Game 24 Wrap-Up: BAL 5 NYY 0

(Courtesy of The AP)

Ivan Nova's inconsistency in the strike zone finally came back to bite him last time out.  His stuff has been good since day 1 this season, but to truly take the next step towards being a legit #2-#3 starter he needs to tighten up his command.  Last night's start against Jake Arrieta could have been the next step towards that, but it ended up just being Nova running in place.

Game Notes:

- If Nova's bases-loaded K to end the top of the 1st was any indication, we were in for another one of his "load 'em up, shut 'em down"-type adventures.

- And great guy that he is, Ivan didn't let us down.  Through 6 innings he had allowed 7 hits and given up 3 walks, but only 2 ER.  He had thrown 99 pitches and missed up in the zone with regularity again, but he had held Baltimore to just 2-11 with RISP.  The only 1-2-3 inning he had was the 3rd, but he had his team in a winning position.  It was vintage Nova.

- The only problem was that the Yankee offense, as they did the night before, just plain forgot to show up.  Through 6 innings they managed only 4 base hits and no walks against Baltimore starter Jake Arrieta, who to his credit worked them brilliantly.  He pounded the strike zone with fastballs to get ahead in the count, and mixed sinkers, sliders, and curveballs down in the zone as out pitches.

- Nova really had to labor through his 6 innings of work.  That, combined with the fact that he had plenty of guys available in the bullpen, made it a bit odd to see Joe let Nova start the 7th inning.  After getting one out, it became very clear that Joe made the wrong call as Nova gave up a homer-HBP-double trio in 11 pitches to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-0 deficit.

- The fact that Nova was left in to face Matt Wieters, who had already homered off of him in the game and looked very comfortable against him at the plate night, after just giving up the homer and the HBP in the 7th, and at 107 pitches, is absolutely mind-numbing.

- Arrieta's dominance continued right through the 8th after he retired 6 in a row following a leadoff single in the 7th, 3 of them via strikeout.  He gave up just 5 hits, ZERO walks, and struck out a career-high 9 in what was probably his best career outing to date.

- Freddy Garcia made his first appearance since losing his rotation spot, pitching 2 scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th.  With 3 baserunners allowed, they were hardly clean, but with the game 5-0 Baltimore it hardly mattered.


F*ck Yeahs:

- Alex Rodriguez: 2-4, 1 K.  The only player in the lineup with multiple hits last night, and both of his came on solid singles.

Oh Nos:

- Wieters: 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB.  Seriously, dude, fuck you.  If this is going to be your year where you completely break out and finally become the player people thought you were capable of being, can you at least do it without being the new Yankee killer?

- Nova: 6.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K.  I want to say Nova pitched better than he did in his last outing, but then I see the 13 baserunners allowed and only 3 strikeouts and I just can't.  The kid still needs work.

- Martin & Jones: Combined 0-6, 2 K.  Martin is hitting .150 on the year.  Jones is hitting .167.

Next Up:

Hopefully everybody, players and manager, shook whatever this funk is that's been hanging over them the last couple days when they went to sleep last night, because it's painful to watch and even more painful to not be able to watch and still have to write about.  Tomorrow night will be the start of a 4-game weekend series in KC, and it will be David Phelps' first career Major League start.