Since last Thursday, I have come to the conclusion that it rains when I attend Yankees games. After not suffering a rain delay in at least several weeks, I journeyed to the Bronx on Thursday for the Boston series finale and endured a 3.5 hr rain delay. I ventured back to the city on Saturday only to have it drizzle through the entire game with a temperature of 65 degrees. Last night, hoping the third time would be the charm, went to see the Yanks play the Rangers and again sat through a 41 minute delay. Fortunately, the outcome of both yesterday's and Saturday's games were in favor of the Yankees but apparently the "weather gods" have it out for me.
The last week of baseball can be summarized by stating that if the Yankees never played the Red Sox again this season, they would almost assuredly win the division. Boston continues to hold New York in check at Yankee Stadium, having taking the first 6 games there this season. Fortunately for Yankees fans, one series does not a season make and the team fared much better against the Indians over the weekend and last night against Texas. On to the grades...
vs. Red Sox (Wednesday, June 8th; Wakefield vs. Burnett) Red Sox Win 11-6
Offense: B+ 6 runs on 9 hits will win you most games.
Starting Pitching: Burnett's struggles against the Red Sox continued as he allowed 8 runs over 5.2 innings and walked 4. He couldn't control his curveball so the hitters would just sit on his fastball.
Bullpen: C Boone Logan pitched well but Pendleton shut the door on the Yanks, allowing 3 runs late in the game.
vs. Red Sox (Thursday, June 9th; Beckett vs. Sabathia) Red Sox Win 8-3
Offense: C Despite a 2 run HR by Granderson off Beckett in the first inning, the Yanks couldn't hold the momentum and failed to score again until the 9th inning. By that point it was too late.
Starting Pitching: C Sabathia cruised through 6 innings but the wheels fell off in the 7th. He ended up allowing 6 runs on 8 hits.
Bullpen: D Robertson couldn't control the damage in the 7th and Marquez allowed another run in the 9th.
vs. Indians (Friday, June 10th; Carmona vs. Nova) Yankees Win 11-7
Offense: A+ The Yanks rebounded nicely from their embarrassing series against Boston with 11 runs on 15 hits. Every starter but Swisher had a hit and Teixiera contributed 3 RBIs. New York stole 5 bases. Posada and Gardner continue their hot hitting.
Starting Pitching: A Nova allowed 2 runs on 4 hits over 7 while striking out 6 but did walk 3. The youngster continues to impress and has grown significantly throughout the season.
Bullpen: C- It wasn't a pretty last 2 innings as the Sanit got into trouble and Pendleton couldn't get out of it, allowing 4 runs to score. What started as a sure victory turned into a 9th inning where Mariano Rivera had to be called in to make sure the game didn't get out of hand. Simply unacceptable.
vs. Indians (Saturday, June 11th; Talbot vs. Colon) Yankees Win 4-0
Offense: B The offense wasn't potent all day but 3 solo home runs did the job.
Starting Pitching: A Bartolo Colon seems to have found the Fountain of Youth despite injuring his hamstring in the 7th inning. He pitched fantastically again allowing just 2 hits in 6.2 innings.
Bullpen: A Dave Robertson sure made it interesting and increased my blood pressure as I watched the game in weather that was more reminiscent of a New York Giants football game but he and Boone Logan closed out Colon's strong outing.
vs. Indians (Sunday, June 12th; Tomlin vs. Garcia) Yankees Win 9-1
Offense: A+ Another stellar afternoon by the offense who managed 18 hits and 9 runs while going 7-15 w/RISP. Granderson continued his torrid season going 4-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI.
Starting Pitching: A Garcia did a great job recovering from his poor showing against Boston, tossing 6.2 innings and yielding only 1 run while striking out 6.
Bullpen: A Ayala allowed a hit in the 8th and Whelan allowed a walk in the 9th.
vs. Indians (Monday, June 13th; Carrasco vs. Burnett) Indians Win 1-0
Offense: D+ Despite plentiful scoring opportunities in the first 3 innings, New York couldn't push a runner across the plate and Carrasco regained his control and cruised in the latter innings. The Yanks went 0-7 w/RISP and did not have a hit after the 6th.
Starting Pitching: A Burnett deserved a better fate. He pitched brilliantly over 7.2 innings, his only mistake being a triple to lead off the 4th. Walking only one, while striking out 8 and allowing only 5 hits was a great way to rebound from the awful start vs. Boston---it's just too bad the offense couldn't support Burnett's sensational start.
Bullpen: A+ Only a 1.1 inning sample size but Robertson continued his dominant season.
vs. Rangers (Tuesday, June 14th; Ogando vs. Sabathia) Yankees Win 12-4
Offense: A+ No complaints here. Scored six runs in the second inning all without the home run and tacked on later with the long ball. Knocked out the usually dominant Ogando after just 1.2 innings. A strong performance. Nunez provided key hit in the 2nd in Jeter's absence.
Starting Pitching: A- CC started strong but ended up giving up 4 runs. Dominated the strike zone all night, walking none.
Bullpen: A Ayala pitched a perfect 8th and continues to be a consistent arm out of the pen. Lance Pendleton struggled with his control and walked 2 in the 9th but did not allow a hit or run.
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