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Even if the Yankees don’t beat Pedro Martinez, they seem to win whenever he pitches against them. Martinez could hardly be blamed in Sunday’s 5-3 Yankee victory. He pitched seven innings of one-run baseball, only to see his defense and bullpen blow the lead in the 8th. With better play in the field, the Mets could have swept the Yankees. Instead they dropped two out of three to the still-surging Yankees, who have won 12 of 14.
Like they did so many times when Martinez pitched for Boston, the Yankees waited him out. After looking anemic for the first seven innings, the Yankees received fresh life when Met shortstop Jose Reyes dropped a flip from Miguel Cairo on what should have been a double play ball. The Yankees, who scored the go-ahead runs on consecutive errors on Friday, took advantage. Hideki Matsui had a two-run single, and Bernie Williams brought him home with an RBI triple.
As Gothamist said Friday, this series is the beginning of a long test for the Mets. They travel to Atlanta and Florida this week, and they don’t want to play as carelessly against their division rivals. Gothamist’s view of the Mets hasn’t changed because they lost two of three to the Yankees. Still, the Mets need a good showing on this road trip to prevent the Yankee series from becoming anything more than disappointing losses to their crosstown rivals.
Photo from Bill Kostroun/AP via Yahoo
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sadly, the mets just lacked the fundamentals to win.
and is it me, or is the yankee offense no longer scary. i remember the day (maybe just two years ago) where you would look through the batting order and it seemed like there was nobody you wanted to pitch to. it's still good, but just not intimidating.
sounds like someone has a case of the coulda-shoulda-woulda's
re: the yankees offense, they are rated #1 in the majors in aggregate batting. They are 1st in runs scored and rbi, 2nd in OBP, 3rd in HRs, OPS and total bases.
The mets are ranked 9th overall.
so maybe its just you.
how is that a case of the "coulda-shoulda-woulda's"?
and i was talking about perception. it's different than the stats, no?
Being 1st in runs scored and RBI is not difficult when you
a. play the Devil Rays so much
b. have had at least 3 games of scoring 10 or more runs (I think, maybe 2)
c. have alex rodriguez
and i think the only stat that really matters, if we're being all stat-happy, is wins and losses.
no disrespect intended, but hey, maybe we should check out their pitching stats and compare.... ERA, K/BB, etc
Tien, the "coulda woulda shouldas" comment was directed towards Tom.
As for perception, well thats the point. Its your perception. I doubt that many teams, their mangers and pitching staffs look at the Yankees lineup with any less sense of difficulty in pitching to them.
Jeter is hiting over .300 in the leadoff spot, Womack is as clutch as can be and wreaks havoc on the basepaths, Alex leads the majors in HRs and RBI, Matsui is ridiculously dangerous, Sheffield sat out two games so you didnt see how productive he is nightly. Tino has been a huge surprise, and Cano has been too. The only weaks points are Giambi and Williams, and Williams is showing signs of still having something to offer.
If anything, having a perception that the lineup isnt dangerous anymore can only benefit the Yankees, if it means pitchers will challenge them by throwing strikes.
And JT, I was addressing Tien's comments on the Yankees' offense, thats why I was listing offensive stats. The worst team in baseball is not the the Devil Rays, its the Royals and the Rockies, the Yankees havent played either of them yet. One can attribute the White Sox's success to playing the Royals, the Tigers and the Indians almost every day. The rest of the AL East plays the D-Rays, so as far as those comparisons go, its a moot point.
I agree Yankee pitching has been horrible until recently, when its gotten to be only decent at best, Mussina's cg shutout notwithstanding. That, and some pretty bad defense, is what accounts for their mediocre record. As far as offense though, which is the original reason for this discussion I'll remind you, they have been producing very well and I suspect they are still well feared throughout the league.
The only ridiculous danger that Hideki Matsui represents is the danger that someone will ridiculously overpay for his obviously declining services in free agency.
you must be referring to Kaz Matsui. Yes, he is a disaster. Hideki has been rock solid, the best free agent signing by the yanks since roger clemens. He is top notch defensively and despite having a terrible batting slump for about a month, has still managed to be 5th in the MAJORS in rbi.
Yawn. Being fifth in the majors in RBI in May is like being in fifth place in the Kentucky Derby at the first turn. Meaningless.
The Yankees outfield should just be renamed Buckshot & Chicken Arms LLC. Buckshot (Sheffield) couldn't hit a 1972 Buick Estate Wagon parked across home plate if he was throwing from the 6 hole, much less right field, and the rest of the gang are lucky to make it in to the cutoff man most of the time.
Just think, Yankees fans, the Spanks could have had an outfield of Vlad, Beltran and (name your pick here) for the next eight years or so. Instead, you have Buckshot and what's left of the Big Eunuch's groin for this year and maybe next. Enjoy your October at Pebble Beach, boys!
youre wrong about that too. you have aright to be a yankee hater, nothing wrong with that, but at least get your facts straight.