Yankees World Series Game Three

Rain is pouring down and will delay the start of game three in Philadelphia. Nick Swisher is back in the lineup playing right field. Joe Girardi has confirmed that CC Sabathia will be the game four starter tomorrow night. Sabathia will be pitching on three days rest for the second time this postseason.

Yankee Bullpen Issues: Who Can Be Trusted in Yankees Bullpen?

Who do the Yankees trust coming out of the bullpen? The first and most obvious answer; Mariano Rivera. After Mariano the level of trust drops substantially. Here are the various confidence levels the Yankees have in their bullpen.

Most Confidence: Mariano Rivera
Mr. Reliable has a 0.71 ERA this postseason. Girardi has called on Mo to get six out saves in game six of the ALCS and game two of the World Series. Girardi won’t have the luxury of using Mo for two inning saves in Philadelphia since there are no days off between any of the three games. Mo is one of the best, if not the best, postseason pitchers of all-time.

Gaining Confidence: Damaso Marte, Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson
Damaso Marte made 21 appearances and gave up 14 earned runs during an injury plagued 2009 regular season (9.45 ERA). The lefty specialist has gotten some big outs against left-handed hitters for the Yankees in the postseason. He hasn’t given up a run in five appearances although his last three appearances have come in Yankee losses.
Joba Chamberlain looks to have taken over as setup man. Joba has given up seven hits in 3.1 innings but has given up only one earned run. He’s been hit hard in a couple of outings against the Angels but the Yankees remain confident in Joba. Look for Girardi to go to Joba instead of Phil Hughes in the 8th inning.
David Robertson is 2-0 and hasn’t given up a run so far this postseason. Girardi’s not afraid to hand the ball to Robertson in a big spot. Robertson has put together strong efforts in tough spots this postseason including getting out of a bases loaded jam in extra innings against Minnesota that set up a Mark Teixeira walk-off  home run.

In the Middle: Phil Coke, Chad Gaudin
Phil Coke was once Girardi’s go-to-guy but has now become the second lefty Girardi calls upon. He hasn’t done anything to cause the demotion so it’s hard to understand. Some situations have called for a lefty pitcher but Girardi decided to stick with a right hander. Coke hasn’t given up any runs in two innings of work this postseason. 
Chad Gaudin is in limbo. He’s pitched one inning this postseason and it was the 9th inning of a 10-1 blowout win over the Angels. Gaudin awaits word of whether he’ll start a game in the World Series.

Losing Confidence: Phil Hughes, Brian Bruney, Alfredo Aceves
Phil Hughes had an unbelievable regular season as the Yankees setup man and bridge to Mariano. Hughes has been rocked this postseason. An inflamed 9.64 ERA and his inability to record an out in game one of the World Series doesn’t show Girardi he can be that 8th inning guy.
Brian Bruney won’t touch the mound unless there is a blowout. Not after he gave up two runs on three hits and recorded just one out in game one of the World Series. Bruney was left off the Yankees ALDS and ALCS rosters and for good reason. 
Alfredo Aceves hasn’t pitched since game three of the ALDS. Tied at 4-4, Aceves gave up the game winning run the 11th inning. In game two of the ALDS he gave up a run in the 11th inning but was saved by A-Rod’s game tying home run. Aceves has dropped in the pecking order.

A-Rod Not Only Yankee Hitter to Blame

By now you can recite the statistics. A-Rod is 0-8 with six strikeouts in the first two games of the World Series. A-Rod may be the person that everyone focuses on but other players need to start hitting too. Teixeira is 1-7 with a solo home run and three strikeouts. Johnny Damon is 1-8 and Robinson Cano is 1-7. What the Yankees really need to do are string together some hits. They haven’t been able to do that so far in the World Series.

The Yankees’ 2-3-4 hitters have combined for two hits in the first two games. With A-Rod’s supporting cast not hitting, it allows the Phillies to not give him anything good to hit. A-Rod is swinging at a lot of bad pitches. Someone hitting behind A-Rod needs to start hitting and intimidate the Phillies. This way they won’t be so inclined to throwing A-Rod garbage. It falls on A-Rod too because he needs to lay off the bad pitches and work the count into his favor an draw walks.

The Yankees as a team need to walk more. They walked only twice so far in the series and were struck out 22 times. That’s an incredible statistic for a team that lead the Majors in walks during the regular season and also had the 4th fewest strikeouts of any team in baseball.

World Series Heads to Philadelphia

The Yankees and Phillies have boarded the Amtrak to Philadelphia both having one won game each in the Bronx. Both managers have some decisions to make for the upcoming games in the NL stadium.

With no DH, Girardi loses Matsui’s bat in the lineup. Matsui hasn’t played the field at all this season and his only appearances during regular season interleague play came as a pinch hitter late in games. Don’t expect to see Matsui in the outfield for any of the games at Citizens Bank Park. He will be a nice bat off the bench for Girardi.

Beyond game three, neither team has confirmed their starting pitchers. CC Sabathia will most likely go for the Yankees in game four and the Phillies have to choose between Joe Blanton and Cliff Lee. If Charlie Manuel goes with Lee, it would be on three days rest, the same amount of rest Sabathia would be pitching on.

Girardi also has a decision to make on who plays right field. Jerry Hairston Jr. went 1-3 in game two as the Yankees right fielder. Girardi can stick with Hairston, go back to Swisher, or go to the bench. Eric Hinske is a possibility. Brett Gardner could play center field and Melky Cabrera could move to right field. Girardi would rather keep Gardner on the bench and use him as a pinch runner late in games. It worked in game two when he went from first to third on a single and scored the Yankees third run on a single.

Girardi and Manuel will have their hands full answered the media based on their managerial decisions the rest of the series. Both managers will hope they make the right decisions. The only way the series doesn’t go back to the Bronx is if one team wins all the games in Philly. These teams are so good that this series may go the full seven games.

Burnett Dazzles Phillies To Even World Series

After two games of the World Series, this has the feeling it could go to the very last out of game seven. The starting pitchers have done an incredible job in the first two games. AJ Burnett turned in what may be the best pitching performance of his Yankee career or maybe even his entire career, given the circumstances.

“It was the biggest game I’ve ever thrown in for this team,” Burnett said. “You can’t let that affect you, and I tried not to let it affect me. I knew I had a big task ahead of me with Pedro on the mound, and I wanted to go out and pitch the best I could.”

Let’s understand something. Pedro pitched a great game. His counterpart, Burnett, pitched better. The back pages of the newspapers wouldn’t read “Who’s Your Daddy” if Burnett and the Yankees staff gave up four runs and lost 4-3. It’s similar to how Sabathia pitched a great game and his counterpart, Cliff Lee, pitched better.

Burnett’s curveball was remarkable and he threw a lot of first pitch strikes. The hardest ball the Phillies hit was Stairs’ RBI single in the 2nd inning. Referring to is curveball, Burnett said, “It was on”.

The Yankees and Phillies are tied at one heading to Philly.

Media Will Soften Up on Yankees After Game Two

A lot of people were worried after the Yankees dropped game one and were baffled by Cliff Lee. The media and sports writers were hard on the Yankees after the game one loss. They wrote articles with headlines like “Yankees get sucker-punched into a crisis” (By Yahoo’s Tim Brown). A lot of people looked at game one and thought the Yankees were in big trouble. The truth is that Cliff Lee was brilliant and deserves credit for the way he pitched. Lucky for the Yankees, Lee can’t start every game of the series. The Yankees offense is too good to be held down.

The media isn’t going to write pessimistically about the Yankees after game two. AJ Burnett made sure of that with a sensational outing.. In his first career World Series start, Burnett gave up one run in seven innings and struck out nine batters to get the win. It was the first win for Burnett in this postseason.

If the Yankees had lost game two and headed to Philly in an 0-2 hole then panic would be worthy. You can’t panic after one game. Especially with the kind of offense the Yankees have. Again, Cliff Lee deserves a ton of credit and AJ Burnett deserves a ton of credit for the way he pitched in game two. We have seen outstanding starting pitching by all four starters so far in the first two games of this series.

Yankees Take Game Two, Even Up Series

AJ Burnett showed up in game two and pitched a masterpiece when everyone said he could be hit or miss in the start. He also did exactly what Girardi and the Yankees wanted; handed the ball straight to Mariano. Mo came in for two innings and held the Phillies down in the Yankees 3-1 win. Pedro Martinez made his return to Yankee stadium and the Yankees made sure he didn’t go home happy.

The turning point in the game was when catcher Jose Molina picked Jason Werth off of first base with a snap throw in the top of the 4th. The Yankees were down a run already and the stadium was quiet. Molina’s pickoff got the crowd going and put some life into the stadium. Mark Teixeira lead off the bottom of the 4th with a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1.

Hideki Matsui gave the Yankees the lead in the 6th with a solo home run that allowed Burnett to have the chance to get the win. Burnett went seven strong, giving up just one run, which came when A-Rod misplayed a ball in the 2nd inning. Burnett also struck out nine batters. The Yankees added some insurance in the 7th when Posada hit a liner up the middle to drive in Brett Gardner.

The World Series is tied at one game a piece as the series heads to Philadelphia for games three, four and five. Lefties Andy Pettitte and Cole Hamels go for their respective teams in game three.

Yankees World Series Game 2 Lineup

Joe Girard has decided to bench the struggling Nick Swisher and start Jerry Hairston Jr., who has had some success against Pedro in his career. Jose Molina gets the call behind home plate catching for Burnett. Here is what the Yankees lineup looks like for game two against Pedro.

SS Derek Jeter
LF Johnny Damon
1B Mark Teixeira
3B Alex Rodriguez
DH Hideki Matsui
2B Robinson Cano
RF Jerry Hairston Jr.
CF Melky Cabrera
C Jose Molina

Knicks Open Season With Loss to Heat

Opening night for the Knicks was overshadowed by game one of the World Series. That may be a good thing for the Knicks after they were defeated 115-93 by the Miami Heat. Miami shot the ball real well and the Knicks didn’t. The Heat hit 14 of 17 shots form the field in the second quarter. Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, two of the younger players on this Knicks team, scored 22 and 21 points respectively. Gallinari shot 7-13 from behind the 3-point arc. David Lee added 22 points.

Gallinari and Chandler could be a good base for the Knicks to build a team around in the future. With the current talent level the Knicks have, it looks as though the 09-10 season is going to be a long one.

Yankee Hats in Venice, Italy

Earlier this month, during my trip to Italy, I spotted a couple of Yankee hats being sold on the streets in Venice.

Here’s another: