07/13: Yankees @ Tampa Bay Devil Rays, July 12th
Posted by: James
The Yankees started off the second half of the season with a win...and not to sound too desperate but boy do they need a lot of those just to make it into contention.
In any case, James Shields took the hill against the Andy Pettitte and the Yankees. Shield had been having a nice little season until June hit and since then, he's been quite a bit more hittable. The Yanks started off the scoring in the second when Bobby Abreu hit a two-out double (good sign for the second half?) to score A-Rod who had started off the inning by getting on base via error. 1-0 Yankees.
Andy gave that right back in the bottom of the third when Johnny Gomes led off with a single and Josh Wilson doubled him home. Not to worry, the Yankees took the lead for good in the fourth when Shields apparently just lost it. He gave up three solo home-runs in the inning including back-to-back jobs from Jeter and A-Rod (who stands at 495 now...and who MLB has deemed worthy of a special page - did Frank the Tank have one of these - will Thome or Manny?). The last solo shot came from Bobby Abreu, who raked in the seventh slot again...and is now hitting .381 with five homers, 43 runs scored and 35 RBI in wins. In addition, with a run of .333/.421/.543/.964 in his last 35 games and 129 ABs, Abreu's finally got himself up to a 100 OPS+, which is certainly not great coming from a $16MM man, but seemed impossible not that long ago.
Andy seemed to be about ready to lose it himself in the bottom of the fourth when he loaded the bases with no one out but thanks to a strikeout, sac fly, strikeout, he was able to work out of it having only given up one run. The Yankees tacked on three insurance runs in the 5th, 6th and 8th to put the game away but it sure seemed like the Rays were done after their inability to score more than one run in the 4th. Andy gave up another run in the 6th on two singles and a sac fly before giving way to Luis Vizcaino. Obviously, it wasn't the best Andy Pettitte performance that we've seen this year but it was enough for the win. Still, as a Yankee fan, you have to be very concerned about what we've seen from Pettitte over the last 8 starts (a 6.99 ERA and a .332/.366/.476/.842 BAA allowed).
In any case, James Shields took the hill against the Andy Pettitte and the Yankees. Shield had been having a nice little season until June hit and since then, he's been quite a bit more hittable. The Yanks started off the scoring in the second when Bobby Abreu hit a two-out double (good sign for the second half?) to score A-Rod who had started off the inning by getting on base via error. 1-0 Yankees.
Andy gave that right back in the bottom of the third when Johnny Gomes led off with a single and Josh Wilson doubled him home. Not to worry, the Yankees took the lead for good in the fourth when Shields apparently just lost it. He gave up three solo home-runs in the inning including back-to-back jobs from Jeter and A-Rod (who stands at 495 now...and who MLB has deemed worthy of a special page - did Frank the Tank have one of these - will Thome or Manny?). The last solo shot came from Bobby Abreu, who raked in the seventh slot again...and is now hitting .381 with five homers, 43 runs scored and 35 RBI in wins. In addition, with a run of .333/.421/.543/.964 in his last 35 games and 129 ABs, Abreu's finally got himself up to a 100 OPS+, which is certainly not great coming from a $16MM man, but seemed impossible not that long ago.
Andy seemed to be about ready to lose it himself in the bottom of the fourth when he loaded the bases with no one out but thanks to a strikeout, sac fly, strikeout, he was able to work out of it having only given up one run. The Yankees tacked on three insurance runs in the 5th, 6th and 8th to put the game away but it sure seemed like the Rays were done after their inability to score more than one run in the 4th. Andy gave up another run in the 6th on two singles and a sac fly before giving way to Luis Vizcaino. Obviously, it wasn't the best Andy Pettitte performance that we've seen this year but it was enough for the win. Still, as a Yankee fan, you have to be very concerned about what we've seen from Pettitte over the last 8 starts (a 6.99 ERA and a .332/.366/.476/.842 BAA allowed).
