| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| N.Y. Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Minnesota | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | X | 4 | 7 | 1 |
The title pretty much sums up how this team looks right now. They are quickly flushing away any chances they have to make the postseason this year, and the manager isn't helping.
Tonight he decided to sit the American League's leading hitter, Johnny Damon against Glen Perkins. Now at first glance this looks reasonable, after all Perkins is a lefty, but his splits show that doesn't matter much, because lefties were hitting .338 against Perkins this year.
Girardi also sat Jason Giambi tonight in place of the right-handed Richie Sexson. Sexson has proven to be terrible, he should be nothing more than a right-handed pinch-hitter. Plus Giambi has a .919 OPS against lefties this season.
Girardi makes some very good moves, and I've pointed them out when they happen. But he makes many more that leave me scratching my head.
Three of the Yankees four hits came from left-handed batters tonight (2 from Abreu and 1 from Cano).
One guy who shouldn't be blamed for tonight's loss is Sidney Ponson. He gave the Yankees another good effort and gave them a chance to win. He made one big mistake on the night, a two-run homer off the bat of Adam Everett. And I know, the four earned runs don't look so great, but he pitch well, and had the offense done anything he may have gotten a win.
Edwar Ramirez struck out the only batter he faced.
The Yankees offense was an absolute disgrace tonight, and it started off like it usually does on these nights, a blown scoring opportunity early that demoralizes the team and then they do nothing for the rest of the game.
In the top of the second the Yankees had runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out and Ivan Rodriguez at the plate, But Rodriguez popped out to center and couldn't get the run in, and then Melky Cabrera hit the first pitch he saw into an inning-ending double play. The Yankees didn't get a runner past first base the rest of the night.
Just a reminder: Glen Perkins had a 9.00 career ERA against the Yankees coming into this game. He threw 8 scoreless tonight.
Boston won tonight and the Rays had the night off, so the Yankees now trail by 5 in the Wild Card and 9 in the division.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Ponson (L, 7-3) | 7.2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4.27 |
| Ramirez | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.86 |
TWINS PITCHING
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Christian, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .281 |
| Abreu, RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .289 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .315 |
| Nady, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .332 |
| Cano, 2B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .264 |
| Sexson, 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .223 |
| Rodriguez, I, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .291 |
| Cabrera, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .243 |
| Totals | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 | |
BATTING TB: Abreu 2; Rodriguez, A; Cano. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Nady. GIDP: Cabrera; Rodriguez, A. Team LOB: 5. | ||||||||
TWINS OFFENSE
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Glen Perkins (8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K)
HONORABLE MENTION: Adam Everett (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, R)
GOATS OF THE GAME: Joe Girardi - Nice lineup.
The Yankees look to even up this series tomorrow night with Mike Mussina on the mound, and he will face Twins' starter Nick Blackburn. First Pitch: 8:10 p.m. - TV: YES - Radio: WCBS 880
17 Comments:
From now on I'll just leave my name at the end of each comment. I'm the anon that defended Mo, and wanted Damon and Giambi in the lineup.
Dan
Cool Dan, that should work fine.
This team has become so frustrating. What's worse is I think back to how good I felt after the second game in Boston, I really thought this team had something, and now look at them. Unreal.
yeah, o how fast everything fell apart. I just feel like we could sweep Boston the 2 times we play them and somehow sneak in. During the game I may say the seasons over but it's just because I am so frustrated.
Anyway I'm praying we're 2 games or less behind the last weekend of the season when we go up to Boston. And something tells me Tampa will struggle because of their inexperience and their injuries. We m,ay be to far behind though.
Dan
Yea, I know what you mean.
It starts tomorrow, they must win these next two games, then come home and sweep KC.
I'd be very happy if they had a chance that last weekend.
we have to get an early lead, and keep adding runs. In most of these games were falling behind and not hitting in the clutch. If we score early, they'll relax a bit and just play. We have better players, but we dont play together as a team, picking eachother up. Sooner or later we have an easy 10-1 win. Good night and lets hope something happens tomorrow to give this team a boost. It starts with the lineup Girardi puts together. Use your common sense Joe, dont over analyze the situation.
Dan
Terrific, I can read the same exact garbage from the mainstream news media along with hearing it on the post game from idiots like Kay.
Yuppers, Giambi and Damon are the cure to our ills. Like they have been all year right? Is this the same Damon that couldn't get a SAC FLY with a man on 3rd vs. the Angels. Was he the leading hitter then or no? Were Giambi and Damon in the games vs. the Angels? What were the outcomes?
Why did Jeter and Arod not sit then? Why not play Betemit for Jeter (0-4). Why not call up Gardner since he's a lefty. Why not have Sexson just bat lefty too? Oh, is it because he sucks batting lefty? What is Giambi, good?
Damon and Giambi are the CURE to our ills. Thank you news media. You need more stories to write because Ian Kennedy is gone now?
Now, why couldn't Joe have put Melky on the bench for Damon? I'll buy that argument. Why didn't Joe PH for Melky in the 8th? Why is Pudge our starting catcher...what has he done offensively or defensively for that matter to warrant starting?
WHO THE BLANK IS RUNNING THIS TEAM, a blind, deaf, dumb mute?
Dude, if you're going to go on these rants at least sign a name or initials, something.
It appears that you're the same "anon" who went off on Mariano in the game post.
Damon is leading the league in hitting, and Giambi has an OPS of .910 overall, and .919 against lefties. They didn't need to sit tonight. They are both far better than Christian and Sexson. Girardi should play his best nine during the stretch. The move just didn't make sense. That's why everyone is talking about it.
"Damon and Giambi are the CURE to our ills. Thank you news media. You need more stories to write because Ian Kennedy is gone now?"
Nobody, to my knowledge, has said this.
props to making girardi the goat of the game.
-SK
What song does the fat lady sing when the fat lady sings? I think I am hearing the tune.
When can our team stop swinging at balls way out of strike zone??????
Definitely can't blame Ponson. He was really on his game tonight. It's amazing that the Twins of all teams even scored as many runs as they did. Adam Everett? Come the heck on. Seriously. That's insane. That might be the furthest he's ever hit a baseball in his life, including during BP.
To me, the biggest hole in our offense today was the lack of Giambi (never know when he's going to hit a HR, good OBP) and Damon (probably would have had at least 1 hit). Their replacements - (Sexon and Melky/Christian) did literally nothing, other than make outs and hit into a DP. And it's not like I'm sitting here in hindsight - Damon in CF isn't an ideal situation, but my lineup would have Damon in CF and Nady in LF every single day whenever possible.
If you want to play Sexon a game, you DH Giambi (especially against a soft-on-lefties guy like Perkins). If Sexon isn't going to play, then maybe you DH Damon or Nady, put Melky in CF if you really have to. Either way, Damon and Giambi should never sit down unless a Randy-Johnson-in-his-prime type lefty is pitching, because there's just nobody on the current roster that is better than either of them at their position.
It's to the point in the year where you put your best 9 guys on the field and the f%$# with it.
I think you could poke some of these guys with a stick right now and they wouldn't notice. They're not hustling it out when they put the ball in play, they're not hitting situationally, nothing. It's like the Yankee plague, and it's been happening for 8 years. If not during the regular season, they all come down with it in the playoffs.
I'm actually glad to see the old Stadium go. Things need to change, and the old stadium has used up every last ounce of "mistique and aura."
The only way the Yanks can be in the playoff is to make MLB change the rules:
The team with more players on the DL wins.
I heard something on Kay's radio show last night that really stuck with me. Bobby Murcer's funeral was attended by only 3 Yankees last week. Management provided a plane specifically for the teams players/coaches in case anyone wanted to attended. Now I can understand some guys not going. Younger players, some coaches (in case the return flight is delayed), maybe the starting pitcher, etc etc....but for only 2 players to attend really tells me something about this Yankee team. Who were the 3 Yankees to attend? Joe Girardi, Andy Pettite and Derek Jeter. Joe presented Murcer's widow with a Bobby Murcer jersey.
You constantly hear that arguement "Arod isnt a real Yankee! Giambi isnt a real Yankee!...etc etc.." and no one can even explain what that means. ESPN jokes that it holds no meaning. Well it does and Yankee fans know what it means. Jeter, Pettite, Girardi...what do they all have in common that Arod, Giambi, Abreu, Cano and so on, do not? They all won titles as Yankees. Think of it this way, had Murcer passed away in 1998 do you think Tino, Paulie, Scott, Chuck, Bernie, etc etc....wouldnt have attended? Can you imagine them not attending? Hell, its easier to figure that the Yanks would send out their AAA team to play Texas that night rather then miss the furneral.
To me, that told me that this team has no class and no heart. They arent true Yankees. They are here to be paid. They arent team oriented, they are self oriented. They say what they have to say to the media in order to keep them off their backs. When Kay thanked Jeter for attending (Kay was asked to speak at the funeral) and he simply said "This is the only place I have to be right now." So pennant races, vital games, yearly statistics and studying scouting reports mean nothing at that moment because Jeter wanted to pay his respects. Thats professionalism. Thats class! And most importantly, thats a real Yankee!!
I was watching the Texas game the day they held the service for Bobby and was under the impression that Jeter and Andy were representing the team.I didn't get the feeling from the telecast that the service was open to the entire team.I heard M Kay ranting about know on showing up on his show yesterday. I'm curious how others feel.
BB
I think Girardi got off lightly about his team selection at the post-match news conference (at least, the part we saw on YES). Just one question from Kim Jones, whom he then snarled at. Didn't Joe work with Kim for YES last season? lol
Bruce, I agree, although all the writers questioned the move.
They just probably realized he wasn't going to answer the question so they avoided asking him more about it.
Post a Comment