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.  

The AL defeats the NL in All Star Game

The American League defeated the National League in the MLB All Star Game on Tuesday night.  The game took place at Great American Ballpark in Cincinatti, Ohio and the final score was 6-3 AL.  Pete Rose was a story as he was an analyst for Fox for the game but also got to be on the field and mostly cheered as part of the Franchise Four promotion.  The guys that stood out pitching wise were Dellin Betances from the Yankees pitching for the AL and Aroldis Chapman from the hometown Reds and pitching for the NL.  Jacob deGrom also dominated from the Mets striking out the side and only throwing ten pitches.  Felix Hernandez and David Price each pitched perfect innings for the AL and Price had two strikeouts and Hernandez had a strikeout.  Chris Archer and Glen Perkins gave up the earned runs.  Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Francisco Rodriguez and Mark Melancon gave up the earned runs for the NL. 

Andrew McCutchen had a hit and an RBI for the NL.  Jhonny Peralta had a hit and an RBI, the NL only managed six hits.  Ryan Braun hit a triple, McCutchen hit a homerun and the NL was 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.   

Mike Trout led off the game with a homerun and he was named the MVP for the second straight year.  He is the first player in the history of MLB to ever win back-to-back All Star MVP.  Josh Donaldson had a couple of walks, Manny Machado had a hit and an RBI and Prince Fielder had a hit and two RBI.  Lorenzo Cain had two hits and an RBI, Brian Dozier had a hit and an RBI.  Cain and Machado each hit a double and Trout and Dozier each hit a homerun.  The AL was 3-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Cain and Holt each had a stolen base and Donaldson and Britton each committed an error. 

In the first Trout hit a solo homerun to lead off the game and give the AL a quick 1-0 lead.  In the second Peralta tied the game at one with an RBI single.  In the fifth Fielder hit an RBI single to give the AL a 2-1 lead.  Cain hit an RBI double and it was 3-1 AL.  In the sixth McCutchen hit a solo homerun to cut the lead to 3-2 AL.  Machado hit an RBI double in the seventh and it was 4-2 AL.  Fielder hit a sac fly to make it 5-2 in the seventh and in the eighth Dozier hit a solo homerun to make it a 6-2 game.  In the ninth Crawford hit a sac fly to cut the lead to 6-3 but that would be the final score.  MLB will take two more days off before resuming play and the nominal second half on Friday.  The AL will have home field advantage in the World Series as a result of the All Star victory. 

The American League wins 3-0 in the 84th All Star Game

The American League defeated the National League 3-0. The game took place at Citi Field on Tuesday night. Matt Harvey started for the NL and pitched two scoreless innings, Robinson Cano got hit by a pitch in his first at bat and left the game and Mariano Rivera appearing in his final ASG was the MVP.

Max Scherzer started for the AL; he pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Chris Sale pitched two perfect innings with a couple of strikeouts, Felix Hernandez gave up a hit in a scoreless inning and Matt Moore pitched a perfect inning. Grant Balfour walked a batter and struck out one in his one inning of work, Greg Holland gave up hit in 1/3 of an inning and Brett Cecil struck out the only batter that he faced. Delabar struck ou the only batter that he faced, Rivera pitched a perfect inning and Joe Nathan gave up a hit and struck out two in his one inning of work.

Mike Trout had a hit, Jeff Kipnis had a hit and an RBI and Miguel Cabrera had a hit. Chris Davis had a hit, Prince Fielder had a hit and Jose Bautista had an RBI. Nelson Cruz drew a walk, Adam Jones had a hit and Joe Mauer had a hit. Salvador Perez had a hit, J.J. Hardy had an RBI and Jhonny Peralta had a hit.

Harvey pitched two innings giving up a hit and striking out three. Clayton Kershaw pitched a perfect inning, Patrick Corbin pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run and Cliff Lee pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run, Jose Fernandez pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts. Aroldis Chapman pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one, Craig Kimbrel pitched an inning giving up three hits and a run with a strikeout. Jason Grilli gave up a hit in one inning of work.

Carlos Beltran, Paul Goldschmidt and David Wright each had a hit. Michael Cuddyer drew a walk.

In the fourth Bautista hit a sacrifice fly to give the AL a 1-0 lead. In the fifth Hardy hit an RBI groundout to make it 2-0 AL. Kipnis hit an RBI double in the eighth

The NL wins the 84th MLB All Star Game in a blowout

The National League defeated the American League by the score of 8-0 on Tuesday night in the All Star Game. The game took place at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Justin Verlander started for the American League and pitched poorly in his one inning of work. Matt Cain started for the National League and pitched well in his two innings of work. Melky Cabrera won the MVP award for the game. Pablo Sandoval his teammate with the San Francisco Giants also had a good game for the NL. Derek Jeter had a hit in two plate appearances. Jeter has the most hits of any Yankee ever in the All Star game and is also batting 440 career in the All Star Game. The National league has now won three straight All Star games and they will have home field advantage in the World Series. 
Verlander pitched an inning giving up five runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts. He took the loss in the game. Joe Nathan and David Price each pitched a perfect inning. Matt Harrison of the Texas Rangers didn’t pitch so well either. He gave up four hits and three runs in an inning of work. Jered Weaver walked a batter in his scoreless inning, Chris Sale gave up two hits but no runs in an inning of work including a strikeout and Ryan Cook pitched a perfect inning including two strikeouts. Jim Johnson and Fernando Rodney each pitched a perfect inning.

Cain won the game for the National league. He gave up a hit and struck out one in two scoreless innings. Gio Gonzalez pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout, Stephen Strasburg gave up a hit and a walk in one scoreless inning and Clayton Kershaw pitched one inning giving up two hits and a walk. Dickey pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one, Cole Hamels pitched a perfect inning and Craig Kimbrel struck out the only two batters that he faced. Aroldis Chapman had a walk and a strikeout in 1/3 of an inning, Wade Miley gave up a hit in 1/3 of an inning and Jack Hanrahan struck out the only batter that he faced. Jonathan Papelbon got the final out of the game, it was the only batter that he faced.

Jeter had a hit in two at bats. Robinson Cano had a hit in two at bats, Mike Trout had a hit and drew a walk and Joe Mauer had a hit in his only at bat. David Ortiz and Mike Napoli each had a hit in two at bats. The hits were all singles for the AL. They were 0-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Trout did have a stolen base.

Matt Holliday did have a hit and an RBI in his only plate appearance. Chipper Jones in his final All Star Game had a it in his only appearance, Cabrera had two hits and two RBI and McCutchen had a hit in two at bats. Ryan Braun had two hits and an RBI, Sandoval had a hit and three RBI and Dan Uggla had a hit and an RBI. Rafael Furcal had a hit, Braun had a double and Sandoval, Furcal and Braun each had a triple. Cabrera hit a homerun and the National League was 3-8 with runners in scoring position. They left five men on base.

Yankees at Red Sox Game Notes

I decided to break up the original game post with the lineups and the game notes to see if it looks better on the blog. I think it will be clearer and not take up as much space, what do you guys think?? Here are the notes: With Mariano Rivera getting into the game yesterday, he Posada and Jeter became the first trio of teammates in MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL history to play together in each of 16 straight seasons. It is amazing to think that they have been together this long and been this good. It was almost 4 if Pettitte didn't go to Houston for 3 years. The second longest tri in Yankees history played 13 seasons together. They were Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing from 1930-42 and Whitey Ford, Elston Howard and Mickey Mantle from 1955-67. Curtis Granderson batting ninth last night was the first time in Yankees history they batted a 30 or more homerun guy from the previous season in the ninth spot. It was the first time in the majors since 6/4/07 the White Sox did it with Joe Crede. Last night marked the 16th straight regular season game the Yankees won when tied after the 7th inning. The 16 game winning streak under such circumstances matches the 1906 Giants for the longest regular season winning streak in the Modern Era in games that were tied at the end of the seventh inning. This is according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Alfredo Aceves moved to 11-1 in his career after eraning the win last night. It marked the best start by a Yankee at the start of his career or with prior decisions with other teams ince Bob Wickman began his career 14-1 with the Yankees from 1992 through 6/2/93. Robinson Cano has now hit safely in his last 13 games against the Red Sox. He is batting 400 in that span with 6 doubles, 3 homeruns and 7 rbi. It is the longest hitting streak by at Yankee against Boston since Derek Jeter hit in 18 straight from 8/28/07-8/28/08. Mariano Rivera recorded his first save last night and that was the 15th consecutive yr with at least one save according to Elias. That ties a AL record that was held by Tom Burgmeier's. He did it in 1970-84. It is tied for the 6th longest of all time. Jorge Posada hit his 16th career HR at Fenway Park on Sunday. It is the most by a Yankee since Mickey Mantle finished his career with 38 at fenway.

Spring Training Report Dates

Pitchers and Catchers is one of the best pair of words that could be uttered. It is a sign of spring and it means that the great game of baseball is back. I know it means a lot of different things to different people and you can find some of that here on the offical MLB website. I know I am certainly ready for spring training, the end of winter and the excitement of a new season. The New York Yankees are World Champions and that always brings out all the cries of the rich getting richer and the need for a salary cap. The great thing about baseball though is everyone starts fresh in spring training and has big dreams no matter what the situation is. Here are the report dates for pitchers and catchers. American League Baltimore- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Boston- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Chicago White Sox- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Cleveland Indians- Feb 23rd, full squad on Feb 26th Detroit Tigers- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 23rd K.C. Royals- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Los Angeles Angels- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Minnesota Twins- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 27th New York Yankees- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 24th Oakland Athletics- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Seattle Mariners- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Tampa Bay Rays- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 24th Texas Rangers- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 24th Toronto Blue Jays- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 26th National League Arizona Diamondbacks- Feb 20th, full squad Feb 24th Atlanta Braves- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 23rd Chicago Cubs- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Cincinatti Reds- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Colorado Rockies- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 26th Florida Marlins- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Houston Astros- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 24th Los Angeles Dodgers- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th Milwaukee Brewers- Feb 22nd, full squad on Feb 27th New York Mets- Feb 20th, full squad on Feb 25th Philadelphia Phillies- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Pittsburgh Pirates- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd St. Louis Cardinals- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd San Diego Padres- Feb 19th, full squad on Feb 25th San Francisco Giants- Feb 18th, full squad on Feb 23rd Washington Nationals- Feb 21st, full squad on Feb 26th

Rookie of the Year Awards announced

The Rookie of the Year awards were announced this afternoon and the winners are. Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins won it in the National League. He is a leftfielder and Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey won it in the American League. I was wrong on both, I had picked Elvis Andrus to win it in the American League and Tommy Hansen in the National League. I guess you can say both were a bit of a suprise as they weren't the favorites to win the award. Elvis Andrus finished second in the AL voting and J.A. Happ finished second in the National League. Chris Coghlan had a strong second half as the Marlins leadoff hitter. He batted 321 with 9 homeruns and 31 doubles in 128 games. He also scored 84 runs and drove in 47. He was called up in May and led NL rookies in batting avg, runs, hits, total bases and on base percentage. He was the third Marlins player in 7 years to win the award. The others were Dontrelle Willis in 2003 and Hanley Ramirez in 2006. Andrew Bailey was 6-3 and had 26 saves. He led the AL rookies with a 1.84 era. He is the 8th A's player to win the award which ties them with the New York Yankees for most in the AL. Bailey made the team out of spring training and got an oppurtunity to close due to injuries and made the most of it. He was the A's lone representative in the All Star Game in July. Congratulations to both of these guys who worked hard and deserve it, it is nice to see some new stars coming up and lets hope they continue to work hard and respect the game.

A look at the MLB playoff races

The New York Yankees have a comfortable 6 game lead in the AL East over the Red Sox. I spend most of my time focused on the Yankees so I am going to go through the rest of baseball. AL Central- The Detroit Tigers are in first place ahead of the Minnesota Twins. The White Sox are now 5 1/2 games out. The Twins have been hot, they usually do well in September so watch out. I still think the Tigers will hold on but it could get interesting. AL West-The Angels have a 5 game lead over the Texas Rangers. I would think the Angels are safe, they just aquired Scott Kazmir to bolster their pitching staff. He is having a tough year but when he is right he is one of the best young pitchers out there. Seattle is having a pretty good year suprisingly but they are 10 games back so I don't see them making a run. AL Wild Card- Boston has a firm hold of the wildcard at 3 1/2 games ahead of the Texas Rangers. Tampa Bay is 5 games behind. Tampa Bay is playing Boston at home starting tomorrow and then in Fenway about a week later. I can see Tampa making a run but they better win 2 out of 3 this week. NL East-Philly the defending champs have a 8 game lead over the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins. NL Central- St Louis has a 10 game lead over the disappointing Chicago Cubs. NL West- The LA Dodgers have a 6 game lead over suprising Colorado and San Francisco. There really aren't good races in the NL. NL Wild Card- Colorad and San Francisco are tied 3 1/2 ahead of the Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves and 5 1/2 ahead of the Chicago Cubs. This will be a great race to the end with so many teams in play for the wildcard.

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)

Yanks at Jays(Yanks go for abbreviated sweep)

The New York Yankees will play the Toronto Blue Jays tonight in Toronto at 7:07 on the YES network. Sergio Mitre who doesn't look like he will be kept around much more will try and get himself on track against a rookie named Mark Rzepczynski. Here are the notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. The Yankees are 6-2 against the Jays this year and have won 25 of their last 41 against them Mo has worked 1+ innings nine times this season including three of the last 4 appearances. He worked more then one inning 14 times last season and 13 times in 07 under Joe Torre. Mo has gone 19 1/3 innings without a run, yes he gave up the double that scored two last night but they were charged to Phil Hughes. Phil Hughes has 37 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings out of the pen this year. Alfredo Aceves has only pitched twice in the last 13 games. They keep saying he is fine but who knows. Big Tex is 11 of 34 on the road trip with 6 rbi's. A-rod is 13 of 34 on the trip with 5 rbi's. He has gone 57 at bats without a dinger though. The Yankees are 13-5 since the break trailing only the Angels who are 14-4, that is in the AL. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Hairston(3B) Molina(C) I forgot to mention that Cody Ransom was DFA'D and Anthony Claggett was called up. This isn't a what kind of move, it is to cover Mitre and then when he gets sent down in a couple of days Ramiro Pena will be back up which is good. I like Cody Ransom but he just isn't that good, they don't want to burn the pen before the Boston series.

Homerun Derby

You have Albert Pujols as the hometown favorite tonight but you also have Adrian Gonzalez and Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder. The AL has Carlos Pena as the best shot I guess you would say. I am going with Albert Pujols what does everyone think?? It should be fun then watch the all star game tomorrow with the AL taking it as usual. Roy Halladay gets the start against Tim Lincecum.

Baseball-around the league

I wanted to do this yesterday but didn't get a chance. I know it is early and it doesn't necessarily mean much but the Toronto Blue Jays are off to a 5-1 start, the Red Sox have started slow going 2-3 barely hanging on today for their second victory. The Orioles have the offense and can score runs on anyone but I don't think their pitching will hold up. The Cleveland Indians are 0-5 and come to the New Yankee Stadium next week, Cliff Lee the Cy young winner has looked bad in his first 2 starts. The Anaheim Angels know how to win and play the game the right way, when you watch them it just doesn't matter who is hurt they plug guys in and just play that team game and drive you nuts. The Seattle Mariners look like they will be better but that isn't saying much and the Texas Rangers have a potent offense but can they get any pitching?? The Kansas City Royals are a sleeper pick for many but I don't think they have a good enough offense and their pitching isn't great. The National League has the East looking good, you figure the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will be there but the Braves look much improved, pretty good pitching and the Florida Marlins look good, a lot of fun to watch. The Marlins are my sleeper pick. The Chicago Cubs look stacked but they are a cursed team, Alfonso Soriano has 3 homeruns already. The Houston Astros are just bad and Albert Pujols is still a monster having 7 rbi tonight. The San Francisco Giants have scored more runs in the beginning of this season then they scored in a month last year. The Padres are not a good team and the Dodgers are lucky to be in a weak division but seem to be the best team out there with Manny Ramirez.