Game #99 Recap

July 28, 2009 by Jason@IIATMS

[This game recap was provided by Tamar Chalker as her second "tryout" for the IIATMS daily recap writer.]

After a phenomenal homestand that catapulted the Yankees into first place, the Pinstripes showed no signs of slowing down in the first game of their first road trip since the break. This series against the Rays could prove to be crucial, as third place Tampa Bay is still within striking distance.

AJ started off a little rough, walking Crawford and who got to third when AJ’s check throw flew past Teixeira (perhaps he had just heard the rumor about the Yankees trading for Arroyo that sure made me want to throw things). Burnett did settle down and was virtually untouchable through 7 innings. The Yankee bats woke up in the second inning, which started with a single by Matsui, a double by Posada and a triple by Cano, and ended with the Bombers up 3-0. Back-to-back homers by Cano and Swisher in the sixth would stretch the Yankees lead to 5-0, until AJ gave up an unearned run, thanks to a strikeout/passed ball that put Upton on first. With the Yankees up 7-1 in the 8th, Girardi called on Albaladejo. He struggled, giving up 2 more runs and had to be replaced by Robertson with 2 people on. Robertson got the strikeout and the Bombers held the lead at 7-3. With two outs in the top of the ninth Swisher smacked his second HR of the game, followed a few batters later by Johnny Damon’s 3 run shot. Robertson came out in the bottom of the ninth to finish the job and he picked up his first career save–in a game where the final score was 11-4. Sometimes timing is everything

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Thumbs Down:

Albaladejo: In .2 innings pitched he gave up 2 hits, 2 runs and a walk. He also hit Longoria with a pitch. Albaladejo wasn’t helped by Upton’s grounder down the third baseline, which appeared to take a funky hop off third and over A-Rod’s head for a double.

Runners In Scoring Position: While the final score may make this hard to believe, the Yankees were 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

Team LOB: The Yankees stranded 10 batters on base. In fact, the ninth inning was the first inning where the Yankees did not leave a batter on base – thank you Johnny Damon.

Thumbs Up:

AJ Burnett: When the Yankees signed Burnett in the off-season Yankee fans were mixed, particularly given his age, injury history and the crazy cash he is banking. Time will tell if he was worth the investment, but right now I don’t think you’ll hear any complaints. AJ picked up his 10th win, pitched 7 innings, gave up 2 hits, 1 run (unearned), 2 walks, and had 5 strikeouts. According to a Pete Abe tweet, AJ’s ERA in his last seven starts is 1.68!

Swisher: Homeruns from both sides of the plate for the ninth time in his career. He also managed not to trip over anything in the outfield, which is always a plus.

Cano: Robbie was on fire from the start today. He tripled, homered and walked twice.

Jeter: The Captain was 3-5 with 2 runs. He’s batting .325 this season and playing some fantastic defense.

Questions:

What was that sign again? Cano or Melky missed a sign in the fourth, which resulted in Cano being caught stealing by a mile. Perhaps Cano would have had a chance if he hadn’t paused half way to second to give the “what’s going on?” look.

Bullpen: Obviously, Hughes was unavailable and Mo was only going to come in if he was needed. I thought today would have been the perfect time to give Melancon some time. I understand they want to be careful with him, but he hasn’t made it into a game since July 10th. If they aren’t going to use him, why is he not getting some innings down in Scranton?

Congratulations:

Johnny Damon: His only hit of the night was his 200th career homerun!

David Robertson: He stopped the bleeding in the eighth and got through the ninth for his first major league save.

A-Rod: Happy 34th Birthday! He was a couple feet shy of a Birthday Bomb and had some words with the home plate ump, who seemed to have a tall strike zone, but he still got a double and 2 RBIs.

After the game, Damon said that this team has the best chemistry and talent of any team he’s played on. Obviously, he knows that will make the Yankees fans happy (particularly because that means the Red Sox of ’04 were not as good/cool right?), but it is believable with the way they are playing each night. Hopefully, they keep it going tonight when CC Sabathia takes on Scott Kazmir.

 
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