Yankees at Orioles-Lets try this again

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles will begin what is now a two game series in Baltimore tonight.  The weather report there looks good for a game tonight.  I don't have any new notes from last night.  If I didn't say it already Buddy Carlyle was called up and Hector Noesi went down to AAA.  He was here for a couple of weeks and didn't pitch.  The Yankees want him to pitch every fifth day as a starter and may need him later in the year especially with three makeup games already needing to be played.  Here are the lineups

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner

Baltimore Lineup:Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Derrek Lee, Vlad Guerrero, Adam Jones, Mark Reynolds, Matt Wieters, Fox, Andino.  Bergesen is pitching for them so both teams just pushed back their starters. 

Enjoy the game tonight 7:05 on the YES network then they finish the series tomorrow afternoon in an Easter game at 1:05on YES. 

Yankees and Orioles Postponed

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles were postponed this evening down in Baltimore.  The two teams already had a game rained out in New York also and this is the third game the Yankees need to make up already.  They have played 16 games only and have three games to make up.  It is crazy but early in the year in the Northeast this is what happens.  I would like to see the Yankees play more games in Florida or the West Coast to start the year but there is no easy way to completely avoid this.  They are basically taking away the off days towards the end of the year and getting them in the beginning of the year.  It will be hard to play extra games and doubleheaders in the end of the season but the best teams are able to work through that and do what they need to do.  The Yankees will push back C.C. Sabathia until tomorrow and I expect the Orioles to do the same, the forecast for tomorrow night doesn't look great either but we will see what happens.  Enjoy your night everyone and hopefully we will have baseball tomorrow as it has been two days off now.

Mets try to begin a winning streak

The New York Mets begin a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Citi Field.  They will be trying to win two games in a row.  The Mets finally won their second game of the season at home yesterday, they are 2-8 there this season.  Here are some quick notes and the lineup for tonight.

Mets Lineup: Jose Reyes, Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay, Ike Davis, Mike Nickeas, Jason Pridie, Mike Pelfrey. 

The Mets didn't place Angel Pagan on the DL yet but it is 95 percent likely according to manager Terry Collins.  Jason Pridie is taking his spot for now.  Collins said he will see how things go for playing time in center field.

The reason the Mets brought up Pridie is because they wanted the best defensive outfielder at AAA.  Carlos Beltran is not a consideration for center field while Pagan is out. 

Daniel Murphy is playing against a lefty tonight because he is the best number two hitter they have.  Murphy will become the everyday second baseman if he keeps hitting in my opinion.  He is who they really wanted all along he just needed to do some things to play.

Chris Young will throw a bullpen session tomorrow and if everything goes well he will pitch on Tuesday.  If Dillon Gee pitches well tomorrow the Mets could keep him in the rotation. 

Yankees at Orioles-Holiday Weekend Series

The New York Yankees begin a three game series in Baltimore tonight.  C.C. Sabathia will be on the mound in search of his first victory.  He will be pitching against Brad Bergesen.  Here are some notes and the lineups.

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner

Baltimore Lineup:Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Derrek Lee, Vlad Guerrero, Adam Jones, Mark Reynolds, Matt Wieters, Fox, Andino. 

The Yankees have played five road games this season which ties Kansas City for the least in the majors.  They have won all four of their home series this season.  The Yankees are the only team in the majors to not lose two games in a row this season. 

The Yankees continue to lead the majors in homeruns with 30 and multi-homer games(10).  They have homered in 14 of their 16 games this season.  The only other Yankees team to hit more homeruns is the 2003 Yankees who hit 31 homeruns in their first 16 games.  They need to hit three homeruns tonight to match the all-time club record of 33 in the first 17 games. 

Curtis Granderson is tied for the AL lead in homeruns with six.  He is tied with Mark Teixeira and Howie Kendrick.  He has 20 homeruns since 8/14/10 ranking third in the majors over that span behind Troy Tulowitzki(23) and Jose Bautista(22). 

Robinson Cano has a 11 game hitting streak, hitting 333 during the streak with five doubles, three homers and 11 RBI.  The Yankees are the only major league team that hasn't scored as many as four runs in an inning this season according to Elias.  They have gone 141 innings without doing that and that is the longest team streak since 1964 to start a season.  It is the longest streak at any point in the season since May of 2004. 

Yankees earn split up in Toronto

The New York Yankees earned a split in their two game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.  Bartolo Colon started his first game since July of 2009 and was very good.  He pitched into the seventh inning allowing only two earned runs, he struck out seven batters.  Dave Robertson struck out a couple of guys to get out of trouble, Boone Logan got his one batter out and Rafael Soriano picked up his first save of the season.  He led the league in saves last year but is a setup man this season. 

The Yankees offense scored runs by manufacturing them, they did hit one homerun which was Curtis Granderson in the ninth inning to pad the lead.  Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano had sac fly's, Derek Jeter had an RBI groundout.  It was a good win for the Yankees. 

The Yankees will have tomorrow off and travel to Baltimore to start a three game series on Friday.  C.C. Sabathia will try to win his first game Friday night.  The Yankees were glad to have Rodriguez back and they continue to lead baseball with 30 homeruns.  The Yankees are 10-6 and in first place in the AL East.  They are the only above 500 team in that division.  Tampa Bay has come all the way back from a brutal start and are at 500. 

Mets vs. Astros-Battle of last place teams

The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros last night by the score of 6-1 and with that loss have the worst record in baseball.  The Mets have not been playing well or getting any good news off the field either.  Here are some notes and the lineups.

Bobby Parnell was placed on the 15 day disbled list today.  He had numbness in his middle finger after the game last night.  Jason Bay will be activated tomorrow, Terry Collins wanted him back four days ago but had to follow organizational protocol. 

Jason Isringhausen has been annointed the eighth inning guy by the manager.  Chris Young will throw today and most likely he will pitch in a simulated game tomorrow.  The Mets will not replace Parnell until tomorrow when Bay comes back. 

Mets Lineup:Jose Reyes, Josh Thole, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Ike Davis, Angel Pagan, Willie Harris, Daniel Murphy, R.A. Dickey.  Dickey will try to regain what he had last year as he has had a couple of rough starts, the Mets need a good start out of their starters as their bullpen has been bad and overworked. 

Houston Lineup:Bourn, Sanchez, Pence, Lee, Wallace, Hahnson, Hal, Towles, Norris

The game is at 7:05 and will be on SNY, enjoy the game if you dare to watch.  The Mets aren't drawing much and with their poor play and the Knicks and Rangers both in the playoffs it seems they have lost some fans to those teams and sports for now.  If they want to bring the fans back they need to win some games. 

Yankees at Blue Jays-Yanks try to Rebound from a bad loss

The New York Yankees suffered a bad loss last night to the Jays.  They lost 6-5 in 10 innings but it was something that usually doesn't happen, the greatest of all-time Mariano Rivera blew a save and not just a save but a two run save.  The Yankees had a 5-3 lead in the ninth inning and he gave up four runs, a walk, a wild pitch and it just didn't look like Mo out there.  He did get a double play to keep the game tied and put it in extra innings but that just prolonged the agony.  Rivera didn't walk a batter all year to last night and those were the first runs he gave up so yes he is human. 

The Yankees tonight will send Bartolo Colon to the mound for his first start of the season.  He has been pitching in back of Phil Hughes all year and now will pitch in place of him.  Colon has pitched well but who knows what you will get out of him in his first start and how long he can go, I would say five or six innings and probably no more then 80-85 pitches.  Brett Cecil who grew up a Yankees fan will pitch for the Blue Jays. 

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Andruw Jones, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Curtis Granderson. 

Alex Rodriguez returns to the lineup tonight after missing a couple of games.  Eric Chavez filled in well for him but you can't make up for the absence of Rodriguez.  The Yankees are still hitting homeruns at a rate of two per game.  They have hit 29 for the season and lead all of baseball. 

The game will be at 7:07PM and it is on the YES Network.  The Yankees will be off tomorrow and play a three game holiday weekend series in Baltimore.  The Yankees still remain the only over 500 team in the division.  The Tampa Bay Rays who started off really badly are 8-9 and the Orioles are also 8-9.  The Red Sox are 5-11 and playing right now in Oakland.  Enjoy the game everyone and I will have the recap and some notes after the game.

Mets Vs. Astros

The New York Mets will take on the Houston Astros tonight at Citi Field.  It is cold and rainy but they should be able to get the game in tonight.  The Mets today decided they had enough with the Brad Emaus experiment at second base and it looks like they will just return him to Toronto.  He was acquired in the Rule V Draft from them.  They will platoon Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner there for now.  Here is the lineup for the Mets. 

It will be Jon Niese vs. Wandy Rodriguez. 

Mets Lineup:Reyes, Thole, Wright, Beltran, Davis, Pagan, Hairston, Turners, Niese. 

Hairston is a 545 lifetime hitter against Rodriguez with two homers and three RBI. 

The game will be at 7:05PM on SNY.  The Mets need to win these two series against the Astros and Diamondbacks who aren't good teams.  I know the Mets don't look like they are either right now but they need to get closer to being that by beating these teams at home. 

Yankees at Blue Jays

The New York Yankees begin a brief two game series up in Toronto tonight.  A.J. Burnett makes the start against Kyle Drabek.  Drabek is who they got from the Phillies in the Roy Halladay deal and he is the son of former big league pitcher Doug Drabek.  Here are some notes and the lineups.

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner.  A-rod is still out with the sore back and oblique, hopefullly he will be back tomorrow night. 

Toronto Lineup:Escobar, Snider, Bautista, Lind, Hill, Molina, Patterson, Nix. 

It will be the first game back in the booth for David Cone.  He played for both the Blue Jays and Yankees in his career.  The Blue Jays lead the league with 21 stolen bases even though they don't really have speedsters in their lineup.  They are a team that will run a lot so Martin will get a workout. 

The Blue Jays activated Frank Francisco today their closer and sent down Jesse Litsch.  The Yankees are the only team in the AL east to have a winning record.  They are at 9-5, it is considered by many to be the best division in baseball.  This is the first roadtrip for the Yankees as they only played three games in Boston, otherwise all the games have been at home. 

Martin has only allowed three stolen bases in 117 innings behind the plate.  He is tied for fewest in the majors with backstops who have caught at least 100 innings.  He leads all catchers in baseball with four homers and is tied with 11 RBI.  He has been a great signing for the Yankees and if this continues you can bet he will be signed to an extension. 

Burnett has an eight game win streak in April tying him with Tim Lincecum of the Giants for longest active streak in the majors.  He has not lost a game in April in his Yankees career going 8-0 with a 4.04 ERA.  Nick Swisher is batting 526 against left handed pitchers this season, he came into the season with a career average of 260 against them. 

Robinson Cano has a nine game hitting streak going.  He is batting 351 with five doubles, three homeruns and nine RBI during the streak.  Bartolo Colon and Brett Cecil are the starters for tomorrow nights game.  The game tonight is at 7:07PM and will be on MY9 in New York. 

Mets end their seven game losing streak

The New York Mets won the last game of their four game series in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.  The Mets got a good performance from Dillon Gee who was summoned from the minor leagues.  He pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up a run.  The Mets badly needed a win and someone to give them a representative pitching performance and he did just that.  Gee came up in September last year and pitched well and is now 3-2 with a 2.09 ERA in six career major league starts. 

Chris Young is on the disabled list which isn't a surprise I don't think but how long will he be out is the question.  It doesn't seem too serious right now but you never know with the Mets.  Gee will remain in the rotation until at least Young gets back. 

Jason Bay was in New York today to meet with team officials and it was decided he needs a couple of more rehab games down in Florida where the weather is better.  He will be activated on Thursday and rejoin the team then.  Ronny Paulino is progressing and expected to come off the DL on April 26th. 

The Mets are in the final stages of their sale with limited partners.  There is supposed to be three finalists.  There were reports over the weekend that a couple of the favorites dropped out and at least one wanted more then a minority and the Mets weren't happy with that.  I don't know if any of that is true, we will just have to wait to see what happens with the sale.  I still believe that they will end up selling the team but the Wilpons keep saying that they are not selling the team. 

Yankees Take Series over the Rangers

The New York Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers taking the series two games to one.  C.C. Sabathia started and didn't pitch his best but he still had a chance to get his first win of the season.  Joba Chamberlain gave up a run though and prevented that from happening.  Rafael Soriano redeemed himself with a clean inning and Mariano Rivera picked up his seventh save of the season. 

Eric Chavez who was playing for Alex Rodriguez who was sitting out with back and oblique stiffness had two hits and the game winning RBI single.  The Yankees hit three more homeruns to add to their league leading total.  They have 27 on the season, Russel Martin, Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson all hit one.  Granderson and Martin were two run homers and Cano had a solo one.  Martin has been a great addition so far offensively and defensively, he looks like a steal.  Chavez has also played great so far going 7/15 on the season. 

The Yankees are 9-5 on the season and in first place by 2 1/2 games over the Toronto Blue Jays.  They will head to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays for two games beginning on Tuesday.  A.J. Burnett who is 3-0 will pitch the Tuesday game and Bartolo Colon will make his first start on Wednesday night.  They have off Monday and Thursday and will play a weekend series in Baltimore. 

Yankees Vs. Rangers The Rubber Game

The New York Yankees will take on the Texas Rangers tonight in the third game of the series.  The two teams have split the first two games.  The Rangers won 5-3 on Friday night and the Yankees won 5-2 yesterday afternoon.  C.C. Sabathia will make the start looking for his first win of the year.  It is not his fault that he hasn't gotten a win as his ERA is at 1.45.  He will go up against Alexi Ogando who has not given up a run in 13 innings so far this season.  Here are some notes and the Yankees lineup for the game.

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the first game Bob Sheppard ever covered.  He hasn't done a game in four years and that seems amazing because he was such a part of the stadium.  There are a lot of things that aren't the same since leaving the old Stadium and that is definitely one of them but time moves on.  April 17, 1951 was the first game he ever worked.  He did 121 consecutive postseason games including 62 games in 22 World Series.  That was all from 1951-2006, his first game was also the debut of Mickey Mantle. 

Kevin Millwood made his first start at Trenton today and pitched seven innings which was what the game went since it was a doubleheader.  In the minors they do two seven inning games when it is a doubleheader.  He pitched a one hit shutout throwing 88 or 89 pitches depending on who you talk too.  Millwood said it was a good first step. 

The Yankees will try to make it four out of four in series wins at home this season with a win tonight.  In the last six games Yankee relievers have held opponents to five earned runs over 23 innings.  That is good for a 1.96 ERA.  Joba Chamberlain has looked really good this year and has not allowed a hit in five of his eight appearances.  He has struck out nine and walked two in 8 1/3 innings. 

The Yankees lead the majors with 24 homeruns this season.  They have homered in 11 of the 13 games this season.  They have had at least two homers in eight of the games.  The Yankees have scored at least four runs in a major league high 11 games this season.  They are 8-3 in those games. 

Yankees Lineup: Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner.  Eric Chavez is taking A-rods spot, he must still be hurting, I am guessing he will be back in the lineup for Tuesday.