Liveblog 25: Let's Watch Baseball

I'm not going to do as many of these as the last few years because I don't think anyone really cares, including me. The Yankees have been pretty great so far early in the season, although they just lost two in a row for the first time. That's okay when you still haven't lost a series, though they'll have to beat the Angels two times in a row on their own field to keep that from happening. Andy Pettitte will be facing Joel Pineiro, who I am still surprised has apparently turned into a decent starting pitcher. Hopefully the Yankees can get to him, unlike the last time when he got his team's only win in a series in New York.

Top 1 - According to FOX, the first pitch is NEEEXXXTTT. The offense hasn't been great in these last couple losses, let's see if they can get off to a good start. I'm especially glad that Tim McCarver's not doing this game, because I don't want him to talk more about this non-story with A-Rod stepping on Dallas Braden's mound. It will probably get brought up anyway. Wait a second... they just had a segment of the announcers talking and they went back to commercial before the first pitch. I feel lied to. Okay, game's started. Derek Jeter hits it right to Brandon Wood at third for the first out. Seems like he's grounding out a lot, but his overall numbers still look really nice. I'd complain about Brett Gardner batting second over Nick Johnson if he didn't have a freaking .420 OBP right now. And he lines a single into center. He might actually turn out to be a solid player. They're talking about Mark Teixeira's regular slow start to begin the season, and mention that he hit .200 in April last year, without Alex Rodriguez behind him in the lineup. But wouldn't the fact that he's doing even worse this year without that detriment be enough proof that that whole protection thing was bunk? Mark grounds into a double play to end the inning.

Bottom 1 - Pettitte's been fantastic to begin the season, but it always seems like he's never too far from a bad start at this age. Erick Aybar grounds out to Jeter to start the inning. Three members of the Angels lineup used to be Yankees, which is kind of high but not crazy. Former Yankee Bobby Abreu strikes out. Torii Hunter also grounds out to Jeter, and this game is going quick.

Top 2 - A-Rod grounds out to the pitcher. Come on, guys. At what point will people stop saying Robinson Cano is going to get a batting title "some day"? I really don't think he walks enough to pull it off, and it's not like he can't be a great second baseman without it. He singles to the right side. Nick Swisher works the count full before smacking a double to right which scores Cano. Oh yeah, Curtis Granderson is on this team. He was awesome to start the season but hasn't done much lately. Pops out to left. Ramiro Pena also pops out, and the inning's over. What happened to Pineiro being an extreme ground ball pitcher?

Bottom 2 - Pettitte faces off against last year's World Series hero, Hideki Matsui. He clubs a single to right. Kendry Morales, whom I am already tired of, takes a couple weak hacks before nearly grounding a ball through the hole in left, but Jeter gets to it and throws out the slow Matsui at second. Joe Buck, please look at Jeter's season in 1999 before you start calling any other year in his career possibly the best. It's just silly. Pena dives to snag a line drive off Juan Rivera's bat. Isn't it about time the Yankees started getting Howie Kendrick out? Pettitte obliges by having him hit the ball to Jeter, who steps on second before Morales can slide in.

Top 3 - Francisco Cervelli grounds out. I've come to like him quite a bit, he could be a backup catcher for this team for a while. Can we please stop making fun of these larger, more protective helmets that a few players like Cervelli are wearing? Yeah they look a bit funny but we don't need to encourage these players to value how cool they look over their own safety. Jeter hits a single up the middle. Gardner pops it up to short center, Aybar makes the catch. Hey other guy talking, if Teixeira wanted to avoid the collision last night all he had to do was not cause it. Sure it's a "clean play" but it wasn't a necessary one. He grounds into the shift for the third out of the inning.

Bottom 3 - Mike Napoli rips a single to left on a full count. Wood singles to left, but Gardner throws out Napoli at third to cancel it out. I just got to say, I hate the way Ken Rosenthal begins all of his paraphrased quotes by saying "Hey." It just sounds awful and he's bad at his job. Aybar rips one right at Cano who makes the catch, two outs. Abreu singles to the opposite field. Pettitte's pretty lucky he has any outs this inning and a lead to protect. Hunter watches a third strike that was probably actually a ball for the third out.

Top 4 - A-Rod and Cano single, but Swisher foolishly lays down a bunt to move the runners over and the Angels intentionally walk Granderson, loading the bases for Pena who has a surprisingly high batting average with a small number of at bats in that situation. He strikes out on three pitches, although I question two of the calls. Cervelli singles under Wood's glove to drive in two and bail out Swisher. Jeter hits another one up the middle, and Granderson scores before Cervelli is picked off trying to reach third. Yankees lead four to nothing.

Bottom 4 - While I was doing stuff Andy Pettitte got three outs. That's all you need to know, man.

Top 5 - Apparently Swisher told someone that if that bunt hadn't worked, he would never do it again. I kind of wish that happened, because this just encourages him to keep giving away outs. I kind of want to mention this Activision/Infinity Ward/Respawn Entertainment thing that's been happening even though it has nothing to do with baseball. Basically, Activision has easily held the crown as most evil game publisher for a few years now, and one of their most recent moves was to fire the two heads of Infinity Ward, the creators of their extremely profitable Call of Duty franchise and developers of some of my favorite shooters this generation. Gardner triples to right field, though Teixeira can't bring him home, grounding out to a drawn in infield. Anway, those firings have led to a mass exodus of employees at IW, many heading to Respawn Entertainment, which was formed by those studio heads and is currently partnered with EA, a company which has looked like a bunch of boy scouts in recent days compared to Activision. I'm both interested in seeing what Respawn does with their new creative freedom and wondering if I'll even end up playing Modern Warfare 3 after this fiasco, which is a bit disappointing because I was pretty curious where it was going despite the last game's failure to not be mostly totally ridiculous. A-Rod strikes out looking, but Cano prevents the team from achieving utter futility by singling yet again to score Gardner. He moves to second on a wild pitch, and third on a passed ball. Swisher drives him in with yet another single. Why do people think Jeff Mathis is really good and him going on the Disabled List is a big loss for the Angels now? A few hot weeks in October and to start the season don't make him better than Napoli somehow. Granderson grounds out. He can start hitting again any time now.

Bottom 5 - Kendrick strikes out on a ball in the dirt, Cervelli throws him out at first. Napoli also goes down swinging. There's a pizza place nearby called Napoli's that makes really awesome wings. Never had the pizza though. Takes away from the wing eating time. Wood hits a couple foul balls just out of the reach of fielders before striking out as well. Yankees look pretty good right now.

Top 6 - Pena grounds out harmlessly. The most interesting part of the Activision thing might actually be the lawsuits between them and the guys their fired. I could believe that they had meetings with other publishers and that breaches their contracts, but I don't blame them for doing things like that if they weren't paid owed royalties for several months. If they somehow win they could actually stop production on Modern Warfare all together, which would be pretty amazing, but somehow I doubt their chances. Cervelli grounded out too. The other guy talking answers an e-mail question about Cervelli having a better catcher ERA than Posada this year by accurately citing sample size issues with the comparison. Good on you, other guy. Jeter flies out for Pineiro's first perfect inning, though it's a bit late for that.

Bottom 6 - We're cool if this is my last inning, right? Hahaha who am I kidding no one is reading. Man, I am getting real low on hard drive space. Thank god for this 8 gig flash drive. Aybar doubles down the left field line. Swisher makes a running catch on a ball of Abreu's bat as Aybar tags up and gets to third easily. They just played audio of Hunter arguing that called third strike with the umpire, it was pretty funny. You had to be there, dude. He hits a sacrifice fly to right, and that breaks up the shutout. Full count to Matsui who then strikes out, and I am outta here.

Wrap-Up - The Yankees won.

Liveblog 24: ALDS Game 3

I'm surprised this is the first Yankees game I've done started by Andy Pettitte. I'm not surprised it's the first to be started by Carl Pavano. Anyway, we're in the middle of the playoffs. The Red Sox and Cardinals got swept out of the first round by the Angels and Dodgers respectively, partially thanks to both teams blowing a lead in the ninth inning with their closer on the mound at some point. If the Yankees do their job tonight, the Rockies and Phillies are our only shot left at a really interesting series in the first round. The Yankees won the first two at home against the Twins, thanks in part to a rally of their own off closer Joe Nathan on Friday, and now stand in a good position to close things out in Minneapolis, possibly the final game ever in the Metrodome. I'd love to see that tonight, especially against Pavano, but even if they don't they have two more chances, a position they haven't seen in the postseason in years. So no more screwing around, let's watch a baseball game. Also, this will be posted two days later WHAT omgsghsfgbfnkjbnlfgj

Top 1 - Derek Jeter leads off with a ground ball out to shortstop Orland Cabrera. Jeter's had a good ALDS, helping set the tone for his team. Johnny Damon is next, and takes the first pitch for a strike. He really hasn't been much of a presence this series, and swings at a ball that bounces in the dirt for strike three. Mark Teixeira got his first walk-off hit as a Yankee in game 2, a home run to left field. This time though he pops out to second base, to end a very quick first shot at their old teammate.

Bottom 1 - Denard Span grounds out to Robinson Cano at second on two pitches. Cabrera watches five pitches go by before flying out to short right as Nick Swisher makes a nice running catch. After a conspicuous ball 1, Joe Mauer hits another grounder to second, and we move quickly to the second.

Top 2 - Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui struck out, then Jorge Posada grounded out. What, I was eating dinner.

Bottom 2 - Michael Cuddyer pops out to first. Jason Kubel, who has done precisely Jack and Shit this series, strikes out yet again. Delmon Young pops up to Jeter in short left, and this game is cruising.

Top 3 - Cano breaks his bat and grounds out to third. Both pitchers look pretty good so far. Swisher works the second longish at bat of the game against Carl, and tosses his bat after ball three, not realizing it wasn't a full count already. He then strikes out on an inviting changeup that would have been a real ball four. Melky Cabrera hits a ball that Nick Punto dives for and snags, but he's unable to get nearly enough on the throw to make the out. First hit for the Yankees. Jeter swings at the first pitch because he's kinda dumb sometimes and bounces it to Cabrera at short who makes the play.

Bottom 3 - Strike one to Brendan Harris, who nearly killed the Yankees in game 2. He works a full count, but strikes out on a fastball well above the strike zone. Jose Morales strikes out as well. Punto hits a chopper to Jeter, who makes the play at first. You know, I've noticed announcer and all-around dipshit Chip Caray complement Pavano's pitching a lot more than Andy's tonight, despite slightly worse overall results. He... he just sucks, man.

Top 4 - Damon swings through another third strike. That's five for Pavano in 11 batters. Come on, guys. Teixeira watches a slightly high strike for yet another K. A-Rod up. He's finally a monster again this postseason. All it took was seeing the Twins again. He grounds out to short here, though. Game is just blazing by.

Bottom 4 - Second time through the order for Pettitte. Span strikes out. Yay. Cabrera hits a liner up the middle on the sixth pitch, but Cano catches it. Mauer takes two breaking balls for called strikes before swinging at one out of the zone. Both pitchers looking real good.

Top 5 - Matsui starts off with a bloopy single up the middle. Delmon Young makes a sliding catch on a liner by Posada that he almost has to trap. Cano rockets one to Cuddyer who's closer to second than Matsui, which freezes him. He tags him out and steps on second for the irritating double play. This is about the quickest I've seen the Yankees play.

Bottom 5 - Cuddyer singles sharply to left to break up the perfect game. Kubel scoots one under Cano's glove, but Cuddyer held up and Swisher is able to quickly get the force at second anyway. Delmon hits another first pitch pop up, this time it's a tough play for Cano who gets it. Another sharp grounder in the vicinity of third base, but this time it goes in A-Rod's glove and he gets the out at second.

Top 6 - Swisher swings at a third strike changeup in the dirt as Mauer throws to first to complete the out. Cabrera hits a grounder to Cabrera who throws out Cabrera at first. Jeter will hopefully take a pitch in his third at bat. I'll set up this by say that in game 2, Mauer should have gotten a double on a ball down the left field line that would have been fair by a foot if it didn't hit Cabrera's glove, but the umpire called it foul. Just now, Jeter hit one down the right field line that literally hit the foul line, and a different umpire got the call right, and Jeter got his double. Twins fans didn't react well. Unfortunately, Damon watches an obvious third strike for his third K on the night. He really hasn't looked very good lately.

Bottom 6 - Morales hits a fairly simple ground ball to Jeter for out number one. Punto does basically the same thing. Span hits a hopper through the middle of the quick infield for the Twins' second hit. Cabrera walks on five pitches with quite a bit of help from the home plate ump. Mauer singles the other way and Span scores the game's first run as Caray screams like the Twins just cured cancer. Cuddyer strikes out in a foolish looking at bat. He needed just 75 pitches to go six but Pavano needed one less, and has the lead.

Top 7 - Teixeira grounds out to short, one out. A-rod works a long at bat, reaching a full count and fouling off several pitches, before hitting a bomb of a home run over the stupid baggy in right. Awesome. Matsui swings at yet another strike three change in the dirt. Cut it out, guys. Posada makes up for it with another home run, this one just over the left field wall. Yankees take the 2-1 lead. Cano works a nice little at bat, but fouls out to the catcher. Nice start by Carl, but he couldn't keep it up.

Bottom 7 - Pettitte's still in. He might be on a short leash with Joba Chamberlain getting ready. Kubel strikes out for what must be the millionth time, and Andy's night is done. Each Yankee starter this series so far went at least six innings and only gave up one earned run. Joba is in against Young, who fouls a ball off his junk. You hate to see that. He stays in the game and rips a double to right field, still favoring his crotch a bit. Harris grounds to A-Rod, who fumbles the ball a bit but still has time to throw him out. Game's slowed down in this later third. After a long at bat, Morales strikes out on a slider buried in the dirt. Here we go to the eighth.

Top 8 - Matt Guerrier pitches against the Yankees. Swisher grounds out harmlessly. Cabrera does the same. Some insurance would be nice, but I'm fairly confident in Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera. As does Jeter. Whee.

Bottom 8 - Nick Punto against Hughes, who vexed him in game 2. He unfortunately does it again, with a dobule off the sixth heater from Phil. Wow, weird play. Span grounds one up the middle that Jeter gets to easily, but Punto thought it was through and goes way too far around third. Jeter throws it to Posada, who throws to A-Rod who nails Punto at third. Cabrera up. He flies out to Cabrera. And now it's time for Mariano Rivera to get four outs. And this time he can get away with a single before shutting the door. He instead breaks Mauer's bat, who grounds out to Teixeira. On to the ninth.

Top 9 - Ron Mahay pitching. Damon earns his golden sombrero with a fourth strikeout. Meh. Full count for Tex, who draws a walk. Let's see if A-Rod can rub it in their faces against heavily neck-tattooed Jon Rauch. He settles for another full count walk. Jose Mijares in to face a lefty who mashes lefties. Matsui walks on a full count. This is getting funny. Joe Nathan is in. The game has slowed to a crawl. Posada lines a single to right, one run scores. I can live with that. Cano bloops another one run single just in front of Kubel. Swisher strikes out, two down finally. Cabrera does the same, and we're on to the Twins' last gasp in the Metrodome.

Bottom 9 - Man, Cuddyer looks down. A little happier after a bloop single to right field. Twins are still alive! Kubel strikes out for the final time. I hope. Crazy fan runs on the field. Good job, crazy fan! He almost made it over the outfield wall before they nabbed him. Young's getting some good swings here. He goes down swinging in the end, though. Brendan Harris is the Twins' last chance. He grounds out to Jeter. Yankees sweep the Twins, end the Metrodome's use for baseball-like activities, and wil fly back to New York to face the Angels in the ALCS on Friday. Feels nice to finally be back there after five years.

Wrap-Up - I think this is the first full game I've done all year. In any case: Yay.