Tagged: Houston Astros
Game 125: We didn’t get swept!
My alternate choice for a title was, “Our bullpen didn’t blow the lead!” Both are accurate descriptions of my reaction at the end of the game, which I was lucky enough to get to listen to, as I didn’t have anything else going on that would have prevented. Normally with day games I have to listen to a replay of the game, whether I know the final outcome or not. We’re tied now with Toronto for 2nd place in the AL East, but being 9.0 GB of the Orioles means we shouldn’t hang our hats on it. The days of being able to come in second in the division and still make the playoffs are pretty well over, I fear. Boston lost again though, putting them 18.0 GB, which just makes me laugh. I know it’s not nice, but I never said I was nice.
Brandon McCarthy threw a 4-hit shutout, walking none and striking out 8. I can’t remember the last time a Yankees pitcher threw a complete game. Girardi must have been hopping up and down in the dugout trying to relieve the tension because he couldn’t make a call to the bullpen. Well, actually I think the pitching coach does that, but you know what I mean. Joe has a problem letting starters finish games when they’re cruising; for some inexplicable reason, he yanks them in the 8th and lets someone else either get the save, or do garbage time duty. “Garbage time” of course refers to when your team has a huge lead, and rather than waste the good relievers, the manager puts in the other guys to mop up. The same is true in reverse; when your team is being blown out, the manager will often use the scrubs to pitch the rest of the game, since there’s no chance you’ll win the game. This game was neither of those situations, but I’m still glad Joe decided to sit on his hands for once.
The offense wasn’t exactly burning the doors down, but we got enough to get the job done. I wish our batters would start hitting though, and hitting consistently. Mark Teixeira went 2-3, Chase Headley went 1-3 with 2 RBI, and our other RBI came as a result of a sac fly in the 2nd by Ichiro. Again, not much doing at the plate. I’ll take the win, don’t get me wrong, but it would have been nice to have a win with some oomph. Ah well, maybe next game.
Game 124: Damn it.
I know, that’s not an inventive title, but it was my initial reaction upon learning we’d lost the game after yet again, giving up runs late. The sad part is, I was upset for about 30 seconds, and then I just sighed. The Yankees have broken me. I just looking forward to the end of this miserable season, in the hopes that during the off-season, we make some changes that help us be competitive next year. I know there are many other teams who’d kill to have our problems, but I suppose being burdened with being the New York Yankees makes it hard to swallow down said problems, without feeling like you’re choking on them.
Michael Pineda was our starter last night, and much like Chris Capuano on Tuesday, he threw a quality start — 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. That shouldn’t be the line for the starter of the losing team. Also like Tuesday, the bullpen blew the lead late, giving up 4 runs in the top of the 7th. We can’t win games if our bullpen can’t hold the leads we give them, and we’re playing a team right now who we should be able to soundly rout, even in our current decrepit state.
The offense wasn’t much better than the pitching, managing only a paltry two runs, even though we had 10 hits. One would think that with 10 hits, we did more with them than just two runs, but alas……we’re the Yankees. We like to make everything difficult. Derek Jeter went 2-4, Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-5 with an RBI, Chase Headley went 2-4, and Ichiro went 2-4. Our other RBI came from Stephen Drew, who went 1-3. Everyone in the starting lineup except Teixeira and Prado had a hit. We should have won this game, just like we should have won Tuesday night’s game. My only hope is we don’t get swept tonight, though I’m not holding out hope on that one.
Game 123: I’m afraid to admit I expected that.
The Yankees have this incredibly annoying habit of playing well against good teams, and playing like crap against equally poor teams. The Astros are 20 games under .500. The Yankees are 3 games above it. Who do you think won the game last night? You have three guesses and none of them are “the Yankees.” I should be glad that everyone else in the division lost last night, except for Baltimore, who seems determined to make up for years and years of being mocked by baseball fans around the country.
David Robertson let me down. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it hurts. The Yankees had fallen behind 4-2, and then we scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th to tie it up. All is well until the top of the 9th, when D-Rob comes in to preserve the tie so we can possibly win it in the bottom of the inning, and he gives up a 3-run HR to Chris Carter…..which promptly gives Houston a 7-4 lead, and naturally we do jack and shit to end the game. Chris Capuano took the mound as our starter, and didn’t have the best night, going 5.1 innings, giving up 4 ER on 8 H, with 2 BB and 8 K, but after that, the bullpen was quite solid in relief. That is, until Mr. High Socks decided to rather uncharacteristically cough up the game. I know I shouldn’t be too hard on him, he’s essentially our Mo in terms of being the closer, and Mo had more than a few shit games himself, believe it or not. 99% of the time, if he took the mound, the game was over, you could start picking up your things to head home. That 1% though….he liked to keep it interesting, I guess. I hope our pitching tonight is better than it was last night, because that was a totally unimpressive display.
Our offense wasn’t much more impressive than our pitching, sad to say. Aside from a few batters who had great nights at the plate, most everyone else stunk it up. Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-4, Martin Prado went 3-4 with 2 RBI, and Brian McCann went 1-4 with 2 RBI. There’s our offense, folks. Not much else to say about it, really. It’s to the point now where I don’t care how many people get hits, just as long as we get enough hits to win the ballgame.
Game 63: A thirst for first.
As noted above, Phil did not have the best of starts. He got the win so now he’s 9-1 on the season, but it was rather……ignominious win, really. He was cruising right along until the 6th when suddenly it all fell to hell. A 2-run single and then a 2-run HR left Phil both shaken and stirred, and before we knew it, our 6 run lead evaporated to a 2-run lead……and we know how quickly those can fall to pieces. In came the bullpen to staunch the hemorrhage and they did a great job. 3.1 innings of work, only 1 hit and 4 Ks. BTW, I still love watching opposition batters’ reactions to Mo. It’s like, all these years later and they either still don’t get what he’s doing or can’t believe he’s still doing it. It’s great.
Something else that was great to watch this afternoon was the offense. Nine runs on nine hits should be enough to win you nearly every game you play, provided your pitching keeps your opponent in check. After not hitting a grand slam in 6 years, Jorge has now hit one in back to back games. I guess he’s been eating his Wheaties! He went 1-3 with 4 RBI on the afternoon and some other notable performances at the plate went to Gardy (2-3, RBI) and Ramiro Pena (1-3, 2 RBI). I hope this keeps up against the Phillies who got absolutely sandblasted in their series against Boston. They managed to win today to avoid getting swept but I’m hoping they bend over for us as easily as they did for Baaaaaaahstan.
Stars of the Game™
Game 62: That was Javy Vazquez, right?
To say I was pleasantly surprised that see that we not only one but that Javy pitched a great game would be an understatement. I don’t know what’s been going on with him, but I’m damn glad for it. His line this afternoon was 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. Dave Robertson and Chad Gaudin pitched the last two innings, and gave up a combined 3 H and struck out 3. Can’t complain when you get pitching like that, especially from people you didn’t think you were going to get pitching like that from.
The offense came back and in a big way this afternoon, with huge offensive performances from Derek (2-4, 4 RBI) and Jorge (2-3, 4 RBI). They were essentially the entirety of our offense. They were also the only guys in the starting lineup who got more than 1 hit. So bravo to them for a job well done!
Stars of the Game™
Game 61: That didn’t take long.
In any event, Andy Pettitte turned in yet another spectacular start, with a final line of 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB and 4 K. He’s now 8-1 on the season. Phenomenal! Joba and Mo did what Joba and Mo are supposed to do — meaning, hold down the fort and preserve the win. Great outing from our pitching staff tonight. Also, this was Andy’s 200th win as a Yankee, so congrats to him for that accomplishment. Imagine how many more wins he’d have as a Yankee right now had he not left for Houston in 2004. *sigh*
The offense was a tad bit on the dead side tonight, but we managed 4 runs on 5 hits and frankly, considering that Alex may very well end up on on the DL, I’m thankful we won despite that. No one had more than 1 hit, although Gazoo did go 1-3 with 2 RBI and is our offensive star of the game. Other than him, we didn’t have much going on in the way of stand-out performances. Which kinda sucks, but we won — we’re only a game back of Tampa now. We’ll take it.
Stars of the Game™
ST Game 13: Don’t worry, I didn’t disappear.
The Yanks had a game this evening, with our valiant heroes beating the Houston Astros 4-1. AJ Burnett started the game and didn’t do too bad for himself, I don’t think although I could have done without the 4 walks. I suppose better to have him do it now than during the season. Mo was Mo and Phil Hughes got the save. Zack Segovia, someone I can honestly say I’ve never heard of, got the win tonight so congrats to you, Mr. I have no clue who you are. LOL
Offense-wise, we did pretty good. Mark had a good night, going 1-2 with a HR, Jorge went 2-3 with an RBI and Swish went 1-3 with an RBI. Couldn’t ask for more really, even if it was ST. Decent pitching, decent offense, Yankees win. I never get tired of saying that, either. 😉
Stars of the Game™
The only picture I can find from tonight’s game is Mo……so Mo will have to represent all the Stars™. I hope you understand.
Yankees Chick 