Liveblog 13: The Yankees Are Mediocre

This team's pretty similar to last year's, not just in the players but in the results. Last season, they sucked for the first few months and didn't really get in a groove until the second half, where they played like men on fire and made it into the playoffs, where they promptly blew it again in the first round. Now, it's June 8th and they're still at .500, where they've probably been about 25 different times this season. The last three games are a good encapsulation of the problem - they had two huge come-from-behind victories won in the bottom of the ninth inning, but in between they lost 2-1 to the Royals, with a pitcher with a career ERA over 6 shutting them down. Last year they were scoring a ton of runs and just not getting any breaks, this year they're just not that good. They still have time to turn it around, and hopefully they're well out of last place by the time they're hosting the All-Star game in the Stadium's final year.

Today Joba makes his second start. The first didn't go too well, as he reached his pitch count quite early thanks to four walks, but he got no help from his defense or the umpires and still only gave up one hit. People still want him to stay in the bullpen, but right now his starts are the only thing I can really look forward to. The Yankees picked up some pretty good pitching talent in the draft and the offense has generally looked better lately with Alex Rodrgiuez and now Jorge Posada returning, and hopefully Phil Hughes can come back and pitch decently before the end of July. With the general underperformance of some other good teams in the league they still have a good shot at the wild card even if Boston takes the division again.

Top 1 - All right, here we go. Strike one to DeJesus. Nobody fucks with DeJesus. He flies out to Melky. The next batter, whose name I won't bother spelling, bloops a 1-2 pitch for a single. Teahen pops out to Abreu on the first pitch. He gets Guillen swinging on some high heat to end the inning. Much better first inning than his last start.

Bottom 1 - Zack Greinke is on the mound for the Royals. He's got a lot of talent but hasn't fully realized it yet. He saw some of it there easily striking out Damon after he went 6 for 6 yesterday. Jeter lines a single up the middle, tying Mickey Mantle for the second most hits at Yankee Stadium. While I was helping to bring in the groceries, Abreu hit a two run homer and A-Rod singled. He then reached second on a wild pitch. Greinke comes up and in on Matsui and almost hits him. Matsui then draws the walk. Giambi strikes out on a rare swing way out of the zone. Joey Gathright makes a nice play taking a run scoring double away from Posada to end the inning.

Top 2 - Joba's facing Alex Gordon, his old teammate from College. For the record, I typed that before Michael Kay said it. Gordon works a full count and then lines a single to left. The next batter pops out on the first pitch. Gload smacks another single. Joba seems to give up more hits than usual whenever he faces Kansas City. He strikes out the rookie Mike Aviles on four pitches. Gordon scores on a passed ball. Three runs have been charged to Joba since he became a starter and none scored on a hit. Gathright strikes out on another ball in the dirt.

Bottom 2 - Gathright makes a second great catch off a ball hit by Cano. Cabrera grounds out to second. Damon bounces a ground ball to the shortstop to end the inning. Much better job by Greinke.

Top 3 - DeJesus hits a double into the corner. I can't see what's happening now because of a thunderstorm warning, so I'm checking Gameday. The second baseman grounds out, moving the runner to third. Teahen pops out to Jeter. On a full count, Guillen hits his third home run in two days, and the Royals take the lead. These storm warnings are really annoying. Gordon flies out to end the inning but that wasn't a good job by Chamberlain.

Bottom 3 - Jeter leads off and takes two breaking ball strikes. He lines another ball up the middle but this time Greinke nabs it for an out. Abreu strikes out weakly to bring up A-Rod. He walks on four pitches to bring up Matsui, who strikes out.

Top 4 - Joba's gonna have to be stingy with his pitches to make it through five innings and have a chance at a win. His slider's really diving today. He strikes out Oliva staring at a low fastball, which I believe is his first looking strikeout in the last 17 he's gotten. First pitch line out to Giambi by Gload helps the pitch count issue. Next batter grounds out to Cano, and that was just what the doctor ordered.

Bottom 4 - Giambi grounds right into the shift for the first out. Posada watches six pitches go by and strikes out. Cano weakly nubs a groundball for an infield single. It's erased by Melky hacking at the first pitch and popping out to end the inning. Both pitchers look pretty good today.

Top 5 - Joba got another called strike out but then DeJesus worked a walk in a long at bat and that ended his day. Dan Geise relieved him again and got out of the inning on a nice diving catch by Giambi.

Bottom 5 - Damon works a full count and then hits a ball that DeJesus made an ill-advised dive for and booked it to third. Jeter fails to deliver and strikes out. Abreu grounds out, but that still gets the tying run in and Joba's off the hook. A-Rod again draws a four pitch walk. Matsui pops it up and Gathright makes another great play to catch it, but it looks like he hurt his wrist. That's a whole inning's worth of outs that Joey's handed to Greinke today.

Top 6 - Geise gets Guillen to ground out and strikes out Gordon. Olivo strikes out but the ball gets far away from Posada and he makes it all the way to second base. Ridiculous play. The next batter pops out though to end the threat which shouldn't have existed.

Bottom 6 - On a full count, Jason Giambi hits his third go-ahead home run in four games. He's having a terrific year after an unlucky April. Posada walks, and Greinke is not long for this game. Mahay's coming in to face Cano. Cano works the inning's third full count, but grounds into a double play. Cabrera pops out to left again to end the frame.

Top 7 - I wonder how many one-run games the Yankees can play in a row. Aviles flies out to center. Gathright, still in the game after appearing to get hurt on that diving catch, grounds out. I knew Geise was no spring chicken, but he turned 31 last month. That's a little wacky. DeJesus just barely hooks a home run foul. A couple pitches later Geise strikes him out, and he's still in line for his first career victory. At age 31.

Bottom 7 - Damon slices another hit to left, this time for a single. Jeter flies out harmlessly. With the hit and run on, Abreu hits a single through the hole and runners are on the corners for A-Rod. An insurance run here would be good with the Yankees' eighth inning relief questionable since Joba's transition. He hit one that looked like a homer off the bat but hit off the wall for a two run double. The fielders misplayed the ball and A-Rod went for third but got thrown out. If he ran hard the whole way he would have made it easily. Matsui walks. On yet another full count, Giambi pops out.

Top 8 - Jose Veras is getting a chance here instead of Kyle Farnsworth, which is a bit surprising. Maybe Girardi is learning. The weird-name guy pops out. Teahen gets to a full count (!!!) and then strikes out. Guillen grounds a single up the middle. Gordon gets punched out staring at a fastball middle down to end the mild threat.

Bottom 8 - Posada walks. Guess what the count was. Cano grounds into a fielder's choice. Cabrera swings and misses. He had a great April but really cooled down after that. Damon grounds out and we're on to what should be the last half inning.

Top 9 - Olivo pops up the first pitch to Abreu. Gload grounds out to Cano. Another ball to the same place to end the game.

Wrap-Up - Today we learned that these liveblogs are only cursed for the second game by a rookie pitcher, not the second start. So that's good to know. The Yankees are again over .500, but we'll see how long that really lasts. With any luck, they'll stay there this time. Joba pitched well, and by his next start should be more or less able to pitch a real game, and hopefully get the win.

Liveblog 6: Phil Returns

Since the All-Star break, the Yankees have been one of the best teams in baseball. They're definitely playing better. They're still not that close to Boston, but they're only 2.5 games behind the Wild Card-leading Tigers, who have been having another second half swoon.

A-Rod's been the center of attention since hitting his 499th home run. He's just one away from becoming the youngest player to ever hit 500, which until recently has made a player a lock for the Hall of Fame. That number has lost some luster since offense has gone up in the game from steroids and smaller ballparks, but it's still very impressive. Unfortunately, Alex seemed to be trying too hard, and went 0-21 after 499. He's played a bit better the last couple games, getting some hits and driving in runs, but the home run still eludes him. Maybe he'll get it out of the way today. I think it would be a bit easier since there aren't hundreds of flashbulbs distracting him during day games.

The trade deadline passed, and the Yankees didn't do a ton to improve. They picked up a solid infield bat for an ineffective reliever, trading Scott Proctor for Wilson Betemit. Proctor was a workhorse for the Yankees, but he was struggling, and Betemit improves the bench significantly. Unfortunately, the bullpen didn't improve overall, since terrible Kyle Farnsworth is still on the team and Eric Gagne got traded to the Red Sox instead. Help could still be coming, though. There's a chance they could still get rid of Farnsworth through waivers, and promising young guys like Joba Chamberlain and Edwar Ramirez could be coming up to fix some holes. I'd like to take credit for being high on Joba before everyone noticed him after the Futures Game, as he's now one of the most highly regarded pitching prospects in baseball. His future is as a starter, but he's been shifted to the bullpen and could be a dominant force to the end of the season. Also coming to help the team is Phil Hughes, who's finally returning after that hamstring injury ended his no-hitter back in May. I think he'll be great in the future, but this season all he has to do is be better than Kei Igawa, which pretty much anyone in the world could do. I still see promise in Kei, since he was the best starter they had at getting strikeouts, but he just couldn't stop giving up runs. They still have him for four more years, so we'll see what happens there.

In the meantime, Hughes is starting today, backed up by an offense that has been rolling through AL pitching. Everyone's been great, and most players numbers look way better than they did just a little while ago. They're back atop the majors in runs scored, thanks in part to Cano learning how to take a pitch and getting his average back over .300, and Matsui having a monster month. He hit 13 home runs and won player of the month honors, to go with A-Rod's two this year. A Yankee has won the award 3 of 4 months this season, and going back to May of 2005, they've won 9 of 15, including 5 by A-Rod.

Top 1 - Phil's on the mound. I'm excited. Wilson's starting at first for the first time in his major league career. I like Andy Phillips, but Wilson will probably produce more. Nice, crisp fastball to start the game. He follows with a disgusting curve. Three pitches later, he induces a groundout to Cano. He starts Grudzielanek with a ball, but strikes him out with three straight fastballs. Seven pitches later, Teahen grounds it back to Phil, and that's the first. Not great pitch count wise, but he did his thing.

Bottom 1 - Kyle Davies is a promising young talent, but he's been bad for the Braves this year. He was traded to the Royals for Octavio Dotel, who spent all of last year on the Yankees payroll doing Jack before jumping to the money Kansas City gave him. Damon works the count full. He may not be long for this team, although I'm sure he's there the rest of the season. He seems healthy and has been getting better with his job in jeopardy, Melky taking over center field and Giambi coming back from injury to hog the DH spot. He grounds out. Jeter singles to center. Abreu's been better, but I still don't trust him against left handers. He walks on four pitches. A-Rod has a chance right now to make history. And he does it! Three run shot is his 500th home run, giving Hughes an early lead. Awesome. Funny thing, that means that he had the exact same number of at bats between 499 and 500 as Mickey Mantle. Matsui doubles over the first baseman's head. Posada moves him to third, and Cano triples to right center. 4 run lead for Phil Franchise. Betemit is called out on strikes, inning over.

Top 2 - Hughes is throwing strikes but he isn't putting batters away quickly. He should be able to pitch at least 5 and get the win, though. He walks Butler after going 0-2. He K's Gload looking. That's a backwards K, for those who do scorecards. He finally throws a changeup, for a strike. If he can nail down that pitch, he could be awesome, but for now he can do well off just the fastball and curve. He strikes out fellow hyped rookie Alex Gordon as well. Gordon grew up and played in college with Joba. Ain't life interesting? Joba probably won't get called up in time to see him, though. Tony Pena Jr, son of the Yankees first base coach, looks at a called third strike. 4 strikouts in two innings, but he's thrown 39 pitches already.

Bottom 2 - Melky Cabrera has also improved much since a rough start to the season. He flies out to left, though. Damon grounds out again. Jeter works a 3-1 count before singling again. Abreu launches a fly ball that's caught in front of the warning track. Much better inning for Davies.

Top 3 - Gathright doubles on a botched fair/foul call down the left field line. The next pitch is wild and Gathright moves to third. If Hughes had gotten him and the next guy out, he would have pitched nine consecutive hitless innings. A faux-no-hitter, if you will. Posada blocks another potential wild pitch, and the hitter pops out. Next guy singles in Gathright, and the next grounds out to first. Teahen hits a duck fart double and there's another run. The curve is definitely going left. Might have been unnerved slightly by the bogus first hit. He really isn't commanding the curve, and they've avoided the fastball a bit since it's been hit. Another curve is swung at and grounded back to Phil to end the inning. Despite the runs, he's maintained the same pace of about 20 pitches an inning. Through 3 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 4 Ks, 1 BB.

Bottom 3 - A-Rod's first PA has a member of the 500 club. Even though he was the youngest, Ruth and McGwire did it in fewer games. He walks on four pitches and steals second. So many aspects to his game. I wonder if anyone else stole a base the same day they hit 500? Matsui works a long at bat before walking. Posada strikes out looking. Cano grounds out, moving up the runners. A couple runs would be nice here. Betemit delivers an RBI single. Cabrera pops up to end the inning.

Top 4 - Gload lines a single past Hughes after two strikes. The Royals seem to be seeing his fastball well. He gets a little pick up with a grounder for a double play. He strikes out the next guy for a much better inning, pitch count wise. I'm pretty sure Bobby Murcer said something monstrously stupid, but I'm looking up the numbers to make sure. Just this year should be enough evidence. Bobby called Hughes a fly ball pitcher. This season, in the minors, he has a 2.35 ground ball to fly ball ratio, and 2.83 in the majors in limited innings. He's known for a very low home run rate, partially because he gets so many grounders. Today, he's added six groundballs to one fly ball. I have no idea why Bobby would think he's a fly ball pitcher. He called the game against Texas, in which he recorded three GIDP and only one fly ball out that I can recall.

Bottom 4 - New pitcher for Kansas gets two outs quickly. Gordon snags a grounder from Abreu but he gets to first easily ahead of the throw. A-Rod singles through the hole in the right side. A third straight hit, this time by Matsui, and another run scores. Posada pops out to end the inning. Slow moving game.

Top 5 - Hughes walks Gathright on a very close pitch. The catcher flies out. DeJesus homers, 6-4 ball game. A bit of a disappointing return. People expecting him to dominate should cool off a bit, all he has to do is keep the ERA around 4 instead of 7. He really doesn't seem to have his customary command right now. The fastball's only around 88 instead of the 93 at the game's outset. Grudzielanek pops out to short right. Teahen singles up the middle. Butler doubles, Melky takes a bad route, and a run scores. Hughes is being taken out of the game, and he can't get the win. Disappointing return, although he did show some promise for the future. I'm running on fumes right now and not too interested to see Mike Myers, so I'm going to go hang out my cousins. I'll be back for the wrap-up.

Wrap-up - Myers got the win despite facing only two batters and giving up an RBI double to one of them. Win/Loss rules in baseball are so stupid. Anyway, after the Royals tied the game, the Yankees just kept scoring runs, beating up on the weak KC bullpen. The Yankees ended up winning 16-8. Everybody's hitting except for Damon. Abreu hit another home run, Cano picked up a couple hits, Betemit continued to drive guys in. Definitely another great game for an offense that is stampeding through the league. On the bad side, Kyle Farnsworth continues to be unable to pitch innings without giving up runs. His trade value is decimated and they might have to just cut him if they want to win.