05/10: Texas Rangers vs. Yankees - May 10th
Posted by: James
What an ugly loss. You can't sweep Texas every time...but man, was this game putrid. Simply a horrible loss that puts the Yanks back under .500, right before one of the toughest stretches of the year. Ouch.
Chien-Ming Wang took the hill and ended any hopes of a perfect game by walking Kenny Lofton. Lofton stole second and eventually came around to score on a 2-out single by Slamming Sammy (5 HRs away from 600). 1-0 Rangers.
Opposing Wang was Brandon McCarthy who started the game with a 7.96 ERA but was also coming off his first good start of the season (6 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER). He was cruising until the bottom of the third when after inducing a weak pop-up by Doug Mientkiewicz, Melky Cabrera took him deep for his first homer of the season. I know. I was surprised too. Maybe el Leche decided that he was sick of letting Mientkiewicz have all the fun. Mientkiewicz with an OPS close to .700 and Melky creeping in on .600...who would have thought? 1-1 Tie.
It became pretty clear that Wang would be in a little bit of trouble during the day today. In the third he gave up a double and then a single to Mark Texiera and Sammy Sosa. With those two on and one out, Wang was able to induce a double play ball off the bat of Hank Blalock. Chien-Ming wouldn't be as lucky in the fifth as catcher Gerald Liard tripled (!?!) and came around to score on a fielder's choice in which no out was recorded and the batter Wilkerson ended up on second. Texiera singled in Wilkerson and took second on the throw and came home on a Sosa single (3-for-3 so far). The inning ended on another Blalock double play but the score is now 4-1 Rangers. Hmm, with Wang a little shaky, perhaps emptying out the bullpen last night might not have been the best move. Actually, Wang is making my point moot as he's only racked up 80 pitches through the 6th inning (with an incredible 14-2 GB-FB). On the other extreme, Brandon McCarthy has an 11-1 FB-GB ratio going through 5.
In the sixth, McCarthy looks to be tiring as after getting Bobby Abreu to ground out, he gives up a double to Derek Jeter and then walks A-Rod after getting ahead 0-2. With Matsui at bat, the Rangers bring in man with the 1.42 ERA, Frank Francisco, and he promptly gets Matsui to fly out for the second out and Jorge Posada to fly out for the third.
Wang comes out for the seventh and he looks done for the day. He gives up a single to Gerald Laird, a single to Kenny Lofton, a sac fly to Brad Wilkerson and finally a double to Mark Texiera. 6-1 Rangers, one out and that's all for Wang. Luiz Vizcaino comes in to face Sosa and is able to get Sammy to ground out for the second out but then gives up a double to Hank Blalock (his 4th in the last two games and 6th, of 11 total, against the Yankees) that plates Texiera. Vizcaino finally gets out of the inning by striking out Ian Kinsler. 7-1 Rangers.
The Yankees scored their second run in the 7th when Doug Mientkiewicz doubled with one out. He came around to score on a fielding error by Ian Kinsler, making the score 7-2 Rangers. There's still a lot of ground to make up and Luiz Vizcaino is not helping the situation. He starts off the 7th by walking Matt Kata and Nelson Cruz (.197 hitter this season, .212 for his career) before striking out Gerald Laird. He then goes up 0-2 on Jerry Hairston before giving up a single and getting taken out for Sean Henn. 8-2 Rangers. With two on and one out, Henn promptly gives up a single to Brad Wilkerson, a ground-rule double to Texiera and a 4 pitch walk to Sosa. Bases loaded, one out and 10-2 Rangers. Torre keeps Henn in to face the pinch-hitter Victor Diaz and Diaz makes him pay. Grand slam - 14-2 Rangers. Sean Henn gets the final two outs via strikeouts but his ERA has taken quite the beating (all the way up to 5.19 now). Vizcaino's ERA is now up to 7.50 and it might be time to give Chris Britton his rightful spot on the roster.
Chien-Ming Wang took the hill and ended any hopes of a perfect game by walking Kenny Lofton. Lofton stole second and eventually came around to score on a 2-out single by Slamming Sammy (5 HRs away from 600). 1-0 Rangers.
Opposing Wang was Brandon McCarthy who started the game with a 7.96 ERA but was also coming off his first good start of the season (6 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER). He was cruising until the bottom of the third when after inducing a weak pop-up by Doug Mientkiewicz, Melky Cabrera took him deep for his first homer of the season. I know. I was surprised too. Maybe el Leche decided that he was sick of letting Mientkiewicz have all the fun. Mientkiewicz with an OPS close to .700 and Melky creeping in on .600...who would have thought? 1-1 Tie.
It became pretty clear that Wang would be in a little bit of trouble during the day today. In the third he gave up a double and then a single to Mark Texiera and Sammy Sosa. With those two on and one out, Wang was able to induce a double play ball off the bat of Hank Blalock. Chien-Ming wouldn't be as lucky in the fifth as catcher Gerald Liard tripled (!?!) and came around to score on a fielder's choice in which no out was recorded and the batter Wilkerson ended up on second. Texiera singled in Wilkerson and took second on the throw and came home on a Sosa single (3-for-3 so far). The inning ended on another Blalock double play but the score is now 4-1 Rangers. Hmm, with Wang a little shaky, perhaps emptying out the bullpen last night might not have been the best move. Actually, Wang is making my point moot as he's only racked up 80 pitches through the 6th inning (with an incredible 14-2 GB-FB). On the other extreme, Brandon McCarthy has an 11-1 FB-GB ratio going through 5.
In the sixth, McCarthy looks to be tiring as after getting Bobby Abreu to ground out, he gives up a double to Derek Jeter and then walks A-Rod after getting ahead 0-2. With Matsui at bat, the Rangers bring in man with the 1.42 ERA, Frank Francisco, and he promptly gets Matsui to fly out for the second out and Jorge Posada to fly out for the third.
Wang comes out for the seventh and he looks done for the day. He gives up a single to Gerald Laird, a single to Kenny Lofton, a sac fly to Brad Wilkerson and finally a double to Mark Texiera. 6-1 Rangers, one out and that's all for Wang. Luiz Vizcaino comes in to face Sosa and is able to get Sammy to ground out for the second out but then gives up a double to Hank Blalock (his 4th in the last two games and 6th, of 11 total, against the Yankees) that plates Texiera. Vizcaino finally gets out of the inning by striking out Ian Kinsler. 7-1 Rangers.
The Yankees scored their second run in the 7th when Doug Mientkiewicz doubled with one out. He came around to score on a fielding error by Ian Kinsler, making the score 7-2 Rangers. There's still a lot of ground to make up and Luiz Vizcaino is not helping the situation. He starts off the 7th by walking Matt Kata and Nelson Cruz (.197 hitter this season, .212 for his career) before striking out Gerald Laird. He then goes up 0-2 on Jerry Hairston before giving up a single and getting taken out for Sean Henn. 8-2 Rangers. With two on and one out, Henn promptly gives up a single to Brad Wilkerson, a ground-rule double to Texiera and a 4 pitch walk to Sosa. Bases loaded, one out and 10-2 Rangers. Torre keeps Henn in to face the pinch-hitter Victor Diaz and Diaz makes him pay. Grand slam - 14-2 Rangers. Sean Henn gets the final two outs via strikeouts but his ERA has taken quite the beating (all the way up to 5.19 now). Vizcaino's ERA is now up to 7.50 and it might be time to give Chris Britton his rightful spot on the roster.
