Cashman and the Yankee brass pulled off two trades that have been met with near-unanimous praise by media, fans and competitors. Today New York will see the debut of Bobby Abreu patrolling right field at The Stadium as Toronto comes to town for a three game set. He will wear jersey #53 as he did in Philadelphia, that number having been given over by Larry Bowa who took it knowingly when he joined the Yankees. Craig Wilson, the other recent addition to the New York battery, is not in the lineup tonight.
Right-hander A.J. Burnett takes the mound for the Jays. Although his record is 2-4, one of those two victories came against New York on July 21st at the Rogers Centre in Toronto where A.J. threw a solid 7.1 inning, 6 hit, 3 run performance. Toronto took three of four in that series and was nipping at the Yanks’ heels but dropped back after losing five of seven against Seattle and Oakland since we last met our feathered Canadian rivals. Abreu has an excellent record facing Burnett in the NL East: 12 for 31, .387/.500/.548 lifetime.
Jaret Wright looks to continue his winning ways after his mildly surprising 5.1 inning performance against Texas last week, the surprising part being that the number is larger than 5. Wright has not pitched into the seventh inning in seventeen starts this season and is averaging 4.73 innings per appearance.
It’s the first of August, and it looks like a tough month on paper. It’s one hour to game time, and time to see if Cashman’s work starts paying dividends. Comment away.
Starting lineup:
Johnny Damon CF
Derek Jeter SS
Jason Giambi 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Bobby Abreu RF
Jorge Posada C
Bernie Williams DH
Melky Cabrera LF
Miguel Cairo 2B
I like the look of Abreu in that lineup!
J Wright is awful and I refuse to be suckered into believing in him just because of one not-so-lousy start. He’ll give up 4-6 runs in his 5 innings tonight, and will make way for Proctor, who thankfully hasn’t pitched since Thursday, and is probably very confused right now about the fact that his arm and shoulder aren’t numb from overuse.
Wells is sitting in the clubhouse sharpening his bat on grinder. He has a pention for deep fried Wright.
penchant
I guess Torre decided to deal with the question of who’s on first (Wilson or AP) rather brilliantly: he’s not playing EITHER of them. Man is a genius! A genius, I tell you!!!
Uh, so tell me again why Bernie is DHing against a tough righty?
Giambi is 10 for 54 with 9 RBI and 3 HR to go with 12 walks and 13 ks in his 16 games since the break. Tonight would be a great time to snap out of that slump.
Bernie DHing against a tough lefty highlights the problem of sending Guiel down to triple A and keeping Andy on the roster. There are no good lefty options (offensively) off the bench.
Nick, AJ Burnett is a righty. Hence the problem. I’d have no problem if Bernie were deployed against a LHP. Incidentally, AP has better #’s against righties than lefties, so it would’ve made sense to DH him tonight. Oh well. I s’pose Torre is going to play around with the lineup for a few days to figure out what the best options are….Obviously Bernie on the bench is not one of them. Sigh.
Abreu looks disturbingly like Sammy Sosa. Freaky.
typo on my part. I meant righty.
YM: I assume you meant DH Giambi and play Phillips at first?
I’m jumpy before this game. It’s like the start of a 60 game short season for the AL East title.
Ugh. Every time they replay the Matsui injury makes me cringe. Must they keep showinng it?
Gerbil: I’m not sure, actually. In general, I’d say yes. However, Giambi really does seem to play better when he plays in the field, so maybe play him at 1B and let Andy DH for a few games?
Cliff Corcoran over at BB posted Giambi’s DH/1B splits for this season and Giambi’s BA is about 23 points higher when he’s playing 1B. I think his average is like .277 when he’s on the field. I’ll take that any day over his paltry .248 right now.
YM: Interesting point about Giambi in the field. And yes, the Matsui video twists my stomach. I look away when they show it now.
BY: I’m jumpy too. This month is scaring the crap out of me. a day off on the seventh, then 21 games in 20 days with that looming 5 game series in Boston starting with the double-header on the 18th, thrown in with two series against the Halos and one against the GuillenSOX, with Seattle as a supposed breather. Then close the month with Les Tigres and the Twins. Gah. I’m tense already.
Wright strikes out Johnson swinging to start the game.
Cat with a ground-rule double on a 1-1 pitch.
Yanks are conserving energy by turning off the scoreboard during innings. That’s so weird.
Bobby with his first putout. Red glove, awesome!
(Wells retired on a flyout to Bobby. Thank god, he OWNS Wright).
Jason at 1B 2006: .270/.443/.572
Jason at DH 2006: .223/.359/.566
So no difference in power, just huge drop in avg. and a significant drop in OBP. I wouldn’t mind him at 1B more often.
Glaus runs the count full, lines out to Abreu on 3-2. Cat stranded on 3rd, Yanks coming to bat!
OMG, Burnett has a long-sleeve shirt on! It’s 97 degrees out there!…
JD retired 4-3 on a 2-2 pitch.
Mr. “Chilled grapefruit scent” grounds out to 2nd. 2 out.
Giambi continues to stink it up at the plate.
Predictably, he flies out to center on a 3-2 pitch. Guess the switch to defense hasn’t worked its magic yet….
Wright’s ERA against BJs this year is over 10. Randy’s is over 14. OUCH.
Wright does himself no favors as he walks Overbay to start the 2nd.
Swinging K on a high fasball for Hinske. 1 out.
Zaun fouls off a bunch after running the count full. Overbay getting a workout running from 1st on every pitch.
An adventure in the field as ARod and Jeter have trouble deciding who gets the pop-up. Jeter makes the catch, 2 away.
Hill gets plunked on a 2-0 pitch. 2 on, 2 out.
McDonald doubles to the gap in right CF, scoring Overbay…1-0 BJs; 2 and 3rd with 2 out for Reed Johnson.
First pitch to Johnson is a foul that missed being a HR by a foot or so. Scary…
Trolling here –
Yes, the Matsui video twists my stomach. I even felt some guilt because Loretta hit the ball.
And can we PLEASE call Jeter “The Frozen Grapefruit”? Works equally well positively or negatively (HR or error).
Maybe “The Frozen, Musky Grapfruit”?
0-2 to Johnson is fouled off. Wright at 45 pitches already…Villone better start stretching.
rk: Frozen Grapefruit is OK by me :-) Don’t expect me to call him that, though.
The 2-2 to Johnson is a flyout that Abreu catches just in front of the warning track. All in all, damage limited…now let’s see those bats wake up!
ARod Ks looking…A nice hand for Abreu for his first AB.
A ground ball to 2nd that Abreu almost beats out. 2 away.
Posada grounds out to first to end the 2nd. Uh…where is that vaunted offensive lineup we heard so much about the last few days?
Cat with a fly to Death Valley. JD tracks it down for 1 away.
Wells pops out to Cairo on a full count. 2 away.
Glaus Ks swinging for the final out of the 3rd. Finally a 1-2-3 inning….Wright keeps working his tightrope act but the BJs will catch up pretty soon if he keeps falling behind in the counts.
Let’s go Blue Jays…clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.
Wells makes a GREAT catch on Bernie’s line drive to CF.
Hush, Rob.
Did I mention how much I hate Vernon Wells? (and by hate I mean I would love to have him on my team).
The Sox need help. Randy warming up yet?
Melky grounds out 4-3 for the second out. C’mon people!
Cairo breaks up the no-hitter!! 2-out double.
Miggy! (Game Casting it here.)
Ugh. Damon Ks looking…At least Burnett’s pitch count is going up.
Damn. But a Casey Blake dinger puts Boston down by 3. Better be 5 by the time Papi bats in the 9th.
Fear Papi…..
Make that 2. Loretta with the jack.
Loretta homers for the Sox to cut the lead 3-1
Arrrrrgh! Wright keeps going 0-1, 1-1….3-1 on everyone. No wonder his pitch count is sky-rocketing.
Overbay with a deep fly to Melky.
Predictably, goes from 1-2 to 3-2 on Hinske.
Hinske with a single after an 8-pitch AB. This is painful to watch….
Not as painful as watching Jason Johnson…
YM…watch Johnson pitch for the Sox. That is pain.
Heh.
I think I hate Greg Zaun more than Wells. And I don’t mean I want him on my team.
Rings up Zaun looking.
Hill with a single on a hit-and-run (?). 1st and 3rd with 2 outs.
The problem with watching Wright pitch is not that he’s giving up hits and runs, it’s his inability to put people away after he gets 2 strikes on them. He’s going to full count on practically everyone. Feel your pain with Johnson for sure…
GameCast is slower than the spawn of KFed and Brittany. Wirght’s pitching patterns look fairly readable. I can always tell where the next one is coming, and i’m not even watching live action.
Hill grounds out 6-3 to end the inning. 87 pitches for Wright…I’m guessing that’s curtains for him for tonight.
LOL, YF, great analogy!
Let’s not forget K-Fed’s hat of choice.
http://yanksfansoxfan.typepad.com/ysfs/2005/12/dopes_in_yankee.html
SF, I’ve tried to ignore that…
Jeter walks to start the 4th. Capitalize, people, capitalize.
DJ steals 2nd.
Stop the presses! Giambi hits a flare that drops in for a single. 1st and 3rd, nobody out. ARod gets a huge cheer as he comes up.
Giambi with the single. Runners at 1st and 3rd. 0 outs.
Time to earn some of that $25mill salary Alex.
Hey I have an idea: perhaps they could name Jeter’s cologne “MV-PU”.
PU?
CLUTCH!!
ARod with an RBI double to tie the game.
Atta Boy!! 2nd and 3rd no outs, big time for our new boy.
Fans chanting “Bobby!”
Abreu falls behind 0-2….holds up on a pitch in the dirt.
The 1-2 is inside, 2-2.
Full count to Abreu. The 3-2 is fouled off. Next pitch is fouled off again.
Another pitch, another foul ball. Great AB for Abreu…
Abreu holds up on the 3-2. Bases loaded for Posada….Tempers flaring in the Toronto dugout.
the walk! Bobby’s lives up to his rep.
Bobby did well, but he should have been called out on the 0-2 “check” swing. Still, bases loaded, no outs…
I’m not watching. Just gamecasting.
Grrrr. Jorge strikes out on an awful pitch in the dirt. 1 away, bases still loaded for Bernie.
Old man Bernie comes through!!! Bases-clearing double
that’s why you have Bernie in the line-up and not Guiel!
Arghhhhh, Graybeard Strikes Again!!
foot in mouth for me again!
Bernie hasn’t had a great season, but he has been warming up lately and has got some big hits. Good for him.
Do we think the Yanks will resign him for next season?
BY: It’s been made clear that Joe doesn’t care whether Bernie is still any good…so long as Joe keeps sticking him in the lineup, he might as well produce.
Sam: I hope not, but Bernie has said he wants to play next year. Scary….
Melky flies out to left for the second out.
By the way, have we mentioned that Tek is going to have knee surgery? Bad, bad news for the Sox…
My Arghhh is a pirate arghhh. I affectionately call Bern graybeard whenever he’s come up big this season.
Sam: yeah, I heard. It’s unfortunate.
Cairo grounds out 5-3 to end the inning, 4-1 NYY.
Burnett goes O’Neill in the dugout…
Wright comes out for the 5th. I hope Joe has him on a shoooort leash.
Villone Time! Please?
Johnson singles on a 1-2. Villone throwing in the ‘pen….
Wright is pretty terrible.
Agreed, Nick. If he’s a $7m pitcher, there is something very wrong with the sport.
Please, Joe…pretty please….I hope he doesn’t do the whole “give him a chance to get the win” crap. Give the team a chance to win is just slightly more important.
And just as I write it, Cat hits into a DP. Hooray!
Wright is pretty clutch
4-6-3. Sweet!
Breaking news!!! Wright has finally thrown 100 pitches in a game!
He so deserves that $7m salary.
OMG! Wright strikes out Wells looking to end the 5th. Going out with a flourish, that is.
Wright rocks!
You gotta love Wright!
Am now I leave work and the computer. Have a good night, guys.
Shift happens for Giambi. Really wish he could learn to hit to left field….
Once again, Wright fails to last past 5 innings, but hey, at least he hit that lofty goal – getting to 100 pitches!
Villone in for the 6th…
Villone has been taking notes on pitching from Wright, as he goes from 0-2 to 3-2 on Glaus. 3-2 is a fly ball to Abreu for 1 away.
Overbay with a fly ball to deep left that Melky hauls in for out #2.
Rios in to PH for Hinske.
Tribe goes to 4-1 on Boston. They need to score a few more, make sure a Papi GS can’t tie it!
Rios with a deep fly to Damon. Easy 1-2-3 inning for Villone.
Alex with a single to start the home 6th.
ARod steals 2nd. Abreu with a medium-deep fly out…
Jorge with a single. ARod out at home on a GREAT throw by Rios. Damn.
Melky swings at a pitch somewhere around his shoelaces and somehow sneaks it by the shortstop to load the bases.
Cairo swinging on the first pitch, pop out to end the inning. Grrr.
Holy crap! Zaun hits a scorcher headed straight for Villone’s head that he somehow picks out of the air. That was scary…
Villone nicks McDonald with 2 outs…didn’t look like he hit him but whatever. Proctologist coming in.
S***
Cat with deeeeeeep fly ball to right that Abreu hauls in right in front of the wall. Missed a game-tying HR by a couple of feet.
Hey YM – do you think Abreu should perhaps be hitting 3rd in the lineup, given his high OBP and low HR total?
Hey YM – do you think Abreu should perhaps be hitting 3rd in the lineup, given his high OBP and low HR total?
Sam: yeah, I do…1-3 would all have great OBP and speed. There’d always be people on for ARod and Giambi to drive in. However, consider how crappy Giambi has been lately, will he give ARod enough protection?
Jeter with another single.
BJs bring in a righty for Phillips…evidently they don’t know Andy is better against RHP.
Jeter steals another base.
And right on cue, AP with an opposite-field single. 1st and 3rd with 1 out for Alex.
ARod with an RBI groundout scores Jeter. Yay for insurance runs!
Come on, Bobby!
Nope, groundout strands Andy at 2nd. 5-1 NYY after 7…
How can Boston have 10 hits but just 1 run? Oh well, we’ll take it.
Wells with a single to start the 8th…they’ve been hitting Proctor rather well tonight. Short leash, Joe…short leash.
I thought he should have let Villone finish the 7th and left Proctor fresh for this inning…
Great looking game by the box score. Sorry I am missing it. Go Yankees. Keep up the great work, YM.
Agreed. Too late for that, though.
Glaus with an around-the-horn DP! Overbay with an easy grounder to 2nd. Good job, Proctologist.
Thanks, Gerbil. We miss you!
Sam: I agree with YM in that Abreu’s high OBP and formidable base speed begs to be set in front of ARod/Giambi or Giambi/Arod if you want to stagger the lefty righty.
Jeter, Damon, Abreu, Giambi/ARod or vice/versa, Posada sounds mighty appealing. Look at the OBP and base running talent in 1-3. Drool.
Where is AG tonight?
Argh. Cleveland bullpen is once again doing their best to blow the game…Thankfully even if Papi comes up, he’s only the tying run.
Meanwhile, 2 quick outs for the Yanks: groundout to first by Posada, flyout to left by Bernie.
Damon, Jeter, Abreu rather.
Woohoo, Cleveland wins!
I’d stagger L-R-L, so Abreu-ARod-Giambi-Posada. Drool, indeed.
Sam: checking in quickly because I had to see the score but tending to a health matter with my GF. Thanks for the thought.
Good luck, AG.
Yeah, hope everything’s okay, AG.
AGon homers and Loretta ends the game _bunting_, after a dinger in the game with no one on? That’s infuriating for a SF
Thank you all very much. I really appreciate it. It is serious, but it isn’t. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be cryptic. Just thanks. Back in a while.
Take care, Gerb.
Be cool, dude.
Meanwhile, the Yanks can be first after this out…
Is it me, or is Farns looking pretty good the past couple of weeks?
Knock on wood, Sam. He’s been great…shaved about a run off his ERA. Fittingly strikes out Hill to end the game.
Welcome to first-place tie, folks!
Hurrah! G’night, YM.
Let’s not sell ourselves short: In first (by percentage points). We’ll see if they recognize the truth on the Monster tomorrow.
As it should be:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/standings
Best luck on the health front AG!