(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| NYY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | |
| LAA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | X | 5 | 9 | 0 |
WP - Joe Saunders (14-7)
LP - Andy Pettitte (13-7)
SV - Brian Fuentes (44)
Another game in Anaheim another loss for the Yankees as they made it 0-for-4 at Angels Stadium. Joe Saunders pitched a great game for the Angels, holding the Yankees to just two runs on seven scattered hit over 8.1 innings. He did not walk a batter, struck out three, and threw 70 of his 108 pitches for strikes. The Yankees did help him out, though, going 0-for-12 with runners on and 0-for-3 with RISP. The only two Yankees runs came on solo homers off the bats of Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui.
On our side Andy Pettitte had a solid outing after resting his tired shoulder. It wasn't a great start, but it wasn't terrible either. He was a little rusty at the start and had command issues, but settled down. In six innings he allowed three runs on five hits, walked two, struck out three, and threw 57 of his 91 pitches for strikes. The two main things are he kept the Yankees in the game and that he made it through the game healthy.
Now, while he did keep the Yankees in the game, manager Joe Girardi did not. With the Yankees down 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh Girardi brought in Brian Bruney, yes Brian Bruney to pitch the inning, and with one out he allowed a pinch-hit homer to Kendry Morales. The amazingly stupid part of this move is that Alfredo Aceves, who hasn't pitched since September 14th, sat and rotted away in the pen. Girardi wasn't done yet.
Then, after the Yanks cut the lead to 4-2 with Matsui's homer, Girardi brings in Jonathan Albaladejo, with Aceves still rotting away, and passing over another better option, Phil Hughes. Albaladejo allowed another run, increasing the Angels lead to 5-2.
After the game Girardi said he only likes to use Aceves when they're ahead, which is total nonsense. I supposed he feels the same way about Hughes, which again is total nonsense. The best part of having a good pen is not only holding onto leads, but maintaining small deficits so that the offense can come back and win. Apparently Girardi only manages to win when they're already winning.
If Girardi goes with his reliable arms do the Yankees comeback and win? Who knows. What I do know is the job of a manager is to give his team the best chance to win and Girardi once again did not do that. But wait, there's more...
Jose Molina got the start today so that the Yankees could load up on right-handed bats against the left-handed Saunders. I could understand the move if Molina could actually hit, but he can't. I don't think there is a Yankees fan out there that would rather see Molina hit against a lefty than Matsui. If there is, please let me know and tell me why you feel that way. To make matters worse, he pinch-hit Matsui in the eighth, against Saunders, and he homered. So as far as Girardi is concerned Matsui isn't good enough to start against the lefty, but he's good enough to pinch-hit against him? Yea, it doesn't make any sense to me either.
I'm sorry folks, but I just don't understand what Girardi is trying to do. Do you?
The Yankees have now dropped six of their last ten, and if it wasn't for KC's surprising comeback against Boston tonight they'd be just four games up. If I'm a Red Sox fan tonight I'm slightly more pissed off than I am as a Yankees fan because they really let an opportunity slip through their hands. As far as the best record race goes, that lead over the Angels drops to 4.5 and the Yanks will send Chad Gaudin to the mound tomorrow.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .330 |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .286 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .290 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .284 |
| Swisher, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .252 |
| Posada, DH | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .284 |
| Cano, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .320 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .271 |
| Molina, J, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .229 |
| a-Matsui, H, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .279 |
| Cervelli, C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .279 |
| Totals | 33 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 | |
a-Homered for Molina, J in the 8th. | ||||||||
BATTING HR: Rodriguez, A (26, 7th inning off Saunders, 0 on, 0 out), Matsui, H (27, 8th inning off Saunders, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Jeter 2; Rodriguez, A 5; Posada 2; Matsui, H 4. RBI: Rodriguez, A (86), Matsui, H (87). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Swisher 2; Cano. GIDP: Cano; Teixeira. Team RISP: 0-for-3. Team LOB: 5. | ||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Pettitte (L, 13-7) | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4.15 |
| Bruney | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.37 |
| Albaladejo | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.73 |
Pitches-strikes: Pettitte 91-57, Bruney 16-9, Albaladejo 21-12.
ANGELS STATS
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Joe Saunder (W, 8.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
HONORABLE MENTION: Vladimir Guerrero (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R)
GOAT OF THE GAME: Joe Girardi
Tomorrow's Game
Yankees @ Angels
Game Time: 10:05 p.m. TV/Radio: My9, MLBN, WCBS
Chad Gaudin (1-0 3.68) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (7-8, 5.43)
Yankees @ Angels
Game Time: 10:05 p.m. TV/Radio: My9, MLBN, WCBS
Chad Gaudin (1-0 3.68) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (7-8, 5.43)
14 Comments:
Man, are they going to get their act together sometime soon? Good thing they have such a big lead in the AL East. It could be getting scary if they keep this level of play throughout September
I thought bringing in Albaledejo in the 8th was an insane move by Girardi. That was worst than using Bruney. Girardi still has been mixing and matching Bruney and Coke in the 7th. If you got a clean inning in the 8th you are down only 2 runs.
How about the offense takes a hit too. They are the king of solo homeruns. They let a pitcher with a 4.75 era pitch into the 9th inning.
And sitting Matsui and using Molina when Andy is really good at holding and picking off runnners was a terrible move.
Bruney and Albaledejo. It's April/May deja vu all over again!
I don't care if the Yanks win the WS this year...I've said it before and I'll say it again...FIRE GIRARDI!
This is ridiculous. Next year sign Cliff Lee, use Joba and Phil in the bullpen, sign Matt Holliday, let Damon or Matsui go.
JoeG is over-thinking and over-managing again. I think he feels he has to show he can out-manage Mike Scioscia. If you think JoeG's managing is bad now, just wait for the playoffs and the crazy pitching roster he's going to come up with.
Mike,
That's a stupid comment. Last I checked the yanks have the best record in baseball.
It's frustrating to watch a team with this much talent and this much potential struggling behind the mismanagement of Joe Girardi. Unfortunately, the team is so good that they will do well enough to ensure Joe keeps his job.
Jeff, you're on the mark.
Some guys here might recall that way back when I advocated hiring Girardi as the new manager and was enthusiastic when he was indeed hired. I was ecstatic, in fact.
Now I admit I WAS WRONG. Girardi is terrible and our weakest link. I'd love to see him dumped, but as the team has a good record he might not be canned. Geez--under Girardi we don't have the ability to deal the knock-out blow. Right now anything's possible these last few days of the season. Hold on, boys....
Mike
PS I'd think that if we get knocked out of the playoffs, Girardi will be toast. He can go to the Mets....
i dont know if i'd call it mismanagement..
with molina (and yes i know andy has a great pickoff move and has picked off 6 this season)-- he was in there for defense and throwing out runners.. girardi probably felt like his lineup (which consisted of jeter, damon, teixeira, arod, posada and cano) could score 4 runs off a pitcher with a mid 4 era...
with bruney -- yea i was a little skeptical myself, but for us to win in the playoffs we need to have everyone firing on all cylinders out of our bullpen.. i think he felt with a 5 game lead (and the red sox losing) he could take a chance..
albaladejo -- red sox already lost, yankees up by two.. girardi prob wanted to see if he could grab the last pitching spot in the bullpen for the playoffs..
remember in the first series (if we have homefield) we will have one less starter on the roster meaning that there may be an extra guy in the pen (or an extra speed guy off the bench)
overall, girardi could have managed it better.. but what if he brought in hughes and aceves and we still lost? then tonight if we have a lead (hopefully) and cant use them because we used them in a game that we were trailing and lost will be even worse managing. so sometimes theres no right answer
with the albaladejo comment, i meant "down by 2" *
Mike,
He must be doing something right to have gotten the team where it is today. Give the guy some credit. You Girardi haters are a joke. You bashed him in April when the team was doing poorly and are still bashing him today as he has guided the Yankees to the best record in the league.You should become mets fans so you really have something to complain about.
Anon, the become a fan of another team because you disagree with something someone said is a tired and lame rebuttal.
Anyway, up until 11 days ago I thought Girardi was doing a fantastic job. Since then, however, he's fallen asleep. Mainly because he probably falsely believed the Yanks had things wrapped up, which they didn't. The last 10 games have been a comedy of errors on the managerial side and it's the main reason they've lost six of those games against mainly the mighty Orioles, Mariners, and Blue Jays. Luckily for the Yanks Boston blew that lead last night and the lead is still five.
Should he be fired? In my opinion of course not, but he's got to get his act together before he not only blows the best record race, but the division too.
Greg,
The Yankees have had a great year and hopefully it will get better. If you read some of the posts you'd think we were out of the playoffs. Like him or not Joe has guided this team to the best record in baseball.He is deserving of some credit.
Yes, he deserves credit for what he did up until 11 days ago, but they've won nothing yet.
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