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Two solid outings but no clear fourth starter

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Every time Chad Gaudin and Joba Chamberalin take the mound this month, they are auditioning for the Yankees. They aren’t really trying out for much beyond two post-season starts, but these outings constitute auditions nonetheless. After two solid outings from both pitchers over the last four games, the Yanks’ fourth starter picture remains cloudy.

Joba, as we know, has been bad. After three strong starts to begin the season’s second half, he is now 5-4 with a 5.37 ERA after the All-Star Break. In 63.2 innings, he has given up 30 walks and 63 hits while striking out 51.

After a series of horrendous outings in late August and early September, Joba seemed to turn it around on Friday when he went 6 innings in a win. He allowed three earned runs on five hits while walking just one and striking out five. More important, however, was Joba’s opponent, as he seemingly broke out of his slump against the Red Sox, a potential ALCS enemy of the Yanks.

Meanwhile, Chad Gaudin has been more than serviceable as the team’s fifth starter since coming to the Yanks. He has made six starts and has thrown 32 innings. While Joe Girardi has kept him on a short leash, Gaudin hasn’t lost as a Yankee starter and owns a win. In those innings, he has given up 28 hits and 15 walks while striking out 23. His ERA as a Yankee starter is 3.09.

Yesterday, Gaudin did what he had to do in his audition. Against a weak Royals team, he went 6.2 innings and gave up a pair of runs on four hits, two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 57 of 92 pitches for strikes and generally coasted through the game.

In one sense, this past weekend did nothing to illuminate the Yanks’ pitching plans going forward. As soon as Detroit or the Twins clinch the Central, the Yanks will opt for the longer ALDS, and the fourth starter issue won’t come to a head unless and until the Yanks reach the American League Championship Series. Even then, we’ve burned a lot of pixels arguing over which pitcher stands to make two or perhaps three postseason starts.

Yet, in a way, this issue is important for Joba Chamberlain. If the Yanks are confident in Joba’s abilities and his arm strength, they will give him the ball. He has, after all, been the fourth starter for the entire 2009 season. He has stayed healthy and has generally given the Yanks a chance to win games. After all, the Yanks are 20-10 in his games. But the Bombers are undefeated in Gaudin’s six starts, and the team won’t overlook that fact either.

Right now, I have no answer, and when we have no answer, we do what bloggers do best: We poll the audience. So as we count down the hours until tonight’s Yankee game, riddle me this one. I voted for Joba, but I don’t think the Yanks could make a wrong choice here.

Who would you name as the Yanks' fourth starter in the playoffs?
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Yanks’ scrubs too much for Royals*

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Last night the Yanks played the first of six meaningless games to wrap up the season. I’ve heard fans gripe about this and that meaningless game in May, but that’s not truly meaningless. It’s just that the payoff is so far down the road that you can’t see it yet. These games, they’re meaningless. The organization meets tomorrow to hash out the ALDS roster; in other words, they’re not even going take these games into consideration when deciding the postseason roster.

For some players it means a tune-up for the postseason. For others, like most of the Yankees starting lineup last night, it’s an opportunity to get some big league at bats. All but one of the starters took advantage. Juan Miranda sat out the hit party, but each of the other Yankees starters, from Gardner down to Pena, collected at least one hit. The Yanks put 15 men on base, pummeling the Royals in an 8-2 win.

Chad Gaudin did his job and then some. He allowed just six baserunners through six and two-thirds, which resulted in just two runs. In the only real jam he faced in the evening, second and third with one out in the fifth, he escaped after allowing just one run, a sac fly. That was the last time a runner would reach scoring position for the Royals. Damaso Marte and Al Aceves got the final seven outs without allowing another hit.

The stories of the night were on the offensive side. WIth the game tied at one in the fifth, Ramiro Pena took a big hack and sent his first career home run just beyond the right field fence. It’s been quite the year for Ramiro. He came out of nowhere in camp to win the utility infield gig, has already recorded 113 major league plate appearances, and has an outside shot of making the playoff roster. Strangely, Pena’s 2 for 4 night brought his SLG up to .388, which is higher than he slugged in AAA this year (.327) and AA last year (.357). Hopefully some asshole won’t demand a ransom for the ball.

The other offensive moment came in the seventh. Luke Hochevar, having only thrown 73 pitches through six, came out to face the 8-9-1 hitters. Four batters later he had surrendered a run and loaded the bases for Robinson Cano. Why Trey Hillman left him in there I have no idea. But it wouldn’t take him long to regret it. Robinson Cano, who was 6 for 26 with runners in scoring position coming into the game, belted one out to right, putting the Yanks up 8-2.

It’s always nice to see the backups get their shakes. We’ll see Damon, Jeter, A-Rod, Swisher, and Teixeira will return tomorrow, but there will still be a few bench guys in there. A.J. Burnett, whose dad had successful triple-bypass surgery yesterday, will be back to take the hill against Anthony Lerew.

*Alternate title: Yanks actually maintain a six-run lead over Kansas City.

Yanks rally, crumble, rally again in 6-5 win

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For half the game, everything went well. The Yankees put up four runs and Chad Gaudin was cruising. Even two outs into the bottom of the fifth, the Yanks looked poised to win their first game in Anaheim this season. But from that point on almost nothing went the Yankees’ way. Gaudin couldn’t finish the fifth, Aceves almost blew the lead in the sixth, and a pair of errors cost the Yankees the lead in the eighth. But a short rally in the ninth put them back on top again, and Mariano Rivera closed the door.

The game started off as a few have recently: the Yanks put a few men on in the first, but failed to score. Ervin Santana kept dropping breaking balls and off-speed pitches, and the Yanks just couldn’t get a feel for him. It was more of the same in the second. Robinson Cano doubled to lead off, but Santana struck out two Yanks to strand him. But then came the third.

Santana, while getting swings and misses on breaking balls out of the zone, was nonetheless missing the zone. A-Rod took advantage of this, working a 3-0 count following a Teixeira single. Then came the BP fastball, and there it went, way out to dead center. It gave the Yanks their first lead of the series, and Posada would add to that with a two-run homer two batters later. Hideki Matsui struck in the fifth, and the Yanks offense had put them on top 5-0.

On the other side of the ball, Chad Gaudin had it going. It took him only nine pitches to retire the Angels in the first, and while the second was a bit longer he still allowed just one hit. A hit, a walk, and six outs later, the Yanks had a decent lead heading into the second half of the game. And that’s when Gaudin broke down.

It wasn’t the first time Gaudin lost it before the end of the fifth. Girardi pulled him with two outs in the fifth in Oakland, Gaudin’s first start in pinstripes, with the bases loaded. On that night he allowed no runs, and Al Aceves came on to finish the inning without damage. The latter was true again this time. Aceves came in and got Torii Hunter swinging to end the frame, but not before Gaudin allowed a homer, a double, a walk, and a single, putting the Angels on the board for the first time.

Aceves then had his own set of troubles in the sixth. Four of the first five hitters in the inning singled, allowing one run to score and loading the bases with one out. Maicer Izturis popped out, but Aceves couldn’t sneak one past the patient Abreu. Bobby didn’t even take the bat off his shoulder, and the Yanks lead was cut to one. Only a diving stop by and perfect throw to first from Alex Rodriguez saved the lead.

That would be the end of the Yanks’ pitching problems for the evening, though Phil Hughes did escape a mini-jam in the seventh, and pitched pretty well in eighth. It was the defense that failed the team. Howie Kendrick smoked an outside pitch, but right at Robinson Cano. The ball just got away from him, a play that unfolded so fast that the replay couldn’t really capture it. That was the first error.

On an 0-1 count, Kendrick took off for second. Jorge pulled the throw a bit and it went into center field, moving Kendrick to third with none out. There seemed little chance the Yanks could escape without blowing the lead. Hughes got Figgins to pop out weakly, but Izturis punched one into right to tie the game. Just three innings after the Yankees were flying high, they found themselves back at the drawing board.

Thankfully, the drawing board is often a productive place for the Yanks. Brett Gardner started off the ninth with a single, and then he was off to the races. While he was safe by the call, replay showed that he strayed a bit off the bag with the tag on him. Oh well. After the bottom of the eighth, the Yanks needed a break. Jeter ended up walking, and then Johnny Damon bunted the runners over.

Not wanting to face Mark Teixeira with runners on second and third, Mike Scioscia walked him to get to A-Rod. That didn’t work, as Alex lined one into center, just deep enough to score Gardner. That put the game in Mo’s hands, and while Juan Rivera’s at bat was tense, it ended with a great release: a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play. One pitch later and the Yanks were celebrating a playoff berth, though they had locked that up a bit earlier when Texas lost to Oakland.

The Yankees got swept at Fenway in the first half and came back to go two out of three in the second half. They got swept in Anaheim before the All-Star Break, and now have a chance to go two out of three with a win today. A.J. Burnett starts against Scott Kazmir. It’s an afternoon affair, an odd 3:30 start.

Yanks battle back, walk off against Jays

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Things looked so bright at the start of last night’s game. After Chad Gaudin set down the Blue Jays 1-2-3 in the first, including a strikeout of Adam Lind, the Yankees went to work. Derek Jeter worked a leadoff walk, and Mark Teixeira crushed a double to bring him home. Hideki Matsui made sure to plate the runner in scoring position, and the Yankees jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. It was as if they were sending a message: “We are not losing to the Blue Jays again.”

Yet for the next five frames, the Yankees managed just one hit and two baserunners — an Alex Rodriguez single and a Robinson Cano hit by pitch in the same inning — resulting in no runs. Even after starter Brian Tallet left the game before the bottom of the third, the result of taking a Robinson Cano grounder off the foot in the second, the Yanks couldn’t put up anything against the Jays middle relievers.

Meanwhile, the Jays were busy leading off innings with extra base hits. They did it four times, including a homer from Jose Bautista to start the third. The Jays tied it up in that frame, and then took the lead in the sixth when Vernon Wells singled, Lyle Overbay doubled, and Rod Barajas drove one in with a grounder. Those were all on Gaudin, and he left the game with two outs in the sixth, his team down 3-2.

It wasn’t a completely bad game for Gaudin. Yes, he got a bit lucky in avoiding big innings after leadoff hits, but the Yanks will take his final line every time. It would have been nice to see him get through the sixth, but Damaso Marte made that a moot point, fanning Travis Snider to end the threat. With the Yanks offense, a one-run deficit is nothing, right?

That might be true, but when Brian Bruney is in the bullpen — and worse, in the game — anything can happen. He came out to start the eighth, and things got ugly quick. Another leadoff double and a single set up the Jays with runners on second and third with none out. That was it for Bruney. With each of his appearances, it’s becoming harder and harder to remember when he last looked good.

Phil Coke cleaned up the mess, but not without allowing a run to score. It was a sac fly, hardly something you can blame on the guy who came into that situation. Even so, it was a relatively short fly, and it’s still a bit confusing as to why Jerry Hairston didn’t throw home. I guess it kept the double play possibility on, but the replay showed Hill still off first. In any case, the Jays had again capitalized on a leadoff XBH, and took a two-run lead to the bottom of the eighth.

As we’ve learned over the past few months, there is just no counting out the Yankees. They seem to save their best swings for the late innings. Coming into the game they were hitting .298/.383/.517 in innings seven through nine. As a team. They again added to those totals last night, going 6 for 14 with a walk and two extra base hits. The most important one, of course, was the two-run home run by Hideki Matsui, which tied the game at four. Once he hit that, there was no doubt that they were taking the game.

The winning run would come just one inning later. Brett Gardner, who came in as a defensive replacement in the eighth*, ran the count full before punching a single into center. If it wasn’t clear that they were winning the game yet, that pretty much sealed it. He swiped second, a necessity in that situation. Derek Jeter advanced him to third, and then the most beloved backup catcher in the history of baseball, Francisco Cervelli, slapped a single past a drawn-in infield, earning the pie and giving the Yankees the win.

* Replacing Hairston defensively raises the question of why Girardi didn’t pinch hit for him in the seventh, when the Yanks had the bases juiced with two outs. He could have gone to Eric Hinske there, but then Cito goes to Scott Downs. What’s a tougher matchup: Hairston v Accardo, or Hinske v Downs? I didn’t mind the non-decision, but if you’re going to replace Hairston with Gardner anyway, you might as well pinch hit there.

The win reduces the magic number to a Knoblauchian 11. It would have been 10 had the umpires punched out Nick Green on two different occasions. Then again, that would have been moot if Brian Fuentes did his job. The Yanks are just four wins, or four Rangers losses, away from clinching a playoff spot. They head into an off-day with a solid win. West Coast trip starts on Friday. See you at 10 p.m. Yippee.

Yanks walk off with 3-2 win

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For the second time in two days (and three games), we were treated to my favorite brand of game: the pitcher’s duel. From David Price, we might have been able to expect it. He’s had his struggles, but is a promising pitcher who has started to come around lately. From Chad Gaudin, the hope was to get five serviceable innings. He provided that and a bit more, and the Yanks took advantage.

It’s sometimes tough to write much about pitcher’s duels. There were definite turning points of this game, but I’d like to take this one hockey style: three stars. I think they’re pretty clear in this case.

Third Star: Alex Rodriguez

Alex was in the right place at the right time in three instances last night, and he took advantage in each. In the top of the first, Carl Crawford skied a pitch to left center, which was just out of Johnny Damon’s reach. The speedy Crawford took advantage of the ball’s hang time and trotted into third with ease. The Rays had a chance to stake Price to an early lead, and with Longoria and Zobrist due up, they had a good chance to do so.

Longoria hit a sharp grounder which A-Rod fielded cleanly. Crawford was already a good deal off the bag, and A-Rod looked him down before throwing to first. But, judging that he was too far away from the bag, A-Rod did what they teach you in Little League: run right at him and make the runner commit. A-Rod moved toward him, and then iced the play by faking a throw, which tied up Crawford just long enough. A-Rod chased him until he was almost home, then flipped to Posada. This was good strategy by Crawford, since he can outrun Jorge. But Jorge chased diligently, flipping to Jerry Hairston for the putout.

In the top of the sixth, A-Rod came to the plate with runners on first and second with two outs. The Yanks had a 1-0 lead, but insurance runs are always welcome. Price tried to come inside with a 2-2 fastball, but A-Rod jumped on it, smacking it to left. Johnny Damon scored easily, and that put the Yanks up by two. That run came in handy the next inning, when Evan Longoria homered to lead off and cut the lead to one. It would come even more handily when Jason Bartlett homered to tie it.

Finally, Alex made a nice play on a Dioner Navarro grounder in the seventh. With runners on first and second and one out, Brian Bruney got Navarro to hit one on the ground toward third. A-Rod move to his right and was leaning while getting to the ball. He almost certainly could have thrown out the slow Navarro, but instead used his momentum to sprint to third ahead of Ben Zobrist. It wasn’t as impressive a play as the other two, but it saved the Yanks from a situation where a Willy Aybar single could have put the Rays ahead.

Second Star: Chad Gaudin

After Gaudin’s last two starts, it was tough to expect a lot. But Gaudin stepped up and pitched very well through six innings. He had used just 64 pitches to get through those six innings, and allowed just four hits and walked one. If Girardi had pulled the plug at that point, I doubt anyone would have cared (save for those who think anything Girardi does is moronic; there will always be those types). But with his pitch count so low, Girardi decided to push his luck.

Gaudin fell apart in the seventh, allowing a leadoff homer followed by a single and a walk, putting the tying run in scoring position with none out. That would be it for him, but even with the less than stellar performance in the seventh, Gaudin left with a respectable line: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. He deserved the W in this one. Thankfully, that stat means nothing in the grand scheme of things (as in, pitcher wins).

First Star: Nick Swisher

Had this game ended 2-1, I was leaning towards Swisher as third star. His homer in the first was pretty key, considering how well Price was pitching. But A-Rod had those three nice plays, and it’s hard to downplay the start by Gaudin. But then Phil Hughes allowed a leadoff homer to Jason Bartlett, tying the score. The Yanks were looking for another walk-off at that point, and Swisher delivered with his second bomb of the night.

Entering last night’s game, Swisher had 24 homers, 21 of which were on the road. In other words, 2/5 of Swisher’s home run total at Yankee Stadium came in last night’s game. Given that, he was the most unlikely hero. Maybe this breaks his curse of not being able to hit bombs at home. If the guy had hit half as many homers at home as he has on the road, he’d have over 30 bombs right now. There are four guys in the AL tied for third with 31 homers, and two tied for seventh with 30, just for some context.

The win puts the Yanks magic number down to a Munsonian 15. It also puts them at a .750 win percentage since the All-Star Break (hat tip Rebecca). It’s a pretty wild ride. I’m just glad we can all enjoy it together. Yanks go for the sweep tomorrow. Joba Chamberlain tries, once again, to redeem himself. Behemoth Jeff Niemann goes for the Rays.

Photo credit: David Pokress

Resting the starting pitchers

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Chad Gaudin kinda, sorta, got the job done last night. He didn’t escape the 5th inning and threw a few too many pitchers, but he held the A’s to just one hit. As Sergio Mitre has done, he gave the team a chance to win and has earned himself another look as a starting pitcher.

At this point, you might be asking, “So what?” Gaudin is, after all, just a fill-in for a few weeks. He probably won’t be on the post-season roster and won’t pitch in many of the Yanks’ important games. Yet, Gaudin — and to a lesser extent, Mitre — could have a significant impact on the Yankees’ post-season success for the simple reason that they give the team options and the ability to rest everyone else.

Flashback to the second half of 2008. With the Yanks’ pitching depth on shaky ground, Andy Pettitte needed to throw every five days despite shoulder pains. The results weren’t pretty. In 13 second-half starts, Pettitte was 4-7 with a 5.35 ERA. He allowed 17 more hits than innings pitched, and opponents had a .783 OPS against the Yanks’ lefty. His second-half slide was a big reason why I advocated against re-upping Pettitte for this season.

This year, Pettitte has spun a different tale. After a first half that saw him go 4-4 with a 4.83 ERA, Pettitte has turned it on of late. He is just 1-1, but in 39.2 second-half innings, he has a 2.04 ERA and 43 strike outs. Opponents have just a .543 OPS against him after putting up a .795 mark in the first half.

In a way, Pettitte is the key to the Yanks’ post-season success. While A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia could carry the team, having an effective Pettitte would cement the Yanks’ position as October favorites. To that end, the Yankees have to make sure that Pettitte, at 36 years of age, gets the rest he needs.

After the game last night, Pettitte said as much. “It’s huge,” Pettitte said to the beat writers of Gaudin’s start. “If you can give myself and CC and A.J. a few extra days between now and the end of the season, it’s going to pay off.”

Pettitte isn’t the only one who needs the rest. CC Sabathia has thrown nearly 500 regular season innings over the last two years and is on pace for another 238 this year. A.J. Burnett threw a career-high 221.1 innings last year and is on pace for 205 this year. We all know what the Yanks’ plans are for Joba.

If the Yankees can win a pair of games in Boston this weekend, if Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre can give them a few decent outings, the Yanks can rest Pettitte, Sabathia and Burnett. They can get the team ready for a stretch drive and playoff push that could bring us another parade. While the Yanks have a seven-game lead right now, a bigger one will give them the luxury of rest. Getting to that point may start with Boston this weekend, but Gaudin will have a role to play yet on this team.