Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wang Hammered As Yanks Fall To 0-2

(REUTERS/Joe Giza)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
R H E
NYY 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 3
5 9 0
BAL 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 X
7 9 1

For the second straight game the Yanks got a terrible outing from their starter. This time it was Chien-Ming Wang who lasted just 3.2 innings, allowed seven runs on nine hits and three walks. Of the nine hits, four were doubles and one was a homer, a bomb off the bat of Nick Markakis. And like CC Sabathia he was also unable to record a strikeout, but I guess that's not such a big deal since Wang isn't known for being a strikeout pitcher. He threw 73 pitches on the night, 40 for strikes.

Wang did not have a good sinker at any point during the game, and as you know when he doesn't have a good sinker he's screwed. He also struggled with command of his pitches as you can see from his high (for Wang) walk total.

Unlike Monday, the bullpen did a great job tonight as three pitchers combined to throw 4.1 no-hit innings. Edwar Ramirez walked two and struck out one in 1.1 scoreless innings. Jonathan Albaladejo pitched two scoreless, allowing just a walk. And Jose Veras pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.

The Yankees bats were kept off-balance for the first five innings by O's starter Koji Uehara. The only run he allowed came on a Cody Ransom RBI double. At the time it was a pretty big hit, cutting a 2-0 lead in half, but Wang immediately gave back five runs.

They added a second run in the top of the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano.

Trailing 7-2 in the ninth the Yanks mounted a little bit of a rally.
Derek Jeter hit a two-run homer, hit first of the year, to cut the O's lead to 7-4. Then following a walk to Damon, Mark Teixeira finally got his first hit and first RBI as a Yankee, when he smacked an opposite field double into right-center scoring Damon. It was his first at-bat from the right side of the plate and like Kenny Singleton said during the broadcast, switching to the other side of the plate may have been just what he needed to get out of his slump. Even though they eventually lost, that was a huge hit for Teixeira.

Hideki Matsui
then stepped up as the tying run, but popped out weakly to the third baseman to end the threat. But hey, at least they showed a little fight at the end.

It's no time to panic, they're 0-2. Big freaking deal. Get off the ledge.

... And if it makes you feel any better, the last time the Yankees lost the first two games of the season was 1998.


ABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Jeter, SS4122100.556
Damon, LF4110102.429
Teixeira, 1B5011013.111
Matsui, DH5000004.100
Posada, C4110000.286
Cano, 2B4021000.429
Nady, RF4110002.250
Ransom, 3B3011001.167
a-Swisher, PH00001001.000
Gardner, CF4100005.143
Totals375953117

a-Walked for Ransom in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Ransom (1, Uehara), Posada (1, Albers), Cano (1, Albers), Teixeira (1, Sherrill).
HR: Jeter (1, 9th inning off Sarfate, 1 on, 2 out).
TB: Jeter 5; Damon; Teixeira 2; Posada 2; Cano 3; Nady; Ransom 2.
RBI: Ransom (1), Cano (1), Jeter 2 (2), Teixeira (1).
2-out RBI: Ransom; Jeter 2; Teixeira.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gardner 3; Matsui 3.
Team RISP: 2-for-11.
Team LOB: 8.

BASERUNNING
SB: Damon (1, 2nd base off Uehara/Zaun), Jeter (1, 2nd base off Uehara/Zaun), Cano (1, 2nd base off Uehara/Zaun).

ORIOLES OFFENSE



IPHRERBBSOHRERA
Wang (L, 0-1)3.297730117.18
Ramirez, E 1.10002100.00
Albaladejo 2.00001000.00
Veras 1.00000100.00

ORIOLES PITCHING


PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Nick Markakis - 3-for-3, BB, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, and 2 R

HONORABLE MENTION:
Koji Uehara - 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K (first MLB win)

GOAT OF THE GAME: Chien-Ming Wang - 3.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 0 K

The final game of the series is tomorrow afternoon at Camden Yards.
A.J. Burnett makes his Yankees debut as he looks to turn things around for the Yankees starters. Starting for the Orioles will be right-hander Alfredo Simon. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m., and the game will be on YES and WCBS 880.

10 Comments:

Liam Gallagher said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Greg Cohen said...

Yep, that it was.

Night dude.

Anonymous said...

Its really not a big deal. Atleast the bullpen pitched well.

Reading some of the comments people are leaving on Pete Abraham's blog seriously some of them need to calm down. Its way to early to judge anything, atleast give it around 25-30 games. People already starting with the bench Nady, play Melky in center. Saying the team cant hit in the clutch. Way too early to react like that. This isn't football.

Liam Gallagher said...

Hay Greg. I've decided to deleted my new site because I do not have the time to do this kinda stuff. I already have school, I play for my schools baseball team, and I have homework. I personally think it was a bonehead idea in the first place.

Have a GREAT night.

Liam Gallagher said...

To make everything clear is that school comes first and I should focus on school instead of a website.

Mike B. said...

Boy, what a mess tonight! It's early, though.....

I must admit that I held off on buying tickets for other games this season (as I was ready to do on Yankees.com and Stub Hub). I promise I'm not panicking yet. I promise. I'm just concerned that for the most part the Os are comprised of minor league players in big league uniforms.

Mike

Raven King said...

I know it’s only two games but if AJ can’t get us a win this afternoon, I’ll fellow Pete Abe’s advice and go “line up on the George Washington Bridge to plunge into the icy depths of the Hudson River”.
And hopefully the magical Captain Sully will be there to catch me.

Raven King said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SteveB said...

The O's actually have some talent-- they are becoming a pesky team, and word is that they have some pitchers in the minors. I'll have to pay more attention to Bowie when they come in to Trenton.

Meanwhile.. if this was two games in mid-June, we would barely notice it.

I see AJ coming up big today. No control problems with his fastball, no heating pad, no fastballs up in the zone.

Greg Cohen said...

Burnett said he was going to be pumped for this game, which is probably a good thing for him.

Some pitchers, Wang and CC pitch worse when they're too pumped, Burnett throws better.