Results tagged ‘ Toronto Blue Jays ’
Another Girardi decision blows up
Thank you Captain Overmanage. The decision to intentionally walk Juan Rivera proved disastrous last night. The inning blew up, Toronto scored 5 runs and that was that. Juan Rivera? Really? Again, this was a strict, by the book move by Girardi. Load them up and hope for two. Guess what? The book was wrong. This is Girardi’s problem and it is not the first time I have said this. I would have pitched to Rivera. He doesn’t scare me in the least and the worst that could happen would be two runs. Instead, you load the bases and start a rally. Great job. Another classic case of Girardi not having a feel for the game and going with percentages. That way, he has a logical explanation for a wrong decision. I am beginning to really despise his managing style.
Two out of three ain’t bad
So after a pretty rough patch, the Yankees find themselves tied for first with Tampa. They are certainly playing better than they did during that six game losing streak. There are lots of reasons for that, but primarily they are hitting better. This week starts off with Toronto who always play the Yankees tough. Should be an interesting week.
Two out of three is bad
Sorry for the obscure Meat Loaf reference, but this was a series that the Yankees needed to win. Not the end of the world that they didn’t, but they had an opportunity to pick up a game on Tampa and couldn’t capitalize. Phil Hughes was brutal. What he lacked last night is what he has lacked for the majority of the year and that is a put away pitch. He had two strikes on 18 batters and 12 of them reached base. He’s got to do better than that. Toronto is a good offensive team and when you allow as many runs as the Yankees did last night, you aren’t going to win many games. Six runs is too many to overcome on most nights. Now it’s on to Chi town, so let’s hope the pitching is a bit better than it was last night.
Jose Bautista is a punk
Let me start by saying that Jose Bautista has a world of talent. On the other hand, the way he conducted himself last night was inexcusable. He deserves to get plunked by the Yankees and I suspect he will at some point this season. These two teams play each other nine more times. The bat flipping and showboating after his two home runs last night were ill advised. You can bet that it did not go un-noticed. I appluad Ivan Nova for having the guts to throw up and in at him after the first one. Doing so in his first major league start showed some guts, something Bautista clearly lacks. After the second one and the display of bat flipping and fist pumping that followed, you can bet your paycheck he is going to get hit. And then a Yankee will and then the benches will clear. Too bad really. He is a heck of a player, but talent is God given and class has to be developed. Clearly Bautista lacks the latter.
Having said all that, this will be a tough last few weeks for the Yankees and they have got to find a way to win games like last night. Their pitchers only made two mistakes, but the offense could muster almost nothing. Granted, the umpiring didn’t help. A bad call at first put a runner on for Bautista’s first home run and the home plate umpire’s wide strike zone added to the strike out total. The call on Granderson in the ninth was in the right hand batter’s box. Umpires have got to do better in games that mean as much as these.
I’m baaaack!
Not that anyone probably noticed, but I have not been writing anything for a couple of weeks. I have had a couple of business trips and have been coaching two boys U16 soccer teams through their end of season tournaments. I have been watching the Yankees when I can and catching up the next day when I can’t. It has been an interesting couple of weeks with lots of ups and downs and too much has happened to try and sum it all up here. My main point that I would like to make today is that through all of the injuries, a couple of tough losses on the road, this team still has the best record in baseball and is fighting very hard to stay atop the AL East. It will be tough finish to the season with lots of games left against Toronto, Tampa and Boston, but the point I want to make is that this is a very tough team and one that wants to win. I fully expect that come September they will have found a way to stay atop the division and they will be tough to beat in the post season. Can’t ask for much more than that and I will enjoy the ride, regardless of the outcome. Fasten your seatbelts, because starting tonight in Toronto, we are in for one hell of a ride.
And the Yankees win another one against the last place O’s
OK, I get it. The Yankees need to win these games and they are getting it done. Excuse me if I am not impressed with the way they are doing it though. Struggling to beat the O’s while Tampa absolutely destroys a Toronto team that the Yankees just lost 2 of 3 to does not impress me. This team is still having trouble getting runners across early in the game and against good teams it has hurt them and will continue to hurt them until they get it figured out.
Other than Cano, the middle of the order is the culprit. A-Rod is inconsistent at best in these situations and Texeira has been pathetic. The bottom of the order continues to produce and without them, this team would be in real trouble.
Beating the O’s again and the draft
OK, so the Yankees beat the Orioles again. I would feel much better if they hadn’t gone 2-5 against Boston, Tampa and Toronto preceding another easy win. This team still has trouble getting runners in once they get them on, particularly against the better teams. It’s nice that they beat Baltimore. It beats losing. Meanwhile Tampa annihilated Toronto 9-0, which is something the Yankees were unable to do this past weekend. At this point, Tampa clearly is a better team than the Yankees. That’s not to say that things won’t change as the season progresses, but right now, they are clearly better.
On the draft, I won’t get into analysis of the picks, as I certainly don’t know anything about these kids and presumable the Yankees scouting department does. It’s always fun to look at the scouting reports though and here’s hoping they found a few jewels in this group. Today is rounds 31-50, so who knows what’s left out there. I will still take a look at the scouting reports just to see if any catch my attention.
Not bad, all things considered
Considering how poorly this team hit against Toronto, finishing the series with a win and standing 1.5 games behind Tampa and 2.5 ahead of both Boston and Toronto isn’t bad at all. I supect the offense will pick it up this week against Baltimore and Tampa has a tough schedule, so this may even be the week that the Yankees catch the Rays. Every team goes through some offensive struggles and playing Toronto at Rogers Centre is no easy task. They are a legitimate team, with solid pitching and a sound offense. Lots of season left to go, but things are getting interesting for sure. The next few weeks should be fun to watch. Today is the draft, so even though the Yankees are off, it will be fun to see who they select.
What? They Lost?
Obviously the story of last night was Joba Chaimberlain throwing another clunker. His velocity was down, his command was nowhere to be found and he generally scuffled into the fourth inning. If I were Girardi, he would be off the ALDS roster and sent to Tampa to try and work things out. He has been terrribly inconsistent all year and can not be counted on for a solid start in the post season at this point. I would rather see Chad Gaudin out there than Joba at this point. He needs to get himself straightened out and he has run out of regular season to do so. Too late Joba.
Having said that, even with his ugly performance, the Yankees almost pulled this one out. Nich Swisher giveth and Nick Swisher taketh away. He hit a two run bomb to tie it, then gave away the lead by misplaying a fly ball into a triple and the go ahead run. Still, the Yanks had the go ahead run at second with two outs in the ninth. It looked as if another walk off was in the works, but it wasn’t to be. Anyway, I have been impressed with how this team keeps fighting even in meaningless games.
Meanwhile the Red Sox finally really did rest their regulars and got blown out by Toronto 12-0 for their sixth straight loss. Nice way to close out the season. I’m sure they will be better than this once the post season starts, but I truly don’t expect them to beat the Angels.
Ugly in every way
So where do I start with this one? First of all, why is Sergio Mitre starting games for the Yankees? He obviously is not ready to pitch at the major league level yet. He is still building arm strenghth after Tommy John surgery. He does not belong in this rotation. This team had so many other options of pitchers that were out there. They had Brett Tomko who is 4-1 as a starter since Oakland picked him up with an ERA of 2.95. The other day he threw a complete game shutout. And he wasn’t even good enough to keep on the roster? They never even gave him a shot after he pitched lights out in the spring. They have got to do a better job of evaluating talent than that. I for one, liked his stuff when he was with the Yankees, but he never got much of a chance to show what he could do. And now we have Sergio MItre getting knocked around every fifth day. That’s just not good enough. And then there’s the brawl. You will hear a lot about how Posada was in the wrong, but he was definitely provoked and Jesse Carlson had no business being in his line when he crossed home plate. Carlson should have been behind home plate backing up. He was there for one reason and that reason was to start something. Well he got his wish and has the knot on his head to prove it. I am not condoning what Posada did, because Girardi is right. There is too much at stake to risk getting suspensions and injuries, but Posada is a man and his manhood was challenged. He responded exactly like I would expect Jorge to do. It is his fire that has made him the player he is and this is just him being true to himself. He was not going to be shown up. Sure it is a macho thing, but Jorge is a Latino after all. That is part of the culture, you just don’t challenge someone’s manhood and not expect them to respond. Having said that, it will be a shame to lose him as I expect he will be suspended. Regardless, I will take Jorge and more like him on my team any day of the week. By the way, yesterday I said I expected the Yankees to sweep these two games. Guess I forgot who was pitching. Tonight it’s Gaudin and who knows what we will get. Let’s hope he shuts them down and the team bounces back. They have been playing a bit flat the past few days and have lost three of four.
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