Heartland Pinstripes

It’s about time the Yankees have played this well, combining both very good pitching with all-around and clutch hitting to rout Seattle, 8-2 and take the sweep. Darrell Rasner allowed a two-out, two-run blast to Beltre in the first but settled in very nicely thereafter, the top of the order went wild on previously unbeaten Carlos Silva, and the Yankees had this one salted away fairly early on a bright, sunny day in The Bronx. The big win moves the Yankees back above .500 at 17-16, and the offense is hopefully returning to form, beating three pitchers–two badly–who had pitched well before this series.

Rasner set the first two Mariners down but then yielded a single to Ibanez, and left a pitch up chest-high to Beltre, who wasted no time depositing it to left, 2-0 Mariners. The Yanks threatened in the bottom of the first, getting back-to-back singles from Jeter and Abreu, but consecutive 3Us from Matsui and Giambi ended the rally. Rasner settled in right away, working a 1-2-3 second and avoiding potential trouble in the third, when he stranded Ichiro after a one-out single and he stole second. Abreu made a nice catch on Lopez’s fly ball, and Ibanez’s F8 ended the top half.

The Yankees blew it open in the bottom of the third. Consecutive singles from JD and Jeter made it first and third, Abreu’s RBI single made it first and third, 2-1, Matsui’s ground-rule double tied it, second and third. Giambi’s deep sac fly on a great catch by Ibanez gave the Yankees the 3-2 lead. Melky the Clutch then cranked a deep homer to right, 5-2. Melky’s six homers amazingly leads the team. Cano then got going with another deep homer to right off Silva, 6-2 Yankees.

Rasner again avoided trouble in the fourth, with singles by Beltre and Betancourt giving the Mariners first and third, one out. But Rasner fanned Clement, and got Johjima to ground into a 6-4 force to escape. The Yankees made the Mariners pay for not closing the gap, scoring two more in the bottom half. For the second straight inning, JD led off with a single, then stole second, and scored on Jeter’s ground-rule double to right, 7-2 Yankees and ending Silva’s rough day. Abreu’s 1-3 moved Jeter to third, and Matsui’s single scored him, 8-2. Rasner worked 1-2-3 in the fifth and sixth, aided by Damon’s terrific diving catch on Beltre’s liner with one out in the sixth. Rasner retired the last eight he faced, and ended with six strong innings, allowing five hits, two runs earned, importantly no walks, and fanning four on 76 pitches/49 strikes. He was efficient, and in the strike zone. Though he got away with a couple left up, he was on the whole accurate and worked in his off-speed pitches very well.

The bullpen made quick work of the Mariners, with Ohlendorf and Cool Hand Nuke working one-hit frames in the seventh and eighth respectively, and Mariano getting some quick work with tomorrow’s day off and not having worked against Detroit by working an eight-pitch ninth. Cool Hand Nuke has now lowered his ERA to 3.52, and has been really excellent in his last nine stints. He has done much to ease the unfortunate loss of Bruney. Not to be overlooked, Yankees pitchers issued only four walks in 27 innings this series, while the Yankees’ batters earned twice as many in the three wins.

The bats were hot, especially the top four hitters. JD (2-5, 2 runs, .295), Jeter (4-5, 2 runs, 1 RBI–his 16th, a walk, and a double, .313), Abreu (3-4, a run, an RBI–his 21st–and a walk, .306), and Matsui (2-4, a run, two RBIs–his 17th, and a double) were a combined 11-18, which is just ridiculous. Melky the Clutch was 1-4 with his two-run homer, his 6th HR and 17th RBI, hitting .291. RC was 1-4 and batting .154 but with his 3rd homer can hopefully get going. Ensberg added a single, and only Giambi (0-2, .150, but with his 14th RBI on a sac fly), Moeller (0-4, .286) and Duncan (who got ripped off on a terrible, extremely low third-strike call by Laz Diaz in the eighth) were hitless. The team cranked out fourteen hits, and outscored the Mariners 19-4 in the three games–13-3 in the first three innings. Though they came from behind today, what a difference playing from behind after three can make, especially when this offense is THIS good. Impressive work to get the Crazy Stein.

The Yankees have an off-day tomorrow before resuming their home stand against Cleveland Tuesday evening to start a three-game set. Big win and, combined with the Celtics’ tremendous Game 7 blowout of the Hawks, today has been a good day. Thanks to everyone stopping by the HDLR today, and don’t forget to tune into the Yankee Fan Club Radio show tonight at 6 EDT by clicking on the link on the right-hand column of the blog.

Hi everyone and welcome to the Heartland Digital Living Room, where the hot dogs and chicken wings are always fresh, the beverages are always cold, and the chin-wagging is always fast and furious. Today the Yankees go for the Crazy Stein (see Beth’s very good Yankees Chick for details) against the Mariners, sending Darrell Rasner to the bump for his first start in The Bronx this year against Carlos Silva (3-0, 2.79 ERA). Ian Kennedy has been demoted to SWB to make room for Rasner, according to Pete Abraham. It’s unfortunate to see the kid struggle, but for now it’s certainly for the best until Kennedy regains his command and some confidence. Come on in, grab a digital leather recliner, and enjoy the game. Let’s Go, Yankees! The lineup, also courtesy of Abraham, is below.

Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Ensberg 3B
Moeller C

I have been reading J-Boogie’s terrific blog Baseball & The Boogie Down, and he is finishing up a “Biggest Loser”-style competition in which he has lost over 40 pounds, and is in a close second in the last couple days. He has been killing it by going 15-20 miles a day, which is amazing. I wish Jason the best of luck with this, and hope he wins. Even if he doesn’t win, he has still won, for losing that much weight that fast is a terrific accomplishment.

This is not a post to lecture people about weight loss or health, but rather to encourage anyone who wishes to do so that it is certainly possible. I myself have lost 50 pounds in the last few months, and am under 200 pounds for the first time in over a decade. It’s taken a lot of hard work–going to the gym or running just about every day, controlling the portion levels, occasionally not having beer, and sticking with the routine even and especially when I haven’t wanted to. It hasn’t been easy, that’s for sure. I’ve hit plateaus in which, despite doing all the right things, I’ve not lost weight. But there was always value in the effort and sticking to it. Always thin, active from sports such as basketball and softball, and in fairly good shape for most of my young adulthood, I put on a lot of weight after having an emergency appendectomy a few years ago, but had honestly been slowly gaining weight before that from being very busy but not physically active. I got to the point where I tacitly accepted that I would just be heavier than before.

At a certain point, I just said baloney.

It helped that my wife and I joined a gym together and stayed dutiful to the diligent routine. It also helped to see weight loss right away. Yet just to feel better, to not get winded taking a few flights of stairs, to have more energy throughout the day, and to see my borderline high-blood pressure significantly drop was very rewarding.

Again, this is not by any means a lecture. Various moments of recidivism and my continued enjoyment of beer can easily attest to that. But to work hard and lose the gut while gaining energy and some self-confidence in the process was well worth it. It also has a spillover effect with life generally. If one can lose some weight or get into better shape, to overcome issues often rooted in psychological and much as physical symptoms, then one can accomplish whatever one sets the mind to. Trust me when I say that if I can do this, anyone can. Go over to J-Boogie’s blog–which also has a lot of very good baseball commentary–and get an object lesson in hard work and perseverance. Amazingly, he’s near the point of going a marathon, but it doesn’t take that much to accomplish a lot physically if you so choose.