Yankees Friday night Postgame notes from Boston

Here are the postgame notes from Friday night courtesy of the Journal News Chad Jennings.  He also runs the Lohud Yankees Blog.  I also put my own thoughts into the mix as usual. 

Mark Teixeira said he wasn’t really paying attention to the bullpen. He was standing on deck watching Andrew Miller fire upper-90s fastballs at Robinson Cano.

“This guy’s a big lefty, throws 97, just struck out Cano,” Teixeira said. “So I wasn’t even thinking that they were going to bring in somebody else. I was getting into my right-handed mode to think about how I was going to hit against Miller. I was very surprised they brought in Padilla.”

When you see Robinson Cano hug David Ortiz pregame, you know that a lot of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is for the fans. It’s built for prime time. Stirs excitement. The Teixeira-Padilla rivalry has nothing to do with hats and t-shirts.  Tex and Padilla go back a long way since they were playing together and that is where it started because Tex would get thrown at because of him and then he started hitting Tex when he came to the Yankees. 

“The guy throws at people, fact of the matter,” Teixeira said. “I’m not saying anything that’s news. It is what it is. I’ve always been someone that wants to play the game the right way. You play hard, but you don’t’ play cheap. … No one else does (what Padilla does). That’s the thing that’s unbelievable to me. No one else in baseball does this. Whether he’s changed his ways, I hope he does. The guy’s a good pitcher. He’s got really good stuff. It would be nice to just talk to him as a baseball player, not someone who throws at people.”

Padilla is third among active pitchers in hit batters, and he’s hit Teixeira three times. Their head-to-head dislike for one another extends to when they were teammates in Texas. Teixeira doesn’t get heated very often, but he does when he talks about Padilla.

With two on in a one-run game, though, Teixeira knew Padilla wouldn’t try anything crazy. This was going to be a legitimate at-bat, hitter vs. pitcher, and Padilla threw nothing but fastballs. It was a 3-2 pitch that Teixeira drove to center field — very nearly out of the park — for a go-ahead triple.

“Almost every at-bat, he tries to throw at your head, does a throw behind you or something screwy,” Teixeira said. “With first and second and the game on the line, he’s not going to do it then, so I could actually dig in and look for a good pitch to hit. … Game-winning hits always feel good, but that one definitely felt real good.”

Hiroki Kuroda said the long wait in the top of the first had nothing to do with it. He simply didn’t have his stuff today. “Not just in the first inning, but the whole outing,” he said. “I didn’t have most of my pitches.”  I would think it had something to do with it but yeah he didn't have it in this game.  He has been so good for so long you just shake this one off. 

Girardi, though, thought the long wait might have played a part. After that first inning, Kuroda allowed two runs through 4.2 innings. It was actually huge that he was able to pitch fairly deep into the game, especially with a doubleheader tomorrow. “If you’re off tomorrow you might (use the bullpen) a little bit different,” Girardi said. “But for the most part, I did what I thought it was to win the game tonight. I wasn’t worried about tomorrow. We always talk about, worry about tomorrow tomorrow.”

 Big, underrated play by Derek Jeter to get the out at third and keep the Red Sox from loading the bases. Jeter said, whenever there’s a runner at second, he gives the third baseman a heads up that he might throw over there. “I was basically thinking if he hit the ball that way I was going to go to third,” Jeter said. “I thought it was the only play I had. … We work on it. I don’t think it was that hard. You catch it and throw it to third. It can be difficult if you’re throwing on the run, but if you don’t get caught off guard, I don’t think it’s too difficult.”  Jeter is just a smart baseball player, always has been and that is what people love about him. 

 Jeter is hitting .385 in the first inning this season.

After blowing a few middle-of-the-inning, runners-on-base situations recently, Dave Robertson got a huge strikeout to end the seventh. He was pulled with an out to go in the eighth, but he didn’t disagree with the decision. His command wasn’t great today. “I was able to get a couple of outs and at least make it a little easier for Sori,” Robertson said.

Alex Rodriguez stole two bases tonight, giving him nine steals for the year. That’s his highest total since 2009. He’s 9-for-9 on stolen base attempts.  It seems odd that he can do that but not hit homeruns.  It just doesn't seem like he has the power anymore, maybe he will have a big second half though. 

 Russell Martin is now hitless in his past 30 at-bats. It’s the most consecutive at-bats without a hit by a Yankee since 2004 when both Jeter and Jason Giambi went hitless in 32 straight.

Darnell McDonald made his Yankees debut as a defensive replacement. His brother Donzell played in three games for the Yankees in 2001. They are the eighth set of brothers too play for the Yankees in franchise history.

 Final word goes to Teixeira: “I don’t hit a lot of triples. I had a triple and a stolen base today. I don’t know if that’s ever happened. We’ll have to look at the Elias Sports Bureau for that one. It was just a big hit. It doesn’t matter who it was off of. Long game, so when you have a chance to win the game, it’s always a good feeling.”

The Yankees and Red Sox split a doubleheader

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox had a long day of baseball at Fenway Park on Saturday. They played a day/night doubleheader. The first game was at 1:00PM and the second game at 7:00PM. The Yankees won the first game by the score of 6-1. The Red Sox won the second game by the score of 9-5. In the first game Freddy Garcia started for the Yankees and pitched very well. The Yankees got homeruns from Andruw Jones, Nick Swisher and Jayson Nix. Jones hit two homeruns. Franklin Morales started for the Red Sox and didn’t pitch well. The bullpens of both teams pitched well. Phil Hughes started the night cap and pitched ok but he didn’t get any help from his defense. The Yankees were very sloppy making five errors in the game. The five errors were the most in five years. Mark Teixeira had a big hit for the Yankees but the Red Sox offense was on a roll in this game. Felix Doubront started for the Red Sox and pitched ok and their bullpen pitched pretty well. 
Garcia pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up a run on six hits. He walked two and struck out five. He won his third game of the season. Cody Eppley pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk and he had a strikeout and Chad Qualls pitched an inning giving up a hit. Morales lost his second game of the season. He pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up six hits and six runs with two walks and two strikeouts. Justin Germano pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up five hits and no runs with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Derek Jeter had three hits, Mark Teixeira drew a walk and Alex Rodriguez had a hit. Robinson Cano had a hit, Swisher had two hits, three RBI and drew two walks and Jones had two hits and two RBI. Nix had a hit, RBI and drew a walk and Chris Stewart had a hit. Cano had a double and the Yankees were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.

Daniel Nava had a hit, David Ortiz had a hit and drew three walks and Adrian Gonzalez had a hit. Mauro Gomez had two hits and an RBI, Kelly Shoppach had a hit and Brent Lillibridge had a hit. Shoppach had a double and the Red Sox were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Gomez committed an error and Morales had two pickoffs.

The Yankees took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Swisher hit a three run homerun and Jones hit a solo homerun. It was back-to-back shots for the Yankees. Jones and Nix hit back-to-back homeruns in the fourth to make it 6-0. The Red Sox would get on the board in the fourth. Gomez had an RBI single to make it 6-1 and that would be it for the scoring.

In the second game Hughes started for the Yankees. He pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up 10 hits and five runs with three of them being earned. He walked one and struck out three. Hughes took his seventh loss of the season. Boone Logan pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with two walks and a strikeout. Cory Wade pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up three hits and three runs with one run being earned. Clay Rapada pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and D.J. Mitchell pitched one inning giving up a hit and he had a strikeout. Doubront pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up four hits and four runs with three of them being earned. He walked one and struck out six and won his ninth game of the season. Matt Albers pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one, Clayton Mortenson pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and walking two with a strikeout and Vincente Padilla pitched to two batters and retired them both. Alfredo Aceves pitched one inning giving up a hit and a run and he struck out a batter.

Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew a walk, Teixeira had a hit and three RBI and Cano had a hit. Swisher drew two walks, Jones had a hit and an RBI and Martin had a hit and drew a walk. Martin broke an 0-30 slump. Eric Chavez had a hit and an RBI. Martin had a double, Teixeira, Jones and Chavez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-6 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. McDonald, Jeter, Nix, Martin and Mitchell each committed an error.

Nava had a hit, Nick Punto had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Ortiz had two hits. Gonzalez had three hits, Cody Ross drew a walk and Ryan Sweeney had a hit and an RBI. Gomez had three hits and an RBI, Mike Aviles had a hit and Pedro Ciriaco had three hits and three RBI. Gomez, Gonzalez and Ciriaco each had two doubles. Punto and Aviles each had a double. Sweeney hit a triple and the Red Sox were 6-17 with runners in scoring position and they left 12 men on base. Ciriaco had a stolen base, Gomez committed two errors and Saltalamacchia had a passed ball.

Teixeira hit a three run homerun in the first to make it 3-0 Yankees. In the third Nava hit into a double play but a run scored to make it a 3-1 game. Punto hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 3-2 Yankees. In the sixth Ciriaco hit a three run double to make it 5-3 Red sox. Jones hit a solo homerun in the fourth to make it 5-4, his third homerun of the day between the two games. Sweeney hit an RBI triple, Gomez hit an RBI double and Ciriaco hit an RBI double to make it 8-4. Ciriaco stole third and scored on a wild throw by Martin. It was 9-4 Red Sox and Chavez hit a solo homerun in the ninth to finish the scoring at 9-5.

The two teams split the doubleheader on Saturday but the Yankees won the first game of the series on Friday night. The Yankees will try to win the series on Sunday night. If the Red Sox win they will split the four game series. The teams will be off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and some of them on Thursday also for the All Star Break. The All Star Game will be played on Tuesday night in Kansas City. The Yankees record is now 51-33 and the Red Sox are 43-42.

The New York Mets comeback falls just short as they fall to the Chicago Cubs

The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs by the score of 8-7 on Friday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Johan Santana started for the Mets and pitched very poorly. Travis Wood started for the Cubs and pitched ok. Justin Turner led the Mets with four hits, Reed Johnson and Anthony Rizzo led the Cubs with four hits each. 
Santana pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up 13 hits and seven runs with no walks and six strikeouts. Santana lost his fifth game of the season. Ramon Ramirez pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk and Miguel Batista pitched two innings giving up four hits and a run with a walk and two strikeouts. Wood won his fourth game of the season pitching six innings giving up five hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He walked four and struck out three. Sean Camp pitched a perfect inning, Russell pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout and Marmol pitched an inning giving up two hits and three runs with three walks and a strikeout.

Ruben Tejada drew two walks, Ronny Cedeno had a hit and an RBI and Daniel Murphy drew a walk. David Wright had a hit and drew a walk, Ike Davis had a hit and two RBI and Lucas Duda had a hit and an RBI. Turner had four hits and an RBI, Mike Nickeas had an RBI and drew a walk and Kirk Nieuwenhuis drew a walk. Jordany Valdespin had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Cedeno, Turner and Wright each had a double. Duda and Valdespin each hit a homerun. The Mets were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Turner was caught stealing and Duda had an outfield assist.

Johnson had four hits and an RBI, Darwin Barney had a hit and Rizzo had four hits and three RBI. Alfonso Soriano had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Jeff Baker had two hits and an RBI and Geovany Soto had two hits. Joe Mather had a hit and an RBI, Luis Valbuena had a hit and an RBI and Starlin Castro had a hit. Johnson and Baker each had a double and Johnson, Rizzo and Baker each hit a homerun. The Cubs were 5-16 with runners in scoring position and they left 11 men on base.

Johnson hit a solo homerun in the first inning to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. Duda hit a solo homerun in the second inning to tie the game at one. Cedeno hit an RBI double in the third to make it 2-1 Mets. Mather hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to tie the game at two. In the fifth Rizzo hit a three run homerun to make it 5-2 Cubs. Baker hit a solo homerun and Valbuena hit an RBI single to make it 7-2 Cubs. Nickeas hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it a 7-3 game. Soriano hit an RBI single in the eighth to make it 8-3 Cubs. Turner hit an RBI single in the eighth to make it 8-4. In the ninth Valdespin hit a solo homerun and Davis hit a two run single to make it 8-7 but that would be the final score.

The Mets record fell to 45-39 and the Cubs record improved to 32-51. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Saturday afternoon.

The New York Yankees win a wild one in Boston

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox by the score of 10-8 on Friday night. The game took place at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and didn’t pitch well especially early and the same with Josh Beckett for the Red Sox. The Yankees bullpen pitched a little better then the Red Sox. Alex Rodriguez had three hits and Mark Teixeira had four RBI to lead the Yankees offense. David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez led the Red Sox offense with three hits each. 
Kuroda pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up 10 hits and seven runs with six of them being earned. He walked one and struck out three. Boone Logan got his fourth win of the season pitching 2/3 of an inning and giving up two hits and a run with a strikeout, Cody Eppley pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and David Robertson pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with two strikeouts. Rafael Soriano saved his 20^th game of the season pitching 1 1/3 innings. He struck out two batters. Cano and Ibanez each had a double and Granderson and Teixeira each had a triple. The Yankees were 4-10 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Rodriguez had two stolen bases and Teixeira had one. Chavez committed an error and Ibanez had an outfield assist.

Daniel Nava had a hit, Ryan Kalish had a hit and an RBI and Ortiz had three hits an RBI and drew a walk. Cody Ross had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Gonzalez had three hits and an RBI and Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a hit and three RBI. Gomez had two hits and an RBI, Mike Aviles had a hit and Nick Punto had a hit. Nava, Gonzalez and Punto each had a double. Saltalamacchia and Ross each hit a homerun. The Red Sox were 4-13 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. Nava had an outfield assist.

The Yankees scored five runs in the first inning. Cano had an RBI walk, Teixeira had a two run single, Swisher had a sacrifice fly and Chavez had a sacrifice fly. It was 5-0 Yankees after the top of the first. The Red Sox came back with five in the bottom of the first. Kalish had a sacrifice fly, Gonzalez had an RBI double and Saltalamacchia hit a three run homerun. In the second Rodriguez had an RBI groundout to make it 6-5 Yankees. Ortiz hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second and the game was tied at six. Gomez hit an RBI single in the fifth to give the Red Sox a 7-6 lead. In the seventh Teixeira had a two run triple making it 8-7 Yankees. Ibanez had an RBI double and Chavez had an RBI single to make it 10-7 Yankees. The Red Sox would score their eighth and final run on a Ross solo homerun. The run came in the bottom of the seventh. The final score would be 10-8 Yankees.

The Yankees record improved to 50-32 and the Red Sox record dropped to 42-41. The Yankees are nine games ahead of them in the loss column in the AL East. This was the first of four games between the two teams. The two games on Saturday will be at 1:00PM and 7:00PM. The series will conclude on Sunday night at 8:00PM.

The Mets comeback and take the series from the Phillies in walk off fashion

The New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 6-5 on Thursday night. R.A. Dickey started for the Mets against Cole Hamels. It wasn’t the pitchers duel that it was thought to be. David Wright led the Mets offense including the game winning hit. Jimmy Rollins led the Phillies offense. Hamels pitched ok but not great. 
Dickey pitched seven innings giving up 11 hits and five runs. The 11 hits were the most he has given up this year and he walked one and struck out seven. Jon Rauch pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit, Tim Byrdak pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk and Pedro Beato retired the only batter that he faced. Bobby Parnell won his second game of the season pitching a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Cole Hamels pitched seven innings giving up seven hits and four runs with a walk and seven strikeouts. Antonio Bastardo pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Jonathan Papelbon got a blown save and the loss. It was his second blown save and third loss of the season. Papelbon pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout.

Ruben Tejada had a hit and drew a walk, Daniel Murphy had two hits and an RBI and Wright had three hits and four RBI. Scott Hairston had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Ike Davis had a hit, Josh Thole had a hit and Dickey had a hit. Davis had a double, Hairston and Wright each hit a homerun. The Mets were 3-5 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Valdespin had a stolen base and Hairston had an outfield assist.

Rollins had three hits, two RBI and drew two walks, Juan Pierre had an RBI and Hunter Pence had a hit and an RBI. Carlos Ruiz had a hit, Shane Victorino had a hit and an RBI and Ty Wigginton had a hit. Placido Polanco had a hit, Fontenot had two hits and Hamels had two hits. Chase Utley had a hit, Rollins, Ruiz and Fontenot each had a double and Rollins had a triple. The Phillies were 4-13 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base.

Victorino had an RBI groundout in the first to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Rollins hit an RBI double in the second to make it 2-0 Phillies. In the bottom of the second Hairston hit a solo homerun to put the Mets on the board and cut the lead in half to 2-1. Wright hit an RBI single to tie it in the third at two. In the fourth Pence made it 3-2 Phillies on an RBI single. Wright hit a two run homerun in the fifth to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. In the sixth the Phillies took back the lead. Rollins had an RBI triple and Pierre had a sac bunt that resulted in a run to make it 5-4 Phillies. Murphy and Wright had RBI singles in the ninth to win the game 6-5.

The Mets won two out of three in this series. The Mets record is 45-38 and the Phillies record is 37-47. The Mets will welcome the Chicago Cubs into town for a weekend series.

The Mets lose big to the Phillies

The New York Mets were defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 9-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing,New York. Chris Young started for the Mets and pitched pretty well. The Mets bullpen didn’t pitch well at all. Cliff Lee started for the Phillies and pitched great winning his first game of the season. Ruben Tejada led the Mets offense and the Phillies had three players with two hits. 
Young pitched seven innings giving up five hits and three runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three and he lost his second game of the season. Miguel Batista gave up a hit and a run without recording and out, Tim Byrdak pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two runs with a walk and Jeremy Hefner pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs. Lee won his first game of the season against five losses. He pitched eight innings giving up seven hits and two runs with a walk and nine strikeouts. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect inning.

Tejada had two hits, Daniel Murphy had a hit and David Wright had a hit and an RBI. Scott Hairston had a hit and an RBI, Lucas Duda had a hit and drew a walk and Ike Davis had a hit. Tejada had a double and Hairston had a homerun. The Mets were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Jimmy Rollins had a hit and two RBI, Juan Pierre had two hits and Ty Wigginton had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk. Chase Utley had a hit and two RBI, Carlos Ruiz had two hits and two RBI and Hunter Pence had two hits and an RBI. Placido Polanco had a hit, John Mayberry had a hit and Jason Pridie had a hit. Rollins had a double, Utley, Ruiz and Wigginton each hit a homerun. The Phillies were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base. Pierre had a stolen base.

In the fourth inning Hairston hit a solo homerun to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. In the fifth Wright hit an RBI single to make it 2-0 Mets. In the seventh Utley hit a two run homerun to tie the game at two and Ruiz hit a solo homerun which was back-to-back for the Phillies. In the eighth Rollins hit an RBI double to make it 4-2 Phillies. Ruiz hit an RBI single and Pence hit an RBI single to make it 6-2. In the ninth Rollins grounded out to score a run and Wigginton hit a two run homerun to make it 9-2 Phillies and that would be the final score.

The Mets record dropped to 44-38 and the Phillies record improved to 37-46. The Mets and Phillies have split the first two games of the series and will play the rubber game on Thursday night.

The Yankees break the losing streak in Tampa

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon. The game took place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. David Phelps started for the Yankees and pitched very well. The matchup on paper looked very bad for the Yankees but it didn’t turn out that way. David Price started for the Rays and pitched very well. The Yankees made their comeback against old friend Kyle Farnsworth. Robinson Cano was the star offensively for the Yankees. 
Phelps pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with three walks and eight strikeouts. Clay Rapada walked the only batter that he faced, Cody Eppley pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and striking out three and Boone Logan picked up his third win of the season. Logan pitched an inning with two hits and two runs and he had two strikeouts. David Robertson pitched an inning walking one and striking out two and Rafael Soriano picked up his 19^th save of the season pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout. Price pitched seven innings giving up four hits and a run with two walks and eight strikeouts. Farnsworth took his first loss of the season pitching 1/3 of an inning giving up three runs with four walks and a strikeout. Jake McGee pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and he struck out one, J.P. Howell pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout and Burke Badenhop pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit.

Derek Jeter gave up two hits, Curtis Granderson drew two walks and Mark Teixeira had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks. Alex Rodriguez had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Cano had two hits and two RBI and Nick Swisher drew a walk. Andruw Jones had a hit and Eric Chavez drew a walk. Rodriguez and Jeter each had a double. Teixeira had a homerun and the Yankees were 3-11 with runners in scoring position and they left 10 men on base. Rodriguez had a stolen base and Martin picked off a runner.

Carlos Pena had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks, B.J. Upton drew a walk and Ben Zobrist drew a walk. Jose Lobaton had a hit and drew a walk, Sean Rodriguez had a hit and an RBI and Elliott Johnson had two hits. Pena had a homerun and the Rays were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Zobrist, Johnson and Pena each had a stolen base. Rodriguez was picked off.

In the fourth Rodriguez had an RBI single to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. In the seventh the Yankees tied the game on a solo homerun by Teixeira. In the bottom of the seventh Pena hit a two run homerun to give the Rays a 3-1 lead. The Yankees started their comeback in the eighth inning. Rodriguez walked with the bases loaded to make it a 3-2 game and then Cano delivered a two run single to make it 4-3. The final would be 4-3 as the bullpen for the Yankees would shut it down.

The Yankees lost two out of three in the series. They ended their nine game losing streak at Tropicana Field and will now have an off day on Thursday before heading to Boston on Friday to start a four game series. The Yankees will play on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and night and then Sunday afternoon. The Yankees record improved to 49-32 and the Rays record dropped to 43-39.

The New York Mets crush the Philadelphia Phillies

The New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 11-1 on Tuesday night. Jon Niese started for the Mets and pitched very well. Ruben Tejada, Daniel Murphy and Josh Thole all had good nights for the Mets. Vance Worley didn’t pitch well at all and the Phillies only managed three hits.

Niese pitched eight innings giving up three hits and a run. He walked two and struck out three. Niese won his seventh game of the season. Jon Rauch pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Worley lost his fifth game of the season pitching four innings and giving up ten hits and six runs. He walked one and struck out three. Raul Valdes pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and two runs with a walk and two strikeouts, Brian Sanches pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout and Jake Diekman pitched one inning giving up two hits and two runs with one of them being earned. He struck out two batters.

Tejada had three hits and an RBI, Murphy had four hits and four RBI and David Wright had a hit and four RBI. Lucas Duda had a hit and drew a walk, Scott Hairston had a hit and Andres Torres had a hit. Thole had three hits, Niese had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk. Murphy had a double and a triple and Wright hit a homerun. The Mets were 7-12 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base.

Placido Polanco drew a walk, Carlos Ruiz had a hit and an RBI and Hunter Pence had a hit. Ty Wigginton had a hit and drew a walk. Ruiz hit a homerun and the Phillies were 0-3 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Polanco committed an error. Victorino and Mayberry each had an outfield assist.

Wright had an RBI groundout in the first inning giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Ruiz hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one in the second inning. Niese had a two run single and Murphy had an RBI double in the second to make it a 4-1 game. Tejada and Murphy each had an RBI single in the fourth to make it 6-1 Mets. Wright hit a three run homerun in the sixth and it was 9-1 Mets. Murphy hit a two run double in the eighth to make it 11-1 and that would be it for the scoring.

The Mets record improved to 44-37 on the season. The Phillies record dropped to 36-46. The two teams will pay on Wednesday afternoon and then finish their three game series on Thursday.

The Yankees still can't find a win in Tampa Bay

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. The game took place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Yankees have now lost nine straight games in that stadium. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and he wasn’t great but he didn’t also get help from his defense. Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Raul Ibanez and DeWayne Wise all had good nights for the Yankees offense. James Shields wasn’t great but he did enough to win. The Rays offense was led by Sean Rodriguez. 
Nova pitched six plus innings. He gave up seven hits and six runs with three of them being earned. Nova walked two and struck out five and lost his third game of the season. Clay Rapada struck out the only batter that he faced and Chad Qualls pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up three hits and a run. Shields earned his eighth win of the season pitching seven innings giving up ten hits and four runs. He walked none and struck out five. Burke Badenhop pitched to one batter and retired him, Joel Peralta pitched to two batters and retired them both and Fernando Rodney saved his 24^th game of the season. He pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Jeter had two hits, Curtis Granderson had a hit and an RBI and Cano had two hits and an RBI. Ibanez had two hits, Eric Chavez had a hit and an RBI and Wise had two hits and an RBI. Jeter and Granderson each had a double. Ibanez hit two doubles and Wise hit a homerun. The Yankees were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Martin committed two errors and Chavez had one. Wise had an outfield assist as his great run continues.

Brandon Jennings had a hit and drew a walk, B.J. Upton had two hits and Jeff Keppinger had a hit and two RBI. Ben Zobrist had a hit, RBI and drew a walk, Jose Molina had a hit and Rodriguez had three hits and two RBI. Elliott Johnson had a hit. Rodriguez and Jennings each had a double. Rodriguez hit a homerun. The Rays were 4-14 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Jennings had two stolen bases, Johnson, Upton and Rodriguez each had one. Upton and Zobrist each had an outfield assist.

Granderson had an RBI double in the first and Cano had an RBI single to make it 2-0 Yankees. Wise hit a homerun in the third to extend the Yankees lead to 3-0. In the bottom of the third Upton had an RBI single and Keppinger had a two run single to tie the game at three. Chavez had an RBI single to make it 4-3 Yankees in the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth Rodriguez hit a two run homerun to make it 5-4 Rays. Jennings stole home and Zobrist had an RBI single in the seventh inning. The final score was 7-4 Rays.

The Yankees have lost the first two games of the series and will try and salvage the final game on Wednesday afternoon. The Yankees record fell to 48-32 and the Rays record improved to 43-38. The Yankees will be off on Thursday and then play a four game series in Boston before the All-Star Break.

Yankees Monday Night notes from Tampa Bay

Here are the postgame notes from Chad Jennings at the Lohud Yankees blog and Journal News.  The Yankees let one get away that they could have had.  It was their eighth straight loss at Tropicana Field and a very frustrating one.  The positive is that Freddy Garcia pitched very well.

Dave Robertson has built his reputation on getting out of late-inning trouble, and Mark Teixeira is widely considered one of the best defensive first basemen in baseball. The Yankees faced plenty of uncertainty tonight — who knew what to expect from Freddy Garcia or against Matt Moore? — but the Yankees have come to depend on Robertson and Teixeira. In a decisive seventh inning, it was those reliable pieces that let them down.

Dave Robertson
Two outs, one-run lead, runner at second

The Yankees turned to their setup man a third of an inning earlier than usual. The Rays called on Brooks Conrad to pinch hit, and Robertson immediately fell behind in the count before letting Conrad line a game-tying double off the wall in right field.
“It was a 3-1 count, I had to make a good pitch,” Robertson said. “I never faced him before but still, I shouldn’t have fallen behind on him. I gotta get one out. I got a runner on second. I blew it there. I blew the game. It didn’t really matter after that. I felt like, in that situation, I should have been able to come in and get the out.”
Place the blame on Teixeira? Robertson wouldn’t hear of it.
“I feel like I flat-out blew the game today,” Robertson said. “I feel like that one’s not on Tex. He’s made amazing plays behind us all year long and he’s done it for three years that he’s been here. It’s gonna happen. I still should have been able to get Conrad out. That one falls on me today.”

Mark Teixeira
Two outs, game tied, runner at second

After giving up the game-tying double, Robertson faced No. 9 hitter Elliott Johnson, the Rays light-hitting utility infielder. He hit a sharp bouncing ball right along the first-base line. Teixeira got there in time and seemed to have a play. Then, suddenly, he didn’t have a play.
“It’s one of those that, after it goes by, you go, ‘What just happened?’” Teixeira said. “I didn’t even get leather on it. Usually, you can knock it down or something when it takes a weird bounce. I tried to look at video, but I couldn’t tell what happened. … Usually you can say, ‘I charged it when I should have laid back’ or ‘I laid back when I should have charged it.’ I just missed it. I don’t know what happened. The ball obviously didn’t do what I expected it to do.”
Place the blame on Robertson? Teixeira wouldn’t hear of it.
“We should still be playing,” he said. “That’s the tough thing. We battled all night, and we should still be playing right now if I make that play.”
This was easily Garcia’s best start of the season, and it looked a lot like those steady-but-not-overwhelming starts the Yankees saw so often last season. “It’s been so long in the bullpen,” he said. “I came here today and I pitched five innings and one-third. I threw pretty good. I made a couple of mistakes and paid for them. Besides that, I always tried to throw strikes and make a good pitch.”

 Garcia’s pitch limit was 75, and he threw 74. His last was the Carlos Pena home run that tied the game in the sixth, but Garcia said fatigue wasn’t an issue. “They asked me,” Garcia said. “I was feeling fine. They asked me in the sixth inning, go hitter by hitter. That’s what they did, but I threw the pitch to Pena. I know he was looking for it all night because I threw like 10 backdoor sliders.”

Clay Rapada was loose when Pena came to the plate, but Girardi liked the way Garcia was throwing the ball and wanted to let him try to get Pena. “If the first guy gets on, I was going to go to Rapada,” Girardi said. “But (Garcia)’s done a tremendous job in his career, and the last two years on Pena. When you look at what Freddy’s done to him, he’s still throwing the ball good, I said you know what, I’m going to leave him in.”

Coming into tonight, Pena was a career .103 hitter with no extra-base hits, no RBI and 11 strikeouts in 39 at-bats against Garcia. He was 0-for-2 with a strikeout in his first two bats against Garcia tonight.

Girardi on Teixeira: “You expect him to come up with every ball. That’s how good he is. Tonight, it wasn’t meant to be.”

Girardi on Robertson: “You figure he’s going to get that big strikeout when he needs it. That’s what he’s been so good at for us for the last couple years. He just didn’t do it tonight.”
In the past few days, Robertson has blown a couple of situations like this. He said it has nothing to do with being rusty after the month-long DL stint. “I’m completely back,” he said. “I felt great. I felt like I was throwing the ball real hard. I just fell behind on a good hitter, and he made me pay for it. He made us pay for it.”

Garcia has made five career starts against the Rays. This was the first time that his team lost one of those starts.

 Moore allowed two runs in the first inning, but the Yankees didn’t score again until the seventh. They hit into three double plays in the first six innings. “Mixing in his pitches,” Teixeira said. “The guy throws 95-96 from the left side. When he needed to get the big out, he did. He kept the ball down in the zone, his breaking ball was really good late in the game and his changeup was good all game.”

 Robinson Cano has an RBI in six straight games, tied for the longest streak of his career. … Derek Jeter was hitless in his past 19 at-bats against the Rays before his leadoff double. … Coming into tonight’s game, Teixiera had 663 chances without an error this season.

 Here’s a gross image: Raul Ibanez has eight stitches in his lip after that weird injury on Sunday when he broke a tooth and cut his lip while dodging a foul ball from inside the Yankees dugout. “I just moved out of the way of a foul ball,” he said. “When I moved out of the way, it hit that steal part of the bench. I should have taken the ball.” Ibanez was tested for a concussion and will eventually have one of his top teeth fixed because it chipped significantly. The freakish part is that his doctor found — thankfully — three pieces of the chipped tooth imbedded in Ibanez’s lip! “I just have to suck out of a straw,” he said. “It’s my own fault for moving out of the way of the ball. I should have just caught it.”

The Yankees let one slip away in Tampa

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 4-3. The game took place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Freddy Garcia made the start for the Yankees and pitched well. David Robertson didn’t pitch so well in relief. Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano led the Yankees offense. Matt Moore pitched ok for the Rays and the bullpen shut the Yankees down. The Rays offense was led by Will Rhymes and B.J. Upton. 
Garcia pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up two runs on five hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four. Cody Eppley pitched one inning giving up a hit, Boone Logan pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a walk and a run and Dave Robertson pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and an unearned run. Robertson suffered his third loss of the season. Clay Rapada struck out the only batter that he faced and Chad Qualls made his Yankees debut. Qualls pitched to two batters, striking out one. Moore won his fifth game of the season pitching seven innings giving up nine hits and three runs with three walks and three strikeouts. Joel Peralta pitched a perfect inning and Fernando Rodney pitched a perfect inning to earn his 23^rd save of the season.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson had an RBI and Teixeira had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez had a hit and drew a walk, Cano had two hits and an RBI and Andruw Jones had a hit. Jayson Nix had a hit, Chris Stewart had a hit and drew a walk. Jeter and Teixeira each had a double. The Yankees were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Nix had a stolen base. Teixeira committed an error.

Carlos Pena had a hit and an RBI, Upton had two hits and an RBI and Jeff Keppinger had a hit. Sean Rodriguez drew a walk, Rhymes had two hits and Brooks Conrad had a hit and an RBI. Conrad had a double, Upton and Pena each had a homerun. The Rays were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base.

The Yankees jumped on the Rays scoring two runs in the first inning. Teixeira hit an RBI double and Cano hit an RBI single. In the fourth Upton hit a solo homerun to make it 2-1. Pena hit a solo homerun to tie the game at two in the sixth inning. Granderson hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2 in the seventh. Conrad hit an RBI double to tie the game at three in the seventh and an error let the fourth run score. The Rays would hold onto the 4-3 lead.

The Yankees have lost eight straight games at Tropicana Field. The Yankees and Rays will play two more games in this series. The Yankees record dropped to 48-31 and the Rays record improved to 42-38. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Tuesday night.

The Yankees gain a split in their four game series with the White Sox

The New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox by the score of 4-2 on Sunday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. Phil Hughes started and pitched very well, he started off very poorly but turned it around. Rafael Soriano did what he has been doing so well, saving the game. The Yankees offense was led by Robinson Cano and Eric Chavez. Gavin Floyd started for the White Sox and he didn’t pitch great but he didn’t pitch terrible either. Alex Rios led the White Sox offense. 
Hughes pitched eight innings giving up two runs on six hits with a walk and eight strikeouts. He gave up both runs and three hits in the first inning. Hughes improved his record to 9-6, Soriano won his 18^th game of the season. Soriano pitched an inning giving up a walk and he struck out two. Floyd lost his eighth game of the season pitching 5 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs with five walks and three strikeouts. Leyson Septimo pitched 2 1/3 perfect inning with two strikeouts and Nate Jones pitched to one batter and struck him out.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew a walk and Mark Teixeira drew two walks. Cano had two hits and two RBI, Nick Swisher had a hit and Raul Ibanez had a hit. Chavez had two hits and two RBI and drew a walk, DeWayne Wise drew a walk. Chavez and Cano each had a homerun. The Yankees were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. Ibanez had a stolen base.

Alejandro De Aza had a hit, Kevin Youkilis had a hit and an RBI and Paul Konerko had a hit. Rios had two hits and an RBI, A.J. Pierzynski had a hit and Dayan Viciedo drew a walk. Alexi Ramirez drew a walk, De Aza and Rios each hit a double. The White Sox were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Ramirez had a stolen base, Youkilis committed an error.
The White Sox took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Youkilis and Rios RBI single. The Yankees had bases loaded no outs in the bottom of the first and failed to score. The Yankees tied the score at two in the second on a Chavez two run homerun. In the third Cano hit a two run homerun to give the Yankees a 4-2 lead. That would be the final score as the pitching was good the rest of the way by both sides.

The Yankees and White Sox split the four game series. The White Sox won the first two games and the Yankees won the last two games. The Yankees improved their record to 48-30 and the White Sox record dropped to 42-37. The Yankees are in first place in the AL East and have built up a six game lead on the second place Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees will play a three game series in Tampa beginning Monday night.

The Mets win their fourth straight with a 5-0 victory in L.A.

The New York Mets defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers by the score of 5-0 on Saturday evening. The game took place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. Johan Santana started for the Mets and pitched brilliantly. Ike Davis led the Mets offense and Daniel Murphy and Kirk Nieuwenhuis also had good days. Nathan Eovaldi started for the Dodgers and struggled. The bullpens for both teams were good. 
Santana pitched eight innings giving up no runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out three and improved his record to 6-4. Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning. Eovaldi saw his record drop to 0-5 and he pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and five runs. He walked one and didn’t strike out a batter. Scott Elbert pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a walk and he struck out one, Todd Coffey pitched 11/3 innings striking out a batter and Josh Lindblom pitched an inning giving up two hits and he struck out two.

Andres Torres had a hit and drew a walk, David Wright drew a walk and Davis had two hits and three RBI. Lucas Duda had a hit, Murphy had two hits and an RBI and Nieuwenhuis had two hits. Josh Thole had an RBI, Santana had a hit. Davis, Murphy and Nieuwenhuis each had a double. Davis hit a homerun. The Mets were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Torres had a stolen base and was picked off.

Dee Gordon had a hit, Juan Rivera drew a walk and A.J. Ellis drew a walk. Van Slyke had a hit and Tony Gwynn Jr. had a hit. The Dodgers were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Gordon had a stolen base and an error. Ellis had an error. Van Slyke had an outfield assist.
Murphy hit a sacrifice fly in the second to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Thole hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 2-0 Mets. Davis hit a three run homerun to end the scoring in the sixth. The final score was 5-0 Mets.

The Mets won their fourth straight game and the Dodgers continue to struggle. The Mets improved their record to 43-36 and the Dodgers record dropped to 43-36. The two teams will play game four of four on Sunday night. The Mets will try and sweep the four game series.

Kuroda leads the Yankees to victory

The New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox by the score of 4-0 on Saturday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and was brilliant and the bullpen was able to close out the last couple of innings and preserve the shutout. The Yankees had three homeruns in the game. Jake Peavy started for the White Sox and pitched ok. The White Sox only had three hits on the day. 
Kuroda pitched seven innings giving up no runs on three hits. He walked one batter and struck out 11. He improved his record to 8-7 on the season. Dave Robertson pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts, Boone Logan pitched 1/3 of an inning and gave up a walk and Rafael Soriano pitched to two batters and retired them both. Peavy pitched eight innings giving up four runs on eight hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out 11. Peavy took the loss and saw his record fall to 6-5 on the season.

Curtis Granderson had two hits and an RBI, Robinson Cano had two hits and an RBI and Nick Swisher had a hit. DeWayne Wise had three hits and two RBI. Wise had a double and a homerun. Granderson and Cano each had a homerun. The Yankees were 0-2 and left four men on base.
Alejandro De Aza had a hit, Adam Dunn drew two walks and Paul Konerko had a hit. Alex Rios had a hit. The White Sox were 0-3 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Rios had a stolen base and De Aza was caught stealing.

Granderson hit a solo homerun in the first inning to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the second Wise hit an RBI double and in the fifth he hit a solo homerun to make it 3-0 Yankees. The final run of the game came in the sixth inning. Cano hit a solo homerun to make it 4-0.

The Yankees ended their two game losing streak. They improved their record to 47-30. The White Sox record fell to 42-36. The two teams will play game four of four on Sunday afternoon. It is Old Timers Day for the Yankees and the game will begin at 2:00PM. The Yankees will try and split the four game series and the White Sox will try to win three out of four.