Of course a game that started at 11 o'clock in the p.m. would go extra innings.

Unreal.

The Yanks fell to the Tigers on Friday/Saturday, 6-3 in 11 innings, and fell 6.5 games behind Boston in the AL East and 3 games back of Seattle for the wild card.  I missed the last inning (I'm really starting to hate myself), but I'm going to plow on anyway with my little roundup here.  I'm starting to forget how to do it. 

The Good:

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod hit an absolute mammoth two-run blast in the third inning and gave the Yanks a short-lived 3-2 lead.  It was home run number 43 on the year for Rodriguez as he looks to become the first Yankee right-handed batter to swat 50 homers in a season.  A-Rod is also in the middle of another "hot" month.  Check out these batting averages: .355 in April, .235 in May, .402 in June, .206 in July and .354 so far in August.  Here's hoping he bucks the trend and hits .500 in September -- I think the Yanks are going to need it.  A-Rod finished 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in.

Joba Chamberlain.  The guy just continues to dominate.  I was stuck in traffic during his performance (it took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to travel a distance I usually make in about 20 minutes on Friday night.  Damn overnight construction!), but I had John and Suzy to help me through it.  The Yankee radio tag-team said it took Joba nine pitches to get through the seventh, but the box score has him at ten pitches.  Either way, Chamberlain has now pitched 9 innings in the big leagues and has given up 3 hits, 0 runs, 2 BB and has 15 Ks.  It would be nice if the Yanks took off the handcuffs regarding his pitching schedule, though.  I mean would it kill the kid if he pitched again on Saturday night if they needed him?  Whether it was nine or ten pitches?  Chamberlain's totals: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. 

The Bad:

Roger Clemens.  Maybe it was the long rain delay.  Maybe it was because he was facing the Tigers for the second time in a week.  Maybe it was because the game started way past the old man's bedtime.  Whatever the reason, The Rocket looked less than stellar on Friday/Saturday night.  Clemens fell behind on almost every batter and really labored through his start.  Roger's no decision: 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.

Sean Henn.  I didn't see Henn pitch the 11th inning, but I woke up in time to see YES' replay of the game-winning homer he gave up to Carlos Guillen.  Actually, it wasn't a terrible pitch, but Henn has been dreadful since his callup back to the Bronx.  His ERA in his last three appearances is a horrific 20.25.  No, thank you.  But, he probably won't be sent down anytime soon since Ron Villone just hit the DL.  Henn was slapped with his second loss in pinstripes with this: .2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 soul-crushing HR.

The Ugly:

Four hours?  Actually the official time for the rain delay clocked in at 4 hours and 1 minute, but I'll round it off.  On the one hand, I'm glad they waited and played the game.  You don't want to play a double dip this late in the season -- especially with a Red Sox series on the horizon.  And then on the other hand -- four hours? 

On the bright side, the teams will play a night game on Saturday.  It will be a battle of talented, but struggling starting pitchers going for both sides.  Chien-Ming Wang is 2-1 so far in August, but has an appalling 7.06 ERA during the month and has really looked shaky.  He'll also be making his second start against the Tigers in less than a week.  Jeremy Bonderman will go for Detroit and he's been even worse.  Bonderman's last win came on July 13 and he has an ERA of 8.97 since July 24.

At least they'll be starting this game at a normal hour.

Right?

4 Comments