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Friday, May 9, 2008

NY Yankees(18-18) at Detroit Tigers(15-21), 7:05pm **Game Chatter**

NYY: K. Igawa (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Det: K. Rogers (2-3, 6.27 ERA)

New York Yankees
M. Cabrera, CF (.272/.336/.465)
D. Jeter, SS (.298/.328/.371)
B. Abreu, RF (.299/.365/.440)
H. Matsui, LF (.345/.426/.496)
S. Duncan, 1B (.192/.323/.269)
J. Giambi, DH (.163/.324/.419)
W. Betemit, 3B (.200/.238/.350)
R. Cano, 2B (.172/.226/.297)
C. Moeller, C (.286/.355/.464)

Detroit Tigers
I. Rodriguez, C (.252/.298/.383)
P. Polanco, 2B (.272/.357/.386)
C. Guillen, 3B (.313/.403/.470)
M. Ordonez, RF (.304/.379/.496)
M. Cabrera, 1B (.252/.342/.450)
G. Sheffield, LF (.202/.366/.315)
E. Renteria, SS (.280/.309/.386)
M. Thames, DH (.261/.320/.391)
R. Raburn, CF (.238/.360/.476)

Joe Cool versus The Gambler. 
I’m not sure where Keith has been but if he shows up this could turn into a liveblog.  Go Yanks.

*** Keith in ***

Sorry to have been away so long, folks, but life and deadlines have reared their ugly heads. But I’ve got a free evening, so I am here for your liveblogging pleasure. Let’s see what Joe Cool can do for us....

The first two innings....

Groundzilla ruins a potential rally by GIDPing.

Meanwhile, Oh-Kei starts things off about like you’d expect, with a leadoff double by leadoff hitter Ivan Rodriguez.

Yes, that’s right, leadoff hitter Ivan Rodriguez. Pudge as leadoff hitter. We live in strange times....

Polanco lines out, sending Pudge to third, then Guillen sacrifice-flies him home. (Can you make “sacrifice fly” into a verb?) Magglio doubles, and Yankee fans start to grumble, but then The Tiger Cabrera flies out to end it.

A Jason Giambi home run ties it up, but another potential rally is short-circuited by Betemit being picked off first after an infield hit.

Joe Cool then gets a 1-2-3 second. A nation exhales.

Top of the 3rd

Moeller socks a liner to left, but Sheffield makes a fantastic sliding backhand catch to rob Chad of a double. Melky then shoots a ball down the left-field line for an unstolen double. El Capitan works the count full, then draws a walk. That is only Jeter’s fifth walk of the season, which is distressing.

Abreu strikes out. Gojira can’t GIDP because there are two outs, but he hits a broken-bat grounder back to the box to end what should’ve been a good inning....

Bottom of the 3rd

Michael Kay on Comerica Park décor: “There’s tigers all over the place here!” He says this like he’s surprised, apparently unaware of the name of the team that plays here.....

Raburn grounds it into the hole between Jeter and A-Rod Betemit. Since it involves moving to his right, Jeter actually catches it, but the throw is waaaaay offline and Percy Bysshe is unable to catch and keep his foot on the bag. He goes with the latter, and drops the ball. Jeter is given a throwing error.

Pudge lasers a double down the left-field line, almost taking Betemit’s head off, scoring Raburn to make it 2-1. Sigh. The relay throw home from Jeter was close, but Raburn was safe.

Polanco bunts it down the third-base line. Betemit fails in his impersonation of Scott Brosius and can’t barehand it, so Polanco’s safe at first, Pudge to third. When’s A-Rod coming back? Also, Al Leiter rightly points out that the ball probably would’ve gone foul if Wilson had left it alone.

Guillen takes pity on Igawa and pops out to Jeter for the (yeesh) first out.

Magglio socks it “past a diving Betemit” for a single to make it 3-1. Where have you gone, Morgan Ensberg? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Woo woo woo....

The Former Marlin pops it foul and Percy Bysshe runs it down for the second out. Sheffield doubles down the left field line—say it with me now: “past a diving Betemit”—to score Polanco and make it 4-1. Magglio to third.

Renteria grounds it right to Betemit, who is able to catch this one and throw him out to finally end the nightmare. Not to defend Joe Cool or anything, but a good defense is out of that inning without a run scored.....

Top of the 4th

Percy Bysshe pops out to Polanco. Giambi swings at a bad pitch and it doesn’t look like it’s hit hard, but it actually goes to the track. Shef runs it down for the second out. Betemit continues to make us nostalgic for Scott Proctor by grounding out to the catcher.

That well and truly sucked.

Bottom of the 4th

Thames gets a leadoff infield hit to third. Yes, Betemit again. To be fair, he fielded it cleanly and threw the ball right at Duncan, but Thames can hustle....

Raburn singles to left, and goes to second on a Matsui error. Thames goes to third. This means the Yankees have one error, because Jeter’s error was changed to a hit. Pudge follows that with his third hit of the night to make it 5-1. Raburn to third. Polanco then singles to left to drive in Raburn and make it 6-1. Pudge goes to second, Girardi goes to the mound, and Igawa goes to the shower.

Last inning wasn’t entire Kei’s fault. This one, though, I’m happy to put on him. The Tigers were just socking the shit out of the ball.

Oh-Kei out, Jonathan Albaladejo in.

Guillen flies out to Abreu in right. For reasons passing understanding, Pudge tags and goes to third. He beats the tag, but slides so hard that he overshoots the bag and—to give Betemit credit—is tagged when his hand comes off the bag. Bravo to Wilson for heads-up tagging.

Albaladejo—which is really hard to type, BTW—strikes out Magglio on a nice curve to end it.

Top of the 5th

And now for a sentence I haven’t gotten to type nearly often enough: Cano lines a single to right. Ken Singleton has just told a stunned viewing public that Robinson’s now riding a five-game hitting streak. Zowie.

The Hanging Chad strikes out on three pitches. Melky reaches out and hits a ball eight feet outside and pokes it into right field for a single, Cano to second.

El Capitan then GIDPs to end it. FUCK! This offense is just agony to watch. It’s also time to admit that Derek Jeter is aging into a singles hitter....

Bottom of the 5th

Orlando Miguel (CAN’T TELL THE CABRERAS WITHOUT A SCORECARD!) leads off with a single between Betemit and Jeter. Betemit then starts some redemption points by starting a 5-4-3 DP hit by Shef. Renteria then grounds to Jeter to end it.

Go go go, Albaladejo!

Top of the 6th

Raburn out, Curtis Granderson in at center field.

Abreu strikes out looking on a big-ass curve. Gojira gives Granderson his first put out with a flyout. Percy Bysshe socks a single to left. Giambi then clubs the ball through the shift to the right field corner for a double, Duncan to third. Betemit goes to 3-0 then grounds out to third to end it.

And again I say: FUCK! Also: why is Betemit swinging on 3-0 when down five runs, exactly????

Bottom of the 6th

Thames strikes out. Granderson pokes a single to right. Singleton seems to think he’ll steal second. Singleton is proven prophetic, and Moeller makes it more fun by throwing the ball to right field so Granderson goes to third. Pudge then draws a walk to put runners on the corners for Polanco.

In the midst of Polanco’s at-bat, Eiland and Steve Donahue come out and eventually take Albaladejo out after messing with his hand and elbow.

Jon A. out, LaTroy H. in.

Polanco then lines out to Cano. Magglio then hits the first pitch right at Duncan, who takes it himself to end it.

Let’s hear it for Hawkins of LaTroy!

Top of the 7th

Cano clubs an automatic double to left center. He hit that solidly, too, and hey look! a multihit game for Young Robinson!

The Gambler out, Zach Miner and his 9.32 ERA in.

Miner starts things off entertainingly by throwing a wild pitch that sends Cano to third. Chad then pulls a Melky and socks a ball out of the strike zone for an RBI single to make it 6-2. Honestly? That was ball four (the count was 3-2), but I’ll take it....

Melky lines out to Shef. El Capitan grounds into a force out, nailing Chad at second, Jeter safe at first. Abreu grounds out weakly to the pitcher to end it.

At this rate, we’ll win by the 14th inning.....

Bottom of the 7th

Magglio swings at the first pitch and grounds to Jeter. Singleton just pointed out that Hawkins has only thrown three pitches so far, and gotten three outs. Miguel blows it by taking the first pitch for a strike, but eventually he grounds out to Jeter, also. Shef strikes out.

Nice to see the bullpen, at least, doing its job, which is more than can be said for the rotation, the defense, and the offense................

Top of the 8th

Shef out, Matthew Joyce in at left field.

Groundzilla puts his 17-game hitting streak in jeopardy with a groundout to short. Percy Bysshe lines out to right. Giambi grounds to second to end it.

Bah. Also: fooey.

Bottom of the 8th

LaTroy out, Edwar in.

Renteria grounds to third, but Betemit completely misjudges it and Renteria’s safe at first on the error. Renteria goes to second on a ground out by Thames, on which Duncan makes a very nice play, tossing it to Edwar for the out. Then a changeup doesn’t quite reach home plate and Renteria goes to third on the wild pitch.

Granderson strikes out on the Changeup Of Doom. Pudge flies out to Abreu on the track to end it.

Top of the 9th

Miner out, Todd Jones in.

WILSON! Betemit leads off with a double to the left field corner. Jones then throws a wild pitch on 0-2 to send Betemit to third. Cano then grounds out to short to score Betemit and make it 6-3.

Moeller out, Johnny Damon in to pinch hit. Sexy Calves hits a broken-bat nubber that he beats out for an infield hit. Jones then throws the ball away again, sending Damon to second on the WP. Melky then grounds to the box, sending Damon to third, but now there are two outs.

El Capitan socks a single over Renteria’s head to score Damon and make it 6-4. Jones then quickly goes to 0-2 on Abreu. Abreu evens it to 2-2, and Jeter goes to second on defensive indifference.

Two balls, two strikes, two outs, runner wearing #2 on second with a two-run lead. Or, rather, a one-run lead—Abreu socks a double down the left-field line to make it 6-5 Yankees.

Gojira now has a chance to make it an all-new ballgame and continue his hitting streak—or not, as Leyland has him intentionally walked to pitch to Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo. This is the right move, honestly. To prove it: Duncan flies out to center field to end the game.

Sigh.

Goodnight, everybody!

*** Keith out ***