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 ~~ 😛

ALDS GAME 2

~~ Yankees 2, Orioles 3 ~~
ALDS: Yankees 1, Orioles 1

Live blogging: The Orioles game is currently in rain delay, estimated start time: 8:45 P.M.

Cards pasted the Nationals. Cardinals 12, Nationals 4

Play Ball!!
Top 1:
Jeter singles to center field; Wei-Yin Chen is throwing fast balls, Ichiro reaches on an error; 2 on, no outs; Alex hits into a double play, a weird double play (second baseman caught the line drive, then tossed to second, Alex and Derek out). Robbie hits into the corner, Ichiro comes home, avoids the tag by Matt Wieters. Nick Swisher out at first.

Bottom 1:
Fly ball to left, one out; 2nd batter grounds out to Cano, two out; 3rd batter strikes out. 1-2-3 inning for Andy. Yankees 1, Orioles 0

Top 2:
Baltimore fans boo Teixeira, he pops out to first baseman; Russell fly ball center field; Curtis strikes out.

Bottom 2:
Pop out to Robinson Cano; Ground out third base to first; Strike out. Yankees 1, Orioles 0

Top 3:
Eduardo Nunez is the DH, (WHAT? Nunez DHing?) Pops out 3rd base; Jeter strikes out looking, but he doesn’t agree, is muttering as he walks back to the dug-out; Ichiro singles; Alex singles, runners at first and second; Cano grounds out to the pitcher.

Bottom 3:
Fly out to left field; Jeter to Mark; #9 batter breaks bat, ball drops before Curtis, 1st hit for the Orioles; McLouth in a single to center field, runners on first and second. This is vintage Andy, get into trouble – gets out of trouble. Walks batter, bases loaded and a power hitter coming up. Base hit to right field, two runs score. Baltimore in the lead by one run. Base hit, bases loaded again, bad base running by Baltimore; pop-out to Cano. Yankees 1, Orioles 2

Top 4:
Swisher swings out; Lined up the middle, base hit for Teixeira; Russell walks; Base hit for Curtis, bases are now loaded with one out. Nunez pops out; Jeter hits the ball to the third baseman. RISP FAIL. Ugh.

Bottom 4:
Base hit, bad throw by Jeter and Mark has to jump for it; Strike out; Ball hit to A-Rod gets the runner out at second. Hit to Cano, get the runner at second, again. Yankees 1, Orioles 2

Top 5:
Now it is time for the Yankees to get some runs. Ichiro thrown out at first; A-Rod flies out to center field; Robbie thrown out at first. The inning took about as long to play as it took me to type this. 4 pitches, that is disgusting.

Bottom 5:
McLouth reaches on an error; Hardy called out on strikes; Davis hits a fly ball to Curtis; Adam Jones hits a fly ball to Swisher, who catches it. Yankees 1, Orioles 2

Top 6:
Swisher grounds out; Mark flies out to left field; Base hit for Russell, scratch that, reached on an error; Granderson pops up and out.

Bottom 6:
Weiters get a double; Reynolds smokes it, Weiters scores; Thome strikes out; Machado hits it to Andy, who turns and throws it to 2nd, then Robbie throws on to Mark. That was pretty boss of Andy. Yankees 1, Orioles 3

Top 7:
Nunez leads off with a double (cause he runs fast like bunny, or the road runner, or whatever); Jeter hits the ball over Hardy’s head and Nunez scores; Ichiro hits the ball to Hardy and Jeter is out at second, but Ichiro makes it to first;

Chen’s night is done, Darren O’Day comes in to face Alex Rodriguez. Alex strikes out, Ichiro steals second;

My router crapped out right here, to recap the Orioles brought in a new pitcher, Cano was walked and Swisher hit a fly ball to make the last out.

Bottom 7:
1-2-3 inning Yankees 2, Orioles 3

Top 8:
Teixeira gets on first; Russell strikes out looking on a ball off the plate 😦 ; Curtis strikes out; Nunez pops out.

Bottom 8:
Davis hits over Andy’s head, over 2nd base and he gets on first.

New pitcher for the Yankees. David Robertson – fields the ball and gets Jones at first, runner advances to second; Weiters grounds out to first. Reynolds swings at the air. Yankees 2, Orioles 3

Top 9:
Jim Johnson is in for the Orioles.
Jeter grounds out; Ichiro grounds out. One more out and it’s the end for the Yankees. Alex strikes out. Yankees lose.

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

The longest game

Not the longest game ever, but —->

At 5 hours, 43 minutes, this was the #Yankees‘ longest ballgame since battling the Twins for 5 hours, 45 minutes in 2002.

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 23, 2012

The last game I had tickets for was to be played on Tuesday, September 18, however it was rained out. Kasey was coming up to go with me but fortunately the game was called before she left, early the next day she got on the train, we had big plans for the day. Unfortunately I was sick and we ended up watching the game in my apartment.

Part of the reason I was so upset was this was Andy Pettitte’s first day back from the D.L. I really wanted to see him pitch, instead I had to settle for watching him on the little screen. At least the Yankees beat the Blue Jays.

Later in the week Tom sent me a message asking if I wanted to go to the game Saturday, I said that since I had missed the game Wednesday, of course we all know I would have gone regardless. Kasey was in the city and made her request for me to text her game highlights. I took my phone but didn’t bother with my charger since, I was just going to a game, wouldn’t need my charger.

~~ Yankees 10, Athletics 9 ~~

As the saying goes, famous last words. We get to our seats, which actually weren’t our seats. For a Saturday day game the stadium was rather empty. Tom and Mike were in the right section, but not in the right row, well all right, I can be flexible. Tom is busy scouting out new seats for next season’s tickets. He still wants the Audi Club and Mohegan Sun Sports Bar, and I think he is staying in the Grandstand, but he wants seats closer to home plate. We sat in those seats for a while. It didn’t seem like long, but longer then Nova stayed in the game. Stephen Drew hit a home run in the third inning and Nova’s day was done. It didn’t seem too bad, after all the Yankees were still a run ahead, but the A’s were continuing to hit and the Yankees were not, by the 4th inning the game was tied. Then the Yankees broke the tie, then the A’s tied it again. After testing out the seats in section 419, which Tom liked the section but not the row he picked, we went to the Audi club. Because the game had gone on so long they had stopped serving beer in the concession stands, I was still texting Kasey, my text read, “Tied game, again.” Kasey’s reply was, “I hate Oakland!” We get to the 9th inning, still tied. Then the 10th, the 11th, Tom and Mike left for Yonkers. I stayed. I was looking out from the windows across to the bleachers and the right field seats, it looked like a steady exodus of people from the stadium.

Top of the 13th, Freddy was in his 3rd inning and boom, boom, boom, 3 home runs by Oakland scoring 4 runs. Some Oakland fans started cheering, Michael Kay and Tino and Ken started talking about what this loss would mean to the Yankees during the middle of the inning. Then the Yankees came up to bat.

Ichiro starts off with a single, then Alex hits a single, then Robbie takes his turn and also hits a single. A’s bring in a new pitcher, who promptly throws the ball to the wall behind home plate and home comes Ichiro. Nunez brings Alex home with a sacrifice fly, that’s two runs and 1 out. Raul comes up to bat, the same Raul that has been slumping, that some people are saying is too old to play everyday, the same Raul that broke the tie in the 5th with a home run and I thought they were were showing a replay of that home run, I thought they were continuously showing it, but the Audi club was getting loud, and the A’s fans were rather quiet. Home run #17 for Raul Ibanez to tie the game again. Cory Wade comes in and pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 14th.

Chavez get on first and is replaced by Pinch-runner Melky Mesa, he was brought up for his speed so this makes sense. It is his major league debut. Jeter bunts, and then Ichiro is walked. I hit the table and snarled, “Cowards!” The girls next to me just laughed. Oh and by this time my phone was dead as the Red Sox’s chance of going to the post season, so much for not needing my charger. The summary from MLB.com says

Alex Rodriguez singles on a line drive to center fielder Yoenis Cespedes. Melky Mesa to 3rd. Ichiro Suzuki to 2nd.

What this rather dry sentence does not tell you is the reason Melky Mesa went to third and didn’t score was because he missed the base. He ran right over it and never touched it. Someone said, ‘Rookie mistake’, uh duh! He is a rookie, but a worse mistake would have been for him to go home and been called out. So he went back to third, looking very dejected, and the next play he was out at home. I felt really bad for him, as they showed him dragging his feet across to the dugout. No high fives for him, he might get a base in his locker and he will always be remembered as the runner who missed 3rd base.

And then, Eduardo Nunez reaches on a fielding error by first baseman Brandon Moss. Ichiro Suzuki scores. An error, the first baseman dropped the ball and Ichiro ran in and scored the winning run. He was very happy, had a big grin and hugged, whoever was at the base when he ran in. Probably Nick. Nick likes to be in the middle of everything. Make an error against the Yankees and you will pay, in this case it was with the game. Yankees win, everybody is happy.

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

Live blogging the rubber game ~ Baltimore vs New York, 5/2

We know what has happened so far, on Friday Kuroda pitched a gem, (and made a fantastic tag at the plate in the 7th inning), Mariano got his 5th save and Yankees won. Saturday, Phil was not so great, Nunez bobbled the play and the bats took a vacation. Tonight is the rubber game. Nova normally gets great run support. Here is another attempt by me of live blogging. Due to the nature of this post, I will be posting the score at the bottom of the post. It’s almost game time, I’m going to turn on my TV now.

Inning 1: Top
Chavez grounds out 1;
Hardy singles; Markakis doubles, Hardy to third; Jones flies out to Cano (making fools aware) LOVE 2
Wieters walks (Ken may have just jinxed Nova ~ RAGE); Davis strikes out 3

Bottom
Jeter strikes out 1
Granderson flies out to center field 2
Rodriguez singles; Cano strikes out 3

Inning 2: Top
Johnson grounds out 1
Reynolds flies out 2
Andino walks; Chavez pops out to Chavez (I crack myself up) 3

Bottom
Teixeira grounds out (2-19) 1
Ibanez flies out 2
Chavez strikes out 3

Inning 3: Top
1, 2, 3

This game is a pitchers duel so far **crickets**
Scoring plays only, cause I’m knitting, this is hard and I’m sure boring for you.

Inning 4: Top
Wieters Home Run Orioles 1, Yankees 0
Davis grounds out 1
Johnson with a double; Strike-out 2
Single; Pop-out 3

Bottom
1, 2, 3;

Inning 5: Bottom
Chavez out (injury)

Inning 6: Top
Andino gets an RBI with 1 out. Orioles 2, Yankees 0
Double play 2, 3

Bottom
Nothing, Nada, Zip, Pffffft

Inning 7: Top
Markakis Home Run Orioles 3, Yankees 0
Wieters RBI Double Orioles 4, Yankees 0

Nova is out, 15 winning streak broken. :(; Chavez has concussion or whiplash;
Johnson RBI Double Orioles 5, Yankees 0

Andino is just a beast.

Freddy pitched scoreless out of the pen. Orioles pitched scoreless whole game.

~~ Orioles 5, Yankees 0 ~~

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

Season ends with a bang

~~ Rays 8, Yankees 7 ~~

For the Rays, who swept the Yankees and are going to the post-season. They will be playing the Texas Rangers. Yankees will be playing the Detroit Tigers.

This was a crazy game, by the 5th inning the Yankees had scored 7 runs. The Rays didn’t even start scoring until the 8th inning. Then they tied it on the last strike of the ninth inning. Extra innings and a home run to score it. Before this happened, the Baltimore Orioles had come from behind to win their game in the 9th inning. This knocked the Red Sox out of the playoffs. In the National League, Atlanta was 1 strike away from winning their game, and lost it. I’m only sorry about that because my friend Gersh is a Braves fan, other than that, I hate the Braves. Almost as much as I hate the Red Sox.

Mark Teixeira hit home runs 38 and 39, bringing the total of my Harlem RBI donation to $585 for the regular season. I plan to continue making donations into the post season. Andruw Jones also hit a home run.

Nunez has a grand total of 20 errors for the season.

Pretty sure this blog post sucks. But I’m too tired to think right now. See you in the post-season.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ Wednesday, September 28, 2011 😛

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

~~ Yankees 4, Rays 2 ~~

Eduardo Nunez hit a game-tying homer in the eighth and Robinson Cano put the Yanks up with a two-run double as New York clinched a postseason spot — and dealt Tampa Bay a Wild Card blow — with a win in Game 1 of its doubleheader with the Rays.

The Yankees are playing double headers to make up for rained out games. In this first game the Yankees used a lot of pitchers, including Mo who now has 44 saves for this year and 603 total. But with this win the Yankees are going to the postseason.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ Wednesday, September 21, 2011 😛

Double Header ~ Game 1 ~ Saturday, July 30, 2011

~~ Yankees 8, Orioles 3 ~~

This is what we like to see, Colon pitching, Nick hitting home runs, Yankees stealing bases and making errors! Wait, what? Sorry Nunez. And I would like to introduce to you the Yankees new closer, Boone Logan! That last bit was a joke. No closer needed for this game.

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

Fun or boring game? ~ Friday, July 22, 2011

~~ Yankees 17, Athletics 7 ~~

Some people think blowouts are fun, they like seeing their team win by 10 or 20 runs, some people say they are boring. Apparently Phil Hughes thinks they are boring since he let the A’s score 7 runs. Hector Noesi apparently thinks they’re fun since he held them to the seven runs they already had and picked up his second win, his record is now 2-0 with a 2.91 ERA. As bad as Phil was today, he was better then Trevor Cahill, who doesn’t have a bad ERA, just seems to fall apart against the Yankees. He pitched 2 innings, gave up 9 hits, 10 runs, walked 2, had two stolen bases and watched two balls make it into the seats, one with the bases loaded.

Nick and Mark hit the home runs, Nick’s was a 3 run, Mark’s a grand slam and the following players all joined the party. Nunez, Gardner, Jeter (3), Granderson (2), Swisher (5), Teixeira (4), Laird. Laird just got called up, his first major league hit was also a major league RBI.

What camp do I fall in with regards to high scoring games? If it’s the Yankees batting around, fun fun fun!!

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

Back in Form ~ Wednesday, July 20, 2011

~~ Yankees 4, Rays 0 ~~

To all the haters and naysayers and band wagon fans, the ones saying it was time to let Freddy go (after one bad start) take a look at the score, take a look at 7 strike-outs and 0 walks. Did you hear me? 0 walks. No doubt about who won this pitchers duel. Logan and
Robertson did their part and Mo, sorry Mo not a save situation.

That reminds me, hey Joe? You already have an 8th inning guy, the perfect set-up man, the bridge to Mo, dare I say, the next great closer (maybe not great yet), maybe Soriano can fold towels.

The pitchers did get a little help from Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez who each had 2 RBI’s.

All in all a good game.

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