Friday, May 25: Daisuke Matsuzaka (6-2)(BOS) vs. Brandon McCarthy (4-4)(TEX)
The King Felix versus Gil Meche match up in Kansas City is also interesting today. But I have to stick with the Dice-K story. And the morbid curiosity of him pitching in that hitters paradise they have down in Arlington.
(Win Probability graphing by Fangraphs)Daisuke Matsuzaka: 5.0IP, 7H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 6SO, 2HR - W
Brandon McCarthy: 2.0IP, 1H, 4R, 4ER, 4BB, 1SO, 0HR - ND
Wes Littleton: 3.0IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 1SO, 0HR - L
It's high scoring ball games like this that makes the Ballpark in Arlington unappealing for me. Though I understand it's stunning, visually. The Red Sox and Rangers combined used a total of 11 pitchers in this rain-delayed game. The Rangers staff allowed no home runs off of the potent Boston bats. But they lose the game. Dice-K didn't have his best outing, but he was good enough to pick up the decision. And the Rangers certainly helped with some shoddy defense.
The newest addition to my roto-fantasy team, Ramon Vazquez, make me look good as a fantasy manager with a home run on his first day on the (fantasy) staff.
Saturday, May 26: CC Sabathia (6-1)(CLE) vs. Justin Verlander (5-1)(CLE)
CC didn't look too sharp in his last start. We'll see if that carries over.
(Win Probability graphing by Fangraphs)CC Sabathia: 7.0IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 6SO, 1HR - W
Tom Mastny: 1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 1SO, 0HR - H
Joe Borowski: 1.0IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1SO, 0HR - SV
Justin Verlander: 6.0IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 5SO, 1HR - ND
Bobby Seay: 1.0IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 1SO, 0HR - BS
Jason Grilli: 0.0IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 0BB, 0SO, 1HR - L
CC Sabathia looked fine in this one. Though it was really Jason Grilli's inability to record an out that put this win in the bank for Cleveland.
Sunday, May 27: John Lackey (7-3)(LAA) vs. Mike Mussina (2-3)(NYY)
The moose seems less intimidating than in years past. We'll see if big John Lackey can hold off enough Yankee offense to let the Angels take this one.
(Win Probability graphing by Fangraphs)John Lackey: 8.0IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 4SO, 0HR - W
Francisco Rodriguez: 1.0IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0SO, 0HR - SV
Mike Mussina: 6.1IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 6SO, 0HR - ND
Scott Proctor: 0.0IP, 1H, 2R , 2ER, 3BB, 0SO, 0HR - BS, L
Sweep! Big John Lackey gets it done! That guy is the kind of ace the Yanks wish they had in their flailing rotation.
Taking unnatural pleasure in watching the Yankees get swept at home is an old habit that is hard to let go of. The bombers go 6-games under .500 with this one. And even more entertainingly: they're just one game ahead of the Devil Rays. Go Rays! The 1-2 punch of Scott Kazmir and James Shields seems more intimidating than Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang at this point. (Wang was second place in Cy Young Award voting last year? What? There's too many New Yorkers stuffing that ballot box! I hope somebody notices what Shields is doing this year. Because the Yankees are definitely missing the spark that guy brings to the Rays' rotation.)
Mussina actually had a pretty good outing, which should calm at least one of the alarms about the Yankee rotation. But the offense wasn't there to support him. And Scott Proctor gave it all away with 3 walks, allowing 2 earned runs and no outs in relief. It seems unfair that a middle reliever can come into a game in the seventh inning and get saddled with a loss and a blown save when it's unlikely they would be called upon to record the save in the first place.
Speaking of saves, K-Rod recorded his 16th of the season with this one. Meanwhile... Mariano Rivera has only recorded 3 so far. He also has as many losses. Interesting...
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