Bad Joba shows up and Yanks lose

The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers tonight by the score of 10-9. Joba Chamberlain got the start and was bad giving up 7 runs in 4 innings with 9 hits and 3 walks allowed. The Yankees always tough right to the end especially at home scored 4 runs in the ninth but Melky Cabrera lined into a double play to end the game after Nick Swisher attempted to bunt and popped out. Chad Gaudin came on in relief of Joba and pitched 3 2/3 innings giving up 3 runs on 7 hits. Damaso Marte pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings striking out two. The offense got off to a hot start with Hideki Matsui hitting a 2 run double and Jorge Posada hitting a 2 run homerun. The Yankees after all of that in the first inning didn't do much until the ninth. Derek Jeter, A-rod and Robinson Cano all had two hits and Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui also had another hit each. Melky Cabrera had a hit and Johnny Damon had a hit and walk. The one thing I don't get about this game is it was 10-9, 1st and second no outs and Nick Swisher up who is always trying to hit homeruns and he bunts and pops it up. I am sure Joe Girardi told him to bunt and this just didn't make sense. Nick Swisher isn't my favorite player but he could of ended the game with one swing and with the pressure on the pitcher he is very patient and could of taken pitches and maybe even walked. The Yankees will try and bounce back tomorrow with Andy Pettitte on the mound tomorrow.

Rangers at Yankees

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series with the Texas Rangers tonight from Yankee Stadium. The game is at 7:05 on the YES network. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog at http://lhblogs.com. The Yankees are 27-9 since the all star break and have won 16 of their last 20. The Rangers have lost 4 of 6 and trail the Red Sox by 1 1/2 in the race for the wildcard. The Yankees are 4-2 against Texas this season. They are 27-12 against them over the last 5 seasons. Joba is pitching for the first time tonight since August 16th. He is 4-1 with a 3.35 era since the all star break. He is 1-1 with a 6.75 in his last 3 starts though, allowing 12 runs on 18 hits with 12 walks in his last 16 innings. Joba has a 7.11 career era against Texas in 3 starts with no record. Derek Jeter needs 20 more hits to tie Lou Gehrig for the franchise record. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) The Yankees lead the Angels by 2 games in the loss column for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This is the only real race the Yankees are in as they have 38 games left, the Angels have 40. The two teams will meet 4 more times, once in a makeup game at Yankee Stadium and a 3 game series in Anaheim. The Yankees will try and get it but not at the expense of injurying or wearing out their players. This will be fun to keep an eye on, my guess is the Yankees will win it but it may just come down to the 4 head to head games and the Yankees need to show they can beat the Angels.

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.

Yanks take series in Boston

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox tonight by the score of 8-4. They won the series 2 games to one and have won 6 of their last 7 games against the Red Sox to build a 7 1/2 game lead in the AL East. The Yankees finished their 10 game, 3 city roadtrip at 7-3. CC Sabathia got the start and pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs, 3 earned although it could of easily been 2 with better defense. Phil Hughes came on to finish the seventh and complete the 8th giving up 1 hit with a strikeouts. Mariano came on in the ninth giving up a walk but had 2 strikeouts. The offense exploded for 5 homeruns off Josh Beckett. Derek Jeter hit a homerun on the first pitch he saw of the game. He also added a single. Hideki Matsui hit 2 homeruns, A-rod had a 2 run homer and a rbi groundout. Johnny Damon had a couple of hits, Big Tex had a hit and rbi and Robinson Cano had a solo homerun. Jose Molina contributed a hit. The Yankees will be off tomorrow and then open a 3 game series with the Texas Rangers who trail the Red Sox by 1 game in the wildcard race.

Yankees at Red Sox(The Rubber Game)

The New York Yankees will try and win the 3 game series with the Boston Red Sox tonight at 8 on ESPN. The Yankees also will be finishing a roadtrip where they are 6-3, 7-3 would be great and 6-4 isn't bad if they lose. CC Sabathia will go up against Josh Beckett in a marquee matchup. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees are 5-9 against the Red Sox this season being outscored 118-114. Derek Jeter is one hit away from 2,700 for his career. He is 16 of his last 29 and 19 of 39 on the roadtrip with 8 rbi's and 8 runs scored. Sabathia is 4-0 with a 2.35 era in his last 4 starts. He has pitched 30 2/3 innings allowing 20 hits, 5 walks and striking out 31. Sabathia is 32-9 with a 3.14 era in August in his career. Josh Beckett is 2-0 with 4.12 era in 4 starts against the Yankees this season. Boston has 20 homeruns in their last 8 games. David Ortiz has 5 homeruns in his last 8 games. Boston is 18-2 when he hits a homerun so CC don't give up a homerun to him. Nick Swisher has 18 of his 21 homeruns on the road. He has hit in 8 straight games with 5 runs scored, 7 rbi's. Yankee relievers in the last 2 games have allowed 7 innings, 11 hits, 9 earned runs and 3 homeruns. Of course this is Fenway Park and a lot of pitchers have bad days there. Check out weei.com to see what Jonathan Papelbon said about Billy Wagner. I would tell him to let the GM worry about trades and stuff and not him, of course he had to be classy and open his mouth as usual. Jason Giambi and Russ Ortiz were signed by the Colorado Rockies today. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)