ANAHEIM – What you see in March and September can’t be trusted. Unless, of course, it’s Derek Jeter passing the greatest player ever on the all-time Yankees hit list.
How many mistakes have been made by evaluators in spring training and the final month of a season? Too many to mention.
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Heck, the Yankees made one last September when they fell in love with Ian Kennedy’s change-up and pinpoint control. That led to anointing him a member of this season’s starting rotation, an assignment that smothered the right-hander and leaves huge doubts of his big league future.
So, with the “don’t trust March or September” mantra dancing in their heads last night at Angel Field, the Yankees watched Alfredo Aceves toy with an Angels lineup that housed four regulars. Still, it was hard to ignore Aceves pitching the Yankees to a 7-1 victory in front of 43,042. You don’t have to trust it, or believe the Yankees uncovered an ace in Mexico, but it was effective.
Signed for $450,000, the 25-year-old Aceves, who bears an uncanny resemblance to former Yankee Jim Leyritz, went through all three levels of the Yankees’ system, just like Kennedy did a year ago. Promoted in late August, Aceves made two relief appearances prior to his first big league start last night. In seven innings he allowed one run and five hits.
“It’s like a step now that I am here,” Aceves said. “I am not thinking about the past or the future.”
Jeter went 2-for-5 and went past Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time Yankees’ hit list with 2,520 hits. Lou Gehrig leads with 2,721.
“It’s hard to believe, it sounds funny,” Jeter said of being sandwiched between Ruth and Gehrig. “You play long enough and consistently enough and good things happen.
“More important, we won. . . . We don’t have the luxury of losing.”
Johnny Damon homered twice and Alex Rodriguez once. It was Rodriguez’ 206th homer as a Yankee and tied him with Jason Giambi for 10th on the all-time Yankee list.
For those hoping for a miracle, the victory pulled the fourth-place Yankees to within 8½ games of the wild-card-leading Red Sox with 17 remaining.
Angels starter Ervin Santana gave up six runs (five earned) and eight hits in 61/3 innings. Aceves blanked the Angels through five innings before giving up a run in the sixth that cut the Yankees’ advantage to 4-1. At first blush, Aceves’ repertoire looks like that of former Yankee Shawn Chacon with more fastball.
“It’s too early for me to tell,” Joe Girardi said when asked for a comparison. “But this guy is ready to go at all times.”
How far he goes is a mystery. The baseball landscape is littered with arms that impressed in the final month of the season.