New York Yankees win a ten inning thriller on a walk-off by Juan Soto

 

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox in ten innings on Friday night.  The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York and the final score was 2-1.  Nestor Cortes Jr. started for the Yankee and he pitched well, the bullpen was excellent.  The Yankees had seven hits but not one player had more then a hit.  Gleyber Torres hit a homerun. 

Cortes pitched five innings giving up three hits and a run with three walks and nine strikeouts.  Ian Hamilton pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up no hits or runs and he struck out three, Tim Hill pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up no hits, run or walks but he struck out a batter and Tommy Khanle pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout.  Clay Holmes picked up his third win of the season pitching to two batters and retiring them both. 

Cooper Criswell started for the Red Sox and he pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up four hits and a run with three walks and four strikeouts, Cam Booser pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and he walked two and Zack Kelly pitched to one batter and retired him.  Justin Slaten pitched an inning giving up a hit and he struck out one, Chris Martin pitched an inning with two strikeouts and Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.  Josh Winckowski pitched giving up a hit and an unearned run because it was the winning run by the ghost runner in the tenth inning.  He took his second loss of the season. 

Torres had a hit and an RBI, Juan Soto had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Aaron Judge had a hit.  Austin Wells had a hit, Giancarlo Stanton had a hit and drew a walk and Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a hit and drew a walk.  Jasson Dominguez had a hit and drew a walk, Anthony Rizzo drew a walk and Torres hit a homerun.  The Yankees were 1-6 with runners in scoring position and left ten men on base.  Chisholm Jr. was caught stealing and picked off. 

Tyler O’Neill had a hit and drew a walk, Connor Wong had a hit and drew two walks and Danny Jansen had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk.  Wilyer Abreu had a hit, Wong and O’Neill each hit a double and Jansen hit a homerun.  The Red Sox were 0-11 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.  Abreu had a stolen base and Jansen had a pickoff. 

In the bottom of the first Torres hit a solo homerun giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.  In the top of the fifth Jansen hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one.  In the bottom of the tenth Soto hit an RBI walk-off single giving the Yankees a 2-1 victory.  This was game one of four and the two teams will play game two on Friday night. 

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox series preview

The New York Yankees lost two out of three in their season opening series at home against the Toronto Blue Jays.  They didn't hit much and played sloppy defense and only got mediocre starting pitching.  That isn't going to equal too many wins but it was just the first three games of the season and there was some pretty bad weather the last couple of nights.  The Boston Red Sox come to town now after they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Philadelphia two out of three.  The Red Sox have a high powered offense but not much pitching.  Here are the matchups and what to look for. 

Friday-Nathan Eovaldi vs. Wade Miley

Saturday- Adam Warren vs. Joe Kelly

Sunday-Masahior Tanaka vs. Clay Bucholz

The game tonight will feature Eovaldi Yankees debut.  He looked great in spring training and has really taken to the information he has gotten from pitching coach Larry Rothschild and catcher Brian McCann.  We will see if that continues as the bright lights come on and he gets thrown right into the rivalry.  Wade Miley is a lefty who is average at best.  The Yankees bats will hope to come alive against him.  Arod has been moved up in the order to the number three spot after batting second last night.  He hit his first homerun and has looked good at the plate.  Will he really get it going and help carry the offense. 

Saturday Adam Warren will make his first start after having a very solid spring.  He came back out of the bullpen to earn the fifth spot and we will see if he can stay there or just hold it down until Ivan Nova and Chris Capuano come back from injury.  This is a big chance though for Warren to show he can be a good starting pitcher and stick in the rotation.  The marquee matchup of the weekend is Sunday night on ESPN when Clay Bucholz who may be the best starter Boston has goes up against Tanaka.  We will see if Tanaka can bounce back or will the questions continue with another rough outing. 

The Yankees offense hasn't gotten going at all but they are facing some mediocre pitching at best and the weather should be better this weekend.  Will the bats wakeup or still look old and tired??  Can the Yankees pitching slow down the Boston offensive attack which looked really good in Philadelphia.  We will find out beginning tonight at the Stadium. 

New York Yankees Tuesday night notes after a loss to the Red Sox

Here are the Tuesday night notes after the Yankees lost 1-0 to the Red Sox at home.  The story was Ivan Nova who was very sharp tonight.  Mariano Rivera pitched again and looked the same as always and Boone Logan continued to be sharp.  The offense didn't do much of anything once again but I wouldn't be too concerned with that.  Chad Jennings provides the coverage from the Journal News. 

Ivan Nova never seemed especially worried, but after two sloppy starts this spring, the time was right for him to finally have a good one. Tonight he finally found the strike zone and delivered four scoreless innings. He struck out the final two big league hitters he faced, getting Jacoby Ellsbury on an inside fastball and getting Jarrod Saltalamacchia on a slider.

“I just want to have good stuff,” Nova said. “Not only the good stuff, but when you don’t have the best stuff, you’ve got to pitch. That’s something I did today compared to what I did in Toronto the other day. I had the good stuff but I didn’t pitch. I think in Toronto I had (better) stuff than I had today … but I pitched, and that’s the difference.”

Nova has shown good fastball velocity and pretty good offspeed pitches all spring, the problem has been fastball command. Today, he had the command as well. He threw 55 pitches, 35 for strikes, and he consistently worked ahead in the count.

“I was more aggressive, let the hitters hit the ball,” Nova said. “I’ve got eight people behind me. You’ve got to pitch to contact, you’ve got to throw strikes. … I’m a really confident guy. It doesn’t matter if I pitch good or not, you’ve got to keep your head up (and) you’ve got to keep working. I knew that I would pitch good one day. You’ve got to look forward to the next start, and today I’m going to enjoy it, and get it behind me and wait for the next start.”

Mariano Rivera laughed when asked if he’s ready for the season to begin. “Tomorrow,” he said. Essentially Rivera got four outs today, pitching around an error for a scoreless fifth inning. “You have to work, you know?” he said. “It’s not just go in there and do whatever you want, you have to work on your pitches and work that strike zone.”

 Rivera’s next outing will likely come either Friday or Saturday. At this point, it seems like he might pitch a little more than his usually eight or nine spring innings. “That’s alright as long as we get eight, nine,” Rivera said. “It will be enough.”

 Dave Robertson ran on an eliptical machine today and could do some light jogging on a treadmill tomorrow. Joe Girardi said there’s a chance Robertson could be on a mound by the weekend.

The plan is for Eduardo Nunez to take the next three days off. Girardi said Nunez should need only a week to 10 days to be ready for the regular season. He wouldn’t need nearly as much time as Dave Robertson. “You would think that you could get him enough playing time,” Girardi said. “The great thing about minor-league games is you can get him 10 at-bats in one day if you wanted to. You can’t have a pitcher throw 10 innings in one day if they’re a one-inning guy. It’s different.”

 George Kontos came through today’s batting practice just fine, in fact, he was happy with his stuff and doesn’t feel like he lost much during his time off. He’s scheduled to get in a game on Friday.

 Asked which bullpen candidates have made a strong impression, Girardi seemed to be thinking along an obvious theme. “Our lefties have thrown the ball pretty decent,” he said. “(Clay) Rapada has thrown the ball pretty well, Juan (Cedeno) has thrown the ball pretty well, Cesar (Cabral) has thrown the ball pretty well. We think we’ve got some options if we decide to take another lefty. Time will tell.”

 Speaking of which: Another hitless inning for Boone Logan who’s looked really sharp this spring. He pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning against Aviles, Pedroia and Ellsbury. The only lefty he faced was Ellsbury, who struck out.

 Bernie Williams got here last night and was around all day today.

Another nice outing for David Phelps, who took the loss despite five strikeouts in 2.2 innings. The only run of the game came on a single to right field, where Zoilo Almonte misplayed the ball, after which David Adams made a bad relay throw turning the single into an unearned run. It was a 1-0 Red Sox win because of that play.

Girardi wouldn’t give a specific timetable for Dan Burawa’s return from a torn oblique, but it’s going to be much more than a couple of days. “It could be a while,” Girardi said. “I’m not sure. He hurt his side. I haven’t gotten a timetable. A lot of times ribcage injuries can be tough.”

 I’m sure I’ll do a full post on this tomorrow, but the Yankees announced today that individual game tickets will first be made available to the public through a MasterCard pre-on-sale online at yankees.com and yankeesbeisbol.com, and via Ticketmaster phone from March 22 at 10:00 a.m. until March 25 at 10:00 p.m. For those using other accepted methods of payment, the general public on-sale will begin on Tuesday, March 27 at 10:00 a.m. at yankees.com and yankeesbeisbol.com, and via Ticketmaster.

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Here are the lineups for tonights game between the two blood rivals. 

Yankees Lineup:Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez(DH), Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner, Eduardo Nunez(3B), Francisco Cervelli(C). 

Boston Lineup:Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Crawford, Scutaro, Drew, Varitek. 

The pitching matchup is A.J. Burnett vs. Tim Wakefield.  It should be an interesting night as it usually is between these two teams.  There are just more stories attached to this one though with what happened last night and now Varitek behind the plate with the knuckler which he has never been good at handling. 

I would look early for Burnett to set the tone inside and brush some of these guys off the plate and for the Yankees to be off an running everytime they get on base.  They won't run Cervelli or Teixeira and probably not Cano although I think he can even steal off of that combo, but most of the guys will be running.  Jeter, Rodriguez, Granderson, Nunez, Gardner, maybe even Swisher will be running. 

Some Major League Baseball Odds and Ends

This is a story that involves both the Yankees and Red Sox. It is a bitter rivalry but when it comes to something like this there should be no rivaly. One of the Red Sox top prospects and he may even be their top. Baseball America rated him as the top prospect in the organization. Ryan Westmoreland will be undergoing brain surgery today. It is not known if he will ever return to baseball but at this time that doesn't even matter. This is a life threatening procedure as is any brain surgery. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family in this very difficult time. I can't say that this won't hurt the Boston Red Sox of course and I am sure there will be some Yankees fans that will bring up this hurting their hated rival but I don't think this is the time for that. I hope that he makes it through this and doesn't have too many setbacks after the surgery and one day he can return to baseball. This is a story that I will keep an eye on. The other big story of the last couple of days is probably more of a joke then anything. The rumor has been that there could be a trade between the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. The trade would be Albert Pujols for Ryan Howard. I don't see how this would ever happen and don't think it would. If I was the Phillies I would make the trade in a minute because Pujols is definitely better then Howard. I know some people have called this a modern day Joe Dimaggio for Ted Williams trade rumor/debate but you can't compare it to that because there is no question that Pujols is better. It is interesting anyway to debate and talk about and I would love to hear some opinions especially if there are any Cardinals or Phillies fans out there that want to discuss this with me.

How do the Yankees and Red Sox stack up

There are only 3 NFL games left in the season, there isn't much going on in the baseball world. Hockey and basketball are in full swing but the Nets may set the all time record for least amount of wins, they are on pace for 6 which I believe is the record. The New York Knicks were showing signs of life but coming into today had lost 4 out of their last 5. The New Jersey Devils are the best team in hockey but the Rangers and Islanders are middle of the pack type teams. I also don't think many people are focused on hockey but if you are I would love to hear from you and get your take. I think with all of this in mind and knowing that it is only 31 days until pitchers and catchers report it is a good time to look at the Yankees/Red Sox rosters and see how they match up. Boston Red Sox: New York Yankees 1B-Kevin Youkilis 1B-Mark Teixeira 2B-Dustin Pedroia 2B-Robinson Cano SS-Marcaro Scutaro SS-Derek Jeter 3B-Adrian Beltre 3B-Alex Rodriguez C-Victor Martinez C-Jorge Posada LF-Jacoby Ellsbury LF-Brett Gardner CF-Mike Cameron CF-Curtis Granderson RF-J.D. Drew RF-Nick Swisher Starting Rotation Starting Rotation Josh Beckett CC Sabathia John Lackey A.J. Burnett Jon Lester Andy Pettitte Daisuke Matsusaka J. Vazquez Clay Bucholz Phil Hughes Bullpen Closer-Jonathan Papelbon Closer-Mariano Rivera Setup-Manny Delcarmen Setup-Joba Chamberlain Setup-Ramon Ramirez Setup-Dave Robertson Lefty-Hideki Okajima Lefty-Damaso Marte Longman-Boof Bonser/Tim Wakefield Lefty-Boone Logan Longman-Sergio Mitre/Chad Gaudin I know the rosters aren't complete but this is pretty much what it will be. There are some spots in the bullpen that could be open or change and same thing with the bench that is why I didn't put the bench on here. I think the Yankees have a better lineup, starting pitching is pretty close, I probably would give the Yankees the slight edge and I think the Yankees have the advantage in the bullpen. It will be a very different Red Sox team, pitching and defense. They don't have a great lineup and it will be interesting to see how that plays out with them, over the last few years they always have a very good lineup. I still think these 2 teams and the Rays are the best teams in the AL, it comes down to injuries and guys executing especially against each other.

No Rival to Red Sox in 2000s -- MLB FanHouse

I know this is a couple of days old but I didn't get a chance to get to this. This article comes from Ed Price of Fanhouse. I just don't get how someone can even think of saying the Red Sox had no rival in this past decade. It is fine if you want to try and make the argument that they are the team of the decade but the Yankees obviously have to be in the discussion. The New York Yankees only missed the playoffs once which was in 2008 and they won 4 pennants and 8 division titles to go along with their 2 bookend World Titles. The Boston Red Sox won 2 titles also, no other team won more then one. The Red Sox also missed the playoffs 4 times in the decade, they won 2 pennants and 1 division title. Please take a look at this article and let him know what you think. No Rival to Red Sox in 2000s -- MLB FanHouse

Yanks beat Sox again

The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox this afternoon by the score of 5-0. CC Sabathia dominated for 7 2/3 innings giving up 0 runs on 2 hits with 2 walks and 9 strikeouts. Phil Hughes came in and struck out the only guy he faced and David Robertson finished off the shutout in the ninth giving up a couple of hits but striking out Big Papi to end the game. A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia were signed over the winter for moments like this and they really stepped it up this weekend pitching brilliantly and earning there pinstripes, you can envision them both pitching well the rest of the way and into the playoffs. There is one game tomorrow but the Yankees have stepped up and shut the critics up and proved that right now they are the best team in the AL east. The offense hasn't been too good the last couple of days but they have done enough to win. Robinson Cano was the only Yankee with multiple hits today going 3 for 4, Derek Jeter had a 2 run homerun for his only hit. Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera and Jose Molina had a hit each. The bottom line is this the Yankees want to win a championship and to do that they need pitching and defense and just enough hitting and right now they are doing all of that, a lot of people have been saying they can't beat the good teams but I don't think they are saying that anymore. Andy Pettitte will be on the mound tomorrow against Jon Lester which will be a tough game but the Yankees have it set up for Pettitte to go 6 innings and then they can turn it over to Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, Mariano Rivera and hope to sweep the Red Sox and leave them 6 1/2 games out and maybe knock them out of the wildcard for now. A couple of quick notes, Josh Towers was on the team today, he will be gone tomorrow when they put Chad Gaudin on the roster. Gaudin will be out of the bullpen for now but I expect him to be starting pretty soon although they can have him caddy with Sergio Mitre. The reason Josh Towers was brought up today is just in case CC had to leave the game early or they went to extra innings again, they would of been in trouble and he would of been a guy who could give them length. The Red Sox were shutout in back to back games for the first time since 2002. They are now under 500 on the road and really reeling. The Yankees are 12-1 in their last 13 home games. These 3 games Yankee stadium has been sold out and really rocking like the old stadium, it still isn't the old stadium but this was a huge step in the right direction.

More from last nights classic

That game was the longest a Yankees/Red Sox game has gone being scoreless. Junichi Tazawa was making his major league debut replacing Hall Of Famer John Smoltz on the roster. A-rod ended his longest single season homerun drought with his walkoff in the 15th at 72 at bats. You knew how much this game meant when you saw Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett hanging out in the dugout when usually they would be in the locker room. CC Sabathia also hung around, he is today's starting pitcher. The Yankees clubhouse is so big and nice though maybe he just slept there last night. It was amazing how many bad swings there were, it was like no matter who came in to those last couple of innings, no one was going to hit them. The Yankees only used Hughes for 1/3 of an inning and Mo for 1 inning so they will be ready to go today. Bucholz is pitching for Boston and their bullpen is depleted a bit, this could be interesting for them. The stadium was finally alive and most people stayed right to the end, i give them credit but it was a friday night and how could you leave that game.

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

The Yankees will try and beat the Red Sox for the first time this season and tonight may be their best chance. Joba is flying high pitching the best he has in his career as a starter and John Smoltz looks old and washed up. I think this is the most important game of the series as the Yankees need to stop hearing about how they can't beat the Sox. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via the Lohud Yankees Blog. Joba is 3-0 with a 0.83 era since the all star break. He has allowed 8 hits over 21 2/3 innings with 8 walks and 19 strikeouts. Joba is 2-1 with a 3.49 era in his career against the Sox. Joba as a starter in his career is 10-3 with a 3.27 era. The debate will never end but this is where he belongs in my opinion, he will get better and better and has the potential to be a #1 starter. The Yankees have won 14 of 19 and 25 of their last 35. The Red Sox are 7-10 since July 17 and 24-20 since June 13th. MO has gone 19 1/3 innings without allowing a run. He has 18 strikeouts in that time. Nick Swisher is heating up going 11 for his last 34 with 6 xbh. Johnny Damon is 10 of his last 22 with 2 homeruns and 6 rbi's. A-rod is way overdue going 61 at bats without a homerun which is the longest of his Yankees career. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF) Boston Lineup: Ellsbury(CF) Pedroia(2B) Martinez(C) Youkilis(LF) Ortiz(DH) Drew(RF) Lowell(3B) Kotchman(1B) Lowrie(SS)