Yankees vs. Red Sox, A.L. East title hanging in the balance. Do you need more of a preview?
I'm going to be live-blogging, so if you're watching, leave your thoughts in the comments.
Dice-K's numbers since the All Star break, 4-6, 5.57 ERA.
Dice-K's heater is clocking in at about 88 MPH. Hilarious.
Lead-off single for Damon, little dribbler, Dice K botched the play and Youkilis was out of position. Good start.
Someone on the Sox needs to get drilled. This little bitch Dice-K is a headhunter. The umps don't do anything about it, so it's left up to the Yankee pitchers. Jeter flies out after a pitch up around his noggin.
E-Lugo. First and second, one out for A-Rod.
There's a shock. Another hit Yankee, this time the MVP. I don't care if it was a curve, there needs to be retaliation. Bases juiced, one out.
Youkilis just made a bad play on a ground ball. It was hit hard, he fielded cleanly, and went home with the throw. If he goes to second it's a double play and the inning is over. Bases still loaded, two out now.
Matsui breaks his bat on a 3-2 pitch. Wasted opportunity. 27 pitches for Dice K.
Pettitte is being clocked at 91, so the same speed as Dice K. That's pretty much in line with what he usually throws, maybe a little harder. If ESPN is saying Dice K is throwing 94 consistently, ESPN is full of sh!t.
E-Jeter. Great start. Pedroia pops out to shallow center and the knowledgeable Fenway fans cheer like it's a home run. Blown double play by Jeter, but he gets Ortiz at first. Two down, man on second. Whiff by Lowell, no harm no foul. Goose eggs after one. 17 pitches for Pettitte.
Lead-off walk for Giambi. Lead-off walks score 60% of the time. Cano K's on a check swing. He went around. Melky pops out to short. Two out, man on first. Damon K's looking. 4 runners left on through 2 innings for the Bombers. 45 pitches for Matsuzaka.
Youkilis slaps a single to right. J.D. Drew looking good on 4 straight curves for the K. Yet another excellent signing by Epstein. Varitek walks, first and second, 1 out. Nice base running by Youkilis as the ball gets by Posada, and he stays put at second. Fielder's choice for Kielty. RBI single for Jacoby Ellsbury. Never trust someone with two last names. 1-0, Blowsox. Nice play by Cano to end the inning. 48 pitches for Pettitte.
Deep fly out for Jeter, hard ground out for Abreu, A-Rod Ks. That was the hardest ball thrown by Dice-K, at 93 MPH. 56 pitches for Dice K.
A-Rod bobbles a grounder, but makes the play to get the hobbit. Fenway double for Oriz. Single to center, Ortiz is dead meat at the plate. Horrible coaching job by the third base coach, perfect throw by Melky. Perfect doesn't even begin to describe that throw, actually. Unbelievable. Unintentional, intentional walk to Youkilis. He wanted to face Drew, let's hope it doesn't bite him. E-Giambi, Lowell scores. 2-0, Sox. Varitek Ks. 71 pitches for Pettitte.
The infield defense for the Yanks has been atrocious. Jeter has an error on a throw, and also botched an easy double play ball. A-Rod booted a grounder, but recovered to make the play, and Giambi pulled a Buckner on that grounder last inning. Wake up.
Deep double to center for Posada. Ellsbury looked like a rookie going after the ball. Lead-off double, Matsui has to get him to third here. Or and RBI triple, that'll do too. 2-1, Boston. Runner on third, no one out. Giambi walks. Julie Tavarez is warming, Dice-K is wilting. Cano Ks. First and third, one out. Melky's bat looks sluggish, not feeling great about this situation. Double play for Melky, unreal. I think he was out by a hair, why slide there? First and third, no one out and they don't score a friggin run. Pathetic.
Double Kielty, single Ellsbury, trouble for Pettitte. Lugo Ks. Ellsbury picked off first, but makes it to second, Giambi can't get him at second with the throw. Single for the pipsqueak, both runs score. 4-1, Sox. Single for Ortiz. First and third, one out. You better get somebody up, Joe. Gator to the mound. Single off Pettitte's glove, another run scores. 5-1, A-Holes. Passed ball, Posada, and now he's behind J.D. Drew 3-0. He came back to strike Drew out, after drew was literally begging the home plate ump for a walk.
Damon fly out. Jeter K'd looking on a b.s. call. Abreu walks on a 3-2 count. Nice at bat there. A-Rod Ks looking, and I'm running out of ink. Back later, if there's anything left to say about this one.
The defensive effort the Yankees have turned in tonight has been nothing short of pitiful. This is what happens when you pencil in Giambi at first. Currently, 7-2, ketchup sox. The main reason I'm still watching is the slim chance that the Sox will use Eric Gagne.
HOW ABOUT THAT RED SOX BULLPEN!!!!!!! 7-7, Papelbon and Okajima FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!
MVP comes through, 8-7 YANKEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!
This is what the Yankees have done so far in the top of the eighth against the meat of the Sox Bullpen:
Giambi - HR
Cano - HR
Melky - BB
Damon - 2B
Jeter - 1B, 1 RBI (off Papelbon)
Abreu - 2B, 2 RBI
A-Rod - 1B, 1 RBI
7 batters, six runs.
The Yankees came into this inning sinking like a rock. It was hard to keep my eyes open, and then...
Wow, Papelbon sure is pumped that he got out of that inning. Too bad he blew the game.
By the way, is 91 MPH a good velocity for Papelbon's fastball? I didn't think so.
I find it heart warming that the Sox fans didn't get the "Let's Go Red Sox" chants going until they lost the lead. What a sad fan base.
The Viz is in, even though his shoulder is hurting. I can't argue with the move in this situation.
Ortiz grounds out to Cano in medium-depth right field. Lowell Ks but Jorge drops the ball and he reaches. Youkilis displays his lack of power, flying out to middle center. Coco Crisp (who pinch-ran for Lowell) gunned down trying to steal second. F*cking awesome.
Gagne is in, can this night get any better?
Cano flies out after calling the trainer out to remove a splinter, I think. Gagne is throwing nothing but garbage out there, and I think I'm going to be able to notch another fake injury on his graphic after this game. He's grimacing out there. Melky flies out. Double for Damon off the monster. Jeter flies out to deep right. By far, Gagne's best outing in Boston.
Enter
Sandman
Cano botches a grounder, Drew on first with no one out. Varitek looks pitiful en route to striking out. Weak fly out for Kielty, sorry red. Ellsbury goes down without a fight. Yankees win, 8-7. Choke on it, Boston.
Obviously, this was a must-win game for the Yanks if they want to win the East. All hope seemed lost until Terry Francona started managing like this was the 7th game of the world series. He brought Okajima in to replace a lefty, against a lefty hitter. Not a necessary move. Then he brought his closer in for a two-inning save. His closer failed, and failed miserably. Not only that, but he probably burned his closer for tomorrow's game AND his closer is showing serious signs of a dead arm.
The Yankees continued their domination of the Sox, netting their fourth win in a row against the team they're chasing. This is looking more and more like the same Boston team who completely folded last season after an ass-whipping at the hands of the Bombers. I hope Papelbon cries himself to sleep tonight. The Wanger is on the hill tomorrow, and he's looking to put his stamp on the Cy Young race against Yankee-fodder Josh Beckett.
On the negative side of things, the Yankees have to shore up their defense, and start capitalizing on base runners. They should've won this game about 15-3. Still, I'll take 8-7, come back tomorrow and do it again.
Yankees Magic Number to win the East: 19 Player of The Game: Johnny Damon, 4 for 6, 1 run, 1 rbi, no errors.
The commentators on ESPN kept saying 94, but when I actually started looking, the highest I saw for Dice-K was 93. And 92 happened more often. So, there's probably about a 1-2 mph difference.
I love watching ESPN spin everything in favor of the Sox. Hilarious. 9/10 of their highlight package are Sox highlights, then they give no credit to the Yanks for the comeback.
Great game, now it's time for the Wanger to dominate.
Terry francona is gonna be scared to read the paper tomorrow. He should've just took a glance at the standings before diving into THE MOST FEARING BULLPEN IN THE LEAGUE( yea rite). Even though jeter didn't want to say it this is the biggest win of the season and will make this team look ahead to Boston instead of looking back at the Tigers in the wild-card. And what happened to Papelbon? His fastball is the same as Andy and almost the same as a full-rested Moose! WOW! From 14 1/5 to 4 1/2 with Boston and NY fighting for the division with 2 weeks left. Now this is baseball.
According to ESPN, Dice-K's fastball is consistently at 94 mph. That's quite a difference from what you're saying.
ESPN's gun is consistently 3-5 MPH faster than YES's gun then.
If YES's radar gun is correct, the Yankees sure are having a hard time swinging at an 88 mph fastball.
What is ESPN clocking Pettitte's pitches at?
Here are the numbers for the Varitek at-bat in the second (I can't identify all the pitches, but I'll try):
84, 76 (curve), 93 (fastball), 86, 85 (slider), 84, 93 for ball four
Those Pettitte fastballs were clocked at 91 by YES. Neither pitcher has topped 92 MPH, they both did it once or twice. ESPN's gun is fast.
The commentators on ESPN kept saying 94, but when I actually started looking, the highest I saw for Dice-K was 93. And 92 happened more often. So, there's probably about a 1-2 mph difference.
Time to start blogging again, Brian. How sweet and unbelievable.
I can't stop smiling. About to go wake my wife up to watch the rest of this.
The sweetest win this season, without a doubt!
Re-watching the top of the 8th and bottom of the 9th on mlb.tv right now. Awesome, just effing awesome.
I love watching ESPN spin everything in favor of the Sox. Hilarious. 9/10 of their highlight package are Sox highlights, then they give no credit to the Yanks for the comeback.
Great game, now it's time for the Wanger to dominate.
Terry francona is gonna be scared to read the paper tomorrow. He should've just took a glance at the standings before diving into THE MOST FEARING BULLPEN IN THE LEAGUE( yea rite). Even though jeter didn't want to say it this is the biggest win of the season and will make this team look ahead to Boston instead of looking back at the Tigers in the wild-card. And what happened to Papelbon? His fastball is the same as Andy and almost the same as a full-rested Moose! WOW! From 14 1/5 to 4 1/2 with Boston and NY fighting for the division with 2 weeks left. Now this is baseball.
This is why we watch the games. Down to the wire, each team has its top three starters going. Today is going to be fun.