The New York Yankees late rally falls just short as they lose to the Cincinatti Reds

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 6-5 on Saturday afternoon. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and set a career high in strikeouts but he still gave up too many runs. He really made one bad mistake that cost him. The bullpen did a good job. The Yankees offense was ok but not great. They were good late but came up just short. Jayson Nix led the Yankees offense, Nick Swisher and Raul Ibanez both had good days. Joey Votto led the Reds offense with a big hit. 
Nova pitched six innings giving up seven hits and five runs. He walked two and struck out 12 and suffered his second loss of the season. Cody Eppley pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a walk, Clay Rapada pitched 2/3 of an inning and retired both batters that he faced. David Phelps pitched two innings giving up a hit and an unearned run. He walked one and struck out three.

Homer Bailey got his second win of the season pitching 6 1/3 innings and giving up seven hits and three runs. He walked one and struck out seven. Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts and Sean Marshall the closer struggled pitching 1/3 of an inning and giving up four hits and two runs with a strikeout. Jose Arredondo picked up his first save of the season pitching 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters that he faced on groundouts.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson drew a walk and Ibanez had two hits and an RBI. Swisher had two hits and an RBI, Russell Martin had a hit and an RBI and Eric Chavez had a hit. Andruw Jones had a hit and Nix had three hits and two RBI. Ibanez had two doubles, Martin and Nix each had a homerun. The Yankees were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

Chris Heisey had two hits and an RBI for the Reds. Drew Stubbs drew two walks, Joey Votto had a hit, three RBI and drew a walk. Brandon Phillips had two hits and an RBI, Jay Bruce drew a walk and Mike Costanzo had a hit. Devin Mesoraco and Heisey each had a double and Votto had a homerun. The Reds were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Stubbs had a stolen base and was picked off.

Phillips hit an RBI single in the first inning to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Heisey hit an RBI double in the second to make it 2-0 Reds. Martin hit a solo homerun in the third to make it a 2-1 game. Ibanez hit an RBI double in the fourth to tie the game at two. Votto hit a three run homerun in the fifth to make it 5-2 Reds. The Yankees cut the lead to 5-3 on a Nix solo homerun in the bottom of the fifth inning. Costanzo hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to give the Reds a 6-3 lead. In the ninth inning the Yankees rallied for two runs. Swisher hit an RBI single and Nix hit an RBI single but Jeter and Granderson grounded out to end the game with a man stuck on third base.

The Yankees and Reds has split the first two games of this three game series. The rubber game will be played on Sunday afternoon. CC Sabathia and Johnny Cueto will square off in a good pitching matchup. The Yankees will remain home and take on the Kansas City Royals for three games. The Yankees would like to start making a run now as they are in fourth place and five games behind the division leading Baltimore Orioles.

The Mets get shutdown in Toronto and lose a pitcher

The New York Mets were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 2-0. Miguel Batista started for the Mets and left the game with an injury. The Mets bullpen did a good job after the injury. Brandon Morrow started for the Blue Jays and was great in pitching a complete game shutout. The Mets only managed three hits, the Jays only managed six hits. 
Batista pitched two innings giving up one hit and a walk with two strikeouts. Jeremy Hefner took the loss pitching five innings and giving up four hits and two runs with five strikeouts, Tim Byrdak pitched to one batter and retired him and Jon Rauch pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout. Morrow pitched nine innings giving up no runs on three hits with a walk and eight strikeouts. Morrow earned his fifth win of the season.

Mike Baxter, Lucas Duda and Ronny Cedeno each had a hit. Scott Hairston drew a walk and that was it for the Mets offense. Duda had a double and the Mets were 0-2 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base. Andres Torres committed an error.

Kelly Johnson had two hits and an RBI for the Blue Jays. Yunel Escobar had two hits and an RBI, Edwin Encarnacion had a hit and drew a walk and Eric Thames drew a walk. Jeff Mathis had a hit. Encarnacion, Johnson and Escobar each had a double. The Jays were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Bautista had an outfield assist.

The only two runs of the game came in the fifth inning. Johnson hit an RBI double and Escobar an RBI single.

The Mets record dropped to 21-19 and the Blue Jays improved their record to 23-18. The Mets have lost the first two games of this three game series. They will try to avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon. The Mets will then head to Pittsburgh for three before returning home on Thursday against the San Diego Padres.

The Mets get clobbered north of the border

The New York Mets were dismantled by the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday afternoon. The final score was 14-5 Blue Jays. Jon Niese started for the Mets and was not good at all. The Mets used four other pitchers to complete six innings. They had mixed results. The offense was led by Scott Hairston. Ricky Romero started for the Blue Jays and coasted to an easy victory. The bullpen wasn’t great but they did have a big lead. J.P. Arencebia was the star for the Blue Jays. 
Niese pitched three innings giving up eight hits and eight runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Manny Acosta pitched two innings giving up two hits and five runs with four walks and four strikeouts. Ramon Ramirez pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run, Carson pitched an inning with a walk and Rob Johnson pitched an inning with a strikeout. Romero picked up his fifth win of the season for the Blue Jays. He pitched six innings giving up three hits and a run with four walks and six strikeouts. The Jays used four other pitchers who pitched three innings giving up one hit and four runs. They walked four and struck out two.

Andres Torres drew three walks, David Wright had a hit and Lucas Duda drew a walk. Daniel Murphy had a hit, RBI and drew a walk. Hairston had two hits and three RBI, Johnson had an RBI and drew a walk and Ronny Cedeno drew a walk. Wright, Hairston and Murphy each had a double. Hairston had a homerun and the Mets were 1-9 with runners in scoring position with six men left on base.

Kelly Johnson drew two walks, Yunel Escobar had two hits and Jose Bautista had a hit, RBI and drew a walk. Colby Rasmus drew a walk, Edward Encarnacion drew two walks, Arencebia had three hits and six RBI and Ben Francisco had a hit. Eric Thames had two hits and an RBI, Yan Gomes had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk and Rajai Davis had two hits and four RBI. Arencibia hit two homeruns, Gomes and Davis each had a homerun. The Jays were 4-8 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Johnson and Bautista each had a stolen base.

In the first inning Arencibia hit a three run homerun to give the Jays the 3-0 lead. Johnson grounded out in the second inning to make it 3-1. Gomes hit a solo homerun in the second inning to make it 4-1. Bautista hit an RBI single in the second inning to make it a 5-1 game in favor of the Jays. Arencibia hit a solo homerun and Davis hit a two run homerun in the third inning. The score was 8-1 Jays. Davis hit a two run homerun in the fifth to make it a 10-1 game. In the sixth Arencebia hit a two run single to make it 12-1, Thames hit an RBI single and Gomes hit a sacrifice fly and it was 14-1. In the eighth inning Murphy grounded out scoring a run and it was 14-2. Hairston hit a three run homerun to make it 14-5 and that was the final score.

The Mets record dropped to 21-18 and the Blue Jays record improved to 22-18. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Saturday afternoon.

The Yankees get a vintage Pettitte as the offense puts it away late

The Yankees get a great start out of Andy Pettitte and score late to secure a victory
The New York Yankees defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 4-0 on Friday night. Andy Pettitte made the start and got his first win since 2010. He turned back the clock and was great on this night. The Yankees offense struggled again for most of the game. They got a couple of homeruns in the eighth inning and were able to secure the win. Bronson Arroyo started for the Reds and was great for seven innings. The Reds offense only managed four hits.

Pettitte pitched eight shutout innings giving up four hits. He walked one and struck out nine. Boon Logan pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Arroyo took his second loss of the season. He pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up nine hits and four runs with a walk and four strikeouts. Jose Arredondo struck out the only batter that he faced.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson had two hits and Robinson Cano had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez had two hits and an RBI, Raul Ibanez had a hit and two RBI and Nick Swisher had a hit. Rodriguez had a double, Cano and Ibanez each had a homerun. The Yankees were 0-7 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Stewart had an error and a passed ball.

Drew Stubbs had a hit, Chris Heisey had a hit and drew a walk and Todd Frazier had a hit. Ryan Hanigan had a hit.

In the fourth Rodriguez grounded out to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the eighth Cano hit a solo homerun and Ibanez hit a two run homerun to make it 4-0 Yankees. The Yankees improved their record to 21-18 and the Reds dropped to 19-19.

The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Saturday afternoon. The Yankees with the win snapped a three game losing streak. The Yankees remain in fourth place in the AL East.

Yankees Thursday night postgame notes

Here are the Yankees notes from Thursday night.  They are mostly about their offensive failures and the same old story.  Thanks to Chad Jennings of the Journal News and the Lohud Yankees Blog for providing the information. 

When the Yankees scored tonight, they did it on a Robinson Cano double that scored Curtis Granderson from first base. Their next two at-bats were their first opportunities with a runner in scoring position. Mark Teixeira struck out and Raul Ibanez grounded to second.

That’s how it began; another night of the same old story. The Yankees went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and they’ve gone 3-for-41 in their past five games. No surprise that four of them have been losses.

“I just think it’s going to happen,” Joe Girardi said. “I think, ‘This is the time it’s going to happen. This is the one hit we’re going to get.’”

That hit never came tonight, and when the Yankees didn’t get a runner on base in any of the final three innings, their scoring opportunities had come and gone.

Three of those RISP at-bats belonged to Teixeira, who for the first time sounded like he might see some sense in taking a day off to try to get over this cough that had him hacking on the field tonight. He flied out to leave runners at first and second in the third inning, then he flied to shallow left to do the same thing in the fifth.  He is the one that is must frustrating to me, I know Arod hasn't been great but he is getting older and for some reason I don't view him as the same. 

“If you could guarantee me that (taking a day off) would make me feel better, I’d love that guarantee,” Teixeira said. “I just don’t know if it’s going to help, so we’ll see. I’ll probably talk to Joe a little bit and we’ll see if maybe it makes sense. I want to be out there for my team. I’ve been swinging the bat good the last few days, which is good. You never want get out of the lineup if you’re swinging it good, and defensively, I can always contribute. You never know if it’s going to help or not.”  I would agree with what he is saying but I think a day could help him. 

It’s been hard to notice, but despite the cough, Teixeira came into this game hitting .348/.400/.565 in his past six games. He’s been taking a lot of the heat for the Yankees struggles, but he’s actually been hitting pretty well during this slide.

“Tex seems to be the focus today,” Girardi said. “We have a lot of guys who are hitting around .200 with guys in scoring position, just not Tex. As a team, we’re not collectively getting it done, and we need to get better.”

 Phil Hughes had only one pitch really working today. It was his fastball, and that’s why he threw so many of them, especially early in the game. He still went 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits while continuously pitching out of jams. “Sometimes you can learn more about a guy when he doesn’t have his good stuff than when he does,” Girardi said. “How he can still go out there and compete, and that’s what he did today.”  Hughes has been much better and that is why they didn't want to give up on this young man. 

In the third inning, Hughes fell behind 3-0 to Jose Bautista, then drew the count even. He’d thrown Bautista a ton of fastballs — six in the first inning, and four of his past five pitches in this at-bat — so he decided to throw a cutter. That’s the pitch Bautista hit for a two-run homer. “I felt like he had seen a lot of fastballs, and that would be a good pitch,” Hughes said. “But it was spinning over the plate, wasn’t down and away where I would have liked to have it. Looking back, that was the costly mistake. … I threw a 3-2 curveball his third at-bat that I got a strikeout on, so maybe that would have been the better sequence. Hindsight.”

 Hughes has pitched into the sixth inning in four straight starts, something he did only once in his first four starts. This month he’s cut his ERA from 7.88 to 5.23. His ERA in four May starts 3.55.

 Girardi on the idea of giving Teixeira a day off: “We’ve talked about it, and I’ll continue to discuss it with him and we’ll see what happens.”

 Brett Gardner is supposed to start swinging this weekend. He would bring a different kind of look to this offense that is right now almost entirely built around power hitters with no speed.  They definitely have missed him in the lineup but there is more to it then just missing him. 

 Derek Jeter is now tied with Michael Bourn for the Major League lead in hits with 57. Jeter had a single today.

 The Yankees have lost eight of their past 12 games in Toronto dating back to 2010.

 Francisco Cervelli apparently told a Venezuelan reporter that he’s heard two teams are interested in trading for him but the Yankees don’t want to lose him. Makes sense considering the Yankees went out of their way this spring specifically to build catching depth with Cervelli, Chris Stewart and Craig Tatum.  They wouldn't trade Cervelli unless they really got knocked over with something. 

 Jeter: “I’m pretty sure if you go back to most years, I’m pretty sure we’ve had this conversation before. Sometimes success is contagious, sometimes failure is contagious. To where a lot of guys get hot at one point, or a lot of guys struggle. I wish I had an answer to it, if I did I would never struggle myself. I’d tell a few people, and they’d never struggle. It’s just the game.”

 Teixeira: “We expect to score six or seven runs every game; that’s just the way our team is. The one thing about our team is we never give up. We’ve been through tough stretches before and we always fight. We always battle, always try to put together good at-bats and good games. These last few games, it just hasn’t happened for us.”

 Girardi: “Sometimes it’s a break that you get that kind of leads to the flood gates opening up. We just haven’t done it. As you said, 3-for-41 in the last five days. Offenses are going to go through that, every offense is going to go through that, but I gotta tell you, it’s no fun when you’re going through it. The guys don’t look like they’re having a lot of fun, but they’re doing their work, and they’re preparing and it’ll change.”

Yankees fail to split in Toronto as the offense gets shut down again

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 4-1 on Thursday night. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched pretty well even though he didn’t pitch that deep into the game. The offense failed again though, especially with runners in scoring position. Cory Wade made it a little harder for the Yankees to come back and Freddy Garcia pitched an inning. Hutchison made the Yankees look bad as he picked up the win for Toronto. 
Hughes pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Wade pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and two runs with a strikeout and Garcia pitched a perfect inning. Hughes picked up his fifth loss of the season. Drew Hutchison picked up his third win of the season. He pitched six innings giving up five hits and a run with four walks and three strikeouts. Jason Frasor pitched an inning striking out one, Darren Oliver pitched a perfect inning and Casey Janssen pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson had two hits and drew a walk and Robinson Cano had a hit, RBI and drew a walk. Raul Ibanez drew a walk, Nick Swisher drew a walk and Eric Chavez had a hit. Cano, Granderson and Chavez each had a double. The Yankees were 0-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Jeter committed an error.

Kelly Johnson drew a walk, Yunel Escobar had two hits and Jose Bautista had two hits and two RBI. J.P Arencibia had a hit and two RBI, Ben Francisco had a hit and Colby Rasmus drew a walk. Johnny Gomes had two hits and Rajai Davis had a hit. Davis and Francisco each had a double. Bautista and Arencibia each had a homerun. The Blue Jays were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Arencebia committed an error.

Cano had an RBI double in the first inning to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. That would be the only run the Yankees scored in the game. In the third they had first and second two outs but didn’t do anything. In the third Bautista hit a two run homerun to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. In the fourth the Yankees had first and second no outs but then hit into a double play and had a strike out to end the inning. In the fifth the Yankees had first and second one out and then lined out and popped out to end the inning. Arencibia hit a two run homerun in the seventh inning to give the Jays a 4-1 lead and that would be the final score. In the eighth and ninth the Yankees went down easily without a fight.

The Yankees have now lost three straight games and were swept in this brief two game series in Toronto. The Yankees record is now 20-18 and the Jays improved their record to 21-18. The Yankees return home for a three game interleague series with the Cincinatti Reds.

The New York Mets earn a two game split with the Cincinatti Reds

The New York Mets defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 9-4 on Thursday afternoon. R.A. Dickey started for the Mets and was erratic, the Mets bullpen pitched very well. The Mets offense woke up in the middle innings and had a very good eighth inning. David Wright led the way for the Mets offense. The Reds starter Mat Latos pitched pretty well but the bullpen didn’t. Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips led the Reds offense. 
Dickey pitched six innings giving up five hits and four runs with three earned with one walk and eight strikeouts. Jon Rauch pitched an inning giving up a hit and he struck out two, Bobby Parnell picked up his first win pitching and inning and giving up a hit with a strikeout and Frank Francisco pitched an inning with a hit and he walked a batter. Latos pitched five innings giving up seven hits and three runs with three walks and seven strikeouts. J.J. Hoover pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout, Aroldis Chapman pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with two walks and two strikeouts and Logan Ondrusek took the loss pitching an inning giving up four hits and five runs with a walk and a strikeout. He is now 3-1 on the season.

Andres Torres had a hit, Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a hit and Rob Johnson had a hit. Wright had two hits, an RBI and three walks, Lucas Duda had two hits and two RBI and Daniel Murphy had two hits and drew a walk. Ike Davis drew a walk, Justin Turner had a hit and two RBI and Ronny Cedeno had two hits and three RBI. Scott Hairston drew a walk and Mike Baxter had an RBI. Wright had two doubles, Murphy and Duda each had a double. Cedeno had a homerun, the Mets were 3-15 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Wright and Nieuwenhuis each had a stolen base. Nickeas had two passed balls.

Votto had two hits and an RBI, Brandon Phillips had two hits and Ryan Ludwick had a hit. Todd Frazier had a hit and drew a walk, Ryan Hanigan had a hit, RBI and drew a walk and Latos had an RBI. Chris Heisey had a hit. Hanagan, Phillips, Frazier and Heisey each had a double. Votto had a homerun, the Reds were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Frazier and Stubbs committed an error.

In the fourth the Reds took a 1-0 lead on a Votto solo homerun. Hanigan hit an RBI double, Latos hit a sacrifice fly and a passed ball scored another run. The Reds had a 4-0 lead. In the fifth Duda hit a two run double to make it 4-2. Baxter hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3 in the sixth inning. Turner hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to tie the game at four. In the eighth the Mets took the lead on a Wright RBI double, making it 5-4 Mets. Turner hit an RBI single and Cedeno hit a three run homerun to make it 9-4.

The Mets split the two game series with the Reds and improved their record to 21-17. The Reds record dropped to 19-18. The Mets will head to Toronto to take on the Toronto Blue Jays and the Reds will remain in New York to take on the Yankees in a three game weekend series.

Yankees Wednesday night postgame notes

The Yankees got blown out in Toronto last night.  It was an ugly game all the way around.  Kuroda can't win on the road and has been too inconsistant this season but the offense is the real problem.  They have been up and down and mostly down lately.  They are having trouble hitting in the clutch.  Here are the postgame notes courtesy of Chad Jennings of the Journal News and my opinions mixed in. 

The Yankees have lost eight games this month. In those eight loses, they are 3-for-52 with runners in scoring position.

Yes, Hiroki Kuroda made some costly mistakes tonight, and Kyle Drabek was awfully good with his sinker, and a couple of questionable calls and bad plays certainly hurt. But the Yankees went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and it was impossible to ignore the growing trend that’s been hurting this team for more than two weeks.  It is very frustrating, to me you  have to look at the hitting coach and the philosophy.  I just think he doesn't work on situational hitting with them, they are a homerun hitting team and they rely on that way too much.  They don't cut down on their swings.  Ibanez is a guy they can all learn from, he is a clutch hitter and knows how to just get a single if that is what is needed or a sacrifice fly. 

“That’s what’s killing us,” Joe Girardi said. “Guys have got to find a way. You’ve got to find a way to get a hit in that situation and see if it can become contagious. You put some more pressure on them. But we just have not hit with runners in scoring position on a consistent basis. We have not.”  He is right, they have too much talent and the guys in the lineup have to find a way, they aren't going to have anyone else come in and do it. 

Drabek was so good that Mark Teixeira compared him to Roy Halladay, but as Alex Rodriguez said in Kansas City, the Yankees can only tip their cap for so long. And that period expired a long time ago. Obviously this team can hit — they have one of the highest scoring offenses in baseball with some of the best hitters in the game — but situational hitting is often the difference in winning and losing.  Drabek may be a good young pitcher but Arod is right enough is enough.  Roy Halladay is a bit of a stretch, at some point they got to start hitting these guys. 

Teixeira said he hasn’t sensed anyone pressing, but Russell Martin conceded that “it seemed like every hitter was trying to hit a three-run homer with nobody on.” It’s hard to pinpoint a reason for the Yankees inconsistency with runners in scoring position, and it’s hard to find a fool proof way to break out of it. There’s skill involved, but there’s also some luck and random fluctuations that play a role.

“I think it’s a little bit of both,” Girardi said. “I think the skill is being able to relax and get your pitch. I think the fluctuation is you’re going to hit balls hard and make outs sometimes, or they’re just going to make really good pitches pitch after pitch.”

If you’re looking for solutions, the clubhouse offered none tonight, only this hard-to-argue reality: “Guys have got to do it, that’s the bottom line,” Girardi said. “We’ve got to get it done.”

 Hiroki Kuroda allowed a season-high seven runs through five innings. He was coming off a strong start, but he’s battling his own inconsistencies in his first season in the American League. “I can’t make that as an excuse,” he said. “I’ve been studying a lot of these hitters on video and talking a lot with the coaches. I can’t really make that an excuse, but hopefully I’ll start winning.”  This was by far his worst outing but he has been really good or just mediocre too bad, he has been alternating those starts. 

Girardi felt that Kuroda’s problem came down to a few pitches. He left a 3-2 slider up and J.P. Arencibia hit a two-run homer. He walked Jose Bautista on a close pitch, and Edwin Encarnacion followed with a three-run shot. “At times he threw the ball really well,” Girardi said. “But when he got a ball up, they didn’t miss it.”

 Martin has been catching Kuroda since their days in Los Angeles. “It’s not typical of Hiro to have this type of outing,” Martin said. “But it can happen to anyone. It’s a tough league, but he’s a quality pitcher. … I think today we just had an off day. He’s got the ability, and he’s got the arsenal, to get outs anywhere. I truly believe that.”

Kuroda gave up three of the Blue Jays four homers tonight. He was asked whether playing in more hitter friendly parks has hurt him since leaving Los Angeles. “The home runs that I gave up, I think they would be home runs in any park, American League or National League,” he said.

 Drabek got 13 groundball outs. “That sinker was really working,” Teixeira said. “You don’t want to say Halladay, because Halladay is a special pitcher, but getting the ground balls, it felt like Halladay was out there tonight. He just wasn’t getting the ball up in the zone at all.”

 Robinson Cano dropped the ball trying to turn a double play in the second inning. It didn’t go down as an error — the Yankees got one out on the play — but it probably hurt Kuroda, because it looked like Cano was going to get two. Kuroda struck out the next batter before allowing Arencibia’s two-run homer.

 This was the interaction with Girardi about the Jayson Nix being called out at second base in the seventh inning: What did they tell you about that play at second? “Said he was out.” Have you seen it? “Oh yeah.” He wasn’t. “I realize that.”  That was a bad call but it didn't cost the Yankees the game, they lost by seven runs so you can't go too crazy over that, even though that may have started a big inning. 

Cano hit his 300th career double, tying Roy White for 15th on the Yankees all-time list.

Teixeira’s single was the 1,500th hit of his career.

 By the way, Teixeira’s voice sounded terrible after the game. Worst I’ve heard him sound since this coughing thing started about a month ago. He was glad they closed the roof after batting practice. “Maybe they heard me hacking out there and they closed it for me,” he said.

 Even glass-half-full Girardi called this an “ugly” game. Some of the writers were discussing whether this might have been the Yankees ugliest loss of the year. They didn’t hit, didn’t pitch and didn’t play good defense. Just a bad night and a bad game.

The New York Mets lose to the Reds as they blow a late lead

The New York Mets were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 6-3. Johan Santana started for the Mets and pitched pretty well. The bullpen was not good. The Reds pitching was good and Leake the starting pitcher also had a couple of hits. Lucas Duda led the Mets offense. 
Santana pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up six hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Bobby Parnell struck out the only batter that he faced, Jon Rauch took the loss pitching 1/3 of an inning giving up three hits and three runs and Tim Byrdak faced one batter and got him out. D.J. Carrasco pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout.

Kurt Nieuwenhuis had a hit, Mike Baxter had a hit and David Wright drew two walks. Duda had three hits and an RBI, Ike Davis had a hit and an RBI and Justin Turner had a hit. Mike Nickeas had an RBI. Davis had a double and the Mets were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Baxter had a stolen base and Nieuwenhuis was caught stealing.

Zack Cozart had a hit and an RBI for the Reds. Drew Stubbs had two hits, Joey Votto had a hit and drew a walk and Brandon Phillips had a hit and an RBI. Ryan Ludwick drew a walk, Jay Bruce had an RBI and Todd Frazier had two hits and three RBI. Devin Mesoraco had a hit and Leake had two hits. Cozart and Votto each had a double. Frazier had a homerun. The Reds were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and had five men left on base. Votto made an error.

Cozart had an RBI double in the third inning giving the Reds a 1-0 lead. Duda had an RBI single to tie the game at one in the bottom of the third. Davis hit an RBI double in the sixth and Nickeas had a sacrifice bunt that scored a run to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Frazier hit a solo homerun in the seventh to make it 3-2 Mets. Phillips had an RBI single in the eighth, Bruce had a sacrifice fly and Frazier hit a two run homerun and it was 6-3 Reds which was the final score.

The Mets have now lost two in a row and are 20-17 on the season. The Reds improved their record to 19-17. The two teams will complete their brief two game series on Thursday night.

The Yankees get blown out in Toronto as Kuroda still searches for a road win

NThe New York Yankees were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 8-1 on Wednesday night. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and was bad. Kyle Drabeck started for the Blue Jays and was very good. The Yankees offense was only able to produce three hits. Edwin Encarnacion and J.P. Arencebia were the offensive stars for the Blue Jays. 
Kuroda pitched five innings giving up eight hits and seven runs with two walks and six strikeouts. He took his fifth loss of the season and hasn’t won on the road yet. Clay Rapada pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout and Cody Eppley pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits with a strikeout.

Drabek won his third game of the season. He pitched seven innings giving up three hits and a run with four walks and five strikeouts. Luis Perez pitched an inning with two walks and two strikeouts. Francisco Cordero pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Robinson Cano had a hit and drew a walk, Alex Rodriguez drew a walk and Mark Teixeira had a hit, RBI an drew a walk. Raul Ibanez had a hit, Eric Chavez drew a walk and Russell Martin drew a walk. Jayson Nix drew a walk and Cano had a double. The Yankees were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.

Kelly Johnson had two hits and two RBI for the Blue Jays. Eric Thames had a hit, Jose Bautista had a hit, RBI and drew a walk and Encarnacion had three hits and three RBI. Arencebia had three hits and two RBI, Adam Lind had a hit and Omar Vizquel drew a walk. Thames and Arencebia each had a double. Arencebia, Encarnacion, Bautista and Johnson each had a homerun. The Blue Jays were 3-6 with four men on base. Lawrie had a stolen base.

In the second inning Arencebia hit a two run homerun. It was 2-0 Blue Jays. Encarnacion hit a three run homerun in the third to make it 5-0 Blue Jays. In the fourth Johnson hit an RBI single and it was 6-0 Blue Jays. Bautista hit a solo homerun in the fifth to make it 7-0. The Yankees finally got on the board in the sixth on an RBI single by Teixeira. The final run of the game came on a Johnson solo homerun in the seventh inning to make it 8-1.

The Yankees have now lost two straight games. The Yankees record is now 20-17 and the Blue Jays record is 20-18. The two teams will complete their brief two game series on Thursday night. Phil Hughes will make the start for the Yankees. The Yankees will try and finish their four game road trip with a record of 2-2 and then return home to play a six game homestand.

The Yankees offense is shut down as they lose in Baltimore

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 5-2 on Tuesday night. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and pitched ok. Wei-Yen Chen started for the Orioles and pitched really well. The Orioles bullpen held them down for the last two innings. There wasn’t a Yankee who had more then one hit and they only had five total. The Orioles offense was led by J.J. Hardy. 
Sabathia pitched six innings giving up eight hits and four runs with four walks and six strikeouts. He suffered his first loss of the season. Freddy Garcia pitched two innings giving up a hit and a run with three strikeouts. Chen picked up his fourth win of the season pitching seven innings and giving up four hits and two runs. He walked two and struck out four. Strop pitched a scoreless inning walking two batters and Jim Johnson pitched an inning giving up a hit, he earned his 12^th save of the season.

Derek Jeter had a hit and drew a walk, Robinson Cano had a hit and Alex Rodriguez drew a walk. Mark Teixeira had a hit, Curtis Granderson had a hit and two RBI and Andruw Jones drew a walk. Jayson Nix had a hit and Russell Martin drew a walk. Cano had a double and Granderson had a homerun.

Robert Andino had a hit, Hardy had two hits and two RBI and Adam Jones had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Matt Wieters had a hit, Wilson Betemit drew a walk and Bill Hall drew a walk. Steve Tolleson had two hits and Xavier Avery had a hit and drew a walk. Tolleson, Wieters and Hardy each had a double. Jones had a homerun. The Orioles were 4-14 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Jones had a stolen base.

In the second inning Jones hit a solo homerun giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Hardy grounded into a double play in the third inning but a run scored to make it 2-0. Hardy hit an RBI double in the fifth inning and an RBI single in the sixth to make it 4-0 Orioles. In the seventh Granderson hit a two run homerun to cut the lead in half. In the bottom of the inning a passed ball by Stewart allowed Jones to score and make it 5-2. That would be the final score of the game.

The Yankees record dropped to 20-16 on the season and the Orioles improved their record to 23-14. The Orioles are tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. The Yankees are 2 ½ games behind them. The Yankees will head to Toronto for a brief two game series beginning on Wednesday night.

The Mets lose big to the Brewers

The New York Mets were defeated by the Milwaukee Brewers by the score of 8-0 on Tuesday night. Dillon Gee started for the Mets and was not good. Zach Greinke started for the Brewers and was great. David Wright led the Mets offense but was pulled early due to the fear of retaliation. Ryan Braun of the Brewers got hit and Mets manager Terry Collins was afraid that Wright would get hit and pulled him from the game. It was controversial as Wright was not happy at all. Ishikawa led the Brewers offense. 
Gee pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and seven runs with a walk and four strikeouts. It was his third loss of the season. Manny Acosta pitched to two batters and retired them both, D.J. Carrasco pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run and Ramon Ramirez pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up two hits and a walk. He struck out five batters. Greinke pitched seven innings giving up five hits and no runs with no walks and seven strikeouts. Greinke picked up his fourth win of the season. Tim Dillard pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and John Axford pitched an inning giving up a hit and had two strikeouts.

Wright had two hits, Lucas Duda had a hit and Daniel Murphy had a hit. Mike Baxter had two hits, Wright and Baxter each had a double. The Mets were 0-3 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base. Wright was caught stealing.

Norichika Aoki had two hits for the Brewers. Rickie Weeks had a hit and an RBI, Braun had a hit and Aramis Ramirez had a hit and drew a walk. Brooks Conrad drew a walk, Jonathan Lucroy had two hits and an RBI and Travis Ishikawa had three hits and five RBI. Cesar Izturis had a hit and an RBI, Lucroy had a double and Weeks had a homerun. Ishikawa hit two homeruns. The Brewers were 3-6 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base.

Ishikawa grounded out to score a run and Izturis hit an RBI single to make it 2-0 Brewers. In the fifth Ishikawa hit a solo homerun making it 3-0 Brewers. Lucroy hit an RBI single and Ishikawa hit a three run homerun in the sixth inning. The score was 7-0 Brewers and then Weeks hit a solo homerun in the seventh making it 8-0. That was the final score of the game.

The two teams split the brief two game series. The Mets record dropped to 20-16 and the Brewers improved their record to 16-20. The Mets will remain at home and take on the Cincinatti Reds in a brief two game series. They will then hit the road to Toronto and Pittsburgh.

The Mets secure a win in the rain against the Milwaukee Brewers

The New York Mets defeated the Milwaukee Brewers by the score of 3-1 on Monday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. The starting pitcher for the Mets was Miguel Batista who pitched very well. The bullpen shut the door even though Frank Francisco made it interesting getting the save. Daniel Murphy led the offense for the Mets. Yovani Gallardo started for the Brewers and took the loss. He pitched ok but was wild and walked too many guys. The Brewers didn’t have a player who had more then one hit in the game. 
Batista pitched seven innings giving up four hits and no runs with a walk and five strikeouts. Tim Byrdak faced one batter and got him out, Bobby Parnell faced two batters and got them both out and Francisco picked up his ninth save of the season. He pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout. Gallardo pitched six innings giving up two hits and two runs with six walks and six strikeouts. Jose Veras pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Francisco Rodriguez pitched an inning giving up a hit and an unearned run. He struck out a batter.

Andres Torres drew a walk, Kirk Nieuwenhuis drew a walk and David Wright had a hit and drew a walk. Lucas Duda drew two walks, Murphy had two hits and an RBI and Ronny Cedeno had an RBI. Mike Nickeas drew a walk, Murphy and Wright each had a double. The Mets were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Nieuwenhuis had a stolen base and Duda committed an error.

Matthew LuCroy had a hit for the Brewers. Ryan Braun had a hit, Aramis Ramirez had a hit and drew a walk and Corey Hart had a hit and an RBI. Green had a hit and drew a walk, Izturis had a hit and Ramirez had a double. The Brewers were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Braun had a stolen base and Ramirez committed an error.

Murphy had an RBI single in the first to give the Mets a 1-0 lead which they wouldn’t relinquish. Cedeno in the sixth had a sac bunt that scored a run and made it 2-0 Mets. In the eighth Murphy reached on a fielders choice and a run scored making it 3-0. Hart had an RBI single in the ninth to make it 3-1.

The Mets improved their record to 20-15 on the season and the Brewers record dropped to 15-20. The Mets will go for the brief two game sweep on Tuesday night.

The New York Yankees win in Baltimore as they lose some players

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 8-5 on Monday night. The Yankees didn’t totally win though as they lost a few guys. Ivan Nova left the game early with a contusion of the foot and an ankle sprain, Raul Ibanez left the game after getting hit on the elbow and Clay Rapada left the game with an illness. Joe Girardi announced after the game that Dave Robertson hasn’t been available for the last couple of days due to sore ribs. Nova started the game for the Yankees and wasn’t very good and then he got hit on the foot and rolled his ankle later in the game. The Yankees offense got some big hits and they produced enough runs to win the game. 
Nova pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and five runs. He walked three and struck out four. Rapada pitched 1/3 of an inning walking a batter, David Phelps picked up his first major league win pitching an inning and giving up three hits and he struck out one. Boone Logan pitched an inning striking out three batters, Cory Wade struck out the only batter that he faced and Rafael Soriano earned his second save pitching an inning and striking out a batter. Jason Hammell pitched five innings for the Orioles. He gave up seven hits and five runs with four of them being earned. Hammels walked and struck out three batters each. Luis Ayala got charged with the loss pitching two innings and giving up two hits and two runs. He walked and struck out a batter. Dana Eveland pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with two walks and Darren O’Day pitched to one batter and struck him out.

Derek Jeter had a hit and moved past Robin Yount on the all-time hits list for 16^th place. Curtis Granderson had a hit, RBI and drew a walk, Alex Rodriguez had three hits and Robinson Cano had two hits. Mark Teixeira had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk, Nick Swisher had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks and Raul Ibanez had an RBI. Eric Chavez had a hit and an RBI and Russell Martin drew two walks. Swisher, Cano and Teixeira each had a double. Granderson and Teixeira each had a homerun. The Yankees were 1-11 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Chavez committed an error.

Xavier Avery had two hits and an RBI, J.J. Hardy had two hits and three RBI and Nick Markakis had a hit. Adam Jones had two hits and an RBI, Matt Wieters had a hit and drew a walk and Wilson Betemit had a hit. Nick Johnson drew two walks and Robert Andino had a hit and drew a walk. Avery had a double and a triple. Jones had a double and Hardy had a homerun. The Orioles were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Davis committed an error.

Hardy had an RBI single and Jones an RBI double in the first inning to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead. In the fourth the Yankees tied the game at two on a Swisher two run double. Granderson hit a solo homerun in the fifth to make it 3-2 Yankees. In the bottom of the inning the Orioles came right back to take the lead. Avery hit an RBI triple and Hardy hit a two run homerun to make it 5-3 Orioles. In the sixth the Yankees tied the game on an error by Davis from the Orioles. Ibanez got an RBI and another run scored on the error to make it a 5-5 game. Teixeira had a two run homerun to give the Yankees a 7-5 lead in the seventh inning. Chavez had a sacrifice fly in the ninth and that was the end of the scoring. The final score was 8-5 Yankees.

The Yankees are back to five games over 500 and one game behind the Orioles in the loss column. The Yankees improved their record to 20-15 and the Orioles dropped their record to 22-14. The Yankees are 1 ½ games overall behind the Orioles and will try and sweep the brief two game series on Tuesday night. The Yankees are now 4-0 in Baltimore this year. The Yankees will head to Toronto for two games after they finish the series in Baltimore before returning home for a weekend interleague series against the Cincinatti Reds.

The Mets bullpen implodes in their loss to the Miami Marlins

The New York Mets were defeated by the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon by the score of 8-4. The game took place in Miami, Florida. Jon Niese started for the Mets and pitched well but the bullpen did not pitch well. Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Daniel Murphy led the offense for the Mets. Carlos Zambrano pitched well for the Marlins, Mike Stanton and Emilio Bonifacio led the Marlins offense. 
Niese pitched six innings giving up five hits and no runs. He walked three and struck out four. Ramon Ramirez got charged with a blown save pitching an inning giving up three hits and two runs. He struck out one. Jon Rauch pitched a perfect inning striking out one, Frank Francisco took the loss, the third of the season for him. He didn’t record an out and gave up two hits and three runs with a walk. Manny Acosta got charged with a blown save his first. He pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and three runs with a walk. Zambrano pitched seven innings giving up five hits and two runs with one of them being earned. He walked three and struck out seven. Edward Mujica pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Heath Bell won his second game of the season. He pitched an inning giving up two hits and two runs with two walks.

Nieuwenhuis had two hits, David Wright had a hit and drew a walk and Lucas Duda had an RBI. Murphy had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Ronny Cedeno drew two walks and Jordany Valdespin had a hit. Rob Johnson had a hit, Mike Baxter drew a walk and Justin Turner had a hit and two RBI. Murphy and Turner each had a double. The Mets were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Wright was caught stealing.

Jose Reyes had a hit, RBI and drew two walks, Hanley Ramirez had a hit and drew a walk and Austin Kearns had a hit. Stanton had three hits and four RBI, Bonifacio had three hits and John Buck had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks. Greg Dobbs had a hit and an RBI, Bonifacio had a triple and Buck and Stanton each had a homerun. The Marlins were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Reyes had a stolen base, Buck a passed ball.

The Mets took the lead in the fourth inning. Duda had an RBI groundout and Murphy had an RBI single to make it 2-0. In the seventh Buck hit a two run homerun to tie the game at two. In the ninth inning Turner hit a two run double to give the Mets the 4-2 lead. Dobbs hit an RBI single in the ninth to make it 4-3, Reyes hit a sacrifice fly to tie it at four and Stanton hit a grand slam to make it 8-4 and win the game.

The Mets saw their record drop to 19-15 and the Marlins improved their record to 18-16. The Mets lost two out of three in the series and will now return home. The Mets begin a four game homestand on Monday night. They will take on the Brewers for two games. The Mets will look to get back on the winning track on Monday night.

The New York Yankees lose as Andy Pettitte makes his return

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Seattle Mariners by the score of 6-2 on Sunday afternoon. The Mariners avoided a three game sweep and salvaged the final game in the Bronx. Andy Pettitte made his first start since 2010 and he pitched ok. The bullpen gave up two late runs to put the game out of reach. The offense on this day though did nothing as they stranded many runners on base. They only scored runs when the Mariners walked them in. Kevin Millwood pitched a really good game for the Mariners. 
Pettitte pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up four runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out two. Pettitte picked up his first loss of the season. Cory Wade pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and a run and he struck out three and Clay Rapada pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with two walks and a strikeout. Millwood pitched seven innings giving up three hits and a run with four walks and six strikeouts. Millwood picked up his first win of the season and is now 1-4. The Mariners used five relievers to complete the last two innings. They gave up three hits and a run with two walks and three strikeouts.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson drew a walk and Alex Rodriguez drew a walk. Robinson Cano had an RBI and drew a walk, Mark Teixeira had a hit and Nick Swisher had two hits. Raul Ibanez drew a walk, Eric Chavez had two hits and Russell Martin had an RBI and drew two walks. Chavez and Swisher each had a double. The Yankees were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Rapada made a throwing error.

Dustin Ackley had a hit and drew a walk for the Mariners. Casper Wells had two hits, three RBI and drew a walk, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and Jesus Montero had a hit and drew a walk. Justin Smoak had two hits and two RBI, Liddi had two hits and drew a walk and Michael Saunders had a hit. Brendan Ryan drew a walk. Suzuki and Liddi each had a double and Smoak and Wells each hit a homerun. The Mariners were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Saunders was caught stealing and Wells had an outfield assist.

Smoak hit a two run homerun in the fourth to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. It came after a walk to Montero, Pettitte though he had him struck out and then gave up the homerun. In the fifth the Yankees cut the lead in half on a bases loaded walk by Martin. The Yankees had bases loaded no outs and that was the only run they could score. In the sixth Wells hit a two run homerun to make it a 4-1 game. In the eighth inning Cano walked with the bases loaded to make it a 4-2 game. The Mariners tacked on two runs in the ninth to make it a 6-2 game. Wells hit a two run single.

The Yankees saw their record drop to 19-15 and the Mariners improved their record to 16-20. The Yankees won two out of three in the series. The Yankees will now head to Baltimore for two games followed by Toronto for two games.

Yankees notes on a Saturday night

Here are the postgame notes following a Saturday evening victory over the Mariners.  The Yankees have started to get on a good roll.  They have gone one turn through the rotation plus one with all good starts.  The bullpen even without Rivera for the most part has continued to be very good.  The hitting is just starting to come around.  The Yankees are five games over 500 for the first time and look to keep it going with the return of Andy Pettitte on Sunday afternoon.  The Yankees will look for the three game sweep.  These notes are courtesy of Chad Jennings of the Journal news and Lohud Yankees Blog. 

According to Phil Hughes, the pitch that we’ve heard so much about in the past few seasons was his biggest key today. The right-hander turned in his best start of the season, pitching 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball while relying heavily on his changeup to lead the Yankees to a 6-2 win over the Mariners.
“It was a good day,” Hughes said. “I probably didn’t have my best fastball or my best curveball today, but my changeup really allowed me to get out of some jams and make some good pitches when I was behind in counts. I think that was the pitch that I really look at as the equalizer today.”

Granted, Seattle’s lineup won’t be mistaken for the ’27 Yankees anytime soon, but Hughes has now turned in three consecutive good starts after looking very shaky to start the season. Each has been better than the last, and this is certainly something he can continue to build on.

“It’s been a process overall to get myself right,” Hughes said. “There’s sometimes when you can hang onto momentum when you’re pitching well, but as far as a turning point, it’s kind of hard to get any worse than I was in the beginning of the year. I’m just trying to build on every start and get us some wins.”

Hughes talked about taking a “reliever mentality” into the game, which meant attacking hitters and not shying away from contact. He didn’t have a ton of strikeouts (four), but he was efficient, pitching deeper into a game than he has all season.

“Larry and him talked about just being aggressive – going as long as you can, as hard as you can,” Joe Girardi said. “He was so successful coming out of the bullpen and locating everything, it’s just been an attitude that we want him to take on.”

 The fact that Hughes’ changeup was his most consistent pitch today was very encouraging. That’s a pitch that he’s been working on for quite some time, but has never had tremendous success with. Coupled with a fastball that hit 95 on the gun several times today, it was very effective. It’s also worth noting that Hughes used very few cutters today, which usually sit in the 88-91 MPH range. “I think the main thing is probably that there were eight left-handers in the lineup today,” Hughes said. “I feel like my cutter is a little bit more effective to right-handers. I did throw a few to Montero, but other than that I feel better with my four-seamer going into lefties.”

While the rotation did not have a good month of April, the tide seems to have turned here in May. Ace CC Sabathia has won five consecutive starts, and the rest of the rotation is shaping up. With Andy Pettitte completing his comeback tomorrow, the five-some of CC, Pettitte, Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova is looking pretty formidable. “CC sets the pace for everybody,” Hughes said. “If we get him pitching the way that he has been pitching, everyone kind of feeds off of that.”

 The big inning for the Yankees came in the bottom of the second. After Mark Teixeira doubled, Nick Swisher recorded the second out of the inning with a fly out to left. As he has all season, Raul Ibanez followed with a clutch two-out RBI double. Russell Martin broke out of his 1 for 16 slump with a laser to dead CF to score Ibanez, and then Jayson Nix laced a two-run homer. Just like that, it was 4-0 Yankees. “I love it,” Girardi said. “Those are the runs that kill teams. Those are the runs that are big for you and hurt other teams, and we got them today.”

Ibanez continued his hot play with a solo shot in the fourth. I’ve interviewed him several times, and while he’s a really nice guy, he’s not one for juicy quotes. “I’m just trying not to do too much,” he repeated several times. “Trying to hit a ball hard and put it in play.”

 Girardi talked about Nix, who broke an 0 for 20 slump that dated back to last season with his opposite field homer in the second. “I’m sure it’s extremely gratifying,” Girardi said. “This kid just goes out and does his business every day. He’s a pleasure to watch work… He gave us a huge cushion with that two-run homer.”

 Girardi strongly disagreed with the umpire’s decision to allow a runner to score in the ninth when Carp’s homer was overruled after a replay review and changed to a double, which cost Boone Logan a run. “He said he slowed up and he would have scored, and I don’t necessarily agree with that,” Girardi said. “We’re about wins, but guys care about what they give up – that’s the bottom line. They have pride in their work.”

 Hughes talked about what it’s going to be like watching Pettitte take the ball tomorrow. “I can’t speak for everybody else, but I’m really excited about it,” he said. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere, and obviously he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think he could do it.”

New York Yankees Phil Hughes continues his winning form

The New York Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners by the score of 6-2 on Saturday evening. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched great. Boon Logan finished the game off and was ok, he struggled a little bit. Raul Ibanez had a couple of clutch hits for the Yankees. Hector Noesi started for the Mariners and got roughed up a little bit by his old team. 
Hughes pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out four. Logan pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run, he didn’t walk a batter and struck out four. Hughes is now 3-4 on the season. Noesi started for Seattle and pitched seven inning giving up six hits and five runs with no walks and four strikeouts. Noesi is 2-4 on the season. Tom Wilhelmsen pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with two strikeouts.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Robinson Cano had a hit and an RBI and Mark Teixeira had a hit. Ibanez had two hits and two RBI, Martin had a hit and an RBI and Jayson Nix had a hit and two RBI. Teixeira, Martin and Ibanez each had a double. Nix and Ibanez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 4-8 with runners in scoring position and left two men on base. Jeter had a stolen base and Swisher had an outfield assist.

Dustin Ackley had two hits for the Mariners. John Jaso had a hit, Ichiro Suzuki had a hit and Jesus Montero drew a walk. Kyle Seager had a hit, Mike Carp had two hits and two RBI and Justin Smoak had a hit. Carp had a double and a homerun. The Mariners were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base.

In the second inning the Yankees scored four runs. Ibanez and Martin had an RBI double to make it 2-0 Yankees. Nix hit a two run homerun to make it 4-0. Ibanez hit a solo homerun in the fourth to make it 5-0. In the seventh Carp hit a solo homerun to make it 5-1. In the ninth Carp had an RBI double to make it 6-2. The call on the field was homerun but after a review they overturned it and made the right call though. 6-2 was the final score.

The Yankees improved their record to 19-14 and the Mariners saw their record drop to 15-20. The Yankees will go for the sweep of the three game series on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees pitching staff has gotten much better with a full turn through the rotation and now Hughes pitching for a second time. All of the starters have had good outings.

New York Mets get even with the Miami Marlins in their three game series

The New York Mets defeated the Miami Marlins by the score of 9-3 on Saturday afternoon. R.A. Dickey started the game and pitched very well. The bullpen did a good job of holding down the Marlins. The Mets offense was led by David Wright who is hitting over 400 on the season. Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy each had a good day also. Jose Reyes the former Met led the Marlins offense. 
Dickey pitched six innings giving up nine hits and two runs. He walked one and didn’t strike out a batter. Dickey picked up the win and is now 5-1 on the season. Manny Acosta pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run and struck out one, Tim Byrdak faced one batter and struck him out and Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning. D.J. Carrasco pitched an inning giving up two hits and no runs with a strikeout. Ricky Nolasco picked up his first loss of the season pitching 4 2/3 innings giving up nine hits and six runs. He walked three and struck out three. Michael Dunn pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up three hits and a run with two strikeouts, Chad Gaudin pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a walk and striking out one and Webb pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout. Cishek pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run.

Andres Torres had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks, Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a hit, RBI and drew a walk and Wright had four hits and three RBI. Duda had three hits, Murphy had three hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Ronny Cedeno had a hit and an RBI. Mike Nickeas had a hit, Dickey had a hit and an RBI and Mike Baxter had a hit. Duda and Baxter each had a double and Wright had a homerun. The Mets were 6-20 with runners in scoring position and they left 13 men on base. Murphy had a stolen base and Torres had an outfield assist.

Reyes had four hits for the Marlins. Omar Infante had a hit, Austin Kearns had a hit and Hanley Ramirez had a hit and an RBI. Logan Morrison had two hits, Mike Stanton had two hits and an RBI and Gaby Sanchez had two hits and an RBI. Emilio Bonifacio drew a walk, Sanchez, Stanton and Ramirez each had a double. The Marlins were 2-11 with nine men left on base. Hayes committed an error.

Wright had an RBI single in the first inning to put the Mets ahead 1-0. In the second Sanchez had an RBI single to tie the game at one. Wright hit a solo homerun in the third to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Nieuwenhuius hit an RBI single to give the Mets a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning. Dickey was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning and a run scored. The Mets had a 4-1 lead and then Torres hit a two run single to give them a 6-1 lead. Murphy hit an RBI single to make it 7-1 in the sixth. Stanton hit an RBI double in the sixth to make it 7-2. Ramirez had an RBI double in the seventh to make it 7-3. In the eighth Cedeno grounded out to make it 8-3 and in the ninth Wright had an RBI single making it 9-3 which was the final score.

The Mets evened the series at one and the rubber game will be played on Sunday afternoon. The Mets record is now 19-14 and the Marlins record dropped to 17-16. The Mets have been playing great baseball as they have a mixture of youth and some veteran leadership. They are pitching well and that is the biggest thing for them.