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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.