements were found. It worked out. Now get rid of him.
The Weird:
Cancel the half-written obituaries.
Perhaps the Yankees are really going to make this a race after all.
Anyone who was of the mind the previous six wins the team had going into this past weekend's edition of The Rivalry got a good glimpse of whether or not the streak was real or a byproduct of slightly above average American League competition.
Make no mistake now.
Despite losing the finally to the Red Sox on Sunday night, the weekend at Fenway Park was a tremendous success. Taking two of three from a team with baseball's best home record is very difficult to do. Add to that the heist...err...trade for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte that came down on Friday during the game. In addition, there is the sudden appearance that Boston appears to be vulnerable in one key area (and that is before we get to the latest Manny episode, which I will get to). Suddenly, in what has been a season of starting...stopping...stumbling and bumbling, the Yankees have begun to firmly plant their tentacles in the American League East race.
Make no mistake, the Yankees are picking up steam and have the Red Sox on the run.
Friday – Yankees 1, Red Sox 0
What will be remembered for this season at least will be Friday night’s classic. Josh Beckett, the established championship ace, and Joba Chamberlain, a future ace in training going head to head in a great pitchers duel.
The only run of the game came on a softly hit groundball of the bat of Jason Giambi that found a vacated hole because of the exaggerated shift the Red Sox employed. While Beckett gave up nine hits, he was never in any real danger. Yankee hitters were getting on base, but many of their rallies would happen with two outs as the team struggled to string multiple hits together.
Chamberlain was magnificent. No amount of adjectives could illustrate his performance. From the first inning, you could see he was a man in control. No hesitation. No lack of confidence. Throwing his fastball for strikes and getting great movement on his slider and curveball. He was getting stronger as the game went on. In all, he went seven innings, giving up just three hits and no runs, while striking out nine.
As Red Sox hitters continue to flail away at Joba’s stuff, it vindicated the organization who believed in him as a starting pitcher. Hank Steinbrenner felt that he could be “The Yankees Josh Beckett”. On the road, in Fenway Park, Joba left an impression on the minds of both teams.
The most controversial play came in the bottom of the 7th inning. With a 2-0 count, Chamberlain’s pitch found the direction of Kevin Youkilis’ head. It was the third pitch he had thrown in less than a year in that direction. Youk was upset, but I still contend that there was no intent. Why would Joba intentionally try to hit a batter with a 1-0 lead and pitching great? It makes no sense. The ironic part was that the pitch actually hit part of his bat, just missing his head and the umpire called a strike. Clearly intimidated, Youk waved weakly at two successive sliders and struck out.
Mariano Rivera came on for a five out save after Kyle Farnsworth left him runners on first and second and one out. If Girardi really had confidence in Farnsworth, he would have entrusted him to get out of the jam. When you have the greatest relief pitcher in reserve, those decisions are easier to make.
Rivera struck out Jacoby Ellsbury looking and got Dustin Pedroia to hit a comebacker to the immortal reliever to end the eighth. In the ninth, he got Ortiz to fly out and struck out both Mike Lowell (debatable call) and J.D Drew looking to end the game. It was another dominant performance.
Saturday – Yankees 10, Red Sox 3
Consider this game to the best all around Yankees performance of the season.
Offensively, after trailing 2-0 against Tim Wakefield, the Yanks rallied. Robinson Cano (the hottest hitter in baseball) homered to dead center to tie the game in the fourth. In the sixth, with Wakefield taken out of the game, the team hammered rookie Justin Masterson for three more runs.
Andy Pettitte grinded out one his more satisfying victories. He struggled in the first three innings with his control, but once the Red Sox were unable to take advantage, he settled in. Six strong innings of two earned run ball later, Pettitte was en route to notching his 12th win of the season.
The bullpen pitched three scoreless innings. Damaso Marte got his first taste of The Rivalry when he came on to face David Ortiz with first and second with one out. Four pitches later, Marte won the battle by striking him out and making him look uncomfortable in the process. Edwar Ramirez pitched 1 1/3 innings of dominant relief.
Coming from this game was another controversial hits batsman. With the Yankees comfortably ahead in the eighth inning, Red Sox reliever Craig Hansen chose to carry over the lingering anger over Youkilis being “thrown at” (he was not) on Friday. On a 1-0 pitch, Alex Rodriguez was drilled in the left shoulder and was in pain for short period. He took his base, and Boston felt as if they (somehow) got retribution. For the Red Sox to feel as they are now being thrown at is to simply ignore the last five years of history where the statistics are lopsided in their side in terms of the amount of batters hit. Apparently, they feel as if Chamberlain has decided to use Youkilis as his personal punching bag. Oh well, too bad.
Sunday – Red Sox 9, Yankees 2
After taking the first two, the team was playing with house money with Sidney Ponson on the mound. His numbers against Red Sox hitters and pitching at Fenway Park screamed “Death to Sidney”.
It was.
Three runs in the first inning followed by two more runs in both the third and fourth chased him from the game. With the way Jon Lester was pitching, it was going to be a difficult game to come back and win. Lester created an opening in the fifth inning giving up two runs and the bases loaded with nobody out. Unfortunately, that was all the Yankees could get. After that, the game took on the feel of an extended spring training game.
Gone was the winning streak, but the weekend was not a disappointment. Many positives to go around and very little to complain about.
The Good:
Joba Chamberlain showing that he has “future ace” written on him.
Bobby Abreu and Johnny Damon at the top of the lineup sparking the offense is great. The team comes and goes depending on what those two along with Derek Jeter do as the front three.
Andy Pettitte. Clutch.
The Bad:
Joe Girardi still does not fully trust Kyle Farnsworth in a big situation. The quickness he showed with the hook on Friday despite giving up a base hit and a slow ground ball that by luck he could not handle signals that when times get tough, he will not be on the mound to get the big out.
Sidney Ponson. He has used up his value to the team. The Yankees needed him to hold the fort down for one month and not pitch like a disaster while reinforcements were found. It worked out. Now get rid of him.
The Weird:
All weekend we were introduced to another yearly installment of “As Manny Turns”. Must we go through this again?
Manny Ramirez chose to “sit out” Friday nights game (depending on what you believe) with a knee injury one hour before the game. Saturday, the Red Sox placed him in the lineup in hopes of suspending him if he asked out. On Sunday, he announced that he and the management had fallen out of favor and if they wanted to trade him, they can feel free. Watching the ESPN telecast, you got the impression “The Manny Show” on as opposed to the game itself.
Here is the bottom line: The Red Sox are not trading Ramirez. Not before. Not now. Not ever. Any idea that they would do it is ridiculous. Boston is not winning a World Series without him in the lineup batting fourth behind Ortiz. Trading him essentially concedes that you are not winning this year. As Ramirez said, “the Red Sox are not stupid”. He is right, the Red Sox are not stupid. They know what they have and know that he cannot be replaced unless you plan to bring A-Rod or Albert Pujols back in a trade. Every year this crap takes place and people in Boston eat this stuff up and are now “offended” by his antics. Please, stop it. You enabled this crap for the last eight years and justified it because he hit and won two world championships. Do not come back and play the moral high ground card now. You turned in that card long ago.
Next meeting: August 26-28 at Yankee Stadium
Bring it on.
Manny Ramirez chose to “sit out” Friday nights game (depending on what you believe) with a knee injury one hour before the game. Saturday, the Red Sox placed him in the lineup in hopes of suspending him if he asked out. On Sunday, he announced that he and the management had fallen out of favor and if they wanted to trade him, they can feel free. Watching the ESPN telecast, you got the impression “The Manny Show” on as opposed to the game itself.
Here is the bottom line: The Red Sox are not trading Ramirez. Not before. Not now. Not ever. Any idea that they would do it is ridiculous. Boston is not winning a World Series without him in the lineup batting fourth behind Ortiz. Trading him essentially concedes that you are not winning this year. As Ramirez said, “the Red Sox are not stupid”. He is right, the Red Sox are not stupid. They know what they have and know that he cannot be replaced unless you plan to bring A-Rod or Albert Pujols back in a trade. Every year this crap takes place and people in Boston eat this stuff up and are now “offended” by his antics. Please, stop it. You enabled this crap for the last eight years and justified it because he hit and won two world championships. Do not come back and play the moral high ground card now. You turned in that card long ago.
Next meeting: August 26-28 at Yankee Stadium
Bring it on.
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