Yanks routed now tied for first place

The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White sox by a score of 14-4 this afternoon. A.J. Burnett coming into the game was 5-0 in games after a Yankees loss but just didn't have it today as he got lit up for 6 runs in just over 4 innings of work. Brian Bruney gave up a run and Phil Coke gave up 6 runs in 1/3 of an inning with 3 walks just pitching terribly. The only bright spots were youngsters Dave Robertson and Mark Melancon. They each pitched 2/3 scoreless innings. There isn't much to say about the offense A-rod had another good day going 3-4, Derek Jeter went 2-5 and Big Tex also had a couple of hits. Jerry Hairston Jr. had a hit a walk and a rbi in his yankees debut. The Yankees will try and salvage a game tomorrow before having a off day and then going to Toronto for 2 games. CC Sabathia is on the mound and this is what he was paid for to stop the bleeding and come up huge for this team but he is going up against Mark Buehrle so it won't be easy and then the Yankees will face Roy Halladay on Tuesday in Toronto. The Red Sox won tonight so now they are tied for first in the loss column 1/2 a game behind the Yankees with the HUGE 4 game series luring on Thursday.

Yankees at White Sox

The Yankees will try to get a win in Chicago today in the 3rd of 4. The Yankees have lost the first 2 and haven't looked good especially last night. I am not going to do the pregame notes just the lineup here with a couple tid bits of information. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Swisher(RF) Tex(DH) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Hairston(LF) Ransom(1B) Shelly Duncan was sent back down to Scranton to make room for Hairston who will make his Yankees debut. Pettitte and Mitre will start in Toronto and then for the Red Sox series it will set up like this: Chamberlain, Burnett, Sabathia, Pettitte. Enjoy the game on Fox at 4:00PM

Yanks lose 2nd straight

The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox by the score of 10-5 tonight. They didn't play a good game at all but it all starts with the starting pitcher and Sergio Mitre was just awful, he hasn't been much better then the guy he replaced Chien-Ming Wang and the Yankees didn't aquire a pitcher so this isn't looking good. I hate to say this but you may actually see Kei Igawa. Mitre has a 7.90 era now on the season, he pitched 3 innings giving up 5 runs on 7 hits. Dave Robertson came on in relief and gave up a run but the game really turned in the 7th inning when Aceves gave up 4 runs, it was just a sloppy inning all around though, Jorge Posada throwing through to second with a runner on 3rd allowing the run to score, a ball of of Mark Teixeira's glove that Cano makes a lazy throw home on and Jorge Posada drops the ball when the runner would of been out at home. The Yankees scored early but then only scored 2 runs the rest of the way, they left way too many men on base again. A-rod had 3 hits and Eric Hinske hit a 2 run homerun, it seems everytime he starts he hits a homerun. Jorge Posada was 0-5, he just killed them in this game. The good thing is they have their best 2 pitchers going now the next 2 days although they are facing 2 pretty good pitchers themselves. The Yankees can't let this spiral out of control as their 3 game lead has now turned into a 1 game lead, the Yankees need to be in first place when they open the 4 game series with the Red Sox next thursday.

Yankees at White Sox

The Yankees play game 2 of a 4 game series tonight in Chicago. Sergio Mitre makes his 3rd start of the year for the Yankees. D.J. Carrasco starts for the White Sox as they aquired Jake Peavy and gave away their starter for tonight. The Red Sox also made a deal getting Victor Martinez for Justin Masterson and 2 prospects. The Yankees aquired Jerry Hairston Jr. for minor league catcher Chase Weems. Here are the pregame notes and lineups from Peter Abraham. Shelly Duncan is back, watch out everyone for the forearm smashes. He had 25 homeruns and 75 rbi's in Scranton. Yankee starters have a 2.61 era since the all star break. Melky is 5 of 14 on the roadtrip and 10 of his last 22 overall. The Yankees are batting 216 with runners in scoring position on this roadtrip. The Yankees have committed 7 errors on this roadtrip. Alfredo Aceves has only pitched once since July 21. The Yankees are 18-8 in July so they hate to see it end. Nick Swisher has a 6 game hitting streak and Johnny Damon has drawn a walk in 6 straight. Mo has not allowed a run in his last 16 2/3 innings. He has converted 25 straight save chances. Jon Albaladejo was sent back down to make room for Shelly Duncan and we will see what they do when Hairston gets here. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cabrera(CF) Hinske(RF)

Yanks lose a tough one

The New York Yankees lost to the White Sox last night 3-2. This was a pitchers duel as Gavin Floyd and Andy Pettitte were in a 1-1 game in the 7th inning. Andy Pettitte came out for the bottom of the 7th and gave up a soft grounder that he went to field for an easy out and slipped on the wet grass getting a tough error. He then got one out and a ball that was hit hard but at A-d rod wasn't fielded and turned into another hit for 1st and second, Phil Hughes came on and in what should of been an inning ending double play Robbie Cano threw wildly to first as AJ Pyrzinski made a dirty slide if you can even call it that and the run scored. The Yankees had 2 outs and no one on in the ninth when Nick Swisher tied the game with a solo homerun. The Yankees went to the bottom of the ninth feeling good. Phil Coke came on with 1 out and 1st and second and got a strikeout but then Dwayne Wise, a 180 hitter who is a defensive replacement came on and lied one up the middle that Phil Coke almost had and the White Sox won the game.

This was one of those tough losses but the Yankees need to forget it and move on, Sergio Mitre is on the mound today which isn't who you want after a loss but he is 2-0 and the Yankees should score some runs today.

Manny and Big Papi on List

Is anyone really suprised that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were on the list from 2003? I just wonder what this means to them, Big Papi came out earlier in the year and said that anyone that is caught should be suspended for the whole year, I wonder if he thinks that now. I wonder where Curt Shilling is considering he is so against it but it was happening right under his nose, he may even be involved for all we know. I wonder though will these guys get the same treatment that A-rod got earlier in the year having to do the ESPN interview and having the press all over him, the funny thing is the injury actually helped him because since he came back you don't really hear much about the steroids, I wonder if they will still yell at him in Fenway Park about that, always seemed pretty hypocritical to me. I think this whole thing is crazy that they leaked the names that were supposed to remain confidential but they may as well just let them all out now, I really don't like this little by little stuff so the story never truly goes away. I wonder what anyone else thinks about this, chime in with your thoughts in the comments section and keep this debate going.

Yankees at White Sox

The New York Yankees start a 4 game series with the Chicago White Sox tonight. Andy Pettitte will be taking on Gavin Floyd. Here are the pregame notes and lineups via Peter Abraham. The Yankees enter play today tied for best record in baseball with the LA Dodgers. The White Sox come back home from a terrible 1-6 roadtrip, they are in 3rd place in the AL Central. They trail the Detroit Tigers by 3 games. Andy Pettitte is 11-9 with a 4.48 era in 22 career starts against the White Sox. The Yankees haven't played the White Sox since last Sept and haven't been to US Cellular Field since last April 22-24th. The Yankees were 5-2 against them last year. The Yankees are 11-2 in their last 13 although they have only outscored their opposition by 24 runs. MO in his last 17 games has gone 16 2/3 innings giving up 0 runs on 4 hits with 5 walks and 27 strikeouts. The Yankees have a 3.03 era in the 13 games since the break. Melky Cabrera is 6 of 15 with 5 runs scored since Brett Gardner went on the DL. He is now batting 290. Jorge Posada in his last 12 games has 7 rbi's, 7 xbh and 6 runs scored. Big Tex has a 8 game hitting streak. He is batting 346 since the break with 5 homeruns, 11 rbi's and 7 runs scored. Nick Swisher is 6 of 18 with 3 runs scored, 3 rbi's, 4 xbh and 2 walks. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C) White Sox Lineup: Kotsay(CF) Beckham(3B) Dye(RF) Thome(DH) Konerko(1B) Pierzynski(C) Quentin(LF) Getz(2B) Nix(SS)

Yankees vs White Sox pitching Matchups

Here are the pitching matchups for the 4 game series in Chicago. Tonight- Andy Pettitte vs Gavin Floyd Tomorrow- Sergio Mitre vs Clayton Richard Saturday- A.J. Burnett vs John Danks Sunday- CC Sabathia vs Mark Buehrle The marquee matchup is sunday. Tonight is 2 guys with similar stats and tomorrow seems to be a toss up, even though the Yankees are 2-0 in Mitres starts he isn't great but he has been good enough. A.J. Burnett vs John Danks is a pretty good matchup also. The Yankees will try and win 3 out of 4 but would accept a split on the road, this could be a tough 4 game series.

Joba is the Man

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2. They played a good crisp game after playing terrible last night. They won the series and will now move on to Chicago but this game was all about Joba Chamberlain. Joba pitched 8 innings giving up 0 runs on 3 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He has a 0.83 era in 3 starts since the break, it is going to be interesting to see what they do with this innings limit that he is on. Brian Bruney came on in the ninth to finish it with a 6-0 lead but struggled giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and getting only one out. Mariano Rivera came on to strike out 2 giving up a walk in between. The offense saw Mark Teixeira, Hideki Matsui, Derek Jeter and Melky Cabrera all get 2 hits. A-rod, Posada, Cano and Swisher all had a hit. Big Tex, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano all hit solo homeruns. Big Tex and Robinson Cano each had 2 rbi's. The Yankees also gained a game on the Red Sox as they lost again. The Yankees are now 3 1/2 games up on the Red Sox and 7 1/2 ahead of the Rays.

Yankees News

The Yankees aquired Jason Hirsch from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later. I know people may freak out and say this is the move they make, this is just a AAA filler move as there bullpen has been getting worn out. I still think they may get Jarrod Washburn although the Mariners look like they may not sell now and apparantly the Yankees are talking to the Pirates about Zach Duke also. Cliff Lee got traded today to the Phillies along with Ben Francisco for 4 prospects none of them being Kyle Drabeck. They gave up Lou Marson, Carlos Carassco, Jason Knapp and Jason Donald. This move clearly makes Philly the favorites in the National League. My question is this how does this affect Roy Halladay, it looks like the Red Sox have been more aggressive lately and then we know the Yankees will get involved to try and block them, I personally think now that he will stay put but the Yankees and Red Sox really have to think about this because if one of them got him they would be the favorites in the AL. I don't think the Jays want to deal him to the competition and deal with the backlash from the fans who already aren't big fans of GM J.P. Ricciardi. I am sure this will be interesting to watch, but other then a starting pitcher for the Yankees the Sox and Yanks really don't need to do much as they are great teams.

Yankees at Rays the rubber game

The New York Yankees take on the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:10 on YES tonight. The teams split the first 2 games and this game is for the series. Joba Chamberlain will go up against Matt Garza in a battle of right handed hard throwers. Here is the pregame notes and lineups via Peter Abraham. Joba has allowed 2 runs in his last 13 2/3 innings since the break while striking out 14. He has a 1.88 career era against Tampa, of course 7 of his 8 appearances were out of the bullpen. A-rod has gone 31 at bats without a homerun, he needs one more to tie Harmon Killebrew on the all time list. The Yankees have a major league most 6 players with at least 15 homeruns. They are Cano, Damon, Matsui, A-rod, Swisher and Big Tex. Elias says the Yankee are only the second team in Major league history to have 6 players accomplish this before 100 games were played joining the 2005 Rangers who had 7 players do it. Johnny Damon with his 200th homerun on Tuesday became one of 14 players all time with at least 200 homeruns, 300 steals and 2,000 hits. The only other active player is Bobby Abreu. Rickey Henderson, Willy Mays, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan and Ryne Sanberg are others on the list. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Rays lineup: Upton(CF) Crawford(LF) Longoria(3B) Zobrist(2B) Pena(1B) Burrell(DH) Gross(RF) Navarro(C) Bartlett(SS)

Yanks play a stinker

The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 6-2. CC Sabathia did not pitch well at all but the Yankees were very sloppy with Nick Swisher dropping a fly ball and messing up another one that scored a run. A-rod made a throwing error and so did Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui had a baserunning mistake. The Yankees have not played like this since before the all star break and it is going to happen but now they have to refocus and win the game tomororw and get the series win also. CC Sabathia has been good but he hasn't been great and you are waiting for him to go on a A.J. Burnett type run here in the second half. Joba Chamberlain will match up against Matt Garza tomorrow which is a interesting matchup of young righthanders. Joba has been on a roll lately and hopefully it will continue and hopefully the Yankees could get to Garza but he always has the potential to dominate but he can be rattled and taken off of his game very easily which the Yankees need to do to him.

Yankees at Rays

The New York Yankees take on the Tampa Bay Rays in game 2 of this 3 game series at 7:10 on MY9. Here are the pregame notes and lineup from Peter Abraham of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees are 16-11 against the Rays the last 2 seasons. If the Yankees win tonight that would be 9 of their last 10 series. CC Sabathia is 3-1 with a 2.92 era in his last 4 starts. He is 2-0 since the break, allowing three earned runs over 14 innings. The Big guy is 7-1 with a 2.63 era in 12 career starts against the Rays. He had a no decision against them on June 6th allowing 5 runs in 8 innings in what turned out to be a 9-7 loss at Yankee stadium. Carl Crawford leads the majors with 48 steals. He has 350 for his career. Melky Cabrera is heating up going 7 for his last 12 with 5 walks in his last 4 games. The Yankees are 9-3 in their last 12 road games. Robinson Cano is a career 324 hitter against Tampa Bay. Derek Jeter has hit safely in 7 straight. He is 9 of 18 in his last 4 games with 6 rbi's and 5 runs scored. Jeter is 5th in the AL at 325 and 5th in OBP at 402. Tonight is the 1,00th game of Mark Teixeira's career. Big Tex and Jorge Posada are both 8 for their last 22. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Alfredo Aceves is tired and will be out again so there doesn't seem to be a roster move but eventually they will get another OF up here and send down Albaladejo or Melancon. There is no word yet on Wang but we should know later what happened with him and Dr. Andrews. Also the rumor going around today is that the Yankees are looking at Jarrod Washburn again and can probably get him.

New York Mets create a mess again

I really didn't want to have to do this as I don't hate them and I really don't want to trash them but the Mets hit a new low today. I know they have won 3 in a row which is great but Omar Minaya in his press conference today to announce the firing of Tony Bernezard just really embarrassed the Mets organization by ripping into NY Daily News Mets beat reporter Adam Rubin. He accused him of taking down Bernezard with his stories about the minor league scene when he challenged them to a fight because basically he wanted his job and when Rubin asked him in the press conference if that is what he was accusing him of he tried talk his way out of it. This was very vindictive and wrong for Minaya to do and may be the beginning of the end for him. I don't know if it was his idea or management told him to do it but anyway you slice it, this will be the story all over the papers tomorrow and not in a good way. If you missed this and you are a Mets fan or just a baseball fan in general check out the press conference and also Rubins response later on over at SNY.com. I really can't believe this went on today, it seems like even when the Mets do something right they still manage to do something wrong at the same time.

Yanks start off roadtrip with a bang

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays tonight by the score of 11-4. A.J. Burnett made the start and was great going 7 innings giving up 1 unearned run on 2 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Jon Albaladejo struggled but he will most likely be sent back down tomorrow for a outfielder. Dave Robertson came on with a couple of guys on and got a huge strikeout of Carlos Pena to end the 8th inning and then finished it off in the ninth giving up a solo homerun and a single. The offense saw Nick Swisher hit two homeruns and Robinson Cano hit a solo homerun and Johnny Damon a three run homerun. Robinson Cano also had another hit and a couple of walks. Derek Jeter had 3 hits and a walk, Mark Teixeira added 2 hits and A-rod had a 2 run double on his birthday. Hideki Matsui had a hit and a walk and Jorge Posada had a hit and a rbi. Melky Cabrera also had a couple of hits. This team is just rolling along right now with the strong combination of pitching and defense and scoring as much as they have too. I hate to say this team reminds me of the 98 Yankees or those teams from the late 90s but they really do. If the Yankees are losing you even get the feeling they are going to come back and win it, this was a strong message tonight to send to the Rays who were looking at this series and long homestand as the time to jump back in the race. CC Sabathia will be on the mound tomorrow for the Yankees to try and win the series and two in a row over Tampa.

Yankees at Rays

The Yankees begin a 3 game series in Tampa tonight at 7:10 on YES. This is also the start of a 9 game 3 city roadtrip that will see them go to Chicago and Toronto next. The Yankees have the second best road record in the league behind Anaheim so the road doesn't really intimidate them. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham of the Journal News. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball but the Yankees are only 2 games behind them with the 2nd best record. The Yankees are 4-4 against the Rays this year. The Yankees have won 8 of their last 9 series. They have won 22 series this season which is only 2 less then they won all of last season. MO in his last 16 innings has given up 0 runs on 4 hits with 1 walk and 15 strikeouts and Phil Hughes has given up 11 hits with 0 runs, 4 walks and 25 strikeouts. A.J. Burnett has a 1.93 era in his last 7 games. Opponents are hitting 208 against him. Derek Jeter is 6 of his last 13 with 6 rbi's. Big Tex is 6 of 16 with 5 rbi's and 4 xbh. Jorge Posada is 7 of 17 with 5 runs scored, 5 rbi's and 4 xbh. Melky Cabrera is 5 of 8 with three runs scored and 4 walks. Cody Ransom is3 of 7 with 3 doubles and 3 runs scored. A-rod turns 34 today, Happy Birthday to him. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yankees/Rays pitching matchups

Tonight- A.J. Burnett vs James Shields Tomorrow- CC Sabathia vs Scott Kazmir Wednesday- Joba Chamberlain vs Matt Garza This is a big series, the Yankees could really bury the Rays and the Rays could really get right back in the race depending on what happens. Tonight is a good pitching matchup and tomorrow would normally be a marquee matchup but Kazmir has really struggled this year. Wednesday is the battle of good young righthanders with a lot of emotion.

Mets on winning streak

The New York Mets who have been in disarray with all the injuries and the off the field issues mainly with Tony Bernezard have won two in a row over the Houston Astros in Houston. The Astros were playing really good baseball coming into this series so this is a big series win for the Mets. I am one who thinks the Mets are done but as a Mets fan you do want to see them play hard and be competitive and you never know what could happen. The problem for the Mets is that they are behind so many teams that it would be near impossible to pass them all unless they win most of their games which is just too hard to do without their main guys playing. The longer this Bernezard thing goes on the worse it looks, it doesn't look like he is going to lose his job and really he should. I mean he has embarrassed the team with his antics but also he is in charge of player development and they have a horrible farm system, how he keeps his job I will never know. I would think though at the end of the year if they don't make it Omar Minaya, Tony Bernezard and Jerry Manuel will all be out and they will bring in a whole new regime and start over. It must be so frustrating as a Mets fan though as they were so close to making the world series 3 years ago and then collapsed the last 2 years in the final week and now the mess that has become this year.

Yankees finish off strong homstand with a win

The Yankees defeated the Oakland A's today by the score of 7-5 to cap off a 9-1 homestand. Sergio Mitre got the start and only lasted 5 innings giving up 4 runs on 9 hits with 1 strikeout. Phil Coke came on in relief and was shaky giving up 2 hits and a run in his one inning of work. Phil Coke has been so great but it is going to happen and it will really be beneficial to him and the team if Damaso Marte comes back and they can have the two lefties out of the pen. Phil Hughes came on for 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He gave up a hit and a walk but had 3 strikeouts. He has just been so good you wonder if he will ever let up a run again out of the bullpen. Mariano Rivera also pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief giving up 0 hits and 0 walks with 2 strikeouts. The Yankees pitching has been so good and that is the key to their success, it will be interesting to see what they do, if they add another starter or take Aceves out of the pen and make him a starter again, I don't think they will move Hughes back as he has been so dominant and it would take him time to build back up to starting. The offense was led by Derek Jeter who went 2-4 with 2 rbi's and a walk. Johnny Damon had a hit and a walk and Big Tex had 2 hits and a rbi. Jorge Posada had a hit and a walk, Hideki Matsui had a hit, walk and rbi. Nick Swisher had a hit and a walk and Robinson Cano had a huge 3 run double. Melky Cabrera had a hit and 2 walks, he has started hitting well again lately and he is once again the CF as Gardner is hurt so this is a good sign. Cody Ransom had 2 hits, everyone in the lineup had at least one hit. The Yankees finished off the homestand at 9-1 which is great and they also are 2 1/2 ahead of the Red Sox as they got that game back they lost yesterday with their win and Bostons loss. The Yankees now begin a huge 9 game roadtrip with 3 in Tampa starting tomorrow, 4 in Chicago and 2 in Toronto. The Yankees will have the Red Sox for 4 games when they return home but lets focus on each series first and not look ahead, hopefully we will remain in first at the end of this roadtrip and go from there. I would accept 5-4 on this roadtrip but 6-3 would be really nice.

Yanks try to finish off homestand in style

The New York Yankees finish their 10 game homestand today with a 1:05 game against the Oakland A's. Dallas Braden is on the mound for Oakland who stats wise is their best pitcher, I can't see the Yankees doing much worse then yesterday when they couldn't hit Gio Gonzalez at all. The game is on Yes. The Yankees will leave after the game for Tampa where they will start a big 3 game series with the Tampa Bay Rays and then they will continue on to play the White Sox for 3 and 2 with Toronto before coming home for a huge 4 game series with the Boston Red Sox. Peter Abraham is off today so there isn't much notes but the big thing is Brett Gardner is on the DL with a broken thumb, he did it yesterday breaking up a double play in the first inning. He will be in a cast for at least two weeks. The only other outfielders on the 40 man roster are Shelly Duncan, John Rodriguez and Austin Jackson. It will be interesting to see who they call up but for now Jon Albaladejo will be on the team for today and then tomorrow they will send him back down and send someone else up. A-rod is just getting the day off as he has looked lethargic lately. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) Posada(C) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Ransom(3B)