Curt Schilling (4-2) was just as good tonight as Mike Mussina was last night. It's ironic because there was talk of how Clemens was over the hill and Mussina was in the twilight of his career and then the other 40 something year old gets lit up to throw his era over four. That said, this game was worlds bigger for the Yankees and they did their job, winning 8-3 and taking the series from the vaunted Red Sox. It is just the third series Boston has lost out of 15 this season.
Schilling's six innings of six run (five earned) ball, was due in large part to the 12 hits he surrendered, including homeruns to Hideki Matsui and Doug Mientkiewicz (a bomb), along with just three strikeouts. He clearly did not have his best stuff and has been mediocre over his last four starts or so. Andy Pettitte (3-3), who for now in this young season has been far and away the Yankees ace, was gritty again, this time receiving run support. The Yankees starter threw seven innings, giving up eight hits but just one run lowering his ERA to a minute 2.66. The Yankees nine hitter (Mientkiewicz) and the top of the order (Damon, Jeter, Matsui) did the brunt of the damage, combining to go 11-18 with six runs and seven RBI, including both homeruns.
Kyle Farnsworth came in to raise the stock of Pepto and Aciphex across the country, giving up two runs (including a homer to Crisp) to cut the lead to four in the eighth. But Mariano Rivera in a non save situation shut the door by striking out the side after a Wily Mo Pena leadoff double. The Yankees will now head to Anaheim to play the Los Angeles Angels. Chances are Tyler Clippard pitches Friday (off day tomorrow) followed by Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Mussina with Matt Desalvo available in the bullpen. This victory may have saved the mental state of the Yankees, they needed a win and did it in convincing fashion smacking around Curt Schilling and even hitting the Sox bullpen hard for an additional two runs in two innings. Now they have the usual tough task of taking a series from the Angels in southern California. Just keep the thundersticks away, please.
- Robinson Cano went 2-4 and is now 9 for his last 24. He is also enjoying an eight game hitting streak
- Derek Jeter used three hits to extend his hitting streak to 18 games. Is there any better pure hitter in the game right now, Ichiro included?
- Jorge Posada continues to sizzle at the plate adding an RBI single in tonights game. Into tonight he was batting .435 in May.
- Johnny Damon is now 5 for his last 16 and Doug Mientkiewicz is 4 for 6. They are small sample sizes, mostly against one team, but if the bottom and top of the order can start getting on base, that goes a long way towards consistancy in a lineup.
- Hideki Matsui is 9 for his last 26. He loves the Red Sox, I can tell.
- "Consistantly comatose" Carl Pavano will 99% most likely be getting Tommy John Surgery. The numbers are in, America: just short of eight million dollars per win and just over one win per year of his contract. I blame Josh Beckett, if he hadn't had taught Pavano how easy going to the disabled list in Florida was, none of this would be a problem right now.
- You really have to consider trading Farnsworth at this point. Forget Helton for a moment, can we even get Brian Fuentes? The selling point probably ends up being Helton for the Rockies so they can dump his salary, so maybe Farnsworth and a few less important minor league players for Helton and Fuentes? I'm game if they are.
- Mariano Rivera has now given up two runs in eight innings in May. This compares positively to the nine earned runs in 7.2 innings in April. The 2.57 May ERA which went down just a tad tonight is starting to look more like that closer that dominated baseball for over a decade. He has also not been in a save situation since May 3rd.
- Roger Clemens faced the Portland Seadogs in a AA start tonight. Clemens struggled, mostly with command, walking three and giving up three runs on six hits and five strikeouts. If you think this start can be compared to how he will perform in the Major Leagues, you're out of your mind. Put it this way, if Curt Schilling pitched the way he did tonight against light hitting Trenton, he would have had the same results as the Rocket. I don't think it would hurt to give Clemens one more rehab start even though this is more than likely just a day when he did not have his stuff, but I suspect he will be in pinstripes for the Toronto series anyway. Tomorrow's side session should let us know by Friday what his status is.
And finally, here's a fun picture that Yankees and Red Sox fans alike can leave comments on:
And Sox fans thought A-Rod and Jeter have an interesting relationship.
I'm also not sure what's going on in this video, but it's hilarious:
This is what happens when you're winning a lot I guess. The above clip is somewhat aged, but still, hilarious.
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