Yankees 5, Orioles 3

Johnny is the most clutch guy on the team right now. Dunno what has to happen to have the others follow his lead. Too bad Jeter isn’t getting on base enough for him…he’d have more RBI.

The Yanks come away with a series win- and that’s what it is all about.

Big one coming up against the other birds north of the border. Two out of three would be nice again.

Hey, now. A series win against the O’s who humbled the Yankees in April (given that Wang was pitching then) .

It’s a pleasure listening to tv broadcasters Gary Thorn, Mike Viviano and Jim Palmer, on MASN, the Oriole’s feed via MLB and not blaring ESPN, whose shills just parody real sportscasters.

Insights from the weekend (paraphrased):

Palmer on Phil Hughes: “Young pitchers usually have difficulty with control of their low pitches.”

Palmer on Joba Chamberlain: “He has developed …(in a few years) into (a major league pitcher). He’s throws with little effort, pitches strikes, and…see, look at the break on that pitch! He’s got (control of) his two seam fastball…along with other pitches to go along with it…and when he throws the two seam pitch…(to go along with the) four seam fastball when hitters aren’t expecting it, then the light is going to go on for Joba Chamberlain.”

Palmer on the late game infield defensive placement: “Usually with a right handed hitter a team would guard the (left field) line against a double…you see where Alex Rodriguez is standing (off the line). But Joe Girardi isn’t doing that. The Yankees consider (Ty) Wiggington too weak to be able to pull the ball, which shows you what a smart manager Joe Girardi is.” Wiggington then grounded to Jeter for an inning ending double play.

A-Rod’s yours truly’s personal bones:

Saturday, A-Rod just stood there at second and watched Tex score on a sac fly. If he tagged and went to third on the throw to the plate, and the other runner moved on the play, Y’s would have second and third with one out. Instead the rally ended with an ensuring ground-out double play.

Today, Alex’s slow grounder in the top of the 8th was fielded by the O’s SS who pivoted toward third base, then wheeled around before setting. The left field camera caught the replay of the throw to first. A-Rod never entered the screen by the time the play was completed, which tells me he 1) dogged it, kept his head down, unaware of where the ball was hit and the fact he might have legged it out easily, 2) Is still recovering from the hip injury (If so, why is he playing in a late game situation with a lead?) 3) He didn’t care enough to run hard, thinking whatever else but not beating the throw.

A-Rod certainly didn’t appear too hungry in the weekend series, his first following hip surgery. Francisco Cervelli, called up from AAA Scranton, when Molina went on the disabled list, is making is debut, earning a micro-fraction of what A-does, but certainly his hustle kept the Yankees in the game, possibly was the reason they won, and appears motivated to do what it takes to stay here. I just hope his locker is on the opposite side of the room from A-Rod’s. Cervelli ran down the first base line to just beat the throw on a slow roller, and later scored on Johnny Damon’s GW homer that gave the Y’s the 5-3 lead and raised Joba’s record to 2-1, helped the Yanks to take two of three. If Cervelli is out, Damon likely leads off the next inning with no runners and a 3-2 deficit.

A-Rod is playing a game, but the one between his ears, not the same as the other Yankees play.
How selfish to snap the momentum with your team struggling to score, up only a couple of runs, on a day when they desperately needed to win?

This carried over to the next half of the inning when the O’s Mora got on with a liner over A-Rod’s glove.
Fortunately, there was that double play, and ‘the excellent’ Phil Coke. as Tyler Kepner of the NYt is calling him, passing it over to Mo for the save in the 9th.

Eric J.