NAIL-BITER 'TIL THE END BUT YANKS COME UP SHORT

 

The Yankees didn't win it today.  They literally went until the very end grinding it out and climbing back into the game like they have done so often, with a crowd at the stadium cheering their guts out and then, after the Alex Rodriguez pop out, the crowd became quiet and walked out wondering what will happen to Alex Rodriguez, a once mighty force, now just a ballplayer in a bad, bad rut.  We here at BYB want Alex to succeed.  We want Alex to explode and we are doing our best to root hard for the guy in the hopes that he comes up big (THE SECOND HALF WILL BE ALL ABOUT ALEX)...but we're still waiting.   But more on that in a moment.

Jered Weaver is a damn good pitcher.  He really did well today and the Angels came out to win after losing the last 2 games of this series.  Weaver went 7 innings, allowed 10 hits and gave up only 5 runs.
 He struck out 4.  Only flaw for him was he gave up 3 home runs...one to Alex Rodriguez, one to Curtis Granderson and one to Eric Chavez. Give the guy credit though, he's a darn pitcher and he got the best of the Yankees, getting the W today.

Ivan Nova wasn't the guy we've been seeing lately, but you can't get mad at the dude.  Nova allowed 6 runs today on 9 hits in just 6 innings.  I wished better for him but it wasn't his day.  After him, Chad Qualls got rocked and that was the big difference in the game.  Qualls had 1.1 innings of work and allowed 4 hits and 3 runs.  Don't be ripping on Qualls just yet, he's fairly knew to the Bronx and every pitcher has a bad game once in a while.  The most important thing to remember is the Yankees won this series, 2 games to 1.

It was a big day for Eric Chavez, 3 for 3 with 2 runs and an RBI.  You need to love Chavez, he knows his role, he understands it and is comfortable with it.  This in turn allows him to play well.  Gotta love him, one of the best moves the Yankees made getting bench help this off season.  I was actually surprised Girardi chose to pinch hit Andruw Jones for Chavez in the 9th.  I say if you're having a hot day, you keep the "hotness" going... you know what I mean? Anyway, no biggie.

Derek Jeter (1-4), Curtis Granderson (2-4), Robinson Cano (2-3), Mark Teixeira (1-4) and Raul Ibanez (1-4) all contributed today... as well as Chavez.  What can you say, the 9th inning we quickly changed the score from 10-5 to 10-8... but we ran out of gas with ARod coming to the plate.

(ARod after popping up to end the game in the bottom of the 9th)To me, the biggest disappointment was ARod popping out in the 9th with the bases loaded.  The frustration after the pop out wasn't "Damn I blew it", it was "Damn, the fans are gonna start riding my ass." ARod not only was down on himself when the game ended, hopefully he'll take that home with him, come back tomorrow, take extra batting practice and learns from the sting today because Yankee fans are losing patience.  

(ARod throwing his gum)
The guy wants to be loved and wants to be the guy he once was.  I get age, I get slowing down and I have to tell you, it sucks, but it's clear, Alex is just a regular ballplayer these days.  Anything positive he can offer is great, but we need to face reality now things may be winding down.

Final Score: Angels 10 - Yankees 8. We won the series ladies & gentlemen, that's a good thing...remember that.

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