The New York Yankees win streak ends at two in Kansas City

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.  The game took place at Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri and the final score was 8-4.  David Phelps started and didn' t pitch well and Jacoby Ellsbury and Yangervis Solarte each had two hits. 

Phelps pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up ten hits and seven runs with two walks and four strikeouts.  Phelps lost his fourth game of the season, Matt Daley pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run and Jose Ramirez pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk and striking out one. 

Danny Duffy pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs with three walks and four strikeouts.  Aaron Crow won his third game of the season pitching 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout, Kelvin Herrera pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Michael Mariot pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Ellsbury had two hits and Mark Teixeira drew a walk.  Carlos Beltran had a hit and an RBI, Solarte had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Ichiro Suzuki had a hit.  Brian Roberts had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Beltran and Solarte each hit a double and the Yankees were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Roberts was caught stealing. 

Nori Aoki had a hit and an RBI, Jarrod Dyson drew a walk and Eric Hosmer had a hit and an RBI.  Billy Butler had a hit and drew a walk, Alex Gordon had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Salvador Perez had three hits and three RBI.  Lorenzo Cain had three hits and an RBI, Mike Moustakas had a hit and Alcides Escobar had a hit and an RBI.  Butler, Gordon and Perez each hit a double.  Cain hit a triple, Perez and Hosmer each hit a homerun and the Royals were 7-15 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. 

Gordon hit an RBI double in the second, Cain hit an RBI single and Escobar hit an RBI single to make it 3-0.  In the sixth Beltran hit an RBI double and Solarte hit a two run single to tie the game at three.  In the bottom of the sixth Perez hit a three run homerun and Aoki hit an RBI single to give the Royals a 7-3 lead.  The Royals would add a run in the seventh with a Hosmer solo homerun and then in the ninth Roberts hit an RBI groundout to make it 8-4 and that would be the final score. 

The two teams have split the first two of their four game series.  The teams will play game three on Sunday afternoon. 

Masahiro Tanaka and the New York Yankees shutout the New York Mets

The New York Yankees defeated the New York Mets on Wednesday night.  The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York and the final score was 4-0.  Masahiro Tanaka started for the Yankees and was brilliant.  Yangervis Solarte and Mark Teixeira each homered to lead the Yankees offense.  Rafael Montero made his debut for the Mets and pitched ok and the bullpen was ok.  The Mets offense only managed four hits. 

Tanaka pitched a complete game shutout.  He walked none and struck out eight and improved to 6-0 on the season. 

Montero lost his first game pitching six innings and giving up five hits and three runs.  He walked two and struck out three.  Carlos Torres pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with two strikeouts and Jose Valverde pitched two innings and gave up a hit and struck out two batters. 

Brett Gardner had two hits, Derek Jeter had a hit and an RBI and Jacoby Ellsbury drew a walk.  Teixeira had a hit and an RBI, Solarte had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Brian Roberts had two hits and an RBI.  Tanaka had his first major league hit and the entire Mets pitching staff is still looking for their first hit of the season.  Roberts hit two triples, Solarte and Teixeira each hit a homerun and the Yankees were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.  Ellsbury and Gardner each had a stolen base. 

Eric Young Jr., Chris Young, Daniel Murphy and Bobby Abreu each had a hit.  Young Jr. hit a double and the Mets were 0-2 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base.  Murphy had a stolen base and C. Young was caught stealing. 

In the second Roberts hit an RBI triple to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  In the fourth Solarte hit a solo homerun to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.  In the sixth Teixeira hit a solo homerun to extend the lead to 3-0 and the scoring was complete in the seventh on a Jeter RBI single. 

The subway series will conclude on Thursday night with the rubber game.  The Mets have taken two out of the first three games.  The Yankees ended their four game losing streak and six game losing streak against the Mets.  Chase Whitley will make his major league debut for the Yankees and Jacob DeGrom will make his major league debut for the Mets.   

New York Yankees news and notes

Michael Pineda was suspended ten games on Thursday afternoon.  He was suspended for using pine tar which is a violation of rule 8.02(b).  If you want to read about it you can google it and the entire rule will be there to see.  I am not going to type the rule out but it is very plain and there is no argument.  The bottom line is it is an unwritten rule that he broke and because he was stupid about it he should be punished. 

I thought some of the comments that the general manager Brian Cashman made were interesting.  He genuinely seemed bothered and upset by this.  He took blame for the whole organization not just Pineda.  He said there was a breakdown in communication somewhere and it should of never happened and now he will remedy that.  I don't really know though how you can control someone if you told him everything and that this could happen and he still on his own chose to do it. 

A lot of people think this will be something to watch moving forward now.  Will the Yankees retaliate against the Red Sox and watch their pitchers more closely.  I think it is possible but not right away.  The Yankees best bet is to keep betting them and that will be good enough.  They won't play each other again until the end of June and a lot of other stuff can happen by then so I think it will go away. 

Joe Girardi got some heat for twisting an ESPN camera that was pointed down towards the tunnel going to the clubhouse.  He won't be disciplined for that though and he was right.  There are some areas that should still be sacred and people don't need to see everything and hear everything. 

It looks like David Phelps will just slot into Pineda spot in the rotation, it will only be one start because of the off day.  It will give all the other pitchers one less day of rest though and the Yankees will have to play with a 24 man team for the ten days. 

Derek Jeter had a nice streak of 11 games hitting and 21 reaching base end on Wednesday night.  He had a good game on Thursday night though with a couple of hits, RBI and a walk.  Ivan Nova elected to have surgery and will do so in Alabama on Tuesday ending his season.  Dean Anna and Preston Claiborne were optioned to AAA and Shane Greene was called up.  Bruce Billings contract was purchased from AAA and he was placed on the 25 man roster. 

CC has pitched well and capped the road trip with a big win in Boston.  The Yankees won two out of three in Boston and are 5-2 against them this season.  The two teams won't see each other now until the end of June. 

The Yankees scoring 14 runs on Thursday night was their most since August of last season.  Solarte broke out of an 0-14 slump with two hits and four RBI.  He was the first Yankee to drive in that many runs since Alex Rodriguez on September 20th of last year.  Mark Teixeira hit his first homerun of the season.  Sabathia passed Al Downing for 10th place on the Yankees all-time strikeouts list.  Ellsbury had his season high in hits and set a career high for RBI as a Yankee.   

The New York Yankees finish their opening road trip with a win in Toronto

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.  The final score was

6-4 and the game took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.  CC Sabathia started for the

second time this season.  He was much better than his first start and the bullpen was very good. 

Derek Jeter had two hits, Brett Gardner and Kelly Johnson each had two RBI. 

Sabathia earned his first win of the season.  He pitched six innings giving up seven hits and four runs.  He walked none and struck out six.  Adam Warren pitched a perfect inning, Shawn Kelley gave up a hit in a scoreless inning and David Robertson earned his second save pitching an inning and giving up a hit and a walk. 

Drew Hutchison took the loss for the Blue Jays.  He pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up six hits and six runs with three walks and six strikeouts.  Todd Redmond pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up three hits and a walk with five strikeouts, Steve Delabar pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Esmil Rogers pitched a perfect inning.   

Gardner had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk, Jeter had two hits and Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit and an RBI.  Brian McCann had a hit and drew a walk, Alfonso Soriano had his first hit of the season and Johnson had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk.  Brian Roberts drew a walk, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and Yangervis Solarte had a hit and an RBI.  Johnson and Solarte each hit a double.  Gardner hit the Yankees first homerun of the season.  The Yankees were 3-13 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Gardner, Roberts and Suzuki each stole a base in the game. 

Melky Cabrera had a hit and an RBI for the Blue Jays.  Maizur Izturis had two hits, Jose Bautista had a hit and Edward Encarnacion had two hits.  Dionar Navarro had a hit and an RBI, Erik Kratz had a hit and two RBI and Brett Lawrie had a hit.  Adam Lind drew a walk, Navarro hit a double and Encarnacion hit a triple.  Cabrera hit a homerun and the Blue Jays were 2-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. 

The Yankees scored three runs in the first inning.  Gardner walked, stole second and got moved to third and then home on ground outs.  Johnson hit a two run double to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead.  Cabrera hit a solo homerun in the first to cut the lead to 3-1.  Solarte hit an RBI double and Gardner hit a two run homerun in the fourth to give the Yankees a 6-1 lead.  In the sixth Sabathia got into some trouble and gave up three runs.  Navarro hit an RBI double and Kratz hit a two run single to cut the Yankees lead to 6-4.  6-4 would be the final score as the Yankees bullpen nailed it down in the final three innings. 

The Yankees took two out of three in the series and finished their first road trip 3-3.  The Yankees will have their home opener on Monday afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles.  It will be a special day in the Bronx as it is Derek Jeter last home opener and the core four will be reunited.  Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera will throw out first pitches to Jeter and Jorge Posada. 

New York Yankees are shutout in Toronto but Michael Pineda has a strong debut

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon.  The game

took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada and the final score was 4-0 Blue Jays.  Michael

Pineda made his season debut and Yankees debut and was great.  David Phelps struggled in relief. 

The Yankees offense had plenty of chances but couldn't cash in. 

Pineda pitched six innings giving up five hits and a run.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out five, he was a hard luck loser.  Vidal Nuno walked the only batter that he faced and Phelps pitched two innings giving up three hits and three runs.  He had three strikeouts. 

R.A. Dickey started for the Blue Jays and picked up the win.  He pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up five hits and no runs with a walk and six strikeouts.  Aaron Loup pitched to one batter and retired him, Brett Cecil pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout and Sergio Santos picked up his second save pitching 1 1/3 innings and giving up a hit and a walk with two strikeouts. 

Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits, Derek Jeter drew two walks and Francisco Cervelli had two hits.  Yangervis Solarte had two hits, Brian Roberts drew a walk and Cervelli hit a double.  The Yankees were 1-11 with runners in scoring position and left ten men on base.   

Melky Cabrera had two hits and an RBI, Colby Rasmus had a hit and Jose Bautista had a hit and two RBI.  Adam Lind had a hit and drew a walk, Josh Thole had a hit and an RBI and Robert Goins had a hit.  Jonathan Diaz had a hit, Lind, Goins, Diaz and Rasmus each hit a double and Cabrera and Bautista each hit a homerun.  The Blue Jays were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and left four  men on base.  Thole was caught stealing  and Rasmus had an outfield assist. 

In the second inning Thole hit an RBI single to give the Jays a 1-0 lead.  That score would hold until the eighth inning.  In the eighth the Jays would score three insurance runs to take a 4-0 lead and that would be the final score.  Cabrera hit a solo homerun and Bautista hit a two run homerun.  The two teams will play the rubber game of the three game series on Sunday afternoon.  CC Sabathia will make the start for the Yankees looking to bounce back from his poor first start.  The Yankees will then head home for their home opener on Monday afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles.  They will be looking to even their record at 3-3 on Sunday. 

The New York Yankees win in Masahiro Tanaka debut

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.  The final score was 7-3 and

the game took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.  Masahiro Tanaka started off shaky but

pitched well and earned his first victory.  Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits and two stolen bases, Ichiro

Suzuki had three hits and Yangervis Solarte had two hits. 

Tanaka pitched seven innings giving up three runs with two of them being earned.  He walked none and struck out eight.  Matt Thornton pitched 2/3 of an inning with a strikeout, Dellin Betances struggled with his control in 1/3 of an inning and David Robertson finished it retiring all three batters that he faced. 

Josh McGowan lost his first game pitching 2 2/3 innings and giving up eight hits and four runs.  He walked one and struck out three.  Aaron Loup pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with a walk and two strikeouts, Redmond pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout and Brett Cecil pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit with a strikeout.  Delabar pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and a strikeout and Jeffress pitched an inning with three hits and a run with two strikeouts. 

Ellsbury had three hits and drew a walk, Brett Gardner had two hits and an RBI and Carlos Beltran had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk.  Brian McCann had a hit and an RBI, Mark Teixeira had a hit and an RBI but then came out of the game with a hamstring strain.  Brian Roberts drew a walk, Kelly Johnson had two hits and Suzuki had three hits.  Solarte had two hits and three RBI and Dean Anna had his first major league hit.  Ellsbury and Solarte each hit two doubles.  Johnson hit a triple and the Yankees were 9-24 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.  Ellsbury had two stolen bases, Roberts and Gardner each had one stolen base.  Teixeira committed an error and the Yankees had their first two replay challenges.  Girardi won the first one which changed the game because Solarte had a two run double to give them the lead after the call was overturned.  The second one in the eighth inning the Yankees lost. 

Melky Cabrera had a hit and an RBI, Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and Dioner Navarro had a hit.  Brett Lawrie had a hit and Jonathan Diaz had a hit and two RBI.  Encarnacion hit a double and Cabrera hit a homerun.  The Blue Jays were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.  Redmond committed an error and Cabrera had an outfield assist. 

The Yankees scored two runs in the first inning and then the Blue Jays answered back with one.  Beltran and Teixeira each had an RBI single.  Cabrera hit a solo homerun for the Blue Jays.  In the second Diaz hit a two run single to give the Jays a 3-2 lead.  Solarte hit a two run double in the third to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.  McCann hit an RBI single in the fourth to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead.  The Yankees scored a run in the eighth on a Gardner RBI single to make it 6-3.  The Yankees finished the scoring with a Solarte RBI double in the ninth.  The Yankees will play game two of the series on Saturday afternoon with Michael Pineda making his first start. 

The New York Yankees pick up first win and avoid sweep in Houston

The New York Yankees defeated the Houston Astros on Thursday night.  The final score was 4-2 and

the game took place at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.  Ivan Nova started and he battled

through the game without his best stuff.  The bullpen was very good and Ichiro Suzuki and Yangervis

Solarte led the offense. 

Nova pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up two runs and six hits.  He walked five and struck out on and picked up his first victory.  Adam Warren made his first appearance and pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts, Shawn Kelley pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts and David Robertson picked up his first save with a 1-2-3 inning.  He had one strikeout. 

Oberholtzer started for the Astros and pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs with a walk and five strikeouts.  He picked up the loss his first of the season, Brad Peacock pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with three walks and four strikeouts. 

Brett Gardner had a hit, RBI and drew a walk, Derek Jeter had a hit, RBI and drew a walk and Carlos Beltran had an RBI.  Brian Roberts drew a walk, Suzuki had two hits and Solarte had three hits an RBI and drew a walk.  Solarte and Suzuki each hit a double and the Yankees were 3-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. 

Dexter Folwer had two hits and an RBI for Houston.  Jose Altuve had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Grossman had a hit and drew a walk and Presley and Villar each had a hit.  Villar hit a double, the Astros were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Altuve had a stolen base and Presley had an outfield assist. 

The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the first inning once again.  Altuve grounded into a forceout which scored a run.  In the third inning the Yankees scored two runs and took their first lead of the season.  Gardner hit an RBI single and Beltran hit a sacrifice fly.  It was 2-1 Yankees until the fifth when Jeter hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1.  The Astros would get that run right back and cut the lead to 3-2.  Fowler hit an RBI single.  The Yankees would score the final run of the game in the seventh on a Solarte RBI single which was really a pop up in front of the mound that no one caught.  The final was 4-2 as Robertson closed it out easily for the Yankees first victory. 

The Yankees will head to Toronto and take on the Blue Jays in a three game weekend series.  Masahiro Tanaka will make his first start on Friday night and then Michael Pineda will make his first start on Saturday before the rotation turns back around with CC Sabathia on Sunday.