The demonic Angels continue to haunt the New York Yankees in Anaheim. Bronx Bombers’ starter, Andy Pettitte, was reluctantly rocked by a rallying Angels team on Saturday afternoon in California. The unfriendly West Coast loss saw the Yankees fall two games behind the Boston Red Sox in the A.L. East. Boston hammered the hapless Kansas City Royals 15-9 last night, as John Smoltz picked up his first win as a Red Sox hurler.
The pesky Anaheim offense got the better of Pettitte in a seven run fifth inning. Pettitte was pulled from the game rashly after being roughed up. Mike Napoli knocked a nifty go-ahead double off New York reliever, Dave Robertson, in the fifth, and added a solo shot in the seventh for the Angels. The Yankees clubbed a season-high five long balls, including two each by Alex Rodriguez and the newest Bomber, Eric Hinske. Still, the Yankees were defeated by the grind-it-out home team.
Pettitte turned in a subpar mound performance and failed to go the distance to salvage an overused Bomber bullpen. New York’s magnificent southpaw was provided a four run cushion, but could not sustain the advantage against the team’s Achilles heal opponent. The Yankees were vaulted into a first place tie before heading out to SoCal to face their nemesis. But, the curse of the Angels that plagued Joe Torre has also hampered current New York skipper, Joe Girardi. Anaheim has 24 runs in the first two games against the flattened New Yorkers. The stubborn Angels’ base running was no match for the defensively depleted Bombers and the stadium caused more headaches yesterday.
Pettitte was brilliant through three scoreless innings until the fated fifth frame. The Angels administered a 14-8 comeback victory on their mindless way of spanking the Yanks even without sluggers Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter. Anaheim leads the majors in come-from-behind wins with 26, one more than the Yankees. The Angels punished Yankee pitchers for 16 hits, counting the seven by Pettitte. The 37 year old did not survive past the fifth because of the big blow off Brandon Wood’s bat. Wood, a Triple A prospect recalled on Friday, socked a two run homer with no outs. Howie Kendrick capped off the inning with a single, good for two more Angel tallies.
Former Yankees outfielder, Bobby Abreu, candidly contributed three RBIs against his old team. Jared Weaver started on the hill for the Angels. Weaver surrendered Rodriguez’s 569th career blast in the first. Arod would dish out a second serving later in the game to place the All-star third baseman 10th on the all-time homerun list. Hinske, an acquisition from Pittsburgh last week, homered in the second inning, his second as a Bomber. Robinson Cano extended the Yankees lead in the fourth inning to 4-0 when his single resulted in two runs. Hinske smacked his second shot in the seventh off Darren Oliver. Jason Bulger, pitching in relief for the Angels, issued Arod’s second tater, and Hideki Matsui reverberated as the very next batter.
The Yankees cut the Angels lead to two when Hinske lined out to second with the tying run at the plate. New York inched as close as they could manage before the Angels offense exploded for a second time. Anaheim tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the eighth off Phil Coke to put the afternoon out of reach for the Yankees. Pettitte took the upsetting loss, enduring his second straight. The left-hander’s 2009 stands at 8-5 and his ERA at 5.94 in his last four outings. Saturday was Arod’s first multihomer gem of the year. The Yankees are just 7-17 in Anaheim the past five seasons. Friday night Joba Chamberlain and the Yankees were on the losing side because the Angels staged a comeback from a 5-1 deficit. The opening game was perhaps a microcosm of the way things are headed as the Bombers close out the series today.
Parting points: Song of the day- “Angel of Mine”- Monica
Showing posts with label Andy Pettitte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy Pettitte. Show all posts
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Royal Round-up
His season debut may have been against the Kansas City Royals, but Andy Pettitte’s line was impressive. Pettitte earned his 216th career win in yesterday’s 4-1 Yankees victory. The minor milestone ranks him fourth in wins among all active pitchers. Andy’s sturdy left arm went seven strong with six strikeouts, surrendering a single run and scattering three hits. Pettitte was only tagged for one run, a vast improvement from the last time we saw the ace on the mound. Andy doesn’t have as much pressure this year as he did in 2008. Pettitte is not the best pitcher on the team, and since the expectations are not high, I expect he will do a lot of winning this year. It’s always a good reason to celebrate when Pettitte bests another pitcher. I’m not sold on a Mussina-like comeback year for Andy, but there is no reason he cannot put together 12-15 wins.
New York has put together back-to-back worthwhile pitching performances behind Pettitte and A.J. Burnett. The team has gotten length from both starting pitchers and will need the same from Sabathia, Wang and Chamberlain. Burnett harvested his first win during his rehearsal in pinstripes. Burnett demonstrated his capability of crippling the opposition by beating the Baltimore Orioles. His curveball was effective and he threw down in the zone Thursday. The O’s don’t rate high in most statistical categories, but have a surprisingly superb and underrated crop of clubbers.
Mariano Rivera came in to close out the Royals in his usual unplumbed fashion. Mariano’s method makes pitching look easy and his cut fastball seems as un-hittable as ever. Rivera was never rickety against the Royals. His first save was only really a footnote Friday. Mo discarded two KC hitters in the ninth via the strikeout in his only inning of work. Brian Bruney relieved Pettitte prior to Mariano’s entrance in the game. Brian struck out two batters himself in the eighth inning. Bruney and the other Yankee relievers have not allowed a hit since Monday night’s loss in Baltimore. A tantalizing try from the bullpen is important because it will determine close games.
Posada has been the outstanding outlet the team needs at the plate. Yesterday his two RBIs in the first inning planted the seed early. Nick Swisher, the gritty outfielder, added an RBI and Derek Jeter drove in the final Yankee run. Snappy Swisher was less than crisp in the field. Nick botched a Mike Jacobs fly ball to right-center that allowed Billy Butler to score the Royals’ only run.
The dull, offensively-inept Kansas City Royals had a shortened lineup due to the injury to Jose Guillen. Guillen was recently named the highest paid Royal in history. The cold bats were were obvious yesterday afternoon. Save for Billy Butler and Mike Aviles, the Royals showed no signs of swinging for success. Kansas City is average 10 strikeouts per game over their first four of the year. First baseman, Mike Jacobs, was added to the team this winter. Jacobs smacked 32 taters for the Marlins in 2008. David DeJesus displays muscle and now has to bear the burden of a power spot in the order. The team does not have a guy who can draw walks, so it will be difficult for them to get on base with regularity. Jacobs and Guillen can hit for extra bases, but Kansas City’s scoring opportunities are limited to their subpar sluggers.
The Royals’ few opportunities yesterday resulted in unconverted runs. The lineup was stacked with lefties against the southpaw Andy on the mound. Pettitte was imposing on the young opposing lineup. He commanded and located well, and got 0-2 counts on many of the hitters he faced. The 36 year old got them to chase bad pitches and loft lazy popups for easy outs.
Former Yankees, Sidney Ponson and Kyle Farnsworth, were effective enough on the mound. Along with reliever Jamey Wright, the three held New York to four runs in the newly renovated Kaufmann Stadium opener. Ponson is a notorious groundball pitcher and Farnsworth can throw flames, so the score does not surprise. Robinson Cano has been the hottest hitter in the New York lineup. Joe Girardi expects a big year from his second baseman. Chalky Cano can drive the ball and has been a more selective hitter at the plate. He drew a two-out walk in the top of the fifth inning. Ponson then came back to fan Swisher on a corner slider. KC manager, Trey Hillman, yanked Ponson after the sixth inning and 104 pitches. Farnsworth came in and immediately stamped out three Yankee lefties for a one-two-three seventh. Wright’s eight inning saw him picking off Brett Gardner at first base for the second out. Wright was defensively sound on the mound in tackling a Jeter come backer for the third out.
The Royals rotation is not half-bad with Zack Grienke, Gil Meche, Kyle Davies and Ponson. If they can get any production from their everyday players at the plate, I think they will cause some fits. All are pressure pitchers when they bring their best games to the dirt. Horacio Ramirez is the fifth starter and will take the hill against C.C. Sabathia in game two this evening. The team is young and unproven in the field. On defense, the Royals will miss Guillen because they surely have a deficit in the outfield. Guillen was placed only on the 15-day DL, so they won’t have to go without him for long. Guillen is a head case at times, but will be called upon to convey leadership. Alberto Callaspo, made a mistake when he threw out Hideki Matsui at first instead of tagging Johnny Damon and Aviles misplayed a Cano slap up the middle. Neither were errors, but both could have cut the innings short. It seems like such a long time ago Tony Pena was managing this playoff contending club. Now he sits quietly in the Yankee dugout as bench coach. Pena only gets on the Kauffmann Stadium field to provide the umpire his lineup and shake hands after the game.
Parting points: “With or without you” by U2 is turned up load this morning
New York has put together back-to-back worthwhile pitching performances behind Pettitte and A.J. Burnett. The team has gotten length from both starting pitchers and will need the same from Sabathia, Wang and Chamberlain. Burnett harvested his first win during his rehearsal in pinstripes. Burnett demonstrated his capability of crippling the opposition by beating the Baltimore Orioles. His curveball was effective and he threw down in the zone Thursday. The O’s don’t rate high in most statistical categories, but have a surprisingly superb and underrated crop of clubbers.
Mariano Rivera came in to close out the Royals in his usual unplumbed fashion. Mariano’s method makes pitching look easy and his cut fastball seems as un-hittable as ever. Rivera was never rickety against the Royals. His first save was only really a footnote Friday. Mo discarded two KC hitters in the ninth via the strikeout in his only inning of work. Brian Bruney relieved Pettitte prior to Mariano’s entrance in the game. Brian struck out two batters himself in the eighth inning. Bruney and the other Yankee relievers have not allowed a hit since Monday night’s loss in Baltimore. A tantalizing try from the bullpen is important because it will determine close games.
Posada has been the outstanding outlet the team needs at the plate. Yesterday his two RBIs in the first inning planted the seed early. Nick Swisher, the gritty outfielder, added an RBI and Derek Jeter drove in the final Yankee run. Snappy Swisher was less than crisp in the field. Nick botched a Mike Jacobs fly ball to right-center that allowed Billy Butler to score the Royals’ only run.
The dull, offensively-inept Kansas City Royals had a shortened lineup due to the injury to Jose Guillen. Guillen was recently named the highest paid Royal in history. The cold bats were were obvious yesterday afternoon. Save for Billy Butler and Mike Aviles, the Royals showed no signs of swinging for success. Kansas City is average 10 strikeouts per game over their first four of the year. First baseman, Mike Jacobs, was added to the team this winter. Jacobs smacked 32 taters for the Marlins in 2008. David DeJesus displays muscle and now has to bear the burden of a power spot in the order. The team does not have a guy who can draw walks, so it will be difficult for them to get on base with regularity. Jacobs and Guillen can hit for extra bases, but Kansas City’s scoring opportunities are limited to their subpar sluggers.
The Royals’ few opportunities yesterday resulted in unconverted runs. The lineup was stacked with lefties against the southpaw Andy on the mound. Pettitte was imposing on the young opposing lineup. He commanded and located well, and got 0-2 counts on many of the hitters he faced. The 36 year old got them to chase bad pitches and loft lazy popups for easy outs.
Former Yankees, Sidney Ponson and Kyle Farnsworth, were effective enough on the mound. Along with reliever Jamey Wright, the three held New York to four runs in the newly renovated Kaufmann Stadium opener. Ponson is a notorious groundball pitcher and Farnsworth can throw flames, so the score does not surprise. Robinson Cano has been the hottest hitter in the New York lineup. Joe Girardi expects a big year from his second baseman. Chalky Cano can drive the ball and has been a more selective hitter at the plate. He drew a two-out walk in the top of the fifth inning. Ponson then came back to fan Swisher on a corner slider. KC manager, Trey Hillman, yanked Ponson after the sixth inning and 104 pitches. Farnsworth came in and immediately stamped out three Yankee lefties for a one-two-three seventh. Wright’s eight inning saw him picking off Brett Gardner at first base for the second out. Wright was defensively sound on the mound in tackling a Jeter come backer for the third out.
The Royals rotation is not half-bad with Zack Grienke, Gil Meche, Kyle Davies and Ponson. If they can get any production from their everyday players at the plate, I think they will cause some fits. All are pressure pitchers when they bring their best games to the dirt. Horacio Ramirez is the fifth starter and will take the hill against C.C. Sabathia in game two this evening. The team is young and unproven in the field. On defense, the Royals will miss Guillen because they surely have a deficit in the outfield. Guillen was placed only on the 15-day DL, so they won’t have to go without him for long. Guillen is a head case at times, but will be called upon to convey leadership. Alberto Callaspo, made a mistake when he threw out Hideki Matsui at first instead of tagging Johnny Damon and Aviles misplayed a Cano slap up the middle. Neither were errors, but both could have cut the innings short. It seems like such a long time ago Tony Pena was managing this playoff contending club. Now he sits quietly in the Yankee dugout as bench coach. Pena only gets on the Kauffmann Stadium field to provide the umpire his lineup and shake hands after the game.
Parting points: “With or without you” by U2 is turned up load this morning
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