Liveblog 18: The Yankees Are Soaring

Overall, this season is going fairly well. The Yankees have certainly had their struggles, and are only right at the top of the AL East standings thanks to their current nine game winning streak. Boston enjoyed one that lasted eleven games and vaulted them from the bottom to second place, and now New York's having a similar surge. They've lost to the Red Sox all five times they've played them so far, and at least two of those games should have been wins. Still, they're looking more like a winning ball club, and they're in a bit better of a position in mid-May than they have typically been this decade.

Plenty of players have had problems. CC Sabathia was not looking like the best paid pitcher of all time in April. After a hot start, A.J. Burnett has slowed down considerably. Mark Teixeira was in the doldrums for far too long to start off, Nick Swisher has fallen off since his amazing first couple weeks as a Yankee, and Brett Gardner quickly showed he wasn't ready for the everyday center fielder job. Chien-Ming Wang was putrid out of the gate, apparently not completely over his injuries from last year, and Phil Hughes has only had a few acceptable starts in his place while he figures it out.

Still, there are bright spots. Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera have both had a great couple months, fending off their naysayers. In the last few games, CC Sabathia has been an absolute monster. Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte have both done pretty well in their turns through the rotation. Alex Rodriguez finally returned from his hip surgery in grand fashion, hitting the first pitch he saw for a three run homer. He hasn't gotten many hits since then, but he's continued to slug and draw his walks as he gets back into form, and whether it's a coincidence or not, Teixeira has looked like the outstanding player he was supposed to be and the team has only lost two of the thirteen games they've played since his return. Johnny Damon's also had a great year at the plate, and putting him second with Derek Jeter batting leadoff seems to have been a smart move. The bullpen is looking very weak right now, but that's the only issue the team seems to have, and that could end up working itself out.

Interleague play begins tonight as Burnett takes the mound against the Philadelphia Phillies, last year's World Series winner and the current leader of their division. The last time these teams played, the only thing I really remember is a game where Ryan Howard drove in something like seven runs against Mike Mussina but the Yankees won anyway. Let's hope they can do that again tonight without having to deal with such an outburst. Although if they do lose and break the winning streak, I'm going to have a hard time convincing myself to do a liveblog again for a while. I'll be back in a few hours.

Top 1 - Woo baseball. Let's go for ten. Burnett got off on the wrong foot, giving up a homer, hitting a batter, and allowing a single with his first four pitches. It seems like he's pitched better so far than his 5.02 ERA, but them's the numbers. Before I could eat my pizza and finish typing this paragraph, he came back strong with strikeouts of Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth, and got Shane Victorino to ground out on a nice diving play by Teixeira.

Bottom 1 - I'm not sure if Burnett hit Chase Utley on purpose, but Brett Myers seems to think he did as his second pitch to Jeter is behind his back. That prompts a warning for both clubs from the umpire, and Jeter hits the next pitch past Jimmy Rollins' glove for a single. Damon chops a ball that Myers knocks down and throws to second for the force out. Teixeira's up, and the protection discussion begins. Studies have shown that who's behind the current batter doesn't significantly affect pitch selection, but the theory still persists. Myers debunks it a little bit by getting him on a nice curve. A-Rod laces a double to left, but a nice relay results in Damon getting tagged out at the plate, inning over.

Top 2 - I think that was only A-Rod's third hit this season that wasn't a home run. Matt Stairs dunks the ball just out of reach to Burnett's left, resulting in an infield hit. Those are so much more irritating than clean singles to the outfield. Pedro Feliz flies out harmlessly to right. Burnett's consistently hitting 95 with the fastball tonight. Carlos Ruiz takes one to left for a home run that extends their lead to three. I'm already cursing myself for blogging this. They just showed that Damon lost his glove on the play and had to ask the fans for it back. Don't see that much. Rollins walks on five pitches. Utley strikes out on a curve that allows Rollins to steal second base. Raul Ibanez flies out to Cabrera for the final out.

Bottom 2 -Hideki Matsui grounds out weakly to second. I keep forgetting he's on the team lately. Swisher strikes out on the first pitch I actually watch of his at bat. Just waiting for something good to happen. Cano grounds one up the middle, but Rollins shows range Jeter could only dream of and just gets him at first.

Top 3 - Howard grounds out weakly to Cano, one down. Two pitches later, Werth flies out to second. I was just looking at my game reviews on Giant Bomb, and every single one is at least four stars out of five. Now, I only play games I'm pretty sure I'll like, I'm fairly generous with my ratings, and I round up all of my half points so a 7.5 out of 10 becomes a 4 out of 5, but that still seems ridiculous to me. Oh well. Victorino works the count full before lining out Teixeira to retire the side.

Bottom 3 - Cabrera grounds out to the pitcher on the first pitch. Great job. Cash flies out to the no man's land in short right field where three fielders converge, but it's high enough to be easily caught. Back to the top of the order as Jeter grounds out. Myers has thrown 33 pitches. Awesome job, guys.

Top 4 - Stairs strikes out swinging on another curve. Feliz grounds a ball that forces A-Rod to range a bit to his left for out number two. Ruiz takes a 1-2 pitch to right for a single which is just... just unfortunate. Come on, Burnett. No one named Ruiz has ever been good at baseball. The good thing about Michael Kay if you don't follow baseball much is that he often explains references or rules that you may not be familiar with. The bad thing about Kay if you do follow baseball is you hear him say the same shit constantly over and over. I could understand national broadcasters wanting to make sure viewers understand the game, but I'm watching a regional game on Friday fucking night. I probably understand what the Mendoza Line is. Burnett racks up yet another K with the curveball. He has five in four innings, but has thrown twice as many pitches as Myers.

Bottom 4 - Damon is yet another Yankee to ground out to Myers, but Teixeira slaps a single to left. Alex watches the third strike go by and walks back to the dugout. These guys are on fire tonight. Matsui dribbles one that Rollins can't field cleanly with his bare hand and gets an infield hit. With those knees, it could be his only one all season. Wait, that was his third? Jesus. Swisher ends the thread with a grounder to second. This is lame.

Top 5 - At least Myers threw some pitches that time. Utley becomes Burnett's sixth strikeout victim. Ibanez then walks on four pitches. Yo, that pitch to Howard was totally a strike. Yet another diving play by Teixeira, who manages to get the lead runner out. I bet he'd definitely have more gold gloves if he didn't keep switching leagues mid-season. Not that gold gloves are a good indicator of defense or anything. Werth crushes another home run to left, 5-0 Phillies. Great, I cursed the Yankees. Unless something good happens in the bottom of the frame, I'm out. And now Victorino gets an easy triple to right center. Yay baseball! I must be testy, because I just threatened to mutilate my dog's genitals for barking. Another strikeout (hooray!) limits the damage a bit.

Bottom 5 - Cano hits a ball that bounces off Utley and reaches first, and it's scored an error. Melky strikes out. Boo. I guess I forgot to mention earlier that the Yankees are playing their fourth catcher tonight. Both Jorge Posada and Jose Molina are out with hamstring issues, forcing the team to rely on garbage like Cash and the rookie Francisco Cervelli. The latter is doing pretty well actually, but it's still a pitiful situation. Cash struck out, by the way. Jeter grounds out, and I'm done. At least the Sox are losing to the Mets right now. I'll be back later to summarize how much I suck.

Wrap-Up - The Yankees proceeded to hit three solo home runs in the next three innings, but that was all they could do as Wang returned from the DL with three innings of two run ball and the Yankees lost 7-4, snapping their winning streak. It was a pretty snappy game considering ten runs scored. On the bright side, Toronto and Boston both lost too. The Yankees still have a good shot to win the series, with Pettitte pitching against someone who I've never heard of tomorrow and CC Sabathia going against a guy who's not CC Sabathia the day after. Time to start a new streak.