Believe it or not....

jagz4life · Joined: 01 Mar 2005 Posts: 36212

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=250718113

The Yanks are leading the AL East with tonights win.....

Big7BenMVP · Joined: 23 Nov 2004 Posts: 94160 Location: Camarillo, CA

It won't last for long though. Because they face the Angels in a four game series, starting on Thursday. That will be four losses, or I hope they will be, and that should put the Boston Red Sox back in first place. I'm starting to like the chances of the Baltimore Orioles. If they get Mike Lowell and A.J. Burnett, I would give them the edge in the AL East by a slight margin over the Boston Red Sox.
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Panther55 · Joined: 11 Jan 2005 Posts: 1692 Location: North VA

The yanks are the only division leader with a sub .500 record in their division.

Way to be.......mediocre.

NateDawg · Joined: 03 Apr 2005 Posts: 14769 Location: Hilliard

i hate the yanks...basically because of steinbrenner...although he's an ohio state fan, he is ruining baseball. actually, bud selig is.
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PanthersIn05 · Joined: 28 Mar 2005 Posts: 4729

I agree with pretty much everything that has been said here. The Yankees could be swept by the Angels because the Angels have hitting and pitching, and well, lets face it, the Yankees only have two reliable pitchers. Until Al Leiter puts up another good start, he's not yet their savior.

The Orioles chances are pretty solid in this division, especially if they add Burnett. Burnett and Bedard is a pretty solid 1-2 punch.

In terms of the Red Sox, I watched their game last night, and that was a mistake. They are going downhill fast and need to make a trade for something to change things up a bit. Their hitting looks awful, and they only mustered up 3 hits against Tampa. They really need Schilling back in the starting rotation.

BoKnowsFootball · Joined: 23 Nov 2004 Posts: 1531 Location: CA

I dont see the Angels sweeping the Yankees. The Angels would have to put up some serious offensive #'s to sweep all 4 games with NY because the Yankees offensive is red hot.

PanthersIn05 · Joined: 28 Mar 2005 Posts: 4729

Yankees05 · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 7119

hardrockin89 · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 1298 Location: lincoln, RI

The yanks have to have an excellent trade deadline to be in contention...If not they wont stand a chance in the East to win it...
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Thanx Butters1075 for the sig..

Yankees05 · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 7119

How about everyone stops awarding the AL East crown to the Red Sox with 70 games left. The Yankees are in 1st place with 3 starters right now, so when they get Pavano and Wang back, they have a real chance of winning the division. Stop writting of the division leader...

Big7BenMVP · Joined: 23 Nov 2004 Posts: 94160 Location: Camarillo, CA

I'll take my chances with the Angels pitching at home against the Yankees hitting on the road. There's only three players in the current Yankees every day lineup who are hitting over .271 on the road. They are Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui, and Gary Sheffield. That's it. Jorge Posada is hitting .263, A-Rod is hitting .252, Derek Jeter is hitting .238, and Jason Giambi is hitting .236. Wow, that's something really to worry about for the Angels. They're going to send up Bartolo Colon, John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Jarrod Washburn against Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, and who? Only one of those four Angels starters has an ERA over 4.00 at home this season, and that's Jarrod Washburn. Ervin Santana is 4-2 at home with a 3.86 ERA. John Lackey is 2-3 at home with a 3.78 ERA. And Bartolo Colon is 4-4 at home with a 3.44 ERA.

Mike Mussina got rocked against the Angels when they faced eachother earlier this season. He went 7 innings, gave up 5 runs, 2 HRs, 1 walk, and only struck out 2 to earn himself a 6.43 ERA.

Bartolo Colon got shelled in his only meeting with the Yankees this season. He went only 3 2/3 innings, gave up 10 runs, but only 5 of those 10 runs were earned. He gave up 3 HRs, walked 5, and only struck out 3. He earned himself an ERA of 12.27. Those are not Colon numbers, especially when you consider that 5 of those 10 runs were unearned.

Jarrod Washburn was great in his meeting with the Yankees this season. He went 7 2/3 innings, gave up just 1 run on a HR, walked 2, struck out 4, and got the win. He earned an ERA of 1.17.

John Lackey did very well in his start against the Yankees earlier this season. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowed 1 run, walked 3, struck out 5, got the win, and has an ERA of 1.69 against the Yankees for this season.

For their careers, Jarrod Washburn is an excellent pitcher against the Yankees. He has a 3-1 career record with a 2.55 ERA. Bartolo Colon is average against the Yankees, and John Lackey hasn't done so well against them.

Should be a good series, but the Angels will win this series.
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PanthersIn05 · Joined: 28 Mar 2005 Posts: 4729

Yankees05 · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 7119

I don't think the Yankees will have any trouble scoring runs in this series. In July, Giambi is hitting .375, Sheffiled is at .358. Cano is hitting .355, and Matsui is at .339. Jeter is in a slump right now, but he should turn it around by Thursday. Rodriguez is only hitting .235 this month, but he has 6 HR and a .608 SLG. I think the July numbers are more important than the road numbers because it shows how they have been playing latley. The Yankees will definitley win the game when Santana pitches. He is a young pitcher who is very inexperienced. Did you see what they did last night against Rodriguez of Texas? They rocked that guy. I'm not saying he is exactly like Santana, but both pitchers will be taken advantage of by the Yankees' savvy hitting. I say this series is a split, 2-2.

Big7BenMVP · Joined: 23 Nov 2004 Posts: 94160 Location: Camarillo, CA

Texas is a hitter's ballpark. Anaheim is not at all close to Texas in terms of offensive output. Santana is a far better pitcher at home, and at night. Guess what, he's going to be starting at home and at night. The Angels have one of the best, if not the best, game-calling catcher's behind the plate which will help keep Santana calm.

When Ervin Santana goes just 5 innings, he's 4-0, with one no-decision. His ERA for those games? Well, it's only 1.47. In the games where's gone less then 5 innings, he's 0-4 with a 18.93 ERA. So if he gets past the 5th inning, it's lights out for the opposition.

On top of that, the Angels have the 4th best ERA in baseball, and the best bullpen in baseball. The Yankees, on the other hand, rank 22nd in team ERA. To put this into perspective, the Tigers, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Orioles all have a better team ERA then the Yankees. The only teams better then the Angels are the Cardinals, White Sox, and Twins. Also, the Angels rank 3rd in baseball in Ks Per 9 from their pitchers. Funny thing is, the Angels are the only AL team that ranks in the top five when it comes to that. The Angels lead the AL in Ks Per 9. The Yankees, well they rank 5th in the AL, but 14th in baseball all together. The Angels rank 7th in baseball when it comes to team WHIP. Yet, they rank 5th in the AL when it comes to that. They rank behind the Twins, Indians, White Sox, and A's in team WHIP. The Yankees rank 22nd in team WHIP in baseball, and they rank 11th in the AL in team WHIP. The only teams the Yankees are better then in that department, are the Rangers, Royals, and Devil Rays. Pretty elite company. Also, take into account that the Angels have thrown the most innings in the AL this season, with 834.0. The beautiful thing though, is that the Angels rank 4th in Batting Average Against in the AL. The Yankees, well they rank 12th in the AL in that department. Ahead of only the Devil Rays and Royals.

Looks a great pitching series to me.
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PanthersIn05 · Joined: 28 Mar 2005 Posts: 4729