Some Yankee Notes

Good morning all, I forgot to put these notes last night. I guess I can start with Mariano Rivera who gave up his first run last night since June 12th, it had to happen eventually but he still converted his 29th straight save. Brett Gardner had his cast removed and hopes to be back in a cou ple of weeks, they miss his speed that is for sure. He adds a different element to the team. It appears that Chad Gaudin will start in Joba Chamberlains spot on Sunday, if this does happen then part of the plan would be to skip Joba when they can. Sergio Mitre will start on Saturday, this is interesting though because then two days in a row you have questionable pitching but it is in Seattle and they probably figure they can outhit them. A.J. Burnett is still giving, he is taking the original WWE belt they have and having everyone on the team sign it. He then is going to auction it off and all the proceeds will be going to Camp Sundown. If you don't remember those are the kids with the rare condition where they can't be in light and they came to the game and then had the carnival until 3AM on the last homestand. What a great job by A.J. not only has he pitched well and stayed on the field he has shown to be a good person and teammate also.

Blue Jays at Yankees

The New York Yankees will take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2nd of 3 from Yankees stadium. The game is at 7:05 on MY9 in NY. The Yankees are 4-1 on their current seven game homestand. Joba is the starter tonight and was shaky his last time out against the Red Sox but he pitched 3 great games in a row before that and is 8-0 with a 1.79 era in his career after the all star break. Melky Cabrera turns 25 today, Happy Birthday to him. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Hinske(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yankees finish off strong homstand with a win

The Yankees defeated the Oakland A's today by the score of 7-5 to cap off a 9-1 homestand. Sergio Mitre got the start and only lasted 5 innings giving up 4 runs on 9 hits with 1 strikeout. Phil Coke came on in relief and was shaky giving up 2 hits and a run in his one inning of work. Phil Coke has been so great but it is going to happen and it will really be beneficial to him and the team if Damaso Marte comes back and they can have the two lefties out of the pen. Phil Hughes came on for 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He gave up a hit and a walk but had 3 strikeouts. He has just been so good you wonder if he will ever let up a run again out of the bullpen. Mariano Rivera also pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief giving up 0 hits and 0 walks with 2 strikeouts. The Yankees pitching has been so good and that is the key to their success, it will be interesting to see what they do, if they add another starter or take Aceves out of the pen and make him a starter again, I don't think they will move Hughes back as he has been so dominant and it would take him time to build back up to starting. The offense was led by Derek Jeter who went 2-4 with 2 rbi's and a walk. Johnny Damon had a hit and a walk and Big Tex had 2 hits and a rbi. Jorge Posada had a hit and a walk, Hideki Matsui had a hit, walk and rbi. Nick Swisher had a hit and a walk and Robinson Cano had a huge 3 run double. Melky Cabrera had a hit and 2 walks, he has started hitting well again lately and he is once again the CF as Gardner is hurt so this is a good sign. Cody Ransom had 2 hits, everyone in the lineup had at least one hit. The Yankees finished off the homestand at 9-1 which is great and they also are 2 1/2 ahead of the Red Sox as they got that game back they lost yesterday with their win and Bostons loss. The Yankees now begin a huge 9 game roadtrip with 3 in Tampa starting tomorrow, 4 in Chicago and 2 in Toronto. The Yankees will have the Red Sox for 4 games when they return home but lets focus on each series first and not look ahead, hopefully we will remain in first at the end of this roadtrip and go from there. I would accept 5-4 on this roadtrip but 6-3 would be really nice.

Yanks try to finish off homestand in style

The New York Yankees finish their 10 game homestand today with a 1:05 game against the Oakland A's. Dallas Braden is on the mound for Oakland who stats wise is their best pitcher, I can't see the Yankees doing much worse then yesterday when they couldn't hit Gio Gonzalez at all. The game is on Yes. The Yankees will leave after the game for Tampa where they will start a big 3 game series with the Tampa Bay Rays and then they will continue on to play the White Sox for 3 and 2 with Toronto before coming home for a huge 4 game series with the Boston Red Sox. Peter Abraham is off today so there isn't much notes but the big thing is Brett Gardner is on the DL with a broken thumb, he did it yesterday breaking up a double play in the first inning. He will be in a cast for at least two weeks. The only other outfielders on the 40 man roster are Shelly Duncan, John Rodriguez and Austin Jackson. It will be interesting to see who they call up but for now Jon Albaladejo will be on the team for today and then tomorrow they will send him back down and send someone else up. A-rod is just getting the day off as he has looked lethargic lately. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) Posada(C) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Ransom(3B)

Yanks fall to Jays

The Yankees were stymied by Doc Halladay as usual. He pitched a complete game giving up 1 run. A.J. Burnett didn't pitch too bad but had one bad inning where he gave up 3 runs, no help from the umpire and the third run was out at the plate but Kevin Cash couldn't hold on to the ball. The thing is this is a game where A.J. needed to just dominate Toronto and couldn't, the Yankees pitching has been a huge disappointment and the real reason why they are struggling. I know it is early but it isn't that early and if they don't get it together in the next couple of weeks they will miss the playoffs again and that will be very embarrassing. They have a new stadium which they already can't fill and it will only get worse unless the team starts playing the way they should. How can Mark Teixiera keep hitting under 200 and all of the injuries and guys like A.J. have a era north of 5, it just doesn't make sense but it is what it is. I really would hope the Yankees can win the next couple of games and then do some damage on the 10 game homestand and go into June with some momentum but we will see. Derek Jeter hopes to play tomorrow but says it isn't getting any better and he is hoping he doesn't need to miss a couple of weeks or so. Jorge Posada is getting closer to returning as well as Bruney who will throw off a mound tomorrow, if he is ok he may come back pretty much right away. It appears Wang will pitch another game in Scranton but nothing is official right now. He threw 6 shutout innings with 3 hits and 6 strikeouts, he says he feels good and can see the difference, his sinker is now staying down and his velocity is up which is great. I don't know but maybe getting Wang back will get them rolling with the pitching also and Bruney makes a huge difference with the bullpen. A-rod will get better and Tex I assume will eventually just go nuts and not stop hitting the ball. The problem for the Yankees is they can't overcome the injuries and have to hope the pitching gets it going and carries them, Pettitte and CC need to lead the way the next two games and get them big wins and hope it gets everyone else going.

Joba gets first win

Joba Chamberlain was sharp tonight pitching 7 strong innings and the Yankees had another big inning. Joba pitched 7 innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts he was also hitting 93-95 on the gun which is a great sign as his velocity has been up his last two starts and this was the best that he has looked. The Yankees had a 7 run fourth inning today and that was all they needed although it got interesting at the end. Nick Swisher hit two homeruns, one from each side of the plate becoming the 10th Yankee to do that. Hideki Matsui walked 3 times and had a double as he continues to get better. Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 16 games. Melky Cabrera had another hit and Ramiro Pena had a hit. Johnny Damon had 2 hits and a RBI. The game got interesting in the ninth as Jon Albaladejo gave up a couple of runs and left with 2 runners on and 2 outs. Mariano Rivera who didn't appear to be completely warmed up came in and gave up a 3 run homerun to Curtis Granderson before getting Polanco to pop out to second to end the game. The Yankees ended the roadtrip on a high winning the last two games behind two young guns after a miserable weekend in Boston. The Yankees now come home and begin a 8 game homestand tomorrow with Anaheim and then Boston and Tampa Bay come in. I forgot to mention also it was Joe Girardi's 100th win as manager of the Yankees, I like that he said he would like to do that in a year.