The New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox by the score of 9-1 on Saturday evening. Freddy Garcia made the start for the Yankees and pitched great, he may have secured himself a spot in the postseason rotation. The Yankees bullpen did a good job and the offense really hammered Jon Lester. Jesus Montero had a big day at the plate.
Garcia pitched six innings giving up six hits and no runs. He walked one and struck out three. Garcia improved to 12-8 on the season. Raul Valdes pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and one run, Cory Wade gave up a hit without recording an out and Boon Logan faced two batters and retired both of them, one on a strikeout. Luis Ayala faced two batters and retired them both and George Kontos pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.
Derek Jeter had a hit and three RBI, Robinson Cano had a hit and Nick Swisher had a hit and two walks. Andruw Jones had two hits, Montero had three hits and four RBI and Russell Martin had a hit and two RBI. Montero had a double, Jeter and Montero each had a homerun. The Yankees were 5-6 with runners in scoring position and they left two men on base. Rodriguez made a throwing error.
In the second Montero had an RBI single to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. Martin had a two run single to make it 3-0 and Jeter had a three run homerun to make it 6-0 Yankees. In the third Montero had a two run double and it was 8-0 Yankees. Montero hit a solo homerun in the sixth to push the lead to 9-0, the Red Sox would get their only run of the game in the seventh inning. It was the last run of the game as the game finished 9-1. Carl Crawford had an RBI double.
The Yankees with their win had a magic number of one to clinch home field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. The Tigers were taking on the Orioles this evening and lost so the Yankees have clinched home field advantage. The Yankees also with the victory put the pressure on the Red Sox who came into the day with a 2 ½ game lead over the Rays for the wild card. The Rays won so the lead is down to 1 ½. The Red Sox will be pitching John Lackey and Tim Wakefield in the doubleheader tomorrow. These are two pitchers that have really struggled for an extended period of time. There was a crowd of 49, 556 which was the largest in the new stadiums history. Garcia said “I needed to pitch good today. I did it, I’m really happy about it, and now I’m looking forward to my next start. I don’t know when, but hopefully it will be in the playoffs.” The Yankees had their regular lineup in there against the Red Sox. I would assume in one of the games tomorrow they will and then in the other it will be a lot of backups since it is a doubleheader. The key though is pitching and that is why the Red Sox are struggling so much, the pitching for them has been awful. A.J. Burnett will star the first game for the Yankees on Sunday and Ivan Nova will pitch the night cap of the doubleheader. The Yankees will really try to hurt the Red Sox chances by beating them in both games of the doubleheader.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Mets sweep a doubleheader from the Phillies
The New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies twice on Saturday. They beat them 2-1 and 6-3 in a doubleheader. R.A. Dickey pitched great in the first game and the bullpen used two pitchers to close it out. Dillon Gee pitched the second game and picked up the win, he gave up a bunch of hits but was able to now allow many runs. The bullpen pitched very well in the second game using three pitchers. The offense wasn’t great in the second game, they had some help by the Phillies defense to score some runs. In the first game the offense for the Mets only had six hits and no one had more then one.
In the first game Dickey pitched seven innings giving up three hits and one run with a walk and four strikeouts. Miguel Batista pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk, he also struck out one and Bobby Parnell faced one batter and retired him to pick up his fourth win of the season. Manny Acosta pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout to pick up his third save of the season. In the night cap Gee pitched six innings giving up nine hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He walked two and struck out two. Gee is now 13-6 on the season, Parnell pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings and struck out one and Daniel Herrera pitched to one batter and retired him. Acosta picked up his fourth save of the season pitching one inning and giving up a hit and a walk.
The offense in the day game got hits from Jose Reyes, Ruben Tejada and David Wright. Wright had an RBI and a walk, Josh Satin had a hit and Nick Evans had a hit. Willie Harris had a walk and Valentino Pascucci had a hit and an RBI. Wright had a double and Pascucci had a homerun. The Mets were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Tejada, Reyes and Wright each had a stolen base. In the night cap Tejada had a hit and an RBI, Justin Turner had a walk and Harris had a hit. Wright had a walk, Evans had a hit and an RBI and Josh Thole had a hit and two RBI. Jason Pridie had two hits, Evans and Pridie each had a double. The Mets were 3-6 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base. Harris and Pridie each had a stolen base. Turner had an error.
In the first game the Phillies got on the board first in the seventh inning on a Ryan Howard RBI single. In the bottom of the seventh Pascucci hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one. In the eighth Wright had an RBI double and that would complete the scoring in the game. In the night game the Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Wilson Valdez had an RBI single and Jimmy Rollins had an RBI single. In the third Ross Gload had an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0 Phillies. In the bottom of the third Harris reached on a fielding error and two runs scored to cut the lead to 3-2. Evans doubled to tie the score at three and Thole had a two run single to make it 5-3 Mets. In the fourth Tejada had an RBI single and it was 6-3 Mets. The game would end with that score.
The Mets have continued to play hard after Terry Collins really gave it to them about a week ago before their road trip. They have responded by playing well in Atlanta and St. Louis and now carrying it back home against the Phillies. The Phillies of course have nothing to play for but that isn’t the Mets fault. They need to feel good about themselves ending the season and heading into next season.
In the first game Dickey pitched seven innings giving up three hits and one run with a walk and four strikeouts. Miguel Batista pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a walk, he also struck out one and Bobby Parnell faced one batter and retired him to pick up his fourth win of the season. Manny Acosta pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk with a strikeout to pick up his third save of the season. In the night cap Gee pitched six innings giving up nine hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He walked two and struck out two. Gee is now 13-6 on the season, Parnell pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings and struck out one and Daniel Herrera pitched to one batter and retired him. Acosta picked up his fourth save of the season pitching one inning and giving up a hit and a walk.
The offense in the day game got hits from Jose Reyes, Ruben Tejada and David Wright. Wright had an RBI and a walk, Josh Satin had a hit and Nick Evans had a hit. Willie Harris had a walk and Valentino Pascucci had a hit and an RBI. Wright had a double and Pascucci had a homerun. The Mets were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and they left six men on base. Tejada, Reyes and Wright each had a stolen base. In the night cap Tejada had a hit and an RBI, Justin Turner had a walk and Harris had a hit. Wright had a walk, Evans had a hit and an RBI and Josh Thole had a hit and two RBI. Jason Pridie had two hits, Evans and Pridie each had a double. The Mets were 3-6 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base. Harris and Pridie each had a stolen base. Turner had an error.
In the first game the Phillies got on the board first in the seventh inning on a Ryan Howard RBI single. In the bottom of the seventh Pascucci hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one. In the eighth Wright had an RBI double and that would complete the scoring in the game. In the night game the Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Wilson Valdez had an RBI single and Jimmy Rollins had an RBI single. In the third Ross Gload had an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0 Phillies. In the bottom of the third Harris reached on a fielding error and two runs scored to cut the lead to 3-2. Evans doubled to tie the score at three and Thole had a two run single to make it 5-3 Mets. In the fourth Tejada had an RBI single and it was 6-3 Mets. The game would end with that score.
The Mets have continued to play hard after Terry Collins really gave it to them about a week ago before their road trip. They have responded by playing well in Atlanta and St. Louis and now carrying it back home against the Phillies. The Phillies of course have nothing to play for but that isn’t the Mets fault. They need to feel good about themselves ending the season and heading into next season.
Friday, September 23, 2011
The Yankees get routed in loss to the Rays
Bronx,NY(September 22)-The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 15-8 on Thursday night. The Yankees clinched a playoff spot and the division title on Wednesday and they looked like a team that was partying the night before. The Yankees had most of their regulars sitting out and even got some pitchers in there to make their major league debuts. Bartolo Colon started and was horrible, he was a guy that was though of as the number two or three starter in the postseason but I don’t think that is the case anymore. The Yankees used a bunch of relievers who had varying levels of success. The offense was shut down by Matt Moore who made his major league debut but were able to get to the Rays bullpen a little bit.
Colon pitched three innings giving up seven hits and seven runs with five of them being earned. He walked one and struck out one. Colon took the loss and is 8-10 on the season. He looks like a pitcher who is just tired. He pitched so well in the first half of the season but has just lost it after the all star break. Scott Proctor pitched an inning giving up four hits and five runs with three of them being earned. He walked two batters, Aaron Laffey pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up four hits and one run and struck out one and Andrew Brackman in his major league debut pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and one walk. Dellin Betances also made his major league debut and pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two runs and four walks with a hit batter and George Kontos pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and he struck out one.
Chris Dickerson had a hit, Eduardo Nunez had two hits and a walk and Austin Romine had a hit and a walk. Nick Swisher had a hit, Ramiro Pena had two hits and two RBI and Andruw Jones had two hits and three RBI. Jesus Montero had a big game with three hits, two RBI and two walks. Jorge Posada and Brandon Laird each had a hit. Montero had a double and Jones had a homerun. The Yankees were 4-14 with runners in scoring position and they left 11 men on base. Swisher made an error, Jeter made two errors and Dickerson made an error.
The Rays jumped all over the Yankees in this game. Matt Joyce had a two run single in the first and Johnny Damon had a sacrifice fly togive the Rays a 3-0 lead. B.J. Upton had an RBI triple and Evan Longoria an RBI double in the second to give them a 5-0 lead. In the third inning Ben Zobrist hit a two run homerun to give the Rays a 7-0 lead and the rout was on. Upton hit a two run homerun in the fourth, Damon hit a two run homerun and Reid Brignac hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 12-0. IN the fifth inning Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly to make it 13-0. Jones hit a two run homerun in the sixth inning to get the Yankees on the board. In the seventh Pena and Jones had RBI singles to make it 13-4 and Montero had a two run double. It was 13-6 Rays. In the eighth Matt Joyce was hit by a pitch to score a run and Russ Canzler hit a sacrifice fly to make it 15-6 Rays. In the eighth Pena reached on a throwing error to score two runs and make it 15-8. That would be all the scoring in the game.
The Yankees won three out of four in the series against the Rays. The Rays with the victory are two games back of the Red Sox for the wild card with six games to go. The Yankees begin a three game series with the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. The Yankees will have Freddy Garcia on the mound against Jon Lester. The Yankees have a magic number of two to clinch home field advantage through the AL playoffs. The Yankees can get that this weekend and really rest up next week against the Rays for the final three games. It will be interesting to see how the Yankees play the Red Sox who are their arch rivals and I am sure they would love to knock out of the postseason. The Yankees just want to get guys healthy and tuned up for the postseason which will begin next Friday night at the Stadium.
Colon pitched three innings giving up seven hits and seven runs with five of them being earned. He walked one and struck out one. Colon took the loss and is 8-10 on the season. He looks like a pitcher who is just tired. He pitched so well in the first half of the season but has just lost it after the all star break. Scott Proctor pitched an inning giving up four hits and five runs with three of them being earned. He walked two batters, Aaron Laffey pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up four hits and one run and struck out one and Andrew Brackman in his major league debut pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and one walk. Dellin Betances also made his major league debut and pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two runs and four walks with a hit batter and George Kontos pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and he struck out one.
Chris Dickerson had a hit, Eduardo Nunez had two hits and a walk and Austin Romine had a hit and a walk. Nick Swisher had a hit, Ramiro Pena had two hits and two RBI and Andruw Jones had two hits and three RBI. Jesus Montero had a big game with three hits, two RBI and two walks. Jorge Posada and Brandon Laird each had a hit. Montero had a double and Jones had a homerun. The Yankees were 4-14 with runners in scoring position and they left 11 men on base. Swisher made an error, Jeter made two errors and Dickerson made an error.
The Rays jumped all over the Yankees in this game. Matt Joyce had a two run single in the first and Johnny Damon had a sacrifice fly togive the Rays a 3-0 lead. B.J. Upton had an RBI triple and Evan Longoria an RBI double in the second to give them a 5-0 lead. In the third inning Ben Zobrist hit a two run homerun to give the Rays a 7-0 lead and the rout was on. Upton hit a two run homerun in the fourth, Damon hit a two run homerun and Reid Brignac hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 12-0. IN the fifth inning Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly to make it 13-0. Jones hit a two run homerun in the sixth inning to get the Yankees on the board. In the seventh Pena and Jones had RBI singles to make it 13-4 and Montero had a two run double. It was 13-6 Rays. In the eighth Matt Joyce was hit by a pitch to score a run and Russ Canzler hit a sacrifice fly to make it 15-6 Rays. In the eighth Pena reached on a throwing error to score two runs and make it 15-8. That would be all the scoring in the game.
The Yankees won three out of four in the series against the Rays. The Rays with the victory are two games back of the Red Sox for the wild card with six games to go. The Yankees begin a three game series with the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. The Yankees will have Freddy Garcia on the mound against Jon Lester. The Yankees have a magic number of two to clinch home field advantage through the AL playoffs. The Yankees can get that this weekend and really rest up next week against the Rays for the final three games. It will be interesting to see how the Yankees play the Red Sox who are their arch rivals and I am sure they would love to knock out of the postseason. The Yankees just want to get guys healthy and tuned up for the postseason which will begin next Friday night at the Stadium.
Mets avoid the swep in St. Louis and help the Braves in the process
By Gary W. Marchese Jr.
St. Louis,MO(September 22)-The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 8-6 on Thursday evening. The Mets had a great comeback in this game as they were trailing by four runs entering the ninth inning. Chris Capuano started for the Mets and did his usual which is ok, nothing great and nothing horrible. He wasn’t able to go deep into the game which isn’t good but the bullpen did a pretty good job. Drew Stinson had a rough outing but four other relievers pitched well. The offense was led by Ruben Tejada who had a couple of hits and Josh Thole also had a couple of hits.
Capuano pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs. He walked two and struck out four. Ryota Igarashi pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and one walk, Stinson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs and Daniel Herrera gave up a hit in 1/3 of an inning. Manny Acosta pitched a perfect inning to record his fourth win of the season and Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning for his sixth save of the season. Parnell also struck out one batter.
Jose Reyes had a hit, RBI and a walk, Tejada had two hits, three RBI and a walk and Angel Pagan had two walks. Willie Harris had a hit, two RBI and two walks. Thole had two hits, Mike Baxter had a hit and Jason Pridie had a walk. Justin Turner had an RBI and a walk. Thole and Tejada each had a double. The Mets were 3-13 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Pagan had a stolen base.
Allen Craig hit a two run homerun in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. In the fifth Tejada had an RBI walk to make it 2-1 Cardinals. Albert Pujols hit a homerun in the fifth and Yadier Molina had an RBI single. It was 4-1 Cardinals. In the seventh Molina had an RBI double and Tyler Greene had an RBI single to make it 6-1. In the eighth Molina allowed a passed ball and the Mets scored a run to make it a 6-2 game. In the ninth Turner walked to drive in a run, Reyes had an RBI single, Tejada had a two run double and Harris had a two run single to give the Mets a 8-6 lead. That would be the final runs of the game as the Mets did not struggle to hold onto this lead.
The Mets really dashed the Cardinals hopes, the Cardinals were within two games of the wild card and now it is three. The Mets will return home on Friday night to begin a three game series with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets will conclude their season with three games against the Cincinatti Reds. The Mets hope to finish strong on this homestand and try and look forward to the 2012 season.
St. Louis,MO(September 22)-The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 8-6 on Thursday evening. The Mets had a great comeback in this game as they were trailing by four runs entering the ninth inning. Chris Capuano started for the Mets and did his usual which is ok, nothing great and nothing horrible. He wasn’t able to go deep into the game which isn’t good but the bullpen did a pretty good job. Drew Stinson had a rough outing but four other relievers pitched well. The offense was led by Ruben Tejada who had a couple of hits and Josh Thole also had a couple of hits.
Capuano pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs. He walked two and struck out four. Ryota Igarashi pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit and one walk, Stinson pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs and Daniel Herrera gave up a hit in 1/3 of an inning. Manny Acosta pitched a perfect inning to record his fourth win of the season and Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning for his sixth save of the season. Parnell also struck out one batter.
Jose Reyes had a hit, RBI and a walk, Tejada had two hits, three RBI and a walk and Angel Pagan had two walks. Willie Harris had a hit, two RBI and two walks. Thole had two hits, Mike Baxter had a hit and Jason Pridie had a walk. Justin Turner had an RBI and a walk. Thole and Tejada each had a double. The Mets were 3-13 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Pagan had a stolen base.
Allen Craig hit a two run homerun in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. In the fifth Tejada had an RBI walk to make it 2-1 Cardinals. Albert Pujols hit a homerun in the fifth and Yadier Molina had an RBI single. It was 4-1 Cardinals. In the seventh Molina had an RBI double and Tyler Greene had an RBI single to make it 6-1. In the eighth Molina allowed a passed ball and the Mets scored a run to make it a 6-2 game. In the ninth Turner walked to drive in a run, Reyes had an RBI single, Tejada had a two run double and Harris had a two run single to give the Mets a 8-6 lead. That would be the final runs of the game as the Mets did not struggle to hold onto this lead.
The Mets really dashed the Cardinals hopes, the Cardinals were within two games of the wild card and now it is three. The Mets will return home on Friday night to begin a three game series with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets will conclude their season with three games against the Cincinatti Reds. The Mets hope to finish strong on this homestand and try and look forward to the 2012 season.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Mariano Rivera-The Greatest Of All-Time
Mariano Rivera on Monday afternoon in a makeup game against the Minnesota Twins set the record for most all-time saves. Rivera didn't need this record to validate himself as the greatest of all-time. I think he was anointed that about five or six years ago and who can argue that. There could always be someone to argue it but now you can backup your argument with the fact that no one else in the history of baseball has saved as many games as Rivera. I know the save stat didn't come into existance until 1969 but that all doesn't matter. Rivera is simply the best and what an athlete and man also.
I have had the great privelage of watching Rivera since day one. I don't know if I have seen every single save he has ever had but I have come pretty close. I have seen many in the Old Stadium and now the New Yankee Stadium. I have seen most of the others on T.V. If I missed a few it was because of some big event such as a wedding or a christening or something like that where I couldn't miss.
Rivera came up to the Yankees in 1995 and of course if they knew what they had then, they would of never lost that five game epic ALDS against the Seattle Mariners. In 1996 he was a setup man for John Wetteland the closer. Rivera would usually come in and pitch the seventh and eighth innings and just blow guys away with a 95mph + fastball and of course great command. He would mow the hitters down and then Wetteland would make you sweat it out but the formula worked. The Yankees in that magical season made it a six inning game. It was the Yankees first World Series win in 18 years since the 1978 Yankees.
Rivera took over the closer role in 1997 and has been there ever since. I am sure not a lot of people remember but he actually blew three out of his first six save oppurtunities or something like that. There was some panic and he was asked about it. Rivera said he will be just fine and he has been more then that. Rivera has been a picture of consistency in a job where guys last maybe a couple of years, maybe five or six if they are lucky at the top of their game. Rivera is in his 40's now and still has 42 saves this season. I find it ironic that he saved his 42nd game of the season the day he broke the record. He of course is the last man wearing that number as it is retired across baseball.
Rivera has one more year on his contract left but you can see him pitching longer then that if he wanted too. I would think he will retire at the end of next season but he just seems like he could do it forever, it is so effortless. Has he been perfect of course not but the amazing thing is when he has blown a save or still does you are in shock, that proves how good he really is. Rivera is known for three big blown saves but he has been able to come back from them all. In 1997 against the Cleveland Indians he gave up a big homerun to Sandy Alomar Jr. to lose the ALDS. In 2001 he had a blown save in game seven to lose the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks and in 2004 they had the epic collapse against the Red Sox and he blew a save in Game four where Dave Roberts stole a base and then the Yankees never recovered.
Rivera is simply the best and congratulations to him on setting the record and having a great career. He of course is not done, he will look to add to his record and of course he also has 42 career postseason saves and really wants to add to that as well this season. Rivera will look for his sixth ring to go along with his other awards such as World Series MVP and numerous All Star appearances.
I have had the great privelage of watching Rivera since day one. I don't know if I have seen every single save he has ever had but I have come pretty close. I have seen many in the Old Stadium and now the New Yankee Stadium. I have seen most of the others on T.V. If I missed a few it was because of some big event such as a wedding or a christening or something like that where I couldn't miss.
Rivera came up to the Yankees in 1995 and of course if they knew what they had then, they would of never lost that five game epic ALDS against the Seattle Mariners. In 1996 he was a setup man for John Wetteland the closer. Rivera would usually come in and pitch the seventh and eighth innings and just blow guys away with a 95mph + fastball and of course great command. He would mow the hitters down and then Wetteland would make you sweat it out but the formula worked. The Yankees in that magical season made it a six inning game. It was the Yankees first World Series win in 18 years since the 1978 Yankees.
Rivera took over the closer role in 1997 and has been there ever since. I am sure not a lot of people remember but he actually blew three out of his first six save oppurtunities or something like that. There was some panic and he was asked about it. Rivera said he will be just fine and he has been more then that. Rivera has been a picture of consistency in a job where guys last maybe a couple of years, maybe five or six if they are lucky at the top of their game. Rivera is in his 40's now and still has 42 saves this season. I find it ironic that he saved his 42nd game of the season the day he broke the record. He of course is the last man wearing that number as it is retired across baseball.
Rivera has one more year on his contract left but you can see him pitching longer then that if he wanted too. I would think he will retire at the end of next season but he just seems like he could do it forever, it is so effortless. Has he been perfect of course not but the amazing thing is when he has blown a save or still does you are in shock, that proves how good he really is. Rivera is known for three big blown saves but he has been able to come back from them all. In 1997 against the Cleveland Indians he gave up a big homerun to Sandy Alomar Jr. to lose the ALDS. In 2001 he had a blown save in game seven to lose the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks and in 2004 they had the epic collapse against the Red Sox and he blew a save in Game four where Dave Roberts stole a base and then the Yankees never recovered.
Rivera is simply the best and congratulations to him on setting the record and having a great career. He of course is not done, he will look to add to his record and of course he also has 42 career postseason saves and really wants to add to that as well this season. Rivera will look for his sixth ring to go along with his other awards such as World Series MVP and numerous All Star appearances.
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