The New York Yankees are crushed by the Seattle Mariners

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Seattle Mariners by the score of 12-2 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Phil Hughes started and couldn’t even make it out of the first inning. Vernon Wells and Chris Stewart each hit a homerun and David Adams had his first major league hit. 
Hughes pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up seven runs on six hits with a couple of walks. Hughes is now 2-3 on the year. Preston Claiborne pitched 2 1/3 innings giving up a hit and struck out two, Brett Marshall made his major league debut pitching 5 2/3 innings giving up nine hits and five runs with five walks and a strikeout. Alberto Gonzalez who was the shortstop for 8 2/3 innings pitched to one batter and got him to fly out.

Brett Gardner had a hit, Vernon Wells had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Curtis Granderson had a hit. Lyle Overbay had two hits, Adams had a hit and Stewart had a hit and an RBI. Gonzalez had a hit, Overbay hit a double and Wells and Stewart each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Gardner had a stolen base and Suzuki committed an error.

Hisashi Iwakuma got his fifth win of the season pitching seven innings and giving up eight hits and two runs with four strikeouts. Oliver Perez gave up a walk and struck out two batters in one inning and Tom Wilhelmsen pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Michael Saunders had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Dustin Ackley had a hit and drew three walks and Kyle Seager had two hits and three RBI with a walk. Kendry Morales had two hits and an RBI, Michael Morse had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Justin Smoak had two hits and drew a walk. Raul Ibanez had two hits and six RBI, Jesus Montero had two hits and Brendan Ryan had a hit. Saunders hit two doubles, Ibanez hit two homeruns and Seager hit a homerun. The Mariners were 4-11 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.

In the first inning the Mariners scored seven runs and never looked back. Morales hit an RBI single, Morse had an RBI single, Ibanez hit a grand slam and Saunders hit an RBI double. Wells hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the first to cut the lead to 7-1. In the fifth Ibanez hit a two run homerun to make it a 9-1 game. Stewart hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 9-2 and that was as close as the Yankees would come. In the sixth Seager hit a three run homerun to make it 12-2 and that would be the final score.

The Yankees record dropped to 25-15 and the Mariners record improved to 19-21. The two teams will play the rubber game of their three game series on Thursday night.

New York Yankees win fifth in a row and sweep in Kansas City

The New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals by the score of 4-2. The game took place at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and pitched very well. Robinson Cano and Vernon Wells each hit a homerun. 
Kuroda pitched 7 2/3 innings giving up six hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout. Kuroda earned his fifth win of the season, he has once again been their most consistent pitcher. David Robertson faced one batter and retired him and Mariano Rivera pitched an inning giving up a hit and earning his 15^th save in 15 attempts.

Brett Gardner had a hit, Cano had two hits and two RBI and Wells had three hits and two RBI. Travis Hafner had a hit, Chris Stewart had two hits and Hafner and Gardner each hit a double. Cano and Wells each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Wells had a stolen base.

Ervin Santana took his second loss of the season. He pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs with four strikeouts. Tim Collins pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and he struck out two batters and Greg Holland pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Jarrod Dyson had a hit, Alcides Escobar had an RBI and Alex Gordon had two hits and an RBI. Eric Hosmer had a hit and drew a walk, Salvador Perez had a hit and Jeff Francoeur had a hit. Elliott Johnson had a hit, Dyson, Johnson and Gordon each hit a double. The Royals were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Moustakas and Perez each committed an error and Dyson had an outfield assist.

Gordon had a sacrifice fly in the first inning to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. In the third Cano and Wells hit back-to-back homeruns to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. Wells hit an RBI single in the fifth giving the Yankees a 4-1 lead. The final run was scored in the eighth on a Escobar RBI groundout to make it a 4-2 game.

The Yankees won five in a row and improved their record to 23-13. The Royals record dropped to 18-16. The Yankees swept the three game series in Kansas City and will head to Cleveland for a traditional doubleheader on Monday afternoon.

New York Yankees notes after another win in Kansas City

Andy Pettitte has been very outspoken lately, he had a couple of bad outings and he wasn’t happy. He is very fiery and said things like he stinks and he had no feel for his pitches. He was more realistic tonight though after a good start. He said he probably blew it out of proportion and wasn’t as bad as he was saying. He said he noticed on video in his last start that his arm angle was off and he was able to fix that tonight and that is why the results were better. Pettitte is just a very competitive person and a perfectionist. 
Pettitte was actually better then his numbers indicated. He got charged with a walk but actually didn’t walk anyone. It was a 2-2 count but the stadium scoreboard had 3-2 and the umpires didn’t catch it. That is pretty bad and these umpires are having a tough time lately. I am surprised there wasn’t more argument but what are you going to do. The other thing is that Elliot Johnson reached on an infield hit in the third inning and scored the first Royals run. Pettitte said he was hit in the leg as he ran out of the box. Pettitte said he couldn’t believe he was the only one that saw it, he should have been out. He said the ball was spinning sideways which means it went off his foot but they looked at him like he was crazy and none of the umpires would help him.

Mariano Rivera is 14-14 in saves this season, this was a tough one though. The Royals took good swings off of him and hit the ball hard but he managed to get the job done. This was also the 70^th time that he saved a Pettitte win. This was also the first time that MO has pitched in K.C. since the injury.

Robertson had three strikeouts on 12 pitches tonight, that is just incredible. Wells hit his eighth homerun of the season in this game. Wells also ran down the last out and said yes he was sure he would catch it because he was following the swings he was taken and moved a little bit closer to the gap where he thought he might hit it and sure enough he did and was able to run it down.

Joe Girardi had a good line about Pettitte he said everyone struggles it is baseball. He said but when your old or overweight they look at that but he didn’t think he forgot how to pitch or just all of a sudden lost it. I agree, the age thing sometimes is used too much. There are guys that got hurt and they aren’t old, Granderson and Teixeira and sometimes experience helps.

The New York Yankees win another one run game and second in a row in Kansas City

The New York Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals by the score of 3-2 on Saturday night. The game took place at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Andy Pettite started for the Yankees and pitched well and the bullpen was good. Vernon Wells led the offense with a two run homerun and Jayson Nix had a pair of hits. 
Pettitte pitched seven innings giving up five hits and two runs with a walk and seven strikeouts. David Robertson pitched a perfect inning striking out the sides and Mariano Rivera picked up his 14^th save in 14 attempts. He pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit.

Brett Gardner drew a walk, Wells had a hit and two RBI and Travis Hafner had a hit. Nix had two hits and drew a walk, Lyle Overbay had a hit and Chris Nelson had a hit. Nix and Nelson each hit a double and Wells hit a homerun. The Yankees were 0-7 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Gardner was caught stealing.

James Shields pitched eight innings giving up six hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He walked two and struck out five and Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Alcides Escobar had a hit, Lorenzo Cain had an RBI and drew a walk and Billy Butler had a hit and an RBI. Eric Hosmer had a hit, Salvador Perez had two hits and Elliot Johnson had a hit. Perez hit a double and Butler hit a homerun, the Royals were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Johnson had a stolen base and Moustakas committed an error.

In the third the teams traded runs. The Yankees scored on a throwing error and the Royals on a Cain RBI groundout. In the fourth Butler hit a solo homerun to make it 2-1 Royals and in the fifth Wells hit a two run homerun to make it 3-2 Yankees and that would be the final score.

The Yankees record improved to 22-13 and the Royals record dropped to 18-15. The two teams will play the finale of the three game series on Sunday afternoon. The Yankees will be going for the sweep before playing a doubleheader in Cleveland on Monday and then returning home.

New York Yankees postgame notes after a series in Toronto

The New York Yankees lose the game 8-4 today but they took two out of three in Toronto. The Yankees have been winning series lately and that is the most important thing. If you keep winning series then come September you will be right in a race for the playoffs and that is what you want. 
Ivan Nova started today for the Yankees and was just ok. He wasn’t terrible but he also wasn’t good. He hasn’t been a very good pitcher overall to this point. Girardi said that he thought he threw the ball pretty well but that last inning he pitched was an inning they needed and he couldn’t get it done. Nova said that he isn’t throwing strikes and that is making him mad. He said he knows he can do better then this. He isn’t blaming anyone or anything just not making his pitches is what he is saying.

If you are into the win losses thing then this isn’t a good day for you. Boone Logan gave up a broken bat single to the only batter he faced and took the loss. David Phelps for the second straight outing wasn’t very good. He said he is frustrated and that he is getting behind guys without anyone on base, he just isn’t making pitches and not putting guys away when he needs too.

Travis Hafner tried to bunt on the last out of the game. Girardi said he didn’t have a problem with it. He said if it was a two run game he probably would have had a problem with it but not down four runs. He said they just needed base runners and however they felt they could get on. Hafner had the whole left side of the infield open and he tried to take advantage of it. Hafner also stole a base in this game which was his 10^th career. He said it was a milestone joking after the game.

Vernon Wells has reached base in seven straight games. Robinson Cano has reached base in 15 of the 17 games played this season. Girardi said Youkilis is much better and will probably play against Tampa Bay tomorrow.

The Yankees are 3-7 when the other team scores first and 1-7 when losing after six innings.

The New York Yankees take their second in a row in Toronto 5-3 over the Blue Jays

The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 5-3 on Saturday afternoon. The game took place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and pitched great, David Robertson blew the game for the Yankees but then they won it in extra innings. Vernon Wells had three hits to lead the Yankees offense. 
Kuroda pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up one run on three hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with two walks and two strikeouts, Joba Chamberlain retired both batters that he faced and had a strikeout and Boone Logan pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Shawn Kelley picked up his first win of the season facing two batters and retiring them both and Mariano Rivera picked up his fifth save of the season pitching an inning and giving up a hit and striking out two.

Brett Gardner had two hits, Robinson Cano had a hit and drew a walk and Kevin Youkilis had a hit and two RBI. Lyle Overbay had a hit, Wells had three hits and an RBI and Francisco Cervelli had a hit. Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Jayson Nix had a hit and Gardner and Overbay each hit a double. Wells hit a homerun and the Yankees were 3-12 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

Mark Buehrle pitched seven innings giving up eight hits and three runs with a walk and seven strikeouts. Esmil Rogers pitched an inning giving up a hit, Kyle Janssen pitched an inning striking out one and Aaron Loup took the loss pitching an inning giving up two hits and two runs which were unearned. Delabar pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts.

Rajai Davis had a hit and an RBI, Melky Cabrera had two hits and two RBI and Jose Bautista had a hit and drew a walk. Edward Encarnacion drew a walk, Colby Rasmus had a hit and Maizur Izturis had a hit. Kawasaki had a hit, Adam Lind drew a walk and Cabrera and Bautista each hit a double. The Blue Jays were 2-10 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Davis had a stolen base and Izturis and Loup each committed an error.

Wells hit a solo homerun in the second to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. In the fifth Youkilis hit a two run single to make it 3-0 Yankees. The Blue Jays rallied in the eighth to tie the score at three. Davis hit an RBI single and Cabrera a two run single. In the 11^th Suzuki hit a sac bunt which Loup threw into left field allowing two runs to score giving the Yankees a 5-3 lead which they would hold on to for the win.

The Yankees have won two straight in Toronto to take their fourth straight series. The Yankees have now won five games in a row on the road and have won nine of eleven overall. The Yankees record improved to 10-6 on the season and the Blue Jays record dropped to 7-11 on the season. The Yankees will be looking for the sweep on Sunday afternoon.

The New York Yankees drop another one 8-4 to the Detroit Tigers

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Detroit Tigers by the score of 8-4 on Saturday evening. The game took place at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. Phil Hughes came off the disabled list to make the start and move David Phelps to the pen since it was so short. Hughes didn’t pitch that bad, I thought he ran out of gas in the fifth inning. The bullpen didn’t pitch well again though. Vernon Wells hit a homerun and Lyle Overbay led the offense with a couple of hits and RBI. 
Hughes pitched four innings giving up eight hits and four runs with three of them being earned. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four and took the loss. Boone Logan pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and an unearned run, Phelps pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up six hits and two runs with a walk and two strikeouts and Joba Chamberlain pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with two walks and a strikeout.

Robinson Cano drew a walk, Kevin Youkilis had a hit and drew a walk and Travis Hafner had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Wells had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Brennan Boesch had a hit and Francisco Cervelli drew a walk. Overbay had two hits and two RBI, Overbay and Youkilis each hit a double, Boesch a triple and Wells a homerun. The Yankees were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Nix and Boesch each committed an error and Boesch had an outfield assist.

Max Scherzer earned the win pitching five innings giving up five hits and four runs with two walks and seven strikeouts. Al Alburquerque pitched an inning giving up a hit and walking two, Darin Downs pitched two innings walking one and striking out two and Joaquin Benoit pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Austin Jackson had three hits, Torii Hunter had three hits and an RBI and Miguel Cabrera had four hits, an RBI and drew a walk. Prince Fielder had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk, Victor Martinez had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Andy Dirks had two hits and two RBI. Jhonny Peralta had two hits and an RBI, Alex Avila had a hit and Cabrera, Peralta and Hunter each hit a double. The Tigers were 4-15 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Fielder was caught stealing and Hunter had an outfield assist.

Fielder hit a sacrifice fly in the first to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. In the second Wells hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one. The Yankees had a runner thrown out at home in the second also. In the fifth Hunter hit an RBI double, Cabrera hit an RBI single, Martinez hit a sacrifice fly and Peralta hit an RBI single to make it 5-1 Tigers. In the sixth Hafner hit an RBI single and Overbay hit a two run single to make it 5-4 but that was as close as the Yankees would get. In the sixth Fielder grounded into a force out scoring a run and Dirks hit an RBI single to make it 7-4 Tigers. The Tigers would add another run in the eighth on a Dirks sacrifice fly.

The Yankees record dropped to 1-4 and the Tigers are now 3-2. The Yankees will try and avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon. CC Sabathia will pitch against Justin Verlander.

The New York Yankees are 0-2 as they drop another to the Boston Red Sox

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Boston Red Sox by the score of 7-4 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and was knocked out in the second inning after being hit in a hand by a line drive. Vernon Wells led the Yankees offense with three hits. 
Kuroda pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up four hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout. Kuroda took the loss, Cody Eppley pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up four hits and four runs with a strikeout, Adam Warren did a stellar job pitching 5 1/3 innings giving up five hits and a run with a walk and four strikeouts. Warren really saved the bullpen and he gets a star for the job he did in this game. Shawn Kelley pitched a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout.

Ichiro Suzuki drew a walk, Kevin Youkilis had two hits and Wells had three hits and three RBI. Travis Hafner had a hit and an RBI, Lyle Overbay had a hit and Eduardo Nunez had two hits and drew a walk. Hafner and Wells each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Nunez had a stolen base and was charged with a tough error.

Clay Bucholz picked up the win pitching seven innings giving up six hits and a run with two walks and four strikeouts. Andrew Miller pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a run and Alfredo Aceves pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs. Joel Hanrahan picked up the save pitching an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Jacoby Ellsbury had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk, Daniel Nava had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk and Dustin Pedroia had two hits and an RBI. Mike Napoli had a hit, Jarrod Saltalamacchia had two hits and an RBI and Will Middlebrooks drew a walk. Shane Victorino had two hits and an RBI, Jackie Bradley Jr. had a hit and an RBI and Jose Iglesias had two hits. Iglesias and Nava each hit a double and the Red Sox were 5-13 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Victorino had a stolen base.

In the first Saltalamacchia had an RBI single giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. In the second the Red Sox made it 2-0 when Nava was hit by a pitch. The Red Sox broke it open with a four run third inning to make it 6-0. Victorino hit an RBI single, Bradley hit an RBI single and Ellsbury hit a two run single. Hafner hit a solo homerun in the fourth to make it 6-1 Red Sox. In the sixth the Red Sox got the run back on a Pedroia ground out. Wells hit a three run homerun in the eighth to make it 7-4 and that was the final score.

The Yankees are now 0-2 and the Red Sox 2-0. The Yankees will try and salvage the final game of the series on Thursday night. Andy Pettitte will pitch against Ryan Dempster, the Yankees will then hit the road for seven games before returning home.

The New York Yankees defeat the Washington Nationals 4-2

The New York Yankees defeated the Washington Nationals by the score of 4-2 on Friday afternoon. The game took place at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. Andy Pettite made the start and was very good and their bullpen was very good also. Vernon Wells and Eduardo Nunez each had a couple of hits to lead the Yankees offense. 
Pettitte pitched six innings giving up two runs, one of them was earned. He gave up five hits, no walks and struck out six batters. Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera each pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

Brett Gardner drew a walk, Melky Mesa had a hit and Robinson Cano had two hits. Kevin Youkilis had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Travis Hafner had a hit and Wells had two hits. Nunez had two hits and two RBI, Chris Stewart had a hit. Cano and Wells each hit a double and Youkilis hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Nunez and Gardner each had a stolen base. Youkilis committed an error.

Jordan Zimmerman pitched 3 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and four runs with a walk and two strikeouts. Zach Duke pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and striking out one, Henry Rodriguez pitched an inning giving up a walk and Ryan Mattheus pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts. Tyler Clippard pitched a perfect inning with three strikeouts and Drew Storen pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Denard Span had a hit, Bryce Harper had a hit and Ryan Zimmerman had a hit. Adam LaRoche had a hit and an RBI, Ian Desmond had a hit and an RBI and Zimmerman hit a double. The Nationals were 2-3 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

In the fourth Youkilis hit a solo homerun in the fourth to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Nunez hit a two run single and Stewart hit an RBI single to make it 4-0. The Nationals scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Desmond RBI single. LaRoche hit an RBI single in the sixth to make it 4-2 and that was the final score. The Yankees bullpen completely shutdown the Nationals in the last three innings.

The Yankees will now play one last exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at West Point against Army. They will be off Sunday and open the regular season on Monday afternoon at home against the Boston Red Sox.

The New York Yankees are not acting like the New York Yankees

I keep hearing over and over this winter and into spring training how the Yankees just aren’t acting like the Yankees. They still have a big payroll although nothing like they used to, there is talk about getting under the 189 million luxury tax limit by 2014. The Yankees have a lot of money in aging players who are now breaking down. They lost Alex Rodriguez long before the season or even spring training started. He will be lost until at least July and the Yankees probably are hoping longer. Mark Teixeira is now hurt and will be out until at least May and maybe longer. Curtis Granderson got hurt during spring training and will be lost until May. The Yankees are hurting and suddenly don’t look like a team the Yankees would field. 
The Yankees on Sunday were working on a deal to acquire Vernon Wells and suddenly they are acting like the Yankees once again. I am not saying if I am for or against this trade right now but simply that it looks like the Yankees again. The Yankees are never afraid to spend money, never afraid to make a big move. Vernon Wells is 34 and coming off a couple of really bad years in Anaheim. He hasn’t been the same player he used to be in probably four years. He is having a great spring though hitting over 360 with four homeruns. The Yankees needed a righty hitting outfielder. They did sign Brennan Boesch and Ben Francisco but those were minor moves. This is a big Yankee like move, I know he is a fading star but that sounds like the Yankees to me. They have always gone out and got guys especially veterans.

I don’t think this will be the last thing they do either, I can see them upgrading at first base considering right now Juan Rivera is their first baseman. The Yankees do have a surplus of outfielders now with Boesch, Francisco, Wells soon and Rivera possibly if he isn’t playing first base. I am sure one of them can be a bench player and Rivera could be the first baseman. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out but Wells will have to play since they will be paying him roughly 13 million for the next two years.

The question now is are the Yankees going to abandon their plans and forget about the 189 million limit or are they counting on losing some money with Granderson and Hughes being free agents, a lot of guys on one year contracts, Rivera retiring, Pettitte possibly retiring. I don’t know but as usual right now the Yankees are trying to win and they are going to do everything in their power to make sure that happens. The Yankees may have a goal of 189 million but they are not going to keep losing players and let their team sink to the level where they could miss the playoffs and be at the bottom of the division. The Yankees are suddenly turning into the Yankees again.