Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

The Ecstasy And The Agony

Today’s Yankees-Nationals game went in that order for C-W Wang.

Here’s the ecstasy.

Photo: Brad Barr-US PRESSWIRE

And now the agony.

Photo: Paul Sancya - AP

The Wanger looks like he’s doing a variation of the downward dog pose I do in yoga. Poor guy. At least he didn’t suffer another Lisfranc thing but rather a strained hammy. Still, I feel for him. He should be one of the elite pitchers in baseball by now, and yet he’s been derailed by injury after injury.

Speaking of which, I guess Pena suffered a sprained ankle in the game? So if Nuneee is out with his aching hand and Ramiro is hobbled by the ankle, who’s our backup infielder? Please not Bill Hall.

At least Pineda was pleased with his changeup and the Yankees won. Woohoo.

 

 

"Brett Gardner Just Saved Ramiro Pena's Bacon"

That was a direct quote from Michael Kay after Gardner made that tremendous throw to nail Duda at home plate (nice tag by Russell Martin too). Unfortunately, no one could save Pena’s bacon or anything else about the kid. It was a bad day at the office for him. For Mo too. He kind of looked like he was phoning it in for some reason. (I hate writing that.)

It’s not the end of the world that the Yankees dropped the series finale to the Mets, but to waste the fine outing by Garcia was frustrating. Also frustrating was our offense; they caught a break when Dickey and his knuckleball left the game but still couldn’t manage the necessary runs.

Still, there’s very good news with Jeter coming back. I’m excited about it. I’ve missed him. And I think the defense of Nunez and Pena made everybody miss him even more.

And Nova? Well, I’d rather have him pitching in Scranton than sitting around in our bullpen. And he’ll be back, no doubt.

For me the question mark is Hughes. Which Hughes will we see on Wednesday? The one with velocity and command or the guy that dithers around on the mound and is gone by the fourth inning? Fingers crossed for the former.

The All-Star selections? Ask me if I care. Of course I wish every Yankee could be picked and it would be cool for Robertson to get his shot, but it’s an exhibition game. It’s about as exciting to me as the WBC. Sorry.

Hope everyone’s enjoying the holiday weekend despite today’s loss. Happy 4th in advance.

“Brett Gardner Just Saved Ramiro Pena’s Bacon”

That was a direct quote from Michael Kay after Gardner made that tremendous throw to nail Duda at home plate (nice tag by Russell Martin too). Unfortunately, no one could save Pena’s bacon or anything else about the kid. It was a bad day at the office for him. For Mo too. He kind of looked like he was phoning it in for some reason. (I hate writing that.)

It’s not the end of the world that the Yankees dropped the series finale to the Mets, but to waste the fine outing by Garcia was frustrating. Also frustrating was our offense; they caught a break when Dickey and his knuckleball left the game but still couldn’t manage the necessary runs.

Still, there’s very good news with Jeter coming back. I’m excited about it. I’ve missed him. And I think the defense of Nunez and Pena made everybody miss him even more.

And Nova? Well, I’d rather have him pitching in Scranton than sitting around in our bullpen. And he’ll be back, no doubt.

For me the question mark is Hughes. Which Hughes will we see on Wednesday? The one with velocity and command or the guy that dithers around on the mound and is gone by the fourth inning? Fingers crossed for the former.

The All-Star selections? Ask me if I care. Of course I wish every Yankee could be picked and it would be cool for Robertson to get his shot, but it’s an exhibition game. It’s about as exciting to me as the WBC. Sorry.

Hope everyone’s enjoying the holiday weekend despite today’s loss. Happy 4th in advance.

Who ARE These Yankees Anyway?

From home runs by Nunez and Pena to solid relief efforts by Wade and Marquez, I kept blinking my eyes and wondering what the hell was going on. If you told me these guys would figure into the Yankees’ thrashing of the Rangers tonight, I never would have believed it.

But then every infielder had a homer (and, of course, Tex had two – one from each side) in a game in which the offense overshadowed a shaky start by Nova, yet another error by Nunez and more ridiculous throws by Cervelli.

There’s no need for me to recap except to say I sure wish we’d beat up on the Rangers like this during the ALCS last year.

Photo: AP/Tony Gutierrez

Timing is everything, right? And I realize they’re a different team without Cliff Lee. But still. I wonder if Andy Pettitte (Happy Birthday, Andy, btw) would have retired if we’d have won that series.

Moving on, I sure hope Brian Gordon is up to the challenge in tomorrow’s game. I bet he’s sitting in his hotel room right now biting his nails, spitting out sunflower seeds, gnawing on the arm of the couch. I’m saying he’s probably nervous, in other words. Maybe somebody could slip him one of these?

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