Results tagged “sidneyponson”

    

The Yankees and Mets found a fairly unique way to celebrate the closing of their respective stadiums Saturday, doubleheaders for both teams at home. It has happened twice before in 1997 and 1982 with the Yankees splitting both times and the Mets splitting once and being swept once. Saturday’s results fell along historical precedents.

• Angels 12, Yankees 6: Ivan Rodriguez got cheered on his way up to his first at-bat. Then he struck out, and surprisingly got booed on the way back. The real boos should have been for his handling of starter Andy Petttitte, who had trouble getting on the same page with his catcher all night. The lefty allowed two three-run homers in the third inning, and the rout was on. Xavier Nady did homer and the Yankees helped their run differential by scoring three in the ninth inning, but that doesn't matter in the long run. The Angels own the Yankees, and, now that everyone considers the team from Los Angeles of Anaheim the best one in baseball, New York has the misfortune of playing it nine more times.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Getting Adjusted"

• Yankees 10, Red Sox 3: Fenway Park is allegedly a hitter's haven, but the Red Sox haven't enjoyed it much the past few days. That's because the Yankees' pitchers have been stingy. Don't look now, but the Yankees are only one game worse than the Red Sox in the American League East. Andy Pettitte surrendered a homer to J.D. Drew in the sixth inning. That's the only earned run the Red Sox have in this series so far. (They scored two unearned runs in the first after an error by Alex Rodriguez.)
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Movin' On Up"

On a day when Jorge Posada went back on the DL and the news was almost as bad about Hideki Matsui, it was a good sign that the Yankees banged out 16 hits in a 12-4 victory Monday night. Posada will probably be unable to catch for the rest of the season at best and is more likely gone for the year. Matsui is rejecting the advice of doctors and trying one last time to rehab a knee that needs surgery.

Sidney Ponson, who will soon be forgotten himself, made a start that will be forgotten. That's thanks in part to his ineffectiveness but mostly to the Yanks' offensive explosion spearheaded by Jason Giambi (grand slam, six RBIs) and Alex Rodriguez (homer, three RBIs, four runs scored). Every Yankees starter had a hit. That includes Brett Gardner, who could be the new center fielder if Melky Cabrera continues his sour play. Ponson, picked up as a stopgap measure, was barely decent -- but fully clothed -- until the sixth inning, when he allowed a pair of two-run home runs. But then the Yankees exploded for a nine-run seventh.

Eight hours of baseball in two different stadiums ended with both the Mets and Yankees scoring 15 runs and earning a split of their doubleheader.

-Yankees 12, Red Sox 4, Yankees 14, Red Sox 11 : In a long day of baseball at Fenway Park -- including the longest nine-inning game ever -- the Yankees came away with a sweep of the doubleheader to start their five-game series in Boston. Each team started a pitcher Friday that has no business on Major League contender: Jason Johnson for the Red Sox (who was designated for assignment after the opener) and Sidney Ponson for the Yankees (who should be designated for assignment after the nightcap). In case people haven't noticed, these teams haven't gotten to where they are with deep rotations, and the Yankees' lineup is better than that of the Red Sox. With this result, the Yankees can feel good if they win one of the remaining three games.

-Yankees 5, Blue Jays 1: Bobby Abreu's walk set up a bases-clearing tiebreaking double by Bernie Williams, and the Yankees won the opener against Toronto. Abreu didn't have a hit in his three at-bats, but his patience fits in with the rest of the Yankees lineup and will be an asset for the team, even if he doesn't hit for power. Jaret Wright gave a typical performance. He lasted only five innings and kept the Yankees in the game. It's not worth the $7 million a year he's making, but it's betterr than Sidney Ponson.

If you head to the south Bronx to take in a Yankee game this season, you very well might find names like Sal Fasano, Nick Green, and Aaron Guiel in the lineup. Injury-plagued is hardly a strong enough phrase for this season’s club. Who’s that pitching? Oh, that’s Sidney Ponson, the guy who punched a judge on the beach in Aruba and had an earned run average well over 5 in the National League before the Yankees signed him. On in relief last week? Kris Wilson who wasn’t good enough to stay with the Kansas City Royals.

-Toronto 13 Yankees 5: Sidney Ponson showed why the Cardinals released him and Kris Wilson showed why the Royals released him. Together, the two of them gave up ten runs in four innings and the New York bats couldn’t make up the difference. A-Rod went 0-4, continuing his streak of looking clueless at the plate. Vernon Wells hit two home runs to power the Blue Jays.

As the Mets commence with the second-half of their season, they have a twelve-game lead in the division and barring a miracle, should coast into the playoffs. That doesn’t mean that they can just sit back and wait until October. In order to contend in the fall, New York will need to make sure that Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine are rested and ready to go. If that means keeping Pedro on the DL indefinitely and skipping some of Glavine’s starts, so be it.

It was the worst loss in the history of Baseball. Let that sink in. In over 100 years of baseball there has never been a loss as bad as the one the Yankees suffered from the hands of the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. 22-0. It was the low point of the Yankee season. But, it only counted as one game in the standings. The next day the Yankees put it behind them and came out with a 5-4 win and then clinched the series with a 9-1 win last night.