New York Yankees Notes from Opening Day

The New York Yankees lost on Opening Day but it is just one game out of 162. CC Sabathia the ace didn’t pitch so well but this was his fifth opening day start for the Yankees and he has yet to win one. He also has not fared well at all in opening days period. The talk was about Sabathia and his velocity but he says that he is fine. He had off-season elbow surgery so of course it is going to come up. If you look at his past seasons though it is common for his velocity to be a little bit down in April, he is a slow starter and then once he gets going as the weather warms he is fine. 
The offense is what the critics have been talking about all winter. The thing I saw though is that they had their opportunities they just didn’t capitalize. How many times did that happen last year when they had a supposedly great offense?? It is just one game but of course it looks worse when what the critics have been saying comes to fruition.

Why was David Phelps in this game when he is in the rotation. It was his throw day and he is still on schedule to start the Saturday game in Detroit. He said he knew that he could pitch in the game and it was no big deal.

Yankee Stadium was really a ghost town by the end of the game. The game was bad and it was raining by then but it was still an ugly scene. If there were a couple of hundred people there that is a lot. Vernon Wells said that he didn’t blame them and Francisco Cervelli said if he was a fan and it was raining he would of run also.

Joba said about his bad outing that walks kill you and he just wasn’t making his pitches. Elias had some nuggets to share from this game. It was the first Yankees opener without a switch hitter in the lineup since 1992. The Yankees had Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada for many years and then Teixeira the last couple of years. The Yankees also snapped a major league record streak of homering in 14 straight opening day games.

There were six players that made their Yankees debut, Lyle Overbay, Vernon Wells, Shawn Kelley, Kevin Youkilis, Travis Hafner and Ben Francisco. Youkilis joined Johnny Damon and Wade Boggs to start an opener for the Yankees one year after doing so for the Red Sox since Steve O’Neill did it in 1925.

The Yankees and Red Sox will play game two of the series on Wednesday night and conclude the series on Thursday night. Hiroki Kuroda will face Clay Bucholz on Wednesday and Andy Pettitte vs. Ryan Dempster on Thursday.

The big news from the off day on Tuesday was that Robinson Cano fired his agent Scott Boras. He is now represented by CAA which Jay-Z is partnered with through his PR firm. It looks more likely that Cano will stay in New York and play his entire career with the New York Yankees.

Regular Season Game 11-Rangers at Yankees

The New York Yankees will look to take their second in a row against Texas and win their 4th straight series to start the year. A.J. Burnett will be opposing Scott Feldman weather permitting of course. The Yankees won a rain shortened game last night 5-1 in 6 innings behind CC Sabathia. Here are the lineups and some game notes for todays game at 1:05PM. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Johnson(DH) Teixeira(1B) Rodriguez(3B) Cano(2B) Posada(C) Granderson(CF) Swisher(RF) Gardner(LF) Rangers Lineup: Borbon(CF) Young(3B) Hamilton(LF) Guerrero(DH) Cruz(RF) Davis(1B) Arias(2B) Teagarden(C) Andrus(SS) Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter last night became the first set of Yankees teammates to start the yr hitting safely in 10 straight games. Thanks to Elias for that information. If Joe Girardi can get a win today it will be his 200th as a Yankees manager. Today marks the 59th anniversary of the very first game legendary PA announcer Bob Sheppard worked. I am sure there will be a ceremony for him, he has been ill and not working in a couple of yrs but he watches the games and is always thought of around the ballpark. Curtis Granderson will be presented with the 2009 Marvin Miller man of the year award before todays game. Mark Teixiera will present it to him. Tex is the Yankees player association representative. The Yankees have not comitted an error in 8 straight games, they set the record with 18 straight last season. They have also scored 3 or more runs in all 10 games this season. That marks the longest they have gone since the 2000 season when that team did it in 15 straight games.

Regular Season Game 8-Yankees Vs Angels

Here are the pregame notes. Some of these are from Chad Jennings who was in the clubhouse this morning. He works for the Journal News and also has the great Lohud Yankees Blog. I apologize that the game posts are backwards, the second one appears first and then the first one second. Robinson Cano has hit safely in all 7 games this season. Nick Johnson was the first Yankee to go at least 6 seasons in between homeruns yesterday since Ruben Sierra did it. He hit one in 1996 and then not again until 2003. Dave Robertson was his usual self in the clubhouse today. He has a short memory which is what you need as a reliever. He gave up a grand slam yesterday but said today is a new day. I didn't realize it yesterday but Nick Swisher was given a fake ring and was shocked to see it but wore it the whole time. Mariano Rivera gave him the real thing after the ceremony. Joe Girardi said that Vazquez was rushing in his first start which caused his arm slot to drop and "his fastball was running too much back across the middle of the plate." Joe Girardi said he is excited to see Phil Hughes on the mound tomorrow night. "I think he is much more physically and mentally prepared." He was talking about now as compared to 2008. Joe Girardi at the end of his press conference was asked how many rings he would like to win and said, Yogi has 10 and I am sure he would like to win another. He was basically saying as many as he can. It is the Yankee way to always want more and keep trying to win which is good to see that there is no complacency.

Regular Season Game 4-Yankees at Rays

Here are the pregame media notes for tonights game. The game is at 7:10PM on the yes network. Javier Vazquez makes his first start going up against David Price for the Rays. The Yankees win the other night over Boston was won after they were tied in the 7th inning. It was the 17th straight win when tied after 7 innings for the Yankees setting the record in the Modern Era according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Curtis Grandersons extra inning homerun the other night was his second career one. Mariano Rivera has converted 61 of his last 65 saves on the road after blowing his first 2 chances in 2007. He has held opponents to a 156 batting average over the last 3 seasons on the road and has a 1.04 era. In the Boston Series the Yankees 5-9 hitters went 21 for 57 which is good for a 368 batting average. They had 12 runs, 5 doubles, 4 homeruns, 10 rbi and 7 walks. There 2-4 hitters were only 2-36 which is a 056 batting average with 3 runs, 2 doubles and 4 rbi. David Robertson turns 25 years old today. The Yankees bullpen has thrown 8 scoreless innings over the last 2 games. They have allowed 3 hits with 0 walks and 4 strikeouts and are 2-0. I will be at a wedding tonight so I don't know if I will get to do a postgame recap and notes, but I will do it tomorrow morning if not, enjoy the game everyone.

Regular Season Game 3-Marlins at Mets Part II

I decided to break up the lineups section and the notes section, I thought it would be too much and I think I will continue to do this for all of the game posts. The Mets and Marlins won't see each other again until May 13-16th when they will play a 4 game series in Florida. The Mets 4 full season minor league clubs will open up tonight. Jose Reyes played 5 innings yesterday in a minor league intrasquad game. He went 1-5 and is eligible to come off of the DL on Sat. I would expect to see him with the club on that day. The only other players to have homered more frequently as a catcher other then Rod Barajas are Jorge Posada and Brian McCann. Barajas does it 1 time every 25.3 at bats. This info comes courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau. David Wrights first inning homerun was only the third such homerun in the Mets 49 yr history. Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson are the only other 2 Mets to accomplish that, thanks again to Elias. The Mets have the most foreign born players on their opening day roster. They have 18 such players from 7 different countries.

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.

Yankees at Rays the rubber game

The New York Yankees take on the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:10 on YES tonight. The teams split the first 2 games and this game is for the series. Joba Chamberlain will go up against Matt Garza in a battle of right handed hard throwers. Here is the pregame notes and lineups via Peter Abraham. Joba has allowed 2 runs in his last 13 2/3 innings since the break while striking out 14. He has a 1.88 career era against Tampa, of course 7 of his 8 appearances were out of the bullpen. A-rod has gone 31 at bats without a homerun, he needs one more to tie Harmon Killebrew on the all time list. The Yankees have a major league most 6 players with at least 15 homeruns. They are Cano, Damon, Matsui, A-rod, Swisher and Big Tex. Elias says the Yankee are only the second team in Major league history to have 6 players accomplish this before 100 games were played joining the 2005 Rangers who had 7 players do it. Johnny Damon with his 200th homerun on Tuesday became one of 14 players all time with at least 200 homeruns, 300 steals and 2,000 hits. The only other active player is Bobby Abreu. Rickey Henderson, Willy Mays, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan and Ryne Sanberg are others on the list. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Rays lineup: Upton(CF) Crawford(LF) Longoria(3B) Zobrist(2B) Pena(1B) Burrell(DH) Gross(RF) Navarro(C) Bartlett(SS)

Yanks go for 4 games sweep

The Yankees take on the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:05 with Andy Pettitte taking on Ricky Romero. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. Derek Jeter hit his 10th homerun of the season yesterday marking the 14th consecutive season with 10 or more homeruns for him. He is now one of 6 Yankees to accomplish that feat solely as a Yankee and is one of five active players with such a streak. The other Yankees who did this are Mantle, Berra, Ruth, Gehrig and Bernie Williams. Yesterday both Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada went 4 for 5 marking the first time in the 14 year history that they have been teammates that they both collected 4 hits in the same game. According to Elias it marked the first time two Yankees both past their 35th birthday had at least 4 hits in the same game since July 21, 1950 when Johnny Mize and Joe Dimaggio did it. The Yankees are 5-1 against the Blue Jays this season. Andy Pettitte is 18-11 with a 3.92 era in 36 career starts against Toronto. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Swisher(1B) Tex(DH) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Cabrera(LF) Hinske(RF) Gardner(CF)

Yankees at Detroit-Yanks look for series win

The New York Yankees take on the Detroit Tigers tonight in the last of 3 from Comerica Park. The two teams split the first two and tonight Joba Chamberlain will take on Rick Porcello. The game is at 7:05PM on the YES network and WCBS 880 radio in NY. Here are some notes via Peter Abraham and Yankees.com. The 10 runs scored in the 7th inning on Tuesday were the most the team has scored in one inning since they scored 10 in the 4th inning against Baltimore on Sept 29, 2007. Robinson Cano's single on Tuesday extended his hitting streak to 15 games which matches a career high. He last did this on June 1-17, 2006. He is hitting 364 during the stretch. Hideki Matsui's triple was the 11th of his career and 1st since Sept 22, 2007 in Toronto. He is hitting 406 over the past 8 games. Derek Jeter has a 8 game hitting streak. Yesterday Jose Molina became the first player to log a sac fly and a grand slam in the same inning since Oakland's Sal Bando vs California on May 7, 1975 according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The lineup for the Yankees is as follows: Jeter(ss) Damon(lf) Tex(1b) Matsui(dh) Cano(2b) Posada(c) Swisher(rf) Cabrera(cf) Pena(3b)

Yankees at Royals

UPDATE 5:02PM- The lineups have been posted and here they are Yankees Jeter(ss) Swisher(lf) Teixera(1b) Matsui(dh) Posada(c) Cano(2b) Nady(rf) Ransom(3b) Gardner(cf Royals Crisp(cf) Callaspo(2b) DeJesus(lf) Butler(dh) Gordon(3b) Aviles(ss) Jacobs(1b) Olivio(c) Bloomquist(rf) Both teams are 2-2 CC Sabathia makes his second start of the year today, trying to improve on his dreadful opening day performance. He worked on a mechanical issue with pitching coach Dave Eiland in his bullpen session and believes he corrected the flaw. It was his footwork especially his front foot, so if he has his fastball command early we will know it should be a much better game from him. CC is 14-10 with a 3.40 era in his career against the Royals, he has started the most games against them in his career. In the last 2 games yankee pitchers have struck out 22 batters, after the first two games we didn't think they would strike anyone out all year, well at least some fatalistic fans thought that. Robinson Cano has a 349 career avg against the Royals the highest he has against any team. He has a 15 game hitting streak dating back to last year and is 4 for 6 against Ramirez who pitches today for the Royals. The Yankees are the only team in the majors without an error but of course Nick Swisher dropped a ball yesterday that should of been an error and Robinson Cano rushed a throw yesterday that could of been an error although that isn't as bad as Swisher not getting an error. Mark Teixera aka Big Tex turns 29 today, Happy Birthday Tex. The Elias Sports Bureau came up with a couple of interesting things. Jorge Posada has caught at least 1 game for 15 straight years. The last person to do that was Johnny Bench with the Reds from 1967-83. Nick Swisher drove in 5 runs on Thursday becoming the first Yankee since Roger Maris in 1960 to drive in 4 or more runs in their first starts with the Yankees. I will be back with the lineups in a little while, the game doesn't start until 7:00pm, the Red Sox vs Angels is the Fox game of the week at 4:00pm. Peter Abraham gets the credit for having this information on his blog at http://yankees.lhblogs.com/ and much more so check it out.

Game 2: Yankees at Orioles

UPDATE 5:42PM- I should of mentioned this before but Dan Giese got picked up off waivers by the Oakland A's, good luck to Dan. The Yankees lineup for tonight is the same as opening day. Jeter(ss) Damon(lf) Teixera(1b) Matsui(dh) Posada(c) Cano(2b) Nady(rf) Ransom(3b) Gardner(cf) Wang gets the start and is on the mound for the first time since last June when he got hurt in Houston rounding third base. He is 3-1 with a 5.13 era in 8 starts against the O's in his career and 2-0 with a 4.20 era in 4 starts at Camden Yards. Robinson Cano for only the 13th time in his career walked twice on Monday. The Yankees on their opening day roster had players that come from 7 other countries, the only team with more was Atlanta which had 8. The Yankees have 12 foreign born players tied with the Mets and Red Sox for 2nd most in the majors only trailing Seattle who has 15. These stats come via Peter Abraham and his blog. The Elias Sports Bureau had a interesting stat, on Monday Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera became the first trio of Yankees to play in 15 straight seasons(1995-2009). Enjoy the game, I will be back later with some reaction, comments, opinions. Hopefully Wang will get the team back on track before some people jump off a bridge.