The New York Yankees win their third straight game

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.  The game took place at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts and the final score was 5-1.  Michael Pineda started and pitched very well, the bullpen was also good.  Alex Rodriguez had two hits and two RBI. 

Pineda pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up one run on seven hits.  He didn't walk a batter and he struck out six and won his ninth game of the season.  Justin Wilson pitched 1/3 of an inning striking out one, Dellin Betances pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts and Andrew Miller pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts. 

Clay Buchholz pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up six hits and three runs with one of them being earned.  He didn't walk a batter and three strikeouts and lost his seventh game of the season.  Robbie Ross Jr. pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up two hits and an unearned run with a walk and four strikeouts.  Matt Barnes didn't record an out and gave up a run and a walk, Craig Breslow pitched an inning giving up a hit and Justin Masterson pitched a perfect inning. 

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit and an RBI, Brett Gardner had a hit and an RBI and Alex Rodriguez had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk.  Mark Teixeira had a hit, Brian McCann had a hit and Chris Young drew a walk.  Didi Gregorius had a hit, Stephen Drew had a hit and Gregorius hit a double.  Rodriguez hit a homerun and the Yankees were 2-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.  Pineda and Figueroa each committed an error. 

Mookie Betts had a hit and an RBI, Brock Holt had a hit and Xander Bogaerts had a hit.  Pablo Sandoval had a hit, Mike Napoli had a hit and Alejandro De Aza had a hit.  Sandy Leon had a hit, Betts hit a homerun and the Red Sox were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Napoli and Holt each committed an error. 

In the first Rodriguez hit a solo homerun to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  In the fourth Ellsbury reached on an error and a run scored to make it 2-0 Yankees.  Gardner had an RBI single and Rodriguez had an RBI walk and the lead was up to 4-0.  In the fifth Betts hit a solo homerun to cut the lead to 4-1 and in the eighth Ellsbury hit an RBI single to make it 5-1 and that was the final score.  The two teams will play game two of three on Saturday night. 

Yankees postgame notes from Boston

Here are the Yankees postgame notes from Thursday night in Boston.  The Yankees finally won two in a row and won a series.  It has been a while since they did either. Jeter tied Mays on the all-time hits list and kept the Yankees tied for first.  The Lohud Yankees blog has all the information and I add in some thoughts. 

There are absolutely times when Derek Jeter’s intangibles are blown out of proportion. In fact, there are times when that storyline does a disservice the tangible player he’s been. But there are other times when Jeter’s quiet brand of leadership deserves a turn in the spotlight. It’s cliche to write a Captain Jeter story, and it feels silly to suggest he’s able to will this team to win simply by being himself.
But Jeter has that reputation for a reason.

In no way was Jeter the Yankees best player tonight — this game belonged to Phil Hughes in ever which way — but wouldn’t you know it, the Yankees had just one hit with runners in scoring position tonight, and it was Jeter who floated that RBI single into center field. And wouldn’t you know it, that hit just happened to be No. 3,283 for his career, tying Willie Mays — Willie Mays! — for 10th place — 10th place! — on baseball’s all-time hits list.

“It’s pretty special if you think about it,” Jeter said. “But it’s kind of hard to think about it now because we’re trying to win games.”  This is so Jeter, if they had a bigger lead he may talk about it more but would still say the goal is to get to the postseason then win a series. 

Of course he said that. Of course Jeter said the most perfect thing anyone could say in a situation like this. Did you expect anything different?  The answer is no of course not, does he ever say the wrong thing. 

“He was playing on probably about one ankle tonight, maybe one-and-a-quarter,” Joe Girardi said. “That’s who he is. He’s a fighter, and he finds a way. He gets the big hit tonight, and it’s impressive. … There’s no doubt that he’s a leader and he leads by example. He’s done that his whole career.”

Did the Yankees win this one for Jeter? No, I don’t think so. That RBI single was his only hit in a 1-for-5 night, and it was technically Andruw Jones’ sacrifice fly that brought home the winning run, but nights like this have helped build Jeter’s legacy. You could see him limping when he ran, but there was no doubt that he’d downplay the injury in the clubhouse and shift the focus to things much bigger than his left ankle. And he did exactly that. He did exactly what the Yankees have come to expect him to do.

“You cannot change anything that’s happened,” he said. “We’re in first place for a reason. We’ve played pretty well for the majority of the season. You’re going to go through up and downs, and obviously we would’ve loved to have won all the series leading up to this point but it wasn’t the case. All we can control is how we’re playing now, and we played well here.”  He is right about that and then you move on and try to get a lead in the division. 

This was only Hughes’ second career quality start at Fenway Park, and his first scoreless start in this stadium. He held the Red Sox hitless until two outs in the fourth, the deepest he’d carried a no-hitter since September 15, 2010 when he took one into the fifth inning. His seven strikeouts matched his highest total against Boston.  I know it is a depleted team but this should be a confidence booster, it should make him feel good.  Hughes has pitched well lately which the Yankees have needed. 

Hughes’ giving a blunt assessement of the crowd here in Boston: “To be honest, the atmosphere was a little dull in here for the first time in a long time because of the way the Red Sox season has gone this year. If anything, it just felt like a normal game. We just had to go out and win. We got two out of three here, we have to go home and have a tough series against the Rays. We have to get it done.”

Hughes really leaned on his fastball tonight, and he was aggressive with it. He said he tried to use his new slider early in the game, but the Red Sox weren’t really offering at it, so he decided to stick with the fastball. “I think I had nine or 10 pitches through three or four outs,” he said. “To get off on a good start like that really helps your pitch count later on in the game. That was the case tonight. I was pounding the strike zone early and forcing them to either get into bad counts or swing early and hit themselves into outs, so it’s a big day.”

This was career start No. 100 for Hughes. It was also his 29th of the season, matching his career-high set in 2010. He threw 95 pitches, his fewest ever in an outing of at least seven innings.  This is the thing people forget, he has been durable this year, taking the ball every fifth day and he has won 15 games. 

 Rafael Soriano got his 38th save of the season. It’s the first time he’s saved games on consecutive nights since July 16-17.  That seems crazy with this team but it is true, he has been great for them though. 

Girardi said he would have liked to have stayed away from Boone Logan and Dave Robertson, but he knew he could use them for a handful of pitches if necessary. In a two-run game, it was necessary. “In your mind, you say if you can stay away from them, you stay away from them,” Girardi said. “Boone didn’t throw a lot of pitches the last two days, even today we didn’t ask him to throw a lot. Robby, I was a little more concerned about, but I knew I wasn’t going to ask him to throw a full inning. I figured I’d have him for one hitter. Again, he came to me and said he was great.”  This time of the year that all kind of goes out the window. 

Alex Rodriguez scored his 1,888th career run in the fourth inning tying him with Lou Gehrig for ninth on baseball’s all-time scoring list. He went 2-for-5 tonight and has a hit in 15 of his past 16 games.

It was a good night for Eduardo Nunez who had two hits and no errors. In his first game back at shortstop since rejoining the team, the Red Sox first ball in play was hit to him. Of course it was.  That is the way baseball is. 

This was the Yankees ninth shutout of the season, and their first since August 14 against Texas. Last time they pitched a shutout at Fenway was July 25, 2008.

According to Elias, the last player to be in the Top 10 career hits list while an active member of the Yankees was Paul Waner in 1945. There’s your totally random fact of the night.  That is a cool stat though. 

The Yankees have won back-to-back games for the first time since August 15.

Final word goes to Jeter: “Now we’re on a winning streak, so were good again, right? It was great to win this series, it really was, but we start all over tomorrow when we get home. Tampa always plays us tough. They’re a handful, so we have to be ready to play, because the teams we’re playing want to beat us.”

The New York Yankees take the series in Boston and remain tied for first

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox by the score of 2-0 on Thursday night. The game took place at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and was great and their bullpen was good. Derek Jeter and Andruw Jones supplied the only runs of the game for the Yankees. Felix Doubrount started for the Red Sox and pitched well, their bullpen also pitched well. The Red Sox only managed six hits and not one player had more then one hit. 
Hughes pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings giving up five hits and no walks. He struck out seven batters and earned his 15^th win of the season. Boone Logan pitched to one batter and retired him, Dave Robertson retired the only batter he faced and Rafael Soriano picked up his 38^th save of the season pitching one inning and giving up a hit and striking out one. Doubront lost his ninth game of the season pitching 6 1/3 innings giving up four hits and two runs with five walks and five strikeouts. Junichi Tazawa pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out two, Craig Breslow pitched an inning walking one and striking out one and MarK Melancon pitched an inning walking one.

Jeter had a hit and an RBI, Nick Swisher drew a walk and Alex Rodriguez had two hits. Robinson Cano drew two walks, Russell Martin drew a walk and Andruw Jones had an RBI and drew two walks. Steve Pearce drew a walk, Eduardo Nunez had two hits and Nunez hit a double. The Yankees were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Rodriguez had a stolen base

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit, Scott Podsednik drew a walk and James Loney had a hit. Cody Ross had a hit, Daniel Nava had a hit and Mike Aviles had a hit. Pedro Ciriaco had a hit, Ciriaco hit a double and the Red Sox were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. De Jesus and Iglesias each committed an error.

Jones hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the seventh Jeter hit an RBI single to give them a 2-0 lead and that was the final score.

The Yankees won two out of three in the series. The Yankees also won two games in a row for the first time in 25 games. The Yankees record improved to 81-62 and back into a first place tie with the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees will begin a three game series at home against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.

The New York Yankees even up series with Boston Red Sox and remain tied for first

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox by the score of 5-4 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. David Phelps made the start for the Yankees and pitched well probably the best of his career. He didn’t pitch that deep into the game but under the circumstances it was some performance. The Yankees bullpen made it interesting but they weren’t that bad. Curtis Granderson powered the offense with two homeruns and Nick Swisher continued to come out of his slump with three more hits. Aaron Cook was out of the game early for the Red Sox and their pen did a decent job. Jarrod Saltalamacchaia was the leader of the Red Sox offense. 
Phelps pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up one run on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts. He won his fourth game of the season, Clay Rapada pitched to one batter and retired him, Cody Eppley pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout and Boone Logan didn’t record an out and gave up a hit and a run. Joba Chamberlain pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit, Dave Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Rafael Soriano pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout. Cook took the loss, his 10^th of the season pitching five innings giving up seven hits and three runs with two strikeouts. Rich Hill pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and striking out one, Alfredo Aceves pitched an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a strikeout and Chris Carpenter pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk. Andrew Miller pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out two and Vincente Padilla pitched to one batter and struck him out.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Granderson had two hits and three RBI and Alex Rodriguez had a hit. Robinson Cano had a hit and two RBI, Swisher had three hits and Eric Chavez had two hits. Andruw Jones drew a walk and Chris Stewart drew a walk. Chavez and Swisher each hit two doubles. Granderson hit two homeruns and Cano hit a homerun. The Yankees struggles with runners in scoring position continued as they were 0-13 and left 10 men on base. Dickerson had a stolen base and Soriano committed an error. Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit, Dustin Pedroia had two hits before leaving to be with his wife who was in labor and James Loney had two hits and an RBI. Saltalamacchia had three hits, an rBI and drew a walk, Daniel Nava had a hit and Miguel Gomez had an RBI. Mike Aviles had a hit and an RBI, Pedroia, Saltalamacchia, Nava, Aviles and Loney each hit a double. Saltalamacchia hit a triple and hit a homerun. The Red Sox were 3-9 with runner sin scoring position and left six men on base. Ciriaco, Aviles and Miller each committed an error.

In the fourth inning Granderson hit a solo homerun to make it 1-0 Yankees. Cano hit a two run homerun and it was 3-0 Yankees. The Red Sox scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Loney RBI single. Granderson hit a two run homerun in the seventh inning making it a 5-1 game in favor of the Yankees. In the bottom of the seventh the Red Sox scored a couple of runs to make it a 5-3 game. Gomez hit an RBI groundout and Aviles hit an RBI double. The Red Sox scored a run in the ninth on a Saltalamacchia solo homerun to make it 5-4 and that was the final score.

The Yankees and Red Sox have split the first two games of a three game series. The three game series will conclude on Thursday night. The Yankees record improved to 80-62 and the Red Sox record fell to 64-79. The Yankees remain in a first place tie with the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. They moved to three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Yankees postgame notes from Saturday night

Here are the postgame notes after a wild 15-9 Yankees win this evening in Fenway Park.  Thanks to the Lohud Yankees blog who had the coverage and I add my own insights as usual. 

The whole thing took a little less than an hour and a half, which, all things considered, was remarkably fast. In a span of six Yankees outs, 13 Yankees hits and seven Red Sox pitchers a baseball blowout came full circle. The Yankees were on their way to a embarrassing loss, and suddenly they were humiliating the Red Sox in front of a booing Fenway crowd that seemed to have seen enough.

“It’s baseball, and it’s hard to feel sorry for anybody,” Mark Teixeira said. “That’s not a knock on (Bobby Valentine) or anybody, but you go out to win the game. I’ve never felt bad about winning games.”

For the Yankees, this one had bad feeling written all over it. Freddy Garcia was pulled after an inning and two third, the Red Sox scored at least two runs in four of the first five innings, and the Yankees had scattered three singles before Teixeira hit his solo home run in the top of the sixth.  The thing that still concerns me is the Yankees starting pitching.  It has been pretty bad and Garcia and Hughes have both been bad.  Andy Pettitte is on schedule to return in about three weeks so who goes and also if they both continue one of them will be in the rotation.  Michael Pineda had a setback which isn't good, who knows when you may see him. 

“It seems kind of like an innocent homer at the time,” Joe Girardi said. “… I know we have a great offense, but you don’t see a comeback (like that) at any level very often in professional baseball.”

In coming back from 9-0, the Yankees matched the franchise record for the largest deficit overcome in a win. They’d done it five times before tonight. They also scored seven runs in back-to-back innings for just the second time in franchise history. The first also came at Fenway.

“It’s still pretty shocking,” Teixeira said. “It’s one of the funnest games I’ve ever played in my entire life. I’ve played in a lot of games.”

Nick Swisher called the Yankees relievers the “heroes of the game,” but it’s hard to ignore six RBIs apiece from both Swisher and Teixeira. In consecutive at-bats, Teixeira hit two homers — one from each side of the plate — and a two-run, ground-rule double. In back-to-back at-bats, Swisher hit the grand slam that gave the Yankees life and the two-run double that gave them a lead. As he stood on second base after the double, Swisher pounded his chest.

“Those first four or five innings, we didn’t really have much going on,” Swisher said. “Then one hit, then a second hit, then a third hit. You know the old saying hitting is contagious. I feel like that is exactly the case today.”

 Curtis Granderson on Thursday, Eric Chavez yesterday and Mark Teixeira tonight. The Yankees have had a player hit multiple home runs in three straight games for the first time since 1961. The Yankees are the first big league team to do it since the Reds in 2010.

Last time two Yankees had six RBIs in the same game was 2005 when Alex Rodriguez and Tino Martinez did it against the Rays. Last time two Yankees had six RBIs in a game on the road was 1999 when Scott Brosius and — surprise! — Joe Girardi did it. Girardi had seven in that game.

The Red Sox bullpen allowed 14 runs (13 earned) through the final three innings. It was the most runs allowed by the Red Sox relievers since 2000 when the bullpen gave up 17 runs in a 22-1 loss to the Yankees. It was the most earned runs allowed by the Red Sox bullpen since 1994.

 On the other side, the Yankees bullpen allowed four runs through 7.1 innings. None of those runs came in the last four innings when David Phelps, Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan and Cody Eppley pitched a scoreless inning apiece. Phelps finished with four innings and three earned runs (he gave up another run charged to Clay Rapada). “I thought (Phelps) was ok,” Girardi said. “I thought he threw the ball pretty decent. He wasn’t quite as crisp as the last time he went out and went five innings, but on a day when the wind was blowing pretty good, I thought he was OK.”

 Freddy Garcia was neither crisp nor ok. He lasted only 1.2 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. Girardi said Garcia didn’t have the same arm strength he showed in spring training and in previous starts this season. Garcia said he felt better in the second inning, but by then it was too late. “Every pitch I was throwing, they hit,” Girardi said. “I threw a couple of good pitches in the first inning and they hit it. Like I say, I have to pitch good. I don’t care if I’m throwing 83, 85, 86, whatever. I need to pitch good.”

Here’s Girardi on Garcia: “He didn’t have his velocity today. I think it caused the other pitches to roll a little bit. He was up in the zone. He just didn’t have his stuff today when he went out there, for whatever reason. We’ll continue to work on it and see what’s going on. He didn’t have the arm speed that he’s had and had all spring training.”

 After the second inning, I thought the Yankees would need to call up a pitcher for tomorrow’s game. At this point, I’m not so sure. Cory Wade, Dave Robertson, Soriano and Mariano Rivera should all be available. Maybe Logan, Rapada and Eppley as well. With CC Sabathia getting the start, that’s probably enough.

 Brian Cashman confirmed tonight that Michael Pineda will go for a dye contrast MRI on Monday in New York.

Eduardo Nunez is hitting .455 after a 3-for-4 tonight. He also has three stolen bases. The Yankees other shortstop is hitting .382 and also went 3-for-4 today.

 Don’t bank on tomorrow’s game being played. “The forecast is not real positive,” Girardi said. “It looks like we’re going to see a lot of rain tomorrow.”  I would think it will be postponed and the Yankees will move on to Texas.  They play enough during the season that they can easily reschedule.  The hope is that if it is as bad as they think, cancel it early so the Yankees can get going to Texas and not just sit around. 

 Let’s give the last word to Teixeira: “Some games, you get blown out. You play 162 games a year, you’re going to get blown out a few times. But, we still said, ‘Hey, let’s stay in it. We have a few innings left. You never know.’ And I give our bullpen a lot of credit because they kept us in the game. The last few innings they were lock down, and that was big. … If you come back from nine runs against anybody it’s a cool thing. But to do it here in Boston, it makes it a little more fun.”

The New York Yankees rally to stun the Boston Red Sox

The New York Yankees were down 9-0 in the sixth inning. It didn’t look promising at all for them. The Yankees scored seven runs in both the seventh and eighth innings and fought back to defeat the Boston Red Sox 15-9 on Saturday evening. Freddy Garcia started for the Yankees and was not good at all, the Yankees bullpen did a pretty good job. Felix Doubrount started for the Red Sox and pitched really well but their bullpen was dreadful. 
Garcia pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and five runs. He didn’t walk or strikeout a batter. Clay Rapada pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run, David Phelps pitched four innings giving up six hits and three runs with a walk and two strikeouts and Rafael Soriano pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Soriano picked up the win, his second of the season. Boone Logan pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Cody Eppley pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Doubront pitched six innings giving up four hits and one run with three walks and seven strikeouts. The Red Sox used six relievers who combined for three innings, 12 hits, 14 runs, five walks and two strikeouts.

Derek Jeter had three hits, an RBI and drew two walks, Nick Swisher had three hits and six RBI and Robinson Cano had a hit and drew two walks, one which was intentional. Alex Rodriguez drew a walk, Mark Teixeira had three hits and six RBI and Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew a walk. Andruw Jones drew a walk, Russell Martin had two hits and two RBI and Eduardo Nunez had three hits and drew a walk. Cano, Swisher, Teixeira and Martin each had a double. Teixeira hit two homeruns, one from each side of the plate and Swisher had a homerun. The Yankees were 7-12 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Nunez had a stolen base.

Mike Aviles had two hits and two RBI for the Red Sox. Ryan Sweeney had a hit and an RBI, Dustin Pedroia had two hits and an RBI and Adrian Gonzalez had a hit and an RBI. David Ortiz had four hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Jarrod Saltalamacchia had four hits and Cody Ross had two hits and two RBI. Darnell McDonald had a hit and an RBI. Sweeney, Gonzalez, Ortiz, McDonald and Saltalamacchhia each had a double. Ross hit a homerun. The Red Sox were 7-15 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Aviles had a stolen base and an error. Saltalamacchia had a passed ball.

The Red Sox got out to a 9-0 lead. They scored two in the first, three in the second and two in the third. They then added two runs in the fifth inning and had a 9-0 lead. The Yankees got on the board in the sixth on a solo homerun from Teixeira. In the seventh the Yankees scored seven runs to make it a 9-8 game. Martin singled with one out, Nunez singled and Jeter walked. It was the bases loaded and one out and Swisher hit a grand slam to make it 9-5 Red Sox. Cano doubled, Rodriguez reached on an error and Teixeira hit a three run homerun. It was 9-8 Red Sox and Fenway was stunned. The Yankees weren’t done yet though as they scored seven more runs in the eighth inning. Nunez singled, Jeter walked and Swisher had a two run double to make it 10-9 Yankees. Swisher was really pumped up as he beat his chest and was screaming at second base. Cano was intentionally walked and Rodriguez walked, Teixeira hit a ground rule double to score two more runs. It was 12-9 Yankees at this point and then Martin added a two run double later in the inning to make it 14-9 Yankees. The final run was scored on a Jeter RBI single. The Yankees scored 15 unanswered runs to win the game 15-9.

The Yankees are now 9-6 on the season and have won three straight games. The Red Sox are reeling at 4-10 on the season. They have injuries and their pitching has been awful. The Red Sox made a trade for Marlon Byrd after the game, they sent Bowden one of their pitching prospects to the Cubs and some cash. The situation up there has gotten so bad that the owners and GM met with Bobby Valentine in his office after the game. They are saying it was just a we are all in this together talk but who knows. The two teams weather permitting will complete their three game series on Sunday night at 8:00PM. It is scheduled to be CC Sabathia and Daniel Bard as the pitching matchup.

The New York Yankees ruin the 100th anniversary party at Fenway by beating the Boston Red Sox

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox by the score of 6-2 Friday evening. Ivan Nova made the start for the Yankees and pitched well. Clay Bucholz started for the Red Sox and didn’t pitch so well. The Yankees offense hit five solo homeruns in the game. 
Nova won his third game of the year, pitching six innings. He gave up two runs on seven hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Cory Wade pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one, Dave Robertson pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out two and Cody Eppley gave up a hit. Mariano Rivera pitched an inning and struck out two batters. Bucholz took the loss and is now 1-1 on the season. He pitched six innings giving up nine hits on six runs with five of them being earned. He walked two and struck out two. Scott Atchison pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one, J. Thomas pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Junicha Tazawa pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew a walk and Alex Rodriguez had two hits and two RBI. Robinson Cano had a hit, Nick Swisher had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Raul Ibanez had a hit. Eric Chavez had two hits and two RBI and Russell Martin had a hit and an RBI. Swisher had a double and a homerun. Chavez had two homeruns, Rodriguez had a homerun and Martin had a homerun. The Yankees were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base.

Mike Aviles had two hits and an RBI for the Red Sox. Mike Sweeney had a hit, Dustin Pedroia had a hit and Adrian Gonzalez had a hit. David Ortiz had two hits and an RBI, Kevin Youkilis had a hit and Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a hit. Cody Ross had a hit, Youkilis had a double and Sweeney had a double. Ross and Aviles each had a double and Ortiz hit a homerun. The Red Sox were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Pedroia committed an error.

Rodriguez had an RBI single in the first inning to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the second Swisher and Chavez hit solo homeruns to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Ortiz hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 3-1. The play was overturned as it was ruled a double on the field but correctly overturned and ruled a homerun after replay. In the fourth Chavez hit his second solo homerun to make it a 4-1 Yankees lead. In the fifth inning Rodriguez hit a solo homerun to give the Yankees a 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning Aviles hit an RBI double to cut the Yankees lead to 5-2, the Yankees would add a sixth and final run in the sixth inning. Martin hit a solo homerun.

The Yankees improved their record to 8-6 and Boston saw their record drop to 4-9 on the season. The two teams will play game two of a three game series on Saturday afternoon at 4:00PM. If the weather holds out on Sunday the finale will be an 8:00PM start. A day after Granderson had a three homerun game, Chavez had two homeruns in his first two at bats but that was all he would get. The Yankees offense is starting to kick in gear, they have now hit nine homeruns in the last two games. The guys that were struggling are starting to hit such as Teixeira, Rodriguez, Cano. Nova continues to do nothing but win games, it is remarkable how this guy has grown and become so confident. When he has a lead the game is over, he never loses.

Yankees News and Notes-Monday April 11th

The New York Yankees are getting ready to start their second homestand of the season tomorrow night.  They will take on the Baltimore Orioles who are currently in first place in the AL East and then the Texas Rangers who are off to a 9-1 start after winning again today.  They will play two three game series.  The Yankees will send A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova to the mound against the Orioles. 

C.C. Sabathia will be greeting fans in the Great Hall before tomorrows game.  Nick Swisher was all around NYC today in different Bank Of America locations.  He was giving out tickets and merchandise.  Jorge Posada who hit three homeruns early on is now struggling going 0-15 with eight strikeouts in his last four games.  Brett Gardner is hitting only 167 and in four out of eight games started he is 0-16 with eight strikeouts and no walks.  In the other four games he has reached base nine times struck out only once and stolen three bases.  If you look at numbers too closely this time of year you will drive yourself nuts.  The point is that they change quickly, one bad game can make them look bad and one good game can make them look good. 

Derek Jeter is really struggling but it is something Joe Girardi doesn't want to deal with.  He will give him some time, preaching patience with him.  What if Jeter is still not hitting with authority come May or June though will he have the guts to drop him in the order.  It is a hard thing because he is a Yankees icon but he is getting older and could be on the decline.  He hit 270 last year by far his worst year but maybe that was the start of his decline instead of just a blip on the radar.  We will have to wait and see what happens. 

Josh Beckett looked like the old Josh Beckett last night so the Yankees can't be blamed for that.  A lot of the guys are struggling offensively but it is early and you go through strikes.  The one alarming thing about the Yankees is that they are scoring most of their runs by the homerun.  That isn't the best way to score runs if you are always waiting for a homerun.  I wouldn't worry too much overall because you know this team will score runs and the season will come down to their pitching especially their starters. 

The Yankees are hoping Alex Rodriguez will be back tomorrow night.  He had the flu bad and the Yankees weren't even going to use him as a pinch hitter last night.  Freddy Garcia being used in the eighth inning last night was to just get him some work.  Girardi said if it had been a closer game one of the late inning relievers would have pitched.  Sabathia didn't have his best stuff but he did what he could gutting through it and giving hte Yankees a chance. 

Robinson Cano has reached base safely in 16 straight games at Fenway Park.  This is the third time that Sabathia has carried an ERA below two for his first three starts it is a shame he doesn't have a win to show for it.  Mark Prior pitched the previous two days and had two scoreless innings.  He said he felt good and it is a significant step forward.  He could be up with the Yankees at some point this season. 

Yankees at Red Sox Game Two of Three

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will play game two of their three game series this afternoon at 1:05PM.  The game will be on FOX, Ivan Nova and Clay Bucholz are the pitchers in this one.  It will be a battle of two young right handers.  Nova looked great all spring and had a good first start.  Clay Bucholz struggled at the end of last year and hasn't started off good this season.  Here are some quick notes and the lineup.

The Yankees had a tough day yesterday especially Phil Hughes.  Hughes has now gotten hit hard in both of his starts and is searching for answers.  His velocity is way down but they say there is nothing wrong with him physically.  He will go back to work and try to get it ironed out.  I would say if he has one more bad start he could be put on the DL or skipped.  We will have to see what happens with that. 

The Yankees offense was good in the game but after they came back and then were within a run in the seventh inning Boone Logan gave up a couple more runs and the game was out of reach at 9-6.  Logan is the only lefty in the pen right now and he has been horrible.  He is another guy that has to get straightened out otherwise they will be looking for a new lefthander. 

The Boston Red Sox are now 1-6 on the season and the Yankees are 4-3.  The Yankees will be trying to avoid their first losing streak of the season and the Red Sox will be trying to have their first winning streak of the season. 

Yankees Lineup: Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson, Eric Chavez, Russell Martin.  Eric Chavez gets the start at DH, Jorge Posada has started to slump and they just wanted to get him a day off. 

Yankees take series in Extras

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox tonight by the score of 3-1. The Red Sox took an early lead and it stayed 1-0 until the 8th inning when Nick Swisher hit a rbi single with Jorge Posada at second. I don't know how he scored as he looked very slow and uncoordinated in trying to score but he made it by tiptoeing around the catcher and then missing home plate. He was able to crawl back and touch home plate as the ball got away from the catcher. Andy Pettitte and John Lackey both pitched very well but it became a battle of the bullpens. Andy pitched 6 innings giving up 6 hits and 1 run with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. John Lackey pitched 6 innings giving up 3 hits and 0 runs. Curtis Granderson was the hero of the game as he hit a homerun off of Jonathan Papelbon in the 10th inning. The Yankees added a insurance run with a Mark Teixiera fielders choice groundout. Mariano Rivera looked like he usually does by pitching a perfect inning for the save. Chan Ho Park was the story of the game though as he bounced back from his opening night loss with 3 shutout innings. He earned the victory, he also saved the bullpen who will now all be ready to go in Tampa on Friday. The Yankees won the series and will enjoy their day off. They will take on the Rays now in St. Pete Friday, Saturday and Sunday before coming home next Tuesday for the home opener. Javier Vazquez will make his debut on Friday. Curtis Granderson has started off his Yankee career nicely with 2 homeruns in 3 games and the game winner tonight. Nick Johnson hasn't gotten a hit yet but has started his second tour of duty off right with his near 500 on base percentage.

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.

Postgame Reaction from last nights Yankee Game

Joba Chamberlain met one of his childhood heroes before the game last night. John Smoltz was working for MLB network and he did offer Joba some advice. Smoltz remember started and relieved in his career and did both well. He told Joba to treat relieving as though it is a "one inning game." Joba said "It is just getting back in the routine, getting comfortable with what I do down there, when it is all clicking, it feels right." He was talking about being in the bullpen. He sure looked like his old self last night hitting 96 on the gun and showing that emotion that he needs to show. Chad Jennings of the Journal News had these postgame notes: Here is what A.J. Burnett said about Posada, he said that Posadas ability to block his curveball early in the game gave him the confidence to keep throwing it late. "My first couple of hooks aren't exactly 60 footers, they are more like 56 and a half." Nick Swisher said "I'm really just taking this, for the first time in my career, like a job. Show up, I do the work, make sure I am doing everything the right way and it's really working out. Maybe I am just a little more focused." Girardi said he didn't want to use Park because he felt a little sick yesterday. Girardi said it was possible that Robertson would of pitched the whole 8th inning had he not allowed that leadoff single. Girardi said this about Nick Johnson "That is why we went and got this guy." He was commenting on him getting on base 50 percent of the time even though he hasn't got a hit yet. The Yankees were pleased with the way Burnett pitched, Burnett said that he just made 2 mistakes to Victor Martinez. Here is what Girardi said about Cano in the 5 hole. "His approach has been outstanding."

Opening NIght 2010-Yankees at Red Sox

The New York Yankees will begin defense of their title at 8:05PM when they take on the Boston Red Sox from Fenway Park. What a way to begin the season on Easter against your hated rivals. Happy Easter to everyone, hope you are enjoying the day with friends and family and good food. I don't have too many notes but here is your game post. CC Sabathia will go up against Josh Beckett, they are the two aces of their respective staffs. This is the 108th season for the Yankees and second season in a row to start on the road. They lost to the Baltimore Orioles 10-5 last year. The teams will have an off day tomorrow then play Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 7:05PM. The games will be on the yes network in NY. A.J. Burnett will face John Lackey and then Andy Pettitte will face Jon Lester. The Yankees are 14-18 on Easter over the last 50 years. This is just the second time the Yankees are playing Boston on Easter over the last 50 years. The Yankees are 18-10-1 in 29 previous opening days against Boston. They are 6-4 in openers at Fenway Park. The Yankees and Red Sox last played on Opening Day in 2005. The Yankees won that game 9-2. The Yankees have been champs 26 times and went back to the World Series 16 times and repeated 12 times. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Johnson(DH) Teixeira(1B) Rodriguez(3B) Cano(2B) Posada(C) Granderson(CF) Swisher(RF) Gardner(LF)

Final Exhibition Game-Yankees Vs Yankees Future Stars

The New York Yankees will play one final exhibition game today at 1:0PM against Yankees Future Stars. This was set up by Yankees management and apparantly the players aren't too happy about it. The players would of preferred to break camp yesterday after the game and been in Boston for a workout today. They will play this game and then break camp and head to Boston and get there tonight. They will work out tomorrow prior to the game at 8:05PM tomorrow night. The game will be broadcast on ESPN. The Yes network will have pregame coverage starting at 7:00PM. Here are the lineups for todays game Yankees: Jeter(SS) Posada(C) Teixeira(1B) Rodriguez(3B) Cano(2B) Swisher(DH) Granderson(CF) Winn(RF) Gardner(LF) Javier Vazquez will start the game. This is pretty much the opening day lineup, Nick Johnson isn't in there today, he should be the DH and #2 hitter tomorrow, Swisher will be in RF and Winn will be on the bench. Yankees Future Stars: Heathcott(CF) Joseph(3B) Montero(C) Adams(2B) Murphy(DH) Curtis(LF) Suttle(1B) Nunez(SS) Mesa(RF) Jon Albaladejo is the starting pitcher.

Yanks lose in ugly fashion

The New York Yankees were hammered by the Boston Red Sox today by the score of 14-1. A.J. Burnett got the start and was awful giving up 9 runs in 5 innings. Alfredo Aceves came on in relief and wasn't much better. This is a game that there really isn't much to talk about, the Yankees want to forget about it and try and win the series tomorrow night with CC Sabathia on the hill against Josh Beckett. This is a ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecast at 8:00PM. The Red Sox really do need to win this game to have any shot at the division and they are trying to hold on to the wildcard also, a Yankee win will pretty much put away the division. The Yankees are ending a long roadtrip and if they win they will be 7-3 on it, if they lose 6-4 so either way they had a good roadtrip. The story of this game at least to the reporters and in the papers tomorrow is going to be how A.J. Burnett and Jorge Posada don't work well together. The last 2 games have been rough but Jorge caught most of the games before that where A.J. was on a great roll and no one said anything then. Jorge admitted today that they weren't on the same page at all but that will happen over the course of a long season. A.J. Burnett has been dreadful in Fenway Park this season and I have to believe it has become a mental thing, he pitched great against them at home the last time he faced them. The Yankees have to think now though if they face the Red Sox in the postseason about not letting A.J. pitch in Fenway. The Yankees are still 31 games over 500 and have the best record in baseball so they will throw this game away and come out tomorrow and try and get a win before heading home.