This blog is being written as I watch the game on my DVR.
Boy was Jeter over matched by Morrow. Morrow has very good stuff 95-97 MPH fastball and a variety of other pitches that keep you off balance. I was surprised his ERA was so high, but then I saw how many walks he was issuing and that has most likely been his problem.
Vazquez looks to have good stuff today, the question will remain whether he can throw it for strikes when needed. His change up for a strike along with working his breaking balls in fastball counts is critical to his success.
2nd inning - ARod is usually heads up, but what in the world was he thinking when he tried to go to 2nd base after the infielders couldn't keep his grounder in the infield? First, he ran through first base by a long way and then hesitated before finally having the brain cramp to go and have the throw beat him by a long margin. Shaking my head...
It figures, I talk about Vazquez' stuff and he walks the leadoff guy. I understand not throwing the fastball to Bautista, but Vazquez needs to be able to throw all his pitches for strikes when you only throw 89...wild pitch moved him over, but He bounced back to get out of the inning. 2 walks in 2 innings, but at least his stuff has good movement. Continuing to walk guys will catch up to him soon though.
Man, this offense has been offensive. Gardner triples and Jeter K's looking awful again. Although this ump really has a huge plate (both sides). Both Jeter and Swisher had gripes as they K'd leaving Gardner on 3rd.
Molina leads off and Vazquez walks him to start the inning??? C'mon Javy! OK, Javy came back to strike out 2 guys and get out of the inning. Substituting walks for hits is fine so far, but he better cut them out or he will get this offense out of the game...walking Molina to lead off is terrible.
Man, Tex looks bad...didn't even run it out. We have now gone 4 innings this game and 14 last game with only one hit that produced runs.
The next 12 guys all got out as both pitchers are dominating, thanks to their stuff and a wide strike zone which I believe has been helping Toronto more than us (I try to keep my bias out of it, but admittedly it is hard sometimes). meanwhile Javy has a no hitter and has mowed down Toronto when not allowing a walk.
After 2 more outs Javy finally walked Lind. CRAP. 0-2 count and Cervelli walks out to the mound to discuss their next pitch. Not sure what was said, but IT WAS THE WRONG MOVE, as Javy hung a slider and Wells gave Toronto a 2 run lead. Normally, 2 runs should be nothing, but this team has not shown much of a pulse in this series.
OK, we showed a pulse in the top of the 7th, but Granderson struck out looking on a wide strike.
Javy recouped and mowed them down in the 7th...He has thrown 106 pitches and I hope they keep him in the game to start the 8th.
hey some life, thanks to Toronto hitting Cervelli and Gardner to lead off the inning. Do you bunt Jeter? Normally this is a good spot, but with Tex coming up I would let Jeter hit against Downs the lefty. Jeter just got a hosed by the ump and is now in the hole. This ump has a strike zone that is 6 inches too wide on each side for us and 2 inches too wide for them...we are getting the short end...Great job by Jeter as he came through with a very big double to get us some life. Funny as you read Downs their pitcher say, "wow" as if he were saying "wow, I can't believe he hit a ball that hard down the line for a double...because it was in the same spot as the previous pitch Jeter argued about and was a ball." Now Swisher just got hosed by the ump! The plate umpire has no right calling that check swing unless it is absolutely clear. Not only wasn't it clear, Swisher didn't swing. HORRIBLE call in a huge spot...I am glad Girardi came out and got tossed, those are horse manure calls.
What the heck is Cito doing walking Tex? I don't really care that ARod has made teams pay by going 5-5 in these situations (that doesn't mean squat to me), but Tex hasn't hit anything and I wouldn't walk him (and put the go ahead runner on base) to face ARod who might not be the same ARod, but is still an .850+ OPS guy??? I go after the guy with the under .700 OPS! Let's make Cito pay... Nice wild pitch to get the tying run in! Remember last year, I had an issue with Molina blocking balls. He wasn't lazy on this one, just a little slow. ARGHH! I have no idea what ARod was looking at as he took strike 3 right down the middle. he needs to swing the bat there. I assume Cano gets walked and Jorge will have to come through with the bases juiced. NO! Man, Cito is managing odd to me...He did get ARod, but let's hope these decisions I disagree with catch up to him...
Yeah, Cano comes through again! Greta job and what the heck was Cito thinking? Terrible job by him. Intentionally walking Posada in this spot is the right move to bring in the lefty to face Granderson...well, he walked Curtis so now Cervelli gets to face a lefty so we can break this open...Cervelli hit a hard line drive, but right at the right fielder.
Joba is in now for the 8th. I might have let Javy stay in, but I understand after the long 7th inning to take him out. I said I would leave him in, but I understand this move.
Granderson just missed the double by Molina...I wonder if Gardner would have gotten that one as speed was a huge factor. Granderson is good out there so I don't want to do this every time, but you have to wonder. Joba just allowed another hit to close the score to 4-3. Huge DP to get 2 outs in that spot. We were lucky it was hit right at Cano. Joba is being taken out for Marte as Lind is up...this is a good move and I like that they are not sticking to Joba in the 8th no matter what. He got the DP, but wasn't very sharp. Good job Marte as he K'd a guy who isn't good against lefties...Marte did his job! I still am not mad that Joba started the 8th just to go on record.
Man, Swish K'd again on a inside pitch...Ques Tec would have had fun today. I would have loved to give Rivera more than a 1 run lead.
C'mon Genius Maker! Pena in at 3rd for ARod...I hope ARod is OK? Anyway, Pena got tested and made a really good play on a tough hop to get the first out. Rivera is pounding the righties inside with his 2 seamer (tailing in) and his cutter. Rivera does it again!
I hope you enjoyed the blog in a little different format (to mis it up) and give you my thought process during the game a little bit. Normally I watch every pitch and call every pitch, but I can't get it all down on paper without spending too much time...
Boston lost and TB won
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Good to see Javy turn it around! I can only hope that it stays that way. I can't wait to see Strausburg pitch tomorrow!! I am hoping it would be on TV but have not checked yet. Boy I like what I see out of Austin Jackson so far! certainly not going to hit homers but he does not seem to be bothered by the majors. What do you see as the flaws in his game????
ReplyDeleteSteve Dunaway
There was more than one reason Downs was saying "wow." The pitch that hit Gardner was almost a strike--it was heading directly towards the catcher's target. Downs got beat on what he probably thought were two great pitches, and was probably left asking himself "what could I have done there?"
ReplyDeleteI usually like bunting with 1st and 2nd and no outs, but like you, in Jeter's instance I felt it would have been the wrong move. Down 2 in the 8th, I disn't think it was a good idea to give up an out for free there when the offense hadn't been getting the job done. Admittedly, sometimes I might say exactly the opposite, but in this particular instance I strongly felt the bunt was not right.
I agree that Cito's moves were bad.
It was a "perfect save" for the Genius Maker. What's a perfect save? Well, as soon as the Yankees make their 3rd out and it is time for Mariano, I've made it a tradition in my apartment to play "Enter Sandman" on my stereo as soon as the TV breaks for commercial. A perfect save is when Mariano is done before the song ends. :-)
It was also a perfect save because the last batter was left holding a toothpick in his hand. I love when The Genius Maker breaks bats.
Good comments! Austin Jackson has looked good so far and shows to be a good defensive OF'r as well. I am not sure of his top speed, but he does seem to track balls well from the very limited views I have had. We need to compare him to Granderson though. AJ's OPS is down to .807 as his power numbers and walk numbers are only mediocre. He does have 17 doubles and 3 triples which is good power, but only 1 homer is obviously not good. His swing has some holes and the pitchers are starting to catch up a little bit. In May he only has a .732 OPS and so far in June it is .679. Granderson will be worth more over the next few years in my opinion and I think the trade was a good one.
ReplyDeleteAs for the other comment, I agree watching Rivera break all those bats is always a great sign.
Hey Steve,
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about putting Cano in the 3 hole? Papers are all over that today and moving Tex down. I sort of feel mixed about this. My gut is telling me that Girardi should leave Tex and let him work out of it. He has been around long enough and is a good enough hitter to do that. Your thoughts?
Steve D.
Steve, I am curious to hear what you think about the Yankees drafting Cito Culver. If he signs and doesn't go to Maryland, he seems to be an interesting prospect.
ReplyDeleteKim