King Felix versus David Phelps

A discussion on the last game in Seattle, King Felix and his court, turkey legs, bases loaded jams and strike-outs.

~~ Yankees 2, Mariners 1 ~~

About the turkey legs, first I have to tell you about the court. There is a section in the ball park where all the King Felix fans sit and they have these yellow squares of paper with “K” on them. Whenever Felix pitches a chef comes out to that section with a turkey leg and people take bites out of it. Yes I’m serious.

First inning with the bases loaded, Ichiro strikes out and makes the 3rd out.

My notes: Gardner on fire, 7 game hitting streak, always a threat to run, he steals second.
Hafner walks.
Wells walks. Bases loaded ~ two outs, Ichiro up. King Felix struggling with his control. Felix strikes out Ichiro. Yankees leave bases loaded.

David Phelps picks off Bay at first.

Jayson Nix on first (5 game hitting streak), Nix steals second (Shoppach is worse than Stewart? Who would have thunk it?)
Stewart with a bunt base hit, Jayson Nix on third.
Gardner with a single to center field, Nix scores.
Robinson Cano GIDP.

Sorry I got distracted, it is now 1-1 and the top of the third. Teixeira is up. Now he’s out.

David Phelps has walked three batters so far. That’s a batter per inning.
Double play ends the inning.

NYY 1, SEA 1

4th Inning:
1-2-3 inning for Hernandez and David Phelps

5th Inning
Gardner with a double (8th hit in this series, 8-15), left on base.

Bottom of the 5th:
Broken bat ~ Nix to Teixeira, 1 out
Hard hit to Cano, 2 outs
Strike out. David’s fourth of the game.

Sixth inning:
Vernon Wells reaches on a throwing error by shortstop Brendan Ryan. And he is left there.

Bottom of the sixth:
Boone Logan warming in the pen, Phelps at 93 pitches, Strike-out, 1 out
Lines out to Ichiro, 2 outs
Strike-out. 3 outs. Six strike outs for David Phelps.

Seventh inning:
Felix with 7 strikeouts.

Side-note: O’s 10, TB 7

Boone Logan in for David Phelps
Ichiro drops it, in foul territory. (Love you, Raul ♡ , now be a good boy and swing and miss)
Shoppach grounds into a 5-3 out at first.
Yowzer, 2 strike-outs for Logan.

Charlie Furbush in for Felix Hernandez
Eighth inning:
Cano hit by pitch. Advances to second on a wild pitch.
3rd strikeout for Mark Teixeira. Good job swinging at a ball Mark. 😦
Hafner pops out in foul territory.
Wells in now, come on baby! Just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play outs.

David Robertson in for Logan
Ken (or AL) jinxed them. Lead-off double for Mariners.
Sacrifice bunt. Runner on 3rd. 1 out
Strike-out Jason Bay. Hat trick for Bay? Huh? 2 outs.
Swing and a miss, freakin’ LOVE D-Rob. David “H” Robertson. The H is for Houdini or Heart-attack, whichever you prefer.

Ninth inning:
Yoervis Medina in for Seattle.
Ichiro walks. And he takes great care with his bat.
Nix sacrifice bunt, Ichiro to second.
Chris Stewart with a big 2-out hit, throw is not in time, Ichiro scores, Stewart fist pumps when he gets to second. Yankees in the lead.
Oliver Perez in for Seattle, Gardner up at bat. He has had a great afternoon, 3 for 4. Hit a home run Gardy! I guess I have to settle for a base hit. Runners on the corners, Robbie is up. Home run Robbie! And he walks. Mark is up now. Strikes out, golden sombrero for Tex. 3 outs.

Bottom of the ninth:
Mariano Rivera in for the Yankees
Lead off walk
Double play (Mark is soooo good, can you say ‘Gold Glove’?
Walk to Raul (Mo has seen his late game power)
Base hit. Who do these Mariners think they are? Getting hits against Mo.
Pop-out to left field. Yankees win 2-1.

Since the game was tied until the ninth inning, neither starting pitcher gets the win.
Pitching Decisions
Winning Pitcher
David Robertson

Losing Pitcher
Yoervis Medina

Save
Mariano Rivera – 23 SV

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Game 63
Yankees 37-26 (0.587)

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Double header

Monday originally was a day off for the Yankees. The weather had other ideas and rained out two games in April, therefore on Monday the Yankees played a double-header to make up the games. It was a single admission double header which means the fans in Cleveland got to see two games for the price of one.

First game

~~ Indians 1, Yankees 0 ~~

Second game

~~ Yankees 7, Indians 0 ~~

It’s not unusual for teams to split a double header. What I’m going to talk about is the pitching. David Phelps came up to the big leagues April 2012 as a reliever, as the season wore on he showed he had durability, lasting 4 or 5 innings in long relief and made a few starts. This year, in April he was also pitching in relief until our pitchers started dropping like flies. Then he was put in the rotation, he had a rocky first start, his start on this Monday was not rocky at all. The only run was a home run and if the Yankees HAD GOTTEN THEIR STUFF TOGETHER and actually scored some runs, he would have gotten the win since the bullpen didn’t give up any runs either. Phelps line: 6.2IP, 4H, 1R, 5BB, 7SO, 4.33ERA

March 20 the Yankees played the Red Sox in Spring Training. I looked at the line-up and said, “Who the hell is Vidal Nuno?” He pitched 5 scoreless innings that game. But I didn’t really expect to see him in the regular season. Absolutely he would not be starting any REAL games. So far he’s pitched 8 scoreless innings in the regular season. Monday he was the starting pitcher in the second game, a game that counts. Now I know who Vidal Nuno is. Nuno’s line: 5.0IP, 3H, 0R, 3BB, 3SO, 0.00ERA.

Adam Warren came into finish the game, his line: 4.0IP, 2H, 0R, 4SO, 1.45ERA. Nuno got his first big league win, and Warren got his first save of the season.

Between the two games the Indians gave Mariano Rivera a framed gold record of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.

~~ Yankees 4, Mariners 3 ~~

Today’s game I really thought the Mariners were going to win, they were ahead the whole game and Felix was pitching and he usually shuts down the bats. Which he did today until he left the game after 6 innings. CC also left after 6 but the Yankee bullpen is better than the Mariners. Also our pitchers know to NOT stand in front of first base when there is a base runner so your infield can get him out properly. In another example of a groan worthy headline, Robinson Cano tied the game and the MLB headline reads: “After aces exit, Yanks Rob a win.”

In other baseball news: Shane Victorino now knows where the visitors bullpen wall at Fenway is, and Bryce Harper knows where the right-field wall at Dodger stadium is. Guys, the outfield does not go on forever, the wall is hard and you may be super ball players but you are not superheroes.

And one last thing before I go, Yankees still in first place.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Game 39
Yankees 25-14 (0.641)

Disappointment

They were so close, I was so excited. But it was not to be, I had to put away my broom for another series.

~~ D-backs 6, Yankees 2 ~~

Phil “Homerun” Hughes was on the mound today as the Yankees went for the sweep. It was not to be. To be fair, Phil actually pitched rather well only giving up two home runs and they were both single shots. The rest of the runs were given up by Phelps in the 12th inning. After the 4 runs the D-backs got the Yankees couldn’t come back to score.

In other news, Derek Jeter has had a setback, a cat scan showed another break in the location of the original break. His new expected date back is after the All-Star break. So more games with Nunez at short stop. He has also been playing very well there, no errors (well until tonight) so far. Since the Yankees have kept him at one position he has been doing better. We no longer hold our breath when the ball is hit to him. So he and Nix are sort of sharing SS duties.

Count my co-worker as another person who ‘never thought he would be rooting for Kevin Youkilis’. I have no problem rooting for him, in fact I kind of thank Mo for him. He can hit, he can take pitches, he can play 3rd and he can play 1st. He is the perfect man.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Game 14
Yankees 8-6 (0.571)

Please don’t hit our batters

The Yankees fall to the Tigers but all I can think of is “You hit NUNEZ! You jerk.” Time to make a Doug Fister doll. I’ll then have a set, Doug Fister and Prince Fielder. Vindictive, ME?

~~ Tigers 8, Yankees 3 ~~

Now is not the time to panic, I don’t want to hear people saying how the Yankees have ‘lost it’, it’s the 4th game of the season, lots more baseball to play, small sample sizes work both way. Time to be a true fan and have faith in your team. That is all.

Ivan Nova was not sharp this game, he didn’t even last 5 innings, then Boone Logan comes in and gives up a home run. The first of three, yes I am feverishly making a Prince Fielder doll. I don’t know why I haven’t before this, a mistake on my part. Kevin Youkilis got the only homerun for the Yankees bringing in the only runs the Yankees got. Nunez got plunked and now is day to day. David Robertson was perfect.

I’m not trying to sound like a whiney fan here, but the Yankees played a night game in the Bronx then a day game in Detroit, I’m not going to use it as an excuse because I know the Yankees aren’t, but seriously, who makes up these schedules.

Today Phil comes off the D.L. and makes the start for NY, that means Phelps goes to the pen. I don’t have a problem with that, it means he’s available if Phil implodes and starts giving up home runs.

Game 4
Yankees 1-3 (0.250)

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

One of my problems with writing posts

Is deciding on a title, first I was going to use HIROK HIROK HIROK, then I thought, well it was Hiroki and Ichiro, so maybe IT WAS A NIGHT FOR THE JAPS …. but then I thought either of those titles could be considered offensive, and I don’t want to offend anyone, so I didn’t use either. Obviously.

~~ Yankees 4, Red Sox 1 ~~

So what can I say about Kuroda and Ichiro that hasn’t already been said? I was thinking this game would be a win for the Yankees, mainly because Kuroda was pitching. It’s kind of the thing I say about C.C., if he’s pitching you have a better than even chance it’ll be a win. Of course C.C. is on the D.L. along with Andy so we are now relying on Kuroda, Phelps and Garcia. Hughes is rather hit or miss right now, but I have faith, he will come through for us. Nova is also a pitcher that needs seasoning and experience. I also think he will go on to great things for us.

Yankees just need to keep moving forward, keep winning games and go all the way.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

They got the split

It wasn’t pretty, not like an Olympic gymnast’s split, and speaking of gymnastics, (it took me all day to figure out how to get gymnastics into a baseball blog, give me points for effort) I got slammed for posting a gif of McKayla Maroney flubbing up her vault. She was the favorite for Gold, she just had to make her vault, she didn’t, she landed on her butt. And I put it on Google+, so what? What impressed me was she jumped up, took her bow before the crowd and left the mat. No drama, no crying her little eyes out and getting tear stains on her pretty pink leotard. She got up and moved on. She is a champion. Much like the Yankees.

The Yankees were up 9 games in the AL East, then they hit a slump, ‘fell on their butts’ so to speak, they had a 4 game losing streak and saw their lead began to shrink down to 4.5 games. What were they going to do? They got up, dusted themselves off and moved on. The Tigers had an 8 game win streak at home when the Yankees came to town, it stretched to 10 and then the Yankees broke it, Yankees 12, Tigers 8. The Yankees called on their ace, and CC delivered. I watched this game, on and off, went in the bathroom when Dave got in trouble and then, boom he was out of it. When the Tigers got within one run I ran down to get a Perrier, because, “THE YANKEES DON’T WIN ONE RUN GAMES!” In the end, it was a win.

~~ Yankees 4, Tigers 3 ~~

Today I was at work, to be honest I didn’t even know the game was on until I saw a tweet about Stewart throwing the ball quick, (oh he threw out Omar Infante at 2nd, and turned a double play so of course that makes him a better catcher than Russell Martin [I’m practicing my sarcasm]). Kuroda was the starting pitcher and gave up 3 runs in the 5th but since he had such terrific run support, (how am I doing?) he didn’t get the win, Clay Rapada gets the win and the Yankees actually won a game by one run.

It’s wasn’t without its nail-biting moments. When I turned on MLB at bat Game Day on my phone and saw Yankees 4, Tigers 3, OK good then, it’s the ninth and Soriano is pitching and men on the corners and no outs. I got that little strangled feeling in my throat and yes, I closed the app. Waited for the text message the one that says:

V.MLB FINAL
Yankees 4, Tigers 3,
WP: C.Rapada (3,0)
LP: J.Benoit (1,3)
HR: M.Teixeira 21,
A.Avila 7. (AP)

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

The Yankees won?

Not wanting to stay in this hot apartment today (July 4, so yesterday actually), I have AC but whenever it is on I see dollar bills floating up and away, far far away, I decided to walk around the city. So after I dyed my hair (such an exciting life I live) I left and headed toward the park, actually I was headed toward Beard Papa’s but it’s on the other side of the park. I made it through the Park without ending up on the same side I started on. That is more difficult then it sounds, normally I make a big loop when I walk through Central Park, starting on 5th Ave and ending up a few blocks up or down, but still on 5th. I have a tendency to ramble while walking and writing blog posts.

The game was on my mind, but since the Yankees ALWAYS lose in Tampa, (don’t yell at me, can you say 9 game losing streak? I’m not giving any credit to the Rays, hate hate HATE) I decided not to watch, not to follow on Gameday, just walk around, maybe catch a minor league game, but there again, SO HOT TODAY. Of course there is always Twitter, one of the beat writers keeps us apprised of the various hate trains (I have his tweets sent to my phone). So I knew pretty much what was happening. Phelps was pitching amazingly, not as amazing as David Price (can’t really blame that on the Trop I guess), the Rays got a run in the 4th, one run for Phelps. Then a home run from Teixeira in the 7th, tied game. Then the tweet: Logan kicks the dirt …. I didn’t really need to read more.

Andruw Jones Hate Train. All aboard!

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) July 4, 2012

When it’s really hot, like it was today, I have this tummy issue, and for some reason beer helps make it go away. So by this time in the game I was looking for a bar, the first place was recommended by someone on twitter, I walked up the stairs and put my hand on the door to go in and got rained on. Fine, the ceiling leaked, water I hope, so I ran out and went down the street down about a block. I found a Korean place that serves Korean food and American craft beer. Standing at the door I looked up at this huge TV screen with baseball players running across home plate. Players that did not have ‘Rays’ on their chest, it was now 4-3 Yankees, top of the 8th. I walked in to get a beer and watch the rest of the game, still thinking, they could lose this, they always lose at the Trop. Well not today. And here is another example of wins not being a true indicator of a pitchers worth, the pitcher that gave up the go-ahead runs to the Rays was the same pitcher that got the win.

Two more things, for those of you on the Russell Martin hate train, don’t stop here you are not welcome. You think Stewart should be the everyday catcher? Are you on crack? His defense is not up to Martin’s numbers, Martin has 4 errors this year and so does Stewart who has played a third of the games Martin has. Yes he has a better ratio of throwing out runners stealing bases, he also has caught a lot of games for just one pitcher, and how much of catching a base stealer has to do with the speed of the ball to the plate? Don’t runners go on the pitch? They are typically running on the pitcher, even though the catcher gets the stat, it’s not all on him.

The other thing, if you have a sports blog check out Sportsrantz it is a network of sports blogs and a social site to share blog posts. They invited me to bring this blog over there, more exposure I guess. I wonder if they have actually read this blog. 😛

Not crying

This post is not about the game. A horrid I don’t want to even think about it game. Want to know what happened? If you’re a fan why weren’t you watching?

Before I turned on the game my phone buzzed and there was a tweet:

I hope Mariano Rivera is not seriously injured or hurt at all!The #Yankees need this champion on the field.Love you Clarita and Mariano!

— Laura Posada (@Dlauraposada) May 3, 2012

I started scrolling through my timeline, it looked like Mariano had twisted his knee, that’s what I read, I watched the clip, it didn’t look good. He was shagging fly balls. Something he does with regularity. He has even said he could play center field. Others have said he is great at it. Stepping off the grass onto the dirt he took a misstep he fell, he had to be carried off the field.

This was all being talked about during this game where Phelps gave it his best and the offense was, just not there. WAKE UP YOU SLACKERS!! We heard nothing. Twitter was buzzing that this was not a good thing. Twitter was right, sometimes I hate it when Twitter is right. A torn ACL and he said meniscus. I’m not a doctor, but I know both are not good. The prognosis is he will be out for the season, it may be the end of his career.

After the game most of the questions were about Mariano, I remember Alex’s the most, he was out there, on the video you could see him yelling for Joe and Steve Donohue, when asked about what happened, he said he saw Mo go down, he paused, “I don’t want to talk about it.” That is something I’ve noticed about Alex, whether he admits it or not, he know what is going on. I remember when Jeter crashed into the seats after catching a pop-up, Alex was the one calling for the trainer. Kasey told me he keeps track of who gets his first hit, making sure the ball is retrieved. He’s a detail kind of guy, but with the “I don’t want to talk about it.” You also see he is a feeling kind of guy too. Then he said, “We’re the NY Yankees, nobody is going to feel sorry for us, we have to still go out and get it done.” That’s a thought I am carrying with me.

Nobody is going to feel sorry for us as fans. We have already seen some of the hate on twitter, which I won’t repeat here. I did say I hope they DIAF, which I don’t really mean. So we have to carry on, like the team is going to do. Jeter said, “Nobody else can be Mo. What they can do is their job.” With Mo gone, now someone has to step in and fill that role. David says he doesn’t know if he’s ready, he doesn’t pitch like Mo, he has his own style. Well his style is pretty damn effective. I have faith in him, I have faith in the Yankees. They will find a way to get it done.

One more thing, anyone who doesn’t have respect for Mariano, when asked if he was going back to New York tomorrow he said, “No, I’m going to stay here a few days I want to make sure the guys are all right.” That is the time of man he is, and even though he would not approve, those people can just go DIAF.

Catching up

Once again I am behind, I was going to write about the game I went to, by myself which the Yankees won (yay!) but I forgot, then the Yankees came back from a 9-0 game against the Red Sox which I had a great post written (in my head), which never made it to my fingertips. So just going to pick up with Saturday’s game against the Tigers.

~~ Tigers 7, Yankees 5 ~~

Tom invited me and it was him, me, his sister and nephew. Joe and Joan were also there, but he has different seats this season. They both still have tickets to the Audi Club and Mohegan Sun Sports Bar.

Freddy was pitching, he was pretty bad. He lasted less then 2 innings and 6 runs. Tigers were hitting him hard, even the outs were hard hit balls. The balls were going in the corner in right field where Swish couldn’t get them and he was scrambling after them Rapada, then Phelps and Eppley ended the game. Eppley gave up a home run. The Yankees came back to score 5 runs, it wasn’t enough. Garcia is going to the bullpen, Phelps is going to get a chance to start.

Still had fun, I like it when I’m at the game, and even in the Clubs I scream loud, like when Swish gets a home run, he hit two and Curtis hit one. And the ticket I got has Don Mattingly on it and “EIGHT game record tying home run streak begins July 8, 1987”. Little bit of trivia for you. I also got roped into invited to a barbecue at Tom’s next weekend. Kasey will be in the city, but D will be with her since it’s their anniversary. I couldn’t come up with a reason to say no, other then I despise barbecue …… more on that later.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Those dirty orange birds

Yes we swept them, Yankees are now 3-3, this means they start Friday, the home opener with a ‘clean slate’. Whatever, I won’t be there. I’m still trying for tickets but it doesn’t look likely. I will probably be here watching from the Upper East Side instead of the Upper Deck. I don’t know if the Grandstand is actually called the Upper deck, but it sounds good for my blog.

After Nova pitched spectacularly, the next two nights the pitchers were not so good. 12 innings and 10 innings. Last night, I fell asleep while Phelps was pitching, woke up to see Raul pinch hit putting the Yankees ahead. Mariano came in, and I fell asleep again. Tonight, in the 10th inning I left the room to make ravioli so Nicky would hit a home run. He is shy and doesn’t like hitting home runs when I am watching. I ran back in to tweet that after he hit his two run home run, the ravioli burned. Oh well.

I stopped watching the game to make ravioli. You are welcome.

— Foxx in UES (@Foxx_UES) April 12, 2012

If by some miracle I end up with tickets for Friday, I will let you know. If not, I plan on ‘live blogging’ the game.