(Twelve Takeaways from Today's Game - July 20th, 2014)
1. It was Military Appreciation Day. I'm glad that the Yankees show appreciation to those that have protected our way of life for so long. The uniforms were pretty cool with the camouflaged numbers and interlocking NY on the front...although they were pretty hard to see ;)
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| Where did he go? (Credit: Jim McIsaac / Newsday) |
2. Billy Hamilton had 155 stolen bases in one season. Of course he recorded those steals in the Minor Leagues, which is a record. It's kind of hard to get stolen bases when you can't get on base. He was 1 for 12 in the series against the Yankees with 5 strikeouts.
3. Hiroki Kuroda started out strong today by striking out the side. This is a great sign going into this stretch run towards the playoffs as last season he was 0-6 in the last 8 starts. Of course he only allowed 1 run (unearned thanks to Brian Roberts' stunning defense) and STILL didn't get the win.
4. Johnny Cueto looks a bit like the Predator. He also threw 112 pitches in 5 innings as opposed to Kuroda's economical 99 in 6-2/3.
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| "I will defeat you and rip your spine out Yankees..." |
5. Ramon Santiago has an 8-game winning streak. That's there for any Reds fans reading this since that's about the only thing they can hang their hat on after the sweep by the former .500 ballclub known as the New York Yankees.
6. What a great play by Jacoby Ellsbury in the 2nd Inning! He also batted 4 for 4 with 2 stolen bases, a walk, and of course the winning run on that bloop single to end the game. While Gardner was likely the first half MVP for the Bronx Bombers, Jacoby looks like an early candidate for the season MVP. Of course McCann still has some time to prove himself as well.
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| Ellsbury was magnificent at the plate today. (Credit: Jim McIssac / Newsday) |
7. Brian Roberts made his 9th error of the season. That ties him for the Major League lead for 2nd basemen. I guess that would be okay if he were batting .345 with 20 home runs, but alas...he is not as he sits at .245.
8. Derek Jeter now has 3,412 hits. If you stacked up 3,412 baseballs on top of each other they would sit as high as the TransAmerica Pyramid in San Francisco.
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| 853 feet tall to be exact! |
9. Mark Teixeira left 8 men on base. That's usually a LOB number expected for an entire team in a game, not just one guy...not good. If you were to stack the men he left on base on top of each other standing, they would have reached nearly 50 feet above home plate!
10. Todd Frazier finally got his home run in Yankee Stadium. Furthermore, it was Betances' first home run given up all season.
11. Aroldis Chapman has probably the worst pick-off move to first base in baseball. How else can you explain Ellsbury getting to 2nd base so easily in the 9th inning, which ultimately was the difference in the game. One other stat about Chapman is that he has now struck out a batter in 42 consecutive games, which is a MLB record for relievers. Congrats Aroldis...now take your loss and go home!
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| Throwing Heat doesn't always = Wins... |
12. The Yankees finished Interleague play with a 13-7 record and have now increased the playoff odds to 26.5% up from 17% prior to the Indians series.
