Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Young Pop Guns

The Yankees knew that having an infusion of youth, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy, in the pitching staff would make 2008 a transition year, but they also thought it would make it a successful year. It's been anything, but that.

While Chamberlain continues to excel in his bullpen setup role, Hughes and Kennedy have struggled in the starting rotation. Hughes was on the hill last night and came out on the losing end of a 6-2 game with the Detroit Tigers. To make matters worse the Yankees announced after the game that Alex Rodriguez had been placed on the 15-day DL with a Grade 2 Quad strain.

Hughes had a poor night right from the start, walking lead off man Curtis Granderson. A single by Placido Polanco, a wild pitch, and a single by Magglio Ordonez quickly gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead. The inning epimotized Hughes' night. He had no command and his catcher, the newly called up Chris Stewart, was crossed up several times. (On a side note, why did Joe Girardi start a newbie instead of having Jose Molina catch Hughes and then have Stewart catch a veteran, Andy Pettitte, on Wednesday.)

The Yankees quickly tied the game back in the 2nd on Robinson Cano's 2-run home run, his 2nd of the season, off of Tigers start Kenny Rogers. (Despite the home run Cano has the second lowest batting average among league qualifiers.) But the Tigers jumped right back on Hughes in the 3rd inning.

Granderson blasted a long home run to center field and two batters later, Gary Sheffield hit a 2-run laser into the left field seats for a 5-2 Tigers lead. When Hughes have up a double to Granderson and an RBI single to Polanco in the 4th, Joe Girardi had no choice but to pull his young right-hander.

The Yankees offense, without both A-Rod and Jorge Posada, was anemic at best. Jason Giambi grounded out to end the 1st inning with two men aboard. Rogers walked three straight hitters with two out in the 3rd, but Cano flied out.

In the 8th, they mounted a rally against wild right-hander Denny Bautista. Shelley Duncan drew a lead-off walk, and after Morgan Ensberg and Cano were retired, pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon both walked to load the bases. Bautista hit Derek Jeter with a pitch to force home a run, cutting the lead in half at 6-3. Jim Leyland called on Clay Rapada to face Bobby Abreu and Rapada won out, getting Abreu to bounce into an inning ending force out.

The Yankees had one more chance in the 9th against closer Todd Jones to bring the tying run to the plate. Hideki Matsui drew the 8th walk of the game and moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. Giambi ripped a single down the right field line (it's possible Miguel Cabrera has less mobility than Giambi) to score Matsui. That gave the Yankees three shots with the tying run at the plate. And they failed miserably. Duncan and Ensberg grounded out and Cano struck out on a pitch up in his eyes.

News and Notes

One of the few bright notes on the night was the performance of Ross Ohlendorf who has struggled in the long man role. But last night the Big O threw 3.1 scoreless innings, striking out 5.

No word on who will be recalled to replace A-Rod on the roster. Ensberg and Alberto Gonzalez will split time at 3rd Base.

Gary Sheffield's home run was career #482.

Hideki Matsui at .326 was the only Yankee to appear last night with an average above .290.

April 29, 2008

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit
 2 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0
6 11 1
NY Yankees
 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
4 8 0

DetroitABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Granderson, CF3321201.348
Polanco, 2B5241001.216
Sheffield, DH4112123.164
Ordonez, RF5012003.300
Cabrera, 1B4010001.271
Guillen, 3B3000121.321
Renteria, SS4000021.311
Rodriguez, C4020000.269
Jones, J, LF4000022.185
Raburn, LF0000000.250
Totals3661164813

BATTING
2B: Polanco (3, Hughes), Granderson (2, Hughes), Rodriguez (8, Ramirez).
HR: Granderson (3, 3rd inning off Hughes, 0 on, 0 out), Sheffield (2, 3rd inning off Hughes, 1 on, 0 out).
TB: Granderson 6; Polanco 5; Sheffield 4; Ordonez; Cabrera; Rodriguez 3.
RBI: Ordonez 2 (19), Granderson (5), Sheffield 2 (5), Polanco (7).
2-out RBI: Polanco.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jones, J; Ordonez; Granderson.
GIDP: Cabrera; Ordonez.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
SB: Rodriguez (3, 2nd base off Hughes/Stewart).

FIELDING
E: Jones, J (1, fielding).


NY YankeesABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Damon, CF-LF4010120.274
Jeter, SS4011011.278
Abreu, RF5010014.276
Molina, C0000000.245
Matsui, LF-RF4120100.326
Giambi, DH4011103.171
Duncan, S, 1B2210301.154
Ensberg, 3B4000104.233
Cano, 2B5112025.155
Stewart, C3000010.000
a-Cabrera, PH-CF0000100.289
Totals354848718

a-Walked for Stewart in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Duncan, S (1, Rogers).
HR: Cano (2, 2nd inning off Rogers, 1 on, 1 out).
TB: Damon; Jeter; Abreu; Matsui 2; Giambi; Duncan, S 2; Cano 4.
RBI: Cano 2 (7), Jeter (14), Giambi (12).
2-out RBI: Jeter.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Giambi 2; Cano 3; Ensberg; Abreu 2.
Team LOB: 13.

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Jeter-Duncan, S, Ensberg-Cano-Duncan, S).

DetroitIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Rogers (W, 2-3)6.06224416.75
Seay 1.01000103.00
Bautista 0.20113102.25
Rapada (H, 1)0.10000000.00
Jones, T (S, 5)1.01111102.45

NY YankeesIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Hughes (L, 0-4)3.28663229.00
Ohlendorf 3.11001505.40
Ramirez 1.01000100.00
Hawkins 1.01000007.98

WP: Jones, T, Hughes 2.
HBP: Jeter (by Bautista).
Pitches-strikes: Rogers 101-60, Seay 13-11, Bautista 25-9, Rapada 2-2, Jones, T 15-9, Hughes 82-50, Ohlendorf 46-32, Ramirez 14-10, Hawkins 9-6.
Ground outs-fly outs: Rogers 8-6, Seay 1-1, Bautista 0-1, Rapada 1-0, Jones, T 2-0, Hughes 6-3, Ohlendorf 3-2, Ramirez 0-2, Hawkins 2-1.
Batters faced: Rogers 28, Seay 4, Bautista 6, Rapada 1, Jones, T 5, Hughes 21, Ohlendorf 12, Ramirez 4, Hawkins 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Rapada 3-0, Ohlendorf 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Mark Wegner. 1B: Chad Fairchild. 2B: Rick Reed. 3B: Jeff Kellogg.
Weather: 55 degrees, clear.
Wind: 14 mph, R to L.
T: 3:26.
Att: 49,194.
Posted by Drew Sarver at 8:30 AM
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