Yanks turn 3 double plays behind Pettitte, win 9-2

(Originally written for Baseball Digest)

When Andy Pettitte loaded the bases with Texas Rangers with one out in the top of the first, it didn't look like he would be long for Wednesday night's game at Yankee Stadium.  However, he was able to induce a 5-4-3 double play with Ivan Rodriguez at the plate to end the threat.  After a Jorge Posada three-run home run against Texas starter Derek Holland in the bottom half of the frame, the Yankees were on their way to a 9-2 victory.

Jerry Hairston Jr. added a solo home run in the fourth, and his 12-pitch at-bat in the seventh inning helped start the Yankees' five-run rally after Robinson Cano led off with a double.

Pettitte went seven strong, allowed two earned runs on five hits while striking out seven and walking three.  He threw 103 pitches and was aided by three double plays behind him.  The Yankees would turn another with Brian Bruney pitching in relief.

In addition to Posada's three RBI, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira drove in two runs apiece, while Hideki Matsui and Cano were the only Yankees with multi-hit games.

It wasn't all good news for New York.  Posada left the game in the top of the eighth after taking a foul tip off his glove hand.  X-rays were negative, and the team's report is that he aggravated his ring finger.  The Boston Red Sox also won on David Ortiz's walk-off home run.

The Yankees will look to take this three-game series tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch slated for 1:05.  A.J. Burnett will get the start.

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

What a game, and thoughts on Ortiz

Five-and-a-half hours later, the Yankees were able to extend their lead over the Red Sox to 4.5 games when Alex Rodriguez broke a scoreless tie with a two-run shot in the 15th inning.

But for me, the story was A.J. Burnett.  Yes, he walked six, but he one-hit the Red Sox over 7 2/3 innings.

After a game the saw 19 runs the night before, this game was refreshing.  You just can’t predict baseball, Suzyn.

And this brings me to David Ortiz’s press conference from this afternoon.  What a joke that was.  Ortiz said nothing, and the Players Association made it more about itself and the list than it did about Ortiz.  Then I hear Eduardo Perez on ESPN saying he was honest and genuine.  How disgusting.

Where was this support for Rodriguez?  Many know I’m not his biggest fan, but he was seemingly more honest and genuine.  I’m disgusted.

NY Times: Ortiz, Ramirez on 2003 steroid list

According to The New York Times, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are on the infamous 2003 list of failed drug tests.

Oh happy day! I was giddy when Ramirez tested positive earlier this year, and I'm even giddier right now.

This is bad for baseball, sure. It's bad that they cheated and it's bad that the names have been leaked by lawyers cherry picking the most popular players.

However, in terms of the New York/Boston rivalry, this is great. After hearing all of the "steroids" chants at Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi, Yankees fans finally have some fodder as well.

This all said, release the entire list. From the potential Hall of Famers to the utility infielders, all of the names must be released.

Yankees lose 8-4

Though Chien-Ming Wang was only charged with one earned run, he gave up seven runs while on the mound in 1 2/3 innings pitched in the Yankees' 8-4 loss to the Red Sox in Fort Myers. He also surrendered six hits (two home runs) while striking out one. Mike Lowell and David Ortiz homered for the Red Sox.

Xavier Nady drove in two runs for the Yankees and Cody Ransom hit an RBI triple in his 1-for-3 night.

Brett Tomko pitched 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball, striking out five and only allowing two hits.

The Yankees have a split squad game tomorrow. A.J. Burnett will start in Tampa at 1:15 (on YES) against the Houston Astros. Phil Hughes will start against the Pirates at 1:05.

Rodriguez has close ties to banned trainer

Uh oh.

Alex Rodriguez reportedly has close ties to a trainer who's been banned from MLB clubhouses, according to four Daily News sources.

Angel Presinal, who was banned from private areas of every MLB ballpark after an October 2001 incident involving an unmarked gym bag full of steroids, has been tight with the Yankee slugger dating back to his time with the Texas Rangers, several sources said.

A former New York-area scout says Presinal, whose named surfaced in the Mitchell Report, was with Rodriguez in New York and Miami as recently as this past fall.
...

Another source said Presinal accompanied A-Rod for the entire 2007 season, staying in the same hotel as the A.L. MVP, but in a separate room with the "cousin" Rodriguez pegged three days ago as his steroid source from 2001-03.
...

"He was around Alex in 2007," the source said of Presinal. "Every hotel they went to, he stayed in the same room with Yuri. You would never see Alex with [Presinal]. They would meet in one of their rooms."
...

In addition to A-Rod, Presinal has worked with some of the game's biggest stars: Juan Gonzalez, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero, Bartolo Colon, Miguel Tejada, Adrian Beltre, Moises Alou, Jose Guillen, Ervin Santana, Ruben Sierra, Francisco Cordero, Jose Mesa and Juan Guzman, among others.

Wow...that is all I have to say. It's way too early to know exactly how true this is, but it would be another bombshell dropped on Rodriguez if it is.

And to be honest, I'd love to see David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez go down. Most of the players targeted so far have been New York guys due to the Mitchell Report's two main sources. It would be nice to see others named as well.

More on this as it - hopefully - develops.

Introducing: Smoking A-Rod

I'm proud to introduce the new mascot of the New York Yankees' 2008-09 off-season: Smoking A-Rod. There is no Santa Claus in Yankees Universe - it's obviously David Ortiz dressed in red trying to come down your chimney. Smoking A-Rod is the one you want to butter up.

Smoking A-Rod, shown smoking a cigar (most likely Cuban) in Punta Cana at David Ortiz's Celebrity Golf Classic, represents Yankees greed. You want CC Sabathia? Don't get on Smoking A-Rod's naughty list, especially with the word that the Red Sox are looking at him. Smoking A-Rod isn't loyal to the Yankees either, so be sure to keep him happy. We all saw him turn on the United States earlier this week, deciding to play for the Dominican Republic team. What's to stop him from letting a rival sign a previous target?

Remember when the Yankees signed Jaret Wright in 2005? We all knew it was a bad move when it happened, but someone (I'm not mentioning any names) decided it would be funny to get on Smoking A-Rod's bad side.

When you wake up in the morning, think of ways to make Smoking A-Rod happy if you want the Yankees to field the best team possible to win the 2009 World Series.

Because if Smoking A-Rod is happy, all Yankees fans are happy.

(Yes, finals week has made me go a little insane.)

Sipkin/News

Fraternizing with the enemy

Alex Rodriguez was spotted with his buddy, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, in Punta Cana for Ortiz's Celebrity Golf Classic.

While on hand, Rodriguez confirmed what was reported here two days ago: he will play for the Dominican Republic in this spring's World Baseball Classic.

"I am 100 percent sure that I will play for the Dominican Republic team," he said. "This time, there will be no doubts and it is a dream of my mom's that I intend to fulfill."

How wonderful.

AP Photo

Ortiz: A-Rod to play for Dominican

According to David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez plans to play for the Dominican Republic during the World Baseball Classic this spring.

“He wants to play for the Dominican team,” Ortiz said by telephone Thursday. “We’ll talk about it now after he gets here, and he’ll probably announce it here.”

Ortiz said he has not spoken recently with Rodriguez about his intentions, but that as far back as the All-Star Game last July in New York, he said A-Rod had expressed a desire to play for the Dominican Republic.

Rodriguez played for the United States in 2006 and struggled in making that decision.

I wonder how people will respond to this. I personally think the WBC is silly, so I don't care what Rodriguez does. However, if his heart is really with the Dominican Republic, I wouldn't want him representing my country anyway.

Eight is great

The winning streak is now at eight games, as the Yankees bats did the talking this afternoon. After Joba Chamberlain out-pitched Josh Beckett last night, the Yankees scored 10 times and recorded 13 hits to defeat Boston for the second straight day.

Andy Pettitte gave up two runs in the first inning, but he settled down after that. He was given the lead in the fourth inning and didn't look back. He gave up three runs (one earned) over six innings, striking out seven and walking three.

Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera each had two hits, while Robinson Cano had three hits. This was his seventh multi-hit game in the eight games since the All-Star break. He hit his ninth home run and 22nd double of the season, driving three runs in in the process and taking his batting average up to .270.

Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte made their Yankee debuts this afternoon. Nady reached base twice (a walk and a hit by pitch) and Marte struck out David Ortiz, the only batter he would face, in a big spot in the seventh inning.

Jose Veras walked a batter and allowed a hit while only retiring one batter. However, Marte and Ramirez got out of the seventh inning without allowing a run. Ramirez went on to pitch a scoreless eighth and David Robertson pitched a perfect ninth to finish the game.

Sidney Ponson and Jon Lester will pitch the finale tomorrow night.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Rock the vote

Despite having one of the worst seasons of his career to date, Derek Jeter is the leading all American League players in votes with almost 1,900,000 votes.

Alex Rodriguez also has a comfortable lead in the third base voting.

The Red Sox have four players leading their respective positions - Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.

Justin Morneau and Ian Kinsler are gaining on Youkilis and Pedroia. Hopefully they'll overtake the Red Sox teammates, because Morneau and Kinsler are much more deserving.

Injury forces Ortiz out of All-Star promotion

The Yankees' brass can sleep soundly tonight knowing that David Ortiz will not get to "call his shot" at the Home Run Derby next month.

Instead of having Ortiz, two players will be selected to try to mimic this feat.

I honestly didn't care that Ortiz would have been doing this, and the Yankees looked bad by protesting this decision.

The alleged called shot didn't even take place at Yankee Stadium.

Ortiz jersey up for auction

The David Ortiz jersey buried in the concrete has been put up for auction on eBay.

The Jimmy Fund, the official charity of the Boston Red Sox, started the auction.

From Jay Lindsay:

“It’s certainly a very, very valuable piece of property,” said Mike Andrews, the chairman of the Jimmy Fund and a former Red Sox second baseman.

“We’re bitter rivals when we go on the field, but there’s one thing we have in common and that’s the fight against cancer,” he said. “I think it was wonderful they thought of us immediately but I’m not surprised.”

It's good to see that something good is coming out of this silly story.

The highest bid as of press time is $13,000. The eBay page can be found here.

Jeter, Rodriguez and Posada win Silver Sluggers

From Bryan Hoch:

Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez were rewarded with American League Silver Slugger Awards, recognizing their offensive contributions in helping the Yankees to a 94-victory season and the AL Wild Card.

Louisville Slugger's Silver Slugger Award winners were determined in balloting of Major League coaches and managers who were asked to vote for the players they felt were the best offensive producers at each position in both leagues in 2007. (MLB.com)

Congratulations to Jeter and Posada.

Carlos Pena, Placido Polanco, Ichiro Suzuki, Vladimir Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez and David Ortiz rounded out the American Leaders winners.

Mike Myers is ridiculously useless

Mike Myers' (pictured) only job is to get left-handers out, and he can't even do that on a regular basis.

Joe Torre brings him in every time a lefty is up in a big spot, and he always seems to give up the big hit. In the bottom of the seventh tonight, Myers comes in with runners on first and third with no out with A.J. Pierzynski up. He then proceeds to give up an RBI single to right field and was then taken out.

There are also countless examples of him coming in to face David Ortiz. This season, Ortiz is 3-5 with 3 RBI against Myers.

Before tonight's game, lefties were batting .333 against Myers, with righties only batting .170. Last season, lefties hit .257 off Myers and righties hit .224.

St. Joseph: even though Myers is a left-handed pitcher, he is not inherently a lefty specialist.

Unless there's a brawl, Kyle Farnsworth (pictured, left) is incredibly useless too. Because he couldn't get out of the eight inning tonight, the three-run lead became a one-run lead and Mariano Rivera had to come in to get attempt a five out save.

Getty Images and AP photos