Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Twin Killing (Postgame Notes 22 July 2008)


So I went to the Yankee game again.

I've had these tickets since the beginning of April--meaning it was the second game for which I actually had tickets this season (the first being the 12 April affair in Boston). So, as you might imagine, I was pretty excited.

Turns out, the Yankees seem to have been pretty excited to play as well--that happens when you've won four games in a row, and two of them by scoring more than five runs.

It was great to see Johnny Damon play again after he got hurt; when he is right all is well with the team and tonight wasn't much different.

Damon was 2-3 with two walks, which will do a lot to help jump start an offense.

The Yankees need his production to keep their offense strong--just look at what's happened in the past two games, 12 runs and eight runs respectively!


Robinson Canò has been absolutely on fire since the All Star break, and tonight was no different.

He went 2-4 with two RBI, and continues to act as though he is the best pick up the Yankees made during the All Star break that you simply did not read about in the papers.

I'm not sure what's in the water in the Dominican Republic, but perhaps the Yankees ought to import some before the start of the season?

If Canò could figure out how to hit in the first half like he does in the second, he'd contend for batting titles every year.






Derek Jeter was only 1-5, but the one hit he did have, in true Captain Clutch fashion, was a two run double down the left field line.

Before the double, the Yankee lead was a modest 4-2---comfortable considering how well the bullpen has been pitching, but not an impossible mountain for Minnesota to climb--so Jeter's hit was not just clutch because it scored two men on base, but because it blew the game open and virtually assured the Yankees would win.


The game was not played perfectly--the Yankees did have two errors in the game--but they were able to get the pitches and the hits when they needed them most.

Darrell Rasner pitched a gem through five, and should have gotten through the sixth with the game still tied if not for a botched call by the first base umpire. That said, tonight was by far the most impressive Rasner has looked in a very long time--it's as though the All Star Break has rejuvanated him just as it has the Yankee offense.

As for the bullpen, well, just take a look at this. Who would of thought that the Yankees could get this out of a bullpen where Kyle Farnsworth is your eighth inning man?

Yankees play a day game tomorow before heading to Boston for the weekend.

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