Monday, May 14, 2012

Confused in Baltimore

Tonight's game against the Orioles just confused me. So many awkward things happened in the game. One moment you are elated as a fan and the next you are biting your nails. A wacky game that ended with a win is all that matters though.

Ivan Nova started the game tonight and pitched with less than great stuff. His fastball was elevated and when the balls were hit, they were crushed. One ball managed to crush Nova. A come-backer nailed him in his ankle. He would exit the game in the sixth inning after snagging a ground ball hit his way. The x-rays were negative and turned out that Nova had a contusion and sprain of his right foot and ankle. Later, the lefty Clay Rapada felt ill and was helped into the clubhouse. He was diagnosed with a viral infection. In the eighth inning, an Orioles reliever drilled Ibanez in his right elbow and Ibanez too would exit the game and get pinch-run for. The Yankees trainers sure earned their paychecks tonight. The Nova injury scares you more than the other ones because the Yankees once again will need another starter if this injury keeps Nova out for an extended period of time.

The offense came alive tonight thanks in part to Nick Swisher's big two run double in the fourth inning and Teixeira's home run later on in the game. I feel bad for Teixeira and wanted this blog to focus on his struggles. Instead, he hit a home run and a double and now I have to wait to dissect Teix until at least tomorrow.

Another puzzling fact was Girardi going to Soriano in the ninth instead of Robertson after stating that both relievers were available. He had proclaimed that Robertson was the closer but maybe this was strictly a match-up save situation.

Tomorrow night CC Sabathia goes up against Japanese pitcher Chen in the final game of the quick, two game set in Baltimore.

No comments:

Post a Comment