The New York Yankees are blown out in Baltimore

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.  The game took place at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland.  The final score was 11-3 Orioles.  Chris Capuano started for the Yankees and was ok, the bullpen was not good.  The offense had a 3-1 lead and then shut down.  They only had one hit after and none after the fifth inning. 

Capuano pitched six innings giving up four runs on six hits.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven and lost his third game of the season.  Adam Warren pitched an inning giving up three hits and three runs with a strikeout, Chase Whitley pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up five hits and four runs with a walk and Rich Hill retired the only batter that he faced. 

Bud Norris won his 10th game of the season pitching five innings giving up five hits and three runs.  He walked one and struck out five.  Brad Brach pitched an inning giving up a walk and a strikeout, Darren O'Day pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two walks and a strikeout and Andrew Miller faced one batter and retired him.  Tommy Hunter pitched a perfect inning. 

Brett Gardner had a hit, Derek Jeter had a hit and an RBI and Jacoby Ellsbury drew a walk.  Carlos Beltran drew a walk, Chase Headley had a hit and drew two walks and Martin Prado had a hit.  Francisco Cervelli had a hit, Jeter hit a double and Gardner hit a triple.  The Yankees were 0-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Beltran, Headley and Ellsbury each had a stolen base. 

Nick Markakis had two hits, Manny Machado had a hit but then left the game with an injury and Chris Davis had two hits and two RBI.  Adam Jones had three hits and two RBI, Nelson Cruz had two hits and three RBI and David Lough had a hit and an RBI.  Joseph had a hit, Ryan Flaherty drew a walk and Jonathan Schoop had two hits and three RBI.  Machado, Markakis and Joseph each hit a double.  Jones hit two doubles, Davis, Cruz and Schoop each hit a homerun.  The Orioles were 5-9 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Machado, Norris and Schoop each committed an error. 

In the first Jeter hit an RBI groundout to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  The Orioles tied the game in the bottom of the first on a Cruz sacrifice fly.  The Yankees took a 3-1 lead in the second inning.  Beltran stole home, Headley stole second and scored on a throwing error.  In the third Jones hit an RBI single to make it a 3-2 game.  In the fifth Davis hit a two run homerun to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead.  The Orioles extended their lead to 7-3 in the seventh.  Jones hit an RBI single and Cruz a two run homerun.  In the eighth the Orioles scored four more runs to take an 11-3 lead and that would be the final score.  Schoop hit a three run homerun and Lough hit an RBI single.  The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Tuesday night.   

New York Mets spring training notes

New York Mets spring training notes


The Mets as always are getting criticism right now. They signed Chris Young to a one year 7.5 million deal in November. Nelson Cruz just signed with Baltimore for one year and eight million. There were a lot of Mets fans that wanted him and I can see their frustration. They didn’t know in November though that Cruz would come down, he was looking for a five-year deal at the time.

Terry Collins the manager said on Saturday that he liked Ike Davis swing. He believes it is more quite and flat, which creates better backspin on the ball. He said this “I’m really impressed with what I’ve seen.” He went on to say that his swing is completely different then last year. Ike Davis had a tough year and then went through a winter of being in constant trade rumors. He is still a Met and maybe that is a good thing. If he just focuses on baseball and gets it back he will be a valuable asset to the Mets. If he does well they may be able to trade Lucas Duda and Davis can be the first baseman for a long time and help anchor the infield.

Matt Harvey tossed a baseball for the first time since his surgery on Saturday. It doesn’t mean much as there is no way he will be playing this year but good to see for them. He made about 20 throws to the bullpen catcher. He was roughly standing 60 feet away and was being watched by many fans, media and cameras. Harvey told reporters “It was awesome. Everything felt amazing; I’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s going to be a tough process with how things felt today. But I’ve got to stick with it and move forward.”

The Mets catchers have been told to not block home plate regardless of the new rules or not. The Mets offered Stephen Drew a one year 9.5 million dollar deal but he is still looking for more. Maybe they can agree to that with an option, I don’t know what other options he really has at this point.

The Yankees offense is lifeless in 3-0 loss to the Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers defeated the New York Yankees on Monday night. The final score was 3-0 and the game took place at Rangers ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Ivan Nova started and pitched well; Joba Chamberlain also pitched a scoreless inning. The Yankees managed four singles.

Nova pitched seven innings giving up seven hits and three runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Nova lost his third game and Chamberlain pitched an inning giving up a hit and struck out one.

Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Lyle Overbay had two hits and Vernon Wells drew a walk. Travis Hafner drew a walk; The Yankees were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

Yu Darvish earned his ninth win of the season. He pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up two hits and no runs. He walked two and struck out four. Robbie Ross pitched 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters, Tanner Scheppers pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Joe Nathan saved his 31st game of the season. Nathan pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Ian Kinsler drew a walk, Nelson Cruz had two hits and an RBI and Adrian Beltre had a hit and an RBI. A.J. Pierzynski had two hits, Elvis Andrus had a hit and drew a walk and Geovany Soto had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Leonis Martin had a hit, Soto hit a double and Cruz hit a homerun. The Rangers were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Kinsler had a stolen base and Andrus had two, Martin was caught stealing.

In the first inning the Rangers took a 1-0 lead. Beltre hit an RBI single; in the sixth Soto hit an RBI double to make it 2-0 Texas. In the seventh the Rangers scored to complete the scoring. Cruz hit a solo homerun and the final score was 3-0 Texas.

The Yankees record dropped to 52-47 and the Rangers record improved to 55-44. The two teams will play game two of four on Tuesday night.

Texas wins their second straight American League Championship with a blowout victory over Detroit

The Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers by the score of 15-5 on Saturday night. The win gave Texas it’s second straight American League Championship and sent them to the World Series. Texas will now await the winner of the National League Championship Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers. The National League will have the home field advantage. The Texas offense erupted in the third inning for nine runs and they never looked back in this game. Nelson Cruz set the record for most homeruns in any single season series in postseason history. Cruz hit six homeruns during the series to eclipse the record of five.
Derek Holland started the game for Texas and he pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and four runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Scott Feldman retired the only batter that he faced, Alexi Ogando got the win pitching two innings giving up one hit and striking out three and Mike Adams pitched an inning giving up two hits and one run. Neftali Feliz pitched a perfect inning to close out the game. Max Scherzer started for Detroit and pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up five hits and six runs, he walked four and struck out one. Scherzer took the loss, Max Schlereth didn’t record an out and gave up a hit and a run, Rick Porcello pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a walk and Ryan Perry pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up two hits and one run. Brad Penny pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and five runs. Penny walked two and struck out one and Al Alburquerque pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk and two strikeouts.

Ian Kinsler had two hits and three RBI with a walk for Texas, Elvis Andrus had two hits and a walk and Josh Hamilton had a hit, RBI and a walk. Michael Young had three hits and five RBI, Adrian Beltre had two hits and an RBI and Mike Napoli had a hit and a walk. Cruz had two hits and two RBI with a walk, David Murphy had two hits, two RBI and three walks and Craig Gentry had two hits and an RBI. Cruz, Young and Beltre each had a double. Young and Cruz each had a homerun and Cruz set the new postseason record with his six homeruns during the series. Texas was 8-18 with runners in scoring position and they left 11 men on base. Andrus and Murphy each had a stolen base and Andrus was also caught stealing.

Detroit saw their big hitters come up big but it wasn’t enough on this night. Austin Jackson had two hits and two RBI, Miguel Cabrera had two hits and two RBI and Victor Martinez had three hits. Jhonny Peralta had a hit and an RBI, Brandon Inge and Ramon Santiago each had a hit. Cabrera hit two homeruns and Peralta and Jackson each had a homerun. The Tigers were 1-1 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base. Delmon Young and Ryan Raburn each committed an error in the game.

In the first inning Cabrera hit a solo homerun to put the Tigers in front 1-0. In the second Peralta hit a solo homerun to make it 2-0 Tigers. The Rangers struck for nine runs in the third inning to take a 9-2 lead and they would not look back in this game. Young hit a two run double, Beltre hit an RBI single and Murphy hit a two run single. Kinsler hit a two run single and Young hit a two run double. Young had four RBI in the inning. In the fifth Jackson hit a two run homerun to make it a 9-4 game in favor of the Rangers. Hamilton hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to make it 10-4. In the sixth Gentry hit an RBI single and Kinsler hit an RBI single to make it a 12-4 game. In the seventh Young hit a solo homerun and Cruz hit a two run homerun to make it 15-4. In the eighth Cabrera hit a solo homerun to make it 15-5 and complete the scoring for the game.

The Rangers won the American League Pennant for the second consecutive season. They won the series in six games just like they did last year over the Yankees. The Rangers will now await the winner of the NLCS, the Cardinals and Brewers will play Game Six on Sunday night. The World Series will begin in the home of the National League Champion, the National League has home field advantage for the World Series. Cruz besides hitting his six homeruns became the first player to drive in 13 runs in a single postseason series. The Rangers became the first AL team to repeat winning the pennant since the Yankees did it in 1998-2001. The last non Yankee team to do it was the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992-93. Ron Washington the manager said “It was very tough, but when you have a group of guys that’s committed to each other and committed to a purpose, usually good things happen. I have to give a lot of credit to our pitching staff. You have to give a lot of credit to the guys that showed up every day. I have to give a lot of credit to the organization for getting us pieces when we need it and jus trusting us with all that talent that they gave to us. More then anything else, the players deserve a heck of a lot of credit because it took a lot behind the scenes to get to this point. And more than anything else, we defended our American League Championship.” The World Series will begin on Wednesday and the middle three games of the series will be in Arlington on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Rangers are the second team in postseason history two win a best of seven playoff series without a win from their starters. The 1997 Indians also won the ALCS without a win from their starters.