Yankees Thursday night notes from the West Coast

Here are the Yankees postgame notes from Thursday night in Oakland.  It was a late game and the notes are courtesy of the Lohud Yankees Blog with my own thoughts mixed in.

Have the Yankees played a more forgettable game this season? If you didn’t stay up late to watch this one, you really didn’t miss out on much. Freddy Garcia wasn’t good, but he wasn’t exactly horrible. The Yankees couldn’t do much against A.J. Griffin, but their three-runs streak continued. They made it a one-run game in the ninth, but couldn’t finish the rally.  It was a pretty ho hum type of game. 

“It’s difficult because if I can’t hit my spot, I’m not throwing 95,” Garcia said. “I need to find my spot. Base hit, infield hit, whatever. I think those kinds of games, everything’s going wrong. But you know, I was able to keep pitching and pitching. … I was in trouble the whole game, but I was able to keep the game close.”  The A's dont exactly have a great offense, Garcia wasn't very good but he did keep them in the game.  Phelps out of the pen was much better and I am sure it will lead to speculation but for now Garcia will remain in the rotation. 

It was that kind of game. Trouble the whole game. Keeping it close. Scoring a few runs. Giving up a few more. This day was all about Brett Gardner being lost for the season — Joe Girardi said he didn’t find out about the surgery until right after batting practice, just a few minutes before the Yankees announced it — and it really felt like the kind of game that we’ll all forget within a few weeks.

“Freddy kept us in the game,” Girardi said. “We just didn’t get him enough runs.”

 Griffin’s first five big league starts have all been quality starts. “He’s got that equalizer with that 65-mph breaking ball,” Nick Swisher said. “The next time we face him, I think we’ll know a little more about him. He started throwing that breaking ball a lot. … He’s throwing his fastball at 90-91, you’re talking about a 21, 22-mph difference. But you’ve got to give him credit. He did a good job. He didn’t walk any guys. He really mixed his pitches in and out, changing speeds. He did a good job.”  The Yankees don't usually do well against guys they have never seen, and this game was no different. 

It’s always kind of amazing that big league hitters have trouble with pitches thrown slower than normal hitting speed. “You can see it when it comes out (of his hand),” Raul Ibanez said. “But there’s a big difference in the speed.”

Garcia is 7-8 with a 5.27 ERA in 23 career starts against the A’s.

 In relief of Garcia, David Phelps look tremendous. He pitched 2.1 perfect innings with four strikeouts (three on fastballs, one on a curveball). “When I was down there (in the minors) I was really concentrating on throwing pitches that haven’t thrown in different counts,” Phelps said. “I was throwing changeups and curveballs behind in the count, working my way back into the count that way, and I had a lot of success doing that.”  Phelps has pitched well for the Yankees this season, maybe he will be here for good now. 

 Girardi on Phelps: “I thought he looked pretty similar (to earlier in the season). His stuff was really sharp. His fastball and curveball were really good tonight. He threw a few sliders. When we sent him down, we wanted to build him up because he wasn’t’ getting a lot of work. He’s built up, and I think he can really help us.”



Girardi was told about Gardner’s upcoming surgery soon after batting practice. “They made it sound like we probably won’t have him the rest of this year,” Girardi said. “Let’s get it cleaned up and get him healthy.”  The thing about him is he has only played nine games so the Yankees have gotten used to being without him. 

 Robinson Cano’s hitting streak reached a career-high 22 games. It’s the longest active streak in the Majors and the lonest by a Yankee since Derek Jeter had a 25-game streak from August 20 to September 16, 2006.

Jeter tied Eddie Collins for 15th on baseball’s all-time runs scored list. He scored the 1,822nd run of his career.

 Swisher is hitting .321 with 13 walks in his past 10 games. His home run in the ninth kept alive the Yankees streak of 43 consecutive games scoring at least three runs.

Let’s give the last word to Swisher, on Gardner’s injury: “I just talked to him on the phone. It’s a big deal. Gardy was kind of that little spark plug, you know? That guy’s got the ability to lead the league in stolen bases. You lose out on a guy like that, but you know, we’ve been hit with the injury bug pretty hard this year. For us, we’ve just got to pull it all together. Keep doing what we’re doing, keep fighting and just throw our thoughts and prayers out there that it’ll be OK. From what I’ve heard, no one even knows what happened.”

The Mets fight back but lose to the Dodgers on a damp dreary night

The New York Mets were defeated by the Los Angeles Dodgers by the score of 7-6 on Friday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Johan Santana started for the Mets and was awful. He hasn’t been the same since throwing his no hitter. The Mets bullpen pitched well and Jordany Valdespin had a good game coming off the bench. Aaron Harang pitched pretty well for the Dodgers and their bullpen wasn’t great in the middle but it was at the end. Matt Kemp as usual led their offense. 
Santana saw his record drop to 6-7 as he pitched three innings giving up seven hits and six runs. He walked three and struck out three. Pedro Beato pitched two perfect innings with a strikeout, Ramon Ramirez pitched two innings giving up two hits and a run with a walk and three strikeouts and Tim Byrdak pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Jon Rauch pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out two. Harang earned his seventh win of the season. He pitched five innings giving up four hits and three runs with one of them being earned. He walked three and struck out five, Josh Lindblom pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with two walks. He struck out one, Shawn Tolleson pitched an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a strikeout, Javy Guerra pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Ronald Belisario pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Kenley Jansen saved his 17^th game of the season pitching an inning giving up a hit and striking out two batters.

Ruben Tejada had a hit, Daniel Murphy had four hits and an RBI and David Wright had an RBI and drew a walk. Ike Davis had a hit and an RBI, Lucas Duda drew a walk and Valdespin had two hits and two RBI. Jason Bay had a hit and drew a walk, Andres Torres drew a walk and Josh Thole drew a walk. Scott Hairston had a hit and an RBI, Murphy hit two doubles and Valdespin hit a homerun. The Mets were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and they left ten men on base.

Bobby Abreu had a hit and drew a walk, Mark Ellis had a hit and Kemp had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk. Andre Ethier had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks, Juan Rivera had a hit and an RBI and Jerry Hairston Jr. had two hits and an RBI. Luis Cruz had a hit and two RBI and Tony Gwynn Jr. had a hit. Ethier and Gwynn each hit a double, Kemp and Cruz each hit a homerun. The Dodgers were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Gwynn and Ethier each had a stolen base and Hairston committed an error.

In the first Kemp hit a two run homerun to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Hairston had an RBI single and it was 3-0 Dodgers. The Mets answered back with two runs in the bottom of the first. Wright and Davis each had a sacrifice fly. In the second Ethier walked and a run scored to make it 4-2 Dodgers. Cruz hit a two run homerun in the third and it was 6-2 Dodgers. In the fifth Murphy had an RBI double to cut the lead to 6-3. Hairston hit an RBI single in the sixth to make it a 6-4 game. The Dodgers scored their final run in the seventh on a Rivera RBI single to make it 7-4. The Mets would get a two run homerun from Valdespin in the seventh to make it 7-6 and that would be the final score.

The Mets record dropped to 47-46 on the season and the Dodgers improved their record to 50-44. The Mets and Dodgers will play the second of three on Saturday afternoon.

The Yankees win streak in Oakland is snapped in a 4-3 loss

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Oakland Athletics by the score of 4-3 on Thursday night. The game took place at Mcafee Coliseum in Oakland, California. Freddy Garcia started for the Yankees and wasn’t very good. David Phelps was great in relief for the Yankees. The Yankees offense was led by Nick Swisher. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez also had good games. A.J. Griffin a rookie pitcher pitched very well for the Athletics. Their bullpen was very good other then giving up a late homerun. Yoenis Cespedes led the Athletics offense. 
Garcia pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up four runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out six. Garcia lost his third game of the season. Phelps pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings and had four strikeouts. Griffin improved to 2-0 pitching six innings and giving up seven hits and two runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four. Sean Doolittle pitched a perfect inning, Grant Balfour pitched a perfect inning and Ryan Cook earned his tenth save of the season. Cook pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run and struck out a batter.

Jeter had a couple of hits, Rodriguez had a couple of hits and Cano had a hit. The hit by Cano extended his hitting streak to 23 games which is the longest by a Yankee since 2006. Mark Teixeira had an RBI, Swisher had two hits and two RBI and Raul Ibanez had a hit. Swisher hit a homerun, the Yankees were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base.

Coco Crisp had three hits, Jemile Weeks had two hits and Josh Reddick drew a walk. Cespedes had two hits and two RBI and drew a walk, Seth Smith had a hit and two RBI and Brandon Moss had a hit. Moss had a double and Cespedes hit a homerun. The Athletics were 2-11 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Weeks had a stolen base and Cespedes had an outfield assist.

Cespedes hit a two run homerun in the first to give Oakland a 2-0 lead. Oakland took a 4-0 lead in the third on a Smith two run single. The Yankees cut the lead in half in the sixth inning. Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly and Swisher had an RBI single. Swisher hit a solo homerun in the ninth to make it a 4-3 game which was the final. The three runs was the 43^rd straight game that the Yankees have scored three or more runs.

The Yankees and Athletics will play a four game series in Oakland. The Yankees record dropped to 57-35 and the Athletics improved their record to 48-44. It is the first time that the Athletics are at least four games over 500 in two years. They have been a surprise team so far this season, they are right in the wild card hunt.

The New York Mets avoid the sweep and defeat the Washington Nationals

The New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals by the score of 9-5 on Thursday afternoon. The game took place at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. R.A. Dickey started for the Mets and wasn’t great but he wasn’t bad either. The Mets bullpen was pretty good and David Wright led their offense. Gio Gonzalez started for the Nationals and did not pitch well at all. Their bullpen wasn’t very good either and their offense was spread around. 
Dickey pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up 10 hits and four runs with three of them being earned. He walked one and struck out five. Tim Byrdak struck out the only batter that he faced, Ramon Ramirez gave up a hit without recording an out and Josh Edgin pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit. Bobby Parnell pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run and struck out two. Dickey improved his record to 13-1. Gonzalez is now 12-5 on the season, he pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up six hits and six runs with three walks and two strikeouts. Craig Stammen pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs with a walk and two strikeouts and Henry Rodriguez pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings. Drew Storen pitched a perfect inning.

Ruben Tejada had two hits and an RBI, Andres Torres had two hits and drew a walk and Wright had two hits, five RBI and drew a walk. Jason Bay drew a walk, Ike Davis had two hits and two RBI and Justin Turner had two hits. Josh Thole had a hit and drew a walk. Torres, Thole and Turner each had a double and Wright hit two homeruns. Davis also hit a homerun. The Mets were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Dickey and Wright each had a throwing error. Thole had a passed ball.

Steve Lombardozzi had two hits, Ryan Zimmerman had two hits and an RBI and Mark DeRosa had a couple of hits. Adam LaRoche drew a walk, Ian Desmond had a hit and Michael Morse had a hit and two RBI. Espinosa had a hit, Roger Bernadina had two hits and an RBI and Sandy Leon had a hit. Moore had two hits, DeRosa and Morse each had a double. Zimmerman had a homerun and the Nationals were 2-14 with runners in scoring position and they left 12 men on base.

Wright hit a two run homerun in the first to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. Zimmerman hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the first to make it a 2-1 game. Davis hit a solo homerun in the top of the second and it was 3-1 Mets. In the third Hairston grounded into a double play but a run scored and Davis had an RBI single to make it 5-1 Mets. Tejada had an RBI single and Wright hit a three run homerun in the fourth inning and the Mets had a 9-1 lead. Morse hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it a 9-2 game. In the eighth Morse hit an RBI double and Leon reached on a throwing error and a run scored to make it 9-4. In the ninth the Nationals scored the last run on a Bernadina RBI single. The final score was 9-5 Mets.

The Mets lost two out of three in the series. The Mets record improved to 47-45 and the Nationals record fell to 53-37. The Mets will return home to open up a three game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The New York Mets continue their slide

The New York Mets were defeated by the Washington Nationals by the score of 4-3 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Chris Young started for the Mets and pitched pretty well but not good enough. Miguel Batista did not pitch well out of the bullpen, David Wright led the Mets offense. Jordan Zimmerman pitched well for the Nationals and Tyler Clippard struggled to close out the game but he did eventually close it out. Bryce Harper led the Nationals offense. 
Young pitched six innings giving up six hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out two. Young lost his fourth game of the season. Batista pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up three hits and two runs with a strikeout, Josh Edgin faced one batter and retired him and Jon Rauch pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Zimmerman improved his record to 7-6 on the season pitching six shutout innings. He gave up four hits and struck out four. Tom Gorzelanny pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run, Sean Burnett pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one and Clippard saved his 15^th game of the season. He gave up a couple of runs and two hits in one inning. He did strike out the side.

Wright had three hits and an RBI, Lucas Duda had a hit and Jason Bay had two hits and an RBI. Andres Torres had a hit and an RBI, Young had a hit and Scott Hairston had a hit. Wright, Young, Duda and Hairston each had a double. Wright and Bay each hit a homerun. The Mets were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Torres had an outfield assist.

Steve Lombardozzi had a hit and two RBI, Harper had two hits and Ryan Zimmerman had a hit. Adam LaRoche had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk, Michael Morse had a hit and Danny Espinosa had a hit. Jesus Flores and Roger Bernadina each had a hit. Zimmerman and Lombardozzi each had a double. LaRoche hit a homerun and the Nationals were 1-3 with five men left on base. Espinosa was caught stealing. Morse had an outfield assist.

LaRoche hit a two run homerun in the sixth to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. Torres hit an RBI single in the seventh to make it a 2-1 game. Lombardozzi hit a two run double in the eighth to make it 4-1 Nationals. The Mets would try to fight back in the ninth inning. Wright and Bay each hit a solo homerun and the final would be 4-3.

The Mets have now lost six straight games. The Mets record dropped to 46-45 on the season. The Nationals improved their record to 53-36. The Mets will try to avoid the sweep on Thursday afternoon.

The Yankees finish off a sweep of the Blue Jays in a rain shortened game

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 6-0 on Wednesday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. The Yankees got a really strong start out of Hiroki Kuroda. The Yankees as they have been doing jumped on the Jays early. Mark Teixeira and DeWayne Wise led the Yankees offense. Ricky Romero started for the Jays and wasn’t very good. J.P. Arencebia led their offense which didn’t have much of an attack. 
Kuroda pitched seven innings giving up no runs and four hits. He walked none and struck out five. Kuroda is now 9-7 on the season. It was a complete game shutout since it was a rain shortened seven inning game. Romero is now 8-6 on the season and he pitched six innings giving up 12 hits and six runs. He walked two and struck out two.

Derek Jeter had two hits and drew a walk, Nick Swisher had a hit and an RBI and Teixeira had two hits and two RBI. Robinson Cano had a hit which extended his hitting streak to 21 straight games. Andruw Jones had a hit and an RBI, Jayson Nix had two hits and Russell Martin had a hit and drew a walk. Wise had two hits and two RBI. Jeter, Cano, Nix and Wise each had a double. Teixeira hit a homerun and the Yankees were 4-6 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Nix was caught stealing. Rodriguez committed an error.

Yunel Escobar had a hit, Arencibia had two hits and Kelly Johnson had a hit. Arencibia hit a double and the Jays were 0-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

The Yankees took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Swisher had an RBI single, Teixeira had a two run homerun and Jones had an RBI single. In the fourth Wise hit an RBI double to make it 5-0. Wise hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to make it 6-0 and that was the final score.

The Yankees won their third straight game and five out of six to open the second half. The Yankees improved to 57-34 on the season. The Jays record fell to 45-47 on the season. The Yankees will head to the West coast and take on the Oakland Athletics for four games and then the Seattle Mariners for three games. The Yankees will begin their four game series in Oakland on Thursday night.

The Mets lose their fourth straight game

The New York Mets were defeated by the Washington Nationals by the score of 5-4 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Nationals park in Washington D.C.. Jon Niese started for the Mets and pitched well. The Mets bullpen blew the game. Ross Detwiler pitched really well for the Nationals and their bullpen struggled a bit also. Josh Thole, David Wright and Daniel Murphy each had two hits. Bryce Harper and Espinoza led the Nationals offense. 
Niese pitched seven innings giving up three hits and a run with no walks and eight strikeouts. Ramon Ramirez pitched to two batters and retired them both, Josh Edgin pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and Bobby Parnell blew his fifth save of the season. Parnell pitched an inning giving up three hits and a run with two strikeouts. Tim Byrdak took his first loss of the season pitching 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with two walks and Pedro Beato didn’t record an out but he threw a wild pitch.

Ruben Tejada had a hit, Thole had two hits and an RBI and Wright had two hits. Scott Hairston had a hit, Jordany Valdespin had a hit and three RBI and Ike Davis had a hit. Andres Torres had a hit, Murphy had two hits and Wright, Murphy and Thole each had a double. Valdespin hit a homerun, the Mets were 2-11 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base.

Steve Lombardozzi had a hit and an RBI, Harper had two hits and an RBI and Ryan Zimmerman drew a walk. Michael Morse had a hit, Ian Desmond drew a walk and Adam LaRoche had a hit. Moore had a hit and an RBI, Espinosa had two hits and an RBI and Mark DeRosa drew a walk. Solano had a hit, Lombardozz had a double, Harper had a triple and Morse hit a homerun. The Nationals were 3-7 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. DeRosa had a stolen base.

Moore hit a solo homerun in the fifth inning to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. Lombardozzi hit an RBI double in the eighth inning to make it a 2-0 game. In the ninth Valdespin hit a three run pinch hit homerun to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. The play was reviewed but not overturned. Espinosa hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at three. Thole hit an RBI double in the tenth to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. Harper hit an RBI triple in the bottom of the tenth and a wild pitch won the game for the Nationals 5-4.

The Mets have now lost four games in a row to open the second half of the season. The Mets record fell to 46-44 and the Nationals record improved to 52-36. The final game of the series will be played on Wednesday night.

The Yankees ace returns and shuts down the Jays

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 6-1 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. CC Sabathia missed a couple of starts and about three weeks but he started this game. Sabathia pitched really well and the bullpen made it interesting in the end but Rafael Soriano closed it out. Brett Cecil started for the Jays and pitched pretty well, their bullpen wasn’t so good. Jayson Nix led the Yankees offensive attack and Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind led the Jays offense. 
Sabathia pitched six shutout innings. He gave up four hits, a walk and struck out six. Sabathia earned his tenth win of the season. Cody Eppley faced one batter and got him out, Boone Logan faced two batters and retired them both and Chad Qualls pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout. Clay Rapada gave up a hit without recording an out and Rafael Soriano picked up his 24^th save of the season pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up no hits, runs or walks. He didn’t strike out a batter. Cecil suffered his second loss of the season. He pitched six innings giving up six hits and three runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Sam Dyson pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up four hits and three runs with a walk, Aaron Loup faced two batters and retired them both and Chad Cordero pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Derek Jeter had two hits and an RBI, Curtis Granderson had a hit and Mark Teixeira had a hit and drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez had an RBI, Robinson Cano had a hit and Nick Swisher drew two walks. Andruw Jones had a hit and three RBI, Nix had three hits and Chris Stewart had a hit and an RBI. Nix, Teixeira, Stewart and Jeter each had a double. Jones hit a homerun. The Yankees were 3-10 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Nix was caught stealing.

Rajai Davis had a hit, Colby Rasmus had an RBI and Brett Lawrie drew a walk. Encarnacion had two hits, Lind had two hits and Yunel Escobar drew a walk. Anthony Gose had a hit which was his first major league hit, Jeff Mathis had a hit and Encarnancion had two doubles. Davis and Mathis each hit a double. The Blue Jays were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Davis had a stolen base and Davis had an error.

In the second inning Jones hit a three run homerun to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Stewart and Jeter each had an RBI double in the seventh and Rodriguez an RBI groundout. It was 6-0 Yankees and the Jays got on the board in the eighth inning. Rasmus hit a sacrifice fly and that would be all the scoring in the game.

The Yankees have won the first two games of this three game series. The Yankees will look for the sweep on Wednesday afternoon. The Yankees improved their record to 56-34 and the Jays record fell to 45-46. The Yankees remain in first place in the AL East and have the best record in baseball. The Yankees coming into this game had a nine game lead in the division.

Yankees Monday postgame notes

Here are the Yankees postgame notes courtesy of Chad Jennings and the Lohud Yankees blog.  This is after a big Monday night victory over Toronto.

There probably isn’t a more mild-mannered guy on the Yankees than Raul Ibanez. Ask him a question, and you’re going to get a polite, politically correct answer.

But aside from answering questions in a way that would make Bill Belichick proud, Ibanez has also done something else extremely well for the Yankees — hit in the clutch.

“I don’t really think about it too much,” he said. “I just try to do whatever I can to help out.”

Ibanez did more than help out tonight, coming through with the decisive blow in a 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. After Nick Swisher struck out with the bases loaded for the second time in the game, Ibanez came up with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and blasted a grand slam into the right field seats to break a 2-2 tie.

“It works the opposite,” Ibanez said when asked if he was looking for a pitch he could take out. “If you allow yourself to think grand slam, you’ll end up hitting a groundball, usually, or something good doesn’t happen. Bases loaded with two outs, there’s no advantage to hitting a fly ball, really. I was just trying to hit a line drive and not do too much.”

Of Ibanez’s 12 homers this season, eight have come in the sixth inning or later. His grand slam tonight was the first by a Yankee in the eighth inning or later to give the team the lead since Bobby Abreu did it in 2008 (also against Toronto).

“He had really almost a week off because we saw all of the lefties in Boston, and then we had the four days off (for the All-Star break), and then we see C.J. Wilson on the first night back,” Joe Girardi said. “I figured it might take him a little while to find his swing, but he found it at the right time.”

 With the early-season injury to regular left fielder Brett Gardner (and in case you missed it, the news on Gardner didn’t get any better today), Ibanez has been pressed into playing the field much more often than the Yankees originally anticipated. Some have pondered whether or not that has helped his focus at the plate, but Ibanez dismissed that notion. “I just check the lineup, and if I’m out there, I’m ready,” he said.

 Phil Hughes didn’t dominate the Blue Jays’ lineup tonight, but he continues to show his maturity as a pitcher. He didn’t have his best swing-and-miss stuff, but he gutted his way through seven innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and three walks while striking out four. “It was a battle today,” Hughes said. “I had a good fastball, but I was constantly behind in count. … It was a grind, and I just tried to hang in there and keep it close.”

Hughes got out of a bit of a jam in the second inning, and that seemed to give him some confidence. After allowing a leadoff double to Edwin Encarnacion and walking Adam Lind, Hughes bore down to record the next three outs without allowing a run. “That was big,” he said. “You don’t want to fall into a hole like that, and I was able to get some outs and get us going there.”

Here’s Girardi’s thoughts on Hughes’ performance: “I just love the way that he competed. He used his fastball, curveball and changeup pretty effectively, and he stayed away from big innings. He got some big outs when he needed to.”

When Hughes was asked about Ibanez’s big homer, he cracked a smile and said, “I figured he’d be taking 3-1 with the bases loaded, but he obviously thought otherwise.” Ibanez’s response? “I was not looking to take in that count,” he said, before reverting back to his typical generic answer. “But at the same time, you try not to do too much, either.”

 Ibanez also heaped praise on the rest of the Yankees’ lineup, particularly some of the at-bats that came before him. “It’s a lineup that when we do what we’re capable of doing and grind out at-bats and guys see a lot of pitches and fight, it puts a lot of pressure on the other team’s pitcher,” he said. “He knows he’s got to throw a lot of pitches… It’s advantegous for the offense when guys see a lot of pitches, and pitchers know that they have to make pitches. Guys aren’t going to swing at everything.”

 Lost in all of the Ibanez-mania was the fact that Russell Martin had himself a bit of game. He was subject to a lot of criticism on this blog throughout the day in our trade deadline post, but he answered the bell tonight. He hit an opposite field solo homer in the second to give the Yankees an initial 1-0 lead, and then almost hit one out to left-center in the eighth. He broke a 66 at-bat homerless streak, dating back to June 10.

 Robinson Cano had an RBI double in the third to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games, which is also the longest active streak in the majors.

Alex Rodriguez was originally scheduled to play third, but was moved to DH due to neck stiffness. As he has done all season, A-Rod hit the ball well as the DH, going 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored. “Alex woke up with a little bit of a stiff neck,” Girardi said. “He tried to work through it and he took groundballs, but it was on his right side. He was able to turn left, but it was hard for him to turn (right). When he would throw, it would seem to aggravate it. He’ll probably DH again tomorrow.”

Raul Ibanez leads the Yankees to victory over the Toronto Blue Jays

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 6-3 on Monday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched well. The Yankees bullpen made it interesting but shut it down. The Yankees offense was carried by Raul Ibanez. Wilson Alvarez started for the Blue Jays and pitched well and the Yankees got to their bullpen. Edwin Encarnacion and Rajai Davis led the Blue Jays offense. 
Hughes pitched seven innings giving up two runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Dave Robertson pitched an inning to earn his first victory of the season. He walked a batter, Cody Eppley pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and an unearned run with a walk and a strikeout and Rafael Soriano pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit to pick up his 23^rd save of the season. He struck out a batter. Alvarez pitched six innings giving up five hits and two runs with four walks and six strikeouts. Chad Beck pitched one perfect inning with a strikeout, Aaron Loup pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs and took his first loss of the season. Jason Frasor pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two runs with a walk and a strikeout and Chad Cordero pitched to one batter and got him out.

Curtis Granderson had a hit, Alex Rodriguez had two hits and Robinson Cano had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Mark Teixeira drew two walks, Nick Swisher had a hit and Ibanez had a hit, four RBI and drew a walk. Eric Chavez drew a walk and Russell Martin had a hit and an RBI. Rodriguez and Cano each hit a double. Martin and Ibanez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Wise had an error.

Jose Bautista drew a walk, Ben Francisco drew a walk and Encarnacion had two hits and an RBI. Adam Lind had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Kelly Johnson drew a walk and Davis had two hits. J.P. Arencebia had a hit and drew a walk. Encarnacion had two doubles, Davis hit a double. Lind hit a homerun and the Blue Jays were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Arencibia had a passed ball.

Martin hit a solo homerun in the second to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the third Cano hit an RBI double to make it 2-0 Yankees. Lind hit a solo homerun in the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1. In the sixth Encarnacion had an RBI double to tie the game at two. Ibanez hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to give the Yankees a 6-2 lead. Arencibia had an RBI single in the ninth to make it 6-3 and that would be the final score.

The Yankees improved their record to 55-34. The Blue Jays record dropped to 45-45. The Yankees took the first game of three, the two teams will play on Tuesday night and then complete the series on Wednesday afternoon.

The Mets get swept in Atlanta to open the second half

The New York Mets were defeated by the Atlanta Braves by the score of 6-1 on Sunday afternoon. The game took place at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia. The Mets were unable to avoid the sweep and are not off to a good start in the second half of the season. The Mets had a good first half but a lot of people question if they could keep it up, they need to bounce quick and not let this get out of hand. Johan Santana started for the Mets and pitched poorly. Ben Sheets started for the Braves and pitched well. Andres Torres led the Mets offense. Chipper Jones led the Braves offense in hits and Freddie Freeman had the most RBI. 
Santana pitched five innings giving up eight hits and six runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Santana is now 6-6 on the season. Ramon Ramirez pitched two innings giving up two walks and striking out one and Miguel Batista pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout. Sheets earned his first win of the season pitching six innings giving up two hits and no runs with a walk and five strikeouts. Kris Medlen pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up three hits and a run with a walk, Eric O’Flaherty pitched to one batter and retired him and Anthony Varvaro pitched one inning giving up a hit and struck out one.

Ruben Tejada had a hit, Daniel Murphy had a hit and David Wright drew two walks. Scott Hairston had a hit, Torres had two hits and an RBI and Josh Thole had a hit. Murphy, Hairston and Tejada each had a double. The Mets were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base.

Michael Bourn had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Martin Prado had a hit and an RBI and Jason Heyward had a hit and an RBI. Jones had two hits, Freeman had a hit and three RBI and Brian McCann had a hit. Matt Diaz had a hit, Sheets drew a walk and Ben Francisco drew a walk. Prado, Diaz and Bourn each had a double. Freeman hit a homerun. The Braves were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning. The Braves scored all six runs in the fifth. Bourn hit an RBI double, Prado hit a sacrifice fly, Heyward hit an RBI single and Freeman hit a three run homerun. It was 6-0 Braves. The Mets would score their only run and the final run of the game in the seventh inning. Torres hit an RBI single.

The Braves swept the three game series from the Mets. The Mets record fell to 46-43 and the Braves improved their record to 49-39. The Mets will have an off day on Monday and then head to Washington to take on the Nationals in a three game series.

The Yankees fail to complete the sweep over the Anaheim Angels

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Anaheim Angels by the score of 10-8 on Sunday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and wasn’t very good. Jered Weaver started for the Angels and got roughed up a little bit also. It was an offensive day as each team hit four homeruns. Eric Chavez led the Yankees offense but there was a bunch of good days by the Yankees hitters. Mark Trumbo led the Angels offense. 
Nova pitched six innings giving up nine hits and six runs. He walked two and struck out three, Nova lost his fourth game of the season. Chad Qualls pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up four hits and three runs with a walk, Boone Logan pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and D.J. Mitchell pitched one inning giving up two hits and a run with two walks. Weaver won his 11^th game of the season pitching seven innings and giving up ten hits and five runs. He walked one and struck out four. Jason Isringhausen pitched a perfect inning, Frieri didn’t record an out and gave up a hit and three runs with two walks and Scott Downs pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and two walks with a strikeout. Keven Jepsen pitched to one batter and retired him. Jepsen earned his first save of the season.

Derek Jeter had a hit, RBI and drew a walk, Curtis Granderson had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Alex Rodriguez had two hits and two RBI. Robinson Cano had two hits and drew a walk, Mark Teixeira had a hit and two RBI and Nick Swisher drew two walks. Raul Ibanez had a hit, Chavez had three hits and an RBI. Rodriguez, Granderson, Chavez and Teixeira each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Cano was caught stealing.

Mike Trout had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Erik Aybar had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Albert Pujols had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Kendry Morales had two hits, Trumbo had three hits and an RBI and Alberto Callaspo had an RBI. Maizur Izturis had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks, Peter Bourjos had two hits and Bobby Wilson had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Trout had a double, Aybar, Pujols, Izturis and Trumbo each hit a homerun. The Angels were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and they left ten men on base. Bourjos had an outfield assist.

In the first inning the Angels had back-to-back homeruns. Aybar and Pujols each hit a solo homerun to make it 2-0 Angels. The Yankees came back in the bottom of the first to tie the game at two. Rodriguez hit a two run homerun. Jeter hit an RBI single in the second to make it 3-2 Yankees. In the sixth Callaspo hit a sacrifice fly and Izturis hit a two run homerun to make it 5-3 Angels. In the bottom of the sixth Granderson hit a solo homerun to make it 5-4. Pujols grounded into a double play in the seventh and a run scored to make it 6-4 Angels. Chavez homered in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 6-5 game. In the eighth the Angels seemed to break the game open. Wilson had an RBI single, Trout had an RBI double and Aybar had a sacrifice bunt which scored a run. The score was 9-5 Angels and in the ninth they added another run to make it 10-5. Trumbo hit a solo homerun, the Yankees rallied in the ninth to score three runs but left the bases loaded. Teixeira hit a two run homerun and Granderson had an RBI walk. Rodriguez popped up to end the game leaving the bases loaded.

The Yankees won two out of three in the series. The Yankees record dropped to 54-34 and the Angels improved their record to 49-40. The Yankees will remain at home and start a three game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.