Pride, Power & Pinstripes

Two homers made the difference last night, but their RISP and LOB numbers are a big factor and have been all season............not to mention that numbers 2-5 in the batting order were 0 for 13 last night. Their mission is to get them on and get them in.

(43-28) Dogfight in Queens last night. Cano comes through with a solo shot to snap the tie. 3 for 8 with RISP with Swisher chalking up 3 RBI's. Both pitchers struggled at times and Dickey comes away with 5 earned runs.

You know very well that come playoff time pitching heavily outweighs hitting.

The heavy hitting Yankee bats usually get silenced by opposing pitching.

like last year, when only 72 runs were scored in the world series.

i think that, more than anything, just shows that the playoffs are unpredictable; in any given game, the yankees seem just as likely to smoke a top tier pitcher for 8 runs as get blitzed by a 7era rookie or journeyman.

edit: additional info, from http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/06/26/sweeny-risp-y-business/ regarding risp, and opposing pitching:

(44-28) A nice performance by Kuroda ( 7 frames & 7 K's) and the Bullpen. Girardi is doing a great job by mixing and matching his roster. Now 3 games up on the Orioles. Hughes on the hill tonight vs. Masterson.

(48-26) Two more wins to sweep the Indians. Five games ahead of Baltimore in the A.L. East, but the loss of Sabathia & Pettitte will surely have an impact.

Sabathia is theoretically only missing 2 turns so shouldn't be a big deal.

Tonight's game hurt.

I was watching it without sound so...

...why was Soriano not in to close the game out?

Pitched four of the last five games, needed a rest.

Yep. Right question is why didn't they start the ninth with drob.

(46-29) Nova kept it close, but the Bullpen let it slip away in the 9th allowing 3 runs. RISP 1 for 7. Warren makes his debut tonight on the hill

(46-30) Rout! After a 4-0 lead in the first, it was all down hill from there with the Rookie and Veteran giving up 6 runs each. RISP of 4 for 11 didn't help either.

That's .363 dude. Not sure what you're looking for! The bats weren't an issue today...

That's outstanding for a batting average, but you need to get them in after you get them on.

(47-30) Great effort by Kuroda and the Bullpen. 7 innings and 11 K's from the starter.

Old Timers Day @ 11:15 before the game.

League average with risp is around .260, so I still don't get the complaint. As far as getting them in, the Yankees aren't exactly having a problem with that, risp be damned.

It's also about the timing. eg. Bases loaded and less than two outs. For the payroll and firepower that the lineup has, it should be higher than .363. Home runs are great, but I've seen too many opportunities squandered this season when the batter is swinging for the fence with runners on base resulting in a K/infield pop fly or hitting into the inning ending DP.

(48-30) Nice job by Hughes to keep it close going 8 frames and as many strikeouts. Heading to Tampa. 6 games up on Baltimore.

in that case, your expectations are simply unrealistic.
(you're wanting it to be .070+ more than the best team, more than .100 above the average)

and the firepower is exactly why you shouldn't focus too much on risp average- who cares if they're not hitting singles with someone on second if they're hitting home runs w/ one on or nobody on? runs in is what counts, no matter how you get'em, and certainly not ba (for example, if you really care about risp over runs in, the yankees really do suck right now in ba with risp (28th), but they're 18th in runs with risp. which metric do you *really* care about?).

Opportunities in a low scoring game such as last night have taken advantage of:
Case in point:
Top of the third

• <dl class="plays-atbat-description"><dt> 1.Curtis Granderson called out on strikes. </dt></dl>
• <dl class="plays-action-description"><dt>Tampa Bay Rays Hideki Matsui left the game due to an injured leg. </dt></dl>
• <dl class="plays-atbat-description"><dt> 2.Mark Teixeira walks. </dt></dl>
• <dl class="plays-atbat-description"><dt> 3.Alex Rodriguez walks. Mark Teixeira to 2nd. </dt></dl>
• <dl class="plays-action-description"><dt>Coaching visit to mound. </dt></dl>
• <dl class="plays-atbat-description"><dt> 4.Robinson Cano lines into double play, pitcher Matt Moore to first baseman Carlos Pena. Alex Rodriguez out at 1st.</dt></dl>

Two walks in a row and one out. Cano hits into a 1-1-3 DP on the first pitch. This is a wasted inning with two on for free and could have been the difference in the 1 run game even with the E-3(his first of the year BTW).


(48-31) Tough loss last night, but the rest of the A.L. East is also losing.

A homerun with someone on first would have made the same difference. Or 3 more walks. How you score doesn't matter, it's that you score.

Cano smoked that ball btw. Can't say that was bad hitting, no matter the result.

So we agree to disagree. I see it as a timely opportunity wasted and you see it as a minor issue that could be atoned for via a home run. Nothing could have helped us yesterday: our 9th straight loss in Tampa.

(48-32) Pitching, defense, mental errors, etc. were all contributing factors to the loss.