Blue Jays at Yankees(The Rubber Game)

The New York Yankees end a 7 game homestand and also a 3 game series with the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon. They will embark on a 3 city 10 game, 11 day roadtrip starting tomorrow in Seattle. Here are some notes and the lineup via Peter Abraham who is already on his way to Seattle. A.J. is 1-1 with a 4.30 era in 2 starts against his former team this season. A.J. in his first 12 starts this season was 4-3 with a 4.89 era, in 10 starts since he is 6-2 with a 2.32 era. The Yankees are 8-3 against the Jays this season. Derek Jeter has hit safely in 7 straight and 19 of 21 overall. Jeter is 3rd in baseball in hits. Johnny Damon has 7 xbh in the last 8 games, Robinson Cano is 16 for his last 34 and Jorge Posada is 9 of his last 22 with 5 xbh and 5 rbi's. The Yankees bench has improved with Eric Hinske and Jerry Hairston Jr. The Yankees have hit 14 homers in their last 6 games. Dave Robertson has gone 3 2/3 innings without allowing a run while striking out six and allowing 3 hits. Alfredo Aceves has in his last 9 innings given up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. I can't believe this but the Yankees only have 3 homestands left, If you haven't been to the New STadium get out there and see it before it is too late. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Matsui(DH) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(1B) Hinske(RF) Cabrera(CF)

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.

Yankees take game with late heroics

The New York Yankees won a tough game tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5. Joba Chamberlain got the start and went 6 innings giving up 4 runs on 5 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Brian Bruney pitched a scorless seventh with a strikeout and Phil Coke got 2 outs in the 8th and then David Robertson got the last out before Mariano Rivera converted his 29th straight save. Joba wasn't great but he wasn't terrible either he just has to get more consistant and that is part of learning to be a pitcher, he is still 23 years old and everyone has to remember that. The offense started off with a bang and then looked flat for a few innings before striking in the 8th to score 3 runs, Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada hit back to back solo homeruns and then Johnny Damon added a rbi single and so did Melky Cabrera. Damon had 2 other hits and Derek Jeter went 3 for 5 also. Mark Teixeira had a hit, walk and rbi, A-rod had a walk and Jorge Posada also had another hit and rbi other then the homerun. Robinson Cano had 2 hits and Eric Hinske and Melky Cabrera had 1 and Melky had 2 rbi's. The Yankees will try and take the series tomorrow in a matinee game with A.J. Burnett taking on Ricky Romero before they head out to Seattle for 4 games.

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)

Yanks 7 game winning streak ends

The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays tonight by the score of 5-4. Sergio Mitre started and I would think this was his last chance, he gave up 5 runs in 5 innings. He is the 5th starter and if that is your biggest problem then your in really good shape. The bottom line though is he hasn't pitched one good game, he always goes 5 innings or less and you just can't have that. Alfredo Aceves was great though on the bright side saving the bullpen by pitching 4 shutout innings. You do have to wonder if they were trying to stretch him out, it will be interesting to see if Joe Girardi says anything about Mitre's next start in postgame or if he will say the usual he pitched ok and he is in our rotation. Chad Gaudin is here but hasn't pitched yet so maybe he will move into Mitres spot also. The offense was ok but not great, Jerry Hairston Jr., Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano all had solo homeruns. Nick Swisher had a sac fly but struck out to end the game with a runner on first. The 9th inning showed where they really miss Brett Gardner because after Hideki Matsui singled, Ramiro Pena came in to run for him, if that was Gardner he would of stolen and it could of changed the whole inning but Pena was just there in case they hit one in the gap he could get further then Matsui but never thought of stealing. The Yankees will send Joba Chamberlain to the mound tomorrow and try and start a new winning streak. I know a lot of people will say see this was a let down but it wasn't that at all, they played a good game but Mitre was pitching and that sets the tone and they didn't quite score enough but they weren't dead at all.