Yankees have hit rock bottom

The New York Yankees have hit rock bottom on Saturday night.  They were embarrassed by the Boston Red Sox 6-0.  It is their fourth straight loss and second straight to the Red Sox.  The Sox are 4-1 against the Yankees this season so far.  C.C. Sabathia had his third straight subpar outing and the offense continues to do nothing.  There is other news as Jorge Posada pulled himself from the lineup before the game and Girardi got ejected during the game. 

The postgame is going to be must watch T.V.  Posada said at 4PM that he was ok with batting ninth and it is his fault.  At 6PM he was in manager Joe Girardi office and said he was insulted and will not play rather then batting ninth.  The Yankees were not pleased and supposedly they will probably discipline him.  He apparently won't retire but will address the media after the game.  There are so many things that could happen and this could get even uglier.  The Yankees may need to call up Jesus Montero anyway just to try and spark the offense which is doing nothing at all, and it has been going on for two weeks now. 

The Red Sox and Rays started terribly and now the Rays are in first and the Red Sox are within two games of the Yankees.  It is just because it is the Yankees and it is May that everyone is going crazy over the Yankees, it is a long season though and they both survived, the Yankees will survive and start to play much better.  The problem is the division they are in is so tough.  The pitching has done better then though and who knows if that will last which could be the problem.

Yankees News and Notes from the past couple of days

The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, it was the third time in four games they have lost to them this season.  The Yankees are in a rough stretch where they have lost seven of their last 10 games and fallen out of first place.  They trail the first place Tampa Bay Rays by two games in the AL East.  Here are some notes before the game tonight, some of them are also from postgame last last night. 

Joe Girardi had a team meeting after the game and all the coaching staff was also included.  He most of just really went crazy.  I don't think he can handle the sloppy play, it isn't just the losing it is the way they are doing it. 

Bartolo Colon pitched well again as he has for most of the season.  He refused to address his offseason surgery that has become a issue.  The reason it has come up was because the doctor that did it has been known to inject HGH into his patients, he says he never did it with athletes though.  Colon not addressing it though is raising some eyebrows, the Yankees didn't even know he had the surgery when they signed him.

The pitch selection of Joba Chamberlain was questioned during the broadcast last night.  Joe Girardi said after the game that even if he did question it he wouldn't say anything to anyone outside of the locker room.  He said the scouting reports are something they protect very well. 

Girardi said that Cano never got a good grip on the ball when he tried to turn two in the seventh inning.  Cano was also playing closer to first which meant he had to really run to get over to second which didn't help the matter. 

The Yankees said Buchholz was really good last night and it was tough to hit him.  They did also admit though that they had their chances and couldn't do anything with it.  The Yankees also haven't hit at all for two weeks though.  It will be interesting to see if they get it going against Beckett who they have had success against, they usually like fastball pitchers. 

Colon reached 100 pitches for the first time since June 1, 2008.  Russell Martin hit a homerun which snapped a streak of 45 at-bats without one.  It also snapped a 1-18 skid, He still leads all majjor league catchers with seven homeruns. 

Brett Gardner went 1-4 and is hitting 474 in his past five games.  He is hitting 422 in his last 17 games dating back to April 26th.  He and Granderson are really the only guys in the lineup hitting right now.  It is amazing that so many Yankees and really good hitters are in a slump. 

The Yankees decided to shuffle the lineup today.  They have Jorge Posada batting ninth and Swisher batting eighth, they have been the worst two hitters so why not drop them down.  The lineup tonight is Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada.  C.C. Sabathia goes up against Josh Beckett in the pitching matchup. 

In his last two starts Sabathia has a 4.85 ERA, 288 opponents batting average against, seven walks and eight strikeouts.  In his previous six starts he had a 2.25 ERA, 248 opponents batting average against, 11 walks and 36 strikeouts. 

The game is on FOX tonight and ESPN tomorrow night.  The Yankees/Sox draw primetime ratings and that is why you have the two night games on the weekend. 

Yankees lose third straight

The New York Yankees are not playing very good baseball right now.  They lost their third straight and have lost seven out of their last 10 games.  They aren't hitting at all and the defense has been very poor.  The pitching hasn't been bad at all for the most part.  It is amazing to me though that they have so many guys not hitting at the same time.  Curtis Granderson is about the only guy that is hitting, Brett Gardner has picked it up but is still barely over 260.  Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Russell Martin coming into tonight are all in slumps.  This lineup should not be held down for too long but it has been about two weeks where they have not hit for the most part.  The more alarming thing is the defense, they are making too many physical and mental errors that are costing them games.  Cano mishandled what would of been a double play ball tonight in the seventh, you don't know what would happen after but it could of been two outs and no one on and instead it turned into a big inning for the Red Sox.  I don't know what the answer is, defense just has to work itself out but the lineup maybe could be changed around a little bit.  The best thing for the Yankees would be if Jeter would move down but I don't think that is happening.  I would put Swisher back in the two hole and see how he responds, he really liked it there last year.  Jeter can continue to leadoff, I would really think about moving Cano up to third and dropping Teixeira to fifth in the lineup.  I think Granderson could bat sixth and have Posada, Martin and Gardner at the bottom of the lineup. 

The Pitching hasn't been much of a concern and Phil Hughes is rehabbing and it looks like he could be back next month which is a good sign.  Hughes could really help this team if he is right and you can never have enough pitching.  It is amazing to me how the fans really got on Joba Chamberlain tonight, he has pitched so well lately and he has one bad outing and it could of been different if Cano caught the ball cleanly and turned an easy double play. 

Yankees go for third straight

The New York Yankees will look to win their third straight game tonight.  It is the second game of this three game series.  The Yankees won last night 3-1.  A.J. Burnett starts tonight against Bin Mazzaro.  Here are some notes and the Yankees lineup.
Yanks lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Jorge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner.
The long time trainer of the Yankees Gene Monahan will retire at the end of this season.
Bill Gallo long time cartoonist for the NY Daily News passed away. 
Kevin Russo cleared waivers and is headed back to AAA Scranton.  Luis Ayala was activated from the DL and Lance Pendleton was option back to AAA.
Rafael Soriano had his MRI today and everything is ok.  It is just inflammation and he will be out a couple of days.  Joba will be the eighth inning man for now.
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Yankees vs. Royals

The Yankees begin a three game series with the Royals tonight.  It is the return of Melky Cabrera, a crowd favorite.  The Royals have played surprisingly well this year.  They are much better at home though and have lost six straight on the road.  Freddy Garcia starts for the Yankees against Kyle Davies who has struggled this year. 
Yankees lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Forge Posada, Russell Martin, Brett Gardner.
The Yankees were off yesterday after winning the finale in Texas on Sunday.  They finished the road trip 3-4.  That is respectable but they didn't play well at all on the trip.
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Yankees win series in Texas

The New York Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon by the score of 12-5.  It was much closer then the score would indicate, the Yankees broke open the game in the eighth inning.  The Yankees did not play a particularly good game,  C.C. Sabathia was not at his best and they made four errors.  Alex Rodriguez had a throwing error and also a mental error later in the game.  Brett Gardner had two errors and Sabathia had one himself.  The offense carried them in this game as they woke up from their slumber.  The Yankees hit five homeruns two from team captain Derek Jeter. 

Jeter has been the talk of the town lately for slumping and showing no power.  I think just about everyone was writing him off and today he had four hits and his batting average rose to a respectable 276.  He is batting 13 points higher then Alex Rodriguez.  I think Jeter is getting old and he looked really bad at the beginning of the year but it is a long season. 

Curtis Granderson continues to hit well this year and ever since August of last year.  Granderson had a homerun in this game and leads the major leagues with 11 on the season.  August is when he and Kevin Long the hitting coach changed his swing and it has worked out very well for them.  It is funny how last season everyone was talking about Detroit getting the better end of the deal, I don't know if that is the case anymore. 

The Yankees got 6+ innings out of Sabathia and turned it over to Joba Chamberlain and Rafael Soriano who had scoreless innings before Lance Pendleton finished the game in front of plenty of friends and family.  Sabathia didn't have his best stuff but got his third win of the year.  In the beginning of the season he wasn't getting wins and he was pitching great so now his teammates are picking him up. 

The Yankees have Monday off and will pay the Kansas City Royals three games beginning on Tuesday night.  They will play the Boston Red Sox three games after that in a weekend series.  The Yankees will send Freddy Garcia to the hill on Tuesday night.