S. Duncan, RF (.188/.297/.250)
M. Ensberg, 1B (.224/.268/.269)
R. Cano, 2B (.205/.256/.322)
A. Gonzalez, 3B (.290/.353/.355)
J. Molina, C (.200/.218/.307)

If you guessed that four of these five batters would make up the bottom of the Yankees 2008 lineup prior to the season, you win a cookie.

A disgusting, moldy, stale cookie.

top 3 play of the year by willie harris in the mets game just now.

wait, no Hideki?? really.

Little more detail on the play of the year plz, eelz?

The lineup is anemic against LHP right now.  ARod and Posada are essential to hitting lefties.  IPK on the mound, 4 nearly automatic outs in the lineup (Cano’s all betta now, it will just take some time for his season line to look better)... eek.  Sitting Matsui only makes sense if he’s plain awful against Kazmir or if he’s hurting.

ARod back Tuesday, hopefully.  Whew.

AG is actually doing OK for himself, other than power. Not that I’d count on him to do anything, but he doesn’t quite seem an automatic out like Duncan Ensberg or Molina does. Molina btw has lost the ‘o.’

Sitting Matsui only makes sense if he’s plain awful against Kazmir or if he’s hurting.

.200/.304/.350 in 23 PA.

i would have still played him, but this is probably what Girardi is looking at.

i guess he is hoping that Shelley is going to run into a HR or 2 one of these days.

Yankee over/under 2 runs

I take the under.

I’ll be optimistic and take the over.

Little more detail on the play of the year plz, eelz?

Yeah, it was a pretty incredible catch.  Church sliced a looping fly down the left field line and Harris was at absolute full extension and made the catch with his glove an inch off the ground.  He was flying. 

I’m sure it will be on mlb.com shortly.

Go Yanks.

With 6 great hitting right handed bats in the lineup we could crush Kazmit, on the other hand with these right handed bats I’ll take the under

over.

Push.

hmm this line up is interesting with the suckitude more equally distributed rather than all bunched up at the end.

The law of averages says we should score 14 today

Who is the hot chick?  I remember her from last year, but who is she?

has Kazmir really not thrown anything but his fastball thus far?

At least Jeter ran up the pitch count a bit.  Melky looks awful at the plate right now.

Gee, do ya think Kazmir likes high fastballs? He only threw 15 of them in that inning. The only other pitch was a low fastball.

Congrats to the Yankees on their renewed journey back to .500.

Welcome back to the Big Leagues, Ian.

IPK is not Kazmir.

Who is the hot chick?  I remember her from last year, but who is she?

Rachel Specter.  RGX spokesgirl and certified hottie.

Kennedy falls behind, he comes in with the 87 mph fastball, it leaves the park and well, that sort of thing doesn’t happen in Scranton.

RGX spokesgirl and certified hottie.

How do I win a membership in the certification board?

I probably will have to lead Derek Jeter’s life. That has as much chance of happening as a Jesus Montero HR in the major leagues this year.

that went much better, of course after the obligatory run.

Now, can the Yankees come from behind to win? doubtful.

Kennedy falls behind, he comes in with the 87 mph fastball, it leaves the park and well, that sort of thing doesn’t happen in Scranton.

Honestly, that sort of thing doesn’t bother me nearly as much as Young Master Ian walking the ballpark in his previous incarnation.  A solo shot is much easier overcome than when there are multiple ducks on the pond.

Yeah, the walks were the key.

Homers you can live with - like Rasner.

The key is, as with Rasner, not walking people so that the homers aren’t 2, 3, 4-run homers.

No, seriously, Scott, there are indeed other pitches than that “speedball” that you throw.

when will Kazmir throw a not-fastball? Maybe never if he keeps getting the Yankees out this easily. It’s a good way to save some wear and tear on the UCL he’s supposed to blow anytime now.

Wow, Kazmir sure does love throwing pitches.

there goes the perfect game-no no still intact

bunt?

2 innings, 34 fastballs, 0 other pitches.

Is PitchFx broken? Becuase it says that Kazmir has throw 34 fastballs in 34 pitches .

at least his pitch count is high for not giving up anything significant

It does make you wonder - what was Cano looking for on the pitch he K’ed on?

sorry for not giving any details on that sweet Harris play. it was awesome. he’s gotta have some serious warning track burn on his belly though.

Scotty K. is trying to out-Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera with that fastball…“Let’s see if I can throw a no-hitter while using just one pitch!”

Isn’t the story lately that everybody goes straight at the Yankees with mostly fastballs?  Cliff Lee, Matt Garza, eg.

Wow, the ump’s got a pretty damn generous strike zone, at least according to gameday.

Yeah, bebop, that has been a sad state of affairs recently. Watching Garza dominate Abreu with FASTBALLS was almost sickening.

Isn’t the story lately that everybody goes straight at the Yankees with mostly fastballs?  Cliff Lee, Matt Garza, eg.

Isn’t the story lately that everybody just makes sure the ball gets over the plate because of WOE?

strikz: i throwz dem

Already, Kennedy has exceeded expectations.

IPK for Cy Young?

IPK for Cy Young?

I dunno. He’s got to take it from REIGNING CY YOUNG AWARD WINNER JOSH BECKETT!

It’s amazing that Moeller’s defense is apparently THAT bad that they’re just gonna ride Molina.

Well, it’s not like Moello’s bat is much better than Molina’s, either.

Moello even has a HOMER this year!!

Hohum. Twelve more fastballs, three more outs.

46 straight fastballs? for reals?

Make it 46 fastballs for Kazmir.  I wonder if gameday pitch f/x is broken?

Is anyone watching this? Can you verify if Kazmir has thrown 46 straight fastballs to start the game or not?

maybe but that would mean the radar is broken too since hes been between 88 and 92 the whole time.

I think if the Yankees hit the ball hard it should count as a hit and two consecutive hard hit balls a run.  A handicap like in golf

sean henn’s been getting into some games over in san diego. he’s got a 10.38 ERA in 4.1 innings

I’m watching and no noticeable off speed pitch thrown by the Rays career leader in games started, Kazmir.

gameday is busted, i give up.

Uh Oh here we go

This is a fine mess he’s gotten himself into.

i can has gidp plz?

Gaaaaaaaaah.

Throw strikes, Ian.

i dunno how many different kinds of pitches kennedy throws but they are almost completely indistinguishable.

It’s amazing how prevalent this is - the inability to throw strikes when you know you HAVE to throw strikes.

haha. Johnny damon really throws like a chicken

If he holds it to one, I’d be thrilled.

That said, Ian, that run specifically scored because you WALKED a runner to third base!! THROW STRIKES!

Maybe IPK needs to spend a little more time in AAA.

Honestly, he looks Major League ready. His problems don’t seem like stuff you’re gonna fix in the minors.

Then either Kennedy or the Yanks are screwed.

Honestly, the sucky Yankees sucking it up in a sucky way kind of sucks.

By that, I mean people thought sending him to the minors would fix a vast deterioration of how he has pitched through his whole career. Well, they sent him to the minors and instantly he was right back to the way he’s pitched all through his career.

That seems like it is something that won’t be solved by the minors - it is something he’s going to have to fix here or, well, suck, I guess.

that was big-time

Yes! Way to battle back, Ian!

If he holds it to one, I’d be thrilled.

I guess I’m thrilled.

How did Pena miss that?

I’ll take one run here from the Yanks for now. Go get it, Yanks!!

Key difference between Kennedy then and Kennedy now: he’s still on pace to throw six innings despite a really rocky inning just now.

Changeup? It only took 47 pitches!

Kennedy doesn’t seem to be able to throw anything but his FB for strikes right now.

No-Hit THIS!

Melk starts off the inning right.

nah it was a fastball just a slow one, Kazmir’s velocity is dipping a bit.

I feel like “Press Your Luck,” only I’m shouting “No DP, No DP, No DP.”

the break and PFX both say fastball.

Television voice mentioned something about power slider from Kaz.

That’s Dewayne Staats. Show some respect!

Wow. Bad, bad call. Really awful.

Jeter suck.

Think of it as a bunt.  At least Melk’s in scoring position.

I’d walk Giambi - what’s Duncan gonna do?

I meant “what’s Duncan and Ensburg gonna do?”

Dwayne Stats is a bitter bitter man. I wonder if he left it on bad terms with Stein.