(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chi. White Sox « | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| N.Y. Yankees | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
SV: B. Jenks (5)
Today, he lasted just three+ innings, allowed five runs on seven hits, walked four, and struck out two. Four of the five runs scored via the homer; two solo shots by Andruw Jones in the first and third, and a two-run blast by Mark Kotsay in the fourth. Jones now has seven homers off Vazquez in his career. It would be one thing if were we seeing some sort of improvement, but today's performance might have been his worst of the year, and raised his ERA to 9.78.
Vazquez is dealing with a lot of stuff right now, his head, his mechanics, command, velocity, etc., but one of his main problems yesterday was an inability to put hitters away. There were many at-bats throughout the game where he would get ahead 0-2 or 1-2, only to fail to put the hitters away.
Javy also took a beating from the 45,000 in attendance at the stadium, who booed the the right-hander throughout his short outing, and then once again when he was taken out of the game. Even the umpires got in on the action, making Vazquez changes gloves prior to the third inning. When he came out of the dugout to warm up the umpired informed him that his two-tone glove was not allowed and he would have to change gloves.
“It’s tough. I can’t hide that. It’s tough. But I promise everybody I’m going to keep working hard at it and battle through it,” Vazquez said after the game. He also had this to say about the boos: "When you do bad you expect to get booed. It’s something I’m clear on. When you do bad, you’re going to get booed. For me, really, that’s not even a question right now,” he said. “When you’re not doing good, they’re going to boo you. I really have to turn it around and hopefully the boos will turn into cheers.” (quotes via Josh Thomson)
That's a much better response than saying the boos were "unfair" like he did after his last start in the Bronx, but still, he's going to have to turn things around on the field before he gets the fans off his back.
Even with Javy's terrible start, the Yanks still had a chance to win this game. After trailing 5-1 after three and a half they scored one in the fifth and four in the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. Brett Gardner picked up an RBI single to drive in the first run of the Yanks four-run rally. Derek Jeter drove in the second with an RBI groundout, and then Nick Swisher gave the Yanks the lead with a two-run homer. All of the damage in the inning was done off White Sox reliever Scott Linebrink, who was actually able to pick up a win thanks to the work of the Yankees pen.
Sergio Mitre pitched well in relief of Vazquez, throwing three hitless innings, but after that things went quickly south. David Robertson came out for the seventh and gave up a one-out double to Paul Konerko, then after getting the second out of the inning he intentionally walked Carlos Quentin before leaving the game. Some have complained, but I thnk the walk wasn't a bad move by Girardi. It set things up for Damaso Marte to come in and face the left-handed hitting A.J. Pierzynski, but he just failed to get the job done. Pierzynski lined the second pitch he saw into left-center for a two-run double that gave the White Sox the lead for good at 7-6 lead.
Linebrink, Randy Williams, J.J. Putz and Bobby Jenks handled the rest for the White Sox, holding the Yankees scoreless over the final three innings.
Besides losing the game, the Yankees also lost starting center fielder Curtis Granderson. He strained his left groin muscle while running the bases and is now headed to the 15-day DL. The Yankees will call up Mark Melancon from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to fill the roster spot. This also means Gardner will be playing center, while Marcus Thames and Randy Winn split the left field duties. The addition of Melancon could also help a bullpen that has looked very pedestrian over the first month of the season.
On to the few positives of the game:
Mark Teixeira has his first multi-hit game since April 10th, and only his second of the year. Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, and Brett Gardner also had two-hit games. Gardner also stole his 11th base of the season.
On the pitching side, we already heard about Mitre's nice outing, Alfredo Aceves did well in 1.2 scoreless innings, and Boone Logan was lighting up the radar gun as he struck out Mark Teahen on four fastballs--three were 95 mph and the final one hit 97 mph on the gun. Logan has looked pretty good since being called up, and if Marte continues to struggle the Yankees might have to consider making Logan their primary lefty specialist.
The Yanks send Phil Hughes to the mound in tomorrow's rubber game against left-hander Mark Buehrle. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m., and the game is on YES.
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Derek Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .327 |
| Nick Swisher, RF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .259 |
| Mark Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .153 |
| Alex Rodriguez, 3B | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .258 |
| Ramiro Pena, PR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .111 |
| Robinson Cano, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | .382 |
| Jorge Posada, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .290 |
| Marcus Thames, DH-LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .550 |
| Curtis Granderson, CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .225 |
| Randy Winn, PR-LF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .077 |
| a- Nick Johnson, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .136 |
| Brett Gardner, LF-CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Totals | 37 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 5 | | |
| a-grounded out for Winn in the 8th | ||||||||
| Batting | ||||||||
| HR: Swisher (3, 6th inning off Linebrink, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Jeter; Swisher 5; Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A 2; Thames; Granderson; Gardner 2. RBI: Teixeira (10), Rodriguez, A (15), Gardner (7), Jeter (19), Swisher 2 (13). 2-out RBI: Teixeira; Swisher 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano 2. GIDP: Swisher. Team RISP: 3-for-8. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (11, 2nd base off Linebrink/Pierzynski). | ||||||||
| Fielding | ||||||||
| Outfield Assists - Curtis Granderson 1 | ||||||||
| DP - Granderson-Teixeira | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Javier Vazquez | 3 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9.78 |
| Sergio Mitre | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1.23 |
| David Robertson (H,1; L,0-2) | 0.2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12.71 |
| Damaso Marte (BS,1) | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 |
| Alfredo Aceves | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.48 |
| Boone Logan | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.38 |
| IBB - Quentin by David Robertson | ||||||||
| WP - Javier Vazquez (2) | ||||||||
| Pitches-Strikes - Javier Vazquez 83-46, Sergio Mitre 46-26, David Robertson 18-8, Damaso Marte 5-3, Alfredo Aceves 26-18, Boone Logan 4-3 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Javier Vazquez 1-5, Sergio Mitre 4-3, David Robertson 1-1, Alfredo Aceves 2-3 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - Javier Vazquez 19, Sergio Mitre 10, David Robertson 4, Damaso Marte 2, Alfredo Aceves 5, Boone Logan 1 | ||||||||
| PLAYER OF THE GAME: A.J. Pierzynski (3-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R) HONORABLE MENTION: Andruw Jones (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB, 2 R) GOAT OF THE GAME: Javier Vazquez & Damaso Marte |
