Yankees bounce back

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays today by the score of 6-4. Andy Pettitte made the start and wasn't great but did enough to win, he pitched 6 innings giving up 4 runs with 5 walks. David Robertson pitched a scoreless seventh, Brian Bruney got the first two outs of the eighth before allowing a walk and then Phil Hughes got his third save of the year by getting the last 4 outs and striking out three. The Yankees offense was much better today then yesterday. A-rod had a couple of hits and a rbi, Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira each hit solo homeruns. Melky Cabrera had a rbi hit and Hideki Matsui had a pinch hit single. Derek Jeter had a couple of hits and a walk, he now is 7 hits away from breaking Lou Gehrigs record for most ever hits by a Yankee. Nick Swisher had a hit and a walk. Jorge Posada had a hit, walk and rbi. Eric Hinske had a hit. The Yankees will try to win the series tomorrow with Sergio Mitre on the mound, making his first start since that brilliant start he made over a week ago before leaving the game when he got hit by a ball up the middle. It will be interesting to see how he does on the longer rest and coming off of that outing. The Yankees will also try to end the roadtrip at 6-1 and head home for a holiday double header with CC and AJ pitching against the Rays. The Yankees are now 8 1/2 ahead of the Boston Red Sox and basically cruising to the division title.

Yankees at Jays

The Yankees will try and bounce back from yesterday's loss and start a new win streak. Andy Pettitte will be on the mound this afternoon at 1:00PM on the YES network. Here are a couple of notes and the lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog, everyone enjoy their long Labor Day weekend. The Yankees remain 7 1/2 ahead of Boston for first place in the AL East but are now 6 games ahead of the Angels for homefield as the Angels gained a game yesterday. Derek Jeter is back today and is in a 3 for 17 slump, he needs 9 more hits to break Lou Gehrig's record so it looks like he will do that at home unless he goes crazy the next 2 days. Andy Pettitte is 4-1 with a 2.56 era since the break, in 59 2/3 innings he has allowed 45 hits and struck out 62. Mo threw 16 pitches in the pen and looked good according to Peter Abraham, we will find out more later. Josh Towers was called up and will serve as a long man I am sure with the bullpen taxed from the last two days and Mitre pitching tomorrow and then a DH on Monday. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Swisher(1B) Tex(DH) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Hairston(LF) Cabrera(CF) Hinske(RF)

Yankees winning streak ends

The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays tonight by the score of 6-0. They came into the game knowing they were facing Roy Halladay and Joba was pitching on a innings limit so this was a hard one to try and say you were confident in winning. Ramiro Pena had the only hit for the Yankees. Joba Chamberlain pitched 3 innings giving up 3 runs, 2 earned on 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. It is really hard to judge his performances as he is out of the game so quickly, I don't know how the Yankees judge it but I guess they know what they are doing. Mark Melancon gave up a couple of hits and a run, Mike Dunn making his major league debut gave up a couple of runs and Jon Albaladejo and Edwar Ramirez also got into the game. The Yankees will play tomorrow afternoon with Andy Pettitte on the mound. They will attempt to start a new winning streak and then finish the roadtrip on Sunday before playing a Labor Day doubleheader at home against Tampa.

Yankees at Jays

The New York Yankees go for their 8th straight win tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays. They will play at 7:00PM on the YES network. Joba Chamberlain makes the start and we will play how many innings will Joba go, my guess is 4. I would like to hear from everyone else so lets discuss it with the comments for this post. The Jays are sending their best pitcher Roy Halladay out to the mound who hasn't been the same since the trade deadline ended. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. The Yankees are 10-3 against Toronto this season. The Yankees with 7 players having 20+ homeruns are the most of any team since the 2005 Rangers. The Yankees also have 7 players with 70+ rbi's. Derek Jeter has 17 homeruns and 61 rbi's, I think he could join the party. Yankee relievers have allowed 3 earned runs and struck out 24 in their last 23 2/3 innings. Damaso Marte has pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings and not allowed a hit since coming off of the DL. Derek Jeter is 3 of his last 17 as he is nine hits away from breaking Lou Gehrig's record. The Triple A Scranton Yankees clinched a tie for first place in their division and will be in the playoffs again. MO will throw a bullpen tomorrow and be ready to go Sunday if everything is ok. Yankees Lineup: Damon(LF) Hinske(RF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Pena(SS)

Yanks win 7th in a row

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays tonight by the score of 10-5. Chad Gaudin got the start and after being staked to a 5-0 lead he did not do a good job, he should of been able to give the team at least 5 innings against a bad team but was only able to go 3 2/3 giving up 3 runs. Alfredo Aceves came in to get out of further trouble and then pitched a couple of more innings only giving up a solo homerun. Dave Robertson, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte all pitched a scoreless inning, Marte and Robertson had a couple of strikeouts each. The Yankees offense continues to roll as they scored 10 runs for the second straight game and they have scored 8+ runs pretty regularly lately. Jorge Posada was the offensive star with 4 hits and a couple of rbi's. A-rod continued to be hot as he had a solo homerun and rbi single along with a walk. Hideki Matsui had a hit, rbi and walk and Mark Teixeira had a hit and a walk. Melky Cabrera had a couple of more hits to continue his hot hitting. The Yankees are on such a roll now you never think they are going to lose or are out of the game. The amazing thing about them is they jump out to a lead and when the other team gets close they come right back and pad the lead and close it out with their strong bullpen. If this team can get A.J. Burnett going they could be very very difficult to beat with CC and Andy Pettitte going strong and it looks like they will have Coke and Marte along with Phil Hughes and Robertson to get to MO. The Yankees will play game 2 tomorrow with Joba on the mound and the intrigue continues with that as we don't know how many innings he will pitch but I would suspect 4 since he pitched 3 the last time out.

Yankees News

The great Peter Abraham of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees Blog just provided some updates from the clubhouse. Mariano River will not pitch today and will throw a bullpen tomorrow. If he feels anything he will shut it down and try again in a few days. Jon Albaladejo is all beat up after getting conked in the head by a thrown ball from Edwar Ramirez that he missed. He was worried he wouldn't get called up but he recovered quickly. Joba when asked by Peter is he needed to get better stated that he has been pitching well, this guy has to stop believing that or something. Joba in my mind is immature and has to learn how to deal with stuff, maybe he just says that to the media but we can pull out the stats for him and show him just how bad he has been, Joba may not be needed in the playoffs but at the same time he may be needed so he has to pitch better and be ready to go for October. Derek Jeter wants the hit record over and done with as soon as possible, he is not one to get all caught up over this like everyone else even though it is a big deal. Joe Girardi will not hold him out so he can do it at home if that is the case.

Yankees at Jays

The New York Yankees take on the Toronto Blue Jays in game 1 of 4 tonight at 7:00PM on the YES network. The Yankees enter the game having won 6 in a row and 23 of their last 29 overall. They are 7 1/2 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in first place in the AL East and 6 1/2 ahead of the Anaheim Angels for homefield advantage. They are creeping ever closer to clinching the 1 seed in the postseason. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham and his Lohud Yankees Blog. The Blue Jays were 27-14 on May 18 and in first place by 3 1/2 games. They have gone 32-59 since that point. They have lost 3 straight, 6 of 7 and 14 of their last 18. The Yankees have a run differential of +141 which is the best in the majors but according to the formula they should have 79 wins. Derek Jeter is 9 hits away from breaking Lou Gehrig's hits record. The Yankees have 208 homeruns, at this pace they would hit 253 which would break the franchise record which is 242 by the 2004 team. The major league record is 264 by the 1997 Seattle Mariners. Johnny Damon has a 7 game hitting streak and is now hitting 293. A-rod has hit safely in 11 straight batting 419 during the stretch. He has 11 rbi's and his batting avg has climbed from 254 to 274. Phil Hughes who is the closer for now until Mo comes back has a 1.14 era in 31 relief appearances. In his last 10 outings he has pitched 10 innings giving up 0 runs, 3 walks and 14 strikeouts. I think he could be a dominant reliever but he needs to be a starter next yr and the only thing will be the innings, will it be like Joba this year. The Yankees have outscored their opponents 47-14 in the 6 game winning streak. Derek Jeter is only 3 of his last 13 and Hideki Matsui is 4 of his last 24 with 2 rbi's. Melky Cabrera has broken out of his slump going 10 fo his last 24 and now batting 274. Jon Albaladejo was called up today. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Teixeira(1B) Rodriguez(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yankees/Jays pitching matchups

Tonight- Chad Gaudin vs Ricky Romero Tomorrow- Joba Chamberlain vs Roy Halladay Saturday- Andy Pettitte vs Brett Cecil Sunday- Sergio Mitre vs Brian Tallett This series should be interesting with 3 questionable pitchers for the Yankees. I would take a split of this 4 game series and could see that happening. I think Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre are battling for a playoff spot.

Yanks sweep another series

The New York Yankees swept the Baltimore Orioles tonight in Baltimore. The final score was 10-2. It was a 3-2 game until the Yankees broke it open with 7 runs in the 9th inning to put the game away. CC Sabathia has been pitching like an ace since the all star break and that didn't change tonight. He pitched 7 innings giving up 1 run on 7 hits, he also had 1 walk and 9 strikeouts. Brian Bruney got 1 out in the 8th inning and also gave up a homerun, Phil Coke got an out and then Phil Hughes came in to get the final 4 outs for his second save of the year. The offense was led by Alex Rodriguez who had 3 hits and 4 rbi's. Johnny Damon had 4 hits and a rbi, Nick Swisher had 2 hits and 2 walks and Hideki Matsui had a rbi single. Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano each had 2 hits with Melky picking up a rbi and Jose Molina and Eric Hinske also had a hit so it was a well balanced attack for the Yankee offense. The Yankees now lead Boston by 7 1/2 games in the AL East as they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays and lead Anaheim by 6 1/2 for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. The Yankees now head to Toronto for a 4 game series with Chad Gaudin starting tomorrow. The only bad news came after the game tonight that Mariano Rivera is out with tightness in his groin, he is going to rest for a few days and they will go with closer by comittee although I would expect to see Hughes in that role more often then not.

Yanks at Orioles(Yanks go for 2nd straight sweep)

The New York Yankees will take on the Baltimore Orioles tonight in game 3 of the 3 game series. The Yankees are going for their 10th straight victory over the Baltimore Orioles. They are 5 1/2 games ahead of the Angels for homefield advantage and 6 1/2 ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East. Here are the pregame notes and lineup as always via the Lohud Yankees Blog. CC Sabathia is 5-0 with a 2.64 era in his last 6 starts. He is 2-1 with a 3.10 era against the O's this season. Robinson Cano is 25 of 52 with 13 xbh, 7 homeruns and 17 rbi's against the O's this season. Cano has 7 xbh and 12 rbi's in his last 8 games overall. Alex Rodriguez has 71 rbi's this season. 35 of them have either tied the score or given the Yankees the lead. Derek Jeter is 2 stolen bases away from 300 for his career. Hideki Matsui is 3 for his last 19 with only 1 rbi. Nick Swisher is 26 of 85 at Camden Yards in his career with 13 homeruns adn 29 rbi's over 26 games. The average is 306 for those who don't have a calculator. The Yankee relievers have allowed one run on 8 hits over the last 16 1/3 innings. Derek Jeter needs 10 more hits to pass Lou Gehrig for most hits in franchise history. The Yankees are 71-33 since A-rod came off of the DL. Damaso Marte has thrown 3 1/3 scoreless innings since coming off of the DL. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Swisher(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Hinske(RF) Molina(C)

Yanks win 5th in row

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles tonight by the score of 9-6. A.J. Burnett got the start and had nothing as he went 5 1/3 innings giving up 6 runs. He hasn't won a game in over a month and it may be cause for concern now. He didn't pitch bad his last time out but tonight he just had nothing going. I would think now is the time for A.J. to get it together so he can head into the postseason with confidence, I would think he would be the game 2 starter but maybe he will be the game 3 starter the way it is going. The Yankees offense bailed him out with 5 homruns, 2 of them off of the bat of Jorge Posada who is 1 homerun shy of putting the Yankees at 7 players with 20 or more homeruns. Robinson Cano had 2 hits as he continues to demolish Baltimore pitching this season. He is batting I believe it is 481 against them now this season. The only guy in the lineup without a hit was Mark Teixeira. A-rod had a rbi single, Nick Swisher had a homerun and so did Eric Hinske in fact they went back to back. Melky Cabrera had 2 hits as he has been showing signs of life lately which is a good sign, Brett Gardner should be back somewhat soon but we will see what he can do when he comes back. The Yankees will be going for the sweep tomorrow night with their ace CC Sabathia on the mound. The Yankees are now 36 games over 500, they haven't been this far over 500 since they finished the 2004 season 40 games over. The Yankees have 30 games left this season, could they win 16 more to get to 100, it is looking pretty good but the only thing that is going to matter now is winning in the postseason and getting that 27th championship.

Yankees at Orioles

The New York Yankees take on the Baltimore Orioles in game 2 of their 3 game series. The game is on at 7:05 on the YES network. The Yankees start the day 6 1/2 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox for first in the AL East and 4 1/2 ahead of the Angels for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Here are the pregame notes and lineup from Peter Abraham and his Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees are 10-3 against the Orioles this season and have won 8 straight. A.J. Burnett is 0-4 with a 6.03 era in his last 6 starts. He was 5-0 with a 2.01 era in his 6 starts. Burnett is 9-1 with a 4.61 era against the Orioles in his career. Robinson Cano is 22 of his last 48 with 5 homeruns and 15 rbi's against Baltimore this season. MO is 5 strikeouts away from 1,000 and one game away from tying Cy Young for the 20th most appearances all time. A-rod needs 2 more hits for 2,500 in his career. Phil Hughes in his last 9 outings has gone 8 2/3 innings, 5 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks and 11 strikeouts. Johnny Damon has a 7 game hitting streak. Melky Cabrera is 6 of his last 15, Damaso Marte has not allowed a hit in 2 1/3 innings since he came off the DL. These guys are all hot. The guys who aren't so hot are Brian Bruney who has put 14 runners on base in his last 8 2/3 innings. Phil Coke has a 10.64 era in his last 14 outings. The callups are Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, Mark Melancon, Edwar Ramirez and Mike Dunn. Austin Jackson was named the International leagues rookie of the year today and Shelly Duncan was named the MVP. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(DH) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(LF) Hinske(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Some Yankee notes

A-rod just had a normal day off, remember he is still dealing with the hip and they do need to get him so days off. The Yankees announced today that ticket prices for the postseason would be less then last year and in fact for the first round tickets for the season ticket holders will remain the same. Check out the link at http://yankees.com. Ian Kennedy who said he felt great the other day will throw live batting practice on Wednesday for the first time since his surgery. He will throw 30 pitches then throw again on Saturday and the following Tuesday. Brett Gardner hit off a tee again today and felt good, he is expecting to head to Scranton for rehab games by Thursday. Peter Abraham's Lohud Yankees Blog has all this information and more so thanks to him for having all of this great stuff. Tomorrow is Sept 1st so rosters do expand, I expect to see Cervelli and Pena and I would guess Albaladejo and Melancon but we shall see. I think Shelly Duncan and Austin Jackson will come up after the AAA season is over.

Andy not only dandy but almost perfect

Andy Pettitte was awesome tonight coming 7 outs away from a perfect game. He had 2 outs and no one on in the 7th inning when a hard grounder was hit to Jerry Hairston Jr. at third and he booted it. The next guy got a hit and then he got out of the inning. If Jerry Hairston Jr. made that play you wonder what would of happened as he would of been in the 8th inning with a perfect game. He ended up giving up a run on 2 hits with 0 walks and 8 strikeouts. Brian Bruney came on in the ninth giving up 2 hits and getting one out before Mariano Rivera had to come in for his 33rd save in a row and 37th of the season. The Yankees offense was led by Nick Swisher who had 3 hits and a rbi. Derek Jeter had a hit and a walk and Johnny Damon had a rbi single. Mark Teixeira had a hit and a walk, Robinson Cano had 2 hits and 2 rbi's and Melky Cabrera had 2 hits. The story of the game clearly though was Andy Pettitte, he completed 8 innings for the first time this season. I really thought he might pitch the perfect game, that is how good he looked tonight but it wasn't meant to be and he was good about it after the game. He said that Jerry Hairston wouldn't look at him and finally he had to go up to him and just hug him and say it is ok. He also said he told him I didn't want to pitch 9 innings anyway. The Yankees will play game 2 tomorrow with A.J. Burnett on the mound, A.J. is trying to get a win for the first time in 7 starts.

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.

Yankees at Orioles

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series tonight in Baltimore at 7:05 on the YES network. The Yankees are also beginning a 7 game roadtrip that will see them go to Toronto for 4 games after they are finished with Baltimore. The Yankees begin today with a 6 game lead in the AL East and a 4 1/2 game lead on the Angels for best record in the AL and homefield advantage. The Red Sox are idle and begin a 3 game series in Tampa tomorrow. The Angels are playing in Seattle tonight. Here are pregame notes and the lineup via the great Lohud Yankees blog. The Yankees are 9-3 against the Orioles this season. The Yankees are 20-7 in August so they hate to see it go, but tomorrow September begins. Derek Jeter is hitting 381 this month with 26 runs scored, 17 rbi's and 11 extra base hits. He has reached base in the first inning in 9 of the last 13 games. Johnny Damon is 9 of his last 23 with 6 runs scored, 5 rbi's and 3 xbh. Jorge Posada is 8 of his last 20 with 5 xbh and 10 rbi's. He came back yesterday from 3 days off and looked good, hopefully this contraption on his finger will hold up. Andy Pettitte is 3-1 with a 2.79 era since the all star break. He has allowed only 43 hits in 51 2/3 innings with 54 strikeouts. Pettitte is 25-6 career against the Orioles with a 3.65 era. He has 38 career appearances against them. He has more wins against the Orioles then any other team. Guthrie is 1-2 with a 5.21 era this season against the Yanks. I would expect them to hit him hard tonight. Phil Coke in his last 14 appearances has gone 11 innings, given up 15 hits, 13 earned runs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts and 4 homeruns. He has allowed 10 homeruns this season. Jensen Lewis of Cleveland is the only reliever in the AL to give up more. He has given up 11. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Hairston(3B) Cabrera(CF)

Pitching matchups for Yanks/Orioles

Tonight- Andy Pettitte vs Jeremy Guthrie Tomorrow- A.J. Burnett vs David Hernandez Wednesday- CC Sabathia vs Jason Berken The Yankees always have played well in Baltimore and should be able to score lots of runs there. Baltimore is an up and coming team though. I love their outfield, they are definitely headed in the right direction. I would think the Yanks win 2 out of 3.

Yanks sweep White Sox

The New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox today by the score of 8-3. I was on my way to Scranton so only saw the first 3 innings. Joba Chamberlain pitched 3 innings on only 34 pitches but was pulled due to the new Joba rules. He gave up 2 runs on 4 hits. Alfredo Aceves pitched 3 innings giving up 0 runs on 2 hits and got the win moving to 9-1 on the season. Damaso Marte faced 1 batter getting him out and Dave Robertson pitched 1 /3 of an inning giving up a couple of hits. Phil Hughes bailed him out of the jam and then pitched a hitless eighth inning. Phil Coke finished the game off giving up a solo homerun. Derek Jeter had another couple of hits and Mark Teixeira had 4 rbi's. Johnny Damon tied his career high for homeruns by hitting a 2 run shot. A-rod had a hit and 2 walks. Jorge Posada had 2 hits and a rbi. Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano each had a hit and Melky had a rbi. The Yankees now move on to Baltimore for a 3 game series starting tomorrow night with Andy Pettitte on the mound.

Yanks go for the sweep

The New York Yankees take on the Chicago White Sox today in the last game of the three game series and 6 game homestand. The Yankees have won the first two games of the series and are going for the sweep. Joba gets the start with the new Joba Rules making their debut. Joba will only pitch 3 or 4 innings most likely, 5 at most and then Alfredo Aceves and Dave Robertson will serve as his caddies. Here are the pregame notes and lineups courtesy of Peter Abraham and his Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees now lead the Angels by 4 1/2 games for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The two teams will meet 4 times, once at Yankee stadium and 3 times in Anaheim. The Yankees are 18-4 in their last 22 home games. Derek Jeter is now 14 hits away from surpassing Lou Gehrig for most hits in franchise history. He needs two steals for 300 in his career and has 43 hits in August which is the most of any month since August 2001 for him. Jerry Hairston Jr. has hit safely in 9 of his 11 starts since joining the team. The White Sox are 1-6 in their last 7 and have fallen to third place in the AL Central and are 5 games behind Detroit. This will be Freddy Garcia's 3rd start in his latest comeback. A-rod is 12 of 32 against him with 7 xbh and 5 homeruns. Eric Hinske is 6 of 13 against him with 2 xbh. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Hinske(RF) Cabrera(CF)