GAME 133: Chris Capuano‘s tough, bend-but-not-break mound performance tonight was good enough for his first win in pinstripes. He outlasted Toronto ace Mark Buehrle, holding down the big Blue Jay bats until New York put up a telling 5-spot in the 7th inning. Here’s the box score and recap from Chris Toman (mlb.com).
Capuano Keeps The Line Moving
The Yankees have been in every game lately regardless if the offense is clicking or not, thanks in great part to the starting pitching. Brandon McCarthy, Hiroki Kuroda, Shane Greene, and the welcome return of Michael Pineda to the rotation have rocked it on the hill. Chris Capuano has kept up more than his end of the bargain, and is proving to be yet another deft trade deadline move by GM Brian Cashman.
Timely BIG Hits Tonight
HITMEN: Chase Headley and Jacoby Ellsbury with game-altering home runs, and everyone else in the lineup was invited to the party — with the exception of Carlos Beltran (who worked a great AB for walk in the 7th prior to Brett Gardner‘s double)… and Mark Teixeria (0-5), who is not right at the plate. The Yankees need Teixeria’s bat in September, and whatever is wrong needs to be straightened out now, quick, and in a hurry.
INJURY UPDATES: “Tanaka experiences soreness in throwing arm“, Yankees consider it a ‘minor setback’; pitcher eyes September return.
“I want to be a little bit cautious,” Tanaka said through an interpreter. “I haven’t been throwing for a couple of weeks and then I started throwing again and built up the number of pitches. I think that’s the reason there’s a little extra bit of soreness.”
Today in Yankees Baseball History
Baseball Card (Topps)
MEMORY LANE: On this date in 1951, the Yanks traded Lew Burdette and $50,000 to the Boston Braves for Johnny Sain. Sain had the distinction of being the last pitcher to face Babe Ruth in a game and the first in the Major Leagues to throw a pitch against Jackie Robinson. He became ingrained in the lore of baseball history via the memorable line “Spahn and Sain, and pray for rain” — referring to the potent Braves pitching tandem of Warren Spahn and himself.
Sain served in the United States Navy between August 1942 and November 1945. For an entertaining read on Sain’s time in the Navy, and other baseball greats who served during World War II, be sure to check out: ‘Baseball in Wartime‘, a great site by Gary Bedingfield.)
By the time Sain got to the Yankees, he was a relief specialist — leading the American League in saves (22) in 1954. Upon retirement, he would go on to be one of the greatest pitching coaches of the era, mentoring the likes of 20+ game winners Whitey Ford, Jim Kaat, and Denny McLain, among others.
On August 29th, 1925, after a night on the town, Babe Ruth shows up late for batting practice. Miller Huggins suspends Ruth and slaps a $5,000 fine on him for disobeying orders on the field and team rules off the field. Ruth is forced to apologize before he’s reinstated nine days later. The day after his return to the lineup, Ruth hits career home run number 300.
In 1964, on Elston Howard Night, the Yankees sweep a doubleheader from Boston, 10-2, and 6-1. Joe Pepitone‘s three home runs, including a grand slam, and Roger Maris‘ six singles lead the offense. Mickey Mantle hits home run No. 447 in the opener and ties Babe Ruth’s career strikeout record (1,330) in the nightcap.
In 1985, in the Yankees’ 4-0 win over the Angels, Don Baylor is hit by a pitch (by Kirk McCaskill) for the 190th time, breaking the American League record of 189 set by Minnie Minoso. Baylor did get plunked a lot, but also did his share of damage to baseballs over his 19 year MLB career. He was on the Yankees for only 3 years (1983-85), but they were among his most productive, hitting 21, 27, and 23 home runs respectively during that span.
In 1989, the Yankees traded John Candelaria to the Montreal Expos for Mike Blowers.
SOURCES: TodayInBaseballHistory.com, Baseball-Reference.com
