See the Ball, Hit the Ball

If I had a nickel for every time I said some variation of "What are you looking at?" during a baseball game, I'd be a very wealthy man. I mean like Warren Buffet-wealthy.

The Yankees looked like they were dead in the water last night in Boston. But, down 5-0 to the Red Sox, they began to chip away. But they looked and looked and looked at strikes. And, a lot of the pitches they did swing at met nothing but air.

First, J.A. Happ put them in a hole because the "Red Sox killer" didn't show up. When you have two runners on base and J.D. Martinez up, you cannot fall behind 2-0 in the count. Happ did and Martinez destroyed him for a Green Monster-blast and a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning.

Back to the batters...

Giancarlo Stanton's first playoff experience went well in the Wild Card game but no so much last night. Though earning a Golden Sombrero is quite the accomplishment.

One of Stanton's problems, that which was shared by his teammates, was looking at too many strikes. The problem was then exacerbated by the swing and misses, especially those that were for strike three.

The Yankees struck out 13 times in all and despite all the talk of Chris Sale's diminished velocity, he looked just fine out there.

Gleyer Torres shared in Stanton's misery. Down 5-2 with the bases loaded and two outs, Torres waved at a Brandon Workman 80-mph offspeed pitch and ended up down on one as knee as he whiffed. The at-bat epitomized the night for the Yankees. Opportunity knocked and the Yankees didn't answer the door.

Aaron Judge looked like the only who came to play. He had three hits on the night including a solo home run in the 9th to get the Yankees to within one run of the lead.

Teams these days live and die by home runs and strikeouts, and on-base percentage rather than batting average. However, it helps to have a Mookie Betts on your team. While not every team can have a Betts-type, it helps to have a guy who hits well over .300 and K's less than 100 times. It would help the Yankees A LOT!

Positives were few and far between but Lance Lynn, Zach Britton, and David Robertson combined for four scoreless innings to give the Yankees the chance for a comeback.

Here's to better things for Game 2!

Yankees Top Tina Fey and Paul Rudd and the White Sox

"Make another error and next time it'll be hot coffee."

Tuesday night's Yankees-White Sox game had all the makings of a disaster. Hiroki Kuroda was attempting to right his ship after three poor outings in a row and struck out the side in the first inning. The only problem was Alfonso Soriano had played a potential fly out into a double and Eduardo Nunez added to his error total at shortstop. Kuroda worked out of the jam with just one run allowed, but the Yankees already trailed after a half inning. More poor play by Soriano in left field and domination by White Sox starter Chris Sale put the Yankees in a 4-1 hole.

By that time the five human and one furry occupants of our household were watching Admission with Tina Fey and Paul Rudd. A cute movie that was no blockbuster, but enjoyable nonetheless. I had already lambasted Nunez repeatedly in debating his value with my brother. "His bat is not good enough to put up with his defense in the field."  A little later Nunez tried to prove me wrong.

After the credits rolled on the movie, I glanced at Yahoo baseball and was shocked to see Yankees 6 White Sox 4.  The Yankees get all the credit in the world for coming from behind to win another must win game. Robin Ventura should be sent a thank you card for his role in it - he pulled Sale after the star in the making threw 114 pitches. (The people that knocked Ventura need their heads examined - 114 pitches in this day and age is a huge amount.)

Derek Jeter got the ball rolling with a one-out single in the bottom of the 8th and Robinson Cano followed with a double. Ventura ended Sales' night and brought in Nate Jones to face Soriano. The second time around in pinstripes has been fruitful for Soriano, whose bat does make up for his defensive deficiencies. He laced a single back up the middle to cut the White Sox lead to 4-3 and moved to third when Alex Rodriguez followed with a single of his own.

Lefty Donnie Veal replaced Jones to face pinch-hitter Curtis Granderson, but the Grandyman lined a game tying single to center field. Veal struck out Mark Reynolds, but Nunez lined a double to left off right-hander Matt Lindstrom to put the Yankees on top for the first time, 6-4.  Mariano Rivera made quick work of the White Sox with a 12-pitch, 9th inning for his 40th save.

It was a tremendous win, but also a reminder that Nunez cannot, should not, be in the field with such huge importance on every game. With Jayson Nix out, the Yankees should have picked up a Miguel Cairo-type player to spell Jeter in the field and kept Nunez on the bench.

Notes

The time finally arrived - Phil Hughes has been plucked from the rotation and put in the bullpen. David Huff, who has a similar career path to Hughes will take his turn in the rotation against Boston on Saturday. Hughes was tremendous out of the pen for the Yankees in 2009 and the move could mean that Joba Chamberlain gets crazy glued to the bullpen bench in close games.

Girardi told the media that he will use the off-season to try to get Rivera to return next year. The odds are slim to none.  Rivera is a man of his word and the "retirement tour" that has taken place would seem disingenuous.

The Yankees first run came on a double steal. A hit and a pair of Chicago errors put Vernon Wells on third and Nunez on first. Nunez broke for second on Sales' delivery and catcher Josh Phegley fired towards second. Wells broke for home and scored when second baseman Gordon Beckham cut the ball off in front of the bag, but made a throw to the wrong side of home plate.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Nunez became the first non-Jeter shortstop since Randy Velarde (1995) to drive in the game winning run in the 8th inning or later.