| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| N.Y. Mets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 9 | 0 | |
| N.Y. Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
I'm going to make this as short as possible, this is a game, and a weekend I'd like to forget. The Yanks are now 4 games under .500 and 6 games out of first.
Chien-Ming Wang was awful. Ross Ohlendorf was worse. Jose Veras pitched pretty well, but they were down 9 runs at the time so who cares?
The defense was also terrible, Jason Giambi made a terrible throw to 2nd, Alberto Gonzalez missed another pop up and allowed what could have been a double play ball to get under his glove for a base hit.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Wang (L, 6-2) | 7.2 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3.51 |
| Ohlendorf | 0.1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.00 |
| Veras | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.59 |
METS PITCHING
The Yanks racked up a grand total of 3 hits, a single up the middle by Derek Jeter, and 2-run homer by Hideki Matsui, and a double by Jose Molina.
Once again the Yankees fail to hit with RISP, and I feel the turning point in the game tonight came in the 5th inning with the Mets leading 4-2. Molina led off with a double, and Johnny Damon successfully moved him over to 3rd, but Bobby Abreu was unable to drive Molina in as he struck out looking. I'm not saying the Yankees come back and win if they cut it to 4-3 there, but that was a very important run, and once again the Yanks failed to get the run in. It was almost like the whole stadium was like "here we go again" when Abreu took that third strike.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 |
| Abreu, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .280 |
| Jeter, SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .314 |
| Matsui, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .304 |
| Giambi, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .191 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .204 |
| Cabrera, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .255 |
| Gonzalez, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .237 |
| Molina, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .207 |
| Totals | 29 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | |
BATTING 2B: Molina (9, Perez). HR: Matsui (6, 4th inning off Perez, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Jeter; Matsui 4; Molina 2. RBI: Matsui 2 (20). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Matsui; Gonzalez 2; Jeter. GIDP: Cano. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING SB: Cano (1, 2nd base off Perez/Schneider), Jeter (1, 2nd base off Perez/Schneider). | ||||||||
METS OFFENSE
How bad of a night was it? The umpires mistakenly took away what should have been a 3-run HR by Carlos Delgado and the Yanks still lost by 9, that's how bad it was.
Here's two post game quotes from Kat O'Brien of Newsday. First from the captain on missing A-Rod and Posada: "It doesn't matter if guys are out of the lineup. You could have brought back Gehrig, Ruth and DiMaggio. We still need to swing the bats better."
And from Johnny Damon on hearing Mets fans cheering during the game: "They had reason to be out there cheering. They ended up kicking our butts. It's pretty embarrassing."
Yes Johnny, it is embarrassing.PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jose Reyes (2-for-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, R)
HONORABLE MENTION: Ryan Church (1-for-4, HR, BB, 3 R, 2 RBI, and a nice diving catch in right)
GOATS OF THE GAME: The entire Yankees roster for embarrassing your fans.
The Yanks have a day off tomorrow before starting a 3 game series with the Baltimore Orioles at The Stadium. Mike Mussina faces off against Daniel Cabrera in game 1 on Tuesday. First pitch is at 7:05 and the game will be on YES and WCBS 880
7 Comments:
People talking about 09 already LMAO. We're 5 games in the loss column behind the Sox. The Red Sox, aside from three sweeps at home against Texas, Tampa Bay, and now the dreadfully pitiful Brewers, have been pathetic. Beckett has been worse than Mussina, and their bullpen has been atrocious.
(I compare to the Sox as opposed to anyone else in the division because I simply don't buy into Tampa Bay being anything more than a team with a hot first quarter season, and Baltimore and Toronto have too many issues)
The Yankees are going through nothing more than exactly what they went through last year. An awful stretch. They are far better than they are playing, which should be greatly encouraging. When Alex and Jorge get back, and we can get a bit of consistancy (not to mention actually face a right handed pitcher for more than two days in a row) they'll get back on course. The good news is that they're not 14 games back and it's only May.
Kennedy is going to improve, Pettitte has struggled in one inning every game, but hasn't been that bad.
As bad as Wang's line looked tonight, he was the victim of some seriously awful luck and from there things just went downhill. Things just simply aren't happening. Infield singles, check swing bloop hits, double play grounders that go in the hole... That's all it takes to set a snowball in motion, and before you know it you can't stop the other team from scoring no matter what you do. The Yankees seem to be the ones taking the brunt of those snowballs time and time again lately.
We had a chance to put some runs on the board early, but we were robbed of two RBI doubles on line outs. So much of baseball when you're struggling is getting a lead early to loosen things up.
Things will turn around and the Yankees will most definitely contend for the wild card, if not the division.
First I want to talk about Wang. You said "As bad as Wang's line looked tonight, he was the victim of some seriously awful luck and from there things just went downhill."
What luck was that? Having a 3-run HR taken away from the other team? Please, Wang was awful.
But when you say people talking about '09 are you talking about me? Because I didn't mention '09, nor do I believe the 2008 Yankees are done. I just think tonight, and recently, they've been a disgrace.
Not talking about you. People commented in a previous entry like the season just ended.
I'm absolutely furious too that they can't win a game to save their lives, but I stand by the claim that a lot of this isn't entirely their fault, and that they've been getting reamed by a hefty streak of bad breaks, and all around poor timing.
And I think that once a team breaks a game, and the way the Yankees have been going, hitting becomes easy, regardless of the pitcher. Wang wasn't great, but he retired the first 9 batters in order - 9 up, 9 down, all of them dominantly. When things fell apart in the 4th, it started with a pathetic ground ball to left by Wright that could have and should have been a double play, and a check swing bloop floater to right field by Alou. When an offense gets ugly hits/runs, suddenly the momentum is inevitable and it could be Cy Young resurrected on the mound and the hits will just keep on coming.
That "home run" that was called back was not a towering blast. It was a 320 ft slicer down the line. If it had been called a HR it still wouldn't have made it anything more than a 320 foot lucky fly ball.
Face it, sometimes luck isn't on your side, and the softest hits lead to runs. Once that happens, it's hard to stem the tide.
I know it's hard to tell when you watch a game in person vs. on TV. I saw the game on TV. Wang wasn't that bad. He got burned by some bad luck. The pitch Church hit out was a good sinker down and away and the guy went out and got it and pulled it. Tip your cap. Decent pitch, good location, lucky result, which is exactly what happens after you previously scored 4 runs on 95% luck.
I smashed some cardboard boxes in frustration. It's hard as hell to watch this crap continue, but this is clearly a better team than this, and I see no reason for this garbage to keep up the way it has. The worm will turn, it's only a matter of time before they string something together.
By the time Alex, Posada, and Hughes get back (hopefully with his issues straightened out), this team is going to be one hell of a force to be reckoned with.
Wang didn't have it today. It's not even that he was unlucky, really. All of his pitches were up and nothing was sinking the way it should for him. His walks and giving up 2 HRs (because, let's face it, that first one was a homer) should be a clear indication of the type of stuff he had on this particular day.
Either way, the Yankees need to pick it up. They absolutely cannot rely upon a torrid stretch down the road to save them. When teams like the Rays or the Jays have pitching staffs with some great guys, not just one guy but 2 or 3 even, then you really have to wonder about your ability to put up the string of wins necessary to pull your team out of the gutter.
"By the time Alex, Posada, and Hughes get back (hopefully with his issues straightened out), this team is going to be one hell of a force to be reckoned with."
LOL, somebody's watching re-runs of the Yankees' games from 10 years ago. As I said before the season started, this team is almost certainly going to miss the playoffs. No pitching, a bench made up of nobodies and AAA players, plus aging stars who are breaking down = time to rebuild.
And that was based on my prediction that Hughes and Kennedy would win some games this year. Given they're not, no way the Yankees are going to be sniffing the playoffs now. Third place in the AL East, period.
I don't see the Yankees making the post season this year. 2nd in the AL East will not get a wildcard.
It's certainly possible the Yankees could turn things around and go on a tear.
When A-Rod and Posada come back the lineup will have a lot more hitting potential. Giambi and Cano could rocket out of their slumps. Hits with RISP could go through the roof.
Wang can be an ace. Pettitte can be solid. Mussina can pitch well. Rasner can fill in the fourth spot. Chamberlain could (are you listening Yankee management?) come in and be a dominating starter. Kennedy could turn around or even Karstens could fill in the five spot.
I don't see very many of the above happening. A few, but not many.
Wang can get shelled just as easily as anyone else. If the offense keeps hanging him with 1-0 losses, he's going to lose confidence. Kennedy can't handle pitching in NY. Pettitte and Mussina are unpredictable at this point. Hughes won't amount to anything other than a Carl Pavano 2.0. Girardi insists on playing poor hitting defensive liabilities like Wilson Betemit. Joe also believes there is no need for a lefty in the bullpen and despite having 4 pitchers who have trouble lasting 6 innings, the team doesn't need a long reliever.
Yankee hitters aren't slumping, they're aging or settling back down to realistic levels after a fluke season.
At this point I'd really like to see the young guys get some at bats and experience on the mound. They really can't do much worse than the aging veterans. I just hope the Yanks don't feel they are "close enough" to competing that they have to trade away the farm to add more overpriced, over-the-hill veterans.
Why do the Yanks have trouble scoring runs? Look no further than the right-most column of the box score: four players are flirting with the Mendoza line, and the lead-off hitter is batting just .250.
Cano is betting .300 for the month, so I'm not worried about him. The catcher problem is fixed when Posada returns. And 3B will be fixed today with the return of A-Rod. But could we just swallow the bitter pill (and the huge salary remaining) and get rid of Giambi already? Please?
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