---

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

5/30/07: New York Yankees (21-29) at Toronto Blue Jays (24-27) - 7:07 PM ET **Liveblog**

NYY: Clip-on, Tie (1-1, 3.60) vs. TOR: Cy Young du Jour (1-1, 4.24)

Yankees
J Damon CF
D Jeter SS
H Matsui LF
A Rodriguez 3B
J Posada C
J Giambi DH
J Phelps 1B
R Cano 2B
M Cabrera RF

Blue Jays
A Rios RF
L Overbay 1B
V Wells CF
M Stairs LF
F Thomas DH
A Hill 2B
J Phillips C
H Clark 3B
J McDonald SS

Injuries, terrible bullpen, horrible slumps, and lackluster offense has lead to rock bottom.  Rule #76: No excuses, play like a champion!

I won $130 at Foxwoods on Saturday night.  I hit blackjack after blackjack.  Perhaps my luck can start something here.  Fabian or any of the other bloggers are welcome to take over from the get-go as I have to study for the bar in between cursing out Bobby Abreu.

*Fabian in*

Best of luck to Cutter on passing the bar, hopefully I’ll be at that point in 4 years. Moving on, this is exactly the lineup I would expect Clippard to have trouble against, so, things could get interesting.

Top of the 1st:

Jesse Litsch doesn’t seem to have great stuff, let’s see what the potent Yankee bats do. Today starts the Wild Card drive and a young pitcher will lead them. Damon with the homer!!! Let’s go!

Jeter takes a called strike three while doing his butt stick out thing.

Matsui takes ball 1 as my left breast continues to “tick” for the 4th straight day. If we have any doctors reading, I’d love some suggestions. The count is 2-1 to Matsui, who fouls off an 88 MPH fastball. 87 MPH fastbal is pulled foul down the 1B line. 77 MPH something is grounded up the middle and a runner on 1st for Strip Club-Rod.

A-Rod takes strike 1. After a torrid start, his numbers look a lot less amazing. Still very good, but not amazing. Two straight balls. 3 straight balls. Just don’t pull it to the 3B…Inside and a A-Rod goes to first.

Ball 1 in the dirt to Posada. Low and Ball 2 to Posada. Low and Ball 3 to Posada. Posada takes strike 1. Posada takes called strike 2. Inside and bases loaded for The Giambino!

Breaking ball outside, ball 1. Yay. Outside, Ball 2. If the Yankees don’t make something of this…Swing and a foul ball. Swing and a sac fly to right, A-Rod moves to third. 2-0 Yankees.

Posada steals 2nd as Phelps takes Ball 1. Josh then knocks 2 in with a single to center. Yay. 4-0 Yankees.

Outside and Ball 1 to Cano. I’m sensing a trend here. Called strike on the outside half of the plate. Cano lines a pitch out of the strike zone to the LF corner for an RBI double. Cano advances to 3rd on the throw home.

Jesse Litsch’s night is done and Brian Tallet is in. Since Tallet throws with his left hand, it is doubtful the Yankees will score any more runs.

Melky hits a groundball to 1st base and almost makes it, but he’s the final out.

Bottom of the 1st:

First pitch strike to Alex Rios. Second pitch fastball strike to the outside corner. Curveball outside for Ball 1. Curveball outside for Ball 2. Rios pulls a 78 MPH changeup to A-Rod for the first out.

88 MPH strike to the inside corner on Overbay. 78 MPH changeup strike to the outside corner. 79 MPH changeup low. 88 MPH fastball looped to Jeter for the second out.

88 MPH fastball is popped to Matsui in LF. Nice inning from Clippard. Something I’ve always liked about Clippard is that he gets a TON of pop ups.

Top of the 2nd:

Damon takes ball 1. Fouls the next pitch off. He ends up lining the 2-2 pitch to left field for his 2000th career hit. Yay for Johnny.

Jeter takes an 0-1 pitch for a ball. This was the pitch that was a strike on him in the first inning, and really, should always be a strike, methinks. Jeter fouls one off at the plate, 1-2. Jeter strikes out on a slider.

Matsui takes called strike 1 to the outside corner. Matsui swings and misses on another outside pitch. These guys look terrible against lefties. Matsui then reaches and pokes an outside pitch just past 3B for a single. Runners on 1st and 2nd.

A-Rod takes ball 1 at his feet. Second pitch is outside, ball 2. A-Rod pulls it to 3rd and the Jays get the force out at 2nd. Runners at the corners with 2 out.

The count is 1-1 to Posada. Fastball down the middle, 1-2. Ball 2 as A-Rod steals 2nd. Posada then strikes out.

Bottom of the 2nd:

Stairs takes a high change for strike 1. 87 MPH fastball inside for ball 1. Ball 2 up high, 84 MPH. 75 MPH change for strike 2. Fastball down the middle for strike 3.

88 MPH fastball outside is popped up and Posada makes the catch.

85 MPH fastball is outside for ball 1. Clip isn’t throwing with his normal velocity in the early going. 75 MPH change for ball 2. 86 MPH fastball for strike 1. 87 MPH fastball is popped foul. 89 MPH fastball sails high, full-count. 86 MPH fastball high and away for ball 4.

81 MPH change outside for Ball 1. 86 MPH fastball outside for ball 2. 84 MPH fastball for strike 1. Clip’s velocity concerns me. He’s going to have to be creative today. 78 MPH curveball for strike 2. 2-2. 77 MPH change is outside for ball 3. Full count. 87 MPH fastball fouled away. 88 MPH fastball down for the walk.

84 MPH fastball down low for ball 1…Sal Fasano then pops an 87 MPH fastball to Jeter for the final out.

Top of the 3rd:

Giambi out, Phelps out, Cano has the count 2-2. Fouls the pitch off. Cano then rips his second double of the game into the RF corner.

Melky reaches to the outside part of the plate and hits a high bouncer back to the pitcher for the final out. Melky seems to be pressing.

Bottom of the 3rd:

I see Rocket Night is coming up on YES…again.

Clip starts John McDonald off with Ball 1, 86 MPH. Ball 2, 86 MPH. Ball 3, 86 MPH. I’m not saying Clippard is going to get killed, but, he can’t pitch like this and be effective. 87 MPH fastball high. Flaherty makes the observation Clip’s struggles are with the fastball, hopefully Posada recognizes the same.

88 MPH fastball strike to the outside corner. 74 MPH curve deposited to the LF seats. Predictable.

A 50 foot pitch for ball 1 to Overbay. 89 MPH fastball fouled off. 88 MPH fastball just inside for ball 2. 79 MPH change fouled at the plate. 79 MPH change for swinging strike three.

55 foot pitch for ball to Wells, another hitter I’m scared of with Clippard. 86 MPH fastball high for ball 2. 87 MPH fastball popped behind home to Posada for out 2.

78 MPH change for strike 1 to Matt Stairs, swinging. 79 MPH change low, ball 1. 88 MPH fastball low a bit. 88 MPH fastball strike to the outside half of the plate. 89 MPH fastball in on the hands is looped into CF for a single. Frank Thomas up, uh oh.

First pitch strike to Thomas on the outside. 75 MPH curve in the middle of the plate, looked like a strike, but called a ball and lucky it wasn’t crushed. 74 MPH curve low, 2-1. 78 MPH change almost hits Frank, it was supposed to be down and away. 89 MPH fastball on the outside corner, full count. 87 MPH fastball low and away for a walk, Guidry back to talk to Clippard. He’s got nothing tonight.

86 MPH fastball to Aaron Hill for strike 1. 88 MPH fastball inside corner, strike 2. Hill fouls the change off. 89 MPH fastball high. Couple more pitches and Clippard runs the count full again. The Run Fairy, Part Deux™ is warming in the pen as Hill gets an infield single to A-Rod. Spectacular.

Howie Clark has the count 2-0. This is awful. 85 MPH fastball fouled back, 2-1. Clark rips the 2-1 for a foul ball home run to the RF corner. Clark flys out to Damon in center. Clippard has pitched awful tonight and he has nothing, I’d still go with him to start the next inning and go hitter by hitter.

Top of the 4th:

Josh Towers in for the Jays. With a righty in, I expect the Yankees offense to get going again. Damon strikes out looking though.

Ball 1 to Jeter. Foul at the plate. Jeter foul tips the next pitch. He’s looked not good as of late. Ball in the dirt. Jeter fouls one down the RF line. Jeter strikes out looking. 3rd K of the game for Derek and it’s on that down and in pitch he hates.

Matsui takes a ball and then a strike, 1-1. Ball 2 inside and low. Matsui then Groundzillas the next pitch.

Bottom of the 4th:

Clippard, lock the state.

Strike 1 to Fasano. Ball 1 outside. 77 MPH change strike two. Fastball strike three down the middle.

55 foot pitch for ball 1. Strike 1 on a fastball up and away with Rios coming up next. High fastball, 88 MPH, 2-1. 86 MPH fastball inside, 3-1. 87 MPH fastball strike, full count. Big pitch coming up to McDonald. 87 MPH fastball fouled back. John McDonald homers right after John Flaherty says worst case scenario he will hit a double. Matsui didn’t have a good read on the ball, but he couldn’t have made the play and he never has a good read anyway.

Alex Rios pops up on the first pitch. I agree with what Torre is doing in handling Clippard today. He’s giving him more rope than he did last time and Clippard is WAY worse than he was against the Angels.

Curveball swing and miss strike 1 to Overbay. Curveball low, ball 1. Curveball fly out to CF for the final out. The offense needs to start up again though.

Top of the 5th:

A-Rod getting dominated by Towers and is down in the count 1-2. Outside, ball 2. Fouled off. Pulled to the 3B for the out, looked like A-Rod was safe to me.

Posada takes Ball 1. Foul. Ball 2. Bounce out to 2nd.

Giambi takes strike 1. Swing and a miss, strike 2.  Looped to 2nd for the out. Clippard, lock the state.

Bottom of the 5th:

First 2 pitches to Wells are balls. No good. Wells is on my fantasy team, I feel conflicted. Wells just misses it and Matsui makes the catch on the warning track.

First pitch curve to Stairs popped to Jeter, 2 out. Hughes has a Grade 3 ankle sprain, out even longer. Looks like August at the earliest before we see him. Lost year for Hughes. This pretty much means he will be headed to the AFL if the Yankees don’t make the playoffs, methinks.

1-1 to Frank Thomas. 85 MPH fastball in the dirt for ball 2. 86 MPH fastball low for ball 3. 87 MPH fastball low for ball 4.

Hill fouls the first pitch off, strike 1. Ball 1 on the change inside. Fastball high for ball 2. Fastball for strike 2 but Posada can’t hold on to it and Frank Thomas moves to 2nd. Inside on a curve, ball 3. This is the make or break pitch for Clippard. Grounded to A-Rod for the final out. Clippard’s night is done. The Blue Jays are a team built on right handed power bats, which happens to be Clippard’s weakness and he had nothing tonight. It’s a miracle that he went 5 and only gave up 3. The bullpen needs to hold the Jays off and the bats need to wake up again. I’m done liveblogging, Cutter or someone else can jump in if they’re around.

**Cutter in**

The bar can wait.

Bottom of the 7th:
Lots of stuff happened and now its a 6-5 ballgame.  Proctor just struck out the Big Hurt for the second out.  If Torre uses Proctor again on Friday, we may need to nickname him the Big Hurt.  Actually, Pavano should get that title.
Hill hits it hard to left but Matsui runs it down.  Inning over.

Top of the eighth:
Giambi strikes out on a pitch in the dirt.  He swung like my sister, too.

Doug Woemack in to hit for Phelps.  Actually he’s in for defense.  He’s batting simply because the rules require it.  And he bounces one over the mound and McDonald makes a nice play to get the out at first.

Cano steps in and he’s had a nice night at the plate.  A homer here would be cool.  Cano goes 4-4 as he lines a ball that was literally in his eyes to left field.  He’s taking “if its high, let it fly” too literally.

Cano dancing off first as Melky works a 2-2 count after being 0-2.  But it matters little as Cano is thrown out by Fasano in his attempt for stolen base #2 of the year.  Inning over.  Hold your breath because Kyle is coming in to “pitch.”

Bottom of the eighth:
Farnsworth in.  Some dude named Clark hits a single in the gap to further show why Kyle is the worst 8th inning reliever known to man.

Lind pops up to center for the first out. (of 3 straight pretty please????)

McDonald pops up to down the 3rd base line and Cano makes the catch.  (will my wish come true?)

I do NOT like this matchup right here….Rios could basically ensure the Yankees lose 6 straight.  Rios moves Clark to second by singling to right.  My wish did not come true.  But Mo is coming in.  I hate when he comes in with men on base.  You can just feel a broken bat duck fart forthcoming.

Overbay vs. Mo.  First pitch fouled down the right side.  Second pitch strike swinging.  Third pitch BROKEN BAT bouncer to Doug M. and he takes it himself.  I love you Mo.

Top of the ninth:  With the Red Sox getting smacked around, the Yankees could actually pick up ground in the east.  I know, I know, its too big of a mountain to climb, you say.  But one inch at a time and you never know.  At least its still May (for 25 hours and 45 minutes).

Melky singles to center.  More runs would be nice.

Damon taps a bouncer to the right of the mound and Downs takes it himself as Melky moves to second.

Jeter intentionally walked even though he’s 0-4.

Matsui bounces one to second but the Jays can only get one at second as Jeter breaks up the DP with a hard slide.

And A-Rod gets the job done by singling up the middle for another Yankee run.  Be-A-utiful.  And Gibbons takes out Downs. 

YES is showing some hot Yankee babe in a luxury box waving a Yankee flag.  She may be a butterface cause they panned out before I could get a good look.  Posada pops up to the left side but the ball falls in!!!  Another run scores.  Wanna know why???  A-Rod yelled “I got it” as he ran behind Clark who let the ball fall thinking McDonald was yelling it.  And now McDonald and A-Rod are yelling at each other.

And now Phillips, the Jays catcher, is mouthing off to Giambi for some reason….this has gotten weird.  Play continues.  Posada takes second for his 2nd SB of the game with no throw this time.  Giambi singles up the middle and two runs score to make it 10-5 Yankees.  They are calling Posada’s SB defensive indifference.  Oh well.

Doug M pops up to McDonald.  Can the losing streak finally come to an end?  Stay tuned as Torre will likely bring in L-Viz to finish it up.

Bottom of the ninth:  Just kidding. Mo is still in.  Wells grounds out to Jeter who throws a bouncer to Doug who makes a nice scoop.  First out.

Stairs grounds to Cano who makes the play and there are two gone.

Thomas is up.  And he hits it deep to right and Abreu fights off his wall-phobia to make the catch.  YANKEES WIN!

I have no idea what the above picture is all about but it captures my feelings right now.  The Yankees next face the Sox in Fenway.  If they really had any shot, even a small one, at the division they would likely have to sweep.

And I think my lucky blog posting will continue if the higher-ups allow.