New York Yankees defeat the Atlanta Braves with good pitching and some power

The New York Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday afternoon.  The game took place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida and the final score was 5-1.  Luis Severino was supposed to start for the Yankees but was shutdown with rotator cuff tendinitis and will be out for approximately 2 weeks putting his opening day start in jeopardy.  Steven Tarpley started and pitched well for an inning and Chad Green as well.  J.A. Happ pitched well as did Tommy Khanle and Dellin Betances.  Aaron Judge had two hits to lead the offense including a long homerun. 

Tarpley pitched a perfect inning, Green pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Happ pitched three innings giving up four hits and a run with three strikeouts.  Khanle pitched an inning with a strikeout, Betances pitched a perfect inning and Nestor Cortes pitched two perfect innings with a strikeout. 

Troy Tulowitzki had an RBI, Judge had two hits and three RBI and Giancarlo Stanton had a hit.  Luke Voit had a hit, Miguel Andujar had a hit and drew a walk and Kyle Higashioka drew a walk.  Gleyber Torres drew a walk, D.J. LeMahieu had a hit and Estevan Florial had a hit and drew a walk.  Judge hit a double and a homerun and the Yankees were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.  Florial had a stolen base and Stanton had an outfield assist. 

In the fourth Johan Camargo hit an RBI single to give the Braves a 1-0 lead.  In the fifth Tulowitzki hit a sac fly and Judge hit a three-run homerun to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead.  In the seventh a wild pitch made it 5-1 and that would be the final score. 

The Yankees record on the spring is now 5-4 and they will take on the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday afternoon at home in Tampa. 

New York Yankees defeat the Toronton Blue Jays in first home spring game

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday afternoon.  The game took place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida and the final score was 3-0.  James Paxton started for the Yankees and he pitched a couple of good innings.  Domingo German and Luis Cessa also pitched a couple of good innings.  Chad Green and Jonathan Holder also pitched a good inning each.  Troy Tulowitzki made his first appearance of the spring and hit a homerun in his first at bat.  Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres each had a hit and Kyle Higashioka hit a homerun. 

Paxton pitched two scoreless and hitless innings giving up two walks and striking out two.  German pitched two scoreless innings giving up a hit and he struck out three and Cessa pitched two innings with two strikeouts.  Green pitched a perfect inning, Phillip Diehl pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts and Holder pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. 

Tulowitzki had a hit and an RBI, Diego Castillo had a hit and Judge had a hit.  Isiah Gilliam had a hit and drew a walk, Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk and Torres had a hit.  Kyle Holder had a hit, Greg Bird had a hit and three RBI.  Hicks hit a double and Bird hit a homerun and the Yankees were 1-3 with runners in scoring position. 

In the first Tulowitzki hit a solo homerun to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  In the second Higashioka hit a solo homerun to extend the lead to 2-0.  In the bottom of the sixth Jorge Saez hit an RBI ground out and made it a 3-0 game and that would be the final score. 

The Yankees will take on the Phillies on Tuesday afternoon. 

The New York Yankee drop their second straight to the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon.  The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York and the final score was 6-0.  Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and pitched well but made one bad pitch that cost him dearly.  The Yankees offense was shutdown once again only managing three hits. 

Nova pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up four hits and four runs with two walks and six strikeouts.  Nova lost his fourth game of the season.  Adam Warren pitched to two batters and struck them both out and Bryan Mitchell pitched three innings giving up three hits and two runs with only one of them being earned.  He struck out a batter. 

David Price pitched seven innings giving up three hits and no runs with three walks and seven strikeouts.  Price won his 11th game of the season.  Aaron Sanchez pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Mark Lowe pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. 

Jacoby Ellsbury drew a walk, Alex Rodriguez had a hit and Carlos Beltran had a hit and drew a walk.  Chase Headley drew a walk, Didi Gregorius had a hit and the Yankees were 0-2 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Ryan committed an error. 

Troy Tulowitzki had a hit and an RBI, Donaldson had a hit and drew a walk and Bautista had a hit.  Edward Encarnacion had a hit and drew a walk, Justin Smoak had a hit and four RBI and Russell Martin had a hit and an RBI.  Anthony Goins had a hit, Smoak hit a homerun and Tulowitzki hit a homerun.  The Blue Jays were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. 

In the sixth Smoak  hit a grand slam to give the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead.  In the seventh Tulowitzki extended the Blue Jays lead to 5-0 and in the eighth Martin hit an RBI single to make it 6-0 which would be the final score.  The Yankees will look to avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon and stop some of the Blue Jays momentum as their first place lead shrinks. 

MLB GM Meetings in Phoenix, Arizona

The MLB GM meetings began on Monday and will be finishing up on Wednesday.  This is usually a time where not much action occurs but a lot of groundwork laying does happen.  This year it does seem to be more active than in the past though.  What have we learned so far, let me take you through that. 

The Yankees signed Chris Young to a one year 2.5 million dollar deal with incentives.  That actually occured before the meetings.  GM Brian Cashman has said he is set in the outfield with him being the fourth outfielder.  They are looking at several options at SS and the two latest rumored names are Elvis Andrus from the Texas Rangers and Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies.  They would have to be acquired in a trade.  There is risk with both, Andrus is young which is good for the Yankees but he has an 8 year 120 million dollar contract ready to kick in next year.  Rollins is older and declining although he is still capable of putting up decent numbers.  I am kind of leaning towards resigning Stephen Drew on this one.  Cashman has said that he will be talking to him and his agent and will see what happens there.  Troy Tulowitzki is a sexy name but he is always hurt, costs a lot of money and will cost a lot of prospects. 

The Mets made the first big splash of the offseason by signing Michael Cuddyer to a two year/ 21 million dollar deal.  He will be their RF with Curtis Granderson moving over to left field.  I think this was a good move for them, they will forfeit the number 15 pick in the draft.  I say who cares though, they are close to contending and they need a veteran bat in their lineup.  If they aren't done and he isn't the only signing then it is a really good move. 

The Red Sox are said to be all in on Pablo Sandoval.  I find it hard to believe he will leave San Francisco but we shall see.  There were some minor moves such as Zoilo Almonte signing a major league deal with the Atlanta Braves and Chien Ming Wang signing with the Braves also but to a minor league contract and an invite to spring training. 

There are talks that the Seattle Mariners want to sign a big bat so they will push also for Sandoval or maybe Victor Martinez.  They feel they are close to getting over the top and after spending a lot on Cano last year they aren't done yet. 

My take on the Yankees and Mets needing shortstops is they will find them through trades most likely.  I think the Mets definitely will and I think the Yankees will if Stephen Drew and them can't come to an agreement.  I do think the most likely is for that to happen as they really seem to want to protect their best prospects and start using them in the majors very soon. 

The winter meetings will begin in a little under a month and that is where the hot stove will really heat up and a lot of movement will happen.  Until then most of this is just speculation and the start to a busy off-season.   

The New York Mets lose big in Colorado

The New York Mets were defeated by the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.  The final score was 10-3 and the game took place at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado.  Zach Wheeler started and wasn't very good, the bullpen was ok.  Juan Lagares, Curtis Granderson and David Wright each had a couple of hits. 

Wheeler pitched four innings giving up seven  hits and seven runs with six of them being earned.  He walked two and struck out one and lost his third game of the season.  Jeurys Familia pitched an inning striking out one, Carlos Torres pitched two innings and gave up five hits and three runs with two strikeouts and Kyle Farnsworth pitched an inning giving up a hit. 

Jorge De La Rosa pitched six innings giving up eight hits and three runs with three walks and four strikeouts.  He won his third game of the season.  Chris Martin pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout, Matt Belisle pitched an inning giving up a hit and drew a walk and Tommy Kahnle pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.   

Lagares had two hits, Daniel Murphy had a hit and Wright had two hits.  Chris Young had a hit and drew a walk, Granderson had two hits and two RBI and Josh Satin drew two walks.  Travis d'Arnaud had a hit, Ruben Tejada drew a walk and Lagares hit a double.  Granderson hit a homerun and the Mets were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.  Murphy was caught stealing, Tejada committed an error and Young had two outfield assists. 

Charlie Blackmon had three hits and two RBI, Nolan Arenado had a hit and drew a walk and Troy Tulowitzki had three hits and three RBI.  Justin Morneau had two hits and two RBI, Wilin Rosario had one hit and two RBI.  Corey Dickerson had an RBI, Brandon Barnes had a hit and DJ LeMahieu drew a walk.  De La Rosa had a hit and Wheeler had a hit.  Morneau and Barnes each hit a double, Blackmon hit a homerun and the Rockies were 5-10 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. 

In the first a wild pitch gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.  Tulowitzki had an RBI single, Morneau hit an RBI double, Rosario had an RBI single and Dickerson hit a sacrifice fly to give the Rockies a 4-1 lead.  In the second Tulowitzki hit a two run single giving the Rockies a 6-1 lead.  Blackmon hit an RBI groundout in the fourth extending the lead to 7-1.  Granderson hit a two run homerun in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-3.  In the seventh Blackmon hit a solo homerun, Morneau hit an RBI single and Rosario hit a sacrifice fly to give the Rockies a 10-3 lead and that would be the final score. 

The Rockies have won the first two games of this four game set.  The two teams will play game three on Saturday night. 

The New York Mets lose in Colorado and are happy to end a terrible trip to Denver

The New York Mets were defeated by the Colorado Rockies by the score of 11-3 on Thursday afternoon. The game took place at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. Jon Niese started for the Mets and pitched pretty well and their bullpen was bad. Jordany Valdespin, Daniel Murphy and David Wright each had two hits. 
Niese took the loss, his first of the season pitching six innings giving up nine hits and three runs. He walked one and struck out three. Josh Edgin pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs, Scott Atchison didn’t record an out and he gave up two hits and three runs with a walk and Jeurys Familia pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk. Jeremy Hefner pitched an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a strikeout.

Valdespin had two hits, Murphy had two hits and Wright had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk. Ike Davis had a hit and an RBI, Marlon Byrd had a hit and Valdespin, Murphy and Byrd each hit a double. The Mets were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Valdespin committed an error and Niese had a pickoff.

Jon Garland earned his second win of the season pitching seven innings giving up six hits and two runs with four strikeouts. Chris Volstad pitched two innings giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout.

Eric Young had three hits, Dexter Fowler had a hit and an RBI and Carlos Gonzalez had three hits and an RBI and Troy Tulowitzki had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk. Wilin Rosario had a hit and two RBI, Todd Helton had two hits and two RBI and Josh Rutledge had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks. Chris Nelson had two hits and an RBI, Garland had a hit and Reid Brignac had a hit and an RBI. Gonzalez and Helton each hit a double, Rutledge, Fowler and Tulowitzki each hit a homerun. The Rockies were 6-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Rosario had a stolen base, Young was caught stealing and Rosario committed an error and had a passed ball.

Wright hit an RBI single in the first giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. The Rockies came right back in the bottom of the first and tied the game at one. Gonzalez hit an RBI single, in the fourth Rutledge hit a solo homerun to make it a 2-1 Rockies lead. In the sixth Wright hit an RBI single to tie the game at two. Tulowitzki hit an RBI single in the sixth to give the Rockies a 3-2 lead. Rosario hit a two run single, Helton a two run double, Nelson an RBI single and Brignac an RBI single to give the Rockies a 9-2 lead. Davis hit an RBI single in the eighth to make it 9-3 and the Rockies came back with two in the bottom of the eighth to win the game 11-3.

The Rockies swept the three games that they did play, they have to make up one more game later in the season. The Mets record dropped to 7-7 and the Rockies improved their record to 11-4. The Mets will return home to Citi Field to face the Washington Nationals on Friday. It will be the start of a three game series.