Thursday, June 21, 2007
6/21/07: New York Yankees (35-34) at Colorado Rockies (37-34) - 3:05 PM ET **Liveblog**
R. Clemens (1-1, 3.65) vs R. Lopez (3-0, 2.90)
NY Yankees
J. Damon cf (wuh!?!)
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
J. Posada c
H. Matsui lf
R. Cano 2b
M. Cairo 1b
R. Clemens p
Colorado
W. Taveras cf
K. Matsui 2b
M. Holliday lf
T. Helton 1b
G. Atkins 3b
B. Hawpe rf
T. Tulowitzki ss
Y. Torrealba c
R. Lopez p
“Are you ready to step up?”
The Yankee offense has been piss-poor in the first two games of this series, scoring a combined two runs in both. IT’S COORS FIELD! A week ago, Roger Clemens took the mound in hopes of continuing the Yankees’ win streak which had reached a season high of nine games. He pitched well enough to win, but the Yankee offense let him down. Today he takes the mound with the mission of preventing a three game losing streak as well as keeping this team above .500. Unfortunately, the Yankee offense is hitting about as well as they did against Oliver Perez last Friday. But fear not! Rodrigo Lopez will take the mound for the Rockies today. His 2.90 ERA is about to get a reality check.
I’ve been hearing people now say that the division is done and the Yankees only shot is the wild card. Really? Did I miss the All-Star game? Is it August already? Sure, the Yanks are now 9 games back in the loss column and don’t exactly look their best. But that means the division is done on June 21st? They road a winning streak to cut the division lead in half in a matter of a few weeks. Now, because they lost two straight, and somehow Julian Tavarez is a Cy Young candidate, the Yankees have no shot at the AL East? Please. Speaking of which, how does the fugliest pitcher in baseball throw 7 innings of shutout, 3-hit baseball??? I know its the National League, but for the love of crumb cake! Tavarez?! Ugh.
But no matter. Its time for Clemens to do what he came here to do. It’s time for the offense to get fired up. Its time for the entire Yankee team to “step up.”
Pre-game chatter: Check out the baseball-reference.com preview for this game(thanks to Larry for tipping us all off to this nugget). It has so much data on the matchup it will make your head explode.
Apparently Phillips isn’t getting as much of a chance at 1st as Torre alluded to. And MLB has turned down Johnny Damon’s request to use a wheelchair to get around center field.
I’m gunna liveblog the hell out of this game unless one of the higher-ups overrules me.
Top of the 1st: Damon looks like crap and subsequently weakly grounds one to Lopez for the first out. Please go on the DL already, Johnny.
Its a hot one in Colorado today as Jeter works a 3-2 count to Lopez. Jeter owns this guy, I think. Everyone should own this guy. Even Nieves could go 4-4 against him. Jeter at least walks.
Jeter gets caught in a rundown and I think it was a botched hit and run which Bobby missed because he didn’t swing. Ugh, the Yankee crap streak stinks on.
Abreu grounds out to second in typical recent Yankees fashion.
Bottom of the 1st: Clemens deals to Taveras. He’s going to have to come up big today if the offense continues to pull a Woemack. Nice start for Roger as he gets Willy looking.
Roger battles back from 3-0 against Matsui to make it 3-2. And Matsui lines out hard to Cano.
I’m not sure what it is about him, but Holliday looks like a bad guy from some action movie. Clemens strikes out the bad guy swinging on a high fastball.
Top of the 2nd: Time to score some runs. A-Rod starts off the inning by grounding in the hole at short. Troy T. fields it but the throw is not in time. Infield single.
Posada flies out to left. The Yankees have only flown out about 143 times in this series.
Matsui thinks its time to score by drilling a homer run over the center field wall. That matches the amount of runs the Yankees have scored this series. 2-0 Yankees
Cano grounds out to second on one pitch. What a complete shock.
Cairo lines out to second off the end of the bat. Cairo didn’t clear the pitching spot but at least he cleared himself.
Bottom of the 2nd: Helton slices a deep fly ball to left but Matsui runs it down.
Atkins clobbers one to deep left and Matsui can’t get this one as it goes into the stands. 2-1 Yankees
A rather large Yankee fan catches a foul ball down the left field line off the bat of Hawpe. I only mention this because the girl sitting next to him was pretty cute. Not Rachel Specter, but still cute. Hawpe strikes out.
Larry just told me that the cute blonde girl has no business sitting next to the fat guy. He’s right, of course. Its home run derby time as Clemens serves one up to Troy Tulowitzki who deposits it in the stands in center. 
2-2 game
Torrealba grounds out to Jeter.
Top of the third: The Yankees better f’ing win this game because Igawa is pitching tomorrow. Reconfigured delivery or not, I don’t feel comfortable with him pitching. Clemens grounds out to third.
Damon strikes out on 3 pitches looking. With Cano, Cairo, Clemens and Damon all in a row, its like having 4 pitchers in the lineup. GO ON THE DL JOHNNY!
Jeter rips one right at Atkins for an out. And the masterful Rodrigo Lopez has a 1-2-3 inning.
Bottom of the third: Lopez strikes out swinging.
Taveras bunts a single right in between the mound and home. Roger is too fat and slow so no chance. Posada actually fielded it but it was Clemens ball.
Clemens has now thrown over to first about 72 times. And it accomplishes nothing as he steals second anyway. And Matsui walks. And with Holliday coming up, the Yankees could be in trouble.
Clemens strikes out Holliday, thankfully.
Helton grounds softly to Cano for the last out of the inning. Phew.
Top of the 4th: Abreu grounds out to first. Which is shocking, because Lopez sucks.
A-Rod strikes out looking. Which is shocking, because Lopez sucks.
Posada dunks a single into right center. Which isn’t shocking, because Lopez sucks.
Matsui grounds out to short. Which is shocking, because Lopez sucks.
Bottom of the 4th: Atkins flies out to Damon(sans wheelchair).
On 0-2, Hawpe singles up the middle. If they score in this inning, I have almost no faith in the Yankees mounting any comeback. Which is shocking, because Lopez sucks.
Troy Tulowitzki singles to right and Hawpe holds at 2nd.
3-0 on Torrealba. Now 3-1. Grounder to Cairo who bobbles but recovers and steps on first. Runners move up with the pitcher coming up.
Clemens gets Lopez swinging. That was close.
Top of the fifth: Oh good, Cano is up. Can’t wait to see what he does. He exceeds my expectations by singling in the hole at second. Hooray.
Cairo flies out to deep center. One pitcher cleared.
Clemens showed bunt on 1-2 but pulls back and grounds a single up the middle!
Maybe Damon can actually get a hit here. Of course not. Damon lines one to third for out one and then Cano is doubled off second for out two. Awesomeness. Damon has contributed 4 outs in 3 AB this game. Maybe he should have bunted them over, seeing as he is one of the pitchers in the lineup.
Bottom of the fifth: Taveras pops out to Jeter in shallow center on the first pitch. Very Cano-like.
Matsui lines a single up the middle. He’ll be on second soon. And he is as he steals second. Oh boy.
Holliday singles up the middle and the run scores. Man, it looks so easy to beat the Yankees. 3-2 Rockies.
Clemens is taken out of the game now. Sorry the Yankees can’t hit to save the queen, big guy. Myers in.
Helton singles to center and Holliday goes to third on Damon’s noodle-arm. Way to get the lefty out, Mike. Now he comes out for Proctor.
Atkins hits a sac fly to right which Abreu almost doesn’t get. I guess no double-play, huh Scotty? 4-2 Rockies
Helton gets caught stealing.
Top of the sixth: So, if the Yankees offense follows the script they’ve been following lately, they will do one of a few things for the rest of the game: either ground out, fly out or strike out with maybe a walk or single scattered meaninglessly in between.
Jeter proves me wrong by doubling down the left field line.
Abreu tries to bunt single down the left field line for some STUPID reason. I agree with Kay right here that he should definitely not be doing this. You’re the #3 hitter, ya idiot. Act like it. Or not. Abreu down swinging. This will probably only inspire Bobby Meathead to bunt again next time up.
A-Rod grounds to short, in front of Jeter, and Troy T. goes to third which gets Jeter hung up in a rundown. This team is sucking on so many levels right now. I hate them. A-Rod can’t get to second either.
If Posada hits one out, then the mistake does no harm. Posada singles to right. So Jeter may have scored on that which angers me. Lopez coming out of the game.
This smells like the Yankees of May who would do just enough to lose. Down by 2 runs with 2 runner on, I can’t imagine Matsui NOT making an out right here.
Jorge Julio down by the school yard is in to pitch to Matsui. Count goes full. Matsui goes down swinging on a breaking ball. I am not surprised in the least bit. This team is a wounded animal begging to be shot.
Bottom of the sixth: Line drive to Cano for an out.
Tulowitzki lines a double to left. Wish the Yankees new how to do that.
Proctor strikes out Torrealba looking on a close pitch.
Julio is going to stay in and hit. This seems like a double gift to the Yankees. I think they can hammer him eventually. They probably won’t, however. But Proctor seems determined to walk the pitcher and I am looking for a sharp object to shove through my eye as he does.
Taveras pops out to center.
Top of the 7th: When was the last time Cano hit one out? Oh, he almost did right there as he hits a double than bounces over the wall in right center. Too bad there are 3 pitchers coming up.
Cairo sac bunts and Cano moves to third. I’m not sure this makes much sense when down by two runs. Melky comes in to hit and if he doesn’t pop out I’d be really surprised. Actually, he flies out deep to left and the run scores on the sac. 4-3 Rockies
Damon steps into the box preparing to make the third out. And he grounds out weakly to second. At least that pitcher spot is cleared.
Bottom of the 7th: Bruney in and Matsui flies out to Cabrera who is now in center.
Bruney walks Holliday which sucks because it didn’t seem like Matt was catching up to Bruney’s fastball in that AB.
Helton lines one over Jeter into center and there are men on first and second. Melky almost got Holliday after he rounded second too far.
Atkins flies out to Melky in deep center and Holliday tags up and goes to third.
Hawpe flies out to Melky in shallow center. Disaster averted.
Top of the 8th: Comeback time. Well it would be if the team was in an offensive coma. Jeter strikes out swinging on a slider low and away.
Abreu taps one to Helton and nearly beats him to the bag.
A-Rod, with a cotton ball up his nose, beats out a tapper to short. He keeps trying to pull everything. I wish he would just power the ball the other way sometimes.
Posada grounds out to second. Just the type of inning I predicted in the top of the 6th.
Bottom of the 8th: Oh Joy, Farnsworth in. Tulowitzki pops out to Cano.
On a 3-2 pitch, Kyle hits Torrealba. And it begins…....
Jeff Baker in the PH. You can almost sense the pending HR right here. Forgot to mention that Damon is at first base. And Kyle throws to first and its a crap throw and gets by Damon. Torrealba moves into scoring position. I hate both of them. Baker strikes out swinging on a 98 mph fastball. But if that run scores on a hit, I really hope Farnsworth gets traded within the hour.
Taveras grounds out to Farnsworth. Inning luckily over.
Top of the 9th: OK, I want all of you to think of Rachel Specter. Got it? OK, now channel that energy you have to the Yankee hitters in Colorado.
Matsui pops out to Atkins in foul territory.
Cano chops a grounder to Helton for the second hit.
Phillips in to hit for Farnsworth. The Yankees are the opposite of a decent team. Andy should have walked on 3-1 but the ump called a low strike. And then he strikes out swinging.
The Yankees lose 4-3. Which is shocking, because Lopez sucks.
Comments
Alrighty, Rachel, you’re back again even though I tried to save your honor by keeping you from being tangled with this sorry lot. Maybe you’ll prove me to just be a prudish old pessimist. That would be ok.
blech, cant ge swept by rockies. Unacceptable
Doesnt lopez pwn the Yankees?
So, with he talk of Damon heading to the DL, he goes from taking the day off to being put back in CF? I hope he goes 4-4 and robs a home run just to make me look stupid, but I doubt it. Highly doubt it.
Baseball-reference.com has got to be one of the top 2 or 3 websites of all time.
Rachel will get us back on our winning ways, she has that kind of ability, even if Joe brought back Womack and stuck him in CF for this game.
Milton Bradley got DOA’d today, must’ve done something stupid again but I’d make a play to get him and to keep him out of Boston. Switch-hitting CF in his prime, 4 million and is a FA after the season, if only he can stay healthy.
ahhh christ
WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT
Jeter Christ that was terrible, way to go Bob, now hit one out to make up for it.
So, the other question, is Cairo that much better a fielder at 1st than Phillips? I mean, if not, how can you justify putting him in there? If it’s a wash, I’d rather try the guy who has some shot of hitting the ball.
What a stupid fucking move.
I understand it was a hit and run, but why didnt Jeter try/
I understand it was a hit and run, but why didnt Jeter try/
He would have been out by a mile so maybe he thought getting back to first was his only choice. Who the hell knows. They’re all drunk, I think.
This umps strike zone seems like it is going to be a problem all day
Losing to Jeff Francis is a bummer, but understandable. He’s pretty good. Losing to both Josh Fogg and Rodrigo Lopez in the same series is unacceptable. They are bums.
I mean, if not, how can you justify putting him in there? If it’s a wash, I’d rather try the guy who has some shot of hitting the ball.
the sad thing is it might be a wash offensively as well.
I’m happy to get to watch Roger pitch finally.
Yeah baby, that’s the Rodrigo Lopez we know.
That’s what I’m talking about. Godzilla!
Is that… no it couldn’t be…. OFFENSE!!
I watch just about every Clemens start. I still don’t understand how he gets so many swings-and-misses on his 91mph fastball. Is it just that hard to differentiate from his splitter?
I still don’t understand how he gets so many swings-and-misses on his 91mph fastball. Is it just that hard to differentiate from his splitter?
That’s part of it. He gets good movement on his fastball and features both 2 and 4-seamers.
Clemens appears to have a lamer fastball than usual today
Niiiice spotting there.
Don’t no if this has been talked about, but X-Mo has got to be the dumbest name I’ve ever heard for anything.
one moer rogah
god damn
Clemens appears to have a lamer fastball than usual today
Have we seen enough of him to know what the usual lameness level is?
There’s that lame fastball you were talking about WJ.
motherfuck
Clemens is missing his spots and his slider is atrocious. I think I’ve seen one splitter, but I guess he’s behind so often he doesn’t even get a chance to use it. Still, even against Helton, ahead 0-2 he didn’t use it.
And there’s another HR, great.
Well, let’s start this one over. Thanks fatass
Clemens will make up for those 2 HRs by hitting one himself.
or not
i’m thinking thin air and a 45 year old power pitcher might not be a good combo.
Roooooooooooooooogerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
wow Hideki Matsui has his own Yankeeography
Posada looked like he was running through mud there
wow Hideki Matsui has his own Yankeeography
Have they done Roy White yet?
48 pitches and counting
plus 87 throws to first
wow Hideki Matsui has his own Yankeeography
Have they done Roy White yet?
No.
Yankees suck
I have an impending sense of doom.
I can’t imagine this ending well…
He’s throwing poopoo out there
Clemens is hitting 89 with his “fastball”
2 down
Not bad for a 45 year old pitcher
wow Hideki Matsui has his own Yankeeography
Have they done Roy White yet?
No.
Well, Hideki probably was a better player in Tokyo than Roy. As a Yankee, he’s got to be pretty good for ten years to match him.
No splitter to Holliday. Was he afraid he might induce a GIDP?
Have they done Charlie Keller?
we need to take the lead NOW
Have they done Charlie Keller?
They haven’t done Mothra either.
“They haven’t done Mothra either.”
Glad to see you’re on your toes.
Yankeeography Matt Nokes
That was ball 4. Instead an easy groundout to first.
I’m waiting for the Alvaro Espinoza Yankeeography.
protect the plate Alex, don’t look at strike 3
I’m waiting for the Alvaro Espinoza Yankeeography.
Cutter, you’re psychic. Thats the exactly who I was going to mention.
I don’t get the Matsui Yankeeography, are they gonna have a Part 2 in 5 years, has Jimmy Key had one yet? What about Bill Dickey, Dave Winfield, and Mel Stottlemyre? It’s one thing to have one while active if you were part of the Dynasty, like Jeter, Clemens, Bernie, Mo, Posada and Torre, but one for Matsui makes no sense.
I would buy the DVD set of Yankeeography: Tony Womack, Terrence Long, Scott Erickson, Donovan Osbourne, Sidney Ponson and Kelly Stinnett. That’s some quality right there. Including special features like that one time Stinnett hit a ball into the outfield.
We need more Matsui magic.
...one for Matsui makes no sense.
Its fun to make these jokes, but we all know its about marketing in Japan.
I loved Matt Nokes. Mad power.
If Matsui hits one out here then he will have earned that Yankeeography in my eyes
bleh
I echo #14-I wasn’t that upset about last night’s loss but losing to Phineas Fogg when Mussina allows only 3 runs at Coors is not a luxury that a team that needs to make up lots of ground can afford. And a loss today would be a real backbreaker.
0-2 fastballs down the middle are not good
Why even bother getting on in front of Cairo and Clemens?
Or Damon.
nice!
Wow wow wow, can’t bunt but can get a single. Good stuff.
Clemens is gonna stick around until he can break Julio Franco’s age related hitting records.
Can Damon even swing, or is he just posing up there?
Clemens is gonna stick around until he can break Julio Franco’s age related hitting records.
Are we going to see him steal a base this season?
fuck
This sucks.
MOTHERFUCKKK!!!
ugh ugh ugh
So frustrating.
Why no bunt? Taveras should be bunting against Roger every time up there considering both Clemens and Posada seem to be immobile.
Okay. John Sterling just compared Giambi testifying in front of Mitchell to the House Un-American Affairs Committee of the 1950s.
He’s just gone from a buffoon to a huge, screaming idiot.
I think that pitch to Kaz was a splitter. If that’s as good as his splitter gets today, it’s good that he isn’t using it.
I think that pitch to Kaz was a splitter. If that’s as good as his splitter gets today, it’s good that he isn’t using it.
I don’t think that was his splitter, but I could be wrong.
Actually, the pitch Matsui hit looked like a slider.
Clemens is playing with fire with those high 88-mph fastballs. But I guess when your other options are splitters and sliders that are just 84-mph meatballs, you do what you can do.
And is it even possible to get a called strike on a pitch that someone runs on?
That’s fucking great. I have no confidence whatsoever anymore this game.
This sucks. Clemens sucks. The Yankees suck.
Roger is going through that dead arm period that all pitchers go through in spring training.
Clemens sucks. The Yankees suck.
Now fans of all 30 teams agree on something.
Helluva throw Johnny.
Was Roger having some trouble with altitude? He probably should have loaded up the ball like Tavarez last night for the Sox.
Oh, and he was only up to 79 pitches - why the hook?
Feels a lot like that sweep in KC about two years ago. Mindboggling. Blame it on the offense though. A-Rod has been as quiet as a mouse. Abreu hasn’t been a factor either, nor Posada. The Rockies have been running wild and are playing like this is their World Series. With all the hype in Denver for the past several weeks, this team was primed and ready, whereas it’s just another series for NY. Reminds me of the way we have waltzed into the postseason against teams like LA in 02 and then 06 against Det. Reputation only goes so far. Nice job by our lefty specialist. Good thing the bullpen is fully rested. This sucks.
Um, okay. Thanks Helton.
“Oh, and he was only up to 79 pitches - why the hook? “
Because he sucks.
Sucks more than the alternatives? Not so far.
This is the inning we get things going
BIG AB HERE JETER!
Nice, he got a hit.
BUNT????!!!??!?!?!?!!WTF
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