Girardi's Choice Of Joba Seals the Deal

Joba's fist pumping days are a distant memory.

The Yankees have a worn out bullpen, no one is questioning that. What is being questioned is why Joe Girardi continues to call on Joba Chamberlain in crucial situations. Thursday night the one time phenom quickly turned a 3-1 deficit into a 6-1 blowout that was punctuated by an Adam Lind 3-run home run. Final score, Toronto Blue Jays 6 Yankees 2.

It was another devastating loss in a devastating season. With Texas and Tampa Bay on the verge of a four game split, the Yankees have found themselves running in place while the Orioles and Indians inch closer to reeling in one of the wild card teams. The Yankees now sit three back of Texas (four in the loss column) and four behind the Rays (five in the loss column). Cue Frank Sinatra singing, "the end is near". Except, Girardi should not have done it "his way".

Obviously it wasn't all Chamberlain's doing; Hiroki Kuroda once again looked 68 instead of 38. He "held" Toronto to three runs in six innings, but it could have been a lot worse considering he gave up eight hits and walked four.  The Yankees offense sputtered again with journeyman Todd Redman looking like a Cy Young candidate. The 28-year old has beaten the Yankees twice in the last three weeks.

But with the game on the line, with a lead still in reach, Girardi pushed the wrong button...again. A quick look at Joba just since August 1, shows that the Yankees were better off bringing in anyone from the bullpen other than Chamberlain.

8/2 - Entered with Yankees down 5-2 to San Diego; turns it into a 6-2 game. Final score, Padres 7-2

8/10 - Entered with Yankees down 6-2 to Detroit; two on and one out. Gave up 3-run home run to Torii Hunter to put game out of reach. Final score, Tigers 9-3

8/15 - Entered with Yankees down 7-1 to Angels; gave up back to back hits to make it 8-1. Final score, Angels 8-4

8/16 - Entered with Yankees up 10-3 on Boston; loaded the bases in the 9th. Girardi has to go to David Huff for the final out. Final score, Yankees 10-3

9/1 - Entered with Yankees down 4-3 to Baltimore; two men on with one out. Allowed 3-run home run to Adam Jones. Final score, Orioles 7 Yankees 3

9/5 - Entered with Yankees and Red Sox tied 8-8 in the 10th inning. Gave up a pair of hits including Shane Victorino game winning single. Final score, Red Sox 9 Yankees 8

9/6 - Entered with Yankees trailing Red Sox 10-8 in the 8th inning. Intentionally walked David Ortiz, threw a wild pitch, unintentionally walked Mike Napoli, walked Daniel Nava to force in a run, and allowed RBI single to Stephen Drew. Final score, Red Sox 12 Yankees 8

Chamberlain has spent much of the year extending the other team's lead or diminishing the Yankees lead. Brian Cashman made a huge mistake in not giving Chamberlain away for whatever he could get. The Yankees will make no qualifying offer to Chamberlain, which means they will not receive a draft pick when the one-time three digit thrower leaves via free agency after this season.

Yankees Go Down With a Fight

Yankees Show Fight, But Lose

Written for Baseball Digest Online

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Adam Lind • Jesse Carlson • Jorge Posada • Roy Halladay • Sergio Mitre • Toronto Blue Jays • Travis Snider • Yankees 9/15 recap • Yankees vs. Blue Jays

The final score was lopsided with the Yankees on the wrong end, but the Bronx Bombers showed plenty of fight in last night’s 10-4 loss. Reacting to Mark Melancon hitting Aaron Hill with a pitch, the Blue Jays Jesse Carlson threw behind Jorge Posada in the 8th inning. Posada quickly told Carlson and catcher Rod Barajas that “You don’t want to be doing that”. The benches emptied, but order was quickly restored, both sides were warned, and played resumed.

But when Posada scored on Brett Gardner’s double, he threw an elbow in Carlson’s direction and was immediately ejected. The two mouthed off to one another, then went at each other as the benches again emptied. When it was all over, Carlson was sporting a large knot on his forehead and had been ejected, and Joe Girardi had a cut on his ear thanks to a wild swing from Blue Jays infielder John McDonald. It was no small coincidence that McDonald had been hit by Melancon earlier this season. There was a bit of comic relief too, provided by scrawny Edwar Ramirez, who restrained the beefy Barajas.

The game itself wasn’t much of a contest after the Yankees had taken an early 2-0 lead against Doc Halladay. Sergio Mitre was pounded by the Jays for four of the five home runs they hit on the night. Travis Snider, especially stood out, hitting a pair of bombs into the second deck in right field. Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion also took Mitre deep and Jose Bautista added a late home run against reliever Mike Dunn.

The Yankees had 11 hits against Halladay, who wasn’t at the top of his game, but still good enough for his third victory against the Yankees this season. Gardner and Derek Jeter singled in runs in the 2nd inning, but the Yankees couldn’t anything after that until the final two innings when they added a run in each frame.

Game Notes

Both Posada and Carlson were suspended 4 games by Major League Baseball.

The Game - April 11

The Orioles nearly blew a 5-1 lead last night to the Rays, but hung on for a 5-4 win. It snapped 12 game losing streak to Tampa Bay.

It wasn't his head, but John Maine was hurting after taking a comebacker off his shin in last night's Mets loss to the Marlins. Florida is 4-0.

Indians fans had to endure a 4 hour rain delay that began in the fifth inning. What made it worse was the Blue Jays eventual 13-7 win. It's the first time since 1985 that Cleveland is 0-4 to start the season. Adam Lind drove in 4 runs in the game for Toronto and now has 11 RBI.

Miguel Cabrera tied a career high with 6 RBI in the Tigers 15-2 pounding of the Rangers. Kris Benson had a very unsuccessful return to the majors- 7 earned runs in 5 innings.

The Phillies have to be concerned after ace Cole Hamels allowed 7 runs in 3+ innings yesterday. Needless to say, the Phillies lost (10-3).

Joe Crede said take that yesterday in his return to Chicago. The Twins third baseman homered off former teammate Jose Contreras, who was making his first appearance since August 9 of last season (Due to Achilles surgery).

Props to Jered Weaver and the Angels, who went out and beat the Red Sox 6-3 last night. It was their game since the tragic death of Nick Adenhart.

Highs and Lows of Opening Day

While CC Sabathia and the Yankees would like to forget their opening day, they aren't the only ones.

It wasn't a good day for the aces:

Reigning CY Young Award winner Cliff Lee was tagged for 7 runs in 5 innings.

Tigers #1 starter Justin Verlander gave up 8 runs in 3.2 innings (and killed my fantasy team)

Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay won, but gave up 5 runs in 7 innings.

NL CY Young runner up Brandon Webb allowed 6 earned runs in 4 innings.


But it wasn't all bad.

The King, Felix Hernandez, allowed one run over 8 innings in the Mariners 6-1 win over the Twins.

Carlos Zambrano looked dynamite in his 6 innings of work in the Cubs 4-2 victory over the Astros.

Joe Saunders tossed 6.2 innings of 3-hit ball as the Angels blanked the A's 3-0.

Kevin Millwood tossed 7 innings of 5 hit ball as the Rangers crushed the Indians 9-1.

Hiroki Kuroda out pitched Jake Peavy as the Dodgers dropped the Padres 4-1.


The Hitting Heros

Arizona's Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark became just the second teammates, joining the Yankees Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada, to homer from each side of the plate. They also became the first teammates to perform the feat on opening day. (Are we the only ones who think of that unfortunate ground-rule double by Tony Clark in the 2004 ALCS, every time TC's name is mentioned?)

Toronto's Adam Lind had 4 hits and drove in a career high 6 runs. His big game included a home run.

Marlins' superstar shortstop Hanley Ramirez belted a grand slam and drove in 5 runs. Guess he got over having to get his hair cut.

Ken Griffey Jr. homered in his return to Seattle. That's 612 and counting.


The much anticipated debuts

The Mets new bullpen shone immediate. J.J. Putz pitched a scoreless eight inning, setting things up for Francisco Rodriguez's first "thank the big guy upstairs afterwards" save.

Jason Giambi went 0-3 for Oakland. Bobby Abreu was 1-4 in LA. Milton Bradley was 0-3 for Chicago. Pudge Rodriguez was 0-4 for Houston.


Are we a jinx?

Yesterday we picked CC Sabathia (12.46 ERA) for AL CY Young, Mark Teixeira (0-4) for AL MVP, and Jason Motte (1 IP 4 ER Blown Save, Loss) for NL Rookie of the Year.


It's a new day

Plenty more games on tap today, with the Royals-White Sox and Rays-Red Sox making up postponed openers.

Yankees vs. Blue Jays - 8/19

The Yankees already had their work cut out for them before they arrived in Toronto. Now they have to face Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett as part of a three game series. Things get underway tonight at the Rogers Centre with Darrell Rasner squaring off against Burnett.

Rasner, for the moment, is back in the rotation due to the rotator cuff tendinitis that befell Dan Giese. Rasner pitched well in his last start, but like most of his pitching teammates, he lost, 4-2, due to a lack of run support.

Burnett has put together a 15-9 mark, despite a 4.67 ERA. However, he has excelled against the Yankees in his career, going 5-2, 2.85 in eight starts. He defeated the Yankees, 4-1 on, July 13, and struck out eight in 8.1 innings pitched.

Andy Pettitte faces rookie David Purcey on Wednesday, and the series concludes on Thursday with Sidney Ponson going against Halladay.

The Blue Jays have won 9 of 13, including 5 of their last 6 contests. They swept the Red Sox over the weekend, winning two games with a third rained out. They trail the third place Yankees by just two games.

The Blue Jays have gotten good pitching all season, but have begun to hit better as well. Vernon Wells missed a month, but recently returned and has driven in nine runs in his last seven games. Alex Rios leads the team in just about every offensive category - average, RBI, runs scored, and stolen bases. The Jays don't hit home runs, Matt Stairs leads the team with just 11.

Second year player Adam Lind is beginning to show the promise expected of him. After hitting just .238-11-46 in 290 at-bats last season, Lind is at .308-8-34 in 186 at-bats. He's also struck out only 28 times.

Strange things happen in Toronto, maybe it's the 7:07 start time. Derek Jeter suffered that devastating shoulder injury back in 2003, and last year there was the infamous Alex Rodriguez "HA" incident. And of course there was the Dave Winfield seagull brouhaha back at old Exhibition Stadium in 1983.

UPDATE 3:33 PM

As expected, Justin Christian was optioned to Scranton to make room for Hideki Matsui's return. Chad Jennings also reports that Jason Lane has been released and will most likely sign a minor league deal with the Red Sox.

Yankees vs. Blue Jays - 8/19

The Yankees already had their work cut out for them before they arrived in Toronto. Now they have to face Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett as part of a three game series. Things get underway tonight at the Rogers Centre with Darrell Rasner squaring off against Burnett.

Rasner, for the moment, is back in the rotation due to the rotator cuff tendinitis that befell Dan Giese. Rasner pitched well in his last start, but like most of his pitching teammates, he lost, 4-2, due to a lack of run support.

Burnett has put together a 15-9 mark, despite a 4.67 ERA. However, he has excelled against the Yankees in his career, going 5-2, 2.85 in eight starts. He defeated the Yankees, 4-1 on, July 13, and struck out eight in 8.1 innings pitched.

Andy Pettitte faces rookie David Purcey on Wednesday, and the series concludes on Thursday with Sidney Ponson going against Halladay.

The Blue Jays have won 9 of 13, including 5 of their last 6 contests. They swept the Red Sox over the weekend, winning two games with a third rained out. They trail the third place Yankees by just two games.

The Blue Jays have gotten good pitching all season, but have begun to hit better as well. Vernon Wells missed a month, but recently returned and has driven in nine runs in his last seven games. Alex Rios leads the team in just about every offensive category - average, RBI, runs scored, and stolen bases. The Jays don't hit home runs, Matt Stairs leads the team with just 11.

Second year player Adam Lind is beginning to show the promise expected of him. After hitting just .238-11-46 in 290 at-bats last season, Lind is at .308-8-34 in 186 at-bats. He's also struck out only 28 times.

Strange things happen in Toronto, maybe it's the 7:07 start time. Derek Jeter suffered that devastating shoulder injury back in 2003, and last year there was the infamous Alex Rodriguez "HA" incident. And of course there was the Dave Winfield seagull brouhaha back at old Exhibition Stadium in 1983.

UPDATE 3:33 PM

As expected, Justin Christian was optioned to Scranton to make room for Hideki Matsui's return. Chad Jennings also reports that Jason Lane has been released and will most likely sign a minor league deal with the Red Sox.