Hey Yankee fans! Marc Jimenez here as tonight's blogger. With Sunday's rainout against Detroit, the Yankees (19-19) have pushed back their rotation, so Andy Pettitte (3-3, 3.77 ERA) will be the starter. (Bonus: Kei Igawa might not make another start.) Pettitte pitched well in his last outing, allowing two runs on five hits over 6 1/3 innings against Cleveland on Tuesday, but he received a no-decision after Joba Chamberlain served up a well publicized two-run homer to former Yankee David Dellucci.
Hopefully that doesn't happen tonight as the Yankees will try to contain the Tampa Bay Rays (21-16), who are suddenly looking like a real team this year. Tampa Bay is five games over .500 for the first time ever and is looking to set a franchise-best 10 straight wins at Tropicana Field. But the Rays are just 2-4 against the Yankees this season, so it won't be easy. Matt Garza (1-1, 4.91 ERA) is going tonight. He gave up a run on six hits over 6 2/3 innings in a loss against Toronto on Wednesday.
Will be back after the Yankees bat.
Top of 1st: The Yankees go down in order. Damon popped out. Jeter grounded out and Abreu struck out.
Bottom of 1st: Pettitte looked good to start the inning. He fanned Iwamura and Crawford and got Upton to ground out to Cano. Where would the Yankees be without him?
Top of 2nd: Not much cooking for the Yankees this inning. Matsui struck out while Giambi and Cabrera popped out.
Bottom of 2nd: Pettitte allowed a bloop RBI single to Navarro as the Rays got on the board. He was on his way to a 1-2-3 inning after retiring Pena and Longoria, but Gomes singled to center and stole second before scoring. It looked like Cabrera could have caught Gomes’ ball to end the inning, but he let it bounce in front of him. Rays 1, Yankees 0.
Top of 3rd: Garza is pitching pretty well. Cano reached on an infield single, but he was erased on a Molina double play. Gonzalez followed with a base hit before Damon popped out to end the inning.
Bottom of 3rd: Pettitte worked around a two-out single to Crawford and a walk to Upton by striking out Pena.
Top of 4th: The Yankees are still not able to get anything done against Garza. Jeter popped out, Abreu flied out and Giambi flied out after a Matsui walk.
Bottom of 4th: Ugly inning for Pettitte. Following a double by Longoria, he served up an RBI single to Gomes, who later scored (with Hinske) on a two-run triple by Bartlett. Then Iwamura followed with a single. Four runs on five hits (Ughh!) Rays 5, Yankees 0.
Top of 5th: The Yankees go away quietly. Cabrera led off with a single, but Cano lined out to short and Molina grounded into a double play.
Bottom of 5th: This was not one of Pettitte’s better outings. He didn’t come out for the fifth after allowing five runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Chris Britton came in on relief and walked Longoria, who scored on a base hit by Navorro. Rays 6, Yankees 0.
Top of 6th: The Yankees had first and second with one out on singles by Gonzalez and Jeter, but Abreu grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Bottom of 6th: Ok, something to cheer about. The Yankees kept the Rays off the board. Yippey!
Top of 7th: This is getting hard to watch. The Yankees have just five hits against Garza. Matsui struck out while Cabrera and Cano lined out.
Bottom of 7th: The Rays got another run, making a Yankee comeback highly improbable. Jose Veras replaced Britton to start the inning and allowed a run-scoring ground out to Hinske. Gomes reached on a fielder’s choice and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring. Rays 7, Yankees 0.
Top of 8th: Attention readers, the Yankees have finally scored a run. It only took Garza to leave the game. Molina doubled off Gary Glover and later scored on Damon’s ground out. Garza, by the way, had his best outing of the year after scattering five hits while striking out three and walking one in seven scoreless innings. He threw 108 pitches, 68 for strikes. Rays 7, Yankees 1.
Bottom of 8th: Veras gave up singles to Iwamura and Pena before Edwar Ramirez came on and struck out Longoria to end the inning. Ok, last chance for the Yanks. Matsui, Giambi and Cabrera are up.
Top of 9th: This one is over. Trever Miller replaced Glover and worked a 1-2-3 inning. Matsui struck out, while Giambi and Cabrera flied out. Final: Rays 7, Yankees 1.
Comments (2)
Just caught up on all of the postings from today and while I already posted the following, it was so many threads again that I thought I would put it on an updated one so those intended could see it:
Jim: Thanks, that helps on one front, but not on the "I told you so" front and how I think it goes against his "mentally tough" stance.
Di: Patterson recorded his first save this past week. He may now be the SWB closer with Veras on the Yanks. Hughes and Kennedy were both rushed, but in different ways. In an ideal situation, Hughes would have spent a good part of 2007 in SWB, but the Yanks poor rotation and injuries last year called him up earlier than originally planned and we all have seen how that has happened. As far as Kennedy, he was rushed too. He went through all levels of the minors and into the majors in one season. To me, for someone that isn't/wasn't a can't miss prospect, that is rushed. I still think he'll be successful, but I'd rather see White getthat next start than IPK. I've said for days that Chase would make sense too though, based on his timing in the rotation. I love McCutchen, but I'd like to see him get some time at SWB first. I highly doubt it would be Giese since he's not on the 40 man. Not sure if McCutchen is on the 40 man. As far as Igawa, he strikes batters out by the boatload at AAA, so they keep thinking maybe he's doing something right finally. It just doesn't seem like he'll ever put it together at the MLB level, at least not as a starter.
Nudge: I agree that the Yanks are making mistakes with the young pitchers and a big part of that has to fall on Cashman. Now, I'm a Cash supporter, but he realizes he's in a tough place right now. He doesn't have a contract beyond this year and he's made his name based on youth. Fortunately for him Melky is having a great year, but he needs young pitchers to perform.
With all of the injuries the Yanks have had up and down the system (the numbers are alarming), some kind of change needs to be considered. It seems like it goes beyond just being a fluke coincidence. I'd say go after the strength, training, and conditioning people, but I'm pretty sure that was done last year? I really don't know the answer, but something seems eerily wrong here.
HYD,
They have too many old players...and too many kid pitchers they are rushing....both are a recipe for disaster. We haven't even yet seen the Damon,Matsui and Giambi injuries that happen every year.
Cashman still should have gotten that #4 starter for safety sake.