Saturday, September 8, 2007

FORE! (In a Row!) (Postgame Notes 08 September 2007)

Unlike last night, where we escaped with a win, we did the little things right tonight...especially in the sixth.

First things first:
With a spent bullpen, we needed Pettitte to go deep tonight, and he lasted into the seventh only allowing two runs, giving us exactly what we needed. Pettitte needs just one more win for 200 and will get the chance in Boston.

Britton and K-Ram also pitched well, while Bruney...well, let's just say he and the umpire probably aren't going out to dinner any time soon.


The offense tonight was eons better than last night--and two home runs from A-Rod always help!

Seriously, A-Rod has hit eight home runs this month. It's September 8 and the Yankees haven't even played every day! He has five home runs in his last three games, six in his last four.

He wants 60 pretty bad, doesn't he?


As great as A-Rod was tonight though, there was something more important: The Yankees' offense came through with RISP, something they didn't do last night. You get seven-run innings without coming through in those situations. That's how you win in October.

The run Melky scored off of Alex Gonzalez's little nubber? That's the kind of run that wins you a ring.


Jeter left the game early with stiffness in his right knee...hope he's all right, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a day off tomorrow, which coupled with the day off on Monday would be a great blessing in disguised...we need our most clutch player in October!

On the bright side the former Attorney General showed that he can play some defense--on that one play he bobbled, he stayed with it and made the throw. There are lots of fielders that come to mind that would not have made the throw. If we can get him to hit....

Matsui hit the ball hard a couple times, and was robbed his last time out.


Wang is on the mound tomorrow, and if he notches 18 here, then he's in great shape for 20, which, as I've said before, is an amazing accomplishment given he missed a month.

Lots of things going right for the Yankees tonight--and you can add a Boston loss to the mix, which brings me to

Scores and Stuffs from around the league

Boston lost to Baltimore, 11-5. Baltimore had a huge 7 run inning early, knocking Matsuzaka out of the game after just 2.2 innings. Yankees thus picked up a game on Boston, who will play Tampa after the series ends. Tampa has been playing much better ball of late...

Detroit beat Seattle, 12-6. The best hope for the Yanks is that Seattle wins tomorrow (which, given their recent performance is unlikely). If Seattle wins, and the Yanks win, then Seattle and Detroit would both be four back of the Yankees, not a huge lead, but much better than just one or two games.

Tampa beat Toronto 5-4, scoring four in the ninth to do it. Further proof that Yogi Berra is the greatest genius that ever lived: 'It ain't over til it's over'

The Chi Sox beat Minnesota 8-7. Apparently the pitchers for both teams have been told not to show up for this series.

Texas is up on Oakland 7-3, in the eighth.

Cleveland is up on the Angels 3-0 in the sixth. Indians have Sabathia going.

National League:

Dodgers beat Giants, 6-2 in a game the Dodgers had to win just to stay in the post-season mix. David Wells (yes, THAT Wells) took a perfecto into the sixth.

Speaking of Perfectos, Glavine had one through five for the Mets. Mets went on to win, 3-1.

Phils beat Florida 9-1, to stay alive in the NL East, and Atlanta beat Washington by the similar score of 9-2.

Cubs beat Pittsburgh 5-1, Zambrano getting his first win since signing his extension, but gained no ground, as Milwaukee beat Cinncinati 4-3, courtesy of a top ninth triple.

St. Louis is currently up on Arizona, 7-4, but so far no home runs for Ankiel. The NL Central will probably be decided on 30 September.

Lastly, San Diego beat Colorado 3-1.


Whew.


Great night for the Yanks, and what I just heard on TV makes it even better:


KJ: Would you settle for an MVP?
A-Rod: I would settle for a World Series

Perfect.

9 comments:

  1. Man, that was something! I am really impressed with how Alex and the lads have gelled - he with the 'stiff arm twirl', and the entire bullpen aping him on it!! When baseball is fun, you tend to be loose, and that's how teams can win.

    What's in the water? Smoltzie and the no-no [almost], Glav and Boomer's tries for perfectos? Old guys, too! Aging warriors, facing down the twilight of their illustrious careers [sorry, the thought gave me goosebumps!].

    I was hoping that Brian Bruney, in the illustrious 'chair incident' was just spirited. Sadly, I may have been mistaken :-(

    Oboy!!! We got our ace for tomorrow! Go CMW! Go Yankees!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yankee victory= a comment from me, so I'm back! A-Rod looks entirely different now than he did from last season. Last season you could look at him and tell how much stress he was feeling, but this year he looks like a kid with all of the fun that he's having. Wang on the mound sounds like a good opportunity to complete the sweep tomorrow. Hopefully September can be a month of milestones for our top two pitchers, with Andy seeking 200 career victories and Wang being within striking distance for a 20-win season. Bottom line- This team has a terrific outlook right now and I have a great feeling about this particular team that I didn't have for the last few years. Let's get our sweep tomorrow!

    P.S. I haven't heard, so I figured that I would ask you- is the squirrel allowed to stay in the hotel with the Yankees when they are on the road? LOL!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Charles--Yeah, the gelling is awesome, and the chemistry that wins championships.

    I'm wondering about the water, too...

    Can't wait to see CMW tomorrow...also can't wait to see how I do on my football picks! =D


    J-Dawg: Whoo! Welcome back! I think last year he was expected to carry the team by himself, especially with the 'pitching' we had...this year, though, when the Yankees got hot, EVERYONE got hot.

    Not sure about Scooter, but I figure you can probably call the hotel and ask their policy on pets...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Even if the Yankees were hard up on cash, Scooter staying at the hotel would not be a problem. You see, he gets to stay for peanuts hahaha!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You know what's messed up though? The next time he drops a pop-up, someone will still boo him. Quite a few people.

    I was at a game and got to sit in super sweet seats in the fancy seats behind home plate. They're my uncle's corporate box seats--I'm not that fancy on my own. MIguel Cairo was playing 3rd the entire game. A-Rod was DHing. Cairo made a throwing error. Someone yelled "Come on, A-Rod earn ya g-damn pay check!"

    Even when it's not him, he gets yelled at.

    Maybe that guy was the exception.

    In regards to you reading my non-existent blog--what would I call it!?!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Andrea--It's NY fans for you, I guess. It really is true--if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere...


    As for your blog, hmmm...I came up with mine because I've got the problem of being a purist and a Yankee fan, and the two don't mix easily.

    You could do something like Yankee Doodle Andy, if you go by that nickname at all...

    I'd be able to offer better advice if I knew something about like where you lived or what you did or something like that...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Haha. The only blog name I've ever been able to think of was Chuck Knoblog, but I know I'm not the first to think of it, particularly because someone else already has it, and someone whose blog I read mentioned that he wanted it. I thought I was clever, but I guess not.

    I don't go by Andy, only because my name isn't pronouced that way--I'm On-dreea, not Ann-dreea (if that makes sense). Ever since I found out Chuck Knoblog was taken, I was a little heart broken.

    Yankee Doodle Andy is good, though, since I love me some Andy Pettitte.

    My problem is headlines. I used to write for my school newspaper and I used to have to have other people write my headlines for me. So it would take a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Headlines are my favorite part, I love reading good ones!

    Go with Yankee Doodle Andy then, and you can change it if need be.

    Don't worry about headlines--it's not the most important part of a blog.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Fans. Well, people who watch sports and think they should yell hateful things. The guy yelling at A-Rod because he makes so much money is probably a scion of the guy who ran Roger Maris out of town for the sin of not being Mantle. As Scooter the Squirrel would say, "Nuts!"

    ReplyDelete