Friday, August 13, 2004
VILLBONED
No Alex? No problem.
The Yankees come closer to winning another series in Seattle, having not lost a series at the Safe since 2000. Tonight...don't say I haven't been warning people about Ron Villone. Effective wildness is overrated. On a note for the fans that showed up, no one saw Alex Rodriguez (viral infection, apparently) or John Olerud (lefty on the mound) take the field for the Yankees; the reaction Olerud will get when stepping to the plate tomorrow is still somewhat unknown. I'll put my guess toward scattered standing applause, though.
Villone managed to strand Miguel Cairo on second and Gary Sheffield at first in the top of the 1st. In the 2nd, Villone probably was squeezed on the 1-2 pitch to Hideki Matsui. Villone ended up walking Matsui, and it was the prelude to bigger things for the Yankees. Ruben Sierra would slam the next pitch into the gap in leftcenter for a double. Randy Winn fielded the ball off the base of the wall, so Matsui scored from first (NYY 1-0). Villone still had some control at this point, retiring the bottomfeeders of the Yankee lineup in order to end the inning.
Of course there's more. Derek Jeter singled to lead off the 3rd, then Sheffield hit his second smashed ball in a row, this one being a laser beam that one-hopped under the scoreboard in left about 0.2 seconds after it left the bat (something crazy-fast like that). Bernie Williams gave the Tri-State area a bit of John Sterling's "Bern Baby, Burn" call on a 1-2 pitch at the knees that got too much of the plate, like most of Villone's pitches did tonight. It didn't seem like Bernie smashed the hell out of the ball (looked more like a golfing), but it sure went a long way, toward the back of the bullpen if memory serves me right (NYY 4-0). In the same fashion as the 2nd, Villone would retire the Yankees fairly quickly post-damage.
No, it didn't stop there for Villone. With the score 4-0, he was only halfway done giving up his runs for the night. In the 4th, Enrique Wilson hit a leadoff double and scored on Miguel Cairo's mash of a triple to rightfield. Cairo scored on the same play on a Bret Boone throwing error (NYY 6-0). I must now apologize because I didn't see that particular play. But if there's an error on Boone, I'll guess he cut off Ichiro's throw to the plate and tried to nail Cairo at third, but then airmailed it or something. In the past two innings, Villone had done damage control after the damage had already been done. Not this time. Derek Jeter doubled and Gary Sheffield decided to draw a walk instead of just smashing the ball somewhere. Bernie Williams singled to center, but Jeter was nailed at the plate (by Randy Winn?).
That was it for Villone, as Scott Atchison was brought in with two of Villone's runners on. Things started out well, as he got ahead 0-2 on Jorge Posada and got him to whiff. Then Matsui legged out an infield single. Then came a fateful pitch to Ruben Sierra. You know, before Sierra came to the Mariners in 2002, I as a Mariner fan had always feared him, fearful that he'd come up against Arthur Rhodes in a crucial situation and just pound one. Ruben doesn't get cheated up there, either. If he hits a home run lefthanded, it looks like he pounds the crap out of it. Anyway, this ball flew into the rightfield seats for a grand slam (NYY 10-0). For this night, Ron Villone probably wants to refer to Scott Atchison as "Beyatchison" for letting two of his runners score.
Jon Lieber pretty much had it going tonight, showing why the Yankees signed him to a two-year deal two years ago, knowing full well he would have to sit out one season due to surgery.
Lieber allowed a leadoff single in the fifth to Raul Ibanez, who one out later was plated on a Miguel Olivo smash (NYY 10-2). The Mariners had a small chance to score a run in the 7th; Raul Ibanez hit a one-out double to center. Bucky Jacobsen whiffed, Ibanez took third on a wild pitch, then Olivo flew out to short. In the 8th, the Mariners did manage to put one across. Justin Leone led off with a double, and went to third on a Jose Lopez single. Jolbert Cabrera pinch-hit for Ichiro and hit a sufficiently deep fly ball to leftfield to score Leone (NYY 11-3). Other than the three runs that scored in this paragraph, Lieber had the Mariners at bay for the night, using the slider low and away to cut down the young'uns, and most likely Bret Boone also, who hung up an 0-for-4 tonight. And of course, every time Jon Lieber enters the conversation, I like to point out that this guy was a horse on the Cubs staff a few years ago and all he would do was eat innings and not walk a lot of guys. He'll probably never be as good again as he was maybe three or four years ago, but a shadow of the Lieber of old was on display tonight. Lieber tonight: 8 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, no walks (as expected), 4 strikeouts.
Oh yeah, Jorge Posada mashed one off JJ Putz in the 9th onto the Mariner tarp that covers the groundskeeping equipment entrance in rightcenter (NYY 12-3) for good measure. I don't know what the right term for that entryway is called, but Jeremy more than likely does.
Gameball: Edgar Martinez. 2-for-4. Workin' it.
Goat: Ron Villone. His terribility tonight dug too deep of a hole for this Mariner offense to dig itself out. 3 1/3 innings, 8 runs, 10 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts. Brutal. It makes me barely realize that Ichiro/Winn/Boone/Bucky went a combined 0-for-14 tonight. Yes, that ends Boone's hitting streak at 16 games.
Well, if for some reason you used tonight's game as a measuring stick...yeah, this team's crap.
Loaiza. Moyer. Tomorrow.
The Yankees come closer to winning another series in Seattle, having not lost a series at the Safe since 2000. Tonight...don't say I haven't been warning people about Ron Villone. Effective wildness is overrated. On a note for the fans that showed up, no one saw Alex Rodriguez (viral infection, apparently) or John Olerud (lefty on the mound) take the field for the Yankees; the reaction Olerud will get when stepping to the plate tomorrow is still somewhat unknown. I'll put my guess toward scattered standing applause, though.
Villone managed to strand Miguel Cairo on second and Gary Sheffield at first in the top of the 1st. In the 2nd, Villone probably was squeezed on the 1-2 pitch to Hideki Matsui. Villone ended up walking Matsui, and it was the prelude to bigger things for the Yankees. Ruben Sierra would slam the next pitch into the gap in leftcenter for a double. Randy Winn fielded the ball off the base of the wall, so Matsui scored from first (NYY 1-0). Villone still had some control at this point, retiring the bottomfeeders of the Yankee lineup in order to end the inning.
Of course there's more. Derek Jeter singled to lead off the 3rd, then Sheffield hit his second smashed ball in a row, this one being a laser beam that one-hopped under the scoreboard in left about 0.2 seconds after it left the bat (something crazy-fast like that). Bernie Williams gave the Tri-State area a bit of John Sterling's "Bern Baby, Burn" call on a 1-2 pitch at the knees that got too much of the plate, like most of Villone's pitches did tonight. It didn't seem like Bernie smashed the hell out of the ball (looked more like a golfing), but it sure went a long way, toward the back of the bullpen if memory serves me right (NYY 4-0). In the same fashion as the 2nd, Villone would retire the Yankees fairly quickly post-damage.
No, it didn't stop there for Villone. With the score 4-0, he was only halfway done giving up his runs for the night. In the 4th, Enrique Wilson hit a leadoff double and scored on Miguel Cairo's mash of a triple to rightfield. Cairo scored on the same play on a Bret Boone throwing error (NYY 6-0). I must now apologize because I didn't see that particular play. But if there's an error on Boone, I'll guess he cut off Ichiro's throw to the plate and tried to nail Cairo at third, but then airmailed it or something. In the past two innings, Villone had done damage control after the damage had already been done. Not this time. Derek Jeter doubled and Gary Sheffield decided to draw a walk instead of just smashing the ball somewhere. Bernie Williams singled to center, but Jeter was nailed at the plate (by Randy Winn?).
That was it for Villone, as Scott Atchison was brought in with two of Villone's runners on. Things started out well, as he got ahead 0-2 on Jorge Posada and got him to whiff. Then Matsui legged out an infield single. Then came a fateful pitch to Ruben Sierra. You know, before Sierra came to the Mariners in 2002, I as a Mariner fan had always feared him, fearful that he'd come up against Arthur Rhodes in a crucial situation and just pound one. Ruben doesn't get cheated up there, either. If he hits a home run lefthanded, it looks like he pounds the crap out of it. Anyway, this ball flew into the rightfield seats for a grand slam (NYY 10-0). For this night, Ron Villone probably wants to refer to Scott Atchison as "Beyatchison" for letting two of his runners score.
Jon Lieber pretty much had it going tonight, showing why the Yankees signed him to a two-year deal two years ago, knowing full well he would have to sit out one season due to surgery.
Lieber allowed a leadoff single in the fifth to Raul Ibanez, who one out later was plated on a Miguel Olivo smash (NYY 10-2). The Mariners had a small chance to score a run in the 7th; Raul Ibanez hit a one-out double to center. Bucky Jacobsen whiffed, Ibanez took third on a wild pitch, then Olivo flew out to short. In the 8th, the Mariners did manage to put one across. Justin Leone led off with a double, and went to third on a Jose Lopez single. Jolbert Cabrera pinch-hit for Ichiro and hit a sufficiently deep fly ball to leftfield to score Leone (NYY 11-3). Other than the three runs that scored in this paragraph, Lieber had the Mariners at bay for the night, using the slider low and away to cut down the young'uns, and most likely Bret Boone also, who hung up an 0-for-4 tonight. And of course, every time Jon Lieber enters the conversation, I like to point out that this guy was a horse on the Cubs staff a few years ago and all he would do was eat innings and not walk a lot of guys. He'll probably never be as good again as he was maybe three or four years ago, but a shadow of the Lieber of old was on display tonight. Lieber tonight: 8 innings, 3 runs, 7 hits, no walks (as expected), 4 strikeouts.
Oh yeah, Jorge Posada mashed one off JJ Putz in the 9th onto the Mariner tarp that covers the groundskeeping equipment entrance in rightcenter (NYY 12-3) for good measure. I don't know what the right term for that entryway is called, but Jeremy more than likely does.
Gameball: Edgar Martinez. 2-for-4. Workin' it.
Goat: Ron Villone. His terribility tonight dug too deep of a hole for this Mariner offense to dig itself out. 3 1/3 innings, 8 runs, 10 hits, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts. Brutal. It makes me barely realize that Ichiro/Winn/Boone/Bucky went a combined 0-for-14 tonight. Yes, that ends Boone's hitting streak at 16 games.
Well, if for some reason you used tonight's game as a measuring stick...yeah, this team's crap.
Loaiza. Moyer. Tomorrow.
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