You know it’s a good game when CC Sabathia gives up two runs while tossing over 30 pitches in the first inning and he not only picks up the win but lasts until the eighth inning and hands the ball off to Mariano Rivera for the save.

But before we get to that, let’s review what happened.

Paul Goldschmidt put the Diamondbacks up 2-0 with a line drive home run to the short porch in right field in the first. They scored again in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by A.J. Pollock while the Yankees couldn’t get anything going against Wade Miley.

In the seventh, the Yankees scored three runs to tie the game and snatch a win from Miley’s grasp. The first run was scored on a bases loaded walk by Jayson Nix that scored Ben Francisco. Miley was replaced by Tony Sipp who was immediately greeted by a two-out, two-run single by Brett Gardner to tie the game.

Sabathia threw 108 pitches in eight innings of work. He gave up the three runs on six hits, walked three and struck out six.

In the bottom of the eighth, Joe Girardi pinch hit Travis Hafner for Ben Francisco when David Hernandez was brought for the Diamondbacks. Hafner made the most of his chance by driving a ball out of the park on Hernandez’s first offering to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

Rivera came in and pitched a scoreless 1-2-3 inning to collect his 612th career save and fourth save of the season.

The hapless Yankees, the team people were predicting doom and gloom for are now 8-5 on the year. And yes, I know it’s only April but they’re winning games they need to win while they’re missing key players and it’s nice to see the new guys like Hafner stepping up.

They will try to get the series sweep tomorrow with Patrick Corbin facing off against Phil Hughes tomorrow night.

(Syndicated from It’s About The Money)

I love games like today’s. And do you know why? I’ll tell you why. The pitching matchup was CC Sabathia vs. Justin Verlander and Yankee fans, and let’s be honest Tiger fans were counting on this to be a win for the Tigers. Now, CC is no slouch but he did have a rough go of it in the home opener and Verlander is Verlander. And with the lineups Joe Girardi has had to pencil in the past week, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Verlander would shut the Yankees down and that Sabathia would be the tough luck loser, right?

WRONG.

Sabathia was on his game and Verlander was slightly off his. He wasn’t terrible at all, giving up three runs in 7.1 innings of work with four strikeouts and two walks. The Yankees scored early off Verlander, in the bottom of the second. First when Francisco Cervelli hit an RBI double that scored Ichiro and then two batters later when Jayson Nix hit a two-run home run off Verlander to give the Yankees an early 3-0 lead.

Kevin Youkilis finished the game 2-4 with two RBI, Travis Hafner also finished 2-4 and Jayson Nix was 3-4 with the aforementioned home run and two RBI.

The Yankees scored some “insurance” runs in the eighth and ninth innings off Phil Coke and Octavio Dotel.

The Tigers couldn’t get anything going against Sabathia and they didn’t have an extra base hit all game. Sabathia finished with seven innings pitched and he gave up four hits, walked three and struck out four.

David Robertson came into the game in the eighth and made things slightly uneasy but did his usual Houdini act by giving up two hits and striking out two. He escaped unscathed.

Mariano Rivera, who was honored in a pregame ceremony because amazingly, this is the Yankees’ only trip to Detroit this season, came in to pitch the ninth. It was a typical Mo inning complete with bloop hits, broken bats and a strikeout. It wasn’t a save, obviously, but Girardi wanted to give the Tigers fans one last chance – unless the teams meet in the playoffs – to see Mo work his magic.

This was a game the Yankees needed. One, because no one wants to start their season 1-5. Two, because they didn’t want to see Sabathia have a second bad outing. Three, because Stacey didn’t want to have to take a Twitter break this early in the season.

Tomorrow, the Yankees will be in Cleveland to face an old friend in Nick Swisher with Hiroki Kuroda facing off against Ubaldo Jimemez. It’s an early game

The Yankees lost yesterday.

I’m sure you know this because according to lots of Yankee fans, it was the end of the world. Those same people were acting as if the season was one game in duration and that the Yankees’ Opening Day performance is a glimpse into how they’ll do the rest of the season.

It’s not.

Everyone knew going into yesterday’s game that it wasn’t your typical Yankees lineup – this was obvious when guys like Ben Francisco, Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells were introduced. So you’d assume that expectations wouldn’t be that high and that if the Yankees were to lose, people would be accepting of that not-so-shocking result and not act like a relative just died. You’d be wrong.

Another thing most Yankee fans should know but seemed to forget yesterday is that CC Sabathia is a notoriously slow starter and that coming back from off-season elbow surgery is making that start even slower – at least according to the velocity readings we were bombarded with during and following the game. CC’s fastball was consistently around 88 mph which is down for him.

CUE THE PANIC.

Sabathia, for his part, said he wasn’t worried. And I wasn’t worried. This is not the first time he hasn’t performed well on Opening Day and it probably won’t be the last. Some fans, in their overreactions to CC’s start, are proving that they barely pay attention when watching games. If they did, they’d know that yesterday’s outcome wasn’t a surprise.

To my dismay, even some of my fellow bloggers have written things about CC that would make it seem that they’ve never watched him pitch in April before. Or even pitch against the Red Sox.

I think some Yankee fans would be better off not watching any sort of baseball coverage today.

Here are some things we can all do to pass the time this afternoon:

• Work. And I mean, actually doing your work, not pretending to do your work while listening to baseball or sneaking a peak of Gameday on your desktop. Just take a day off from it altogether.
• Avoid every newspaper, sports radio show and ESPN. Believe me, you’ll be better off.
• Go for a run or a walk.
• Watch the 50th Anniversary Episode of General Hospital. It’s on at 2 p.m. 
• Clean your closet – It’s Spring so it’s the perfect time for a Spring cleaning.
• If you’re a lady, maybe pamper yourself. Go get a mani/pedi during your lunchhour or after work.
• If you’re a dude, hell you can pamper yourself too! Get a massage.
• Bake some cookies. I may do that today – I’m thinking of baking walnut chocolate chip.
• Count out the change in your wallet/purse. It’s always fun discovering how much money you actually have.

Do any of these activities or something else you can think of, just don’t watch any replays of yesterday’s game, you’ll only make things worse for yourselves.

I’m disappointed because I was so excited for baseball to return. Spring Training seemed endless and I was like a kid on Christmas yesterday morning but if this season is going to be filled with ridiculous overreactions to every single game, I may need to take a break from blogging about baseball.

It’s Tuesday morning and the good news is that the Yankees have been relatively healthy for the past few– you know what? I should know better. Every time I do that something catastrophic happens.

Strike that previous statement.

Michael Pineda threw a 35-pitch bullpen session this morning and came out of it alive. Another pitcher coming back from injury is Phil Hughes and he threw a bullpen session yesterday and also came out alive.

CC Sabathia is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today and will throw in his first live game on Friday.

Boone Logan threw a bullpen session this weekend with no issues. He had a balky elbow.

Man, the Yankees really do have a lot of injuries. It’s a little crazy.

Ivan Nova is making the start on the road for the Yankees this afternoon. The weather is a little iffy down in central Florida today but reports are saying that the Yankees and Rays should be able to get the game in.

Here’s today’s lineup:

Eduardo Nunez SS
Jayson Nix 3B
Travis Hafner DH
Juan Rivera 1B
Francisco Cervelli C
Melky Mesa CF
Thomas Neal LF
Zoilo Almonte RF
Corban Joseph 2B

That’s a “the Yankees are playing on the road in the Spring” type of a lineup.

Have a good day, everyone.

Lots of stuff has happened this past week.

The major bit of news was losing Curtis Granderson to a broken forearm five pitches into his Spring. Of course what followed was lots of speculation about who will take over while Granderson is recovering – he’s supposed to be out at least the first month of the season.

Then we have the Yankees struggling to win Spring Training game which isn’t really news because it’s only Spring Training and the regulars haven’t played that much. They’re currently riding a seven-game losing streak (THE HORROR!)

Joba Chamberlain decided he wanted to stir up more controversy by saying he’d rather be a starter. Naturally, the press and angry fans had a field day with this. It was loads of fun for everyone involved.

Let’s see, what else? Oh right, Joe Girardi decided he also wanted to cause a stir by saying Phil Hughes may not be ready for the start of the season. You know what else? He may be ready.

Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia are well on their way back from their surgeries. Sabathia’s elbow is responding well to pitching sessions and Rivera’s knee is responding well to both pitching sessions and fielding drills. Another guy coming back from surgery, Derek Jeter, has started running and he’s still on track to be in participating in Spring Training games by March 10.

[I apologize for this because it's not your usual cheery Spring Training update, it's a personal essay that I wrote in December. Truth be told, I'm struggling to come up with stuff to write about this Spring. Juggling two blogs is proving to be much harder than I thought it would be. I promise, I'll be back to normal next week.

Warning: There's some strong language in this piece.

Thanks for reading - Stacey]

2008 was an odd year for me.

It had started off on a positive note. When the new year rolled around, I was three full months into Weight Watchers and I had already dropped 20 lb. The bad news was that I had 40 more to go before hitting my goal of 60.

I was coming out of a really bad time in my life. A traumatic incident such as losing your best friend of 28 years over a guy will make you do silly things like eating enough food to feed six people every night and gaining close to 30 lb in three months.

By September 2007, I had enough. It took struggling to make it up the three flights of stairs to my apartment to become the final straw. It was a hot, late summer evening, I had just gone to the Supermarket and corner bodega to pick up the components of my nightly meal and I was looking forward to gorging like I had never gorged before.

When I took the final step and arrived at my apartment door, which luckily for me was right at the top of the flight of stairs, I honestly thought I was going to die. I unlocked the door, keeled over and truly thought it was the end for me. I could barely breathe, let alone speak or yell or get anyone’s attention and I was living alone at the time which added to my anxiety. Well, I had my feline sons, Jack and Henry, but they were no help as I gasped for air. I stood there with the groceries strewn about my entryway, leaning against the wall, bent at my waist and I was staring at the original 1920′s hardwood floor as my life flashed before my eyes. When my breathing finally returned to normal, I said out-loud, “Enough.”

» Continue reading “Losing Weight, Broken Hearts And Baseball”

It’s the first day of Spring Training and there are certain things Yankee fans can expect: Reports about who is fat and who is skinny, uniform numbers, which new players are getting which former players’ lockers, and A-Rod.

The weight update is about CC Sabathia who told reporters he’s down to 290 lb. and that he cut Cap’n Crunch from his diet, again, just like he did in previous off-seasons. He also told reporters that his surgically cleaned-up elbow is feeling good which is positive news.

This next section of text (about numbers, lockers and Austin Romine) is mostly taken from a post I wrote earlier this morning on It’s About The Money, Stupid. I know I’m probably breaking cardinal rule of writing but I’m lazy and I apologize for plagurizing myself.

Now, as you are well aware, Yankee uniform numbers are very serious business and that certain numbers are treasured by fans. So prepare yourselves for the following news. Maybe grab a seat or take a deep breath…

Oh, I’m joking, it’s not that important but since we’re lacking any serious news – for now – I figured I’d let everyone know what’s happening down in Tampa.

This information is from Mark Feinsand of the Daily News and his tweets:

• Travis Hafner takes over Nick Swisher‘s spring locker as well as his uniform No. 33.
• With Rafael Soriano gone, Francisco Cervelli reclaims his No. 29.
• David Phelps has changed his number to 35. He reminds me of a young Mussina, so it makes sense.
• Michael Pineda, formerly No. 35, will now wear 43.
• More uni numbers: David Aardsma 34, Matt Diaz 22, Dan Johnson 27, Juan Rivera 54.

I know, I forgot that the Yankees had some of these guys too.

And for some locker news, again from Mr. Feinsand:

• Correction: Kevin Youkilis is in Swisher’s corner locker. Hafner is next to him in Eric Chavez‘s old spot.

Also, Austin Romine who will be battling Chris Stewart and Francicsco Cervelli for the starting catching job, let everyone know that his back is feeling “absolutely fantastic,” and that he would like to win that starting catching job and avoid going back down to Triple A.

And last but certainly not least, some news about A-Rod. Alex Rodriguez is not in camp because he’s rehabbing from his hip surgery in New York. Manager Joe Girardi said the most important thing is to get him healthy. Of course, there are rumblings that Alex isn’t in Florida so he isn’t a distraction to the team. I’m one of those weirdos who thinks he just had hip surgery and is recovering so he doesn’t really need to be in camp and that the people complaining about him not being there will have to find someone else to write horrible stories about.

Ahem.

Happy Fat Tuesday, everyone! Except for CC Sabathia who isn’t fat anymore, well, for now…

I woke up uncharacteristically early this morning – around 6:45 a.m. – and a few things popped into my head. Unsurprisingly, they were baseball related.

• I’m jealous of other teams’ fans because at least they’ve had signings and trades to complain about. Yankee fans have only complained about the team not doing much of anything.
• Winter needs to end. It’s cold and I miss baseball.
• Is Francisco Cervelli really going to be the starting catcher? I’m not sure I can deal with that or seeing him throw balls into centerfield that were meant to land in the second baseman’s glove. Russell Martin wasn’t a world beater but losing his and Nick Swisher’s double digit home run totals is a scary proposition.
• What will seeing Kevin Youkilis in Pinstripes be like? Will I want to hurl? (Probably not. I don’t mind Youk.)
• Will A-Rod actually make it back after the All-Star break or will he miss the entire year?
• Is CC Sabathia really in the best shape of his life?
• What is a FanFest and how come it seems like every other team has them but the Yankees?
• Are the Yankees too special for a FanFest?
• Could I even afford to attend said FanFest?
• Would I even want to go? I’m not a big fan of people.
• Speaking of not being able to attend something, tomorrow is SABR Day and I cannot afford to go. I’m really bummed about that.
• Does Carl Pavano have the worst luck of any human being, ever?
• Seriously, how does one rupture a spleen, falling while shoveling snow?
• Why didn’t he hire someone to shovel his driveway?
• Will I ever actually ‘get’ sabermetrics?
• Well, get it enough to be able to write about it and not sound like a dunderhead?
• Francisco Cervelli?
• Last year, I pulled off the dual stadium doubleheader – day game at Yankee Stadium, night game at Citifield. What will be the special feat this season?
• How soon will Yankee fans begin to panic? Oh, who am I kidding? They’re already panicking.
• How will it be in my new seats? (I am moving from 420A to 413. We’re still high up – because I will always be an upper deck kind of girl – but the seats are cheaper which is great for this currently unemployed lady.)
• Which songs will be overplayed during sports themed commercials this year? (This is not a drive by ay ay ay ay -MURDER!!!!!)
• Will we see another #HIROKtober?
• I’m really going to miss #UNTUCK
• How effective will Mo be after nearly a whole year away?
• Will his knee be 100% by Opening Day?
• Speaking of Opening Day, I have a feeling that even though the Yankees are saying guys – Chris Stewart, Cervelli and possibly Austin Romine – will have to compete for the starting catcher’s job, Cervelli is who they have in mind. Call me paranoid but that’s how I feel.

 

Derek Jeter had surgery to repair his fractured ankle this morning and reports say it was successful. The recovery period is 4-5 months.

CC Sabathia has a bone spur in his balky left elbow and will be visiting Dr. James Andrews *gasp* to see if anything else is wrong. Let’s hope not.

And finally the eyes have it, or in this case, they might not. The Yankees are sending Curtis Granderson to the eye doctor. Shouldn’t they send the entire lineup minus Ichiro to the eye doctor? To be fair, Granderson did look lost at the plate and it appeared as though he wasn’t picking up some pitches. Also, some of the routes he took in the outfield during the season left a lot to be desired so maybe there’s something to this eye thing after all?

And exhale…

When my brother informed me that there were $20 tickets available for today’s game I told him, “I’m not sure I can handle being at a do or die game.” He agreed and we didn’t get the tickets.

Now that it’s over and the Yankees have won, I’m still glad I made that decision. I wouldn’t have been able to handle being there in person. Kudos to the people who were there.

Today, the star of the game was CC Sabathia, who pitched a complete game to lead the Yankees to victory.

The game followed a familiar pattern: Both teams weren’t hitting and both pitchers were on fire. For the Orioles it was Jason Hammel setting the Yankees’s batter down one right after the other.

The first hit for the Orioles came in the fourth inning off the bat of Nate McClouth but the Orioles didn’t score off Sabathia and the game remained scoreless.

In the fifth inning, Mark Teixeira led the inning off with a single and in a move that shocked pretty much the entire world, stole second.

Yes, Mark Teixeira stole a base.

That set up Raul Ibanez to play hero again and he did, smacking a single to center which scored Teixeira and putting the Yankees up 1-0.

Things got interesting in the sixth inning when McClouth came up and hit a ball to right that just missed being a home run. It was so close that Buck Showalter asked the umps to review the play to make sure it wasn’t a home run.

Thankfully for the Yankees, the call stood, it remained a foul ball and Sabathia ended up getting McClouth swinging to end the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees struck again, thanks to a Derek Jeter single which was quickly followed by an Ichiro Suzuki double to put the Yankees up 2-0.

After CC set the Orioles down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, Nick Swisher continued his stellar performance at the plate by striking out on three pitches. Yes, that was sarcasm.

Curtis Granderson, whose bat awoke from its series long slumber to hit a single in the fifth, hit a solo home run to right to put the Yankees up 3-0.

Now, the eighth inning is when things got dicey.

Matt Wieters started things off with a single, then Sabathia walked Manny Machado. The next batter was Mark Reynolds who struck out – the Yankees did a good job quieting his bat this series. Lew Ford came up and hit a single past a diving Jeter to score Wieters and advance Machado to second.

Robert Andino hit an infield single, thanks to the fact that no one was covering third and CC had no one to throw the ball to. The bases were loaded with one out and Nate McClouth coming to bat.

To say that my heart was beating out of my chest would not be hyperbole. It really was. I thought I was having a cardiac episode.

In the battle of Sabathia vs. McClouth, CC won this time. He struck McClouth out.

With two outs and the bases still loaded, with the Orioles still threatening, Sabathia got J.J. Hardy to ground out to end the inning.

Crisis averted.

After the Yankees were set down quickly in the bottom of the eighth – thanks to a Robinson Cano double play – Sabathia walked out to the mound to finish what he started.

He got Adam Jones to fly out to left on an 1-0 pitch. One out.

He got Chris Davis to strike out. Two outs.

And for the final out, Sabathia was able to get Wieters to hit a grounder back to him to end the game.

Ballgame over, Yankees win, and they’re heading to the American League Championship Series to face the Detroit Tigers.

(If you noticed, I didn’t mention a certain player being noticeably absent from the lineup. That’s because it’s been discussed enough.)

Some things to take away from this series

A few guys need to start hitting the ball. I’m looking at you Swish and Cano. Tex and Granderson snapped out of it alittle bit today.

The pitching was superb – both the starters and relievers. Courtesy of Jeff Quagliata who does research for YES: the Yankees had a team ERA of 1.76 in this series which is the lowest ERA in a five-game LDS since division play began in 1995. Amazing.

If there were an ALDS MVP I think CC Sabathia would win it with Raul Ibanez getting an honorable mention for his performance in Game Three and overall in the series (he was 4-9).

And there is no rest for the weary, Game One is scheduled for tomorrow night.

Rest up kids, there’s more baseball to watch!