Yanks take another series

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 5-3 today. Andy Pettitte pitched 6 innings giving up 3 runs, he did hit a batter and have 3 walks but he also had 7 strikeouts. Phil Hughes came in to the game in the seventh and looked great pitching a 1-2-3 inning hitting 95 on the gun and showing a good curve. Phil Coke came on in the eighth and had a man on second but survived the inning and Mo went 1-2-3 in the ninth. The Yankees are a full game ahead of the Sox for first place in the AL East heading into the Beantown showdown. The Yankees offense didn't get many hits but when they did they hit homeruns with 4 of them. Mark Teixeira hit his league leading 18th in the first inning. Nick Swisher has seemed to get his stroke back hit a 2 run homerun, Johnny Damon who loves hitting at home hit a solo homerun and so did Derek Jeter. A-rod didn't get a hit but hit the ball sharply tw16ice at the third baseman. Hideki Matsui is 0 for his last 16 and may need a day off. A.J. Burnett goes against former teammate Josh Beckett who has righted himself lately tomorrow night at 7 with pre and post game on the Yes network and the game on MY9.

Rays at Yankees

The New York Yankees take on the Tampa Bay Rays tonight at 7:00PM. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham's Lohud Yankees Blog. The Yankees with a win tonight will have won 8 of their last 9 series. Andy Pettitte is tied with CC Sabathia for the team lead in wins with 5, he hopes he takes the lead tonight. He has been bothered by a bad back and given up a lot of hits and walks his last couple of starts but somehow survived, he is hoping to do better tonight though. Andy Sonnanstine has given up 78 hits and 16 walks in 56 innings this year. He is 3-1 with a 6.75 era in his last 4 starts which is an improvement. The Yankees need to make him throw pitches and hit the good ones they get. The Yankees have committed an error in 5 straight games. The Yankees are 17-11 at home after starting out so-so there. The best thing about the Yankees this year is their never say die attitude. They lead baseball with 20 come from behind wins and have won 11 games in their last at bat which leads the American league. The Yankees are 20-0 when holding opponents to 3 runs or less. They are the only team undefeated in this category, so if the Yankees get the pitching which they do more often then not they will win. If they ever get Wang going watch out with him CC and AJ and Andy and Joba on the backend that is a great staff. I think Joba is getting better and better and him being upset with his 6th inning yesterday is a good sign of that because he felt he should of gone at least 7. Nick Swisher has 11 homeruns, he did not get that until June 30th of last year. I love Swishers personality and intensity but Nady is just a better player and Swisher can really help this team coming off the bench and playing outfield and first base when guys need a rest. It will be interesting to see what happens when Nady does come back. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Big Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Cano(2B) Posada(C) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)

Yankees upcoming schedule

The Yankees finish their abbreviated 3 game series with the Rays tonight before heading to Boston to take on the Sox for three then coming back home to face the Mets for three. Andy Pettitte will get the start tonight and hopefully will have better control as he has walked 11 batters in his last 2 starts. Andy Sonastine gets the start for the Rays, he has been awful this year having an ERA north of 7, I think the Yankee bats will be happy tonight. The Yankees then begin rivalry week, where they hope to take 2 of 3 from the Sox and send a little message before taking on the seriously depleted Mets. They better win at least 2 of 3 from the Mets, Santana does pitch the second game. The Yankees have A.J. Burnett, Chien-Ming Wang and CC Sabathia going against Boston with Joba, Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett going against the Mets. It should be a fun week for the fans or intense depeding on how you look at it but hopefully by the end of the week the Yankees and their fans will be feeling really good.

Yanks defeat Rays and MO gets right back on the horse

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 today. Joba Chamberlain pitched 6 innings giving up 3 runs, he was ok but not great. He threw too many pitches in the last inning and that is when he got in trouble and gave away the lead. Alfredo Aceves came in for 2 innings and was brilliant giving up a single, 0 runs, 4 strikeouts. Mo came in for the save and got it 1-2-3 on 10 pitches. The offense looked dead for most of the day, Mark Teixeira had a big double in the eighth and Nick Swisher had a solo homerun. The Yankees scored 3 runs in the eighth but it was on a bases loaded walk, a error and a slow groundball that was beat out to avoid the double play by Hideki Matsui to give the Yanks the lead. The Yankees didn't exactly kill the ball that inning to take the lead but they did what they had to do. Johnny Damon was 2-4 and A-rod had a hit and a walk. Jorge Posada had a hit and a rbi. The Yankees will try to take the series and assure themselves that they will be walking into Fenway Park on Tuesday in first place. Andy Pettitte takes on Andy Sonastine who the Yankees should be able to hit.

Rays at Yankees

The Yankees will try to even their abbreviated three game set with the Rays this afternoon with Joba Chamberlain on the hill against Matt Garza. Matt Garza pitched well against the Yankees earlier in the year, but the Yankees came back and won the game 7-2. The goal of the Yankees should be to get the starters of the Rays out of the game early and go to work on the questionable and beat up bullpen of the Rays. Here are the pregame notes and lineup as always from Peter Abraham. The Yankees have lost 2 of three and are 8-6 in their last 14. They enter today tied for first in the loss column. It would be nice if they can beat the Rays the next couple of games heading into the Fenway showdown. The Yanks are 2-9 vs the Rays and Red Sox and that has to change. Yankee Stadium and Tropican Field are the only 2 ballparks in baseball that have given up at least one homerun in every game played there this year. The Yankees set the record with 18 straight errorless games, since then they have at least one error in 4 straight games, it definitely hurt them yesterday. Melky Cabrera has 23 rbi's and 11 of them have been to tie the game or give the Yanks the lead in the seventh inning or later. Big Tex has 12 homeruns and 35 rbi's in his last 26 games, man is he hot not coincidentally he has really shined with A-rod back. Those two have formed a great bond and they should. Derek Jeter has 11 stolen bases, he stole that many all of last year. Yankees lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Cano(2B) Posada(C) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(CF)