09/14: Yankees at Toronto, September 14th
Posted by: James
Well, that was annoying (thought it makes for a very easy wrap-up). First the good points.
Ian Kennedy was great. He started the game off shakily by giving up a two-out RBI double to the Big Hurt (but who hasn't? He's got 486 2-baggers in his career for a reason) but then settled down and proceeded to shut down the Blue Jays line-up (admittedly one of the weakest in the AL especially when Glaus isn't in there). Still, whenever a young pitcher one-hits any team over 7 innings, it's an impressive thing.
As sharp as Kennedy was, A.J. Burnett was just as dominating, giving up four hits over eight innings (walking 2 and and striking out 8). Burnett made one mistake in the sixth and Johnny Damon (!) made him pay, taking him him deep to right and tying the ball game at 1. Still Burnett went 8 strong (on 120 pitches) though he might have been taken out an inning earlier had not the Yankees gone down in order (Cano-Cabrera-Betimit) on 7 pitches in the 7th.
Kennedy started the eighth but was pulled after walking the lead-off batter for Luis Vizcaino. Viz, who made his first appearance since being shelved for arm discomfort, gave up a sac bunt but then proceeded to strike out Reed Johnson and Russ Adams.
The Yankees put men on in the top of the ninth but as they did all game, they couldn't come through with the clutch two-out hit. Abreu singled to start it off but A-Rod K'd and after a Matsui infield single to put runners at first and second with one out, both Cano and Cabrera grounded out to end the inning.
Chris Britton came on for the bottom of the ninth to face the only good hitters in the Jays line-up. Britton, who hadn't pitched since the 8th (not making excuses, just stating a fact) gave up a single to Alex Rios, who promptly stole second and then gave up the game-winning single to Frank Thomas. Why Thomas wasn't intentionally walked when first base was open is a good question though. I'll take my chances with anyone else on that roster and when the Big Hurt is running, there's always a shot to turn two.
Finally, as an aside, I get that "theee Yankees win" is John Sterling's bit but does he really need to get so excited about the other team winning too? If you heard him last night, it was as if the Jays had just won the division or something. John, calm down before you hurt yourself.
Ian Kennedy was great. He started the game off shakily by giving up a two-out RBI double to the Big Hurt (but who hasn't? He's got 486 2-baggers in his career for a reason) but then settled down and proceeded to shut down the Blue Jays line-up (admittedly one of the weakest in the AL especially when Glaus isn't in there). Still, whenever a young pitcher one-hits any team over 7 innings, it's an impressive thing.
As sharp as Kennedy was, A.J. Burnett was just as dominating, giving up four hits over eight innings (walking 2 and and striking out 8). Burnett made one mistake in the sixth and Johnny Damon (!) made him pay, taking him him deep to right and tying the ball game at 1. Still Burnett went 8 strong (on 120 pitches) though he might have been taken out an inning earlier had not the Yankees gone down in order (Cano-Cabrera-Betimit) on 7 pitches in the 7th.
Kennedy started the eighth but was pulled after walking the lead-off batter for Luis Vizcaino. Viz, who made his first appearance since being shelved for arm discomfort, gave up a sac bunt but then proceeded to strike out Reed Johnson and Russ Adams.
The Yankees put men on in the top of the ninth but as they did all game, they couldn't come through with the clutch two-out hit. Abreu singled to start it off but A-Rod K'd and after a Matsui infield single to put runners at first and second with one out, both Cano and Cabrera grounded out to end the inning.
Chris Britton came on for the bottom of the ninth to face the only good hitters in the Jays line-up. Britton, who hadn't pitched since the 8th (not making excuses, just stating a fact) gave up a single to Alex Rios, who promptly stole second and then gave up the game-winning single to Frank Thomas. Why Thomas wasn't intentionally walked when first base was open is a good question though. I'll take my chances with anyone else on that roster and when the Big Hurt is running, there's always a shot to turn two.
Finally, as an aside, I get that "theee Yankees win" is John Sterling's bit but does he really need to get so excited about the other team winning too? If you heard him last night, it was as if the Jays had just won the division or something. John, calm down before you hurt yourself.
Sssteve wrote:
I'm very surprised that this was the only blog or news story that even mentioned this unexplainable lapse in baseball judgment.