Jon Lester speaks out about the Red Sox collapse and locker room

Here is a link to a story in Boston.com from today.  Peter Abraham who is an old friend, he used to be the beat reporter for the Yankees and the Journal News.  He also had a famous blog, Lohud Yankees that a lot have tried to copy off of or at least get inspiration from. I am included in that list and now he does a great job with boston.com and the Red Sox.  It is amazing how the mighty have fallen quickly.  I wouldn't count them out just yet but they sure are going through a lot with their manager and general manager gone and the criticism the players are getting.  Lester comes out and defends what was going on in the locker room but also admitted it, I wonder how this is all going to play out with the fans.  It will be an interesting winter up in Boston, that is for sure. 
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/10/more_from_jon_l.html

Baseball News

I am back, i took the day off yesterday due to me and my family having some kind of stomach virus. I didn't get to talk about the Yankees inviting 20 non roster players to spring training. I am not going to go through the whole list but basically you know most of them. The Yankees have announced some of the signings in the past few weeks. Reid Gorecki, Royce Ring, Marcus Thames etc got the invites and minor league deals with incentives if they make the roster. The 2 top catchers Austin Romine and Jesus Montero got invites along with Kei Igawa. If you forget who Igawa is he is the Japanese pitcher the signed a fews yrs ago that has become a bust. I am thinking the Yankees will give him the chance to be the 2nd lefty out of the pen but I doubt that will happen. The Yankees currently have Damaso Marte but they have other guys who will try and win that job. Wilkens Arias and Jeremy Bleich are 2 left handers to keep an eye on. Arias is 29 so not much of a prospect but held lefties to a sub 200 batting avg last year in the minors. Bleich spent his first year in pro ball last season and is a starting pitcher that could move quickly. It is always good to see some of the prospects and guys fighting for jobs in spring training. It appears that Chien-Ming Wang will be heading to Washington. He is expected to sign a minor league deal for 2 million with the chance to make the team when healthy. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported this morning that he already chose the Nationals. The Atlanta Braves offered Johnny Damon a one year deal today for 4 million with deferred money that could double it. He apparently turned it down still seeking a 2 yr deal. The Tigers and Rays are still said to have interest but may also want to keep it at a one year deal.

Yankees workout and have announcements

The New York Yankees worked out today at the Stadium and now I am sure are lounging around watching the Twins/Tigers to see who they will face. The first thing that happened today was reported by Sam Borden of the Journal News and that was that Jose Molina will catch A.J. Burnett. Jorge Posada if you listen to the audio isn't too pleased about it and said " I just hope we win that game, thats all, that is all I have to say." If you know Posada like most of us do, he is a fiery guy and if A.J. goes out and doesn't pitch well this will be a big problem as Posada will be very displeased and there will be tension. A.J. Burnett better come up big if he is getting his way, also Joe Girardi is taking a chance but you have to give him credit for doing what he thinks is best especially knowing it isn't a popular decision. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Chad Jennings who is making his debut on the blog and as Yankees beat reporter replacing Peter Abraham had some notes from the clubhouse. He saw that the Yankees had 30 lockers with nameplates which means that they will carry an extra 5 guys most likely just in case. Sam Borden is now reporting that Brian Bruney has been left off the roster along with Sergio Mitre and Ramiro Pena but they will keep in shape in Tampa just in case they are needed or if the Yankees advance and change their minds. It would seem the last roster spot is down to Damaso Marte or Freddy Guzman. It would depend on who they play, it looks like if they play the Twins they will take Marte since they have more lefties and if it is the Tigers then Guzman will make it. Brian Bruney as you would expect wasn't too happy, he didn't talk for too long. Joe Girardi also did announce just a little while ago that A.J. Burnett will be starting game 2. I think the numbers show that Burnett is better at home and better with Molina but he needs to step up and have a big game.

Royals At Yankees

The Yankees will go for their 7th straight victory and 102nd overall. The Yankees will continue to rest some regulars and focus on getting read for the postseason. Peter Abraham of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees Blog will be leaving us after today and headed to the Boston Globe to cover the Red Sox. I want to wish him all the best but not the Red Sox and maybe he will be back around for the ALCS. Chad Jennings who I interviewed earlier this year on this blog will be taking over for Peter and will start next Wed with game 1 of the playoffs. He has done a great job with the AAA Scranton blog and deserves this oppurtunity. I have reached out to him to personally congratulate him and wish him the best. Sam Borden will be filling in for Peter for the last few games and I know he will do a fine job as well. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Yankees Press Notes. The Yankees are 45 games over 500 for the first time since ending the 2002 season at 103-58. They have not been 46 games over since the 1998 team was 114-48 which is just crazy but these two teams have been compared a lot and they can have something in common with a Yankees victory tonight. The Yankees have gone 30-7 over their last 37 home games. They have just made this a huge homefield advantage once again and it should be even that much more intimidating during the playoffs so lets go fans, lets make the stadium rock. The Yankees are 50-16 at home since A-rod returned. The Yankees have 5 players with 25+ homeruns. The players are Robinson Cano, Hideki Matsui, A-rod, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira. This is the first time in team history they have done this. Johnny Damon has 24 and Jorge Posada has 22. K.C. has lost 5 of its last 6 even though they have played better in Sept. A.J. Burnett after having a tough few weeks has given up 3 runs in his last 12 2/3 innings. His fathers surgery went well and maybe his mind will be clearer now also. Jorge Posada will catch tomorrow and Ian Kennedy threw a simulated game today. This is from Peter Abraham. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Gardner(CF) Molina(C) Pena(2B)

Royals at Yankees

The Yankees take on the Royals at 7:05 on YES. The Yankees have clinched everything they could in the regular season. The goal now is to stay healthy and finalize their playoff rosters. They will see how Robertson does this week and if Bruney can continue to be effective as well as see if Gaudin will be a long man or they will go with 2 lefties etc. The games don't mean anything as they could lose them all and still have the best record in baseball. Hereare the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. RHP Dave Robertson has been cleared to pitch and you can expect to see him tomorrow at some point. He has been out since Sept. 5 with a sore elbow. He has 61 strikeouts in 41 innings and could play a big role in the postseason. Andy Pettitte banked an additional $750,000 when he went over the 190-inning mark. He needs 8.2 innings to get to 200 and another $750,000, which won’t be happening. The Yankees are 44 games over .500. They have not been 45 games over since finishing 2002 with a 103-58 record. Yankees Lineup: Gardner(CF) Cabrera(RF) Damon(LF) Posada(DH) Cano(2B) Hinske(3B) Miranda(1B) Cervelli(C) Pena(SS)

Yanks go for sweep and clinch homefield

RED SOX (91-63)Ellsbury CFPedroia 2BBay LFYoukilis 1BOrtiz DHLowell 3BDrew RFVaritek CGonzalez SS Pitching: RHP Paul Byrd (1-2, 6.04). The Yankees need one win in their last seven games to clinch the division title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Only the Red Sox can catch the Yankees in the division and for the best record in the league which they would have to win all of their games and hope the Yankees lose all of theirs. The Yankees are going to clinch and hope to do it in front of the Red Sox today. Here are the pregame notes and lineups via Peter Abraham. After losing the first eight games of the season series, the Yankees have won eight of the last nine games against Boston. The Red Sox lead the season series 9-8. Each team has scored 97 runs. The Yankees have won four straight, 12 of 18, 21 of 30 and 37 of 51. Boston has lost four of its last six. Robbie Cano needs one hit for 200. … Johnny Damon is one home run shy of a career-high 25. The Yankees have won six straight games at home against Boston. It’s the longest such streak since 2001 when the Yankees won seven straight. Johnny Damon needs one more game to mark his 14th consecutive season of at least 140 games. Only four players in history have been as durable. Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson and Pete Rose played at least 140 games for 16 consecutive seasons. Willie Mays did it 15 years. Cal Ripken Jr., in case you were wondering, did it 16 out of 17 years. Pettitte is 17-9, 3.76 in 33 career starts against Boston. Pettitte need 5.2 innings to reach 190 innings and an additional $750,000 in bonus payments. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Gardner(CF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(LF) Molina(C) Sox Lineup: Ellsbury(CF) Pedroia(2B) Bay(LF) Youk(1B) Ortiz(DH) Lowell(3B) Drew(RF) Varitek(C) Gonzalez(SS)

Red Sox at Yankees

The New York Yankees will try and win their 4th game in a row and in the process be one win away from clinching the AL East. CC Sabathia the ace of the team takes the mound against Daisuke Matsusaka. The Yankees are now 7-1 in their last 8 games against Boston after starting out 0-8. Here are some pregame notes and the lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. Boston has a magic number of 3 to clinch the wildcard over the Texas Rangers. The Yankees are 27-7 at home since the all star break. They are 53-23 overall at home, it is amazing to me with those numbers they actually lost 2 games at home to the Nationals. CC Sabathia is 8-0 with a 2.24 era in his last 10 starts. He has allowed only 55 hits in 72 1/3 innings. He has struck out 77 with only 17 walks. He is 2-1 with a 2.95 era in 3 starts against Boston this season and 4-5 with a 3.62 era in his career against the Sox. Jude Sonia Sotomayor a yankees fan from the Bronx will throw out the first pitch today. She was instrumental in ending the baseball strike of 1994. Dave Miley a good guy and good manager for the AAA Scranton Yankees has joined the coaching staff for the rest of the season. Robinson Cano needs 2 hits to become the fifth yankees second baseman in history to collect 200 hits in a season. He has 47 doubles which is the most since Alfonso Soriano had 51 in 2002. Cano has also scored 99 runs. The only two yankees second baseman in history to have 200 hits and 100 runs scored are Soriano in 2002 and Stuffy Stirnweiss in 1944. Derek Jeter has led off the first inning with a hit in 7 of the last 12 games and a MLB best 49 times this season. This is coming from Baseballreference.com. He also has reached 30 games for the fourth time in his career. There are some good stats about Boston but you can check that out at the Lohud Yankees Blog as we will only deal with the Yankees right now. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Red Sox at Yankees

The New York Yankees open a 3 game series with the Red Sox tonight at 7 on MY9 and MLB network. Joba Chamberlain gets the start against Jon Lester. This is the last series of the year, Boston holds a 9-6 lead and they wont see each other again unless they meet in the ALCS. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. Boston is 21-8 since Aug 23, their magic number to clinch the wildcard is 3 and they say the will celebrate in Yankee stadium if they clinch it. The Yankees magic number is 5 so they would need a sweep to clinch the division and most likely homefield advantage. Joba is 1-4 with a 8.25 era in his last 9 starts. Opponents are hitting 327 with a 409 obp against him in that time. Brian Cashman just recently said he needs to earn his way onto the postseason roster although Joe Girardi says he will be on it. It would be beneficial for him to pitch well starting tonight. The Yankees hope to get him through 6 innings tonight. Jon Lester was 3-5 with a 6.07 era in his first 11 starts of the season. He is 11-2 with a 2.13 era since then. He is 3-0 with a 3.11 era in 7 career starts against the Yankees. Robinson Cano is 19 of his last 48 and Mark Teixeira was 10 of 23 with 6xbh and 6 rbi's on the roadtrip. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yankees at Angels

The Yankees beat the Angels 6-5 last night, scoring a run in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly by Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees clinched a playoff spot last night. They lead the Red Sox by six games in the American League East and the Angels by 5.5 games in the pursuit for home-field advantage. The Yankees would love to win today and have a 3-3 roadtrip and also win a series in Anaheim which would be a miracle. Here are the pregame notes and hopefully I will have the lineup later via Peter Abraham The Yankees are 2-3 on a road trip that ends today. The Yankees have 231 home runs with 10 games left. The team record is 242. That was set in 2004. Alex Rodriguez has 89 RBI this season. 33 of them have come from the seventh inning on with 14 of those either tying the score or giving the Yankees the lead. A-Rod has 67 homers and 151 RBI on 171 career games against the Angels. He has homered in each of the first two games of the series. Hideki Matsui has four home runs in his last six games and 12 RBI in his last nine. Derek Jeter has stolen 27 bases, the most since he swiped 34 in 2006. A.J. Burnett pitched well against Seattle on Friday, allowing one run in seven innings. He he is 1-5 with a 5.60 ERA since Aug. 1. Scott Kazmir is 6-4, 2.53 in 14 appearances against the Yankees in his career. He allowed four runs on 11 hits in 13.2 innings against the Yankees this season while with Tampa Bay. He is 1-1, 1.42 in four starts with the Angels since being traded.

Yanks finally get a win in Anaheim

The New York Yankees beat the Anaheim Angels by the score of 6-5 last night in Anaheim. This was the first win for the Yankees out there this season, they are now 1-4 in Anaheim. The Yankees now own a 6 game lead over the Red Sox and 5 1/2 over the Angels, the magic number for clinching the division is at 6. Chad Gaudin got the start and was very good for 4 and 2/3 innings and then it totally unraveled. He gave up a couple of runs and had to be pulled from the game. Alfredo Aceves got into trouble in the 6th but thanks to A-rod making a great diving stop on Vlady Guerrero the Yankees got out of the inning with a 5-4 lead. The Yankees had the lead when Phil Hughes got out of a jam in the 7th and came out for the 8th but Robinson Cano made an error and then Jorge Posada had a throwing error so there was a runner on 3rd with no outs and the Angels did end up tying the game but Phil Hughes struck out Vlady and Tori Hunter with a runner in scoring position. Brett Gardner led off the ninth and once again gave the Angels a taste of their own medicine leading off with a single and stealing second. Derek Jeter walked and Johnny Damon bunted them over. The Angels made a interesting move by walking Mark Teixeira intentionally and loading the bases for A-rod who on the first pitch smacked a semi deep line drive that scored the run and Mo closed it out for the save. The Yankees will try to win the series this afternoon with A.J. Burnett on the hill. The Yankees did not celebrate making the playoffs as they chose to wait and hopefully clinch the division at home and then celebrate. Joe Girardi met with them in the clubhouse briefly congratulating them according to Peter Abraham but told them they have a lot more to accomplish and this was only the first step. It would be great if they clinch at home against Boston this weekend.

The Yankees have lost six of their last 10 and are 1-3 on a road trip that has two games left. They lead the Red Sox by five games in the division and the Angels by 4.5 games for best record in the AL and home-field advantage. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. The Yankees are 0-4 at Angel Stadium this season, getting outscored 34-20. They are 5-18 here in the last five years in the regular season. Hideki Matsui is 19 of his last 45 (.422) with four homers and 13 RBI along with seven walks. Robinson Cano is hitting .364 (157 of 431) without runners in scoring position. He is hitting .208 (36 of 173) when there are runners in scoring position. This to me is unbelievable, how is such a good hitter that bad with runners in scoring position? Melky Cabrera is 1 of his last 19. He really goes up and down a lot. Brian Bruney has allowed 28 hits — six of them homers — and 15 walks in his last 21.1 innings. It may take a small miracle for him to make the postseason roster. Gaudin is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA in eight appearances for the Yankees. He does not have a decision in four starts but has a 3.20 ERA over 19.2 innings and the Yankees have won all four of those games. I think the Yankees should sign him for next year. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Gardner(CF)

Yankees at Angels

The Yankees open a 3 game series tonight in Anaheim and they now hold a 5 game lead over the Red Sox for first in the AL East and homefield advantage. They are 5 1/2 of the Angels. The Yankees will head home for a 3 game series with the Red Sox after this series so these are very important games. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees have not been playing well at all, they lost two of three in Seattle and have dropped five of their last nine. Their lead on the Red Sox is down to five games with 12 to play. The magic number at the moment is nine. Andy Pettitte will be pitching on nine days of rest as the Yankees were concerned about a “fatigued” shoulder. He has been terrific since the All-Star break but has allowed seven runs on nine hits and eight walks in his last 11 innings. Keep an eye on how he looks as the game goes on as that is when his shoulder could bother him. Mark Teixeira is 16 of his last 33 with 10 extra-base hits, six runs scored and 12 RBI. His batting average climbed from .281 to .292. Of his 167 hits this season, 82 have been for extra-bases. He was 7 for 12 in the Seattle series. Hideki Matsui is 18 of his last 44 with three homers and 12 RBI. He is up to.278. His last double was on Aug. 29. Alex Rodiguez has six home runs in his last 199 at-bats. He is 4 of his last 21 with one RBI. But keep in mind he loves hitting at Angel Stadium. He has hit .335 there with 35 home runs. It’s the most home runs for any park he has not called home in his career. The Yankees are 5-17 in their last 23 games at Angel Stadium. They were swept in a three-game series in July, getting outscored 29-18. The Yankees are 3-4 against the Angels this season. Melky Cabrera is 1 of his last 16, he seems to go through many peaks and valleys. The Yankees have seven hits in their last 39 at-bats with runners in scoring position. This has to change, they are better then that. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Swisher(RF) Posada(DH) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Yankees at Mariners(The Rubber Game)

The New York Yankees take on the Seattle Mariners this afternoon at 4:00PM on the Yes network. The Yankees bounced back nicely yesterday from a bad loss on Friday. The Yankees lost on a 2 run walkoff homerun on friday by Ichiro and won yesterday 10-1. The Yankees are 6 games ahead of the Red Sox and 6 1/2 ahead of the Angels. Joba will take on Ian Snell today, how many innings will Joba go today, maybe 5 we will see. I have a feeling Ian Kennedy may pitch after him which would be cool. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. Hideki Matsui is 17 of 40 with 12 rbi's. He is second on the team with 86 rbi's but only 8th in plate appearances. It will be interesting to see this offseason, you can't bring him and Damon back but they are making it tough. Johnny Damon is 6 for 8 in this series with 3 doubles. Mark Teixeira is first in the AL with 118 rbi's and second in homers with 37, he is also batting 289. Robinson Cano is batting 368 this month and is a career 351 hitter in Sept and Oct. That is the best among active players. Joba in his last 2 starts has shown some progress pitching 7 innings allowing 7 hits and 3 runs with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Dave Eiland the pitching coach thinks he fixed a hitch in his delivery and that is the difference, hopefully they are right. Mariano Rivera has appeared in at least 60 games 12 times in his career. The record is 13 held by Mike Stanton. The Yankees bullpen has a 3.47 era since Phil Hughes joined it. It was 4.88 prior to that so he has been a huge difference. Opposing hitters are 1-16 with runners in scoring position against Hughes since he became a reliever. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Cabrera(RF) Gardner(CF)

Yankees at Mariners

The Yankees were beaten 3-2 on a two-run, walk-off homer by Ichiro Suzuki in the ninth inning last night. The Yankees lead the Red Sox by six games in the AL East and the Angels by 5.5 games for the best record in the American League and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. The Yankees are 3-4 in their last 7 games. The game is on at 10:10 on the YES network tonight. Here are the pregame notes via Peter Abraham. Sabathia is 7-0 with a 2.48 ERA in his last nine starts. He is 1-1 against Seattle this season. In 13.2 innings, CC has allowed seven runs on 13 hits and five walks while striking out 18. Fister, a 25-year-old rookie, beat the Yankees on Aug. 16. He allowed three runs on eight hits over seven innings in a 10-3 victory. Robbie Cano has hit in seven straight at 12 of 28. … A-Rod has 15 RBI in 15 games this month. … Johnny Damon is one shy of 25 homers, which would be his career high. … Nick Swisher is 9 of 25 with five extra-base hits. Melky Cabrera is 1 of his last 10, as is Jose Molina. Jerry Hairston is 1 of his last 11. Brian Bruney changed his number from 38 to 99. Maybe that will change his luck. Bruney has allowed 16 hits and 12 walks in his last 14.1 innings. Back with more later on.

Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS), Damon(LF), Tex(1B), A-rod(3B), Matsui(DH), Swisher(RF), Cano(2B), Cabrera(CF), Cervelli(C)

It is nice to see Cervelli get a start, I hope Ian Kennedy will get some more innings in before the end of the year.

RHP Ian Kennedy has been called up, this is great news considering what he has been through this season.

Yankees at Mariners

UPDATE: 10:42- I forgot to mention this before but Hideki Matsui is tied for the major league lead in homeruns against lefties with 12 homeruns. Also when Hideki Matsui homered on Wednesday he joined A-rod, Big Tex and Nick Swisher as Yankees with at least 25 homeruns. The last time this happened was 1938 when Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Bill Dickey and Joe Gordon did it. The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series in Seattle tonight and a 6 game roadtrip. A.J. Burnett is on the mound against Felix Hernandez. If A.J. was pitching right it would be a great matchup, maybe this is the game where he puts it together and goes on a good run. I want to wish Peter Abraham good luck on his new job and hope that whoever replaces him can do half the job he has done but he is here for the next couple of weeks and the pregame notes and lineup are coming via him and the Lohud Yankees Blog. If you haven't already done so by the way please follow me on twitter and facebook. The Yankees are 5-2 against Seattle this season and were just in Seattle from Aug 13-16th. The Yankees magic number is 10, they are 7 up on the Red Sox for first place in the AL east and 6 up on the Angels for homefield advantage. MO needs 2 more strikeouts for 1,000 in his career. MO has allowed on run in his last 33 games and 33 innings. He has given up 15 hits, walked 8 and struckout 32. This guy is truly amazing, it has been a pleasure to watch him all of these years. The Yankees lead the majors with 48 come from behind victories. The Yankees are 41 games over 500 and haven't been 42 over since the end of the 2002 season. Hideki Matsui hit his 25th homerun of the season on Wednesday. He tied Don Baylor for most homeruns as a DH for the Yankees, Baylor did it in 1984. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Jays at Yankees

UPDATE: 7:10PM- Jorge Posada has been suspended 3 games and is serving his suspension starting tonight. Shelly Duncan also got 3 games and is appealing. The New York Yankees finish their 2 game series with the Jays tonight after an exciting night last night. They also conclude their 10 game homestand which they are 6-3 on. The Yankees would like to get a win to make it 7 out of 10 on a pretty good homestand and fly out west for 6. The Yankees enter tonight with a 6 1/2 game lead on the Red Sox for first in the AL east and 6 on Anaheim for homefield advantage. The Sox and Angels will meet in Fenway tonight in game 2 of their 3 game series. Boston won last night behind a strong performance from the returning Dice K. Here are the pregame notes and lineup. Jorge Posada has been suspended 4 games and fined $30,000 by MLB. Jesse Carlson also got the same for the Blue Jays. Jorge is sitting out tonight with a sore neck, he should just take the 4 games now and get it over with. Cervelli can catch a couple of games and Molina also and they will be fine. The Yankees are 3-0 in Chad Gaudins starts and he has a 2.57 era in those starts. He last appeared on Sept 8th when he went 6 solid innings against Tampa Bay. The Yankees will be seeing Brian Tallett for the 5th time this season. He has a 5.00 era against the Yankees. They last saw him on Sept 6th when he allowed 5 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings. Mariano Rivera needs one strikeout for 1,000 in his career. Nick Swisher is 11 of 31 on the homestand with 10 runs scored, 6 xbh and 4 rbi's with 5 walks. Mark Teixeira has tripled in back to back games. His last triple before that was in Aug of 2007. This is what makes baseball so great, it is so weird and you just have no idea what you may see from game to game. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Hairston(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Blue Jays at Yankees

The New York Yankees begin a 2 game series with the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at 7:00PM on MY9. The matchup is Sergio Mitre vs Roy Halladay. Roy Halladay threw a 1 hit complete game shutout against the Yanks on Sept. 4th. Ramiro Pena had the lone hit a double. Sergio Mitre faced the Jays on Sept 6th and allowed 11 runs(9 of them earned) on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He really didn't pitch that bad but the team was just out of it and played terrible defense and didn't help him at all. Here are the pregame notes and lineup from Peter Abraham. Brett Gardner has 21 stolen bases in 26 attempts this season. Over the last 50 years only 3 other Yankee rookies have stolen at least 21 bases in a season. Alfonso Soriano had 43 in 2001, Willie Randolph had 37 in 1976 and Jerry Kennedy had 25 in 1969. Gardner has been successful in 34 of his first 40 attempts in his career. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Gardner(CF) Andy Pettitte is being skipped because of shoulder fatigue. Chad Gaudin will start tomorrow in his place. They don't think its serious and should be knocked out with the extra rest.

Angels at Yankees

The New York Yankees play a makeup game with the Angels tonight at 7:00PM from the Stadium. They enter tonight 5 games up on them for homefield advantage. They are 2-4 against them this season and 18-32 against them over the last 5 years including postseason. It is a understatement to say the Yankees have their problems with the Angels. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham and his Louhud Yankees Blog. Joba is 1-3 with a 7.76 era in his last 7 games allowing 40 hits and 18 walks over 29 innings. Opponents have hit 323 against him over that stretch. Joba has faced the Angels once which came on July 10th. He allowed 5 runs on 9 hits over 4 1/3 innings. Johnny Damon needs one homer to reach his career high of 25. Mariano Rivera who hasn't pitched since last Tuesday is 2 strikeouts shy of 1,000. A-rod is 18 of 42 this month with 6 runs scored, 14 rbi's and 5 xbh. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yanks try to avoid sweep

The Yankees have lost 2 straight but remain 7 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox and 5 ahead of the Angels for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Here are some notes and the lineup via Peter Abraham. The Yankees have been outscored by the Orioles 17-7 in this series. The Yankees are 12-5 against them this season. The Yankees haven't lost 3 straight since July 30-Aug 1st in Chicago. They haven't lost 3 straight at home since the beginning of the season when A-rod wasn't around. CC is 6-0 with a 2.31 era in his last 8 starts. He is 3-1 with a 2.63 era against the O's this season and hasn't allowed a homerun in 27 1/3 innings. A-rod is 17 of 40 this month with 13 rbi's. Derek Jeter is in a mini slump going 6 of his last 25. MO has allowed one run in his last 30 appearances. Since June 16th he has as many rbi's as runs allowed. This guy is just a machine, no doubt the best there ever was. I can't wait to see him inducted into the Hall of Fame. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Orioles at Yanks

The New York Yankees take on the Baltimore Orioles from the stadium this afternoon. After all the hoopla surrounding Derek Jeter and the Yankees for the last couple of days now its back to just being about baseball. The Yankees magic number is 14, they are now 5 1/2 games ahead of the Angels for best record and 8 1/2 ahead of the Red Sox for the division title. Here are a couple of quick notes and the lineup for todays game via the Lohud Yankees Blog. A-rod hit his 25th homerun last night the 13th time he has done that and 12th season in a row. Robinson Cano has 60 multi-hit games this season. The only player to have more is Ichiro who has 64. The Yankees ended a 10 game winning streak against the Orioles last night. A.J. after going winless in 6 straight starts will try to make it 2 in a row today and Molina for the 2nd straight time will catch him. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Hairston(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Swisher(RF) Cano(2B) Duncan(DH) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)