Posts Tagged ‘Brett Gardner’

Kuroda, The Samurai Sword!

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

Impressive performance tonight, right? Kuroda sliced and diced his way through the O’s lineup and left no doubt that when he’s on he’s really on. I mean like almost perfect. He threw strikes, pitched economically and had everything working (I really hope Hughes and Nova were watching carefully), and it made what was an early pitcher’s duel actually feel relaxing.

I didn’t know how the Yankees would give him run support but I knew they would. What a bomb from little Gardy and how timely. There were a couple of errors in the infield, but overall tonight’s series finale was a well played contest and an important one, even though it’s only April. It doesn’t hurt to beat our division rival and set a tone.

I especially enjoyed winning in front of a national audience on ESPN, I admit it. Despite missing many of our marquee guys, the Yankees are still capable of showing everybody who’s boss.

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Another, Even Better Janer. Seriously!

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

And we all said the Yankees would have trouble scoring runs this season. Ha. Of course, they weren’t exactly facing the best pitchers in the majors tonight against Cleveland, but if hitting is contagious the Yankees have all caught the bug. What fun!

First there was small ball and then there was big ball and then there was just a lot of offense, period.

And Andy. Wow. There aren’t enough superlatives for him. He continues to deliver just the way he always has, and I hope he never retires.

My problem with this game was Carrasco, the Indians starter. The guy has a history of being a head hunter, sort of a younger Padilla, and I was completely in agreement with the ump who ejected him for hitting Youkilis. Francona argued and I get that, but Carrasco is just back from serving a suspension for the same offense. There’s no place in the sport for punks like him and I was grateful that he was gone – especially when the Yanks were able to feast on Myers.

Back to the good stuff, it was great to see Gardner, in particular, hit the ball so well. We need him to be productive at the top of the order, and that’s what he was tonight.

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Those Evil Home Runs Are Pretty Great

Monday, July 16th, 2012

I don’t know where the Yankees would be without the long ball, but I don’t care. Tonight was the perfect example of how much fun they are. Russell Martin’s put the Yanks on the board and Raul Ibanez’s sealed the deal, and it all had a happy ending.

Of course I have to take some credit for the Ibanez slam. The score was tied and I was getting antsy. Luckily, we had driven to the Bridgewater Market here in CT and bought one of their amazing blueberry pies earlier in the day, so I had some rally pie around 9 o’clock.

And yes, there was vanilla ice cream involved.

Anyhow, I finished my slice of pie and sat there with my purple teeth and Ibanez went deep. Mission accomplished.

Big game for Phil Hughes tonight. He pitched well and gave us innings. And Soriano continues to get the job done, although he might need to rest the arm at the rate he’s going.

Speaking of arms, what to make of the Brett Gardner situation. The guy doesn’t get better and keeps going for MRIs and consultations with doctors. What’s to find out at this point? He tries to play and feels pain. End of story. Get the damn surgery already and let Cashman trade for Victorino, Upton or whichever outfielder he’s targeting. I’d be sad if Betances were included in the package though. I guess we’ll know soon enough.

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First, The Bad News

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

Yup, Eduardo Scissorhands was in full view tonight. Those errors in the first couple of innings were painful to watch, especially the second one. I actually wondered on that throw if he was suffering from the Chuck Knoblauch Syndrome. He received pats on the back from his teammates in the dugout, but seriously. How long can he play third? (Or second? Or short?) And why is A-Rod DH-ing so often? (That’s another story; don’t get me started.) Clearly, Nunez has a nice bat and can run the bases. But just as clearly he’s not the guy I want out there when CC is pitching and doing his best to be efficient with his pitch count.

Now, onto the good news.

CC was a beast.

At first I thought he might get hit hard – his pitches were up – but he totally settled in and dominated, and was the essence of an ace.

Cano was the Cano we’ve come to know and love. He’s back. He looks great at the plate, just great, and not a moment too soon.

Soriano took command in the ninth even after pitching on consecutive days. I liked it.

And here’s another piece of good news: Chris Stewart always does something good with his appearances. Girardi can say all he wants that Stewart isn’t CC’s personal catcher, but who cares? Why not let the two of them continue their partnership if it’s working? Martin’s a big boy. He can handle it.

Of course, the news that Gardner has re-injured himself isn’t good news at all. It stinks. I don’t want to see Ibanez in the outfield – ever – and even Jones makes me nervous. I really like Dewayne Wise though.

Good, solid series win for the Yanks against a division rival. I’m happy right now.

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ALDS Game 3: Too Good And Not Good Enough

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

I’m depressed and, therefore, not in the mood to post pics. I hope words will do.

So. We lost.

There will be complaints about the tight strike zone. There will be talk about Girardi bringing in Soriano too late and even more talk about bringing him back for another inning instead of using Robertson. There will be a debate about not sending Montero up to pinch hit for Martin against Valverde. Blah blah blah.

This was about CC not having it and Verlander firing 100 mph fastballs through eight innings. Our guy wasn’t as good as their guy. End of story.

Still, the Yankees had their shining moments – from all those double plays that bailed out CC and A-Rod’s sure hand at third to Jorge’s tenacious at bats and Gardner’s huge game-tying double. If Soriano hadn’t coughed up that homer, we might have had extra innings and hung on a little longer.

But we had chances in the ninth and didn’t seize them, and the result was having to watch Valverde’s victory dance (although it was subdued, for him).

Did we ever imagine in our wildest dreams that our season would come down to AJ Burnett?

Of course not. But here we are, on the verge of elimination.

What needs to happen is this:

  1. The Good Great AJ has to show up.
  2. A-Rod has to be the 2009 model.
  3. Tex has to stop being Mr. April.
  4. Mo has to get into the game.

In other words, it’ll be all hands on deck so this baby doesn’t sink.

Photo: Mario Belluomo

(Okay, I had to post one pic.)

Let’s go Yankeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

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Brett The Jet

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

He did it all tonight against the Blue Jays – from his amazing defensive plays (is there a better left fielder in baseball right now?) to the display of power that put the Yankees into the ballgame to the double steal with Jeter. What an asset he’s been this season.

And how about Nova? I was a little worried when he got the ball up in the zone during the later innings, but then he came back in the seventh and pitched lights out – another great outing for him.

Did anyone notice how exhausted Curtis Granderson looked?

I know all the Yankees must have been dead tired after flying back from Boston so late and feeling the after effects from that bruising series, but Granderson’s eyes were like mine after a bout of insomnia.

Mo, too, had sort of a dazed expression. I wasn’t expecting to see him, given how many pitches he threw in last night’s ninth inning, but there he was doing his job. He needs to go right home and get plenty of sleep.

I was hoping Tex’s knee would make a miraculous recovery; Swisher did his best at first base, but he only reminds us how lucky we are to have Tex. Maybe he’ll be better tomorrow? Yeah, probably not.

Oh, one more thing. Is it me or did Eduardo Scissorhands play a very good second base tonight? I didn’t even have to hold my breath whenever the ball was hit to him.

Boston got pummeled by the Rangers, so we’re in good shape again. More, please, Yankees. Pour it on.

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Where Has This AJ Been Hiding?

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

Apparently, he and Larry Rothschild worked on a slight change in mechanics since the last start – and the result was a very good performance tonight in Boston. Why didn’t they come up with this change in, say, July? Don’t ask me. All I know is that he was impressive and deserved some run support. My guess is he’ll stay in the rotation and Hughes will go to the pen.

Tonight’s marathon (it felt like 10 hours) was really two games.

Game 1, in which the Red Sox led 2-1, was an exercise in futility as the Yanks kept leaving men on base – again.

Game 2, in which we went ahead 4-2, was a thrill ride that nearly gave me a nervous breakdown. Great defensive plays by Granderson, Gardner and Tex. Great relief pitching by Logan, Wade, Soriano and Robertson. Great at bats by Jones, Martin and Chavez. Great but nail biting ninth by Mo. Not a great debut by Montero, but he did score a run. Great winning this series. Whew.

What wasn’t great was watching Tex get hit on the knee – by old friend Aceves yet. I’m relieved the injury wasn’t more serious, but with A-Rod out we really didn’t need another bat going AWOL. Hopefully, “day to day” means “any day” in his case.

And now I’m going to bed. Who can stay up for these ridiculously long contests? Or am I just old and cranky?

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Tough Luck

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Photo: AP

If I were AJ Burnett, I’d be saying, “How come my teammates score so many runs for CC but not for me?”

Not that he didn’t make mistakes in tonight’s loss to the O’s; those home run meatballs were his responsibility. But four runs isn’t a huge deficit for a team like the Yankees to make up and he did have all those strikeouts. He deserved better.

Especially against the Orioles. How many times have we faced Guthrie now? And suddenly he’s Cy Young?

I hope Gardner didn’t hurt his hand smashing the bat on the ground after he killed the rally in the ninth. Ouch.

A-Rod, if you can hear me, please come back soon. This lineup needs you. A lot.

(courtesy: dailynews.com)

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Walks and Errors and Lightning, Oh My

Monday, July 18th, 2011

What a weird win, but I loved it. Well, I loved everything except A.J.’s wildness (six walks and a throwing error – ugh). If I read tomorrow that he smashed his hand into a glass door after the game, I won’t be surprised. He looked kind of snarly in the dugout.

Anyhow, it was a nice comeback for the Yanks. For most of the game, the offense was half dead against yet another pitcher they’d never faced. But then came the Rays’ exhausted bullpen, plus a kid they’d called up from the minors, and the Yankees pounced. It didn’t hurt that Noesi had a huge strikeout with bases loaded, that D-Rob was a strikeout machine and that Mo did his usual save thing. Good job, boys.

I wasn’t sure the game would be finished, given the delay because of the lightning-induced power outage at the Trop. Not only did that bank of lights go out, but so did my YES feed. Doesn’t it seem as if something spooky always happens there? It’s like that dome is haunted or something.

I know I said this in last night’s post, but how hot is Brett Gardner right now? And, conversely, how cold is Mark Teixeira? This cold?

For the uninitiated, the above is a box of It’s-It ice cream sandwiches and I had one (a sandwich, not the whole box) during the game. It’s-It is a San Francisco-based ice cream producer and there’s nothing – I mean nothing – like their ice cream. The original ice cream sandwich has vanilla surrounded by a chocolate shell with an oatmeal cookie on the top and bottom. It’s to die for.

Sorry. Back to business. With game 1 of this series in the books, we turn to Colon tomorrow night. I say if he falters again, a trade is imperative – as in Make It Happen, Cashman.

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A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Saturday, July 16th, 2011

That was my view today as I took an afternoon walk. Gone was the fog that we’ve had forever. No worries about “carmageddon” since I didn’t have to get to LA for any reason. And best of all, CC Sabathia is a Yankee.

Seriously, how lucky are we to have him come to our rescue time and time again and pick the team up after a loss or two? He’s about as dependable as it gets and deserves every penny the Yankees pay him. (Well, it’s not my millions so I can be generous.) He had an All-Star break just like everybody else, but aside from some first inning shakiness he looked like he didn’t miss a beat.

Nice day for Gardner, Jeter got more hits, Cervelli showed some life and Swisher had a pulse.

Nunez? Yup. Another error for Eduardo Scissorhands. I know he knocks in runs, but I continue to miss you know who.

Mo made us sweat a little in the 9th but got the save. Is there any way we could have him and CC pitch every day? That would really work for me.

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