Yankees game story
Here's a more complete game story, since we didn't make papers with the full story.
BY KAT O'BRIEN | kat.obrien@newsday.com
OAKLAND, Calif. - Chien-Ming Wang finally put his month of misery behind him Tuesday night.
Wang had turned in four consecutive dreadful starts, enough to cause many people to push the panic button on the Yankees' ace. He settled in to stifle the Athletics in a 3-1 Yankees win at McAfee Coliseum, as he reconnected with his best friend the double play.
Even though Wang allowed the leadoff batter to reach in each of the first seven innings, he allowed only one of those runners to score.
Wang got stuck in one giant jam that he managed to get out of. In the seventh inning, Wang gave up a leadoff single to centerfield to Mark Ellis. Daric Barton then hit into a fielder's choice, with Ellis reaching second. Wang walked Travis Buck on five pitches and loaded the bases by giving up a single to centerfield to Carlos Gonzalez. Ellis didn't score on the play, holding up at third, although first baseman Wilson Betemit dropped the relay throw. Then came Wang's saving grace, as Kurt Suzuki grounded into an inning-ending double play.
The victory lifted the Yankees a game above .500. That is a threshold they have had difficulty crossing, as they have moved above .500 only one other time since April.
“It’s better to be over .500 than under, but we need to get over-over,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
The Yankees finally tacked on a run to their one-run lead when Melky Cabrera hit his seventh home run of the season off Keith Foulke in the ninth inning, a solo shot to the rightfield corner on a 1-and-1 pitch. Cabrera had not homered since May 4th.
Girardi made the rare move of going to Mariano Rivera for a fourth consecutive day, though not before he personally spoke with Rivera on the bullpen phone – something Girardi had not done all year. Rivera had allowed a run in two of the previous three games, including a gamewinning homer to the Royals’ Jose Guillen on Monday. Yet he had allowed just one run in the season before that.
But Rivera made it through the ninth against the A's with no problems. He allowed only a single as he notched his 17th save in 17 opportunities. He struck out Daric Barton swinging and got Buck to fly out to second baseman Robinson Cano before allowing a single to shallow centerfield Gonzalez. Kurt Suzuki flied out to rightfield to end the game.
“What happened (Monday) is behind me,” Rivera said. “When games like that happen, you want to get out there again.”
The performance by Wang (7-2) was a marked difference from that of his previous four games. He had gone 0-1 with an 8.75 ERA (23 earned runs allowed in 232/3 innings). He had also not recorded a win in his last six starts, the longest such stretch in his career. Before the game, Girardi said he wanted to see Wang get ahead in counts and throw more strikes. He did that, needing only 60 pitches to get through the first six innings.
“Very big help,” Wang said of the better sink he had on his pitches last night.
Pitching coach Dave Eiland said: “He was frustrated, he was aggravated, but today was a huge step in the right direction.”
The lone run Wang gave up came in the fourth inning. Jack Cust led off with a single, and advanced to second on Eric Chavez's groundout. Ellis' double drove Cust home.
The more impressive note may be that Wang kept all those runners on-base from making it home. His patented ground-ball work helped him out, as the Yankees turned double plays in three different innings.
“It’s all about arm speed,” Eiland said.
Offensively, the Yankees didn't manage to do much against the A's. Starter Dana Eveland allowed two earned runs on four hits and six walks in six innings. The only damage the Yankees did against him was in the first inning, when five consecutive batters reached base. Eveland issued a one-out walk to Derek Jeter, then a single to Bobby Abreu. Alex Rodriguez singled to center to score Jeter, but Abreu was thrown out trying to get to third. Eveland then allowed an RBI single to Jason Giambi and walked Jorge Posada. Wilson Betemit grounded into a forceout to end the inning.
Wang finally kept the leadoff batter off base in the eighth inning -- and promptly got pulled from the game. Wang got A's DH Jack Hannahan to fly out to deep leftfield. That long fly was enough for Girardi, who replaced Wang with Jose Veras. Wang allowed one earned run on seven hits and two walks in 71/3 innings.
After getting Bobby Crosby to ground out to first base, Veras walked the next two batters, Cust and Eric Chavez. Veras recovered to get Mark Ellis to ground out to second base to end the inning.
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Comments (28)
it looks like Veras at least for the time being is the default setup guy.
Farnsworth has somewhat disappeared for the time being.Hmmm what's up with dat? Trade ? DFA ?
Not sure ruse.....
Girardi just may be giving him a small break. A trade with him makes me wonder though.....
Kennedy and Farnsworth for maybe CC?? Maybe Kennedy and Giese?
CC pitched a complete game 5 hit shutout last night. Boy would it be crazy to have him in the rotation.
Wang
CC
Pettitte
Moose
Joba
Rasner
With Hughes taking Moose or Pettitte's spot next year. Hopefully one of the two could get signed to a 1 year deal.
They've made a couple of remarks about Farnsworth's having a minor biceps strain, something like that, but the reporters reporting it have given the story a doubtful air.
I wouldn't celebrate just yet about Farnsworth and his lack of activity last night.
We've seen this kind of thing before only to be disappointed with him pitching in another crucial situation just days later. In fact, I’ll bet he pitches the 9th tonight if he's healthy and the Yanks need a closer.
Sadly, I don't believe Girardi has reached that boiling point with him yet - even though every Yankee fans did a long time ago.
As far as Melky getting time off this weekend, my guess is that it probably won't be more than one game. Girardi will probably rest Damon, Matsui, or Giambi the other two games - which is exactly the wrong thing to do with all of them hitting the tar out of the ball lately. Sigh.
It probably won’t happen for awhile, but Brett Gardner can’t come up here fast enough for me.
Sabathia isn't coming to the Yanks.
After passing up on Santana, Cashman isn't going to turn around and trade for a lesser pitcher with a bigger health risk for nearly the same amount of money and prospects to get him.
I wouldn't bet on Cashman going crazy and signing Sabathia and Teixeira during the offseason.
Viper -
CC would not require the same level of prospects or money to get him in pinstripes.
We are also in a different position now that we have already moved Joba into the rotation and we have guys like Rasner, Giese and Mussina pitching very well for us.
Santana would have required Hughes or Kennedy.....Melky, and one of our other top level OF prospects. If we can get CC for Kennedy and one other major league ready player (Giese, Farnsworth?, Alberto?, Robertson?) the deal should be done in a second.
CC is an Ace heading into the prime years of his career. With Pettite and Mussina possibly gone we are going to need to make a deal for an established pitcher.
This is not going to cut it for next year:
Wang
Joba
Hughes
Rasner
Kennedy
Not only that.....
But we need an Ace to get us in the playoffs and hopefully get us another championship.
Who knows if Wang will show up in the playoffs.
Who knows if Joba, Mussina, Hughes, or Rasner will be able to give us what we need in the playoffs this year.
Viper - I agree with you that CC isn't coming to the Yankees THIS year, but you know I believe he'll be a Yankee next season. I know you think Andy is coming back, but to be quite honest I think if he pitches the way he's been pitching, on the heels of the Mitchell Report, I'm not sure he gets invited back.
Again, there is a way to get Sabathia and Tex (and maybe Holliday) which creates the splash Hank wants, and lower the payroll which Hal and Cash want. Assuming Abreu, Giambi, Pettitte come off the books, then Holliday, Tex, and Sabathia slot into their payroll spaces creating a zero net gain or loss - then the Yankees still get to subtract Pavano, Mussina, Farns, Hawkins and revenue sharing - giving the Yankees a serious net gain and ample money with which to fill bench and pen roles.
I know I've said that like a thousand times and you're probably sick of hearing it. Sorry.
On another topic, there's this from today's NY Post:
The YankeesNew York Yankees haven't had much success with the Cuban third basemen they've signed, but the club isn't shying away from Dayan Viciedo.
"We will certainly take a look at it," minor-league head Mark Newman said of the 18-year-old Viciedo, who defected from Cuba in May and is believed to be staying in Miami while waiting to establish residency in another country so he won't be subject to MLB's draft.
"He is a young guy who can swing the bat."
Since Viciedo, who began playing in Cuba's major leagues when he was 15, is represented by Jaime Torres, Viciedo is expected to land in the Dominican Republic, but Yankee eyes in the DR haven't seen him yet.
The Yankees invested $4.5 million in Andy Morales in 2001, and he lasted 48 games in Double-A before being released because he hit .231 and there were questions about his age. The Yanks gave Cuban third baseman Yobal Duenas $60,000 in 2004.
Incidentally, the only way I see CC NOT being heavily coveted by the Yankees is if the Yankees get Yu Darvish.
If the Yankees have an opportunity to pick up CC in a trade. I believe that they will go for it. The Farm system is lacking positional players because of the many FA signings in the past. On the otherhand I can see the Yankees going for Tex. in a FA signing because it would not throw away two top draft choices, IMHO.
I believe if AP is healthy he'll sign again. He's less of a risk than MM. So our staff could be Wang, CC, Pettitte, Joba and Hughes with Rasner or Kennedy long relief and waiting in the wings for the injuries to occur. This staff would stack up as pretty consistent with the ability to win and keep us in the game.
Chip -
I do not think the Indians have any intention of allowing him to become a free agent. They are going to make an attempt to get something for him.
There are already reports that they are scouting the Cubs and Red Sox farm systems for potential trade meat.
Does CC have a no trade clause of some kind? Cause if he does I doubt he would even accept a trade unless he gets a contract.
McCarthy,
I know Yankee fans don't want to believe it - but the front office has shown on many occasions that they are looking to the future just as much as they're looking at 2008.
Sabathia is a huge long term health risk and is going to command a ton of money and years.
If Cashman passed on Santana, the odds are good he'll pass on Sabathia as well.
Things really haven't changed over the last 6 months as much as you think. I don't think Cashman or the front office thought Hughes and/or Kennedy was going to mow down hitters this season. They knew the transition would be extremely tough and they did it anyways.
They also went ahead with the Joba transition to the rotation when they knew it would weaken the pen.
They will not abandon the grand plan after just 2+ months and revert back to the old days with Sabathia.
Making these kids of moves is the very reason why the Yanks have dug themselves into such a hole over the last 8 years.
McCarthy -
I'm not sure the Indians will get enough for Sabathia to make it worth their while to trade him.
Consider that the Twins really didn't get much for Santana and that was a full year before his free agency, I can't imagine that a team will give up more than that for Sabathia 3 months before his free agency. At that point it might be worth it for the Indians to just hang onto him and take the draft picks like the A's did with Zito.
McCarthy,
Sabathia has already said he's not signing any extension with anyone, so he'll be a free agent this offseason one way or another.
So, if he's a 2-month rental, that's all the more reason he's not coming to the Yanks.
Chip,
I really don't see it, but you could be right. You are one of the most informed of all the regulars so perhaps you may be onto something.
However, Hank has said a lot of things over the past year and the adults (Cashman and Hal) have been the ones to ultimately make the big decisions.
- Hank was the guy who issued the Santana deadline, which turned out to be completely bogus and everyone laughed at him
- Hank openly wanted Santana and he was overruled
- Hank was the guy who wanted Joba in the rotation in April and was overruled
There's a pattern here.
Hank has a big mouth but he's been the guy who is generally viewed as the joker of the front office.
At this point, nobody pays attention to him except the NY media.
• C.C. Sabathia made pitching look easy Tuesday night, writes Jim Ingraham. The Indians have reportedly been scouting the Red Sox farm system, presumably in preparation for the possibility of trade talks with Boston about Sabathia. Let's play this scenario out a bit.
Here's how the Red Sox could rationalize a deal for Sabathia: They have a whole lot of depth in their farm system, and by adding Sabathia for the last two months and the postseason, they could strengthen an already deep rotation and apply a 6-foot-7, 300-pound hammer as they pursued their third championship in five years. They have the talent depth in their farm system to tell the Indians: Look, you can't have Justin Masterson, Jon Lester or Clay Buchholz, but we can make a deal built around others. Double-A pitcher Michael Bowden could be an interesting conversation piece, given his dominant showing for Portland.
And at the end of the year, the Red Sox could just offer Sabathia arbitration and let him walk away as a free agent and recoup two draft picks for the 2007 Cy Young Award winner. To repeat: All of that is pure speculation, and probably won't happen.
Some folks within the industry think that if Sabathia is traded, the Cubs will be the most aggressive in bidding for him. "They're going for it this year," said one GM. "Other teams are laying back and might not want to trade prospects, but the Cubs will."
Viper -
There is no such thing as a "transition" or "rebuilding" year for the Yankees. I refuse to believe that.
The Yanks are not far off having a contending World Series team.
Believe it or not, a good amount has changed the past 6 months.
-Joba is now in the rotation
-Mussina is pitching like hes in his 20's
- Hughes and Kennedy have won a total of zero games. There is no way Cashman or the Yanks predicted that.
- Guys like Rasner, Giese, and Veras have come up and been effective.
Our rotation needs an ACE and we are not getting one within our organization for a at least a few years. If CC is available via trade or free agency they need to get him.
the above was taken from Buster Olney's blog.
Viper - I know what you're saying about Hank being bluster and Hal and Cash being the sensible ones - but, if my theory holds, it satisfies all parties. Hank gets his splash, Hal and Cash lower the payroll. They'll also get draft picks to replace whatever they trade for Holliday by letting Mussina, Giambi, Farnsworth and Abreu walk since they'll all be signed.
Ah, I see Chip read Buster Olney this morning.
I think this line is the most telling of all....
"To repeat: All of that is pure speculation, and probably won't happen."
Chip,
Trade for Holliday?
Are you pulling just that one out of your arse or is there a credible source actually making these claims?
I don't see Holliday leaving Colorado. They probably have a better chance of getting Roy Halladay over Matt Holliday.
Now THAT is a guy I would love to have -- Roy Hallday -- but that's not happening either.
Morgan Ensberg was not claimed after being DFAd and he was released. Also Ben Broussard was released at his request. With Pujols going on the DL there may be a chance for him to get a ML job with the Cards.
Hank on giving a new contract to Brian Cashman: Certainly I would like him to stay. Either he decides to stay or he doesn't.
So for those who want Cash shown the door - I don't see it happening. Cash, for the record, said he appreciated being approached about a new contract but at the time he was focused on the draft and asked if they could discuss the matter later.
"I really appreciate him engaging me," Cashman said yesterday by phone. "I wasn't prepared for the conversation. I was focused on the draft. I told him I need to talk to my family.
"He expressed interest, which I really appreciate. I told him I wasn't looking to run from the Yankees whatsoever. ... I feel really good about the conversation that we had."
Viper -
I haven't read anything about it, but it makes some sense.
1. Yankees will have a hole to fill in RF
2. Colorado has acknowledged that they likely won't be able to meet Holliday's contract demands
3. Yankees will have pitching to spare.
Could a package of Kennedy, Melky, Horne, and Tabata get it done? Maybe. It took Salty, and Elvis Andrus to get Tex to Atlanta.
My biggest problem was that two years from now Holliday may need to DH, but that's fine, because in 2 years Damon and Matsui will be gone and Holliday can DH.
Lineup would be
Damon
Jeter
Holliday
Alex
Tex
Matsui
Posada
Cano
Gardner
No reason to get Holliday.
Bobby will not be coming back after this year because he will ask for to many years. Melky will shift to right.
Gardner, Jackson, or Tabata can be worked in at CF.
Melky has very similar #'s to Pauly O'Niell in his first 5-7 years. Melky brings a better defense with his arm and range. He fits very well inside the clubhouse as well.
Teixeira should be the Yanks main focus for the Yanks. Gold Glove at 1st and 30+ HR's / 100+ RBI's a year. He can be a solid bat to have in front of Arod for years to come.
McCarthy,
Jackson and Tabata are not even close to ready. And you can't have an OF of Gardner, Melky and Damon - they might total 20 HR between them.
I have said before that I think signing Sabathia after the season is the right move for the Yanks at the right time. The Yankees will be transitioning to a younger team, but they will never be a team that doesn't at least try to compete. With all of the money coming off the books next year and the fact that the Yankees lack a LH power pitcher who can shut a team out (see CC last night) and is still young, he is exactly the right FA for them.
The Yankees also need a 1B next year so they can close that revolving door and Tiexeira is the perfect fit for them in that area as well as he is young, has a nice glove and is a switch hitter.
I do not see the Yankees shrugging their shoulders and passing altogether on these guys.
Viper: I know you keep saying CCS is a huge injury risk, but really, aren't we all? Look who is on the DL right now for the Yanks: The young "phenom" pitchers and a guy who got himself ITBSOHL (In The Best Shape Of His Life) in Brian Bruney. Sure, CC is fat, but lots of players are not in great shape and they're fine.
My main concern is this: We (myself included) act like CC would be some type of playoff savior when the fact is he sucked in last year's playoffs. That is the only thing that worries me about him, his pricetag (if he's a FA) is the last thing that concerns me.
Farnsworth will be scrutanized because of Joba being used as a starter now. Diane, that recipe for Quiche was a knockout, my "Partner" loved it.
Chip -
It would not be 20 Home Runs......Damon and Melky alone have 13 home runs combined this year and we still have 97 games left. Id say closer to 30.
Anyway....all the championships won in the 90's did not have big home run hitting outfields.
Bernie, Paulie, Raines, Strawberry, Gerard Williams were not home run hitters either. None of the those teams had huge home run hitters. Those teams didn't have Alex Rodriguez and a Mark Teixiera either.
McCarthy,
Actually, that's not entirely true. O'Neill was good for 20 homers a season and Bernie was good for 25 homers or so.
Now, they weren't exactly Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield, but they had pretty good power numbers. And that doesn't even count left field.
By the way, Strawberry hit 24 homers in 1998 playing in just 100 games. Shane Spencer hit double digit homers a couple of times.
I don't see any chance that the Yanks go into the season with Gardner as a starter, especially when he has yet to play a major league game,
Hey, I would like to see Gardner play and push Melky. But that's different than outright giving him a starting job unless Melky is gone.
Gardner, Damon, and Melky is not enough power for a starting outfield.
Agree with Viper and Chip, but one thing if you trade for Matt H when does Gardner and Jackson steps in? I know it's premature but something tells me Jackson COULD be your next sparkplug hitter like Reyes, or Granderson with less power. could one of the three Of prospects be trade bait? and do you trade some Pitching prospects for Younger ML ready pitching?
I feel with a solid everyday lineup a pitcher like CC would be a nice fit here.