On the Yankees beat

Wow..it just keeps getting better and better.
Torre should have called a better pitch so that it didn't hit Karstens in the knee.
Does that sound silly? Of course it does but somehow Torre will get the blame from most posters on this blog.

So we're now asking our bullpen to pitch 9 innings.

Yep, you can blame Torre for that right?

NO, NO, NO, Jim, it's A-Rod's fault. You fool.

...in other news, Scott Proctor was seen fleeing the stadium in terror.

Atticas! I've needed you to set me straight. You should show up here more often.

hahaha...i will be around more often now that it's finals time again, and i will be glued to my laptop "studying" in the library.

Welcome back my friend.
Good luck on your finals.
I'm heading out to my son's little league game.
Have a great day Yankees fans, we could use one.

First pitch of the game ?? My god.. who put the voodoo curse on them ?

We might as well just have the bullpen start the game. Tommorow's starting pitcher: The Bullpen

I think Jesus hates the Yankees suddenly. At least it can't much worse. Unless of course something involving Damon, Jeter, and A-Rod colliding with a huge drum of gasoline with a zippo that has AIDS all over it. Cause that would certainly be worse.

so far igawa looks ok.

where are the wheels on this wagon?

larry,
re igawa, they've never seen him. let's wait for 2nd time through the line up

bobby abreu's new slogan:
another day, another double play.
that the 3rd straight game he's killed a good looking inning with a DP.

Ortiz has grounded into 2 DPs in 2 ABs

Igawa made a great out pitch on Ortiz in the 6th.

Finally get to see a game on Fox today.

Am I hearing the Bleacher crowd chanting, "Torre suck!"?

Gotta love 'em.

This is for all the Torre lovers out there: can you name me one (just one) good that can come out of letting Torre stay on?

Too bad FOX is showing the Cards/Cubs game here. What the heck ?

farnsworth was just bailed out big time by the ump. that pitch was way off the plate...
maybe they're paying us back for the royal treatment dice-k got yesterday, bouncing pitches in the dirt for called strikes...

hold your breath everbody!
mo is pitching the ninth!!!

i hope this win snaps us out of this funk!!!

igawa was awesome today!
maybe guidry fix his delivery? he pitched out of the stretch all game.

Nothing wrong w/Rivera that a little more work wouldn't cure ! Great clutch fielding play by AROD in the 9th.

The Yankees win, the Yankees win, the Yankees WIIIIIIIIIN!!! And Mo looked fantastic!!!!! This is it. We're on a roll. I can feel it in my bones.

Baby steps Baby steps LOL!!

Thank god I was really starting to lose my mind.

does anybody know who pitches tom for the yanks???

redsux lose and look everybody, NO TROLLS!!!

Injury Update:
Karstens sustained a broken fibula ,the lesser verticle bone beneath the knee that extends down to the ankle.My guess he's done until August maybe for the rest of the yr.
Karstens tried pitching on it ,gutsy.

ruse:
maybe this could a blessing in disguise? igawa pitched real good today and we would not have seen him pitch and give us hope for the future.although i eally feel bad for karstens.

Oooooooh! What a little pitching can dooooooo!

And Wang tomorrow.

Anybody understand why Igawa was so much better out of the stretch? JT said post-game that Guidry had him stay in the stretch, after starting out that way because of men on, because he looked so much more compact. I'm sure there's somebody on here who understands what that means better than I...

I missed the game today but heard that Karstens sustained a broken leg on batted ball by lugo. I feel sorry for the kid. He's worked hard to get to this position and now a broken leg after a sore elbow. There was some great news Igawa made it through 6+ innings, now this is progress. Well! lets see if we can keep it going.

Call up Clippard!

Mike Fl
Your right Guidry had Igawa pitching out of the stretch ,he feels it makes Igawa more compact in his delivery.Good results!

Diane
T Wilson & B Holliday ?

Diane
By being more compact and pitching from the stretch it reduces motion ,less windup helps to some degree the chance of screwing up a pitchers mechanics .Some pitchers struggle w/ repetition.
Igawa featured a 92 mph at the knees working in his change and curve.I would like see him to throw his curve more.

Precisely, ruse. A little music was in order.

Okay, ruse, so if I understand you the idea was to keep it simple.

The other thing I was curious about today was where that alert young man came from and what he did with the previous stunned-looking Igawa?

Yes Diane keep it simple.

It must of been the shades!

I feel bad for Karstens and I hope this is a new start for Igawa, although I'll reserve my excitement for now, AND Rivera, who finally had a decent outing. Maybe his focus was just off and he needed a close game to get him back into the groove. I've stopped trying to figure out all the issues but all I know is firing Torre is not going to make anybody pitch better.
It's a good win though and I hope it gets the fire burning in some belly's.
However, like I've been saying I don't get too low about the losses and I don't get too high about the wins.

Jim
I cannot imagine what it must be like for an elite closer to sit around for days on end waiting for a save opportunity.
Rivera had his velosity 93-95 ,broke a bat on Varetiks seeing eye bloop.Rivera is used to pitching 3-4 days a week in games that matter w/ the requisite adrenaline hit.Hopefully he is as confident as ever.

That's one thing about Rivera, he never seems to get rattled or panicked. The only reason I was slightly worried about him as when he threw the ball up high and in on Lugo when they were in Boston. It's the first time I can ever recall Rivera letting his frustration show.
Like you Ruse, I hope he's back to being himself.
Enter Sandman, please.

I didn't get to see the game because of the Cards/Cubs on Fox out here in Arizona, so I'll have to watch Sports Center to see what's up.

I think that Mo's problem has been not enough work. Once he pitches on a regular basis, he'll be fine.

Maybe we have something with Igawa(?) by having him pitch from the stretch. I didn't know that he was doing that until one of you mentioned it here. Doing that probably keeps him focused and helps him to not rush his motion.

Maybe he's our "Genie in a Bottle". I hope so anyway.

Looking forward to tomorrow and my Sunday, "Breakfast with the Yankees" on my MLB Extra Innings! :-)

(I hope that I don't get agita!)

Have a GREAT REST OF THE WEEKEND PEOPLE!

Ortiz: Igawa's was nothing special.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-...all&oref=slogin

He was all right. Nothing special," Ortiz said. "He was throwing a lot of hittable pitches, but we were just not hitting it."

this coming from the guy who hit into 2 Double Plays.

Hey big papi, dice-k was nothing special either.

i hope wang makes him hit his heavy sinkers right into the ground tomorrow

Igawa vs. Red Sox:

6 IP, 2H, 0R, 0.00 ERA

Matzusaka vs. Yankees:

13 IP, 13 H, 10 R (all earned), 7.0 ERA

Ortiz does have a point.

The RS didn't look very intense Saturday.

I'm sure if they were revved, Igawa would just be Shark bait to them.

Amazing - just amazing. Hardly a peep out of the yap of Curtie Boy this weekend. Maybe he's been walking around the laudry rooms looking for the sock with paint on it. Just remember, he's the voice of baseball. Just ask him.

The Red Sox lose a game and Ortiz is eating sour grapes. The reason for the loss: Lack of INTENSITY. Ortiz claims that the pitches were HITTABLE (sure, by someone somewhere in the universe at sometime in the history of man) but.."we were just not hitting them." Any reason particular they were just not hitting them other than natural inability due to excellent pitching? Ortiz needs to stop making sorry excuses. They sound pathetic. He hit into two double plays, they couldn't hit Igawa, and the Yankees won. It's time for Ortiz to stop eating the sour grapes and move on to the humble pie.

LMAO,

The Yanks win a game...and played good baseball, got far better than expected pitching from one of their beleaguered pitchers who had been banished to the pen...got a good outing by Rivera...and won in spite of a decent pitching performance by Wakes...and yet most of the comments in here are about the Red Sox.

Sour grapes Lucy?....perspective is a funny thing. So, all of a sudden Igawa is unhittable? All of a sudden the Yanks are the most dominant team in MLB?

Do the words "fickle" and "knee jerk" come to mind?

Good for the Yanks to stop the snide at home..and get, finally, solid pitching ....too bad about Karstens...unfortunate and not a help to the Yanks.

Yanks should have the upper hand today as well....Wang vs Tavares aint hard to figure who to put your marker on.

Jim, ruse, Larry and all, we are getting on the last nerve of someone who seems to find it odd that one tenth of our posts during and after a game are about the opposing team.

But I guess we can empathize. Losing makes us cranky, too.

Cranky Diane?

Hmmm...let me check the standings.....

Actually Diane,

The fact is, I dont find it odd...more like expected...at least from some in here.

To comment on the opposing team is to be expected, but to make comments like some of the above is a bit humorous, at least from my perspective. It seems rather than to enjoy and celebrate a good solid performance by the Yankees, and the win, over it's biggest rival, and the team that has the best record in MLB, some seize the opportunity to dispage the Sox and some of the team's players. Sox pitchers didnt hit any Yankee's..cant complain about that. There were no questionable plays that went the Sox way, so..cant complain about that.....what to do?

Oh, let's make some comments about Schilling..even though he wasnt involved in the game at all. And, for good measure, let's denigrate Ortiz because he didnt annoit Igawa Sandy Kofax after the game.

Yeah, Diane....my nerves are shot.

Wakes no Shakes

Wakefield:
5 1/3 innings 5 hits 3 runs 6 BB 118 pitches."Decent pitching"??
Wakes falls to a respectable 9-14 lifetime vs.NY

Remember everyone to put your insect repellant on.
Regrettably it's "Mayfly" season.
If "Sawx" fans don't like what Yankee fans have to say then just please go away !
Where is that can of spray?

LMAO,

Classy post ruse.

What is your defination of "decent pitching"? Against the Yanks to go 5 1/3 with those numbers falls into the "decent" catagory to me.

Poor Casual
Has to get snitty .Typical!

too funny....I'm getting "snitty"

Yeah, I'm the one making juvenile comments.

You said it !

au contraire ruse,

you said it.

Did someone say something ?

AJ weren't you at the game? Any other NYY fans in attendance from this bunch? We haven't heard your in-person scouting reports yet.

I was surprised at the seeming change of demeanor in Igawa, from that bunny-in-the-headlights look to something different. How did he seem to you?

I was down to the Stadium for the Game and it was a fabulous day: the weather cooperated, the Fans were entertaining (as usual) and I found a free parking spot on the street AND had all 4 wheels on my Envoy when I got back!
It was a huge win for the Yankees, because:

1. The focus will likely be off Torre for a few days now that he's got at least 1 win in this Rivalry.

2. Yankees broke their 7 game losing streak so ESPN doesn't have a losing streak as its theme to open Sports Center.

3. Igawa finally got the majority of his pitches over - and most importantly - down in the strike zone. Ortiz may be right: many of the pitches WERE hittable. However, that is likely Igawa's future - He's not overpowering, but kept hitters off-balance with his 88-90 mph fastball, 77-79 mph change and 83 mph breaking ball.

4. Most importantly, Mo looked much, much better than his last 3 outings, Same velocity, BUT his ball had the old movement - even Varitek's hit was a broken bat blooper.

Still a long way to go, however and these are some concerns:

As a No. 3 hitter, Abreu looks lost at the plate.

Damon's back is obviously bothering him to the point that he might go on the DL. It really affected his swing yesterday.

The bullpen still didn't get rested.

again, many runners stranded that were in scoring position.

Joe, Thanks! You covered a lot of ground, but I still have another question. What is your impression of Cano? On TV he looks kind of lost sometimes, too, here lately. What did you (or others who went) think?

Hey Kat- Your minute is up, where are the "other tidbits".
:)

You're right, Diane. He does look lost sometimes, especially yesterday against the knuckleball!
In watching Cano since he came up in 2005, he seems to be quintessential streak hitter. His swing is a thing of beauty - quick, compact, and level but his plate discipline is poor.
We often forget, however, that this kid is still only 24 years old! Give him a few years to mature and recognize pitches better and he'll likely be a batting champion.

I still say "flip-flop" Cano and Abreu in the order. Cano swings at anything around the plate, and having him bat between A-ROD and Jeter will get him plenty of good pitches to swing at. The last 3 hitters in our order are almost automatic outs. Placing Abreu down toward the bottom of the order will help add some "punch" there.

I guess the disadvantage there would be that RC sees very few pitches whether he hits or strikes out, and the advantage of getting an early read on what the pitcher's got that day would be lost with BA so far down in the order that most of the lineup would hit ahead of him. You think RC would get enough more hits in that position to make it worth it?

True, the bottom of the order is sagging...

ROY

Abreu will be fine.Cano hit over .340 last year batting down in the lineup.
Abreu is spending way to much time "Umpiring" his ABs.He'll snap out of it.

LMAO....OMG, Casual, don't you read the posts before you comment? You often appear to take them out of context. You say MOST of the posts about the RS? Are you mathematically challenged? Your comments were so out of place and off the mark, but I won't take the time to dignify them with a logical response, since your clearly unfounded perception concerning "most" of the posts is a reflection of your seriously impaired tunnel vision.

I know this was touched upon, but I heard Torre saying that Igawa has so far been more successful in the windup, so Guidry decided it was best to keep him pitching like that until he perfects his other techniques. He expects that will come in time.

The Yanks paid how much for a guy that can only be effective out of the windup? Incredibly dumb scouting.

Oh, well it's game time and not a minute too soon. I'm leaving just in time, before the RS gestapo returns and chastises me for my last post.

Just a little cheerleading for I leave:

LET'S GO YANKEES!!!
LET'S GO YANKEES!!!
LET'S GO YANKEES!!!
LET'S GO YANKEES!!!
LET'S GO YANKEES!!!
LET'S GO YANKEES!!!
LET'S GO YANKEES!!!
LET'S GO YANKEES!!!

ROY
Lucy meant pitching from the "stretch".Igawa for the time being has discarded his windup.

Ha-ha, yes, reverse those terms. It's from the stretch, temporarily discarding the windup. I'm dyslexic and Ruse is my interpreter. Thanks, Ruse.

Rotation that we could have

Lilly
Contreras
Mulder (once healthy again)
Wang (Pay attention!)
Mussina
Beckett (instead of Pavano)

Arms that have been blown out in the pen over the years ...

Habyan
Sturtze
Stanton
Mendoza
Nelson

And now JT is working on

Proctor
Bruney
And just about everyone else

Of course we traded Lilly for Weaver. Lilly became an All Star when he left. Weaver won the World Series last year with the Cardinals.

Sign Dave Duncan, the Cardinals pitching coach ASAP.