Thursday, July 5, 2012
Yankees.com: Yanks grind out late rally to push Rays aside
It looked like the Rays were well on their way to making it 10 straight losses for the Yankees at The Trop when Carlos Pena launched a two-run homer off Boone Logan into the right-field stands, putting Tampa Bay ahead, 3-1, in the seventh—especially after New York missed a prime scoring opportunity in the top half of the inning.
But David Robertson pitched a clean eighth inning—a welcome experience for him after admittedly blowing Monday’s game, a 4-3 loss—and Tampa Bay relieved Price with Farnsworth, a righty.
Farnsworth walked leadoff batter Eric Chavez and struck out Derek Jeter, then issued free passes to Curtis Granderson and Teixeira to load the bases. Alex Rodriguez then walked on six pitches, bringing in Chavez and trimming the Rays’ lead to one run.
“I wasn’t getting ahead of them, first off, on strike one, which obviously was huge,” Farnsworth said. “They’re going to sit on their one pitch, and they’re not going to swing. ... It’s all on me for not throwing strikes.”
Girardi added that it’s not always easy for hitters to leave the bat on their shoulder when a pitcher is throwing so many balls, especially when they could just as easily hit their way back into the game.
“We’ve got guys who can change the complexion of the game with one swing,” Girardi said. “But they remained patient, and I give them a lot of credit.”
Robinson Cano took care of things from there, knocking a two-run single to center field off left-hander Jake McGee—who relieved Farnsworth—to give the Yankees the lead. The hit also gave Cano eight straight games with at least one RBI.
“Every win’s a big win, but it’s good to get that monkey off your back,” Cano said. “You want to be able to win one and get over it. You don’t want to go to Boston losing three games.”
No, you certainly don’t want that, Robinson.
In other somewhat odd news, the Yankees claimed Darnell McDonald off waivers. This likely means we won’t be seeing Brett Gardner before Labor Day. Of 2013.
Comments
[0] “Of 2013.” In the Hijri calendar.
:(
McDonald was pickedp up to play this series only as they won’t need a 5th starter and will have Wade as the 26th man for the DH.
I like the move as they will face Lester, Doubront and Morales this weekend.
I wonder if there’s some idea that McDonald can provide some information about the Red Sox, or at least make them think that he might.
SG, can we have some playoff odds? we are halfway through the season and maybe the Yanks have 1% chances of winning the East
Sure, give me about an hour and I’ll post an update.
This likely means we won’t be seeing Brett Gardner before Labor Day. Of 2013.
Maybe it has nothing to do with needing him in the field. Didn’t the Townies use him as a relief pitcher this year ? <checks> Yes, yes they did.
The bad news: he pitched to a 27.00 ERA. But he pitched well and he’s got stuff !!1!!!!!
So clearly this is a Swisher replacement move.
ERA underrates McDonald. He has a BABIP against of .333 and a HR/FB rate of 100.0%. Both of those should regress and he should pitch closer to his xFIP of 10.53 going forward, which probably makes him better than Chad Qualls.
[6] thanks
[4] John Sterling pooh-poohed this notion, so it must be accurate.
Next entry: Player A vs. Player B
Previous entry: Yankees (48-31) @ Rays (42-38), Tuesday, July 3, 2012, 7:10pm
