Results tagged ‘ Blue Jays ’
Phil Hughes Lifetime Numbers vs. Toronto
3 GS, 1-1 W-L, 4.70 ERA, 15.1 IP, 17 H, 8 ER, 9 SO, 5 BB, and a .266 BAA.
In case anyone forgot, Hughes made his Major League debut last April 26 against Toronto. Hughes was credited with the loss after allowing 4 ER, 7 H, and 1 BB, to go along with 5 SO, in 4.1 innings of work in a 6-0 Blue Jays victory at the Stadium. In his very next start, the young phenom dominated Texas, holding the Rangers hitless during 6.1 IP while fanning 8 and picking up his first career win.
Hughes was much better in his second start against the Jays, which came on September 11 in Toronto. The rookie picked up the win after tossing 6 innings of 3-hit baseball, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) and striking out 7. His final 2007 start versus the Blue Jays came 11 days later in a 12-11 Yankee victory back in the Bronx. Hughes allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings, struck out 3, and walked 1 in a no-decision.
Interestingly, Hughes has never given up a home run to Toronto. (Hopefully, I didn’t just jinx him with that tidbit).
PS – ESPN recently updated its player pages and I must say they are vastly improved. They are more aesthetically pleasing, easier to navigate, and contain lots of valuable new information like pitcher vs. batter/batter vs. pitcher career history. Here’s a link to the new Phil Hughes page.
Game 1 is in the Books…
Joe Girardi’s debut could not have been scripted any better. Good pitching, timely hitting, and flawless defense. That’s an invariable blueprint for success.
Melky and Wang were the obvious stars of the night. The Melk-man flashed some serious leather — his diving catch in left center robbed Aaron Hill of at least a double and possibly a triple — and he looked to be generating much greater bat speed than we’ve been accustomed to from him over the last few years. At times in his young career Melky has looked overmatched by power pitchers and has fallen into the bad habit of cheating to get around quicker on the fastball. Not tonight, a night on which Halladay had his best stuff. Melky was able to pull the ball with some authority and it was all because he was getting the bat head through the zone much quicker than in the past. As for Wang, he labored early, making it look like this might be one of those nights where he gets dinged up for 11 or 12 hits in 5 innings, but he settled into a nice groove as the game wore on and breezed through the Toronto lineup.
Joba wasn’t as electric as usual, as his velocity was down about 4-5 mph on average and he struggled some with command of his breaking pitches, but he still got the job done and managed to fan two Blue Jay hitters in the process without surrendering a hit. Mo looked like he was in mid-season form.
So the Yankees got the better of nemesis Halladay tonight in a very crisply played opener and now have the pleasure of facing A.J Burnett tomorrow evening. Burnett can utterly baffle the Yankee lineup (in 2 starts against the Yanks last year he went 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA, a .160 BAA, and 13 SO in 15 IP), making it next-to-imperative that Mussina provide another well-pitched game for the Bombers.
Hopefully the weather tomorrow night will be just as nice as it was tonight, and the outcome the same: a Yankee victory.
Yankees vs. Blue Jays Series Outlook
Mon, March 31: Roy Halladay, TOR (0-0, 0.00) vs. Chien-Ming Wang, NYY (0-0, 0.00)
Who’s Hot for the Jays: 2B Aaron Hill hit a blistering .447 this spring, with 2 HR and 11 RBI in 47 AB. 1B Lyle Overbay batted .358, but failed to hit a home run.
Who’s Not for the Jays: Opening Day starter Roy Halladay yielded 23 hits in 18 innings, while A.J. Burnett posted a 7.36 ERA in 5 Grapefruit League starts and struck out just 8 in 18.1 IP.
Who’s Hot for the Yankees: Pretty much everyone in the Yankee lineup. Cano devoured opposing pitching this spring to the tune of a .446 BA, 2 HR, and 19 RBI. A-Rod was just as good with a .422 BA, 4 HR, and 10 RBI and Giambi’s .413/2/8 stat line was also impressive.
Who’s Not for the Yankees: Posada did not look comfortable with the bat down in Tampa (.227 BA), and ace Wang had a spring to forget (8.04 ERA in 5 starts, 21 hits allowed in 15.2 IP).
Prediction: The teams look very similar coming out of camp. Both lineups looked to be in sync this spring, and both teams’ frontline starters struggled. I’m not worried about Wang, but A.J. Burnett usually spells trouble for Yankee bats. Yanks win the opener, the Jays win on Wednesday behind Burnett, and Hughes gives the Bombers the edge in the rubber game. Yanks, 2-1.
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