Thursday, April 26, 2007
4/26/07 - Toronto Blue Jays (10-10) at New York Yankees (8-11) - 7:05 pm (Liveblog) - Philip Hughes’ First Major League Start
With a 90% chance of rain, they might not get this game in tonight, but if they do, we’re going to try something a little different for this special event.
Nobody here knows Philip Hughes better than Fabian McNally, so he’ll be joining me for the liveblog. Other RLYW posters may also join in on the commentary, and hopefully you’ll join us too. It should be exciting.
Bottom of the First:
Larry Mahnken: Sorry I’m late, guys. I’ve been sick since my birthday and… I’m having issues. Anyway, Hughes doesn’t have an auspicious debut. Two runs in the first inning. Yikes. Fabian is having a problem with the game not being on TV. Apparently, this is the only time in the last three years that he hasn’t gotten “My 9” for a game. Tonight. Fabulous.
SG: MLB.tv is a real pain in the ass sometimes…
Top of the Second:
Larry Mahnken: So the top of the second goes much smoother for Hughes than the first, as he notches two Ks. OK, we should be going a little more smoothly now, everything’s finally in place. Hopefully the Yanks can wake up the offense. WTF is Mientkiewicz doing batting second?
Fabian McNally: Test.
SG: That inning worked out pretty well.
Fabian McNally: I’m here. 2 innings in, 3 phone calls to the phone company, and countless failed MLB.TV attempts later, I’m watching Phil Hughes’ debut. I’m just happy to be here.
Bottom of the Second:
Larry Mahnken: A-Rod leads off with a bloop single down the line. Flashbulbs going off all over the place.
Fabian McNally: Everything is going right for A-Rod right now, except the strikeouts, good job with the steal.
Larry Mahnken: After Giambi pops out foul, A-Rod takes things into his own hands and steals second. Hey, remember when this team had more than one offensive player?
Fabian McNally: I wonder what Hughes’ pitch count limit is?
Fabian McNally: To be fair, Larry, Jason has been pretty useful thus far and Hideki walks, he’s been useful in his small time I think, and Jorge is up next, useful as well. It’s Melky dragging us down. And Doug adfoiajewoaf
Larry Mahnken: Matsui walks on a full count, fighting back from 1-2. Good job by Matsui. I think a lot of people are discounting what Matsui can do for this team because he missed so much time last year. He’s definitely a streaky player, but while his glove is below Melky’s, his offensive upside is so much higher.
Larry Mahnken: Damn, Jorge chops into a DP to kill the rally after just missing a double.
Fabian McNally: Jorge ripped one just foul. It would have been nice if that dropped in. Instead, we get a 4-6-3 DP. More Phil!!!
Fabian McNally: I’m loving the HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHES cheers. Hughes knows Lind from AA last year and gets him twice. Loving it!!!!
Top of the Third:
Larry Mahnken: Hughes has 40 pitches through two innings, and as Fabian wondered, he’s probably on a pitch count of some kind. I’d guess it’d be between 90-100, since he’s not injured or anything, but they don’t want to push the kid. That should get him through five, maybe six if he becomes really efficient. Hopefully that’s it for his runs allowed.
Larry Mahnken: Yikes, on a 2-0, Hughes gives up a monster shot to Rios that just goes foul. The next pitch is a flyout to deep center.
Larry Mahnken: Another strikeout for the kid! That’s four through three innings, with no walks yet. Despite the two runs, Hughes is looking great to me.
Fabian McNally: Wells pops it up to the LF stands. The wind is blowing really hard because everyone thought it was Matsui’s ball well into fair territory.
Fabian McNally: I might just be a Hughes fan boy, but I feel he’s getting a bit of a rookie strike zone as wells lines a 3-1 pitch to CF for a single. Even on Gameday, some of these balls have been within the strike zone.
SG: I agree with Fabian about the rookie strike zone. Hughes looks like he’s not getting the corners so far.
Larry Mahnken: Vernon Wells breaks Hughes’ consecutive outs steak with a single up the inning, and here’s Frank Thomas again. Let’s see how he approaches him this time.
Fabian McNally: Santana is better against right-handers, but whatever.
Larry Mahnken: A first pitch popout to center! I’m really impressed with this kid’s poise. He looks better out there to me than Igawa or even Pavano—poise-wise, not just stuff—and I think he’s pitching his way into the rotation right now.
Bottom of the Third:
Larry Mahnken: If the Yankees don’t get some hits off of Burnett, they’re going to ruin Hughes’ debut. Having Mientkiewicz and Cairo in the lineup doesn’t help. Especially with Mientkiewicz batting in front of Abreu and Rodriguez—WTF??? Cano strikes out. Not helping.
Larry Mahnken: Cairo pops out, and here’s Damon again. And if he gets on… that brings up Mientkiewicz. I seriously don’t get that decision AT ALL.
Larry Mahnken: Kay is under the impression that Johan Santana won the Cy Young Award in 2005.
SG: Why is Damon hitting 8th ahead of Mientkiewicz?
Larry Mahnken: Now he’s probably trying to figure out who actually won in 2005, because he paused a long time after seeing the graphic that Santana won in ‘04 and ‘06.
SG: Abreu’s hitting .381 with RISP this season. TEH CLUTCH!!!
Larry Mahnken: After Damon walks, Burnett apparently things that Mientkiewicz is Jeter, because he falls behind 3-1.
Fabian McNally: My comment about Santana being better against right-handers was this inning. Anyway, having to discuss a 3-1 pitch to Doug is a bad idea considering how spectacularly terrible a hitter he is. Making it worse, Burnett walks him on a curveball. Why he is trying to get fancy with Doug is beyond me.
Larry Mahnken: And he walks him on a curve in the dirt! Insane!
John Mileskey: Why would you throw one one of the worst hitters in the world a 3-1 breaking ball?
Fabian McNally: Hey, if Hughes isn’t going to get those calls, it’s only fair that Burnett doesn’t get them either. 3-2 to Bobby.
Larry Mahnken: Crap, Bobby Abreu wastes a 3-1 opportunity with a groundout to second.
SG: Burnett’s bitching about the strike zone now, and the ump isn’t happy about it. Not smart A.J. Not smart.
Fabian McNally: Bobby grounds out and more Hughes!!!
Larry Mahnken: This lineup is designed to get A-Rod lots of ABs leading off innings.
John Mileskey: Cashman should have traded for the Bobby Abreu who hits homers.
SG: If you’re wondering why Mientkiewicz is batting second, it’s because he has this line against Burnett: .429/.556/.571. How many AB? 7. Urgh.
Top of the Fourth:
Larry Mahnken: I think Fabian would take a Yankees loss just to see Hughes more.
Fabian McNally: Call me crazy, but the first pitch was called a strike and then it wasn’t. I don’t know.
Larry Mahnken: See, SG, that’s why you statheads don’t know anything! You nerdy nerds, telling Torre to bat Doug Mientkiewicz second over 7 ABs!
Fabian McNally: Aaron Hill is popped up for what looks like an out and then the wind pushes it to the stands. Awesome.
Larry Mahnken: Wow, My 9 just showed side-by-side pictures of Clemens and Hughes, and their throwing style is almost exactly the same. Hughes gives up his first walk to start the inning.
SG: Hughes at 66 pitches. I’d assume they’ll keep him under 100.
John Mileskey: That split screen was the greatest thing My9 has ever done.
Fabian McNally: 68 pitches for 10 outs, no good. We’re going to have to improve on that.
Larry Mahnken: As badly as Igawa got hit this week, I don’t know if I like starting Karstens over him on Saturday.
Larry Mahnken: A couple of groundouts and there are two outs with a runner on third.
John Mileskey: Hughes is done after this next inning. But that is ok, he has proved he can get major league hitters out. Arod and Giambi have to get it done this inning to take our boy off the hook for the L.
Fabian McNally: A-Rod is going to have to find a way to create 3 runs here to make sure Hughes gets the win in his debut.
Larry Mahnken: A popout to right ends the inning. 77 pitches through 4 for Hughes, which means that the fifth is probably his last inning. Hopefully the Yanks can put some runs on the board here and make his first start a win.
Fabian McNally: So close.
Bottom of the Fourth:
Larry Mahnken: A-Rod CRUSHES one to center, and to the shock and chagrin of everyone, it dies on the track and is caught by Wells. One out.
John Mileskey: If ARod was clutch he would have hit that ball harder. Clearly, he sucks.
Larry Mahnken: God DAMN it! Giambi bloops it down the left field line, but it way too slow to take advantage of the shift, and is thrown out at second.
John Mileskey: The Yankees have two shortstops capable of making that throw, one of the WAS STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO CAIRO WHEN HE LOBBED THAT BALL OVER THERE!
Fabian McNally: Jorge looked good against Burnett last time up, hopefully he can make something happen here.
Larry Mahnken: Burnett has 35 strikes and 35 balls tonight. And the Yanks have two singles. They’re letting him off the hook, to say the very least.
Larry Mahnken: And Jorge lets him off the hook again. Maybe they should just take every pitch.
SG: You know what’d be nice? Hughes pitches a scoreless fifth and the Yankees get five in the bottom of the fifth.
Top of the Fifth:
Larry Mahnken: Hey, you know what Hughes needs? To get robbed by the umps some more. The first base ump says that Mientkiewicz got pulled off the bag on a throw by Cairo, but the replay sure looked like that foot was on the bag.
Fabian McNally: Miguel Cairo’s “arm” doesn’t help out.
Fabian McNally: I promise you guys, Hughes is actually solid at holding runners. Jorge is just not having a good night back there. Single up the middle for the 3rd run. Crap.
Larry Mahnken: And that turns into a run, as McDonald steals second and scores on a single up the middle.
SG: What happened to Posada’s throwing this year? He’s been awful compared to last year.
John Mileskey: Did they not know hughes was 13 pitches away from 90 pitches? Why was no one warming?
Fabian McNally: Adam Lind having 2006 flashbacks.
Larry Mahnken: Seeing what’s happening to Hughes this inning, I’m thinking maybe the team babied him a bit too much. You don’t want him throwing 120 pitches, but if he can’t throw 90 pitches without getting worn out, you haven’t stretched him out enough.
Fabian McNally: It would be nice if Vernon Wells grounded into a DP here. Slaps it into CF and that’s probably it for Hughes. Yep, well, solid debut, IMO. I think he should stay up.
SG: Even though Hughes isn’t a flamethrower like Felix Hernandez, he seems to have the ability to get people to swing through his pitches. I think I like what I’ve seen tonight.
Larry Mahnken: A base hit to left center and that’s it for Hughes. This line is probably going to end up looking a lot worse than it really was. He’s given up three runs in 4.1 innings, and it could end up at 5. So BoSox fans will jump on that, but that’s because they didn’t pay attention to what actually happened tonight. Hughes should stay up. He’s not going to be giving up 4 homers in a row.
John Mileskey: Vernon Wells just texted me. “Im in ur houze and killing ur hughez!!!!”
Fabian McNally: I think Hughes acquitted himself well. He’s going to be a guy that needs the bullpen a bit, especially in the early going, but as far as stuff, he’s got better stuff than just about anyone else we have. Like Kay said, he did a good job. Solid debut.
Larry Mahnken: Hughes gave up 7 hits, but six of them were singles, and only one walk.
Larry Mahnken: Dear God, Posada can’t throw to save his life.
Fabian McNally: I have a meeting to attend, so best of luck to the Yanks and see you all later.
John Mileskey: Well, that was not cool. Hughes showed a little bit of what makes him the #1 pitching prospect in baseball, but just a little bit. Good enough to keep him up. Who thinks the Yanks should go to Tandem starters?
Top of the 7th:
SG: The Yankees are staring at their sixth straight loss now, after not losing more than four in a row at all last year. WTF?
SG: At some point, Joe Torre needs to stop playing the matchup game and burning through all his relievers. I think it is easier for pitchers to pitch longer outings less frequently than to pitch every other day, even if the stints are shorter.
SG: Toronto’s got the bases loaded against Scott Proctor, but he induces a fly ball to shallow center, shallow enough that Damon can’t even be tagged on. Unfortunately, Proctor follows up by bouncing a curve that lets the Jays score a run. 5-0 Jays, and this one’s slipping away.
SG: Proctor gets a fly out to LF, but the wild pitch prior allows it to be an RBI sac fly instead of a harmless fly out, and the Jays tack on another run and now lead 6-0. This team is really frustrating to watch right now. Shades of 2005.
SG: It’s too soon to be super meaningfull, but Aaron Hill’s off to a fine start this year. If last year’s defense was legit (right now he’s about average by zone rating), he’s a pretty good player.
Bottom of the 7th:
SG: It’ll be Posada, Cano, and Cairo to lead off the bottom of the seventh. B.J. Ryan’s out, but the Jays bullpen is still pretty solid, so they need to try and do some damage here. I have no idea if Ron Guidry is a good pitching coach or not, but he certainly seems more animated than Mel Stottlemyre was. You always see him talking to pitchers in the dugout between innings, much moreso than Mel. Posada falls behind quickly 1-2, then takes a hook for called strike three. So much for getting things started. Cano grounds the first pitch he sees out to second, and now if the Yankees are going to rally, it’s going to have to start with two outs and Miguel Cairo hitting. Yeah, and Wil Nieves is going to get a hit one of these days.
SG: Cairo makes some kind of out, but I blinked and missed it. To the 8th.
Top of the 8th:
SG: At some point, it’s not going to be early any more. Every game the Yankees fall behind now is a game they have to be better than Boston than going forward. This is frustrating. Mike Myers gets the top of the 8th rocking by giving up a leadoff single to Jason Smith.
He recovers to get Jason Phillips to ground out, with Smith advancing to second.
SG: Myers gets John McDonald to pop out to Mientkiewicz for the second out of the inning.
SG: Myers retires all the righties he sees, and gives up a hit to the only lefty. Inning over.
Bottom of the 8th:
SG: Burnett’s been relieved by Jeremy Accardo, who I believe came over for Shea Hillenbrand.
SG: Damon flies out to RF, shy of the warning track for the first out of the inning.
Mientkiewicz does what he excels at, and makes another out. Two down, and I’m about to turn this crapfest off.
SG: Abreu made an out I think, I missed it. To the ninth.
Top of the 9th:
SG: Myers remains in to mop out the rest of this game. I agree with this. No sense using anyone else in a game that is very unlikely to be a win.
SG: Well, I got a phone call and missed the end of the game. Yanks lose. Again. Footage at 11. I’m going to be gone for the next four days, and will miss all the games against Boston. Iam expecting a Boston sweep. So anything else will be good news I guess.
Comments
Jeter not in the lineup and Mientkeiwicz batting 2nd. Wow. 
Mientkeiwicz is batting 2? That has to be a typo right? In what world would that make sense?
God I hate Torre sometimes. Nothing like having an automatic out between Damon and Abreu.
Wait, are you serious? Mientkiewicz is batting #2? Probably something to do with being a good “situational hitter”
On the bright side Karstens is pitching Saturday instead of Igawa
During my time as a baseball fan I have never seen a debut this anticipated. When was the last one like this?
It is so beyond assinine its mind boggling. I love Torre, and I wrote a long post here last year extolling his virtues as a manager of personalities and egos. But its fast getting to the point where his small micro daily mistakes outweigh his “calming influence.” If only someone could combine the sense of Beane with Torre’s interpersonal skills…
It is so beyond assinine its mind boggling. I love Torre, and I wrote a long post here last year extolling his virtues as a manager of personalities and egos. But its fast getting to the point where his small micro daily mistakes outweigh his “calming influence.” If only someone could combine the sense of Beane with Torre’s interpersonal skills…
He’s the manager for Detroit
Batting Mientkiewicz second is absolutely indefensible. It’s asinine. Torre can make excuses to this point with regards to his (mis)use of the bullpen. But something like this is flat-out, garden variety, hit on the head by a large rock stupid. It simply defies all manner of logic or reason. What did Hughes do to deserve this?
FWIW, Mientkiewicz v. Burnett in his career: 3/7, 1 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
FWIW, Mientkiewicz v. Burnett in his career: 3/7, 1 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Only 7 meaningless AB’s though
Agreed.. hence the “FWIW”. He’s not 0 for 20 with 20 backwards K’s.
Is the game happening?
Guess so.
Is the game happening?
It’s on My9 not YES if that’s what you’re wondering
What does FWIW mean?
Gimme a K baby
94 MPH! Eat it bitch!
Welcome to the big leagues
FWIW = for what it’s worth
I usually google “foo acronym” in such instances.
Dang, this umpire is killing us
Molly Hughes is cute
where is Larry?
Wow. Game is not being carried on local sportschannel and MLB TV is being a fucking bitch with its blackout. Fuck living in Toronto. IM MISSING HIS DEBUT.
Shaky command so far, but I really liked that changeup. And to be fair, that 3-2 fastball to Thomas was great, but Thomas did the only thing he could to get a hit.
Nice AB by Mientkiewicz, I am so glad Phelps isn’t playing 
how did hughes give up the runs?
how did hughes give up the runs?
Rios hit a linedrive single to LF to leadoff. He then stole 2B as Po didn’t make a clean transfer from his mitt to his hand. He then struck out Adam Lind showing 2 nasty curves and a great placed 94 MPH fastball. My MLBTV then crapped out but I guess Wells hit a deep 2B. Then Thomas worked the count to 3-2, Hughes made a great pitch, fastball low and on the outside corner, but Thomas took it the other way for a single.
This ump is squeezing him. SQUEEZING!
The ball looks to jump out of his hand.
He’s starting to look better although it is against the weak part of the lineup. If he does this against Rios, Wells, and Thomas then I will be really impressed
Awesome! 2 K’s and a weak groundout. I think I’ll take that, and that’s the Hughes I saw at Trenton last year.
Well, he’s doing what he should do against the weak part of the line up, and maybe it will be enough to get him on a roll against the big guys. He looks strong and confident out there, thats for sure.
That was a great inning. It wasn’t against the Jays’ best hitters, but Hughes will make the necessary adjustments to get them out as well (i.e. no fastballs over the middle when behind in the count to Vernon Wells). Personally, I don’t think Hughes is going back to Scranton. He’s better than Igawa, Karstens and Rasner right now.
fun game: go through every team’s lineup, and figure out where Minky would be batting.
ARod sitting on 2-0, this could be good
Anyone having MY9 audio dropouts?
THE GIAMBINO
I John Gibbons related to the Baltimore Oriole outfielder, Nick Markakis?
Wasted opportunity.
Fuck this team, I am turning this game off as soon as Hughes is pulled.
Question for you guys - should you double steal ARod and Matsui there? You figure ARods got a good shot getting 3rd if Burnette is throwing a breaking pitch, and even if he’s thrown out you end up with Matsui on 2nd, but at least you kill the chance for a double play.
-0.71 WPA for Mientkiewicz already.
Hey, SJ. If you want to participate in the liveblog, get on AIM.
You know what’s ridiculous… Extra Innings not carrying game AND not being able to get on to MLB.tv. Someone’s being selfish
Really? I’ve got in on MLB.tv
Oh and the Wings-Sharks game is NOT on in HD so the “HD sports channel” that Vs. and Golf Network share can so a repeat of today’s Byron Nelson round.
Asshats.
I know I`ve posted this before but this umpire is KILLING Hughes.
Sean is mentioning that he can’t use my account because both SJ and I are logged in.
I’ll take it. His fastball command wasn’t great that inning as it was left up a couple of times, but really nothing to complain about. Isn’t it nice to have a genuine strikeout pitcher on our team again?
And I was trying to keep Bob DuPuy from coming to our houses and pistol-whipping the three of us.
I think Phil ought to spend tomorrow looking at local real estate. He’s in this rotation.
Well, Sean, MLB.tv has a 5-day trial this month you may want to try.
God, Cano looked ugly.
Now if only Murderers row would show up
I hate how Kay says Hughes. He says it “You-ze”. There is an H in it!
Well, Sean, MLB.tv has a 5-day trial this month you may want to try.
MLB extra innings may want to try broadcasting more than one 7:00 EST start game at a time.
I hate how Kay says Hughes. He says it “You-ze”. There is an H in it!
That reminds me of an Eddie Izzard sketch… look it up. Differences between England and the U.S.
I know Hughes is getting squeezed but wow Burnett too?
Maybe Torre is thinking ahead, maybe a PH later in the gamE ( Jeter / Phelps ) I doubt it though….His whole substition stratergy has been suspect to say the least…..
It seems like Alex is always leading off innings.
Well, I’d argue that it’s hard to go wrong when you’re substiting Jeter in there. He’s subbing up not down, but we’ll see..
Hock the chynek!
So what does Hughes need to get the win here? Do the Yanks need to go up in the bottom of the 4th and Hughes need to shut them down in the top of the 5th?
No K’s that inning? He sucks.
So the 5th will almost certainly be his last inning I’d guess. Please get 3 runs for him. He’s pitched great since the 1st, and if the strikezone weren’t so small, I think he would make it to the 6th.
Hey Joe Biv
So what does Hughes need to get the win here? Do the Yanks need to go up in the bottom of the 4th and Hughes need to shut them down in the top of the 5th?
I believe they just need to take the lead before a new pitcher comes in, so the Yankees could get him the win in the bottom of the 5th, too.
“68 pitches for 10 outs, no good. We’re going to have to improve on that.”
Presumably a more generous strike zone would help there.
Damnit! I thought for sure that was gone.
Dang
I believe they just need to take the lead before a new pitcher comes in, so the Yankees could get him the win in the bottom of the 5th, too.
Correct.
Giambi has to be one of the dumbest baserunners I’ve ever seen. Jeez.
Giambi is so slow.
Why even dive? Why not just run to the right a little
Well at least we didn’t have to wait to long to see Hughes again.
I guess it’s good that he was hustling out of the box, but you’ve got to think that the only way Giambi is scoring is on an extra base hit, so the difference between him being on 1st and being on 2nd .. I don’t know if it’s worth trying to stretch that into a double.
Wow. Giambi. That had to be embarassing.
At least he beat the shift. 
Bull fucking shit.
These umps suck and I hate Cairo’s arm.
Shitty call.
Joe just said to the 1st base ump “I’m on a new medication. It makes me salivate.”
I hate these umpires
What is there to talk about? He got screwed on the first batter and then got a groundball that found a hole.
Of course the call comes back to bite us. Can they do anything else to ruin Phil’s day?
Kay is such an idiot. Two quotes from this evening: “Clemens uses his lower body a lot pitching which is why he stays so healthy. He does have a lot of leg problems though.” And now, after telling us that Hughes is 20 years and 305 (or whatever) days no less than 10 times, he says “Guidry out to talk to the 21 year old.”
What is there to talk about? He got screwed on the first batter and then got a groundball that found a hole.
Maybe just telling him not to overthrow now that they’re in a critical situation
Great fastball there!
I’m scared with Wells and Thomas coming up, though.
Wow, Hughes shook Posada off 3 times and ended up with K.
Balls.
Good game for Hughes but he’s out now
Wells has been deadon all of Hughes pitches. Damnit, well I’m out. Hughes did a lot better than his hits/runs tonight. I hope this has earned him a spot in our rotation.
Posada has been absolutely awful
It’s good to see Posada still effective offensively at his age, but he’s turned into Mike Piazza behind the plate. Argh.
And double argh for another 4+ inning game for our bullpen. Not the way you want to go into Boston…
man why does Torre hate Phelps so much?
Henn has really been a revelation. And to think he barely made the team out of camp. In fact, if Villone has just been run of the mill bad rather than absolutely awful, Henn would be in AAA right now.
By the way, Hughes gave the team a chance to win the game tonight. That’s more than Kei Igawa did the last time out. Also, as I said, he’s better than Rasner or Karstens right at this moment. Right now, after Pettitte and Wang, he’s their third best starter. Further, he’ll learn from this outing and he’ll be better the next time out.
Hard to believe I watched him just 4 years ago pitching for Foothill HS…As a sophmore, he whiffed 16 and threw a 2 hitter VS a playoff team….There were many a scout with their jugs that afternoon…..I agree with IE. He’s here to stay…..Progress will be rapid…..
It’s cool that down 4, Torre is basically burning his two more reliable relievers right before the big weekend game. Now rainout is going to ruin Torre’s determined effort to screw with the bullpen arms.
Down 4.
Torre’s bullpen use might hurt this team more than anything else. Why does he feel the need to use EVERY reliever EVERY game (except Mariano, of course)? This game is on the verge of a blowout. Let someone (preferably Mike Myers) take one for the team.
By the way, Pete Abraham thinks Hughes belongs in AAA. Frankly, I don’t see who pitches in his place. Is Hughes 100% polished? No. Is he better than everyone on the staff aside from Pettitte and Wang? Most definately.
The way Torre has been using his pen, am I the only one that’s concerned that we’re going to see Farnsworth, Rivera, Petitte pitch this game… and see Ron Guidry run up to the booth to ask Al Leiter to come down and pitch? He’s already in the ballpark…
5.5 out.
i don’t think i can take this anymore. not for a single solitary second. joe torre is trying to singlehandedly ruin all of our pitchers. all of them.
Just got back form the game. I am still in shock that Doug M was batting second.
Hughes looked good, though not especially dominating. The fastball seemed to sit at 91 most of the night, and he didn’t seem to have great command of the curveball. I’m sure he’ll improve given his age and inexperience, though I’m wondering if expectations maybe need to be lowered a tad. His motion looks a lot like Clemens, but his stuff seems more like Mussina’s - which is still excellent - but I don’t know, he looked more like a potential #2 than a #1 starter to me. Of course, a 20 year-old Mike Mussina is a pretty damn great player to have. But the low 90’s fastball was a little disappointing, to be honest.
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