Results tagged ‘ David Robertson ’
Too bad Boston casts such a long shadow
I know that I have been harping on this for weeks, but I just can’t enjoy the Yankees success until they prove that they can beat Boston. It is no doubt that the team is playing well and beating the snot out of NL teams in interleague play. All well and good. But as a fan, all I can do is enjoy the show and know that it all means nothing until the next showdown with the Red Sox. Being in first by 2.5 games beats the alternative, but again, this team is still second best in its own division for now. It really is a shame, because this is a nice run the team is on and different guys are stepping up and contributing. Posada and Swisher have started hitting and have been major contributors during this streak of good wins. There are many others who have stepped up including David Robertson. He was absolutely overpowering last night and that is becoming a habit for him. I will just have to enjoy this as much as I can, knowing that this is still the team that can’t beat Boston.
Martin reminds me of Munson
I was watching Russell Martin in this series and he reminded me of one of my all time favorite Yankees, Thurman Munson. He was tough as nails and had some timely hits as well as a warrior spirit. I saw some Thurman in Russell Martin in these three games for sure.
In that first game of this series, it looked like a typical, lifeless performance by the Yankees on the first day of a road trip. You see these all the time. They just had no life after an evening flight and it showed. They bounced back nicely to win the next two and in the process set the all time attendance record for a three game series at Wrigley. The Yankees do this regularly when on the road, particularly in inter-league play. The rest of baseball should be thanking this team for the extra revenue it generates in every city they visit.
And what about Brett Gardner? He has been on fire offensively and made some really nice defensive plays in this series as well. He was struggling so badly earlier this year, that it was easy to forget what a good player he can be. Lots of good things to see lately. The patchwork bullpen is doing a great job. From what I have seen, I really like Cory Wade and Luis Ayala. David Robertson has been outstanding as well. And Brian Gordon is a great testament to fortitude and determination, getting his first major league win on Thursday. Nunez has been hitting well filling in for Jeter, but he is brutal in the field. Now it’s on to Cincinnati for another three before coming home for the Rockies.
This one had all the earmarks
In a word, this one was pathetic. I told my son in the fifth inning when it was 2-1 that this was one of those games that the Yankees would find a way to lose. At that point, I believe that the Yankees had about 10 hits and five or six walks and only two runs to show for it. When you waste that many opportunities to score, you will inevitably lose. I went to bed in the 10th and was not the least bit surprised to find out that the Yankees had in fact lost 4-3. I looked at every story I could find this morning and could not find one mention of why Joba was not used last night instead of David Robertson. I for one, am not buying Robertson’s “escape artist” reputation. The fact is that he was inconsistent last year and has been inconsistent this year. That is not the mark of a good reliever. I still would be interested to know why no Joba if someone could enlighten me. Terrible, terrible performance by almost everyone not named A.J. Burnett and he wasn’t exactly stellar with his lack of control.
Nice win
This one was a pleasure to watch. A well pitched 3-1 win with no Yankee HR’s, just two timely hits. All of the “experts” make me laugh. They have repeatedly criticized the Yankees for hitting too many HR’s. What? It makes no difference how you score runs, as long as you score them. Today I read an article that criticized the win last night because the Yankees didn’t get enough hits other than the two decisive ones by Jeter and A-Rod. What a load of bull. Again folks, the team is in first place. That’s all that matters. Wins and losses are what counts. Everything else, at this point is just drivel. Freddy Garcia pitched great again, Joba was awesome as was David Robertson and Mo was Mo. Celebrate the win, don’t find reasons why it wasn’t good enough.
Girardi throws one away
When Rafael Soriano came into the game with a four run lead in the eighth innning and the bottom of the order due up, I asked my son “Why would you use him in this situation?”. He just pitched last night and it is a four game series meaning he won’t be availabe tonight when the game might be closer. I just didn’t get it. Of course, he failed to hold the lead and not only did the Yankees lose the game, they had to use Mariano as well, meaning he also is not available this evening. I knew what Girardi’s response would be, and sure enough, when asked, his answer was “He’s my eighth innning guy.”. Does that mean that Soriano will pitch every game in the eighth innning? I think not. You had choices Joe and you made the wrong one. It would have been much better to start the innning with Robertson, then if he gets in trouble, you bring in Soriano, not the other way around. Bottom line is that Girardi has mis-managed the bullpen thus far and I blame both losses on his inability to put relievers into the proper situations. It cost them the game tonight for sure and it cost them in the playoffs last year. He has done this repeatedly and until he figures it out, this team will not win when it needs to. When you have a four run lead with six outs to go, you have to be able to close things out. As for Soriano, if you think ducking out on reporters will make things easier Rafael, you are in for a rude awakening. New York crowds and media can be brutal and you just opened yourself up for some proper bashing by both the fans and the media.
Girardi snatches defeat from the jaws of victory
In a classic case of over managing, Joe Girardi managed to turn a 10-4 lead into a 12-10 deficit in the 7th inning today. You can’t fault him for the first move as Robertson got hurt, so he had to bring in someone. However, if you’re going to bring in Mitre are you really only going to let him throw 2 pitches because Russel Branyan was pinch hitting? Guess so, because he brought in Marte to face Branyan and Marte got him out. After this is where he blew it. Instead of leaving Marte in to get one more out, he just couldn’t resist showing how smart he was by bringing in Joba to face the righty. That move was one too many and it blew up in his face. He deserved it, but the team didn’t. There was absolutely no need to bring in Chaimberlain in that situation and he clearly wasn’t ready. This loss goes to Griradi and it will hurt them in the standings at a time when they can ill afford to be beaten after having a 10-4 lead in the seventh inning. Griradi needs to stop trying to show how smart he is and just let the game unfold sometimes. This one really will hurt this team. I am expecting them to bounce back tomorrow, but there are no gurarantees and when you have that big of a lead, there is no need to match up for every hitter. Bad managing and it cost them the game.
Home Opener
Well it wasn’t pretty, but they got it done. A win is a win is a win. This one had the makings of one of those games that gets away, but fortunately it didn’t. The Yankees had many opportunities to blow this one open early, but couldn’t manage to get the big hit when they needed it. They finally opened it up to 7-0, then 7-1, but David Robertson almost squandered that with a horrible performance. Robertson, by the way will be fine, so I’m not going to join in the criticism that is rampant in other places. It was one outing early in the season and he will bounce back and be a big part of this bullpen.
On another note Joseph Pawlikowski over at River Avenue Blues gives a perfect example of why the new statistics being bandied about are absolutely ridiculous to real baseball fans. He uses a statistic called WPA to state that Juan Rivera’s at bat in the sixth inning that resulted in absolutely nothing was more meaningful than Bobby Abreu’s grand slam in the ninth. How ridiculous. Abreu’s grand slam put the Angels back in a game that they were completely out of. Rivera’s, as stated, resulted in nothing. That is why statistics have to be taken with a grain of salt. They can be useful, but baseball cannot be measured solely by numbers. There are all sorts of intangibles that go into who wins or loses a baseball game, and they cannot be measured by statistics. So please, spare us the meaningles statistics like WPA and watch and enjoy the games with your gut.
Break out the Brooms
Well they swept Ozzie and the White Sox out of town. Once again, they broke it open with a big inning late. This seems to be a pattern with this team. Joba was so-so for three and Aceves was dominant for three. Robertson and Hughes took them through eight and once again Phil Coke coughed up a gopher ball in the ninth. He can get you through an inning with a big lead, but I do not want him having the ball in a close game. And what can you say about Mark Texeira? Mr. Consistency does it again with his 32nd dinger to break it open and six straight seasons with at least 30 HR’s and 100 RBI. What an addition this guy was. I look forward to watching him in pinstripes for many years to come. Overall, not a bad homestand at 4-2, but I’m sure they’d like to have at least one of those two losses to Texas back. Now it’s on to B-more and Toronto. I wonder if Aubrey Huff is still laughing? I bet he gets plunked at least once in this series. And thanks to Toronto for laying down in Boston this weekend. Wish they had some heart and could have at least won one game in Boston, but they couldn’t do it. More tomorrow.
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