Week 19: August 6-12, 2007
Record for the Week: 5-1, 40 RS, 27 RA
Overall: 66-51, virtually even (OK, .001 behind, one game in the loss column) with Seattle for the Wild Card
The Rundown:
08/06 -- Yankees 5, Toronto 4
Melky Cabrera tops a 3 hit game with a triple. By the end of the week, the Yanks have collected 23 triples on the year, more than they've had in any year of the 21st century. Most years, the Yanks have finished dead last in this category. This year the Yanks have two players, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano in the top ten in the league (technically, top 12, because there's a five-way tie for seventh place).
08/07 -- Yankees 9, Toronto 2
The Wrath of the Mighty Blue Jays: A Play in Three Acts
AGGRIEVED PARTY: You have done me a mortal offense! You just wait 'til I see you again, in two months! You're gonna get it, eh!
OFFENDING PARTY: Two months? But we're seeing each other again in like, six, seven weeks. In New York, remember? Why don't you take your vengeance then?
AP: Nay! When we meet in New York, I shall be completely civil. I'll wait two additional weeks, until we're back here in Canadia, to have at thee, ruffian!
OP: Dude, if you're so damned offended, what are you waiting for? Don't worry, it's not like the crowd at Yankee Stadium is gonna jump you or anything. They've got all sorts of security there these days.
AP: Nay, I said! I am now honor-bound to see you in New York, act perfectly civil, drop three out of four games, then meet you again in August, when you shall learn that indeed, revenge is a dish best served cold...
OP: It's gonna be August. That's pretty warm, even in Canada.
***
So that's what revenge, Canadian style looks like. I'd say it was impressive, if throwing fastballs at a guy's knee weren't so chippy, and if former Yankee coach Brian Butterfield didn't then cry like a broad watching the English Patient over a couple of hard slides at second base. Whatever. Nice pitching performance by Roger Clemens, who gets the suspension that the Blue Jays pitchers--who spent two days trying to plunk A-Rod--somehow missed. Venal stupidity obscures Joba Chamberlain's big league debut, Abreu's four RBI.
08/08 -- Yankees 4, Toronto 15
So the Blue Jays' nefarious plan after the infamous "Ha!" Game was not only to hit Alex Rodriguez in the leg, but to drop five out of their next seven games against the Bronx Bombers...but win the two series finales, so as to tease the Yankees with, then deny them, the possibility of the sweep. Well played, sirs! Chien Ming Wang has his worst start, like, ever; Robbie Cano takes Halladay yard twice, which would be more impressive if the Yanks hadn't been down 14-3 by the time he hit that second homer.
08/10 -- Yankees 6, Cleveland 1
The kids are all right. Philip Hughes to Joba Chamberlain to Mariano Rivera is a nice thing to see on the pitcher's linescore, and it worked like a beauty on Friday night. A-Rod homered and Derek Jeter had three hits.
08/11 -- Yankees 11, Cleveland 2
The Indians scored off Mike Mussina in the first, then allowed ten unanswered Yankees runs, including two homers by Rodriguez, and Jason Giambi's first homer since May 29...when the Yankees were in Toronto! (It all ties together!)
08/12 -- Yankees 5, Cleveland 3
Andy Pettitte throws a nice start, manages to pick a guy off first base with the bases loaded, and gets treated to some excitement in the end courtesy of Mariano Rivera, who puts the tying run in scoring position before striking out his last two batters to end the threat. Jason Giambi hits another homer, and just to make Joe Torre's life difficult, Melky Cabrera raps another couple of hits to keep over .300.
Player of the Week: Crowded house. Robinson Cano (.439/.528/.810, 2 HR), Alex Rodriguez (.353/.500/.882, 3 HR), and Welcome Back Jason! Giambi (.400/.400/1.000 2 HR) all deserve consideration, but it's Melky Cabrera (.440/.423/.800 with two triples) that gets this week's prize. Strong starts by Mussina, Clemens, and Hughes earn them honorable mentions.
Dregs of the Week: Awful week for Andy Phillips (.158/.190/.158), particularly since with Giambi back in the saddle, he's gotta produce. But his bad week takes a back seat to the horror that was Wang's wednesday appearance. That was uglier than ugly: 8 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks, in 2 2/3 innings. Gotta get those bad starts out of your system, I guess. Wang was fooling no one.
Story of the Week: We'll come back with the story in a bit.
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2 comments:
Toronto was ordered by the commissioner's office not to retaliate when they were down in NY. So, while I find their wrath amusing and all, to be fair they were threatened with goodness knows what if they had done anything down in NY (probably b/c ARod was getting close to 500 and MLB didn't want any nastiness).
Do you have a link for that? That's pretty strange, because of the implication that retaliation after homer #500 was league-sanctioned. I mean, the league's stand has always been that retaliation is not allowed--that's why we have the stupid warning rule. But if the league says "you're really not allowed to retaliate now" doesn't that imply it's OK later?
I guess that's why Blue Jays pitchers only got fined for trying to kneecap the league MVP.
Regardless, I think the point still stands: how manly is your schoolyard retaliation scheme, when you hold off for a "mother may I?" from Bud Selig?
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