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A New York Yankees blog by Chad Jennings and the staff of The Journal News


Postgame notes: A helpless feeling for Hughes

Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes on Oct 17, 2010 Print This Post Print This Post | Email This Post Email This Post

ALCS Yankees Rangers BaseballPhil Hughes walked off the mound after the first inning feeling more encouraged than worried. Sure, one run had scored on a double steal, but his fastball was humming in the mid-90s and he was able to spot it on three strikeout pitches.

“I thought my stuff was good,” he said. “I thought I made some good pitches to get out of that inning. After that, something just went wrong.”

Hughes got nine more outs. He allowed 11 more base runners. One was a home run, five were doubles and one was the triple that finally chased him from the game. Hughes had essentially lost everything. First he lost his fastball, then he lost the game.

“I tried to mix in some changeups. It wasn’t there,” Hughes said. “I tried to get my curveball over sometimes and I was bouncing them. The cutter was actually probably my best pitch today, and I tried to lean on that, and then that started flattening out and was over the plate. It is kind of a helpless feeling when you’re trying to at least mix it up a little bit and you just can’t execute what you want to do.”

This was the second day in a row that the Yankees starter got only nine outs. The bullpen was terrific in Texas — nine scoreless innings — but Hughes and CC Sabathia fell apart. Hughes said he eventually figured out that his arm angle was too low, but that was only half the battle. “It’s tough to first of all figure out what it is, and then try to make that adjustment,” he said.

The Yankees left Texas with a split on the road. It’s essentially a five-game series now, and the Yankees have home-field advantage. In the big picture, it wasn’t a bad trip, but it’s hard to look past those shaky starts, if only because they were so very unexpected. 

“Our starters pitched extremely well and everyone was giddy about them the last series,” Joe Girardi said. “I don’t ever get too involved in snapshot pictures because those can be dangerous. I believe in our guys, and I believe that they will pitch well as we continue forward here.”

ALCS Yankees Rangers Baseball• The clubhouse was, obviously, much more reserved than last night. But the same sort of calm that kept the Yankees in Game 1 kept them from panic after Game 2. “We faced two really good starting pitchers,” Mark Teixeira said. “They were dominant. For us to be able to split the way that those two guys pitched, you have to feel confident.”

• All seven relievers pitched during these two games. Joba Chamberlain allowed an inherited runner, but only after he struck out the first two batters he faced. All things considered, the bullpen was outstanding. They gave the Yankees a chance to come back in both games, but there was no rally this time. ”We went in there to get outs,” Sergio Mitre said. “And for a second it almost looked like it was going to happen again.”

• The rally didn’t happen again. The Yankees stranded seven runners in the final four innings. Girardi really tried to spark a rally by pinch hitting last night’s game-winner, Marcus Thames, with two on in the sixth. Thames had a good, nine-pitch at-bat and felt like there were two good pitches to hit, including strike three. “Those are the ones you have to hit,” Thames said. “You can’t miss those.”

• Robinson Cano stranded his share of runners in the late innings, but he also hit his second homer in as many days.

ALCS Yankees Rangers Baseball• I never saw Jorge Posada speaking in the clubhouse and Girardi’s short postgame press conference never touched on the first-inning double steal. The only person I heard talk about it was Derek Jeter who said “yep” when asked if Posada was supposed to throw to second on that play. Ultimately, that’s not what cost the Yankees the game.

• Colby Lewis was very good tonight. Maybe not quite as sharp as C.J. Wilson, but he was good. “To me he didn’t miss any spots,” Teixeira said. “Backdoor curveball. Sliders down and in. Fastballs on the corners. Keeping the ball down. He pitched really well.”

• Why send Hughes back out for the fifth? “He was up in the zone,” Girardi said. “But he was still, you know, he was getting some outs for us, so we decided to stay with him. And then he gives off the lead-off double in the fifth, and we get Joba up. And he struggled today. There is no doubt about it and I expect him to better next time.”

• Any chance of Sabathia on short rest in Game 4? “I just came off the field five minutes ago, and I’m worried about Game 3,” Girardi said. “I don’t get too far ahead. So we’ll worry about Game 3, and if we worry about Game 4 before Game 3, we are going to be in trouble.”

Associated Press photos of Hughes, Cano and Logan

 
 

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75 Responses to “Postgame notes: A helpless feeling for Hughes”

  1. Carl October 17th, 2010 at 12:07 am

    Come on Yanks!

  2. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 12:11 am

    http://riveraveblues.com/2010/.....one-37011/

    The final line is ugly (4 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 WP) but even more infuriating was Hughes’ inability to put batters away with two strikes. Seven (seven!) of Texas’ ten hits off Phil came with two strikes, and he allowed runners to reach scoring position in every inning but the fourth. The Rangers fouled off more than a quarter of his 88 pitches, unsurprising when 68 of those pitches were fastballs. Hughes was absolutely dreadful, worse than Sabathia was the day before. He gave his team basically no chance to win.

  3. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 12:11 am

    Rangers are more than just Lee – Wilson and Lewis are very good. They deserve a ton of credit for getting off the mat and pounding the Yankees.

  4. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 12:16 am

    Eiland couldn’t figure out that his arm angle was too low? It seems like Phil has been having this problem a lot this year. Frankie Piliere said in his recent scouting report that he thinks throwing the cutter is causing this arm angle issue………….Maybe the cutter just isn’t the pitch for him

  5. Carl October 17th, 2010 at 12:18 am

    Lewis went went what 5 2/3 innings? 2 runs?

    That’s very good?

    This loss was more on Hughes than it was how good Lewis was.

    Yankees offense went 1-11 with risp. Pathetic.

    Couple big hits and Hughes pitches halfway decent we win the game.

    No Mercy on that ass in the Bronx. No Mercy.

  6. m October 17th, 2010 at 12:22 am

    He simply didn’t have it today. It happens. Girardi’s comment about not making snapshot judgements are right on.

    Cano and the bullpen keeping the Yankees afloat so far.

  7. Captain Clutch October 17th, 2010 at 12:27 am

    When Hughes is bad it’s the same stuff that gets him everytime. It’s kind of funny that he would have the Twins start and now this Rangers one back to back. These games have been him in a nut shell this year, unhittable fastball or his fastball getting tattooed. He was bad but the offense was very dissapointing. Someone besides Cano has to get going in the middle of the order.

  8. AldotheApache October 17th, 2010 at 12:31 am

    Carl October 17th, 2010 at 12:18 am

    No Mercy on that ass in the Bronx. No Mercy.

    —————————————-

    Carl, is that your nomination for the rally cry, to counter the antlers and claw thing?

  9. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 12:32 am

    As I said before, Girardi left Hughes in too long, and I think Hughes and Joba could benefit from a different pitching coach.

  10. theREALkevin October 17th, 2010 at 12:39 am

    Its nothing to do with arm angle. Hughes is in denial if he thinks he mixed it up enough. U bounce two curves with 2 strike counts then give up? he didn’t stick with his secondary stuff enough. Didn’t even give it a chance. Terrible, terrible pitch selection especially with 2 strikes and it cost him. Its the exact same problem he’s had all year. Falls in love with his fastball, rangers r good, u throw them a cutter down the middle EVERY 1-2 count you’ll get hit. He was way too predictable. Saying “he just didn’t have it” is absolutely not right. A better gameplan and he’s fine. More changes, curves, and with 2 strikes ELEVATE the fastball high out of the zone. These things are fixable. Jorge did a pathetic job helping a young pitcher figure out what to throw today. What a shame for both.

  11. Captain Clutch October 17th, 2010 at 12:39 am

    CR9,
    I didn’t see the beginning of the game so I don’t know how bad the strike zone was. But when you give up 6 or 7 hits after getting to 2 strikes that isn’t the umpires fault. Also he threw some fastball cookies to Cruz with 2 strikes so that is his fault. You can’t throw 99% fastballs to a team like the Rangers and not expect to get killed.

  12. AldotheApache October 17th, 2010 at 12:41 am

    CR9, if you keep going like this, you’re gonna end up volunteering for an R.P. McMurphy-style zap job.

  13. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 12:43 am

    ***However, there was one key pitch — typically a mainstay in his arsenal — that was noticeably absent for most of the game. That pitch was his cutter. While I’ve liked Hughes’ integration of the cutter as another weapon this season, it’s also gotten him into a lot of trouble because he has fallen in love with it at times. Some of his biggest mistakes have been with the cutter, and it’s cost him dearly against left-handed hitters on many occasions, especially in terms of the home run ball.

    The cutter has often caused Hughes to drop his arm and has impacted his command of his other pitches as well. The lower arm angle has hurt the sharpness of his 12-6 curveball as well as his ability to get his fastball to the outside corner against right-handed hitters. So, from the beginning, when we hardly saw any cutters from Hughes against the Twins lineup, it was a good sign for the remainder of his outing.***

    This is from Piliere’s scouting report. I have to say, maybe Phil should drop the cutter. It’s not a great pitch for him – and he really needs to work on his curve and change. Then again, he has to want to use those pitchers; he really just loves his FB

  14. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 12:47 am

    If that’s true, it’s more evidence of bad coaching.

  15. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 12:48 am

    Rich, you blame the coach and I blame the pitcher.

  16. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 12:50 am

    He’s 24, Betsy. It’s his first full season as a starter. You really think he should be making these strategic decisions on his own? Really?

  17. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 12:50 am

    I mean, I do think Eiland should have caught the arm angle thing earlier …………..However, Phil is the one on the mound and Phil is the one who adores his cutter. Eiland has spoken to him about his overreliance on that pitch (I specifically remember one instance in Boston, early in the season). He can’t pitch for Phil………..he can’t. He can’t give Phil the desire to throw more than a FB or the ability to get his breaking pitches over. That’s all on the kid.

  18. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 12:52 am

    The catcher, the pitching in the manager tell a 24 year old first year starter what he is going to throw. If he doesn’t like it, he can sit his ass on the bench.

  19. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 12:52 am

    *pitching coach*

  20. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 12:58 am

    IMO, the problem is that Phil is too much in love with his FB and has never really committed to throwing his curve/change. It’s disappointing that he would have to be told this, Rich.You can tell someone something all day long and force them to do something, but that person has to believe it in his heart in order for this change to be effective.

  21. SAS October 17th, 2010 at 1:00 am

    No one promised that this series was going to be easy. The Yankees are going home to friendly confines, and they have a day to catch their collective breaths.

  22. Captain Clutch October 17th, 2010 at 1:02 am

    Being in the bullpen really made Hughes fall inlove with his fastball. That’s fine when he has that unhittable fastball like he did against the Twins but he has to have other pitches to go to. It’s up to him to work really hard on his secondary pitches if he wants to become a consistent and good starting pitcher. Everyone knows that just a good fastball won’t get it done and unfortunately the organization didn’t spend enough time working on those other pitches and it’s hurting him.

  23. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 1:02 am

    Hi SAS, of course that’s true………..

  24. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 1:04 am

    I don’t think it’s disappointing at all, Betsy. I think it is reflective of three things:

    1) his injuries caused a regression in his curve and change
    2) his time in the pen reduced his ability to use them
    3) poor instruction by the pitching coach, and by implication the manager since he is the COO
    4) Posada’s reluctance to make him throw what he wants

    As far as your last sentence, I strongly disagree. If there is a negative consequence for a refusal to heed instruction, then a person is going to change or sit. He hasn’t been sitting, has he?

    It’s a lower case version of what has happened to Joba.

    Are they bad students? I don’t think so. I think their teacher is suboptimal.

  25. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 1:04 am

    I can’t count.

  26. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 1:06 am

    Clutch, exactly. IMO, Phil has almost a reliever’s mentality and that’s not a good thing. It’s on him now to decide what turn he wants his career to take. That unhittable FB is a pretty rare thing; how often does he think he’s going to have that to work with? If he’s smart, he’ll realize that the answer is “not very often”. If he doesn’t improve his secondary pitches and actually throw them, then he simply won’t reach his potential. I just have to believe he can do it; I don’t want to believe that Bret is right, that Phil doesn’t have the ability to throw these pitches.

  27. Carl October 17th, 2010 at 1:06 am

    His fastball is fine. I always hated his cutter.

    I don’t know a thing about his arm dropping or whatever, but he seems to get beat on that cutter a lot.

    He throws 95-92. When he misses with that cutter he turns into a 89-90 mph fastball flat in the zone. He should stick to the Curve/Change/4-seam/2-seam imo.

  28. Captain Clutch October 17th, 2010 at 1:10 am

    I don’t want to hear anything else from Tex on the off days. He is a superstar that gets paid millions, find a way to get it done. If he knows that he loses his timing then tell Girardi to set up a game for the hitters or have a pitcher throw to him. He used the off days as an excuse last year in the play offs and this is what he said after the game today.

    “It’s a Catch-22 when you take time off,” said Teixeira, who is 0 for 8 this series. “Your body maybe feels good, but your timing’s off a little bit. Whether it’s timing or to be able to get that feel of a pitcher, sometimes it takes a little while to get that.”

  29. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 1:10 am

    Rich, what I’m saying is that it would be very disappointing if Phil would have to practically be shouted down by his catcher or benched by his manager in order to get him to mix his pitches. He should want to do it because it’s a good thing. I understand your points and I think I agree in general, but I just can’t blame it all on everyone while not giving Phil any grief. He’s not 19, he’s 24.

  30. West Coast Yankee Fan October 17th, 2010 at 1:12 am

    So far against Texas, Hughes didn’t have it and Sabathia didn’t have it. In addition to the poor pitching, we have also struggled at the plate:

    Granderson – .200
    Posada – .143
    Teixeira – .000
    Swisher – .143
    Gardner – .200
    A-Rod – .200

  31. SAS October 17th, 2010 at 1:12 am

    This subject has been hashed and rehashed long enough.

    I am going to call it a night. Good night all.

  32. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 1:12 am

    Carl, I’m starting to lean that way. The cutter was a nice new toy for him, but it really hasn’t developed. I feel the curve should be priority number one for him, then the change.

  33. Captain Clutch October 17th, 2010 at 1:18 am

    It seems like most of the homeruns he gives up is on his cutter. I really hope he and Eiland spend a lot of time in spring training working on his pitches. I think a big thing for him would be to get his curveball back to being a good pitch. Maybe change the grip on it or something but it used to a true 12 to 6 and now it’s very sloppy and hangs most of the time. When he first came up it was really good and it has been mia the last year or so.

  34. West Coast Yankee Fan October 17th, 2010 at 1:21 am

    Betsy Hughes is fine, he just had a bad game. It doesn’t make sense to over analyze this one performance. He threw a 4 hit shutout for 7 innings against Minnesota.

  35. tyanksfan36 October 17th, 2010 at 1:24 am

    I feel bad for Phil. I’m sure he didn’t go out there and plan on sucking. He hasn’t been around long enough to fake it when he doesn’t have his stuff. When say,Andy is having trouble, he tends to be able to just battle it out and get through it but this is just phils first full season and he hasn’t experienced as much as any of the other starting pitchers on the team so when things aren’t going well, he doesn’t do a good job adjusting. Yes, he is stubborn but I think over time he will gain experience and be able to battle like everyone else.

    I really am not worried about this loss, I think they can battle against Lee and then CC and Phil will be better on their regular rest.

  36. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 1:26 am

    WC, we’re looking at the big picture here. It’s great to say he’s going to be fine, but tell me what fine means. He can still be a solid pitcher if he remains as is, but all of us want Phil to reach his ceiling. He can’t do it with one pitch. That game against Minny was fantastic, but again, how often is he going to go to war with that FB? That’s all any of us are saying.

  37. Betsy October 17th, 2010 at 1:28 am

    Anyway, whatever – the game is over.

  38. Jerkface October 17th, 2010 at 1:28 am

    The cutter was a nice new toy for him, but it really hasn’t developed.

    What are you basing this statement on? He gets his biggest swing and miss percentage on his cutter. It only gets put in play for a hit 7% of the time.

  39. West Coast Yankee Fan October 17th, 2010 at 1:29 am

    He has 4 pitches. Some days they all work other days they don’t. That’s what you get with a 24 year old, number 5 starter who is on an innings limit.

  40. Carl October 17th, 2010 at 1:31 am

    Hughes will reach his ceiling. Number 1 or Number 2.

    This is what happens when you develop a starter.

    A lot of peaks and valleys. Seems like one start Hughes figures it out. T next it’s back to the drawing board.

    If Javy and AJ didn’t suck so bad, it wouldn’t be a problem.

  41. RSM October 17th, 2010 at 1:35 am

    Yankees are 4-1 in the playoffs so far.
    It’s not time to panic yet.
    Did anyone think they’d go undefeated?

    Phil was bad tonight, but was stellar in his last two starts, and both were big games.

    The offense only scored two runs, so they weren’t going to win tonight anyway.

    Next 3 games at home.

  42. tyanksfan36 October 17th, 2010 at 1:38 am

    West coast

    I agree, he has been tremendous this season, way more than expected but he is still young and still learning. If AJ or Vazquez hasn’t been total busts this season, we probably wouldn’t even be talking about Phil. But because they couldn’t pull their weight, Phil is being asked to pitch in big games in the post season. Andy certainly had some awful games when he started out around the same age but over time he developed into a great pitcher. He is still susceptible to a stinker as everyone is, but he has matured enough to try to realize and fix his mistakes. Without Phil helping to pick up the slack when Andy went down and AJ and Javy sucking, we might not even have made it to the post season.

  43. West Coast Yankee Fan October 17th, 2010 at 1:41 am

    tyanksfan36 – couldn’t agree more. Hughes has been terrific.

  44. m October 17th, 2010 at 1:45 am

    Hughes has been great. The micro-over-analysis gets nauseating. If Hughes loses his job because he’s too stubborn or can’t develop this or that, then I’ll start paying attention.

  45. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 2:30 am

    It’s hardly micro-over-analysis when the criticism have been made for more than the half of the season, because that’s how long this multiple pitch efficacy issue has been in play.

    To me, what’s nauseating (well, that’s an overstatement) is the regression in development from the pitcher he was at AA, when dominated by getting GBs and virtually never giving up HRs.

    Yet, he’s 24 and he has flourished to a degree even though he has been failed by his support personnel.

  46. Carl October 17th, 2010 at 2:35 am

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGplQomdSl0

    This version of Hughes?

  47. Jerkface October 17th, 2010 at 2:36 am

    Minor league GB% is not a good indicator of future GB success, though.

  48. m October 17th, 2010 at 2:41 am

    Rich,

    I have no problem with you talking about Hughes. I swear it’s like Ground Hogs Day or Rip Van Winkle around here re: Hughes.

    Stuff gets repeated over and again. And again. It’s not enough that he has progressed fabulously. It’s not enough that he’s clinched a division series.

    It’s the repetition. That’s the ad nauseum.

  49. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 2:42 am

    Could you post the data on that, Jerkface?

    To me, at least in Hughes case, from watching him at Trenton, his FB was usually down in the zone and his curve was so dynamite that he kept hitters off balance, so they usually made weak contact.

  50. m October 17th, 2010 at 2:45 am

    Hoot, hoot! Nevada was MARCHING down the field with 2 minutes to go, only down by 6.

    Picked off by Hawaii. Just need a first down…got it.

  51. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 2:46 am

    m

    I don’t like mindless, fact-free, repetitive negativity, but I see the GHD thing as extending far beyond Hughes.

    But fact-based, reasoned criticism of anyone (including myself) never bothers me.

  52. m October 17th, 2010 at 2:53 am

    It’s fine to say that Hughes had a bad game. But there’s never any criticism (critique if you will) when he has good stuff.

    And I do disagree with you to some extent about Eiland. He’s not the reason for the struggles Joba & Hughes encounter. It’s part of the process ( there’s that word again)

    Anyway, I know I will hear it from Betsy in the morning. But sometimes it’s like a broken record around here.

  53. Rich in NJ October 17th, 2010 at 3:00 am

    Look at Lester. His command was a problem in the mLs and now it’s terrific. I think coaching was likely a big part of that. I don’t see that here. I see a guy who can effectively tweak established pitchers, like CC and Wood, but that’s about it.

    I really like what Hughes is becoming despite my previously stated issues.

  54. m October 17th, 2010 at 3:03 am

    Now if you keep repeating yourself on Eiland, I might just explode. ;)

    I want to see another full year from Hughes before coming to any conclusions about him, his potential, and his place in the echelon of pitchers.

  55. Carl October 17th, 2010 at 3:08 am

    watching an old Hughes game from 2007.

    Hughes goes 7.

    Joba pitches in the 8th.

    Jose Veras closes it lol

  56. Carl October 17th, 2010 at 3:13 am

    Joba looks so nasty :( Spotting 99 down at the Knees :(

  57. m October 17th, 2010 at 3:26 am

    Alright, lights out.

    Upward and onward!!

    Or something like that.

    G’night.

  58. G-C October 17th, 2010 at 3:58 am

    This is just ridiculous.

    Phil had a bad fastball tonight. It happens. He needs to throw his fastball 70 % of the time minimum if he’s going to achieve his ceiling because his ceiling is predicated on the fact that he has one of the top four or five fastballs in baseball.

    You all better get over your “worries” real frigging quickly because its pretty likely that the same guy who pitched today is going to get the ball in a game six situation up 3-2.

    He’ll win too. And you all seem to conveniently forget that he had one of the greatest Yankee starts in postseason HISTORY last week.

  59. RYUKINGDOM October 17th, 2010 at 4:08 am

    First of all about this site. I’ve opened this site up to comment 3 times today and 3 times I’ve got to fill out a short questionaire about my profile. Ok the first time, but time after time????? About bored anyways so after 3 years SAYONARA….

  60. RYUKINGDOM October 17th, 2010 at 4:11 am

    Oh just to let you know, I went there 5 minutes later and for the fourth time it asks me to fill out the short questionaire again. This on top of a very sloppy Yankee play has torked me off to no limits….

  61. Jerkface October 17th, 2010 at 4:16 am

    Here is an article about it Rich:

    http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs.....all-rates/

    I think the data presented is enough to make me question how much we can simply look at minor league GB% and say a guy is going to get that in the majors. I thought Hughes fastball and Curve were going to lead to ground balls, and his no no bid in 2007 led me to believe that even more, but all his other starts suggest other wise.

  62. Doreen October 17th, 2010 at 7:56 am

    1 Day, 12 Hours, 3 Minutes until Game 3 of the ALCS. :grin:

    ****

  63. Doreen October 17th, 2010 at 8:10 am

    Good morning all.

    First, I’m so glad the Giants won last night. Isn’t it interesting that a pitcher as perfect as Doc Halladay could actually lose a game, and that even Tim Lincecum could give up some runs? I am rooting for the Giants, so winning the first game in Philly was big for them.

    ****

    I was skimming through the post-mortems this morning. One note about Hughes. After CC’s game on Friday, he said he had trouble with his fastball and then he couldn’t execute his game plan. I imagine it was similar for Hughes yesterday. You do have to establish the fastball, especially if you’re a fastball pitcher, in order for the secondary pitches to be effective. He wasn’t wild-wild, but wild in the strike zone.

    In any event – a game to forget – put it past and get back to Yankee Stadium. Frankly, I can’t wait for that – it’s been a long time since they played a game at YS.

    ****

    Just an observation about myself. While they’re losing, I can’t stand it – it upsets me, though I try to remain hopeful and positive. But once the loss is in the books, it’s easy for me to put some perspective on the game that just ended and move on.

    ****

    We saw “The Social Network” last night. Fantastic movie. Well-written, well-acted – very well done. It almost makes me want to close my Facebook account. :)

  64. MG October 17th, 2010 at 8:21 am

    Doreen, it’s funny, we saw the same movie last night and I walked out feeling exactly the same things. I’m almost embarrassed to share a common heritage with someone like Mark Zuckerberg.

  65. sevrox October 17th, 2010 at 8:25 am

    Read somewhere above, ‘I love the Yankees more than anything else in life’. If that’s the case, somebody should find a new life, fer chrissakes.

    They’re a sports team. Period.

    If Doc Halladay can be defeated, so can Cliff Lee. Time for Lee to lose a postseason game.

  66. Doreen October 17th, 2010 at 8:30 am

    MG -

    Right?

    No doubt he’s a code-writing savant. Ironic that a person with such poor social skills would find such success building a social network – but then again – not. Actually, it makes perfect sense that someone with such poor face-to-face skills would come up with a way to socialize without having to do that.

  67. GreenBeret7 October 17th, 2010 at 8:44 am

    Since I haven’t bothered to read the game thread last night, nor, do i plan to, I’ll just repeat what most likely was said, and that’s how stupidly Girardi has managed these two games and needs to be fired immediately, regardless of the outcome of this season. What manager is stupid enough to start his two top winning pitchers in the first two games? Not only that, but letting a HOF type catcher even on the field. Unvelievable.

    Damned…now I feel better. This whining is fun and apparently therapeutic.

  68. SJ44 October 17th, 2010 at 8:52 am

    Another day of umpire conspiracies and blaming the pitching coach when a pitcher has a bad day?

    In other words, the stupidity level on here rises and logic takes the day off.

    Here’s a newsflash for the habitually panicked and stupid…..

    The Yankees weren’t going to go undefeated in the post-season.

    They got a spilt and have the next three at home.

    In other words, they control their own destiny.

    That’s not a bad thing.

    That however, will get lost in another day of idiocy re: umpire conspiracies and trolling.

  69. Doreen October 17th, 2010 at 8:53 am

    Morning GB7 -

    In the car yesterday afternoon, before the game started, I had on XM. And whoever it was who was on was talking about Girardi’s decision to use Moseley on Friday night and how people were raving about it. He went on to say, if Moseley goes out and gives up a run or two or three, the same people would be calling for his head.

    The success or failure of any manager’s decision, more often than not, depends upon the ability the players to execute.

    Personally, I don’t understand why he didn’t bring in Mitre, and I didn’t hear his post-game interview, so I don’t know if he was asked.

    As it turned out, there’s no way to know if a 5-1/5-2 deficit was going to be any easier for the team to overcome yesterday. Earlier in the game, I know the guys were hitting the ball hard with nothing to show for it, but I don’t know if that was the case later in the game. Two major come-from-behind wins was not in the cards, and they missed a couple of opportunities, even down 7-2, to at least close the gap.

  70. Joe from Long Island October 17th, 2010 at 9:00 am

    Good morning, GB –

    You forgot that Hughes is a back-end starter who will never amount to anything, and that Dave Eiland needs to be fired.

    Can’t you get anything right?

  71. GreenBeret7 October 17th, 2010 at 9:03 am

    Good morning, Doreen. Hope all is well in your split household.

    The bullpen has been just short of spectaular so far this post season. I think most thought that it would be the weak link of the team. Considering that Cano is really the only consistant offensive force so far, winning 4 of the first 5 post season games. I look for the offense to pick up the pace. Hopefully, Pettitte pitches the same game he pitched against the Twins. Being less a power pitcher and more of a control artist, he should be able to do so. Long delays seem to affect him less than the others. NYY did what they needed to do in Texas….they split. Taking 2 of 3 in NY is the next goal.

  72. GreenBeret7 October 17th, 2010 at 9:06 am

    Joe from Long Island October 17th, 2010 at 9:00 am
    Good morning, GB –

    You forgot that Hughes is a back-end starter who will never amount to anything, and that Dave Eiland needs to be fired.

    Can’t you get anything right?

    ———————————————————————————————————————-

    Morning Joe. Hope all is well with you and Mrs. joe.

    I’m sort of new at the whining and didn’t want to use up all of my whine collection. Sort of space it out a bit. I was saving Eiland and Long for Tuesday’s game. Bare with me.

  73. MG October 17th, 2010 at 9:14 am

    I’ve given up on game threads and about ready to give up on this blog, period. It’s getting virtually impossible to scroll past all the umpire conspiracy bashing, the complaints about players, yadda, yadda, yadda. The only thing that keeps me coming back are the core of knowledgeable posters that enhance my enjoyment of the game and rooting for the Yankees.

    As some of us know and understand, baseball is an imperfect game played by imperfect players. The outcome is unknown and that is the charm of enjoying the game. 30% success gets you in the Hall of Fame, could anything make that reality more obvious.

    I think the Yankees are a better team than Texas and will find a way to win this series. I don’t know what that is or how they will do it but it’s a puzzle that will be completed in the next few days. They didn’t play particularly well in Texas and managed a split-I expect them to play better at home. But if they don’t, and Texas wins, I will still be alive the next day, as will all the Yankees players and the process can start all over again next year. I learned a long time ago to appreciate the years that end in a championship, they are precious and don’t happen all the time. Many of you could learn something from that approach.

  74. JordanBecker October 17th, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    Hughes had a great 1st inning. Good fastball, good control of his other pitches. The run in the 1st inning was completely Posada’s fault, not Hughes.

    But starting in the 2nd inning, Hughes pitches went flat and up in the zone and he could not correct it. He was just throwing meatballs for the rest of the game. The final line was 4 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 WP. The worst indicator was Hughes could not get outs with two strikes. Seven of Texas’ ten hits off Hughes came with two strikes, and he allowed runners to get in scoring position in every inning but the fourth.

    Girardi could have curbed the damage in the 4th inning by putting Mitre or Joba in there, but he let Hughes throw a few more meatballs and give up a couple of more runs. It might not have made any difference, but it was a mistake to leave him in there.

  75. Cashmoney October 17th, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    Go Giants and Sanchez tonight!

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