(REUTERS/Scott Audette)| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| NYY | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | |
| TB | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 13 | 17 | 0 |
WP - David Price (10-7)
LP - CC Sabathia (19-8)
We know that's going to strike fear in the Yankees fans, and no I'm not talking about the pitch from David Price that nailed Mark Teixeira in the first inning. (More on that in a moment.) What I am talking about was arguably CC Sabathia's worst start start of the season. In 2.2 innings CC allowed nine runs (five earned) on eight hits, walked five, struck out three, and threw just 47 of his 82 pitches for strikes.
We're a fickle bunch and a bad start before the playoffs certainly does conjure up some memories of some recent October failures from CC. I'll be honest, even I started to wonder if this was just a preview of another poor October for CC. But after some rational thinking, and a nap, I abandoned those thoughts. The answer for why this happened is that he had no command of his fastball. The extremely high walk total plus his poor strike to ball ratio is enough to prove that. Also, I guess it's good that he got a bad start out of the way in meaningless game. That's a lot better than having it come next week against either Detroit or Minnesota.
"It's tough to go out there and pitch for individual things, you know," Sabathia said after the game. "I just wanted to go out, have a good outing and keep the run to the playoffs. It was just one of those tough nights, and I'm ready to bounce back."
“Maybe some day I’ll look back on it and say that was my chance to win 20, but maybe I’ll get another shot sometime down the road. Right now, the most important thing is to win a championship, so I’ll be ready for the playoffs.”
"We know what's at stake," Sabathia said. "I'll be geared up and ready. I'll throw my bullpen, go out there Wednesday and give it my best shot." (Quotes from Mark Feinsand and Bryan Hoch.)
It's likely this start will have nothing to do with whatever he does next week. Last year he threw a complete game four-hitter heading in his final regular season start and we know that didn't seem to help him, so why would this one hurt him? Again, at least he got it out of the way.
Offensively the Yankees couldn't really do much against Price, who held the Yankees to just one run on two hits over seven innings pitched. But when you're down 9-1 after three in a meaningless game most offenses would shutdown. One positive was that Juan Miranda hit his first MLB homer.
Brian Bruney, Phil Coke, and Damaso Marte looked good coming out of the pen. Jonathan Albaladejo, Phil Hughes, and David Robertson did not.
One thing that pissed me off a whole lot more than the outcome or CC's start was Price's clearly intentional drilling of Mark Teixeira in the top of the first. Likely payback for CC accidentally ending Carlos Pena's season when these two team met in the Bronx on September 7th. My initial reaction was that I wanted to see some sort of retaliation, but the real payback is that these bums are going home after being one-year wonders while the Yankees are heading to the playoffs.
The second game of this meaningless three-game set is tomorrow night in Tampa, with Andy Pettitte facing Jeff Niemann.
Meanwhile in the Central, the Twins beat and Detroit lost to Chicago so the Tigers' lead in the division is down to just one with two games to play. If the Tigers can't put the Twins away tomorrow, Justin Verlander will have to start on Sunday. This woud be a break for the Yanks because he would then likely have to miss the series opener against the Yanks because he'd only be on three days rest.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Jeter, SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 |
| Miranda, 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .429 |
| Hairston, J, LF-2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .247 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .293 |
| Hinske, RF-3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .242 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .282 |
| Duncan, S, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .214 |
| Swisher, RF-1B | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Guzman, F, LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Posada, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .285 |
| Cervelli, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .301 |
| Cano, 2B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .322 |
| Gardner, CF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .272 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .274 |
| Pena, R, SS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .283 |
| Molina, J, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .216 |
| Totals | 33 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | |
BATTING HR: Miranda (1, 8th inning off Thayer, D, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Miranda 4; Cano; Gardner; Cabrera, Me; Pena, R; Molina, J. RBI: Cabrera, Me (68), Miranda 2 (3), Pena, R (10). 2-out RBI: Pena, R. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jeter; Molina, J. Team RISP: 2-for-5. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING E: Teixeira (4, fielding). Outfield assists: Hairston, J (Crawford at home). | ||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Sabathia (L, 19-8) | 2.2 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3.37 |
| Albaladejo | 1.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.24 |
| Robertson, D | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 |
| Bruney | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.92 |
| Coke | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.55 |
| Hughes, P | 0.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.05 |
| Marte, D | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.45 |
Pitches-strikes: Sabathia 82-47, Albaladejo 35-19, Robertson, D 21-14, Bruney 15-10, Coke 15-11, Hughes, P 17-12, Marte, D 4-2.
RAYS STATS
PLAYER OF THE GAME: B.J. Upton (5-for-5, 6 RBI, 3 R, and hit for the cycle)
HONORABLE MENTION: David Price (W, 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)
GOAT OF THE GAME: CC Sabathia (2.2 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K)
Tomorrow's Game
Yankees @ Rays
Game Time: 7:08 p.m. TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
LHP Andy Pettitte (14-7, 4.11) vs. RHP Jeff Niemann (12-6, 3.94)
Game Time: 7:08 p.m. TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
LHP Andy Pettitte (14-7, 4.11) vs. RHP Jeff Niemann (12-6, 3.94)
hi walk totals, zero command of the fastball, lame excuse making? Right, this has nothing to do with his other October starts. This is EXACTLY what he does in October people. Be afriad.
ReplyDeleteHere are the top 1 MLB leaders in pitches thrown over the last 3 years by year.
ReplyDelete2007:
1) Carlos Zambrano
2) Dan Haren
3) Jake Peavey
4) Scott Kazmir
5) Aaron Harang
6) Sabathia
7) Gil Meche
8) Daniel Cabrera
9) Dontrelle Willis
10) Jeff Francis
2008:
1) Sabathia
2) Lincecum
3) Burnett
4) Cain
5) J Santana
6) Halladay
7) Meche
8) Verlander
9) Arroyo
10) Ervin Santana
2009:
1) Verlander
2) Wainwright
3) Sabathia
4) Jiminez
5) Clee
6) King Felix
7) Edwin Jackson
8) Haren
9) Lincecum
10) Garza
Some observations:
• Only one guy has been on this list all 3 years (Sabathia).
• Lincecum and Verlander are the only others on the list each of the last two years.
• Haren was on it the first and 3rd year.
So I’ll conclude that this group above: Sabathia, Verlander, Linecum and Haren have managed to survive this kind of work load and be effective (so far). Gil Meche also made the list 2x (07 and 08 but has been ineffective/hurt in 09
It’s too early to draw any conclusions about guys who appear on the 09 list, but not any others, but look at the others on the list from 07 and 08. But nearly every of these guys has had their careers derailed, cut short, or in serious jeopardy from overuse:
Zambrano, Peavey, Kazmir, Harang, Cabrera, Willis, Francis, Burnett (OK *maybe* not him,), Cain, Santana (both of them), Arroyo…
Another observation: No Red Sox on this list? Why? Because they rest their guys throughout the season every year. Guys like Penny and Smoltz come every year and go, but their role is clear: Give us a chance so rest our big guns for October. We don’t want to mess with their long-term health.
It comes down to this. Sabathia has shown that he can be very effective with a very high work load. But he simply burns out at the end of the year. His own management buys the myth that he can take it, but they keep getting burned. Now the NYY have done it again.
Time and again pitchers with big workloads in the regular season who also appear in the post-season suffer for it the next year. Most teams know this and adjust accordingly. Not the NYY. Not in 2009. Guys like Lincecum, Haren and Verlander have not had the additional burden of regular post-season abuse. CC has. Why would the Yanks sign this guy, knowing all this, and still let him go out and throw more pitches than he did in any year of his career other than 2009? And there was no need at all for it. Sigh.
yankees suck.
ReplyDeleteAnother INteresting Sabatia tidbit.
ReplyDeleteCareer OPS against him with Posada catching: .758 — the worst of any of the 12 MLB catchers who have caught him. OPS with Molina? .622.
To put that into perspective a .758 OPS is roughly what Melky Cabreara has put up this year. There is no AL hitter as bad as .622.
Put it another way. That 758 OPS against him would have made him second to last in MLB (behind only Joe Blanton) had it not been for all those games Molina caught. Will Joe have the guts to do the right thing and start Molina in game 1?
As a staff opponents OPS against the Yanks this year with Posada catching is .773
With Molina Catching it’s 665 (Cerveli 687). That, my friends, is a GIANT gap.
To put it in perspective, Seattle was the best in the league in terms of OPS against them with .713. Toronto was 12th at 773.
THis is not getting enough attention. How can the Yanks go into October with this guy behind the plate? He’s horrible! The offense has covered up this glaring hole in their game over the summer, but in October, where every run is precious, they are making a decision to turn what would be the best staff in the AL into one of the worst, simply by sticking with one veteran. Amazing how far this team has fallen.
Why do we stand for this team being run like this!!!
Sabathia didn't hit Pena intentionally; he just pitched inside to him. Price hitting Tex was complete bullshit. I know we don't want to get injuries but I hope someone beans Longoria today.
ReplyDeleteLucky you need to relax. Did CC kill your dog? Anyway he's only made two October regular season start prior to yesterday and won them both. A meaningless game against the Rays in Tampa has nothing to do with what he will or will not do in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I fixed whatever was going on with the post so now you can see the entire thing.
Brian Bruney has too make the postseason roster. He is pitching like he did in april before going on the dl.
ReplyDeleteHis fastball command is back. He is hitting 95-96 mph on the black. That is very difficult to hit. The more power arms coming out of the bullpen in the postseason the better.
Price did hit Teixeira on purpose look where the catcher was setup and the ball was by the head.
ReplyDeleteWhere are mlb network and espn complaning about what Price did. They went crazy when Joba dusted Longoria earlier in the season.
I totally agree, Anon. I'm assuming they'll bring 11 pitchers so right now you're looking at a pen of
ReplyDeleteMo
Hughes
Coke
Bruney
Robertson
Aceves
Marte
Gaudin
with starters
CC
Burnett
Pettitte
On the offensive side:
Jeter
Damon
Tex
A-Rod
Posada
Matsui
Cano
Swisher
Melky
Bench
Gardner
Guzman
Hairston
Hinske
Molina
@ Lucky
ReplyDeleteSabathia has been well rested this year. Since his start on september 7th against the rays he has been getting 1-2 days extra rest before every start.
Lucky seems to be suffering from temporary brain damage. I don't understand his anger at all. But like I said, we Yankees fans are a fickle bunch.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I added a recent posts widget to the right sidebar. Do you guys like it or think it's unnecessary?
ReplyDelete@ Greg
ReplyDeleteThey will be only carrying 10 pitchers in the alds. I would assume they will be carrying 12 pitchers in the alcs and worldseries.
I think if Detroit makes it Marte will be left off. Marte is being used only has a lefty specialist. Detroit has a mostly righthanded lineup. Only dangerous lefthanded hitter is Granderson. And with having the extra off days Phil Coke will be used for Granderson every game.
Cervelli will make the alds roster as will Joba. I think Marte and Gaudin will be left off the alds roster. Both Marte and Gaudin will be on the alcs and worldseries roster and probably Guzman and Cervelii will then be taken off.
Why would Joba make the DS roster? He's not going to start, and we haven't seen him out of the pen yet? I just don't see it as the best thing for the team. Gaudin, right now, is more valuable.
ReplyDeleteAs for 10 pitchers, I could see that, but once again, I don't think they need a third catcher. To me it's overkill, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.
But you're right, Marte would likely be the one left off the roster if they do take take 10 pitchers.