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Like Mussina, Kennedy Learns To Pitch Like Jamie
Moyer

post from The Bronx Stop: Another New York Yankees Blog on 22 May 2008 08:15:00 PM. © The Bronx Stop: Another New York Yankees Blog

Well, call it a little bit of a joke, but The Bronx Stop mimicked Hank and said Kennedy needed to pitch like Jamie Moyer after his last start.

And just like Mike Mussina got the win after Hank made that comment, Ian Kennedy got the win* (well he should have but didn't actually...) after we said it. Interesting...hahaha

Mark Feinsand/New York Daily News:

The dramatic ending to Thursday nights game was made possible by a solid performance by Ian Kennedy, who may have needed the threat of losing his job - again - to get his act together.

One night after it was announced that Joba Chamberlain would be stretched out over the next few weeks before entering the starting rotation, Kennedy gave the Yankees his best effort of the season.

Kennedy allowed just one run on four hits in six innings, matching his longest outing of the season while giving up less than three runs for the first time in seven starts. Kennedy did walk four, but none of them came around to score.

Orioles lefthander Brian Burres denied Kennedy his first win of the season however, throwing 7-2/3 innings of one-run ball and giving up six hits without issuing a walk. Mariano Rivera (1-1) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief, following similar performances by Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth.

The win gave the Yankees (22-25) their first series victory since May 4. They are 2-3 on their current home stand, which concludes this weekend with three games against the Mariners.

Kennedy retired all three batters in the first inning, starting off his night on the right foot. He allowed a leadoff single by Aubrey Huff in the second, but an inning-ending double play off the bat of Luke Scott allowed him to record another scoreless frame.

Again, Kennedy ran into trouble in the third, as Adam Jones singled and Freddie Bynum tripled with one out, giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Kennedy proceeded to walk Brian Roberts, putting runners at the corners.

Roberts appeared to be picked off by Kennedy, but as the Yankees had him in a rundown between first and second, Jason Giambi tried to throw Bynum out as he moved away from third. Bynum beat the throw, allowing Roberts to reach second safely with a stolen base, putting both men in scoring position.

Kennedy responded by walking Jay Payton, loading the bases and leaving most of the fans in attendance to wonder if he would make it through the rest of the inning.

But instead of collapsing as he has in similar situations during his first seven outings, Kennedy buckled down and struck out Markakis, then got Huff to fly out to left field, stranding all three men on base.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheBronxStop/~3/296304429/kennedy-learns-to-pitch-
like-jamie.html

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Mets place OF Alou on DL (PA SportsTicker)

post from MLB News Blog on 22 May 2008 08:14:30 PM. © MLB News Blog

ATLANTA (Ticker) - The New York Mets placed left fielder Moises Alou on the 15-day disabled list prior to Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Braves.Read the full story.

Read The Full Article:
http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/05/22/mets-place-of-alou-on-dl-pa-sportsticker/

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Another Survivor

post from Baseball Musings on 22 May 2008 08:12:00 PM. © Baseball Musings

Doug Davis is active and ready to pitch. Congratulations to Doug on a quick recovery!...

Read The Full Article:
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/026807.php

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Windy in New York

post from Baseball Musings on 22 May 2008 08:08:00 PM. © Baseball Musings

The wind is really whipping at Yankee Stadium tonight. You can see Kennedy's uniform flapping in the breeze. We'll see if it gives the outfielders a tough time tonight....

Read The Full Article:
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/026806.php

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Girardi/Cano Get Animated...Yanks Win

post from The Bronx Stop: Another New York Yankees Blog on 22 May 2008 08:08:00 PM. © The Bronx Stop: Another New York Yankees Blog

Anthony Dicomo/MLB.com:

From the comforts of his manager's office, with its wide desk and leather couch, Joe Girardi sat on Thursday night and watched about five minutes of baseball. Perhaps still simmering a bit from his ejection only moments earlier, Girardi watched as Robinson Cano laced a walk-off single through the left side of the infield, and as Hideki Matsui motored around from second base to score the winning run.

Then Girardi leapt out of his chair and hurled his pen across the room.

"I'm not so sure I am decompressed yet," he said just after the game.

That might take some time, considering the magnitude of his argument, and the depth of the slump that had been vexing his Yankees. But now with a well-pitched and downright emotional 2-1 win over the Orioles in tow, perhaps Girardi can finally relax.

Because goodness knows he didn't on Thursday night.

Stuck in a 1-1 game in the bottom of the ninth inning, Girardi lost his cool -- and his seat in the dugout -- when Jason Giambi struck out with one down and Matsui standing on first base. Orioles reliever Jim Johnson had delivered a pitch high and inside to Giambi, who, with two strikes, couldn't yank his bat entirely out of the way. Home-plate umpire Chris Guccione didn't think so, at least, ruling that the ball skimmed the knob of Giambi's bat and deflected into catcher Ramon Hernandez's glove, good for a strikeout.

That's when Girardi stormed onto the field and engaged Guccione in a lengthy argument. Within moments, he was ejected, throwing his hat on the ground and kicking it toward the dugout. Then he picked it up, kicked some dirt, and began arguing all over again.

"Maybe that was the little spark that we need to get us going," Giambi said. "We've been playing good baseball, but not great baseball."

What followed, coincidence or not, was great baseball.

Bobby Abreu, batting with two outs, took a five-pitch walk to advance Matsui to second base, and then Cano drilled an inside fastball into left field to win the game.

"This means a lot," Cano said. "Every time I get a hit to help the team win, it means a lot to me. Because it's not about just the numbers. It's about winning."

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheBronxStop/~3/296297614/girardicano-get-animated
yanks-win.html

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Brewers Gagne has rotator cuff tendinitis (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 22 May 2008 08:03:36 PM. © MLB News Blog

Milwaukee Brewers closer Eric Gagne was diagnosed Thursday with rotator cuff tendinitis and is out indefinitely, although he will rejoin the team Friday in Washington. After being examined in Milwaukee by team physician William Raasch, the right-handed Gagne received a cortisone injection and was told not to throw for three days.Read the full story.

Read The Full Article:
http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/05/22/brewers%e2%80%99-gagne-has-rotator-cuff-tendini
tis-ap/

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Game 48 Thread: Reds at Padres

post from Red Reporter on 22 May 2008 08:00:01 PM. © Red Reporter

Next Game

Cincinnati Reds
@ San Diego Padres

Thursday, May 22, 2008, 10:05 PM EDT
Petco Park

Aaron Harang vs Randy Wolf

Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to right field at 5-15 m.p.h. Game Time temperature: Around 60.

Complete Coverage >

W-L ERA WHIP K BB 2008 - Aaron Harang2-53.121.145616

W-L ERA WHIP K BB 2008 - Randy Wolf2-45.051.434521

Tonight we have award winning pitcher Aaron Harang on the mound trying to stop a 3-game losing streak. The Padres are sending in the Wolf who will hopefully help the Reds clean up their mess of an offense. I know one thing's for sure, the Reds better get those brains cleaned out of the back of their car.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.redreporter.com/2008/5/22/534328/game-48-thread-reds-at-pad

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Thursday Bloody Thursday

post from Nick & Nick's Twins Blog on 22 May 2008 08:00:00 PM. © Nick & Nick's Twins Blog

In the comments section yesterday, a reader implied that Ron Gardenhire doesn't even bother trying to win on Thursdays. I'm sure that's not true, but alas, after their 8-7 loss in 10 innings to complete a split with the Rangers yesterday afternoon, the Twins are 0-6 on Thursdays this season. This is an indication that the team seems to be packing it in on the final games of series. In part this may have something to do with the players being tired or worn out on these afternoon finales, but Gardenhire's puzzling getaway day lineups probably aren't helping matters.

In some respects, it's understandable that Gardenhire isn't able to put a maximized lineup on the field on Thursday afternoons. For instance, he generally likes to give Joe Mauer a break when the team plays a day game after a night game. That takes perhaps the best hitter out of the lineup, but it's perfectly a perfectly understandable and defensible rationale.

What's not defensible is yesterday's decision to have Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young and Craig Monroe all in the starting lineup while Jason Kubel sat on the bench. Cuddyer's awful performance thus far was rewarded with a promotion to the No. 3 spot in the lineup, while Young and Monroe batted fifth and sixth. Young's bat has heated up lately, so his presence in the middle of the lineup made some sense, but Cuddyer was hitting .217/.268/.313 on the season and Monroe had collected one hit in his past 18 plate appearances. Meanwhile, Kubel has been taking significantly better at-bats as of late, and that has been reflected in his numbers (1200 OPS, 4 BB/2 K in his past eight games). On top of all that, left-handed hitters had a 200-point advantage over right-handed hitters against the Rangers' starter, Vicente Padilla. For a manager who claims to his lineup decisions on who matches up well and who's swinging the hot bat, Gardenhire's decision to keep leave Kubel out of the starting lineup yesterday seems counterintuitive. Without a doubt, Kubel should have been starting over one of those three players.

Cuddyer actually had a good game, going 2-for-4 with two singles and a pair of walks. Meanwhile, Young and Monroe combined to go 0-for-9 with four strikeouts. It was a particularly bad game for Young, who hit into a pair of rally-killing double plays on the way to stranding seven runners in an 0-for-5 effort. Livan Hernandez didn't pitch particularly well and there were some misplays in the field, but if you want to find an individual culprit in yesterday's loss, look no further than Young. He absolutely killed this offense. It's the type of performance that would normally get a young hitter benched for a game to straighten things out, but for whatever reason Young has earned the honor of being automatically written in as the left fielder each day, so we know that's not going to happen.

Lineup construction should only get more confusing for Gardenhire after yesterday's news that Adam Everett is headed back to the disabled list. This isn't necessarily bad news, since Everett has been essentially worthless so far this season. If he was playing the type of exceptional defense that gained him a reputation in Houston, he'd be a fairly valuable player on this team despite his awful hitting, because the rest of the infield has been very shaky defensively. Unfortunately, his shoulder problems have prevented him from being anything more than a mediocre defensive shortstop at best, so his value has been negated and he's basically been Juan Castro. I'd like to see Everett come back strong, but whatever is bothering his shoulder does not seem to be going away, so I'm at the point where I've pretty much given up on him being of any use to this team.

Replacing him on the roster will be Matt Macri, who I initially predicted to make the team out of spring training. This selection is interesting for a few reasons. For one thing, there's little chance that Macri will give the team any help defensively; he had committed a team-high eight errors over 29 games in Rochester. Ron Gardenhire is clearly fed up with this team's infield defense, evident in the fact that Brendan Harris has been moved away from second base due to his inability to consistently turn the double play from that position (Harris did turn three double plays from the shortstop position yesterday, so maybe Gardy is on to something). I wonder how Gardenhire will respond if Macri comes up and keeps committing the kind of mistakes that have haunted him in Rochester. As it stands, the inexperienced and clumsy Alexi Casilla would seem to be the best defensive infielder on the roster. It feels odd to say it, but this team really needs to get Nick Punto back.

The other reason Macri's promotion is interesting is because his numbers this year are significantly inferior to Brian Buscher, who has an 896 OPS with six homers and 20 RBI in 35 games for the Red Wings. There's probably not a whole lot of difference between the two defensively (although Macri is more of a natural second baseman, which may have played a role), so my guess is that Macri got the call because he's a right-handed bat who can spell Mike Lamb at third base against southpaws.

Infield defense has been extremely problematic for the Twins this year, and replacing Everett with Macri doesn't help them much in that respect. There could be many more ugly Thursdays to come.

Read The Full Article:
http://twinsfanatnicks.blogspot.com/2008/05/thursday-bloody-thursday.html

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Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros, 7:05 PM
CDT

Current Series

4 game series vs Phillies @ Minute Maid Park

Philadelphia Phillies The Good Phight
@ Houston Astros The Crawfish Boxes

Thursday, May 22, 2008, 7:05 PM CDT
Minute Maid Park

Kyle Kendrick vs Roy Oswalt

Mostly clear. Winds blowing out to left field at 10-20 m.p.h. Game Time temperature: Around 85.

Complete Coverage >

Fri 05/237:05 PM CDTSat 05/246:05 PM CDTSun 05/251:05 PM CDT

W-LGGSCGSHOSVBSIPHRERHRBBKERAWHIP2008 - Kyle Kendrick3-299000045.1553124516204.761.57

W-LGGSCGSHOSVBSIPHRERHRBBKERAWHIP2008 - Roy Oswalt4-41010000063.07440381416495.431.43

Lineup

Philadelphia Phillies @ Houston Astros

05/22/08 7:05 PM CDT

Philadelphia Phillies Houston Astros Jimmy Rollins - SSMichael Bourn - CFShane Victorino - CFKazuo Matsui - 2BChase Utley - 2BMiguel Tejada - SSRyan Howard - 1BLance Berkman - 1BPedro Feliz - 3BCarlos Lee - LFGeoff Jenkins - RFHunter Pence - RFGreg Dobbs - LFTy Wigginton - 3BCarlos Ruiz - CBrad Ausmus - CKyle Kendrick - PRoy Oswalt - P

Hopefully we won't see...

W-LGGSCGSHOSVBSIPHRERHRBBKERAWHIP2008 - Brad Lidge1-02000011020.0931010230.45.95

Read The Full Article:
http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2008/5/22/533972/philadelphia-phillies-at-h

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Audio: Eddie Coleman And Jon Heyman

WFAN audio clips from Mike and the Mad Dog show. Mets beat reporter and Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jon Heyman appear.Eddie ColemanJon...

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