Posts tagged ‘Michael Kay’

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October 16, 2010

Yankees comeback against Rangers seals the deal

by Jamie Insalaco
brett gardner alcs

the beginning of the end

If you read my ALCS picks, you’ll see I had the Yankees winning in 6 games, but I’m probably wrong, and Michael Kay is probably right – Yankees in 5 games.  But after last night’s late inning collapse by the Rangers, it’s almost difficult to expect them to win any games at all. 

I mean, what else do the Rangers need to go right for them to win a ball game?  CC Sabathia was terrible (again), CJ Wilson pitched a great game and they had a 4 run lead to start the eight inning.  Then it all came undone, starting with an infield single by Brett Gardner, during which he slide into first base.  I still have no idea why guys do this – again, to invoke Michael Kay, if sliding was faster, then Olympic sprinters would slide over the finish line, right?  I guess it did make him more difficult for C.J. Wilson to tag, and it turned out to be the start to a great rally for the Yankees.

Following Wilson was a parade of relief pitchers who just couldn’t get anybody out.  This isn’t all that shocking to me – although the Rangers have a zillion relievers that throw 95 MPH, none of them seem to be that great.  Darren Oliver, Darren O’Day, Clay Rapada and Derek Holland all combined to stink up the joint - not that they got clobbered, but the Rangers needed these guys to come in and restore order against the Yankees best hitters, and the blew it in spectacular fashion, with walks and singles for anybody who wanted one. Holland was able to stay on after he gave up a run and he did keep Robinson Cano from scoring, but that’s all the praise one can heep on him.

And speaking of Robinson Cano, I think he gets our ‘keep hope alive’ award for the lazer beam home run off Wilson in the 7th, which was the first home run Wilson has allowed to a left handed batter since June of 2008!  That’s some streak, and a fantastic way to end it.  Derek Jeter doubled Gardner in, then Swisher walked, Alex Rodriguez singled in a pair, then it was Cano time again for another RBI and Marcus Thames singled in the winning run.

But without Joba Chamberlain and especially Dustin Moseley giving the Yankees a chance after Sabathia’s bad start, this never would have happened.  The bone head award of the day goes to Ian Kinsler for getting picked off by Kerry Wood after he walked him on 4 pitches.  He didn’t even move as Wood fired the ball to Mark Teixeira, he didn’t even try to dive back to first, he just conceded to a run down.  Was Wood’s move that good?  It sure was fast, but Kinsler can’t allow himself to be put in that situation.  Suddenly, Wood had things going his way after a tough start.  The Rangers might have thought they had a chance against Mariano Rivera since they got to him in August, but honestly, that was Mo being crappy, not the Rangers being great.  Mo got it done, and there it is – an improbable Yankees win.  But that’s what great teams do – beat inferior teams.

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August 18, 2010

No A-Rod? No problem!

by Jamie Insalaco

When your favorite team is facing Justin Verlander and you’re missing your clean up hitter, you’d think things were not looking good, right? Not so this time.

Former Yankees farm hand Austin Jackson led off the 1st inning with a home run off CC Sabthia, and you’re thinking, "Funk! Here we go again!" But it was not to be so. The Tigers didn’t score again until the 7th inning. Nick Swisher plated 2 runs with an RBI single in the bottom of the 1st, and the Yankees took the lead back and never rescinded it again. In the bottom of the second, my favorite struggling Yankee Curtis Granderson crushed a home run into the right field bleachers, very awesome – that guy is having some week, and his work with hitting coach Kevin Long is paying immediate dividends. Is it just me, or is Kevin Long the best coach ever? When is the last time you can remember a pitching coach or a hitting coach actually fixing somebody? Although the same can be said for Dave Eiland; the problem is, AJ Burnett just won’t stay fixed – he’s like my old car on a cold day or something – ba-doom-crash!

And look at Derek Jeter going 1-3 with a walk and an RBI single! Are all the Yankees going to come out of their slump at once? And Jeter hasn’t really been Jeter since April, as far as I can remember. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure he’s leading AL shortstops in fielding percentage – impressive.

The bottom line is Verlander just couldn’t get it done: 5 hits, 5 walks, 5 Ks, 3 ER in 5 IP. That stinks, he’s way better than that, but the Yankees didn’t let him off the hook.

How about the Paul O’Neill broadcasting? Is there any sweeter sound? What’d we learn this time? Golfing, playing games at home, he’s not on facebook, Michael Kay has a big head (knew that one already)… Paul O’Neill is awesome!

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August 17, 2010

Yankees offense continues to trickle

by Jamie Insalaco

Another game, another feeble offensive outing, another loss.

The Yankees are 6-9 during the month of August and despite the big come from behind win against Texas, are playing their worst baseball of the year. There’s not much to say about last night’s game… Javier Vazquez is a mess – again. It’s a miracle he was able to throw as many innings as he did – what was it, over 100 pitches in 4 innings? Still, the Yankees bullpen was pretty good, and its hard to complain too much about the pitching when the offense sucks this hard. Derek Jeter deserves praise for coming up with a new double play to ground into – what was that, a 5-3 double play to end the game? Impressive! Michael Kay is saying, "The Yankees will probably win the game on a gapper-" what the hell Yankees team is he watching? Certainly not the lifeless collection of offense-less stiffs I’ve been subjugated to. (OK, that’s not the best use of ‘subjugated,’ but you know what I mean) In any case, I have faith they’ll turn it around, but exactly when this’ll happen is anybody’s guess… probably when Robbie Cano does.

The brighter side: Curtis Granderson went 3-3 with a walk. I know he’s underperformed all year, but I still believe this guy is a great hitter and will have success as a Yankee.

The darker side: A-Rod and Nick Swisher both left the game with injuries. They don’t sound too serious, but I doubt either of them will play in tonight’s game.

On a more positive note (for me, anyway), the New York Giants beat the New York Jets in a meaningless preseason game. I’m just glad a team I root for scored! Looking toward the baseball off season, expect some NY Giants posts here!

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August 11, 2010

Depleted Yankees lose to Rangers in extra innings

by Jamie Insalaco

D’oh!

The Yankees had Marcus Thames batting third last night. I’d usually say, ’nuff said,’ but where’s the fun in that? Robinson Cano sat for most of the game with the flu. I think Jorge Posada sat just because he needed a day off – and wouldn’t you know it, but Francisco Cervelli had a clutch RBI, showing shades of April. Mark Teixeira was home in New York celebrating the birth of his son. Brett Gardner sat against the lefty starter. So Thames was the DH, Ramiro Pena started at 2nd base and Austin Kearns started in left field.

In the top of the first, Derek Jeter was first called safe at first by the umpire, despite the appearance of being tagged out, and the call was reversed by the home plate umpire. I do agree that Jeter was out, but how the home plate umpire, who is so far away, can see the correct call and the guy standing right on top of it can’t, I don’t know how to explain.

AJ Burnett pitched a pretty good game; not great, but good. He tired as the night went on and gave up a 2 run bomb that made it 3-2 Yankees, but A-Rod had his back. Alex Rodriguez smashed career homer 601 into center field to tie the game back up. Burnett gave up the lead as soon as he got it, but I guess we should be pleased that he pitched decent in a home run hitting park.

David Robinson pitched well in multiple innings and worked with Cervelli to get out of jams. Mariano Rivera gave up some ground ball sinkers and nearly walked in the winning run in extra innings as he had to throw the ball right down the middle 3 times in a row after falling behind in the count 3-0. For all of Mo’s genius, he is almost always one of those closers who doesn’t usually do well in the non save situation – at least I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. Still, he’s Mo, so he’s allowed to blow it once and a while. I believe his ERA is still under 1.00 and he’s allowed less than 20 hits in nearly 50 innings. Again, I know he blew the game last night, but BOW DOWN TO HIM! Now! He didn’t exactly get smacked around, but the ball was hit hard enough to get the job done for the Rangers.

Michael Kay referred to last night’s game as a possible playoff preview, and if he’s right, it could be exciting. However, you’d hope the Yankees would play all of their regulars in a playoff game. Also, I don’t think Kay needed to mention the possible playoff game preview ten times, but it was an exciting game. The Rangers did look better than they did in April, but they committed more errors, so they’re not that much improved in terms of defense. Tonight, Cliff Lee faces off against Javier Vazquez in what could be a serious mismatch. Lee through a complete game against the Yankees last time and surrendered 3 runs, so we’ll have to see what he does. Both bullpens sent out their best guys last night, and most of them threw a ton of pitches, so both starters would be wise to go long – something Lee is good at and Javy is not.

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August 3, 2010

Blue Jays take game 1 of 3

by Jamie Insalaco

No, A-Rod didn’t hit his dinger.

Now that we got that out of the way, lets talk about this game and the reason the Yankees lost: the unraveling of AJ Burnett in the 5th inning. What the hell happened? He seemed to be pitching well, but all of the sudden, it seemed like his command deserted him. He came into the inning with a low pitch count, so it couldn’t have been fatigue… I know Michael Kay is fond of saying, "Burnett is like the little girl with the curl: he’s either very, very good or very very bad," and while I don’t exactly understand that simile, I do hear what he’s saying. However, we did learn one thing last night; the Blue Jays do not know hot to pitch with a lead.

I liked what Joe Girardi did with his bench last night. I liked the idea of pitch hitting Marcus Thames for Curtis Granderson; maybe this will act like lighting a fire under Grandy. I do think Austin Kearns can help this team, but I also believe he should have tried to foul off that pitch he took for strike when he pitch hit for Brett Gardner; I feel like when you’re called on to pitch hit late in the game, the last thing you want to do is go down looking, right?

Just a quick shout out to Joba Chamberlain, who pitched pretty well last night. If he gets on track, the Yankees bullpen might suddenly go from a weakness to a strength with the tremendous turn around of David Robertson and the arrival of Kerry Wood. I think demoting Joba and bringing in Wood is just the kick in the ass Joba needs, and since the demotion, he’s pitched pretty well, so lets see how this thing unfolds.

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