tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Survival Of The AL East

The Yankees and Red Sox appear to be limping toward the finish line as both teams lost again last night leaving the Yankees 2 1/2 games up on Boston. The Yanks received a very good pitching performance from Bartolo Colon but could not solve Jered Weaver but for Jesus Montero's home run. Montero is really showing why Brian Cashman & Company are so high on this kid.

I have never been a big fan of Luis Ayala. The guy just doesn't seem reliable to me but Joe Girardi had little options as the Yankees were involved in 2 extra inning games against the Orioles and the starters have not given him much length lately. Colon provided him 7 strong innings last night and David Robertson did his job in the eighth. The Yankee lineup is struggling. While any lineup can struggle against Weaver, the Yanks have not been hitting the ball well over the last few games. ARod still is trying to get back into shape however one has to wonder how well he is going to hit with that sore thumb. Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson have also been slumping over the last few games and now it appears that Nick Swisher may be out for a couple of games.

While the Yanks seem to be struggling, the Red Sox are also limping along. Their vaunted lineup has really been weak and last night against the Rays both Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz looked awful. With last night's loss to Tampa, their lead over the Rays for the wild card spot was reduced to 5 1/2 games. John Lackey has been terrible and the Sox now have similar pitching issues that the Yankees have.

Tonight the Red Sox start a kid by the name of Kyle Weiland against Tampa's Jeremy Hellickson. The Yanks will send CC Sabathia to the mound to face Dan Haren. Both of these AL East powers are struggling. The remaining 19 games are going to be real interesting.

Decision Time Coming For Girardi

Joe Girardi has indicated that he plans on going down to a five man rotation this week. I'm going to tell you what I think should happen and then I'll tell you what I think will happen.

If you look at Bartolo Colon's last several starts, I think its clear that Colon is running out of gas. He has not pitched this many innings since 2005. Colon has a great fast ball along with his two seamer. It would be great coming out of the bullpen. If you remember, he started the season in the pen.

By putting Colon in the bullpen, the Yankees get the opportunity to take a look at AJ Burnett and Phil Hughes for the 4th starter position in October. It would be a positive if the Yanks allowed Hughes to try to right himself as a starter. He is a part of their future as a starter. If he is not a part of the future then they should move him. Burnett is completely out of the question for bullpen duty. He has never been anything but a starter. Hopefully, he can build off his start against Boston.

Now, what I think will happen is that Phil Hughes will go to the bullpen. Hughes was successful in 2009 as a reliever. Burnett would be your 4th starter and Colon would be your number 5. This is the easy move and probably will be what's decided. The question here is how does this effect Phil Hughes long-term?? I feel that this is just as important as how the Yankees do this October.

Turning Point?? Could Be As Yanks Pull Out Win

After Tuesday's game against the Red Sox, I hoped that Sabathia's gutty performance would be the spark to send the Yankees to a big win on Wednesday. That didn't happen and it was certainly not looking good approaching yesterday's game with AJ Burnett facing Jon Lester. But last night may very well be the turning point of the season for the Yankees as they battled to earn a 4-2 win over their blood rivals and win their first series against Boston this year.

If you have read this blog throughout the baseball season, you know that I have been extremely critical of AJ Burnett. But last night Burnett shocked every Yankee fan (me included) by pitching a solid game making only one bad pitch to Dustin Pedroia which resulted in a 2-run homer that gave the Bosox a 2-1 lead. Typically this season, Pedroia's home run would have meant the beginning of a Burnett meltdown. That did not happen and Burnett kept the Yankees in the game with a chance to still win.

Mind you, the Yankees had a number of chances to knock Jon Lester out of the game but couldn't cash in on scoring opportunities. There were two huge moments in this game which changed the momentum and made you think that the Yanks would overcome their inability to hit with runners in scoring position. The first one was the outstanding catch by Curtis Granderson off the bat of Jed Lowrie. With two outs and runners at 1st and 2nd, Lowrie sent a sinking line drive to right center field that Granderson dove for. If he misses it, two runs most certainly would have scored but Granderson came up with it to end a Boston rally.

The second moment occurred the next inning when Andruw Jones took a 14 pitch walk off of the human delay machine, Alfredo Aceves. After Jesus Montero was hit by a pitch, Russell Martin drove a double to right center field scoring Jones and Montero and the Yankees took the lead. Eric Chavez, who has been a godsend while ARod has been out, delivered another big hit in this series by driving in Martin and the Yankees took a 4-2 lead, one they would not relinquish.

The Yanks leave Fenway only 1/2 game out of first place. Moreover, they send a message to the Red Sox that they are every bit as ready to face them in October. The Pinstripers wore out Lester and hit Beckett, the Red Sox ace pitchers. In addition, they also punctured the invincibility of Daniel Bard. The series victory provides the road map that the Yankees will need to win in October. The Yankee bullpen, in each of the two wins, was outstanding. In both of those wins, the Yankee starters kept the Yanks in the game allowing the offense to chip away at the Boston pitching staff. They received timely hitting from the bottom part of the order, particularly Eric Chavez and the combo of Russell Martin and Francisco Cervelli. They also won this series without their cleanup hitter, Alex Rodriguez.

Am I suggesting that we should begin planning the parade down the Canyon of Heroes for late October?? No. The Yanks have their flaws. But this series win shows, in my mind, that this 2011 edition of the New York Yankees has the tenacity to do what it takes to win. Too often against Boston it seemed like once things went bad, they would rollover and die. That was not the case in this series.

There are some issues still to address. There has to be concern over ARod's thumb injury. These types of injuries can linger and if you remember late in the season last year Mark Teixiera had a similar problem which bothered him into the playoffs. With respect to the starting rotation, as I suggested yesterday Phil Hughes will have to go the bullpen. If AJ Burnett can give the Yankees the type of start that he had last night, they will be in pretty good shape. The Yankees also need to get Mark Teixiera going offensively. Hopefully, this bruised knee that he suffered last night will not keep him out of the lineup for an extended period of time as his defense is invaluable. However, he needs to hit better than .249 as the number 3 hitter in the lineup. With the uncertainty surrounding ARod, Teixiera is really important. Moreover, the Yankees need to cash in on scoring opportunities. In October, you only get so many chances to score. Leaving runners on base will lead to an early exit in the playoffs. That's why Teixiera needs to get on track.

28 games remain in the season. The Yankees will face Boston again in the Bronx, where they have not beaten the Red Sox. They will also travel to Anaheim to face an Angels team fighting for their playoff lives plus they have games left with the dangerous Tampa Bay Rays. Not an easy stretch but this series win over Boston gives Yankee fans hope that they could win this division and make a statement in October. The rest of September should be real interesting!!

Same Old, Same Old – Yanks Fail To Take Charge

Yesterday I wondered whether CC Sabathia's gutty win could spark the Yankees to take this series against Boston and send a message that they will not be steamrolled. After bouncing back to take a 5-4 lead on an Eric Chavez double, Yankee pitching could not close the door the way CC did on Tuesday. I've come to the conclusion that Phil Hughes' problem is the ability to locate his pitches. The home run he gave up to Ortiz was right over the plate and you could see that was not where Cervelli wanted the pitch.

After the Red Sox took the lead on Jacob Ellsbury's home run, the Yankee offense could not answer the bell. Nine up and nine down and a Boston win. The lead is back up to 1 1/2 games with AJ Burnett on the mound tonight. 2 1/2 games out here we come.

The Yankees will put Phil Hughes in the bullpen. They will do that because Hughes has been in the bullpen before. Unfortunately, the Yankees are destined to be the wild card representative in the American League. As a point of information, the Yankees have only made it to the World Series when they won their division. Here's hoping Jesus Montero lives up to all the hype as he joins the Yankees today. As I said in an earlier post, at this point the rest of the Yankee season is about the future and hopefully Montero will be a productive part of that.

A Win That Sends A Message?? & Media Notes

I'm not sure if last night's 5-2 win over the Red Sox is what the Yankees needed to turn this season series around with their blood rivals. But for someone who was looking for some passion from the boys in Pinstripes, it sure felt that way last night. The game was reminiscent of those battles in 2003 and 2004. Last night, the Yankees refused to lose and they were led by their pitching ace, CC Sabathia.

The Red Sox tried to wear the big lefty down like they have done the previous 4 starts. But Sabathia would have none of it as he battled using a 95-96 mph fast ball at times and a wicked slider that made MLB batting average leader Adrian Gonzalez look silly. Was CC dominant?? No, but he was not going to be denied and if the Red Sox were going to get him they were going to have to knock him out and they didn't.

Robinson Cano's snare of a low liner off the bat of Carl Crawford in the fifth inning may have saved the game as the Red Sox had runners on 2nd and 3rd with the Yankees clinging to a 4-2 lead. Cano also did it with his bat driving in a run and tattooing one off the Green Monster. Robby can drive you crazy sometimes with his pitch selection, but as Ken Singleton said last night,"we are seeing some kind of hitter."

An unsung hero last night was Eric Chavez. People fail to remember that this guy was a perennial All-Star in Oakland who has had injuries derail his career. Chavez contributed to the Yankee cause with 2 RBI's last night and played extremely well at 3rd base. Brian Cashman made a great move in acquiring Chavez and he could be a vital part of any Yankee chance to have a successful October with ARod's status down the stretch in question.

The nonsense that took place with Francisco Cervelli was typical Red Sox crap. I noticed what Cervelli did as he touched home plate on his home run and I also noticed how Lackey was looking at him. But Ken Singleton was right, it was plain out and out stupid for Lackey to hit Cervelli to lead off the 7th inning with your team only down 2 runs in Fenway Park. Cervelli ultimately ended up scoring to give the Yanks a 3 run cushion. The funny thing is that the last time these two teams met at Yankee Stadium, David Ortiz had some histronics when he hit a home run and somehow I don't remember him getting plunked. I don't buy that Cervelli clapping at home plate showed up the Red Sox. He was obviously thrilled that he was able to contribute in a big game. But the Red Sox are chippy. They are not going to take any crap. But last night, the Yankees were not going to take any either and it's about time.

I'm not sure if last night's win will turn the tide in favor of the Bombers in this season series. But in year's past, a gutty night by your starter who was a warrior on the mound, a fired up light hitting player who clubs a home run and a bench clearing incident that led to a coach being ejected usually ended up being a defining moment in a series between these two teams. I guess a lot will depend on Phil Hughes but I'd like to think that last night's win may send the message to the Red Sox that what's happened earlier this year means nothing just like what happened in 2009.
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*For those of you on twitter, you have to follow Bob Raissman of the NY Daily News. @nydnraiss Raissman's in game comments on Michael "Beavis" Kay is great!! Bob's the one who named Kay "Beavis" and I like it so much I use it here. Check it out he's typically right on the money when it comes to Beavis.

* While I didn't here it myself, sources tell me that the crack sports talkers on WGR 550 yesterday felt that the most pressing item in the world of sports was video games. That's right video games. I suppose the mental giants at Entercom figured that since Madden 12 came out yesterday that it was topical to ask the question, what is your favorite video game??? Are you kidding me??? College football is right around the corner, including the UB Bulls playing Pitt on Saturday. There's also the whole University of Miami story that I'm sure the geniuses on GR have little clue about. Not to mention the start of the Yankee-Red Sox series and don't tell me that with all of the Yankee fans and the out-of-the closet Red Sox fans around here that there wasn't any interest. So instead you are talking about video games??? What's up for today, who's going to eat more wings at Wingfest: Bulldog or Simon??? WGR550 is the biggest joke of a sports radio station in the United States and you can take that to the bank.

Burnett = Brown, You Betcha!!!!

Well, there is not much more I can say about AJ Burnett. He is flat out terrible. For his sake and for the Yankees sake, he needs to be traded. And if the Yankees need to eat salary then they need to pass the salt and start chewing. Last night was painful. It was watching a career disintegrate right before our eyes.

Brian Cashman needs to smoke the objective pipe. After he takes a few puffs he can begin the process of doing whatever it takes to get Burnett out of the Bronx. How can Burnett be on the playoff roster?? The answer: he can't. This guy is Kevin Brown all over again. He's a head case as was Brown.

The Yankees have a $16.5 million a year anchor around their necks. Brian Cashman needs to admit his mistake. He doesn't need to say anything publicly. He doesn't need to rip Burnett in the media. He needs to move him out. He needs to do it for his team. He needs to do it for Burnett.

By the way, Burnett should be up next to face the Red Sox at Fenway. Not sure I can bear to watch!!!!

Yankee Power Won’t Be Enough In October

After the second grand slam, I wondered whether or not any team had ever hit 3 grand slams in a game. When Curtis Granderson hit the third grand slam, it really was incredible and I was glad to see the record breaking blast. After all of the euphoria settled down, reality started to sink in. It's kind of like being happy about getting out of a bad situation but knowing the worst is yet to come.

Being down 7-1 in the third inning in October usually means a loss. Phil Hughes was extremely disappointing yesterday particularly since it looked like he had turned the corner. Hopefully, he will bounce back in his next start. Manager Joe Girardi said a couple of weeks ago that it is hard to talk about the October rotation now because he doesn't know how everyone will be pitching when the season ends. He is right. That's why Hughes needs to get his act together.

The Yankee high command needs to get this rotation back down to a five man unit. CC Sabathia has not been the same pitcher since going to the 6 man. It's apparent that Bartolo Colon has run out of gas. Sitting him for a bit or putting him in the bullpen makes the most sense at this time. Yankee fans need to realize that this team is flawed where it counts most in October: pitching.

In spite of the first two games against the A's this week, the Yanks offense has been quite adept at bringing runs home. Granderson, Martin, Swisher and Jeter have been red hot and Robinson Cano has also been on a roll. It's amazing what they have done without ARod in the lineup. But it is unrealistic to think that they are going to be able to consistently score double digit runs in October. The pitching is always better. The old baseball saying still rings true: "Good pitching beats good hitting." Right now, the Yankees don't have good pitching.

There's about 5 weeks left to get things in order. It's looking like no one will be brought in to save the day. What you see is what you get as far as the pitching staff goes. Next week the 3 game series against Boston at Fenway Park will be the next true test. The Yanks have been miserable against the Red Sox. The time has come to turn things around. If Red Sox dominance continues, the Yanks will be done playing by Columbus Day.

Where Have You Gone Phil Rizzuto??

All of us remember the iconic line in Simon & Garfunkel's hit song, Mrs. Robinson: "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio our nation turns its lonely eyes to you." Well, Yankee fans who are over the age of 35 are now asking the question: "Where have you gone Phil Rizzuto Yankee nation turns its lonely eyes to you." Besides his mindless self-promotion, Kay is flat out terrible. Last night, Joe Girardi was coming to take out Bartolo Colon and Kay proclaims that he's bringing in the left-hander Boone Logan. However, it was clear on the TV screen that he was motioning for a righthander which happened to be Cory Wade.

Over the weekend in Minnesota there were numerous faux pax on the part of Kay. Bob Raissman, Sports TV critic for the Daily News, refers to Kay as Beavis. I love that so from now on we'll refer to him as the big headed goofy 90's cartoon character.

Monday was an off day for the Yanks so I had the opportunity to watch Ron Guidry's 18 strikeout game against the Angels back in 1978. Besides bringing some great memories back (I remember watching the game outside up on my parents porch), what a pleasure hearing Frank Messer, Bill White, Fran Healey and the incomparable Phil Rizzuto broadcast the game. There wasn't any stupid talk. No self-promotion. No mindless statistics. It was flat out baseball. What I also found enjoyable was how every 2nd or 3rd inning they would go over the out-of-town scoreboard. Not only would the scores be given but there would be a little bit of discussion about the teams involved. For example they gave a White Sox score and talked about how the AL West was really tightening up. It was classic Rizzuto who boldly predicted in the 8th inning that Guidry would break the most strikeouts in a game record. (He fell short)

Rizzuto, while considered a homer, knew his baseball and was very entertaining. He also called it the way he saw it, not afraid to criticize when necessary. It was really great to remember what Yankee baseball used to be on TV. When the Yankees were recently in KC, Bob Lorenz was doing the play-by-play as I'm sure Beavis had commitments with 1050 ESPN Radio (as he likes to remind us). I thought Lorenz was great. There was no self-promoting. A broadcast team of Lorenz, Singleton and any one of the ex-Yankees would be perfect.

Some may say that part of the problem is that Beavis is not an ex-player. But in the 70's foursome, Frank Messer never played the game yet he was a professional broadcaster. He knew the game. He had previously broadcasted for the Baltimore Orioles. There are many good baseball broadcasters who are not former ball players. Dwayne Staats who does the Tampa Bay Rays games is a classic example. He knows the game, has a great voice and there is no nonsense. And by the way, he used to do Yankee games.

Unfortunately, Beavis has probably kissed a lot of Yankee behind so that we are stuck with him. It's rather sad that the biggest team in the biggest city in the country is stuck with such a terrible play-by-play guy. FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! Ughhhh.

Yankees Have A Keeper In Nova

In the 5th inning of yesterday's game against the Twins, rookie Ivan Nova was faced with runners on 2nd and 3rd with none out as a result of Curtis Granderson and Nick Swiisher misplaying a fly ball in right centerfield. So what does the kid do??? He strikes out the next two batters and then gets the third out on a weak grounder to Mark Teixiera. That sequence shows me that the Yanks have a keeper in Nova. Certainly gives one hope that this kid can perform in October.

As the Yankees head home for 3 games against Oakland, before heading back out on the road again, they find themselves one-half game ahead of the Red Sox. It's not asking for much to expect a sweep of the A's. With ARod back in the lineup, the Yankees offensively should be primed for their next week matchup at Fenway Park. And that is what's left for this season: to win the AL East crown. The Yankees will make the playoffs. It's a question of getting home field throughout or heading out on the road.

In the mean time, the Yankees have reason to be excited about their young pitchers, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes. As I stated yesterday, this bodes so well for the future and to me this is what this season is all about. And who knows, the Yanks could win it all too.

Don't forget check out Tuesday's Thoughts tomorrow.

Enough!!! Get This Guy Out of Here!!!

A week or so ago Yankee GM Brian Cashman told members of the media and Yankee fans that they needed to "smoke the objective pipe" when looking at AJ Burnett. Well, last night I wished I had something else in that pipe to take me away from one of the worst pitching performances I have seen from an $82 million pitcher. With the Royals knocking off the Red Sox, the Yanks had an opportunity to extend their lead to 1 1/2 games in the AL East. But before they batted in the third inning they were already down 7-0 thanks to Burnett.

Burnett is a mess and his antics when he is taken out of a game due to his own poor performances is really becoming a worn out act. But what is more disturbing is the defense put up by Cashman and now just as vehemently by Joe Girardi. Girardi had to know that he was going to be questioned by the media as a result of Burnett's mutterings as he was walking off the mound. It was also picked up on camera that Girardi followed Burnett into the clubhouse. When questioned about all of this Girardi blew up. The Yankee manager is tired of having to deal with this and tired of the media wanting to make something out of his relationship with Burnett. The organization seems to be tired of the fans and the media questioning Burnett's ability. Well, there's one way to stop all the questions and scrutiny: PITCH WELL!!

As fans we are all tired of hearing about what great stuff Burnett has. How nasty his curve ball is and the incredible God-given ability he possesses. Well, if all of this is true then why is he 9-10 with a 4.96 ERA on a team with the second best record in all of major league baseball. If all of this is true why has he had only one season where he has won more than 13 games and is 32-34 as a Yankee with a 4.71 ERA. And please don't tell me, as that jerk Michael Kay did last night, that this is the number 2 starter on the 2009 World Series team. Closer examination of Burnett's post season performance in 2009 reflects a pitcher who started 5 games and was 1-1 with a 5.26 ERA. He may have followed CC in the rotation but the guy who was the legitimate number 2 in 2009 was Andy Pettitte.

The Yankees need to "smoke the objective pipe" and realize that this guy is shot. He's a head case in the long line of free agent pitching head cases ( Ed Whitson, Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano...to name a few) that the Yankees have spent millions of dollars on and have received nothing in return except excuses and nonsense behavior. If Burnett is on the playoff roster its a damn joke. Time will tell but if the Yanks were smart they would eat salary and send Burnett off to the National League for a bucket of balls and some objective pipes.