Saturday, May 5, 2012
Yankees (14-12) @ Royals (8-17), Saturday, May 5, 2012, 7:10pm **Game Chatter/Liveblog**
SP: Hiroki Kuroda (37, RHP, 2-3, 3.69) vs. SP: Felipe Paulino (28, RHP, 0-0, undef)
Lineups
New York Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Russell Martin C
Dewayne Wise RF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Kansas City Royals
Jarrod Dyson CF
Alex Gordon LF
Billy Butler DH
Eric Hosmer 1B
Jeff Francoeur RF
Mike Moustakas 3B
Humberto Quintero C
Chris Getz 2B
Alcides Escobar SS
My wife’s at a bachelorette party for a friend of ours, so I’ll try to liveblog this bad boy. Wise gets his first start for the Yankees.
Top of the first
Jeter grounds out to second. Does that drop him below .400? It does not. He is still at .400.
Granderson was on his way to first on a 3-1 pitch that was called a strike. Granderson then strikes out.
A-Rod strikes out on a 3-2 pitch. The ump’s strike zone is a bit broad.
Bottom of the first
Seven of Kuroda’s fifteen earned runs came in the first. Hopefully he avoids that tonight.
Dyson hits a grounder right to Jeter, who boots it (the ball did take a last second bounce). Ugh. Dyson on first.
Gordon bunted it but it went foul. Nunez did a good job not stupidly touching it before it went foul. He did that once, right? Gordon singles Dyson to third. What is up with Kuroda and the first inning?!
Wild pitch lets Gordon get to second. It feels like the Yankees have thrown a ton of wild pitches this year. Billy Butler then hits a two-run double. At least the wild pitch ended up not mattering, as Gordon would have easily scored on the double.
Hosmer hits a drive to left that Ibanez actually caught. And he held the runner at second.
Full count on Francouer. You do know who Francouer is, right, Kuroda? You don’t walk Jeff Francouer. And yet he does. Blech. The ump was giving Paulino that same pitch in the first. That annoys me.
Moustakas pops up to Jeter.
Quintero strikes out. Royals’ catchers are now 0 for their last 21.
Yankees….0
Royals….2
NOTE: Royals catchers are 0 for their last 21. Yankee left fielders, though, are 0 for their last 16. End that this inning, Ibanez!
Top of the second
Cano grounds out to second.
Teix hits a sharp grounder but it goes right to Paulino, who throws him out for the second out.
Ibanez grounds out to second for the final out. Yankee left fielders now are 0 for their last 17. Blech.
NOTE: It looks like a couple on their prom date are at the game. The girl looks less than thrilled. Pretty funny.
Bottom of the second
Getz pops up to Nunez in foul territory.
Hehe, some little girls were put on the screen to show them with their commemorative George Brett bat (complete with pine tar) and there iis audio on them for some reason, so you hear their father telling them that they’re “on the tee-vee.” Pretty cute.
Escobar pops up to right. Wise covers a LOT of ground there in right. He makes the catch.
Kuroda strikes out Dyson swinging on a beautiful pitch.
Top of the third
Martin strikes out.
ANOTHER batter grounds the ball right back to Paulino. He throws Wise out.
Nunez strikes out.
NOTE: The Yankees have not reached base so far. Paulino has allowed NO HITS. His performance so far has been PERFECT.
Bottom of the third
Ump blows a 2-2 strike, calls it a ball. Gordon then singles.
Gordon is running, which blows the double play as Butler hits a ground ball to Cano. Cano throws a bit wild to first, but Teix gloves it for the out at first.
Hosmer walks.
Kuroda falls behind Frenchy 2-1. It is Frenchy! Throw strikes! Francouer flies out to right. Gordon moves to third.
ANOTHER pitch in the dirt, but Martin makes an amazing play keeping it in front of him. Wow. Moustakas walks.
Can the Royals’ catcher’s hitless streak continue? It does, as he flies out to Granderson. Phew. 0 for their last 21.
NOTE: Francouer apparently does this thing when he’s on the road that he’ll wrap a ball with a $100 bill and throw it into the crowd with a note saying, “Beer is on me.” Wow, talk about getting the crowd to like you!
As Paulino continues his PERFECT GAME, I figured I’d distract you with Kate Upton’s Cat Daddy dance…
Top of the fourth
Jeter grounds out. He’s batting under .400 now.
Granderson strikes out in three pitches for out #2.
Perfect game is gone as A-Rod walks. The No-Hitter is still intact.
Cano, of course, swings at the first pitch and grounds out to first.
Bottom of the fourth
Getz hits a grounder that Jeter made a good play on, getting the first out on the first pitch.
Sharp grounder by Escobar right to Teix.
Dyson hits a ball that Jeter makes another good play on, nailing the speedy Dyson at first.
NOTE: Again, please note that Paulino has a no-hitter. No Yankees have gotten a hit. No-hitter.
Top of the fifth
On a 1-2 pitch to Teix, the ump calls time out REALLY late while Paulino was already in his pitching motion. Paulino was pissed off. Rightfully so, I’d say. Teix strikes out.
Ibanez, though, breaks up not just the no-hitter but the 0 for 17 Yankee left fielder hitless streak with a single.
Martin makes it back to back singles with a nice hit to center. Ibanez moves to second.
Wise becomes a True 2012 Yankee by flying out on the first pitch.
Nunez astonishingly walks to load the bases for Derek Jeter, who is currently batting .397.
Jeter grounds out to end the inning. Blech.
Bottom of the fifth
Gordon singles leading off the inning.
Butler hits another double, driving Gordon in all the way from first (easily, really).
Hosmer lines out to Jeter. Butler did a good job going back to second base to avoid being doubled off the base.
Francouer singles to center but Granderson had a nice throw keeping Butler from trying to score. That is it for Kuroda. Another Mr. Hyde performance from the Yankees’ bi-polar #2 starter.
Clay Rapada comes in and gets a fly out to shallow right. The runner holds.
Cody Eppley comes into the game, because Girardi can’t have two lefities in the bullpen without one of them being a LOOGY. Will the Royals’ catchers hitless streak continue?
It does, as Qunitero grounds out to second for the final out of the inning. 0 for 23. Yikes.
Yankees….0
Royals….3
NOTE: It IS pretty funny that the Yankees have sidearm relief pitchers from both sides of the plate. And their numbers are even back-to-back (#39 for Rapada, #38 for Eppley).
NOTE #2: Man, it is embarrassing how bad local commercials can be.
Top of the sixth
Granderson doubles to lead off. Paulino looks like he is losing it a bit.
He shows me up by throwing two really nice strikes to A-Rod. A-Rod flies out to right, Granderson stupidly tries to get to third on Francouer’s arm (his one actual great skill) and gets thrown out. Ridiculous decision to tag there.
Cano then makes it look worse by singling.
Teix hits a liner that Francouer snags right before it hits the ground. I almost preferred him to make the catch than to see it drop in and then Ibanez make out to highlight how stupid Granderson’s decision to tag was.
Bottom of the sixth
Eppley walks Getz on four pitches. Awesome.
Escobar accidentally hits Dyson with a foul ball on the on deck circle. Yikes. Dyson looks okay, but damn, that’s scary. Escobar, who was trying to give the Yankees an out with a bunt, instead singles Getz to third.
Boone Logan comes in to face Dyson and Gordon.
Escobar steals second. He was clearly trying to steal second, so it was weird that they didn’t throw over again.
Dyson hits a sacrifice fly. Ibanez throws the ball wildly to the plate (at least it was a strong throw). Escobar holds at second.
Gordon doubles in Escobar. Gordon is 4-4.
Hosmer pops up to Jeter. Infield fly rule! It is always fun to see the infield fly rule.
Francouer grounds out to second to end the inning.
Yankees…0
Royals…5
Top of the seventh
Jose Mijares comes in in relief.
Ibanez hits a line drive that Getz spears for the first out. Wow, what a tough out. Ibanez hit it really well.
Martin hits a long home run to left.
Wise strikes out.
Nunez doubles to deep center field.
Mijares is out, Kelvin Herrera coming in to face Jeter.
Herrera’s first pitch was a 100 MPH strike. Wow. He follows with an 87 changeup for strike 2. Damn. Jeter then grounds out to third to end the inning.
Yankees…1
Royals…5
Bottom of the seventh
Freddy Garcia in to pitch.
I just ordered a pizza. I’ll give the liveblog until the pizza comes (or until the Yankees score more runs, whichever comes first).
Garcia gets a pop-up from Moustakas.
Quintero grounds out. 0 for 24 for Royals catchers.
Getz walks.
Getz steals second.
Escobar hits a grounder to Nunez that Nunez tries his best to throw away but Teix makes an amazing play to not only get the throw but to also touch first base for the out to end the inning.
Top of the eighth
Granderson hits another double.
A-Rod grounds out to third. Granderson somehow manages to not try to make it to third.
Cano grounds out to second. Granderson moves to third.
Teix strikes out on three pitchers. Triple blech.
Bottom of the eighth
Dyson grounds out. Now that the Yanks don’t need Garcia, he begins to pitch well.
Gordon strikes out. His first out of the night.
Butler flies out.
Top of the ninth
Tim Collins comes in to close it out.
Ibanez flies out to left. Good at-bat at least.
Martin doubles. It would be big if he begins to turn things around.
Jones pinch-hits for Wise. Jones strikes out. One out away from a loss.
Nunez grounds out to end the game.
Final Score:
Yankees 1
Royals 5
Paulino gets the win and Kuroda the loss.
Quadruple blech.
Comments
With Wise in the OF, they just had to make sure to get Iganez in LF and NunE into the game.
Ha! I was thinking the same thing. Heaven forbid they actually try a GOOD defensive alignment.
If you were Granderson, looking left, then looking right…would you just start crying out there in the field ?
Or would you get your notebook out and write “5 May 2012” down under “Serious Injuries”.
But Wise is actually an excellent defender, so that should help Granderson.
[4] That kind of takes the wind out of my rain main joke.
[4,5] For every bit of good Wise brings defensively, Iganez is more than capable of erasing that with his “defense”.
Edit - And that’s before we account for the runs NunE will give up on defense and cost them on offense.
This team is totally fuckin’ cooked.
Kuroda is getting fairly beat, no doubt. However, the ump is giving Paulino a much friendlier strike zone. Which annoys me.
Like that ball four call.
Yankees LFs 0-16 of course with Nix and Nu nE is it much of a surprise?
Oakland actually got out of the first inning without giving up their 1-0 lead. Shocking!
[7, 8] I just spun back, and I don’t see what you’re seeing on Gameday.
It is George Brett bat day in Kansas City.
That reminded me of the bit I did on the Pine Tar Game for the LA Times: Did the AL President go against the letter of the law to change the ruling on the George Brett pine tar incident?
I just spun back, and I don’t see what you’re seeing on Gameday.
I could just be biased!
Is there like a Cabin in the Woods situation going on here? like if the Yankees DIDN’T spend a game immediately in the hole a couple of runs, would Cthulu devour Earth? Because, if so, bravo, Yankees. I certainly don’t want to get devoured by Cthulu.
Game Day backs THAT call up. Lame, ump!
[15] Which batter/pitch ?
Gordon, pitch 6, I believe.
Cone believes it is a good play to load the bases to face Quintero. What do you folks think?
Congratulations to Paulino for his perfect game.
[17] OK, but Kuroda got pitch 1 which was equally borderline, and pitch 2, which was aggregiously a ball called a strike.
I don’t see why you are blaming the ump when this is clearly Nunez’s fault. Or Joba’s. Or AJ’s. So much to choose from, and we’re not even in Soriano territory yet.
Ok. A no hitter is still good, Paulino.
Looking Cano hit is so annoying, can’t watch the guy anymore.
[18] He’s got a point there. For a right hander pitcher to walk a LHH with 2 on to face a much worse RHH is a good idea, I think with that much difference between the hitters is better to pitch with the bases loaded than with 2 on.
Magic City sucks like our 3/4/5 hitters
Okay, I’ll admit that ball three call was a bit close.
Well, at least the got a runner in scoring position, so now when they get shut out it won’t be as humiliating as the last time when they couldn’t even do that. Baby steps, baby steps.
This team sucks with RISP and, and, and. In other news townies newest ace got pounded today.
And this is the Yankees before they have to cut talent due to future payroll concerns and before several players start inevitable age related declines. Welcome to the Dark Ages, fellas!
What is it about Butler that allows him to have such power but not home run power?
Pull him now, right?
One good starting pitcher, two good hitters, playoff bound for sure
[28] Psh. Most of us remember the ‘80s. Bring on your dark ages. I’ve seen Andy Hawkins pitch.
32 i remember thinking Pat Kelly would be our next young hope
I hope Cone says “Laredo” again.
[32]
I’ve seen Andy Hawkins pitch… a no-hitter.
Halleluja! Girardi has finally understood the LOOGY concept!
Is that really only Granderson’s 3rd double?
What the fuck is Grandy doing running there?!?! Does he seriously not realize that Francouer has a really, really REALLY good arm? And then, of course, Cano singles. UGH.
Suboptimal.
Annoying
Grandy running: tells you a lot about the confidence he has in the guys behind him getting a hit…
This is going to end early again. This Yankees remind me of the 2008 Yankees. We need TSBG and Swisher back in a hurry
I also don’t like the Rays teasing us on the way to their inevitable win.
The Rays are winning the division. I don’t have high hopes now. Get to the playoffs, maybe they get some lucky there.
Ballgame.
The Yankees are losing by blowouts against bad teams like the Royals and Orioles.
3-0 is NOT a blowout. Calm down.
Although it does oddly seem as though - yesterday’s comfort-gift from God after Mariano’s injury aside - the Yankees are never, ever going to score again.
Bad pitching, bad hitting and Jorge baserunning blunders. Sweet to poop on.
I’ll give the Yankees the top of the seventh. If no runs there, I’m giving up the liveblog.
Er…how about if less than two runs? 
Please explain why Girardi did not PH with Jones for either Ibanez or Wise.
No idea. Good question.
Escobar hits a grounder to Nunez that Nunez tries his best to throw away but Teix makes an amazing play to not only get the throw but to also touch first base for the out to end the inning.
Brian, you’re such a Teixeira fanboy.
Their Ate inning guy is throwing 101mph.
That was a great play by Teix!
Arod is old
That was a great play by Teix!
Brian, you’re such a Teixeira fanboy.
Tex and Cano are bad at baseball
What
is
with
CANO?
Hey lads. Just returned from a fun filled hour of watching and recording mrs. otf and her so not hot middle aged friends tap effen dancing at quinnipiac U. People actually paid coin of the realm to witness this sh farns. Long story short… I turned on the game and guess what?
Watching middle aged broads tapping was more fun.
I did get to hear Serling rave about Franconas arm after he gunned Grandy at third. He quickly corrected hisself but it was pretty funny.
I’m now enjoying the last Orval in the fridge and chomping some manischewitz everything matzoh crackers.
The game ended before my pizza got here at least. That’s something, I guess.
Terrible, terrible!
Jeter has thawed, I see. I can’t wait until Martin takes Teix’s spot in the lineup.
Hey, remember when we were good, and we had like 7 guys in the lineup batting .290 or better, and all 9 regular hitters finished the year with 10 homers or more ?
That was awesome.
Can we lobby for a third wild-card?
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