(REUTERS/John Gress)| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| NYY | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 0 | |
| CWS | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | X | 10 | 13 | 1 |
WP - Tony Pena (6-3)
LP - David Robertson (1-1)
LP - David Robertson (1-1)
I first have to admit I missed much of tonight's game. Once Chicago tied it I had the feeling of impending doom and decided to take a much-needed nap. So when I woke up to see the score was 10-5 White Sox in the 8th I wasn't too surprised.
It's safe to say the Sergio Mitre experiment has been a failure to this point. In three starts he's allowed 24 hits in 13.2 innings pitched and opponents are batting .398 against him. I was strongly in favor of giving him a chance when Wang went down, but at this point the guy just doesn't look like he can handle major league hitters.
Tonight he was handed a 3-0 lead before he threw a pitch, but that lead would evaporate by the second inning, and the White Sox had built a 5-3 lead by the 3rd. Mitre was done after just 3 innings, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1.
After the game he said he thought he has some issues with his mechanics that he needs to fix, so maybe his problems can be corrected. Hopefully that happens. With the situation the Yanks are in Mitre is going to be their fifth starter, there is really nothing they can do because as Joe Girardi said tonight in the post game, “I’m not sure that we have a lot of options at this point.” Makes you wonder even more why the Yanks didn't go get a pitcher before the deadline.
Anyway, the Yankees would eventually tie the score in the top of the fourth on a two-run homer by Eric Hinske. Hinske now has five homers in just six games as a Yankees and has been a very nice pickup.
Chicago regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Carlos Quentin off David Robertson. He had come in to start the fourth to replace Mitre and had a very nice 1-2-3 inning. In 2 innings he allowed a run on 2 hits, walked one and struck out two.
Alfredo Aceves came on to start the sixth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, then everything fell apart in the seventh. Paul Konerko led off with a walk and A.J. Pierzynski followed with a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Quentin then drove a ball deep to the warning track in left, but Johnny Damon somehow made tough leaping catch to save at least one run. Had I been awake at this point I probably would have thought it was a sign the Yanks might get out of the inning. It wasn't.
Mark Kotsay flied out to right for the second out, but then Jayson Nix walked and Chris Getz drove in two with a single to give the White Sox an 8-5 lead. Nix then stole home on a double-steal to make it 9-5, and then the inning was capped off with an RBI single by Scott Podsednik. That was it for Aceves who, from what I'm hearing, looked like he lost something in that second inning. Even Damon said on the post game that his fastball lost a few MPH that inning.
Mark Melancon came in to get the final out of the inning, and then pitched a scoreless eighth. The one positive that is coming out of these losses is that Melancon is getting some work in, and looks pretty decent in the process. Tonight he threw 18 pitches, 13 for strikes, and struck out two in an inning and a third.
There was no comeback in the cards tonight for the Yanks as Sox relievers Tony Pena, Octavio Dotel, and Scott Linebrink held the Yanks scoreless over the final five innings.
After two tough losses the Yankees will hand the ball to A.J. Burnett, and will be facing Sox southpaw John Danks in a pretty nice pitching matchup. At this point there's no one I'd rather see start tomorrow than Burnett. Since May 27th he's been one of the best pitchers in the game, and by far the most reliable Yankee starter. Over that stretch he's 8-2, with a 2.08 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .209 against him. They will start play tomorrow with just a 1.5 game lead over Boston in the division because while the Yankees were getting hammered in Chicago, Boston was able to beat Baltimore 6-5 at Camden Yards. ... Speaking of the Red Sox, the Yanks are now 0-10 against teams with the word "Sox" in their name. I don't know what that means, but it bothers me.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Jeter, SS | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .321 |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .278 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .281 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .254 |
| Matsui, H, DH | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .260 |
| Posada, C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .277 |
| Cano, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .307 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .287 |
| Hinske, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .268 |
| Totals | 37 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 24 | |
BATTING 2B: Teixeira (28, Carrasco, D), Matsui, H (18, Carrasco, D). HR: Hinske (6, 4th inning off Carrasco, D, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Jeter; Damon 2; Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A 3; Matsui, H 3; Cano 2; Hinske 4. RBI: Teixeira (75), Rodriguez, A (58), Matsui, H (47), Hinske 2 (19). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jeter; Posada 3; Cabrera, Me; Teixeira. GIDP: Posada; Jeter. Team RISP: 2-for-10. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING SB: Jeter (19, 2nd base off Pena, To/Pierzynski). | ||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Mitre | 3.0 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7.90 |
| Robertson, D (L, 1-1) | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.81 |
| Aceves, A | 1.2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.54 |
| Melancon | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.86 |
WHITE SOX STATS
PLAYER OF THE GAME: White Sox pen (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 1 K)
HONORABLE MENTION: A.J. Pierzynski (4-for-5, 2B, RBI, R)
GOAT OF THE GAME: Sergio Mitre
Tomorrow's Game
Yankees @ White Sox
Game Time: 4:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: FOX, WCBS
RHP A.J. Burnett (10-4, 3.53) vs. LHP John Danks (8-7, 3.89)
Game Time: 4:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: FOX, WCBS
RHP A.J. Burnett (10-4, 3.53) vs. LHP John Danks (8-7, 3.89)
Melancon looked good if Bruney continues to struggle. Girardi needs to start using Melancon in late inning situations.
ReplyDeleteVery scary quote from Joe Girardi
ReplyDeleteGirardi said. "If we go with an all right-handed lineup, you can DH Alex, you can put Cody at third and Jerry in left. You can do a lot of different things because of that. That's what we like."
Yes thats what all yankee fans want to see Ransom and Hairston both in the lineup. They did the same thing with having Berroa on the team. I dont know why you need two utility players on the bench. This isn't the national league.
Firstly, we can only pray that Girardi was just trying not to make Cody feel bad before they release him. There's no reason for him to be on this team. Can't hit, can't field, and that's about all there is in baseball.
ReplyDeleteAs for tonight's game, some may think I'm crazy, but the game all hinged on one incredibly critical call in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, nobody on, Yanks up 3-1, and an 0-2 count on Thome, the home plate umpire absolutely FROZE on a beautiful pitch that was totally and directly in the middle of the plate. Strike three on TV, on the replay, and on MLB gameday. The ump just completely blew it. If that's called a strike, Mitre is out of the first inning convincingly on 10 or so pitches, Yanks up 3-0, and I just got the sense that they would cruise in the game. Unfortunately, the idiot behind the plate called it a ball, which had the domino effect of allowing the Sox a glimpse of life early on in the game. They only scored one run, but made Mitre throw almost 20 pitches after that blown call, and gained a lot of confidence for the rest of the game, and Mitre I think was thrown off by it.
I know it was a 10-5 final, but to me, that was easily the turning point of the game. It deflated the Yanks a bit, and it picked up the Sox. Instead of a ridiculously fast 1-2-3 first inning with the Yankee bats ready to go back out there and do some more damage, the inning dragged on and changed the momentum right away. Amazing what one single strike call in the 1st inning can do.
Now we're in a situation were you really really need to take the final two games of the series. With AJ and CC going I feel good about our chances. Hopefully the bats do their part and we can sneak out of Chicago with a split, and we'd be 4-3 on the road trip which would be very acceptable.
i feel good about aj but not cc.....sabathia still needs to prove himself here (we're 11-11 when he pitches)
ReplyDelete