Tag: Javier Vazquez

Yankees—Orioles: MLB Regular Season Game 52

Regular Season Game 52

Yankees vs. Orioles
Yankee Stadium: Bronx, NY
Game Time: 7:05 p.m.
TV: YES | Radio: WCBS | XM: 176

Lineups:

YANKEES (31-20)

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Francisco Cervelli C
Curtis Granderson CF
Kevin Russo LF

Pitching: RHP Javier Vazquez (3-5, 6.86 ERA)

 

ORIOLES (15-36)

Corey Patterson LF
Miguel Tejada 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 1B
Luke Scott DH
Matt Wieters C
Adam Jones CF
Julio Lugo 2B
Cesar Izturis SS

Pitching: LHP Brian Matusz ( 2-5, 5.76 ERA)

 

Yankees vs. Matusz

AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
D. Jeter 11 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 .364 .364 .455 .818
M. Thames 9 5 2 0 0 1 0 1 .556 .556 .778 1.333
N. Swisher 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
R. Cano 9 3 1 0 1 1 0 1 .333 .333 .778 1.111
A. Rodriguez 7 1 1 0 0 2 1 2 .143 .222 .286 .508
M. Teixeira 7 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 .286 .333 .429 .762
F. Cervelli 6 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .667 .667 1.000 1.667
B. Gardner 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .167 .000 .167
C. Granderson 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
R. Pena 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000
Totals 68 19 6 1 1 6 3 6 .279 .301 .441 .743

 

Orioles vs. Vazquez

AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
T. Wigginton 31 11 2 0 3 8 2 8 .355 .394 .710 1.104
J. Lugo 30 8 1 0 1 5 2 8 .267 .313 .400 .713
M. Tejada 23 8 3 0 1 7 2 0 .348 .407 .609 1.016
C. Izturis 18 7 3 0 0 2 1 2 .389 .400 .556 .956
C. Patterson 15 5 0 0 0 2 0 7 .333 .375 .333 .708
N. Markakis 12 3 1 0 0 1 0 3 .250 .250 .333 .583
M. Aubrey 6 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 .167 .167 .667 .833
G. Atkins 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .200 .200 .400
L. Scott 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .333 .667
A. Jones 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 1.000 1.333
Totals 146 46 10 1 6 26 7 30 .315 .350 .521 .871

Data provided by Elias Sports Bureau via ESPN

News and Notes:

According to Brian Heyman, Jorge Posada says he’s ready and expects to be activated and return to the lineup tomorrow. Heyman also said that Posada will start out as the DH once he returns.

Javier Vazquez has made 12 career starts against the Orioles and is 6-2, with a 4.80 ERA. This will be his first start against them since the 2008 season.

Here are some of Javy’s 2010 stats: FIP: 5.83, xFIP: 5.00, BABIP: .310, K/9: 7.71, BB/9: 4.71, HR/9: 1.93, GB rate: 33.1%.

In three career starts against the Yankees, Brian Matusz is 1-2, with a 2.37 ERA. In two starts this year he’s 0-2, but has posted a respectable 3.00 ERA.

In 12 innings pitched against the Yanks this year, he’s allowed six runs (four earned) on 15 hits, three walks, and four strikeouts.

Robinson Cano has an 14-game hitting streak. Over the course of the streak, he’s hitting .450/.452/.683 with 2 HR, 17 RBI, 8 doubles, and he’s walked just one time.

Derek Jeter comes into tonight with an eight-game hitting streak. He’s also hit safely in 17 of his last 18, and in those 18 games has hit .358/.409/.457 with a homer, nine RBI, and five doubles.

Nick Swisher has a six-game hitting streak, and is hitting .444/.483/.815 with two HR, four RBI, and four doubles.

Alex Rodriguez is hitting .341/.412/.580 with five HR, six doubles, and 24 RBI since May 7th.

The Yankees are 5-1 against the Orioles this season.

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And, like always, the chat room in the forums is open.

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Javier Vazquez Could Be Pitching to Save His Yankees Career Tonight

Tonight, the New York Yankees will send their beleaguered starter Javy Vazquez to the mound against the hapless Baltimore Orioles.

This is a game the Yankees should win easily, considering the Orioles have been the bottom feeders of the AL East for the past decade and are the owners of baseball’s worst record.

But for Javier Vazquez, this is not only a game he should pitch well in—it’s also a must win.

After two encouraging starts against the Tigers and Mets, in which he only allowed a total of two runs, he hit another speed bump in his second tenure with the Yanks.

That came last Thursday in Minnesota, where he was shelled for five runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings pitched. Javy had a chance to step up and deliver the Yankees a sweep, but he failed the Yankees again.

After last Thursday’s game, Javy now stands at 3-5 with a monstrous ERA of 6.86. He has only 36 strikeouts, which is not sufficient for him to pitch at a high level, because they have always been a major part of his game. He is known for consistently being in the top 10 in strikeouts every year, no matter what the league.

He will again be under a lot of pressure tonight as he takes center stage back home at Yankee Stadium, where he has been booed by the home faithful. I have a feeling that the boo birds will strike again tonight if Javy gets off to a rocky start.

A loss tonight might be all that Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi can stand. Sergio Mitre, who has been pitching well this year, could replace him in the rotation. The Yanks could shop Vazquez around or release him. Either way, a lot of money will be changing hands, with Vazquez being owed $11.5 million coming into the season.

Tonight’s game is of extreme importance for Javy to try to re-establish himself on the mound and with the fans. A loss could spell his end in pinstripes.

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Why Javier Vasquez’s Start Against the Mets Meant Nothing

Javier Vasquez was acquired by the Yankees this offseason. 

There were many arguments involving this trade because of the struggles he had as a Yankee back in 2004.

There were two sides.

One said that he can’t pitch in the American League, and is not worth the salary he is getting paid.

One said that he was injured when he struggled in 2004, and did above average with the Chicago White Sox.

Looks like the first side wins.

Vasquez pitched six strong innings against the New York Mets at Citi Field, before leaving the game with a bruised finger on May 21.

Yankees fans were excited about this showing and then hearing that Vasquez would be ready for his next scheduled start against the Minnesota Twins after leaving the Mets game. We, Yankees fans, all thought Vasquez finally got settled into the American League. We were wrong.

The start against the Mets was the only one decent for him this year, and there is one fact behind it: the Mets are a National League team.

No wonder Vasquez finally had a quality start.

Against Minnesota, he struggled again.

Someone needs to get this guy away from New York before he does anymore harm.

Keep in mind that there are trade rumors regarding Vasquez and the Houston Astros’ Roy Oswalt.

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Yankees Go For the Sweep, While AL East Race Heats Up

The Yankees got a twin killing yesterday against the Twins, giving them exactly what they needed, as the division begins to tighten up a bit.

Every win is starting to mean more and more, now that the Red Sox are back into the swing of things, and the Tigers and Blue Jays remain in contention for the Wild Card spot.

But the Yankees have gotten some help from other teams so far this week (with the suddenly hot Red Sox sweeping the Rays, and the Angels beating the Blue Jays), allowing the Yankees to gain some ground on Tampa, and put some distance between themselves and the other Wild Card contenders.

After winning the first two games of the series in Minnesota, the Yanks have a chance for a much needed sweep.

This should serve as a good test for Javy Vazquez, who is coming off arguably his best start of the season.

Of course his last start apparently means nothing to some people since he was pitching against the Mets, a National League team. The way he pitched in that game, he would have dominated against any team.

In fact, he has had two straight solid starts, and may have his pitching confidence back. And the way Target field is playing, he should be fine tonight.

The offense has yet to have a bust out game, but the pitching of Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett have the Yanks back to their winning ways. 

Yankee fans can only hope that Javy can put up a similar performance (to his most recent start) tonight, and that the Yankees will break out the broom, heading into a weekend series versus the Tribe in the Bronx.  

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The New York Yankees Need a Breather

It has been a tough week for the New York Yankees. A strange week. A disappointing week. Any way you look at it, this past week left Yankees fans all over the world, and space, concerned.

The Yankees went 2-5 last week, 2-6 if you want to include yesterdays loss on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball . This is not what the Yankees hoped for considering their opponents last week were division rivals Tampa Bay and Boston, followed by the Mets, their cross-town rival.

After playing 13 games in 12 days, the Yankees get a day off today. A much needed breather. The team needs to regroup and get ready for another tough three-game series in Minnesota against the Twins.

The Yankees problems go up and down the roster. Pitching, defense, and clutch hitting are all areas that need improvement. During this tough week, the team has played some sloppy games.

In an odd turn of events, the only two wins the Yankees had last week, both went to Javier Vazquez. Yes, the pitcher that had such a horrible start to the year. Vazquez earned one win in relief and the other in the series opener against the New York Mets. In that game, Vazquez was pitching a gem until injuring his finger while bunting.

Continue this article at Double G Sports.

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Javier Vazquez OK After Leaving Gem Early

  The way Javier Vazquez was pitching last night it looked like he was going to take care of the Mets all by himself. Six innings, one hit, six strikeouts and only 70 pitches. Unfortunately he bruised his hand while bunting in the top of the 7th inning and needed some help.

X-rays were taken after the game and came back negative. Vazquez even went as far as to say that he was confident that he would make his next start. Vazquez actually hurt the finger on the pitch before he successfully laid down the bunt and didn’t realize that his finger was bleeding until he got back to the dugout and took his batting glove off. The only thing that was significantly hurt was his ego.

“I feel so embarrassed because I’ve been doing this so many years in the National League and this has never happened to me,” Vazquez said .

As for Vazquez’s performance on the mound, it was terrific. This is not to be expected every time he takes the mound, but this is why some fans and pundits have defended him all this time despite all the shaky starts. The biggest difference was not the National League or the Mets sorry offense, it was his stuff.

For most of this season Vazquez has been sitting in the upper 80’s with his fastball with no ability to locate the pitch. Because of this his other pitches suffered because hitters could get into favorable counts and sit on their pitch in a certain location. Last night was different though, not only was Vazquez hitting 91 occasionally, but more importantly he was throwing his fastball where he wanted when he wanted. This allowed him to get into good pitchers counts and force hitters to chance his breaking balls.

The truth is the Mets offense has been a mess all season and Vazquez isn’t going to dominate every team like that even when he is going well. But last night’s performance should serve as a reminder that he is a capable and successful pitcher. Pigeonholing him as a loser or someone who can’t compete in New York is not only wrong, it’s unfair to Vazquez, and it really ignores a lot of evidence that this guy can be a huge piece of the back-end of this Yankees rotation.

Not every pitcher needs to be CC Sabathia good.

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New York Yankees’ Javier Vazquez: Not Great, But Maybe Good Enough

Javier Vazquez didn’t exactly win his most recent start against the Detroit Tigers. However, he pitched a seven inning quality start, giving up only two runs in the sixth for the wrong end of a 2-0 tally.

It’s as well as he has pitched all season. That’s including his nominally victorious 5.1 inning, three run effort against the light-hitting Oakland As.

More to the point, it was about as well as Vazquez pitched most of last season, except for four of his last six games in which he pitched three seven inning shutout starts, and one complete game with only one run, thereby maximizing his trade value for the Atlanta Braves.

The dynamic is a bit like trading spouses or partners; the old one knows that the “run” can’t last, and the new one hopes that it WILL last. Usually, it’s the new one that is disappointed.

Taking the most recent game as Vazquez’ ceiling, a realistic assessment is that on average, he might be able to pitch something like five innings for three runs as he did against the As.

That’s not great, but it means that he may well win the majority of his forward-going games, given that he gets good Yankee run support.

But first, Vazquez has to dig himself out of a 1-4 hole, having lost all but two games he pitched, including his last good one.

The good-hitting Bronx Bombers can stand such a performance from a fifth starter caliber pitcher. Phil Hughes has finally broken through, after several lackluster attempts in previous seasons. The front three, with CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Andy Pettite, is solid.

On the other hand, the Yankees didn’t give up much in the trade for Vazquez. Melky Cabrera, the main consideration, is hitting all of .196 with the Atlanta Braves. Boone Logan, a serviceable reliever, came in the same package as Vazquez as an offset to two pitching prospects.

 

 

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Yankees-Tigers Game One: Rick Porcello Outduels Javier Vasquez In Tigers Win

Rick Porcello tossed seven scoreless innings and out-pitched Javier Vasquez to lead Detroit to a 2-0 win over New York Wednesday afternoon at Comerica Park. It was the first game of a doubleheader.

Detroit has won two straight against New York after losing seven of their last eight games against the Yankees. New York was shutout for the first time since a 6-0 loss at Toronto on Sept. 4, 2009.
 
Porcello (3-3), who entered the game with a 7.50 ERA, limited the Yankees to four hits over seven innings. He also struck out two and walked three. In his only start against New York last season, he allowed six runs in 3.2 innings.

Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless ninth for his 10th save.

Despite taking the loss, Vasquez (1-4) had his most effective start of the season.

Vasquez entered the game with a 9.78 ERA, yet held Detroit scoreless over the first five innings. By the time he left the game after the seventh inning, he had allowed two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.
 
The Yankees only two scoring chances came in the second and fourth innings. In the second, Porcello escaped a two out, bases loaded jam. He also pitched around Jorge Posada’s one out double in the fourth.

Detroit broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth.

With runners at first and third and no outs, Magglio Ordonez’s RBI fielder’s choice scored the first run. After Miguel Cabrera singled, Brennan Boesch delivered a run-scoring single for his fourth RBI of the series to give Detroit a 2-0 lead.

New York will look to end their three-game losing streak in the nightcap of the doubleheader. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.

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Yankees Waste Solid Outing From Vazquez and Lose Game 1

Javier Vazquez took the mound in game one of today’s double header against the Detroit Tigers. The veteran righty has been having a terrible season so far. Yankees fans, many of whom were upset the Yankees even brought him back, have been critical of him all year.

Today’s start was a big one for Vazquez, who was pushed back a few days in order to regroup himself. The extra days seemed to help Vazquez clear his head and fix some mechanical problems in his windup.

He did a lot of intense bullpen work the past week or so to fix the issues.

So Vazquez needed a big performance today against the Tigers in order to show Yankees fans and staff that he can indeed pitch well in a Yankees uniform. The Tigers do have a solid lineup, so it would not be easy.

See how Vazquez did at Double G Sports.

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Is Tonight Do or Die for Javier Vazquez in the Yankees Rotation?

I can hear Yankees Featured Columnist Joseph Del Grippo saying somewhere, “another Javier Vazquez article from Doug.”

Yes it is, because tonight could be a major night in deciding the future of the Yankees right-hander.

The Yankees will send Vazquez out to pitch in the second game of their four game series with the Tigers at Comerica Park.

This will be the first time since May 1 that Vazquez will be stepping on a mound for the Yankees to start a game.

In case some of you are wondering why, and didn’t follow the Vazquez situation, Joe Girardi skipped over Vazquez’s originally scheduled May 7 start at Fenway Park against the Red Sox and went with Phil Hughes. The move turned out to be a good one as the Yankees won that night 10-3.

Vazquez was skipped mostly due to his 1-3 record, 9.78 ERA, terrible command and lack of confidence. Putting all of those elements against the Boston hitters in a hitter-friendly place like Fenway just equaled disaster if Vazquez even touched a baseball that night.

This time, he will take his regular turn in the rotation against the Tigers. He will square off against Rick Porcello, who has been struggling in 2010 as well, 2-3, 7.50 ERA for Porcello.

Now, just in case things do get ugly again for Vazquez, they have Romulo Sanchez in the bullpen to throw multiple innings. Sanchez pitched on Sunday against the Red Sox in relief of A.J. Burnett’s bad start.

But the Yankees aren’t hoping it will get to Sanchez, because all eyes are on number 31 tonight. The focus and theme of tonight’s game is how well Javier Vazquez can pitch for the Yankees.

Do we expect seven shutout innings of three-hit baseball with 10 strikeouts out of Javy? Probably not. It would be nice, but it’s not realistic.

But getting through six innings and keeping the Yankees in the game is something they are hoping for. Actually, if Vazquez can go six innings, it will be the first time in 2010 that he reaches that inning mark since his longest mark is at 5 2/3 innings pitched.

Vazquez has had 10 days off to rest, relax, and collect himself, while trying to figure out his stuff. He’s almost become an after-thought in the rotation. Vazquez basically is the fifth starter just hanging on to the spot.

If he succeeds tonight, or even shows any signs of improvement, then Vazquez will keep his spot and get another turn in five games.

But, if he does fail tonight, and some are thinking that he just might with the Tigers lineup, this could be the last chance for Vazquez in the rotation.

Girardi has already skipped him once because he didn’t trust him against Boston. If he fails tonight, Girardi may not trust him to take the ball again this season.

All eyes are on you tonight, Javy. Lets see what you are made of.

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