The Rangers take Game One despite the Rain

The Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers by the score of 3-2 in Game One of the 2011 American League Championship Series. The game was played in Arlington, Texas as the Texas Rangers had a better record then the Detroit Tigers and therefore have home field advantage. The game was delayed twice by rain and went deep into the night. I find the ironic thing being that in New York it was absolutely gorgeous and if the Yankees would of won that is where the games would have been played. New York had such bad weather this year and then Texas which hasn’t had rain in so long got a lot of rain for the first game of the ALCS and it is expected to be bad on Sunday for Game Two.
Justin Verlander and C.J. Wilson was the matchup. Wilson is the biggest name pitcher who will be on the free agent market this season and he did his job in Game One. He was shaky in the first game of the postseason against the Tampa Bay Rays but not in this game. The numbers look worse for the starting pitchers because of the rain, that is why they had short outings. Wilson pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up six hits and two runs. He walked five and struck out six. Wilson was cruising along until the rain came. Verlander pitched four innings giving up five hits and three runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Verlander is 0-1 in the postseason with a 6.75 ERA. He is going to win the CY young and may even win the MVP but he has had to deal with weather issues so far in the postseason. The bullpen for Detroit pitched four innings giving up one hit and no runs. They didn’t walk a batter and struck out two. The bullpen for Texas pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up one hit and no runs. They walked one and struck out eight. The bullpens for both teams did an excellent job but I am sure the managers will be looking for length out of their starters in Game Two.

Ramon Santiago had a big game for Detroit with three hits. Austin Jackson had the only RBI of the game for Detroit. Ryan Raburn, Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta each had a hit. The Tigers also drew six walks. Santiago and Jackson each had a double and the Tigers were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. Jackson made an error. Texas scattered six hits with Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre, Mike Napoli, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy and Mitch Moreland each getting a hit. Kinsler, Cruz and Murphy had the RBI. The Rangers drew two walks, Murphy had a triple and Cruz had a homerun. The Rangers were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Kinsler was caught stealing.

In the bottom of the second inning Murphy hit an RBI triple and Kinsler had an RBI single. Texas had a 2-0 lead which they would expand to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Cruz solo homerun. In the fifth inning Jackson hit an RBI double for the Tigers to make it 3-1 and a wild pitch scored Jackson to make it 3-2. Wilson got Magglio Ordonez to ground out and then the bullpen took over and shut down the Tigers the rest of the way. The final score was 3-2 in favor of the Rangers.

The best of seven series started with a bang as these two teams battled it out and the pitching especially out of the bullpen was outstanding. The two teams will play game two on Sunday night in Texas weather permitting. The series will resume in Detroit on Tuesday after an off day with Games 3, 4 and 5 if necessary in Detoit before the final two games are played back in Texas if necessary. The Rangers are trying to make the World Series for the second straight year while the Tigers are trying to reach the World Series for the first time since 2006 when they also knocked out the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs.

Yankees and Orioles Postponed

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles were postponed tonight and there is no makeup date yet.  The Yankees decided to push back their pitchers so A.J. Burnett will pitch tomorrow night and Phil Hughes on Thursday night.  The Yankees didn't announce yet if Freddy Garcia will still make his start on Friday or be pushed back.  If he doesn't start again he will sometime in the next five days as they have five games in a row and need all their starters. 

The Yankees are placing Luis Ayala on the DL with a lat strain, it isn't known who will be called up yet but Steve Garrison is a name that jumps out.  They could use another lefty with it also being revealed that Pedro Feliciano had a setback.  This move could turn out to be a disaster as the overwork by the Mets is clearly affecting him now.  The Yankees did sign him though knowing the risk.  Mark Prior is a logical thought to come up but the Yankees said that isn't being considered.  I get the feeling they want him to be down there a couple of months and show he is healthy before they think about calling him up. 

Alex Rodriguez is doing better and was in the lineup tonight.  He will play tomorrow, Girardi said he was smiling today and that wasn't something he was doing on Sunday.  Russell Martin was scheduled to have a day off on Friday but now that they had a day off today that probably won't happen, we will have to wait and see. 

Enjoy the night everyone and we should have baseball tomorrow night.  A.J Burnett vs. Chris Tillman unless Baltimore switches up their rotation.  The same lineup should be in order for tommorrow also.  The game will be on YES tomorrow night at 7:00PM. 

Mets Split Squad is now one Game

The New York Mets game with the Washington Nationals in Viera has been cancelled due to rain. The game in Port St. Lucie is still on with the Marlins. Jon Niese will get the start. Oliver Perez will start tomorrow instead of today. Here is the lineup for todays game: Mets Lineup: Pagan(CF) Cora(SS) Wright(3B) Murphy(1B) Francoeur(RF) Matthews(LF) Blanco(C) Tejada(2B) Niese(P)

Yanks make a few cuts and try to figure out their pitching schedule

The New York Yankees are in a little bit of a mess. The reason they are in a mess is because of the rainout today. The Yankees have 7 pitchers who need to pitch and only 9 innings against a major league team tomorrow. They have been calling around to see if they could find another team to play a split squad tomorrow. Another option they may have is to play against one of the minor league teams. They may also play a B game at home tomorrow. Joe Girardi had this to say "It's a mess kinda, we don't have it completely ironed out. Right now, it's a little pain in the rear." A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera, Chan Ho Park and Damaso Marte all need to throw. The Yankees have a scheduled off day on Tuesday but Girardi said that wouldn't solve the problem because they are trying to keep everyone on schedule or as close to it as possible. My guess is they find a team who will play a split squad tomorrow and everyone will get their work in, if no one will cooperate then they will probably play a B game at home and they will still get their work in. I think it is less of a problem with a veteran team. The cuts that took place today were Jesus Montero, Austin Romine, Colin Curtis and Reid Gorecki. They are all headed to the minor league complex. I am not sure if I will be able to get more information later about what is going on with the schedule but if I do I will post it on here, if not I will have something tomorrow. Enjoy this beautiful day everyone and pretty soon we will have baseball again. UPDATE: 3:45PM-The Yankees will play a intrasquad game at home tomorrow. Here is how the pitching will work. One of the teams will have Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Damaso Marte and they will go against the other team who will have Joba Chamberlain, Chan Ho Park and Dave Robertson. The rest of the team will head to Clearwater to face the Phillies, A.J. Burnett will start that game with Phil Hughes coming on in relief.

Yanks Game Rained Out

The New York Yankees game scheduled for this afternoon has been rained out. I will be back later with more information regarding the pitchers and what they will do with them. This is the 3rd game this spring rained out for the Yankees.

Grapefruit League Game 19-Astros at Mets

The New York Mets will host the Houston Astros this afternoon, they are also playing a morning game against the University Of Michigan. The game against the Michegan Wolverines doesn't count in the standings so I am just going to focus on the regular game. Jonathan Niese will take on Roy Oswalt this afternoon. I am still waiting to get a lineup for this game. The Mets game was rained out this afternoon, I don't have any other information regarding them right now. If there is any news or notes I will be sure to post it later.

Yankees Rained Out Again

The New York Yankees were on there way to Viera, a long bus ride from Tampa. They got the call to turn back around because the game was called. They had to make adjustments as they have now been rained out 2 straight days. It has been quiet on the news front so far but here is what I know. Andy Pettitte threw a 3 inning simulated game, I know he faced Austin Romine but not sure of who else. He will not get into a game until Wednesday the 17th. Joe Girardi said "He's got four more starts, we will make sure he sees live people." Joba Chamberlain will pitch out of the bullpen behind Andy Pettitte on Wednesday. Phil Hughes will pitch in relief of A.J. Burnett on Tuesday. Joe Girardi was throwing batting practice to his son and one of his sons friends as Pettitte was throwing his simulated game about 30 feet over. I like the fact that Joe Girardi likes having the families and especially kids around, it makes for a more fun and loose clubhouse and I think that is a good thing for the Yankees. I think it helped them get where they did last year and it will continue to help them. It is very stressful with all the media and just being the Yankees.

Yanks rain delay

The game is in a rain delay right now as I am sure everyone knows. I am not so confident they will get this game in but they are going to try, I don't know if there is a window or anything but the problem is it is going to rain all week so who knows what is going to happen. I will be back later with updates. Joba Chamberlain's mother was arrested in Nebraska on Saturday, it is really sad that she is such a mess and amazing he is pretty well grounded, well at least we hope he learned his lesson from that drunk driving. The AP has the story as well as Peter Abraham on his blog.

Yankees go for Easter Sweep

Happy Easter everyone, hope you enjoy your day with family and friends. The Yankees go for the sweep with Joba Chamberlain making his first start of the year. Gil Meche will make his second start for Kansas City. There is rain in the forecast and it is very cold but hopefully they will get this one in with no problems. Here is the Yankees lineup: Gardner(cf) Jeter(ss) Swisher(1b) Matsui(dh) Nady(rf) Cano(2b) Cabrera(lf) Ransom(3b) Molina(c) Everyone enjoy the game on YES at 2:00pm