Come on, Mo! Yanks lose 1-0

by John Amato on Aug 1, 2008 10:04 PM EDT Comment 8 comments

Mariano can't keep giving up runs in tie games. He's had an incredible year so far, but walking the first batter is certain death for any reliever. He threw four straight balls to Mark T leading off, Vlad went the other way for a hit and a drawn in infield single led to the winning run. I was hoping that Veras would come out in the 9th.

Wasted was a great performance by the guy we like to rag on---Sidney Ponson. He went seven strong innings--only getting in trouble one time and escaping a bases loaded one out hole.

Wasted was a dynamite 8th inning by Marte. He showed us why he baffles right handed hitters. His slider wraps around the outside corner for a strike and is unhittable.

Wasted was some great defense led by the Melkyman

When Abreu makes a decent catch it seems like it should make ESPN's web gems or something.

Santana was awesome as well. Flashing a 96 mph heater, he used his off speed pitches to put the Yanks away all game long and went eight scoreless innings. He has matured a great deal since being sent down to the minors last year.

Giambi can't hit a high strike anymore. He's really hurting the lineup now. They still do not have a legitimate number 5 hitter.Their situational hitting is a nightmare too. They don't move runners over in tight games.

Why is Betemit starting again? XMan is just starting to swing a hot bat and I don't think he needed a day off. Playing the lefty/righty combination is fine if you actually have a good platoon option. Wilson is not.

KRod was dealing and caught ARod looking for strike three on a 3-2 change-up as he racked up his 45th save. It couldn't have been easier.

I was hoping for a split this series, but now not getting swept is the priority. The Yanks have wasted too many good starts and it's hurting them badly. The Malocchio is stll alive.

0 recs | Comment 8 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

This game is not on Mo

It’s on the offense.

They can’t win if they don’t score and they had plenty of chances to score. Hell, they got the first two runners on in the 1st inning and they never moved with Abreu, A-Rod, and Giambi up.

Also, Nady is out with a tweaked quad. I wrote that on the pregame notes and it was mentioned several times during the game by the My9 crew.

He didn’t just get a day off.

by anaconda on Aug 1, 2008 10:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

agree

I agree with anaconda, even tough Mo sucks this year in tie games, its deff the offense’s fault.

Also i can’t even remember how many times we get a mini-first inning rally going with Damon and Jeter on, and then Abreu,A-Rod and Giambi all fail to drive them in. Its happened at least 3 times when playing Boston this season.

"Hey Derek do you actually drive the Edge?","I don't drive that piece of crap!"

by Da Shiz on Aug 1, 2008 10:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

dont blame mo

the offense just sucks when it comes to good pitching. the yankees used to be patient and run up pitch counts on teams with good starting pitching. now they just hack away and go 1-17 with RISP. what you saw tonight is a glimpse of what will happen if the yankees even make the playoffs – a quiet exit.

by pinstripe on Aug 1, 2008 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Our offense sucks? Don't blame Mo?

The Angels couldn’t score off Ponson for seven innings, they must really suck!
Although the man is a saint, the game is on Rivera. As Mr. Amato points out, he walked the leadoff hitter in a tie game and then gave up two singles. I’m sure Mo is not blaming the loss on the offense. Also, the Angel’s pitcher might deserve a little bit of credit for quieting the Yankee’s bats.
Maybe Mo should have thrown over to first base a couple of times to try to keep Willis close? Everybody knew he was going to take off (see Roberts, Dave).
If memory serves me correctly, I recall some here getting upset when Torre would keep Rivera out of a tie game at home in the ninth. Maybe he knew something….

by costa on Aug 2, 2008 12:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Everyone is entitled to blame whomever we want

But the bottom line is this – the Yanks didn’t score any runs tonight. Period. Zero runs.

We all know Mo isn’t the same pitcher for whatever reason in a tie game, so perhaps if the offense had managed to scrape a run across home plate at some point – the game might’ve had a different outcome.

Even if it was Ponson who gave up the lone run – you can’t blame him. This game was lost because the offense got shut out.

I don’t see how this is even a debate.

Also, the Yanks have scored 2 runs or less a total of 35 times this season in 109 games. 35 times!!! That means roughly 1/3 of all of their games!!!

There comes a point when we have to stop crediting other pitchers for shutting this team down. That’s a cop out.

by anaconda on Aug 2, 2008 1:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What about Mo in non-save situations? Has he always sucked?

Good pitching or poor hitting? I guess that is the debate. I think it was good pitching. This way I can stay positive; the Yanks don’t suck at hitting and the other pitcher was really good :-). Does this smiley thing go before or after the period?
If I argue that they lost because of poor hitting than Santana gets no credit and maybe one would expect each of the Yanks to be hitting .220. I think there is plenty of proof that Santana is a great pitcher, so far in his short career, and most of the Yankees know how to hit.
BTW-This site is great. I don’t know how I survived without it the past 44 years. You all do a great job. Thanks.

by costa on Aug 2, 2008 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I appreciate the kind words

Thank you.

The one thing I will say about Mo is he doesn’t suck per se in non-save situations. He’s just not his normal unhittable self.

In non-save situations, he has a 3.00 ERA in 21.0 IP. That’s not Mo-esque – but that’s certainly not terrible by any means.

It’s just that he’s been so unhittable in save situations (27.1 IP, 12 H, 1 ER—0.33 ERA) that we expect him to be Superman every time he takes the mound.

by anaconda on Aug 3, 2008 1:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs