The Daily Dozen - April 13th Edition

The Daily Dozen - April 13, 2015 Edition

Twelve Takeaways from Tonight's Game

1. There were A LOT of empty seats in Baltimore.  Was it cold or something?  Maybe the Baltimore Bullets were playing a game to get into the NBA playoffs?  Who knows...it seems like many of the televised games I have seen thus far this season have had people wearing seat-colored clothing.

2. Chris Young gets the Yankees started.  Young got his 2nd home run of the year in the 2nd and was 2 for 4 bringing his 2015 average to .357 leading all Yankees.  He also leads the Yanks with an OPS of 1.295.  Not bad for the 4th or 5th Outfielder!  According to the NY Post he also tracked down the woman who collected Brian McCann's 200th HR and negotiated a deal.

"Put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

3. Manny Machado had 51 Doubles in 2013.  He gets his first of 2015 against the Yankees in the bottom of the 2nd tying the ball game.  Schoop (pronounced SCOPE) ended up getting a double as well after an overturned out call at 2nd base making the score 2-1 Orioles.

4. You can't spell Pineda without PINE.  As in pine tar.  Every time he pitches for the rest of his career, at least on ESPN, we will be reminded of the PINE TAR game against Boston.  Thanks for being predictable guys!  They need to just LET IT GO.

5. Alex Rodriguez back at Third Base!  I bet that the ESPN crew did not make any comments about steroids or the impending fight with the Yankees over 660 or about his suspension.  Oh wait...see item #5 above.

6. Teixeira batting right-handed again tonight.  Lo and behold...a home run to tie it at 2-2 in the 4th.  Didn't I say something about he should continue batting right-handed...?  I swear I said that somewhere...maybe it was just the added bonus of playing in front of a home (hostile) crowd that got his juices flowing.

7. The New York Yankees are the "Most Shiftable Team in MLB."  It's probably not an award they would want to win.  On the other hand...check out the top teams in the American League that employed the shift in 2014 (according to ESPN's research dept): 1. Astros - 1341, 2. Rays - 824, 3. Yankees -739, 4. Orioles - 705.  The team average for MLB is 443.  For those of you that don't know what the shift is, I have included a helpful diagram for you here:

The Shift commonly used against Right-handed Pull hitters...

8. And the stats just keep on coming.  Coming into this game with Baltimore, the Yankees were 1 for 19 with 2 outs and runners in scoring position (RISP).  That's an .053 clip--worst in the majors.  That number didn't change with Teixeira's walk in the 6th and briefly went down to 1 for 20 with A-Rod's fly out.  But oh how the numbers tend to average out over time, ehh?  Ellsbury got an infield single in the 7th to load the bases putting the Yankees at 2 for 21 (.095).  Then came the big surprise of the last decade...putting that number at 3 for 22 (.136).

9. Chris Davis' Drug Suspension.  Does anyone remember Davis' suspension for the use of Amphetamines?  I mean I'm sure ESPN brought it up ad nauseum like the whole A-Rod ordeal...maybe I just missed it?  Check out this article if you don't know what I'm talking aboot.

10. Pineda, Pineda, Pinata.  So he finally gets some run support and gives up 5 earned runs.  Come on man! You can't have it both ways.  But seriously...prior to the 2-run HR given up to Jones in the bottom of the 6th with a frickin' 1-2 count that made it 4-2 his line was stellar with 2 ER, 7 Ks, and ZERO base on balls (BB).  Michael PINEda finished with 6-1/3 IP throwing 98 pitches, 5 ER on 9 hits, with 9 Ks.  His ERA ballooned to 5.11.  But more importantly he got the win balancing out the no decision he got in his last start.

11. What are the odds?  If you would have bet me a million dollars that 1) Stephen Drew would pinch hit for Brett Gardner after he got hit in the wrist earlier in the game, 2) said pinch hitter would then proceed to be patient enough to get in a hitter's count and 3) said pinch hitter would hit a Grand Slam to put the Yankees up 6-4 in the bottom of the 6th...I would be penniless.  I mean only in Baseball right?  The guy who all of us bloggers like to pick on the most is making us eat crow the last 2 nights.  All I can say is that this crow tastes mighty good right now!

12. Betances vs. Miller.  As of right now I would say that Andrew Miller has dibs on the Closer role as his performance in the 8th and 9th innings tonight was much better than that of Dellin Betances with 3 Ks vs. Betances' 1.  What is wrong with Dellin...shouldn't he have like 20 Ks by now??  His 24 pitches tonight only included 10 strikes, which was very uncharacteristic.  Only time will tell.  I still feel pretty good about the bullpen (sans Esmil Rogers).