Starting Five: Garza Fumes at Yankees

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Matt Garza might be hearing from the league office soon. The Rays right-hander admitted that he threw intentionally at Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira during Tampa Bay's 6-2 loss to New York Wednesday night.

Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain, as he has been wont to do during his brief career, threw up and in to Evan Longoria, this after the star third baseman was plunked in the series opener Monday.

"I just kind of got tired of people brushing him back," Garza said. "It's about time someone made a statement. They did it on Monday night and we didn't do anything, they didn't do it too much [Tuesday] and [Chamberlain] did it again tonight.

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"I hate to be that guy, but someone had to take a stand and say, 'You know, we're tired of it. You can go after our best guy, well, we'll make some noise too,' and that's what happened."

Could frustration be seeping in as well? The Rays dropped two of three to the Yankees at Tropicana Field this week and are now seven games back of them in the AL East. They trail Boston by four games in the wild-card race.

From the Trainer's Room ...
The Cubs may be in the market for a right-handed outfield bat to platoon in center field over the next 48 hours. Reed Johnson broke a bone in his left foot when he fouled a pitch off of it in Chicago's 12-0 win over the Astros Wednesday. Kosuke Fukudome, Johnson's platoon partner in center all season, is hitting .179 against left-handed pitching.

Numbers Game ...
Ryan Braun had an apparent two-run homer turned into a triple in Milwaukee's 7-5 win over the Nationals when the umpires used replay to rule that his drive had not left Miller Park. It was the fifth time instant replay has been used in a Brewers game this season, and all five times the call has been overturned. In the previous four occasions, though, it was Milwaukee's opponent that had a call changed.

In Their Own Words ...
"No chance." -- Manny Ramirez on his hopes of winning a Gold Glove this (or in any) year. The mercurial Dodgers outfielder made a stunning grab at the wall to preserve a 1-0 Los Angeles lead in the seventh inning. The Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the ninth and again in the bottom of the 11th before Albert Pujols provided the winning hit in the 15th. Ramirez later became one of two runners gunned down at the plate in extra innings. The Dodgers have lost four straight, and three in a row to St. Louis, scoring three runs in the first three games of their series against the Cards -- a span of 33 innings..

Advance Scouting ...
Two NL East teams mainly focused on the wild card (now that Cliff Lee is a Phillie) finish a series in Florida. Javier Vazquez takes the mound for Atlanta against the Marlins (7:10 PM ET), who are two games ahead of the Braves in the standings. Don't count on a lot of runs from either side. Despite a 2.98 ERA on the season, Vazquez is 8-7 -- a record that is largely a function of poor run support. The Braves have scored three runs or fewer for the right-hander in 10 of his 16 starts this year.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-30-2009 @ 10:34AM

Ali said...

Joba is gonna kill someone pretty soon. Something needs to be done about him! He's a young kid with a gun of an arm and he doesn't think twice about repeatedly throwing at people's heads. He's dangerous.

tonytiger18 said...

The Rays are good team with a lot of exciting young players. However,They do appear to be a little tight.

Monday night in a laughter for the Yanks, Longoria did get hit on the left forearm. It wasn't intentional, especially in a game that the Rays were losing by a lot.Why would the Yanks throw at someone that hasn't hurt them at the plate all year and get a team that hasn't been playing well all riled up?

Last night, Chamberlain had great control, so brushing Longoria back with a four run lead and no one on base can raise some eyebrows for the Rays. But, he didn't hit him and that was the way to play when players didn't get up tight when a player threw inside.

Geradi never instructs his pitchers to throw at hitters. In fact, I wish that he would retaliate a little.The Red Sox always throw at Alex and Jeter, and he never gets"EVEN". The last game that they played Penny threw behind Alex and on the next pitch hit him square in the back.
In that game, there was nothing to cause Penny to do that, and the Yanks hadn't beaten them all year.So why the intentinal throwing at Alex?

The Rays are good team, but, act like you have won and not like an uptight minor league team

7-30-2009 @ 4:18PM

JMT Jewelers said...

Easier said when a 90mph fastball isn't racing towards your head. The Yankees are your MLB Bullies in every respect from finances to the mound. I'm glad that Garza stood up for his team. Thogh I do say your comment was very diplomatic; if not laced with back-handed compliments.

7-30-2009 @ 11:09AM

joellyboy16 said...

Go Joba you rock.... knock out some players dont you be listning to what other people tell you.. do what your heart tells you...
GO YANKEES.... REDSOX SUCK!!!!!!!!!
RAYS SUCK!!!!!!!!
ORIOLES SUCK!!!!!!!!!!
BLUEJAYS SUCK!!!!!!
MOST INPORTANT OF ALL YANKEES OWN THE BASEBALL WORLD WHOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7-30-2009 @ 10:06PM

machadobrad said...

Its important not inportant and the Yankees only can win by buying the players. If they had a salary cap, lard ass Steinbrenner wouldn't be able to overpay for every free agent. Of course with Gayrod on the team, they might still "blow" it.

7-30-2009 @ 3:41PM

papam11 said...

That coward Chamberlain is always throwing at someone. I'm wondering if he's ever pitched an inter-league game, so that he would actually have to face an opposing pitcher. How would I handle Chamberlain if he ever threw at me? There's be an ooooops my next at bat against him and I doubt he'd be out of the wheelchair for awhile. If throwing at someone is "apart of the game", which is a stupid statement, then not holding the bat too tight shouldn't be a problem either---should it?

7-30-2009 @ 4:45PM

Sire said...

Protect the plate no matter who you are. The plate belongs to the pitcher and if you stick your body too close, expect to be brushed back. Its been a caveat of baseball for over 100 years. Dont dig in if you want to cheat the plate.

7-30-2009 @ 4:46PM

PS: to papam11

Your comments are ...well just bl*w me.

7-31-2009 @ 12:02AM

taguacipa said...

Joba (the hut) Chamberlain is a animal. If the players are nice to Jaaba maybe Jaaba Chamberlain will take them for a drive and have a few (to many) beers and than drive them back home. He should be in jail, if not for DWI than attempt of murder. Does the retard knows what happens when a fast ball hits somebody in the head, if not he should look in the mirror (I think he was hit a few times to many). If I was playing and he threw at my head the next pitch he threw to me the bat would be flying out at him.

7-31-2009 @ 12:41PM

Steve said...

Brushbacks are part of the game. It's been going on for generations now and it isn't going to stop because one pitcher throws at another batter. If it's intentional then thats different but ever since I was a kid getting thrown in on was part of the game to try to "outnerve" you. So some of these laid back comments are just that "laid back".

8-05-2009 @ 12:09AM

longfordmac2 said...

The greatest inside pitcher I ever saw was Bob Gibson.To you young posters specifically--- read about him, pull up a "YouTube" on him, read his stats. One of the greatest righthanders over the last 50 years of MLB. Gibson said the inside is mine. He knocked down even the greatest living player Willie Mays more than once. Then there was Drysdale of the Dodgers, and Clemens, and even Seaver.Hitters have become in my opinion way too comfortable for too long. And that has accounted too for the inflated home run production in past years. Head hunting is another thing. I am a Yankees fan and Joba needs to shorten it just a bit, but not much. He's 23 and he will learn where the line is. Pitching inside is an art. And it has to be done no if's and's or buts.