Welcome to another session of liveblogging. The last time (Oakland-NYY), it went 13 innings. I hope that does not repeat itself, but I do hope the Yankees winning does.
Read on...
Pregame/Top 1st: John Maine is effective when he throws strikes. Fairly obvious, right? Or at best, worth a mention if there's been recent control problems. Yet, Joe Morgan spends the entire half-inning talking about it.
Jon Miller, thankfully, didn't mince words, calling Bobby Abreu "terrible" at the plate and citing Derek Jeter's reaching base in 39 of 40 games.
It is good to hear the analysis of pitch location to get a feel, especially on Sunday Night Baseball where much of the audience is unfamiliar with the teams. I just hope Morgan doesn't spend the whole game with this.
A-Rod battling Maine's fastball. Takes a pitch right down the plate to end the inning, although they say outside corner. Regardless, a lot more thinking from Alex Rodriguez of late, subsequently causing the slump. Where's that April see-pitch, hit-pitch? C'mon.
Bottom 1st: Jose Reyes is a quick, quick player. And since when did Endy Chavez turn into a superstar? And God bless Damion Easley, somehow staying in the majors.
Is Reyes better than Jeter? You have to throw out age, because obviously you take the younger player. Is Reyes better than Jeet at his age? Very possibly. Tyler Clippard just, for one at-bat, put it back in Jeter's favor. Wicked break.
I think both teams are happy with what they have. Reyes, if he can keep drawing more walks, could be remembered as a great leadoff hitter in an era without any (Lofton and Damon being past their primes). Striking out on three pitches wasn't it, but it's doubtful he knew what to expect from the rookie's first pitches.
The Yankee season may be drawing to a premature end, but even if the rookies and Roger Clemens can't save it, the Yanks have a hell of a collection of pitchers. Darrell Rasner, talent-wise, might be the the 8th or so best guy they've got.
Carlos Beltran -- there's a signing that worked for the Mets, even if he's not the player that carried Houston in 2004. If the Yankees had been willing to cut ties with Bernie earlier, he could have been theirs, but it's not fair to blame them. After all, there were other problems then that haven't really been fixed -- i.e. old players, not enough pitching, terrible fielding.
Top 2nd: Jorge Posada. What a pleasure it is to watch him this year. And I talk about him all the time. Draws a walk. Underrated in that department. He always has an excellent OBP (.377 lifetime).
Now, to a guy who used to have an excellent OBP, Abreu. Worst slugging average in baseball, Miller tells us. Ouch. He does respond to that comment, slapping a single up the middle to lead to swing-happy Robinson Cano.
I'm glad to see Cano at a 2-1 count, but now Morgan gets to talk about Maine's command. I guess it's better to overanalyze that than to rip the Yanks' bats for nine innings.
Just foul! Man. That carried a long way for a slightly defensive swing. He grounds out, but Maine's pitch count is rising. He's at 35 with Mien-whatever batting. He K's, and not being able to play Giambi hurts them badly, as Clippard gets to have his first MLB at-bat with two men on. Wildly late on the first pitch. If you're going to have the designated hitter in but one league, you've gotta alternate DH/no DH in the minors. These guys wouldn't hit much better, but at least they'd look like they've touched a bat since high school.
Alas, a strikeout, backwards-facing K on the scorecard. Scoreless.
Bottom 2nd: The Mets are a damn good team. Every position is solid, even when they are a bit old in spots (poor Julio Franco starting to show a little age, for instance). They also seem to have a wealth of leadership.
But leadership doesn't do anything against great pitching, and Clippard drops some sweet curves and spot-on fastballs to strike out Delgado. But back on leadership -- there's some sentiment that Jeter doesn't show any. I don't know if I agree -- not every captain gets in people's faces, and no one else seems to help at all.
I got too excited about Clippard, I guess. David Wright clocks a fat pitch (Morgan says it's a changeup), and then Shawn Green turns back the clock to the 1990s with a fan-interference double. He's just got to weather the storm, as it were, and depend upon the offense to help. If they don't, it's not his problem.
There's been a bit of focus on Clippard's inconsistent landing points. I agree that it's odd for that to go unchecked, but if everything but the footplant is consistent, then it might not matter. Another strikeout for the rookie.
The Mets fans are very excited. They should be. Jose Reyes with the bases loaded, even with two outs, is a great situation. Now, it's 3 and 1, and this game could turn bad quickly. Fastball in, fly ball out. Flip of the coin situation, but the Yanks will take it.
Top 3rd: Johnny Damon, the struggling, oft-injured leadoff man, is up.
Random note: For those who saw the fabulous "Office" finale I blabbed on and on about, you'll be familar with Scrutebucks. Well, the website has been taken.
Damon nabbed at first. Wonder if 2005 Damon would have been safe. As Jeter bats, there's more steroid talk, with Cashman saying little and Peter Gammons on to repeat all the rumors already mentioned by Miller and online all day (voiding the contract, MLB investigation, etc.) Morgan questions the timing by Jason Giambi, which is a legitimate point.
And there's 40 of 41 games for Jeter. A double, and he's hit in oh, 999 of his last 1000 games. Actually, it's in neighborhood of 94 of 102 or so. And nice to see a ball down the left-field line. He's an all-fields hitter -- you can't just pound it inside. Speaking of throwing inside, Matsui punched that ball a long way, and Beltran couldn't quite get it. Almost an error, really. He does deke Jeter enough to keep him from scoring -- quite a dance from him on the replay.
Big spot for A-Rod. One out, two in scoring position. Sac fly or groundout RBI is worst-case scenario. Can't strike out. Unless he's thinking too much.
Of course. Thanks, pal. Good pitch, low and away, to make him chase, but still. Maybe Jorge can pick up the slack. Or maybe not. Tyler Clippard, get used to this.
Bottom 3rd: So what's the Mets' fate this year? Without Pedro, the team does have a disadvantage, but Maine has been excellent, and so has Glavine. Sure, the 300-win watch is on, but he's doing it with style, not struggling to the line. Billy Wagner has been excellent sans his brain cramp last night. I think they have to be considered the favorites in the National League -- I know, no big leap, but they are delivering. I know this: nobody wanted to face this team when they were crippled in the NL playoffs last year. So if they're healthier, how feared will they be?
I hadn't realized how much Carlos Delgado is struggling. This is the age (35 this year) for him to decline. He's clearly better than his numbers, but will he be, say, a .300/.420/.600 guy again? Probably not, though the Mets would take his numbers last year (.265/.361/.548). But right now, he's a drag that's being masked.
Top 4th: Bobby Abreu walks, which is good. It's still amazing how, even if it's faulty perception, how he looked so young last year and so old this year. He's a damn good player, and I don't believe he's done. You'd think not having to be the superstar would help, but not this year. And it doesn't help Melky Cabrera, who played every game for more than three months at one point last year and can't seem to adjust to uncertain playing time (among other things).
What is Torre's role, the announcers wonder? I don't know, especially with Abreu. It's tough to tell if it's mental or a physical deterioration, and maybe Bobby doesn't even know.
Good hit-and-run, even if Cano hits right to Wright. That's the old-style baseball people associate with Torre even though he hasn't done that regularly since his Cardinals' day.
Two walks for John Maine, and yet no talk from Joe Morgan about his wildness and/or lack of command. It's all about timing, and right now he's vocally using two left feet. It is nice to hear from Gammons, however, especially after his health scare last year.
Two more men in scoring position, this time for Damon, against a stingy (.128) pitcher in those spots. Clippard's gotta wonder if he's got Mel Stottlemyre timing. But not this time. The Yankees get their first break, it seems, that's not of a bone in weeks. Shawn Green's lack of range is exposed, and two runs score -- both off of walks, for the moment certifying the most-repeated axiom of baseball: walks burn you.
Now, the Captain is up with his .485 .500 RISP average. Just absurd.
WOW. So absurd he's cranking balls in Shea like it's the 2000 World Series. Captain Clutch (just to annoy Yankee haters)!!!! Two balls pulled to the left side after a solid liner to right-center for a first-inning out. Jeter and Delgado are tied in homers now.
Bottom 4th: Clippard is pitching a great game -- definitely with a plan. He's at a pitch pace for five or six, but who cares?
Not much this inning, just strong stuff and more Ks for Clippard. Some hope rising.
Top 5th: More rising, in the form of Posada blasting a ball. Upper deck. It's good to see this urgency, because the Yankees need this win more than the Mets do.
Cano gets thrown out stealing, but what's worse is his jamming his foot into the bag. Not a good habit to get into.
Bottom 5th: Clippard looks like the grizzled vet, except for the giant ears. This year's team has so much optimism with the bright youngsters showing guts amidst so much other disappointment.
Here's the key for the rest of the night -- keep the four-run lead. The Yanks have been atrocious in games of two runs or less. They lose big, yes, but when they win, it's big.
Top 6th: Dougie M. is a joy at first, but painful to watch at the plate. Nothing new, I know. But it gets reinforced.
Here's how bad he is: Tyler Clippard looks more like a hitter than Mient... does.
Andy Pettitte is warming up, unless I totally misread him. Maybe they can just have him pitch every day. He is their best hope. Note: He's pitched 200 innings 8 times, with a high of 240. Interesting to see how close he gets to that 10-year-old high.
Bottom 6th: Nice catch by Damon to start the inning. He always looks like he messed up but somehow stumbled into the catch.
good to see the game calm down, especially when they have the lead. Also good to see an avoidance of beanballs or anything that permeates so many of these rivalries.
Damon gets the final out. It's tough to gauge if his range is good or in sharp decline. Depends on how his body feels that day.
Bottom 6th to Top 9th: Clippard had quite a debut, looking very much in control and dealing well with adversity, particularly in that tough second frame. There's not too much to be excited about otherwise with this win, outside of some decent hitting from Matsui and Abreu. The team needs those two to have a chance of emerging from this hole.
A-Rod slams the bat down after a pop-up in the top of the ninth. Odd timing, especially after hitting a home run his last time up.
At this point, I think I might take Posada out of the game. Up five, with him being unable to get a full day off, giving him an inning off couldn't hurt. On the other hand, he's so hot right now that maybe you want to give him all the at-bats he can get.
I've talked a lot about how this team isn't very good, and the division race is over. I reiterate, though, that the wild card is very much alive, and the Yankees should pretend, even if in a fashion, that they are the 1998 Red Sox. That team was the second-best in the league and the wild card. They also finished 22 games behind the Yankees. They focused on the real goal, which is getting to the postseason.
Mariano Rivera is warming up, and he needs an outing. Miller notes that he hasn't had a save opportunity in 17 days, when he summoned some old magic and saved two in one day. An odd year for him, and you wonder if this will tilt him in any way toward retirement. It's tough to get a read on him.
Bottom 9th: It is a work day, but the Mets fans cleared out quickly nonetheless. Tough to blame them, though; everybody does the same.
Tyler Clippard gets player of the game. Well-deserved, especially with the double added on.
The announcers talk about Mariano being clocked this season. He hasn't really ever been used this sparingly, and it can't help, especially since it seems like he never touches a baseball outside of actual pitching. Five save opportunities is abominable. I'm much more worried about other things than Mo, although I think he perhaps has lost a bit. Given that he hasn't had an ERA of 2.00 or more in four years, it still makes him good.
Lots of talk of the rest of the league. It's a good league, with a lot of talent top to (almost) bottom. Not great for the Yankees to hear, but it does mean that streaking teams are likely to be brought back into the pack by the other quality squads, giving a team like the Yanks to get hot and right back with it. There's optimism, even if some of us don't always convey it loudly enough.
Damion Easley just homered off of Mo. Good at-bat, but it helps the naysayers. Mo's got the ball up a lot as he nears 30 pitches, and that's a sign of not enough work. Worse yet, he's facing Julio Franco, who will make him throw his way out of this one.
Which he does. Phew. Good times. Thanks for reading, if you somehow made it through this.
Labels: Liveblogging, Mets, Yankees
