Postgame notes: “That’s just not fair”
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes, Podcast on Jul 06, 2011 
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CC Sabathia said he’s been on a run better than this, which really gives some perspective to just how good he was during his short stint with the Brewers. After seven scoreless innings tonight, Sabathia has allowed a total of one run in his past three starts. During those 22.2 innings he’s struck out 33, walked five and extended his personal winning streak to five in a row. He’s also won nine of his past 10.
“Milwaukee is still my best,” he said. “I don’t even know what happened. It was just one of those things… That was two and a half months. This has been three or four starts.”
Fair enough, but lately Sabathia has been flinging fastballs in the upper 90s, and tonight he had a devastating slider. The six times he faced a hitter with a runner in scoring position, he got a strikeout.
“Today was amazing because I got a chance to see the radar gun,” said Curtis Granderson, who could see a radar reading above the third-base dugout. “The one at-bat that stood out a lot was the at-bat against Travis Hafner — I think his second or third at-bat — when (Sabathia) went 97 with a fastball that Hafner had a swing and miss on, and then came back with a hard slider down and away. I was like, that’s just not fair, the fact that you’re able to do those two as effectively as he was able to all night tonight.”
Sabathia’s ERA is down to 2.90 and he’s the first big league pitcher to reach 12 wins. It’s the second straight year that he’s had 12 wins before the all-star break, making him the first Yankees starter to do that since Tommy John in 1979-80.
“It’s as good a run as I’ve seen him have with us,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s been tremendous.”
Here’s Sabathia.
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Derek Jeter said he can’t help thinking about 3,000 hits because he hears about it every time he’s on-deck. Tonight, he said, fans were telling him to go 6-for-6. He told them he was trying.
“I’ve never had six hits in a game,” he said. “It would have been nice to get five.”
Tonight Jeter pulled within four hits of No. 3,000. He’s had two four-hit games this season, so it’s not out of the question that he could do it tomorrow. Thing is, Girardi wants to give Jeter one day off — a full day off, not a DH day — before the all-star break. He doesn’t want his 37-year-old shortstop playing nine days in a row when he’s coming back from a calf injury.
Jeter, of course, wants to play.
“I have not spoken to him about it,” Jeter said. “He usually lets me know (the night before), so I’ll get out of here before I see him.”
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• Granderson went deep twice tonight. That gave him 25 home runs for the season, which is one more than he had all last season. It’s five away from his career-high. As he’s always done, Granderson downplayed the surging home run totals. “They’ve just come a little bit quicker than they have in the past,” Granderson said.
• Granderson has four home runs in his past four games, a streak that came immediately after he went 14 games without a homer.
• Granderson said he was never asked to be in the Home Run Derby, but he doesn’t think he should have been picked anyway. The derby isn’t about home runs in a game, it’s about home runs in batting practice, which is why Granderson is picking Robinson Cano to win the thing. “I’ve seen his BP,” Granderson said. “It’s phenomenal.”
• One theory about Sabathia’s increased velocity: It’s finally gotten hot. Sabathia loves pitching in the heat. “I’ve been able to stay loose,” he said. “That’s a big thing for me. In between innings trying to stay loose and make sure I can keep sweating, and I think that’s a big part of my velocity.”
• Girardi was quick to give credit to Brett Gardner during his postgame press conference. That five-run second inning wouldn’t have happened without Gardner breaking up what would have been an inning-ending double play. His slide into second base was actually a pivotal moment in this game. “I got in there a little bit,” Gardner said. “Not like I do against some guys.”
• Jeter said it didn’t bother him that his first hit off the disabled list was dribbler that went for an infield single, but he did enjoy hitting the ball hard on that second-inning double. “I don’t care how I get hits,” Jeter said. “I have no ego whatsoever. It did feel good to hit a ball good. It’s the hardest ball I’ve hit in three weeks.”
• Girardi said he’s still not sure whether Mariano Rivera will be available tomorrow. “He talked about being ready in case of emergency,” Girardi said. “I didn’t know what that emergency would be. When he said he still felt it a little bit, I said, ‘You’re off again today and we’ll see where we are tomorrow.’”
• Brian Gordon made his Scranton/Wilkes-Barre debut tonight and pitched five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. Ivan Nova will make his first Triple-A start of the year on Thursday.
Associated Press photos
oh yeah!!
Heath Bell is going to blow this game in San Fran…
“I have no ego whatsoever.”
Paradoxical, no?
Just love Granderson…………….and CC’s stretch in Milwaukee was legendary.
Great win by CC. He just keeps getting better and better.
Heath pitched out of his jam. He would be a nice addition, however, I am not sure at what cost.
That’s right. It’s not 3000 hits past the infield. It’s 3000 hits. He doesn’t care if the disgruntled and unhappy aren’t satisfied with his effort.
That’s awful that they questioned his effort! I join in your outrage!
(who did that?)
“I have no ego whatsoever.”
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hahahahahhahahahahaha
Must be some other Derek Jeter building a Taj Mahal in Tampa.
If DJ didn’t have an ego he wouldn’t have demanded four years @ $15MM. With that said, good game and I look forward to 3,000
CC is leading the major league in wins….but he is not good enough to be an All-Star. RIDICULOUS!!! At least invite him and then put him on the “can’t pitch” list due to starting on Sunday. But how can you not invite him?!?!?!?!
And the one run that scored did so because Tex opted to go the 3-3-4 route on a double play ball hit to him.
Tex hit the runner to 2nd in the middle of the back after touching bag at 1st for one out.
The runner at second if at first would been out because the next batter hit a dp ball to Cano.
But not to be, the runner at 2nd moved to third and then went on to score the one earned run.
I think its funny how fans like to think they know if Jeter has an ego or not…..the guy never says anything publically so just about all accounts of his personality are crafted by reporters and people just basically guessing what he is thinking.
I know CC wouldn’t have gone to the game anyway because he’s pitching Sunday but the fact that he wasn’t even named to the all star team is a joke.
Prufrock – sorry I missed your question last night. The wife was looking at me funny commenting on the blog during the game.
Romine didn’t catch, which I was bummed about. Wanted to see the kid first hand. They finished a rainout beforehand so they had kind of not a double header but a game and a half, and Romine caught the first game.
Thunder got swept, by the way.
Forget it, Blake. You’re trying to reach idiots that are what William Safire once called in a speech, “The Nattering Nabobs Of Negativity”.
CC is the first pitcher to reach 12 wins. While he often gets a lot of run support, he has been flat out dominating his last few starts. I guess w/ all the Yankees already selected by fan vote, they wanted to include other teams. Whatever…CC is definitely an All Star to Yankee fans as is D-rob.
and YAY for Grandy hitting 2 HR to bring him even w/ Tex, as my husband and I have a friendly bet as to who will hit more.
Safire wrote it, Spro Agnew said it.
There’s no way Girardi can play Jeter tonight and sit him in the Bronx. Maybe if 5 other Yankees had reached 3,000, but not for the first. Get him out early today (if he gets a hit or 2) if need be, but he MUST get that hit in NYC.
Although I am going to the game in Toronto on the 17th……
I guess w/ all the Yankees already selected by fan vote, they wanted to include other teams.
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Not so much that they wanted to include other teams as they had to. To me, a more perfect all star team would have left Jeter, Martin, Quentin, Wilson and Crow with a three day vacation and replaced by A. Gordon, V. Martinez, Konerko, Sabathia and Robertson. Still maintains representation of every team, but gets more deserving guys, IMO.
Ah well, ain’t really worth worrying about anyway. Meaningless exhibition. Hope Sabathia and family enjoy their vacation.
86
hopefully Jeter gets 3K before the All Star game
Girardi should just play Jeter until he gets the hit and then give him the day off after he does it……he’ll probably do it thursday or Friday if he plays today. Friday seems to be best bet.
hopefully Jeter gets 3K before the All Star game
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Don’t know Girardi’s plan for Jeter this week, but it’s hard to imagine him getting less than 20 plate appearances before the break. I’d be stunned if he’s not at 3K by Sunday evening. Probably much sooner.
If Jeter plays in all 5 games then he’d just need to hit about .160 over that time to get to 3,000 before the break…he’ll get it and it’ll be perfect really….the hooplah can coincide with the ASG and they can hopefully start fresh and undistracted in the 2nd half.
Oh I am sure he will…just teasing 86 a little about the Toronto game
“I think its funny how fans like to think they know if Jeter has an ego or not..”
I think it would be hard to find many successful people who don’t have an ego.
Where the debate comes in is whether the amount of ego is proportional to the amount of talent associated with it. All aging players, not just Derek, may take awhile to adjust ego to reality but if they don’t eventually do it themselves, an outside force will intervene and do it for them.
I’ll be quite content to see 3,010 on my Toronto trip.
I’m assuming the Yanks will go AJ, CC to start post All-Star break so I sohuld see either Colon or Phil on the hill.
86w183 July 6th, 2011 at 8:00 am
Safire wrote it, Spro Agnew said it.
There’s no way Girardi can play Jeter tonight and sit him in the Bronx. Maybe if 5 other Yankees had reached 3,000, but not for the first. Get him out early today (if he gets a hit or 2) if need be, but he MUST get that hit in NYC.
Although I am going to the game in Toronto on the 17th……
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I’m well aware of who said it.
It’s kind of sad that Jeter can’t even enjoy this chase – it’s awfully special, not just for Yankee history, but it’s baseball history.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/.....-1.3006948
“I really haven’t been talking about this too much,” Jeter said of 3,000. “There’s been other things that have been in the media. So it’s kind of hard to enjoy when there’s a lot of negativity that’s out there. Hopefully I might be able to enjoy it these next few days.”
That obviously is a reference to what’s been swirling around him all year; questions about him looking, mostly, bad at the plate a second straight season and how he’s been able to keep hold on the leadoff spot. Then there were the “are the Yankees better without Derek Jeter” questions during his recent DL stint.
“Like I said before, you’d like to enjoy it,” Jeter said. “It has been difficult when I’m constantly asked questions that are a little bit different. But to be honest with you, I’m going to try and enjoy it from now on and try to keep things as positive as we can.”
People throw the word “ego” around like they throw :great” around. Overused and losing it’s meaning. For athletes and others that are successful tend to think of it as self-confidence.
86w183,
I have the same guess for the rotation. Not enough days in between to start CC. So the AJ/CC combo puts them on their rotation.
My guess is AJ-CC-Hughes-Colon-Garcia . This gives Colon another day’s rest. I don’t think they want to work him too hard. (if Hughes struggles today, then probably a Colon-Hughes swap).
Then if an off day comes, I can see CC moved up
jimbaumbach Happy Jury Selection Day everyone. #rogerclemens
GB 7
I agree.
There’s not a successful person in any endeavor that doesn’t have a healthy ego/self confidence.
I’d say that was a “great” point but I don’t want to inflate your “ego”
86, I’m overly confident that I have no ego.
gb7-
i tried to call you a “pusillanimous p……footer”, but the blog filter ate it .
too bad agnew was convicted of stealing little kids milk money or something like that. safire was working for the wrong guys.
Hopefully Jeter will enjoy his 3000 hit & ignore the media. He’s earned this time to enjoy it. He will get a standing ovation in YS and is going to the ASG where he will probably get another one.
Time for Hughes to get back up the horse and ride for 8 till the buzzer sounds.
I’ll bet he’s excited.
Almost as excited as I am.
I’m pullin’ for ya’ Phil.
I had a eggo waffle for breakfast.
And if per chance you fall too early some of us will be right there to pick you up and dust you off.
Definitely a big night for Phil and the Yanks.
If he goes 6 strong it might inspire Cashman to make a move to shore up the bullpen. I just don’t want Nova to be part of the price tag for any help for the pen.
Wouldn’t mind seeing Nunez in the lineup somewhere. Maybe at 3B with Alex DHing?
I hear only people w/ egos eat eggos
Pat,
Confidence could be another word to describe it. Anyway…..if one has never known what if feels like to hit leadoff and play SS for the NY Yankees…..then it would be difficult to understand how it also might feel to think about losing that. I do think everyone can relate to having to let go of something they love though….
It was a super eggo. Now I’m all id.
Tom in N.J. July 6th, 2011 at 8:34 am
I had a eggo waffle for breakfast.
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86-
Phil won’t need a butterfly net to catch butterflys this time they’ll all be in his stomach.
Phil has seen the bluprint…..all he has to do is throw 97 mph fastballs and wicked sliders and the Indians wont touch him tonight
mtu-
i don’t have a great feeling about hughes.
i would have had him throw some games at triple a until he settled in a bit.
rolling the dice at the mlb level with him to see where he’s at seems kind of odd when nova was pitching as well as he was.
why rock the boat when you don’t have to?
are you moonlighting as a psych prof?
Time for Hughes to get back up the horse and ride for 8 till the buzzer sounds
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He’s quite likely the Yankees midseason pickup for the rotation. Be interesting to see how he fares. Can maybe see some nerves being involved, but if the radar readings are in the low 90′s, I think it’s a good night for him no matter what the results.
Blake-
Wanna bet you’ll see at least one 95 MPH FB ?
MTU,
Yea you know.he’s.going to.try and.make the radar gun pop…..I just hope he goes out and pitches his game. I think the Yankees wanted to get as much of a sample of him.as they can before the deadline so they can better assess their needs. If he’s good then the rotation need decreases……though id still love to add another Lefty.
” I think the Yankees wanted to get as much of a sample of him.as they can before the deadline so they can better assess their needs”
blake-
that’s a possibility that actually makes sense because hughes doesn’t seem like he’s quite ready to be back in the rotation. he’s barely ready at best.
Randy-
I understand that POV. I guess they were so impressed with his stuff last time out that they decided to go for it. He’ll probably run out of gas after around 80-85. Figure 5-6 innings unless he is really efficient.
If they wanted to go this route I would have shifted him to Tues. and have gotten him a 2nd start before the ASB.
I’m really pumped. Hopin’ the Mojo is back. Like the idea of him not having to perform in front of the home town crowd in his 1st game back.
i would have had him throw some games at triple a until he settled in a bit.
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Sort of agree. One thing I don’t necessarily like is that he throws tonight and then has 8-10 days before his next start. Seems to me it may have made more sense to throw in AAA tonight, then again next Monday, before being brought up to pitch in Toronto the weekend after the break, while in some sort of rhythm. I’m sure they have a plan for him during the AS break, but nothing is as good as real competition, IMO.
blake-
Me too. Still onto the idea of another lefty to help neutralize our adversaries.
Not likely to happen though.
Agree on the Yankees trying to see what they got before the TD comes around.
Let’s all hope it turns out to be the guy we saw in the 1st half of last season. That’s a weapon.
What I’ll be looking for from Hughes is some of that old time religion-
a lively FB with command.
Everything else works off of that.
randy l. July 6th, 2011 at 8:30 am
gb7-
i tried to call you a “pusillanimous p……footer”, but the blog filter ate it .
too bad agnew was convicted of stealing little kids milk money or something like that. safire was working for the wrong guys.
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William Safire was the Yogi Berra of speech writers. He could definitely turn a phrase.
That’s the good thing about you on here, Randy. You don’t believe in p—y footing around.
Good to see you around, Randy. Nurse Karloff has been keeping you busy.
Not usually nervous for a Yankees game in the middle of July but I am a little today. I really hope Phil is up to par.
Meanwhile.. I’m trying to decide which Rays game to buy tickets to, to try and catch Jeter’s 3,000. I saw him break Gehrig’s record and it was awesome.
Shame,
Quite by coincidence I have tickets to Friday’s game. I hope it’s the one….
I was also at the Lou Gehrig record-breaker on a damp, rainy night and it was amazing. Even though the Yanks got pounded by the O’s in that game. LOL.
It’s probably best that Hughes gets his first start back against a team that isn’t as strong as teams like Tampa or Boston. Cleveland has a good all-around pitching staff, and that’s what’s keeping the at or near the top.
I wouldn’t say I’m nervous for tonight’s game, just really, really curious.
Jeter may or may not have an ego, but I know I do and I want him to get 4 hits tonight so I can see 3000.
Randy,
Yea that’s what makes the most sense to me…..otherwise a AAA start would have made more sense.
New Post: Jeter’s countdown continues tonight? Don’t count on it.
The best thing that could happen for Jeter fans is that Jeter gets his 3 hits tonight and helps to build big lead and go after 3000 on Friday. Tampa’s got an outstanding rotation and there’d be no guarantee that he could get 4 hits in those games.
And before I forget. CC has been so great lately that he deserves a photo tribute.
I had to “reflect” on it a while but I came up with this one:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cybermrb03/Reflections#
Enjoy.
JCPD-
Have a great time. Take lot’s of photos.