Results tagged ‘ Alfredo Aceves ’

Down 9-0, Yankees Stun Bosox With 15-Run Rally

GAME 15

YANKEES 15, RED SOX 9

Fenway Park turned 100 years and one day old on Saturday and the Red Sox honored the occasion by providing their fans with one of their worst meltdowns in their history.

Trailing 9-0 in the sixth inning, the Yankees came back to strike for 15 unanswered runs over the next three innings to leave embattled skipper Bobby Valentine, a depleted Bosox roster and an incredibly ineffective and shellshocked bullpen in tatters amid an embarrassing a five-game losing streak that is rapidly angering the Fenway faithful.

Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher led the comeback for the Yankees, combining for three home runs and 12 RBIs against a Red Sox pitching staff that has earned its position as the worst in baseball.

It was Teixeira who innocently began the rally with a two-out solo home run to left off Red Sox starter Felix Doubront in the sixth inning. Doubront left the game with a 9-1 lead having given up four hits and two walks and fanning seven batters. Little did he know his bullpen would not be able to hold an eight-run lead.

The Yankees got back into the game in the seventh inning against journeyman right-hander Vicente Padilla.

With one out, Russell Martin blooped a single to right and Eduardo Nunez followed with a slow roller to third in which third baseman Nate Spears could not get Nunez at first. Derek Jeter walked to load the bases and Swisher cut the lead to 9-5 on one swing by smashing a grand slam home run into the Green Monster seats in left.

After Robinson Cano singled, Valentine – serenaded with a cascade of loud boos – brought in Matt Albers to replace Padilla.

Albers induced Alex Rodriguez to hit a infield grounder but shortstop Mike Aviles misplayed it and Granderson advanced to third. Teixeira then delivered his second home run of the game, another opposite-field blast to left to bring the Yankees to within one run at 9-8.

A stunned Fenway Park crowd of 36, 770 sat in deafening silence. That silence would not last when the Yankees’ half of the eighth began with Franklin Morales on the mound.

Nunez opened the frame with a single to left and Valentine then publicly alerted the Yankees and Red Sox Nation that he was officially panicking. He elected to bring in closer Alfredo Aceves with six outs to hold a one-run lead.

Jeter immediately worked a walk from Aceves and Swisher then crushed a 2-1 pitch off the center-field wall to score Nunez and Jeter, giving the Yankees an improbable 10-9 lead.

Valentine ordered Aceves to walk Cano intentionally, but Aceves made things worse by walking Rodriguez to load the bases again. Teixeira made him pay with a ground-rule double down into the right-field corner to make it 12-9.

After Aceves walked Granderson intentionally, Valentine – fielding even more boos – removed him for lefty Justin Thomas.

Thomas was able to get an unassisted double play by Adrian Gonzalez off the bat of pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez. However, Martin stroked a two-run single to center. Nunez then reached on an infield single to Aviles.

Jeter made the Red Sox pay with a grounder to Aviles in which he slipped and could not throw Jeter out at first,  which scored Martin and pushed the Yankee lead to 15-9. Fortunately for the Red Sox it was not worse.

The Yankee bullpen closed it out and the Red Sox left the field with some embarrassed faces in front of a national television audience on FOX Sports.

Rafael Soriano (2-0) pitched a scoreless seventh to get credit for the victory. Aceves (0-1) gave up five runs on two hits and four walks without recording a single out to take the loss.

The Red Sox bullpen combined to give up 15 runs on 12 hits and five walks in just three innings.

It overshadowed an absolutely horrible third start of the season for 35-year-old right-hander Freddy Garcia. He was hammered for five runs on seven hits in just 1 2/3 innings. Fortunately for him, that was forgotten hours later with the complete ineptitude of the Red Sox bullpen to get nine outs and hold what looked to be a very comfortable lead.

With the victory, the Yankees improved to 9-6 and claimed first place in the American League East for the first time this season. The reeling Red Sox – or shall we say Dead Sox – are now 4-10 and they are five games back in last place in the division.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Swisher had a week in basically two at-bats. His six RBIs are a career high. He was 3-for-6 with a grand-slam, a two-run double and a single. he also scored two runs and he now leads the American League in RBIs with 20. He raised his average to .283 and it looks as if he is making a huge push for a new contract at the end of the 2012 season.
  • The slow-starting Teixeira hit two home runs – one of them to the opposite field in left, which is one more than he hit in all of 2011. He added a huge two-run double in the eighth to give him six RBIs in the game also. Tex was 3-for-6 in the game and raised his batting average to .288. Hey, Mark, it’s April. What gives?
  • Jeter quietly had another sensational game, though Swisher and Teixeira overshadowed him. He was 3-for-4 with two walks, three singles, two runs and an RBI. He raised his average to a ridiculously hot .382. The Captain is not looking like he will be retiring anytime soon.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Simply put, Garcia has to go. After three starts, Garcia has given up 14 runs (13 earned) on 20 hits and three walks in 12 innings. His ERA is 9.75 and he is looking like he is unable to put away hitters with his splitter any more. At times it looked as if the Red Sox were taking batting practice. Perhaps David Phelps should take the No. 5 spot until Andy Pettitte is ready.
  • Phelps was knocked around a bit for the first time this season.  He was tagged for three runs on six hits and one walk in four innings. The big blow off him was a two-run home run to center by Cody Ross in the fifth. But he actually did not pitch as bad the numbers indicate and he could be given a start soon.
  • Although the Yankees scored 15 runs and pounded out 16 hits, Rodriguez was 0-for-5 with a walk and he did not get a ball out of the infield. The 0-for-5 day lowered his batting average to .241.

BOMBER BANTER

There is one bit of very bad news for Yankee fans and Yankee fans who loved Jesus Montero. Michael Pineda had to end his bullpen session in Tampa, FL., after 15 pitches with discomfort in the back of his right shoulder. Manager Joe Girardi said Pineda will see a physician on Monday and there is no immediate timetable for his return. Pineda, 23, was placed in the disabled list at the start of the season after being diagnosed with right shoulder tendinitis.  . . .  Pettitte is scheduled to make a start on Wednesday for Double-A Trenton as part of his return to the major leagues scheduled for early May. Pettitte is expected to throw about 80 to 85 pitches.  The Yankees obviously will be glad to see him the way Garcia has been pitching.

ON DECK

The Yankees can complete a sweep of the Red Sox on Sunday and if it happens I would not want to be Valentine on Monday.

Ace left-hander CC Sabathia (1-0, 5.99 ERA) is coming off his first victory of the season. He gave up three runs in six innings to beat the Twins. He is 7-9 with a 4.14 ERA in his career against the Bosox.

Boston will counter with right-hander Daniel Bard (0-2, 4.63 ERA). Bard gave up one run but walked seven against the Rays in his last start, which he lost. He is 2-1 with a 4.13 ERA against the Yankees but all those numbers came from the bullpen.

Game-time will be 8:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by ESPN.

 

Power Shifts In A.L. East But Yankees Still Reign


Today marks the beginning of the 2012 season for the New York Yankees. After a 33-game spring schedule, the team took shape. How will they finish in the American League East? What about the other teams in the division? How will they do this season? Let’s take a look.

Last season marked a titanic shift in the division.

After the Boston Red Sox recorded the biggest implosion in major-league history in September, they are no longer looked upon as an elite in this division. The loss of general manager Theo Epstein and the decision to blame Terry Francona for the team’s demise were bad enough.

But the real shock was to watch the Red Sox take a different approach to trying to fix the team this winter. Instead of just going out and aggressively signing the best free agents available and making bold trades to infuse new blood, the Bosox actually started a coupon-clipping method of solving their problems.

The big names that could have helped them went elsewhere and the Red Sox found that their once-vaunted minor-league system was bereft of immediate-impact talent.

They begin the 2012 season with one of the most important positions on the team left n the hands of someone inexperienced.

If ever this was a microcosm of the Red Sox problems this is it. They allowed Jonathan Papelbon to walk away via free agency. Maligned for his foibles and his occasional blown saves, Papelbon was still an important piece of the success of the franchise. The fans and the press treatment of him bit the team in the rear end.

To replace him the Red Sox traded for Andrew Bailey of the Oakland A’s, a competent closer who at the same time has had a series of arm ailments that have slowed his development. At the end of spring training, Bailey came up with a thumb injury that will require surgery to repair. He will miss two months – at least.

The Red Sox also traded for Houston Astros closer Mark Melancon. The conventional wisdom was Melanco would replace Bailey. After all, why trade for a closer if he is not going to close? But new manager Bobby Valentine announced that jack-of-all-trades (and master of none) reliever Alfredo Aceves would close instead.

Welcome to Red Sox Nation’s worst nightmare. On Opening Day, Aceves coughed the winning run in a non-save situation.

If there is anyone out there who honestly believes this team can win the A.L. East, I want to know what you are smoking.

There are only two elite teams in this division and they are the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays had an interesting spring where they played a lot like the some of the teams in 1960s like the Dodgers and White Sox, who were so deep in pitching talent they shut out any team. However, at the same time, the offense is so bad that scoring runs is going to take some real effort.

Don’t get me wrong. The Rays and manager Joe Maddon have ways of scoring. Carlos Pena may struggle to keep his average around .190 but he will likely hit 30 home runs. Evan Longoria, surrounded by lightweights, will be pitched around and his average will suffer also. But he will win his share of 2-1 games with home runs.

Desmond Jennings, B.J. Upton and the rest of Rays also use their feet to create havoc on the bases. That will get them their share of runs at times. But the old adage “You can’t steal first base” comes into play. The Rays have to reach base in order to steal bases. This team also lacks the athleticism past teams had when Carl Crawford was here.

How many bases will catcher Jose Molina steal? I rest my case.

No, the Rays’ sole means of winning comes with their starting rotation. James Shields, David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore and Jeff Niemann are the center of the ballclub. The Rays have attempted to build a bullpen around them but they begin the season with their closer, Kyle Farnsworth, on the disabled list with a sore elbow.

That is huge red flag to me.

Could you say that the Yankees would be favored to win a championship with Mariano Rivera on the DL and expected to miss two months like Bailey? How about if Rivera complained he had a sore elbow?

Nope. No matter how stacked your pitching staff is you have to have a closer and Farnsworth is the best the Rays had in 2011. If he is lost for a long period of time, it puts pressure on Maddon to “shorten” his bullpen. That means keeping his starters on the mound longer than most managers would allow.

That exposes them to possibly losing close games because starters do run out of steam at some point. While a manager like Charlie Manuel might take Cliff Lee out after 121 pitches because he has Papelbon and a deep bullpen, Maddon may say let’s let Price get out of this in the eighth because I do not think J.P. Howell has been effective lately.

It becomes a slippery slope and you start lengthening and lengthening your starters until they begin wearing down.

That is my concern with the Rays.

In addition, they do not have the money and means to ever go to a Plan B. What they have on the roster has to work or they fall.

One team that intrigues me is the Blue Jays.

They already have Jose Bautista. You add to that third baseman Brett Lawrie and a bunch of guys who hit the ball hard and you have the makings of a great offense. Too bad the Rays do not have this offense.

The Blue Jays will put a lot of runs on the board. They have a lot of power and line-drive hitters top to bottom in the lineup.

However, their pitching revolves around Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow. Brett Cecil has been sent to the minors and Dustin McGowan’s comeback has been slowed by injury.  Their bullpen does have a closer in Sergio Santos they stole from the White Sox and a former closer in Francisco Cordero they signed from the Reds.

If manager Jon Farrell can piece enough starters to go six, the Blue Jays just might have what it take to pass the Red Sox in third place in this division. Stranger things have happened.

The one given in the division is where the Orioles will finish. Mismanagement, bad luck and foolish spending have really derailed this franchise.

Buck Showalter is a good manager but this team is mired with problems. The young pitching the Orioles counted on has failed to take the big leap forward they expected.

They made big bets on players like Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones and they have underwhelmed. They lack a big bopper like a Bautista who can change a game. Instead, they can build around emerging star catcher Matt Wieters.

That just about sums up the Orioles.

Now we come to the Yankees.

They won 97 games last season despite the fact Alex Rodriguez played in 99 games, only Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano had good seasons with the bat and their rotation contained Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon.

How many will they win when they get a healthy season out of Rodriguez, more of their hitters have better seasons with the bat and a rotation that now has Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, a healthy Phil Hughes to go along with ace lefty CC Sabathia?

Their bullpen even without Joba Chamberlain is loaded with Rivera closing like he always has at age 42 and David Robertson and Rafael Soriano shortening games to six innings.

The team has closed the pitching gap with the Rays and their offense is simply the best in the division. Add to that the division’s best bullpen and a veteran bench and you have the makings of another A.L. East title for the team in the Bronx.

I have not seen evidence that would contradict the premise. The only thing that could derail the Yankees is the age of the team. Injuries also are a great equalizer. But, other than a bad spate of injuries there is nothing that will stop this team in 2012.

Here is the predicted order of finish:

1) New York Yankees 

2) Tampa Bay Rays (Wild Card)

3) Toronto Blue Jays

4) Boston Red Sox

5) Baltimore Orioles

If this order holds up, look for Valentine to be scanning the help wanted ads in October. He already has the team hating him. If it gets much worse he might be scanning those ads in July.

 

2012 Looks Like More Trouble For ‘Red Flops’

As spring training camps open it is time to look at the American League East competition for the New York Yankees. How will the other teams fare as they gear up to dethrone the 2011 division champions? Do these teams have the pitching? Is there enough offense? Let’s see.

PART 4 – BOSTON RED SOX

A fellow Yankee fan once called the Red Sox the Red Flops because of their penchant for running out to big leads in the American League East and fading badly in the second half. After the famous “Collapse of 2011″ the term seems apropos.

On Sept. 3, they were 84-54, a half game behind the Yankees and nine games up on the Tampa Bay Rays. They finished the season with a dreadful 6-18 record and missed the playoffs by a game. In Boston that is not an oops, it is an eruption and it cost manager Terry Francona his job and general manager Theo Epstein fled to the Chicago Cubs.

Looking to 2012 the Red Flops hired ego-driven Bobby Valentine as manager. Ben Cherington, an Epstein assistant, took over as GM. They even dismissed first-year pitching coach Curt Young in favor of Bob McClure to keep their starting pitchers from getting bagged in the clubhouse on Samuel Adams.

Of course, that is odd because McClure pitched most of his career with the beer capital of the world in Milwaukee.

There is no doubt the starting pitching let the Red Sox down in 2011. They scored runs and the bullpen was good until it got overtaxed. But has this team addressed the areas of weakness enough to win the division in 2012?

Well, it does not look good.

STARTERS

The Red Sox were unable to acquire any starter of significance this winter because they had to re-sign free agent David Ortiz and the team was already perilously close to the salary mark that would incur the luxury tax.

So they return to the field with two of the pitchers who aided in the collapse (Josh Beckett and Jon Lester), one pitcher who was hurt most of the 2011 season (Clay Buchholz) and two big question marks behind them. That seems hardly like a recipe for success.

Beckett, 31, returns as the team ace after a season in which he was 13-7 with a 2.89 ERA. But an ankle injury late in the season forced him to fade like a typical Red Flop in September. He posted a 5.48 ERA in September. He also was in the center of the beer issue that drew the ire of teammates and the front office.

If Beckett wants to remain the ace he better start showing some leadership by example.

Lester, 28, is starting to look like the Red Sox version of Mike Mussina. He has all the talent and the pitches to be successful but he never takes that big step forward to be an elite pitcher. He was 15-9 with a 3.47 ERA but he also slid in September. He had only two quality starts from Aug. 27 to the season finale and was 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in the final month.

Buchholz, 27, made only 14 starts last season before ending up on the disabled list with what was eventually diagnosed as a stress fracture in his back. He finished with a record of 6-3 and a 3.48 ERA. There is no doubt he was sorely missed last season because Epstein failed to stock the Red Sox with any depth and the team floundered after he was shelved on June 16.

The Red Sox other two starters were veteran right-handers John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

If Lester is like Mussina then Lackey is looking like the Red Sox version of A.J. Burnett. Signed as free agent before the 2010 season, Lackey has done nothing but disappoint Red Sox Nation with bad pitching. He was 14-11 with a 4.40 ERA in 2010 but he got much worse in 2011 with a 12-12 mark and 6.41 ERA.

Red Sox fans have taken to calling him “Lacking.”

But there is good news for RSN, Lackey, 33, will not pitch at all in 2012 because he had to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. There is no real guarantee Lackey will be any better in 2013, which will be the final year of his four-year contract. His days in Beantown look to be limited at this point.

Speaking of that, Red Sox fans also would like to see Matsuzaka, 31, gone after three injury-filled seasons in which he was a combined 16-15 with a plus 5.00 ERA in only 44 starts. Last season, he was shelved in June with a 3-3 record and a 5.30 ERA. Like Lackey he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

He possibly could return late in the season but there is no one banking on him coming back pitching like in he did in 2008 when he was 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA. He is in the final year of lucrative six-year contract and the Red Sox seem to be counting the days they can part with him.

With Lackey and Dice-K on the shelf, the Red Sox have to come up with two starters and one of them is Daniel Bard, the team’s setup man the past two seasons. Bard, 26, does throw hard and he has two breaking pitches to mix in his arsenal.

But Bard also was the poster boy for the Red Sox collapse. Forced to pitch a lot to cover for weak starting pitching, Bard got hit hard and often in September, finishing the season 2-9 with a 3.33 ERA and five blown saves. Only July 31, Bard had a 1.76 ERA.

Now the question is can he be an effective starter? It has not worked for relievers lately. It did not work for Joba Chamberlain and Brandon Morrow of the Blue Jays has struggled to get past the fifth inning with the Blue Jays. Usually it works better when a starter becomes a reliever as it did with former Red Sox right-hander Dennis Eckersley.

Until Bard proves he can pitch deep into games consistently and does not fade late in the season as the innings pile up, he is big question mark in 2012.

For the fifth spot, the Red Sox issued an open casting call much like the Yankees did in 2011 with Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia.

They are looking at holdovers Alfredo Aceves and Andrew Miller as possible candidates. Aceves, 29, was 10-2 with a 2.61 ERA but made only four starts. He is better suited as a reliever, as he proved with the Yankees. Miller, a 26-year-old left-hander, was 6-3 but he had a horrible 5.54 ERA in 12 starts.

The Red Sox also signed former Yankee right-hander Ross Ohlendorf and three other right-handers including Aaron Cook, Vicente Padilla and Carlos Silva to compete for the job this spring.

None of these candidates are going to impress the Red Sox faithful. They all have a lot of mileage on them and they all have not had much success in recent years.

This might be one of the weakest Red Sox rotations in many years and the lack of depth in it is the major problem. If Beckett, Lester or Buchholz are hurt, who steps up to replace them?

BULLPEN

The Red Sox allowed Jonathan Papelbon leave for the Philadelphia Phillies rather than pay him what he was worth as a closer for them over the past six seasons. The conventional wisdom was Bard would take over as the closer.

But the Red Sox made him a starter instead and opened up the job. They decided to fill it with 27-year-old right-hander Andrew Bailey, who was acquired in a trade with the Oakland Athletics.

Bailey is coming off two injury-plagued seasons but is pretty darn good when he is healthy. Bailey is 7-10 with a career ERA of 2.07 and 75 saves in 84 chances.

There is no doubt Bailey is an excellent closer. The only question is of the Red Sox can keep him healthy and can Bailey adjust to the very small dimensions of Fenway as opposed to the expansive Coliseum.

The Red Sox also traded with the Houston Astros for yet another former Yankee reliever in Mark Melancon. (Can the signing of Tanyon Sturtze be far behind?). Melancon, 26, was 8-4 with a 2.78 ERA and saved 20 out of 25 games for the lowly Astros last season. Melancon, who was touted years ago as the eventual successor to Mariano Rivera when he was in the Yankees’ minor-league system, will set up Bailey and can close if Bailey should revert to past form and pull up lame.

Speaking of lame, the Red Sox suffered a huge blow to their bullpen before pitchers reported to camp on Sunday because 30-year-old right-hander Bobby Jenks will miss more time when a pulmonary embolism was discovered in his lung. This was discovered after he had two back surgeries after pitching only 19 games last season. He is on the 60-day DL and he will be on a long road back to health.

Aceves also figures in the late innings because he is much more valuable in that spot.

The Red Sox got some use out of 29-year-old right-hander Matt Albers, who was 4-4 with 4.73 ERA in 56 games last season. The lefty specialist was 26-year-old Franklin Morales, who was 1-2 with a 3.69 ERA in 50 appearances. The Red Sox are hoping Rich Hill will come back from Tommy John surgery on his left elbow sometime this season.

The Red Sox think 24-year-old lefty Felix Doubront can take the second left-hander spot in the bullpen. He had no record and 6.10 ERA in 11 appearances last season. Doubront could also get a chance to start and he has some upside.

This bullpen is definitely in a state of flux. New personnel, new roles and there are some pitchers coming off injuries or currently rehabbing injuries. It is not a recipe for success.

Valentine and McClure have a lot of decisions to make in the spring. For the Red Sox to succeed they need an excellent bullpen. For now, it looks just mediocre.

STARTING LINEUP

The Red Sox were largely a four-man offense – a very good four-man offense but a four-man offense nonetheless – in 2011.

First baseman Adrian Gonzalez was as advertised. He hit .338 with 27 home runs and 117 RBIs and played Gold Glove defense. The Red Sox hope Gonzalez, 29, is the fulcrum of the Bosox attack for many years to come.

Second baseman Dustin Pedroia bounced back from an injury-plagued 2010 season to re-establish himself in 2011. He hit .307 with 21 homers and 91 RBIs and also won a Gold Glove. Pedroia, 28, remains the spark-plug in the Red Sox engine. His grit and determination makes him the heart and soul of the team.

Designated hitter David Ortiz followed up a bounce-back 2010 season with another solid campaign in 2011. Ortiz, 36, hit .309 with 29 home runs and 96 RBIs. He is not the same feared hitter he was in his steroid days hitting behind Manny Ramirez but he is still good enough to help the offense.

The big surprise was center-fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who played only 18 games in 2010 and was accused of milking his rib injury by some teammates. Ellsbury, 28, must have been angry because he came back with a vengeance in 2011. He hit .321 with easily a career-high 32 home runs and 105 RBIs from the leadoff spot. He also stole 39 bases.

To most Red Sox observers, Ellsbury was the team’s MVP and would have won the American League MVP if Justin Verlander of the Tigers had not.

The big disappointments in this lineup were Kevin Youkilis and Carl Crawford.

Youkilis, who will be 33 when the season starts, still has not played any more than 147 games in a season. Last season, the combination of bursitis in his left hip and a sports hernia limited him to 120 games. He hit a disappointing .258 with 17 home runs and 80 RBIs and he did not play third base as well he played first base. Youkilis must stay healthy and return to form if the Red Sox are to make a move in 2012.

Left-fielder Crawford, 30, arrived in Beantown with 409 career steals and .293 career batting average. His seven-year, $142 million contract was the signing that limited the Red Sox from adding pitching this winter. He also proved he did not fit in well at Fenway. He hit .255 with 11 home runs and 56 RBIs and only 18 stolen bases. He also proved weak in the field despite having won a Gold Glove with the Rays in 2010.

More bad news about Crawford: Late in the winter Crawford realized his left wrist required surgery and he is not likely to be able to play on Opening Day. Crawford will either turn his game around or become one of the biggest albatross signings in baseball history.

The Red Sox have shuffled the deck in right-field and shortstop this season.

The Red Sox released aging outfielder J.D. Drew and they used promising youngster Josh Reddick in the Bailey trade.

The Red Sox did obtain outfielder Ryan Sweeney in the Bailey deal and he is a left-handed hitter like Reddick. However, the 27-year-old has been a huge disappointment in Oakland. He is career .283 hitter but he lacks both power and speed.

Holdover Darnell McDonald, 33, was brought up last season and he hit .236 with six home runs and 24 RBIs in 79 games. He could figure in an early platoon with Sweeney or win the job outright. Ryan Kalish, 23, hit .252 in 53 games and he will get a look also.

The Red Sox also picked up Cody Ross from the Giants. Ross, 31, bats right-handed and he figures to start n left-field until Crawford returns to health. Then he will shift to right in a platoon with either Sweeney or Kalish. Ross hit .240 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 2011.

Shortstop also was shuffled for 2012. Starter Marco Scutaro was shipped to Colorado for right-handed pitcher Clayton Mortensen. Backup infielder Jed Lowrie was used in the Melancon trade with the Astros.

That leaves former Royals infielder Mike Aviles to start at the position. Aviles, 31, is a career .288 hitter but he hit only .255 with seven home runs and 39 RBIs in 91 games with the Royals and Red Sox.

The Jason Varitek era in Boston is officially over. Varitek was not re-signed and Jarrod Saltalamacchia enters his second season as the unquestioned starter for the Red Sox. Saltalamacchia, 26, is coming off a so-so 2011 season. He hit .235 with 16 homers and 56 RBIs. He also struck out 119 times in 358 at-bats so he is not exactly a selective hitter. The Red Sox also wish he would continue to improve his defense and throwing.

BENCH

The Red Sox will likely keep Ross, McDonald and either Sweeney or Kalish as backup outfielders. McDonald is valuable because he play all three spots and he is better in center.

The Red Sox picked up former Twins infielder Nick Punto as a reserve at second, short and third. Punto, 34, hit .278 with one home run and 20 RBIs with the Cardinals last season. Having Punto means the Red Sox can allow 22-year-old shortstop Jose Inglesias another season to develop at Triple-A. Inglesias can field but has not developed much as a hitter.

The team also picked up former Red Sox catcher Kelly Shoppach from the Rays. Shoppach, 31, hit .176 with 11 homers and 22 RBIs with the Rays and he replaces Varitek as the backup catcher. He is solid defensively.

This is a serviceable bench but I would hardly call it talent-laden or special.

ANALYSIS

The Epstein-Francona era is over. The main architects of the only two World Series championships in the last 96 years have fled. They left a financial constraint on the team that prevented them from addressing their crisis in starting pitching, the bullpen and in right-field.

The Crawford and Lackey signings along with the trades for since-departed Victor Matinez and Gonzalez left this very dollar-rich team weak in minor-league prospects and unable to find enough wiggle room to sign what they needed without breaking way past the level where the luxury tax kicks in.

This limits what the Red Sox will actually do this season. This is team that already is beset by injuries (Lackey, Dice-K, Crawford, Jenks) and they are severely lacking in depth before spring training has even started. It is hard to see how they find the money to fix what needs fixing if the ship should begin to flounder.

The Red Sox will only go as far their offense and their top three starters take them this season.

With the Rays a bit flawed it is easy to see both the Red Sox and Rays battling for second place behind the Yankees in 2012. Because of what happened to the Red Sox last season it hard to see how it could happen again. But that is what I am predicting.

I just have a sneaking suspicion that the Rays pitching will be the reason the Red Sox will finish third. The only question is can Valentine get out of town before RSN tries to lynch him. Good luck, with this bunch, Bobby. You are going to need it – along with a lot of Maalox.

Just call them the Red Flops.

 

Martin’s Double Casts Evil Spell On Bard, Bosox

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

                                                                                     - William Shakespeare from Macbeth

GAME 134

YANKEES 4, RED SOX 2

It looked like Thursday night series finale against the Red Sox was going to be one of those games where the Yankees put runner after runner on base only to be denied a run. That is until the seventh inning, when Russell Martin came to the plate with two on and one out.

Up to that point, the Yankees were trailing 2-1 because the Yankees could not parlay nine hits, four walks and a hit batter into any runs after the first inning and had left 12 runners on base in the first six innings.

But Martin greeted The Bard, the reliever Daniel and not the famous playwright, with a two-run double to right-center and closer Mariano Rivera weathered a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the ninth to strike out Adrian Gonzalez looking to preserve a very important victory for New York in front of a mostly hostile crowd of 38,074 at Fenway Park.

With the victory the Yankees pulled to within a slim half game of the Red Sox in the American League East race and the two teams are tied in the loss column at 53 apiece.

The Yankees had trailed since the bottom of the fourth inning, when Dustin Pedroia followed a four-pitch walk to Gonzalez with a two-run home run to center off Yankee starter A.J. Burnett.

But the Yankees got busy with one out in the seventh inning with an incredible at-bat by Andruw Jones against former Yankee reliever Alfredo Aceves. Jones worked Aceves to a 2-2 count, fouled off three pitches, took ball three, fouled off five more pitches and drew ball four.

Aceves’ night then came to an end when he hit designated hitter Jesus Montero, who was just called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was playing in his first major-league game, with a 2-2 pitch.

Manager Terry Francona summoned his ace setup man,Bard, to get the Red Sox out the jam. However, Martin was able to drive 3-2 Bard fastball into the gap in right-center to score pinch-runner Chris Dickerson, who also was recalled from Scranton on Thursday, and Montero to allow the Yankees to reclaim the lead. Martin moved to third on the play at the plate.

Pinch-hitter Eric Chavez then added an important insurance run by slapping a 1-0 fastball to right that scored Martin.

The Yankees again turned to their troika of Rafael Soriano, David Robertson and Rivera to close out the game.

Soriano tossed a scoreless seventh and Robertson followed suit in the eighth.

But Rivera opened the ninth by walking Jed Lowrie. After Josh Reddick flew out to deep right and Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out swinging, Jacoby Ellsbury drew a walk. Rivera entered the game having walked only five batters in 51 innings.

Marco Scutaro then singled sharply to right to load the bases and bring to the plate Gonzalez, who entered the game leading major-league baseball with a .341 average.

Rivera, using his cutter to Gonzalez on the inside corner for the first four pitches, was ahead on the count 1-2 when he threw a cutter to the outside corner at the knees and Gonzalez watched as it nestled right into Martin’s glove and home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez raised his right arm to call Gonzalez out on strikes.

The game was somewhat bittersweet redemption for Burnett, who has been lit up like a roman candle since June 29. Signed as a free agent before the 2009 season expressly because he came off a 18-10 season in which he beat the Red Sox four times, Burnett entered Thursday’s game having never beaten the Red Sox while wearing a Yankee uniform. Burnett also was in real danger of losing his spot in the starting rotation.

But Burnett pitched well. He gave up only the two runs on five hits and two walks and he fanned four batters over 5 1/3 innings.

Meanwhile, the Yankee hitters were keeping Boston left-hander Jon Lester busy throwing pitches from the first toss four hours and 21 minutes before this marathon ended.

With one out in the fist inning, Curtis Granderson singled to right. Mark Teixeira followed with a sinking liner single to center and Robinson Cano scored Granderson with a lined double off the Green Monster in left-center.

The Yankees could have put a real hurting on Lester then. But Nick Swisher struck out, Jones walked and Montero struck out to end the threat. However, Lester threw 43 pitches in the inning. Though the Yankees continued to put pressure on Lester they could not get the big hit to either tie it or take the lead.

Lester threw 114 pitches over five innings and gave up just the lone run on seven hits and three walks.

Burnett left the game with one out in the sixth after giving up a single and a stolen base to Pedroia and a walk to David Ortiz. Boone Logan was called in by manager Joe Girardi and he fanned Carl Crawford.

Cory Wade then was called in to pitch to Lowrie and disaster nearly struck the Yankees.

Lowrie lofted a fast-sinking liner into centerfield but Granderson dove to his right and scooped the ball into his glove just before it hit the ground. The sensational grab not only saved at least one run for sure. It also ended the inning.

Wade (3-0), thanks to Granderson, earned the victory with his one-third inning of relief. Rivera earned his 36th save in 41 chances, albeit he did it the hard way.

Aceves (9-2) took the loss.

The Yankees ended up taking two of three from the Red Sox at Fenway and now are 4-11 with their bitter rival on the season.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Martin missed the first two games of the series but he made his presence felt with his clutch double in this game. He was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and scored a run. Martin has quietly and steadily raised his season’s average to .240.
  • Cano continues to pound Red Sox pitching. He was 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI in the game. Cano is now hitting easily a team-best .307 on the season and he now has 98 RBIs.
  • Burnett was so bad many Yankee fans cringed when it was announced he would pitch this game. It was with good reason, too. Burnett recorded an astronomical 11.91 ERA in August. But he did pitch well and kept the Yankees in the game until the Yankee hitters finally got tired of leaving runners on base. There is a good chance Burnett will remain a starter and Phil Hughes will be sent to the bullpen after Burnett’s performance because Hughes has experience in the bullpen and Burnett’s wildness may not translate well to the bullpen.
  • Granderson’s catch in the sixth inning added a strong defensive note to his resume for a potential Most Valuable Player award. Granderson’s 124 runs, 38 home runs, 107 RBIs, 10 triples and 24 stolen bases has overshadowed his excellent defense in centerfield.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • The Yankees were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position until Martin’s double and Chavez’s single in the three-run seventh. They left the bases loaded twice in the first six innings and left two on in two other innings. The pitching staff holding the Red Sox to six hits and just the two runs allowed the hitters to finally get the big hits when they needed them.

BOMBER BANTER

Teixeira was forced to leave the game in the bottom of the seventh inning due to swelling in right knee after he was hit by a pitch batting in the top of the sixth against Aceves. No X-rays were taken but Teixeira had the knee wrapped in ice after the game. He is day-to-day.  . . .  Along with Dickerson and Montero, the Yankees recalled four other players from their minor-league system. Infielder Brandon Laird and right-handed relief pitchers Lance Pendleton and Scott Proctor were called up from Scranton. Left-handed reliever Raul Valdes was recalled from Double-A Trenton. Proctor, 34, previously spent four seasons with the Yankees from 2004-2007. He posted a 2.57 ERA in seven innings at Scranton. Valdes, 33, had a 3.38 ERA in seven appearances with the Cardinals this season before he was released. Valdes becomes the second left-hander in the bullpen along with Boone Logan.  . . .  Alex Rodriguez (sprained left thumb) hopes to be able to return to the lineup on Friday.

ON DECK

The Yankees return home after a taxing road trip to host the Toronto Blue Jays for a three-game weekend series.

The Yankees will open the series with their hottest starter, Ivan Nova (14.4, 3.96 ERA). Nova is 6-0 in his six starts after being recalled from Scranton on July 30. He is 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA against the Blue Jays in his short career.

The Blue Jays will counter with right-hander Brandon Morrow (9-9, 4.79 ERA). Morrow has allowed five homers and 11 runs in his last 10 innings over two starts. He lso has lost four of his last five starts. He is 3-1 with a 4.68 ERA lifetime against the Yankees.

Game-time will be at 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast by the YES Network.

 

 

Red Sox May Be Baseball’s Version Of The Titanic

TAMPA BAY RAYS 16, BOSTON RED SOX 5
Daisuke Matsuzaka gives up seven runs on eight hits and two walks in only two innings on Monday night. The Rays added five runs off Tim Wakefield and then battered former teammate Dan Wheeler for four more.
The Rays, who entered the game having scored only 20 runs all season nearly matched the total in one night feasting off Red Sox pitching.
The Red Sox are now 2-8. 
This is the team to beat for the American League East title? This is the A.L. champions? Excuse me, I don’t think so.
I have been hearing all this “You can’t judge a team by the way they play in April” talk and “It’s only been 10 games.” But the fact is this Red Sox team is hip deep in flaws and not all of them can or will be addressed in time to right the ship.
For one, the starting pitching is a shambles. Jon Lester is OK and Josh Beckett proved he is capable of pitching better this season but the rest is a disaster area. If you combine the three other pitchers’ totals for the season you have 25 2/3 innings, 44 hits, 14 walks and 34 earned runs.
That is an ERA of 11.92. You can have a lineup full of Carl Crawfords and Adrian Gonzalezes and still not have an offense that can overcome that degree of bad pitching.
Yet the Red Sox are stuck with the big contracts of Matsuzaka and John Lackey and they just signed Clay Buchholz to a huge extension. So looking for some improvement is a lot like bringing a knife to a gunfight and hoping all their guns jam.
Red Sox Nation, never short of quick fixes to their ailing ballclub, have weighed in with a lot of advice: Get rid of Mice-K, fire new pitching coach Curt Young and start Alfredo Aceves. But the Red Sox braintrust knows that their options are really limited.
When you pay top dollar for a Japanese pitcher as they did with Matsuzaka, you want return on investment. The fact is, the Red Sox got nothing but inconsistency out of what they thought was a star pitcher.
Theo Epstein, the executive vice president, general manager and legend in his own mind, should have donned his gorilla suit and high-tailed it after this fiasco. But now that the Red Sox have committed the dollars they are not going to give up on “Homer-san” any time too soon.
They let it be known all winter and this spring that Matsuzaka was available in trade but scouts from the other teams looked at what they were being offered and just laughed. No one wanted him and those that might have contemplated a deal might as well have thought of hari-kiri. Matsuzaka is just pure poison now.
His comments about the Red Sox medical staff and his own penchant to “do it his way” make him a very unattractive acquisition. Sure, they can bite the bullet and release him. But they are still obligated to pay the man. So the Sox are going to try “fix” him before they ever decide to admit they made a mistake in overpaying this stiff.
You ever wonder why the Yankees may no real effort to sign Lackey when he became a free agent?
You are seeing it now. Lackey has been, and always will be, kind of Joe Blanton-type of pitcher. Fierce competitor, yes. But he also is lacking a few bullets in the chamber.  
Look at Lackey’s career numbers and he never struck 200 batters. He also never was among the discussion of the best pitchers in baseball. He just was a tough and gritty pitcher who gave you max effort every time out.
Now that the age has slipped into the 30s and the innings have piled up, what Lackey can give is eroding with every inning. He can’t throw balls past hitters anymore so he has to trick them. But the hitters are catching up with the tricks.
Red Sox Nation can say “put him in the bullpen” or “release his butt.” But the fact is the Red Sox are committed to Lackey for the long term — emphasis on the word long. They signed him to a four-year deal and he is only in his second year.
Nope. John Lackey is not going anywhere but to the mound every fifth day for the Red Sox whether he gets his brains beat in or not. Thinking anything else is like wishing that it ain’t so.
So the Red Sox have to fix Matsuzaka and Lackey before the season really has started.
Then there is Buchholz, who last season was 17-7 with the league’s best ERA for a starter. You just pencil those good numbers in for 2010, huh? Not really.
Pitchers have to prove themselves every season. In 2008, Buchholz was 2-9 with a 6.75 ERA. In 2009, he was 7-4 with a 4.21 ERA. So which pitcher is Buchholz? Is he the guy with the 6.75 ERA or the guy with the 2.33 ERA in 2010?
Maybe you split the difference and get a pitcher who is the 4.21 ERA guy. Right now, his ERA is 7.20 so he has a ways to go to repairing the damage of his first two starts.
All this falls on Curt Young, who replaced John Farrell. Farrell had an established rapport with all these pitchers and now Young is trying to do the same. That takes time and sometimes it can be hard to unlock what is in the mind of a starter.
Young is an excellent pitching coach but he just is not the same guy as Farrell. He has different ways of saying things and doing things. The pitchers will have to adapt to him rather than the other way around. That takes time.
But one is a lead-pipe cinch: The Red Sox are not firing Young. That would not be fair.
So what if the losing continues? What happens if Lackey, Matsuzaka and Buchholz keep getting their brains beat in before the Fenway faithful take their first bite of their hot dogs? Well, I shudder to think of what will happen.
It certainly will get pretty ugly if this continues into May.
One thing is for certain. There is no way that Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee are showing up in Red Sox uniforms. Pedro and Curt Schilling are not coming out of retirement. Even if they did, the Sox would be better off with what they have.
So sometimes in building the perfect ship you end up with some rusty parts you did not see when you were in construction. That may be Theo’s biggest oversight this offseason. The shiny bright new toys obscured what lay underneath.
It was the same way the Titatnic was built and we all know what happened there. The only question now is are there enough lifeboats to get Red Sox Nation off this ship before it hits the bottom of the Atlantic.

Banuelos Impressive Again But Red Sox Edge Yankees

GAME 19
RED SOX 2, YANKEES 1
Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s fielder’s choice grounder scored pinch-runner Yamaico Navarro from third with the tie-breaking run with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning as Boston edged New York on Monday night at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, FL.
The Red Sox loaded the bases off losing pitcher Dellin Betances (0-1) on two hits and a walk before Saltalamacchia’s potential double-play grounder to second baseman Eduardo Nunez was broken up by the slide of pinch-runner Juan Carlos Linares into shortstop Ramiro Pena, which allowed Navarro to score.
Former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks (1-0) pitched one inning of scoreless baseball to get credit for the win. Veteran left-hander Rich Hill pitched two scoreless innings for a save.
The Yankees have now lost six consecutive Grapefruit League games and are 6-11-2 on the spring. The Red Sox are 10-8 and won both meetings with the Yankees.
PINSTRIPE POSITIVES
  • Manny Banuelos, who was subbing as the starter for Sergio Mitre, overcame some obvious nerves of pitching on national television to pitch a solid and scoreless 2 2/3 innings. He gave up two hits, walked three and struck out two. Banuelos, who turned 20 on Sunday, struck out Carl Crawford looking and ended his outing by inducing Kevin Youkilis to strike out swinging at a wicked changeup.
  • On offense Jesus Montero, 21, was able to drive a double to deep right-center off Alfredo Aceves in the third inning. That set up Brett Gardner’s RBI double down the right-field line to score Montero with the tying run.
  • Quietly Luis Ayala is opening eyes with his work this spring. Trying to come back from some serious arm ailments, Ayala pitched a solid 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and no walks and pitched around an error he made on a ground ball hit right to him.
NAGGING NEGATIVES
  • Fellow phenom pitching Dellin Betances did not fare as well as Banuelos. Betances opened the fifth by hitting Marco Scutaro with his first delivery. He then walked Ryan Kalish on four pitches. Betances then made what looked to be an inning-saving play by snaring a grounder by Dustin Pedroia. He threw out Pedroia at first and then first baseman Eric Chavez tracked Kalish all the way to second base and tagged him trapped off the bag. However, Betances then uncorked a wild pitch to allow Scutaro to score the Red Sox first run. 
  • Betances and Montero then combined to hand the Red Sox another run in the sixth. Youkilis singled and Adrian Gonzalez followed with a single of his own. After a David Ortiz strikeout, Montero then committed a passed ball and allowed the two pinch-runners to move up a base. Betances then walked Mike Cameron to load the bases. Then pinch-runner Juan Carlos Linares broke up a potential double-play grounder to Eduardo Nunez at second base and the winning run scored.
  • Though the Yankees outhit Boston 8-6 and the Red Sox were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position for the game, they lost because they did not string together hits and squandered opportunities when they did mount threats. 
BOMBER BANTER
Scheduled starter Sergio Mitre and reliever Joba Chamberlain were unable to pitch on Monday because of left oblique injuries. General manager Brian Cashman called the injuries “low-level concerns.” Both pitchers will be monitored and they hope to be able to pitch later in the week.  . . .  While the Yankees brought only their starting outfield to Fort Myers, the Red Sox basically played their 2011 starting lineup to begin the game.  . . .   The two-hour bus ride from Tampa to Fort Myers was pretty eventful. En route to Fort Myers, the bus struck a bird and it cracked the windshield. Luckily for manager Joe Girardi, he was not sitting in his usual seat in the front of the bus. He was playing cards with the coaches in the rear of the bus. The bus kept going and there were no other casualties of the incident other than the bird.
ON DECK
The Yankees will not play a Grapefruit League game on Tuesday. They will instead hold workouts and rest those that are ailing. On Wednesday night the Yankees will host the Baltimore Orioles at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Ivan Nova will start for the Yankees.
Game-time will be 7:05 EST and the game will be telecast by the YES Network.
Stay tuned on Tuesday. This blog will look at the Yankees position battles of the spring and size up what the 25-man roster will look like. Don’t miss it!

Mo Reportedly Will Sign 2-Year Deal To Remain In Bronx

Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
We’re off to never-never land

                                                                                      - “Enter Sandman” by Metallica


Yankee fans may be able to sleep a lot better knowing that the best closer in baseball history is returning for two more seasons.
Mariano Rivera, 41, reportedly has agreed to a two-year deal for $15 million per season. That is certainly good news to Yankee management, players and fans. The Yankees really have no creditable replacement for “The Sandman” and, after a season in which Rivera recorded 33 saves with a 1.80 ERA, he proved he is not losing his effectiveness.
Rivera now stands poised to challenge Treveor Hoffman’s major-league saves record. Hoffman, 42, has 601 career saves but he lost his role as a closer with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010 and is currently a free agent.
Rivera is only 42 saves behind Hoffman with 559. The two-year deal assures him opportunity to pass Hoffman.
Rivera’s career numbers pretty much have given him first-ballot entrance into the Hall of Fame. He is 74-55 with a career ERA of 2.23. He also has blown only 49 saves in 608 chances. That is a career save percentage of 92 percent.
He also has led the Yankees to five world titles and is 8-1 with an incredible 0.71 ERA in postseason play and a major-league leading 42 career postseason saves.
To put it mildly, Rivera is the most valuable piece to any puzzle the Yankees need to assemble to a world championship club in 2011.
Though he has been nagged by minor ailments to his knee, ribs and shoulder, Rivera has also proven to be durable over his 16 major-league seasons. Rivera has also been helpful to teammates by teaching them his signature cutter.
In 2010, pitchers Phil Hughes and Kerry Wood employed their own version of the cutter under the tutelage of the master, Rivera. 
The Yankees only need now to shore up the pieces of the bullpen to get to Rivera since the team elected not pick up Wood’s expensive $11 million option. The Yankees will retain Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson, Boone Logan and Sergio Mitre. They also hope to get lefty specialist Damaso Matre back sometime during the 2011 season.
However, they chose to release Alfredo Aceves and Dustin Moseley on Friday. Aceves was sidelined most of the 2010 season with a severe back injury and broke his collarbone this off-season.
Moseley was 4-4 with a 4.96 ERA as a part-time starter and long reliever.
So the Yankees will be looking for relief help in the free-agent market to fill in the missing pieces. Their chances of re-signing Wood are slim since he is looking for a chance to close with another club.
But one target could be Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Scott Downs, who was 5-5 with a 2.64 ERA in 67 games last season. Downs, 34, also has some experience as a closer, collecting 16 saves in 32 chances in his nine major-league seasons.
Downs has a dual utility to the Yankees He is an experienced left-hander who can get tough lefties out — lefties hit only .152 against him last season. In addition, with Rivera advancing in age Downs could close if the Yankees needed him to do so.
The only problem in signing Downs will come down to price. He figures to get a lot of offers from contending teams looking for quality left-handers in their bullpen. But it is clear the Yankees would have an interest in him.
Now they can tout to Downs he will have an opportunity to set up a living legend in Rivera.
ON THE JETER TRAIL  . . .  It also appears that this blog’s prediction the Yankees would increase their initial three-year, $45 million offer to Derek Jeter has come true. Sources indicate the Yankees have increased their offer $2 million to $3 million per season. 
At the same time, Jeter’s agent, Casey Close, lowered his initial demand for a contract paying $23 million per season,
It appears the two sides are heading to the midpoint of about $19 million per season over three seasons or in that vicinity. Jeter made $18.9 million over the past 10 years under his old contract, so it appears he could accept what would be essentially an extension of that contract for three seasons. 
The Yankees can say they did not have to pay Jeter above what he was making and Close can claim his client did not take a pay cut. Both sides win and the Yankees will have their captain back in the fold.
Things are definitely looking up for Yankee fans in advance of baseball’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, FL, on Monday.
STAY TUNED . . . 


Mo’s Health, Joba’s Improvement Keys To Yankees’ Bullpen

It is the halfway point of the season for the New York Yankees and you all know what that means. That’s right, it’s time to had out grades for the first term. Some of our Yankees were scholars and some need some remedial work. But with the best record in baseball the Yankees already have a great grade as a team. The funny thing is that they have not really pushed themselves and there is still potential to be even better in the second half. Let’s start evaluating the positions and players.


BULLPEN

Mariano Rivera
Joba Chamberlain
David Robertson
Damaso Marte
Chan Ho Park
Chad Gaudin
Dustin Moseley

Other contributors: Alfredo Aceves, Boone Logan, Sergio Mitre, Ivan Nova, Romulo Sanchez and Mark Melancon

Based on what they did in 2009 and the fact that Joba Chamberlain was back in the bullpen where he belonged, the New York Yankees’ relief corps looked strong heading into the 2010 season.
The fact the Yankees are currently in first place in the American League East and they have the best record in baseball at the All-Star break means that the bullpen can’t be really that bad.
Howver, it has been less than stellar in the first half, despite the fact that at age 40 Mariano Rivera is having another Hall of Fame season: a 2-1 record with a 1.05 ERA and 20 saves in 22 chances.
The fact that the starters have been pitching so deep into games and the bullpen has been used less frequently in 2010, the problem has not been Rivera. It has been getting the ball to Rivera that has been the problem.
One indication of the ineffectiveness of the bullpen is the won-loss record of the bullpen this season which is 8-10. Another indication is the ERAs of the current roster:
Chamberlain 5.79
Robertson 5.46
Park 6.18
Gaudin 6.75
Marte 4.08
Moseley 3.00
This is a far cry from what the bullpen contributed in 2009 and there are many reasons why this has occurred.
No. 1, the fact that the starters have gone so deep has meant much less work from this group than last season. In 2009, Chamberlain’s struggles to last past five innings as a starter and Chien-Ming Wang’s poor start and injuries meant the bullpen was used and used again and again,
This season, there have been fewer starts of five innings or less by the rotation: 16 in 2010. That sometimes means days of inactivity and it is hard to get into a rhythm. But that is not the only reason.
The Yankees are also without to key contributors to their bullpen, Alfred Aceves and Sergio Mitre. Aceves is the Swiss Army knife of the Yankees’ bullpen. He can fill any role and last season he was 10-1 with a 3.54 ERA with one save.
This season Aceves is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and one save in 10 appearances but his season is in doubt because of a bulging disc in his lower back that has landed him on the disabled list since May 9.
His latest attempt to throw had to be shut down because of pain in the back and the Yankees, who are trying to avoid back surgery, are currently weighing their options. If manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland were counting on having Aceves back soon, they will be waiting a long time.
Mitre, the team’s long man, has also been missed. Mitre has been on the disabled list since June 5 due to an oblique strain suffered when he was taking batting practice to prepare for interleague play.
Mitre is 0-1 with a 2.88 ERA and has been excellent in 12 appearances, which includes two spot starts. The Yankees should be getting Mitre back soon after the second half starts.
Marte has been solid and consistent. He has a 4.08 in 30 appearances and 17 2/3 innings. But he has been doing the job he has been asked to do: lefties are htting .146 off him this season.
Marte usually has been getting into trouble when he is wild (11 walks) or when he is asked to pitch more than one or two batters.
The biggest disappointments have been Park, Robertson and Chamberlain. The ERAs are one indication of their ineffectiveness. But look also at their records:
Chamberlain 1-4
Robertson 1-3
Park 1-1
This group has lost eight of the 10 games the bullpen has lost this season. In defense of Park, though, he lost an early game to the Red Sox in the first series of the season and then spent a month on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain.
His issues seem to be centered around when he is asked to pitch multiple innings. He also been pitching much better of late. He has a 3.38 ERA for this month and he seems to be regaining some of 95 mph velocity.
Robertson had most his problems early in the season. In his first 10 outings, Robertson was 1-1 with a 13.50 ERA. He has only been scored upon in three of his next 21 outings, though he did hiccup and give up four runs in 1 1/3 innings on July 2 at home to Toronto.
But Robertson looks to be solid heading into the second half.
Not so for Joba Chamberlain.
Chamberlain has been the biggest disappointment in the Yankees’ bullpen. A failed starter, Chamberlain looked to resume the eighth-inning set-up role with which he was so successful as a rookie in 2007.
The inconsistency he has shown this season has been a major concern and it culminated in a a horrendous one-inning outing in Seattle on July 10 in which he gave up two hits, threw a wild pitch and was forced to intentionally walk a batter before giving up a grand slam home run that erased a 1-0 lead Javier Vazquez had handed him.
Though Girardi maintains Chamberlain is his eighth-inning guy, there is no sense in having a bridge to Rivera that is going to blow up. 
Perhaps the pursuit of Cliff Lee may be part of this issue. The rumor was if the Yankees had acquired Lee the Yankees would have traded Vazquez for a hitter they might need.
But maybe the Yankees could have shifted Hughes back to the bullpen because he has pitched 101 of his 180 allotted innings as a starter this season. The addition of Hughes, while disappointing to Hughes himself, might solve the inconsistency problem in the eighth inning and allow Chamberlain to develop as a seventh-inning reliever instead.
Who knows? But now there are rumors the Yankees are pursuing Ted Lilly of the Chicago Cubs so the
idea to switch Hughes back to the bullpen is not a moot point yet.
In the absence of Hughes, Chamberlain is going to have to improve if the Yankees hope to hold off the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox in the second half. Losing games in the eighth inning is painful and really hurts the team.
We will see how the bullpen plays out but the pressure is definitely on Chamberlain going forward.
Here are the grades for the first half:
Rivera A+
Chamberlain C-
Park I (Incomplete)
Robertson C+
Marte B
Gaudin C
Moseley I (Incomplete)
OVERALL BULLPEN GRADE: C

It is not out of the realm of possibility that Hughes could be placed in the bullpen long before the postseason starts. If that happens, he will most certainly resume his role as Rivera’s bridge as he was in 2009.
Chamberlain and Park need to improve their consistency. Robertson needs to continue the steady progress he has shown since April. It would be a great boost to the bullpen to get a healthy Aceves back but I do think the Yankees believe they will be getting him back anytime soon.
In the meantime, Mitre’s return will help and Marte must continue to get the tough lefties out. 
There is some concern about Rivera, too. His exit from the All-Star team was a surprise because he not only mentioned the discomfort in left side that shelved him for a week. Rivera also mentioned a sore right knee. Anytime a 40-year-old closer is talking injuries to keep him out of an All-Star game, it does sound alarm bells.
Could the trade for Lilly be all about shifting Hughes to the bullpen to replace Rivera if he goes down? We don’t know but it bears watching. The Yankees need Rivera as much as humans need oxygen. All hopes for a championship live or die with the best closer in the history of the game.

Tex, Cisco Kid Unleash Blazing Hot Lumber On Bosox

GAME 29
YANKEES 14, RED SOX 3

The New York Yankees’ locker room may look a like a M*A*S*H unit but they seem to be inflicting a lot more pain on the Boston Red Sox.
Without their starting catcher, center fielder, designated hitter and with a starting pitcher and second baseman ailing the Yankees put another serious beating on the Red Sox on Saturday. 
Lead by Mark Teixeira’s three home runs and five RBIs and Francisco Cervelli’s three singles and five RBIs, the Bronx Bombers delivered a 14-3 Beantown beatdown to a Red Sox team that is already in serious trouble in the American League East pennant chase.
Alfredio Aceves (3-0), one of the most fortunate win “vultures” in baseball history, earned the victory by virtue of taking over for CC Sabathia when the Sabathia was one strike away from a victory before a one hour and 14 minute rain delay. 
In true M*A*S*H fashion, Aceves had to leave the game in the sixth inning with stiffness in his back. It would not have been a stretch if pitching coach Dave Eiland would have pulled a hamstring on the way to the mound the way the Yankees are getting wounded these days.
Clay Buchholz (3-2), who entered Saturday’s contest with the lowest ERA among Boston’s starting rotation at 2.97, took the loss and saw his ERA balloon to 3.82. He was battered for six runs on nine hits and five walks.
With the victory and a rare Tampa Bay Rays’ road loss to the Oakland Athletics, the Yankees improved their season record to 21-8 and they are within a half-game of the first-place Rays in the A.L. East. The Red Sox, however, fell back under .500 at 15-16. They remain 7 1/2 games in back of the Rays.
The body may not be a corpse yet. But the Red Sox, facing a tough stretch of games in May, find themselves on life support and desperately needing a victory on Sunday against the Yankees to avoid a sweep. But their road to recovery looks very bleak indeed.
The Yankees have now won six games in a row and nine of their past 10.
YANKEE POSITIVES

  • Teixiera, like clockwork, has awoken in May and he already has more hits this month than he did in all of April. He is the first player in Yankee history since Lou Gehrig to have a three-homer game at Fenway Park. It was the third three-homer game of Teixeira’s career.
  • Cervelli has caught, thrown, called games and hit so well that people may soon be saying “Jorge who?” He had an RBI single in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth off Buchholz before adding another two-run single off reliever Daniel Bard in the eighth. He is first Yankee catcher to drive in five runs in a game against the Red Sox since Yogi Berra did it on July 3, 1957. Cervelli, who is lauded mostly for his defense, is now hitting .429 with 12 RBIs.
  • Nick Swisher continued his hot hitting in May with two hits and three RBIs. The three RBIs gave him 23 on the season and he took the team lead in that category from Derek Jeter, who has 22.
  • Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-2 with three walks and a RBI and he has raised his average on the season to .276. 
  • Brett Gardner contributed a bunt single, a sacrifice bunt, another single and a stoeln base to the attack. He is hitting .348 and he is second in the A.L. in stolen bases with 14.
  • The bullpen gave up four hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings but, more importantly, they did not allow the Red Sox to score a run while the Yankees tacked on eight runs in the last three innings.
  • The Yankee offense in two games against the Red Sox has scored 22 runs on 28 hits and 13 walks. They drew 10 walks on Saturday alone.
YANKEE NEGATIVES

  • Sabathia did give up two home runs in the game. One to 31-year-old journeyman outfielder Darnell McDonald with one in the third inning. With two out and one on in the same inning Victor Martinez added a two-run shot. That was it for the Red Sox offense the rest of day.
  • David Robertson came into the game to start the seventh inning and struck out McDonald. However, he then surrendered back-to-back singles by Marco Scutaro and Dustin Pedroia and was pulled from the game by manager Joe Girardi in favor of Joba Chamberlain. It is obvious Robertson is still searching to recapture his 2009 form.
  • There was some shoddy baserunning by the Yankees. Third-base coach Robby Thompson probably regrets sending Randy Winn on a single to center in the fourth inning. He was cut down at the plate on a throw from McDonald to Martinez. In the fifth inning, Winn was victimized by McDonald again. This time Winn was caught trying to move to third on Cervelli’s two-run single. He was tagged out in a rundown by Adrian Beltre.
  • Winn also was the only Yankee starter not have a hit in the game. He was 0-for-3 with a strikeout and two walks.
DIAMOND NOTES

Teixeira’s third home in the ninth inning came off Jonathan Van Every, a reserve outfielder the Red Sox pressed into service as a pitcher in the ninth.  . . .  With the victory on Saturday the Yankees are 4-1 against the Red Sox this season and all the games have been played at Fenway Park. The Yankees have also won 13 of their last 15 games against their division rivals.  . . .  The Yankees also won the series on Satuday and now have won nine of the 10 series they played this season — a feat only matched by the 1928 and 1939 Yankee squads.  . . .  Robinson Cano, who was struck in the left knee by a Josh Beckett fastball on Friday, originally was not in the lineup for Saturday’s game. However, Girardi was satisfied Cano was healthy enough to DH in the game. Ramiro Pena played second base.  . . .  Jorge Posada, who is nursing a strained right calf was held out of the lineup for another day. Girardi said Posada will DH on Sunday and will resume catching on Monday in Detroit.  . . .  The Yankees placed designated hitter Nick Johnson on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday and recalled reserve infielder Kevin Russo from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Johnson, who has surgery on his right wrist before, had an MRI on his sore wrist in New York. It is unclear how long Johnson will be out. Girardi said it will be “at least 15 days and probably more.”  . . .  The Yankees’ litany of injuries continued when Aceves left the game in the sixth inning with lower back stiffness. Aceves was following through on a curveball to pinch-hitter Jeremy Hermida when he stumbled off the mound. Aceves said he likely would have to take two or three days off to evaluate the injury. Aceves had the same issue with his back in spring training. 
THE NEXT GAME

The Yankees will look to sweep an obviously reeling Red Sox team on Sunday with A.J. Burnett (4-0, 1.99 ERA) scheduled to make his seventh start. Burnett is coming off a victory over the Baltimore Orioles last Tuesday. He gave up one unearned run on five hits in 7 1/3 innings. 
Burnett had a no decision on April 6 against the Red Sox, giving up four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. In his career, Burnett is 5-2 with a 4.30 ERA in 13 starts against Boston.
The Red Sox will send left-hander Jon Lester (2-2, 3.93 ERA) to the mound. Lester gave up one run on five hits in 8 innings in a victory over the Angels on Tuesday. Lester is 3-1 with a 4.19 ERA in nine lifetime starts against the Yankees.
Game-time is 8:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Yankees ‘Nick’ O’s Then Barely Hold On For Sweep

GAME 27
YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 5

After the first four innings Yankee fans were barely paying attention to the game, which had become a 7-1 rout. But by the last out, though, Yankee fans were blue in the face holding their breath with a 7-5 victory.
Nick Johnson and Nick Swisher each hit solo home runs to lead the offense and Andy Pettitte pitched five innings of one-run baseball as the Yankees won their fourth game in a row and swept the Orioles on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
Pettitte (4-0) gave up a bases loaded walk to Nolan Reimold in the third inning for the Orioles’ only run off of him. Pettitte scattered six hits, walked two and struck out before leaving the game with stiffness in his left elbow.
With Mariano Rivera unavailable due to stiffness in his left side and Joba Chamberlain unavailable because he was used to save the two previous games, manager Joe Girardi was looking for anyone who could close out the game in the ninth. After David Robertson and Boone Logan failed to do the job Alfredo Aceves came in with two on and two out to nail down his second career save.
David Hernandez (0-4), who struggled all day with location and ended up surrendering six earned runs on six hits and four walks, took the loss.
The Yankees improved their season record to 19-8. The Yankees remain one game behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the A.L. East. Meanwhile, the last-place Orioles dropped to an abysmal 7-21.
YANKEE POSITIVES

  • Pettitte has now beaten the Orioles for the 27th time versus only six losses. The 27 wins by Pettitte against the Orioles is the most wins he has in his career against any A.L. East division rival.
  • Johnson looked like a different hitter at the plate. He was 3-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and a RBI that came on his long home run in the second deck in right field. Johnson raised his average to .371 and he is showing signs of coming out of his season-long slump.
  • Speaking of coming out of slumps, Mark Teixeira stroked a key two-out, two-run double in the fourth inning that made the score 6-1. It ended up being the game-winning hit.
  • Everybody in the Yankee lineup contributed at least one hit except Robinson Cano, who took a 0-for-4 collar. His batting average fell to .362.
  • The Yankees infield defense turned four double plays in the game and three of them came with Pettitte on the mound.
YANKEE NEGATIVES

  • There has to be some concern about a 37-year-old pitcher who leaves a 6-1 game in the fifth inning with elbow stiffness. The Yankees, who already have lost reliever Chan Ho Park and outfielder Curtis Granderson to the disabled list and have Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera nursing seemingly minor injuries, can ill afford any more injuries.
  • Sergio Mitre was sailing along in the eighth inning having faced the minimum six batters in two innings before he gave up a single to Julio Lugo and a two-run home run to  Ty Wigginton with one out. That made the score 6-3 at the time.
  • David Robertson ended the eighth inning by getting the final out and he started the ninth by getting the first out. However, the wheels came off the wagon when he gave up back-to-back solo home runs to Matt Wieters and Nolan Reimold that made the score 7-5. Robertson’s struggles continue. His ERA jumped to 14.21 and he has not been effective at all this season. His fastball periodically came to the plate at eye level and his mechanics are all out of whack.
  • Boone Logan, who had an impressive spring training and has opened eyes with his 97-mile-per-hour fastball, didn’t help matters much in the ninth by walking pinch-hitter Rhyne Hughes and Lugo to bring the potential lead run to the plate. Girardi then pulled Logan  and Aceves retired Wigginton on a routine fly ball to end the game.
DIAMOND NOTES

An MRI taken after Pettitte left his start after the fifth inning indicated a mild inflammation of his left elbow. The Yankees will be cautious with the veteran left-hander and he will re-evaluated. He is now listed as day-to-day. Pettitte did release a statement saying the elbow discomfort is not in the same area of the flexor tendon that he had surgery on in 2004 with the Astros.  . . .  Derek Jeter played in his 2,164 game as a Yankee on Wednesday and he tied Lou Gehrig for second on the all-time Yankee games played list. The only player who has played more games is Mickey Mantle, who played 2,401 in his career.  . . .  With Pettitte’s victory against the Orioles, the Yankees’ starting rotation is 16-4 this season. If you subtract Javier Vazquez and his 1-3 record, Pettitte, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes are a combined 15-1 this season.  . . .  Girardi kept to his word to the media and held Rivera out of Wednesday’s game. With a day off scheduled for Thursday, Rivera will likely be available for the three-game weekend series at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. Rivera said the stiffness in his left side had healed and he was ready to pitch but Girardi played it safe with the 40-year-old veteran closer.
THE NEXT GAME

The Yankees are heading off to Boston tonight but they will not play until Friday. Is it just this blogger or isn’t it odd that the Yankees are playing their second series in Beantown when the Red Sox have not stepped foo
t into Yankee Stadium? 
The Yankees decided to skip their scheduled starter Vazquez and Hughes (3-0, 1.44 ERA) will pitch the opener instead. Hughes has been sensational in each of his four starts, having given up only 10 hits and his ERA is second in the American League. Hughes pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up just four hits against the White Sox on Saturday.
The struggling Red Sox will start their struggling ace Josh Beckett (1-0, 6.31 ERA). Beckett did pitch seven innings and gave up only two runs on just six hits in a no-decision against the Orioles on Saturday. Beckett pitched against the Yankees on Opening Night and gave up five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in a game the Red Sox won 9-7 after he left the game. Beckett is 9-5 but has a 5.51 ERA against the Yankees in his career.
Game-time will be 7:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.

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