The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 5-0 on Tuesday night. Ivan Nova made the start and pitched great. He looked like he definitely earned the number two spot in the rotation for the postseason. The Yankees offense was good enough but they could of done a lot more damage. The Yankees had runners on base all night and they didn’t do that much damage with it although they scored the five runs. Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner had good games, they have been in slumps and they are getting hot at the right time.
Nova pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up no runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out three. Nova earned his 16th win of the season. Boone Logan pitched 1/3 of an inning retiring the only batter he faced and Luis Ayala pitched an inning giving up no runs and a walk.
Derek Jeter had two hits and a walk, Curtis Granderson had three hits, four RBI and a walk and Mark Teixeira had a hit and a walk. Alex Rodriguez had two walks, Robinson Cano had a hit and Nick Swisher had a hit and a walk. Eric Chavez had two hits and an RBI, Russell Martin had two hits and a walk and Brett Gardner had two hits. Swisher, Granderson and Cano all had doubles and Granderson had two. The Yankees were 5-20 with runners in scoring position and they left 18 men on base.
In the second inning Chavez had an RBI single and Granderson had a three run double to make it 4-0. In the fifth Granderson had an RBI single to make it 5-0 Yankees. That would be all the scoring in the game. The Rays had a big chance in the sixth inning, they loaded the bases with no outs. Nova got Desmond Jennings to fly out and B.J. Upton to ground into a double play to end the inning. That was the best chance the Rays had all night. The Yankees had plenty of chances to really open up the game but never did but they scored more then enough on this night.
The Yankees won the first of four games against the Tampa Bay Rays. The two teams will play a split doubleheader tomorrow. The games are at 1:00PM and 7:00PM. Phil Hughes is scheduled to start the day game but has been battling back spasms and if he can’t go Joe Girardi said he will figure it out tomorrow morning. CC Sabathia is scheduled to pitch the night game. The Yankees magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two and three to clinch the AL East. The Yankees have a chance to end everything tomorrow, if they win one of the games they will officially be in the postseason and if they win both and the Red Sox lose they will clinch the division. The Red Sox are in a free fall and lucky that the Rays lost to the Yankees. The Angels are still right there though and they won on Tuesday. There is a chance that the Angels could sneak in there and win the wild card. The way the Red Sox are playing even if they hold on they don’t look like they can win a playoff series.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Yankees win and MO breaks the all-time saves record
The New York Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-4 on Monday afternoon. It was a makeup game from an earlier rain out. The Yankees seemed to be on the road forever as they had a long and tough road trip. A.J. Burnett started this game and didn’t pitch very well. He was staked to a big lead and still couldn’t qualify for the win. The bullpen did it’s usual good job. The offense was good on this day.
Burnett pitched four innings giving up nine hits and four runs with one walk and eight strikeouts. Cory Wade who earned the win pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up three hits and a walk and he struck out two. Wade is now 6-1 on the season. Boone Logan faced one batter and retired him, Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Dave Robertson pitched a perfect inning. Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout to record his 43rd save of the season and also to earn the all-time major league baseball saves record. He now stands alone on top of the mountain with 602 saves and he has more to come. Rivera didn’t need validation but now he is officially the best there ever was.
Derek Jeter had three hits and a walk, Curtis Granderson had a hit, two RBI and a walk and Mark Teixeira had two hits. Alex Rodriguez had a hit, RBI and a walk, Robinson Cano had two hits an RBI and two walks and Nick Swisher had two hits and an RBI. Andruw Jones had a hit, Brett Gardner had a hit and Jesus Montero had a hit. Russell Martin had a hit, RBI and a walk. Jones and Jeter each had a double, Cano had a triple and Granderson had a homerun. The Yankees were 3-13 with runners in scoring position and they left 12 men on base. Martin had a throwing error.
The Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two run homerun by Granderson in the first inning. In the second Martin had an RBI single to make it 3-0 Yankees and in the third Cano had an RBI triple and Swisher an RBI single to make it 5-0. The Twins got on the board in the fourth inning. Chris Parmelee hit a solo homerun to make it 5-1. Michael Cuddyer hit a two run homerun in the fifth to make it a 5-3 game. Luke Hughes grounded out to score another run and pull the Twins to within 5-4. In the sixth Rodriguez had an RBI single to make it 6-4 and that would complete the scoring in the game.
The Yankees are off to a good start in their eight game final homestand of the season. This was a one game makeup from a rained out game in April. The Yankees will begin a four game series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. The Boston Red Sox lost game one of a doubleheader on Monday afternoon and the Yankees are 5 ½ games up in the AL East. They have a magic number of three to clinch a playoff spot and five for the division title. The Yankees now have accomplished getting Rivera the record and they want to clinch as fast as possible now. The Yankees only have to win a couple of games against Tampa Bay and they will clinch a postseason berth. It depends on what Boston does but if they win a couple against Tampa, they may only need to win one against Boston to clinch the division title but will most likely clinch it against them at home. The Yankees would like to get that done and then be able to rest some guys and get their rotation set up for the first round of the playoffs. The playoffs will begin on Friday September 30th.
Burnett pitched four innings giving up nine hits and four runs with one walk and eight strikeouts. Cory Wade who earned the win pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up three hits and a walk and he struck out two. Wade is now 6-1 on the season. Boone Logan faced one batter and retired him, Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Dave Robertson pitched a perfect inning. Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout to record his 43rd save of the season and also to earn the all-time major league baseball saves record. He now stands alone on top of the mountain with 602 saves and he has more to come. Rivera didn’t need validation but now he is officially the best there ever was.
Derek Jeter had three hits and a walk, Curtis Granderson had a hit, two RBI and a walk and Mark Teixeira had two hits. Alex Rodriguez had a hit, RBI and a walk, Robinson Cano had two hits an RBI and two walks and Nick Swisher had two hits and an RBI. Andruw Jones had a hit, Brett Gardner had a hit and Jesus Montero had a hit. Russell Martin had a hit, RBI and a walk. Jones and Jeter each had a double, Cano had a triple and Granderson had a homerun. The Yankees were 3-13 with runners in scoring position and they left 12 men on base. Martin had a throwing error.
The Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two run homerun by Granderson in the first inning. In the second Martin had an RBI single to make it 3-0 Yankees and in the third Cano had an RBI triple and Swisher an RBI single to make it 5-0. The Twins got on the board in the fourth inning. Chris Parmelee hit a solo homerun to make it 5-1. Michael Cuddyer hit a two run homerun in the fifth to make it a 5-3 game. Luke Hughes grounded out to score another run and pull the Twins to within 5-4. In the sixth Rodriguez had an RBI single to make it 6-4 and that would complete the scoring in the game.
The Yankees are off to a good start in their eight game final homestand of the season. This was a one game makeup from a rained out game in April. The Yankees will begin a four game series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. The Boston Red Sox lost game one of a doubleheader on Monday afternoon and the Yankees are 5 ½ games up in the AL East. They have a magic number of three to clinch a playoff spot and five for the division title. The Yankees now have accomplished getting Rivera the record and they want to clinch as fast as possible now. The Yankees only have to win a couple of games against Tampa Bay and they will clinch a postseason berth. It depends on what Boston does but if they win a couple against Tampa, they may only need to win one against Boston to clinch the division title but will most likely clinch it against them at home. The Yankees would like to get that done and then be able to rest some guys and get their rotation set up for the first round of the playoffs. The playoffs will begin on Friday September 30th.
Yankees news and notes as a long road trip ends
The Yankees had a rough road trip but they actually gained two games in the standings. They had a three city, ten game road trip. They had to go to the West Coast and then back to Toronto. The Yankees have a five game lead in the loss column over Boston, they have a magic number of five to clinch a playoff spot. They should be able to clinch that and the division at home this week. They should also be able to get Mariano Rivera the all-time saves record. Here are some notes from after yesterday's game. The Lohud Yankees blog provided a lot of the information.
Ten starts in a row, Freddy Garcia didn’t allow a single home run. When he finally coughed one up on August 29, it was the only run he allowed all game. Since then, Garcia has allowed multiple home runs in three straight starts, including two tonight to Adam Lind. The Yankees pitching has been good all season but Colon had one good start and one bad on this road trip, CC Sabathia hasn't been himself, Phil Hughes was pushed back with back spasms and Freddy Garcia hasn't been good at all. The Yankees pitching is a little bit of a mess right now. The bullpen has been very good though for the most part.
“I try to make good pitches, and sometimes I’m not able to do it,” Garcia said. “That’s why I’ve been giving home runs… Last three starts, I don’t be doing my job. I’m really frustrated about it, but that’s part of the game. Sometimes you pitch good. Sometimes you pitch bad. You just have to go continue to try to do the best that you can do, and hopefully everything goes well for you.”
“Bart had a good start on this road trip and had one that wasn’t so good,” Joe Girardi said. “Freddy’s kept us in the games. We talked at the beginning of the season how we worried about innings for both these guys. There’s some concern there, but they’ve just got to find a way to get it done.”
Garcia said tonight’s home run was a good pitch, a splitter that Lind put a good swing on. The second was a slider that “didn’t do much.”
“He’s just missing some spots, that’s all,” Girardi said. “That’s going to happen. Freddy’s not going to be a huge strikeout guy and they’re going to put the ball in play. If you miss some spots, that’s the chance you’re going to take.”
The Yankees won only four of 10 on this road trip, but they still managed to gain two games in the standings. After today’s game, the team just seemed relieved to be finally going home. “From now on every game is important,” Alex Rodriguez said. “Every game is meaningful. We’re looking forward to playing at home, playing well, start cleaning up some of the small mistakes that we’ve been making. We understand we’ve got to get better.”
After Monday’s makeup game against the Twins, the Yankees play their final 10 games against the Red Sox and Rays. With seven games at home against those two teams, the Yankees home stand could either put the division away or make it a race to the finish. “It will be a great opportunity to do that there,” Mariano Rivera said. “We still have to perform good and take care of business at home, get this thing over.”
Obviously Brandon Morrow completely shutdown the Yankees offense today. “He had us baffled all day with his slide,” Rodriguez said. “He probably threw 70 to 75 percent sliders, which is a very high percentage for him. He’s usually the opposite, 70 to 77 percent fastball guy.”
Of the Yankees five hits, three were by Eduardo Nunez, and Nunez was the only Yankee to advance beyond first base.
Of course, Nunez also made the second Yankees base-running mistake of the weekend. “He’s just making an aggressive turn,” Girardi said. “In that situation, you’ve got to know the score. You’re not going to get to second unless it really bounces off himn, so you’ve got to be cautious there. He was just overaggressive.” The Yankees need to clean up the stuff like that, they had a lot of those mistakes on this road trip and they can't continue to play that way.
Why not pinch hit for Ramiro Pena in the eighth? “Pena’s had some success off him,” Girardi said. “Grandy is 1 for his last 15 with 10 strikeouts. If we had a couple guys on, I might have pinch-hit Grandy and taken a chance.”
Impressive Yankees debut by Raul Valdes, who retired four of the five batters he faced, including all three left-handers. The Yankees have been giving Aaron Laffey a lot of chances to emerge as a legitimate second lefty candidate, but that Valdes appearance might earn a few more looks. I still don’t think the Yankees will actually carry a second left-hander in the postseason, but I’m sure they’d like to have a backup option in mind.
Girardi’s assessment of going 4-6 on the road and still gaining two games in the standings: “I think we are fortunate,” he said. “We’ve got to go home and play better, there’s no doubt about it. At times, we didn’t swing the bats on this trip. Is it good pitching? Is it fatigue? I don’t know, but I know our guys are pretty worn down. Now they’ll get to sleep in their own beds and hopefully catch up a little bit.”
Ten starts in a row, Freddy Garcia didn’t allow a single home run. When he finally coughed one up on August 29, it was the only run he allowed all game. Since then, Garcia has allowed multiple home runs in three straight starts, including two tonight to Adam Lind. The Yankees pitching has been good all season but Colon had one good start and one bad on this road trip, CC Sabathia hasn't been himself, Phil Hughes was pushed back with back spasms and Freddy Garcia hasn't been good at all. The Yankees pitching is a little bit of a mess right now. The bullpen has been very good though for the most part.
“I try to make good pitches, and sometimes I’m not able to do it,” Garcia said. “That’s why I’ve been giving home runs… Last three starts, I don’t be doing my job. I’m really frustrated about it, but that’s part of the game. Sometimes you pitch good. Sometimes you pitch bad. You just have to go continue to try to do the best that you can do, and hopefully everything goes well for you.”
“Bart had a good start on this road trip and had one that wasn’t so good,” Joe Girardi said. “Freddy’s kept us in the games. We talked at the beginning of the season how we worried about innings for both these guys. There’s some concern there, but they’ve just got to find a way to get it done.”
Garcia said tonight’s home run was a good pitch, a splitter that Lind put a good swing on. The second was a slider that “didn’t do much.”
“He’s just missing some spots, that’s all,” Girardi said. “That’s going to happen. Freddy’s not going to be a huge strikeout guy and they’re going to put the ball in play. If you miss some spots, that’s the chance you’re going to take.”
The Yankees won only four of 10 on this road trip, but they still managed to gain two games in the standings. After today’s game, the team just seemed relieved to be finally going home. “From now on every game is important,” Alex Rodriguez said. “Every game is meaningful. We’re looking forward to playing at home, playing well, start cleaning up some of the small mistakes that we’ve been making. We understand we’ve got to get better.”
After Monday’s makeup game against the Twins, the Yankees play their final 10 games against the Red Sox and Rays. With seven games at home against those two teams, the Yankees home stand could either put the division away or make it a race to the finish. “It will be a great opportunity to do that there,” Mariano Rivera said. “We still have to perform good and take care of business at home, get this thing over.”
Obviously Brandon Morrow completely shutdown the Yankees offense today. “He had us baffled all day with his slide,” Rodriguez said. “He probably threw 70 to 75 percent sliders, which is a very high percentage for him. He’s usually the opposite, 70 to 77 percent fastball guy.”
Of the Yankees five hits, three were by Eduardo Nunez, and Nunez was the only Yankee to advance beyond first base.
Of course, Nunez also made the second Yankees base-running mistake of the weekend. “He’s just making an aggressive turn,” Girardi said. “In that situation, you’ve got to know the score. You’re not going to get to second unless it really bounces off himn, so you’ve got to be cautious there. He was just overaggressive.” The Yankees need to clean up the stuff like that, they had a lot of those mistakes on this road trip and they can't continue to play that way.
Why not pinch hit for Ramiro Pena in the eighth? “Pena’s had some success off him,” Girardi said. “Grandy is 1 for his last 15 with 10 strikeouts. If we had a couple guys on, I might have pinch-hit Grandy and taken a chance.”
Impressive Yankees debut by Raul Valdes, who retired four of the five batters he faced, including all three left-handers. The Yankees have been giving Aaron Laffey a lot of chances to emerge as a legitimate second lefty candidate, but that Valdes appearance might earn a few more looks. I still don’t think the Yankees will actually carry a second left-hander in the postseason, but I’m sure they’d like to have a backup option in mind.
Girardi’s assessment of going 4-6 on the road and still gaining two games in the standings: “I think we are fortunate,” he said. “We’ve got to go home and play better, there’s no doubt about it. At times, we didn’t swing the bats on this trip. Is it good pitching? Is it fatigue? I don’t know, but I know our guys are pretty worn down. Now they’ll get to sleep in their own beds and hopefully catch up a little bit.”
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Mets play spoilers and take a series in Atlanta
The New York Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves by a score of 7-5 on Sunday afternoon. Dillon Gee made the start and did not pitch well at all. The bullpen pitched 4 2/3 good innings with five different pitchers getting into the game. The offense did a good job in this game. Ruben Tejada, Lucas Duda and Nick Evans had good games.
Gee pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs. He walked five and struck out four. Daniel Herrera pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk, Miguel Batista pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and one run and Tim Byrdak who earned the win pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up one hit and he struck out two batters. Byrdak is now 2-0 on the season. Bobby Parnell pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two walks and Manny Acosta pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and a walk.
Tejada had two hits, four RBI and a walk, David Wright had a hit and Duda had two hits, an RBI and a walk. Jason Bay had a hit and two walks, Evans had two hits and Justin Turner had two walks. Gee had a walk and an RBI and Ronny Paulino had a walk and an RBI. Tejada had a double and Duda had a homerun. The Mets were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Tejada had a stolen base and Pridie had an error.
Chipper Jones had an RBI double in the third inning to put the Braves in front 1-0. In the fourth Gee had an RBI walk and Tejada had a three run double to make it 4-1 Mets. In the bottom of the fourth Alex Gonzalez hit a solo homerun to make it a 4-2 game. Michael Bourn hit an RBI single and Dan Uggla grounded out scoring another run and tying the game at four. In the seventh Freddie Freeman had an RBI single to make it a 5-4 game in favor of the Braves. In the eighth Paulino had an RBI walk and Tejada had an RBI single. It was a 6-5 game in favor of the Mets. Turner was thrown out at home on the same play to end the inning. Duda hit a solo homerun in the ninth to give the Mets a 7-5 lead and that is how the game would end.
The Mets won two out of three in this series. The Mets record improved to 73-80 on the season. The Mets have a day off on Monday and then head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals for three games before heading home to finish the season. The Mets can only play the role of spoilers but they seem to be enjoying it after they got embarrassed at home. They have played well on the road all season and have continued to do so. The Mets were 1-8 on their recent homestand and going on the road has worked for them, they will try and win another series on the road beginning Tuesday.
Gee pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs. He walked five and struck out four. Daniel Herrera pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk, Miguel Batista pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and one run and Tim Byrdak who earned the win pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up one hit and he struck out two batters. Byrdak is now 2-0 on the season. Bobby Parnell pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two walks and Manny Acosta pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and a walk.
Tejada had two hits, four RBI and a walk, David Wright had a hit and Duda had two hits, an RBI and a walk. Jason Bay had a hit and two walks, Evans had two hits and Justin Turner had two walks. Gee had a walk and an RBI and Ronny Paulino had a walk and an RBI. Tejada had a double and Duda had a homerun. The Mets were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Tejada had a stolen base and Pridie had an error.
Chipper Jones had an RBI double in the third inning to put the Braves in front 1-0. In the fourth Gee had an RBI walk and Tejada had a three run double to make it 4-1 Mets. In the bottom of the fourth Alex Gonzalez hit a solo homerun to make it a 4-2 game. Michael Bourn hit an RBI single and Dan Uggla grounded out scoring another run and tying the game at four. In the seventh Freddie Freeman had an RBI single to make it a 5-4 game in favor of the Braves. In the eighth Paulino had an RBI walk and Tejada had an RBI single. It was a 6-5 game in favor of the Mets. Turner was thrown out at home on the same play to end the inning. Duda hit a solo homerun in the ninth to give the Mets a 7-5 lead and that is how the game would end.
The Mets won two out of three in this series. The Mets record improved to 73-80 on the season. The Mets have a day off on Monday and then head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals for three games before heading home to finish the season. The Mets can only play the role of spoilers but they seem to be enjoying it after they got embarrassed at home. They have played well on the road all season and have continued to do so. The Mets were 1-8 on their recent homestand and going on the road has worked for them, they will try and win another series on the road beginning Tuesday.
Yankees lose finale in Toronto and end long road trip
The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon by the score of 3-0. The Yankees sat most of their regulars as they were finishing a long, tough road trip. They will begin their last homestand of the season on Monday afternoon and they have to win a few more games to clinch but they are in good position. The Yankees magic number to clinch the division is seven and it is five to clinch a playoff spot. Freddy Garcia started and pitched ok, he wasn’t great but he wasn’t bad. The bullpen did a good job. The offense was completely shut down by Brandon Morrow.
Garcia pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs. He walked three and struck out four. Garcia took the loss and is now 11-8 on the season. Aaron Laffey faced one batter and walked him, Luis Ayala pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings with a strikeout and Scott Proctor gave up a hit and two walks pitching 1/3 of an inning. Raul Valdes pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and he struck out two and George Kontos retired the only batter that he faced.
Eduardo Nunez had three hits, Robinson Cano had a walk and Russell Martin had a hit. Chris Dickerson had a hit, Nunez had a double. Cano was caught stealing and the team was 0-3 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Garcia made a throwing error.
Adam Lind hit a solo homerun in the second inning to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. Lind hit another solo homerun in the fourth to give the Jays a 2-0 lead. In the fifth Eric Thames hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. That would be all the scoring in the game as the Yankees bullpen held the Jays down but the Yankees bats did not do much at all in this game.
The Yankees lost two out of three in this series. The Yankees will now come home to play a makeup game against the Minnesota Twins on Monday afternoon and then begin a four game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday followed by three against the Red Sox. The Yankees will be looking to clinch a postseason berth and the division title on this homestand. They will also look to get Mariano Rivera the all-time saves record of 602. He needs one more save for the record. The Yankees finished their ten game, four city road trip at 4-6. The Boston Red Sox lost once again to the Tampa Bay Rays and only have a two game lead in the wild card race. The Yankees magic number is five for the postseason and seven for the division. Any combination of their wins and Tampa and Boston losses that equal five or seven will give them the playoffs and division. It should be a fun week at Yankee Stadium as they look to clinch and also get their closer his all-time saves record.
Garcia pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs. He walked three and struck out four. Garcia took the loss and is now 11-8 on the season. Aaron Laffey faced one batter and walked him, Luis Ayala pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings with a strikeout and Scott Proctor gave up a hit and two walks pitching 1/3 of an inning. Raul Valdes pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and he struck out two and George Kontos retired the only batter that he faced.
Eduardo Nunez had three hits, Robinson Cano had a walk and Russell Martin had a hit. Chris Dickerson had a hit, Nunez had a double. Cano was caught stealing and the team was 0-3 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Garcia made a throwing error.
Adam Lind hit a solo homerun in the second inning to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. Lind hit another solo homerun in the fourth to give the Jays a 2-0 lead. In the fifth Eric Thames hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. That would be all the scoring in the game as the Yankees bullpen held the Jays down but the Yankees bats did not do much at all in this game.
The Yankees lost two out of three in this series. The Yankees will now come home to play a makeup game against the Minnesota Twins on Monday afternoon and then begin a four game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday followed by three against the Red Sox. The Yankees will be looking to clinch a postseason berth and the division title on this homestand. They will also look to get Mariano Rivera the all-time saves record of 602. He needs one more save for the record. The Yankees finished their ten game, four city road trip at 4-6. The Boston Red Sox lost once again to the Tampa Bay Rays and only have a two game lead in the wild card race. The Yankees magic number is five for the postseason and seven for the division. Any combination of their wins and Tampa and Boston losses that equal five or seven will give them the playoffs and division. It should be a fun week at Yankee Stadium as they look to clinch and also get their closer his all-time saves record.
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