Game 30: Yanks vs. Tigers

Regular Season Game 30
Yankees (14-15) vs. Tigers (13-15)
Yankee Stadium - Bronx, NY
Game Time: 7:05 p.m.
TV: YES - MLB.TV | Radio: WCBS 880 - XM Radio

Here are the lineups:

YANKEES
Johnny Damon LF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Shelley Duncan 1B
Hideki Matsui DH
Melky Cabrera CF
Morgan Ensberg 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Chad Moeller C

Ian Kennedy RHP (0-2, 8.53 ERA)

TIGERS
Curtis Granderson CF
Placido Polanco 2B
Gary Sheffield DH
Magglio Ordonez RF
Miguel Cabrera 1B
Carlos Guillen 3B
Jacque Jones LF
Brandon Inge C
Ramon Santiago SS

Nate Robertson LHP (0-3, 6.91 ERA)

Notes: Jason Giambi is a lifetime .538 hitter against Robertson while Matsui is only hitting .268 against him. I wonder if Joe Girardi knows this.

Yanks vs. Robertson

	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
A. Rodriguez	22	7	2	1	1	6	2	4	.318	.375	.636	1.011
D. Jeter	20	5	0	0	0	0	0	4	.250	.250	.250	.500
J. Damon	20	8	1	1	0	5	3	3	.400	.478	.550	1.028
R. Cano	15	5	2	0	0	1	0	0	.333	.333	.467	.800
H. Matsui	14	4	0	0	0	1	1	1	.286	.333	.286	.619
J. Giambi	13	7	1	0	1	3	1	4	.538	.563	.846	1.409
J. Posada	13	3	0	0	0	3	2	5	.231	.375	.231	.606
B. Abreu	8	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	.500	.500	.500	1.000
J. Molina	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.125	.125	.250	.375
M. Cabrera	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250	.250	.250	.500
C. Moeller	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.333	.333	.333	.667
M. Ensberg	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.333	.000	.333
Totals	146	47	7	2	2	20	10	25	.322	.371	.438	.809

Tigers vs. Kennedy
Kennedy has never faced the Tigers.

Stick around and discuss the game

as it happens in the comments section.

Hughes Has Stress Fracture of the Rib

From the New York Post:

Joe Girardi said today on WFAN's "Mike & the Mad Dog" program that Phil Hughes has a stress fracture of his ninth rib and could be out until at least July.

This is worse than the preliminary word that Hughes was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique muscle.

So much for it all being BS so that he could get his act together.

Am I the only one who starting to feel that this team is snakebit? I've never seen a team with more bad luck than the Yankees have had the past couple seasons.

5/1 New Stadium Photo Update

These are from Yankees.com. And they show the final steel beam being placed on the structure that will be holding up the new scoreboard.

Here is another great shot of the two stadiums side by side.

And this shot is from Baseball-Fever member yankies4life

(click to enlarge)

For the main updates page click here.

It's A-Rod's Fault

No, not the team's struggles, I'm talking about his recent trip to the DL.

From the New York Post:

May 1, 2008 -- Alex Rodriguez admitted it was a mistake trying to play last weekend in Cleveland with a right quadriceps injury. His penalty for that miscalculation is 15 days on the disabled list starting last night.

"The curse of being a good healer is I thought I was ready in three days," said Rodriguez, who first sustained the injury in Baltimore.

"I made it worse. But if you ask me if I could play tonight, I'll go out there tonight. I'll play until I'm dead."

Rodriguez has a Grade 2 strain, but is confident he'll be activated in two weeks. He blames nobody but himself for his situation.

"I wanted to play," he said before the Yanks' 6-2 loss to the Tigers. "I begged to get in there. The team had nothing to do with it. They gave me every chance to get out of there."

This is an example of why teams should always err on the side of caution with injuries, especially injuries to their best players. Rushing A-Rod back was clearly a mistake, not only was he not effective at the plate, but as we all know, it has led to more severe injury and now A-Rod will be out for two weeks, if not longer.

Bruney Chooses Rehab Over Surgery

Brian Bruney, who has a torn Lisfranc ligament in his right foot, has decided to try rehab over surgery. The rehab will include wearing a protective boot for a few months and lots of rest.
There is no guarantee that the rehab will work, but if he had surgery he'd likely be done for the year.

"I'm not having it," Bruney said. "If everything goes as planned with the boot, and I don't need surgery, I could be back in August. It's worth it to me to at least try to get back this year."

Hughes To DL with a Strained Oblique

Phil Hughes was placed on the 15-day DL tonight with a strained right oblique. I'm going to call bulls**t on this one. I think this is a move the Yankees are making to give him some time to get his act together without demoting him.

“He probably needs a timeout, regardless, and he’s going to get it,” said GM Brian Cashman.

What he meant was that they're handing him this fake injury so he can get a "timeout."

In explaining why he waited to say anything, Hughes said: "I honestly didn't think it was a factor at all in anything I did."

Anyway, Darrell Rasner with replace Hughes in the rotation and will get his first start on Sunday vs. the Mariners.

Yanks Finish April With Loss and a 14-15 Record

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	1	0		6	10	0
N.Y. Yankees	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	5	0

The Yankees were defeated 6-2 by the Detroit Tigers tonight at Yankee Stadium. The loss means the Yankees will finish the month of April under .500 for the second year in a row and the third time in four years.

Andy Pettitte started for the Yanks, and was very good for the first four innings, but terrible for his final two. Through four he allowed just 1 run on 1 hit and looked to be on course for his fourth win of the year. But that would change in the 5th when he allowed a 2-run homer to Marcus Thames to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. He allowed two more runs in the 6th on a solo-HR by Placido Polanco, and a RBI single by Carlos Guillen. His final line was 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K - not exactly what you would want from your "stopper."

Latroy Hawkins replaced Pettitte in the 7th and pitched a scoreless inning. Kyle Farnsworth pitched the 8th and gave up a solo homer to Polanco, his second of the game. That pitch to Polanco was his only mistake as he retired the other three batters he faced, two on strike outs. Edwar Ramirez was good and pitched a scoreless 9th.

IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Pettitte (L, 3-3) 6.0 7 5 5 1 3 2 3.93 Hawkins 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 7.47 Farnsworth 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 1 4.05 Ramirez 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00

TIGERS PITCHING

Yet another night where the Yankees' offense goes missing. The only two runs came in the bottom of the first. The Yankees loaded the bases with nobody out, and after Hideki Matsui popped out to short left for the first out of the inning Jason Giambi drove in a run on a sac fly, and then Melky Cabrera hit an RBI single to drive in the Yankees second run. And that would be it for this pathetic Yankees offense.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.276
Jeter, SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.277
Abreu, RF	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.269
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.322
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	.164
Cabrera, CF	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.299
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.151
Molina, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.231
Gonzalez, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.273
Totals	30	2	5	2	2	2	9
BATTING 2B: Damon (10, Bonderman). TB: Damon 2; Jeter; Matsui; Cabrera 2. RBI: Giambi (13), Cabrera (12). 2-out RBI: Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano. SF: Giambi. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING CS: Cano (2, 2nd base by Bonderman/Rodriguez).

TIGERS HITTING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jeremy Bonderman - 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

HONORABLE MENTION: Placido Polanco - 2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

The Yankees will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow night at The Stadium. Ian Kennedy gets the start for the Yankees, and will go up against Tigers' lefty Nate Robertson. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., and the game can be seen on YES and heard on WCBS 880.

4/30 Minor League Report

The Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees had today off.

Here's what the other Yankees minor league affiliates did:

(AA) Trenton lost to Connecticut 3-2 - Box Score - Recap

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Trenton	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		2	6	1
Connecticut	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	X		3	4	1

W: J. Hedrick (1-2, 3.00); L: G. Kontos (0-3, 3.52); SV: S. Romo (7)
HR: CT: A. Witter (6).

Trenton:
Ramiro Pena: 1-for-4
Austin Jackson: 0-for-3, BB
Colin Curtis: 1-for-3, R, BB
Matt Carson: 2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI
P. J. Pilittere: 1-for-4
Reegie Corona: 1-for-3
J. B. Cox: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, (0.00 ERA)

(High A) Tampa lost to Sarasota 3-1 - Box Score - Recap

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tampa	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0		1	7	1
Sarasota	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	X		3	8	1

W: J. Smith (5-1, 1.60); L: J. Valdez (4-1, 1.32); SV: S. Watson (6)
HR: None.

Tampa:
Eduardo Nunez: 1-for-4
Mitch Hilligoss: 1-for-4
Seth Fortenberry: 1-for-4, R
Kyle Anson: 1-for-4
Kevin Smith: 1-for-4, RBI
Josue Calzado: 1-for-3
James Cooper: 1-for-3, 2B

(Low A) Charleston lost to Augusta 2-1 - Box Score - Recap

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Augusta	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		2	6	1
Charleston	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		1	8	1

W: J. Paterson (3-1, 3.00); L: D. Betances (3-1, 2.59); SV: D. Otero (4)
HR: None.

Charleston:
Justin Snyder: 2-for-4, 2B, BB, R
Jesus Montero: 2-for-5, 2B
David Williams: 1-for-5
Taylor Holiday: 1-for-3, BB
Walter Ibarra: 1-for-3, BB
Austin Krum: 1-for-4
Dellin Betances: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K (2.59 ERA)