The New York Yankees lose to Mike Trout and the Anaheim Angels

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Anaheim Angels on Monday night.  The game took place at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California and the final score was 4-1.  CC Sabathia started and pitched ok and Brett Gardner had three hits to lead the offense. 

Sabathia pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up six hits and four runs with a walk and five strikeouts.  He lost his eighth game of the season.  Nick Rumbelow pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and a strikeout. 

C.J. Wilson pitched six innings giving up five hits and a run with three walks and five strikeouts.  Wilson won his sixth game of the season.  Trevor Gott pitched an inning giving up a hit and he walked a batter, Joe Smith pitched an inning giving up a hit and he struck out one and Huston Street saved his 22nd game of the season pitching an inning and giving up a hit. 

Gardner had three hits, Alex Rodriguez had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Mark Teixeira drew a walk.  Carlos Beltran had two hits, Brian McCann drew a walk and Didi Gregorius had two hits and drew a walk.  Gardner hit two doubles and the Yankees were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.  Murphy had a passed ball. 

Johnny Giavotella had a hit, Kole Calhoun had a hit and an RBI and Mike Trout had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk.  Albert Pujols had a hit and an RBI, David Freese drew a walk and C.J. Cron had a hit and an RBI.  Daniel Robertson had a hit, Pujols and Calhoun each hit a double and Trout and Cron each hit a homerun.  The Angels were 0-3 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.  Trout had a stolen base. 

In the first Pujols hit an RBI double to give the Angels a 1-0 lead.  In the third Rodriguez hit an RBI single to tie the game at one.  Trout hit a solo homerun in the third to give the Angels back the lead at 2-1.  In the fifth Kalhoun hit an RBI double to increase the lead to 3-1 and in the seventh Cron hit a solo homerun to make it 4-1 which would be the final score.  Trout robbed Young of two doubles and three RBI so he was the biggest reason the Yankees lost as he took away three runs and had his own solo homerun to account for four runs.  The two teams will play on Tuesday night in game two of three. 

The New York Yankees with a comeback win over the Angels to open the second half

The New York Yankees defeated the Anaheim Angels by the score of 6-5 on Friday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,NY. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and pitched well for the most part. He had one bad innings. C.J. Wilson started for the Angels and pitched very well, his bullpen let him down. The offensive star for the Yankees was Mark Teixeira and Russell Martin had a big night. The Angels were led by Mark Trumbo. 
Kuroda pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and five runs with a walk and six strikeouts. Chad Qualls got his second win of the season pitching 2/3 of an inning and retiring both hitters and Rafael Soriano picked up his 21^st save of the season. Soriano pitched an inning giving up a hit and he struck out one. Wilson pitched seven innings giving up five hits and two runs. He walked two and struck out seven. Scott Downs pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and four runs with two walks and Kevin Jepsen pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and walking a batter.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Curtis Granderson had a hit and drew a walk and Teixeira had two hits and five RBI. Robinson Cano had a hit, Nick Swisher had a hit and drew two walks and Raul Ibanez was intentionally walked. Martin had a hit, RBI and drew a walk. Swisher and Jeter each had a double, Granderson hit a triple and Teixeira hit two homeruns. The Yankees were 2-11 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. DeWayne Wise had a stolen base.

Mike Trout had two hits, Albert Pujols had two hits and an RBI and Trumbo had two hits and three RBI. Alberto Callaspo drew a walk, Howie Kendrick had two hits and Erik Aybar had a hit and an RBI. Kendrick, Trout and Pujols hit a double. Aybar and Trumbo each hit a homerun. The Angels were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base. Trout had two stolen bases, Trumbo and Callaspo were caught stealing. Callaspo committed an error. In the third Aybar hit a solo homerun to give the Angels a 1-0 lead. The Yankees took a 2-1 lead on a Teixeira homerun in the bottom of the third inning. Trumbo hit a three run homerun in the seventh inning to make it 4-2 Angels. In the eighth Pujols hit an RBI double to make it 5-2. In the bottom of the eighth Teixeira hit a three run homerun and Martin hit an RBI single to make it 6-5 Yankees and that was the final score.

The Yankees record improved to 53-33 and the Angels record dropped to 48-39. The two teams will play game two of their three game series on Saturday afternoon. The Yankees have the best record in baseball and the Angels have been playing great after their terrible start to the season.

Yankees winning streak ends at four as they are buried by the Angels

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this afternoon by the score of 7-1. Phil Hughes started and was not very good, David Phelps was great out of the bullpen. Phelps saved the Yankees bullpen from extra work. The Yankees offense only had six hits and left many runners on base. C.J. Wilson started for the Angels and got his first career win against the Yankees. 
Hughes pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up six runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out six. Phelps pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up one run and one hit. He walked two and struck out four. Clay Rapada faced one batter and got him out. Wilson for the Angels got the win pitching six innings giving up one run on six hits. He walked two and struck out two. The Angels bullpen pitched 2 2/3 perfect innings.

Derek Jeter had two hits, Nick Swisher had a hit and Robinson Cano had a hit and an RBI. Mark Teixeira had a hit, Curtis Granderson drew a walk and Russell Martin drew a walk. Eduardo Nunez had a hit. The Yankees were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and they left nine on base.

Erick Aybar had a hit, Howie Kendrick had three hits and three RBI and Albert Pujols had two hits and an RBI. Vernon Wells had two hits and an RBI, Chris Ianetta had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks. Pujols had a double, Ianetta, Kendrick and Wells each hit a homerun. The Angels were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Wilson and Aybar each made an error.

Ianetta hit a two run homerun in the second inning to give the Angels a 2-0 lead. Pujols hit an RBI double in the third and it was 3-0 Angels. In the fourth Kendrick hit a three run homerun to make it 6-0. That was the end for Hughes as he walked off the mound to some boos. In the fifth Wells hit a solo homerun to extend the lead to 7-0. The Yankees finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth on a Cano RBI single. That was the final run of the game as it ended 7-1 in favor of the Angels.

The two teams will play the rubber game of the three game series tomorrow night at 8:00PM. Ivan Nova will make his second start of the season against Jerome Williams who is making his first start of the season. The Yankees record is now 4-4 as the four game winning streak ends. The Angels are now 3-5 on the season. The Yankees will look to win the game tomorrow and then play four against the Twins at home before hitting the road once again. The Yankees would love to be 5-2 or 6-1 on this seven game homestand. They will try to begin a new winning streak tomorrow night.

Rangers win Game Five and move one win away from a World Championship

The Texas Rangers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 4-2 on Monday night. The win put the Rangers up 3-2 in the series and they can wrap it up with a victory on Wednesday night in St. Louis. This has been a great World Series and feels like it will or should go seven games, we will see what happens on Wednesday. The pitching was good again and the difference in the game was clutch hitting by the Rangers and lack of by the Cardinals.
Chris Carpenter started for the Cardinals and pitched well. He was sailing along until he gave up a homerun to Adrian Beltre in the sixth inning. Carpenter pitched seven innings giving up two runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Octavio Dotel took the loss pitching 1/3 of an inning giving up one hit and two runs with a walk and a strikeout, Marc Rzepczynski pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and striking out one and Lance Lynn gave up a walk without recording an out. Jason Motte pitched 1/3 of an inning striking out the only batter he faced.

C.J. Wilson pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Rangers giving up four hits and two runs with one of them being earned. He walked five and struck out three. Scott Feldman pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one, Alexi Ogando pitched one inning giving up two hits and three walks with a strikeout and Darren Oliver recorded the win pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout. Neftali Feliz picked up the save pitching an inning walking one and striking out two.

Yadier Molina was the hitting star for the Cardinals as he had three hits and an RBI. Rafael Furcal had a hit, Allen Craig had a walk and Albert Pujols was walked intentionally three times. Matt Holliday had a hit and two walks, Lance Berkman had two walks and David Freese had a hit. Skip Schumaker had a hit and an RBI and Nick Punto had a walk. The Cardinals were 1-12 with runners in scoring position and they left 12 men on base. Carpenter made an error.

The Rangers offense was well balanced but Napoli delivered the big blow. Ian Kinsler had two walks, Elvis Andrus had a hit and Josh Hamilton had a hit and a walk. Michael Young had a hit, Adrian Beltre had a hit and an RBI and Nelson Cruz had a hit and a walk. David Murphy had two hits, Napoli had a hit and two RBI and Mitch Moreland had a hit and an RBI. Young and Napoli had doubles and Moreland and Beltre had a homerun. The Rangers were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and they left 10 men on base. Murphy and Wilson each made an error.

In the second inning the Cardinals took a 2-0 lead. Molina hit an RBI single and Schumaker hit a ground out scoring another run. The Rangers scored a run in the third inning on a solo homerun by Moreland to make it a 2-1 game. It would stay 2-1 until the sixth inning when Beltre got a hold of a hanging curveball from Carpenter and deposited it into the seats to tie the game at two. In the eighth Napoli hit a two run double to give Texas a 4-2 lead and that would be the final score.

The Rangers now lead the best of seven series three games to two. The Rangers after losing the first game at home have come back and won the last two. The teams will have a day off on Tuesday and then resume the series on Wednesday night. The Rangers can wrap up the series with a victory and if not there will be a Game Seven on Thursday night in St. Louis. This has been a terrific World Series and that continued in Game Five, it seems like there should be a game Seven in this series the way it is going. Pujols was intentionally walked three times in this game and I expect that to continue after his three homerun game the other night. If the Rangers do win the World Series it will be their first World Championship. Napoli became the second player to have four multi-RBI games in a World Series since 1960. He joins Mickey Mantle in that group. He is hitting 308 with two homeruns and nine RBI in the series. He is a leading candidate for MVP if the Rangers win the series. The other big story of the game was the lack of clutch hitting from St. Louis. You can also credit the Rangers pitching for that, but they were 1-12 with runners in scoring position. The team that has won Game Five in the World Series when tied at two games each has gone on and won the series 26 of the previous 39 times.

Detroit avoids elimination and the series heads back to Texas

The Detroit Tigers defeated the Texas Rangers by the score of 7-5 on Thursday evening. The Tigers with the win staved off elimination and forced a game Six back in Texas on Saturday night. The game wasn’t really in doubt but it got interesting in the end as Justin Verlander threw 133 pitches and Phil Coke finished off the game because the Detroit bullpen was so worn out. Verlander threw well even though it wasn’t great once again and C.J. Wilson was cruising along for Texas until a lucky bounce for Detroit and then it all fell apart in the sixth inning.
C.J. Wilson pitched six innings giving up eight hits and six runs with two walks and five strikeouts. He took the loss in the game. Koji Uehara came into the game and wasn’t very good, he pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and a strikeout. The last 1 1/3 innings were good for the Texas bullpen as they gave up one hit and struck out one. Verlander for the Tigers pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs. He walked three and struck out eight. He has been heroic in the postseason but clearly isn’t the same dominating pitcher. He has a 5.56 ERA in the postseason. Verlander picked up the win and Coke pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout.

The Texas offense was spread out as they had ten hits. Ian Kinsler had a hit and a walk, Elvis Andrus had a hit and Josh Hamilton had two hits and two RBI. Michael Young had two hits and an RBI, Adrian Beltre had a walk and Mike Napoli had two hits and a walk. Nelson Cruz had a hit and two RBI, David Murphy had a hit and Mitch Moreland had a walk. Kinsler, Young, Murphy and Hamilton all had a double. Cruz had another homerun his fifth of the series. The Rangers were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and they left ten on base. Andrus made a throwing error.

Delmon Young led the Detroit offense with two hits and three RBI. He had two homeruns. Ryan Raburn had two hits and an RBI, Miguel Cabrera had a hit, RBI and two walks and Victor Martinez had a hit and an RBI. Brandon Inge had a hit and a walk, Alex Avila had a hit and an RBI and Ramon Santiago had two hits. Cabrera had a double and Martinez had a triple. Avila and Raburn also had homeruns to go along with the two by Young. The Tigers were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Cabrera had a stolen base and Santiago made an error.

In the first inning Hamilton hit a sacrifice fly to give Texas a 1-0 lead. In the third Avila hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one. In the fourth Young hit a solo homerun to give Detroit a 2-1 lead. Hamilton hit an RBI single in the fifth to tie the game at two. In the sixth Cabrera hit an RBI double, Martinez hit an RBI triple and Young hit a two run homerun to give Detroit a 6-2 lead. The hit by Cabrera would of probably been a routine out but instead hit the third base bag and rolled into the outfield for a double and that started the big inning. In the seventh Raburn hit a solo homerun to give Detroit a 7-2 lead. The Rangers started their comeback in the eighth with a two run homerun by Cruz to make it 7-4. In the ninth Young hit an RBI single to make it 7-5 and that was how the game would end.

The Tigers now trail the series three games to two and they will head to Texas to try and force a Game Seven. The series will take a day off on Friday and return on Saturday night. These games have been great and the Tigers have shown resilience. The Rangers I am sure are disappointed they didn’t win it in Game Five but probably feel good about going home to try and win the American League pennant and head to the World Series.

Cruz set an LCS record with five homeruns in the series. The pitching matchup in Game Six is Derek Holland against Max Scherzer. The Rangers twice in this game failed to get runners home from third with less then two outs. They made Verlander work hard but they didn’t get the big blow when they needed it. The Tigers hit for the natural cycle in a 2-2 game. It was the first natural cycle in postseason history which is a single, double, triple and homerun in the same inning. Wilson who is a free agent and looking for a big payday is 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA in three postseason starts this year. This has been a very good series and the drama will continue to unfold on Saturday night, will the Rangers finish the Tigers off or will the Tigers force a winner take all Game Seven? Stay tuned to find out on Saturday.