Doesn't it seem like forever ago that the Yankees lost 4 out of 6 to the Nationals and Marlins. The Yankees had fallen to 5 games behind the Red Sox and were tied for the wild card lead. Well, 2 and half weeks later, the Yankees are back to a tie with the Sox, and are holding a 4 game lead over the Angels for the wild card. It's official, the sky is not falling (for now).
The Yankees are on a great streak right now. It's good to see them win the ugly games also, and that's exactly what yesterday's game was. Aceves, who was called on to make a spot start, was not terrible, but he wasn't what we're used to seeing out of him. Had it not been for some bad fielding and Robertson coming in and walking in 2 inherited runners, Ace's numbers would have been a little better. The Yankees handicapped themselves from the beginning by sending out a pitcher who they knew would only be able to throw 4 or 5 innings. Not only did they waste Aceves until after the All-Star break, but they depleted the rest of the pen who had to come in and pick up the last 5 innings. This may prove to be a costly mistake heading into a series with the Angels.
Forgetting the walks by Robertson, the HR on an 0-2 fastball by Jason Kubel off Aceves,the error by Aceves and the error by Ransom (more on this later), there were some bright spots for the Yankees. Mark Teixeira remembered how to hit a home run. For almost a month, he was looking like the prized pupil of the David Wright school of hitting, but that monkey is finally off his back.
Jonathan Albaladejo was called up on Sunday after Wang was put on the DL. This week, he has thrown 4 innings in 3 outings, giving up no runs, 3 hits, 1 BB and recorded 4 Ks. He brought his ERA down almost a full run. I don't know that he will be staying in the Majors too long, but this was a great week for him. Had he been pitching like this in May instead of pitching to a 6.00 ERA, he might never have been sent down.
BTW, the Yankees recalled Mark Melancon from AAA. THey have not yet announced who will be sent down, but Albaladejo certainly made his case to try to keep his spot on the 25 man roster. Despite pitching well over the past few weeks, Dave Robertson might have punched his ticket for the Scranton shuttle with his performance yesterday where he reminded us why the Yankees keep sending him down.
It looks like the Yankees finally have they 7th-8th-9th inning tandem set. With the Phils (Coke and Hughes) bridging the gap to Mo in the 9th they might have finally found what they have been looking for since Nelson-Stanton in the late 90's. Since Hughes has moved to the pen, he has a 1.15 ERA. Coke's early season struggles are clearly behind him. He comes in now and throws nothing but strikes. They have really been shutting down the other team every time out. I know I have confidence now that I did not have back in April and May when the games got to the late innings.
After my rant earlier this week about Ransom and his uselessness, I'm glad to see I wasn't wrong. Granted, he did have 2 RBIs yesterday (one on a bases loaded walk) so we will give the criticism of his offense a reprieve for the day, but he defense is still so awful. On a routine groundball by veteran backup catcher (read: old and slow) Mike Redmond, he rushed a throw and sent it into rightfield allowing a run to score. I don't know what it will take for the Yankees to dump him. If another team picks him up, I promise the Yankees will not spend the next 10 years kicking themselves wondering how they could ever let a talent like Cody Ransom go.
With the recall of Melancon, the Yankees have some choices on who to send down. My first choice of course would be to dump Ransom, but I don't think that's going to happen.
They could DFA Brett Tomko. While I do think that this is a move that will happen at some point, I don't see it happening now. He is someone who can eat innings, and with a depleted bullpen now, should the Yanks find themselves getting blown out in a game this weekend, I'd rather see him killing innings than Hughes, Bruney or Coke.
Sending Aceves down would be an interesting move. He is not pitching again until some time after the All-Star break and the Yankees do not need a 5th starter again for another 2 weeks. Why not send him down just to stretch him out. He was given 65 pitches yesterday, he would only need 1 or 2 starts to get back up to a 100 pitches.
More likely than not, I just see the Yankees making the easy move of sending Robertson or Albaladejo back down.
This is a big weekend for the Yanks. They have a chance to really give themselves some breathing room in the wild card race. Also, I don't see the the Red Sox losing 2 out of the final 3 to the Royals, so the Yankees need to take 2 out of 3 to keep pace in the division. Two weeks ago, I never thought I'd be saying this, but wouldn't it be nice to into the All-Star break with sole possession of first place?
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