Yankee Talk: Rivalry Edition – Making it rain

Yanks bats batter Sawx again at Fenway

BOSTON – The rain that forecasters predicted early in the day came quickly and when it fell, everyone in the stadium ran for cover.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, there was nowhere to hide.

For the second straight day, the Yankees, despite missing several members of their order, continued their weekend hit parade, racking up double digit runs in a 14-3 thrashing of the Red Sox in front of 37,138 at Fenway Park.

The win continues the team’s best start since 2003. Dating back to last season, they have now won 13 of the last 15 games against Boston. This comes at a time where the Yankees are receiving contributions from everyone, and a reemergence of one of their key contributors.

Mark Teixeira barely could hit himself out of the month of April and now is on fire in the month of May with three homeruns in a 4-for-6 afternoon stretching into the evening to raise his average to .207.

His first hit of the day started the scoring for the Yankees when his RBI single to right off Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz scored Ramiro Pena, who led off the top of the third inning with a double. Alex Rodriguez then singled home Derek Jeter to up the lead to two.

CC Sabathia was in search of his fifth win and cruised early. However, Boston would respond with three runs in their half to retake the lead as Darnell McDonald blasted one over the wall in left center. Dustin Pedroia was hit in the backside perhaps in retaliation for Yankee hitters drilled by Josh Beckett the previous night, but Victor Martinez made him pay by hammering a hanging slider over the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.

The lead was short-lived as the Yankees tied the score in the fourth as Francisco Cervelli solid single to center scored Nick Swisher. In the fifth, they would retake the lead as Teixeira would homer to the bullpen in right. Cervelli increased the lead to three when he floated a single to shallow left center than scored two runs.

Buchholz, who was one of the few Red Sox pitchers performing well, was worn down and beaten up as Beckett was the previous night. In five innings, the young right-hander gave up six runs, nine hits and walked five over 93 pitches.

As dark clouds began to hover over Fenway park, Sabathia needed three more outs to be eligible for his fifth win of the season. Instead, in a flash, heavy rains came down on the field. With a 3-2 count on Martinez and two outs, umpired halted the action.

The rain delay stopped play for an hour and fifteen minutes. With the long wait, Joe Girardi removed Sabathia from the game, making him ineligible for the win. Alfredo Aceves came in relief and got Martinez to foul out to end the frame.

However in the sixth, Aceves would have to leave the game in the sixth when he awkwardly came off the mound after throwing a pitch. Replays initially believed it was a potential knee injury, but it would later turned to be lower back stiffness, an injury he had battled through for most of the season.

Teixeira’s second homer would come to start the seventh as he hammered a 1-0 pitch off Ramon Ramirez along Pesky’s Pole in right. Nick Swisher’s single to right drove in Rodriguez to increase the lead to 8-3.

The tandem of Aceves and David Robertson combined to pitch 2 1/3 scoreless innings. In the eighth, the Yankees would pile on reliever Daniel Bard as Swisher would drive home two on a double to right.

Cervelli would cap off a career day with five RBI’s as his single to center drove home two more as most of the Fenway Faithful left for the exits and mostly Yankee fans remained.

With the score no longer in doubt, Boston elected to not use anymore pitchers and brought in outfielder Jonathan Van Every to pitch. Jeter would greet him with a double off the wall and Teixeira would get the home run hat trick by blasting off the tower above the Green Monster to make it 14-3.

The bullpen in relief of Sabathia combined to throw 4 1/3 scoreless innings among five pitchers.

The Red Sox bullpen was not so lucky, throwing 113 pitches over four innings using the same five pitchers.

With the win, the Yankees have now won nine of their first ten series of the season. At 21-8, they enjoy a seven game lead over their rivals despite all of their injuries.

Sunday night they will look to go for the sweep. AJ Burnett takes the ball for the Yankees and Jon Lester will seek to avoid the sweep for the Red Sox.

Yankee Talk: Rivalry Edition – Phil stands tall

Hughes stature grows with performance against Sawx


BOSTON – The moment of the night for Phil Hughes came in the bottom of the sixth inning.

With the lead 9-1, David Ortiz singled to center to make the score 9-2.

Having a lead of that nature would allow most pitchers to relax and lose concentration.

Not Hughes.

Through his first four starts (all wins, no losses) of the year, he has been incredibly impressive in dominating fashion, limiting opponents to only 10 hits over his first 25 innings with opponents hitting a paltry .122.

This game was to be a measuring stick. The other games simply a feeling out process. Here he was on the mound at Fenway Park, against the Red Sox in another edition of “The Rivalry”.

What’s more, it was the “new and improved” Phil Hughes taking the mound to face the Red Sox.

This was not some wide-eyed kid seeing the bright lights for the first time. The young right-hander pitched several times in the late innings in this park last year during the Yankees championship run.

Now, here he was, bigger, stronger, more mature and confident than ever before ready to imprint himself of this family feud.

When you glance at Hughes on the mound, you would think that he is playing poker with the face that he has.

You can never tell if he is winning or losing because he is the ultimate sign of calm.

Only the great pitchers have this trait. You can never tell if the other team is flustering them or not because you cannot read their body language.

For Hughes, it never used to be this way.

When he first came up to the majors, he showed the same signs, but you could also see when things were bothering him.

The Yankees gave him a starting role in the rotation the next year that he did not have to earn. Whether it was lack of preparation or simply youth and lack of maturity, he was not the same pitcher who in his second major league start in 2007 flirted with a no-hitter before blowing out his hamstring in Texas. Or the same man coming in relief of Roger Clemens in Game 3 of the Division Series with the Yankees season on the line and slamming the door on the Cleveland Indians.

Here Hughes was now, on the mound going head-to-head with Josh Beckett in the first of this weekend series. Early on, Beckett had his good stuff, handcuffed Yankee hitters en route to five strikeouts over the first three innings.

It was a challenge that he was up for, relishing the opportunity on the proverbial “big stage”.
Hughes held the Red Sox hitless through his first three and when the Yankees finally broke through in the fourth on Nick Swisher’s three-run homer, the game was in his control.

Boston got a run in the fourth after two straight hard hit balls and a sacrifice fly by Ortiz. Instead of allowing the inning to drag on, he ended it by striking out Adrian Beltre with a high fastball tailing away for the final out of the inning. In the fifth, the Red Sox mounted a two-out rally on successive singles, but he got Dustin Pedroia to pop out to end the inning.

The Yankees chased Beckett from the game with a six-run sixth and with Hughes in line for the win, it was up to him to carry it home.

In Fenway Park, no lead is safe and you are always a few bad pitches away from the home team being back in the game.

With Adrian Beltre up, Hughes would bear down. After a first pitch ball, Beltre was late on a fastball and cutter, fouling them away. The next pitch was a cutter that painted the inside corner.

Strike three. Beltre down looking.

The cutter, a pitch Hughes developed last year while in the bullpen now a major part of his arsenal.

Adding that to the plus-fastball and curveball that he already has in addition to the grow of his changeup makes him a developing four-pitch pitcher on track to finally fulfilling the promise the Yankees have always had for him.

Jeremy Hermida was next up. The count went to 2-2. Hughes knew what he wanted to throw and was ready to go. In previous starts, he would not have the same confidence that he exudes now. The time in the bullpen that he spent last year has proved invaluable to his development. He now has conviction and knows what he wants to do whenever he wants to do it.

That in lies the difference right now between Hughes and the antithesis of that being Javier Vazquez. Mentally, Hughes has his plan, trusts his stuff and shows tremendous mental toughness to never crack.

With the count 2-2, Hughes and catcher Francisco Cervelli agreed on throwing a cutter away in hopes that Hermida would chase it.

The pitch painted the outside corner with Hermida not taking a hack.

Strike three. Hermida down looking.

It was the Red Sox best chance to make a dent in this game and they couldn’t get any more than the one run Hughes gave back to them.

Hughes’ 101st and final pitch of his evening was to Marco Scutaro in the seventh. The Red Sox shortstop would hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

At that point, you see the young Yankee let out just a little bit of emotion as the ball landed in Mark Teixeira’s glove, but not a lot.

Seven strong innings giving up only two runs in a Yankees win.

For Phil Hughes, it was his turn to announce to the baseball world that he has arrived.

Yankee Talk: Rivalry Edition – Winning and Losing

Yanks break down Beckett and hammer Sawx

BOSTON – The more the Yankees win, the more they continue to lose.

This night was supposed to be about the emergence of Phil Hughes as an elite starting pitcher, mastering his first “big game” test against the Red Sox in Fenway Park.

It also should be about the Yankees offense, once again pounding Josh Beckett for the second time this season into submission with an unbelievable resourcefulness.

Instead, in victory, the Yankees continue to find themselves stricken with the injury bug, taking away most of the good feeling surrounding their 10-3 beating of the Red Sox in front of 37,898 at Fenway Park.

Lost in all of the winning was the loss during the game of Robinson Cano and Nick Johnson to injury.

Cano had to leave the game in the sixth inning after taking a powerful fastball from Beckett off the left knee, winced heavily at home plate and slowly walked to first base. Once there, attempting to loosen up, he continued to be in pain, forcing him to leave the game.

The second and most damaging came when Nick Johnson injured his hand in the fifth inning while at-bat. Johnson was pinch-hit for by Marcus Thames. Yankee personnel would say before the game was over that the often-injured new Yankee would be sent back to New York to see a hand specialist, so not only is a trip to the disabled list likely, but he may be out of action for several weeks.

These two losses put a damper on what was yet another great night for a team that has won its fifth in a row and third straight at Fenway going back to the start of the season.

Early on, it appeared Beckett was in rare form, blistering through the Yankee lineup, striking out five in the first three innings.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes was up for the challenge. The 23-year old, was making only his second start in Boston since 2008, making him zero-for-zero and not allowing a hit.

In the fourth, the Yankee offense finally broke through. Mark Teixeira worked a walk and Alex Rodriguez singled to right. After Robinson Cano struck out on a foul tip, Beckett was ahead of Nick Swisher 0-2 in the counter. Swisher worked the count even and then jumped on a breaking ball and homered over the camera well in center field for a three-run blast to put the Yankees ahead.

This appeared to stun and shake Beckett, who was not the same pitcher after that.

Hughes carried the lead on and the Red Sox would chip away in the bottom half as David Ortiz’s sacrifice fly gave Boston its first run. With a runner on third and two out, Hughes blew a high fastball past Adrian Beltre to end the inning.

Beckett would finally become unglued in the sixth. After Rodriguez doubled start, Cano was hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. Swisher struck out as the runners moved on a wild pitch.

The Red Sox would then elect to intentionally walk Brett Gardner to load the bases for Francisco Cervelli, who already had a hit earlier in the game. The Yankee catcher worked the count full before drawing a walk on a pitch inside, scoring Rodriguez to make it 4-1.

Randy Winn then lined a single to left to score Ramiro Pena (who pinch ran for Cano) to up the lead to four. Beckett would then drill Derek Jeter in the back to force in another run as the Yankee dugout screaming their displeasure toward the Boston right-hander.

An infield single by Marcus Thames scored another. And when Teixeira lined a single to right to increase the margin to 8-1, it was the end of Beckett’s night.

As he left the mound to a chorus of boos, the Red Sox co-ace was the victim of yet another pounding from the Yankees offense. In two starts this season, Beckett has pitched 10 innings, giving up 17 hits, 13 earned runs and a hefty ERA of 11.70.

With the score 9-1 after Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly, Hughes could now take control of the game. He would give up a run in the bottom half when Ortiz singled to center to drive in a run.

In the seventh, Hughes would finish the night when he induced Marco Scutaro into an inning ending double play. It was night that marked his introduction to the rivalry in a starting role as a success.

Over seven innings, the young right-hander gave up two runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out seven to gain his fourth win of the season with an ERA of 1.69.

Saturday the Yankees will seek their ninth series victory of the season and their sixth in a row. CC Sabathia takes the ball against Clay Buchholz.

Yankee Talk: Speeding into the spotlight

Gardner showcasing talent with full-time role

NEW YORK –Honestly, Brett Gardner is never going to scare an opponent when he comes to the plate.

When a starting pitcher goes through the Yankee lineup, they probably feel as if they running the equivalent of a gauntlet.

For them, they see Gardner as a chance to get one of the few outs they can.

It is with this thinking that gets them in trouble.

He may have the gaudy talent and lifetime numbers as the other members of the lineup, but it is something he can use to his advantage as pitchers underestimate his ability.

On Sunday in the bottom of the second inning, White Sox starter Mark Buehrle gave up a two-run double to Robinson Cano, but got the next two men out. This brought Gardner to the plate in a lefty-lefty matchup that favorer the veteran Chicago left-hander.

Gardner though would hang in there; driving in a run on a ball that Paul Konerko could not range far enough for as the Yankees jumped on top 1-0.

Now it was the fourth inning. Buehrle escaped possible damage the third when with the bases loaded; Jorge Posada’s bullet line drive to left was caught by Juan Pierre to end the inning, keeping the score close.

This time, he could look at the three hitters coming up and his mind, feel as if he could take a breather. Marcus Thames, Brett Gardner and Ramiro Pena were certainly no “Murderers Row”.

With one out, Gardner came up.

This time, he would work the count to 3-2. Well known for his incredible speed, the last thing Buehrle wanted to do was walk him considering he is among the best at pounding the strike zone. Walking him would be like surrendering a double with his ability to steal bases.

Knowing this, Gardner saw a fastball in the middle of the plate, almost as if Buehrle was daring him to hit his way on base.

He did. With a good swing, he drove the ball out to right field and into the seats for the home run to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. It was his first homer since late June when he hit one out of cavernous Citi Field.

It was simply a continuance of surprise performance in the early season for the Yankee outfielder. After starting the season as the everyday left fielder, a groin injury to Curtis Granderson has moved him back to centerfield for at least several weeks, assuring he will be in the everyday lineup.

After questions about whether can play and sustain his level of play of a season’s worth at bats, Gardner in the season’s first month is answering all questions. After his 2-for-4 performance in the Yankees 12-3 rocking chair victory, he upped his average to a hefty .342 (25-for73). Factor in his outstanding defense in the outfield, and to this point, Gardner has been an unmitigated success.

On a team filled with stars, he is showing that you do not need to have a future Hall of Fame player at every position. Each squad needs a group of gritty players that overachieve, produce, and in turn, spark the rest of the roster.

When Gardner came back to the bench after that homerun, you could see the rest of the team embracing him. For the little man, getting a hold of one is no small feat. At most, he’ll likely finish with two or three for the season, so he can brag about this one for a while.

Gardner in the nine-spot followed by Jeter makes the lineup circular and adds a different threat to the offense.

You try to come up with a player that he reminds you of and closest comparison is that of Brett Butler, who used to play centerfield for both the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Both players are of similar build (each are 5’10, Butler weighs 15 pounds more) and one (Butler) was a classic leadoff hitter during the his playing days of the 80’s and 90’s.

One would think he could not keep this up the entire season. But if he does, he would be another to add on the list of homegrown players to be developed by the Yankees.

We are seeing Robinson Cano mature into a superstar. Phil Hughes is finally showing all the promise that made him baseball top pitching prospect several years ago. Gardner is trying to put his name into that group.

Having such a productive player at a premium position at minimal cost only makes the team more dangerous and able to spend their resources elsewhere.

While the Yankees have privately had their eye on several high profile outfielders as free agents, perhaps they may have found a homegrown solution instead.

Don’t Stop Believing

I keep saying how much I marvel at the team’s ability even in defeat to give themselves a chance to win each time at the end.

Down by three runs last Tuesday in Baltimore, the Yankees had nothing going on. There was one out and no men on base.
Not the way you would draw up a rally.

However, I said to myself that if they could just get a man on base, they could still come back. The Orioles had a pitcher named Alfredo Simon (who would not be distinguishable even if wore a nametag that read, “Hello, my name is Alfredo Simon”) closing the game for the first time in his career.

Nick Swisher singled to center and then Nick Johnson drew a walk. Instantly, I thought the comeback could happen.

Derek Jeter struck out on a nasty slider for the second out, and Brett Gardner hit what was to be a routine grounder to shortstop to end the game.

Instead, Julio Lugo booted the ball, Gardner was safe and first and Swisher scored to make it 5-3.
Everyone in the building knew Gardner was going to steal second as he was the tying run at first and needed to get into scoring position. However, Mark Teixeira hacked at the first pitch, grounding an RBI single to right to make it 5-4.

Now it was inevitable. Alex Rodriguez would come up needing just a single to complete this improbable comeback. He swung at the first pitch and appeared to have a clean single up the up the middle.

Instead, Lugo played him towards the middle of the diamond, fielding the ball cleanly and throwing to second for the force to end the game.

The Yankees may have lost the game, but it continued to show the game is never over with his team. Just when you think you can call it a night, they always give you some hope they can pull a victory out.

You don’t believe?

Look at the team’s eight losses this season and you can only consider two of them “clean”, the 9-3 loss at Tampa and the 8-4 loss to the Angels (the game where Girardi lost his mind in the seventh inning). Outside of those games, in each other defeat, they have had the tying run or winning run at the plate with six outs remaining.

That is all you can ask from a team.

Back when, I always questioned the heart of this team, never able to battle back when hit with a
punch to the mouth.

Most times, they would fall. A few times, they would get back up, but usually not make the proverbial “ten count”.

Now, along with the Phillies, they display the toughest chins in the league. You had better knock them out and not give them even the slightest bit of chance late in any of these games or risk sealing your own fate.

The never ending story of Javy

With so much good stuff going around, it is very easy to see the negative.

In this case, the negative is now reaching extreme levels.

One of these weeks I will not have to write about Javier Vazquez, but he has to pitch well shut the mouths of those observing.

Let’s just say we are still waiting.

On Saturday, the crowd at Yankee Stadium came for blood. However, many of us were willing to give him a chance, albeit small.

It took only three batters in for the crowd to get on Vazquez’s ass as with two strikes, Andruw Jones turned around a fastball for a first inning homerun.

Boo.

Vazquez gave up another run in the second and the crowd sensed more failure to come. Jones would hit another homerun in the third and when .108 hitting Mark Kotsay hit a two-run blast in the fourth, there was no turning back for him.

It was over.

The crowd and I had seen enough. Whether all of these problems are in his head or he is simply not
tough enough to pitch here, something is wrong.

Is he concealing an injury? No one knows and it is as baffling a thing as we’ve seen here in years.

As Joe Girardi made the slow walk to the mound in the fourth inning, the crowd, made up mostly of families with younger children, spared him from an greater verbal beat down.

This is why the Yankees made the best decision possible in not starting him this Friday against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

At first, my prevailing thought was that the current Boston lineup in no way resembles the squads of the past and thus, he could navigate through it.

Upon further review, this would be the worst thing for him.

The crowd, knowing he is mentally shot, would be on him from the beginning and only intensify when he is in trouble. Then, trying too hard, he would cave into the pressure, get embarrassed, the
Yankees would lose and his confidence would be officially lost, perhaps for the season.

He will start in Detroit on Tuesday in a much less pressurized situation. Maybe that can rescue him.

I doubt it seriously.

Time now for another edition of Yankee Random Thoughts

Phil Hughes is pitching so incredibly, you run out of superlatives to describe what has happened over the first month of the season.

After his seven-shutout innings on Sunday against the White Sox, Hughes lowered his ERA to a miniscule 1.44.

The ERA does not begin to tell the story. When you look at the rest of the numbers, they are even more remarkable.

10 hits allowed in 25 innings and even with the 12 walks, it equates to a 0.88 WHIP.

Wow!

The problem the Yankees are going to run into now is that if Vazquez continues his problems and the team is insistent on an innings cap for the young right-hander, how are they going to make this work?
Does anyone really want Vazquez anywhere near the mound for a Yankee playoff game on the road?

No!

So it will be incumbent on the Yankees to find days where they can skip him and give him additional days to where his innings do not reach past that magic number.

I’m still waiting for “Bad AJ” to make an appearance this season and so far It hasn’t happened.

This is meant as a compliment to AJ Burnett as he has cruised through the month of the season.

Once brittle (knock on wood), Burnett has come into this season with a mindset of finally reaching all of the potential everyone thinks exists in that right arm of his.

There is no reason he should not be a Cy Young candidate with his stuff. Injuries have played a role, but over the last two-plus seasons, he has made 72 starts (only two pitchers have made more starts) and is 15 games over .500 (34-19).

Even though he pitched the game of his life in Game 2 of the World Series, we still have our doubts about him on the road.

Sorry.

After Derek Jeter got the two-run triple on Friday night in the Yankees 6-4 win over the White Sox, a Chicago fan came up to me and that their reliever Matt Thornton, should not have been in the game to pitch in that spot.

On the White Sox postgame show, callers wondered why a right-hander wasn’t in the game instead.

My response: If your best relief pitcher cannot come into the game in the seventh inning with the game on the line, he's probably not that good.

It wasn’t as if those other stiffs were going to do any better anyway.

David Robertson is the one Yankee out of the bullpen who is not pitching well, giving credence to the idea that relievers are volatile from year to year.

Nick Johnson is still not hitting.

I still blame his daughter for getting him on a bad slump during the home opener when his at-bat music was Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”.

There has been no party for Nick this season unless he’s drawing a walk.

Maybe a couple weeks away is what Curtis Granderson needs. He went into a terrible slump before his groin injury on Saturday.

After starting out well, his production dipped. Although it is a small sample size, Granderson had not shown success against lefty pitching (.161) as advertised in the spring.

Defensively he has been good. But there are still too many times I notice where he will not get a good initial read on the ball as it comes off the bat.

This is not to say I wanted to keep Austin Jackson (even though he leads MLB in hits and strikeouts), but the Yankees are betting on Granderson being a better player over the next three years than Jackson, so it will be interesting to see.

I refuse to believe Marcus Thames’ .588 (10-for-17) average against left-handed pitching exists.

The surprise of the season came Monday night when with the score tied 1-1, Randy Winn took Jeremy Guthrie deep into the Yankees bullpen for a three-run homer.

In the dugout, the players celebrated like children, happy for the veteran Winn
who was 1-for-14 this season before the big fly.

Winn had not homered since April 25 of last season, and was making a case for being another one of my whipping boys.

The blast was another in a list of happy moments this season.

Yankee Talk: Gut Wrench

Joe goes against instinct, costs Yankees


ANAHEIM – During a game in Anaheim last July, the Yankees were in the midst of losing the final three games before the All-Star break against an Angels team missing three of its best players.

The image of the series came when manager Joe Girardi continued to look down at a statistical book while each Yankee pitcher, one by one, continued to turn around and look up as each hit went past them, around them, and out of the ballpark.

This “book”, as seen on the bench, I began to refer to it as “Joe’s Computer”. When in doubt, Girardi would always go to it whenever things got tight.

So it came as no surprise on Sunday that Girardi would remind us all that his computer was in fact, still in existence and needed a little dusting off.

During the playoffs, Joe’s Computer failed him on several occasions, mainly Game 3 and 5 of the League Championship Series when the Yankees had the Angels by the throat, and continued to give them life, extending the series far beyond where it should before eventually winning in six games.

Winning a world championship last year did not eliminate “Joe’s Computer”. Rather, it gained legitimacy and was not going to leave us anytime soon, if ever.

The Yankees were trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Angels having runners on first and third and Kendry Morales at the plate.

Before the at-bat, Morales was 6-for-9 in the series, blasting the go-ahead two-run homer on Friday in a 6-4 Angels win. Even though there was not a base open, the first instinct in my mind was for the Yankees to walk him anyway.

Juan Rivera was in the on-deck circle and David Robertson was ready in the bullpen to face him assuming Damaso Marte walked him to load the bases.

Girardi initially signaled catcher Francisco Cervelli to have Marte walk Morales intentionally. However, with the count 1-0, Girardi decided to change his mind and elected to pitch to him.

The count ran to 3-0 and everyone with a brain assumed the Yankees would walk him now with no point in throwing him a strike and Marte looking as if he would rather face anyone else in the world than him.

Girardi and bench coach Tony Pena would signal to Cervelli that Morales would swing on a 3-0 count. Instructing Marte not lay one down the middle of the plate.

Simply enough, right?

Cervelli called for a fastball outside, instead it came right over the middle of the plate and Morales drove it to the trees, deep over the center field wall for a three-run homer.

Just like that, game over.

The whole scene during the at-bat was uncomfortable and you knew the ending was not going to be good.

It was almost as if the inevitable was coming after the first pitch.

The Yankees went on to lose the game (allowing Javier Vazquez to escape further scrutiny for another bum performance, blowing a 3-0 lead) 8-4, and if the question to the manager about that sequence wasn’t the first, second and third question in the press conference, the beat writers all should have been fired.

Girardi said he went against his gut, opting to go for what the computer was telling him and he paid for it by the team losing.

Sometimes your gut can override whatever the computer is telling you. One thing the computer does not have is emotion and feel. However, the one thing the manager does have is eyes, and the look in Marte’s face on the mound told you he did not want to be in there and should have been gone immediately.

Gut 1, Computer 0.

This will be the last adventure into Joe’s Computer for the season. Surely it will remerge numerous times before the end of the season, so I may as well prepare for more of these episodes before the end of the season.

What, you did not think we were going to go through a season without a Girardi controversy did you?
Yes, I may have been exceedingly hard on him last season, but that won’t mean he escapes my wrath when things go wrong made of his own doing.

Down goes Nick

If you had April 23 in the “When will Nick Johnson be out of the lineup due to injury” pool, you’re a winner!

Johnson missed the final two games of the series against the Angels with lower back stiffness.

The moment I heard he was going to miss time, the first thing I thought about was the line that Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker) used in the movie Major League II when describing the Indians left-fielder Hiroshi Kamikaze Tanaka:

“He knocks himself cold for the second time this week. Maybe in Japan that’s better than catching the ball. Personally, I just think he’s trying to get out of the lineup.”

Surely, that .135 average is enough to put anyone out of a lineup, but Johnson has been able to justify his existence by walking. However, it is clearly noticeable to anyone watching these games that he is swinging at air when the pitcher is throwing strikes.

12 of his 18 strikeouts have been looking, which tells you that he either has become so fine in looking for his pitch, or simply has no confidence to swing the bat.

You don’t think he would take a few more swings if he was “feeling it” at the plate?

It has become so bad that Johnson has changed his number from 26 to 36.

Perhaps no one will notice that is really him out there when he returns to the lineup, which at this point is anyone’s guess.

Surely if he cannot return and get his stroke back against the Orioles this week at Camden Yards, then we may be in for some problems.

Javy the “Run Fairy”

Here, we may have a problem.

Going from the National League to the American League and pitching for the Yankees does not take away nearly five miles an hour from one’s fastball does it?

Something has to explain Javier Vazquez’s mysterious loss of velocity from last season to this season. He has gone from throwing 94 last year to barely touching 90 MPH this year, with no explanation whatsoever.

Watching him pitch yesterday, he had the look of a pitcher that one person in the Yankees organization referred to as a “loser’s gene”.

Simply put, a “loser’s gene” is that of a guy without the mental toughness during a game to battle and simply succumbs to the pressure and accepts defeat rather than show a willingness to compete.

Looking at the body language on Vazquez on Sunday and you see a man lacking confidence and belief in anything he is trying to do out on the mound.

The biggest difference has come in his velocity. Right now, Vazquez’s 90 MPH fastball with little movement in the American League amounts to nothing more than batting practice. Curveballs and sliders have little bite and with his changeup variation not decipherable from his fastball, he has encountered tremendous problems.

Perhaps Vazquez is nursing an injury. Problem is that the Yankee right-hander claims there is nothing wrong with him, saying all of his problems are mechanical.

Back in 2004, things were going just fine until after August 6. At the time, he was 13-6 and went 1-4 the rest of the season with an ERA hovering over seven. It was only recently that he told the media he suffered an injured shoulder limiting his effectiveness, turning him into pitching equivalent of a piñata.

Maybe this is just Vazquez’s rough patch and he will turn it around. Or maybe this is going to be a situation where he will have maddening streaks of hot and coldness, channeling his inner Katy Perry.

“You’re hot and you’re cold…you’re yes than you’re no…you’re in and you’re out…you’re up and you’re down”

If that is so, I may have to turn off my TV on these nights just to avoid such nonsense.

He is the weak link of the squad. The other four starters are pitching great, making Vazquez’s ineptness stand out. Lucky for him the Yankees can work through these issues while they are still winning.

Time now for some Yankees Random Thoughts

I know Angel Stadium is still voodoo, but I still came away from that series thinking the Yankees were still the better team.

Something has to give with that place. A three-run lead is never safe there.

I call it “the curse of the three-run lead”.

In each of the last seven games the Yankees have played in that building, they have had a lead of at least two runs every single time.

Give the Angels credit for coming back. However, much like last year’s playoffs, I still feel confident about stealing one game there as the Yankees did in Game 4 last year. It is on the Angels to figure out a way to win in The Bronx.

Mark Teixeira sent Angels catcher Bobby Wilson a big message when he drilled him at the plate while rounding third base on Friday night.

Bracing of a possible collision, Teixeira got into a crouch and lowered his head.

The result was Wilson ending up in a heap at the plate, taken out of the game by doctors and later diagnosed with a concussion.

Could Teixeira have slid, avoiding contact with Wilson?

Perhaps.

How is he supposed to see from 90 feet that the plate is not covered? Then, when Wilson turns to face him, not assume he has the ball?

It was an unfortunate, but tough.

Good, old-fashioned baseball there.

No more Marcus Thames in left Joe, I’m begging you.

Did you know the Yankees lead MLB in strikeouts looking?

Blame Nick Johnson.

Nick Swisher too.

Hell, add Teixeira’s name to that list.

The sound of a rocket you just heard came off the bat of Robinson Cano.

How about the start of the year for Andy Pettitte?

Saturday, the left-hander continued his great pitching with eight strong innings on Saturday giving up only one run.

Admittedly, I had concerns about Pettitte after not throwing much in the spring. Instead, it is probably the best thing that could have happened.

Without throwing his customary 20 spring training innings, that keeps more strength in that left arm to use in games that mean something.

I just wonder if he pitches to another strong season, will he choose to retire in the same manner as Mike Mussina? Or, will he pitch until he cannot do so anymore?

One would think that Pettitte has little concern for records and his ability to win 300 games will not entice him enough to stick around to pitch past the age of 40.

Just remember this: Every pitcher that is more than 100 games over .500 for his career has made the Hall.

Pettitte is 97 games over.

A solid season (think 16-8) will put him 105 games over. Add in his postseason, and a compelling case can be made for him.

We’ll see.

Yankee Talk: Off to the races

Yanks starting season strong despite issues

NEW YORK – Hangover? What World Series hangover?

Usually what will follow a championship is a sense of complacency and lost hunger, taking a talented team and making them play below their level of performance.

However, when you have the leadership the Yankees have, fans that always expecting the best, and a (drive by) media that cannot wait for the first crisis to write about, there is nothing to worry about.

As they came home for the first time to receive their championship rings to put closure on last season and channel their energy towards this year, the Yankee Express saw the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers in their way and squashed them like mosquitoes.

One of these two teams will likely represent the American League West in the playoffs. Over six games against the Yankees, they both appeared overmatched, as if they were not even in the same league.

Even though the Angels salvaged one of the three games of the series, they had barely held on at the end to win.Leading 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees loaded the bases with no one out. In the mind, a comeback was inevitable. They would end up scoring two runs and had the go-ahead run at the plate with only one out.

The Angels may have been able to escape the inning without further trouble, but it was a red flag to the rest of the league that no matter how far down or how late in the game it is, the Yankees can always come back.

It never used to be this way for the last five years. I long held the belief that after the 2004 season, teams were able to hit them in the mouth and they would not respond. The lack of toughness and ability grind and gut out a victory was too difficult for some members, who simply would concede defeat and move on to the next day.

This team, starting from last year, is different. They have a unique ability, much like a high-powered football offense, to score from anywhere on the field at any moment.

No deficit appears too small.

It is an admirable trait, and something only the great teams have. That trait is something that is not available for purchase on the free agent market.

So while they are off to their best start since 2003, we can complain that Javier Vazquez is still not pitching well, and Mark Teixeira and Nick Johnson not hitting.

Besides that, there is nothing to complain about.

Out in Oakland, they have continued their splendid play, winning the first two before dropping the finale. The climax of it was the near no-hitter thrown by Phil Hughes on Wednesday night.

If the Yankees are going to get these outings from a man the team pegs as its fifth starter performing at the level of a second or third, then this puts them in another stratosphere.

One can only imagine what they would be if Javier Vazquez could right himself.

Scary.

The Yankees have taken all of their talent, mixed in good character, added in belief and chemistry, and this is the result: A powerful force that begs the following question:

“Who can stop them?”

The value of working the count

Starting pitchers on opposing teams have felt the wrath of this seemingly impregnable Yankee lineup. For a team that has yet to hit his stride on offense, the efficient way they are able to work a pitcher and wear him down completely, forcing managers to dip into the underbelly of their bullpens which has become the equivalent of sending them to the wolves.

With the exception of Joel Pineiro throwing seven great innings in the Angels win on Wednesday, each pitcher the Yankees have seen over the last seven games have not lasted long, with the pitch counts rising.

Tuesday vs. Ervin Santana – 5 2/3 innings, 113 pitches

Thursday vs. Scott Kazmir – 4 innings, 87 pitches

Friday vs. CJ Wilson – 6 innings, 112 pitches

Saturday vs. Scott Feldman – 2 1/3 innings, 73 pitches

Sunday vs. Rich Harden – 3 2/3 innings, 94 pitches

Tuesday vs. Gio Gonzalez – 4 1/3 innings, 97 pitches

Those numbers are ugly for opponents. Only 26 total innings hurled from those six starters (an average of just over 4 innings) and 576 pitches. That is slightly over 22 pitches per out.

The Yankees “Nick’s” (Johnson and Swisher) are the two people partially responsible for this with their unbelievable plate discipline and pitch recognition extends at-bats even if the result is an out.

While they may not have found their stroke at the plate (Johnson hitting .125, Swisher hitting .208), their trips to the plate set the table for others in the lineup to produce.

Walking is not sexy, but as the saying goes, “A walk is as good as a hit”

Case in point, on Tuesday night in Oakland, the Yankees led 3-0 against starter Gio Gonzalez. With one out, both Johnson and Mark Teixeira worked walks to bring up Alex Rodriguez. Athletics manager Bob Geren brought in reliever Craig Breslow to pitch and just like that, Rodriguez mashed a three-run homer to make it 6-0, blowing the game wide open.

This proved two things.

One, it shows their ability to work counts and draw walks, being able to pass the baton to other great hitters in the Yankee lineup.

Two, with Gonzalez out of the game in the fifth, Geren had no choice but to bring in one of his worst relievers to put out the fire.

The results spoke for themselves.

Hughes flirts with no-no

Making his second start of the season, the 23-year old right-hander pitched the best game of his career, completely dominating the

Athletics impotent lineup with overpowering stuff.

He set his career high for strikeouts (10), and took a no-hitter into the bottom of the eighth inning before losing it when he was unable to locate a ball that hit off his forearm to the ground off the bat of Eric Chavez. Hughes looked up assuming the ball was in the air, instead Jorge Posada attempted to signal the ball was on the ground.

It was a difficult way to lose a no-hit bid. The last time Hughes was in this position, it was May 2007 when he took a no-no into the bottom of the seventh against Texas before blowing out his right hamstring and missing the next three months.

Sure, it could have been easy for him to lose control of his emotions and his reaction to the Chavez hit showed that behind that poker face is a man who knew he had a chance to make history and was angry with himself. His parents, watching in the stands could not believe it, but were more concerned about the health of their son as the infield, manager and trainer all came to check on his health.

The best part was that after the cooling off period, he struck out Kevin Kouzmanoff. Hughes would walk Gabe Gross to signal the end of Hughes’ night.

As he walked off, he received loud cheers from the crowd in Oakland, many of them Yankee fans. With an acknowledgement tip of the cap, Hughes announced to the baseball world that he has arrived on the baseball scene.

After moving from a starter to reliever and now back to a starter, Hughes won the competition (that wasn’t) in spring training and everyone was curious to see what the man (nicknamed by me “The Phranchise”) would perform.

After giving up only three hits and two runs in six innings in his first start (a 6-2 win over the Angels) last Thursday, Hughes was even better the second time around.

It took 108 pitches to get 15 outs in his first start. Wednesday, his last pitch in the bottom of the eighth was 101. While high adrenaline may have led to an inordinate amount of deep counts after being ahead previously, Oakland’s aggressiveness played against them. 18 of their 25 hitters were behind in the count two strikes. Many of them eventually finding themselves on the bench, a streak reaching 20 in row after Daric Barton drew a walk in the first inning.

We are still waiting for the unveiling of Hughes’ change-up, a pitch that vowed to use more of this season as a starter. So far, we haven’t seen much of it.

Of course, when you’re pitching as well as Hughes was last night with his fastball, cutter and curveball, why mess with a good thing?

It seems like long ago when Hughes had control problems, lacked velocity, could not get a win and appeared to have his confidence broken.

That was just two years ago.

Two years later, Hughes is more mature, self-assured and ready to break out.

Age is just a number

Who says that just because a player gets older they are to decline?
Do not tell that to the Yankees, who continue to defy the baseball laws of age, and in fact produce as well now in their mid to late 30’s as they did in their mid to late 20’s.

The “Core Four” of Derek Jeter (36), Jorge Posada (38), Andy Pettitte (38) and Mariano Rivera (40) continue to produce at high quality levels, and do not appear to be falling off anytime soon.

Jeter (.323 AVG, 3 HR, .864 OPS) has picked exactly where he left off last season, spraying the ball to all parts of the field and using his legendary swing to still hit homeruns out to the opposite field.

Posada (.348 AVG, 3 HR, 1.054 OPS), for all of the games caught behind the plate over the years, still appears to be fresh. He should be even healthier throughout the season with productive backup Francisco Cervelli ready to play at a moment’s notice.

What else can you say about Andy Pettitte (2-0, 1.35 ERA)? Just when you think he’s done, he continues to show he has plenty of game in that left arm of his. On Sunday against Texas, he had a difficult time finding his command for the first three innings, allowing two runs.

Then, Pettitte found “it”. Usually with him, if you do not get him early when he is down, you will not get him. He would rally to pitch eight innings and get the ball to Rivera.

He is the epitome of gut and grit on this team. Just when you think you have him beat, he comes back and fights you all the end until the end.

Who knows when it will all end for him, but it just makes you wonder why the Yankees elected to part ways with him nearly seven years ago, allowing him to go to Houston.

Rivera (0.00 ERA, 6 saves, 3 hits) continues to be age-proof. He may not throw 95 MPH as he used to when he was under. However, his unbelievable control continues to miss bats and induce weak swings from hitters.

How can Alex Rodriguez just quietly remain under the radar? You hardly realize sometimes that he is on the team.

Amazing how things have changed for him?

With no burden and just playing loose and free, Rodriguez’s true talent is on display.

He has not been compelled to swing at anything out of the strike zone and doesn’t mind taking a walk (11 so far), thus leading the team in on-base percentage.

His defense has been superb, and it is only a matter of time before his offense begins to take off.

Time now for a few Yankee Random Thoughts

Is there something about the new Yankee Stadium that causes the Angels to forget how to play defense?

This happened during the postseason last year and showed up again last week. Normal, routine plays that they always make become adventures, eventually leading to Yankee runs.

If only this could happen at Angel Stadium.

Great to see AJ Burnett get off to a good start to the year.

The marriage with Posada seems to be working well, which is good because I sure as hell did not want to deal with drama every five days about they could not get along.

Let’s not put anything into the relationship between CC Sabathia and Francisco Cervelli. It has only come about due to a string of day games after night’s that has brought this marriage.

Ok, so Cervelli happened to be catching the game Sabathia nearly pitch a no-hitter and against Texas, and will again Thursday at Oakland.

Hold your pens and paper everyone, this is not a story. Blame the schedule.

Some of our fans clearly have lost their minds. Why else would they boo Nick Johnson for his current .136 average?

Boo-birds were out for Johnson on Sunday after he struck out three times against the Rangers at home lowering his batting that after Thursday stands at .125.

Yes, his average is paltry, but when you noticed his on-base percentage is nearly 38 percent, what is there to complain about?

Johnson is consistently drawing walks (18) to justify his low average. If he wasn’t walking, then we would have something to complain about and I could justify the booing.

Seriously, he is going to have to hit soon.

Put it this way, if he was on the championship team last year as Mark Teixeira was, he would have a high amount of credit that would allow him to struggle as he has so far.

Last year, I was so down early on Tex that I would place my own personal bets when he could come to the plate during the first six weeks as to whether he would strike out looking or swinging.

He would break out of it in a big way, but it is difficult to watch him go through his struggles because you know he is a much better hitter than what he is showing (7-for-56).

It is only a matter of time, but our happiness always requires immediacy and patience is never a virtue.

Think about it, the Yankees have their 2-3 hitters each hitting .125 and are still pounding the opposition.

What if they actually started to hit?

Girardi would not have taken Hughes out if his pitch count was up going into the ninth too, would he?

Great to see Ramiro “Nino” Pena get his first two RBI’s come with the bases loaded on Sunday. He has become one of my favorites on the team and at least Girardi can pencil him into the lineup on occasion and not feel as if he will be an automatic out.

Randy Winn might be on “pick on radar". Something about him that I do not like.

Joba Chamberlain officially earned the eighth inning role with his performance the first two weeks.

Girardi did not officially use those words, but he in essence said that on Wednesday before the game.


The velocity in the mid the mid 90’s and not the high 90’s as it once was, but he is locating better and appears more composed on the mound, with the occasional fist pump not far away.

I’m keeping my eye on Tampa Bay in the AL East. They are off to a good start, have a good lineup, great defense, and five quality starters that give them a great chance to win every night.

This is no slight on the Sawx, who still have a good team. However, you notice that their lineup is not going to be able to consistently score runs as long as Ortiz is batting fifth every night.

This is fine by me as blowing them out of the water is fine by me.

I’m not saying it will happen, but there is a very high probability that this team will challenge the 1998 Yankees for wins in a season.

Tall order? Of course. 114 is a very high number.

However, this may be the team to do it.

On The Road – The Best Worst Game Ever Played

Mets and Cardinals play on…and on and on

ST. LOUIS – The beauty of baseball is that there is no time limit.

Sure, you may think the game will end at a certain time, but it is no definite.

You may budget three and maybe even four hours under the assumption that all nine innings, and maybe even a few extra frames will play out within that framework of time.

However, you just never know.

On Saturday, the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals treated baseball to a game that included history and at times, incompetence.

What began as a start in the middle of a sunny afternoon took us all the way into the night with most of us just asking for one of these teams to emerge victorious so we can all move on with our lives.

Thank goodness, because the ending prevented me from the thinking that perhaps slicing myself with a razor blade and bleeding to death was a better option than watching these two teams one-up each other in terms of ineptness that was on display.

If you had dinner plans for the evening, this was not the game for you.

I did. How do you think that worked out?

The end result of the Mets 2-1 victory in 20 innings that lasted nearly seven hours left those on the field and in the stands drained of energy, thankful that it was finally over.

At the start, the main attraction was to see Mets left-hander Johan Santana. His mound opponent for the Cardinals, Jaime Garcia, was making only his third ever major-league start. Originally, I thought Adam Wainwright was on the mound. Clearly, I did not read the MLB.com Gameday preview correctly.


Santana against Garcia on paper looked like a mismatch. However with the Mets offense resembling that of little leaguers swinging the equivalent of wiffle-bats, even today is not a guarantee.

While Santana struggled through the first few innings, Garcia looked like Sandy Koufax, fooling hitters with an assortment of breaking stuff and not throwing a fastball (according to the stadium radar gun above 90 MPH).

With no hits by a Mets player through the first three innings, each member of our four person traveling crew put one dollar into a pool and chose a player we thought would get a hit. David Wright (chosen by Eddie), Jeff Francoeur (chosen by me), Fernando Tatis (chosen by Dave), and Jason Bay (chosen by Will) were the candidates.

Surely, one of them would get a hit by the end of this game.

Right?

In a complete stunner to all of us (well, maybe not all), the Mets went hitless for the first five innings. Angel Pagan’s looping fly to center to lead off the sixth ended the no-hit bid, but did not win anyone money in the pool. Later, with first and third with two out, Garcia struck out Wright to end the inning, costing Eddie a chance at the money.

Santana rebounded from his early game struggles to pitch seven scoreless innings. In baseball, that’s called “gutting it out”.

The Cardinals great chance to score the game’s first run came in the bottom of the eighth with two out and Matt Holliday at plate after back-to-back two out walks. However, reliever Ryota Igarashi struck him out swinging to end the threat.

Mets lefty specialist Pedro Feliciano induced a double play from Lopez in the ninth to send the game into extra innings. In the tenth, he would pull a Houdini act by loading the bases after retiring the first two hitters. Holliday came up with a chance to win the game again and Mets Manager Jerry Manuel elected to replace Tatis with backup infielder Alex Cora (the man who Scott Boras somehow finagled the Wilpon’s to pay him $2 million to play the role of babysitter and occasional part-time player) at first base. This would prove prophetic, as he would make an incredible catch by diving into the stands to make a play for the final out of the inning, sending the game into the 11th.

If Cora does not get another hit or makes another play the rest of this season, he could say that he earned his pay right there.

Little did we know that this game would turn into an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Angel Pagan worked a one out walk, and as I saw him take four steps off first base, I openly stated he would be picked off soon. Two pitches later, he leaned too far and reliever Mitchell Boggs (as predicted) nailed him to retire the side.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa then made an interesting move. He would double-switch Matt Holliday in the 12th for pitcher Jason Motte. Holliday’s spot in the lineup in the bottom half was sixth, so only a rally would bring the pitchers spot up batting behind Albert Pujols.

It’s not as if that would actually happen would it?

With Fernando Nieve in relief, he got the first two outs before surrendering a single and then having Ryan Ludwick reach on catcher’s interference. Pujols was now up, and with Motte on deck, La Russa worst nightmare became true. The Mets walked Pujols to face Motte, a pitcher who would strike out as the crowd at Busch Stadium booed lustily.

How dumb was that? And how surprised could La Russa be that this would happen? By the way, he is on his way to the mound again to make another pitching change, sending us to another two or three minute breaks in the action.

At least you can plan your bathroom breaks accordingly.

(A side note on Busch Stadium – Very older crowd that attends these games. Unlike the younger crowds that you see at other ballparks, this is normally a subdue crowd with the exception of a few idiots. They only make noise when they need to. Besides, if you were nearing AARP status, would you stand up on every two-strike pitch as we do at Yankee Stadium?)

In the 14th, everyone’s favorite new Met Jason Bay had his chance to plate the game’s first run, but he would ground into a force out to end the inning, continuing to advance the belief that he is simply stealing money and quietly wished he could return to the Red Sox.

For those keeping track, we still have yet to crown a winner in the hit pool. Our selected players are 0-for-15 since the start of the 4th inning. After four hours of game, the Mets have averaged one hit per hour.

Ineptness reaching incredible levels.

Beer sales were over after the seventh and the food selection was not doing much for me. I’m sorry, but buying the turkey leg was not going to solve my hunger issue. The plan was to get food and drinks after the game.

Problem was the game was still going.

Most of the crowd decided to get a head start on their evening while we decided to stay. Hell, where were we going? It’s not like there was much in terms of nightlife that we had not already been to the previous night. When people are giving you plenty of free admission tickets to strip clubs, you know that’s a problem.

From the upper deck, Eddie and I made our way down to behind the Mets dugout to sit.

Security did not mind. Other stadiums should take note rather than restrict access to lower levels (see: US Cellular Field). Problem is they worry about drunken unruly fans coming onto the field.

Dave and Will trooped it out in the upper deck, but soon found out they were the only ones (literally) up there and joined us.

St. Louis had another opportunity in their half of the 14th with runners on first and third with no outs. Dinner has my name on it and I’m ready to go. A Mets reliever named Hisanori Takahashi was on the ropes. He struck out Skip Schumaker (referred to us as “T-Pain” for his walkup music) and Ludwick for the second out.

Now Pujols was up again. Problem was that the pitchers spot was behind him still. The four fingers put the Cardinals slugger on first base, forcing reliever Blake Hawksworth to hit, promptly striking out to continue this charade.

Ugh.

Jenrry Mejia, the Mets highly touted pitcher (who by last count, is not able to pitch back-to-back days) came into the game because the team began to run out of pitchers. Brian Anderson, the Cardinals last available position player, came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second in the 16th inning.

Obviously La Russa’s intelligence backfired twice and couldn’t take seeing it happen a third time, perhaps Anderson would get a hit, end this madness and look like less of a dope.

Instead, Anderson hit into double play to end the frame and kept my hunger at an all-time level and anger with this game at an all-time high. I highly doubt this will make “All Time Games” on MLB Network anytime soon.

An update on the hit pool – We still do not have a winner. All of our players have now hit 0-for-18 and Tatis, after Cora came in on a double switch, eliminated Dave from the money.

However, by reaching on an infield single in the top of the 17th, Wright is on safely. Eddie is the winner of a total of $4.00, surely to be used to buy two of the $2 O-Bomb shots at Fusion later on tonight whenever this game is over, which at this rate appears to be never as the bars would close first.

With no pitchers left, La Russa now had no choice but to have one of his position players start the top of the 18th inning. Felipe Lopez, a starter at third base when the sun was up, was now on the mound and pitcher Kyle Lohse now in left field to play defense as this game reached epic proportions of absolute ineptitude that you could only laugh at now.

This was the ultimate white flag move. When you get to this point, you are conceding defeat. If the other team cannot win now, they may as well banish themselves to Siberia.

In case you didn’t know, beer sales ended now nearly four hours ago. If you were not sober by now, call a doctor.

The recent Mets joke was that their offense couldn’t hit batting practice. Well, with Lopez pitching (with the help of a fan, we found that he had never pitched in high school or the minors) he held them scoreless.

Unreal.

Joe Mather, the Cardinals center fielder when the game began, now was in to pitch. He would load the bases on two walks and a hit by pitch (quite the rally). Francoeur hit a sac fly to deep left, Jose Reyes tagged from third and scored the game’s first run.

1-0 Mets in the 19th.

Finally!

All they had to do now was get three more outs from closer Francisco Rodriguez. He has been one of the best closers in the league, so one would think this should not be a problem.

Hmmm…

Rodriguez walked Ludwick to begin the bottom half to bring up Pujols. They had to pitch to him now unless the Cardinals did anything stupid.

On cue, Ludwick broke for second and was caught stealing.

No!

How stupid was that? What is he doing? Does he not know who is at the plate?

Pujols promptly doubled off the left center field wall two pitches later to make the move to steal even more ridiculous. Lohse grounded out and it was up to Yadier Molina (known Mets killer – see: 2006 NLCS Game 7) to keep the game going.

On 1-1, Molina lined a single to right, scoring Pujols to tie the game. It just had to be this way I guess. The looks on my fellow Mets fan faces told the story. It was a look of anger and disgust.

Eddie provided a smirk that told you “Hey, that’s the Mets for you”.

This game played the role of the song from the children’s show Lamb Chops t

hat goes as follows:

“This is the song that doesn’t end...yes it goes on and on my friend.”

Mather stayed in to pitch the 20th (who else did you think would come in, Pujols?) and after two singles moved runners to first and third. Reyes hit a sac fly to give the Mets a 2-1 lead, still needing three more outs to win.

Ironically, even having two position players throwing three innings, the Mets managed two runs that scored without the benefit of a hit against guys throwing the equivalent of BP.

Incredible.

Mike Pelfrey, the Mets starter from this past Thursday came into get the final outs and put me and everyone else out of our misery. The game was nationally televised on FOX throughout the country.

Surely, they did not expect to stay on this long and those watching on TV saw a good portion of

their evening ruined.

Pelfrey got Lopez on a ground out and Mather on a fly out. Two outs and no one on, one more out and we can all go home.

Brendan Ryan singled and then Schumaker worked a walk to move the tying run to second.

Oh no. Please not again.

It was up to Ludwick, the same man who could have sent us home earlier had he not foolishly attempted to steal second. A base hit here and a razor blade might come in play.

Ludwick took a 1-2 pitch and grounded it to second, Luis Castillo fired to first in time and the ballgame was over.

As Howie Rose would say, “Put it in the books!”

I was glad it was over. My fellow Mets fans, drained of energy, celebrated in victory. They didn’t win as much as simply survived.

Mets 2, Cardinals 1 in 20 innings. Time of the game a slightly unmanageable 6 hours and 53 minutes.

No food. No beer.

The four of us somehow pulled it off, staying from the first pitch until the end. At 10:06 PM, perhaps only 3,000 or so fans along with us remained in the park.

We were the survivors. Somehow getting through this day where we saw two teams play over two full games and try to upstage the other with utter ridiculousness as they proceeded to set baseball back about 50 years.

At least I could say I was there.