Not Bad for Starters: Garcia Throws Six Shutout Innings, Wins Yankee Debut

Yesterday, the Yankees died by the double play. Today, it gave them new life.

Freddy Garcia was all smiles after recording his first Yankees’ win.

In a scenario eerily reminiscent of last Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to Minnesota, the Yankees took a substantial lead into the eighth inning, but watched as Rafael Soriano gradually frittered it away. With two runs already across the plate, Adrian Beltre lofted a long fly ball down the right field line that missed being a three run homer by about three seats. Disaster narrowly averted, Soriano escaped further damage by getting the Rangers’ third baseman to ground into an inning ending double play.

By escaping the jam, Soriano was able to preserve Freddy Garcia’s first victory as a Yankee. Over six strong innings, Garcia not only kept the Rangers off the scoreboard, but practically kept them off the bases altogether. Going into the game, there was some concern about how Garcia would respond to an almost three-week layoff (sans one relief inning), but the right hander featured a well located mid-80s fastball as well as a steady diet of even slower changeups and sliders to keep the Rangers off balance.  His effort was only the fifth quality start turned in by a Yankee, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Freddy Garcia’s Pitch Breakdown

Pitch Type	Avg Speed	Max Speed	Count	Strikes/%	Swinging Strikes/%
FA (Fastball)	84.55	85.2	2	2 / 100.00%	0 / 0.00%
FF (FourSeam Fastball)	85.82	87.5	33	22 / 66.67%	0 / 0.00%
CH (Changeup)	78.33	83.7	24	16 / 66.67%	3 / 12.50%
SL (Slider)	78.83	81.5	16	9 / 56.25%	0 / 0.00%
CU (Curveball)	68.47	70.1	6	4 / 66.67%	0 / 0.00%
FS (Splitter)	78.67	82.7	3	2 / 66.67%	0 / 0.00%

Source: http://www.brooksbaseball.net

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Game 13 Batter/Pitcher Matchups: Rangers vs. Yankees

vs. Derek Holland	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI
Derek Jeter SS	10	0.600	0.600	0.900	0	1
Nick Swisher RF	8	0.143	0.250	0.143	0	0
Mark Teixeira 1B	9	0.222	0.222	0.556	1	2
Alex Rodriguez 3B	8	0.333	0.500	0.500	0	0
Robinson Cano 2B	7	0.286	0.286	0.429	0	0
Andruw Jones LF	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0	0
Jorge Posada DH	6	0.333	0.333	0.833	1	4
Curtis Granderson CF	3	0.000	0.667	0.000	0	0
Gustavo Molina C	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0	0
Total	51	0.326	0.392	0.565	2	7
vs. Freddy Garcia	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI
Ian Kinsler 2B	11	0.100	0.182	0.100	0	0
Elvis Andrus SS	7	0.167	0.167	0.167	0	0
Michael Young DH	43	0.293	0.279	0.341	0	3
Adrian Beltre 3B	31	0.214	0.290	0.214	0	4
Nelson Cruz RF	2	0.500	0.500	0.500	0	0
David Murphy LF	6	0.000	0.000	0.000	0	0
Yorvit Torrealba C	5	0.200	0.200	0.400	0	2
Mitch Moreland 1B	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0	0
Julio Borbon CF	5	0.400	0.400	0.800	0	0
Total	110	0.233	0.268	0.282	0	9

 

Yankees vs. Rangers
Season: 2011	Season: 2010	Season: 2009	All-Time
TEX: 1-0	TIED: 4-4	NYY: 5-4	NYY: 357-249
	Last 10	Home	vs. LHP
Yankees	5-5	6-3	1-2
	Last 10	Away	vs. RHP
Rangers	7-3	4-3	8-2

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Double Whammy: Nova Fades Again as Yanks’ Rotation Takes Another Hit

Normally, a field full of Mariano Riveras would be a Yankees fan’s dream, but on a night when baseball honored Jackie Robinson by having every player wear number 42, the team’s series opener against the Texas Rangers turned out to be a nightmare.

Elvis Andrus turns one of the Rangers’ six double plays (Photo: AP)

Uniform numbers weren’t the only thing that had the Yankees seeing double. The team also tied an American League record by hitting into six double plays. Each time the Yankees seemed poised to break through against Matt Harrison, he was able to induce a groundball and escape the jam. Over eight innings, Harrison limited the Bronx Bombers to only two runs, pushing his record to 3-0 and lowering his ERA to 1.23. In his three starts this season, the lefty has thrown at least seven innings and surrendering only one earned run each time.

Strong pitching has been a hallmark of the Rangers’ early success. Not only does the Texas staff lead the majors with a 2.50 ERA, but the rotation has turned in nine quality starts in 13 attempts. The Yankees, however, haven’t been as fortunate. In the team’s first 12 games, only one starter has thrown as many as seven innings, while five games have featured a starter who was unable to go more than five. As a result, the Yankees rank near the bottom of the league with only four quality starts.

On a day when the Yankees put Phil Hughes on the 15 day DL with a “dead arm”, Ivan Nova compounded the Yankees’ starting rotation concerns by failing to make it out of the fifth inning for the second consecutive start. In fairness to Nova, the weather was miserable at the Stadium, which might explain why the lanky right hander struggled so much with his fastball command. Whatever the reason, Nova walked a career high five batters before taking an early shower.

Ivan Nova, Inning by Inning

	G	IP	ER	ERA	PA	OPS
1st inning	10	10	1	0.90	40	0.568
2nd inning	10	10	1	0.90	39	0.328
3rd inning	10	10	7	6.30	44	0.741
4th inning	10	10	7	6.30	41	0.706
5th inning	10	7 2/3	14	16.43	48	1.206
6th inning	5	3 2/3	2	4.91	17	0.828
7th inning	1	1	0	0.00	5	0.800
8th inning	2	2	0	0.00	9	0.476
9th inning	2	2	0	0.00	9	0.819
Ext inning	1	1/3	1	27.00	3	2.500

Note: OPS does not include last night’s game.
Source: Baseball-reference.com

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