Football Sunday and Picks

I know this blog has mostly focused on the Yankees but I try and do the Giants and Jets on the weekends and I am going to try something new. The thing I will try to do is my NFL picks which will be me picking the Giants, Jets and then a random game every week and we will see how I do. I would also love some comments and feedback to this. I think we can all play along and see how I do and everyone else. The Giants head down to Tampa to take on a Bucaneers team that is 0-2 but can score some points. The Giants defense is extremely banged up with Justin Tuck likely out and Aaron Ross, Kevin Dockery and Kenny Philips all out in the secondary. Chris Canty also will be out once again. I do think the Giants will score a lot of points against the Tampa defense though and probably get the running game going finally. I expect Brandon Jacobs to have a big game. I am going to pick the Giants on this one and go with Giants 34-Tampa 24. The Jets are coming off a good and very emotional win against the Patriots and they will be playing a desperate Tenessee Titans team. I think this will be a tough hard fought battle. I think the Jets will score some points but Sanchez will have a tough game and that the Titans will actually score some points. Tenessee is familiar with Rex Ryan's defense and that is an advantage. I expect a low scoring game, I am going to go with Tenessee-20 Jets-14. My random pick for the week is going to be Indianapolis-31- Arizona-28 That will wrap up my picks for NFL week 3, I hope you enjoy this new portion of the blog and I will continue to do this for the rest of the NFL season. It will be interesting to see the Jets and Giants both playing at 1 tomorrow with the Yom Kippur Jewish Holiday.

Yanks on verge of clinching

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox once again this afternoon. They won the game by the score of 3-0 and now have won 8 out of 9 against them since starting 0-8. CC Sabathia got the start and was just simply brilliant, he pitched 7 scoreless innings giving up 1 hit. CC had 8 strikeouts. He has been pitching lights out and isn't working on such a heavy load like he was at the end of last year with the Brewers which should bode well for the postseason. Phil Hughes pitched a perfect 8th with some help from Mark Teixeira who made a brilliant diving stop, Hughes also had 2 strikeouts and Mariano finished off the game with his 43rd save. The offense had runners on all day long but couldn't get the big hit until Robinson Cano hit a solo homerun in the 7th and Johnny Damon added a bloop 2 run single in the ninth inning. The Yankees with a win tomorrow will clinch the AL East and homefield advantage. I wonder what kind of wild celebration it will be, could we see some pie amongst all the champagne. The Yankees will also win 100 games with their next win which is very hard to do in baseball now. The Yankees also got good news on Dave Robertson who threw before the game and feels fine, he should get in some games next week before the postseason. The Yankees only question now will be who starts game 2 A.J. or Andy, it looks like they are leaning towards Andy but we shall see.

Red Sox at Yankees

The New York Yankees will try and win their 4th game in a row and in the process be one win away from clinching the AL East. CC Sabathia the ace of the team takes the mound against Daisuke Matsusaka. The Yankees are now 7-1 in their last 8 games against Boston after starting out 0-8. Here are some pregame notes and the lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. Boston has a magic number of 3 to clinch the wildcard over the Texas Rangers. The Yankees are 27-7 at home since the all star break. They are 53-23 overall at home, it is amazing to me with those numbers they actually lost 2 games at home to the Nationals. CC Sabathia is 8-0 with a 2.24 era in his last 10 starts. He has allowed only 55 hits in 72 1/3 innings. He has struck out 77 with only 17 walks. He is 2-1 with a 2.95 era in 3 starts against Boston this season and 4-5 with a 3.62 era in his career against the Sox. Jude Sonia Sotomayor a yankees fan from the Bronx will throw out the first pitch today. She was instrumental in ending the baseball strike of 1994. Dave Miley a good guy and good manager for the AAA Scranton Yankees has joined the coaching staff for the rest of the season. Robinson Cano needs 2 hits to become the fifth yankees second baseman in history to collect 200 hits in a season. He has 47 doubles which is the most since Alfonso Soriano had 51 in 2002. Cano has also scored 99 runs. The only two yankees second baseman in history to have 200 hits and 100 runs scored are Soriano in 2002 and Stuffy Stirnweiss in 1944. Derek Jeter has led off the first inning with a hit in 7 of the last 12 games and a MLB best 49 times this season. This is coming from Baseballreference.com. He also has reached 30 games for the fourth time in his career. There are some good stats about Boston but you can check that out at the Lohud Yankees Blog as we will only deal with the Yankees right now. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yanks creep closer to clinching

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox last night by the score of 9-5. The magic number to clinch the division now stands at 3 for the Yankees and 3 for the Red Sox to clinch the wildcard. Joba Chamberlain got the start and looked better then he has in a long time. He pitched 6 innings giving up 3 runs on 7 hits. I think when he can just go out and pitch and not have to worry about pitch or inning counts then he can be effective so hopefully he will have one more good one before the postseason and then be ready to go in the ALCS if they get there. The offense was led by A-rod who had 3 hits and 2 walks and also 4 rbis. He now has 92 rbi's so he has a chance to get to 100, he really has had a great season it just doesn't look like it because he missed so many games. Derek Jeter added a couple of more hits. Jon Lester who took a liner off what appeared to be his knee is ok and should make his next start which seems unbelievable but good for him. The Yankees have hit 127 homeruns at the New Yankee stadium this season which is a franchise record and they still have 5 more home games. 227 homeruns have been hit at the new stadium which is 12 more then were ever hit at the old place. The Yankees stole 7 bases which was the most since they stole 8 against Oakland on June 2, 2006. If the Yankees play the Red Sox in the ALCS that is a glimpse of what they will do. They need to get runners on but if they do they will run all day on Varitek which also distracts the pitcher. The Yankees with 98 wins have won their most games since they finished the 2004 season with 101 victories. It is hard to imagine that the Yankees were 0-8 against Boston. They have gone 7-1 since then and outscored Boston by 21 runs. Boston leads the season series 9-7 and the difference in runs is 3. The Yankees are 42 games over 500 for the first time since the 2002 season when they were 103-58. I am wondering if the Red Sox will actually beat the Angels this time around, the Angels have a great running team and Varitek can't throw anyone out. The Angels also have homefield advantage, it should be ineteresting. The Yankees will play later today at 4 and I will be going to the game so not sure if I will have a gamepost up or not but I will have the postgame reaction and wrapup later on tonight. The Yankees are looking to cut the magic number down to 1 and CC is on the mound against Daisuke Matsusaka.

Red Sox at Yankees

The New York Yankees open a 3 game series with the Red Sox tonight at 7 on MY9 and MLB network. Joba Chamberlain gets the start against Jon Lester. This is the last series of the year, Boston holds a 9-6 lead and they wont see each other again unless they meet in the ALCS. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. Boston is 21-8 since Aug 23, their magic number to clinch the wildcard is 3 and they say the will celebrate in Yankee stadium if they clinch it. The Yankees magic number is 5 so they would need a sweep to clinch the division and most likely homefield advantage. Joba is 1-4 with a 8.25 era in his last 9 starts. Opponents are hitting 327 with a 409 obp against him in that time. Brian Cashman just recently said he needs to earn his way onto the postseason roster although Joe Girardi says he will be on it. It would be beneficial for him to pitch well starting tonight. The Yankees hope to get him through 6 innings tonight. Jon Lester was 3-5 with a 6.07 era in his first 11 starts of the season. He is 11-2 with a 2.13 era since then. He is 3-0 with a 3.11 era in 7 career starts against the Yankees. Robinson Cano is 19 of his last 48 and Mark Teixeira was 10 of 23 with 6xbh and 6 rbi's on the roadtrip. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yankees injury news

The Yankees got good news on Jorge Posada yesterday as X-rays were negative on his foot and he is expected to be back catching tomorrow. The Yankees also got good news today when Jerry Hairston Jr. was told he had tendinitis in his wrist and recieved a cortisone shot. He should be day to day and be back next week. This is good news as he is very versatile and will be on the postseason roster. Nick Swisher is banged up but I would expect him to be back also tomorrow night against the Red Sox.

Pitching matchups for Yanks/Sox

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game set with the Red Sox starting tomorrow night at the stadium. Here are the pitching matchups Tomorrow- Joba Chamberlain vs Jon Lester Saturday- CC Sabathia vs Daisuke Matsuzaka Sunday- Andy Pettitte vs Paul Byrd This could be the clinching actually for both teams, the Red Sox for the wildcard and the Yankees for the AL east. It won't have the same intensity but its still Yanks/Sox for the last time this season unless they play in the ALCS. Joba needs to have a good start though and make sure he has a place on the postseason roster. Boston is taking on KC tonight and was winning the game so it looks like the magic number for the Yankees will still be 5.

Yanks take series over Angels

The New York Yankees did the unthinkable this afternoon, they beat the Angels by the score of 3-2. You may ask why is that unthinkable, well because they actually took a series in Anaheim for the first time since May of 2004. A.J. Burnett got the start and had filthy stuff striking out 11 in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 7 hits with 3 walks. Damaso Marte pitched an inning giving up a hit, Phil Coke struck out the only batter he faced, Ian Kennedy gave up 2 walks but pitched a scoreless inning and Mariano gave up a single but got another save his second straight since blowing one on friday night. The offense wasn't too good but they were without A-rod, Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher. Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher were banged up after getting hit the night before but X-rays were negative on Posada which was good news and he is day to day and Nick Swisher is the same. Robinson Cano had a big 2 run single, Shelly Duncan had a hit getting the start in right field. Derek Jeter had a hit and a walk and Mark Teixeira also had a hit and a walk. Melky Cabrera had a couple of hits and Brett Gardner had a hit. Melky Cabrera had a rbi also, the Yankees scored all of their runs in the fourth inning and held on. The Yankees can now clinch the division on their homestand and render the last 3 games of the year in Tampa completely meaningless. The Red Sox are playing tonight and winning and will also play tomorrow before taking on the Yankees on Friday with Jon Lester going up against Joba Chamberlain. The Yankees have now won 3 of the last 4 against the Angels and proved they can win in Anaheim which is huge considering they may face off in the ALCS.

Yankees at Angels

The Yankees beat the Angels 6-5 last night, scoring a run in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly by Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees clinched a playoff spot last night. They lead the Red Sox by six games in the American League East and the Angels by 5.5 games in the pursuit for home-field advantage. The Yankees would love to win today and have a 3-3 roadtrip and also win a series in Anaheim which would be a miracle. Here are the pregame notes and hopefully I will have the lineup later via Peter Abraham The Yankees are 2-3 on a road trip that ends today. The Yankees have 231 home runs with 10 games left. The team record is 242. That was set in 2004. Alex Rodriguez has 89 RBI this season. 33 of them have come from the seventh inning on with 14 of those either tying the score or giving the Yankees the lead. A-Rod has 67 homers and 151 RBI on 171 career games against the Angels. He has homered in each of the first two games of the series. Hideki Matsui has four home runs in his last six games and 12 RBI in his last nine. Derek Jeter has stolen 27 bases, the most since he swiped 34 in 2006. A.J. Burnett pitched well against Seattle on Friday, allowing one run in seven innings. He he is 1-5 with a 5.60 ERA since Aug. 1. Scott Kazmir is 6-4, 2.53 in 14 appearances against the Yankees in his career. He allowed four runs on 11 hits in 13.2 innings against the Yankees this season while with Tampa Bay. He is 1-1, 1.42 in four starts with the Angels since being traded.

Yanks finally get a win in Anaheim

The New York Yankees beat the Anaheim Angels by the score of 6-5 last night in Anaheim. This was the first win for the Yankees out there this season, they are now 1-4 in Anaheim. The Yankees now own a 6 game lead over the Red Sox and 5 1/2 over the Angels, the magic number for clinching the division is at 6. Chad Gaudin got the start and was very good for 4 and 2/3 innings and then it totally unraveled. He gave up a couple of runs and had to be pulled from the game. Alfredo Aceves got into trouble in the 6th but thanks to A-rod making a great diving stop on Vlady Guerrero the Yankees got out of the inning with a 5-4 lead. The Yankees had the lead when Phil Hughes got out of a jam in the 7th and came out for the 8th but Robinson Cano made an error and then Jorge Posada had a throwing error so there was a runner on 3rd with no outs and the Angels did end up tying the game but Phil Hughes struck out Vlady and Tori Hunter with a runner in scoring position. Brett Gardner led off the ninth and once again gave the Angels a taste of their own medicine leading off with a single and stealing second. Derek Jeter walked and Johnny Damon bunted them over. The Angels made a interesting move by walking Mark Teixeira intentionally and loading the bases for A-rod who on the first pitch smacked a semi deep line drive that scored the run and Mo closed it out for the save. The Yankees will try to win the series this afternoon with A.J. Burnett on the hill. The Yankees did not celebrate making the playoffs as they chose to wait and hopefully clinch the division at home and then celebrate. Joe Girardi met with them in the clubhouse briefly congratulating them according to Peter Abraham but told them they have a lot more to accomplish and this was only the first step. It would be great if they clinch at home against Boston this weekend.

The Yankees have lost six of their last 10 and are 1-3 on a road trip that has two games left. They lead the Red Sox by five games in the division and the Angels by 4.5 games for best record in the AL and home-field advantage. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. The Yankees are 0-4 at Angel Stadium this season, getting outscored 34-20. They are 5-18 here in the last five years in the regular season. Hideki Matsui is 19 of his last 45 (.422) with four homers and 13 RBI along with seven walks. Robinson Cano is hitting .364 (157 of 431) without runners in scoring position. He is hitting .208 (36 of 173) when there are runners in scoring position. This to me is unbelievable, how is such a good hitter that bad with runners in scoring position? Melky Cabrera is 1 of his last 19. He really goes up and down a lot. Brian Bruney has allowed 28 hits — six of them homers — and 15 walks in his last 21.1 innings. It may take a small miracle for him to make the postseason roster. Gaudin is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA in eight appearances for the Yankees. He does not have a decision in four starts but has a 3.20 ERA over 19.2 innings and the Yankees have won all four of those games. I think the Yankees should sign him for next year. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Gardner(CF)

New York Football off to a good start

The New York Jets and New York Giants both defeated their big rivals yesterday. The Jets beat the Patriots at Giants Stadium by the score of 16-9 and the Giants beat Dallas in Dallas by the score of 33-31. The Giants won on a last second field goal and the Jets stopped the Patriots late rally. The Jets have a rookie head coach who was known for defense and to this point the Jets look as though they have the best defense in the league. They have not allowed a touchdown in either game. The Giants played bad defense but their recievers mainly Steve Smith and Mario Manningham who each had 10 catches really stepped it up. Eli Manning is proving more and more that he is one of the best in the two minute drills. He just always seems to get the job done. The Giants also have not been able to run the ball at all. I expect the running game will get better once the defenses pay more attention to the wide recievers and the defense will be ok once they have all their players back. Justin Tuck left the game in the 2nd quarter with a injury and Chris Canty and a couple of the safties were also hurt which doesn't help. The bottom line is the Giants are 2-0 and in first place as well as the Jets and there is room for improvement. The football teams are both in good shape at this point in time and have people dreaming big.

Yankees at Angels

The Yankees open a 3 game series tonight in Anaheim and they now hold a 5 game lead over the Red Sox for first in the AL East and homefield advantage. They are 5 1/2 of the Angels. The Yankees will head home for a 3 game series with the Red Sox after this series so these are very important games. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees have not been playing well at all, they lost two of three in Seattle and have dropped five of their last nine. Their lead on the Red Sox is down to five games with 12 to play. The magic number at the moment is nine. Andy Pettitte will be pitching on nine days of rest as the Yankees were concerned about a “fatigued” shoulder. He has been terrific since the All-Star break but has allowed seven runs on nine hits and eight walks in his last 11 innings. Keep an eye on how he looks as the game goes on as that is when his shoulder could bother him. Mark Teixeira is 16 of his last 33 with 10 extra-base hits, six runs scored and 12 RBI. His batting average climbed from .281 to .292. Of his 167 hits this season, 82 have been for extra-bases. He was 7 for 12 in the Seattle series. Hideki Matsui is 18 of his last 44 with three homers and 12 RBI. He is up to.278. His last double was on Aug. 29. Alex Rodiguez has six home runs in his last 199 at-bats. He is 4 of his last 21 with one RBI. But keep in mind he loves hitting at Angel Stadium. He has hit .335 there with 35 home runs. It’s the most home runs for any park he has not called home in his career. The Yankees are 5-17 in their last 23 games at Angel Stadium. They were swept in a three-game series in July, getting outscored 29-18. The Yankees are 3-4 against the Angels this season. Melky Cabrera is 1 of his last 16, he seems to go through many peaks and valleys. The Yankees have seven hits in their last 39 at-bats with runners in scoring position. This has to change, they are better then that. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Swisher(RF) Posada(DH) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Yankees/Angels Pitching Matchups

Tonight- Joe Saunders vs Andy Pettitte Tomorrow- Ervin Santana vs Chad Gaudin Wednesday- Scott Kazmir vs A.J. Burnett This should be an interesting series. The Yankees never win in Anaheim but now is the time to do it. The Yankees need one more win to officially be in the postseason but they want to win the division and have homefield advantage. The lead the Red Sox by 5 games with 12 to go. Tonight will be a huge game to see how Andy Pettitte feels after getting extra rest with a tired shoulder, the Yankees offense better be awake in Anaheim and score some runs.

Yanks lose to Seattle

The New York Yankees lost this afternoon to Seattle by the score of 7-1. It was a ugly game especially for Joba Chamberlain who started and lasted only 3 innings giving up all 7 runs. He was scheduled to pitch 5 innings but couldn't make it. It is very frustrating with him right now and he is still talking tough after the games. I think someone needs to sit him down and say get it together and start listening to people because you aren't as great as you think you are. It is time for him to earn it and not be so cocky. Sergio Mitre came in and pitched 5 brilliant innings giving up only 1 hit he also struck out 5 while walking 1. The Yankees offense was pretty dead also and only managed 1 run. The Yankees lead in the AL East has been cut to 5 games and now they head to Anaheim where they haven't been able to win for 3 games and then home for 3 big games against Boston. Andy Pettitte will be on the hill tomorrow and this is huge for him as he tests his tired shoulder for the first time in 9 days. The Yankees will be holding their breath I am sure at the beginning of this game. The Yankees also had rookie initiation today with the Batman theme. Ramiro Pena, Mike Dunn some staff and Mark Melancon wore the costumes and they headed to Anaheim that way with CC Sabathia taking them out to dinner once they got there.

Yankees at Mariners(The Rubber Game)

The New York Yankees take on the Seattle Mariners this afternoon at 4:00PM on the Yes network. The Yankees bounced back nicely yesterday from a bad loss on Friday. The Yankees lost on a 2 run walkoff homerun on friday by Ichiro and won yesterday 10-1. The Yankees are 6 games ahead of the Red Sox and 6 1/2 ahead of the Angels. Joba will take on Ian Snell today, how many innings will Joba go today, maybe 5 we will see. I have a feeling Ian Kennedy may pitch after him which would be cool. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. Hideki Matsui is 17 of 40 with 12 rbi's. He is second on the team with 86 rbi's but only 8th in plate appearances. It will be interesting to see this offseason, you can't bring him and Damon back but they are making it tough. Johnny Damon is 6 for 8 in this series with 3 doubles. Mark Teixeira is first in the AL with 118 rbi's and second in homers with 37, he is also batting 289. Robinson Cano is batting 368 this month and is a career 351 hitter in Sept and Oct. That is the best among active players. Joba in his last 2 starts has shown some progress pitching 7 innings allowing 7 hits and 3 runs with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Dave Eiland the pitching coach thinks he fixed a hitch in his delivery and that is the difference, hopefully they are right. Mariano Rivera has appeared in at least 60 games 12 times in his career. The record is 13 held by Mike Stanton. The Yankees bullpen has a 3.47 era since Phil Hughes joined it. It was 4.88 prior to that so he has been a huge difference. Opposing hitters are 1-16 with runners in scoring position against Hughes since he became a reliever. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Cabrera(RF) Gardner(CF)