Damon Bails Out Gardner

The Yankees earned their 3rd straight walk off win thanks to a 10th inning homer from Johnny Damon. Despite all the cheers from the fans in attendance, you could still hear the sigh of relief coming from Brett Gardner.

In the bottom of the 9th, sitting on 2nd base, Francisco Cervelli dropped one down to the right causing Twins catcher Joe Mauer to come up and field the ball. Cervelli would have beat out the throw and so Mauer held on. Brett made the turn at third and was tagged out by Mauer at home. If Gardner had help up, the Yankees would have had 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Robbie Cano popped deep into left and would have scored a tagging Gardner for the win. Instead, we went to extra innings.

There’s no room for stupid in the bottom of the 9th. Yankees 3rd base coach Rob Thompson clearly called for Brett to hold up at 3rd. You have to love young guys with enthusiasm, but there’s a fine line between being eager for a win and costing your team a victory. In the end, Johnny Damon made it all a moot point, but Girardi still needs to have a talk with Gardner.

That play aside, hats off to the Yankee bullpen. Tomko, Aceves and Rivera all were sharp. Burnett struggled at times, but gave up very few runs and lasted deep in the game. Albaladejo made things interesting, loading up the bases, but afterward Yankees pitching was lights out. In a tie game, late innings, the bullpen pitched extremely well in a high pressure situation. Given enough balls to swing at, the offense is going to produce a run eventually and the bullpen bought the team enough time to do it.

Aceves, Tomko, and Coke are the go-to guys in the bullpen right now in my book. Albaladejo is streaky and Veras and Ramirez are dangerous (Farnsworth type dangerous). Let’s see what Girardi does in the future once Bruney comes back. Hopefully he’ll stick with what’s currently working. I’d like to see Melancon back in the majors also, giving him some more big league experience.

This was another big win for the Yankees, who now have a nice win streak going, and have given the home town fans some memorable moments in the new stadium. Hopefully they can keep it up and do even better once guys start coming off the DL.

Up and Comer: Alfredo Aceves

Alfredo had a remarkably successful stint in the majors last year. Moving from the Blue Jays to the Mexican league to the Yankees, Aceves quickly climbed the ranks of the organization when given the chance by New York.

In six games with four starts he had an ERA of 2.40 in the majors last year and looking impressive in his end of the year major league appearances with a WHIP of 1.17. He has four serviceable pitches including a fastball, curve, slider and a very good changeup, but the scouting reports say that he lacks the go to pitch to get strikeouts when needed.

The question is how will he be used this year. He strikes me as a solid 5th man in the rotation, a guy who can give you quality starts but won’t dominate hitters like someone higher up in the rotation. The Yankees have few spots available on the roster for young pitchers and right now he would fit in as a long reliever – available to throw multiple innings if necessary and ready to make a spot start if someone needs to miss their day in the rotation with a minor injury. Baseball prospectus compares him to Ramiro Mendoza, which seems like a fair comparison to me, but I think Aceves might actually have a little more starter potential than Mendoza. Baseball America calls him a  more talented version of Ian Kennedy, which I think is a little more accurate description. Never going to be an ace, but has potential as a solid back end of the rotation guy.

Wet and Wild Win

The Yankees scored 19 runs on a rainy Friday night in Boston. It was another game with a lot of young faces, some doing well and others not so well. Cody Ransom went 3 for 3 with 2 home runs and a walk. I like this kid at the plate. Brett Gardner went 2 for 6 and Juan Miranda 1 for 1.

Robinson Cano had another big night and it seems he’s been a superstar ever since his benching. I’ve been very critical of Cano all year but all of a sudden he seems to have found his game again. I don’t like players who can’t be relied on for consistent performance and wonder if his recent output will enhance his trade value.

Pitching wasn’t a pretty sight. Aceves struggled and has work to do before he’s ready for the majors on a permanent basis. Coke and Britton gave up too many hits in too short of a time period but Robinson looked solid.

I’m glad these guys are getting a chance to play at the end. Watching them in real big league games under pressure against a good team can help with next year’s scouting. There is going to be a big debate over how much home grown youth to have on the roster and how many overpriced, over the hill veterans to bring in. This years attempt at a youth movement was a resounding failure, but unfortunately many of the vets didn’t do much better.

Tied For Third

With a win last night the Yankees moved back into a tie for third place in the AL East. Boston is now tied for first with Tampa and it looks like this race is going to come right down to the end.

The Yankees had a nice game and Alfredo Aceves pitched well once again. He could turn out to be a nice addition to the rotation, but it's too early to tell. When a minor league pitcher gets called up, he often has a decent outing or two because batters haven't seen him pitch. The same thing happens when going from one league to another. Jeff Karsten's phenomenal first outing for the Pirates against the Cubs was a perfect example. Jeff did very well in shutting down one of the best hitting clubs in the league. The second time he faced them, he was lit up. Also, take a look at guys like Rasner, whose early success is nowhere to be seen these days.

Jorge Posada added more fuel to the Joba Chamberlain fire by saying he thinks Joba belongs in the bullpen. Good for Jorge. He's certainly entitled to his opinion, and while I don't necessarily agree with him, there's nothing wrong with having an opinion, despite what some of the media say.

Brett Gardner finally got another hit last night, bringing his average up to a whopping .170. Can you tell I never got on the Gardner bandwagon? Don't worry, I'm sure he's still number one in the hearts of many a Yankee blogger. Personally, I'm curious as to what Cody Ransom can do and could he be a legitimate option at second base?