05/14: Mo Gives Up His First, Offense Struggles and Yankees Lose in 11
Posted by: Patrick
It's awfully hard to win games when you only score 1 run in 11 innings. The Yankees offense was held to a whisper thanks to Rays' pitchers Edwin Jackson (4.04 ERA coming in, 7 innings pitched tonight), Dan Wheeler (1.35, 1), Troy Percival (1.93, 1) and J.P. Howell (2.88, 2). Pitchers throwing the ball well right now, no doubt, but you have to get some runs across. In the odd circumstance where the Yankees actually had runners in scoring position (like the 6th when Jeter tripled with 1 out), they'd strand them (Abreu followed that Jeter triple with a ground out to shortstop - just about the worst thing he could do - and then Matsui popped out). If Matsui didn't homer in the top of the 9th, this game would have been over after 9, most likely.
Instead, it went into extras with with the Yankees going 1-2-3 and Mariano pitching a scoreless 10th. Another 1-2-3 in the top of the 11th (though, not the traditional 1-2-3: line out, walk, double play) for the offense brought Mo back out for his second inning. And that's where it all ended. Cliff Floyd led off with a single and Johnny Gomes pinch ran for him. Gomes proceded to steal second, helped by a poor throw from Jose Molina. And then Gabe Cross singled in him. Game over. Yankees lose, 2-1. Mo's consecutive streak over - 14 games and 15 innings without allowing a run to start the season.
If anything pains me as a Yankees fan, more so than simply losing, it's seeing Mo lose. Just because we're so accustomed to him closing games out. So, during the odd times when he blows one, it's such a let down. But, it was bound to happen and it'll happen again. Awesome run to start the season for Rivera, though. He still hasn't walked anyone. 15 games, 16 innings, 0-1, 10 saves, 0 blown saves, 9 hits, 13 strikeouts, 0.56 ERA, 0.56 WHIP, .164 BAA.
Chien-Ming Wang started this one and logged yet another great game, allowing just 1 earned run over 7 innings. He struck out 2 and walked 3. Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless 8th and Kyle Farnsworth did the same in the 9th. The way our starting pitching has been, it stings to waste Wang starts.
The Yankees offense put together 6 hits and 3 walks. Giambi had a good day: 2 for 2 with 2 walks. The other Yankees to collect hits were Damon (1 for 5), Jeter (1 for 5, 1 triple), Matsui (1 for 5, 1 home run) and Melky (1 for 4). The 7-9 hitters (Cano, Gonzalez, Duncan, Ensberg and Molina) combined to go 0 for 12... with not even a walk between them.
We'll get another chance at the Rays, tonight at 7:10 PM ET. Mike Mussina (5-3, 4.36 ERA) will face James Shields (4-2, 3.14).
Instead, it went into extras with with the Yankees going 1-2-3 and Mariano pitching a scoreless 10th. Another 1-2-3 in the top of the 11th (though, not the traditional 1-2-3: line out, walk, double play) for the offense brought Mo back out for his second inning. And that's where it all ended. Cliff Floyd led off with a single and Johnny Gomes pinch ran for him. Gomes proceded to steal second, helped by a poor throw from Jose Molina. And then Gabe Cross singled in him. Game over. Yankees lose, 2-1. Mo's consecutive streak over - 14 games and 15 innings without allowing a run to start the season.
If anything pains me as a Yankees fan, more so than simply losing, it's seeing Mo lose. Just because we're so accustomed to him closing games out. So, during the odd times when he blows one, it's such a let down. But, it was bound to happen and it'll happen again. Awesome run to start the season for Rivera, though. He still hasn't walked anyone. 15 games, 16 innings, 0-1, 10 saves, 0 blown saves, 9 hits, 13 strikeouts, 0.56 ERA, 0.56 WHIP, .164 BAA.
Chien-Ming Wang started this one and logged yet another great game, allowing just 1 earned run over 7 innings. He struck out 2 and walked 3. Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless 8th and Kyle Farnsworth did the same in the 9th. The way our starting pitching has been, it stings to waste Wang starts.
The Yankees offense put together 6 hits and 3 walks. Giambi had a good day: 2 for 2 with 2 walks. The other Yankees to collect hits were Damon (1 for 5), Jeter (1 for 5, 1 triple), Matsui (1 for 5, 1 home run) and Melky (1 for 4). The 7-9 hitters (Cano, Gonzalez, Duncan, Ensberg and Molina) combined to go 0 for 12... with not even a walk between them.
We'll get another chance at the Rays, tonight at 7:10 PM ET. Mike Mussina (5-3, 4.36 ERA) will face James Shields (4-2, 3.14).
