Posts tagged ‘teixeira’

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September 1, 2010

Yankees obliterate Mazzaro's homecoming

by Jamie Insalaco

Vin Mazzaro started for the Oakland Athletics last night, a much heralded homecoming by the folks at YES for the Rutherford native, and in front of over 100 of his closest friends and family, this is the line Mazzaro put up: 3.2 IP, 7 hits, 9 R, 7 ER, 3 HR, 3 BB, 3 Ks. Yeoch.

You can’t talk about the Yankees offense last night without mentioning Jorge Posada’s ill advised triple. Posada hit a ball to deep left that went off the wall and got away from the left fielder, and after he rounded 1st, Posada was going to third all the way, never even considering pausing at second. The throw was offline, coming in on the foul side of 3rd base, which the As infielder was able to snow cone in his glove but the ball popped out as soon as he applied the tag to Posada, and somehow, he had his first triple of the year… and since 2008, I believe. Swisher, Granderson and Teixeira all contributed monster no doubt bombers, and Teixeira’s landed in the second deck. Derek Jeter is now 0-7 with a walk against the As this series and his season average is down to .266..

Phil Hughes was also ineffective, but managed to struggle through against the As mediocre offense for a line of 5 IP, 4 hits, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 walks (yeesh!) and 1 K, but good enough for this 16th win of the year. I imagine a team like the Blue Jays would have destroyed Hughes last night. And speaking of our friends from the north…

The Toronto Blue Jays finally put their slugging to the benefit of the Yankees as they put a serious pounding on the Tampa Bay Rays, 13-5. Nice to finally not be on the receiving end of the Blue Jays awesome power, huh? Good Stuff! This puts the Yankees in sole possession of 1st place in the AL East for the first time in over a week.

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August 31, 2010

Bats, Vazquez save the day for Yankees

by Jamie Insalaco

It’s good to have 3 long men in the pen. Last night, it was Javier Vazquez’s turn.

Dustin Moseley made his 7th start of the year for the Yankees against a less than formidable Oakland Athletics offense, and it was not a good one. As ye olde game log reveals, there is just no figuring out Moseley. Last night, he couldn’t get out of the 5th inning as he walked 4 and allowed 5 hits in 4.1 IP. Yet last time out in Toronto against the home run happy Blue Jays, Moseley held them down to 2 ER in 6 IP. He still walked 4 in that appearance, so it doesn’t seem like his control was that much better in Canada, and the Athletics aren’t exactly setting the world on fire with their 528 runs scored on the year. I guess Moseley just didn’t have it last night.

After the As put up a 3 spot in the top of the 1st, the outlook was a bit bleak, but the Yankees don’t play that. No sir. The Yankees responded with 3 runs of their own and Trevor Cahill, the As young ace, looked like he was on his way to getting his butt kicked by the Yankees again, and sure enough, his final line of 4 IP and 8 ER is indeed a foot landed squarely on his backside.

That, and Javier Vazquez’s 4.2 IP, 1 ER outing, was pretty much the game. Vazquez has gone to the pen and found something for the second time this year; whether its rest or not, I can’t say, but it seems like the velocity is up and he’s hitting his spots. What this means for his playoff options on this team, I have no idea.

The big bats were out last night: homers by Teixeira, Cano, and of course, Marcus Thames, of yesterday’s posting fame. Derek Jeter, on the other hand, put up an 0-4 and saw his average dip below .270, but didn’t take his troubles with him out into the field as he made several jump-spin-throw plays that kept the As in check. Its strange to see a guy have such a great night in the field while not getting it done at the plate. Jeter even through up an unsuccessful bunt in an effort to get himself started. Maybe he likes hitting in day games; I hope so, because the Yankees have 5 in a row coming up starting Thursday. Meanwhile, Nick Swisher put up 2 doubles for 3 big RBIs.

The Yankees are still tied with the Rays for 1st place, which is a record of some kind that doesn’t interest me at all. In any case, the Yankees have continued to win without A-Rod and Andy Pettitte – I doubt most teams could solider on the way the Yankees have without their cleanup hitter and number 2 starter, but the Yankees are just that good. Suck on that, Tampa.

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August 30, 2010

Marcus Thames goes deep and other stories from Chicago

by Jamie Insalaco

Before I say anything about the Yankees series win, I think we should all take a time out to praise the offense of Marcus Thames. Thames hit 3 home runs over the weekend in Chicago and 5 in the last week. Game Log. The second home run hasn’t landed yet. "Anything that travels that far ought to have a stewardess on it." Indeed it should, sir. Thames is doing a great job making up for A-Rod and Teixeira.

Ozzie Guillen set a new record for fastest ejection from a game; he came out to contest a call, walked half way to 1st, threw up his hands in disgust and turned around and started walking back toward the dugout. Guillen was promptly thrown out of the game before he said a word. Not sure why he felt the need to non-verbally show up the umpires, but it got him tossed, which I assume was the desired effect in an effort to pump up his team, down by 1 run at home. As we know, it didn’t work.

How do you solve a problem like AJ Burnett? Despite all of Dave Eiland’s pitching coaching success stories this year, he just can’t get Burnett straightened out. The Yankees will keep running him out there; what else can they do? Burnett makes a fortune. If he still stinks in the playoffs, Girardi will keep him on a short leash. Maybe they can skip him a start when Pettitte returns, see if that helps. They’ve tried just about everything else. I’m remembering a game in the playoffs from a few years ago when the starter got knocked out early and Aaron Small came out of the bullpen and the team suddenly started to play much better… I’m feeling a situation like that coming soon.

CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova righted the ship – OK, CC wasn’t great, but then, he didn’t get hammered as bad as the White Sox staff did. STAFF, as in, everyone who pitched for Chicago that day, as I recall. Nova didn’t get out of the 6th inning, but he only let up one run and got his first MLB win, an achievement for anyone.

The Yankees are starting their constantly mentioned by YES longest home stand of the year – I’m hoping to go to the day game on Thursday and take some photos to post in this space.

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August 20, 2010

9 spot

by Jamie Insalaco

The baseball gods giveth, yet they are cruel; why else would they let the Yankees score 9 runs in 1 inning, when no one could see it? Sure, there’s always Yankees Encore, but its just not the same. In any case, feel the power of the 6th inning:

- R. Cano doubled to left center, M. Teixeira scored
- J. Posada singled to shallow right center, R. Cano scored, N. Swisher to third
- A. Kearns doubled to deep center, N. Swisher and J. Posada scored, C. Granderson to third
- B. Gardner walked, C. Granderson scored, A. Kearns to third on passed ball
- D. Jeter tripled to deep center, A. Kearns and B. Gardner scored
- R. Cano homered to deep center, D. Jeter scored

What a woeful day for… well, everyone the Tigers used in that inning. On the other hand, Phil Hughes had a pretty good line in yesterday’s game: 6 Ks, 2 ER (home run to Miguel Cabrera, but what can you do – he’s a machine) and they took him out after the Yankees opened up the can of proverbial whoop-ass in the bottom of the 6th. If Hughes can pitch well like he did at the start of the year, it sure would be a big help as who knows when/if Andy Pettitte is coming back this year.

I tried to watch the encore last night, but I fell asleep several times; the remnants of the flu are plaguing me still. And its kind of annoying to watch a game when you already know what happened. Week Day Day Games should be outlawed.

Oh, and the Rays lost yesterday, so the Yankees are in sole possession of 1st place again. The Red Sox have drifted back to 6.5 games out again, so its time to face facts: Boston just isn’t’ coming back this year. I’ll try to celebrate your demise in a respectful, dignified manner.

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