God, I hate the Angels. Even without that chode Figgins. Tonight RHP A.J. Burnett (8-9, 4.54) vs. RHP Dan Haren (12-6, 2.81) 7:05 p.m., MY9 Wednesday RHP Ivan Nova (10-4, 3.81) vs. TBA 7:05 p.m., YES Network / ESPN Thursday RHP Bartolo Colon (8-6, 3.33 ERA) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (7-8, 3.32) 1:05 p.m., YES Network Yanks are up 1-0 right now in the bottom of the fourth.
Interesting game so far. Burnett had a predictable meltdown in the top of the 6th, but the Yankees have come right back with 3 in the 7th to tie it. Clutch two out hitting from Nunez and Jeter.
I wanna fukin Puke on how these guys are defending Garder for looking absolutely ridiculous striking out @ ball 4 because the pitch is 97mph... Fukin homer fags. Except Singleton who says, if it's in the strikezone the speed doesn't matter, you can hit it.
AYFKM???? 1st the strike calls between Mariano's and when the YANKEES were @ bat were absolutely insane. Then we get into a position to win the game and you wanna try and steal? why? So they'd walk Tex? and that's 1 less bat they'd have to face? Just insane to end it that way...
I think the steal is actually a good call with 2 strikes on Tex. Try to get Cano an at bat with a fresh count. But you have to know that he's coming to the plate before you run. Especially considering that Walden had done the ridiculous Jeff Nelson fake to third fake to first move repeatedly. Granderson needs to recognize it, no excuses.
If you want to talk about blown calls, the two worst ones were Bobby Abreu getting punched out on his first AB on what was clearly a check swing, and then Hunter in the 9th, when he fouled it off his foot and the ump called it a fair ball. I think it was a poor decision to send the runner on a 1-2 count with Teixeira up. Pretty embarrassing for Granderson, too, as the fake to third, throw to first is a pretty common play these days.
Looked to me like a cutter, inner half, about waist high, but I'd need to see another replay to swear to it. edit: just saw a replay. That's what it was. 92 mph cutter Abreu doesn't have much power left these days, but he sure does love the right field wall in Yankee Stadium a lot more than the one in Anaheim.
Is he actually supposed to apply that though? He has been, statistically, worse in non-save situations, but does he pitch differently or something? And don't say, good and bad. LOL
I don't know if you saw on ESPN (don't remember if it was BBTN or Sportscenter) but they were showing why Mo has been so much less successful against lefties this year. Basically his cutter isn't moving in as much, and since lefties back off the plate against him, with the diminished movement a regular inside cutter that doesn't have a ton of bite is right in the sweet spot for a lefty if he takes the extra step back in the box. It would seem Mo needs to either get some movement back, or start mixing it up and throwing to the outside corner more often on lefties to force them closer to the plate.
I dunno if this is backed up by any real stats, but it seems to me like he's been trying to stay away from lefties more this season. In the past he'd only throw 2-3 two seamers/straight fastballs per appearance, now he mixes them in a lot more.
Actually, according to fangraphs, this season has Mo throwing the second-fewest four-seamers (by percentage) of his career... well, going back to 2004 when Pitch F/X could first start to recognize the cutter. Linky-poo.