New York Yankees Summer Camp

The New York Yankees have been engaging in Summer Camp or Spring Training 2.0.  Whatever you want to call it, personally I think they are all kind of lame but it is what it is.  Baseball is back though and two weeks from today the Yankees will be opening up in Washington at 7:00PM.  Cole will be on the mound and it looks like Judge and Hicks will be in the lineup.  It will be a different kind of season with a 60 game sprint but the expectations for the Yankees shouldn't change.  They have a stacked team and should have the motivation to go out and try to win the whole thing.  Yes there will be an asterick this year but who cares if you are the champion you are still the champion and that should be just fine. 

The Yankees have been practicing and playing intrasquad games.  What have I noticed early on, well first of all Cole is maybe even more impressive then we thought.  We obviously all know how great he is as a pitcher.  But he is one heck of a competitor and leader as well.  Just listen to him talk and watch how he operates, it is amazing and just what the Yankees needed to lead their rotation.  James Paxton will be back as well as he had the extra time to heal from back surgery.  Masahiro Tanaka got hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton and suffered a concussion but he is doing well and should be ready to go for Opening day.  All of the pitchers have looked good but of course they are ahead of the hitters at this point. 

The hitters haven't really looked good at all, Thairo Estrada has stood out though as he has hit two homeruns.  Miguel Andujar took Cole deep so that is impressive and I think some people forget about him but he can hit and the Yankees will find at bats for him between outfield, DH, 3B and maybe even some 1B. 

Luke Voit has shed some pounds and looks great.  It will be interesting to see if he just takes the job or will there be any kind of platoon with Mike Ford as he is a lefty.  How about DH, it looks like especially early on it will be all Stanton as he is also healthy and they want to keep him out of the OF but eventually they may want to get other guys in the DH spot. 

It is such a different year because you really can't fool around and try things and say there is always tomorrow.  In baseball it is such a long season and they are used to not getting too high or too low but this year it is different because 60 games is so quick.  You can't afford to get off to a bad start or have a 10 game bad stretch, that could end your season. 

I think the Yankees still have the best team and so much depth that will help them.  I think they will win the division and then the playoffs are a crapshoot but I think they have a great chance to win it all.  Another interesting thing is no fans so there really is no homefield advantage this year.  That will be interesting to see how that affects teams. 

New York Yankees intrasquad game on Monday and exhibition games begin Tuesday

The New York Yankees will kick off their grapefruit league schedule with a trip to Clearwater to take on the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.  They will first have a intraquad game on Monday with a pitching machine doing the pitching.  We know that Adam Warren will make the start on Tuesday and here are some more news and notes. 

Alex Rodriguez was to DH and bat cleanup in the intrasquad game but he will make his exhibition debut on Wednesday at home against the Phillies.  He will not make the trip to Clearwater on Tuesday.  Arod will DH and also he is expected to get 2-3 at bats in that game.  Carlos Beltran is not hurt, the Yankees are just taking it slow with him and he will not appear in a game until Friday. 

Masahiro Tanaka had his first live BP of the spring on Monday morning and came through it fine.  Joe Girardi said "He's right where we want him to be."  CC Sabathia will face hitters for the first time later this week.  Joe Girardi announced today that following Adam Warren starting on Tuesday, Nathan Eovaldi on Wednesday and Esmil Rogers on Thursday will be Bryan Mitchell and Chris Capuano for the split squad on Friday.  Capuano will pitch the home game. 

Luis Severino who is the Yankees top pitching prospect is making the trip on Tuesday and said he is definitely scheduled to pitch.  The rest of the travel squad for the exhibition opener is as follows.  Pitchers: Danny Burawa, Kyle Davies, Nick Goody, Jacob Lindgren, Diego Moreno, Branden Pinder, Chasen Shreve, Tyler Webb.   

Catchers: Francisco Arcia, Kyle Higashioka, John Ryan Murphy, Austin Romine

Infielders: Greg Bird, Cito Culver, Cole Figueroa, Jonathan Galvez, Garrett Jones, Nick Noonan, Jose Pirela, Rob Refsnyder, Kyle Roller

Outfielders: Tyler Austin, Jake Cave, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Slade Heathcott, Aaron Judge, Mason Williams, Chris Young. 

New York Yankees news and notes

The New York Yankees were essentially rained out on Saturday in Tampa.  They did some indoor work but it was a light day.  There were pitchers scheduled for batting practice who will now do that on Sunday and the ones regularly scheduled for Sunday will still throw as well.  It will be a busy Sunday in camp.  The Yankees were going to have an intrasquad game on Sunday but that may happen on Monday now and then the exhibition games begin on Tuesday. 

There are 13 pitchers throwing live BP on Sunday morning.  Luis Severino is throwing a bullpen with Brian McCann catching him which is interesting because McCann usually only catches guys that will be on the team or have a good chance of making it.  Andrew Miller will be throwing live BP and Esmil Rogers is scheduled for a two inning simulated game.  He is being stretched out to be a starter just in case. 

It took a while but Didi Gregorius the new shortstop finally got some attention on Saturday.  He is the replacement for Jeter but the Yankees have focused on telling him he can't replace him, he is just the guy that comes after.  Gregorius seems to be taking it in stride, he is a happy guy, always smiling and says he knows he can't avoid being compared to him but he also knows that no one is Jeter.  He said he isn't worried about the attention, that doesn't bother him at all.  He said he came a little early to camp to start to get to know everyone.  The Yankees were going to have their regular infield on the field on Saturday but that didn't happen.  It was going to be Stephen Drew at second and Gregorius at short with Rob Refsnyder going with the minor league guys and Jose Pirela being with the major league guys.  I am not sure if it really means anything but they are clearly looking at Drew and Gregorius as the starters with Pirela being a likely bench/utility guy and Refsnyder being in AAA.  Things can change with injuries or complete ineffectiveness. 

If that is the case and it looks like Drew will be spending most of his time at second and very little at short then Brendan Ryan seems to be secure on the roster as the backup SS.  He was feeling a little better on Saturday.  Joe Girardi left no doubt on Saturday that Garrett Jones will play both 1B and the OF this season.  Girardi said he will play both in spring training as well, he is not focused on one or the other.  The Yankees have eased Carlos Beltran into defensive drills.  He is on track to play in the early exhibition games but the Yankees don't want him to overdo it. 

Joe Girardi is expected to announce his starters for the first few exhibition games on Sunday.  He was going to do it on Saturday but with the rain that changed.  Alex Rodriguez should be making his spring debut Tuesday or Wednesday.  We should find that out either today or tomorrow most likely.   

New York Mets full squad news and notes

Saturday was a rainy day in Florida and the Mets had a quick workout under cover, not much going on.  Kevin Long the new hitting coach and old Yankees hitting coach did speak on Saturday.  Here is some of what he had to say. 

He will use Robinson Cano as a model for Juan Lagares.  He said he believes he has a lot of potential at the plate and he is excited for him.  That is a pretty good guy to compare too but I don't see that at all.  Lagares has a long way to go but if he makes him a good hitter then they have something since he is so good in the field.  He feels that ideally Curtis Granderson would hit sixth in the lineup but if he gets his OBP up then he should bat higher to get more at bats but that is up to the manager. 

Long and Granderson are going back to the blueprint they used when they were both on the Yankees and Granderson hit 40+ homeruns two years in a row.  I would as it worked and they are comfortable together.  He has had a difficult time getting a read on David Wright because his at bats from last year were all during a shoulder injury and that is what he went through with Carlos Beltran last year.  He wants Daniel Murphy to do a little more damage to the ball, increase his power. 

He said his goal for the team isn't neccessarily to get them to take more pitches but to hit good pitches.  He said last year they got on base but their batting average was low but they scored runs because they got on base.  He said they need to be more efficient from a mechanical perspective.  He has each guy working on something specific to that player.  He told Travis d'Arnaud to stick with what he was doing at the end of last season. 

Every run is going to matter especially with their pitching staff so driving guys in from third will be a big deal.  He said as long as they are around league average which is 50 percent they will score enough runs to win. 

The Mets are strongly considering Bartolo Colon for Opening Day according to several sources.  The game will be in Washington against the Nationals.  It will be either him or another pitcher but it is too early to decide.  I would say probably Jacob DeGrom because of winning rookie of the year but we will have to wait and see.  The way the rotation starts really doesn't matter as it will be out of order anyway eventually but I think a veteran guy like Colon is a good way to get it rolling.  Matt Harvey threw batting practice on Friday and looked good, he will throw another batting practice next week.  Wright, Murphy, Michael Cuddyer and Granderson will not play in the first few exhibition games in an effort to ease them into game action.  The Mets have no plans to talk with Murphy about an extension this season a team source told Adam Rubin.   

New York Mets notes before full squad workouts begin

Lucas Duda has been dealing with a left oblique issue and will swing a bat in two or three days.  Curtis Granderson is not concerned about where he will hit in the lineup.  Terry Collins is unsure if Rafael Montero can crack the 25 man roster. 

There was already a bunch of praise for new hitting coach Kevin Long especially from Granderson who worked with him when they were both with the New York Yankees.  There was some talk with a couple of people who are close to manager Terry Collins that he will retire at the end of the year.  Collins denies it though.  He did say he doesn't want to manage to 75 and he turns 66 in May.  He did also say if he has a good season he would want to come back.  I think they will bring him back if they have a good season but if they get off to a slow start he will be in trouble. 

Dillon Gee will be the sixth starter, not prospect Noah Syndergaard.  Collins wants to see similar determination out of Syndergaard as he has seen out of Matt Harvey.  John Mayberry Jr. provides the Mets with a lot of options.  He can play the outfield, back up first base and a righty off of the bench.  Rule five pick LHP Sean Gilmartin will get a lot of work this spring and will get the chance to face lefty batters to see if he can get them out.  Rafael Montero will be looked at as both a starter and reliever this spring. 

Here are some things Syndergaard spoke to the media about on Wednesday.  He said he learned how to become a pitcher more than a thrower last season.  He said especially learned that he can't rely on his fastball all the time.  He put a lot of pressure on himself last season , paying special attention to the Super 2 cutoff date.  He said he eventually deleted twitter from his phone to avoid the news reports and fan comments. 

Syndergaard said he wasn't ready for the major leagues last season and didn't deserve the call up.  He was still disappointed not to get called up in September and will use that as motivation going forward.  He really loved working with AAA pitching coach Frank Viola last season.  Viola helped him with his changeup among other things. 

The New York Yankees trounce the Boston Red Sox 8-1

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday afternoon.  The game took place in

Tampa, Florida and the final score was 8-1 in favor of the Yankees.  Michael Pineda started for the

Yankees and was very good once again.  I would say that he pretty much locked up the fifth spot in

the rotation with that performance.  David Robertson got out of trouble in his 2/3 of an inning of

work.  Alfonso Soriano led the offense with a couple of hits and four RBI. 

Pineda picked up his second win of the spring.  He pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up four hits and no runs.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out five.  Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out two, Shawn Kelley pitched a perfect inning and David Herndon gave up two hits and a run with a strikeout in his inning of work.  Fred Lewis gave up a hit in his one inning of work and Matt Daley gave up a hit in his inning of work. 

Brett Gardner had three hits, Derek Jeter had a hit and an RBI and Carlos Beltran had a hit.  Mark Teixeira had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks, Soriano had two hits and four RBI and Francisco Cervelli had two hits.  Brian Roberts had two hits, Kelly Johnson drew a walk and Zelous Wheeler had a hit.  Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and an RBI. 

Beltran and Wheeler each hit a double, Cervelli hit a triple and Soriano hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 6-14 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Roberts had a stolen base.  The Yankees will play at Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon.  They will make the trip to Orlando at the Wide World Of Sports in Disney.   

The New York Yankees lose both ends of a split squad

The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles and they lost to the Miami Marlins.  The final score in Sarasota, Florida against the Orioles was 2-1 and the final score in Panama against the Miami Marlins was 5-0.  The Yankees were no hit in the game in Panama.  Adam Warren started that game and pitched well.  In Florida Vidal Nuno started and pitched well.  Brian Roberts and Ramon Flores each had two hits. 

Warren in Panama pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up one run on two hits.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out six.  Warren took the loss, Chase Whitley pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout, Matt Daley pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings striking out one and Robert Coello pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up a hit, three runs with two of them being earned.  He walked two and struck out one.  Yoshinori Tateyama pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and striking out one and Jim Miller struck out one and walked one in one inning. 

Brett Gardner and Zelous Wheeler each drew a walk.  The Yankees left three men on base.  Adonis Garcia committed an error.

In Florida Nuno pitched four innings giving up a hit and no runs.  He walked one and struck out three.  Burawa pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up three hits and a run, Mark Montgomery pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a run and took the loss.  Brian Gordon pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. 

Dugas had a hit, Roberts had two hits and Kelly Johnson drew a walk.  Austin Romine drew a walk, Flores had two hits and Francisco Arcia had a hit, RBI and drew a walk.  Flores and Dugas each hit a double and Arcia hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. 

The Yankees will play another split squad on Sunday afternoon.  They will take on the Atlanta Braves in Florida and play the final game of the Legends Series in Panama against the Miami Marlins.   

Mets and Marlins Tie

The New York Mets took on the Florida Marlins this afternoon. They tied 8-8, it was called after 11 innings. Nelson Figueroa gave up 8 hits and 7 runs in 2 2/3 innings. Jenrry Mejia faced 6 batters in 1 1/3 innings. He gave up 1 run and 3 hits. Fernando Nieve and Pedro Feliciano each pitched a scoreless inning. David Wright had a big day hitting a solo homerun and a 2 run double. Alex Cora also had a solo homerun, the Mets have really been hitting the longball this spring but I don't think it will carry over at this rate. I do think the Mets will hit more homeruns this year and be fine offensively just by having Reyes and Beltran will be back eventually. Jason Bay will add a bunch of power also. Angel Pagan had 3 hits, a rbi double and a leadoff walk. According to Brian Costa of the Star Leger Jenrry Mejia said he is ok with whatever the Mets decide. He said if they send him to the minor leagues he understands and just has to work hard and get to the majors eventually. The Mets will play the Nationals tomorrow at home tomorrow, the game will be televised on WPIX.

New York Yankees Notes

CC Sabathia is fine, the ball hit his glove, he also said this is the best he has felt all spring. He is just going to fine tune some things now to get ready for the season. The Yankees reassigned 9 guys to minor league camp yesterday and 2 more today. Here are the names: Jose Gil,Grant Duff,Kyle Higashioka,Andrew Brackman,D.J. Mitchell,Christian Garcia,Kevin Whelan,Wilkens Arias,Kei Igawa,Wilken De La Rosa and Jeremy Bleich. It does look like Nick Johnson will be the number 2 hitter this year. Joe Girardi said "Nick really fits that bill,being the on-base percentage guy. But we have to look at how the whole lineup works. When you look at what Nick does, he really fits that area." Joe Girardi said this morning that 3 guys are getting a look as a right handed outfielder. They are Jaime Hoffman,David Winfree and Marcus Thames. I like Thames chances with his experience and I would say Hoffman has a better chance then Winfree with him being the Rule 5 guy but we will see what they decide. I don't have any other notes from the game, but I will either have some later or tomorrow depending on when I get my internet service back again. Tomorrow will be a good day to catch up with the Yankees having a off day.

Nick Johnson conference call

The New York Yankees officially signed Nick Johnson yesterday. Brian Cashman and Nick held a conference call with reporters. Here is some of the quotes from that call. Brian Cashman on the decision to bring back Nick: " There is no doubt that on-base percentage played a big role in the Yankees thinking that Johnson could be a replacement for Hideki Matsui at DH and for Johnny Damon in the two hole. But the big question is, can he stay healthy? It seems like DL has been just as prevalent in Johnson's career as OBP." " It is clear to dream about what he does and what he can provide if he stays healthy," Cashman said. " Certainly at the same time, I recognize and can't ignore the risk that comes with his trying to stay on the field and stay healthy." " This was a decision I was willing to make, recognizing that there's risk that comes with it because of his health history. Is there a rsk in signing him? Sure there is." Nick Johnson on coming back to the Yankees: " I started my career here, and I am just really happy to be back and put those stripes back on and to be with a great organization," Johnson said. " It is all about winning. That's something that I want to get back to doing."

Phillies win the NL Pennant

The Philadelphia Phillies won the National League Pennant last night by the score of 10-4. They are in the World Series for the second year in a row and should be congratulated for that. The Phillies bats really bludgeoned the Dodgers pitching. The Yankees will play tonight and try to win the AL Pennant and set a date with the Phillies. There is no need to talk about the possibilites there yet as the ALCS isn't over yet but clearly it would be the 2 best teams in baseball if it does happen. The Phillies have big bats but they also have Cliff Lee pitching like an ace even though Cole Hammels hasn't pitched that well and Brad Lidge regaining his composure and looking like the old Brad Lidge. The Phillies were just a better team then the Rockies and the Dodgers both and it will be interesting to see if the long layoff will hurt them or if it really won't matter. If the Yankees win tonight they will both basically have the same time off since the World Series doesn't begin to next Wednesday. It was nice to dream of Joe Torre coming back to Yankees Stadium or at least possibly doing that but in the end Joe Torre got beat by the superior Phillies once again.

NLCS Preview continued

I was able to find some more facts about the season series between the Dodgers and Phillies. The Dodgers won the series 4 games to 3. The thing to remember is that Manny Ramirez did not participate in any of these games as he was suspended. The Phillies had 3 players who hit very well against the Dodgers and they were Carlos Ruiz who was 8 for 14 with a homerun and 5 rbi's. Raul Ibanez was 8 for 26 with 1 homerun and 5 rbi's. Jayson Worth was 8 for 26 with a rbi. The Dodgers had James Loney who was 11 for 28 with 2 homeruns and 6 rbi's. Matt Kemp was 9 for 27 with 3 rbi's. Casey Blake was 8 for 24 with a homerun and 4 rbi's. The guys who were cold for the Phillies against the Dodgers were Ryan Howard who was 3 for 28 with 1 homerun and 3 rbi's. Shane Victorino was 3 for 24 with 1 homerun and 3 rbi's, Chase Utley was 4 for 26 with 2 rbi's. Jimmy Rollins was 5 for 28 with a homerun and 2 rbi's. The Dodgers had some cold bats against the Phillies. Rafael Furcal was 6 for 27 with a homerun and rbi, Russel Martin was 5 for 22 with 1 rbi. Pitching wise Clayton Kershaw struggled against the Phillies going 0-2 in 10 1/3 innings giving up 6 earned runs on 8 hits with 10 strikeouts. Brad Lidge struggled for the Phillies against the Dodgers going 0-1 in 3 2/3 innings he allowed 3 runs on 8 hits with 3 strikeouts. Randy Wolf did well against the Phillies going 1-1 in 12 innings he allowed 7 runs on 11 hits with 12 strikeouts. Jonathan Broxton was 2-0 in 3 innings he allowed 2 earned runs on 3 hits with 8 strikeouts. Cole Hamels did well for the Phillies going 1-0 in 16 innings he gave up 1 run on 12 hits with 14 strikeouts. Ryan Madson went 4 innings allowing 0 runs on 4 hits with 4 strikeouts. I hope this gives a good look at the NLCS and what we may see but of course in baseball you just never know. I got these stats off of philly.com but you can also find at baseballreference.com and other sites like these.

Yanks win 7th in a row

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays tonight by the score of 10-5. Chad Gaudin got the start and after being staked to a 5-0 lead he did not do a good job, he should of been able to give the team at least 5 innings against a bad team but was only able to go 3 2/3 giving up 3 runs. Alfredo Aceves came in to get out of further trouble and then pitched a couple of more innings only giving up a solo homerun. Dave Robertson, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte all pitched a scoreless inning, Marte and Robertson had a couple of strikeouts each. The Yankees offense continues to roll as they scored 10 runs for the second straight game and they have scored 8+ runs pretty regularly lately. Jorge Posada was the offensive star with 4 hits and a couple of rbi's. A-rod continued to be hot as he had a solo homerun and rbi single along with a walk. Hideki Matsui had a hit, rbi and walk and Mark Teixeira had a hit and a walk. Melky Cabrera had a couple of more hits to continue his hot hitting. The Yankees are on such a roll now you never think they are going to lose or are out of the game. The amazing thing about them is they jump out to a lead and when the other team gets close they come right back and pad the lead and close it out with their strong bullpen. If this team can get A.J. Burnett going they could be very very difficult to beat with CC and Andy Pettitte going strong and it looks like they will have Coke and Marte along with Phil Hughes and Robertson to get to MO. The Yankees will play game 2 tomorrow with Joba on the mound and the intrigue continues with that as we don't know how many innings he will pitch but I would suspect 4 since he pitched 3 the last time out.

Rangers at Yankees a Matinee Rubber Game

The New York Yankees take on the Texas Rangers today at 1:05 on the YES network. This is the last game of the 3 game series with the Rangers winning the first on on Tuesday night and the Yankees winning last night. A.J. Burnett is on the mound looking to get back on track. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. If the Yankees win today that would give them wins in 11 of the last 12 series they have played. A.J. Burnett is 0-3 with a 6.32 era in his last 5 starts. He has allowed 36 hits and 14 walks in his last 31 1/3 innings. Melky Cabrera is batting 209 with a 258 on base percentage since Brett Gardner went on the DL. There have been 191 homeruns in 61 games at Yankee Stadium this season, last year there were 160 in 81 games. Phil Hughes has only pitched 8 innings this month. This doesn't make sense to me as you want to get his innings up so he can be a starter without too much restriction next year. Hideki Matsui is 14 of his last 40 with 18 rbi's over 9 games. The Yankees are 51-15 when they score first. The Yankees are a major league best 42-19 at home. Robinson Cano is 8 of his last 17 with 4 rbi's and 4 xbh. He is 16 of 36 for his career in stolen base attempts. I think someone needs to tell him just stay where you are. Nick Swisher is 12 of 46 with 8 xbh and 7 rbi's. He hasn't drawn a walk in 49 plate appearances which is a long long time for him. Michael Young has a 13 game hitting streak which is the longest current streak in the majors. He is batting 436 with 14 rbi's and 6 xbh during the streak. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Yanks at A's(The Rubber game)

The New York Yankees will take on the Oakland A's at 10:05 tonight on the YES network. Chad Gaudin will make his first Yankees start against Brett Anderson. Here are the pregame notes and lineup from Peter Abraham. Chad Gaudin pitched for Oakland from 2006-08. He was 20-18 with a 4.00 era. He is 12-9 with a 3.71 era in 58 career games at Oakland Coliseum. Brett Anderson a 21 yr old rookie is 4-1 with a 3.12 era in his last 12 starts. He has faced the Yankees twice going 12 innings and allowing 9 runs on 18 hits and 3 walks. He last faced them on July 24th giving up 4 runs in 6 2/3 innings. Derek Jeter is batting 429 against lefties this season. The Yankees have not homered in their last 2 games, this can't be true is it, yes it is. 9 of Johnny Damon's last 11 hits have been for extra bases, I think he is trying to stay past this season. The Yankees are 62-30 since A-rod came off the DL. Big Tex is slumping a bit going 3 for his last 18 with 1 rbi in his last 5 games. Tex, Pujols and Adam Dunn are the only players with at least 30 homeruns in each of the last 6 seasons. Kurt Suzuki a yankee killer well he is hitting 407 against them in his career with 11 rbi's. This season he is hitting 448 against them with 5 xbh and 9 rbi's. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Yankees at A's

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series with the Oakland A's tonight in Oakland at 10:05PM on the YES network. A.J. Burnett is on the mound against Brett Tomko who was released from the Yankees in June, he was pretty bitter at the time so I am sure he will be pumped up for tonight. He was pitching in AAA though and didn't have great numbers for Oakland but they are desperate for pitching right now. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees are 5-1 against Oakland this year and 10-2 over the last 2 years. Robinson Cano has a 14 game hitting streak. He has gone from batting 305 to 321. A.J. Burnett is 6-2 with a 2.50 era in his last 11 starts. He is 2-2 with a 4.14 lifetime against the A's. Burnett has thrown 17 wild pitches this season, the team record is 23 by Tim Leary in 1990. Those were the good old days LOL. Brian Bruney has thrown 5 straight scoreless innings and David Robertson has gone 6 straight. The Yankees are 12-3 this month. Nick Swisher has 20 homeruns and 17 have come on the road. 13 of them have come against righties. Derek Jeter is 8 of 16 on this trip. He has 5 rbi's and 3 xbh. He is now batting 323. Jerry Hairston Jr's. next game will be the 1,00th of his career. Alfredo Aceves has been struggling going 15 2/3 innings, 15 hits, 12 runs with 4 walks and 11 strikeouts in his last 9 appearances. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(DH) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Pena(SS) There is news about the draft picks who have to midnight tonight to come to terms, the Yankees have signed 13 of their top 14 picks and more, I will have more on this later on tonight.

Yanks go for 4 game sweep over Bosox

The New York Yankees will try and get the 4 game sweep over their rivals the Boston Red Sox tonight at 8 on ESPN. The Yankees DFA'D Josh Towers and activated Chad Gaudin. Alfredo Aceves has a sore back and they are not sure if he will be able to pitch tonight. Here are the pregame notes and lineups from the Lohud Yankees Blog by Peter Abraham. The Yankees have won 30 of their last 40 games. They have a 5.5 game lead which is the largest lead since they finished the 2006 season 10 games ahead. Boston has lost 5 straight and 13 of their last 20. Andy Pettitte is 1-1 with a 2.36 era since the all star break. He is 16-9 with a 3.76 era in 31 career starts against Boston. The Yankees are 17-3 in their last 20 home games. Yankee starters have gone 20 1/3 innings allowing 4 runs on 9 hits while striking out 20 and walking 15. Yankee relievers have allowed 5 hits and struck out 10 in 8 2/3 scoreless innings in this series. The Red Sox have not scored in 24 innings. They have 2 runs in the last 28, 6 in the last 33 and 12 in the last 55. Boston is batting 144 with 35 strikeouts in the last 3 games. They are also 3 for 33 with runners in scoring position. Mo has not allowed a run in 20 1/3 innings. The Yankees have homered in 86 of 110 games and 51 of 55 at home. Phil Hughes as a reliever has allowed 5 earned runs in 31 innings and struck out 40. Robbie Cano is batting 360 without runners in scoring position and 205 with runners in scoring position. Cano is 11 of his last 22, maybe he will start hitting in the clutch now. The Yankees at this same p0int last season were 60-50 and 5 1/2 games out. Melky is 3 for 21 since hitting for the cycle. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(DH) Posada(C) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Hairston(3B) Boston Lineup: Ellsbury(CF) Pedroia(2B) Martinez(1B) Youkilis(3B) Bay(LF) Drew(RF) Lowell(DH) Varitek(C) Green(SS)

Red Sox at Yankees

The New York Yankees will try to make it two in a row over their rivals and 5 in a row overall. A.J. Burnett goes up against his old friend Josh Beckett, this is the third time they have faced each other this year. A.J. has not fared well this year against the Red Sox but has done well overall in his career against them. Here are the pregame notes and lineups via Peter Abraham and the great Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees have won 15 of 20, 28 of 38 and 51 of 76. The Yankees last night drew 49,005 could they get to 50,000 tonight and tomorrow with the weekend games?? The weather looks good and its a great matchup tonight. Melky Cabrera has 11 homeruns which is career best. Josh Beckett is 10-2 with a 2.02 in his last 14 starts. He is 2-0 with a 5.82 in 2 games against the Yankees this season. A-rod has gone 66 at bats without a homer, his longest streak since going 77 at bats between 1997 and 1998. Boston is 27-28 on the road having lost 9 of their last 14 on the road. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Jason Giambi was released by the A's today and Carl Pavano was traded to the Minnesota Twins from the Indians. Boston DFA'D John Smoltz and Billy Traber. They called up Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa and aquired Chris Woodward from Seattle.

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

The Yankees will try and beat the Red Sox for the first time this season and tonight may be their best chance. Joba is flying high pitching the best he has in his career as a starter and John Smoltz looks old and washed up. I think this is the most important game of the series as the Yankees need to stop hearing about how they can't beat the Sox. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. Joba is 3-0 with a 0.83 era since the all star break. He has allowed 8 hits over 21 2/3 innings with 8 walks and 19 strikeouts. Joba is 2-1 with a 3.49 era in his career against the Sox. Joba as a starter in his career is 10-3 with a 3.27 era. The debate will never end but this is where he belongs in my opinion, he will get better and better and has the potential to be a #1 starter. The Yankees have won 14 of 19 and 25 of their last 35. The Red Sox are 7-10 since July 17 and 24-20 since June 13th. MO has gone 19 1/3 innings without allowing a run. He has 18 strikeouts in that time. Nick Swisher is heating up going 11 for his last 34 with 6 xbh. Johnny Damon is 10 of his last 22 with 2 homeruns and 6 rbi's. A-rod is way overdue going 61 at bats without a homerun which is the longest of his Yankees career. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Boston Lineup: Ellsbury(CF) Pedroia(2B) Martinez(C) Youkilis(LF) Ortiz(DH) Drew(RF) Lowell(3B) Kotchman(1B) Lowrie(SS)

Yanks beat Halladay and the Jays

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 5-3 tonight. Roy Halladay started for the Jays and you figured it would be a tough night but the Yankees jumped him for 2 runs early and then after settling in they hit 3 solo homeruns late off of him. Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira went back to back in the 8th and Matsui hit one in the ninth. Andy Pettitte was good again although more balls were hit hard today and he did have an inning where he struggled with his control walking a couple. He ended up pitching 6 2/3 giving up 1 run with 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. Phil Hughes got the last out in the seventh and after giving up back to back singles to start the 8th he struck out the next two and gave way to MO. Mariano was not sharp at all tonight giving up a 2 run double before escaping. Then in the ninth he gave up another bloop hit and got away with a hanger to Bautista who hit the ball to dead center, if he hit it anywhere else it is a tie game. He was down in the count 0-2 to the final hitter and he popped up on another bad pitch. The Yankees offensively hit 3 homeruns for the second time in a row off of Roy Halladay, I guess they finally have him figured out. Big Tex, Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon had solo homeruns. Robinson Cano had 2 hits, A-rod and Big Tex each had 2 hits and a rbi. Tomorrow they will face a guy whose name I can't say and can't spell so I don't think the Yankees have ever seen him and Sergio Mitre may be making his final start for the Yankees. I would think the Yankees have to score some runs to win this game but we will see what happens. If they win they will be in first place to start the big 4 game series with the Red Sox. As I am writing this the Sox and Rays are tied in the bottom of the 10th inning.