Yankees vs Red Sox, 4 May 2009: A Liveblog

3.41 PM: Somewhat doubtfull they play tonight considering the rain is only supposed to get worse. Two rainouts in a row would leave me feeling empty and despondent.

3.42 PM: Finally! Alfredo Aceves has been called up and the bullpen has a long man! He replaces Anthony Claggett who, clearly, was not ready for the Show.

Also, Nick Swisher is good to go tonight.

Assuming, of course, they play.

4.00 PM: The line up, if they play:

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Posada DH
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Berroa 3B

My thoughts: A) Great to have Swisher back there, B) Lefty Matsui is probably sitting so the Yankees can have Posada's Switch hitting bat and Molina catching. Molina has pretty good numbers against Lester. Matsui off the bench isn't a horrible thing: C) You could PH him for Berroa, if need be, and then play Peña (who is likely sitting because of that lefty thing again) for defense.


6.58 PM: Some say start time 9 PM, some say no way they'll play...about the only thing we know for certain is that the game won't start on time and the radar, once promising, now looks U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi ugly.

8.49 PM: I am so good at updating this, aren't I?

No word on the Yanks, but this Toronto game could be something special.


8.51 PM: Or not.

8.58 PM: They're pulling the tarp and the word from the Stadium is a 9.20 start time. Just pretend we're on the west coast.

9.23 PM: Raining again, and somewhat hard, too. Still, even seeing just one inning is better than nothing.

9.35 PM: You know, it's entirely possible Hughes' pitches have too much movement right now, hence the poor location. Balls are going in and out and up and down. Boston's up 1-0, but they've only had one hit. If Hughes can settle down a bit in the zone, the Yankees will be fine.

9.45 PM: Jon Lester strikes out the side. This is gonna be a real long night. *gulp*.

9.48 PM: Ouch. Like I said, long night.

9.57 PM: Okay, so it's 2-0 Boston. It's not like the Yankees haven't come back from worse, but they need to, you know, not let Lester strike out the side.

10.10 PM: Man, the Yanks have got to get some better RISP hitting. Lester's struck out five in two. Ouch.

The Yanks at least have a hit now...and that might not seem like much, but the way Lester's throwing...

10.16 PM: Third inning and four walks already for Hughes. This cannot possibly end well.

10.22 PM: I don't like to complain about umpires too much, but...this is possibly the worst I've seen all season.

10.26 PM: 75 pitches through 2.2 innings for Hughes?

Ow.

10.37 PM: Okay, Mark Teixeira is starting to worry me. I know he's a notorious slow starter, but right now he's really hurting the team out there. The walks help, until you face a pitcher like Lester who tends not to walk hitters.

10.43 PM: You know, there are a lot of things you can complain about regarding Johnny Damon, but in terms of guys giving their body up to the game, it's a pleasure to watch him.

10.44 PM: Okay, this one-run-an-inning thing has got to stop. It's one thing to come back from two runs, four is another story.

11.06 PM: Zach Greinke is a wunderkind.

11.12 PM: Whoa, the Red Sox didn't score that inning. Maybe this is the inning things turn around?

11.20 PM: Girardi got thrown out for trying to defend Jeter. Well done. Some ejections are worth it--if Jeter gets upset, you know there's a gripe.

11.21 PM: See? Ejections work!

11.22 PM: You think maybe Teixeira was due or something?

11.35 PM: Buh? Angel Berroa made that play? What sort of Twilight Zone is this?

11.43 PM: Posada's kind of gimping off the field. Think he's hurt.

11.52 PM: José Molina wants to forget this night. Jason Bay is a Yankee killer. I kind of hate him.

12.02 AM: It's Cinco de Mayo and I have to say, reaching for a Corona right now is really, really tempting, except I don't have any because, uh, I don't drink beer.

12.13 AM: Yanks always tend to get burned when they IBB guys. *Gulp*

12.15 AM: *And Exhale* All right, the Yankees need three runs to tie, four to win and they have six outs to do it.

12.18 AM: Teixeira was due. Like I said.

12.21 AM: Matsui on deck to PH for Posada, so it looks like Posada's hurt. You hope it's not too bad, but he looked like he was in pain.

12.33 AM: Bad night for José Molina. Could have erased it with a hit there, but never mind. Two runs in the ninth inning has been done before.

1.13 AM: Oh, so close. Robbie Canó is, historically, the last guy you want up there with the bases loaded.

I'll give the Yanks this: they NEVER showed that kind of fight last year.

Anyway, I'm going to sleep. You can survive without postgame notes. What you need to know is that Hughes wasn't very good, Aceves was good minus the Bay HR and Posada got hurt.

Yankees vs Angels, 3 May 2009: A Liveblog (With Eli picture!)

11.05 AM: First things first, come meet baby Eli!


Isn't he utterly adorable?!


11.06 AM: Raining here in the Bronx. A lot. And the band or rain extends back into PA. Still, it's two hours before game time and there's clear weather after. The Angels don't return to Yankee Stadium, so they'll do all they can to get this game in, but my gut's telling me we're probably looking at a 3 PM or 4 PM start. They can't start much later than that or else they'll risk cutting into ESPN'S ~*exclusive*~ broadcasting time.

Radar for your reference can be found here

Actually, it looks pretty darned bad, don't it?


11.12 AM: Dámaso Marte is on the DL. Anthony Claggett, he of the can't-stop-the-bleeding-let-Cleveland-score-14-runs-in-one-inning has been called up. I don't really fault Claggett here; the Yankees don't really have a better option without messing with the 40 man.

11.57 AM: Today's lineup from LoHud:


Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera RF
Berroa 3B
Gardner CF

Why no Peña is really intriguing/bothering me, especially with Berroa's, uh, ability to field. I guess Swisher's elbow is still sore, and I hope he doesn't miss much more time. I'm sorry, but I still don't like Cabrera and Gardner in the same line up.

12.03: Via LoHud (link above): Swisher is only available to DH, which I guess means he'd be available to pinch hit if needed, but the Yanks don't really have a spare outfielder, so maybe he can only PH for Berroa or some such.

No word (that I know of) on why Berroa over Peña. Could just be I'm making a big deal out of nothing. That's usually the case.

12.09 PM: According to Girardi's press conference, Berroa's in simply because it's a lefty pitching. Peña switch hits, but hasn't had many PAs against LHPs.

1.26 PM: The radar looks worse every time I look. Right now the question isn't if they'll call the game, but how long they'll wait.

1.46 PM: Sox and Rays on TBS if you're bored.

2.14 PM: Official: Game PPD.

Yankees vs Angels, 30 April 2009: A Liveblog

5.08 PM: I have a ton of work to do (again), so the updates will be few and far between.

Bobby Abreu is making his return to the Bronx tonight, he should get a nice hand.

Some nasty looking rain clouds overhead; the forecast for the next week is basically every day, so I would not be surprised to see bunch of rain delays or a rain out or two. It would suck, but such is life when you don't build a stadium with a roof.

5.17 PM: Madagascar bothers me. Stop closing your ports, damnit!

(No, really, I'm doing my work, I promise!)

7.21 PM: Unless my ears deceive me, and it's been known to happen, Bobby Abreu got a 'roll call' from the bleacher creatures. Nice move.

7.27 PM: Some nice 2-out hitting there. Matsui's legs seem to be feeling better.

7.32 PM: Bandbox.

7.57 PM: Great bounceback inning for Burnett. Now we'll see if the top of the order can do something about that. Am a little surprised Jeter showed enough range to get to that baseball, of course...


Also, these smoking commercials? Can someone please stop them? If you don't know by now that smoking is bad for you, I don't think those ads are gonna help much.

8.02 PM: Bandbox.

8.31 PM: Some nice 2-out clutchin' from the cap'n. Yanks up, 4-3.

8.37 PM: AJ Burnett, apparently, does not want to win this game.

8.58 PM: That CS of Napoli was a thing of beauty. Never mind what Posada did last night, but catchers probably shouldn't steal bases.

9.33 PM: I kind of hate Jacoby Ellsbury right now.

9.43 PM: Melkman is being all sorts of awesome of late. And Robbie has a 17 game hit streak.

Oh, buy the way? Stadium sounds deafening right now, even with the empty seats. And it's raining.

HOLY RAMIRO PEÑA, his first career RBI(s)!

9.58 PM: Mo's getting hit a lot more this year, isn't he?