Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Always Satisfying to Beat This Guy

jose-bautista-beard-4

He kills the Yankees and Toronto is such a tough opponent, but last night in their series opener of the new season, the Yanks edged out a 3-2 win. Bautista had a two-run double, naturally, but Betances struck him out in a big situation.

Tanaka…What to say about his performance. He limited the Jays to 2 runs, which was no small thing, but he reminded me of early Phil Hughes who took forever to get outs and let his mounting pitch count send him out of games. Which is where our crack bullpen comes in. Betances was “on.” You could see it. He reared back and fired and set the stage for Miller, who took care of business.

After misjudging a couple of balls in center, Ellsbury (maybe he needs glasses?), along with McCann were the offensive heroes – McCann’s homer all the more impressive because he was hobbling around after being hit on the toe by a foul tip. Thankfully, the toe’s not broken, but he’s not a great runner in the best of circumstances and he really lumbered around the bases last night.

It’ll be Pineda’s turn tonight. No idea what to expect, but I’d love a repeat of last night.

Finally, We Had Pie

(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.

Yet Another Bi-Polar Game, This Time With An Unhappy Ending

(courtesy: losangelespublicrelations.com)

Bart was brilliant….until he wasn’t. I don’t remember seeing such a head-spinning turnabout in a long time. Aside from the homer to Bautista (sigh), he was cruising. And then he took the mound for the sixth and the wheels came off.

I honestly think the intentional walks to Bautista and Rivera upset his rhythm. No excuses, but he’d had such great control up to that point that it seemed odd for him to lose it so suddenly.

But the damage was done, and the Yankees offense had no answer. Not against the Blue Jays’ starter. Not against their relievers either. Just nothing.

The only good thing about tonight’s game was that it didn’t take long. Now I can watch the 9 o’clock airing of the HBO movie “Too Big To Fail” – an apt title for the Yankees, don’t you think?

A Game Of Two Emoticons

For the first six innings of today’s Yankees-Mets finale, I was wearing this face.

Nova was pitching in and out of trouble and, aside from Granderson’s latest display of brute force, the offense was in sleep mode. I feared another sloppy game.

But then came the seventh inning and this face emerged.

Oh, boy. Who says all the Yankees can do is swat homers? A bunch of dunkers, rollers, nubbers, plus a walk here and a hit batsman there, and suddenly we had sent Pelfrey to the showers and blown the thing open.

Maybe I need to revisit my initial opinion of Ayala, by the way. He has quietly gotten the job done lately. And look at Jeter inching closer to the magic #3,000. Good to see.

On the negative side (well, I don’t need to dwell on this, but I do need to mention it), Posada has the base-running instincts of, say, a crocodile.

Why did Girardi have Granderson, our hottest hitter, bunt? Oh, who knows. Maybe his binder told him it was the way to go.

The important thing is the Evil Homer Syndrome was replaced by the Small Ball Phenomenon, and the Yankees won the game.

And now a word about our next opponent, the Jays, and this person.

(courtesy: torontosportsauthority.com)

Bautista will require special handling. So I ask our pitchers to watch video of him, study Joe’s charts and graphs and whatever else he’s got, or just keep the ball away from him. But do not let him beat us. Please and thank you.

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About Jane Heller

Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.