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Monday, April 9, 2007

4/9/07 - New York Yankees (2-3) at Minnesota Twins (4-1) - 7:05 pm (Liveblog)

Carl Pavano (0-0, 8.31) (probable) vs. Sidney Ponson (0-0, -.—)

The Baltimore Orioles waited and waited for Sidney Ponson to put it together.  He had the stuff, but not the results.  Even in the minors he wasn’t that good, but the O’s kept waiting on that stuff.  That’s the thing with good stuff, you can suck out loud for years, but someone will always be willing to give you a shot on the off-chance that you’ll learn to pitch.

Then, in 2003, Ponson seemed to make it work.  He was good for the Orioles in the first half of the season, and good for the Giants after the O’s traded him at the deadline.  Then, one day, someone came up to him at the buffet and said, “Hey, aren’t you Sidney Ponson?”.  He realized that he was, in fact, Sidney Ponson, and promptly started sucking again.

He was terrible in 2004, and terrible in 2005, when a pair of DUI arrests resulted in the O’s voiding his contract.  The Cardinals took a chance at the start of last season, got a few good starts out of him before he imploded, and then the Yankees took a crack at him, with similar results.  Now the Twins are giving that stuff another shot, making him their fifth starter.  We all know how this is likely to turn out in the end.

However, that doesn’t mean he’s going to get shelled tonight.  Ponson’s track record against the Yankees is mixed.  Overall, he’s 6-12 with a 4.63 ERA, but he’s gone into the seventh more often than not, and gives up three or fewer more often than he gives up more than three.  Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi and Derek Jeter have all owned Ponson, but oddly enough, Alex Rodriguez has a .185/.217/.415 line against him in 65 ABs.

So while the Yankees should tee off on Ponson tonight, don’t be surprised if he pitches fairly well.  But even if he doesn’t, that isn’t a guaranteed victory for the Yankees.  The Twins are under no illusions about Ponson’s track record, and if he’s lousy, they’ll pull him before things get out of hand.

So despite the ineptitude of his counterpart, Carl Pavano is still going to need to have a solid outing today.  The Yankees aren’t under any illusions about Pavano, either, but they could really use 6 innings with 3 or 4 runs allowed.  If he can do that, it should be enough.

Pregame: Lineups are posted:

Yanks
Damon, CF
Jeter, SS
Abreu, RF
Rodriguez, 3B
Giambi, DH
Posada, C
Cano, 2B
Mientkiewicz, 1B
Cabrera, LF

Twins
Castillo, 2B
Punto, 3B
Mauer, C
Cuddyer, RF
Morneau, 1B
Hunter, CF
Kubel, LF
Redmond, C
Bartlett, SS

It’s an ESPN game tonight, and it’s Dave O’Brien and Rick Sutcliffe.  I don’t know if I’d prefer Sutcliffe or Joe Morgan for the unintentionally hilarious commentary.  Well, there should be plenty of stupidity to comment on tonight.

Sutcliffe, back in 2003, gave us the gem that most of Derek Lowe’s ground outs are on ground balls.  Let’s hope for more of that.

Top of the First: Johnny Damon is back in the lineup, and on the third pitch he drop a double onto the right field line, while Erin Andrews blabs on and on, mentioning something about Torre wanting to get Hideki Matsui off of her feet.  I’d like to get her off of her feet, if you know what I mean (I would enjoy having sexual intercourse with her).

Jeter, who probably will have or has done it with the lovely Miss Andrews hits a slow grounder to the right side.  It’d be tough to get him, but Bartlett can’t field it and it’s a single.  Damon alertly gets over to third, and the Yanks are off to a good start.

Abreu keeps it going ripping a single to center.  Hunter bobbles it, but Jeter stays at second.  Don’t really wanna risk that with A-Rod up, despite his oddly awful numbers versus Ponson.

A-Rod’s numbers drop even more, as he hits a soft fly ball to Cuddyer, and Jeter goes to third.

Giambi’s another guy with great numbers against Ponson, but he’s off to a pretty bad start this year.  He has been very valuable on in two of the five games, but his overall numbers stink.  But he walks here, and the bases are loaded with one out for Posada, who is having a great start this year.

After a visit from Rick Anderson, Ponson throws a 96mph heater over the plate for strike one, but on the second pitch Posada drives it over Kubel’s glove for an automatic double—which O’Brien correctly calls (usually guys call it a ground-rule double, which it isn’t).  That didn’t really cost them a run, as Giambi wouldn’t have scored from first on that.

Cano swings at the first pitch and flies out to shallow left, and that won’t be enough to get Giambi home.  Great job, Robby.

Ron Gardenhire is channeling Leo Mazzone… aw, crap, Sutcliffe just said that.  I take it back.

Mientkiewicz, whose name I can spell without any problems, bounces out to short, and that’s all the Yanks get.  I can’t help but feel they let Ponson off the hook that inning, and it may come back to bite them.  Hopefully they can tag him again in the second, and get a good lead before the Twins’ bullpen comes into the game.

Bottom of the First: Pavano is off to an ominous start, falling behind Luis Castillo 3-1, the only strike being on a foul bunt.  Castillo pulls back a bunt on a 3-1 strike, but chops it into the middle of the infield on 3-2, and Jeter doesn’t bother to throw.  Yippee.  He’ll be on third soon enough.

Pavano falls behind Punto 1-0 right away.  Punto fouls another pitch off, and after a few throws to first, he flies out to Melky in left.  One down.

Pavano gets Mauer to hit it right back to him, starting an easy double play.  That was surprisingly good, though I’d like to see Carl have better command.  Well, duh.  Good start to this game so far.

Top of the Second: Melky takes a couple of pitches for a 1-1 count, then chops it to Bartlett for the first out.

Damon rips the first pitch through the infield for a single, and he’s looking amazing so far this year.

Sutcliffe is commenting on how sweaty Ponson is already.  Yeah, that’s because he’s a big fat pig, Ricky.  Fat people sweat when it’s snowing.

Jeter flies out to right.  Well, they’re letting him off the hook this inning.

rilkefan asks in the comments why it’s not “ground-rule”.  A ground rule double is ball in play called a double because of special rules for the stadium.  If you’re playing in a dome with catwalks over the field, there are ground rules for what happens if the ball hits the catwalk.  If the rule is that the ball is a double, then a ball of the catwalk is a “ground rule double”.  If a ball bounces out of play, it’s an “automatic double”.  Fan interference is, of course, just fan interference.  Contrary to popular belief, that doesn’t result in an automatic double, but rather in an umpire’s discretion as to where the batter and runner would have ended up without the interference.  It’s just that usually the umpire judges the runners would only get two bases.

Abreu runs the count full, fouls some pitches off, and then hits an automatic home run to right.  I guess they aren’t letting him off the hook.  5-0.

A-Rod comes up and his numbers inexplicably drop even more against Ponson.  That’s just… weird.

Bottom of the Second: Well, Pavano’s set up to win right quickly, but he gives up a leadoff double to Cuddyer.

Despite the double, I think Pavano needs to rely on his stuff here and not try to paint.  If he gives up a homer, it’s still a 3-run lead.  But you don’t want to give them good counts and free bases, setting up a huge inning.

Well, it works out for Pavano, he falls behind 3-1, but gets the “MVP” to pop up to right.  Abreu’s got a good arm, and Cuddyer stays at second.

Rick Sutcliffe apparently called up Derek Jeter and suggested he wear #42 on Sunday to honor Jackie Robinson (my personal life hero), and Jeter pointed out that Rivera already wears that number.  I mean, knowing everyone’s number isn’t a requirement of this job, but Mariano is a Hall of Famer, and he’s fairly well identified with the number.  What a nitwit.

Now Hunter, who will also be wearing 42 on Sunday, grounds out to Jeter, who alertly chases down Cuddyer, who un-alertly took off for third.

Kubel then flies out to Melky at the warning track, and the threat is over.  Pavano isn’t looking great but he’s getting results.  Good enough for me, so far.  Just four more innings out of him, even if he gives up 4 runs, and I’ll be thrilled.

Top of the Third: Now Ponson has better stuff than Pavano, and he relies on it against Giambi in this AB, striking him out on five pitches.

Posada follows that up with a walk.

Cano actually takes a pitch!  Of course, it’s a strike.  He hacks at the next one, and bounces to second.  He just beats the return throw to first, but Posada is out at second.

Mientkiewicz rips a low liner to right, and Cuddyer bends down to catch it in at medium depth.  So the Yanks don’t touch up Ponson this inning, and while 5-0 is a nice lead, it’s not a safe lead.  Not with some of the hitters Minnesota has, not with Glass Ass on the mound.

Bottom of the Third: Posada’s contract is up this year, and I think there’s a good chance Cashman lets him walk if there’s a bidding war.  He’s getting near the age where he should be dropping off offensively soon, and he’s no great shakes with the glove.  I hope Wil Nieves doesn’t end up being the replacement, but I’m not seeing who else they can get.  I’d probably focus on defense, because they have plenty of offense, especially if they keep A-Rod, but it would be sad to see Jorge go.

Mike Redmond bounces it up the middle, and while I’m beating a dead horse, Jeter gets there a little late.  He’s forced to make a throw on the move, and bounces it to Mientkiewicz.  But Eyechart is able to scoop it, and there’s one away.

Now Pavano gets Bartlett to strike out looking, and he’s looking very strong this inning.  Castillo bounces another ball in the infield, but A-Rod gets this one and fires him out at first.

You know… I think Pavano’s gonna be eligible for a win tonight.  Amazing.  He’ll probably be on Letterman next week because of it.  If he gets the win, he’ll probably be on Leno, too.

Top of the Fourth: Ponson’s first pitch to Melky is juuuuuuuuust a bit inside.  The count goes full, but chops it easily to the alleged MVP.  One down.

Damon grounds out to short, and he’s gone for the first time.  Two down.

Now Ponson plugs Jeter, and here comes Abreu again.  But Ponson gets him looking on three pitches, and Sir Sidney seems to have settled in before things got too out of hand.  Let’s hope the Yanks don’t regret that.

Bottom of the Fourth: Pavano’s settling in, too, and gets ahead of Punto 0-2 right away.  He gets him to fly out to Cabrera easily for the first out.  Only 37 pitches so far, too.  Six innings?  Hell, why not seven?  Maybe… eight?  Yeah, probably not eight.  Lets still focus on five.

Mauer takes a strike then two balls, but hits a little flare to Jeter for the second out.

Pavano really does have talent.  He’s not a really good pitcher, but he’s fully capable of being a quality middle-of-the rotation starter if he’s doing things the right way.  And he gets Cuddyer to ground out sharply to Mientkiewicz, who flips it to Pavano for the last out.  45 pitches and no runs through four innings.  It’s really not that exceptional, but it does feel like a cool drink of water after a week in the desert.

Top of the Fifth: A-Rod grounds to Bartlett, and he’s now 0-3, but Bartlett fumbles it, so at least he’s on base.  It’s bizzare enough for him to have a batting average under .200 against any pitcher in 70+ ABs, and really unusual for a batter like A-Rod doing that against a pitcher like Ponson.

Giambi hits a single through the infield to right, and A-Rod goes to third, so they’re back in business right away.

Posada flies out to Kubel, and there’s one away, A-Rod and Giambi stay put.

Cano… wait for it… swings at the first pitch and fouls it off.  He swings at the second one, too, and flies out to right.  A-Rod moves up, but there are now two away.

And Mientkiewicz ends the inning with a ground out to Bartlett, and they don’t get anything out of the first-and-second nobody out start.

Ponson, however, probably only has one more inning left in him.

Bottom of the Fifth: Pavano starts out the magic inning with a pop up by Morneau to shortstop.  So far, so good.

Sutcliffe is raving about Pavano, but I’ve got to say that a team like the Red Sox would have torched him by now.  But he’s doing a pretty good job, I can’t really complain.  Torii Hunter rips a base hit past Pavano into center, and there’s one on.

Hunter takes off for second on a 2-1 pitch that’s high, and so’s the throw.  A good throw and Hunter’s out, but instead there’s a runner on second with one out.

Kubel rips the 3-1 pitch into center for an RBI single.

Pavano better get out of this inning in the next two batters, or this could get ugly.

Instead he gets JUST what he needed, an easy grounder to Jeter, who steps on second and throws out Redmond at first for the inning-ending-DP.

Five innings for Pavano, just 56 pitches and one run.  That should help silence a lot of doubts about this team.

Top of the Sixth: Who would have thought that both Pavano and Ponson would still be around in the sixth?  Especially after the first?

Sutcliffe just called Ponson a workhorse because he has 28 complete games.  Somewhere an old pitcher is laughing his ass off.

Melky grounds out to short for the first out.

Damon runs the count full, and takes the 3-2 low for a walk.

Remember what I was saying about umpire’s discretion with fan interference?  Yeah, watch the Blue Jays highlights tonight.

Jeter falls behind 0-2 and grounds it through the infield into right field… but they nail Damon at third.  Jeter alertly moves to second, but there are two outs.

Abreu chops it up the middle, Bartlett tries to keep it out of center but it caroms off him into right, and Jeter scores the sixth run of the game—Abreu has 4 RBI today.

You know, A-Rod is due to hit Pon… and he HITS A BOMB TO RIGHT!  FOUR HOME RUNS IN THREE DAYS!  8-1, PLAYER OF THE MONTH, EARLY M-V-P FAVORITE.

That’s it for Ponson, they probably should have pulled him a little earlier.  Matt Guerrier is in to face Giambi, and he’s ahead of him 1-2.

Giambi breaks his bat on the 1-2, and chops out to first.  Inning over, but they’ve got a good cushion for Pavano now.

Bottom of the Sixth: So now all Carl needs to do is throw strikes.  He starts the sixth off with a fly out to center, and he’s now officially the most durable Yankee starter.

Erin Andrews comes on to talk about Jackie Robinson and Robinson Cano… and she makes me feel all funny in my special places.  I’m such a pig.

Castillo chops ANOTHER ball in the infield.  Jeter gets this one and nails him at first.

Now Punto hits an easy grounder to Mientkiewicz at first, and he’s through six with less than 65 pitches.  Glorious.

Top of the Seventh: This game seems to be moving briskly for a Yankees game.

Posada gets ahead 3-1, but swings through a pitch then flies out easily to Hunter.  One down.

Cano takes the first two pitches!  But then he grounds out to second.  Two away.

Mientkiewicz ends the inning with an easy grounder to the false-MVP.

Bottom of the Seventh: So, the Yankees bullpen comes out for their third inning of work… wait, what?  Pavano’s still in there?  AMAZING.

Oddly enough, double-barreled action in the bullpen, despite less than 70 pitches.  Sutcliffe comments that Pavano may be getting tired as he’s missing up and away.  Still, that’s awful.  You’ve gotta have more than 70 pitches in your arm, at the VERY least.

Mauer drives 3-1 pitch over Damon’s head in dead center for an easy double.

Tired or not, he’s ahead of Cuddyer 0-2 quickly, and gets him swinging on a great offspeed pitch.

The MVP-thief pops up in front of the mound.  A-Rod wants none of that, Posada takes a look, but Mientkiewicz, who knows how to find a ball in this roof, calls him off and makes the catch for the second out.

Now Hunter hits a hard liner to left, and it’s over Melky’s head for an RBI double, and it’s 8-2.

Sutcliffe comments on what a good outfielder Melky is as they show the replay of Melky missing the line drive, falling down, and letting the ball get past him on the carom.  What Sutcliffe said may be true, but there sure was in incongruity between the words and the image.

Now Pavano is behind Kubel 3-1, but he lines out to Damon in center.

So all considered, it’s been an outstanding start by Pavano.  No walks, only 6 hits, and he didn’t throw a lot of pitches.  It’s a 6-run game, so I’d put him out there for the eighth with only 79 pitches, but if that’s it, I give you a standing ovation, Carl.  Without standing up.  Or clapping.  But good job, anyway.

Top of the Eighth: Melky Cabrera chops the first pitch by Dennys Reyes to third, and there’s one away quickly.

It looks like Pavano’s done, though considering all the work the bullpen’s had to do, I would really have sent him out for another inning.  Well, maybe Sutcliffe is right and he is getting tired.  That would be troubling, though.

Damon breaks his bat and grounds out to second and there are two away.

Should we start up the “March to 1000 Runs” again?  the Yanks are on a pace for 1107 runs at this point.

Jeter gets another hit, and his numbers are getting back up there.  Here’s the Offensive Player of the Game, though, Bobby Abreu:

It would have been nice to see Sheffield with the Yanks this year, only to see what that lineup would do to pitchers.  1000 runs would be a lock, wouldn’t it?

Abreu takes three straight balls, then two straight strikes.  He swings at ball four to end the inning, and we go to the bottom of the eighth.

Bottom of the Eighth: Brian Bruney comes in for Pavano.  I’d say Bruney is probably the “weak link” of the bullpen… well, maybe that’s Myers, but still, the way he’s pitched, that’s pretty damn good.  Hell, he could also be the second-best reliever they have.

He gets Redmond on a 98mph heater on the outside that he couldn’t hold up on.  One away.  This guy will just throw it by you!

He falls behind Bartlett 2-1, but gets a chopper to Cano for the second out.  No earned runs allowed since Thursday, folks.

And now he gets the third out on a ball up the middle that Cano makes a nice play on.  Three more outs and they’re back at .500, and this will be the first game to be unequivocally thrilled about.

Top of the Ninth: Pat Neshek comes in to face A-Rod, who is on a pace for 135 homers and 351 RBI.  It’s only 6 games into the season, but I have to believe he’ll keep that pace off.  A-Rod draws a walk, and he’s on again.

I should point out that when I play MLB ‘07: The Show on “rookie” level, those numbers are pretty low for me.

Giambi pops up a 2-2 pitch for the first out.  Farnsworth is up in the pen.  Okay, he’s probably the Yankees’ “worst” reliever.

Posada drives one to deepish right-center (or as Michael Kay calls it, DEEEEEEEEEEEEP right-center), but Hunter gets it for the second out.

Cano is hacking again, falls behind 0-2.  Unlike Soriano, who also never walks, Cano makes regular contact.  If he can add some power, he’ll be a fine hitter, but the lack of walks will always mitigate his value.  Fortunately, being a second baseman gets a lot of that back.

The 1-2 is chopped to Castillo, who throws Robby out at first, and we’re on to the finish.  Three more outs for Pavano’s first win in two years.

Bottom of the Ninth: Here’s Kyle Farnsworth, whose pants look like mine feel when I see Erin Andrews.

He starts off the inning with a four pitch walk.  Lovely.  But I’m guessing they’re not going to give up 6 runs this inning.

He falls behind Mauer, but he gets him to chop out to second for the first out.

Sutcliffe thinks that Jeter would have won the MVP if he’d won the batting title.  It didn’t help Mauer.

Cuddyer hits it to first, and it caroms off of Mientkiewicz.  He recovers and tosses it to Farnsworth for the second out, though.

Another grounder to Mientkiewicz by the Phony-MVP, and that’s the ballgame.

That was an outstanding game for the team all-around.  Nothing that we’ll remember in a month, but they’re at .500, and they played spectacularly.

Good night, folks.  Hope you enjoyed this one, too.