Game 55: Rays at Yankees
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 05, 2009 
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YANKEES (32-22)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Cervelli C
Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (5-3, 3.46).
RAYS (28-28)
Upton CF
Crawford LF
Aybar 3B
Pena 1B
Zobrist 2B
Dillon DH
Navarro, C
Kapler RF
Brignac SS
Pitching: LHP David Price (1-0, 3.00).
TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m., YES.
STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees have won six of eight, seven of 10 and 17 of 22. They are in a dead heat with Boston for first place in the division.
ABOUT THE RAYS: Tampa is four games back and at .500 despite a +48 run differential. The Rays have won three straight. The Yankees are 2-3 against the Rays this team. The Yankees are 0-2 against the Rays at home, losing twice in April.
TEX’S MESSAGE: Mark Teixeira is 34 of 84 with 19 runs scored, 10 doubles, nine homers and 30 RBI over the last 21 game.
THAT’S CC AS IN CLEARLY CRUISING: Sabathia is 4-0, 2.08 in his last five starts. He has allowed only 26 hits in his last 39 innings while striking out 32.
PRICE IS RIGHT: The 23-year-old has a 2.35 ERA in 23 major league innings and had fanned 29. This cat is the Real Deal. He has velocity, command, versatility and thinks the game through. Price had a pedestrian 3.97 ERA in Triple-A Durham over eight starts, probably because he was bored. He has fanned 17 in nine innings in the majors this season. The Yankees have a little experience against him.
DESPERATE HOUSE-RAYS: Man, that was corny. Anyway, the Rays are without Evan Longoria, who has a hamstring issue.
WEATHER REPORT: We know, it’s raining. The tarp is on the field. If and when a decision is announced, we will post it. With the Rays a little beat up, the Yankees will want to play. The teams do have a mutual day off Sept. 10, which could coincide with Tampa’s next trip to New York. But the Yankees already have filled one day off in September.
Here’s hoping they play. CC-Price is a great matchup and Tampa is a fun team to watch. Upton and Crawford are two of my favorite players. We shall see what happens.
Stay tuned. Back with more later.
are they really playing?
Nice post.
I hope they play.
They always talk about the great drainage system at the stadium.
Judging by how they made is play that Boston game when it was pouring, it wouldn’t surprise me if they made us play today too.
“Alex
August 7th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Although it looked “good,” he is NOT going to be a savior. There were at least 3 or 4 fastballs that he missed by a severe amount, including the one to Rios, and the one that Wells popped out to left. That explains why he looked a bit unhappy upon leaving the mound. He’ll do pretty well because he throws so hard, but don’t expect him to be as good as Zumaya was last year. He’ll put up somewhere around a 3.3 era, and probably be a good 7th inning guy. I’d still rather have Vizcaino in the 8th. Down the line, he’ll be ridiculously good, but right now there are a few chinks in the armor.”
funny..no?
There’s no way they’re gonna play tonight. If they do, the entire game will be through rain. Fun. I’m supposed to go tonight too.
what happened to all the interesting tidbits…nothing of note in today match up?
Rishi, he needs time to decide what to post I think.
If today is rained out, just play a doubleheader tomorrow. I don’t know why MLB has moved away from double headers. I think they are great. And yes, you end up with tired players after wards, but hey – these guys are making millions. Tell them to suck it up and play ball!!
Anyone check out MLBTR?
They quote an article from Olney that says Boston and Atlanta are in “talks” about Penny.
Then there is a quote from an MLB.com writer shortly after saying a source told him that Atlanta has no interest in Penny.
Kind of funny how Olney is doing the Sox bidding. Same thing with the Nick Johnson/V-Mart rumors.
those 3 loses we did not have tex hitting and arod in the line up and melky was not playing we will sweep and turn our attention to boston for a massacre
via wfan
posada dh’ing cervelli catching all else is status quo
No way this game gets played
If it does, it will be in miserable conditions.
Um Penny hasn’t been great.
I’ll start a stupid rumor for Onley to run with. Nate Mclouth for Brad Penny.
Yanks line up from wFAN, if I heard it right:
Jeter
Damon
Teixeira
Rodriguez
Posada (DH)
Cano
Swisher
Cabera
Cervelli.
Laura: Doubleheaders are logistical nightmares since they don’t do single admission double headers any more.
Never mind how hard it is for the players to play two; in terms of Stadium logistics it’s horrible since you have to get everyone out of the stadium and in again.
Instead of worrying about the Games #2, 3 and 4 of the Devil Rays series or Boston series, start looking at the game today…..with the requisite whining of course.
The rain is going to be gone by time the game starts. There’s noting behind the current storm. So the game will likely be played.
I’m saying 3-2 Yanks, Price seven, gives up 3, CC 8, gives up both runs.
http://yes.mlblogs.com/archive.....eling.html
The fact that the Yankees are 32-22 and tied for first place is nice enough. How they continue to find ways to win along with an unshakable confidence that there’s always a chance to win is one of the remarkable storylines of the season. Even during an eventual loss Wednesday night, cameras caught A.J. Burnett gesturing to his teammates, “That’s one,” after Jorge Posada’s seventh-inning home run trimmed the Yankees’ deficit from three to two.
There’s an amazing vibe around the team that has carried over to every game. Melky Cabrera’s eighth-inning heroics on Thursday led the Yankees to their league-leading 19th come-from-behind victory and it was the second time they rallied from down at least four runs.
“I think our club feels that we could come back at any time,” said Joe Girardi. “Sometimes when we don’t get it done we feel like, ‘Wow, we didn’t get it done.’ There is confidence in that clubhouse. Keep us close and give us a chance.”
***I LOVE this feeling of confidence that the Yankees have, the belief that they can overcome any deficit (and I saw AJ’s gesture, lol) It doesn’t matter if they actually win the game or not – each time they come back in some form, it’s just more fuel for their fire. The talent is unquestionable on this team, but a lot of teams have talent (well, not like the Yankees, but still…) – this team has talent and guts. They have bonded so well – I find it hard to separate their performance from their togetherness because I do believe the latter has a lot to do with it.
I hope the game is played.
With all the conflicting reports I guess we’ll learn come game time, huh?
Trevor: the rain’s not supposed to clear until near midnight.
What a terrible lineup
Matsui has CRUSHED the ball lately. Why would you take him out of the lineup?
“Never mind how hard it is for the players to play two; in terms of Stadium logistics it’s horrible since you have to get everyone out of the stadium and in again.”
Perhaps, but in my mind, it’s better for the players because they don’t lose future days off.
Anybody see my prev. link about the Yankee stadium spirits?
“Matsui has CRUSHED the ball lately. Why would you take him out of the lineup?”
The guy has two bad knees. He can’t play everyday.
Price is a stud
He has 17 strikeouts in 9 innings this year. Be patient and take him out of the game.
Will the game be played tonight? It’s raining.
and there goes the first post pissing and moaning about the lineup.
http://deepinthered.mlblogs.co.....t-pie.html
An article from Jerome Preisler’s blog. My favorite part is Melky and the spirits.
I like it. Say hi to the spirits for me Melky.
I was lucky enough to witness the spirits in action. Johnny’s walk off.
I could just see the ghost of Mickey Mantle swinging the bat with him.
We’ve already given up 2 off-days late in the season… to make up the Oakland and Angels games.
I highly doubt they want to give up another one. Late in the season when we are in the stretch run, those days off will be very valuable to give our older players a breather.
Betsy
June 5th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
***I LOVE this feeling of confidence that the Yankees have, the belief that they can overcome any deficit. It doesn’t matter if they actually win the game or not – each time they come back in some form, it’s just more fuel for their fire. The talent is unquestionable on this team, but a lot of teams have talent (well, not like the Yankees, but still…) – this team has talent and guts. They have bonded so well – I find it hard to separate their performance from their togetherness because I do believe the latter has a lot to do with it.
————————————————————
As fun and good as the late inning comebacks are to watch, I’d prefer a string of 10 wire-to-wire wins.
“Trevor: the rain’s not supposed to clear until near midnight.”
Can someone explain why in this day and age, the weatherman (who are paid a fortune by the way) can’t agree on what the weather is supposed to be? Isn’t this close to an exact science? Don’t they have machines and meters that tell them the weather? I cannot understand why they get the weather wrong as often as they do.
Recently, I checked weather.com for Chicago’s weather. It said 68 with some clouds. Guess what the weather was that day? It was 50 and all clouds. How could they be almost 20 degrees off? Very frustrating.
SJ, Since leaving The Braves, Dayton Moore has done a great job in KC, so if Tony does go there he’ll be in a very solid deveopment program…..MacPhail is building quite an organization in Baltimore as his restoration plan is almost there….If Tyler does go there he’ll get to AA within less than 2 years…..Tyler is a very level headed kid and has the tool set to do well, as long as he’s not rushed to the bigs….In many ways he remind me of Phil when he was in HS, very balanced and mature as a Prep star….Phil was getting ink since he was 14 & was a reconized name by the time he hit Foothill HS….Basically he’s been dealing with expectations for a long time….
jennifer
June 5th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
“Um Penny hasn’t been great.”
I don’t hear anyone saying Penny is great, but even with an ERA of over 5.6 he still has a record of 5-1.
He is considered the fourth or fifth starter and at this point in the season I will take a 5-1 record all day long.
Rain in Scranton stopped about an hour ago and I think this storm was moving West to East.
If they do play game, the conditions will be like that Boston game that started at 9:30 when it was still raining.
Not going to clear till midnight.
“Tampa is four games back and at .500 despite a +48 run differential.”
Think they’re actually 5 back. 6 in the AILC.
Was fascinated by the +48 and took a deeper look. Rays have won six games by 9 or more runs and another five by 6-8 runs. Problem for the Rays is they still only count as 1 win each. They are an AL worst 6-11 in one run games.
Laura: Stadium logistics are much more important than how the players feel.
That two hour rain delay against Boston nearly started a riot.
I have to say, I really liked seeing how Swisher hit in the #2 hole. It also makes sense from a standpoint that he takes a lot of pitches and so many of his at bats go to full counts. I think a lineup as follows could be interesting-
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Damon LF
A-Rod 3B
Teixiera 1B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Gardner/Melky CF
Personally I don’t care how they win as long as they do it.
They can win ten-0, 20-19, 1-0…whatever. Just so long as they get the W.
This isn’t college football. We’re not awarded for style points.
What a terrible lineup
Matsui has CRUSHED the ball lately. Why would you take him out of the lineup?
________
If you havn’t notice there is a left hander called David Price Pitching tonight and he has and average of over 17 Ks per 9 start. and since when is:
Jeter
Damon
Teixeira
Rodriguez
Posada (DH)
Cano
Swisher
Cabera
Cervelli.
a bad lineup?
You really think Matsui stands a chance against a guy like Price?
This entire lineup is probably going to look like little leaguers against him the first time around anyway. And we need Cervelli there to control the running game.
NYY is going to load as many right handed hitter in against Price as they can. Only the two left handed full timers are playing and if they had right handed hitters that good that played 2nd and left field, they’d be playing, too.
Laura: the butterfly effect/chaos theory. a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can create a hurricane off the coast of Africa. Weather has an unpredictability. You can get good, but you can’t get perferct.
The problem with this storm isn’t that it’s moving west to east, it’s also moving south to north–the same rain that just killed DC this week.
The good news is that it’s also hitting Boston.
CC has been our best starter as far as controlling the running game
Why would you waste Cervelli in this game?
Joba and Burnett have been run on like crazy, you need Cervelli for them more than you do for CC.
“I think a lineup as follows could be interesting-”
No way. You gotta leave Tex in front of A-Rod. You’ve seen first hand the effect it’s had so far.
“Matsui has CRUSHED the ball lately. Why would you take him out of the lineup?”
You are expecting a 50 year old Matsui to hit a lefty throwing 95+? Good luck on that one…
This is one of the most interesting seasons I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience first hand.
“The good news is that it’s also hitting Boston.”
Any chance it washes Boston into the ocean?
WE’ll figure out whether we play around game time, it’s useless debating until then.
I have a feeling Price won’t be so good today. His command has been on the fritz so far this year.
CC has been our best starter as far as controlling the running game
Why would you waste Cervelli in this game?
Joba and Burnett have been run on like crazy, you need Cervelli for them more than you do for CC.
_____________
Joe probably thinks this is going to be a close game or a rain shorten game so every run is important, and also it’s a cold damp day why would you let your 37 year old catcher that just came off the DL catch.
CLE just demoted Carmona. What happened to that guy?
Laura – Win together, strike out alone!
June 5th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
“I think a lineup as follows could be interesting-”
No way. You gotta leave Tex in front of A-Rod. You’ve seen first hand the effect it’s had so far.
***
Thats the only hitch in my brilliant line-up plan. LOL. But I think that Tex behind him does offer the best protection out of everyone on the team. And I think Damon in front of A-Rod could be lethal
They look like they have talent and guts because they are winning. If we were losing, none of this would be mentioned. And they are winning because unlike in years past, they have a very good rotation.
The 07 team played .800 baseball to make the playoffs and rally from 10 games behind in the WC in July to make the playoffs. They showed a tremendous amount of “heart”, didn’t they?
The 06 team swept Boston 5 straight and won 97 games.
The 05 team surged in the 2nd half and clinched the division in Fenway.
Did those team lack “guts” just because they didn’t have jokers on the team? It looks good now because we are winning, but if we miss the playoffs by a game, I doubt anyone cares about AJ and his pies.
CLE just demoted Carmona. What happened to that guy?
_______________
Can we trade Veras for him
?
Looking at Carmona’s and CC’s numbers in CC’s Cy Young year I didn’t get why Carmona didn’t win the Cy Young.
They look like they have talent and guts because they are winning. If we were losing, none of this would be mentioned. And they are winning because unlike in years past, they have a very good rotation.
The 07 team played .800 baseball to make the playoffs and rally from 10 games behind in the WC in July to make the playoffs. They showed a tremendous amount of “heart”, didn’t they?
The 06 team swept Boston 5 straight and won 97 games.
The 05 team surged in the 2nd half and clinched the division in Fenway.
Did those team lack “guts” just because they didn’t have jokers on the team? It looks good now because we are winning, but if we miss the playoffs by a game, I doubt anyone cares about AJ and his pies.
_________
Agreed
PAT M, I asked you, SJ and Randy (who’s more interested in making a living than hanging out with us) about the unusually high number of catcher’s interference calls that Austin Romine had had in his 80 games as a pro catcher, with stands at 7 or 8, now. The passed balls (25 in those 80 games) are a real problem. SJ thinks that it’s slow feet, that you and I both talked about. Why would cause that besides being too close to the hitter. I thought that it would get to the low pitches before they hit in the dirt.
“The Rays would probably prefer waiting for that Sept. 10 common off-day.”
Then by all means, let’s play tonight.
Way to kill the good mood, Leo.
I sometimes think that people put chemistry and feel good stories above actual winning. Or they feel so warm and fuzzy about the dynamics of the clubhouse that they ignore the underlying cause of why we’re winning.
If this team had a bunch of corporate stiffs on the team, they would still be where they are because they have a tremendous rotation and a great offense.
I say way to kill the good mood, but I agree that chemistry is overrated. Stil, nice that they’re gelling.
GB, I don’t doubt the team would like that as well……but nonetheless, it’s nice to have the knowledge in your back pocket that no deficit is too large to come back from.
For a really good offensive team, it’s odd that the Yankees don’t have many blowouts……..their SP and hitting sometimes don’t click on the same nights and then their pen starts to give away runs even with a big lead.
Leo – You are right.
If we had Rasner/Ponson in the rotation again this year, we’d be a .500 team despite having personality.
If you look at what we were throwing out at the end of last year compared to our rivals, you could say we overachieved.
“Can we trade Veras for him
?”
Actually, both of them are equally horrible so far this year. Not sure what the point of that trade would be.
The thing about Carmona that’s worth noting is that he’s a power sinker type pitcher.
Like someone else we know.
@YankeesWFAN says Yankees game has been postponed.
francesca is an idiot
Please don’t start Wang in Fenway
He can start against the Mets but not against the Sox. Let Hughes start
According to Murti’s twitter… its postponed.
New thread.
Cervelli? Defensive move to stop base stealing?
Who’s putting chemistry above talent? I, for one, have always said that talent trumps anything else…….hey, Leo didn’t throw any cold water on me. I’m enjoying this team more than I have in a long time……..yes, even including the most recent playoff teams.
Game officially cancelled
The chemistry issue is one that could be debated until the cows come home; just like the Joba to the pen issue. Everyone has their opinion on it. I side with the chemistry matters position, but I don’t think it has a major impact, but a small one. It may lead to a handful of wins, but overall, the reason we are doing so well is that we finally have a decent starting rotation. Good pitching is going to lead to good chemistry.
If the Yanks are holding out Matsui because of Price that’s a pretty deafitist attitude. He’s got hamstring problems and its raining, I think would be the reason
GB, I remember umping ( bases )an El Toro HS game when he was a JR. and he was called for interference & it wasn’t an isolated case….I think that was a trait / promblem that he’s had since then…You & I agree that his foot work is an issue, at least when I last saw him play at the Prep level..Great arm, and an outstanding hitter….With A-Rod a fixture @ 3rd, he needs to be shagging flies……
Game Called.
New Post——————>
i’ve barely seen rain all day here.
could be because i don’t have windows in my office though.
it was nice on the drive in. kind of a mist/drizzle when i was out for lunch.
sad the game was called. just looked at radar and it sure looked like it would clear up, along with the forecast…
These are the Rays. I want to see Cervelli in all 3 games. I don’t care who DH’s.
“PAT M, I asked you, SJ and Randy (who’s more interested in making a living than hanging out with us) about the unusually high number of catcher’s interference calls that Austin Romine had had in his 80 games as a pro catcher,”
gb7-
that’s it . i’m withholding a portion of my taxes as a protest to having it go to you to goof off.
so romine has a problem with catcher’s interference. maybe he’s cheating up too quick on stolen bases or just simply getting too close to the plate. it’s odd though to have that many. you hardly ever see it.
i got good at ticking a hitter’s back swing while they were waiting for a pitch. the ump misses it usually( i never got caught doing it) , but it totally throws the hitter off. the only downside is he’s the one with the bat in his hand
a high number of past balls is probably because of too much ole-ing the ball(especially on the backhand) and not having good footwork and getting the body in front of the ball.
a good defensive catcher should be able to block most balls in the dirt without a mitt. it has to become second nature to use your chest to knock the ball down on bounces.
there’s also a point where you have to make a decision to flip your mitt down. you automatically lose the strike call when you do it, so many catchers get in the bad habit of riding the mitt all the way to the ground before flipping or they don’t flip at all.
if romine is doing that it’d be easy to see. going to a catchers left can be tricky too. you can ride your arm out to the left without turning your elbow and the mitt only to a point and if you try to go further you get stuck in no man’s land and can simply miss pitches.
again, once you flip the mitt you lose any ability to frame the pitch and the ump will call it a ball. it’s just a lot of practice knowing when to flip the mitt and having a good catching coach doesn’t hurt.