The Yankees have a nice comeback win and Mariano Rivera ties the all-time saves record

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 7-6 on Saturday afternoon. Bartolo Colon started the game and did not pitch well at all. The Yankees bullpen did an outstanding job and the offense did a good job as well especially later in the game. Alex Rodriguez had a good return to the lineup and Curtis Granderson had a great game. The Yankees in the beginning of the game were very sloppy, including on the base paths where they cost themselves at least a couple of extra runs.
Colon pitched four innings giving up six runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out three. Scott Proctor pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out one, Aaron Laffey pitched a perfect inning picking up his third win of the season and Hector Noesi pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Rafael Soriano struck out the side in his one inning of work, Soriano has struck out the last seven batters he has faced and Rivera pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 42nd save of the season and 601st of his career. The 601 saves tie him with Trevor Hoffman for most all-time. Rivera is widely considered the greatest of all-time and doesn’t need a record to validate it but I guess this would prove it to anyone who has any doubt. Rivera will set the record with his next save and add to it with any additional and he also is under contract next season.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Granderson had three hits, two RBI and two walks and Mark Teixeira had two hits. Robinson Cano had an RBI, Rodriguez had two hits and three RBI and Jesus Montero had a hit. Brett Gardner had two hits, Teixeira and Granderson each had a double and Gardner had a triple. The homeruns were provided by Rodriguez and Granderson. Granderson hit his 40th of the season, what a season he has had. The Yankees were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Austin Romine made an error.

The Blue Jays took an early lead in this game with four runs in the second inning. The Yankees were not looking good at all in this game. Colby Rasmus had an RBI double, Brett Lawrie grounded out scoring a run, Jose Molina had an RBI double and Mike McCoy had a sacrifice bunt that scored a run. It was 4-0 Jays at the end of the second inning. In the fourth Cano hit a sacrifice fly and Loewen made an error to score a run and make it 4-1. It could have been a much bigger inning but with second and third one out, Swisher hit a deep drive that the center fielder made a nice catch on. Cano for some reason just kept on running and not only got double off of second but was out anyway because he ran past Teixeira. The run would of scored and made it 4-2 if Cano would of just stayed at second, instead the inning ended and it was 4-1 Jays. In the bottom of the fourth McCoy hit a two run double and it was a 6-1 lead for the Jays. In the sixth Teixeira hit an RBI single and Rodriguez hit a three run homerun to make it a 6-5 game. In the seventh inning Granderson hit a two run homerun to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead and that is how the game would end up.

The Yankees have evened the three game series with the Blue Jays. The rubber game will be on Sunday afternoon at 1:00PM. Freddy Garcia will be on the mound for the Yankees. The Yankees now have a five game lead in the loss column for first place in the AL East. The Red Sox lost again to the Tampa Bay Rays and only are three games ahead of them for the AL wildcard. The Yankees magic number is five for the postseason and eight for the division. The Yankees will head home after Sundays game and play a makeup game against Minnesota on Monday before playing a four game series against the Rays. They will then play the Red Sox for three games. That series could be where the Yankees clinch the division and they would love nothing more then to clinch the division at the Red Sox expense and also knock them out or really hurt their chances. Phil Hughes was scheduled to start on Monday and he has been scratched with back spasms. The Yankees have been using six starters for a while now and this could answer their questions of who will be in the rotation depending on how serious it is.

The Mets get swept in the desert

The New York Mets lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon by the score of 5-3. Chris Capuano made the start and did what he normally does, he pitched ok. He didn’t pitch great but he didn’t pitch terrible. He is pretty consistent where he will give you six average innings. The bullpen pitched well other then Ryota Igarashi who had a rough game. Angel Pagan and Lucas Duda led the offense.
Capuano saw his record fall to 9-11. He pitched six innings giving up nine hits and four runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six. Manny Acosta pitched an inning walking one and striking out two, Igarashi didn’t record an out and gave up a hit, run and two walks and Tim Byrdak faced one batter and got him out. Pedro Beato faced two batters and retired both of them.

Pagan had three hits, Justin Turner had a hit, RBI and a walk and David Wright had a hit. Duda had two hits, two RBI and a walk, Jason Pridie had a hit and Ruben Tejada had a walk. Wright, Turner and Pagan each had a double. Duda hit a homerun and Pagan had a stolen base. Pridie was caught stealing. The Mets were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base.

The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a solo homerun by Duda. In the bottom of the fourth Paul Goldschmidt hit an RBI double to tie the game at one. Capuano threw a wild pitch allowing a run to score and giving the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead. In the fifth inning Turner hit an RBI double and Duda hit an RBI single to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the fifth the Diamondbacks tied the game on a solo homerun from Justin Upton. In the bottom of the sixth the Diamondbacks took the lead for good. Henry Blanco the former Met hit an RBI double. In the eighth Blanco had an RBI walk to make it 5-3 diamondbacks and that would be the final run of the game.

The Mets got swept in the three game series in Arizona. The Mets record dropped to 58-62 on the season. The Mets got to the desert and were calling the road trip, huge, big, important, whatever adjective you can think of. They have left the desert in a different mood as they are further out of contention then they have been all season long. The Mets vowed to keep fighting though no matter what. The Mets have averaged exactly four runs over their last 14 games. The Mets with 42 games left to play are 20 ½ games behind the division leading Phillies and now 11 ½ behind the Braves for the wild card. Their season is essentially over so it is time to look towards 2012. There are lots of reasons to feel optimistic, but they want to finish strong here to have a good feeling going into spring training. The Mets now head to San Diego to continue the road trip.

A look at the MLB playoff races

The New York Yankees have a comfortable 6 game lead in the AL East over the Red Sox. I spend most of my time focused on the Yankees so I am going to go through the rest of baseball. AL Central- The Detroit Tigers are in first place ahead of the Minnesota Twins. The White Sox are now 5 1/2 games out. The Twins have been hot, they usually do well in September so watch out. I still think the Tigers will hold on but it could get interesting. AL West-The Angels have a 5 game lead over the Texas Rangers. I would think the Angels are safe, they just aquired Scott Kazmir to bolster their pitching staff. He is having a tough year but when he is right he is one of the best young pitchers out there. Seattle is having a pretty good year suprisingly but they are 10 games back so I don't see them making a run. AL Wild Card- Boston has a firm hold of the wildcard at 3 1/2 games ahead of the Texas Rangers. Tampa Bay is 5 games behind. Tampa Bay is playing Boston at home starting tomorrow and then in Fenway about a week later. I can see Tampa making a run but they better win 2 out of 3 this week. NL East-Philly the defending champs have a 8 game lead over the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins. NL Central- St Louis has a 10 game lead over the disappointing Chicago Cubs. NL West- The LA Dodgers have a 6 game lead over suprising Colorado and San Francisco. There really aren't good races in the NL. NL Wild Card- Colorad and San Francisco are tied 3 1/2 ahead of the Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves and 5 1/2 ahead of the Chicago Cubs. This will be a great race to the end with so many teams in play for the wildcard.

Pitching matchups for Rangers/Yankees

Tomorrow- Joba Chamberlain vs Kevin Millwood Wednesday- Andy Pettitte vs Derrek Holland Thursday- A.J. Burnett vs Dustin Nippert The Yankees are going to try and win this series but maybe they should tank it so the Rangers can take over the wildcard lead from the Red Sox. I am just joking of course, Joba will have had 9 days off by time he takes the mound so it will be interesting to see how he does and also now his mind is clear that he knows he only has 6 starts left. Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett will try and get back on track after shaky performances in Boston.

Pitching matchups for Yanks/BosoxB

Tomorrow- Andy Pettitte vs Brad Penny Saturday- A.J. Burnett vs Junichi Tazawa Sunday- CC Sabathia vs Josh Beckett It is in Fenway but all the pressure is on the Red Sox. The Yankees have their top 3 pitchers going and they clearly have the advantage the first two games. The Yankee bats were pretty quiet in Oakland and I could see them exploding up in Boston at least the first two games. This really is Boston's last stand at least for the division. If Boston doesn't sweep it pretty much is over, the Yankees would like to bury them by winning the series or sweeping them. I still expect Boston to win the wildcard and would bet that these two teams will meet up in the ALCS but Tampa and Texas are right there and it is going to be a fight to the end.

Yanks take series and ready for Boston

The New York Yankees defeated the Oakland A's by the score of 3-2 last night. Chad Gaudin got the start and looked good going 4 1/3 shutout innings. He gave up 1 hit with 5 walks and also struck out 5. He could of got through the 5th but an error by Cano cost him. Alfredo Aceves relieved him with the bases loaded and 1 out and got out of it with a 1-2-3 double play. Aceves pitched the next two innings giving up a couple of runs. Phil Hughes came on in the 8th inning and gave up a walk and hit before getting a double play and popup. Hughes has been great in the 8th inning but all these pressure situations and it now always being so easy is really going to help him as a starter moving forward. Mariano got the save and the Yankees look forward to Boston starting tomorrow night. The offense was once again led by Derek Jeter who had 2 hits making it 4 straight games with multiple hits. Johnny Damon also had a couple of hits and Mark Teixeira had a hit and 3 rbi's. Nick Swisher had the only other hit for the Yankees, their offense wasn't great again but they did enough to win and that is the key. Andy Pettitte will be on the mound tomorrow against Brad Penny. This series will be the Red Sox last stand, the Yankees only need to win 1 but it would be nice to take 2 or 3 and pretty much bury them for the division. Boston is 1 game ahead in the wildcard but the Rays are also lurking only 3 games out and they will play Boston more games coming up. Today is an off day so get some rest and enjoy it before another crazy Yankees/Boston weekend.

Yanks lose don't get the sweep

The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners today by the score of 10-3. Joba Chamberlain got the start and wasn't very good only going 5 innings and giving up 4 runs on 7 hits. Alfredo Aceves came on in relief in the sixth and ended up pitching 1 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 4 hits with a couple of strikeouts. Chad Gaudin pitched 1 1/3 giving up 4 hits and 2 runs. It wasn't a very good day for the pitchers who have been so good lately especially the bullpen. Chad Gaudin is still in line to pitch Wednesday. The Yankees did win 3 out of 4 in Seattle and will head off to Oakland to play 3 starting tomorrow night. The story of the day and the good news from this game was Derek Jeter getting 3 hits and setting the all time record for most hits as a SS. A-rod, Swisher, Hinske, Pena and Cano all had one hit a piece. Doug Fister the starting pitcher for the Mariners had the Yankees offense off balance all day and they really didn't muster much. Hideki Matsui was out of the lineup and had fluid drained during the game and will miss tomorrow and then be day to day. The Boston Red Sox lost today so the Yankees lead remains at 7 1/2 in the AL east, Boston also is now 1/2 game behind the Texas Rangers for the wildcard lead.

Yankees at Big Point of season

The New York Yankees have a off day today before starting a 3 game series in Atlanta tomorrow night and then the weekend subway series at Citi Field. The New York Yankees are at a point where they need to get this turned around or risk letting this season get away from them. They stand 4 games out of first place behind the Boston Red Sox who they are already 0-8 against, good thing they have 10 more against them and 7 at home. They now are tied for the wildcard with the Anaheim Angels and two games ahead of the Blue Jays in the loss column and 3 ahead of the Rays. A couple of weeks ago the Yankees were 1 game up in the division and way ahead in the wildcard and since they have been dreadful going 4-8, should be 3-9 if Luis Castillo didn't drop a popup. The Yankees pitching has been pretty good, bullpen also but they haven't been able to hit at all fo the most part against inferior teams. The Yankees had no business going 2-4 against the Nationals and Marlins, at worst they should of gone 4-2. Joe Girardi is the manager and will soon start to take the blame, I don't blame him but he better get hold of this team right now and get them back to playing good clean baseball. I would like to see a change in hitting coach and maybe even pitching coach but that doesn't seem like it will happen. I wonder how much longer this can go on without hearing anything from Brian Cashman, Hank or Hal Steinbrenner, it would be wise of the Yankees to not let anyone hear from them as they start winning starting tomorrow and get themselves back into the playoff picture ahead of the pack.

Yanks lose another series

The Yankees lost again to a team they shouldn't be losing too. If Luis Castillo didn't drop a popup they would have now lost 4 series in a row and three straight to National League teams that they are better then. They have not hit at all and I understand not hitting Josh Johnson yesterday but the rest of these pitchers they shouldn't have so much trouble with, I really wonder if someone is going to do something, at least come out and say something or just continue to be complacent. Kevin Long is a awful hitting coach in my mind and I think it is time for a change, I don't understand how you surround a young manager with a hitting and pitching coach with no experience, part of the reason Joe Torre was so successful is because he had Mel Stottlemyre and Don Zimmer surrounding him. I am waiting for Hank or Hal to come out and say something but I don't think that is going to happen, but if the Yankees don't get this turned around quick they will be in trouble as Boston has not built a 4 game lead in the division and the Yankees are now tied with the Angels for the wildcard and only 2 on Toronto and 3 on Tampa Bay. The Yankees rallied late and cut the lead to 6-5 but after just walking Johnny Damon to make it 1st and 3rd Derek Jeter swung at the first pitch and grounded out to short ending the game. CC Sabathia was pulled in the second inning after coming up with tightness in his biceps, it doesn't appear to be serious and he expects to make his next start on Friday against the Mets. The problem started right there as the Yankees had to use their bullpen for a long time today and after Aceves pitched well Brett Tomko didn't and gave up 3 runs on 2 homeruns and Dave Robertson gave up a single to score a run and another run scored on Melky Cabrera's throwing error. The Yankees have tomorrow off and will try and win a series in Atlanta starting on Tuesday with Chien-Ming Wang on the mound.