Blind Squirrels Find a Nut

Yankees 3 4 0
Orioles 4 8 0

WP: Arrieta (1-0)
LP: Burnett (6-4)
S: Hernandez (1)

Player of the Game: Jake Arrieta. The kid's making his Major League debut, and holds the Yankees to 4 hits and 3 runs and struck out 6. Not exactly Stephen Strasburg, but Arrieta wasn't facing a AA team like Strasburg was with the Pirates.

Play of the Game: Scott Moore's 404 homer in the 5th inning to tie the game.

Turning Point of the Game: Luke Scott's triple in the 6th inning. It looked like a pop-up off the bat, but it just kept carrying to the wall. Next thing you know, Miguel Tejada doubles him home to give the Orioles a lead.

Notes:

• Alex Rodriguez was pulled from the game with stiffness in his groin. He's going to see a doctor tomorrow, and hopefully he won't miss more than a couple of days.
• Jorge Posada is close to going behind the plate to catch, as he started doing drills a few days ago. There is no official word on when his first start in the field will be.
  

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Let's Play the Orioles Everyday

The Yankees offense returned last night, as well as Mark Teixeira as they won 12-7 over the Orioles. Oh, and how about Stephen Strasburg's debut? Talk about living up to the hype.

Here's the lineups for tonight's game. Brett Gardner is out getting x-rays on his left thumb. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Kevin Russo LF

LHP CC Sabathia

Weather Alert: It's raining all over the northeast today. The rain is supposed to stop around first pitch and pick up later on in the night. Btw, is it me or does CC Sabathia always pitch when it rains?
Home Run Streak: The Yankees have homered in 18 games straight after hitting three home runs yesterday. No reason it should stop tonight against the O's.

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Oh Canada...

We're back from our road trip to Toronto. We saw the games on Friday and Saturday in person, and of course the Yankees lost both games. So we started to getting a little annoyed at all the Canadians talking to us as we walked around the city with our Yankee hats on.

We've got some pictures from our trip, which included the SkyDome, CN Tower, and the Hockey Hall of Fame. You can take a look at the album on our Facebook page, and while you're there you should "Like" it, if you haven't already.

Tonight, the MLB First Year Player Draft starts. Only the first round and compensation round air tonight, so we get to see everyone else who gets picked behind Bryce Harper. The Yankees, as World Series Champions, have the 32nd pick in the first round. It's an exciting two days for the Washington Nationals organization, as they'll almost certainly select Harper tonight, and last year's number one overall pick, Stephen Strasburg, will make his Major League debut tomorrow night. Nationals Park is already sold out, and they are issuing over 200 media credentials.

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Strasburg in Syracuse

On Friday, 2009 First Overall Draft Pick Stephen Strasburg made his first start with the AAA Syracuse Chiefs. Since I'm here until my last final exam tomorrow, I went to see him in person.

He went 6 innings, threw 65 pitches, gave up 1 hit, and struck out 6. He also had a hit and 2 RBI's. His fastball was topping out at 98-99, but it was even more impressive how well he could locate it. He threw several 98 mph fastballs at the knees, leaving the Gwinett Braves looking like Little Leaguers. His "secondary" pitches were just as nasty, and yes, the quotes are necessary. People would kill to have his secondary pitches. His slider had tremendous horizontal and vertical movement. Then he throws his changeup at 81 mph. When batters are gearing up for 98 and get 81, they basically have enough time to swing at the pitch twice. And the only words I can use to describe his curveball are "sick and nasty." He should have to pitch lefty to these guys in the Minors, it's just not fair.

I've got a few camera pics from the game:

Some of the media that was there to watch Strasburg pitch



















Strasburg warming up in the bullpen
























This has nothing to do with Strasburg, but it was Triple A Safety Patrol night, so these are the people who would be pulling out the tazers if we decided to run across the field. (My friend's dad actually texted him and sarcastically told him he should run on the field. We told him we didn't think it was a good idea.)






















Yanks go for the sweep of the Sawks tonight with AJ Burnett on the mound. We'll be back with the lineups later.

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News, Notes, and a chance meeting

Little bit busy for us the past few days but I thought I'd just share a few stories from Spring Training.

• CC Sabathia had a rough start against the Pirates, going 4.1 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 2 runs, 2 Ks and surrendered a home run. He threw 57 pitches, 29 of them for strikes. Not good, but it is only the third start of spring training, and Girardi wasn't concerned, "He was very sound today. He was good. He was really good today."
• It's just a rumor about a wild discussion, but there are reports that the Phillies have discussed trading Ryan Howard for Albert Pujols straight up. As John said to me, the Phillies would be the one to get the best player at a position, and then trade away the second best player at the same position.
• Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg has been lights out in spring training, fueling speculation about whether he will open the season at AAA or with the big club. Personally (and selfishly) I hope he starts in AAA because the National's top club is in Syracuse,NY, so I would get a chance to see him up close.
• Speaking of Syracuse, the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament bracket was announced. I've got my bracket all filled out. You'll never guess who I picked to win it all.

And, I almost forgot to mention this, but I have a good story from my trip home for spring break. I took the Amtrak down from Syracuse, and it arrived late (surprise, surprise) so I missed the earlier NJ Transit train home. With a 45 minute wait, I grabbed a bite to eat and sat across from the Hudson News stand in the station. One second I looked up and walking by was none other than Michael Kay. It took me a couple of seconds to recognize him, and then I heard him talk to one of the people he was with, and that confirmed it was him. He was too far away by the time to say anything by the time I realized it was him (but I did get a few suggestions from friends, none of which I can repeat). But we will meet again one day.



That's all for now, but we've got less than THREE WEEKS until opening day!!!

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