Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
That the Yankees are still fired up despite their large lead in the AL East.
After two Yankees pitchers hit Blue Jays batters in Tuesday's game, Toronto's Jesse Carlson threw behind Jorge Posada in the bottom of the eighth.
Posada glared, benches briefly emptied, but there were no punches. Yet.
Instead of letting it end there, or charging the mound, Posada waited until he walked and then scored a run to give Carlson a shove after he crossed home plate.
And then it was on.
Posada ended up on the bottom of the pile in the ensuing melee -- and the Yankees can't afford to have him hurt. (Posada missed most of last year, and the Yankees missed the playoffs.)
"He was just right there on the line to the dugout. We got carried away and hopefully that's the end of it," the 38-year-old Posada said. "I don't want my kids to see that. ... Fight in the middle of the field, benches clearing -- that's a bad example."A suspension seems likely.
"As he ran past Carlson, he gave him a little shove with his elbow. It was very unsportsmanlike," [home plate umpire Jim] Joyce told a pool reporter. "It was a cheap shot."Yankees manager Joe Girardi met with his team after the game to ask them to chill.
From the Trainer's Room ...
Jarrod Washburn, Detroit's big trade deadline pickup, had to come out after an inning against Kansas City because of a bad left knee.
"Shortly after the strikeout [to start the game], we could tell he was in pain," [manager Jim] Leyland said. "We'll see what happens, but it seems pretty obvious to me that, at this point, he's unpitchable."The Tigers went on to lose for the sixth time in eight games, four of those losses have come to the last-place Royals.
Numbers Game ...
Heath Bell's ERA has gone up almost a full run in less than a week. On Tuesday he gave up the winning runs after blowing two straight saves. In those three games, he has given up seven hits and seven runs in three innings, so his ERA has gone from 1.98 to 2.90. If Bell blows his next save chance, he will be the first Padres closer to fail in three straight save opportunities since Craig Lefferts in 1990; Trevor Hoffman has never blown three straight.
In Their Own Words ... "I felt great in batting practice, ran around great, and then the second pitch he threw me, I got off balance, landed on my front side a little too hard and it just grabbed,. I didn't want to make it worse. I've been making too much progress." -- Texas' Michael Young, who tried to return from a strained left hamstring but came out of the game against Oakland after one plate appearance
Advance Scouting ...
With a 2 1/2-game lead in the wild-card race, Colorado will try to avoid its sixth straight loss to San Francisco in the teams' final regular-season meeting (10:15 PM ET). Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa is 2-0 against the Giants this year, but in those two starts he has a 5.40 ERA. He faces Matt Cain, who in 17 career starts against Colorado has allowed opposing hitters to bat just .212.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-16-2009 @ 11:21AM
tonytiger18 said...
Hey Price,
Did you watch the game or the highlights from ESPN?
If you did, then you wouldn't make comments like the Yankees were looking to start a fight.
Encarcion got hit with a slow curve that didn't break when there were men on base and the score still close.
Hill got hit by Melancon with a pitch that broke into the batter. There was no intent to hit the batters.Posada got thrown at and he didn't charge the mound like Youlilis did.It would have been over, but, Carlson did not let that happen.
The last thing that the Yankees need is to get into a beanball scenario with a team that is playing out the string and with nothing to lose.
Carlson definitely retaliated against Posada by throwing behind him.
But, What was he doing on the Yankee side of the field in the direct path that Posada needed to take to get to the dugout?
Why wasn't Carlson behind the catcher backing him up in case of a bad throw and a possible play at the plate? Why did Carlson bait Posada by making some vulgar comments?
Carlson flamed the situation and sure Posada acted with emotions to Carlson stupidity.It was Carlson that made this beanball situation.
Price, you must be more objective and do your research first before you make comments that are inflametory.
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9-16-2009 @ 11:23AM
d57fan said...
Two games in a row, 3 Blue Jays batters were hit....first Randy Ruiz was hit in the FACE in the last game the Yankees and Jays played and then Encarnacion and Hill were both hit in the game last night....
Not one single Yankee was hit...
The Yankees and their fans are a bunch of arrogant, self-entitled yobs and bullies.
The only Jay worth contempt here was Vernon Wells who not only doesn't contribute much on the field for his $126 million, he didn't even make a show of backing up his teammates last night. Why couldn't the Yankees gang up and pummel Wells?
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9-16-2009 @ 11:54AM
tonytiger18 said...
Hey D57,
The next intelligent accurate and insightful post that you enter will be your first.
You are a passionate fan of the Jays, and I do feel for your immense frustration over your team's lack of accomplishments.
However, know the situation of a game instead of making silly comments.
Carlson did the right thing by retaliating against POSADA, whether he hit him or not. Posada did the right thing by not charging the mound.
Carlson did the wrong thing by stepping over the line on the Yankees side of the field and baiting Posada with his vulgar comments.
Posada was wrong going after Carlson, even though Carlson deserved a good ass kicking.
This could have been avoided if Carlson just kept his emotions in check and backed up his catcher instead of looking to prove how verile he is.
9-16-2009 @ 12:56PM
Ron said...
Just like politics, what a bunch of hypocrites! Two weeks ago the media had a hay day with the Oregon, Boise football game, as they ruined a player, by calling for him too be pulled from the league, because he punch another player. But it is alright to clear the bench and brawl in front of a bunch of kids at a baseball game. Next it will be O.K. for the fans too join in, as long as it is not a punch from a Oregon football player.
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9-16-2009 @ 1:26PM
vscs6for6 said...
First off, im a die hard hard yankee fan. Secondly, i think it was dumb for Posada to do what he did. That kid threw a purpose pitch, and rightfully so. Do i think that Melancon purposely hit anyone? No, but, the game is played to whereas the players police each other, and the kid who threw at Posada, did it cause he had to. Thats the game, end of story. Im happy no one got hurt, as we are in the best possible situation for the playoffs. If CC would have broken a finger on his pitching hand, which is VERY EASY to do, even though CC wasnt fighting, just pulling people away. What would you, my fellow yankee fans be saying? Posada the azzhole im sure...
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9-16-2009 @ 2:12PM
amm07727 said...
poor judgement on all including umpires why didn't they eject carlson when he threw behind Posada it seems the media is unfairly attacking Posada.
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9-17-2009 @ 2:54PM
James said...
A cheap shot with the elbow by Posada. If I ever had any respect for him it's gone.
There's no MLB team that throws at players as much as the yankees.
9-16-2009 @ 2:51PM
psu74dl said...
you know what this was a dumb move by both players. However when you throw at a catcher like he did when he threw behind Posada that is like him saying you were the one to call for his players to be hit. Then the pitcher sees Posada coming into home and stands directly in his path to the dugout just asking for a confrontation. It was a bad incident by both players however by the looks of it the Yankees clearly won that fight...
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9-26-2009 @ 10:43PM
spicsapian said...
you poeple are f silly... posada didnt hit him .. it was more of a brush with his elbow.. you poeple are talking like posado bust him in the chops..... it was a stupid brush of the elbow. himalmost getting hit by the pitch was worse than the brush.. when he went across the yankee line he came back with a titty on his head...lololol
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