Game 131: Red Sox drop Yankees; A-Rod booed
The 2008 Yankees just can’t live up to the hype- especially in the first game of a series, not to mention the most crucial series in this season so far. And last night, A-Rod was the one who choked.
Of course, Andy Pettitte (13-10, 4.37) wasn’t good either, as he lasted 4.2 innings, gave up 10 hits, 3 walks, 3K, and 6 runs. Sure the umpire was squeezing the strikezone on him, but Andy and Joe Girardi told the umpire so and the zone actually got bigger. Keep in mind, this Red Sox lineup does not have Manny Ramirez, and Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew, and Julio Lugo are on the DL.
Andy wilted under the pressure. Just read what he said after the game:
“I don’t throw shutouts. I’ve always been able to give my team innings. We’ve always scored runs here and that’s been part of it. But I’ve always said when a team is not scoring, I feel like I’ve gotta shut the other team down. It’s been frustrating.”“I’m pretty honest about telling y’all when I pitch poorly. But I went back and looked at the tape and other than a couple here and there, I didn’t leave many balls in the middle of the plate. It was one of those nights. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Even with Andy’s bad start, the Yanks were hitting Tim Wakefield (8-8, 3.73) very well. The fact is the Yanks could have scored more than 6 runs off him. But A-Rod?
How does 0-5 sound? I guess we can call him DOUBLE-PLAY ROD because he grounded out to the shortstop with the bases loaded TWICE. He struck out twice- once looking, and he swung at a high ball to end the game against Papelbon, who was very happy. He also flew out- weakly. His defense at 3rd wasn’t any better. From an error, to misplays, he looked like Bobby Bonilla out there.
Speaking of misplays, Jason Giambi made a mental boo-boo by holding the ball at 1B while 2 runs scored (one was extra).
The best part of the night occured when the frustrated fans booed A-Rod for MAKING a routine play and threw out the runner. That was funny.
Brian Bruney gave up 1 run in 1.1 innings, to make the score 7-3. (Johnny Damon had 2 solo HRs, and Jose Molina had a 2-out clutch RBI.) David Robertson, Edwar Ramirez, and Chris Britton each hurled a scoreless inning, but gave up hits.
Similar Posts:
- Game 130: Cano helps Yankees SWEEP Orioles
- Game 97: Yankees beat Oakland A’s in 12 innings
- Yanks bash Blue Jays
- Game 127: Halladay, Jays bats destroy Yanks
- Game 43: Santana beats Pettitte in Subway Series
- DMB: 2004 Red Sox vs 1998 Yanks (Best of 9 Multiverse Series)
- Mark Teixeira’s clutch HR lifts Yanks over Seattle
- Game 41: Mussina, Rivera beat Rays 2-1
Random DailySkew Baseball:
- Projector headlights
- Aceves, Hideki, Jeter, Jorge bail out Joba
- Analyzing the Yankees-Pirates Xavier Nady Trade
- Just to reiterate the Gammons jinx….
- Roy Halladay beats A.J. Burnett
Anyone can have a bad day. Not Alex’s fault.
That being said, playoff % is now 2.67490 %.
HAHAHHAAA
That AB in the 7th was a microcosm of A-Rod’s entire season. He’s been terrible in high leverage situations all year and I fully expected him to not come through, although I was figuring strikeout rather than DP. Maybe next year he has his divorce behind him and 2007 A-Rod will come out to play.
There’s truth here, and I agree that it’s a microcosm of his late-innings season, but uuhhmmmm I don’t think an impotent AB like that is emblematic of a top-shelf offensive contributor’s whole season.
If Yankee fans are seriously going to piss and moan because of A-Rod’s lack of “clutch,” then they deserve having pitching prospects and old farts repeatedly come up lame, and they deserve the inglorious shame that comes with actually not making the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.
Well, he really has lacked “clutch” in 2008… it’s not subject to debate. That doesn’t make him a bad player or person, and doesn’t tell us anything about his performance going forward. It just means he’s been somewhat less valuable in 2008 than a cursory look at his OPS+ would indicate. He’s been great in the clutch in the past and will probably be so again some day in the future. 2009 is a brand new season…
I’ll still gladly take him on my team any day.
So now is anything other than 130+ RBI considered an abject failure for Alex Rodriguez? My goodness, it’s amazing how quickly people get spoiled.
All of this A-Rod hate is disgusting. Just disgusting. I would love to argue with you from a Yankee fan perspective. I can’t.
I think the majority of fans of other franchises are this stupid. Phillies fans hated Bobby Abreu for some bizarre reason. Red Sox kinda booed Ted Williams, Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs (at the end), Nomar (at the end), and Manny. But for Yankees fans to hate A-Rod so much?? I have ever seen this irrationally dumb when it came to a specific individual. All I know is, the negative energy from the upper deck was absolutely palatable, and powerful.
I was THERE last night.
Was I pissed at the double play against Masterson? Yes. Am I angry that my favorite team’s baseball season is circling the drain largely because of their mysterious inability to get hits with runners in scoring, and that Alex Rodriguez has been very much part of the problem? Yes, infuriated actually.
But incensed enough to boo the guy like he’s Bobby Bonilla circa 1992?
NO!
Walking out of the Stadium tonight was probably the lowest I’ve ever felt as a fan. Just a hideous, angry atmosphere in which to watch a ballgame… not the way I wanted to spend my last night on break.
Fans SUCK.
Okay, let’s defend A-Rod, the Yankees “Icon” who OPTED OUT last year, and then came crawling back when the Angels and Mets wouldn’t give him the contract he and Boras wanted.
What is so heroic about A-Rod? Or even likable?
If he hits well in the clutch tonight, WE WILL CHEER HIM.
When he sucks, WE WILL BOO HIM.
Derek Jeter accepts that.
Andy Pettitte is a sorry sac of shit.
What the hell was Giambi thinking as he held the ball at 1b as Crisp scored from second on a groundout?
A-Rod basically *was* the Yankee offense (with a little help from Posada) for those first couple of months in 2007. Without him, they don’t smell the playoffs. But sports fans can have short memories, especially somewhere like NYC, and this blog.
Send A-Rod and $5M per to Philly for Howard, Feliz, and a few prospects.
I remember when the The Fenway faithful booed Jim Rice during the 1986 playoffs.
I didn’t understand it as a kid.
Now I do.
For the most part, Arod wasn’t booed this year. It hasn’t been the auto-boo situation it was last year. This is the first time I have heard him boo in a while.
Last night, he killed two rallies, left what, 8 runners on base?
It was probably his worst game as a Yankee.
In 2007, the 2nd and 4th least clutch players were Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, according to “Clutch Stats”.
Armando Benitez and Braden Looper could have cured all cancer and ended all world strife; and I would have booed them as soon as they walked out of the bullpen.
My impression, perhaps faulty, is that A-Rod inspires this kind of fan reaction in a way that other players do not. This is exactly from where my sentiment comes. If Jeter or Posada or, heck, even Giambi or Abreu had the same kind of night last night, I don’t think the reaction would be quite as visceral or stinging. I would never want to be put in the position of having to root for a player who has this kind of relationship with the fans, such that it makes going to ballgames painful.
A player as talented as A-Rod is going to face unreasonable expectations, and those are only compounded by his gigantic contract and knack for saying/doing unsympathetic things. It’s not fair.
i believe the yankees are truly trying to get home runs instead
of just trying for hits to the base pads! do they all want to be
m.v.p.’s this year? dream on alex,etc.