Despite Loss, Yanks Bring In Da Noesi, Bring In Da Funk

(image courtesy of bleacherreport.net)

Despite tonight’s final score of 6-4 and the fact that the game ended with the tying run at the plate in the person of Alex Rodriguez, it almost felt as though the game was over before it started this evening. Before you could say, “Play ball!”, the Red Sox had put together a lightning quick 3-0 lead thanks to Freddy Garcia pitching a little bit more like the over the hill righty most Yankee fans expected when he was signed than the bafflingly successful comeback story he has been thus far in 2011.

A 3-run deficit to Jon Lester, no matter how early, feels a bit like being forced to sprint up Mount Everest. Lester, one of if not the best lefthanders in baseball, has had an immense amount of success against the Bombers in his career, throwing to a 3.49 ERA with a 1.27 WHIP and a 3.00 K/BB ratio against New York in 13 starts. Thankfully, Lester didn’t look like his usually unhittable self from the get go, giving up a run and allowing the Yankees to load the bases with two outs. He even gave up a rocket of the bat of Nick Swisher (who had previously been hapless against him) with a chance to tie the game and extend the 37 pitch first inning. However, Kevin Youkilis made a tremendous and back-breaking diving stop to bail out his pitcher and end the threat.

To make matters worse, Garcia immediately gave the run back before departing with a bases loaded mess of his own with only two outs in the second inning. At that point, it just felt like the Yankees were fighting a losing battle. Yes, they managed to work Lester’s pitch count and had their fair share of opportunities to score. For whatever reason though, it never felt as though Lester was going to let them back in the game, particularly without the threat of the red-hot Mark Teixeira in the middle of the lineup after he was drilled in the knee during his first and only trip to the plate. It was the epitome of a bend but don’t break performance from the Boston lefty as he held the Yankee batters in check when it counted.

It wasn’t all bad news, however. While there’s certainly no case to be made that Teixeira coming out of the game was a good thing, the effect this game could have on Jorge Posada’s confidence could be. The struggling DH managed to go 3-3 with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI. Posada recorded his first two hits of the season against a lefthanded pitcher and raised his paltry batting average to within striking distance of the Mendoza Line. Yankee fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that a game like this will ignite the floundering veteran.

Even more impressive was the job done by rookie righty Hector Noesi. Making his first appearance in 10 days and only the fourth of his Major League career, Noesi was once again very impressive as he bailed out the Yankee pen and allowed them to rest their top-line guys despite getting less than two innings out of their starter. The 24-year old Dominican went the final six innings of the game allowing only 3 hits and a walk. The only blemish on his record was a two run shot by David Ortiz, who has been just about impossible for anyone to get out during the past week or so.

Noesi has done nothing but inspire confidence since making his Major League debut in that 15 inning affair against Baltimore during which he recorded the win. His poise has been remarkable as he’s been thrust into several very difficult situations and, where many rookies would collapse under the pressure, Noesi has thrived. He has only given up 3 runs on 11 hits and 5 walks in his first 15 1/3 innings in the Show. Despite some significant layoffs that could easily lead to rust, Noesi has exhibited very good control and one would expect his command (which is widely considered his best attribute as a pitcher) to get even better with some regular work. I have also been extremely impressed with his stuff. His fastball sits at around 93 MPH over extended appearances and he has excellent movement on everything he throws, inducing a lot of ground-balls. He reminds me a lot of Ivan Nova without all of the control problems that have plagued the Bombers other 24-year old rookie righty. I would not be at all surprised to see the two of them swap roles at some point this season and fully expect Noesi to have some success if/when that happens.

While you never want to lose a game (especially not at home and even more especially not against your biggest rival), this was the one game in this series in which I had the least amount of confidence in the Bombers’ chances. As I detailed earlier, Lester is a dominant pitcher who, despite a recent run of sub-par starts, always needs to be feared and has had his share of success against the Yankees, particularly in the Bronx. Garcia, despite his surprising start, relies on deception and does not have the type of stuff that you would expect to succeed against a potent and patient lineup like Boston’s (although the potential absence of Tex does loom large).

I said coming into the series that I expected the Yankees to be able to take two out of three, and that belief hasn’t changed. Tomorrow’s matchup should see a bit of offense and seems to favor the Yankees on paper with the ancient Tim Wakefield taking on the resurgent AJ Burnett. The series’ marquee duel on Thursday between Josh Beckett and CC Sabathia is a bit of a toss-up. Sabathia has been on a roll of late, lowering his ERA to 2.80, while his counterpart has been on a roll all season and is leading the league in ERA. That being said, I like the Yankee offense a bit better, particularly with Sabathia helping neutralize the Boston lefty bats, and think they will come out on the winning end this time.

Bringing It All Back Home

With the Yankees’ 5-3 win over their long time nemeses in Southern California, they wrapped up what can only be described as a phenomenally successful West Coast swing. The road trip was a true test for the Bombers and they passed with flying colors. Trips out west are never easy for East Coast teams, but the pitchers the Yankees had to face made this particular endeavor even more challenging than most. After dropping the first two games of the trip in match-ups against reigning Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez and rookie phenom Michael Pineda (both in heartbreaking fashion), New York managed to put together a 6-1 record over the rest of the stretch with the only other loss coming in another close call against Jered Weaver, who is currently 2nd in the AL with a 2.14 ERA.

In the six wins, they defeated a handful of pitchers who ranged from solid to excellent including Dan Haren, who is fourth in the league in ERA and a trio of talented young Oakland starters who all featured ERAs below 3.00 for the AL’s best pitching staff. Despite all of the top flight opposition they faced, the Yankee lineup managed to put up numbers only slightly off the pace of their league best offense has been averaging all year (5.14 RPG overall vs 4.78 RPG on the trip)

What really stood out, however, was the phenomenal pitching the Yankees received from a staff that, after much (understandable) off-season fretting, has the 4th best ERA in the American League and the 8th best ERA in baseball. Aside from Nova’s 3 2/3 inning clunker against Seattle, no Yankee starter gave up more than 3 earned runs in an outing. Backed by Colon’s complete game shutout against the Athletics and two outstanding 8+ inning, 1 run performances from Sabathia, the Yankee rotation managed to average 6 2/3 innings per start. They posted a ridiculous 2.72 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP, building on what has already been an unexpectedly stellar year (where all of the Yankees non-Phil Hughes starting pitchers have combined for a 3.46 ERA).

For all of the issues that have been discussed ad-nauseum online, on the radio, at the ballpark, and wherever else our national pastime is discussed, the Yankees have made it through the first third of the season with the most prolific offense in the game, the fourth best pitching staff in the AL, and the best record in the American League (only 1.5 games off of the Phillies’ pace for best in the bigs). Is there room for improvement? Without a doubt. But the Bombers have proven that, as awful as they can sometimes look, they’re one of baseball’s elite teams and, if they ever get going on all cylinders, will be awfully scary.

Now, the Yankees finally get to make the trip back east after a week and a half of games that started at unwatchably late Pacific time zone hours. Mercifully, they will only be making one more trip out their for the rest of the season. Of course coming home to the Bronx doesn’t mean their path is any easier. Their 10 game home stand will come against the three other AL teams that are currently in playoff position: Boston, Cleveland, and Texas.

Boston will be throwing their two best pitchers, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, in the series (along with the corpse of Tim Wakefield) while the Yankees, thanks to today’s off-day, are able to skip the up and down Ivan Nova. They are opting, instead, to go with the shockingly successful Freddy Garcia along with Burnett and Sabathia. While matchups frequently end up not mattering in Yankees-Red Sox battles and games tend to just devolve into a compilation of crazy twists and turns, all three duels appear to be intriguing. The Yankee bullpen is, in my mind, the key difference in what I believe will be a 2-1 series win for the Pinstripes. Hopefully the Bombers customary slow start against the Sox is over and they can begin their gauntlet of a home stand with a bang.