Game 154: Rays at Yankees
Posted by: vmercogliano - Posted in Misc on Sep 21, 2011 
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YANKEES (93-60)
Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Robinson Cano DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada 1B
Andruw Jones LF
Eduardo Nunez 2B
Austin Romine C
RHP Hector Noesi (2-1, 4.01)
Noesi vs. Rays
RAYS (85-68)
Desmond Jennings LF
B.J. Upton CF
Evan Longoria 3B
Matt Joyce RF
Johnny Damon DH
Casey Kotchman 1B
Jose Lobaton C
Elliot Johnson 2B
Reid Brignac SS
RHP James Shields (15-11, 2.78)
Shields vs. Yankees
TIME/TV: 1:08 p.m., YES Network
WEATHER: It’s a bit chilly and cloudy, but there hasn’t been any rain yet. The forecast calls for showers later, so we should be O.K. for the first game. The second may be another story.
UMPIRES: HP Scott Barry, 1B Wally Bell, 2B Fieldin Culbreth, 3B John Hirschbeck
CLINCHER?: With a win in the first game of today’s doubleheader, the Yankees will clinch a postseason berth. With two wins and a Boston loss, they clinch the division. A celebration is coming…
DOUBLE TROUBLE: This is will be the Yankees fourth doubleheader of the season. They’ve swept one, and split twice so far. They’ve gone 12-1-14 in doubleheaders since 2000, only getting swept by Boston in 2006.
A-ROD NEARING JUNIOR: Alex Rodriguez currently has 629 career home runs, one away from former teammate Ken Griffey, Jr.’s mark of 630. Could today be the day? He’s a career .281 hitter against Shields with three HR in 32 at-bats.
UPDATE, 1:11PM: Easy 1-2-3 inning for Noesi to get things started. Struck out Jennings to lead off the game, then got Upton and Longoria to fly out. Let’s not forget that Noesi is a guy who Girardi has said will compete for a rotation spot next season. He’s been impressive since getting called up.
UPDATE, 1:21PM: A-Rod doubles to the warning track in center with two outs, scoring Jeter and giving the Yanks a 1-0 lead. For a second it looked like it might have a chance to get out, but he’ll take the RBI double. The thumb looked pretty good right there.
UPDATE, 1:32PM: Romine blocks a ball in the dirt, recovers and guns out Joyce on the steal attempt. I guess you can see why Girardi prefers him over Jesus Montero.
UPDATE, 1:40PM: After allowing the first two batters of the second inning to reach base safely, Noesi strikes out Lobaton looking to end the inning. He’s at 33 pitches.
UPDATE, 1:52PM: Jennings launches his 10th homer of the season over the State Farm sign in left field. The two-run shot gives the Rays a 2-1 lead. LHP Raul Valdes is warming in the Yankee pen.
UPDATE, 1:57PM: After an infield single from Longoria on a shaky play from Posada, Valdes is in to face the lefty Joyce with two outs.
UPDATE, 2:01PM: Valdes gives up a single to Joyce, but gets Damon swinging to end the inning. 2-1 Rays going into the bottom of the third.
UPDATE, 2:20PM: Not a bad outing for Valdes, who goes 1.1 innings while striking out three. The guess is that he’s done, but you never know with the lefty Jennings leading off next inning. He’s thrown 30 pitches.
UPDATE, 2:29PM: Posada looks bad on a swinging strikeout to end the fourth. Since A-Rod’s first inning RBI double, the Yanks have only one hit. George Kontos is in to start the fifth for the Yankees. It’s still 2-1 Rays.
UPDATE, 2:36PM: And another call to the bullpen. We may be mixing and matching all the way through in this one. Aaron Laffey is in to replace Kontos with two outs in the fifth. I know the Yanks have an expanded roster, but I doubt Girardi wants to use any relievers twice in one day. He has to be careful not to keep switching pitchers every other batter.
UPDATE, 2:55PM: Nunez lines a single to left, then steals back-to-back bases to get to third. He’s been having trouble on steals recently, but looks like a one-man show right now. Romine has a chance to drive him in with one out.
UPDATE, 2:57PM: Romine hits a hard liner right at Longoria at third, who promptly steps on the bag for the double play before Nunez can retreat back. Big opportunity to tie the game down the drain.
UPDATE, 3:05PM: Here’s Cory Wade in relief of Laffey. Kotchman is on second with one out after a leadoff double. Sean Rodriguez is in to pinch hit for Johnson.
UPDATE, 3:10PM: Nice play by Jeter, ranging to the other side of second base to get Brignac and end the threat. Say what you will about his diminishing defense, but he still makes plays like that.
UPDATE, 3:29PM: Onto the sixth reliever of the day for the Yanks. Wade gets two outs in the sixth, and here comes Boone Logan to face Matt Joyce. This is the spot where the Rays have three straight lefties in the lineup. What’s your guess on how many arms Girardi burns in this first game?
UPDATE, 3:41PM: Shields issues his first walk of the game to Posada, who is pinch run for by Chris Dickerson. Then, Curtis Granderson comes in to pinch hit for Jones. With all of the pitching changes and now these moves, it’s pretty clear that Girardi is trying to win this game.
UPDATE, 3:44PM: Granderson stays in the game to play CF, moving Gardner to LF. Swisher takes Posada’s place at 1B, and Dickerson will play RF.
UPDATE, 3:50PM: Here comes pitcher No. 7 for the Yanks, Luis Ayala. Logan got Damon to fly to left, before hitting Kotchman and allowing a hard single to Lobaton. Runners on 1st and 2nd with one out.
UPDATE, 3:58PM: Ayala does it again. He’s been so reliable this season. He just struck out Ben Zobrist and Brignac back-to-back to end the top of the eighth. Nunez coming up for the Yanks.
UPDATE, 4:02PM: Nunez comes out swinging, lining a home run over the left field fence that makes it over the wall by about an inch. It counts nonetheless, and the score is tied at 2-2 here in the eighth.
UPDATE, 4:10PM: That’s it for Shields after a single by Gardner and a walk to Jeter. Lefty JP Howell is coming in to face Cano, who is a .294 career hitter off of Howell.
UPDATE, 4:17PM: What else did you expect? Cano is hitting .315 with runners in scoring position this season, and he just raised that average with a double over the outfielder’s heads into the left-center field gap. Gardner and Jeter score, and now the Yankees have a 4-2 lead. Brandon Gomes is in to face A-Rod.
UPDATE, 4:22PM: Here comes Mo. Girardi puts A-team defense out there, moving Cano to 2B and bringing in Mark Teixeira to play 1B and Russell Martin to catch.
Go Noesi. Go Yanks. We clinch today.
Nice economical start by Noesi
Good economical inning for Noesi
Did you guys see this?? A yankee fan dressed in yankee outfit went into fenway to serve Bedard his child support papers
..
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/bl.....lb-wp20240
41-12 in day games. I wonder why?
Gardner should go to the Harry “The Hat” Walker school of hitting.
Here for the potential clinch though I will be working on other things here at home.
Knowing the Yanks it will be a very low-key celebration should it happen today.
GO YANKS!!!
And after we clinch the division -
GO RAYS!!!
And in the meantime,
GO O’S!!!
ARod!
Alex!!!
two out hit from A-rod, love it!
It’s nice having A-rod back
The Triple A Yankees take a one nothing lead against Rays best pitcher.
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/.....um=twitter
—
Don’t make it easy for Maddon. He is a dope.
Bronson Arroyo pitching a no hitter for the Reds.
Will the Ump give Noesi those same pitches?
come on Swish, don’t be throwing the bat off of JoPo
OMG Swish trying to take out poor Posada
come on Swish, don’t be throwing the bat off of JoPo
Orders from Girardi
Cano would have had that ball.
BryanHoch Your thoughts: Best non-DJ3K / Mo-602 moments of the Yankees’ season so far?
Old-Timers Day with Bernie and Joe Torre returning and the ceremony for Monahan. But maybe I liked it so much because I was there.
Also Jesus 2-homeruns at the stadium, too.
Yogi – but he’s so lazy…
Mental image: Red Sox fans cheering an RBI by Alex.
Nice jinx Trisha,lol
Nice play by Romine
Romine!
Austin “The Rifle” Romine
Nice throw… Damon shoulda struck out
i’m a fan of Johnny Damon, hope he gets the chance to get to 3000hits (just not against the Yankees)
How many games to clinch playoffs & division?
1 win for playoffs 3 wins (or 2 and a Sox lost) for division i believe
magic number is 2 for the playoffs and 3 for the division.
LockDown September 21st, 2011 at 1:35 pm
How many games to clinch playoffs & division?
——————-
2 for playoffs. 3 for division.
No put away pitch?
2 for playoffs. 3 for division.
–
1 game for playoffs, 2 games for division. 2 and 3 is the magic number. For every win we get against rays or red sox (or a loss from the team we arent playing) the number goes down twice!
Stinks that Noesi isn’t stretched out….he’s potentially just as good as Nova and might wind up being better.
Romine does look really good.defensively for a 22 year old…..great ABs by the old men that first inning.
i’m a fan of Johnny Damon, hope he gets the chance to get to 3000hits (just not against the Yankees)
Same here and I was originally critical of the Yankees signing him.
thanks
The Yankees starting pitching depth is scary. Long gone are the days of starting guys like Darryl Rasner. They have at least 10 solid options to start on any day.
Must admit with the number of CF flyouts that Shields gets he would look good in YS.
Basically…..if the Yanks win one today they clinch the WC…..if they win both and Boston loses tonight then the division is clinched also.
Tyler,
Yes…..that’s the biggest difference between Boston and NY right now. Boston would kill to.have Noesi or Warren at the moment.
Stinks that Noesi isn’t stretched out….he’s potentially just as good as Nova and might wind up being better.
Remember Mendoza, he was always ready for a fill-in start but this was in the days before anyone obsessed over pitch counts
So Noesi gets a chance to make the starting rotation out of spring training next year?
Gardner would have had that.
http://www.baseballprospectus......leid=15093
Pitchers framing influencing strike calls and turning this into a run saves mechanic. Russ Martin is a beast with this metric.
“I selected two of the best catchers—Jose Molina and Jonathan Lucroy—and three of the worst catchers—Ryan Doumit, Jorge Posada, and Jason Varitek—and reviewed video of their borderline pitch calls. I observed two primary differences in technique between the good and bad catchers.
Both Molina and Lucroy displayed stable, quiet mechanics when receiving borderline pitches. Posada was the opposite, often jumping, bouncing, and shifting his stance and lunging and swiping to catch pitches. It was almost painful to watch him behind the plate. Varitek and Doumit had more stable stances, but each displayed a negative behavior that appeared to cost them strike calls. (Posada displayed both of these negative traits, and more.)”
Saltalamacchia was not very good until he got to fenway and got the favorable calls
Sucks that Posada is so bad but I’ll still take him behind the plate for a dynasty.
blake-
That’s not even mentioning Phelps and Mitchell who could probably give length at the big league level. And of course, Betances and Banuelos in the future. The Yanks have some very good trade chips as they won’t be able to keep all of these guys.
JM,
I very much hope so.
More bad news for the Sox: Youk has been diagnosed with face spasms.
Brignac was such a touted prospect. What a horrible year.
mistake to bring the IF in?
Tyler,
Yup
JF,
Kevin Kennedy…..who.has seen Martin catch a lot over the years was very critical of Martin framing pitches earlier in the season and in the past……recently I heard him talking though about how.much he has improved this year in that regard…..
Crap.
hope the Yanks continue to hit
Irrelevant
Gotta get ahead and pitch down…..this is an emergency start for Noesi and he hasn’t started all year…..the one thing Nova has on him though is that sink to his fastball…..gets him out of a lot of trouble.
Looks like Valdes is the next one up
It’s only 2 runs, except Shields looks like he got into a groove in the last outing
But I believe!!!
It seems like a lot of his pitches are being fouled off.
Who gets innings 4-5-6?
Bad break for Noesi, Longoria was out.
Betances sometime today please!
Good job for short notice. He kept the yanks in the game. Can’t be easy
based on the performance of Yankee SP in recent yankee games this is just another normal game. Sort of like a preplanned AJ start.
oh my this is going to be a long game pitcher wise….hoped Noesi would go longer
I Don’t know what made girardi think that noesi had 50 pitches in him. He hasn’t pitched at all recently and definitely isn’t stretched out past 20-30 pitches. If he actually let betances pitch recently he could of gave them 4-5 innings but of course not.
Go Rays!
(Because I want Boston’s collapse.)
This game has the makings of possibly seeing Brackman/Betances.
I’m surprised Joe has as many regs starting as he does. I thought the especially after Hughes was out they would pretty much roll over for the day game today.
A couple of innings from Betances and Brackman wouldn’t be a bad thing
This game is far from critical so use every extra arm in this one. Hopefully CC is strong tonight and the bullpen doesn’t get taxed
Chase September 21st, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Go Rays!
(Because I want Boston’s collapse.)
————-
Let’s clinch first.
Romine did not look good in that AB
We can hurt Boston’s chances even more this weekend. Let’s clinch the playoffs and the division first.
Gardners approach is really pathetic. It’s almost like he knows he is overmatched at the plate so he tries to walk and bunt instead of swinging the bat.
whoohoo Jeter, you get that .300 batting average
Always respect Jeter for running hard to 1st.
Nice at-bat by the Captain
Jeter is a team guy, but you also get the sense that he would love to hit .300 and prove wrong all of those who said his career was over.
choppy video on MLB At Bat today.
Gardners approach is really pathetic. It’s almost like he knows he is overmatched at the plate so he tries to walk and bunt instead of swinging the bat.
Captain Clutch
Do you know if Gardner ever hit for average in his professional career?
A couple of innings from Betances and Brackman wouldn’t be a bad thing
—————————————————-
How do you think they’ll do after sitting and doing nothing for so long.
I hope we get to see betances today instead of proctor. If he can’t get into this game than why is he even on the roster….
Nice job by Valdes.
Nice job by Valedez….I tell ya….he looks useful to me.
# Captain Clutch September 21st, 2011 at 2:15 pm
I hope we get to see betances today instead of proctor. If he can’t get into this game than why is he even on the roster….
——
I guess they think it’s good for him to be around the big league club.
I don’t know about you guys but I would take my chances with Valdes as the lefty specialist right now. I know it’s an extremely small sample size, but he has looked good. I don’t trust Boone at all.
Id like to have Valdes more in addition to Booney….
yeah, Valdes has looked pretty good….
Serviceable lefthanders are not easy to find. Raul Valdes looks like the better bet to get hitters out than Laffey does. He might be worth a long look in spring training. It doesn’t appear that Feliciano or Marte will be seen again as Yankees.
YankeesWFAN Entering today Jeter needed 11 hits in 30 at-bats to finish .300 BA. Already 2 for 2.
I like Boone. I have faith in him. He had a speed bump with the dead arm, but he’s been pitching well again as of late.
Cone saying that the Yankees rotation FIP is better than the Rays…..that’s interesting.
Shields is on cruise control. So much for getting bleep faced in between games.
I Don’t know what made girardi think that noesi had 50 pitches in him. He hasn’t pitched at all recently and definitely isn’t stretched out past 20-30 pitches.
I’m sure he never throws in the bullpen. Ever.
Valdes has looked good. It’s nice to see a lefty throw strikes and hit his spots. If they face texas Logan will make the roster but I don’t know how girardi could trust him in a big spot. I would rather stick with the more trust worthy righties
Boone is inconsistent, but he has come up big in a few games this year, including the last series in Boston.
How many pitches has Shields thrown? 50 or so?
Yeah, Shields is in yankee killer mode atm
Yanks just gotta keep at it. It’s doable
Posada is awful. I understand resting guys but Montero needs the abs
I think Boone is a decent relief pitcher…..Im just not sure he’s a LOOGY. He has too much trouble at times with lefties to be a one hitter guy…..he seems to be better suited just to pitch an inning or as just a general reliever to me.
Shields is at 56
Nice pop up catch by Romine
Yeah because throwing in the bullpen is the same thing as game action. Give me a break.
That’s a really great job by Swisher there…..
I think if the Yankees matchup against the Sux in the ALCS, it is a must to have two lefties coming out of the pen. Valdes and Logan
hmmmm…. will we see a Brackman, Betances sighting
Laffey warming up-UGH. Stick with the kids Joe.
Longoria just missed that one. Its Laffey time.
Boy I thought Longo got that one…
does this lefty laffey remind anyone of another former lefty, hassey, don’t remember his name??
I don’t like the Laffey experiment
Geez, Joe with all the pitching changesis changing pitchers so often….He must think CC is going to go at least seven tonight.
Logan is a decent arm out of the pen… but can anyone here honestly tell me that in a tight spot they’d want him coming into a playoff game? Even throughout the regular season this guy gives me a case of the Peptos… in the post season I’m sure I’ll be about to hurl when I see him warming.
Laffey will go 1-1/3 innings to get us through the 6th.
Proctor 7 and 8
Wade or Ayala to finish up in the 9th.
Thats my guess
Laffey is terrible. Flat out awful
Why does Girardi even waste his time with Laffey? It’s not like the guy has a chance to make the play off roster.
Laffey is bad
Shame Spencer September 21st, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Logan is a decent arm out of the pen… but can anyone here honestly tell me that in a tight spot they’d want him coming into a playoff game?
——
I trust him in a tight spot. When he came in with bases loaded to K agon on 3 pitches, that was probably his most pressure filled spot this season for him & he got it done. To me that’s an indicator of handling pressure.
Laffey Taffy
My guess Proctor in the 6th.
Ace September 21st, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Laffey is terrible. Flat out awful
——–
Struck out Damon. Not to bad.
Time to score some runs.
Rays are making a huge mistake by allowing the Yankees to hang around in this thing. String a few good at bats together and New York can steal this one.
Nice job there by Laffey
LockDown, I remember that too and at the time I also remember hoping that his performance during that moment would be what I would be seeing more of in the future. I don’t think that’s happened. He’s and up and down guy.. do I think he can come in a playoff game and end up giving us a clean inning? Absolutely. I think he has that potential. …But someone has to tell that to my stomach because it still gets a feeling of sick-nervousness when he’s coming into a game, which will definitely only be multiplied come playoff time.
an up and down guy*
..ugh.
Steal by Nunez?
In this era of pitch counts and over managing, 11 complete games is pretty impressive.
Nunez gets a hanger and bangs it to left for a hit.
The Rays have great pitching but they are offensively challenged. Yes, they scored some runs against Boston but that was against the likes of Weiland, Lackey, Wakefield.
Break for the Yankees, Nunez looked out
Run, Run, Run, Nunez.
A package including Nunez and one or two pitching prospects could land something substantial in return in the off season.
And Nunez swipes third as I type.
Yankee bugaboo, runner on 3rd less than 2 outs
Rotten break for Romine.
Should have waited to see if the ball got through.
Bad luck…Romine actually hit that well..
bad luck there…for Boston…ha ha
# mick September 21st, 2011 at 2:38 pm
does this lefty laffey remind anyone of another former lefty, hassey, don’t remember his name??
============================
took a while but i finally found it…Brad Halsey…..close to hassey…..look exactly alike + same tilt of the hat…..hmmmm……same guy? (only dates back to 07)
how unlucky is that for Romine and the Yanks
Shame Spencer,
Fair enough.
Boone pitched well for most of the summer after he changed his arm slot. He recently came off of a dead arm period where he pitched poorly for a couple of weeks. And he seems to be back to me. So I think he’ll be good going forward. The fact that he handled that game the way he did does help me feel like he can handle the post, which is a higher stress level. What can I say, I tend to give brownie points & leeway to players that handle certain pressure moments, like fenway especially when they seemed so unbeatable at the time.
Though I do understand his past hasn’t been overly reliable. So I understand the need for tums :lo:
Bad break. Nunez with 2 great steals & Romine hit it hard. Unbelievable.
If Gardner is in LF that is a single, terrible job by Jones not to try and cut that off.
He is so S L O W…
Not only is Shields good but he’s lucky too
halsey was 04 and brought back into the yankee system this year
Girardi is flirting with the definition of insanity by continuing to run Laffey out to the mound.
Couldn’t have asked more from the pitchers so far…about time the hitters made Shields work for his money, especially after leaving 18 men on base last night.
“Nice jinx Trisha,lol”
Thanks unknown!
I wouldn’t have been quite as concerned if Upstate Kate didn’t have him on her fantasy team. We’re facing each other this week! (Sorry Kate!)
Meanwhile, he pitched a complete game shutout, grrr. But at least it wasn’t a no hitter!
if there is a 2nd lefty in pen then ayala goes
he has been good, would keep him
francesa stated that posada would not be on the roster if romine made it
makes no sense
po, ro, dickerson and montero should all make it
14 players 11 pitchers
Last two batters for the Yankees hit the ball hard, if they get out of the 6th still down 2-1 this may be encouraging. Of course the hard hit balls could also be the result of Shields not worrying too much about the hitters.
Any season ticket holders having trouble accessing the postseason pre sale? Supposed to start at 3:00 and the password they gave me isn’t working at all.
Girardi is flirting with the definition of insanity by continuing to run Laffey out to the mound.
————-
Girardi’s obsession with the lefty, lefty matchup has to end. He still doesn’t understand that a good righty is 1 million times better than an awful AAA lefty against a lefty hitter.
Nice hard charging effort from Jorge on the foul pop
nice play…c’mon Yankee bats
God, Jeter is so old and has no range at all.
Nice play by Jeter
pkyankfan69 September 21st, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Nice hard charging effort from Jorge on the foul pop
———————————-
More then made up for it with that sick stretch off 1B to end the inning
I realize that Tampa is not exactly “Murderers Row” but the patchwork pitching staff has done an excellent job through six.
Jeter ranging !,
aj MUST be left off the roster with hughes/garcia as emergency 4th starter if cc doesn’t go
Very much so, JimK. Didn’t expect the Yanks to still be in the game by now but they are so might as well take advantage of it.
No idea why Girardi is playing so much to win when Tampa losses actually help Boston. Get the split and get out, make sure the pen and A lineup is ready to play all out against Boston. Thats who we need to focus our energy on. Let the Rays take a couple of games here so Sox can sweat a little longer… don’t make this easy for them….
pkyankfan69 September 21st, 2011 at 3:09 pm
Nice hard charging effort from Jorge on the foul pop
The same as the pop fly that Romine ultimately caught, Posada should have taken charge but in all fairness he is not a 1st baseman.
I have to admit it is really wierd watching this game and not knowing whether I really want the Yanks to win it or not.
I’d almost rather lose 2 of the 3 left with the Rays this series (including this game) and clinch the division against the Sox this weekend.
Then tank big time against the Rays next week to knock the Sox out of the playoffs.
Thats the dream scenario right there anyway.
Yes, good job by the pitching. Time for the offense to step it up!
Trisha
are you dissing my Bronson Arroyo, who just got me 43 points?
Jeter flirting with .300.
# JimK September 21st, 2011 at 3:11 pm
I realize that Tampa is not exactly “Murderers Row” but the patchwork pitching staff has done an excellent job through six.
==============================
Speaking of Murderers Row:
http://nesn.com/2011/01/2011-r.....story.html
Beat the team that’s in front of you and let God sort it out.
When the Yankees clinch the division, Girardi should pencil in Betances, Brackman and Noesi for the final 3 games versus the TB Rays. Have AJ ready in the pen.
They will need Nova and Colon to throw in that series against TB so that they can tune up for the postseason and be on schedule……Nova will probably pitch Monday and Colon Tuesday…..
That’s terrible news Blake, terrible news.
Mick
thanks for the link; maybe the current RS lineup should have been compared to Cannery Row that is a bunch of bums.
Nova will be gunning for the ROY and Colon will be pitching for a longer lifeline in MLB. They could easily shut down the Rays and the Yankees could win those games, keeping Boston on life support up until the bitter end.
this is like the moment of Girardi’s life he gets to switch pitchers just as much as his heart desires
Pitcher #6, coming up…
I think Girardi is determined to use every pitcher in the bullpen besides Betances and Brackman. Just let Wade pitch to Damon.
syd,
You’re right, but now he’s got no lefties for tonight.
“Trisha
are you dissing my Bronson Arroyo, who just got me 43 points?”
Actually I’m in awe! I had definitely counted on Arroyo as being the weak link in your starting pitching today so had to look at least four times when it showed he was pitching a no hitter!
Congratulations on his CG. It shows (IMO) that when players have nothing less to play for, they are loose as geese!
I should say nothing left to play for
http://kissingsuzykolber.uprox.....-espn.html
Well it’s official. ESPN is tired of hiding their bias and have officially came out of the closet. How pathetic.
Hope our hitters don’t see good pitchers like shields in the playoffs, just bad ones.
If the Yankees go ahead by one run do the Yankees use Robertson and Mo? I would think they should because a win here clinches a playoff spot.
“Nova will be gunning for the ROY and Colon will be pitching for a longer lifeline in MLB. They could easily shut down the Rays and the Yankees could win those games, keeping Boston on life support up until the bitter end.”
It really is unfortunate. If the Sox were in our situation, they would probably make Lester/Beckett throw 3 innings at best (or even a simulated game in Florida or something) and then empty their inexperienced middle relievers.
Let’s hope Shields can hold onto this lead today. CC has been pedestrian for a while now, so I’m not even sure if we win tonight. Colon/Niemenn could go either way as well.
Baltimore and KC are good examples of that. The Mariners, when they were a last-place team, constantly played the role of spoiler at the end of the season.
Hey, maybe Joe is trying to win this game.
Unknown,
Is that for real? Jeez.
UnKnown September 21st, 2011 at 3:34 pm
http://kissingsuzykolber.uprox…..-espn.html
Well it’s official. ESPN is tired of hiding their bias and have officially came out of the closet. How pathetic.
————————
Is that forreal?
Yeah, that issue is for real. And NESN loves it!
http://www.nesn.com/2011/09/up.....photo.html
This is like playing blackjack with house money. Win or lose-its all good…
Logan is tge gift that keeps giving in the Arodys trade.
Cashman should always think twice when about to trade young arms. Vizcaino. Dunn. Coke Kennedy in the past 2 years.
4 + 7 + 11 = 21
Still not 28. Try again ESPN.
I’ve been watching this on and off because I have a lot of backed up freebie legal services I provide to elderly clients (it’s really pissing me off today, but I think I’m allowed) so I want to ask this question. Don’t we have another pitcher who is able to get lefties out, Valdes? I thought he was a lefty specialist but maybe I’m wrong.
I get tired of Boone Logan.
I like the “You do the math” part of the cover.
What does that even mean. Very disappointed in such a large national sports outlet like ESPN to put something like that together.
Even more fuel to why I really want the Sux to miss the playoffs this year.
Look on the bright side – as bad as he is, he is still pitching better than Dan Bard this month
Valdes already pitched, so did Laffey. I think that’s all the lefthanded relievers now.
trisha,
Valdes already pitched in this game. And did quite well, actually.
The only upside if Yanks don’t take this game (not saying they won’t) – Sux lose more grip on the wild card. It’s upside in my book.
To quote myself, I’d rather have Satan’s team win than have the Sux win anything. Anytime.
Maybe it’s just me, but I would really like the Yanks to win this game….
JM, is he a left specialist?
trisha
I get tired of Boone Logan.
—–
BOOOO.
I’m a fan.
jacksquat and JM – Do you trust any of the lefty specialists more than you do Logan?
NOW can we get a damn run without Sheilds having to throw the ball into left field to score?
I didn’t want to jinx him. I like Ayala. Hes been very reliable and valuable for us.
When I get my copy of that issue I’m going to wipe myself w/it and then mail it back to ESPN.
Boone has been doing better as of late but I’d really like to see more of Valdes. He looks pretty good to me so far.
Eight innings and still only down by one; It would be great to clinch with a walkoff.
It appears to me that outside of NE, the red sox are disliked even more than the Yankees. I listened to a lot of xm mlb over the weekend and the sox were universally being killed for their collapse, especially w/ their payroll.
Nunez!!!
YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nuny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nuney!!!
Nunez with a homer off the great shields!!!
I still don’t like his defense though.
Lock – to be honest I don’t remember what he’s done lately, but it seems that whenever I tune in Logan is up to no good.
i’m just having a bad day and it is spilling over.
(I have these elderly clients who rack up massive credit card debt and then I have to do all the leg work to get them out of it – which if they have no assets and only get SSI or something like it, they don’t have to pay by law. But the time it takes me per client per creditor is really lengthy, and none of them show up with only one creditor! Just trying to find fax numbers for the creditors is an act of Congress – of course they don’t provide that on their monthly statements! Today I feel like wringing the necks of the clients…)
MEANWHILE, ALL IS FORGIVEN EDUARDO!!!!!
I’m easy.
Whoa, Nuney!
That was sub-optimal, Chavey….
Kate, I think part of the reason for the dislike of the Sux has as much to do with their being annointed the way they were. (For once it’s not us!)
GOOD!!!
Damnit, come on Shields, get it together. We don’t want the Sux gaining any ground!
Should have let Romine hit, he hit Shields hard in his last AB
trisha – true pinstriped blue September 21st, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Lock – to be honest I don’t remember what he’s done lately, but it seems that whenever I tune in Logan is up to no good.
—-
Don’t tune in when he’s on. You’re obviously bad luck
Q: Do they get out of paying by claiming bankruptcy or they just don’t have to pay? You’re job sounds stressful, dealing with those people
“Damnit, come on Shields, get it together. We don’t want the Sux gaining any ground!”
as long as you are in a bad mood anyway Trish…the 20 points Garza has gotten for me so far puts me w/in 4 points of you
OK I’ll take less than a walkoff
Shields running out of gas. I guess they don’t trust their relievers.
you know, in the old days, if yu struck out 100 times, you may set a team record…now, it seems every team has 2-3 guys between 100-150 (or more)…other than the vague “inconsistent umpires” reason, can anyone think of any other logical reasons?
Dammit Nunez. That was not very big game of you Shields
Maybe they can bet CC drunk during the celebration for his start tonight so the Rays can win
Yes. Gardy steals on the unstealable James!!!
Thankfully CC hasn’t been himself lately, so tonight is no lock. Colon is hit or miss as well.
Really hope the Rays get it together here. They need to find a way to score runs.
Lock –
They don’t have to pay because by law if they have no assets and only receive SSI/SSDI, etc., by law that money isn’t reachable. If they are coming to our clinic, it’s usually because they can’t afford a bankruptcy. Creditors can still go to court and get judgments against them, and some do in the hopes that the client will run into money somehow (lottery, inheritance, whatever) and if they do, then the creditor can collect. If they file for bankruptcy the debts are automatically discharged for good.
Today I have client A with 8 creditors, client B with 11 creditors, and Client C with 9 creditors.
Kate –
It appears that I should have stayed in bed today!
Hey, go root for the Yankees to lose somewhere else! :p
Here comes the game winning hit by Cano…
I want CC to get his 20th win tonight. I think he’ll be sharp & shut it down.
And the Gardner OVER 45 Steals prop hits!
jacksquat,
They should go to the Globe blogs, if thats what they want.
hahaha Sheilds with the towel over his head.
trisha, That’s a lot of creditors. wow
Kate, OMG you are going to pick up at least 15 more on Garza!
I have 3 going tonight, not that it has to mean anything of course. Vazquez has been money lately, as has McCarthy – but he’s facing Texas and the Angels are creeping up so I expect Texas to kill – and Oakland’s offense isn’t anything to write home about. Eveland is a total wild card.
Something good has to come out of today for me. If the Sux lose, that will be enough to buoy my spirits of course!
I’m getting a kick out of seeing sux fans root for the yankees.
Maddon is so quick with the hook and yet he left Shields in there. Hmmm.
The confused allegiances thing has definitely gotten the best of you if you’re actually rooting for the Rays.
and I don’t understand why anyone would want a surging Rays team in the post season over a slumping, beat-up Sox team.
CANO!!!! Yes….
Time for 603
whooohhooooo!!!!!!!!!
Lock, not that I ever feel bad for corporations but they lose a ton of money on defaults.
WE ARE GOING TO WIN THIS GAME AND CLINCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jacksquat September 21st, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Hey, go root for the Yankees to lose somewhere else! :p
Here comes the game winning hit by Cano…
—
jacksquat,
Right on!
Come on, people! Remember some of you are Yankees fans. What’s that about rooting for the Rays to win? For all your hate of the Red Sox, you forget your baseball lessons. Baseball can be an ironic game and today you may root for the Rays to win and tomorrow you may have the Yankees facing them in the postseason carrying a great story with them.
Just remember this:
LETS GO, YANKEES!!!
and I don’t understand why anyone would want a surging Rays team in the post season over a slumping, beat-up Sox team.
——————
Momentum has no correlation to postseason success.
“and I don’t understand why anyone would want a surging Rays team in the post season over a slumping, beat-up Sox team.”
I doubt I have to explain myself at this point.
Don’t you know, it’s Cano!
good call, jacksquat!!!
sorry, i want the Yanks to win this game. The sooner they clinch, the sooner they can start preparing for the playoffs in earnest…..
Bringing in a mediocre lhp to face Cano was a big mistake.
YAY Robbie!!! Double good for me, the Yankees go ahead, and Robbie puts me ahead of Trisha in FBB!
“Momentum has no correlation to postseason success.”
Bingo, and surging is relative.
I don’t see them touching the Yanks.
I don’t see anyone touching the Yanks.
But that’s me. Others can have their trepidations.
Shields looks ill. heh.
He looks better wearing the towel over his head though.
Oh Robbie, your swing is such a thing of beauty!
Bronx Jeers September 21st, 2011 at 4:15 pm
The confused allegiances thing has definitely gotten the best of you if you’re actually rooting for the Rays.
and I don’t understand why anyone would want a surging Rays team in the post season over a slumping, beat-up Sox team.
The Rays are 4-4 over their last 8 games and are far from surging, plus their lineup is pathetic, but I agree I want the Yankees to win this game and let the RS worry about their own problems.
The Ghost Says-
BJ Upton dogged it on the double by Cano, you would never see a Yankees player put so little effort into chasing that down and making the throw.
LGY September 21st, 2011 at 4:17 pm
and I don’t understand why anyone would want a surging Rays team in the post season over a slumping, beat-up Sox team.
——————
Momentum has no correlation to postseason success.
——–
And momentum can be stopped
LGY September 21st, 2011 at 4:17 pm
and I don’t understand why anyone would want a surging Rays team in the post season over a slumping, beat-up Sox team.
——————
Momentum has no correlation to postseason success.
—
Let’s not call it momentum, let’s say one team has been playing well and the other has not.
LGY September 21st, 2011 at 4:17 pm
and I don’t understand why anyone would want a surging Rays team in the post season over a slumping, beat-up Sox team.
——————
Momentum has no correlation to postseason success.
—————-
We’ve seen many teams surge in the last part of the season, win a postseason berth and go on to have great success in the postseason. You don’t want to limp to the postseason, you want to be playing your best and carry that.
This game just wasn’t big enough for Big Game James.
He’s saving his best stuff for the Sox play-in rumble.
Kate, did I once come on and crow about fantasy baseball in the last two weeks????
It’s okay. I can’t think of a nicer way for you to go ahead of me than with a Robby hit. And as Yogi says, it ain’t over ’til it’s over…
Losing 3\4 probably finishes the Rays
I just hope Girardi plays hard through the Sox series.
But the Rays are looooooooooooooseeeeee.
We can lose tomorrow. Today, we play today, we win today!
It would be nice to see Arod get into a groove. He looks really late the last couple of days.
Nick
to be fair, Shields did pitch a good game, he was just left in a little too long.
The Rays are a decent team, but they aren’t all that good. This game shouldn’t have been this tight for them, given the patchwork start and all.
We sweep today will sox win, sox 3.5 up. We lose tmrw, sox lose, sox up by 2.5.
We win 2/3 vs sox, rays sweep jays, sox lead down to 1/2 game with 3 to play.
I’m down with that.
But Trisha don’t you want Sox fans to feel to full agony of defeat? Their spirits raised only to be crushed again at the hands of the evil empire?
————————————————–
“Momentum has no correlation to postseason success.”
But health does.
I’m thinking that it’s okay for someone to want the Sux limp in just as it’s okay for someone to win the Sux to continue their descent to the pits of hell. Right?
We’re not cookie cutter fans.
Here’s another perspective. I don’t want to hide behind the weakness of another team to win. I want the Yankees to face the best out there and win anyway. Which I believe they will.
Different strokes.
But that being said, even if the Sux were the best out there I would still want them to be crushed like bugs and obliterated and never sniff the postseasoon.
I don’t like the Sux.
We’ve seen many teams surge in the last part of the season, win a postseason berth and go on to have great success in the postseason. You don’t want to limp to the postseason, you want to be playing your best and carry that.
———————
We’ve seen many teams limp into the postseason and go on to have great success in the postseason.
It doesn’t matter either way once the playoffs start.
“We can lose tomorrow. Today, we play today, we win today!”
Yes indeed. Once we clinch the division, we can lose every game to the end of the season (except for the Sux game) and I’m fine with it.
It would have been nice if today MO got the record setting save.
Jeter the best at making that play.
“But Trisha don’t you want Sox fans to feel to full agony of defeat? Their spirits raised only to be crushed again at the hands of the evil empire? ”
Hmmmm. If they hadn’t been annointed the 2011 kings of the world by all the retreads out there, it would be tempting. I just love the idea of the collapse coming before they even sniff the postseason. Anyway, nobody will get huge credit if they want the post and then lose because everyone is expecting it – especially Schilling.
It is way too hard to have to work w/ a game on. I have the TV on in our conference room, and when I hear a lot of cheering, I know to go back and see what is going on.
But health does.
———————
The only seriously injured player on the Sox is Youkilis and even without him their offense is still a thousand times better than the Rays. A Gon and Ortiz are dealing with some nagging stuff but still again their offense is still leaps and bounds better than the Rays even if those two are not at 100%.
You can say maybe that Bard has been worn down but Farnsworth, the Rays closer, is still coming back from injury.
Sox have Beckett/Lester, a great offense, and a lights out closer. They also have whipped us this year.
They are in no way more favorable matchup than a Rays team that can’t hit, has no bullpen, and has 5 starters that are good but not unhittable, including a rookie.
I’d take Beckett and Lester over any Rays starter, honestly.
Mo does it again.
Ball game over. Theee Yankees win! Theee Yankees win!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am very very very very very very very very happy.
mo is simply amazing. he’s pitching as well as he has all year.
the playoffs are going to be fun
It would have been nice if today MO got the record setting save.
————————————-
Technically every save he gets from now on will be a record setting save.
This was truly a “TEAM” win.
Look at what the Yankees just did to the Rays today with their Ace on the mound. Their offense is simply atrocious.
You think that the Sox are only scoring two runs today off the pitchers the Yankees sent out there?
Our magic number for the division is now TWO!!! (Correct?)
Derek Jeter once again keeps on playing meaningful games…….
Bronx Jeers
You are right, I should have wrote broke the record.
Yes Trisha, a win and Sox loss tonight clinches it.
I should say thought that I am very happy the Yankees just clinched a playoff spot.
That’s awesome.
woohoo!!!
They are not even celebrating? This day sucked.
Only thing that will make it good is a Orioles win and a Rays win in game 2, otherwise, it sucks.
LGY – I definitely agree with you in that those two teams are not threatening us, either of them.
We’re on the same page with a number of others here; some feel the other way. It’s all good.
Yanks just beat the Rays with a bunch of minor league and scrap heap pitchers (aside from Mo ofc), and 2/3 of their lineup.
Nap time.
“Only thing that will make it good is a Orioles win and a Rays win in game 2, otherwise, it sucks.”
Alright look at it this way. If the O’s pull off tonight and the Yankees do also, then we clinch the division.
It will be no gain for either the Sux or the Rays.
But then I want the Rays to go and annihilate the Jays (not because it’s the Jays, just because I want te Rays to win) and at the same time we beat the Sux. What could be better than for the Sux to lose the wild card at our hands after we’ve already clinched the division!
I like it!
Look at what the Yankees just did to the Rays today with their Ace on the mound. Their offense is simply atrocious. ”
Couldn’t agree more. Rays are a significantly easier opponent than Boston.
Even CC is throwing 130 pitches innings against them and even the best games our starters throw against them are tight-rope acts and a million pitches in 5 innings.
We’re on the same page with a number of others here; some feel the other way. It’s all good.
——————
True. Like I said yesterday all this stuff is very conflicting so people will have and are welcome to have different opinions.
Hoping for a tampa win in the second game but cc pitches well. red sox, tigers and rangers loss.
I never expected the Yankees to win this game. Great job by the BP.
JimK,
Still no good. He just broke his own record.
The Rays really don’t have a lot of offense. Shows you how horrific the Sox’ pitching is at the moment, with all the runs the Rays were able to score in Boston.
Awwright, Trish, I’m with you. I couldn’t previously decide if I wanted the Sox to miss the playoffs or make it and get summarily sent home by Detroit/TX. Now I know – send them home arly and let the chips fall where they may!
God, this is awesome. I hate the Sox & their fans and want to hear the weeping all the way from Boston!!!!!!
arjay – YES!!!
We are going to have so much enjoyment coming up!
Trisha…I really like your style.
“True. Like I said yesterday all this stuff is very conflicting so people will have and are welcome to have different opinions”
Yeah, but we’re right.
muns15, I do my best thinking when it comes to hating the Sux!!!
I’m with you all the way Trisha. Hate those beantowners and their made up nation.
On my way to listen to WEEI.
WAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JimK,
Still no good. He just broke his own record.
I feel like I am back at school, but again in a technical sense you are correct.
“I wish MO had broken the record, previously held by Hoffman, in today’s game.”