Tigers 8, Yankees 0 (top of the 7th)
A half day after Kenny Rogers humbled what Joe Morgan considers the greatest offensive lineup ever assembled, the Yankees are having no more success against Jeremy Bonderman (above). The Detroit right-hander, loser of 19 games just 3 seasons ago, was perfect through 5 innings until Robinson Cano’s 6th inning single.
Bonderman’s counterpart, Jared Wright, served up gopher balls to Magglio Ordonez in the first and Craig Monroe in the second inning, respectively.
Henceforth, The Third Baseman will be known as The No. 8 Hitter.
I’m trying to figure out where the silver lining might be for Yankee fans in all of this. Larry Bowa’s probable return to broadcasting? Rooting interests aside, it would’ve been nice to see the visitors show up the last two games.
During Thursday’s Game 2 loss to Detroit, Derek Jeter attempted to bunt Johnny Damon over to 3rd with none out in the first inning. Baseball Prospectus’ Joe Sheenan can’t figure it out (link courtesy Futility Infielder)
I know that any time a good player bunts we™re supposed to genuflect, but Derek Jeter does this far too often. Him laying down a sacrifice — and we can debate whether he was bunting for a hit or not, but it did not look quite like that, and he™s sacrificed in similar situations — is a gift for the opposition, an absolute gift. Any time a .340 hitter offers you an out, you take it and thank him profusely. Jeter does this all the time. I don™t think he™s doing it to burnish his reputation, I think he™s doing it because someone told him a long time ago that it was winning baseball, and no one™s told him otherwise since.
This isn™t Little League. This isn™t college. This isn™t 1905. Great hitters put runs on the board by swinging the bat, not by passing the baton to the next guy in the lineup. I know that Derek Jeter is the Teflon Shortstop, but he™s wrong in his persistence in sacrificing bunting, and he was egregiously wrong today. A sharp single to left might have helped the Yankees put the game away early.
Back in partisan-ville, I’m tempted to pul for the Cards if only because I’m way more worried about the Mets having to face Chris Young than Chris Carpenter. The former was tremendous in San Diego’s 3-1, Game 3 win over St. Louis earlier today, striking out 9 over 6 innings — none more crucial than whiffing Albert Pujols with runners on first and 2nd in the last of the 6th.
I hope Joe has a whole bunch of Subway sandwiches in the toaster.
The Curse of Sterling continues for yet another year!
(What am I referring to? In the middle of the 2001 season, someone on the Yankees’ staff — hell, it may have been George Steinbrenner, for all we know — decided to pipe in the inane “The Yankeeeess winnnn!” call of radio hack John Sterling on the P.A. system after every home victory, leading into the traditional Frank Sinatra “Theme From ‘New York, New York’.” The Yankees, who had won three consecutive World Series when this was instituted, haven’t won one since. Coincidence? I think not.)