Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition - Simply the Best

Rivera the greatest in his profession never to be topped

QUEENS - There are never enough adjectives or superlatives to describe Mariano Rivera.

As great as you may say he is, he is ever better than that.

As special of a pitcher as he is, he is even more special than that.

Though he nailed down his 500th save of his career on Sunday night in the Yankees sweep of the Mets, placing him second all-time to Trevor Hoffman who has the current lead, it was of no matter to anyone.

If Rivera were never to save another game for the rest of his career, no one would argue that we have not seen one of the greatest relief pitchers (if not, pitchers) that have ever played in Major League Baseball.

The number is just an accessory. A nice little keepsake. Mark Teixeira handed him the ball after he made the final put out on a groundball to Alex Cora, placing it right in his glove and looking at him with a smile to say, "Congratulations, a job well done."

Another Rivera will not come along in our lifetime again. Oh sure, there will be some good, if not great closers around baseball or even pitching for the Yankees in the years to come. It will be long after Rivera has finally had enough and back in Panama relaxing and waiting for the Hall of Fame phone call, or returning for Old Timer's Day at the Stadium in July.

Unfortunately, to replicate this marvel will be impossible.

When your team has the lead and he is signaled from the bullpen to get those final three outs, he is one of few pitchers that elicits extreme confidence that the job will get done. He is so self-assured and his belief has rubbed off to the fans. If he is coming into the game, there is no worry.

While other relievers put their teams and fans through high-wire acts and raise levels of agita, Rivera comes in, slams the door and rarely gives you a chance.

Before Rivera, there was John Wetteland out there in the in the ninth inning, and would turn most of his saves into full-fledged productions that were better than daytime soap operas. Even closing Game 6 of the World Series in 1996, he brought us Yankee fans right to the edge of the proverbial cliff, only to get that final out.

After that night, those days ceased.

Starting in 1997, Rivera ushered in a completely new era and brought a different dynamic to the way I approach the ninth inning. No longer would I be on the edge of my seat. Getting the final three outs became as easy in the ninth as it would be in the first.

It was efficiency never before seen or will be seen again.

Occasionally he will give you some drama, but it is amazing that nearly every time he comes through. There is no more apropos way of using the term "automatic" then when you are describing Rivera.

Other closers may have gaudy percentage numbers in terms of their ability to finish games (Armando Benitez, Trevor Hoffman, Brad Lidge, Billy Wagner and Jon Papelbon immediately come to mind), but they are still not as good.

Not then. Not now. Not ever.

He is so good and has been so great for so long that you are surprised and sometimes downright stunned when he does not come through.

Rivera had a hiccup when he gave up a game tying home run to Sandy Alomar in Game 4 of the 1997 Division Series at Jacobs Field that would have put the Yankees (then defending world champions) back in the League Championship Series with a chance to reach the World Series again.

Unfortunately, on a Sunday night against the Cleveland Indians and Sandy Alomar at the plate, Rivera left a cutter out and over the plate that eventually landed over the fence to tie the game. The Indians would go on to win the game and the eventually the series.

A moment like that could have shaken his confidence as it has for many others that have come before and are in his peer group now.

Not Rivera.

No one knew it then, but from that night, he went on a run converting 23 postseason saves. In this time, he established himself as the greatest postseason reliever in the history of baseball. For nearly four seasons, Rivera would throw 56 1/3 innings and amassed an inconceivable 0.80 ERA.

He was the backbone to the Yankees winning four world championships with him as closer and were three outs away from a fourth straight championship and fifth title in Game 7 against Arizona.

Then came the ninth inning.

The Yankees had taken a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning and Rivera struck out the side in the bottom half. He was pitching to the bottom of the lineup and no one could have foreseen that this would be the night where it would all end.

But it did.

A single, error and a double tied the game. Luis Gonzalez would then bloop a single over a drawn-in infield to win the World Series for the Diamondbacks.

At that moment, you realized that even Rivera was human.

Sure, no one wants to blow the seventh game of the World Series, but it happened. Always prideful and never willing to hide, stood by his locker and answered every question reporters asked him after the game.

He would do the same after Game 4 of the 2004 AL Championship Series when his blown save became the genesis for the Boston Red Sox historic comeback from 0-3 against the Yankees.

You begin to realize that even The Great Mariano cannot close them all.

In a role where you need to have a short memory after failure, it is Rivera who handles it the best. Others like Mark Wohlers, Mitch Williams and Donnie Moore (RIP) have similar moments and are never the same again. For the Yankees immortal, he just moves on to tomorrow.

So here he is, at age 39 still doing a job that has one of the shortest life spans of any position. To be able to do what he does even now is incredible. Last year, pitching with a tender elbow that required surgery, he pitched the finest season of his career with an ERA of 1.40 and WHIP of 0.66.

Watching him go out there each time his number is called and hearing “Enter Sandman” play over the loudspeakers has been a tremendous experience that we all will miss once his career is over.

When he does finally say goodbye, we can all sit back and say that he is one of the greatest that ever lived.

Thanks Mo.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition – Mo history times in the Citi

Rivera saves 500th and draws bases loaded walk as Yanks sweep Mets


QUEENS – It was only fitting that the Subway Series would end this way at Citi Field on Sunday night.

The Yankees were having their way with the Mets through the first two games and suddenly found themselves in a competitive fight with their own inefficiency mixed in with the Mets continuous putrid defense.

Leave it to Francisco Rodriguez to conclude the night of Mets Comedy Jam in the ninth inning with the Yankees leading 3-2 and seeking an insurance run.

With Derek Jeter at the plate and Mariano Rivera waiting on deck, Mets manager Jerry Manuel decided to play the safe bet of intentionally walking Jeter to pitch to the Yankee closer (after mysteriously throwing a strike on the first pitch) with the bases loaded. Rivera, making only his fifth Major League at bat (and second of the week) got ahead of the Mets closer 2-0 before an eventual full count while even taking a good hack and fouling off a pitch. On 3-2, Rivera took ball four on a pitch up and inside to drive home a run and give the Yankees a 4-2 lead that they would preserve in front of 41,315, a loud and significant portion of them Yankee fans.

Working a four out save, Rivera would set the Mets down in order to record the 500th save of his illustrious career as the Yankees swept their depleted rivals right out of Queens.

Rivera was brought in originally in the bottom of the eighth inning with runners on first and second, put on base after original setup man Brian Bruney walked David Wright and Fernando Tatis, mixed in with getting two outs, including a strikeout of rookie Fernando Martinez.

It was the Mets chance to tie the score in the game and weekend that saw them total three runs and nine hits over the entire series and never saw them even as much as tied with the Yankees. The batter was Omir Santos and after Rivera got ahead 1-2, the Mets catcher worked the count full to 3-2 with the crowd of both teams fans coming to their feet.

Rivera fired a cutter inside and Santos saw it catch the inside corner for a called strike three as he watched in disgust and the great closer quietly walked off the mound.

The 3 2/3 scoreless innings of one hit relief made a winner of starter Chien-Ming Wang for the first time since he severely injured his foot rounding third base at Minute Maid Park in Houston last June. Wang, in his fifth start since being inserted in the rotation worked a solid 5 1/3 innings before manager Joe Girardi took him out in the sixth inning for reliever Phil Coke.

While not showing the same electric stuff he had in Atlanta despite giving up three runs in five innings, Wang took advantage of the Quadruple-A Mets lineup and gave up only two runs and four hits in 85 pitches.

The Yankees provided the run support he would need in the first inning. After Derek Jeter (returning after missing the last two games with the flu) doubled off the wall to lead off the game, Nick Swisher would reach on a fielders choice when first baseman Daniel Murphy made the ill-advised decision to try and throw Jeter out attempting to advance to third base. Jeter was safe along with Swisher. Both runners would then score when Mark Teixeira drove them by lacing a double that stayed fair down the left-field line into the corner to make it 2-0.

After Alex Rodriguez walked and Robinson Cano was out on a force play, Jorge Posada’s sacrifice fly scored Teixeira to make it 3-0. Considering the Mets had only tallied one run over the first two games, three runs must have felt like thirty.

Mets starter Livan Hernandez would eventually pitch through the trouble (some not of his own doing) and gallantly battled his way through the Yankee lineup the rest of the night. He allowed only one hit over the next six innings. On a normal team, giving up three runs and three hits in 115 pitches (59 balls) would win you plenty of ballgames. The way the team from Queens is constructed, it is not good enough.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Mets got back into the game with a pair of runs. Gary Sheffield walked to lead off the inning and moved up to second on a ground out. The rookie Martine then doubled home Sheffield with a double off the left field wall that Melky Cabrera overran to make it 3-1. Luis Castillo followed with an RBI single to cut the Yankees lead to one run.

Wang rallied to retire five of the next six batters before Sheffield again reached in the sixth on an infield hit where the ball ricocheted off the glove of Wang on the ground allowing him to reach. Fernando Tatis grounded out and Girardi came into remove the right-hander for Phil Coke who struck out Martinez on a shoulder high fastball for the second out.

Girardi would then pull Coke for Phil Hughes to pitch to Santos, whom was pinch-hitting for Brian Schneider. With one pitch, Santos flied out softly to right to end the inning.

Staying in the game in the seventh inning, Hughes walked Castillo to lead off. Argenis Reyes attempted to sacrifice him over, but with Rodriguez being heads up, Castillo would be thrown out at second as the third baseman ran close in between home plate and the mound to field the bunt attempt, accurately throwing to second to gun down the lead runner. Murphy would ground out and Hughes finished the inning by striking out Alex Cora looking with a 95 MPH fastball down the middle to conclude the frame.

At 11 games over .500, the Yankees now sit three games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and finish the interleague season 10-8. They have won five games in row since dropping five of their last seven and three of four on the nine game road trip.

They also decisively won the Subway Series 5-1 over the Mets, outscoring them 33-3 over the last four games.

The Yankees will open up a seven game home stand beginning with the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night before meeting the Blue Jays for four games over 4th of July weekend.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition - That is more like it

Strong pitching, offense breaking out of slump

QUEENS - Thank goodness the Mets are on the schedule.

If anyone needed a respite after over two weeks of horrendous play, it was the Yankees, who were making inferior competitors allow them to play their worst baseball since the early part of the season.

After losing five of their last seven to the Nationals, Marlins and Braves, the Yankees have won their last four games and have been reminiscent of their 19-6 run.

In last night's 5-0 win over the Mets at Citi Field, the Yankees laid out the blueprint for exactly how they want to win, and need to win if they intend to get to where they want to go this season.

Part of the plan is to have CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett as their unbeatable 1-2 punch that can win anywhere at anytime ad dominate a lineup by missing bats.

Sabathia struck out eight in his seven innings in Friday's 9-1 win, yielding only three hits and a run while pitching perfect in six of the seven frames.

Burnett was able to top that and more last night, striking out 10 and not allowing a hit until the sixth inning.

When you watch him, you see how he can be the pitcher who can go out in a postseason game and win a short series no matter if the Yankees have home field advantage or not. It is a combination the Yankees have not had since the championship years.

What you are seeing from the offense is their ability to wear down pitching staff and eventually score runs later in games. As evidenced last night, the lineup that on paper should have KO'd Mets starter Tim Redding only tallied one run over the first five innings.

Problem for Redding was that his pitch count was rising and it would only be a matter of time before the Yankees would strike, and they would do that in the sixth inning.

A double, RBI single and another double quickly made the score 2-0, and with Jorge Posada at the plate, the Yankees would break the game open with a three-run homer to make it 5-0.

This can all be traced back to Wednesday's game in Atlanta when it appeared as if the Yankees were on life support.

Having not reached base for the first four innings against Braves starter Tim Kawakami, Brett Gardner would reach on a walk to start the fifth. But he would be picked off when replays showed he clearly got his hand back to the bag in time. This incensed manager Joe Girardi, who argued his case to the umpires before being ejected.

The next batter Francisco Cervelli, almost on queue, delivered the teams first hit with a home run to tie the score and energize the team.

For a team that looked to be in a malaise, they needed the spark.

They have not looked back since. Winning that game 4-2 and then being victorious the next night game the team a different feeling leaving Atlanta then they did upon arrival.

By coincidence, the Mets just happened to be on the schedule and they too are falling prey to the suddenly venomous Yankee onslaught.

When you watch baseball over the course of six (sometimes seven) months, you realize what a long season it is. It is the ultimate game of peaks and valleys, highs and lows and how very rarely a season is just smooth sailing.

Some unexplainable things go on along the way.

How they lose two of three games to the Nationals?

No one really knows. That is just baseball.

How can a team look so awful for a stretch as the Yankees had in the 13 games and yet completely not resemble that team the last four days?

You watch them now and they look unbeatable. Of course, having great starting pitching will make any team look confident. Hell, the San Francisco Giants are the best team in baseball whenever Tim Lincecum is pitching despite having baseball's most putrid lineup.

For the Yankees, having their offense wear down pitchers and force them along with their defense to make mistakes and follow that up with great starting pitching, and that is a great formula for win it.

They are going to need it the rest of the season.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition - AJ, Yanks Fattening Up

Burnett’s one-hitter and bombs powers win over Mets


QUEENS - If AJ Burnett was given the chance to face the Mets lineup over a normal seasons worth of starts, he might challenge Denny McClain’s 31 victories in a season.

Over the last two weeks in which the Yankees right-hander has faced the team from Queens twice, his performances have looked like a combination of Tom Seaver and a young Dwight “Doc” Gooden, both former Met legends

Facing the NL and the Mets has been a curing ill for Burnett's struggles that were spanning nearly seven weeks. Seeing them for a second time since his seven scoreless innings on June 14, Burnett dominated them once again last night, backing up CC Sabathia’s performance on Friday with even more dominant one in the Yankees 5-0 win in the second game of the Subway Series at Citi Field.

The first two games of the series is the blueprint the Yankees envisioned when they signed both pitchers. Thinking being that each of them (Sabathia and Burnett) on any given night being able to complete shutdown the opposing team’s lineups. It was the first time this season in which the two were pitching back-to-back.

As the Mets saw, the results were devastating.

Burnett backed up Sabathia’s seven innings of one run, four three hit ball by exceeding it with a seven inning, one hit, ten strikeout masterpiece using 108 pitches

For the first five innings, Burnett did not allow a hit to the painfully shorthanded Mets lineup. At the time, considering that their lineup has been hurting for runs without the services of Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, and with the replacements that were occupying those spots in the orders, it seemed very possible that a no-hitter could in fact happen.

The first hit of the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning came off the bat of Alex Cora, the shortstop who at the time was 0 for 21 in his career lifetime against the Yankees right-hander. Late in the fifth inning, it appeared the righty was hanging his curveball a bit, but was able to get away with it. The Mets were not making contact, and when they were found themselves robbed by great defense, which included a terrific running catch by Melky Cabrera (playing left field for Johnny Damon – flu) near the left field wall, robbing first baseman Daniel Murphy of at least a double.

This time, he would not be so lucky.

Cora swung at the first pitch and lined it to center field for a base hit to break up the no hitter.

Needing to settle down after Cora's hit, Burnett resuscitated himself and retired the next six hitters to finish his night. It was his best performance of his season. Over his last six starts, he is 4-2 with a 1.75 ERA and that counts his infamous Blowup in Boston on June 9.

In his last three starts spanning 20 1/3 innings, he's only allowed two runs and posted an ERA of 0.44.

The offense was not giving him much run support early on against Mets starter (and former Yankee) Tim Redding. In the third inning, Nick Swisher's opposite field home run (14th) to left center opened up the scored as the Yankees took a 1-0 lead.

The score would remain that way until the sixth inning.

In the sixth, Redding's clock struck midnight. After a one out double by Mark Teixeira, an RBI single by Alex Rodriguez made it 2-0. Robinson Cano would then follow with a double to bring up Jorge Posada with both the Mets and Redding on the ropes.

On the first pitch, Posada would proceed to hit the Yankees third opposite field homerun of the series, this time a three- run blast (10th) to blow the game open at 5-0. It would mark the end of Redding’s night.

The same can be said for the Mets.

For a park that has been discussed as one where homeruns go to die, the Yankees are making it look like a fallacy. In two games, they have hit four homeruns. Three of them have gone to the opposite field.

In reality, Burnett did not need much support at all. His command of the fastball and breaking ball had the semi-pro Mets lineup overmatched. The rhythm between himself and Posada, which has been a lingering discussion over the past few weeks, was not on display during the outing.

The outing lowered Burnett’s ERA to 3.93, nearly a full run from the 4.89 ERA that he had coming off his start against Boston.

Brian Bruney and David Robertson completed the combined one-hit shutout as the Yankees clinched the season series. In the last three games, they have outscored the Mets 29-1.

Sunday night, the Yankees will attempt to go for the sweep with Chien-Ming Wang seeking his first win of the season against Livan Hernandez in an ESPN national telecast.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition – CC can do

Sabathia dominates, Mets errors lead to Yankees win


QUEENS – When he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers last season, even CC Sabathia could not have foreseen the type of success he would have.

After carrying the Brewers to the playoffs and pitching to a 1.80 ERA over three months, the National League was more than happy to see him go back to the American League and pitch in pinstripes.

He said he enjoyed hitting as well as pitching in that league. On Friday night, with his left bicep feeling 100 percent, he went out (with the help of the Mets defense) and stifled what resembled the Buffalo Mets lineup in the Yankees 9-1 victory at Citi Field in the first game of the weekend Subway Series.

Attempting to score runs against the big left-hander is tough enough as is, but needing to do so when you are short-handed and compounding with terrible defense, only makes things more difficult.

In the second inning, the Mets defense paved the way to four Yankee runs off starter Mike Pelfrey.

Melky Cabrera led off the inning by reaching base on an infield chopper that third baseman David Wright fielded and his off balance throw sailed by first baseman Nick Evans and allowed Cabrera to reach second. After Francisco Cervelli struck out, Ramiro Pena lofted a softly hit double over the head of Wright for the Yankees first run.

Sabathia would then help his own cause by hitting a solid single up the middle past shortstop Alex Cora to center to make it 2-0. After Brett Gardner singled, the Mets appeared to be getting out of the inning on a double play groundball by Johnny Damon. However, Cora’s throw to second went into right field as Sabathia scored.

Still with one out, Mark Teixeira hit a ground ball to first. Evans had the ball and was going to step on the bag, but bobbled and the ball trickled away far enough to allow Teixeira to reach safely and have Gardner score to make it 4-0.

It was all Sabathia would need.

Showing no ill effects from the bicep injury that removed him in the second inning of his last start against Florida, he was sensational. Sabathia’s fastball at times reach 98 MPH with a slider that Mets hitters were swinging over all night.

Through the first four innings, he had not allowed a man to reach base. That would change in the fifth when Gary Sheffield homered to left to lead off the inning making it 4-1.

Fernando Tatis then singled and was out when Ryan Church reached on a fielder’s choice. Evans singled to put runners on first and second.

However, it would be his only blip on the night. Retiring the final eight hitters he would face on the night, Sabathia would strike out catcher Omir Santos and then pinch hitter Argenis Reyes to end the inning.

The way he was pitching was exactly why the Yankees were paying him the big money. He was the true definition of an ace.

Realistically, the Mets did not have much of a chance.

Outside of the fifth, the big man was perfect in each frame through his seven innings of work that needed only 99 pitches. He would scatter only those three hits and a run while striking out eight and not walking a batter to improve to 7-4 on the year.

The Yankees would finally put the game away in the late innings when Gardner ignored the dimensions of new Citi Field and homered off newly called reliever Elmer Dessens down the line in right. Alex Rodriguez would follow that with a titanic blast to right center, a two-run shot to make it 7-1.

So far this season, no right-handed hitter has been able to hit the ball out of the yard the opposite field. Rodriguez however, took a hanging slider and was able to deposit it there.

Gardner capped off his career five hit night (5 for 6) with an RBI triple to right along with a Damon double to cap the scoring at 9-1 as the new park cleared out quickly leaving only Yankees fans to celebrate.

Brett Tomko pitched to scoreless innings to finish the night as the team picked up on its offensive high from Thursday night’s victory in Atlanta to win the first game of the series.

Saturday night matchup features AJ Burnett for the Yankees and Tim Redding for the Mets.

Game time is at 7:05.

Yankee Talk: Rodriguez swinging and stumbling

At the plate, A-Rod suddenly A-No Show


ATLANTA – You know it gets bad when you have lost your intimidation factor to the point where teams are openly willing to pitch to you and have no problems doing it.

When you continue to make the other teams decisions look right, it only makes sense that they put the onus on you to prove them wrong.

Such is the current plight of Alex Rodriguez whenever he strolls to plate over the last few weeks.

On Tuesday night in the third inning of the Yankees game against the Braves, highly touted rookie Tommy Hanson had a runner on second base (Derek Jeter, who led off with a double) and one out with Mark Teixeira at the plate with first base open.

In colonial times (more like one month ago), walking Tex would not have been the smart thing to do, as it would be inviting trouble to bring A-Rod up with a chance to do serious damage to the game. During that span, Rodriguez was in a stretch where he had hit seven homeruns upon returning May 8 in Baltimore and had turned Tex into the American League Player of the Month.

His presence had a tremendous effect on the entire lineup. As he was going well, so was the team. Yet, almost by coincidence, A-Rod (like the team) stopped hitting the moment they arrived in Boston. In being swept out of Fenway, Rodriguez went one for 10 and that began a slump that has seen him look lost at the plate, stranding runners, hearing boos, feeling tired (missing two games) and seeing his batting average slowly declining toward the interstate.

So Braves manager Bobby Cox, who’s obviously been watching the highlights, reading the papers and knowing the numbers, decided to instruct Hanson to walk the Yankees third place hitter to pitch to him.

The result: Strikeout

He appeared overmatched at the plate much as he has the last month. When the Yankees dropped a 4-0 decision to the Braves to lose their ninth game in their last 13, Rodriguez had now seen his slump reach an abysmal 4 for 44 (.090) after taking another 0 for 4 to see his average fall to .207 and reclaiming his “whipping boy” status.

June has not been the best of months for the third baseman. It has been more like the month from hell and the swooning appears to have no end in sight. Rodriguez looks lost at the plate, swinging at balls and watching strikes go by. When he is getting a pitch to hit, he is either fouling it off or making weak contact. He is being given plenty of opportunities to drive in runs, but with each popup (when its not being dropped by Luis Castillo), groundout, weak fly or strikeout just puts himself in deeper and deeper hole.

The recent four for 44 is part of his 14 for 87 (.160) period he has undergone since May 25 when he went 2 for 5 with four RBI against Texas. One reason for his near month long struggles could be his health after returning from hip surgery in May. It was amazing that before Friday night’s game in his hometown Miami, he had played in all 38 games since his return.

Why this was the case is anyone’s guess. The doctors that performed the surgery informed the Yankees he would need to be rested periodically due to the nature of the surgery and to prevent lingering fatigue. Joe Girardi must not have read the same memo and allowed him to continue going out to third base each night as his contributions were helping the team win 19 of 25 games.

As the Yankees started to lose, Rodriguez’s struggles became highlighted and suddenly, he once again became the focus of booing at Yankee Stadium. His inability to hit with runners in scoring position made him an easy target. All the while, many of wondered why he yet to receive a day off, if even to just clear his mind for a game to recharge himself.

Girardi said that he would like to give his star a rest during the series against Washington, but could not because the team was in an important stretch of games against National League opponents.

This was odd.

If you are not able to give him a breather for a day or two against mediocre to bad NL teams, then when can you rest him? It made no sense. He certainly is not going to be resting against divisional and potential wild card opponents because those games are too important.

In other words, there is no good time to rest him.

This begs the question of whether Rodriguez’s struggles are directly linked to fatigue. Girardi may not have believed it (Rodriguez told the manager “I’m fine” each day, thus allowing him to play) however, upper management disagreed. He was benched for two of the team’s first three games against the Marlins with what the team called “fatigue reasons”.

He returned to the lineup on Sunday and in his first at bat hit a looping single into left field to drive in two runs. Perhaps it was going to be that start of good things again.

Unfortunately, the at-bats that followed that day and in Atlanta last night showed that he is still in the same funk that has plagued him for the last month. Pitchers are throwing hittable pitches to him right in the strike zone and he appears overmatched. In the at-bat against Hanson where he struck out, he took one fastball for strike one,

His downfall has also affected the way teams are pitching Teixeira again at the plate. Teams are pitching around him and less pitches to hit, much as it was in April when he hit under .200 before Rodriguez showed up.

After all the drama with the steroids in the off-season, the hip surgery, the recovery and now the problems at the plate, it was very clear that the 2009 season was to be the toughest of his career. Problem is that the Yankees are trying to win a world championship. To do so, they need him to be at peak efficiency despite his inability to get the clutch hit on occasion.

If they are not going to get a healthy A-Rod, who on top is not producing, then he is of little value to the roster this year.

Yankee Talk: Agita season in session

Yanks summer bringing me no joy

Carl just saw the Yankees play their best stretch of baseball for nearly a month and saw them flush it down the toilet when they went to Fenway Park and got swept. Now, after being humbled again by Boston in this edition of Random Thoughts, he has no idea what to make of his summer of Yankees baseball looking ahead.


DOUBTVILLE – Welcome to Ducks season!

Two weeks ago, I stated that if the Yankees failed their exam in Boston against the Red Sox by not winning their series that they may want to consider playing semi-pro ball for the Long Island Ducks for the remainder of the summer if not all season.

The result: Red Sox 3 wins, Yankees 0.

Season series: Red Sox 8 wins, Yankees 0.

Quack, quack.

Watching Ducks baseball is going to be difficult to get excited about for a while. How do I take these games seriously? Sure, they count in the standings as wins or losses and if you win more than you lose, chances are you will go to the playoffs.

However, when you are beating up on the Junior Varsity in Interleague play, is that something to get excited about?

Should you really be allowed to give out a championship belt or throw a pie in the hero’s face after coming back to defeat the Washington Generals, err, Nationals and a Florida team who’s mascot is a Fish?

Color me unimpressed.

Mind you, this was BEFORE they disgracefully dropped two of three to those Generals at Pinball Machine Stadium.

The offense went into complete shutdown mode, as if it wasn’t obvious they were taking the first six innings of each game off while making the pitching staff equivalent of Curly, Larry and Moe look like the 90’s Atlanta Braves.

Complete embarrassment.

However, look on the bright side…

If you were one of those souls who waited 5-1/2 hours for the game against the Generals to start, you were given a gift by Communist Yankee Executives to be able to move down and sit in the lower level seats that they cannot sellout anyway. It was a nice gift to the fans. Especially those elected to take advantage, err, use Stubhub to pay a McDonalds Value Meal price for a ticket and then got to move into the area near the Madoff Seats, but not further.

Then, told that you can redeem your ticket for another non-premium game this year or in 2010. The holidays had come early.

With all this charity, it maybe only a matter of time before the Feds get involved.

This much is clear about these Ducks; they are a team that right now can bully every other team in the league (except the Generals too) and bloody their noses. However, whenever they step up to a higher weight class, they become timid fighters who go down with one punch.

This is what the Red Sox have done to the Ducks whether people like it or not.

Now I can’t hear moles say that they are better than the Red Sox even if they claim first place in the standings. We all know whom the two best teams in the league are (no JV team counts) and the gap between #1 and #2 is a wide as Tiger compared to Phil and the rest of the field in golf.

Like the Ducks, Phil too is a distant second.

For the next eight weeks as the weather warms up, they can go about their business. Toppling AL ham-and-eggers Blue Jays, Mariners, Tigers, Twins and Athletics along the way – teams more flawed than the show Joe Buck Live. They get a chance to boost their own morale and inflate it with helium to make themselves feel better, but no one should be silly enough to fall for this mirage.

We are not as good as we think and beating Boston is the only way to change that.

Of course, unless you are one of those dopes wearing 3-D, of the mind that they can essentially punt those games, go 0-18 against them and still make the playoffs.

Thinking about it, you know that might be possible. Even Joe (The Computer) Girardi has to talk himself into believing that the possibility does exist that Obama’s Economy might rebound before they ever beat the Red Sox.

What also might be possible is for some unique baseball karma. The Ducks, having been thoroughly dominated during the regular season, suddenly meet Boston in the ALCS and shock the world, beating them in six games, and clinching the pennant at Fenway Park.

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

With that, let’s move on to some real thoughts.

Just because AJ (Underachiever) Burnett beat up on the sorry Mets lineup on Sunday afternoon does not mean he is out of Carl’s Doghouse.

The Underachiever’s performance against the Red Sox in Fenway Park was one of the biggest gag jobs I’ve seen since his last foray there when he pitched in April.

I’ve concluded this about him: He is the pitchers equivalent of JD (Nancy) Drew. A player with immense physical gifts and talent that is unable to harness it all for any consistent length of time. He will tease you constantly and occasionally shows you flashes, but more often will disappoint rather than excite you. Thus never living up to his potential.

Would I be surprised that he pitches to a .500 record during this season and when the playoffs arrive, finds a different switch and goes hot, thus justifying his contract?

Nope.

Nancy did that when he drove Fausto Carmona’s pitch into the centerfield seats for a grand slam in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series against the Indians.

Drew was on the Boston Hate List up until that at bat. His homer propelled Red Sox from a 3-1 series deficit into the World Series. He could have won the MVP if it wasn’t for Mike Lowell, and now no longer has to hear it from fans because they will always remember him for that moment.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see a similar thing happen.

My favorite quote from The Computer was when he said that Mr. Wang had great stuff, but he couldn’t find the (strike) zone with any of it.

Girardi may not want to hear this, but the league is littered with pitchers who have great stuff who cannot find the plate. If you cant get it there, you have no success.

It makes me wonder if he’s been watching Jose (Mayday!) Veras pitch this season.

Speaking of Mayday, after torturing us this season with his own ineptness, the team finally decided to cut him and allow him to go tease some other organization with his stuff.

It was a long time coming. For a while, I kept wondering he had the same pictures Felix (The Run Fairy) Heredia was using on Torre.

The pictures must have been so bad that Torre even chose to use him in the playoffs despite all available evidence that suggest that he was as flammable as a lit match to gasoline.

Even The Great Mariano had to be surprised when his number was called to come into the game Friday night against the Mets in the eighth inning.

I’m willing to bet he looked at the scoreboard; saw the game was tied and wondered aloud, ‘What is The Computer thinking? This has to be a mistake.”

Girardi told the media that pitching in the eighth inning is part of Rivera’s job description. That certainly is news to him certainly he has never been in that situation since 1996.

If one game is not more important that the next game, then why bring him in? It was looking more and more as if The Computer was going haywire with his mind being replaced by that hourglass that shows up on the screen.

Alfredo Aceves and Phil Coke may nice guys, but they are not relievers I want late in these games.

By the way, what the hell was Brian (Mr. Big Talk) Bruney doing talking about Francisco Rodriguez?

It is very difficult to go out and criticize another man for what he does and his antics when you yourself have a yet to pitch a full season in the League.

Considering that he had been on the Carl Pavano List twice in the last month, it would be advisable that he shut his trap.

However, its to be noted that K-Rod (who nicknames themself after a strikeout?) wanted some of Bruney the day after the comments made their way to his ear. Before the game on Sunday, he confronted him and appeared ready for a fight, but only started display fighting words after he was being held back by two Mets teammates and a Yankee.

Where I come from, we call that “sissy fighting”. Kirk Hinrich of the Chicago Bulls tried the same thing with Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics during the NBA Playoffs, acting like high school girls attempting to try out for UFC.

Even Dana White had to be offended by that.

Robinson (Robbie) Cano may be the hottest hitter on the team right now…but can he save some of those hits for games against the Red Sox?

His at bats with runners in scoring position in that series was an abomination. What the hell can he possibly be swinging at?

He does seem to have a unique ability to beat up on very bad pitching though. Percentages are that he would be first ball Hall of Fame player if he faced nothing but mediocre starters for his career.

Also, can we eliminate the myth that Robbie is more patient hitter than he was last year? It is nonsense. According to Elias, he is averaging nearly the same amount of pitches seen per plate appearance as he did last year (3.28).

All this talk about how he is taking more pitches is ridiculous. In one crazy instance last Thursday in Boston, he fouled away four pitches, all near his head. Just because the at bat lasted seven pitches does not make it good. Swinging at pitches near your head does not equate to a good at bat.

CC Sabathia is horse as a starter and earned far more in defeat when he left them mound in Boston and saw his lead dissipate because of the terrible bullpen.

But to give up a home run to Anderson Hernandez on Tuesday night against the Generals?

A three-run homer? Huh?

The man had only hit one of them out in over 300 career at bats, spanning four years.

Pinball Machine Stadium working against us there.

It sure is working for Johnny (Sunny D) Damon, who is to on pace to hit 30 homeruns this season and about 30 percent of them will be among the cheapest homeruns you will see.

The balls landing In the first three rows of the Pinball Machine are laughable. Most insulting to my intelligence was in a game against Tampa Bay; he hit a ball in the air and put his head down in disgust while shaking his head.

What he didn’t know was that the ball was going to land 10 rows into the stands for a homerun.

They say the dimensions are the same, but a study says that there is an eight-foot difference in right and right-center field that is accounting for 20 of the homeruns being hit that would not be round trippers at the Old Stadium.

Sunny D sure doesn’t mind.

Nicky Swish is officially one of the three worst outfielders I have ever seen. He is so bad that he makes Enrique (Man Ram’s Man Friend) Wilson in right field look like a Gold Glove winner.

His base running intelligence leaves a lot to desire as well. He has been doubled up twice in the last two weeks and made several bad defensive plays in the outfield.

Be grateful he knows how to talk, blare music and be energetic.

I wonder what he would score on a Wonderlic Test.

Brett (Speedy) Gardner may also bring energy to the team too when he is outrunning his mistakes in center or trying to steal bases. Just one problem…

He can’t steal first base.

If he doesn’t hit, Speedy’s only value is off the bench when he doesn’t have to hit.

The boo birds are back and chasing A-Rod down. Hit .088 in his last 54 at bats going into Friday night’s game with Florida will do that to you.

Hitting a Rob Deer-esque .219, his only value to the team right now is his walking, which he is doing to avoiding swinging the bat and popping up.

We see the routine now. A-Rod gets a good pitch to hit, gets under it, and has this expression for a split second at the plate before making that slow trot to first.

He went nearly 0 for Boston and there wasn’t much going on against the Mets outside of Luis Castillo sending him a gift from Santa Claus. The fact he couldn’t get around hitting Curly, Larry and Moe this past week at home was a disgrace.

Not all this though was a bad as being blown away Ron Villone and his soft tossing, 88 MPH cheese inside.

Even though I don’t boo personally, that was all I needed to see to get disgusted.

Looks like I will have more angry days than happy ones this summer.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition – Great job kid

Cervelli making most of opportunity

BRONX, NY – Last season, there was a belief out there that when Jorge Posada missed most of the 2008 season with a shoulder injury, requiring surgery, the Yankees season went along with it.

This past May, when Posada headed back to the disabled list for a month with a hamstring injury, the Yankees appeared to have once again suffered another blow.

The team called up Francisco Cervelli out of desperation, not because they saw anything special. Backup Jose Molina several games later also landed on the DL along with Posada and all that was left was third stringer Kevin Cash and Cervelli, being called up from Double-A Trenton.

Before the Yankees called him up on May 6, his only notoriety came in a spring training game last season when he was run over by a Tampa Bay Rays player at home plate, injuring his arm and sidelining him for several months.

He was hitting .190 while in Trenton, so he certainly was not tearing up the league. However, he was needed as insurance because the team had no other options.

Working behind the plate in his second career start in a start made by C.C Sabathia at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Cervelli guided the lefty through his dominant complete game, four-hit shut out in the Yankees 4-0 win.

During the game, you could see his defense behind the plate in the way was able to block balls in the dirt, his framing of pitches to steal several strikes from the home plate umpire, along with his overall confidence in the pitches he was calling.

The duo was in sync the entire night and embraced in a hug after the victory.

Cervelli had embraced himself to Sabathia.

As it turned out, the pitching staff and the team would come to embrace him.

The one thing that he was given great credit for was his defense in the minors, and that would have been all the Yankees would have asked for upon arrival. What they did not know is he proving to be not a black hole in the lineup and has shown ability at the plate and on the bases.

Since arriving, Cervelli is hitting .298 (17 for 57) with six RBI’s. He has shown an ability to handle the bat and lay sacrifices down and on the base paths, blows by Posada in terms of running.

Cervelli’s best offensive day of the season came on Sunday against the Mets, going 3 for 5, including two hits off their ace, Johan Santana. Prior to that, he came up with (at the time) a big run-scoring double on a hit-and-run play in the Yankees eventual 4-3 loss to the Red Sox.

The team did not miss a beat in Posada’s absence as they played their best baseball of the season with Cervelli catching a bulk load of the games and even becoming a fan favorite.

When Posada regained his catching position in a weekend series in Cleveland, many wondered how the dynamic of Posada behind the plate would change. It was clear that most of the staff had established a good rapport with the rookie and the team was rolling. It has long been reported that several pitchers have problems catching the veteran, thus needing their own “personal catcher” in order to alleviate problems.

This came even more to light after Sunday’s game when starter AJ Burnett went out of his way to praise Cervelli for his game calling behind the plate that help him pitch seven innings of four hit, shutout ball in the 15-0 thrashing of the Mets.

Problem was it came on the heels of Joba Chamberlain’s 100-pitch, four inning disaster on Friday night that saw him and Posada in constant disagreement on pitch selection. This continued to add more validity to some of the pitchers inability to work with Posada and their continued praise for Cervelli.

With Jose Molina set to return in two weeks, the Yankees have an issue.

Do they bring back the veteran Molina, who is older, slower, cannot hit, and yet has a great throwing arm and game calling skills?

Or do they keep Cervelli on the roster, who is younger, faster, can hit a little, and is superb defensively?

The answer is unknown as of now. Perhaps allowing him to catch everyday in Triple-A rather then once or twice a week will help his development. However, Cervelli has provided great, youthful energy.

When they called him up, the team never thought he would force the team into making a very difficult decision.

That is a testament to Cervelli making the most of the chance given.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition – 15 love

Bombers pound Santana, KO Mets


BRONX, NY – They do not have mercy rules in Major League Baseball. But if they did, it would have been in effect sometime after the fifth inning.

The Yankees had already extended their lead to 13-0, sent Johan Santana to an early exit and the game turned into an exhibition outing in March.

Taking the final game in Act I of Subway Series 2009, the team from the Bronx won the first set of this play tennis style, 15-0 over their borough friends from Queens.

A whirlwind weekend that saw the Yankees win a game on a gift by Luis Castillo on Friday and an inability to hit call-up pitcher Fernando Nieve on a gloomy Saturday. Sunday’s sunny skies brought about a complete turnaround not only in the weather, but also in the team.

It also did not help that AJ Burnett finally pitched up to his ability for the first time since April and Santana appeared as less than elite best.

Being slightly less than elite proved fatal for Santana and the Yankees offense pounced, erupting for four runs in the first inning when it appeared as if they were going to continue their problems over the past week with runners in scoring position.

Robinson Cano had led off the inning with a double and moved to third on Nick Swisher’s fly out. After Hideki Matsui walked, Melky Cabrera struck out on a filthy changeup for the second out. After falling behind 0-2, Cervelli lifted a shallow fly into short right field that in back of Luis Castillo and Ryan Church for a run scoring base hit to put the Yankees on the board.

Derek Jeter then worked the count full before lining a single to left, scoring Matsui from third, and advancing to second on the throw, making it 2-0. It would then become 4-0 when Johnny Damon singled to left center, scoring Cervelli and Jeter.

That stoked Burnett to a lead that he was nearly going to give back in top of the next inning.

Once again, Burnett would run into his usual “bad inning”. To begin the third, he walked Daniel Murphy and gave up a single to Brian Schneider. He then walked Castillo to load the bases, fell behind 2-0 on Alex Cora, and was on the verge of having Yankee Stadium serenade him with boos.

He was in trouble and needed to some help, fast. His 2-1 pitch was a borderline curveball called a strike to even the count and angered the Mets bench. Burnett was able to strikeout Cora for the first out and rookie Fernando Martinez for the second. His final hitter, Carlos Beltran, would line out to Jeter to end the threat as Burnett pumped his fist leaving the mound in celebration.

It would be the Mets best and only chance they would get.

Burnett settled down after that inning and pitched seven innings of shutout ball in 111 pitches, allowing only four hits and striking out eight. Unlike his last start in Boston, he has complete control of both his fastball and breaking stuff, making him nearly unhittable. His only blemish coming where he continue to add to his Major League leading walk total by allowing four free passes.

Santana was beginning to labor with his pitch count rising and in the fourth, they administered the knockout.

A two-run homer by Matsui, followed a leadoff walk to Swisher to make it 6-0. Cabrera then doubled and Cervelli (3 for 5, RBI) used his speed to reach on an infield single.

Jeter (4 for 4, 2 RBI) would reach when David Wright was unable to handle the chopper to third, scoring Cabrera. Damon then doubled down the left field line to score Cervelli and move Jeter to third.
The now 8-0 lead meant Santana’s day was over. His three inning, 82-pitch outing was the worst of his career amid reports of possible injury he would deny afterwards.

Brian Stokes came into the game and fared no better, though he almost got out the inning when Alex Cora nearly turned a triple play off the bat of Alex Rodriguez (0 for 4) with the bases loaded (Jeter scored on the play) and no one out.

However, on this day, it was no harm, no foul. The bullying nature of the offense would continue to bomb away.

Cano (3 for 4, 3 RBI) made up for the near gaffe by hammering a 1-2 pitch deep into the right field seats to run up the score to 11-0. It would reach 13-0 when Cabrera (up for the second time) double into the gap in right center to score Swisher (walked) and Matsui (walked) before being thrown out advancing to third.

The numbers were ugly. Nine runs, 8 hits and 12 men coming to the plate. The nine runs charged to Santana (8-4) were the most in his career. In addition, the outing increased his ERA by nearly a full run (3.29). He started the day among the league at 2.39.

With the lead comfortably in hand, Alex Rodriguez was given the remainder of the game off when the fifth inning started. Other Yankees got a half-day as Burnett continued to be in control and the Mets elected to waive the white flag in surrender.

Two additional runs in the seventh inning ran up the score to 15. David Robertson and Phil Hughes pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to end the game and a weekend that saw the team go from what could have been a disaster and turning it into something far less terrible.

Act 2 of the Subway Series takes place at Citi Field on June 26.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition – Andy not dandy

Pettitte’s age, stuff starting to catch up with him


BRONX, NY – Every pitcher reaches father time in baseball. For some, the clock strikes midnight early and for others, they are able to delay it much longer.

Of course, there are some who chemically find ways to defeat the aging process.

If we assume the normal course of age is taking with Andy Pettitte (to be fair, a former HGH user), then it should not come as a surprise that his performance is currently in decline and that his clock too may be running out.

At 37, it is wrong for us to assume that he would possess that same talent and virtues as he would when he was 27, one of the backbones of the late 90’s Yankee dynasty.

Watching him labor through five innings in the Yankees 6-2 loss to the Mets began to bring this more into focus. He is an aging pitcher with declining stuff, unable to full control as game as he used to.

Pettitte’s cut fastball is not baring in on the hands of right handed hitters, and with the inability to get consistent bite on his curveball and changeup, he has been eminently more hittable and thus, has been a lesser pitcher.

Allowing 11 hits and five runs through those five frames, you consistently saw deep counts and not being able to put hitters away. What used to be strikeouts are becoming foul balls. What once were weak groundballs are now being hit more sharply. Add in the “pinball machine” nature of the new Yankee Stadium, and what used to be routine fly balls for outs are find their way into the seats for homeruns.

The days of him being able to stop losing streaks and any other fancy statistic that shows his career of solid, consistent pitching are slowly coming to an end. Each start that you see is more evidence of this. The days when you give Andy the ball with confidence in a big game like you would in the past are fading away, being replaced by hope that he can use intelligence, guile and veteran savvy to keep the team in the game long enough.

In a lot of ways, it seems Pettitte left his best stuff and entire heart out there on the mound in Game 2 of the 2007 AL Division against the Indians when he tried to will his best to avoid putting the Yankees in 0-2 hole in series they would go on to lose.

I was in Jacobs Field that afternoon turned evening and it was a game where he was turning time back. However, it was clear that this was not the same pitcher I was used to seeing anymore. How the Indians did not blow him out of the building I will never know. But each time Cleveland appeared ready to strike, he would hold them off and did so as long as he could.

While he will pull a good game out every couple of starts, he has become the prototypical number five starter.

After starting out the season very strong where his ERA was 2.98 in April in four starts, Pettitte began to reach his rough patch in May 1 start against the Angels at Yankee Stadium. Since that start, his outings have been very much more pedestrian. In Pettitte’s last nine starts, he’s allowed at least four runs or more six times, pitching to a mediocre 5.35 ERA.

Is he hurt? Pettitte will not say so. In a start against the Indians in Cleveland, he injured his back in a Yankees win, removed from the game after only five innings.

Making his next start, a 4-2 Yankees loss to Texas, and if Pettitte was not feeling effects of the injury, he did a very good job of denying it. He only threw five innings, but walked a season high six in throwing 104 pitches and allowing 13 men on base.

During this time, his WHIP has been 1.82. The number is unsustainable for any length of time without eventually getting hammered. Pettitte is not pitching into bad luck. He is simply pitching badly.

In the past, he had good enough stuff to put runners on base and be able to get out of trouble by inducing a double play or getting a strikeout on his own merit. Now, he has to rely on fooling the hitter consistently to pitch effective and deep into games.

If that is not happening on a given night, the bullpen better be ready to log innings. It is something the Yankees cannot afford with all the inconsistent performances innings wise from Joba Chamberlain and Chien-Ming Wang. Pettitte was looked at to be on the stabilizing forces while taking a lesser role in the rotation.

The only thing keeping him in the rotation is his stature with the team. Yet, how far of a rope does that leave him? Last year, after pitching a great first half where he was a victim of poor run support, Pettitte flamed out in the second half and pitched the worst stretch of baseball in his career as the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

What is also an underlying current that is that if the Yankees continue on to have a good season and make the playoffs, would you give Pettitte the ball in a series if he continues to pitch like this?

That is a hard question to answer. For now, the answer is still undoubtedly “yes” because neither Chamberlain nor Phil Hughes has yet to perform well enough to make this a debate. However, if they do, would Girardi tell one his “old guard” that he would not be getting the ball in Game 4 of either the Division Series or League Championship Series in favor of a pitcher who would give them a better chance to dominate a lineup and generate more “missed bats”?

A long way is to go before that situation is settled. This much is clear though, in Pettitte’s lesser role, he is providing lesser stuff.

At his age, that stuff is not going to be getting any better.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition – Bitter day after pill

Call-up Nieve stymies Yanks, evens series


BRONX, NY – Baseball’s old adage is that momentum is your next days starting pitcher.

You would have thought the heartbreaking loss suffered by the Mets after the dropped popup by Luis Castillo could possibly carry over into the rest of this weekend.

Enter Fernando Nieve.

Having been not good enough to pitch for a putrid Houston Astros team and pitching in the minor leagues all season, he was called up for an injured John Maine as an emergency. Had he simply held the team in the game, it would have been good enough for them.

Nieve provided much more than that.

He was the star of this show, putting the Yankees bats on ice one night after the Mets worst loss of the season, in their 6-2 victory at Yankee Stadium.

Pumping in fastballs reaching 93 to 95 MPH and showing superb control, the Yankees offense were unable to get a handle on the right-hander. It follows a pattern of struggles the team has when facing relatively unknown pitchers.

The same cannot be said for Andy Pettitte who had his fourth consecutive sub par performance. He claims he is not having any physical issues, but he is clearly not pitching the same way since his back began to flare three weeks ago in Cleveland.

Since then, we have seen his start with a familiar theme. High pitch innings with walks and excessive base runners have lead to problems.

Today was no exception.

After a scoreless first inning when he threw 23 pitches, Pettitte found trouble in the second inning. After getting Gary Sheffield to fly out to begin the inning, he walked Fernando Tatis. Ryan Church sacrificed the runner over to third with two out. With catcher Omir Santos up and ahead in the count 1-2, Santos was able to loft a pitch that landed in the first row of the left center field seats to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Pettitte has never made any outward statements about the ballpark playing like a pinball machine with home runs being hit on even good pitches at an alarming rate, but he showed a look of frustration and amazement of how the ball got out of the park. He would get out of the inning, but not before allowing two more singles and driving his pitch count to 54 after two innings.

The ballpark gave the Yankees good luck in the bottom half when Alex Rodriguez hit a similar homerun to left center to tie the game. Nieve though would get the next three hitters to end the frame.

It would remain 2-1 until the fifth when Pettitte would see him night come to an end. Carlos Beltran singled to lead off and David Wright doubled. Sheffield would drive home Beltran with a single to right to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Tatis grounded into a force play at third to score Wright with the fourth run, which later in the inning became 5-1 when Santos came through again, doubling off the wall in center.

104 pitches is what it took to get Pettitte (6-3) through five innings, putting the already overworked bullpen (five inning pitched on Friday) back to work again. He gave up a season high 12 hits along with the five runs while striking out three. After starting out the season strong, the last month his seen balloon his ERA up to 4.52 as his cutter has become much more hittable and his mistakes (particularly at home) have been magnified.

Alfredo Aceves came into the game in relief and pitched a scoreless sixth. In the seventh, Sheffield (2 for 5, HR) extended the Mets lead by hammering a fastball to left field, making it 6-1. It was his second homer of the series. On Friday night, he hit a three-run shot off Brett Tomko.

Backed by the run support, Nieve continued to mow down Yankee hitters for the first six innings. In the seventh, he finally ran into trouble after the got the first two outs.

Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner both singled. Mets Manager Jerry Manuel came to the mound to take the ball from Nieve and gave him admiration for a job well done and received a standing ovation for the Mets partisans in the crowd.

Nieve’s two run, four hit effort over 6 2/3 innings was more than the Mets could have ever asked for in 108 pitches. Though reliever Sean Green would give up an infield single to Jeter to cut the lead to 6-2 with two men on, Johnny Damon at the plate and Mark Teixeira on deck with an eye on potentially tying the game.

Unfortunately, Damon grounded out to first baseman Daniel Murphy to end the threat.

One night after being the goat an on play that will go down in Subway Series lore (and infamy), Castillo was in the leadoff spot and rebounded to go 2 for 3, spearheading a Mets offensive attack that totaled 17 hits. Seven players had at least two hits and saw rookie Fernando Martinez lead the team with three hits.

Green was able to get the ball back to Francisco Rodriguez, who the night before was credited with a blown save not of his own doing. He pitched a perfect ninth to lower his season ERA to a miniscule 0.57.

The series is now even at one game apiece with the finally on Sunday afternoon. AJ Burnett will start for the Yankees and Johan Santana pitches for the Mets.

What a difference a day makes.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition – Bronx Heist

Yanks win turn anger into laughter


BRONX, NY – My “Bitch Meter” was set to explode.

We were all on high alert after three losses to the Red Sox, and here we were again on the precipice of going over the edge.

Joba Chamberlain had already angered the masses with his four inning, 100-pitch snooze fest and watching him and Jorge Posada act like a bad marriage playing out in public. The bullpen was continuing its daily case of “badness”.

All of this was a precursor for Joe Girardi’s odd move of bringing in Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning with the scored tied at eight and eventually giving up the lead as the oven on “Girardi Watch”, already heating up, was set to turn to “broil”.

Instead, we are given one of the gifts of all time.

Indescribable as it was unbelievable

The Mets were all set up in the bottom of the ninth inning. On the mound was the man they gave $36 million to Francisco Rodriguez (known as K-Rod), looking to get three more outs in what would have been one their most inspiring wins of the year considering how shorthanded they have been playing for the last month.

Rodriguez got Gardner to fly out for the first out.

Derek Jeter then singled up the middle to reach base, and then Johnny Damon struck out to leave the Yankees with one final life.

K-Rod could have taken his chances with Teixeira at the plate. If he gave up a base hit, it would have tied the score and Mets Manager Jerry Manuel would have been question as to why they would allow his closer to pitch to him with a base open.

The Mets decide to walk him, putting the winning run on base and decide to go “all in” against Alex Rodriguez. It was basically a challenge they threw down saying in essence “You can’t beat us.”

With A-Rod up against K-Rod, the count went to 3-0 in favor of the Yankees Rodriguez. After K-Rod made the count 3-1, this was pitch that A-Rod was going to be able to hit. He had taken the Boston series off from a hitting standpoint and was slowly carving out space in the doghouse for his recent slump. Either he comes through, or he plays the roll of goat, which by some odd irony sees the game come down to him at the plate.

K-Rod made his pitch and A-Rod made his swing.

A pop up.

Ugh!

As the ball went into the air, you could hear us Yankee fans screaming plenty of obscenities, as he was once again set to be the goat.

Luis Castillo had the play on it. Sure, it looked like his feet may not have been set properly, but how many times does a fielder drop a pop up?

One time of out 100? Maybe once out a 1,000?

The fall came down and suddenly the ball popped out of Castillo’s glove and fell to the ground.

Huh?

Jeter scored from second for the tie. Teixeira was on the run off the bat from first base. Castillo likely would have nailed him at the plate if he had presence of mind to see he was charging for the plate, but his mind was likely on another planet. He threw to second base where no one was beside teammate Alex Cora, who threw to the plate, but not in time to get Teixeira, who slide home safely with the winning run.

Ballgame over. Improbable Yankees win.

How do you react to what you’ve just seen? Celebration? How can you? The guy just popped up and was going to end the game! I had the obituary already written for him as he slammed his bat to the ground on his way to first.

It made for quite the unusual moment. There would be no championship belt or pie in the face for A-Rod tonight, just a fortunate gift.

Cherish what you were given, because without it, several players’ asses along with the manager would have enjoyed a night on the griddle for their utter ineptitude shown on display over nine innings.

You look around to make sure that no one sees you as you slowly walk out of the door knowing you have just committed a major heist.

It’s a win. I will take it.

Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition – A gift from the heavens

Castillo drops game-ending popup, gives Yanks improbable win

BRONX, NY – You go to a baseball game and sometimes you may see something you have never seen before.

The Subway Series has seen it share of oddities over the last 1 years, but what happened last night will rank among the most memorable moments in its history.

It all appeared to set up for a Mets victory and a four game Yankees losing streak. Instead, initial long faces turned into big smiles and a 9-8 highway robbery.

Closer Francisco Rodriguez had made the pitch he wanted on a 3-1 to Alex Rodriguez and was able to induce a popup behind second base as Luis Castillo went out into the outfield grass in shallow right. The ending result was one of the worst losses in Mets history and one of the Yankees most improbable. As the ball descended, he did not look to have his feet completely set and improbably the ball popped out of his glove allowing the tying and winning runs to score.

For the Yankees, the gift of a win marred a game littered by a putrid start by Joba Chamberlain, recurring middle relief troubles and curious managerial moves by Joe Girardi.

Chamberlain once again show inconsistency in both his ability to throw strikes, have consistent velocity and was out of sync with catcher Jorge Posada.

After two scoreless innings, Chamberlain ran into problems in a 43 pitch third frame. The Yankees were leading 1-0 after Robinson Cano homered to right off Mets starter Livan Hernandez. Catcher Brian Schneider walked to lead off was out on Luis Castillo’s fielder’s choice. A walk to Alex Cora followed, and a hit by pitch to rookie Fernando Martinez loaded the bases.

Carlos Beltran worked a 10-pitch at bat for a walk for the games first run as Posada and Chamberlain on three separate occasions met on the mound to discuss pitch selection as the right-hander was clearly laboring.

Wright struck out on a wicked slider, but he would hit Ryan Church to bring home yet another run. In the inning, he allowed two runs without giving up a hit, yet walked three and hit two batters. Though he hurled a scoreless fourth after Mark Teixeira hit his 20th home run to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the third, his night would end early after 100 pitches.

The underbelly of the bullpen for the third time in four games would have to log major innings. Enter Brett Tomko, who clearly had nothing as he gave up a double to Beltran and walked Wright to start the fifth. Church would double into the right field corner scoring both runners to give the Mets the lead back 4-3. Gary Sheffield then turned back time to his days as a Yankee by crushing Tomko’s inside baseball deep into the left field seats to extend the lead to three runs

Derek Jeter got one of the runs back with a home run to the short porch in right in the bottom half, and retook the lead in the sixth. After Hernandez retired Alex Rodriguez to start, Cano reached on an infield hit and Posada walked. This ended Hernandez’s night as Mets Manager Jerry Manuel put the ball in the hands of recent call-up Jon Switzer, who was making his team debut facing Hideki Matsui.

The moved proved fatal as Matsui crushed Switzer’s 2-0 pitch into the second deck in right to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead. For Matsui, it was the second year in a row that he had homered on his birthday. Last year, while playing in a game at Oakland, Matsui gave himself (and the team) a birthday present by hitting a grand slam.

Reliever David Robertson gave up the tying run in the seventh after yielding a leadoff double to Sheffield followed by a single to Daniel Murphy. Fernando Tatis would score Sheffield on a double play.

Phil Coke would start the eighth inning and retired the first two men he faced. With no men on base, Girardi came to the mound to lift him in exchange for Mariano Rivera. The moved brought bewilderment from the moment “Enter Sandman” began playing at Yankee Stadium.

Rivera came in to deal with Beltran, whom he walked on a 3-2 pitch inside. His 2-2 cutter to Wright grabbed too much of the plate as the Mets third baseman laced a double to the gap in right center, scoring Beltran and giving the Mets an 8-7 lead that they would hold until the bottom of the ninth.

K-Rod entered the game not having blown a save all year. The Mets were three outs away, short handed, from pulling out perhaps their biggest win of the year.

Brett Gardner flied out weakly to center for the first out. Jeter grounded a single up the middle and took second when Damon struck out.

Needing one more out, the Mets elected to walk the hot hitting Teixeira with first base open and put the game in the hands of the Yankees Rodriguez. K-Rod quickly fell behind 3-0 before getting a strike over. His 3-1 was in the middle of the plate, but Rodriguez was unable to get a good swing on it and popped it up to Castillo who had a play on it.

As the ball descended, he did not look to have his feet completely set and without using two hands to secure the ball improbably, the ball popped out of his glove to the ground. Rodriguez scored and with Teixeira hustling all the way from first off the bat, was able to score ahead of Alex Cora’s throw, who was feed the ball by Castillo out of panic.

Castillo stood frozen on the field. K-Rod had his hands on top of his head in disbelief. Manuel watched in stone silence.

The Yankees jumped around like children at holiday season. It was a gift they never expected.