The New York Yankees win a rain shortened game over the Texas Rangers

The New York Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.  The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York and the final score was 2-1.  David Phelps started and pitched well.  The rains came in the fifth inning and the grounds crew just couldn't get the tarp on in time.  The field was soaked and deemed too dangerous to play in and the game was called after a long delay.  Francisco Cervelli had two hits and Brett Gardner a hit and an RBI. 

Phelps pitched five innings giving up five hits and a run.  He walked none and struck out three to earn his fifth win of the season. 

Yu Darvish pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up four hits and two runs.  He didn't walk a batter and struck out five and lost his sixth game of the season. 

Gardner had a hit and an RBI, Chase Headley had a hit and Cervelli had two hits.  Headley hit a double and Cervelli hit two doubles.  Gardner hit a homerun and the Yankees were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base. 

Alex Rios had a hit, Adrian Beltre had a hit and Leonys Martin had two hits.  Gimenenez had a hit, Martin hit a triple and the Rangers were 0-3 with runners in scoring position and left two men on base.  Rios was caught stealing and Beltre committed an error. 

All the runs of the game were scored in the third inning.  The Rangers took a 1-0 lead on a ground ball double play.  Cervelli scored on a balk to tie the game for the Yankees and then Gardner hit a solo homerun to give them a 2-1 lead and that would be the final score.  The two teams will finish their four game series on Thursday afternoon.   

The New York Mets defeat the Texas Rangers

The New York Mets defeated the Texas Rangers on Friday night.  The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York and the final score was 6-5.   Jon Niese didn't last long as he left with an injury, the bullpen was pretty good.  Eric Campbell led the offense with three hits. 

Niese pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run.  Carlos Torres pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up five hits and two runs with a walk and he struck out four.  Vic Black pitched an inning giving up two hits and a walk with a strikeout, Jeurys Familia pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and an unearned run with two walks and a strikeout and Jennry Mejia won his fifth game of the season pitching 1 1/3 innings and giving up a hit and an unearned run with a walk. 

Yu Darvish pitched five innings giving up four runs and two walks with six strikeouts.  Neftali Feliz pitched two innings with two walks and two strikeouts, Aaron Poreda pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a run, a walk and a strikeout and he lost his first game of the season.  Jason Frasor pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout. 

Curtis Granderson had a hit, Bobby Abreu had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Lucas Duda had a hit, two RBI and drew two walks.  Campbell had three hits, an RBI and drew a walk, Travis d'Arnaud had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk. Chris Young drew a walk, Granderson, Campbell and d'Arnaud each hit a double and Duda hit a homerun.  The Mets were 2-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Daniel Murphy committed an error and d'Arnaud had a passed ball.  Black had a pickoff. 

Shin-Soo Choo had a hit, an RBI and drew two walks, Elvis Andrus had three hits and Alex Rios had a hit and an RBI.  Adrian Beltre had two hits and an RBI, Chris Gimenez had an RBI and Leonys Martin drew a walk.  Rougned Odor had a hit and drew a walk, Adam Rosales had two hits and an RBI and Daniel Robertson had a hit.  Darvish had a hit, Carlos Pena drew a walk and Darvish hit a double.  Choo and Beltre each hit a homerun and the Rangers were 3-13 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.  Andrus had a stolen base and Odor was caught stealing. 

Choo hit a solo homerun in the first to give Texas a 1-0 lead.  Abreu hit an RBI single and Duda a two run homerun in the bottom of the first to give them a 3-1 lead.  Rios hit an RBI single in the third to make it a 3-2 game.  Campbell hit an RBI double in the fourth to give the Mets a 4-2 lead.  Beltre hit a solo homerun in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-3.  Gimenez hit an RBI groundout in the seventh to tie the game at four.  d'Arnaud hit an RBI double in the eighth to give the Mets a 6-4 lead.  Rosales hit an RBI single in the ninth to make it 6-5 and that was the final score.  The two teams will play game two on Saturday night. 

The Yankees offense is lifeless in 3-0 loss to the Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers defeated the New York Yankees on Monday night. The final score was 3-0 and the game took place at Rangers ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Ivan Nova started and pitched well; Joba Chamberlain also pitched a scoreless inning. The Yankees managed four singles.

Nova pitched seven innings giving up seven hits and three runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Nova lost his third game and Chamberlain pitched an inning giving up a hit and struck out one.

Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Lyle Overbay had two hits and Vernon Wells drew a walk. Travis Hafner drew a walk; The Yankees were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

Yu Darvish earned his ninth win of the season. He pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up two hits and no runs. He walked two and struck out four. Robbie Ross pitched 2/3 of an inning retiring both batters, Tanner Scheppers pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Joe Nathan saved his 31st game of the season. Nathan pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Ian Kinsler drew a walk, Nelson Cruz had two hits and an RBI and Adrian Beltre had a hit and an RBI. A.J. Pierzynski had two hits, Elvis Andrus had a hit and drew a walk and Geovany Soto had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk. Leonis Martin had a hit, Soto hit a double and Cruz hit a homerun. The Rangers were 3-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Kinsler had a stolen base and Andrus had two, Martin was caught stealing.

In the first inning the Rangers took a 1-0 lead. Beltre hit an RBI single; in the sixth Soto hit an RBI double to make it 2-0 Texas. In the seventh the Rangers scored to complete the scoring. Cruz hit a solo homerun and the final score was 3-0 Texas.

The Yankees record dropped to 52-47 and the Rangers record improved to 55-44. The two teams will play game two of four on Tuesday night.

The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers with a walkoff

The New York Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. It was a thrilling come from behind walkoff win for the Yankees. Ichiro Suzuki won the game with a walkoff homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Yankees hit four solo homeruns and Hiroki Kuroda pitched pretty well. The bullpen was good for the Yankees.

Kuroda pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up five hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He walked one and struck out six and got a no decision. Boone Logan struck out the only batter that he faced, David Robertson pitched a scoreless inning giving up a hit and a walk and Mariano Rivera picked up his first victory of the season. Rivera gave up a hit in one inning.

Brett Gardner had a hit and an RBI, Suzuki had two hits and an RBI and Robinson Cano had a hit and drew a walk. Travis Hafner had two hits and an RBI, Jayson Nix had a hit and an RBI and David Adams drew a walk. Chris Stewart had a hit and drew a walk; Hafner, Gardner, Suzuki and Nix each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Almonte had his first career-stolen base.

Yu Darvish pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and three runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Neal Cotts pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings with four strikeouts and Tanner Scheppers pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with a walk and a strikeout. Scheppers picked up his first loss of the season.

Ian Kinsler drew a walk, Elvis Andrus had two hits and Nelson Cruz drew a walk. A.J. Pierzynski had a hit, Lance Berkman had a hit and Mitch Moreland had a hit and an RBI. Martin had two hits and two RBI.

In the third Martin hit a solo homerun giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead. In the fourth Moreland grounded into a fielders choice and a run scored making it 2-0 Rangers. Hafner hit a solo homerun to cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth. Martin hit his second homerun of the game a solo shot in the fifth making it 3-1 Rangers. The Yankees cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth on a Gardner solo homerun. Nix hit a solo homerun in the sixth to tie the game at three. In the bottom of the ninth with two outs Suzuki hit a solo homerun tow in the game. The final score was 4-3 Yankees.

The Yankees record improved to 42-34 and the Rangers record dropped to 44-33. The two teams will play game two of three on Wednesday night.

The New York Yankees lose the battle of Japanese pitchers to the Texas Rangers

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Texas Rangers by the score of 2-0 on Tuesday night. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and pitched very well but Yu Darvish started for the Rangers and was even better. The Yankees offense didn’t do much, Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano led the team with two hits each. The Rangers got a leadoff homerun from Ian Kinsler and not much else. 
Kuroda pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up two runs on five hits. He walked two batters and struck out five. He is now 1-3 on the season. Clay Rapada faced one batter and got him out, Cory Wade faced two batters and got both of them out and Boone Logan struck out the only batter that he faced. Darvish earned his third win of the season by pitching 8 1/3 shutout innings giving up seven hits. He walked two and struck out ten. Joe Nathan earned the save by making one pitching and getting a double play.

Jeter had two hits, Curtis Granderson drew a walk and Cano had two hits. Nick Swisher had a hit, Eric Chavez had a hit and Russell Martin had a hit and drew a walk. Cano had a double and the Yankees were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.

Kinsler had a hit, RBI and drew a walk for the Rangers. Elvis Andrus drew a walk, Josh Hamilton had a hit and an RBI and Nelson Cruz had a hit. David Murphy had a hit, Mike Napoli had a hit. Kinsler had a homerun, the Rangers were 1-2 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Andrus had a stolen base.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a Kinsler solo homerun. The Rangers scored their second run and final run of the game in the third inning. Hamilton had an RBI single and that was it for the scoring in the game.

The Yankees four game winning streak came to an end and they are now 10-7 on the season. The Rangers record improved to 14-4. The rubber game will be played tomorrow night. The Yankees won game one on Monday night by the score of 7-4 and they lost this game. The starters tomorrow night will be Phil Hughes and Scott Feldman. The Yankees will have an off day on Thursday and return home on Friday night to take on the Detroit Tigers.

New York Yankees show some muscle in Texas as they defeat the Texas Rangers

The New York Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers by the score of 7-4 on Monday night. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and pitched well and Mariano Rivera closed it out. The Yankees offense continued to roll with Derek Jeter having a big day. Elvis Andrus had a couple of hits to lead the Texas attack. Derek Holland had a rough day as he usually does against the Yankees. 
Sabathia pitched eight innings giving up seven hits and four runs with a walk and eight strikeouts. Sabathia is now 2-0 on the season and Rivera picked up his fourth save of the season with a perfect inning. Holland suffered his first loss of the season for Texas. He pitched six innings giving up nine hits and seven runs with four walks and a strikeout. Mark Lowe pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts and Koji Uehara pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Jeter had four hits and an RBI and is now batting 411 on the season. Nick Swisher had an RBI, Robinson Cano had two hits and Alex Rodriguez had a hit, three RBI and drew two walks. Curtis Granderson had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk, Chris Stewart had a hit and drew a walk. Stewart and Jeter each had a double. Rodriguez had a double. The Yankees were 5-9 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Jeter did commit an error.

Ian Kinsler had a hit for Texas. Andrus had two hits, Josh Hamilton had a hit and an RBI and Nelson Cruz had a hit and drew a walk. Brandon Snyder had a hit and Chris Gentry had a hit and two RBI. Cruz, Snyder and Gentry each had a double. Hamilton had a homerun and the Rangers were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Napoli committed an error.

Granderson had a two run single in the first to make it 2-0 Yankees. The Rangers got a run back in the bottom of the first on a Hamilton ground out. In the fifth Swisher hit a sacrifice fly to push the Yankees lead to 3-1. Rodriguez hit a three run homerun and it was 6-1 Yankees. The Yankees would add another run in the sixth on a Jeter RBI double. In the bottom of the sixth the final run was scored on a Hamilton solo homerun.

The Yankees are now 10-6 on the season and Texas falls to 13-4. The two teams will meet for game two of a three game series on Tuesday night. Yu Darvish will get the start for Texas against fellow countryman Hiroki Kuroda. It could be an offensive night and a very interesting night or day in Japan.

Some randon MLB news and notes

The Cardinals signed Rafael Furcal to a two year deal.  It has been reported that Hiroyuki Nakajima, he is the Japanese shortstop that the Yankees won the bidding on would not sign a deal with the Yankees.  There was translation today of an article from Japan where he basically says he wants to play in the states and he praises the Yankees and it looks like they will be able to get a deal done with him.  I don't know if he would be filler in the minor leagues or if he could be a utility man on the big club and give Derek Jeter some extra days off.  We will see how this plays out over the next month if they can agree to a deal. 

Yu Darvish the Japanese pitcher is another guy to keep your eye on as teams have until Wednesday to submit bids.  The Yankees have been lukewarm on if they are going to do so but I think that may just be a game they are playing to get the other teams thinking they won't and then have lower bids.  We will see what happens with this. 

The Diamondbacks and Athletics made a big five player deal.  The Diamondbacks got Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow for three prospects.  The Rays did a good job of locking up young Matt Moore their special pitcher.  These are the kind of deals the Rays must make to remain competitive as a small market and they have done a good job of that.  The deal is for a guaranteed 14 million over five years and 40 million over eight.