Just a nitpick, anyone know why Ransom is batting ahead of Molina?

That’s pretty house money.  (“Pretty” meaning “fairly”—not “attractive”.)

anyone know why Ransom is batting ahead of Molina?

Ransom’s more like to get on base via error or passed ball?

Melky would be leading this A’s lineup in slugging if he were in it…

[2] Yup, classic Joe Torre.

why put a base stealer ahead of tex and arod?

[6] Wouldn’t it have made more sense to put Gardner leadoff ? I mean to avoid the JIDP and have a RISP for Teix and A-Rod.

Guys need a rest sooner or later. When better to send in the righty-hitting backups than with a lefty rookie starter with a 9 ERA?

[6] Baseball rules are that little guys must needs hit in the 1, 2, and 9 spots.

[8] Why play Molina and Ransom on the same day?  There are going to be plenty of times over the course of a season when you simply must put 2 (or more) offensive black holes in your lineup.  Why do it on days when you actually have a choice?  Jeter needs a rest so badly that he can’t DH tomorrow when Posado’s back in the lineup?

I guess Girardi wants to rest the offense before Mitre pitches tomorrow, but I don’t want the winning streak to ever end. Decisions, decisions.

If the O’s could have gotten a couple more runs yesterday, they would have had a good chance at taking the series with Smoltz pitching tomorrow. Of course, I think it’s against the rules to have Bal beat Bos.

A-Rod’s not gonna see a hittable pitch all day.

But wouldn’t a worse pitcher (Mitre) need defense more than Pettitte?  More guys on base (Molina catching), etc etc.

In the end, I think it’s a wash.  A player with more talent is always more valuable to a pitcher, regardless of whether his talent is skewed to offense or defense.  [groundball vs. flyball being an exception]

Yankees apparently 19-7 against rookie pitchers, best record in the AL. Predict that!

I think Girardi was following this site a day or two ago where we considered the notion of resting a bunch of people at once rather than one at a time (that is, as many as bench flexibility would allow).

[15]  Ouch, since my friends are at the game, I’ll have to apologize to them for having to endure this lineup then.

Hmm, how come forecasting systems don’t make adjustments for September, when the rosters are completely overhauled.  With the Yankees, they will get to upgrade from Ransom to Pena, and carry a third catcher, which will allow Posada to DH more.

What kind of advantages will the Redsox get in September?

[15] So your saying in September we can look forward to a house money lineup of:
Gardner CF
Miranda 1B
Hinske RF
Ransom SS
Molina C
Melky LF
Pena 3B
Russo 2B
Cash DH

The Yankees lousy lineup is still pretty good.

[17] League mandates that they don’t have to face anyone’s ace?

[20] That wouldn’t make September any different from the rest of the season.

So… is this game boring or what?

22. yeah it could end up being the most boring game ever

[22] Half of the game is entertaining, the half that features Pettitte. The other half is boring and slightly comical as the Yankees lineup is trying their best to not get a hit.

I like this Andy.

Can the Yanks face Baltimore and Oakland exclusively for the rest of the season?  You could mix in Detroit and I’d be okay too.

It’s so boring I didn’t realize it had started.

GG coming into this game had allowed 45 hits in 27 IP, today he will throw a no-hitter. Predict that!

[26] Might be a good idea to mix in the Twins as well (7-0 against them).

[28]
I’m predicting it.  [!]

Congratulations to Gia Gonzalez on his first no-hitter.

Wow, the Yankees really haven’t had a single hit yet?

Looks like Price has allowed 2 runs in each of the 1st three innings - granted, [tongue in cheek] vs. Toronto’s powerhouse line-up.
Teh eighth for Mr. Price!

It is slightly sad given Gonzalez’s track record that the Yankees have yet to record a hit, or really hit the ball hard.

Sterling and Suzyn now finally willing to admit that young starting pitchers have to deal with an adjustment period. What caused them to admit that? IPK and Hughes last year? No. Joba? No. David Price? Yep.

[34] Jeter had a fly out to the OF in his second AB. Baby steps. Baby steps.

you just can’t predict sterling and suzy

Good Lord, at the rate this game is going, you’d think it was getaway day, not a Saturday afternoon game between two team’s (probably) worst starters.

This is what I meant a while back when I spoke of days when both pitchers are obviously performing above or both performing below expectations.
In such cases, it just looks as if some aspect (I don’t know what, nor is it immediately critical to figure it out) of the playing environment is suppressing offense / favoring pitching.
If that were true with any frequency, I would imagine it could be statistically determined whether, in a given period of time, opposing pitchers both measurably overperform or both underperform expectations more often than would be statistically expected.
And if that were determinable, it might prove to be a valuable addition to the arsenal of tools for player evaluation.

“It’s so tough to predict baseball, none of us should try, it’s just silly, not even the managers can do it.”

-sage advice from Sir John Sterling

i remember when i thought bobby crosby was gonna be good.

[39] - I think one of the things that really favors pitchers over hitters is if there’s a shadow cast that starts somewhere between the mound and home plate.  Hitters have a really, really hard time picking the ball up as it crosses that plane, and can’t do much about it.  I remember one game either earlier this year or last year that the Yanks took a lead right before the shadow made it past home plate, and then both offenses just ground to a halt.  One of the players mentioned it in the post-game.

i predict a Yankee HR this inning.

[42] Otherwise insipid TV announcers, to their credit, have been pointing that out for years.  So did Yogi Berra, kinda.

Somebody get a frickin’ hit.

[39] - I would also suggest umpires as a prime factor.

[40] - I just love that fact that it’s apparently lost on Sterling that if his statement were actually true this would mean that a monkey would make just as good a GM as anyone. After all, what can you plan for if prediction is impossible?

Also, I say it’s time for a hit!

14 outs to go for Gio’s True Athletics Moment.

[42]
Absolutely.
And it seems likely that a host of other factors conspire to make certain playing environments unusually conducive to offense/defense.
Without figuring them out, though, it should be possible to determine this on the basis of the results, given the large sample sizes SABRmetricians have to work with.

Cano grounds out to second more than any player I’ve ever watched.

No no-no!

I guess it’s early enough for that, Melky.  The sixth inning onwards is getting into douchebaggery territory.

Apparently Melky just singled twice - in two consecutive game ABs, separated only by… an injury?  Who’s injured?

now are they gonna bean melky for breaking up the no hitter with a bunt? or is that only poor form if it’s in the 8th or 9th?

Bunt? No one tell Bob Brenly…

I think the douchebaggery is also a function of the score.  In a scoreless tie, I think it’s justified even in the 9th inning.  If it’s 5-0?  Much different.

Bunt? No one tell Joe Torre…

Plan:
1. Do not take pitches.
2. Do not work the count.
3. Break up no hitter with bunt.
4. Repeat 1 and 2 until lose.

Bunt? Everyone tell Joe Girardi…

The sixth inning onwards is getting into douchebaggery territory.

If you’re down by a bunch of runs, sure, but in a 0-0 game (or for that matter a 1-0 game)?  No way.

I’m with [55]. I have no problem with any bunt whose primary function is to help win the game.

Jon, I’ll be at the WSox game on Aug 1. Is that your day there?

[57] I still think this crazy plan of theirs just might work. After all, baseball is the most impossible thing in the history of the world to predict.

David Price is just so darned wonderfulitudinousish he should be force-traded to Boston.

They should try for an actual hit this inning.

I believe that was the second plate appearance of the day to exceed 5 pitches, and the first since the first inning.

Seriously, doesn’t the general tenor of this game suggest that Andy’s performance can’t be taken as being as impressive as it would be if this no-name weren’t out-pitching him?

[65] John Sterling requests you throw your crazy statistics in the East River.

Alright, let’s get this offense cooking.

[67]
Did he actually say that, or did you use statistics to project that he would say it?

They are allowed to score today?!?

A Gardner Express!

That should be Sterling’s call, he’s bound to club more triples than homers.

In play, run(s)! It can’t be… can it?

O/u on runs allowed by Pettitte in the next half-inning?
[/pessimism]

[69] He actually said they should take all those numbers they talk about before the game and throw them in the East River. I wish I wasn’t being serious about this. He actually said that. He was paid money to say that.

Gameday seems to indicate that we have fouled off approx. 1,000,000,000,000 balls thrown right down the middle of the plate? True?

More cooking.

Wait - Gameday said Tex knocked in run(s)... and then took it back?

Shouldn’t the A’s IBB ARod and Swisher to face Cano with the bases loaded if they want to make sure to keep it at 1-0?

Instead, offense was just cooked.

[77] Gameday tried to predict baseball, and predictably failed.

[74] Yeah, the worst part is that it’s not like he’s found new ways to express his ignorance of statistics. He’s been using that “East River” bit for years.

Probably best to have Aceves start warming should he need to extinguish a fire here.

Radio voices says Nomar between pitches ritual is less pronounced compared to the past, is that true?

Welcome to Battle Mode folks.

Not going to lie, I missed it a little.

O/u on runs allowed by Pettitte in the next half-inning?
[/pessimism]

Probably best to have Aceves start warming should he need to extinguish a fire here.

Can you two stop predicting baseball?!?!!  You can’t predict baseball, and you are dangerously close to accurately doing so.

[83] He still does the wrist thing, but doesn’t tap his toes with the bat.

[80]
Oh, yeah?  See [73].
Girl tied to the tracks, smoke from the steam engine visible over the treetops in the distance, approaching…

[86] I will stop as it could cause a rift in the time-space continuum.

[89]
I remember that, Ted!  IIRC, that was… every episode of everything ever, right?

Pitching change please.

Oh wellz.

unbelievable.  and yet totally predictable. 

an inning too late.

wtf

Girardi needs to stop treating Andy as his buddy and start treating him as a pitcher on the decline.  He pulled Joba after two runners reached last night when the Yankees had a bigger lead.  Should have done the same damned thing today.

Why Aceves? Have I missed something? With bases loaded and one out, don’t you want someone more likely to strike someone out. Like Hughes?

I guess we’ll see Melancon.  Make a positive impression.

fuck girardi up his stupid ass for keeping pettite in this inning….and what is wrong with aceves?

Giving up 0-2 hits are about the worst thing a pitcher can do.

Goodnight sweet prince.

Oh well, there’s still time for a comeback!