Yankees vs. Indians Series Thread

[BronxBomberz]

Today is the day Yankee fans! I envy the people who will be there.

Anyways on to the game. CC Sabathia takes the hill for the Yankees against his old team!

Everything was created big at the new home of the Yankees, where players and fans are preparing to explore a building 500,000 square feet larger than the predecessor across the street.

There's no getting around the huge expectations for the opening of the new facility, and accordingly, the man who throws the first pitch to be recorded for the ages is pretty big-time himself.

Ace left-hander CC Sabathia will get the ball on Thursday afternoon when the Yankees create a new chapter in franchise history, kicking off their inaugural season at their $1.5 billion cathedral.

"It's going to be great," Sabathia said. "I'm excited to get a chance to go out there and open up the stadium."

Preparing to move their stage next door with the opening of the new Yankee Stadium, the Yankees are planning a tremendous celebration prior to the 1:05 p.m. ET start in the Bronx. Fans are urged to be in their seats at least one hour before game time to take in the festivities, which will include appearances by a cavalcade of Yankees favorites.

The forecast is calling for a sunny afternoon in the Bronx, with principal owner George M. Steinbrenner expected to be among those on hand as the Yankees cut the ribbon on the spacious granite-and-limestone stadium, which comes equipped with modern amenities within the framework of the original building.

"I think everyone is a bit overwhelmed by it," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. "If you're sitting down thinking about how you're going to build a stadium, I don't think there's anything else you could put in. It's tremendous."

Sabathia said that he will not be able to enjoy the ceremonies, since he will be attending to his business in the bullpen and behind the scenes. But the Yankees liked what they saw in the Sabathia's last outing, when the lefty spun 7 2/3 innings of scoreless, six-hit ball against the Royals in Kansas City, walking none and striking out six.

When Yankees manager Joe Girardi came out to get the ball in the eighth inning at Kauffman Stadium, Sabathia almost appeared surprised, and catcher Jorge Posada approved of Sabathia's steadfast nature.

That commitment could serve Sabathia well under the hot spotlights on Thursday, and the southpaw said that he is not anticipating butterflies for the start because he is already beginning to settle in to regular-season mode.

It also helped that the Yankees played two Spring Training games in New York against the Cubs on April 3 and 4, allowing Sabathia to check out the mound and get acclimated to his surroundings.

"Obviously, it'll be a big game because it's the first start, but I think I'll be fine," Sabathia said. "It'll be a big moment. Even when Chien-Ming Wang threw the first pitch in the [Spring Training] game, with all the flashbulbs going off, it was a big moment. I'm glad it's a day game so I won't get blinded by the flashes."

One interesting note for Sabathia is that it will be his first career start against the Indians, the organization that drafted him in 1998 and retained his services up until a trade last July that sent him to Milwaukee, where Sabathia helped guide the Brewers to the postseason for the first time in more than two decades.

The scheduling quirk is one that Sabathia has known about almost as long as his name was affixed to a seven-year, $161 million contract with the Yankees, but the fact that it is coming on such a pivotal and emotional day in franchise history is interesting.

Sabathia still keeps in touch with "a lot" of the same Indians players who will be trying to log the first hits in the new Yankee Stadium, with Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore, Kelly Shoppach, Jamey Carroll and David Dellucci among them.

"I guess it's going to be weird," Sabathia said. "It's my first time ever to pitch against them. Me being there so long, it's kind of ironic that my first start in the new Stadium is going to be against them. I've faced those guys throwing BP in Spring Training. It'll be a little different tomorrow."

Pitching matchup
NYY: LHP CC Sabathia (1-1, 4.50 ERA)
Sabathia draws the call for the first game at the new Yankee Stadium, coming in hot on the afterglow of a sparkling performance against the Royals in his second start as a Yankee. The difference from his Opening Day start came with a tweak from the bullpen, where Sabathia plants his right foot sooner and stays on top of his fastball better.

CLE: LHP Cliff Lee (0-2, 9.90 ERA)
Lee has become just the second Cy Young winner in the past 10 years to lose both of his first two starts the following season (Roy Halladay was the other, in 2004). Already, Lee has given up 11 runs on 17 hits in 10 innings. He didn't give up his 11th run last season until his eighth start and 59th inning pitched. Lee showed some improvement against the Blue Jays on Saturday, but he still lasted only five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out five. Lee needs to improve his fastball command to become more efficient. He is 3-3 with a 5.63 ERA in seven career starts against the Yankees, but he blanked them for seven innings in a win at New York last April.

Tidbits
Girardi said that third baseman Alex Rodriguez could begin to take batting practice as soon as this weekend. ... Girardi said he expects to play Cody Ransom on Thursday after giving A-Rod's temporary replacement two games off in St. Petersburg. Ransom is batting .083 (2-for-24) with a double in seven games. ... Girardi also said he'll consider playing Hideki Matsui on Thursday. Matsui is 4-for-12 (.333) with two doubles lifetime against Lee. ... According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Nick Swisher had the most extra-base hits (nine) of any player in club history through the first eight games of his Yankees career. Roger Maris (1960) held the record previously with seven.

Sabathia fits as leading man for opener | yankees.com: News

[love_that_reefer]

Holy shit!! An actual pitcher's duel between Lee and Sabathia. They are walking a lot of guys but its not hurting them.

[love_that_reefer]

Unlike the Mets home opener, a Yankee hit the first HR in the new stadium and his name was Jorge Posada.

[DirtyKash]

Yankees middle relief is garbage.

[love_that_reefer]

Don't tell browntown that.

[love_that_reefer]

Yankees get clobbered in their home opener! Shame!

[nyjunc]

That couldn't have gone much worse. At least the pregame ceremony was nice.

[BronxBomberz]

Yankees middle relief is garbage.

I hate Veras and Marte.

[BronxBomberz]

NEW YORK -- The tipping point of Thursday's home opener came in the seventh inning, when Yankees reliever Jose Veras entered a tied game and proceeded to issue a leadoff walk.

The rest is now a bit of home opener history. The Indians scored nine runs in the inning, knocking Veras and Damaso Marte out of the game in succession. In doing so, they exposed, yet again, a Yankees bullpen that has alternated this season between terrific and troublesome.

"We have to get everyone going in our bullpen," manager Joe Girardi said. "You can't just rely on four guys in your bullpen. We need everyone."

One of the key culprits has been Veras, a cog in last year's bullpen who has now allowed runs in three of his five outings. In retrospect, no moment in Thursday's game was more critical than when Veras walked Indians third baseman Mark DeRosa to spark the winning rally.

"I know I can be better than that," Veras said.

So do his bullpen mates -- including Marte, who served up a grand slam in Thursday's game and allowed six runs in all.

That's not to say that everything is going wrong. Right-hander Brian Bruney has already had plenty of success out of the bullpen, striking out 10 batters in five innings. Edwar Ramirez has followed up on his breakout season with a strong start to this one. And Mariano Rivera is Mariano Rivera.

But if the Yankees want to succeed in Friday's matinee against the Indians, and throughout the rest of this season, they'll need the bullpen as a unit to jell. A group that ranked seventh in the Majors last season in ERA enters Friday having allowed 24 runs in just 10 games.

"It's been up and down," Girardi said. "We need more consistency out of them."

Help may come if Joba Chamberlain, who pitched six innings in his first start of the season, can work deep into Friday's game against the Indians. But the Yankees will also need to muster more offense against Anthony Reyes than they did on Thursday facing reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee.

If they can, perhaps the second game at the new Yankee Stadium will be a bit more enjoyable than the first.

"We're going to do a better job for our fans," first baseman Mark Teixeira said. "I'll tell you that."

Pitching matchup
NYY: RHP Joba Chamberlain (0-0, 1.50 ERA)
Chamberlain's first start of the season revealed plenty of reasons why the Yankees would want him in their rotation, as he hurled six solid frames in a no-decision on Sunday at Kansas City. Beginning the year as the Yankees' fifth starter, Chamberlain allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits, walking one and striking out five. He hit two batters and served up a third-inning home run to John Buck in the 88-pitch outing but was ultimately pleased with his improving command and efficiency. Chamberlain will be making his first career start against the Indians, though he is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in five regular-season relief appearances against them. And then, of course, there's the 2007 AL Division Series "midge" game, when Chamberlain allowed the tying run out of the bullpen in New York's Game 2 loss.

CLE: RHP Anthony Reyes (1-0, 6.00 ERA)
Reyes' final line against the Blue Jays on Sunday wasn't truly indicative of how well he pitched. He went six innings, allowing four runs on three hits with three walks, two strikeouts and two wild pitches. Most importantly, he became the first Tribe starter this season to last longer than five innings and the first to earn a victory. He had good command of his fastball and generally worked ahead in the count. Reyes has never faced the Yankees.

Tidbits
In losing Thursday, the Yankees snapped their streak of winning 11 straight home openers. ... The Yankees hadn't allowed nine runs in an inning since serving up nine in the fifth inning of a loss to the Indians on July 4, 2006. ... Nick Swisher, the only active Yankees player with any experience against Reyes, is 0-for-3 against him in his career.

Bullpen, a strength in '08, must rebound | yankees.com: News

[NYgiantsfan5689]

IMO, Marte's pitch to Sizemore was not a bad pitch, Grady just reached out and got nice wood on it.

Veras sucks

[browntown653]

Don't tell browntown that.

One bad game does not a bad bullpen make.

[love_that_reefer]

If only it were ONE bad game.

[bwitty24]

Well today's game was certainly much more positive than yesterdays. Bruney pitched some solid innings in relief and the Yankees hit 5 HR's (although they were all solo shots). Jeter came up big with two outs in the 8th and hit an oppo jack to put the Yankees up 6-5. Mo came into do what Mo does best, close out the game.

HR's hit by: Teixiera, Cano, Jeter, Cabrera, Damon

Only bad thing was that Joba was a little shaky today. I didn't watch him too much but Michael Kay said his control was a little off today.

Yankees Record: 6-5

[browntown653]

Great job by the bullpen yesterday with 4.1 innings of scoreless ball. Nice to get the victory and now let's hope the Yanks can make it 2 out of 3 with a good performance from Wang. He threw an encouraging live BP session the other day and is much better at home...so hopefully that's a recipe for success.

[DirtyKash]

Wang has gotten jerked around so far, but the weather should be better today so maybe he can get his sinker going. If Wang has a third straight stinker, then all bets are off.