Archive for 23. June 2008
Argh, Matey!
23. June 2008 by rich.
The Yankees take a trip across Pennsylvania and open a 3 game series vs. the somewhat suprising Pirates starting tomorrow night. After reeling off 7 straight, the Yanks dropped 2 of 3 to Will Ferrell and his Reds. The Yanks look to right the ship (pun intended) when they open tomorrow night at PNC Park at 7:05pm. This is the Yankees first visit to Pittsburgh since the 1960 World Series. Here are the probables:
Tuesday 6/24 @ 7:05PM: NYY: D. Rasner (4-4, 3.64) vs. PIT: T. Gorzelanny (5-6, 6.59)
Wednesday 6/25 @ 7:05PM: NYY: J. Chamberlain (1-2, 2.36) vs. PIT: Z. Duke (4-4, 3.91)
Thursday 6/26 @ 7:05PM: NYY: M. Mussina (10-5, 3.93) vs. PIT: P. Maholm (5-5, 4.41)
Notes: The Giambi ’stache looked a bit darker during yesterdays game. Nonetheless, The Giambino has been sharing the load carrying the Yanks through their current solid stretch. Rumors are swirling surrounding Bronson Arroyo. And the Yankees are in the middle of it. The once promising Red Sox prospect has had his ups and downs over the years, but would bring a solid shot in the arm to a rotation already missing Wang and Hughes.
Mets welcome in Seattle
23. June 2008 by Glendo.
The Mets return home to take on the Mariners for 3 games. This is a good chance for the Mets to win some games here as Seattle is the worst team in the league. The game tonight has the potential for a good pitching match up with Felix Hernandez facing Johan. Let’s see if the Mets can take care of business before the 4 games with the Yankees over the weekend.
MATCHUP
Seattle Mariners (26-49, 4th Place AL West/19.5GB) at New York Mets (37-37, 3rd Place NL East/3.5GB)
Tonight: Mariners (Felix Hernandez, 6-5, 2.87) at Mets (Johan Santana, 7-5, 3.04) 7:10pm ET
Tuesday: Mariners (Miguel Batista, 3-9, 6.26) at Mets (Oliver Perez, 5-4, 5.06) 7:10pm ET
Wednesday: Mariners (R.A. Dickey, 1-3, 5.77) at Mets (John Maine, 7-5, 3.78) 7:10pm ET
Red Bulls Keep the Ball Rolling
23. June 2008 by critter.
On Saturday, the Red Bulls took on FC Dallas in their 4th game in 16 days (3rd in just 8 days). Again, the Red Bulls were short Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna as they both sat again with back issues.
Nevertheless, in the previous 3 games, the Red Bulls have saved face against very tough opponents and managed a 1-1-1 record. As in the previous match, the Red Bulls were able to control a good amount of ball posession and thanks to a little bit of muscle were able to thwart most attacks that Dallas made. Granted there were many fouls called because of the rough play, but the stop-and-go whistles continually interrupted Dallas’ attacks and allowed the Red Bulls to recover. It was a clever strategy for a team that had been losing some defensive steam, granted as long as they can keep the challenges and fouls clean (which they were able to do).
Midway through the first half, Sinisa Ubiparipovic (who stepped up with some stellar play) sent a corner kick soaring through the box where Kevin Goldthwaite made a great run and put his head on the ball, redirecting it into the net. From that point on the Red Bulls played the same strong game and continued strong attacks, having several other great scoring chances. Jon Conway stepped up again with some great saves, as Dallas started to get some good offensive pressure towards the end of the first half. The second half was pretty much the Red Bulls shutting things down for Dallas and as they approached the final 20 minutes, the Bulls were able to focus on playing keep-away.
The Red Bulls see their next action coming on Wednesday, as they have an International Friendly Match scheduled against Chivas Guadalajara. While it will be a great challenge and opportunity to have International competition, I’d imagine we will see most of the Red Bulls’ reserve players getting a majority of the starting roles. The next MLS action comes on Saturday against Chivas USA, who the Red Bulls blanked 1 - 0 in the first match of their recent gauntlet.
With Saturday’s win, the Red Bulls have pulled into a 4th place tie with D.C. United and Chicago (still with a game in hand over DC United), and have found themselves in playoff contention.
