The Sommer Frieze

1st. Easy 1-2-3 for AJ. Good sign. Pedro also starts sharp with a 1-2-3, 2 K. 

2nd. AJ still looks great, but the victim of bad luck. Ibanez bloops a 2-out double down the left field line, and Stairs hits one past Alex. Ruled a hit, but A-Rod should have had it. Could have easily been an error. 1-0 Phils. In the Yanks half, Alex is on a couple of Pedro’s pitches but fouls them off. He takes strike three. 3rd K for Pedro. On top of 10 by Lee, that’s 13 Ks by Phils’ pitchers so far. Ruiz is underrated, the Phils have a good scouting report, Yanks hitters slumping…or all of the above.  Matsui singles, Ibanez makes a nice diving catch off a Cano blooper and Hairston flies out.

3rd. AJ walks two but gets Howard whiffing again to end the inning. Molina walks, but nothing. 12 innings and all the Yanks have so far….one unearned run.

4th. Single by Werth, picked off by Molina.  Ibanez whiffs. 5th K for AJ. Yanks have to start hitting.  Flyball. AJ is really doing well, but so is Pedro.

FINALLY! Teixeira ties it up. HR. 1-1 after 4.

5th. AJ works around a double by Ruiz. Pedro does the same after a two-out double by Jeter.

Back later.   

Recap: AJ went 7 and the Yanks didn’t need a “bridge to Rivera.” Girardi went right to Rivera, who got a six-out save, although he had to work for it.

Ryan Howard got the Golden Sombrero.

In the sixth, Matsui made it 2-1 with a HR. It would be the game-deciding run. AJ went 7, 1R, 4H, 2 walks and 9K. He had to be that good. Pedro pitched well, giving up 3 R in 6 IP.

In the seventh, Hairston (bless him) dunked a single to right, justifying Girardi’s move to him. (Molina was 0-1 with a walk, but who could argue with how he called the game; or, for that matter, the pickoff of Werth at first that Molina pulled?) Gardner pinch-ran and went to third on a single by Melky, which chased Pedro. Posada then pinch-hit for Molina and faced Park. He knocked in Gardner with a huge insurance run. 3-1 Yanks.

Mo ran into trouble in the 8th, but got Utley to GIDP with 1st and 2nd, one out to end the inning. It appeared like Utley beat the rap, but another shaky call by the umps. The inning before, Damon lined into a DP, but replays seemed to show the ball hitting the ground before Howard caught it (and threw it away). The Yanks could have had bases loaded, no out and Teixeira up. Instead, end of inning. The Phils could have had 1st and 3rd, two out and Howard up. Instead, end of inning.

Mo did have to work. 39 pitches. Thank goodness today is an off-day but I wonder if he’ll be ok for 2 innings in Game 3. The others may be needed.

A big win for the Yanks. They needed it and the bats still aren’t hitting. Colin Cowherd thinks that A-Rod (0 for 8, 6 Ks) is done for the series. Maybe. Maybe not. All it takes is one swing. Cowherd is so full of cowshit sometimes. He said A-Rod looked bad. Yes, on some swings. I did see a couple of swings where it appeared Alex was on the ball and fouled it straight back. Just missed. So…we will see.

The Yanks will lose the DH now in Philly. No Matsui. Some bats (Teixeira, Cano…who is playing RF vs. Hamels—Hairston again?) need to awaken…Swisher if he plays RF, Alex.  1 unearned run in game 1. 3 runs in Game 2. The Yanks are where they are this postseason because of the pitching…not the lineup.

Here is the runs scored/given up:

7; 4 (11 Inn); 4; 4; 4 (13); 4 (11); 10; 6; 5; 1; 3  = 52 runs/11 games.  4.7 g.
2; 3 (11 inn); 1; 1; 3 (13); 5 (11);   1; 7; 2; 6; 1  = 32 runs/11 games. Less than 3/g.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Games 4 and 5. Does CC come back on 3 days rest? Burnett? Does Gaudin actually get a start vs. the Phils potent lineup? Gaudin has only pitched 2 1/3 innings vs. the Phils in his career. Do the Phils start Happ? Does Lee go on 3 days rest? Do they dare start Blanton (0-3, 8.18 vs. the Yanks in his career?)

Goodness how I’d love to see Sabathia .261-3-14 in 92 at bats hit a HR. 1 walk, 23 strikeouts for CC but if he gets into one…

In case you are wondering, no Yankees pitcher has ever hit a WS HR. 

Pettitte is a .134-1-13 hitter in his career (186 AB). Should Gaudin start, he is a 1 for 32 hitter. Burnett is .132-3-9 in 266 AB.

From the ridiculous comments department:

I was out and met one real idiot last night who said that Jeter was a nice player who’d be a backup on the Phils. Thought he was just joshing but he said (seriously) that Rollins was so much better than Jeter. I mentioned 2747 hits and .317 career average better? Mentioned the 84 point BA difference this year (.334 to .250). He asked if Jeter ever won an MVP. I replied, no, but that anyone in any given year could have a great year and win one. Mentioned that Zoilo Versalles won an MVP. He said “who?” and I said case closed. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/versazo01.shtml for Versalles career stats (.242 career BA). It’s amazing how some people are just idiots or don’t want to see greatness. This isn’t to knock J-Roll, a good player, but what is it in Jeter that people don’t want to acknowledge his greatness?

Unreal. Our friend Ty quoted a professor he may have had who said ”There will always be assholes.” (I don’t think the Prof was a proctologist!)

Rollins is a very good player. 30. 1 MVP. Another top 10 finish (#10). He has hit .291 or better once in his career. Once. His MVP year. His 162 game average is .274-17-72, 38 SB in 46 attempts. OPS+ 97. Yes. 97. Surprisingly below the 100 league average. Great range. Good defender. 3x all-star. 2x GG (even though we know the GG voting is bogus at times.) HOF? We’ll have to see. But even if HOF, not first ballot. .296 is the highest he has ever hit in his career. Led league in triples 4x. SB once. Runs once.

Jeter? In his full seasons, he has never hit LOWER than .291. 162 game average .317-17-81, 23 of 29 in SB. OPS+ 121. No MVP like Rollins has, but six top-10 finishes (and possibly a 7th this year). A WS MVP, an All-Star Game MVP. 2747 hits. ELEVEN seasons of .300 or better (as opposed to NONE by Rollins). Led league in runs once, hits once. 10x all-star. A FIRST BALLOT NO-DOUBT HOF. Derek surprisingly, has 3 GG, even though his range is constantly knocked.

Both are great, but for that guy (and others) to denigrate Jeter is absurd. Absurd. Bartender? Cut them off.