Interleague Intrigue

The New York Yankees are rapidly raking in wins as they set to host the NL defending champion Philadelphia Phillies this weekend. In the first installment of interleague play this season, both New York teams face intriguing matchups. The Phillies visit the new ballpark in the Bronx and the Mets finish their three city road trip in Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox.
Winning is infectious for the Yankees, while the Mets still have a few wrinkles to work out. The Yankees initially struggled to find chemistry, but now seem to have picked themselves up. The team is even winning without catcher, Jorge Posada’s bat and mitt. Francisco Cervelli has handled the pitching staff with emotion and there is no timetable yet for Posada’s return. The Yankees took all three games against the Twins at home and swept aside the Orioles with ease. The Bombers won their ninth consecutive game and made their new home a record for most homeruns hit in the first 20 games of existence. The Yankees won 7-4 to sweep Baltimore out of the Bronx. They did so without their starting pitcher, Joba Chamberlain, throwing past the first inning. The raucous right-hander exited the game after bruising his knee on Adam Jones’ one-out line drive. He stayed in the game long enough to allow Nick Markakis to single into the right field corner. Markakis would later go deep for the Orioles in the 7th inning. The solo shot was the 75th long ball hit in Yankee Stadium.
Alfredo Aceves filled in for Joba and went 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the surging Yankees. He has not allowed a run since May 13th. Jonathan Albaladejo allowed four Baltimore runs on five hits. He followed Aceves with 2 1/3 innings of relief work. The depleted bullpen gave way to Jose Veras and Mariano Rivera to close out the game. Robinson Cano starred on offense, driving in three runs. He hit a two run shot in the second after doubling for an RBI in the first inning. Cano is in a groove and has taken over as a star. He seems much more concentrated this season. Derek Jeter, Cano and Mark Teixeria opened the inning with consecutive doubles off Baltimore starter, Adam Eaton. Melky Cabrera also had a double in the first inning, good for two Yankee runs. Hideki Matsui’s fifth inning homerun signaled the record for four bag totals in the new park’s opening twenty games. . Eaton allowed seven runs on eight hits for the Orioles. He was ineffective through 4 2/3 innings, but Baltimore had a chance to come back, pitting the tying run at home plate during the game. Brian Roberts belted a homerun for Baltimore and Ty Wigginton blasted a sixth inning double to score two runs.
Mariano Rivera earned his second save in as many days and 57th against the Orioles lifetime. The pitcher with the master cutter tossed a perfect ninth inning, throwing seven pitches. The last time the Yankees won nine in a row was June of 2007. Chamberlain believes he will be well enough to make his next start. The Yankees start the first portion of the interleague schedule with A.J. Burnett on the mound. Burnett brings a 2-1 record and 5.02 ERA against the Phillies. Philadelphia will counter with Brett Myers. Myers is 3-2 this year with a 4.5 ERA. Andy Pettitte pitches game two of the series against Jay Happ, and C.C. Sabathia closes out the weekend facing Cole Hamels in a feature matchup. Sabathia leads the Yankees in strikeouts and Hamels has pitched his best baseball of the year as of late for the Phillies.
Alex Rodriguez went 0-4 last night and is batting just .171. However, the Yankees are a better team with Alex in the batter’s box. He gives the Yankees more muscle by floating fastballs beyond the reach of outfielders. The Yankees have adjusted well to injuries and bounced back from their recent slump superbly. The team is coming on with a vengeance to close the gap in the AL East race. Cabrera, Cano, Texeria and Brett Garnder are making plays on defense, and the bullpen is producing well enough to keep the team reeling. The team has seen a barrage of situational hitting and dramatic homeruns to maneuver their way to nine straight wins.
The Phillies always pose a threat with their balanced lineup and swell hitters. Second baseman, Chase Utley, drove in four runs last night for the Phillies’ 12-5 knocking of the Reds. The cool and composed Utley knocked in one of the team’s four solo homers. Greg Dobbs, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez all connected for Philadelphia. It was Raul’s 15th nip of the year. The Phillies scored in seven of the game’s nine innings. The hit parade made series winners out of the Phillies on the road. A dozen runs was enough for mediocre starter, Joe Blanton. They overcame a sub par start from Blanton with the first three hitters in the order combining for five runs and going 9-of-15 collectively. Jimmy Rollins was hard to keep off base as the productive and deadly leadoff bat. The Phils raced ahead 6-0 and Blanton consistently shut down Cincinnati . He got ahead on the batters and struck out four. But, Blanton almost let a six run lead slip away, despite registering the win. The right-hander gave up five runs in five innings, highlighted by Brandon Phillips’ three run dinger. The bomb by Brandon ended Blanton’s blighted night.
The Phillies starting rotation have a hideous 6.31 ERA, worst in the majors. They also have given up the most homeruns by any other team, with 46 in 2009. The offense keeps the team in the game to dismantle opponents, and they continue to pull off stunning victories. They own the NL’s highest scoring offense and should clobber the ball at the launching pad known as Yankee Stadium. I am a little concerned Aceves will not be available for a few days because he has pitched so much lately, but Brian Bruney should be ready to bridge the gap to Rivera if needed. The Phillies’ homer-friendly batters are capable of sending lasers into the stands, and both Burnett and Pettitte are prone to allow them. However, the Bombers have big bats of their own and Philadelphia starters throw out homeruns as if they are going out of style. That should determine which team is successful. The team is living proof you can win with a premier offense. The Phillies also have the game’s best winning percentage on the road. Their 14-5 road record will be blemished if New York pitching can contain a lashing lineup. Philadelphia has won six of their last seven games on the road and look to increase that in New York this Memorial Day weekend.
Meanwhile, in Boston, the Red Sox capped off a sweep of the Bluejays with a 5-1 win. Jon Lester rebounded from two bad outings to blank Toronto through six innings. Boston is baseball’s highest scoring team and Jason Bay continues to sizzle at the plate. Bay gave Lester support with his 13th homerun to the opposite field bullpen. It was Bay’s 11th straight homer with runners on base. Bay is now second in the league in long balls this season. Jacoby Ellsbury buried a double off Bluejay starter, Robert Ray, to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. The Red Sox handed Toronto an 0-4 deficit in the third inning on Dustin Pedroia’s double and Kevin Youkilis’ single. An RBI came in the fifth inning off Pedroia’s bat again to give Boston their final tally. Lester left with one out in the seventh after navigating the mound. Ramon Ramirez came in from the bullpen to end a bases-loaded Bluejay threat.
The Bluejays only scored one run off Lester and were held to just five during the entire three games. The Red Sox remain in the flow of the game and keep beating teams with small ball tactics. The Mets will have their hands full this weekend, punctuated by the loss of their leadoff shortstop, Jose Reyes. Reyes is not on the DL but is listed as day-to-day. Without Carlos Delgado and Reyes, the Mets look to David Wright and Carlos Beltran to be the run producers. Jerry Manuel is fielding a bunch of Triple-A caliber fill-ins, but the Mets pitching is good enough to keep Boston at bay. Manuel finally moved Daniel Murphy to first base and the kid was great Wednesday in L.A. I am curious to see how he does at Fenway and glad the Mets made one right move. It sure beats cringing at Murphy fetching flies in the field.
Johan Santana goes tonight for New York. He is 5-2 this year with an outstanding ERA of 1.36. Boston starts an on-the-mend Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Red Sox ace is 0-1 with a 12.79 ERA and will be making just his third start of the year. Boston’s sweep of Toronto cut the AL East lead to a half game. Boston is 15-2 in their last 17 games at Fenway Park. The Mets are coming off a four game losing streak on the road after winning 11 of 13. That does not bode well for New York, especially since they have not been fundamentally sound in the field. They have to play better baseball if they expect to buck the odds in Boston.

Parting points: The return of Rancid, “Last One To Die”, marks a great new song.

The Minnesota Twins weren’t exactly frugal in the run department last night. How many runs did they end up scoring against the Whitesox? 20!?

“A wrong decision is better than indecision”- Tony Soprano

This is 200th blog post!