Skip to main content

It's The House That Sizemore Built

INDIANS 10
YANKEES 2

Not exactly what Yankee fans envisioned when they were dreaming about the first regular season game in the history of the new Yankee Stadium. After a pre-game ceremony to inaugurate in the new ballpark, the Cleveland Indians went ahead and broke in the Yankee stadium, pounding 13 hits and scoring 10 runs in the opening regular season game.

C.C. Sabathia once again was shaky in a big spot. He surrendered only a single run but lasted only five and two-thirds innings, throwing 115 pitches, walking five batters to boot. It was the first time that Sabathia faced his old team since they traded him to Milwaukee last summer. Was it nerves again? One never knows, but if Sabathia continues to build a repuation of a guy who gets nervous when it matters most, the Yankees are in big trouble.

After the Yankees tied the game on a Jorge Posada homer in the fifth, the Indians brought out their hitting gloves in the seventh. Cleveland torched the Yankee bullpen for nine runs and five hits in the seventh, sending 12 batters to the plate. With Victor Martinez and Mark DeRosa already on base, Johnny Peralta doubled to the right field corner to drive in both runners to give the Indians a 3-1 lead.

Joe Giradi had to make a move, so he took out Desemo Marte out of the game for Jose Veras. Big mistake. Veras hit Shin-Soo Choo, then allowed Ben Francisco to reach on a fielder's choice to load up the bases. Kelly Shoppach laced a single to right-center to drive in Peralta, making it 4-1. Three batters later, Grady Sizemore blasted a grand slam homer to the new bleacher creatures in right field to give the Indians a shocking 9-1 lead. Victor Martinez capped the inning with a solo shot of his own to make it 10-1 Tribe.

Cliff Lee, who had struggled in his first two starts this season for the Indians, settled in against the Yankees, pitching six solid innings for his first victory of the year. Last season, Lee won 22 games and was a Cy Young award winner, so he is due for some big victories in the coming weeks.

The Yankee bullpen is a mess. They have to address it. If the Yankees have any plans of getting the ball into the hands of Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning, they must find a guy to get the team through the seventh and eighth inning. One of those guys should be Joba Chamberlain, but the Yankees are still trying to fool themselves into thinking that Joba can be a starting pitcher.

Someone needs to tell the Yankees to make a change sooner rather than later. BOXSCORE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...

Francisco Lindor Remains Red Hot as Mets Top Phillies

 Francisco Lindor remains the hottest player in Queens right now.  The Mets shortstop blasted two more home runs, including a three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning, Monday night to help propel the Mets to a 5-4 win over Philadelphia.   Lindor who typically struggles in the month of April is putting together a heck of a month. Monday's two hit effort was the 10th game in the last 11 where Lindor has recorded a hit. In fact in the month of April alone this year, Lindor was hitting at .311 coming into Monday's action.  On the year, Lindor is batting .284 with five homers and 13 RBI.  Lindor's efforts proved to be prophetic, as the Phillies Alec Bohm crushed a three-run bomb off Edwin Diaz in the top of the ninth to cut the Mets lead to a single run. Fortunately for New York, Diaz was able to shut the door with strikeouts of Trea Turner and Bryce Harper.  New York (16-7) has now won five in a row.  

Mets Keep Rolling into Phillies Series

 The New York Mets are feeling pretty good about things right now!  The Amazin's swept a four game series from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, winning 7-4 Sunday afternoon. It was the first time since 1986 that the Amazin's had swept such a series from St. Louis. We all know what happened later that season.    Well, not to get too far ahead of ourselves, because the 2025 version now faces a very stiff challenge. The Mets will face their arch rivals the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday with only two games separating the two teams in the NL East.  The Mets took out Philly in the NLDS last October, so this figures to be a heck of showdown. The Mets begin a month long stretch against teams that are likely postseason contenders like the Phillies, D-Backs, Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers.  If the Mets (15-7) are this good, we will know for sure in a month.