Game 73: Yankees SWEEP Padres!

June 20, 2008

By DailySkew

The Yankees have shown that they can win by big scores or squeak by, like yesterday’s 2-1 victory to give them the SWEEP against the San Diego Padres.

Joba Chamberlain pitched excellent for another no-decision- he simply throws too many pitches for Joe Girardi to keep him in ballgames. Joba only allowed 1 run in 5 2/3 innings, with 9K, and 3BB, but the pitch count made Girardi nervous. Look, when is everyone going to realize that Joba is like Nolan Ryan- he doesn’t throw fastballs down the middle on 2-2 or 3-2 and give batters something to hit, he throws nasty sliders or curveballs deep in counts, so his pitch count is going to be like 125 or 130 if he goes 9 innings. Let the boy pitch.

Anyway, Jose Veras (2-0, 3.00) continues to impress under pressure situations by hurling 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Kyle Farnsworth pitched a scoreless 8th, and Mariano Rivera did his famous 1-2-3 9th inning (3Ks) for Save 20 out of 20.

Derek Jeter got two hits, Jose Molina got an RBI, and A-Rod hit an RBI single to give the Yanks the 2-1 lead.

Transactions
Brian Cashman actually signed SIDNEY PONSON to a minor league deal with hopes he will replace Chien-Ming Wang. Ponson was fired by the TEXAS RANGERS for fighting their manager in the clubhouse, being late, drunk, etc. You may remember Sidney’s 1st 2006 run with the Yankees: 0-1, 10.47 ERA in 5 games.

Here’s how the Yankees faired in series this year:

Beat Toronto Blue Jays (home) W
Lost to Tampa Bay Rays (home) L
Lost to Kansas City Royals (road) L
Lost to Boston Red Sox (road) L
Swept Tampa Bay Rays (road) T
Split Boston Red Sox (home) T
Lost to Baltimore Orioles (road) L
Beat Chicago White Sox (road) W
Split Cleveland Indians (road) T
Got swept by the Detroit Tigers (home) L
Swept Seattle Mariners (home) W
Lost to Cleveland Indians (home) L
Split Detroit Tigers (road- 3rd game PPD) T
Lost to Tampa Bay (road) L
Split NY Mets (home- 3rd game PPD) T
Beat Baltimore Orioles (home) W
Swept Seattle Mariners (home) W
Lost to Baltimore Orioles (road) L
Split Minnesota Twins (road) T
Beat Toronto Blue Jays (home) W
Split KC Royals (home) T
Beat Oakland A’s (road) W
Sweep Houston Astros (road) W
Sweep San Diego Padres (home) W

Series Record: 9-8-7
That comes out to 40-33, 5 games out, third place. Current Wild Card Standings: 1 team ahead of them (Tampa Bay), 3.5 games out…BACK IN BUSINESS.