Posts Tagged ‘Rafael Soriano’

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The Broom Is Back – In A Good Way

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

This time it was the Yankees who did the sweeping. (Thank you, O’s.)

But, of course, it wasn’t easy – or quick. Instead, tonight was the second loooong nail biter in a row that featured a faltering starter, an offensive comeback, superb relief work, a hitting hero and a brilliant job by our one-and-only closer.

It also featured more bad umpiring (Eduardo Scissorhands looked safe at first to me, for example).

What to make of CC these days? He does seem to have his April slumps and maybe his first couple of outings are just that: April doldrums. I sure hope so.

I questioned a few of Girardi’s moves (what else is new), but they turned out okay so I’ll shut up.

Soriano finally got into a game and after a hairy situation threw absolute gas to end the inning. But the surprise was Boone Logan. I never expect him to be any good and he was tonight.

I have to give the prize to Swisher though. His homer allowed me to breathe, so here’s to him.

P.S. Friend of the Blog Peggy has surfaced following her daughter’s wedding, and she sent along some lovely photos, including this one of the bride and groom cutting their Yankee pinstriped cake. Health and happiness to them.

 

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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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On The Edge Of My Seat

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

No, I wasn’t sitting in front of the TV with cleavage showing, but that woman’s expression pretty much sums up how I was feeling tonight. Once again, our game against the Rays was more about the Rays than it was about the Yanks. I didn’t love that our offense was asleep for the second night in a row (A-Rod? Helloooo? Are you in there? ) or that Martin hit into the triple play or that Soriano coughed up the three-run homer, but I went with the old “Everybody’s just getting their work in” rationale and forced myself not to worry about any of it. Colon’s already proven his worth and he’s not anybody’s idea of a playoff starter, so whatever he can give us at this point is, well, you know.

More exciting was what was going on in Baltimore. Man, those Fighting Showalters were fun to watch. Just when I thought the Red Sox would coast to the win, they came back and nearly tied the score against Papelface.

So now the Rays and Sox remain tied going into the last game of the regular season. Will we see a one-game playoff on Thursday? That would mean either both the Rays and Sox win tomorrow night or they both lose.

Girardi hasn’t announced our starter as of this writing. For all I know, it could be Scott Proctor. The Rays, on the other hand, will be playing like it’s the seventh game of the World Series. I like their chances. I think the Red Sox will prevail too, and that’ll bring us to Thursday’s head-to-head.

One way or another, baseball wins.

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Just Not A Night Owl

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Tonight’s game could have been Yankees-Red Sox, given that it took what seemed like three hours to play three innings. They’re in the bottom of the eighth as I type this, with the Yanks over the Royals 9-7, but I’m not sticking around for the ninth. Call me a wuss, but I’m tired. Let me know what I missed.

Here’s what I do know about the game.

Nova was a total Jekyll and Hyde. He was off to a great start, then couldn’t hold a couple of leads, then pulled it together before Joe pulled him – and not a moment too soon. I guess he was due for a stinker.

Great job by Boone Logan to get us out of trouble and by Soriano, who is quickly becoming a pitcher I look forward to seeing when he takes his turn on the mound, and by Robertson. Our pen rocks.

Lots of offensive fun too. That at bat by Cano was amazing. Jeter keeps showing he’s still got it. I could watch Gardner run all day.

Martin was busy behind the plate. I love how excited he gets when he throws out a runner. He gave the Royals’ dugout the evil eye as if to say, “Don’t mess with me, people.”

BREAKING NEWS: I’m staying up after all.

Since the Yankees went down quickly in the top of the ninth and it’s still 9-7 – and since the Red Sox lost the second game of their doubleheader, putting us in a position to vault into first place – I’m hanging in for the bottom of the frame. Here we go with Mo on the hill.

Batter #1: Strikeout.

Batter #2: Groundout.

Batter #3: OMG! My9 just cut us off! I do not believe this! They totally screwed up their feed and went to some dumb game show, then to a LONG shot of the stupid fountain at Kauffman Stadium. How bush league can you get?

Well, I guess the Yankees won and Mo retired the side even though I didn’t actually see it. Clap clap clap, Yanks.

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Some Trends Are More Positive Than Others

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

No, I’m not talking about the vagaries of the stock market. I’m talking about the ever-changing winds of the Yankees.

(courtesy: denninger.com)

Today’s series victory over the Angels continued some upward trends:

  1. Colon’s terrific starts.
  2. Granderson’s remarkable power.
  3. Soriano’s perfection since his return from the DL.
  4. Cano’s home run derby-ness. (I think I just invented a word.)
  5. The Yankees’ ability to beat a team that used to bedevil us.

But there were some downward trends that carried an ominousness to them.

  1. Mo’s ineffectiveness against lefties.
  2. Mo’s decreasing velocity.
  3. Mo’s cutter not cutting.
  4. Mo’s recent tendency to serve up the long ball.

Yes, I’m freaked out about Mo. (Cory Wade’s little meltdown didn’t register on my freakout scale.)

I know I said he goes through rough patches in August, and he does. The runs he gives up tend to come in bunches. He always bounces back and I expect him to do the same this time too and then be his god-like self for even longer stretches. But whenever he shows he’s human, it’s hard to take. With Jorge having been marginalized, I can’t conceive of Mo retiring and the Core Four eroding into the Core One.

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Nova. Case Closed.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Nova was very impressive tonight – at least until he ran out of gas in the seventh. He’s staying in the rotation. How could he be sent back down now? I’m assuming that Hughes will, indeed, go to the bullpen and that will be that.

A big story of the game was the offense. As I predicted in a comment in last night’s post, the Angels pitcher, just up from Double A, appeared nervous and the Yankees took advantage: walk, walk, homer. Curtis Granderson sure knows how to redeem himself, doesn’t he? I always loved him when he was with the Tigers, but I never imagined he’d turn out to be a power hitter. Wow.

And how about Soriano? I’m marveling at how great he’s been since he came off the DL. He’s certainly changing my opinion of him.

I watched the first inning of the game at a restaurant/bar here in CT. Our waiter was a Red Sox fan and wasn’t happy when Grandy was so grandish. We left him a nice tip.

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A Very Workmanlike Win

Friday, August 5th, 2011

We beat the Red Sox tonight by waiting Lester out, then delivering when he was vulnerable. I’d call that workmanlike.

At first, I thought we’d never get on the board. Lester’s slider was nasty and he was striking everybody out (or so it seemed).

But along came Granderson to give us a run and, later, Swisher, to put us ahead (he also had an excellent night in the field).

Colon was fine, keeping the Red Sox at two runs, but he wasn’t efficient and it was clear he wouldn’t be hanging around for long. I was a nervous wreck when Girardi brought in Boone with the bases loaded. Talk about a big strikeout.

The entire bullpen was fabulous, with a special shout-out to Soriano. There was no attitude whatsoever when he took the mound in the 7th. He not only set the Sox down in order but had a spring in his step on his way to the dugout. Nicely done.

It was a tense contest but what other kind is there between these two teams? The big takeaway is that the Yankees secured sole possession of first place – for tonight anyway – and I’ll sleep better.

‘Night.

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Ugh. Just Ugh.

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

I could only listen to the game on my MLB At Bat app for the first five innings, since I was stuck doing this.

Apparently, I didn’t miss much. CC was outdueled by Shields and our mini-comeback, which I did get home in time to see, didn’t go far enough….against Kyle Farnsworth? Really? That’s so sad!

I realize that Shields is having a great season, but our offense was totally anemic, particularly without Granderson for the whole game (never mind A-Rod). I look forward to having Eric Chavez re-joining the team. Rafael Soriano? Not so much.

John and Suzyn were talking to the Daily News’ Mark Feinsand about the likelihood of Robertson holding on to the 8th inning spot when Soriano comes back. If Soriano had trouble wrapping his head around going from closer to set-up man, how will he handle being demoted to a 7th inning guy? And if Girardi does hand Soriano the 8th inning job again, what will that do to Robertson’s morale?

The Yankees might need a good shrink going forward.

Photo: AP

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Finally, We Had Pie

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

(courtesy: chrisgenoa.com)

As we said in last night’s post, it’s been awhile since the Yankees celebrated a walkoff victory. And it showed. A.J.’s command wasn’t so hot. He only clipped Tex’s ear, which tells me he needs to work with Larry Rothschild on his pie move.

(courtesy: olaughingpress.com)

It was another weird, bipolar game with the Yankees looking like schlemiels early on, except for Martin’s homer. CC wasn’t hit hard but he was hit, and Cano’s latest error was painful.

But our ace kept Bautista under control and kept his teammates in the ballgame. I kept wondering if he’d throw a complete game loss.

But no! The Yankees actually rallied!

Jorge smacked the ball and then ran (I use the term loosely) to second. I was petrified he’d get thrown out trying to stretch it, but the hit was very stretchable and he was safe. Clap clap clap for him that he was able to help the team at last.

Granderson is just incredible, magical, awesome. Is there a fan anywhere who’s still bemoaning the departure of Austin Jackson? I didn’t think so.

And good for Tex for winning the game for us. Maybe he thinks it’s June, so his May doldrums are over.

I’ve discovered that I really enjoy beating the Blue Jays. I never really worked up much hostility toward them, but they’ve played us tough in recent years so now it feels very satisfying to come from behind and break their collective heart.

P.S. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I can’t believe Soriano is off to see the dreaded Dr. Andrews. That news today made me curl up in the fetal position.

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A Nice Tidy Win

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Photo: Crystal Cartier/Corbis

(Actually, it was Michael who was doing all the work, cooking dinner, while I was stretched out on the couch watching the game, but I was going for “tidy” in the headline and this pic got the job done.)

And tidy it was, beginning with the pitching.

  1. Very efficient stuff from Garcia.
  2. Another Houdini act by D-Rob after he got himself into trouble.
  3. Guns blazing from Joba, who’s reminding me of the ’07 model.
  4. Sick, just insane work by Mo to start that double play to end the game. THE MAN IS A DEITY.

(courtesy: Nippon Television Network/WSJ online)

Offensively, the Yanks didn’t exactly hit the tar off the ball (is there tar on a ball?), but thanks to Gardner’s triple, Jeter’s RBI single and A-Rod’s two-run single we had what we needed.

Three other points of note.

Melky. It was weird to see him at the Stadium. I was kind of glad he was back and kind of who cares at the same time. I didn’t love his homer, I know that much.

The Royals. They’re not a bad team and I wouldn’t take them for granted, not at all. They run the bases, those rascals.

And Soriano. I said, “Where is he?” when Joba came in to pitch the eighth. It turns out he has a sore arm and is getting a precautionary MRI tomorrow. Here’s what I don’t get. He said it’s been bothering him FOR AWHILE. Then why was he pitching in Arlington on Sunday, just for example?

Oh, well. I’ll butt out and hope it’s nothing serious.

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