Archive for the 'Alex Rodriguez' Category

May 15

AL East Roundup: Dice-K Might Be Talking Trash…Or He Might Not

Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Jay Payton, Melvin Mora, Miguel Tejada, Robinson Cano, Roger Clemens No Comments »


AL EAST W L GB L10 STK E#
Boston Red Sox 26 11 - 8-2 W3 –
New York Yankees 17 19 8.5 5-5 L1 118
Baltimore Orioles 18 21 9.0 5-5 L3 116
Toronto Blue Jays 16 22 10.5 3-7 W1 115
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 15 22 11.0 3-7 W1 115


Red Sox 7, Tigers 1. Diasuke Matsuzaka said “I got your #3 starter right here.” Of course the interpreter might have mistranslated. Up to this point, Dice-K has been effective, if not over-powering. Last night, the Sox began to see return on their investment, as Matsuzaka pitched a complete game against the defending AL champs. He allowed only 6 hits, struck out 5 and did not walk a batter.

Blue Jays 5, Orioles 3. Troy Glaus drove in three including a 2-run home run in the 8th that proved to be the game-winner off of Danys Baez. Meantime, the Jays may have finally found a suitable replacement in the bullpen as Jeremy Accardo converted his second save and is yet to allow a run in 17.2 innings.

NOTE FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

  • Melvin Mora and Jay Payton nearly came to blows in the dugout following last night’s loss. Mora became heated when Payton mocked Sanjaya from American Idol*.
  • Miguel Tejada’s excuse for only hitting two home runs this season? He is not a home run hitter of course. Maybe he forgot to take his “B-12″ this season.
  • Remember all the talk about the Yankees scoring a 1,000 runs this season? Not so much anymore. Alex Rodriguez has 1 home run in May. Bobby Abreu is in such a bad slump, that he has tried to bunt for a bas hit on several occasions in the past few weeks. Jason Giambi and Robinson Cano are both struggling. $200 million just doesn’t go as far as it used to.
  • Roger Clemens had his first workout for the Yankees in Tampa. Must be a slow news day in the AL East.

* Might not be true.

Apr 25

AL East Roundup: Ladies And Gentlemen…Your Last Place New York Yankees

Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettite, BJ Ryan, Derek Jeter, Garth Iorg, Jesse Barfield, Joe Torre, Kyle Farnsworth, Lloyd Moseby, Mo Rivera No Comments »


AL EAST W L GB L10 STK E#
Boston Red Sox 12 7 - 7-3 L2 –
Baltimore Orioles 11 9 1.5 7-3 L2 142
Toronto Blue Jays 10 10 2.5 4-6 W2 141
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9 11 3.5 5-5 W2 140
New York Yankees 8 11 4.0 4-6 L5 140
Blue Jays 10, Red Sox 3. The Blue Jays are a lot like the Devil Rays these days and we are not just talking about their aversion to the first part of their nickname and a distancing from their team colors. With all their injuries, especially to BJ Ryan, the Jays only hope is to outscore their opponents, and they have the offense to do it. Roy Halladay struck out 10 in 8 innings and the Jays knocked around 15 hits. Mike Lowell homered for Boston, his third in 3 games.

A’s 4, O’s 2. All four runs by the A’s were scored after the Orioles played hot potato with the baseball. Aubrey Huff hit a triple. Who was playing in the outfield? Stevie Wonder?

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST...

  • Better them than us. The NEW YORK YANKEES ARE IN LAST PLACE.
  • Apparently the Rays aren’t the only team with bullpen issues. The Yankees bullpen is in disarray. We have to agree if Joe Torre is already using the Great Mariano in the 8th inning, bringing Andy Pettite out of the bullpen and his main setup man is Kyle Farnsworth, who has the weakest 98 mph fastball in baseball. Oh yeah, and your submarining lefty gives up grand slams to left-handed hitters.
  • Derek Jeter was removed from last night’s loss to the Rays with a bruised thigh after being hit by a pitch. He is not expected to miss much time.
  • Alex Rodriguez says he wants to stay in New York after this season. We would expect him to say nothing else.
  • BJ Ryan is not coming back anytime soon. The Jays moved him to the 60-day DL. Sounds an awful lot like his season is in jeopardy.
  • The Orioles lost reliever Scott Williamson to the DL.
  • Yet another injury for the Blue Jays. This time it is Greg Zaun headed to the DL. At this rate, Jesse Barfield, Lloyd Moseby and Garth Iorg will be suiting up for the Jays.

Apr 24

AL East Roundup: Yankees And Jays Join Rays In Kiddy-Pool

Alex Rodriguez, Chase Wright, David Ortiz, Jaret Wright, Jeffrey Maier, Phillip Hughes, Ramon Hernandez No Comments »


AL EAST W L GB L10 STK E#
Boston Red Sox 12 6 - 8-2 L1 –
Baltimore Orioles 11 8 1.5 8-2 L1 143
Toronto Blue Jays 9 10 3.5 4-6 W1 141
New York Yankees 8 10 4.0 4-6 L4 141
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8 11 4.5 5-5 W1 140
Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 3. With a 4-3 lead heading to the 8th inning and BJ Ryan on the DL, the Jays realized their only hope was to do the obvious…score more runs. A 2-run homer by Aaron Hill capped the scoring and gave the Jays enough of a cushion to top the Pink Hats who were obviously still hung over from their April sweep of the Yankees. APRIL.

A’s 6, O’s 5. The Orioles lose! The Orioles lose!

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

Apr 23

AL East Roundup: A-Rod Puts Mother On Speakerphone

Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada No Comments »


AL EAST W L GB L10 STK E#
Boston Red Sox 11 5 - 8-2 W4 –
Baltimore Orioles 11 7 1.0 8-2 W4 145
New York Yankees 8 8 3.0 5-5 L2 144
Toronto Blue Jays 8 10 4.0 3-7 L5 142
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7 11 5.0 4-6 L1 141
Red Sox 7, Yankees 6. The Pink Hats hit 4 straight home runs in the 3rd inning to erase a 3-0 deficit and held on in the 9th when Jonathon Papplebon got Alex Rodriguez to ground into a force out to end the game (somebody call A-Rod’s therapist). It was the first time the Sox had swept the Evil Empire in Boston since 1990. And why did Joe Torre and Brian Cashman think it was a good idea to hold back Chien-Ming Wang and not start him last night? Because that would have been perceived as a panic move this early in the season. Kinda like using Mo Rivera in the 8th inning on Friday after saying that would not happen this year.

Orioles 7, Blue Jays 3. The Orioles win again? That’s annoying.

NOTE FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

Apr 18

AL East Roundup: Chase Wright Should Have Tanked His Major League Debut

Alex Rodriguez, Ben Affleck, Chien-Ming Wang, Jeff Karstens No Comments »


AL EAST W L GB L10 STK E#
Toronto Blue Jays 8 5 - 7-3 W2 –
Boston Red Sox 7 5 0.5 6-4 L1 150
Baltimore Orioles 7 7 1.5 6-4 L1 148
New York Yankees 6 6 1.5 5-5 W1 149
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6 8 2.5 4-6 W1 147
Blue Jays 2, Red Sox 1. The Jays entered this game, with half their roster on the DL, a half-game behind the Sox and Diasuke Matsuzaka on the mound. No worries. Gustavo Chacin became just the latest pitcher to say “Sashimi!” as he shut down the Pink Hats for 6.2 innings. Jason Frasor came on in the 9th to close it out in the stead of BJ Ryan. Matsuzaka struck out 10 in 6 innings, but two runs on two hits and three walks in the 4th inning was enough for the Jays.

Yankees 10, Indians 3. The Yankees sent to the mound Chase Wright, who was only making his third career start above A-ball. He worked 5 innings and gave up only 3 runs. This is terrible news for the Yankees. At this point the Evil Empire needs a starter for Sunday night’s nationally televised game against the Red Sox in which Daisuke Matsuzaka will be going to the mound for the Sox. It will be Dice-K’s first appearance on national TV and his first shot at the Yankees. Currently Chien-Ming Wang is on the DL for the Yankees but he has pitched in extended spring training games and been effective. If Chase Wright had struggled last night, the Yankees likely would have called up Wang to pitch on Sunday. Since Wright was good in his first major league start, now it looks like his second will be on Sunday night, on national TV facing Dice-K. Good luck with that one.

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

Apr 11

AL East Roundup: Prelude To The Great A-Rod Escape

Alex Rios, Alex Rodriguez, Dice-K, Frank Thomas, Ichiro, Jaret Wright No Comments »


AL EAST W L GB L10 STK E#
Toronto Blue Jays 4 3 - 4-3 L1 –
Boston Red Sox 4 3 - 4-3 W2 –
New York Yankees 4 3 - 4-3 W2 –
Baltimore Orioles 3 5 1.5 3-5 W2 154
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2 5 2.0 2-5 L4 154

Red Sox 14, Mariners 3. The Sox went all Tea Party on the Mariners in their home opener at Fenway. Boston scored 7 in the first two innings and were up 13-1 after 5. Josh Beckett may have had his best start as a Red Sox giving up just 2 hits and 1 run over 7 innings. He walked none and struck out 8. JD Drew managed to hit his first home run with Boston and he didn’t pull a hamstring rounding the bases.

Tigers 3, Orioles 1. The Orioles just can’t catch a break. Jaret Wright pitched better, but still lost his second straight with the O’s and then had to be removed with shoulder stiffness.

Royals 6, Blue Jays 3. Toronto committed 4 errors leading to 3 unearned runs. Josh Towers made his first start of the year and gave up all 6 runs.

Yankees 10, Twins 1. Andy Pettite pitched 6 scoreless innings and he was supported by Alex Rodiguez’s 6th home run of the season. An A-bomb by A-Rod! At this pace A-Rod may beat Barry Bonds to the home run record. He only needs 286 more home runs. The Yankees, Sox and Jays are all tied for first in the AL East. This race is going down to the wire!

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AL EAST…

  • Jaret Wright was upset after the game and indicated that the injury to his shoulder is reminiscent of his previous shoulder injuries that led to two surgeries.
  • The Yankees starters have struggled, but the bullpen has been strong.
  • Daisuke Matsuzaka will face Ichiro tonight to lead off the Red Sox game against the Mariners. The two have faced each other before in Japan. Here is video of their encounters in Japan.
  • The Red Sox honored the 1967 AL Championship team before their home opener.
  • Frank Thomas has 488 career home runs, but his sights are set on 600.
  • Alex Rodriguez is just the 4th player in the last 50 years with an extra-base hit in each of his team’s first seven games, and one of seven players with 6 home runs in his teams first 7 games.
  • It is only seven games, but some are already talking MVP for Alex Rodriguez. The funny thing about all this is…Let’s say A-Rod hits .330 with 60 home runs, 150 RBI and wins the MVP. The he has a big October but the Yankees fall short in the playoffs. Because of all the crap he has received from the fans, he will opt-out of his contract and Yankees fans will find a way to blame A-Rod. He will be a coward, even though it was the fans that wanted him gone as recently as the second game of the season when he popped up in the 8th inning with the bases loaded against the Rays.
  • Alex Rios is a better player when he is leading off.

Apr 02

Tidbits: Devil Rays @ The New York Yankees

Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettite, Carl Pavano, Josh Phelps No Comments »
  • The Devil Rays were 5-13 versus the Yankees in 2006.
  • Carl Pavano will be making his first start since the middle of 2006, and is likely to be booed lustily by the Yankee faithful.
  • Former Devil Rays first baseman Josh Phelps earned his way on to the Yankees opening day roster and may actually get the nod to start on opening day. Phelps hit .442 with 4 home runs in spring training.
  • Yankees fans are a demanding sort. Being the best player in baseball doesn’t make you a Yankee. You have to earn your pinstripes and Alex Rodriguez still hasn’t. He could hit 80 home runs this season, but the fans will still boo him if he doesn’t come through in the playoffs.
  • Andy Pettite will get the ball on Wednesday in his first start for the Yankees since 2003.

PROBABLE STARTERS
(stats are from 2006)
Monday, 1:05 et
Devil Rays Scott Kazmir, LHP (10-8, 3.24)
New York Carl Pavano, RHP (0-0, 0.00)

Wednesday, 1:05 et
Devil Rays Jae Seo, RHP (3-12, 5.33)
New York Andy Pettite, LHP (14-13, 4.20)

Thursday, 7:05 et
Devil Rays James Shields, RHP (6-8, 4.84)
New York Mike Mussina, RHP (15-7, 3.51)

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