This one left a bad taste in my mouth. The Yanks were cruising to their sixth straight win, and a 4–game sweep of the Blue Jays until the top of the seventh. Wang was masterful, but for that one dreadful inning. Oh well, Tampa tomorrow, have to move on.
Letter to the Skipper:
Player of the Game: Luis Vizcaino. Luis pitched a clean ninth, and to be honest, this award is a long time coming. I have no idea why Joe stuck with Viz, but it sure has worked out.
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Off topic,
but is there any word on when Hughes might rejoin the team and be put back in the starting rotation?
And when that happens, who is on their way out or down to make room on the roster?
Hughes is making a start for Scranton (AAA) on Monday I believe. His pitch count is going to be 75, then they're saying one more start down there to get his pitch count up to 90ish, then he should be back.
That works out to August 2nd or 3rd.
I'm hoping Igawa will get the boot when he comes back, but he may be gone before then. I think Karstens is closer to coming back than Hughes.
Good point about Hughes. Personally, the stolen base thing gets to me. The Yankees' record in one-run games is appalling; I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it's not very good. That's because Joe Torre still can't manufacture runs when necessary, and it's why they won't win a World Series unless the other team either collapses or is very similarly built to the Yankees.
Seriously, just steal a base, sacrifice bunt ehre and there, force the other team into making a mistake... think a stolen base in the 9th might have resulted in a throwing error, or a balk like the other night? Those are the kind of situations that arise when you put pressure on the other team.
SML,
You're on point here. If A-Rod steals second, you know Matsui gets him over to third minimum. Melky stole third the other night, and I have to think he did that on his own.
I don't want to pile on Torre right now, because the Yanks have been running much more recently. I just think this one situation called for it, and he fell back on the "We can win with one swing of the bat" philosophy when he really shouldn't have.
With all the potential power in the lineup, and with past lineups, Torre hasn't really had to play 'small ball'. And with 30 something guys like Abreu, Damon, Jeter and A-Rod, he might be afraid to have them slide and risk injury.
On paper, Torre shouldn't have to rely on manufacturing runs. He should have the power in the lineup and lots of power. Funny how paper and real performance don't always coincide.
Yep, that's the trap. You build this lineup where every guy is a potential all star, and you don't want to do things like bunt, hit and run, steal bases because you're giving up outs. The only problem is that there are going to be games where you need 1 run to get a win, and you have to be adaptable enough to do what's necessary to get that run.
This is especially key in the post season, when you face better pitching.