New York Football off to a good start

The New York Jets and New York Giants both defeated their big rivals yesterday. The Jets beat the Patriots at Giants Stadium by the score of 16-9 and the Giants beat Dallas in Dallas by the score of 33-31. The Giants won on a last second field goal and the Jets stopped the Patriots late rally. The Jets have a rookie head coach who was known for defense and to this point the Jets look as though they have the best defense in the league. They have not allowed a touchdown in either game. The Giants played bad defense but their recievers mainly Steve Smith and Mario Manningham who each had 10 catches really stepped it up. Eli Manning is proving more and more that he is one of the best in the two minute drills. He just always seems to get the job done. The Giants also have not been able to run the ball at all. I expect the running game will get better once the defenses pay more attention to the wide recievers and the defense will be ok once they have all their players back. Justin Tuck left the game in the 2nd quarter with a injury and Chris Canty and a couple of the safties were also hurt which doesn't help. The bottom line is the Giants are 2-0 and in first place as well as the Jets and there is room for improvement. The football teams are both in good shape at this point in time and have people dreaming big.

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/Angels Pitching Matchups

Tonight- Joe Saunders vs Andy Pettitte Tomorrow- Ervin Santana vs Chad Gaudin Wednesday- Scott Kazmir vs A.J. Burnett This should be an interesting series. The Yankees never win in Anaheim but now is the time to do it. The Yankees need one more win to officially be in the postseason but they want to win the division and have homefield advantage. The lead the Red Sox by 5 games with 12 to go. Tonight will be a huge game to see how Andy Pettitte feels after getting extra rest with a tired shoulder, the Yankees offense better be awake in Anaheim and score some runs.

Yanks lose to Seattle

The New York Yankees lost this afternoon to Seattle by the score of 7-1. It was a ugly game especially for Joba Chamberlain who started and lasted only 3 innings giving up all 7 runs. He was scheduled to pitch 5 innings but couldn't make it. It is very frustrating with him right now and he is still talking tough after the games. I think someone needs to sit him down and say get it together and start listening to people because you aren't as great as you think you are. It is time for him to earn it and not be so cocky. Sergio Mitre came in and pitched 5 brilliant innings giving up only 1 hit he also struck out 5 while walking 1. The Yankees offense was pretty dead also and only managed 1 run. The Yankees lead in the AL East has been cut to 5 games and now they head to Anaheim where they haven't been able to win for 3 games and then home for 3 big games against Boston. Andy Pettitte will be on the hill tomorrow and this is huge for him as he tests his tired shoulder for the first time in 9 days. The Yankees will be holding their breath I am sure at the beginning of this game. The Yankees also had rookie initiation today with the Batman theme. Ramiro Pena, Mike Dunn some staff and Mark Melancon wore the costumes and they headed to Anaheim that way with CC Sabathia taking them out to dinner once they got there.

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)