New York Yankees drop game 2 of the doubleheader

 The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of a doubleheader on 

Saturday night.  The game took place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida and the final score was

5-3.  Michael King started for the Yankees and he pitched ok, the bullpen was pretty good.  Luke Voit led

the offense with two hits.  

King pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up a hit and three runs with five walks and four strikeouts.  King lost his

first game of the season.  Luis Avilan pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and he walked two, Albert 

Abreu made his major league debut pitching 1 1/3 innings and giving up three hits and two runs with 

two walks and two strikeouts and Ben Heller pitched 2/3 of an inning.  

Ryan Thompson pitched two innings giving up a hit and he struck out one.  Diego Castillo pitched an 

inning with a walk and a strikeout, Pete Fairbanks pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with

a walk and a strikeout and Andrew Kittredge pitched a perfect inning.  Jalen Beeks pitched 1 2/3 innings

giving up five hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout and Nick Anderson earned his second 

save of the season pitching to one batter and getting him out.  

DJ LeMahieu had a hit and two RBI, Aaron Judge had a hit and Aaron Hicks had a hit and drew a walk.

Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk, Gleyber Torres had a hit and Voit had two hits and an RBI.  Gio Urshela

had a hit and Eric Kratz had a hit and drew a walk.  Kratz hit a double and the Yankees were 3-6 with 

runners in scoring position and left five men on base.  

Austin Meadows had two hits and two RBI, Hunter Renfroe drew two walks and Jose Martinez had a

hit.  Ji-Man Choi had a hit and drew a walk, Joey Wendle drew a walk and Yoshi Tsutsugo had an RBI

and drew a walk.  Willy Adames drew a walk, Kevin Kiermaier drew two walks and Yandy Diaz 

drew a walk.  Kevan Smith had a hit and two RBI, Meadows hit a double and the Rays were 2-12 with

runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.  Kiermaier had an outfield assist.  

In the bottom of the first Tsutsugo had an RBI walk to give the Rays a 1-0 lead.  In the fourth Voit 

hit an RBI single to tie the game at one.  In the bottom of the fourth Meadows hit a two-run single 

to give the Rays a 3-1 lead.  In the fifth Smith hit a two-run single to push their lead to 5-1.  In the 

seventh LeMahieu hit a two-run single to cut the lead to 5-3 but that would be the final score.  

The two teams will play the rubber game of the four-game series on Sunday afternoon.  

New York Yankees lose first game of homestand to the Tampa Bay Rays

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 6-4 on Friday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and didn’t pitch too well. The Yankees offense was basically Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. David Price started for the Rays and was good. The Rays offense was led by Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist. 
Sabathia lost his sixth game of the season pitching 6 2/3 innings giving up six hits and four runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Cody Eppley pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run, Clay Rapada pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and struck out one and Joba Chamberlain gave up an unearned run and a hit in one inning. He struck out two batters. Price won his 18^th game of the season pitching seven innings giving up five hits and two runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Joel Peralta pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a walk and Fernando Rodney pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings giving up a walk and striking out two.

Jeter had two hits, Nick Swisher drew a walk and Rodriguez had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk. Robinson Cano drew a walk, Russell Martin had a hit and Raul Ibanez drew a walk. Curtis Granderson had a hit and an RBI, Steve Pearce had a hit and an RBI and Eduardo Nunez had a hit. Granderson and Rodriguez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Nunez committed an error and Martin had a passed ball.

Jennings had two hits and an RBI, Zobrist had two hits and an RBI and B.J. Upton had a hit and an RBI. Chris Gimenez had two hits, Carlos Pena had a hit and drew a walk and Elliott Johnson had a hit and an RBI. Gimenez hit two doubles and Upton hit a homerun. The Rays were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Johnson, Jennings and Thompson each had a stolen base.

In the second Pearce had an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the fifth Johnson hit an RBI single to tie the game at one. Jennings hit an RBI single to make it 2-1 Rays. Longoria hit into a double play and a run scored to give the Rays a 3-1 lead. The Yankees cut the lead to 3-2 on a Granderson solo homerun in the bottom of the fifth inning. Zobrist hit an RBI single in the seventh to give the Rays a 4-2 lead. Upton hit a solo homerun in the eighth to make it 5-2 Rays. Rodriguez hit a two run homerun in the eighth to make it a 5-4 game. The Rays scored another run in the ninth on an error by Nunez. The final score was 6-4 as Rodney shut the door in the ninth inning easily.

The Yankees for the moment are ½ a game behind Baltimore for first place in the AL East. The Orioles are playing a late West Coast game. If the Orioles win the Yankees will wake up in second place on Saturday morning for the first time in a long time. The Yankees record fell to 81-63 and the Rays record improved to 78-66. The Rays are now three games behind the Yankees and the two teams will play game two of three on Saturday afternoon.

Yankees Friday postgame notes

Here are the Yankees Friday night postgame notes after a lackluster loss where their division lead was cut down to two games.  The two teams will play Saturday afternoon and the Orioles can make it really tight with a win, the Yankees can breathe a little if they win and bump that lead back up to three games.  Here are the notes courtesy of the Lohud Yankees blog and my own thoughts are mixed in like always. 

Much of the talk before tonight’s series opener with the Baltimore Orioles centered around the Yankees not panicking despite the fact that their lead in the division had been cut down to three games. Players seemed loose in the clubhouse, and Joe Girardi smiled when asked questions about the Yanks’ shrinking cushion in the AL East.

But after the Orioles cut that lead to two games with Friday’s 6-1 win — a game in which the Yankees never really seemed to be in it — a bit of reality seems to be setting in.

“It’s that time of year where we know what’s going on,” Eric Chavez said.

For the most part, the Yankees still chalked this loss up as one of those games, but there’s no denying that they have not been playing well of late. Tonight’s loss is their seventh in their last 10 games, and there’s no doubt that they need to turn things around if they want to hold onto first place.  If they keep playing like that, they don't deserve first place, you don't want to be in a one game playoff so they better get it together here, it should help to get some guys back.  They should have Tex and Arod back shortly. 

“I probably said that about two weeks ago,” Girardi said. “When we got swept in Chicago, I said, ‘We need to play better.’ When we lost two out of three to Toronto, I said, ‘We need to play better.’ As I’ve said, there are going to be low points and high points during the season. You’ve got to find a way to get out of this little rut we’re in.”

Girardi is not your typical rah-rah type of manager, but he was asked after the game if he would feel the need to speak with his team if this skid continues.

“If I did,” he said. “Do you think I would tell you?”

While the Yankees looked lost at the plate for most of tonight’s game, O’s starter Miguel Gonzalez deserves a lot of credit. He was good against the Yankees the last time that he faced them, and he was even better this time around. Traditionally, the Yanks can be caught off guard when they haven’t seen a pitcher before, but they tend to catch up quickly after that. Gonzalez didn’t allow that, giving Baltimore seven shutout innings while striking out nine and allowing only four hits. “The ball was exploding out of his hand,” Chavez said. “The board said 91, 92, but it felt like 95.”  It could of been just that this guy is good, but the Yankees bats have to wake up starting Saturday. 

Aside from a deceptive fastball, there were two things that Gonzalez did very well: He got ahead in counts, and he mixed in his offspeed pitches well. A couple of Yankee hitters said they thought his split-finger was especially nasty tonight. “You’ve got to stay in attack mode against these really good lineups,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “As soon as they feel some anxiety or that you’re picking around the strike zone, it doesn’t bode well for you.”

 As Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda said after the game, “I think it’s pretty similar to my last outing. One mistake pitch too many.” Kuroda gave up some runs early to the Cleveland Indians in his last start before settling down, and that’s pretty much how it went tonight. He gave up a sac fly to Chris Davis and a two-run homer to Mark Reynolds in the second to give the O’s a 3-0 lead before promptly retiring the next nine batters that he faced. That streak was broken when he gave up a solo homer to J.J. Hardy in the top of the sixth.  He wasn't great but it looked a lot worse because the offense did nothing.  He keeps the Yankees in the game but in this one unless you threw a shutout the Yankees weren't going to win. 

Kuroda ended up giving the Yankees 8 1/3 innings while allowing the four runs, and he was asked after the game if it weighs on him when his offense isn’t backing him up. “In order to win, I have to minimize the damage to less than what we can score,” he said. “It’s really tough to face these situations.”

The Yankees best opportunity to get to Gonzalez came in the bottom of the sixth. Ichiro led off with a single, which was followed by a Jayson Nix walk. That set the table for the most formidable portion of this version of the Yankees lineup, but Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano went down in order. “I’m not an excuse guy,” Swisher said. “Just a bad game for us. We have to put this game behind us, and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”  They have been bad all year long with runners in scoring position and now it is catching up to them.

Out of all of the Yankees, Swisher had the most forgettable night. For the first time since 2006, he struck out in all four plate appearances. He has had four strikeout games since 2006, but not in a game in which he only came up four times. As reporters asked Swish about Gonzalez after the game, he responded, “I’m not the right guy to ask. I didn’t do too much against him tonight.”  It is like in the playoffs with him, he shrinks in big situations.  I don't think he will be around next year for that reason.

 Before the game, Girardi had talked about some signs that he would look for to see if his team was pressing. He talked about wanting to see guys smiling and enjoying themselves, but he also spoke about looking at their approaches at the plate — if they’re hacking away at bad pitches or seem too anxious. When asked if he had noticed any of those things in tonight’s game, he didn’t seem to think so. “I think the effort’s there,” he said. “It’s really kind of hard to judge if youre going to be satisfied with a guy’s at-bat, because then you’re asking me to get into people’s minds. But I didn’t see guys trying to do too much.”

Alex Rodriguez went 0 for 3 with a walk and a run scored for Single-A Tampa tonight in his first action in over a month. He grounded out to short in his first at-bat, walked in his second, and then struck out in his final two plate appearances. For more on that, here is a story from Newsday’s Greg Auman. A-Rod could be back as soon as next week, and Girardi was asked if he’s the type of spark that the team needs right now. “You hope he comes back swinging like he did before he got hurt,” he said. “That’s the idea. This is a guy that’s supposed to be an impact player for us, so you hope he makes a big impact.”

Swisher mentioned A-Rod as a guy that the team looks to for leadership in these situations, along with Jeter. “We look to them for guidance,” he said.

 I’ll give the final word to Showalter, whose team has shaved eight games off of the Yankees’ lead in six weeks: “I’m proud of our players. There will be another challenge. We’re going to sleep quickly. We’ve almost made it to September, what do we have, a couple of hours? I think we all know, it’s a given, what the Yankees are about and what they can do. We have to continue to stay focused on what we have to do and stay in the moment, which our guys have done such a great job with all year.”

The Yankees have a nice comeback win and Mariano Rivera ties the all-time saves record

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 7-6 on Saturday afternoon. Bartolo Colon started the game and did not pitch well at all. The Yankees bullpen did an outstanding job and the offense did a good job as well especially later in the game. Alex Rodriguez had a good return to the lineup and Curtis Granderson had a great game. The Yankees in the beginning of the game were very sloppy, including on the base paths where they cost themselves at least a couple of extra runs.
Colon pitched four innings giving up six runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out three. Scott Proctor pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one, Aaron Laffey pitched a perfect inning picking up his third win of the season and Hector Noesi pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Rafael Soriano struck out the side in his one inning of work, Soriano has struck out the last seven batters he has faced and Rivera pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 42nd save of the season and 601st of his career. The 601 saves tie him with Trevor Hoffman for most all-time. Rivera is widely considered the greatest of all-time and doesn’t need a record to validate it but I guess this would prove it to anyone who has any doubt. Rivera will set the record with his next save and add to it with any additional and he also is under contract next season.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Granderson had three hits, two RBI and two walks and Mark Teixeira had two hits. Robinson Cano had an RBI, Rodriguez had two hits and three RBI and Jesus Montero had a hit. Brett Gardner had two hits, Teixeira and Granderson each had a double and Gardner had a triple. The homeruns were provided by Rodriguez and Granderson. Granderson hit his 40th of the season, what a season he has had. The Yankees were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Austin Romine made an error.

The Blue Jays took an early lead in this game with four runs in the second inning. The Yankees were not looking good at all in this game. Colby Rasmus had an RBI double, Brett Lawrie grounded out scoring a run, Jose Molina had an RBI double and Mike McCoy had a sacrifice bunt that scored a run. It was 4-0 Jays at the end of the second inning. In the fourth Cano hit a sacrifice fly and Loewen made an error to score a run and make it 4-1. It could have been a much bigger inning but with second and third one out, Swisher hit a deep drive that the center fielder made a nice catch on. Cano for some reason just kept on running and not only got double off of second but was out anyway because he ran past Teixeira. The run would of scored and made it 4-2 if Cano would of just stayed at second, instead the inning ended and it was 4-1 Jays. In the bottom of the fourth McCoy hit a two run double and it was a 6-1 lead for the Jays. In the sixth Teixeira hit an RBI single and Rodriguez hit a three run homerun to make it a 6-5 game. In the seventh inning Granderson hit a two run homerun to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead and that is how the game would end up.

The Yankees have evened the three game series with the Blue Jays. The rubber game will be on Sunday afternoon at 1:00PM. Freddy Garcia will be on the mound for the Yankees. The Yankees now have a five game lead in the loss column for first place in the AL East. The Red Sox lost again to the Tampa Bay Rays and only are three games ahead of them for the AL wildcard. The Yankees magic number is five for the postseason and eight for the division. The Yankees will head home after Sundays game and play a makeup game against Minnesota on Monday before playing a four game series against the Rays. They will then play the Red Sox for three games. That series could be where the Yankees clinch the division and they would love nothing more then to clinch the division at the Red Sox expense and also knock them out or really hurt their chances. Phil Hughes was scheduled to start on Monday and he has been scratched with back spasms. The Yankees have been using six starters for a while now and this could answer their questions of who will be in the rotation depending on how serious it is.

Old Timers Day 2011

There is no one else in the world who can put on a show like the Yankees.  They celebrate Old Timers Day every year and no one else can quite do it the way that they do.  The Yankees welcomed back former greats, captains, champions, all-stars.  They had first time Old timers in Joe Torre, Lou Piniella and Bernie Williams.  Torre was making his return for the first time since 2007 and got a rousing ovation.  He got about a five minute standing ovation and tipped his cap and blew kisses to the fans.  He did come back for the unveiling of the Steinbrenner monument last year and has been there this year in his new role with baseball.  This was the first time he got to put on the uniform again though and get an ovation and really say goodbye or hi again in this case.  Williams had a double in the Old Timers game, Tino Martinez hit a homerun accounting for the only runs in the Old Timers Game.  It was a great day, the day was completed with a Yankees victory which also makes it great. 

Gene Monahan the long time head trainer of the Yankees was also honored before the Old Timers Game in a suprise ceremony.  They showed a video montage of his career, they showered him with gifts and the fans really soaked it in.  Monahan was truly suprised and really got emotional about it especially when he saw his two daughters there. 

The game was an interesting one as the Yankees couldn't get a baserunner through the first 13 batters of the game.  It all changed in three batters with a single and back-to-back homeruns by Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada that tied the game at three.  Nova didn't have his best stuff but kept the Yankees in the game.  The bullpen did it's job with Dave Robertson and Mariano Rivera really shutting the door.  They had five strikeouts between them in two innings.  Boone Logan got the win and pitched well again, he has been pitching much better and the Yankees are going to need him as he is the only lefty in the bullpen. 

Posada and Swisher continued thier hot hitting and Alex Rodriguez had an RBI in his sixth straight game.  Eduardo Nunez had a big RBI single.  The Yankees took two out of three from the Rockies and remain in first place in the AL East.  They are 1/2 a game ahead of the Boston Red Sox and one game in the loss column. 

It is amazing to me that they are in first place and are 1-8 against the Red Sox.  How can you be so bad against a team in your division and a good team that you are competing against and still be in first place.  It is like the Yankees don't lose to anyone but the Red Sox.  They are a season high tying 14 games over 500 and will try to make it a season best 15 on Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.  This should be an intersting series as the Brewers are a good team, what do you think???

Pitching Matchups for Yanks/Baltimore series

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series with the Baltimore Orioles tomorrow at Yankee Stadium. Here are the pitching matchups for the series. Tomorrow- Andy Pettitte vs Chris Tillman Saturday- A.J. Burnett vs Brian Matusz Sunday- CC Sabathia vs Jeremy Guthrie The Yankees just swept Baltimore in Baltimore last week so I would look for the same although 2 out of 3 would be ok. The Yankees will enter the series 9 games up in the AL east over Boston and 6 1/2 ahead of Anaheim for homefield advantage. There pretty much is nothing left to play for except personal milestones like Derek Jeter needing one more hit to pass Lou Gehrig and become the alltime Yankees hits leader. A note from today was that Dave Robertson got good news from Dr. Andrews. He only needs to rest his elbow for 10-14 days and then he can begin a throwing program. It looks like he will be ready to go for the playoffs then which is great news as he has moved himself up the pecking order of the bullpen.

No history but Yanks take 2

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the nightcap by the score of 11-1. A.J. Burnett got the start and pitched 6 innings giving up a run on 4 hits with 8 strikeouts. This was a huge game for him as he hasn't won in 6 starts but got the win tonight. This may be the game that gets him going and now he can finish strong and into the playoffs. Edwar Ramirez, Jon Albaladejo and Mike Dunn finished off the game. It was a good game to get the backups in as Ramiro Pena, Shelly Duncan and Francisco Cervelli all got into the game. Mark Teixeira had a big night with a couple of homeruns. The story of the game was Derek Jeter and he went 0-8 combined in the doubleheader and remains 3 hits shy of tying Lou Gehrig. The important thing here is that the Yankees took both games and now their magic number for clinching the division is at 16 and 19 for homefield advantage. The Yankees in a tight game in game 1 broke through late and Phil Hughes and Mo closed the game out in fine fashion as usual. Mariano now has save 35 in a row. Chad Gaudin will make the start tomorrow and maybe get through 5 but the Yankees bullpen is in good shape for tomorrow. The Yankees have gone 50-18 in their last 68 games. The Yankees are 36-22 against the AL East which is the best division in baseball. They have also won 24 of their last 30 against division foes. Yankee relievers since Aug 5th have gone 12-0 with 10 saves and a 3.34 era. The 12 game winning streak by the bullpen is a new franchise record according to the Elias Sports Bureau. 11 was the record before by the 1940, 61, 99 and 2000 teams. Austin Jackson who is one of the top prospects went 2 for 2 today to finish the regular season at 300. In 132 games he had 67 runs scored, 23 doubles, 9 triples and 4 homeruns. He drove in 65 runs and stole 24 bases in 28 attempts. He walked 40 times and struck out 123 times. He needs to cut down the strikeouts and walk a little more but he is only 22 and this was his first season in AAA. I am sure he will start there next year and go from there.

Yanks sweep another series

The New York Yankees swept the Baltimore Orioles tonight in Baltimore. The final score was 10-2. It was a 3-2 game until the Yankees broke it open with 7 runs in the 9th inning to put the game away. CC Sabathia has been pitching like an ace since the all star break and that didn't change tonight. He pitched 7 innings giving up 1 run on 7 hits, he also had 1 walk and 9 strikeouts. Brian Bruney got 1 out in the 8th inning and also gave up a homerun, Phil Coke got an out and then Phil Hughes came in to get the final 4 outs for his second save of the year. The offense was led by Alex Rodriguez who had 3 hits and 4 rbi's. Johnny Damon had 4 hits and a rbi, Nick Swisher had 2 hits and 2 walks and Hideki Matsui had a rbi single. Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano each had 2 hits with Melky picking up a rbi and Jose Molina and Eric Hinske also had a hit so it was a well balanced attack for the Yankee offense. The Yankees now lead Boston by 7 1/2 games in the AL East as they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays and lead Anaheim by 6 1/2 for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. The Yankees now head to Toronto for a 4 game series with Chad Gaudin starting tomorrow. The only bad news came after the game tonight that Mariano Rivera is out with tightness in his groin, he is going to rest for a few days and they will go with closer by comittee although I would expect to see Hughes in that role more often then not.

White Sox at Yankees

The New York Yankees will take on the Chicago White Sox tonight from the stadium weather permitting. They will make every effort to play this game but I wouldn't expect it with the rain supposedly getting worse as the night goes on. It could be a long night in the Bronx. CC Sabathia against Mark Buehrle is the pitching matchup. Here are the pregame notes and linups as always via Peter Abraham and his Lohud Yankees Blog. I am going to put the Joba news first on here as now they have decided he needs to pitch every 5th day. Since the innings limit hasn't changed that means some games he will pitch less then 5 innings. I am guessing they will use Mitre and Gaudin as his caddies. The White Sox are 10-13 in their last 25 games and are 4 games out in the AL Central with 34 left to play. They are 1-4 in their last 5 games. CC is 5-0 with a 2.65 era in his last 5 starts. He has pitched 37 1/3 innings allowing 28 hits, 5 walks and 39 strikeouts. He has won 11 straight August decisions and is 33-9 with a 3.16 era in 51 career August starts. CC is 15-4 with a 3.77 era in 27 career starts against the White Sox. CC leads the AL in wins and innings to keep going with the CC theme. He is 8th in era and strikeouts, third in whip, third in opponents batting avg against and tied for fifth in opponents ops. CC hasn't seemed to mind pitching at Yankee Stadium going 5-2 with a 3.62 era. He has allowed 5 homers in 77 innings. This just says that if you are a good pitcher you can pitch anywhere and this is where the Yankees have the advantage because there guys are used to the stadium. Phil Coke since the all star break has a 8.10 era. Big Tex has 97 rbi's, he leads the AL, only Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols have more in the major leagues. The Yankees are 16-4 in their last 20 home games. Johnny Damon is 9 of his last 20 and is batting 288. Yesterday was one of only 5 games at home the Yankees haven't hit a homerun. This truly is a rare occurence. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Yankees at Mariners(Going for the sweep)

The New York Yankees take on the Seattle Mariners at 4:10 today on the YES network. Joba Chamberlain makes the start. The Yankees will try and win their 7th game in a row. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. The Yankees are 36 and 11 in their last 47 games. This is an amazing run, not much to complain about. The Yankees are 5-1 against Seattle this year and have outscored them 20-5 in this series. Derek Jeter needs one hit to tie for the record for most hits ever by a SS. He will be tied with Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio. The Yankees bullpen has been unbelievable giving up 0 runs in their last 12 2/3 innings, 1 in their last 19 2/3 and 3 in their last 30 1/3. They have also struck out 31 in their last 30 1/3 and given up 22 hits. Jerry Hairston Jr. is 9 of 26 with 3 xbh and 6 rbi's as a Yankee. Robinson Cano has a 13 game hitting streak going 24 of 57 with 9 xbh. He has 51 multiple hit games this season only trailing Ichiro who has 56. Robinson Cano has had a great season other then not being great with runners in scoring position although he seems to be getting better with that lately. He may even win a gold glove this year. Melky Cabrera has played every inning in CF since Brett Gardner went down, he may need a rest. He is 6 of his last 48. Joba after being almost unhittable in his first 3 starts after the break has struggled in his last 2. He has allowed 8 runs on 11 hits and 9 walks over 11 innings. Derek Jeter has 4 homeruns in his last 8 games. The Yankees are 33-26 away from Yankee stadium. Hideki Matsui has fluid on his left knee and is day to day. Mo may not be available today. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(DH) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Swisher(1B) Hinske(RF) Hairston(CF) Pena(2B)

Yanks not sleepless in Seattle

http://gmarchese.blogspot.comThe New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners last night by the score of 5-2. Sergio Mitre got the start and didn't pitch too bad going 5 1/3 innings giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. Dave Robertson came on and pitched 1 scoreless inning giving up 2 hits but striking out 3. Phil Coke pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings giving up 0 hits with 3 strikeouts. Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for the save giving up a hit and walk but also striking out two. The offense was led by Derek Jeter who had 2 hits and 2 rbi's and Robinson Cano who had 2 hits. A-rod had a hit and a couple of walks. Nick Swisher had a 2 run homerun, Mark Teixeira had a hit, Jerry Hairston Jr had a hit and Jose Molina had a couple of hits and also a big play in the seventh throwing out Ichiro trying to steal third. The Yankees just keep rolling along now 7 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox for first place in the AL East. Joba Chamberlain will get the start today after all and then not pitch again for another 8 days. The Yankees are now 23-6 since the all star break which is the best record in their history post all star break. Mariano Rivera has now completed 31 consecutive save chances matching his career high which he last accomplished in 2005. The Yankees bullpen has given up 1 run in their last 20 2/3 innings, this is just dominant and with that type of pitching you would expect to have a run like the Yankees have had. The other thing the Yankees pitchers do for the most part is get a lot of strikeouts, the bullpen had 8 last night and CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte had 10 in back to back games.

Yanks avoid the sweep

The New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox today by the score of 8-5. We expected to see a pitchers duel with Mark Buehrle and CC Sabathia but didn't get it. CC Sabathia gave up 4 runs in the third inning but then settled down and gave them 4 shutout innings. Joe Girardi I think pushed the envelope too far and brought him out for the 8th, he gave up a leadoff double and then was pulled. Phil Hughes came on to get 2 outs and then Mariano came on to get the last out but not before giving up a cheap rbi single. CC Sabathia has not pitched like an ace especially lately and that is a cause for concern. I know a lot of people are into this thing with him pitching too many innings over the last couple of years which is true but I don't buy it now because his velocity is still high and his stuff is good but his location has been off. I am expecting him to go on a Burnett run and maybe him pulling out the win today can get him going. He really needs to pitch like an ace the rest of the season and carry the Yankees to the AL east title. The Yankees offense was led by Melky Cabrera who hit for the first Yankees cycle since Tony Fernandez in 1995. He also had 4 rbi's. I am really liking Jerry Hairston Jr. as he can play anywhere and can do whatever you want, sacrifice, get a rbi, get some hits. He reminds me of the late 90s teams that had those role players that were so important. Derek Jeter had 2 hits and a rbi and Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira and A-rod all had a hit. Damon also had a rbi. Nick Swisher had a couple of hits and a couple of walks, Jerry Hairston had a couple of hits and a rbi and also a sac bunt. The Yankees now head to Toronto with a off day tomorrow and then face off against Roy Halladay which won't be easy at all, they can't look ahead at the Red Sox though and have to at least get one win in Toronto.

Yanks sweep away another opponent

The New York Yankees won their 6th in a row today and completed their second consecutive sweep. A.J. Burnett got the win going 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 6 hits with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. Phil Hughes came on in the 8th and did his job giving up a single but erasing that on a double play. Brian Bruney came on in the ninth with a 6-2 lead but after striking out 2 guys he gave up solo homeruns to Adam Jones and Nick Markakis and Mo came in to get the last out and the save. Joe Girardi said after the game that it was the best stuff Brian Bruney has had in a while but he still gave up 2 runs and needs to get better. Mo said he isn't worried and that Bruney is fine. The offense came out firing with 4 runs in the first inning on a rbi single by A-rod, a rbi infield single by Robinson Cano and a 2 run single by Nick Swisher. Jorge Posada had a solo homerun later and the Yankees added another run in the 8th. A-rod had 2 hits and Posada had 2 hits and 2 rbi's. Robinson Cano also had 2 hits, Damon, Jeter, Tex, Swisher and Gardner all had a hit each. The Yankees are now 1 1/2 up on the Red Sox. If the Sox win tonight it will be a game and if they lose it will extend to 2 games. The Yankees open up a 4 game series with Oakland starting tomorrow night in a makeup game from April with CC Sabathia on the mound.

Game 86: Yankees at Angels

I apologize for the lack of posts but I have been seriously ill and I am still fighting it. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. Mark Melancon was recalled from Scranton and Jon Albaladejo was optioned back down. The Yankees start the day tied for first with the Red Sox in the AL East. They finish the first half in Anaheim with 3 games then its the all star break. Game 86: Yankees at Angels Posted using ShareThis

Yanks lose finale of homestand

The Yankees lost to the Phillies today by the score of 4-3, they had more ninth inning magic but couldn't win it this time. CC Sabathia pitched a solid game going 8 innings allowing 3 runs, the turning point of the game was when Brett Gardner dove for a ball and missed it and it turned into a run with 2 outs and then another run after that. I really thought with CC pitching the way he was just keep it in front of you and let it be first and third two outs. Mo pitched a scoreless inning as well as Jose Veras. The Yankees came from behind again in the ninth off of Brad Lidge who is clearly not the same guy he was last year and I wonder if he can get that back after these past two games. The Yankees best chance to win it was in the tenth when the had first and second no outs and Mark Teixeira hit into a double play and then they walked A-rod with a man on third and Pena lined out to center. The Yankees also had Johnny Damon thrown out at home earlier in the game in a nice play by the Philly defense. Cole Hamels was pretty dominant himself really silencing the Yankee bats for 7 innings. Big Tex had a couple of hits again one being a broken bat homerun to leftfield. Hideki Matsui continues to slump having a bad day going 0-4. A-rod was 0-3 with a walk. Derek Jeter went 3-5 and so did Melky Cabrera. Robinson Cano was 1-4 and his hit was big as it was to leadoff the ninth. Francisco Cervelli was 1-3. The Yankees now head to Texas to start a 7 game roadtrip, 3 in Texas and 4 in Cleveland before returning home. The Yankees are 1 game behind Boston for first place in the AL East which is amazing since they are 0-5 against Boston this year.

AL East Preview

I forgot to mention this before maybe because it doesn't mean much of anything although it did to the Rays last year who rode the grapefruit league success to the World Series. The New York Yankees won the grapefruit league title with a 22-10-1 record, they lost 2 more games to Team Canada and Team USA but that didn't count. I got tired of reading these articles against the Yankees. I know Ken Rosenthal of foxsports.com was trying to be funny with his article about the Yankees getting ready for a circus this year but I didn't find it too funny. The Yankees won 89 games last year with Carl Pavano, Dan Giese, Sidney Ponson and Darrel Rasner making a lot of starts and Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes going 0-9. The Yankees pitching this year is CC, Wang, AJ, Pettitte and Joba with good arms in the pen. I don't see how the Yankees don't win 95 plus games unless they have major injuries. I understand why cynics might say well lets see Posada get through a whole season and Matsui. Damon and Jeter are just getting older and Mo also. I can only say that so far so good for everyone, if these guys stay relatively healthy then there really isn't much weakness. I also ask you well what about Boston with Lowell, Papi, JD Drew, Wakefield. These guys have injury questions not to mention Beckett. This is the first full season without Manny and is Dice-K really as good as he was last year or just lucky with all those walks and wiggling out of trouble. Who is their fifth starter, ok John Smoltz might and I say might come back and if he does he is old and in the AL East now. I think Boston is a very very good team but I don't think they are as good as everyone thinks. I think CC is better then Beckett but you can call it even if you want. Wang or Lester, I will take Wang. AJ or Dike-K, I will give them Dice-K but what really seperates the Yanks in my mind is the backend Pettitte and Joba or Wakefield and Penny/Bucholz/Smoltz. I will take that, and I don't think the bullpen of Boston is so much better, I think they are pretty good there but so are the Yankees. I would take the Yankees lineup, they have a better left side of the infield and catcher, and as good as Youkilis is I would say Tex is better, I will give them Pedroia but I think Cano will be a lot closer this year and I will give them CF and LF but not RF. It will be a close battle but I see the Yankees winning the division. I didn't forget the Rays but I look at the Rays as not suprising anyone this year and they can win around 90 games either way but their pitching went way above the amount of innings they ever have and usually the next year is trouble for guys like that. I don't think the pitching will be as good and everyone is gunning for them now, not taking them lightly. I do think the AL East has the potential to have the 3 best teams in baseball but the Yankees are due to come through in the end, I think they have more of the teams like they used to have with pitching, defense and less emphasis on the slugging and they just have a lot of heart and determination and good chemistry. I know Arod will be Arod but they are used to that now and I don't think it ill affect them. Lets go Yankees.