Down the stretch they come (AL), 2013

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Yanx are 13-3 vs Toron'o (remember, don't pronounce the last T when at Baghdad airport) this season

My Canadian friend, the Blue Jays' fan, pronounced it "Tarana" , quickly followed by "The Centre of the Universe".
I asked him if that was because they play in the Rogers Centre and his last name is Rogers. He said it wasn't. He said, "Tarana IS the Centre of the Universe." (eh?)

Later

[Frayed Knot]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: MFYs were eliminated from the division crown last night as though that were any mystery. But eally, terrific job by the Sawx to take, what 6 of 7 vs. these frauds in September.

- Yanx are 6-2 in September vs Balt & ChiSox, but that gain gets smacked down by the 1-6 vs BoSox
- Jays, Giants, Rays, and Astros left.
- It still bugs me that they're 8 games over .500 with a Negative 15 RS/RA differential, although if some YLDBs want to interpret their season as being more of a success than it actually was based on that illusion then maybe it's not so bad after all even I think the front office is probably too smart to see it that way.
- And, yeah, it would be great if our four game sweep--let's repeat that for the hard of hearing ...FOUR GAME SWEEP!!--winds up being a large part of why they fall short.


Boston has kind of a weird team--seems more like a thrown-together collection of odd pieces rather than any sense of common theme--but it's certainly working.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Frayed Knot wrote: if some YLDBs want to interpret their season as being more of a success than it actually was based on that illusion then maybe it's not so bad after all

I'm pretty confident that YLDBs only accept a Yankees World Series championship as a success.

[Frayed Knot]

Sure, but Yanx fans have cast themselves this year as the gritty underdog overcoming steep odds just to be where they are. In doing so, their decent but hardly great record is disguising a below average team as a pseudo-contender and that's bound to fool at least some of the crowd.

As a side note, that their run of success from mid-August or so until this past weekend (where they were actually outscoring their opponents) came not despite the older guys they either wanted to get rid of or never wanted in the first place (Granderson, Soriano, and especially ARod) but because of them makes this even more fun.

[Frayed Knot]

Ahhh, 'twas a wonderful day in AL playoff race land.

- First and foremost, the Yanx got Dickey-ed. 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball from the loquacious and bearded one plus two innings of one-hit bullpen work added up to a 2-0 Toronto win.
After seeing years of games where Yanqui starters couldn't pitch shitty enough to lose, it was nice to see Pettitte pitch well yet take the big 'L' for a change.
ARod, meanwhile, didn't make the trip to Canada to have his latest aching whatever looked at in New York which is fun, not because it's an injury, but because the Yanx, who so desperately want to get rid of him, currently need him more than ever.

- Boston, whose sweep over the weekend makes their games mostly irrelevant at this point, opted to allow Baltimore to win a game. O's had to earn it though as the winning run was scored in the 9th off Koji Uehara. Prior to that, Uehara had not only not given up a run in who knows how long but had retired 37 straight batters before the triple-SacFly combo that beat him last night.

- Even Texas winning their first game in eight days was a good thing even if it came at the expense of Tampa. This keeps both current WC teams a bit further out of reach rather than let one of them fall closer to the pack

- and in the other game between competing teams, Cleveland overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat KC, keeping Cleveland close but maybe killing KC's shot.


TEX ---
TBR ---
CLE -0.5
BAL -2.0
KCR -3.5
NYY -3.5

I like the way that race is starting to look.
Note that I listed the Yanx behind KC even though they're tied. This is known as the 'Reverse Tiger Effect' named after the networks habit of listing Tiger Woods first among every golfer he's tied with so as to always make him look as close to the top of the overall leaderboard as possible. But since this is my post I'm doing the exact opposite.

[MFS62]

Even though I like the Orioles, I don't want them to make it. If they do, you know Cal Ripken Jr. will be there, and it will make it easier for the announcers to slip in more Derek Jeter references than they normally would.
Rooting for KC and Cleveland. Their fans deserve it.

Later

[Edgy MD]

That's a real convoluted reason for rooting against the Orioles.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: That's a real convoluted reason for rooting against the Orioles.

I know. But I hadn't slipped in a negative comment about the announcers fawning over Derek Jeter for a while.
Every thread needs one.
(Insert evil chortle here)

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Lots of late inning drama and shaky relief pitching amongst the contenders (in both leagues) last night

- Toronto blew a 4-0 8th inning lead to the Yanx, then couldn't capitalize (in large part due to bad bunting) after back-to-back leadoff singles in the 9th against Rivera

- Orioles got a 2-run/2-out/12th inning single from Chris Davis to beat the Sox in Fenway

- Oakland blew a 2-run 9th inning lead (Josh Hamilton HR) then lost the game in the 11th. Blown save for Grant Balfour

- Tampa & Texas were tied after nine, then traded runs in the 11th (blown save: Joe Nathan) before Tampa got a walk-off single in the 12th

- Royals beat the Indians by the non-dramatic score of 7-2


Wild Card
TBR +1.0
TEX ---
CLE -0.5
BAL -1.0
KCR -2.5
NYY -2.5

[Frayed Knot]

It's amazing how big a role 51-102 Houston is playing in BOTH division races down the stretch here.
The final seven series of the season for the Astros included contenders Oakland ('Stros went 1-3), Cincy (0-3), Cleveland (lost last night, 3 more to go), then 3 each with Texas and the Yanx to finish it out.
It's like whoever stumbles and loses to them is automatically eliminated - and not just on record by also on principle.

I also read somewhere the other day that the Astros are on pace to become the first team to have back-to-back-to-back 106 or more loss seasons since ... the mid-'60s Mets of course.
They're coming off seasons of 106 and 107 losses and need to go 6-3 over their last nine to avoid it again.




WC Race
TBR ---
TEX ---
CLE -0.5
BAL -2.0
KCR -3.0
NYY -3.5

This Weekend
BALT at TAMPA
HOU @ CLEVE
GIANTS @ YANX
JAYS @ BOSOX
TEX @ ROYALS


btw, is this the first time this year with the new IL format that a team is doing a two-team/one-city stop like the Giants are this week? - first Citfield then YSIII
Seems to me that that would be the preferred way to do things if possible: Oakland on the IL sked this year? - knock off your Giants series at the same time. Hit the ChiSox & the Cubbies back-to-back, etc.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: btw, is this the first time this year with the new IL format that a team is doing a two-team/one-city stop like the Giants are this week? - first Citfield then YSIII Seems to me that that would be the preferred way to do things if possible: Oakland on the IL sked this year? - knock off your Giants series at the same time. Hit the ChiSox & the Cubbies back-to-back, etc.

Haven't noticed it before this year, but I remember it happening last year. Also interesting was both the Yankees and Mets going to Baltimore back to back.


Next year the Mets go to SF/Oakland separately. I'm convinced they could optimize the schedule somewhat that way.

One day, with rainouts/makeups, this will happen. One day. The Yankees will play the White Sox in the afternoon while the Mets are playing the Cubs, and then they'll switch for the evening part of the doubleheader.

[HahnSolo]

Frayed Knot wrote: btw, is this the first time this year with the new IL format that a team is doing a two-team/one-city stop like the Giants are this week? - first Citfield then YSIII Seems to me that that would be the preferred way to do things if possible: Oakland on the IL sked this year? - knock off your Giants series at the same time. Hit the ChiSox & the Cubbies back-to-back, etc.

This year, I think this is the first time anyone is doing this. Off the top of my head, the Reds did it last year or the year before here in NY. A couple of years back the Pirates played the Cubs and White Sox back to back in ChiTown.

[dinosaur jesus]

Ceetar wrote: btw, is this the first time this year with the new IL format that a team is doing a two-team/one-city stop like the Giants are this week? - first Citfield then YSIII Seems to me that that would be the preferred way to do things if possible: Oakland on the IL sked this year? - knock off your Giants series at the same time. Hit the ChiSox & the Cubbies back-to-back, etc. Haven't noticed it before this year, but I remember it happening last year. Also interesting was both the Yankees and Mets going to Baltimore back to back. Next year the Mets go to SF/Oakland separately. I'm convinced they could optimize the schedule somewhat that way. One day, with rainouts/makeups, this will happen. One day. The Yankees will play the White Sox in the afternoon while the Mets are playing the Cubs, and then they'll switch for the evening part of the doubleheader.

That would be fun. Even more fun would be if the Mets and Yankees just exchanged uniforms and impersonated each other. Wright is our Jeter, of course, so he gets to play shortstop. But would the Mets have anyone fat enough to be a Yankee pitcher?

[Gwreck]

dinosaur jesus wrote: Wright is our Jeter

Don't you blaspheme here. Do not take David Wright's name in vain

[Frayed Knot]

dinosaur jesus wrote: But would the Mets have anyone fat enough to be a Yankee pitcher?

I noticed the other day that the Yanx have a pitcher even fatter than Joba.
I have no idea who he is since there's a number but no name on the back of the jersey (... of course) and because they brought up like two dozen new relievers since Sept 1st and I can't keep track. But whoever it is, the guy looked like a lefty version of Joba after he had just eaten someone the size of Joba.

[Frayed Knot]

The Cleveland Indians: a) got to play Houston; and only had to go 7 innings thanks to some timely rain, in order to take over the 2nd WC spot last night.

And they'd be in the lead for both SC spots had not Tampa won in the 17th inning over Baltimore.
7 hours and 21 pitchers worth of game

Texas got 5-hit by KC and is now on the outside looking in after having gone from 3.5 up in their division to 7.5 out and currently out of both WC slots

Yanx won because Fatso Sandoval couldn't turn a DP in the 7th inning of a tie game against a slow catcher.
That led to an extended inning, which led to a walk to load the bases, which led to ARod's career record 24th Grand Slam. Too bad he's not clutch or else he'd really have a lot more. Jeter's ONE career GS clearly demonstrates his greater ability to come through in the big moment.




TBR +0.5
CLE ---
TEX -0.5
BAL -2.5
KCR -2.5
NYY -3.0

[G-Fafif]

Spotted keeping the Rays at bay until they could no longer be denied: Josh Stinson, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings. He's come a long way from me conflating him with Josh Satin and Chris Schwinden.

[Frayed Knot]

And as a reward for their near 7-hour marathon last night, the O's & Jays have the 1 PM FOX game today.

[Frayed Knot]

Yanx' win today means they both gain a game on and leapfrog the Orioles and Royals.
But they get no closer to Tampa, Texas, or Cleveland who all came up winners today and one day more was removed from the schedule. On the other hand, they only have to catch TWO of those teams.

Looks like their fate is going to be decided in the series with Tampa on Tues, Wed, Thurs


TBR +0.5
CLE ---
TEX -0.5
NYY -3.0
BAL -3.5
KCR -3.5

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

And so we all become Rays fans.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Stupid fucking Giants. Now they have to spoil Mariano and Andy Oral Day.

[ashie62]

Wil Myers went 0-8 for the Rays the other day...

[Frayed Knot]

Lots of SFG heros today in the Bronx

- Pettitte had a no-hitter thru 5 but Ehire Adrianza (the guy whose name even Gary had trouble pronouncing the other day - that Keith did is just a given) HR'd with one out in the 6th to break up the no-no and tie the game at 1-1

- Pedro Sandoval who doubled to lead off the 8th - and then manager Bruce Bochy for immediately yanking Panda out of there for a pinch-runner and defensive improvement. That was the last batter that Pettitte would face.

- Tony Abreu for doubling in the pinch-runner one batter later with the go-ahead score

- SF reliever Santiago Casilla was also a hero today for keeping the Yanx off the board in the bottom of the 8th despite giving up three hits in the frame. With 2nd & 3rd and no one out, he got a grounder/out at home, then K'd Granderson. The 3rd out came when SF hero Juan Perez threw Cano's ass out at the plate from LF on a subsequent single. Nice of Cano, btw, to NOT advance to 3rd on the previous play at the plate.

- And hero/closer Sergio Romo for his 1-2-3 bottom 9th, an act of heroism which denied a win for Rivera on Rivera Day (had Romo lost the lead) and ensured a loss to Pettitte despite his excellent outing in his final home start.
Romo joins SF starter/hero Yusmeiro Petit [Hmmmm, Pettitte vs Petit ... small world] who had a rougher road than Pettitte but matched his one run allowed through 6-1/3 innings.


And the bottom line is: one more game further from Tampa, one more further from Cleveland, no closer to Texas, got leap-frogged by KC, ... and one more day removed from the schedule.
4.5 behind Tampa
4.0 in back of Cleveland
2.5 behind Texas
and 1/2 game behind KC and ahead of Baltimore
And they've got to finish ahead of at least four of those teams.

[Frayed Knot]

Texas, winners of 5 of their last 20, may be one of those on the outside looking in at the moment, but now it's their turn to play the Astros for three games starting tonight so maybe they're not quite dead yet.
Houston has played or will play mostly contenders down the stretch, already have 105 losses in the vault and are 7-14 in September, 21-53 since the end of June.

Tampa and Baltimore have one game left over to finish this afternoon before Tampa heads to the Bronx and Baltimore hosts Toronto.

Cleveland has today off, then continues it's run through the dregs of the American League as they finish with 2 against the ChiSox then 4 at Minnesota.

The other long shot (aside from, heh, heh, the Yanx) is KC but they have a chance to put a run together with 3 games in Seattle starting tonight followed by 4 at the White Sox.

KC's 'Tragic Number' is 4.
Yanx & Baltimore are at 3

[Frayed Knot]

After last night's games: Tampa over Baltimore; Royals hanging on the beat the Mariners in the 12th; Texas over Houston; every team is down to six remaining.

TBR +1.0
CLE ---
TEX -1.0
KCR -3.0
MFY -4.0
BAL -5.0



Now even if we were to be generous and give the Yanx 2 out of 3 against Tampa and then a sweep vs Houston,[u:38rzxj1u] the Yanx could only qualify for the 2nd Wild Card spot TIE[/u:38rzxj1u] if ALL of the following happened ...
- the Indians were to go no better than 1-5 against the Twins & ChiSox (3 games each)
- the Rangers were to go no better than 2-4 (Astros x 2; Angels x 4)
- the Royals play 4-2 or worse (Mariners x 2; White Sox x 4)

In addition an Oriole sweep of their six games (3 each w/Toronto & Boston) would plop them into a tie with this theoretical 5-1 MFY finish.
Oh yeah, and Sabathia is out for the remainder of the season (hamstring).


Realistically it's looking like three teams for two spots. If it winds up being Tampa & Cleveland they, along with already in Oakland, would mean that the AL playoff teams would include those who are 15th (aka: last) in attendance (Tampa), 14th (Cleveland), and 9th (Oakland).
And I'm surprised that Oakland is as high as it is.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I think we're going to Thursday's home closer at MFYIII. (Cousin and girlfriend from out of town-- cousin's from here originally, she's from MIlwaukee and has never been-- are looking to see both "new" parks; we're doing Citi on Saturday and Sunday, prob'ly.)

I'm hoping they stick around long enough to make Thursday "meaningful;" it might make the thing more fun to watch in person.

[Frayed Knot]

If they do wind up getting eliminated before that date you're planning on going you may wind up having your choice of seats when you get there.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

If they do, I'm bringing a "A-Rod is a True Yankee" placard sign. With a centaur on it.

[Edgy MD]

That could work, but only if you sell it as if you're serious. You'd have to wear the hat and shirt.

[dinosaur jesus]

What's not to be serious about? ARod is a true Yankee. And a true centaur. Centaur is just Greek for "horse's ass."