Pujols three homers power the Cardinals to victory in Game Three

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers by the score of 16-7 on Saturday night in Game Three of the World Series. Albert Pujols took over the World Series as he hit three homeruns. He was hitless in the World Series coming into this game. He took a lot of criticism after not speaking to the media after Game Two. Pujols answered back the best way he could with his bat and now they won’t be criticizing him. Pujols tied four World Series records and broke one, simply amazing. The pitching which has been so good for both teams through the first two games was non existent in this game as the offenses exploded.
Matt Harrison started for the Rangers and took the loss. He pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up six hits and five runs with three of them being earned. He had one walk and three strikeouts. Scott Feldman pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and three runs with two walks, Alexi Ogando pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up three hits and four runs with three of them being earned, two walks and a strikeout and Mike Gonzalez pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up one hit and two runs with one walk. Mark Lowe pitched one inning giving up two hits and one run with a strikeout and Darren Oliver pitched one inning giving up one hit and one run with two strikeouts.

Kyle Lohse pitched three innings giving up five hits and three runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Fernando Salas pitched one inning giving up four hits and three runs, Lance Lynn got the win pitching 2 1/3 innings giving up three hits and one run with two walks and two strikeouts and Octavio Dotel pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up one hit and striking out one batter. Mitchell Boggs pitched one perfect inning with a strikeout.

Adrian Beltre led the Texas offense with four hits and an RBI. Ian Kinsler had a walk, Elvis Andrus had two hits and Josh Hamilton had a hit. Michael Young had two hits and two RBI, Nelson Cruz had a hit, two RBI and a walk and Mike Napoli had a hit and two RBI. David Murphy had a walk and Yorvit Torrealba had two hits and a walk. Young and Beltre each had a double and Young and Cruz each hit a homerun. The Rangers were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Kinsler, Napoli and Andrus each made an error. Pujols was the star of the Cardinals offense and the game. Pujols had three homeruns, five hits and six RBI. Rafael Furcal had a hit, Allen Craig had a hit, RBI and a walk and Matt Holliday had a hit and a walk. Lance Berkman had two hits and a walk, David Freese had two hits, two RBI and a walk and Yadier Molina had two hits, four RBI and a walk. Ryan Theriot had a hit, RBI and a walk, Freese had a double and Molina had two doubles. Craig also had a homerun besides Pujols three. The Cardinals were 4-13 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Jay was caught stealing and Holliday had an outfield assist.

The Cardinals scored one run in the first inning and it was a 1-0 game through three. In the fourth inning is when it started getting crazy the game. The Cardinals scored four runs, Freese hit an RBI double and Jay reached on a force attempt and an error with two runs scoring. Theriot hit an RBI single and it was 5-0 Cardinals. The Rangers came right back in the bottom of the fourth with three runs. Young hit a solo homerun and Cruz hit a two run homerun to make it 5-3. In the fifth inning Freese grounded out to score a run and Molina had a two run double making it 8-3 Cardinals. In the bottom of the fifth Young hit an RBI double, Beltre hit an RBI single and Napoli hit a sacrifice fly making it 8-6. Pujols hit a three run homerun in the sixth and Molina hit a sacrifice fly to make it 12-6 Cardinals and the rout was on. Pujols hit a two run homerun in the seventh to make it 14-6. Napoli hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh making it a 14-7 game. In the eighth Molina hit an RBI double making it 15-7 and Pujols hit a solo homerun in the ninth to complete the scoring at 16-7.

The Cardinals have now taken a two games to one lead in the best of seven World Series. The Cardinals have also taken back home field advantage with the win. The next two games will also be in Texas on Sunday and Monday nights. The teams will have a travel day on Tuesday and resume the series on Wednesday and Thursday if necessary. I wouldn’t expect the Rangers to lose all three at home so this win by the Cardinals pretty much assured a return trip to St. Louis for Game Six. It was a history making night, the game was very long though and went very late so I am not sure how many people witnessed the history being made. It is amazing to me how baseball can be so different day to day and that is what makes it a special game. The first two games of this series were all pitching and this one was all hitting, will the series go back to the pitching being good or will the offense take over the rest of the series now. Pujols after the game had this to say”It is an honor to be in there, in the same category as those guys . But I just thank god that I was able to come out today and help our ball club to win and hopefully I can do that tomorrow again.” The Cardinals are now halfway home to their 11th World Series Championship in their history. This was the third highest scoring game in World Series history. Cruz hit his seventh postseason homerun in this game which is one short of the single season record held by Barry Bonds(2002) and Carlos Beltran(2004). He has 13 career postseason homeruns which are tied for 10th all-time. It will be interesting to see how Game Four is going to go on Sunday night, will Albert Pujols even have a chance to hit in that game or will the Rangers walk him?? Stay tuned to find out on Sunday 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.

Yankees vs. Jays the rubber game

The New York Yankes are playing the final game of their three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon.  The Blue Jays won on friday night and the Yankees bounced back to win last evening.  This is also the last game of a seven game homestand.  Here is the lineup and some quick notes. 

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Brett Gardner, Francisco Cervelli.  Ivan Nova makes the start and trys to get some momentum after pitching into the seventh inning for the first time in his career last time out. 

Cervelli was activated on Friday and will make his first start of the season today.  He broke his foot in spring training and rehabbed and came back a little earlier then expected.  He should play more now to give Russell Martin some rest so they don't wear him out.  Martin has been great but you don't want to burn him out. 

A.J. Burnett yesterday wasn't great but it was a good example of the difference in him.  Last year he would get frustrated and get out of control.  This season so far he has been able to fight through things, he knew he didn't have his curveball and early on he admitted it bothered him but he found a way to fight through it and earn the victory.  He finished April at 4-1 with an ERA under four.

Burnett recorded the 26th pickoff of his career yesterday ranking him fourth amongst active right handers.  Granderson lost a ball in the sun to lead off the game yesterday but didn't use that as an excuse.  He said it was hit harder then he thought.  He did admit the sun was troublesome until the seventh or eighth inning.  That is what you have to like about Granderson, he is a good guy and very accountable, he doesn't use excuses and comes to play every day. 

The Yankees were 4-9 with runners in scoring position yesterday after being 0-8 on Friday night.  The five runs were the most they scored this season without hitting a homerun.  They are a team that has mostly relied on homeruns and they need to have more games like this where they score in other ways. 

The combination of Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera pitched the last three innings the way they are supposed too.  They didn't give up any runs.  Soriano bounced back from a rough outing last time out and he vows he will have a better May after a rough April.  I still believe he will get better and really help this team and the bullpen will become a strength of the team. 

Yankees take series in Extras

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox tonight by the score of 3-1. The Red Sox took an early lead and it stayed 1-0 until the 8th inning when Nick Swisher hit a rbi single with Jorge Posada at second. I don't know how he scored as he looked very slow and uncoordinated in trying to score but he made it by tiptoeing around the catcher and then missing home plate. He was able to crawl back and touch home plate as the ball got away from the catcher. Andy Pettitte and John Lackey both pitched very well but it became a battle of the bullpens. Andy pitched 6 innings giving up 6 hits and 1 run with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. John Lackey pitched 6 innings giving up 3 hits and 0 runs. Curtis Granderson was the hero of the game as he hit a homerun off of Jonathan Papelbon in the 10th inning. The Yankees added a insurance run with a Mark Teixiera fielders choice groundout. Mariano Rivera looked like he usually does by pitching a perfect inning for the save. Chan Ho Park was the story of the game though as he bounced back from his opening night loss with 3 shutout innings. He earned the victory, he also saved the bullpen who will now all be ready to go in Tampa on Friday. The Yankees won the series and will enjoy their day off. They will take on the Rays now in St. Pete Friday, Saturday and Sunday before coming home next Tuesday for the home opener. Javier Vazquez will make his debut on Friday. Curtis Granderson has started off his Yankee career nicely with 2 homeruns in 3 games and the game winner tonight. Nick Johnson hasn't gotten a hit yet but has started his second tour of duty off right with his near 500 on base percentage.

Hughes looks great in Extended Spring

The Yankees were off today and their wasn't much news. Phil Hughes did make a start down in Tampa in extended spring training though. He pithced 8 1/3 innings allowing 3 hits, 0 runs and had 12 strikeouts. That is very impressive although it was in extended spring. I feel really good about him as the 5th starter and think he may give them double digit wins. I think this is the year he really shows his potential and then stays in the rotation for good. He will be rejoining the team before pitching another extended spring game when the team is in Tampa this coming weekend. The Pitching Matchups for the rest of the series in Boston are: Tommorrow-A.J. Burnett vs Jon Lester Wednesday-Andy Pettitte vs John Lackey The Yankees will try to even up the series tomorrow. The games are at 7:00PM and on the yes network and wcbs radio 880AM.

New York Mets report to Camp

The New York Mets seem to be quiet a chatty bunch early on. Johan Santana met with the media today and when asked who the best pitcher in the NL East is he said Johan Santana. You have to remember that Roy Halladay is in the NL East now also. He also said that he expects the Mets to win the World Series just like David Wright had said yesterday. The Mets are coming off a terrible year which was preceded by 2 epic collapses to miss the playoffs. I wonder if this is a new attitude because of all the losing, they decided to be cocky and arrogant and maybe it will rub off on everyone. They have to remember the best way to get people to forget about the dissappointments is to win. They just have to get on the field and win ballgames and then no one will care about anything else. Johan Santana said that he spoke to Oliver Perez who is mentally prepared this year, he said he didn't have that last year. That is a big problem, to me this is your livlihood shouldn't you always be mentally prepared?? The Daily News has a video of Oliver Perez throwing a bullpen. Jose Reyes did a interview with Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. He said that he doesn't want to go anywhere and isn't thinking about his contract. He will earn 9 million this season and the Mets have a 11 million dollar option for next season. He said right now he just wants to go out on the field and do his job to help the team win. He said he wants to finish his career as a Met. Reyes is a huge key for the Mets this season, when he goes the team goes, he has to stay healthy and tone it down a little bit and produce. It looks like he will take on more of a leadership role this season which the team really needs.

CC to pitch Game 4

I know everyone involved with the Yankees and Angels is beat and the Yankees cancelled their workout today but they had a conference call with Joe Girardi and Andy Pettitte. Joe Girardi announced today that CC Sabathia will be the Game 4 starter so even if the Yankees win tomorrow he will be going in Game 4 for the kill. I think it is a good move because if it goes to game 7 he pitches twice but even if it doesn't then he should be lined up to go for the World Series. The thing is you have to worry about winning this series and what is best for right now and that is CC pitching as often as he can so I like the move by the Yankees. There is no more news today and there will be a game at 4:15 tomorrow afternoon so there will be plenty of stuff early on tomorrow, the lineups and notes and any other news.

Royals at Yankees

The Yankees take on the Royals at 7:05 on YES. The Yankees have clinched everything they could in the regular season. The goal now is to stay healthy and finalize their playoff rosters. They will see how Robertson does this week and if Bruney can continue to be effective as well as see if Gaudin will be a long man or they will go with 2 lefties etc. The games don't mean anything as they could lose them all and still have the best record in baseball. Hereare the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. RHP Dave Robertson has been cleared to pitch and you can expect to see him tomorrow at some point. He has been out since Sept. 5 with a sore elbow. He has 61 strikeouts in 41 innings and could play a big role in the postseason. Andy Pettitte banked an additional $750,000 when he went over the 190-inning mark. He needs 8.2 innings to get to 200 and another $750,000, which won’t be happening. The Yankees are 44 games over .500. They have not been 45 games over since finishing 2002 with a 103-58 record. Yankees Lineup: Gardner(CF) Cabrera(RF) Damon(LF) Posada(DH) Cano(2B) Hinske(3B) Miranda(1B) Cervelli(C) Pena(SS)

Pitching matchups for Yanks/Sox

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game set with the Red Sox starting tomorrow night at the stadium. Here are the pitching matchups Tomorrow- Joba Chamberlain vs Jon Lester Saturday- CC Sabathia vs Daisuke Matsuzaka Sunday- Andy Pettitte vs Paul Byrd This could be the clinching actually for both teams, the Red Sox for the wildcard and the Yankees for the AL east. It won't have the same intensity but its still Yanks/Sox for the last time this season unless they play in the ALCS. Joba needs to have a good start though and make sure he has a place on the postseason roster. Boston is taking on KC tonight and was winning the game so it looks like the magic number for the Yankees will still be 5.

Yankees at Mariners

UPDATE: 10:42- I forgot to mention this before but Hideki Matsui is tied for the major league lead in homeruns against lefties with 12 homeruns. Also when Hideki Matsui homered on Wednesday he joined A-rod, Big Tex and Nick Swisher as Yankees with at least 25 homeruns. The last time this happened was 1938 when Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Bill Dickey and Joe Gordon did it. The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series in Seattle tonight and a 6 game roadtrip. A.J. Burnett is on the mound against Felix Hernandez. If A.J. was pitching right it would be a great matchup, maybe this is the game where he puts it together and goes on a good run. I want to wish Peter Abraham good luck on his new job and hope that whoever replaces him can do half the job he has done but he is here for the next couple of weeks and the pregame notes and lineup are coming via him and the Lohud Yankees Blog. If you haven't already done so by the way please follow me on twitter and facebook. The Yankees are 5-2 against Seattle this season and were just in Seattle from Aug 13-16th. The Yankees magic number is 10, they are 7 up on the Red Sox for first place in the AL east and 6 up on the Angels for homefield advantage. MO needs 2 more strikeouts for 1,000 in his career. MO has allowed on run in his last 33 games and 33 innings. He has given up 15 hits, walked 8 and struckout 32. This guy is truly amazing, it has been a pleasure to watch him all of these years. The Yankees lead the majors with 48 come from behind victories. The Yankees are 41 games over 500 and haven't been 42 over since the end of the 2002 season. Hideki Matsui hit his 25th homerun of the season on Wednesday. He tied Don Baylor for most homeruns as a DH for the Yankees, Baylor did it in 1984. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Yanks/Seattle Pitching Matchups

Tomorrow- Felix Hernandez vs A.J. Burnett Saturday- Doug Fister vs CC Sabathia Sunday- Joba Chamberlain vs Ian Snell Tomorrow is a interesting game because it is Felix Hernandez, this is the type of pitcher the Yankees will be facing in the playoffs and it will be interesting to see how A.J. reacts to this. Will he step up and be a solid #2 that the Yankees need or will he continue to struggle. The other two games the Yankees seem to have an advantage, I would hope they can get 2 out of 3 in this series before heading off to the house of horrows that is Angel Stadium.

Yankees walkoff with another win

The New York Yankees for the 14th time this season had a walkoff win and got to taste some pie. This time the hero was rookie catcher Francisco Cervelli, what a good feeling for him as he filled in so admirably earlier in the year when Jorge Posada and Jose Molina were injured. Chad Gaudin got the start and was good as he pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up 7 hits and 3 runs. He struck out 2 and had 1 walk. The Yankees are 4-0 when he starts even though he is only 1-0. Damaso Marte came on in the 6th in relief of Gaudin and got a strikeout. Brian Bruney gave up 2 hits and a run without recording an out as he continues to struggle. Phil Coke pitched a perfect inning and so did Phil Hughes with a strikeout. Mariano gave up a leadoff bunt single in the 9th but that was it. The offense was awake early by scoring 2 runs in the first inning on a Mark Teixeira double and Hideki Matsui single but after Tallett got taken out of the game in the 3rd inning they couldn't muster much offense until the 8th inning when Hideki Matsui hit a game tying 2 run homerun. Brett Gardner led off the ninth with a basehit and once again showed how valuable he can be in the postseason by stealing 2nd and getting to third on a Derek Jeter groundout. He scored the winning run on a Francisco Cervelli single and it was a great scene as Cervelli touched first and headed towards the outfield with all of his teammates chasing him. Francisco Cervelli has really shown the Yankees a lot this season and I don't see how he won't be the backup catcher next season. The Yankees now have a off day tomorrow and will head out to the west coast to start a 3 game series with Seattle on Friday. A.J. Burnett will try to get it together as he goes up against Felix Hernandez.

Yanks go down but not without a fight literally

The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 10-4 tonight. Sergio Mitre got the start and was pretty awful giving up 4 homeruns and 6 runs in 5+ innings. Roy Halladay didn't have his best stuff as the Yankees had 11 hits off of him but only 2 runs. The Yankees just couldn't get the big hit off of him. The story of the game though is the bench clearing brawl that took place in the 8th inning. Aaron Hill was hit in the back by Mark Melancon in the top of the inning, Jorge Posada came up to bat and was clearly thrown behind on purpose. He had some words with the pitcher and then walked. He later scored and as he crossed the plate he elbowed the pitcher who was standing in front of the plate. A bench clearing brawl ensued with Posada really going at the pitcher and Shelly Duncan in the middle of course. Joe Girardi had a cut and his eye appeared to be swelling up. It will be interesting to see if there is any carryover with tomorrows game or if it is over. I would expect that Jorge Posada will be suspended for a few games which may not be the worst thing because at least he can get some rest and the Yankees have Francisco Cervelli up now. Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter all had multi hit games and every guy in the starting lineup had a hit. Chad Gaudin will face Brian Tallett as the Yankees look to finish their homestand at 7-3 before heading to Seattle and Anaheim.

Blue Jays at Yankees

The New York Yankees begin a 2 game series with the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at 7:00PM on MY9. The matchup is Sergio Mitre vs Roy Halladay. Roy Halladay threw a 1 hit complete game shutout against the Yanks on Sept. 4th. Ramiro Pena had the lone hit a double. Sergio Mitre faced the Jays on Sept 6th and allowed 11 runs(9 of them earned) on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He really didn't pitch that bad but the team was just out of it and played terrible defense and didn't help him at all. Here are the pregame notes and lineup from Peter Abraham. Brett Gardner has 21 stolen bases in 26 attempts this season. Over the last 50 years only 3 other Yankee rookies have stolen at least 21 bases in a season. Alfonso Soriano had 43 in 2001, Willie Randolph had 37 in 1976 and Jerry Kennedy had 25 in 1969. Gardner has been successful in 34 of his first 40 attempts in his career. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Gardner(CF) Andy Pettitte is being skipped because of shoulder fatigue. Chad Gaudin will start tomorrow in his place. They don't think its serious and should be knocked out with the extra rest.

Pitching Matchups for Yanks/Jays series

The New York Yankees will complete their 10 game homestand starting tonight with a 2 game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Here are the pitching matchups. Tonight- Sergio Mitre vs Roy Halladay Tomorrow- TBA vs Brian Tallett This matchup tonight is one of the biggest mismatches you could ever have but the game isn't played on paper. The Yankees did get to Roy Halladay in his only appearance at Yankee Stadium earlier this season. Tomorrow we don't know who is pitching for the Yankees so it is hard to say. The Yankees will be happy to get a game here and move on to the westcoast.

Angels at Yankees

The New York Yankees play a makeup game with the Angels tonight at 7:00PM from the Stadium. They enter tonight 5 games up on them for homefield advantage. They are 2-4 against them this season and 18-32 against them over the last 5 years including postseason. It is a understatement to say the Yankees have their problems with the Angels. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham and his Louhud Yankees Blog. Joba is 1-3 with a 7.76 era in his last 7 games allowing 40 hits and 18 walks over 29 innings. Opponents have hit 323 against him over that stretch. Joba has faced the Angels once which came on July 10th. He allowed 5 runs on 9 hits over 4 1/3 innings. Johnny Damon needs one homer to reach his career high of 25. Mariano Rivera who hasn't pitched since last Tuesday is 2 strikeouts shy of 1,000. A-rod is 18 of 42 this month with 6 runs scored, 14 rbi's and 5 xbh. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yanks avoid sweep

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 13-3 this afternoon. CC Sabathia got the start and didn't have his overpowering stuff but pitched 7 good innings regardless. He allowed 3 runs with only 1 strikeout. 1 of the runs was a gift from Johnny Damon though when he forgot how many outs there were and almost threw the ball into the stands as the Baltimore runner tagged up from second and scored. It was an embarrassing moment for Johnny and the Yankees as they played poor all weekend. The Yankees after that though woke up, or it was probably more after Joe Girardi and A-rod got tossed in the sixth inning. A-rod struck out with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 5th inning on a pitch was clearly outside but it was fairly close. A-rod wasn't happy but the next inning went on then before the Yankees came up to bat again he was tossed for apparantly arguing from the bench and Joe Girardi went crazy getting in the umpires face, throwing his hat to the ground and getting so angry that I thought he was going to hit the umpire. At the end of the argument another umpire had to step in between Joe and the umpire. He hopes not to get suspended but I am sure MLB will not be happy with his actions. Phil Hughes pitched a effective 8th inning once again bouncing back from giving up the lead his last time out and Brian Bruney and Edwar Ramirez finished off the game. Hideki Matsui had a 5 rbi game and Derek Jeter added 3 more hits to his record total. A-rod before getting thrown out had a rbi double. Mark Teixeira had 2 hits and 2 rbi's, Robinson Cano had 3 hits and Nick Swisher had 2 hits. Melky Cabrera had 2 hits and 4 rbi's. The Yankees play a makeup game tomorrow with the Angels in a battle for homefield advantage.

Yanks lose a ugly one

The New York Yankees probably played their sloppiest game of the season today in Toronto. They lost 14-8 to the Blue Jays finishing a roadtrip at 5-2 which overall is very good. They now head home for the start of a 10 game homestand with tomorrows doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays. CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett will be pitching the two games tomorrow. The Yankees comitted 4 errors today but there were a few more miscues, they just looked terrible out there. Sergio Mitre got the start and in 4 1/3 innings gave up 11 hits, 11 runs, 9 earned with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He wasn't as bad as the numbers indicate though as the defense really failed him with the errors and then several miscues that cost him runs also. It was just an overall bad day for the Yankees that thanks to their large lead they can just forget about and move on to the doubleheader tomorrow at the stadium and the huge crowds that will await them as they move closer to clinching and also Derek Jeter breaking Lou Gehrig's hits record. Mark Melancon pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up 1 hit and 1 run with 2 walks and a strikeout. Josh Towers finished out the game with 3 1/3 innings giving up 1 earned run on 3 hits and 1 strikeout. The offense wasn't bad with Derek Jeter getting 3 hits, Johnny Damon had 2 hits, Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher also had 2 hits. Nick Swisher had another homerun on the road. Hinske, Hairston and Cabrera all had one hit each. It can't be any better then a Labor Day doubleheader with Jeter playing both games and having a chance to break the alltime Yankee hits record.

Yanks at Orioles(Yanks go for 2nd straight sweep)

The New York Yankees will take on the Baltimore Orioles tonight in game 3 of the 3 game series. The Yankees are going for their 10th straight victory over the Baltimore Orioles. They are 5 1/2 games ahead of the Angels for homefield advantage and 6 1/2 ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East. Here are the pregame notes and lineup as always via the Lohud Yankees Blog. CC Sabathia is 5-0 with a 2.64 era in his last 6 starts. He is 2-1 with a 3.10 era against the O's this season. Robinson Cano is 25 of 52 with 13 xbh, 7 homeruns and 17 rbi's against the O's this season. Cano has 7 xbh and 12 rbi's in his last 8 games overall. Alex Rodriguez has 71 rbi's this season. 35 of them have either tied the score or given the Yankees the lead. Derek Jeter is 2 stolen bases away from 300 for his career. Hideki Matsui is 3 for his last 19 with only 1 rbi. Nick Swisher is 26 of 85 at Camden Yards in his career with 13 homeruns adn 29 rbi's over 26 games. The average is 306 for those who don't have a calculator. The Yankee relievers have allowed one run on 8 hits over the last 16 1/3 innings. Derek Jeter needs 10 more hits to pass Lou Gehrig for most hits in franchise history. The Yankees are 71-33 since A-rod came off of the DL. Damaso Marte has thrown 3 1/3 scoreless innings since coming off of the DL. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Swisher(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Hinske(RF) Molina(C)

Yanks win 5th in row

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles tonight by the score of 9-6. A.J. Burnett got the start and had nothing as he went 5 1/3 innings giving up 6 runs. He hasn't won a game in over a month and it may be cause for concern now. He didn't pitch bad his last time out but tonight he just had nothing going. I would think now is the time for A.J. to get it together so he can head into the postseason with confidence, I would think he would be the game 2 starter but maybe he will be the game 3 starter the way it is going. The Yankees offense bailed him out with 5 homruns, 2 of them off of the bat of Jorge Posada who is 1 homerun shy of putting the Yankees at 7 players with 20 or more homeruns. Robinson Cano had 2 hits as he continues to demolish Baltimore pitching this season. He is batting I believe it is 481 against them now this season. The only guy in the lineup without a hit was Mark Teixeira. A-rod had a rbi single, Nick Swisher had a homerun and so did Eric Hinske in fact they went back to back. Melky Cabrera had 2 hits as he has been showing signs of life lately which is a good sign, Brett Gardner should be back somewhat soon but we will see what he can do when he comes back. The Yankees will be going for the sweep tomorrow night with their ace CC Sabathia on the mound. The Yankees are now 36 games over 500, they haven't been this far over 500 since they finished the 2004 season 40 games over. The Yankees have 30 games left this season, could they win 16 more to get to 100, it is looking pretty good but the only thing that is going to matter now is winning in the postseason and getting that 27th championship.