Friday, October 12, 2012

The New York Yankees ride their horse to a Game Five and series victory

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 3-1 on Friday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and was brilliant, they didn’t use their bullpen at all. The Yankees offense was led by Curtis Granderson. Jason Hammell started for the Orioles and pitched pretty well and their bullpen was pretty good also. The Orioles offense was led by Lew Ford who had their only RBI. 
Sabathia pitched a complete game giving up four hits and a run. Sabathia walked two and struck out nine and picked up his second victory of this series. Hammell took the loss his first of the series pitching 5 2/3 innings giving up four hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Troy Patton pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with three strikeouts, Pedro Strop pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up a walk and Brian Matusz pitched 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters they faced.

Derek Jeter drew a walk, Suzuki had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Mark Teixeira had a hit and drew a walk. Raul Ibanez had a hit and an RBI, Granderson had two hits and an RBI. Suzuki hit a double, Granderson hit a homerun and the Yankees were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base. Teixeira and Granderson each had a stolen base.

Nate McClouth had a hit, Matt Wieters had a hit and drew a walk and Manny Machado drew a walk. Ford had a hit and an RBI and Robert Andino had a hit. The Orioles were 2-6 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. McClouth had a stolen base.

In the fifth inning Ibanez hit an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Suzuki hit an RBI double in the sixth to make it 2-0. Granderson hit a solo homerun in the seventh and it was 3-0 Yankees. Ford hit an RBI single in the eighth to make it 3-1 and then escaped further trouble. The final score of the game was 3-1.

The Yankees won the series three games to two and will head to the ALCS to take on the Detroit Tigers who won in five games on Thursday night. It was a series of pitching and the Yankees starting pitching dominated, they barely even used their bullpen. Sabathia pitched two games and pitched 8 2/3 innings and nine innings. The Yankees will play Game 1 of the ALCS on Saturday night and will have Andy Pettitte on the mound against the Tigers Doug Fister.

The New York Yankees bats are silent as the Baltimore Orioles force a Game Five

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 2-1 on Thursday night. The game took place in the Bronx, New York. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched very well, the bullpen did it’s job and the offense was horrible. Joe Saunders started for the Orioles and pitched well and so did their bullpen. The Orioles offense didn’t do much as neither team has really done much in the series. 
Hughes pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up four hits and a run with three walks and eight strikeouts. Boone Logan faced one batter and retired him, Dave Robertson pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Rafael Soriano pitched two innings giving up a hit and striking out one. Joba Chamberlain pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Chamberlain had to leave the game in his second inning of work due to being hit by a flying part of the bat. David Phelps took the loss pitching 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout, Clay Rapada faced one batter and retired him and Derek Lowe faced one batter and retired him. Saunders pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up three hits and a run with four walks and five strikeouts. Tommy Hunter pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out one, Troy Patton pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and Luis Ayala pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and striking out one. Brian Matusz pitched to one batter and retired him, Darren O’Day pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up a walk and a strikeout and Pedro Strop picked up the win pitching two innings giving up a hit and striking out two. Jim Johnson saved his second game of the series pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and Mark Teixeira had a hit and drew three walks. Robinson Cano had an RBI, Alex Rodriguez had a hit and drew a walk and Russell Martin drew a walk. Jayson Nix had two hits including a double and Jeter hit a double. The Yankees were 0-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Soriano had a pickoff. Nate McClouth had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, J.J. Hardy had two hits and an RBI and Matt Wieters had a hit and drew a walk. Jim Thome had a hit, Ryan Flaherty had a hit and Manny Machado had a hit and drew a walk. McClouth, Machado and Hardy each hit a double. McClouth hit a homerun and the Orioles were 1-11 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Ford was picked off and Flaherty committed an error. McClouth had an outfield assist.

McClouth hit a solo homerun in the fifth to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. In the sixth the Yankees tied the game at one. Cano hit an RBI groundout. There were no more runs in the game until the 13th inning when the Orioles broke the tie and took a 2-1 lead. Hardy hit an RBI double and the final score was 2-1 in 13 innings.

The Yankees and Orioles have played four games this series and are tied 2-2 with the fifth and deciding game on Friday evening. The teams have split 22 games this season so it is fitting that it would end with one final game of the year between the two teams. The pitching on both sides has been great and the hitting terrible. CC Sabathia will take the mound against Jason Hammell.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Raul Ibanez leads the New York Yankees to an improbable win in Game Three of the ALDS

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 3-2 in the 12th inning. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and pitched very well, the Yankees bullpen was great and the unsung heroes of this game. Raul Ibanez is the offensive hero with a game tying and winning homerun. Miguel Gonzalez started for the Orioles and was very good, the Orioles bullpen wasn’t as good. The Orioles offense was led by Nate McClouth. 
Kuroda pitched 8 1/3 innings giving up two runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Boone Logan faced one batter and struck him out, Rafael Soriano pitched 11/3 innings giving up a hit and striking out one and David Robertson picked up the win pitching two innings giving up a hit and striking out two. Gonzalez pitched seven innings giving up five hits and a run. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight, Darren O’Day pitched a perfect inning and Jim Johnson blew the save pitching two innings giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout. Brian Matusz lost the game pitching an inning and giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout.

Derek Jeter had two hits and an RBI, he also got taken out with a bruised foot. Ibanez had two hits and two RBI, Nick Swisher had a hit and Russell Martin had two hits. Martin hit a double, Jeter hit a triple and Ibanez hit two homeruns. The Yankees were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base.

McClouth had two hits, Chris Davis drew a walk and Adam Jones had a hit. Mark Reynolds had a hit, Flaherty had a hit and an RBI and Robert Andino had a hit. Manny Machado had a hit and an RBI, Flaherty and Machado each hit a homerun. The Orioles were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. McClouth had a stolen base and was caught stealing.

Flaherty hit a solo homerun in the third giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Jeter hit an RBI triple in the third to tie the game at one. The Orioles took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on a Machado solo homerun. The Yankees tied the game in the ninth on a Ibanez pinch hit solo homerun. The Yankees won the game in the 12th on a Ibanez solo homerun. The final was 3-2 in game three with game four to come on Thursday night.

The Yankees and Orioles have played three games in this ALDS and the Yankees have a 2-1 lead. They played 18 times in the regular season and split them 9-9, so the Yankees now have a 11-10 advantage this year over the Orioles. This series has been tied or a one run game in the ninth in each game. This was the Orioles first walk-off loss of the season. It was their first extra inning loss after winning 16 straight of them. The Yankees are the only team that has beat Baltimore in extra innings this season. Phil Hughes will pitch against Joe Saunders on Thursday night. The game is scheduled for 737PM, if the Tigers win tonight and advance to the ALCS then it will be moved back to 837PM.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Yankees ALDS Game Two postgame notes

Here are the postgame notes after the Yankees lost game two on Monday night in Baltimore.  The series will now shift to New York for the remainder of the series.  The Yankees hope they can win the next two and move on but if it goes to a fifth and deciding game they will be home for that also.  Hiroki Kuroda will take on Miguel Gonzalez in Game Three.  The notes are courtesy of the Lohud Yankees blog. 

This was Andy Pettitte answering about how he pitched. “No, because I didn’t,” Pettitte said, offering the most predictable answer of the night. “… It’s a playoff game. The bottom line is that you know that if you give up too many runs, that number doesn’t have to get up too high before it adds up to a loss. Like I said, we had a lot of guys in scoring position, a lot of opportunity. We just weren’t able to take advantage of it.”

Leading the series one game to none with a one-run lead against the Orioles and Pettitte on the mound, that was the opportunity. There were a lot of other opportunities sprinkled in — bases loaded in the fourth, tying run at third in the seventh, two on with no outs in the first — but the Yankees got just two runs, and that wasn’t enough. Two runs meant Pettitte’s three runs were too many, which meant the series is shifting to New York tied.  I thought Pettitte pitched well but the Yankees offense just didn't get the job done and didn't help him much. 

“No one this time of year is going to lay down for you,” Alex Rodriguez said.

Thing is, tonight was the broken record that was supposed to stop playing months ago. Ten runners left on base, five of them in scoring position, three of those with fewer than two outs.  This has been their achilles heel all season and it hasn't gotten them yet but if it keeps up it will in this series and then they will go home. 

“I believe these guys are going to come through,” Joe Girardi said, for the hundredth time this year. “I believe they’re going to put good at-bats, they’re going to keep putting runners on, and they’re going to break through. I believe in them.”  Girardi is loyal and they have bounced back all year so why shouldn't he believe they will do it again. 

The Yankees came through in a big way late last night, not so much tonight.

“Wasted opportunity?” Russell Martin said. “I don’t know. You have to win the series, that’s really what it comes down to. We split on the road, and we come back home, and we believe we can win two out of three over there. It’s part of the game. You’re trying to make something happen, and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you hit the ball hard and it gets caught. Sometimes you drop one at the right time. So it’s not something to go crazy about. I feel like we’re a good team, and we’re going to bounce back, and we’re going to give them a hard time at home.”  I would agree that going home to Yankee Stadium should be a huge advantage.  I know the Orioles played well this year but this is a new season and a different animal.  We will see how the crowd is and how the Orioles react to it. 

 Legitimately tough break for the Yankees in the first inning when Rodriguez actually hit a ball pretty hard, only to have Robert Andino make a great diving stop, turning an RBI single into a deflating double play. “I can’t believe he made that play,” Rodriguez said. “It was really an incredible play. I thought that ball was by him. I saw it into center field, it’s first-and-third, 1-0, and here we go. … That’s a big momentum change for them. That ball goes through, we might score two or three in the first and the momentum changes for us. The one thing about the playoffs, you might have the biggest play of the game in the first inning. I think tonight we saw that.”  I would agree with him, that could of changed the whole game, definitely that inning. 

Bad luck on that play, but Rodriguez also went 1-for-5 with two more strikeouts tonight. Hard to make too much of two games, but this feels more like a continuation of the last three weeks of the season. Girardi once again said he plans to keep Rodriguez batting third. “Right now, I don’t plan on making any chances to our lineup,” Girardi said.  If I had to guess, I would bet that Cano will hit third in game three and Arod fourth or fifth. 

Maybe he’s just being his usual self, but Pettitte was especially hard on himself tonight. “I felt really good early, and pretty suspect after that,” he said. “I don’t really feel like I lost command of the strike zone, really. When you’re out there, and there’s certain pitches you want to make. For the most part my stuff wasn’t as sharp as I would like, but I feel for the most part I was able to get it to the area where I was trying to.”

Martin didn’t really see it that way. “It was just one pitch (to Chris Davis), really,” Martin said. “I felt like he was pretty good all game. … If there’s one pitch he didn’t command probably as well as he wanted to it was his cutter. That’s a really big pitch for him. At times it seemed like he had a really good feel for it, and at others it looked like he wasn’t making great pitches with it. He’s definitely tough on himself, but on our side, we’ve got to score more runs and we’ve got to produce when we have the opportunities.”

The biggest blow was the Davis two-run single in the third. “Trying to go low and away, just left it up over the middle of the plate,” Pettitte said.

Why didn’t Nick Swisher try to throw home on that play? “Davis hit it so hard, just a big one hop,” Swisher said. “Really, just trying to keep them there are first and second rather than try and make a throw home and maybe get a little antsy and overthrowing the cut and next thing you know it’s first and third or second and third. I just thought it was a smart play at the time.”

Speaking of defensive plays on the right side, should Robinson Cano have knocked down Mark Reynolds’ RBI single? Girardi said he didn’t think so because of where Cano was playing, and Cano said he didn’t think a dive would have kept the ball in the infield. “We all know he’s a guy that pulls the ball, so the last thing in your mind is that he’s going to hit the ball the other way,” Cano said.

The Yankees highlight was surely Ichiro Suzuki giving them a 1-0 lead with his tag-dodging play at the plate in the first inning. “I’ve never done it before,” Ichiro said. “Obviously you look at the size of me, and look at the size of the catchers, I’d probably have to have some kind of weapon to make something happen when I went into the plate. I knew that if I just went into home, it would be an out. So I thought that if I could make something happen, maybe I would be safe is what I was thinking. Obviously I was trying to use my head and see if maybe I could use my head to make something happen.”

Ichiro said his teammates were calling him “ninja” and “Matrix” in the dugout. “In baseball, there’s times when it’s not that you’re not hustling, but slowing down and speeding up sometimes can make a difference,” he said. “It’s not that you’re not hustling, but it’s not just all going fast.”

Cano on the decision to intentionally walk him in the seventh: “Wieters said, ‘We’re going to walk you.’ I started to laugh. I thought he was joking.”

Why walk Cano with a lefty on the mound? Swisher is 1-for-18 against Brian Matusz. “The numbers speak for themselves,” Swisher said. “I don’t really hit him as well as I would like to, but man, go there in that 3-2 count. Angel’s zone was kind of a little bit big at times. Got that fastball down, just trying to line it right back up the box, just kind of got underneath it.”

Girardi on not using Brett Gardner to run for Teixeira in the eighth: “I knew we weren’t going to be able to run on Matusz in that situation. If I’m going to use Gardy, it’s going to be a situation where I think we can run.”

Phil Hughes was throwing in the bullpen late in the game. He was just throwing his between-starts bullpen, not warming up to pitch.

Give the final word to Girardi: “We get to go home, and we’ve played very well at home and we’re going to have to continue to do that if we’re going to move on. It seems like Baltimore and us have kind of went back and forth all year, and that’s what we did here. … Whoever plays the best (is going to win). I mean, that’s the bottom line. Whoever pitches the best and scores in their opportunities is really what’s going to make the difference.”

The New York Yankees fail to put a strangle hold on the series as the Baltimore Orioles take game two

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 3-2 on Monday night. The game took place at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees and pitched well. The Yankees offense did not deliver and that is why they lost this game. As they have done so much in the regular season, they stranded a ton of runners and couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it. Chen started for the Orioles and pitched very well, their bullpen was outstanding in this game. Chris Davis led the Orioles offense. 
Pettitte pitched 7+innings giving up three runs on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts. He suffered the loss and is now 19-11 career in the postseason. Dave Robertson pitched an inning striking out one. Chen won the first playoff game of his career pitching 6 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and two runs with only one of them being earned. He walked one and struck out three. Darren O’Day pitched to one batter and struck him out, Brian Matusz pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk and striking out two and Jim Johnson bounced back from a tough night with a perfect inning. Johnson picked up the save and struck out one.

Derek Jeter had two hits and an RBI, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and made an incredible move to score in the first inning and Alex Rodriguez had a hit. Robinson Cano had a hit, an RBI an drew a walk, Mark Teixeira had two hits and Russell Martin drew a walk. Curtis Granderson had a hit, Eduardo Nunez had a hit and Cano and Nunez each hit a double. The Yankees were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Suzuki had a stolen base, Jeter and Teixeira each committed an error.

Nate McClouth had a hit, J.J. Hardy drew a walk and Chris Davis had two hits and two RBI. Adam Jones had a hit, Matt Wieters had a hit and Mark Reynolds had a hit and an RBI. Robert Andino had a hit and Wieters hit a double. The Orioles were 3-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Reynolds and Hardy each committed an error.

In the first the Yankees came out strong again. Cano hit an RBI double to give them a 1-0 lead. It could of an should have been worse but Rodriguez hit into a line drive double play otherwise it could have been first and third no outs and one run already in. Davis hit a two run single in the third to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead. Reynolds hit an RBI single in the sixth to give the Orioles a 3-1 advantage. In the seventh Jeter hit an RBI single to make it 3-2. That would be the final score as the Yankees couldn’t do anymore off of the Baltimore bullpen.

The best of five series is now tied at one game a piece. The series now shifts to New York where they will play the next three games. If either team wins the next two in a row it will be over and a fifth game won’t be needed. The next game is Wednesday night at 7:37PM.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Yankees take Game One in Baltimore with a big ninth inning

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 7-2 on Sunday night. The game took place at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. It was Game one of the ALDS and the playoffs for the Yankees. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and was brilliant, Dave Robertson got the final out of the game. The Yankees offense had some chances and couldn’t capitalize until the ninth inning. Russell Martin had the game winning hit which was a homer and Robinson Cano hit a two run double to pile it on. Jason Hammel started for the Orioles and pitched ok in his first start since September 11th. The Orioles bullpen didn’t do such a good job especially Jim Johnson their closer. The Orioles offense was led by Chris Davis and Nate McClouth. 
Sabathia pitched 8 2/3 innings giving up two runs on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. Robertson pitched 1/3 of an inning striking out the only batter that he faced. Hammel pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up four hits and two runs with four walks and five strikeouts. Patton pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two walks, Darren O’Day pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Brian Matusz pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out two. Johnson pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up five hits and five runs with four of them being earned. Johnson had a strikeout and Tommy Hunter pitched 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters that he faced.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Ichiro Suzuki had two hits and two RBI and Alex Rodriguez drew a walk. Cano had a hit and two RBI, Nick Swisher had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks and Mark Teixeira had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Curtis Granderson drew a walk, Martin had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Raul Ibanez had a hit and drew a walk. Suzuki and Cano each hit a double and Martin hit a homerun. The Yankees were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Suzuki was caught stealing and Jeter committed an error.

McClouth had a hit and two RBI, J.J. Hardy had a hit and Mark Reynolds had a hit and drew a walk. Davis had two hits, Lew Ford had a hit and Robert Andino had a hit. Hardy hit a double, The Orioles were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Hardy committed an error and Davis had an outfield assist.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead two batters into the game. Jeter had a leadoff single and Suzuki drove him in with a double. The Orioles took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on a McClouth two run single. The Yankees tied the game in the fourth on a Teixeira RBI single. The Yankees scored five runs in the ninth to break the game open and win it 7-2. Martin hit a solo homerun to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead, Ibanez, Jeter and Suzuki singled all in a row to make it 4-2 Yankees. Cano hit a two run double and Swisher hit a sacrifice fly to finish the scoring. 7-2 was the final score as the Yankees got to the Orioles bullpen. Johnson was terrible as the closer and he didn’t pitch well in the wild card playoff game also.

The Yankees have a 1-0 lead in the best of five ALDS series. The two teams will play game two on Monday night in Baltimore and then the rest of the series with shift to New York for games 3 and then four and five if needed. Andy Pettitte will start the game tomorrow for the Yankees. The Orioles finally lost a close game late, could this affect their psyche? We will have to see as this series goes on. The first pitch for Game two is at 8:07PM.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles Series Preview

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles played 18 games this season and split them 9-9. The two teams will be going at it in the ALDS. This is the first time that divisional opponents can meet in the first round. This is going to be a look at the series and what I think could happen and some keys as well as matchups. 
I think the Yankees will win this series because they are a better team but anything could happen in the postseason. I do think that starting on the road is kind of unfortunate for the better team but if the Yankees can go out and win game one on Sunday night the pressure will be on the Orioles to win game two and get back to New York tied. I think the Yankees play well on the road and especially in Baltimore. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia their ace to the mound followed by Andy Pettitte. Hiroki Kuroda will start Game three which will be the first home game. Kuroda is much better at home and this was the right choice.

I think the Yankees have the edge on offense and starting pitching. The Orioles probably have the edge in the bullpen. The Yankees have three good starters and a fourth who won 16 games. The Orioles pitching has been pretty good this season but they aren’t household names. Jason Hammel who hasn’t started since the beginning of September is their game one starter, I think that says a lot.

Mark Reynolds has been very good at first since moving there but you still have to say Mark Teixeira is the better first baseman. I think the extra three days off really helps him, if he can come back strong now that is a big boost for the Yankees. The Yankees clearly have the edge at second and short. The third base comparison is interesting as Alex Rodriguez is clearly on the downside of his career. Manny Machado is a raw rookie who has promise but also has shown that he can struggle also. He strikes out a lot and is a guy that you can get out. I think the experience would favor Arod for now but in the long run you want Machado. In the outfield I would give the Orioles the advantage in center with Adam Jones over Curtis Granderson. In right field it would have been close with Nick Markakis and Nick Swisher but Markakis is hurt and the edge goes to the Yankees. In left field it may be a toss up right now.

I would have to predict that the Yankees will win the series in four games.
 

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