by Brian on April 12, 2008 at 1:35AM
If you thought Thursday night's game was an indication that the Yankee bats have finally come to life, I think you were probably mistaken. The Yanks only managed a meager 4 runs against Clay Buchholz and their average with runners in scoring position continued to plummet. Luckily, it didn't matter.
Chien-Ming Wang continued his amazing run to start the season with a spectacular two-hitter. One of the hits was a home run off Bobby Abreu's glove which he really should've caught. The other was a bunt single by Coco Crisp in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Wang absolutely dominated tonight, and the most impressive part if it was his pitch selection.
He had his power sinker working tonight. The movement was amazing. In years past, he would've thrown about 90% sinkers and let them pound the ball into the ground. Not this time. Wang is a new man this year. Even though he had his #1 pitch going, he didn't completely lean on it. He threw four-seamers on the inner half, mixed in change-ups, sliders, you name it. He went out there an used his full arsenal and kept the Sox hitter guessing. It was a thing of beauty.
Three offensive stars, the first is obvious. Jason Giambi broke a 1-1 tie with a solo bomb over the center field wall in the top of the seventh. It was Giambi's second hit of the season and raised his average to a whopping .095. The second hero is less obvious, but yet again Melky Cabrera showed his true value. In a spot start in the lead off spot Melky worked the count all night long, came through with a big sacrifice fly deep enough to score Jose Molina, and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to set up the Yanks fourth and final run. His line on the night was 0 for 3 with 1 RBI, a perfect example of how the box score NEVER tells the whole story. And how about Jose Molina? The guy just won't stop hitting.
Saturday's game is a late-afternoon affair on Fox pitting the resurgent Moose against the malingering Josh Beckett. I have a feeling the bats are really going to be needed for this one. Let's hope they get a good night's rest.
Player of The Game: Chien-Ming Wang
Team Record: 6-5
Damon's Broken Bats: DNP CD (7 on the season, in 10 games)
Chien-Ming Wang continued his amazing run to start the season with a spectacular two-hitter. One of the hits was a home run off Bobby Abreu's glove which he really should've caught. The other was a bunt single by Coco Crisp in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Wang absolutely dominated tonight, and the most impressive part if it was his pitch selection.
He had his power sinker working tonight. The movement was amazing. In years past, he would've thrown about 90% sinkers and let them pound the ball into the ground. Not this time. Wang is a new man this year. Even though he had his #1 pitch going, he didn't completely lean on it. He threw four-seamers on the inner half, mixed in change-ups, sliders, you name it. He went out there an used his full arsenal and kept the Sox hitter guessing. It was a thing of beauty.
Three offensive stars, the first is obvious. Jason Giambi broke a 1-1 tie with a solo bomb over the center field wall in the top of the seventh. It was Giambi's second hit of the season and raised his average to a whopping .095. The second hero is less obvious, but yet again Melky Cabrera showed his true value. In a spot start in the lead off spot Melky worked the count all night long, came through with a big sacrifice fly deep enough to score Jose Molina, and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to set up the Yanks fourth and final run. His line on the night was 0 for 3 with 1 RBI, a perfect example of how the box score NEVER tells the whole story. And how about Jose Molina? The guy just won't stop hitting.
Saturday's game is a late-afternoon affair on Fox pitting the resurgent Moose against the malingering Josh Beckett. I have a feeling the bats are really going to be needed for this one. Let's hope they get a good night's rest.
Player of The Game: Chien-Ming Wang
Team Record: 6-5
Damon's Broken Bats: DNP CD (7 on the season, in 10 games)
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Hey Brian, first time poster here, really love Depressed Fan, I'm a Sixer fan and your analysis of the games is so spot on, really enjoy reading what you have to say.
Just wanted to give some props to Sam tonight for working his butt off on the boards and his really good defensive job on JO. He gets overshadowed by the Andre's all the time, but I think without Sam, this team is not in the post season. The Sixers couldn't throw anything in the hoop tonight, not even foul shots. Make your foul shots win the game! One more observation from me, Sam wide open under the basket 3 times, I counted, hand up. I know it's not wise to give him the ball in the post, but under the basket? couldn't be any worse than Willie Green or Lou Williams tonight.
In closing I have a question for you, I'm new here so forgive me if this has been explained by you often, but how did you become a Yankee's fan, but you love the Sixers and Eagles and not the Philles, just curious. Thanks for your great commentary, look forward to more!