Game 41 Wrap-Up: CIN 5 NYY 2

(Clearly it was the ball's fault.  Courtesy of The AP)

This game sucked.  No other way to say it.  It should have been a situation for success for the Yankees, and through 6 innings it was playing out that way, but everything completely fell apart in the late innings and the offense continued to come up small when it matters most.  It had already been a frustrating week to be a Yankee fan.  Losing a second straight game when CC Sabathia is on the mound only added to that frustration.

Game Notes:

- CC had his 4-seamer and slider working early and rode them to a scoreless, hitless start through 3 innings.  He did hit a batter and walk another, but Sabathia also struck out 3 batters and looked to be well in control.

- Through 4 innings, the Yankee offensive struggles continued.  They left at least 1 runner on base in every inning, grounded into 2 more double plays (both on nice defensive plays), and plated 0 runs against a less-than-perfect Johnny Cueto despite getting 4 hits and working 2 walks.

- CC got into a little trouble in the 6th, when a leadoff bunt single and a walk put 2 on with no outs.  But he did what you expect your ace to do and promptly shut the potential rally down with a much-needed GIDP from Brandon Phillips and a strikeout of Jay Bruce.

- Raul Ibanez continues to do damage with the bat.  After the offense failed to capitalize on numerous chances through 5 innings, Ibanez stepped in with 1 out and Robinson Cano on 2nd after a leadoff double and hit his 9th HR of the season (6th in his last 12 games) to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

- Little strange to see CC give runs back, but that's just what he did in the top of the 7th and he did it in spectacular fashion.  2 solo HRs by Ryan Ludwick and Ryan Hanigan tied the game, and a single and 3 consecutive walks forced home the go-ahead run.  CC wasn't happy with home plate umpire Tony Randazzo, and he let him know it after the inning, but that was a shockingly bad job by CC.  Hanigan's HR came on an 0-2 fastball that couldn't have been more over the plate if CC tried.

- The bullpen didn't get the job done either, as Boone Logan and Rafael Soriano combined to give up 2 runs in the top of the 9th to make it 5-2 Cincy.  Can't fault Joe for how he manged this one; his guys just didn't get it done.

- As they've been apt to do recently, the offense went silent down the stretch.  As many times as CC has picked them up, it'd be nice to see the lineup return the favor on a day like today.  But the only baseunner they could manage in the last 3 innings was on an error and it was another lost series.

Nova's Thinking About It All Wrong

(Courtesy of The AP)

I like that Ivan Nova recognizes that he has to change something about his approach with the way he's getting beat right now.  And I appreciate that he has a plan in mind based off of what type of pitcher he is and what he knows he has to do to be successful.  It's encouraging to see a pitcher this young be so upfront about his performance.  But I question whether this change in approach would be the right change to make.

“It doesn’t matter if I get a strikeout or not.  I used to pitch with a lot of ground balls. This year I haven’t. I guess I’ve just got to go back and do exactly the same thing as last year, getting my ground balls and a strikeout when you need it.” (Nova after yesterday's game)

I see what you're trying to do there, Ivan.  You're trying to go back to what's given you the most success in the past.  But what you're forgetting is that strikeouts do matter and they're way better than groundouts.  Any time you're getting an out without giving the hitter a chance to put the ball in play, that's a good thing.  The strides you've made over the past year to improve your stuff and your control to get more strikeouts (career-high 9.55 K/9 this season) and cut down on your walks (career-low 2.94 BB/9 this season) are both positive strides.  That's what has raised your ceiling from a back-of-the-rotation depth arm to a potential above-average #3 starter.  You want to keep doing that.

Game 40 Wrap-Up: CIN 6 NYY 5

(Awwww, dude!  Courtesy of The AP)

Day game after a night game and the altered lineup was even more altered than usual thanks to the current Yankee health situation.  Teix was out again so Swish was playing first base, Ibanez was playing right field and batting 5th, Cano got a day at DH, Wise was back in left field, and Nix was playing 2nd.  To add to the scattered situation, Ivan Nova was making his first start after leaving early with his foot/ankle injury earlier in the week and all eyes would be on him early to make sure the injury wasn't affecting him.

Game Notes:

- Nova didn't appear to be suffering any ill effects of the injury, but his performance was more of the same.  The stuff was very good, but his fastball command was spotty at best and he missed with some offspeed stuff up and paid for it.

- Through 3 innings, Nova had recorded 8 of his 9 outs via strikeout (7 of them swinging and 5 on the curveball), but a pair of walks and 2 doubles given up led to a 2-0 Cincy lead.

- I didn't think it was right to bat Russell Martin 7th today, even with the 2 guys behind him being Dewayne Wise and Jayson Nix, but Martin hit the first pitch he saw in the game for a HR to right to lead off the bottom of the 3rd.  More of this please, Russ.

- Nova's misplaced offspeed stuff continued to bite him in the ass in the 5th when he left a slider up in the zone with two runners on to Joey Votto.  Not a lot of pitchers get away with that, and Nova didn't either as Votto hit a 3-run homer to right-center for a 5-2 Reds lead.

- The offense put a few more on the board, on a Raul Ibanez RBI double in the 4th and a Nix HR in the 5th (his 2nd in the last week), but went silent again in the later innings.  That lack of production loomed large after Cincy tacked on a cheap run in the 8th on a single, walk, and a couple of sacrifices against David Phelps, who didn't help his cause with a costly error after a great catch.

- Aroldis Chapman has been the NL version of Dave Robertson this season, and in his first appearance at Yankee Stadium he put on a show, striking out C-Grand and Cano swinging with fastballs and getting A-Rod to pop out in the bottom of the 8th.

- Shawn Marshall replaced Chapman for the 9th, and apparently he was just what the Yankee offense needed.  Ibanez led off with a double, and was quickly singled home by Nick Swisher.  After a Martin K, Andruw Jones singled Swish to third base, and Nix followed with an RBI single to pull the Yankees within 1.  They had 2 on, only 1 out, and Marshall gave way to Jose Arredondo.

- The Yankees made it interesting, but Arredondo did the job to preserve the win.  I question Jeter's decision to swing first pitch in a 2 on/1 out situation in the 9th, and I hated Curtis Granderson swinging and fouling off a hittable 3-0 fastball.  That's just kind of how it's been going for the offense lately.

Some Saturday Night Stats

- No Yankee starting pitcher this season has a HR/FB% below 11.1%.  The one that does is David Phelps, and he only started 2 games.

- 35 of the 65 hits (53.85%) allowed by Ivan Nova in his 8 starts this year have gone for extra bases (22 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs).

- Alex Rodriguez has 9 XBH in 167 plate appearances this season, 4 doubles and 5 HR.  Brett Gardner, Eric Chavez, and Jayson Nix have a combined 9 XBH in 110 combined plate appearances.

- Even with a couple of hits today, the offense is still just 5-55 with RISP over the past 7 games.

It's pretty simple.  When your pitchers are giving up too many home runs and extra bases hits in untimely situations and your hitters aren't hitting enough extra base hits in timely situations, you aren't going to win a lot of baseball games.

Game 39 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 CIN 0

(Job well done, sir.  Courtesy of The AP)

I, like many others, had my concerns about how Andy Pettitte would hold up to pitching in the Majors after a year away.  He was very effective in his final 2 seasons as a Yankee, but not the dominant pitcher he was at times in his prime.  Last night was like a blast back to 2000.  Andy was simply brilliant, no other way to describe it.  No matter what happens from here on out, there's no doubt that Andy can still do this.

Game Notes:

- Andy came out firing in the 1st inning, and would have struck out the side if defensive specialist Chris Stewart would have caught strike 3 to Zack Cozart.  As it was, Pettitte managed to get 4 outs in the 1st and looked damn good doing out.

- The 3 strikeouts were good news, but the better news was that they weren't just a mirage.  Andy was legitimately "on" last night, probably the best he's looked since he started pitching again.  He had all his pitches working, he mixed them incredibly well, and kept the ball down in the zone.  The Reds have some good hitters in their lineup and Andy made them all look foolish.

- The monster starting pitching performance didn't do much to wake up the Yankee offense, though.  Through their first 5 innings, they managed only 1 run to support Andy, scratched across in the 4th inning when Alex Rodriguez led off with a double and scored on a groundout.

- The bottom of the the 6th perfectly encapsulated the Yankees' recent offensive struggles.  After Derek Jeter singled (his 2nd of the game), Curtis Granderson singled (his 2nd of the game), and Robinson Cano walked to load the bases, it took all of 8 pitches for A-Rod, Ibanez, and Swish to ground out, ground out, and pop out to end the inning in scoreless fashion.

- Andy was absolutely incredible last night.  He worked 8 innings, didn't allow a run, allowed 4 hits, walked just 1 batter, and got 16 of his 24 outs either via strikeout or groundout.  Of his 9 Ks, 8 of them were swinging.  We've seen a lot of vintage Jeter this season.  Last night was vintage Pettitte.

- At long last, the offense finally came through when they needed to!  Bottom of the 8th, 2 outs, Robbie Cano CRANKED a HR to right, A-Rod singled, Ibanez homered, and a slim 1-0 lead became a comfortable 4-0 lead.  Bronson Arroyo had been cruising up to that point, but he hit the wall fast and hard.

- Little surprising to not see Soriano out for the 9th, even though it wasn't a save situation, but new setup man Boone Logan sat the Reds down in order to finish Andy's gem and get the Yanks back into the win column.

The Force Is Still Strong With This One...

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."

Stop Waiting For Something To Happen And Make It Happen

(Courtesy of The AP)

There are an abundance of different managerial/coaching styles when it comes to professional sports.  Some guys are real good at the people level, like Joe Maddon, and get the most out of their players through basic human motivational tactics.  There are guys like John Tortorella who yell and scream and curse and act like dicks to the media to try to keep the focus solely on their players and off of them.  And then there's Joe Girardi.  I've spent plenty of time and space on this blog questioning some of Joe's tactics, mainly his reliance on his bullpen matchup binder and his love for the sacrifice bunt, but overall I think Joe does do a good job managing the Yankees.  One thing I don't think he's good at, however, is providing useful commentary and explanations in situations where the Yankees are playing poorly, like what has happened over the past 3 games.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 5/18

I don't know what's been rougher (probably not a word), my week at the office or the week the Yankee lineup had at the plate.  I'm not quite 3-for-41 with RISP bad this week, but it's been a damn long week.  Hopefully everybody else's has been full of sunshine and rainbows.  Onto the links!

- On Monday, Brien Jackson of IIATMS commented on Teix's horrible start at the plate and what may need to happen to try to get him fixed.  Maybe Teix read this before his 2-4 game that night.

- Chris Carelli of Yanks Go Yard wondered if this dimished version of Teix that we've seen in 2011 and early 2012 is what we should get used to seeing through 2016.  Not a comforting thought, but one that has to be considered given Teix's huge statistical declines.

- Nick Fleder of Bronx Baseball Daily used the PITCHf/x-colored glasses to analyze Andy's first start back in pinstripes.

- On Tuesday, Joseph Kringer Jr. of NYY Universe discussed the Yankees' merry-go-round situation with the closer's role since Mo's injury and what it might say about Girardi's thought process.

- On Wednesday, Mike Eder of TYA studied A-Rod's numbers against the fastball to see if declining bat speed is a cause for A-Rod's lack of power this season.

- Frank Campagnola of Pinstripe Alley offered up his own opinions on A-Rod's missing power.

- On Thursday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog examined the Yankees rotation's high HR rate and what it might mean moving forward.

- El Duque of It Is High... , inspired by the back-to-back (and belly-to-belly) no-shows by the Yanks on Tuesday and Wednesday, listed the 10 most horrific truths about the current state of the Yankees.

- Mike Axisa of RAB looked at Mason Williams' absurd contact rates and low K rates and concluded that he should be promoted to High-A Tampa sooner rather than later.
- Fishjam 25 of Yankees Fans Unite dissected the recent sluggish of the Yankee offense, and the big dip in hitting with RISP and SB that has made them very one-dimensional.

- Eric Schultz of TYA analyzed the numbers on Hiroki Kuroda's early ups and downs to see how a different a pitcher he has (or hasn't) become since transitioning to the AL East.

- On Friday, Lisa Swan of Subway Squawkers was not amused to know that the Mets currently have a better record than the Yankees.  I myself am not amused at this either, so thanks for the cruel reminder, Lisa.

- Steve Goldman of Pinstriped Bible got real deep and philosophical on changes.  It's pretty heavy, dude, and I'm sure there's some underlying message there about the current state of the Yankees, but being a zombie this morning, I have to admit that I missed it.

We're going back to the hippin' and the hoppin' for the Friday Jam.  That new Kanye track is hot fire.  Maybe a little G.O.O.D. Music swag will help wake the Yankee bats up.



Don't work too hard this afternoon, people.  I know I won't.  And enjoy your weekends.

Game 38 Wrap-Up: TOR 4 NYY 1

(Courtesy of The AP)

The last 2 games before last night's series finale against Toronto hadn't been pretty.  In fact, they might have been the 2 ugliest games the Yankees have played this season.  The goal was to get back on track offensively and salvage a series split before heading back home, but the Yankee bats still couldn't shake the cobwebs off to support starter Phil Hughes.

Game Notes:

- The rest of the lineup has been quiet, but Robinson Cano has continued to hit over the past few days.  He didn't waste any time last night, smoking a double to the left-center field gap to score Curtis Granderson and give the Yankees a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st.

- Hughes worked through the first 2 innings scoreless, but he was hardly sharp.  He walked 2 batters, threw 40+ pitches, and was pretty much exclusively 4-seamer & curve with his offerings.  In the 3rd inning, after striking out Jose Bautista on fastballs and curves in the 1st, he hung a cutter to him and Bautista hit it for a 2-run homer and a 2-1 Blue Jays lead.

- Hughes didn't allow any more runs after that, but he also didn't give the Yankees the length they needed.  I don't know if he just didn't have enough of the reliever mentality or whatever, but there was a lot more of the typical Hughes inability to put hitters away with 2 strikes, and he used an inefficient 107 pitches to get through just 5.1 innings.  He wasn't awful, but he wasn't that good either.

- Drew Hutchison pulled a repeat performance of Drabek's outing from the other night.  He wasn't overly dominant or efficient in his 6 innings of work, he didn't have great command, he gave up 4 walks, but only the 1 run from the 1st because the Yankee bats could only manage 4 more hits off him.  If you're a Toronto fan, you're thrilled with 6 innings of 1-run ball from Hutchison, and that's what they got.

- Cory Wade entered to finish out the 6th, and got 2 outs in the 7th, but he hung a change to J.R. Arencibia with a runner on and Toronto got a couple of much-needed insurance runs.  I said earlier in the week that Wade, as good as he's been, wasn't going to go a whole season with a 0.0% HR rate.  There you go.

- For the first time, the Yankee hitters swung like they were starting to press at the plate.  After Hutchison left, they went down in order in the 7th, 8th, and 9th, only making Darren Oliver throw 7 pitches in the 8th and only making Casey Janssen throw 9 in the 9th.  There's plenty of pitches to hit out there, they just aren't doing anything useful with them.

I Hate It When I'm Wrong

Me on Monday:

"Guys are keeping runners off base, keeping the ball down in the zone, working efficiently and pitching deeper into games, and limiting damage by getting more groundball outs and big strikeouts when they need them. Nova starts another turn tonight... .  Hopefully he can continue this stretch of solid starting pitching performances and help inch his team closer to the top of the division."

Yankee starters since then:

16.1 IP, 23 H, 16 ER, 9 BB, 16 K, 5 HR, 0-2 Record

Did I jinx it again or did I jinx it again?  It wouldn't be the first time.  So sorry, I guess.

2012: A Freak Injury Odyssey

As they are in every other sport, injuries are a big part of baseball. They affect the good teams and the bad, and a team's ability to overcome its injuries and still produce and win is what separates the great teams from the good. It would be completely unreasonable to expect your team to not get bitten by the injury bug at some point, and the unpredictable nature of injuries makes it almost impossible to plan for. All of that being what it is, it's fair to say that the 2012 season has been irregularly unpredictable and unkind to the Yankees in the injury department, to the point that it's downright freaky. It doesn't just seem like it's every week that we're all scrambling to our computers or smart phones to write or read the latest "BREAKING NEWS!!!!!111!!!" story on a major injury to a key player; that's almost literally the way it's gone for the Yankees this season, and it goes all the way back to Spring Training.

With no statistic, basic or sabermetric, in place to analyze injuries, I took it upon myself to create a rudimentary system to measure and capture just how freakish the Yankees' collection of injuries has been this year. I call it the "Johnson-Hill Scale," and it's a simple 1-10 numbering system that measures an injury's freakiness. The low end of the scale, 1-3, represents injuries so common and expected that you would almost be surprised if they DIDN'T happen, and is named after Nick Johnson and his Mr. Glass-like skeletal and muscular structure. The high end of the scale, 8-10, represents injuries so unexpected and out of left field that it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility for some evil forces to be involved, and is named after former outfielder (and Yankee) Glenallen Hill, who infamously cut his foot on a glass table while sleeprunning to escape from a spider that was chasing him in a dream. Here's how the Yankees' collection of bizarre injuries this season grades out on the Johnson-Hill Scale.

Game 37 Wrap-Up: TOR 8 NYY 1

(Cue the "The Price Is Right" loser horn.  Courtesy of The AP)

Kyle Drabek had faced the Yankees 4 times prior to last night's game.  In those 4 outings, he allowed a combined 18 hits, 10 walks, and 12 earned runs in just 15.2 innings pitched.  He also came into last night's game with a 5.49 K/9 this season, something that plays right into the hands of the Yankees and their patient offensive approach.  If anything could shake them out of the funk they were in on Tuesday night, it should have been Drabek.

Game Notes:

- Something about not being able to put hitters away with 2 strikes must be appealing to the Yankee starters, because they continue to do it.  After getting ahead 1-2 and coming high and tight with a fastball, Hiroki Kuroda hung a slider to J.P. Arencibia in the 2nd and then watched it sail over the center field fence for a 2-0 Toronto lead.

- Same thing with finishing innings with 2 outs.  Kuroda got the first 2 outs of the 3rd inning, then gave up double-walk-HR on 10 pitches to make it 5-0 Jays.  The stuff was there; Kuroda struck out 4 in the first 3 innings.  But when he missed, he missed bad.

- Much like CC on Tuesday night, Kuroda just didn't have anything working last night.  He hung a couple of sinkers bad, missed with his slider and curveball, and couldn't put hitters away.  He gave up another run in the 4th and another in the 5th on a Jose Bautista HR and the rout was on.

- Kuroda left after giving up a leadoff single in the 6th, and Clay Rapada managed to work into the 7th.  He gave up a HR to Kelly Johnson to extend the lead and Cody Eppley came on as the sacrificial lamb to finish the game.

- There was no offense last night, so no need to write about it.  The Yankees  did score 1 run, but it was an accident.

What Was That?

I have no words...

F*cking Double Plays

I don't know how many other people have noticed it, but there's been an overabundance of double plays hit into by Yankee batters over the last week.  Including last night's game, the Yankees have hit into 12 double plays over their last 8 games.  8 of those GIDPs have come in the past 3 games, and 5 have come in the past 2, including a pair off the bat of Derek Jeter on Monday night and consecutive inning-ending ones in the 8th and 9th last night by Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson.

For my money, there aren't many things more frustrating in baseball than watching your team hit into a double play.  The only thing worse might be taking a called 3rd strike with RISP.  This recent spike in GIDPs from the Yankees has been frustrating enough as it is, and it's made even more frustrating when you consider the sources.  Of the 12 double plays in the past week, all of them have been hit into by the key members of the lineup:

- Jeter (4), C-Grand (3), Swish (2), Cano/A-Rod/Teix (1 apiece)

I can live with the lesser hitters on the team falling victim to the old GIDP every now and then.  But to have the major table setters and run producers in the lineup be the only culprits is a tough pill to swallow.  Not only are these guys not doing the job they're in the lineup to do, they're taking more runners off the bases so that the guy hitting behind them can't do the job either.

The Yanks are middle of the pack in MLB in GB rate this season (45.4%, tied for 13th), so it's not like this is a byproduct of them beating the ball into the ground more.  It's likely just attributable to a bout of small sample size bad luck.  But with the rotation still not in sync and the bullpen battling a plague of health problems, the offense needs to produce now more than ever.  It's hard to do that when you're continually putting 2 outs on the scoreboard with 1 swing.

Game 36 Wrap-Up: BAL 5 NYY 2

(The 8-inning streak is over.  Courtesy of The AP)

CC Sabathia was riding an incredible hot streak and the Yankees had already won a game pitched by Wei-Yin Chen once this season.  On paper, this seemed like a slam dunk win for the Yanks, but as the saying goes, that's why they play the game.

Game Notes:

- CC worked almost effortlessly through a 10-pitch 1st inning, and so it didn't look like a big deal when he hung a sinker to Adam Jones for a solo HR in the 2nd.  But that pitch was a clear indication that it was not CC's night.

- For whatever reason, CC just didn't have it last night.  He had trouble throwing his sinker and slider for strikes on a consistent basis, and never really established full command of his fastball.  It all added up to a very un-CC-like 8 hits, 4 walks, and 4 ER allowed in 6 innings.

- Also for unknown reasons, the Yankee offense was lifeless against Chen.  While CC struggled, Chen cruised through his 6 innings on just 80 pitches, allowing only 3 baserunners and 0 runs.  The 16 swinging strikes suggest that Chen was really good, but that still doesn't excuse the no-show from the lineup.

- Just when things really started to look bleak, Curtis Granderson stepped in with 2 outs in the 7th and for the 13th time this season hit the pitch that was thrown to him over the outfield wall.  It went to left field, and barely made it over the wall, but it still counted.  Robinson Cano was on 2nd after leading off with a double and the lead was down to 4-2.

- In a move that spoke both to how poorly CC was pitching and how taxed the healthy members of the bullpen are, Joe opted to go to Freddy Garcia in the bottom of the 7th.  Garcia let the leadoff hitter get on and eventually score a run on a stolen base, groundout advance, and a passed ball.

- 2 walks to start the 8th had the Yankee offense in business again, but a groundout by Swish and a killer 2nd-pitch GIDP by Cano on a hittable pitch ended the threat and effectively ended the Yankees' night.  They went down quickly and on another GIDP to end the game in the 9th.

- Maybe it was the news of the latest major injury to a key player finally being enough to affect the team's psyche, because the Yankees didn't play with much energy last night.  On a baseball level it's frustrating, but on a personal level it's understandable.  Hopefully they can shake it off tonight.

Can The Injury Bug Take A Hike Or Something? (UPDATED)

I know injuries are part of the game, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.  After last night, the Yankees have 4 more guys with injury/health issues to add to their list of walking wounded.  3 of them left the game because of their issues within 3 innings of each other!  Bodies are dropping so fast I feel like I'm watching the D-Day invasion scene from "Saving Private Ryan."

Dave Robertson's rib problem is bad enough that he's getting it looked at today.  If it turns out to be something with his oblique, he could miss some time, which would likely cause another round of roster shuffling moves to fill out the bullpen.  Obliques injuries tend to linger and take a long time to heal, so here's hoping for the best.  Ivan Nova's foot/ankle sprain doesn't seem too bad, but Joe acknowledged that it might be enough to cause him to miss his next start.

All of this on top of Brett Gardner's recent setback with his elbow, Chavez's little whiplash fiasco, Swish's continued muscle tweaks, and Teixeira's seasonal allergies or whatever he has blocking his airway.  And just to top it off, there's still Mo's torn ACL, Pineda's torn labrum, Cesar Cabral's elbow fracture, and Joba's ankle dislocation.

Somebody call in the meat wagon.  New guy's in the corner puking his guts out.



** UPDATE- 3:10 PM- Dave Robertson has officially been placed on the disabled list with a strained left oblique.  No word yet on how long he'll be out, but it likely won't be quickly.  Per Marc Carig, Cody Eppley has been recalled to take D-Rob's spot on the active roster. **

The New And Improved Cory Wade

(Courtesy of Anthony Gruppuso/US Presswire)

There wasn't much hype when the Yankees signed Cory Wade to a MiL deal last June.  He had already been let go by the Dodgers and Rays in less than a year and hadn't pitched all that well the last time he found himself in a Major League bullpen (5.53/4.40/5.03 slash for the Dodgers in '09).  He was basically a low-risk, scrap heap pickup for the Yankees during a time when they needed bullpen depth; a guy who could hopefully eat innings while they waited for Rafael Soriano to get healthy.

Once he put on the pinstripes, though, Wade did more than just eat innings.  He posted a solid 2.04/3.76/3.80 line in 39.2 IP for the Yankees and became a reliable piece down the stretch to cover the middle innings, earning himself a new contract for 2012 in the process.  It was only natural to assume that Wade's performance would regress this season thanks to his unsustainably high strand rate from 2011 (91.2%) and his low strikeout numbers, but here we are 5 weeks into the 2012 season and Wade finds himself as arguably the best pitcher in the bullpen.

Game 35 Wrap-Up: NYY 8 BAL 5

(A-Rod responds to the latest Teix Message.  Courtesy of The AP)

Ivan Nova had already faced Baltimore twice this season in a little over a month.  In one start he gave up a lot of hits but managed to escape trouble, and in the other he gave up a lot of hits and didn't.  His ability to change up his routine and effectively mix pitches was going to be something to watch, and the poor weather conditions weren't going to make his outing any easier.  It certainly didn't look like they were going to be able to get the game in, but they gave it their best shot.

Game Notes:

- First pitch came only 15 minutes later than scheduled because of the rain, and it quickly became apparent which pitcher was affected by the slight delay and which one wasn't.

- Jason Hammel came out and dispatched the Yankees with just 24 pitches in the first 2 innings.  He struck out 3 and looked very sharp.  Nova, on the other hand, labored through a 20-pitch 1st inning, giving up an RBI single and RBI double in the process.  The rain was falling, he was up in the zone, and it looked like it was going to be a long night.

- The Yankee offense looked like they were swinging more to move the game along than to score runs through the first 3 innings, but Hammel wasn't so lucky the second time through the order, as Nick Swisher drove in A-Rod and Cano with a double to right in the top of the 4th.  The third time didn't get much better for Hammel, as he surrendered a solo HR to Curtis Granderson with 2 outs in the 5th to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

- We got glimpses of Ivan The Great and Ivan The Terrible in Nova' inconsistent outing.  He managed to work quickly through the 2nd and 3rd innings, and avoided any trouble after letting the first 2 guys get on in the 4th, but then promptly gave up 3 runs on a walk, triple, and 2-run homer by J.J. Hardy in the 5th to give Baltimore the lead back.

- Nova's issue, as usual, was his inability to spot his pitches where he wanted to in the strike zone. We didn't get a chance to see if he could correct the issue in the 6th after Nova injured himself fielding a grounder for the first out of the inning and had to leave the game.

- The Yankee offense was relentless after losing the lead in the bottom of the 5th. They came right back and tied the game at 5 in the 6th by loading the bases against Hammel and capitalizing on an error by Chris Davis, took the lead back on a 2-run Teix Message in the 7th, and scratched across an insurance run in the 9th after a 1-out double by Teix. The only inning that the Yankees didn't put a runner on base all night was the 2nd, and they put at least 2 on in every inning after the 3rd.

- Strangely enough, Clay Rapada also had to leave the game with a viral infection after coming in to relieve Nova, and it was all hands on deck for the rest of the bullpen, who responded with 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 6.  Rafael Soriano got the call for the 9th with D-Rob nursing a sore ribcage.

Joe Forgot The 1st Rule Of Using Clay Rapada Club

(This guy never forgets the rules.  Courtesy of Inside Out Night)

Well, OK, the second rule.  The first one is obviously "Do Not Talk About Using Clay Rapada Club."  But the second is far more important when it comes to the Yankees winning games, or at least staying close in games they're losing.  That rule, in case you've forgotten, is...

A Brighter Turn Through The Rotation

It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for the Yankee rotation this year.  There have already been issues with quantity of innings pitched and the quality of those innings, and as of yesterday the rotation has been shuffled again to include the returning Andy Pettite, who had an up-and-down debut against Seattle.  It's still too early for anybody to say whether Pettitte is definitely going to be a better long-term option for the back end, but the performance of the 4 other guys in the rotation on the most recent turn through is a very encouraging sign and hopefully a sign that the Yankees won't have to spend as much time biting their nails over the 5th spot moving forward.

The combined line of Nova, CC, Kuroda, and Hughes from 5/8-5/12 looks like this:

- 29.2 IP, 25 H, 5 ER, 7 BB, 24 K, 5 HR, 34 GB, 4-0 Record

That works out to a 1.52 ERA and 3.43 K/BB ratio, and includes consecutive victories (excluding Phelps' outing in the middle) over James Shields, David Price, and Felix Hernandez in games where the Yankee starter outpitched his opponent.  There is a 4.48 FIP in those innings, driven up by the 5 HR allowed, but all 5 of those homers were solo shots and in a sample size this small I can live with that.  Eventually, the high HR rate will start to come down and guys' FIP lines will start to look better.

The important thing is that the Yankee rotation, at least on this most recent turn, started to look like the one we expected to see this season.  Guys are keeping runners off base, keeping the ball down in the zone, working efficiently and pitching deeper into games, and limiting damage by getting more groundball outs and big strikeouts when they need them.  Nova starts another turn tonight against Baltimore, a team he's already faced twice this season, once with good results and once without.  Hopefully he can continue this stretch of solid starting pitching performances and help inch his team closer to the top of the division.

Game 34 Wrap-Up: SEA 6 NYY 2

("I know, man.  Who doesn't score against Kevin Millwood??" Courtesy of The AP)

Everybody knows the backstory of this game.  No matter what the other storylines were or what was going on with the team, yesterday it was all about Andy Pettitte and his return to the rotation.  I wrote before the game that the expectations had come down a bit for Andy after his recent rehab starts and the improvements in the Yankee rotation, but it was still difficult to say whether or not he met or exceeded those expectations with his performance.

Game Notes:

- Pettitte got out of the 1st inning on just 11 pitches after a flyout, a walk, and a slick 6-3 double play turn by Derek Jeter, and he was off and running quickly and cleanly.

- Through 3 innings, Pettitte didn't allow a hit.  The only 2 baserunners he allowed were on walks and both were stranded.  Through a combination of good pitch location and some overaggressiveness on the part of the Mariner hitters, Pettitte worked through the lineup the first time on just 35 pitches and got 5 outs on the ground.

- Andy had been living a little more up in the strike zone than you'd like to see through 3, and he hung a slider to Justin Smoak in the top of the 4th that Smoak hit for a HR and a 2-0 Seattle lead.  That opportunity was created by a 2-out walk that Andy gave up, his third of the game.

- Kevin Millwood wasn't good enough to stick in the Yankee MiL system last year, but he made Yankee the offense look silly yesterday.  Millwood gave up just 1 hit through 4 (an Eric Chavez double) and struck out Curtis Granderson and A-Rod back-to-back on 6 pitches to open the 4th.

- Millwood started to lose his command a bit in the bottom of the 5th, and gave up a bases-loaded walk to Russell Martin to get the Yankees on the board, but got bailed out by a horrible first pitch-swinging GIDP by Derek Jeter to end the inning.  It was Jeter's second GIDP of the game and another example of the higher GB rate that's crept back up on him recently.

- Pettitte hit the wall in the 6th, giving up another 2-run homer and loading the bases on singles, but Joe left him out there and he manged to get out of the inning on another nice double play (Teix to Martin).

- Joe continued his recent trend of giving his starters a lot of leash, letting Andy get an out in the 7th before giving way to Cory Wade.  Wade and Clay Rapada gave up 2 runs in the 9th to put the game out of reach.

- Pettitte's final line- 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 94 Pitches (60 Strikes), 12 GB Outs.  All the hits and all the runs came in his last 3.1 IP.

- The only offense the Yankees could muster for the rest of the game was another bases loaded BB by Robinson Cano in the 8th.  It was an ugly day for the O- no run-scoring hits, 0-5 with RISP, and 9 strikeouts.

Expectations For Pettitte

In just a little over an hour, Andy Pettitte will complete his spring comeback attempt when he once again dons the Yankee pinstripes and takes the mound to start for the New York Yankees.  To say this comeback was unexpected would be an understatement, at least for me personally, and there have been plenty of questions attached to this comeback related to how Andy would perform and what the Yankees could expect from him.  He's answer every question over the past month plus except the last one.  Today, that question will finally start to be answered.

I said right after he came back that I didn't want him to just be gift-wrapped a spot in the rotation, and I said after his last MiL start that I thought he could use one more, but the fact of the matter is that what Andy has already done in his build-up starts is better than what the Yankees have been getting from the 5th spot in their rotation from Day 1 this season.  He's been far more effective in giving up runs and limiting damage than Freddy Garcia was, and he's pitched deeper into games than David Phelps has in his 2 audition outings.  5+ innings of 2-3-run ball isn't flashy, but it's an improvement over what the team has been getting from the back end of the rotation, and with the top 4 pitching better lately it's exactly what this team needs.

The atmosphere is going to be electric today at the Stadium, and it should be.  It's not often that we get to see an integral part of a Yankee dynasty come back and compete again.  But to expect electricity and dominance from Andy today would be wrong.  As long as he can continue to be better than what the 5th starters before him were, Andy is going to be successful.  And to give him a start at home, against a weak offensive team is the perfect way to gauge where he's at and work him back into the fold.  I won't get to watch the game today, but if Andy is sitting 85-89 with his fastball, working his cutter consistently, and has better command of his other offspeed pitches than he did the last time out, I'm going to be happy.

Game 33 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 SEA 2

(Look at that.  A standing O.  Courtesy of The AP)

Phil Hughes has been trending up lately, and his teammates have been doing the same over the past 5 days.  The Yankees were fresh off of beating Felix Hernandez on Friday and facing a pitcher whom the have some familiarity with in former teammate Hector Noesi.  The struggles of April were starting to fade in the rearview mirror and the Yanks were looking to keep it that way yesterday.

Game Notes:

- It looked like we were being set up for a pitchers' duel as both guys worked through the majority of the first 2 innings unscathed.  But with 2 outs in the bottom of the 2nd, the Yankee offense strung together a trio of big hits (RBI doubles by Ibanez and Martin, and a 2-R HR by Jayson Nix) to stake Hughes to a 4-0 lead.

- For the 3rd straight game, Hughes seemed to use the "reliever mentality" he talked about to his advantage.  He threw a lot of strikes, worked from ahead in the count more often than not, and did a much better job of putting hitters away with 2 strikes.  Through 6 innings, the Mariners had just 3 hits and 1 walk to their credit.

- Raul Ibanez has been on a mini-tear this week and he continued that in the 4th with his 7th HR of the season.  He now has 7 on the season, 2 in consecutive games, and 4 in his last 5.

- Hughes did give up a home run to Mike Carp in the 7th for his only run of the day, a byproduct of being a flyball pitcher, but for the most part Hughes was outstanding yesterday.  He used his changeup a lot more than he had recently, and many of the flyballs he got were easy outs.

- The most important thing was that Hughes seemed to mix all his pitches better, which made him more effective with 2 strikes.  Rather than try to throw the ball by everybody, he was very willing to let the Mariner offense make contact and trust his defense behind him.  He only recorded 4 Ks yesterday, but he also only walked 1 batter.

- Hughes tired in the 8th, not a big surprise considering he was at 112 pitches, and Boone Logan came on to strike out Ichiro to end the inning.

- Robinson Cano kept his hitting streak alive with an RBI single for some insurance in the bottom of the 8th, and it was up to Logan to close the game out, which he did with 3 more strikeouts.  He did give up a run, but it was another stellar performance from Logan.

- Interesting note- Logan was the 3rd different Yankee reliever to record a save since Mo's injury.

Best Mo Tribute Video You'll See Today

TYA teammate Steve S. turned me on to this, and I have to say that I'm glad he did.  There are fan videos and then there are fan videos.  This one is the latter.  The proper tribute being paid to the original song, the video quality, the great use of on-site locations at and around Yankee Stadium, and the lyrical quality are all top notch.

Don't stop relievin', ACL's healing indeed.

Game 32 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 SEA 2

Hiroki Kuroda still hasn't quite figured out how best to use his stuff to effectively pitch at Yankee Stadium after his first couple starts, and he was facing an opponent last night who usually doesn't allow much margin for error and has a sparkling track record at the new Yankee Stadium in Felix Hernandez.  The pressure was on Kuroda, and very much to his credit he delivered.

Game Notes:

- When you're a sinkerball pitcher and the ball doesn't sink, you're usually in for a bad time.  Kuroda threw a sinker that stayed up to Dustin Ackley to lead off the game and Ackley parked it in the left field seats for a HR and a 1-0 Seattle lead.  It didn't look like a good omen for Kuroda or the Yankees.

- But Kuroda would recover from there and work through the 5th inning without any more damage, retiring 9 in a row from the 2nd-4th.  His stuff was better, his command was good enough (even if he didn't get his first K until the 5th), and his defense was strong behind him.

- Hernandez came into the game last night with 3 wins and a 0.38 ERA in 3 starts at the new Stadium, but that streak of dominance would not continue.  The Yankee offense manufactured a run in the bottom of the 1st to tie the game on a C-Grand single, SB, and RBI single from Robinson Cano.

- They didn't score again until the 6th, but the Yankee offense made Hernandez work.  The only clean inning he had was the 3rd, and he needed a strong defensive play to keep a run off the board in the 4th after 3 straight Yankee singles.  It seemed like only a matter of time before they broke through.

- In the top of the 6th, Yankee fans got a look at what they're missing when Jesus Montero cranked an opposite-field HR to give Seattle a 2-1 lead.  It really wasn't a a horrible pitch, but Kuroda kept the slider up just enough and Montero's power was enough to drive it out.

- In the bottom half of the inning, the Yankee bats finally hit paydirt.  A-Rod led off with a walk, Cano singled, and after 2 outs Raul Ibanez stepped in and smacked a 3-run HR to right field to give them a 4-2 lead.  The RISP Fail demons had been tormenting them all night, but Ibanez's big blow seemed to take the wind out of Seattle's sails.

- After Kuroda worked a quick 7th, Joe went to the 'pen and played a great mix-and-match game with his available guys.  Clay Rapada started the inning by getting Ichiro to ground out, then Cory Wade came in to get Jesus , and Boone Logan finished the inning with a strikeout.

- Insurance runs came in the form of a pinch-hit, 2-run homer from Andruw Jones in the 8th, and D-Rob got the final 2 outs in the 9th to seal the win.