Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Yankees.com: Amazing Joba mows down Rays
ST. PETERSBURG—Joba Chamberlain took his new attitude on the road and kept the results coming, hurling eight strong innings, as the Yankees defeated the Rays, 6-2, on Wednesday at Tropicana Field.
Chamberlain returned for the second half refreshed, vowing to bid farewell to his earlier starting troubles. For a third consecutive start, he kept his word, continuing to mow down opposing lineups and turning in his best effort so far.
The 23-year-old right-hander limited Tampa Bay to just three hits in the contest, facing the minimum through the first four frames. Chamberlain walked two and struck out five, improving to 3-0 with an 0.83 ERA since he spent four days relaxing in his Nebraska backyard during the All-Star break.
Joba’s obviously the big story out of tonight’s game. Since the All Star Break, he’s put up an 0.83 ERA over three starts and 21.2 innings. He’s allowed 8 hits and has held opposing batters to a line of .114/.222/.200. He’s got a component ERA of 1.38. His FIP is 3.43, which is still very respectable, even if it it’s a bit higher than his ERA and CERA.
I sometimes overstate the importance of games, but this series was very important. The Yankees have now put the Rays in a position where they have to be eight games better than the Yanks over 60 odd games to catch them. Even if you believe the Rays are better than the Yankees (and most current evidence indicates that’s NOT the case), it’s pretty hard to make a case that they would be 21 games better over a full season, which is what they’d have to be over the rest of the season to catch the Yankees.
With Oakland taking two of three from Boston while the Yankees were taking two of three from Tampa Bay, the Yankees gained another game in the AL East lead. That they did it on the road against one of the better teams in baseball while Boston was playing one of the worst teams in baseball at home makes it even more critical. While the division race is far from over, the statistical outcome that should have been expected over the last three days would be Boston gaining a game. Further proof that you just can’t predict baseball.
So yeah, even though Chien-Ming Wang is done for the year, and even though Brian Bruney continues to disappoint, and even though Alfredo Aceves is fatigued, things are going pretty well.
Page 1 of 1 pages: