Yankees lose Again

Freddy Garcia once again gave the Yankees a performance that they should have been able to win with. Instead, Boone Logan comes into the eighth inning with a one run deficit and gives up two more runs to give the Orioles a comfy three run lead. The Yankees came back in the bottom of the seventh inning with two solo shots. One by Eric Chavez and the next one by Ichiro, his one-hundredth career long ball in the major leagues. The Yankees have not been firing on all cylinders ever since Alex Rodriguez's injury and have struggled to score enough runs to support their starting pitcher. They have lost eight of their last eleven games and allow the Orioles to gain a game on them in the standings. The Yankees lead in the AL East is down to 6.5 games. Times like these are a good reason to have a hot streak early and gain ground on the teams below you in the standings. Mark Teixeira exited the game in the seventh after diving for a ground ball and landing strangely on his left arm. If Teixeira is out for any extended period of time, the Yankees go into panic mode because both of their corner infielders are injured.

Tomorrow night, the Yankees try to avoid a four game skid when Ivan Nova takes the mound against Chris Tillman. I will be at the game and will post lineups and a post game analysis after the game. Hopefully, Teixeira's wrist is alright and the Yankees can get back on track again.

Swisher at DH again

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher DH
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Freddy Garcia

Red Sox take Series Finale in Extras

In tonight's pitcher's duel, Hiroki Kuroda pitched brilliantly despite not getting the decision in the game. He went eight dominant innings and gave up only two runs on a two-run double by Ryan Sweeney in the second inning. The double play ball helped Kuroda tonight, as the Red Sox hit into four double plays against the pitcher, a career high for Kuroda. Aside from the two run double, Kuroda looked as sharp as he had looked all season long. The problem for Kuroda was that he faced what he dealt with for four years while pitching for the Dodgers. The Yankees could not score for him in a start where he gave them more than enough.

Felix Doubront completely baffled the Yankees for 6.1 innings before Russell Martin hit an opposite field home run to cut the Red Sox lead to one run. Doubront had a devastating curve that the Yankee hitters could not figure out. Robinson Cano looked as helpless at the plate against Doubront as I've seen him all year against any other pitcher. After Doubront's departure, the Yankees would score another run to tie the game and send it into extra innings. The Yankees had plenty of scoring opportunities in the seventh and eighth innings where fly balls were not hit deep enough and ground balls were not placed in the correct direction. In the top of the tenth inning, Bobby Valentine and Josh Beckett were ejected from the game after arguing that Will Middlebrooks did not swing at a pitch as he was attempting to lay down a sac bunt. Afterwards, Middlebrooks got a base hit then Ciriaco hit a jam shot that found the grass to give the Red Sox the lead in extra innings. The Red Sox needed this game far more than the Yankees needed it, but it still would have been nice to see the Yankees take the series against their arch rivals.

Tomorrow night, the Orioles enter the Bronx for a three game series. The Orioles trail the Yankees by seven games in the AL East and are looking to cut that lead after leaving Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

Swisher back in the Lineup

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher DH
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jayson Nix 3B

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda

Yankees Rally not Enough against Sox

CC Sabathia did not have great stuff today, and that was evident from the first pitch of the game all the way to the pitch where he gave up a three-run home run to Adrian Gonzalez. CC has not been himself over the last two year, and it is becoming more and more of a trend to see Sabathia give up three plus runs in a start. Before last year's second half, you were almost shocked to see CC give up more than two runs in a start. This year, it's more like "is he going to keep us in the game?" Now, he is still CC Sabathia. I feel comfortable with him on the mound but he hasn't been what the Yankees want him to be lately and it is becoming a concern for me as a fan to watch an expensive pitcher struggle. Lester started the game great but ultimately fell into his recent ways as he gave up four runs in six innings, which is still better than what he has been doing at home this season.

The Yankee offense was stagnant for much of the beginning part of the game as Lester was puzzling the hitters. However, Stewart hit his first home run of the year and Jayson Nix went deep against Lester. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth inning when Mark Teixeira faced his long time nemesis in Vincente Padilla and DRILLED a two-run shot into the right field seats. Teixeira admired his home run for a long time and took forever to round the bases, taking a jab at Padilla. After the game, Teixeira said he wanted to make sure his home run was not foul. Tex, I think it is safe to say that it wasn't anywhere near going foul, but lets go with that one.

The Yankee rally fell short and they could not come back against Aceves after Soriano gave up the go-ahead runs in the top of the ninth. This game showed the Yankee fan that the Yankees do not quit and until the very last out, I felt that a comeback was in the cards. This is a special team that can accomplish wonders when they are healthy and firing on all cylinders.

In tomorrow's rubber game on ESPN at 8 PM, Felix Doubront meets up with Hiroki Kuroda, who has been fantastic this season. The Yankees have not done great against Doubront this season in two games, but they still scored enough runs off of him to be able to win one of the games. The other is on "Yankees Classics" as the Yankees scored fifteen runs to win the game at Fenway Park in April after Doubront left the game.

Swisher gets another Day

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Andruw Jones LF
Jayson Nix 3B
Russell Martin DH
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chris Stewart C

SP: LHP CC Sabathia

Offense Powers Bombers to Victory

Out of the gate, starter Phil Hughes was not impressive. He gave up three solo home runs to the Red Sox hitters. The bombs were hit by Pedroia, Crawford, and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. After the fourth inning, Hughes found his groove and went on to hurl seven strong frames of three run baseball. The Boston starter Aaron Cook did not have a good night. He gave up six runs in four innings, three of which came in the first after Aviles took what should have been a double play ball and didn't flip to first base in time which led to a run followed by a Raul Ibanez two-run home run. Phil Hughes ended up settling down and provided the Yankees with a stand out performance that saved the bullpen and gave Hughes a boost in his confidence as he earned his tenth win of the season tonight against a potent Boston lineup. The Yankees now have four starters with ten wins each, the only team in baseball with as many ten game winners.

The Yankee offense was out bright and early against Aaron Cook, who should have given up only three runs if not for a careless play by his shortstop in the first. The Yankees would continue to pile on with a Russell Martin two-run blast capped off with a Granderson grand slam in the eighth. The Yankees ended up winning in a blowout even though the game could have gotten out of hand early.

Tomorrow, it's a duel of southpaws as CC Sabathia looks for his team leading eleventh win against Jon Lester who has been absolutely horrific this season. Eric Chavez was hit by a pitch tonight and was wearing a big wrap on his leg after the game. With the Yankees shortage of third basemen, the last thing they need is for Chavez to go on the DL.

Lineup against Boston-on my way to the game

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeria 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Andruw Jones DH
Eric Chavez 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Russell Martin C

SP: RHP Phil Hughes

Off Day Notes: Why the Road Trip didn't Matter

The Yankees just finished a seven game West coast road trip against the surging Athletics and the always slumping Mariners by going 2-5, with both wins coming against the Mariners. Even though 2-5 is an ugly, and almost Met like number, the Yankees were essentially playing with house money in those games. They entered the series against the A's with a ten game lead in the American League East. Everything was going swimmingly before that as they were coming off a three game sweep of the limping Blue Jays and had an almost un-catchable lead in their division. They ended up finishing the road trip by only losing two games in the standings despite losing five games.

Before the season started, everyone including myself expected this division to come down to the last week of the season but by the looks of it thus far, the Yankees are easily the best team in the East by and far even without Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. Freddy Garcia has stepped up in Pettitte's absence, as has David Phelps. Rafael Soriano is putting up Rivera-like numbers with a 1.57 ERA and converting 26 of 28 saves. Jayson Nix came off the bench yesterday and delivered the game winning hit that gave the Yankees a series win over the Mariners. Finally, the acquisition of Ichiro gives the Yankees a legitimate left fielder who has a track history of greatness. Every other team in the American League East can't even come close to filling out a roster as dominant as the Yankees. The Rays have no offense without Longoria, the Blue Jays are all on the disabled list, the Orioles are not legitimate, and the Red Sox have no pitching. I do not see anyone making this difficult for the Yankees down the stretch unless Boston acquires starters and unless Longoria comes back at 100%.

The Yankees are coming back home with the best record in baseball. At 59-39, they are twenty games over the .500 mark and are in no danger of giving that lead up unless something bizarre were to happen. They come home tomorrow night to a nine game home-stand against teams they should be able to beat in the Red Sox, Orioles and Mariners. Tomorrow, the Yankees send Phil Hughes to the mound who has had his fair share of troubles against the Red Sox but he will look to stave off a lineup with more threats in Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford. The Yankees will swing against Aaron Cook who was with the Rockies his entire career before signing with the Red Sox in the off-season. The only hitter in the Yankees lineup with impressive numbers against Cook is Raul Ibanez who is 6-13 with four RBI against the right hander. The rest of the lineup has faced him a handful of times. A 7-2 homestand would be just what the doctor ordered for the Yankees.

Nix comes up BIG in Late inning comeback

All of the offense in today's game came in the first inning when Derek Jeter hit a home run off Iwakuma followed by Ivan Nova giving up two runs to the Mariners in the bottom of the same inning. After that, it was a bumpy ride for both pitchers, but neither starter came away with the decision in the game. Ivan Nova had terrible control problems in his start. He walked six batters, a new career high for him. He went five plus innings, allowing two runs and providing the Yankees with a deficit they should surely come back from against this team. Iwakuma allowed baserunners in almost each of his innings but none of them came around to score. An Ichiro caught stealing cost the Yankees a run in the sixth inning but eventually that wouldn't matter. 

In the eighth inning, Jayson Nix pinch hit for Raul Ibanez with the bases juiced and one out. He worked the pitcher before finally getting a pitch that he would smash against the left center field wall for a bases clearing double that put the Yankees ahead of the Mariners for good. The hit was even more so important because the Yankees coming off a 1-6 road trip looked awful. They ended up winning the series against the Mariners after getting swept by Oakland. They finished their final west coast trip of the year by going 2-5 with all five losses coming very difficult. Four of the five came on one run deficits and the fifth loss against the Mariners last night came with the Yankees trailing by only two runs. 

The Yankees come home to play the Red Sox on Friday and face Aaron Cook, a right handed pitcher who before this year, spent his entire career with the Rockies. The Yankees will counter with Phil Hughes who pitched an absolute gem last Saturday against Oakland but ended up suffering a loss. Hughes made a start against the Red Sox a few weeks ago in which he got tattooed but is looking to bounce back after a start last weekend where he should have gotten the win.

Ichiro leading off

Ichiro Suzuki RF
Derek Jeter SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Curtis Granderson CF
Raul Ibanez DH
Eric Chavez 3B
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C

SP: RHP Ivan Nova

I love this lineup except for one thing. Your 5, 6, and 7 hitters are all left-handed. I would have liked for the 5, 6, 7 to be Granderson, Ibanez, Jones then bat Chavez eighth to break up the lefties.

King Felix Quiets Yankee Bats, A-ROD TO DL

Felix Hernandez entered tonights game having won his last four decisions. The Yankees had him on the ropes several times tonight but in every single at bat, Hernandez wiggled out of trouble until the eighth inning where he hit two batters in Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Ichiro was hit in the seventh before Stewart made the final out of the inning. A-Rod was hit on the wrist or hand area and exited the game in extreme pain. If Rodriguez misses any significant amount of time due to injury, the Yankees don't have a true everyday third baseman who can take the spot of A-Rod on the field and in the lineup.

Freddy Garcia pitched his tail off tonight, going 7.1 innings and giving up only two runs. Garcia retired his final fifteen batters before Girardi went to the pen to mix and match. Garcia's 7.1 innings was his longest outing of the season as were his eight strikeouts. Freddy showed Girardi that they don't need to obtain another starter before the deadline because Garcia is capable of pitching how the Yankees thought he would before the year started. Garcia took a bad luck loss where his offense scratched out two meager runs against the Mariners and gave up four. The Yankees had runners in scoring position all night but failed to get the big hit that drove in runs.

In tomorrow's afternoon finale, Ivan Nova is looking for his eleventh win of the season. On the other side, Iwakuma will be making the start for the Mariners. The Japanese pitcher has never faced the Yankees or any of their hitters.

UPDATE: A-Rod has a non-displaced fracture of his left hand. He is headed for the disabled list.

Ichiro gets Hit in his First Yankee Win

The story of the day came at around 6:30 last night, when Jack Curry tweeted that the Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for two minor league pitchers. The four game sweep the Yankees had suffered just one day earlier meant absolutely nothing and was swept under the rug. The Yankees were suddenly in panic mode after the sweep, prompting Cashman to make a move to obtain the fading star from the Mariners.

Ichiro did not skip a beat when he lined a sharp single into center field in his first Yankee at-bat. He then stole second base and reached third on a ground out and was left stranded there. Although Suzuki did nothing else in the game, his presence alone gave the Yankees an additional burst of energy because they knew that they received something they have been missing almost the entire season. The Yankee offense managed to string together a few hits in the fourth inning to give Kuroda a two run lead. Kuroda would never relinquish the lead after the Yankees offense scored for him. Alex Rodriguez added to the Yankee lead in the eighth with a solo home run to left-center field. The Yankees could have easily won this game without A-Rod's home run because of the mini-breakout they had against opposing starter Kevin Millwood in the fourth inning.

Kuroda shined in his start last night against a struggling Mariners offense at home. He would only allow one run in seven innings pitched and struck out nine batters in the 4-1 Yankee victory. In recent months, Kuroda has been a godsend for the Yankees. He has now won ten games for the Bombers in twenty starts, putting him at about 15 wins for the season if he continues this run of his. If Kuroda will continue to pitch like he did last night, another Yankee contract beyond this season would not be difficult to imagine. The Yankee bullpen did their job and Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect ninth inning to notch his twenty-fifth save of the season after blowing a save on Sunday in Oakland.

Tonight, former Mariner Freddy Garcia goes against Seattle ace Felix Hernandez in the second of three games in Seattle. King Felix has made it known that Garcia is his idol after the two spent time each other in Garcia's Seattle days. The match up favors heavily in the Mariners direction, but the last two times the Yankees met up with King Felix, they smacked him around.

Ichiro batting 8th, playing RF in Yankee debut

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez DH
Andruw Jones LF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Russell Martin C

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda

BREAKING: Yankees Trade for Ichiro Suzuki

Breaking news by Jack Curry that the Yankees have traded for Seattle star Ichiro Suzuki. With Gardner out for the season, Ichiro can provide speed and defense. His career may be revived by going to New York.

In exchange for Ichiro, the Yankees will give up pitchers DJ Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. The Mariners are sending Ichiro and cash to the Yankees. All Ichiro has to do is switch dugouts tonight and it should be an interesting game should Ichiro play.

Yankees SWEPT by Oakland

Wow. That is my reaction. This is the one game where the Yankees had a lead in the entire game leading up to the ninth inning. In each game, there has been a dramatic ending to the game. Inge, who is hitting below .200 got huge hits against the Yankees. How he groups his hits is beyond me but he always seemed to come up with a big hit. Yoenis Cespedes raked against the Yankee pitching. Did they ever think of walking him in a big spot? The Yankees have now lost four straight in Oakland, the first time it has ever happened. They got swept by Oakland in New York in 1972 which was also a four game series. Not once in this series did the Yankees have momentum. They were beat largely by a AAA team. Resting Derek Jeter in a game where the Yankees desperately needed a win was foolish, as were most of Girardi's lineup decisions. The Yankees need a reliable outfielder. DeWayne Wise and Raul Ibanez aren't going to cut it in the second half. They need speed. The A's ran all over the Yankees in the series. They won all of their games but one because of speed.

CC Sabathia pitched well enough to earn a victory today, but he too was careless at times. He couldn't get Inge out for the life of him and Suzuki, who had gone half of the season without hitting a home run, mashed one out against Sabathia. I know Sabathia is a horse but if he has a lead in a game the Yankees need to win, he doesn't have much room for error. These A's are scrappy and don't go down without a fight. The number of runs the Yankees scored in this series shows how well the A's pitching staff has been. They don't take a lead for granted. CC Sabathia makes careless pitches when he has a lead. The A's run the bases. The Yankees never take a shot and do not come up in the clutch most of the time. The A's did everything right in this series and they outplayed the Bombers. That is why the Yankees were swept. This was just a terrible series that the Yankees need to forget about. They are going into Seattle where if they don't win two out of three, it will be time to re-evaluate this team and make a trade for a bat with speed on the bases.

Lineup for Oakland Finale

The Yankees are trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Oakland Athletics. Look for Moneyball II if there is a sweep today.

Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez 3B
Jayson Nix SS
DeWayne Wise RF
Chris Stewart C

SP: LHP CC Sabathia

Nick Swisher is out after pulling something in his hip the other night. Girardi said the Yankees may play one man short entering the upcoming series against the Mariners in Seattle.

A's Walk-off the Yanks

The Yankees did nothing against tonight's starter for the Athletics, Tommy Milone. Milone, a finesse lefty pitcher who does not throw his fastball harder than 89 MPH, fooled the Yankees for seven innings tonight. The Yankees scored both of their runs after the starter left the game. Cano tied the game in the ninth inning with an opposite field solo home run but the Yankees would come up short when Moss would single in Cespedes as the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees have snapped their streak of games where they score at least three runs. It ended at forty-three games after they came up one run short of continuing the streak tonight. Also, Robinson Cano extended his career-high hitting streak to twenty-three games after a single in the seventh inning.

Ivan Nova hardly had his best stuff tonight, giving up five extra base hits in 6.2 innings pitched. He was able to limit the damage though, after putting men on in most innings with zero or one out. He was out-pitched by Milone tonight in a game that would have otherwise ended as a win for Nova. Cano let him off the hook tonight with his game-tying solo shot in the ninth. Cody Eppley took the loss for giving up the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth. Cespedes notched a career-high four hits in the game.

Tomorrow night, another A's rookie will be making the start against the Yankees. Jarrod Parker was sent to the A's as part of the Cahill trade that send Trevor Cahill to Arizona. Phil Hughes will make the start for the Yankees as he tries for his tenth win of the season. With a win tomorrow, the Yankees will avoid a sweep at the hands of the Athletics.

One Streak ends while Another continues

The Yankees have snapped a mini-three game winning streak and a nine game win streak over the A's in Oakland tonight. Coming into today, the Yankees also had another streak going. They scored three runs or more in forty-two straight games. Although it came in a losing effort tonight, the streak continued when Swisher hit a ninth inning home run that gave the Yankees their third run of the game. The starter for the A's, Griffin, was outstanding. He hurled six frames of two-run ball against a potent Yankees lineup that has been thriving for over a month now.

Freddy Garcia got a bit tattooed in tonight's game but the crushing blow was a two-run home run hit by Yoenis Cespedes that would turn out to be the difference in the game. Garcia pitched 5.1 innings and turned the ball over to David Phelps, who tossed over two innings of perfect baseball. Phelps has certainly made an impression on the Yankee ownership. He gave them a strong outing in Tampa Bay earlier in the month and followed it up with another strong outing in relief. If his hot streak continues, the Yankees have to strongly think about moving him into the rotation in Freddy Garcia's spot.

Tomorrow night, the Yankees will hand the ball to ten game winner, Ivan Nova. His last start did not go well so the pitcher is looking to rebound from a shaky performance against the Angels. The Athletics will counter with Tommy Milone, who pitched well against the Yankees in May but suffered a loss in a Yankees sweep of Oakland.

Yankees Sweep Jays in Rain Shortened 6-0 win

Teixeira goes deep on Mark Teixeira Figurine Day

Even though Kuroda did not go the distance today, he will be credited with a complete game shutout after blanking the Blue Jay bats for seven dominant innings. Kuroda had his best stuff of the season with his fastball reading 95 MPH on the radar gun at times. The Yankee bullpen is saved for the day as they head into Oakland and Seattle for six games. It's big that the bullpen gets a day off on a day where they would have surely been used to get the final six outs of the game. It gives Girardi flexibility entering tomorrow's game against the surging Athletics if Garcia can't give him distance.

The Yankee offense was firing on all cylinders today as they scored six runs in six innings, all against Jays starter Ricky Romero. Romero did not have his good stuff at all today, giving up four runs in the first inning alone before settling down somewhat later in the game. Mark Teixeira had a big game by getting two hits with one of those hits a two-run home run. Jeter, Andruw Jones, DeWayne Wise and Nick Swisher also chipped in by getting runs batted in. Robinson Cano extended his career high hitting streak to twenty-one games after his first inning double against Romero today.

The Yankees have now scored three or more runs in 42 straight games, a single season record for the Yankees. Also, they now have a ten game lead in the AL East over the second place Tampa Bay Rays.

CC Strong in Return

After not pitching for about three weeks, CC Sabathia made his first start of the second half tonight. He looked more dominant in his six innings of work than he had looked for most of the season. He was pitching stress-free innings and getting outs consistently. Girardi did the right thing by taking Sabathia out after the leadoff man in the seventh got on base. He was working with a three run lead almost straight from the get-go and the skipper did not want to put his ace at risk. Instead, the Yankee bullpen did its job and recorded the final nine outs of the game with a five run lead by the time the ninth inning rolled around.

Andruw Jones came into today's game 0-9 in his career against Cecil. Tonight, he took him deep for a three-run homer and gave the Yankees a lead that would never get handed over to the Blue Jays. The offense tacked on runs in the eighth inning to essentially put the game out of reach for the Blue Jays in the ninth. The Yankees are playing their best baseball of the season. They have an enormous lead in the AL East and have no pressure to acquire a starter by the deadline even though it's tempting. Ryan Dempster looks like a possible fit in the Bronx. He is having a career year in Chicago for the struggling Cubs. If the asking price for the right-hander isn't too steep, Cashman should make a move to bolster the Yankee rotation until Pettitte makes a return in the beginning of September.

In the finale tomorrow, the Yankees will look to sweep the Blue Jays as they send Kuroda to the mound. Kuroda's one start against the Blue Jays was ugly but his past few months have been great so it will be interesting to see how that translates against a team he struggled against in his last start against them.

Raul Delivers Again

After coming off a game the Yankees had a shot of winning yesterday against the Angels, they make up for it tonight. Phil Hughes gave the Yankees a great outing tonight, giving up two runs in seven innings of work. Hughes was able to stay away from an elevated pitch count and his quick seventh inning gave the Yankees bullpen a breather that they desperately needed after a weekend where they were used in every game and in every spot. While Hughes did not factor into the decision tonight, it was his hearty performance that made a late inning comeback possible. The Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez gave his club almost as much as Hughes did by surrendering two runs in six innings. However, all of that would be for naught as the Yankees were able to abuse the Blue Jay bullpen in the eighth inning.

Raul Ibanez came into this game in a slump. He had not been getting hits regularly in a while. In the eighth inning with the bases loaded, he drilled a grand slam into the second deck in right field to give the Yankees a 6-2 lead against the Blue Jays, a lead that was just comfortable enough against an explosive Toronto lineup. Cano keeps raking, extending his hitting streak to a career high nineteen games. Cano is a force in the lineup and the Yankees brass needs to give him his payday before the price gets too steep in free agency where essentially every team will want him. The Yankees continue to roll by winning their Major League best fifty-fifth game of the season. The Yankees could play .500 baseball the rest of the season and still probably win the division even though you wouldn't want them to go that route.

CC Sabathia makes his first start tomorrow night since going on the DL with a strained adductor muscle before the All-Star break. Opposing the big lefty will be Toronto southpaw Brett Cecil who has been very inconsistent for the Jays over his last two seasons.

In other news, Brett Gardner suffered a setback in his road to recovery after going on the DL in April. After playing in a rehab game yesterday, Gardner felt soreness in his injured elbow. He will go for additional testing and Brian Cashman will be under pressure to acquire a true outfielder.

Sweep Unsuccessful

In a game where the Yankees had a lead until the second half of the game, the Angels came back to claim a lead that they would not give up. In the later innings, the Angels piled on runs against the Yankees. Nova, Qualls and Mitchell all gave runs up. Any chance the Yankees had for a comeback seemed to fade away after the Angels mounted a five run lead by the eighth inning. Nova was not great today but he pitched well enough for the Yankees to win the game. Qualls and Mitchell created their own jams and were both unsuccessful in getting out of them.

The Yankees base running was horrific today, giving away four outs on the bases which made Weaver able to get to the seventh inning. The offense had Weaver on the ropes for the majority of the game but their sloppiness on the bases were crushing blows. The mistakes did not mean much at the time but looking back those were huge plays in the game. Things got interesting in the ninth inning when Ernesto Frieri entered the game with a 0.00 ERA as an Angel. He gave up two runs in the ninth and made the manager go to his bullpen to get the final three outs. Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson both had big days for the Bombers but their efforts will go unnoticed after the Yankees lost the series finale to the Angels.

The Blue Jays enter the Bronx tomorrow night for the first time this season. Phil Hughes will look for a bounce back outing after getting toyed around with by the Red Sox last weekend. Henderson Alvarez will go for Toronto. Toronto's starting rotation has been plagued with injuries and are in last place in the division. Even then, the Yankees always seem to struggle against their hitters.

I'll Have Another

The Yankees have now won their second straight game against the Halos and their third straight victory overall. They won this game with pitching and power. Freddy Garcia gave Joe Girardi an outing that he will take any day of the week with five innings and three earned runs. He only trailed in the first after giving up a two-run single to Alberto Callaspo. After that, the Angels did not take another lead the rest of the game. Garcia has been money in the bank ever since coming out as a starter again. He has dominated in his career against the Angels but this is a very different team than he's ever faced. Trumbo, Trout and Pujols are all Angels newcomers. Garcia now lifts his career record against the Angels to 16-3. Those are sparkling numbers against a team that has been playoff bound for much of the last decade.

The second element that gave the Yankees their 5-3 victory came via power. First, Cano mashed an opposite field home run to tie the game at two. Later, Granderson hit his twenty-fourth home run of the season that gave the Yankees a 4-2 lead. Shortly thereafter, Cano added on with an RBI single that scored A-Rod and the Yankees just kept rolling from there. Cody Eppley was terrific and the late inning formula of Robertson and Soriano retired the side in order.

The Yankees have an 8.5 game lead in the American League East over the Orioles. They have the widest division lead of any first place team in baseball. The strong American League East has been anything but that thus far into the season with the exception of the Yankees. With today's victory, the Yankees are twenty-one games over .500, their largest mark over .500 all season. They are playing great baseball right now and even a blip will not give the rest of the division much of an advantage given the Yankees wide division lead.

Tomorrow afternoon, Jered Weaver who has been remarkable this season will pitch opposite Ivan Nova. Nova has been great since the end of May and looks for his eleventh win of the season tomorrow.

Teixeira and Martin with a Huge Game

After coming off taking three out of four games against the Red Sox, the Yankees offense looked sluggish to start the game. Teixeira hit a two run shot off starter CJ Wilson and for most of the game, that was the entire Yankee offense. In the eighth inning, Scott Downs came in with an ERA of 0.30 to face the heart of the Yankee order. Derek Jeter doubled into the right-center field gap then Granderson worked a tough walk against Downs. For Granderson, that walk was significant because it brought the tying run to the plate in Mark Teixeira. It was also important because Granderson had been 0-12 against Downs in his career before that plate apperance. If he was not going to get a hit against him, a walk is the next best thing. Mark Teixeira then clobbered a 1-2 pitch from Downs deep to left field for a three run home run that tied the game. Nick Swisher worked a walk and was pinch-run for by Wise who later scored on a big double by Russell Martin. Martin, who was hitting .179 coming into tonight drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth to give the Yankees a permanent lead.

Hiroki Kuroda gave the Yankees a representative performance tonight. If you take away the Trumbo three run shot, he factors into the decision and maybe gets a win. Kuroda went 7.1 innings and allowed five runs, three of which came on the Trumbo bomb. The bullpen came in sealed the deal to give the Yankees their Major League best fifty-third victory. How fitting it was that the final out came on a caught stealing when Martin nabbed Kendrick trying to advance on a ball in the dirt. Russell Martin does not have many memorable moments this season but I'm sure that this game will be on his mind for quite some time. If this game helps him improve, it gives the Yankees another competent bat in their already strong lineup.

Series opening lineup

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Jayson Nix DH

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda

Nova, Jones key as Yankees take 3 of 4

Heading into the All-Star break, who would have believed me that the Yankees would have a seven game lead in the AL East and Nova would lead the pitching staff in wins? I wouldn't even believe myself after the Yankees were 21-21 through a quarter of the season. Despite all of their issues, the Yankees have persevered and come out to a comfortable lead in the standings. Unlike last year, the Yankees are 5-1 against the Red Sox through their first six games when last year, they were 0-6 against them at the same point of the season.

Tonight, Ivan Nova gave the Yankees a gritty and gutty performance that they needed to set a tone heading into the break. They have won three games against the Red Sox thanks to some clutch hitting and key pitching when they needed it. Nova struck out ten batters through six innings and allowed just two runs. Joe Girardi used up his relievers today because of the long break. The next game will be on Friday and the manager wanted to give them a run before a long layoff.

The Yankee offense continued their strong first inning tonight with two runs off of Jon Lester in the first. They collected fourteen hits throughout and scores seven runs. Andruw Jones had a Renaissance this weekend in Boston. He continued his great weekend with another home run tonight and three RBI. Without Jones, the Yankees would not have won three games this weekend. As much as I hate on Jones, he proved to me that he is trustworthy again in my eyes.

Tomorrow night, Robinson Cano will try to repeat in the Home Run Derby. If he does win it all again, expect a post on it. I will enjoy this week away from writing otherwise. See you all on Friday against the Angels unless Cano wins it all tomorrow night.

Red Sox salvage Night-cap

After the Yankees won the afternoon portion of the split day/night double-header, it was the Red Sox turn to embarrass the Yankees. Specifically, rookie shortstop Pedro Ciriaco who doubled in the go-ahead runs in the sixth inning against Phil Hughes. Before that inning, Hughes was pitching a good game having given up only one run. Tonight was a blip in the streak of good starts by Hughes. The bullpen and defense was not much help either. The Yankees made a season high four errors in tonight's game which ultimately game the game away to Boston. If Jeter makes the play on a ground ball in the sixth inning, Hughes might escape the inning without allowing a run. It did not play out that way though. Cory Wade was brought back from the minors tonight as the twenty-sixth man on the roster. He gave up three more runs, one of which was an earned run. That was in .2 innings pitched. Surely, Wade will be sent down after tonight's game and will continue to work on his mechanics. He can't pitch in the majors with an ERA of six.

The offense made its living off of the long ball tonight. They hit three more home runs in the night portion of the game to give them seven for the day. After Teixeira's three-run blast to begin the game, Jones and Chavez both hit solo shots but they weren't enough to overcome the four runs deficit that the Yankees eventually lost by. The turning point of the game was when Jones and Ibanez both came up with the bases loaded in the eigthth and both popped up to the catcher. All three runners were left stranded and so was the Yankees rally.

Tomorrow night, Ivan Nova will try to give the Yankees the series in Boston when he steps on the mound against the Red Sox. Pitching for Boston will be lefty Jon Lester who has an ERA of 4.33 and a 5-5 record on the year.

Game two lineup!

I'm working hard today...

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher 1B
Andruw Jones LF
Jayson Nix 3B
Russell Martin C
Darnell McDonald RF

SP: RHP Phil Hughes

Yankees take Matinee Game

The Yankees opened the floodgates almost immediately today as the scoring started in the first inning. Swisher blasted a three-run home run into the monster seats followed by another home run by Andruw Jones, who would have two on the game to go along with a highlight-reel catch later in the game. All six of the Yankee runs today came via the home run after scoring ten runs last night without a long ball. The Yankees have gone past their struggles with runners in scoring position. They have shown the baseball world how they score their runs and they have proven they do not need to hit for power to win games after last night's game. Today made up for their drought last night though. They gave their starter six runs to work with which would not go to waste as they did yesterday.

Jones hitting his second homer

Freddy Garcia came into the game with the Yankees hoping they would give them some semblance of a quality start. Garcia pitched into the seventh inning and allowed one run on six hits to the Red Sox lineup. This lineup is not the one Bobby Valentine thought he had before leaving spring training but they still have a decent hitting team. With Crawford suffering a setback in his rehab, his presence may not even be felt this season after the Red Sox paid him an enormous amount of money on a seven year deal. Nevertheless, Freddy Garcia gave the Yankees more than they had hoped for, as well as giving their bullpen a breather after last night's marathon. The most the Red Sox can hope for now in this series is a split as the Yankees game another half game on everyone in the division.

In the night-cap, Phil Hughes will pitch for the Bombers. His last start turned out to be great against the White Sox after giving up two first inning runs. He settled down and went eight innings in that game to earn the win. He will be facing Felix Doubront who pitched well against the Yankees in the epic game where they came back with fifteen runs to beat the Red Sox in April.

Granderson sits in game 1

Derek Jeter DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Jayson Nix SS
Darnell McDonald CF
Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Freddy Garcia

Yankees Edge Red Sox in See-Saw game

Today's game started with the Yankees scoring five first inning runs against Josh Beckett. They batted around in the inning before Kuroda even threw a pitch. In the bottom half of the inning, the Red Sox offense came back with five unanswered runs. The game would remain a see-saw affair until a pivotal at-bat for Mark Teixeira in the seventh inning. Facing a nemesis in Vincente Padilla, Teixeira hit a clutch two-run triple into the triangle in center field to give the Yankees a three run lead at the time. In the bottom half of the inning, Boone Logan would allow a solo home run to Cody Ross but the Yankees would escape the first game of four with a 10-8 victory over the Red Sox.

Hiroki Kuroda was vastly ineffective tonight, giving up six earned runs in just under six innings of work. He fell behind in counts and none of his pitches were hitting spots. Kuroda was lucky the Yankees caught Beckett on an off-night where they would already have runs on the board to make it easier later in the game. Rafael Soriano took one for the team with two outs in the eighth for a four out save. The four out save was his first since 2007 when he pitched for the Braves. Soriano has been an invaluable piece for the Yankees since Mariano went down in early May. Without Soriano, the bullpen would have a completely different look and games would not have been as easy as they are knowing there is a great closer in the bullpen. With tonight's save, Soriano now has twenty saves on the season with a sub two ERA.

Tomorrow will be a test for the Yankees bullpen and manager when they play a double-header against the Sox. Garcia will get the start for the afternoon game and Phil Hughes will start the second game at 7:15. The Yankees need length out of their starters tomorrow because of the over-load on the bullpen in tonight's game.

Lineup, injury updates

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Nick Swisher RF
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda

In injury news, Brett Gardner swung a fungo bat today in his attempt to come back from a sore elbow.

Also, Joba Chamberlain threw a bullpen today and came out of it feeling great. He is ready to begin a rehab assignment and should re-join the Yankees within the next couple of weeks.

CC Sabathia threw off of flat ground today and ran for the first time since his injury.

Halfway through

The Yankees have played exactly half of their regular season games before heading to Boston for a 4-game trip to close out the first half before the All-Star break. The Yankees are a team that is built on power and pitching and when those two things do not add up, they don't win many games. Thus far through the season, the Yankees have won one game without hitting a home run. That is the lowest in Major League Baseball. However, they have hit 126 home runs through 81 games. That is six more home runs than the next best team in that category. In June, the Yankees went 20-7, their highest winning month this season and since 2009. In that month, the starting pitching carried the Yankees. Their starters were lights out and not one of them pitched to more than a 3.03 ERA during the month. Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova had months they will never forget and Hughes bounced back nicely by winning four games against one loss during June.

The hitting in the month of June was nothing to write home about with the expections of Cano, Swisher and Chavez. Cano had a monster month, hitting .340 with a .740 OPS. Swisher had a healthy .321 batting average and Chavez hit .286 with a couple of clutch hits. The rest of the lineup slumped in the batting average department but thrived in the power categories. The Yankees scored the third most runs in baseball during June, mostly manufactured by the long ball. The offense is what it is: a home run hitting team. Brett Gardner and Eduardo Nunez are not with the team to give them speed on the bases and in Gardner's case in the outfield. The Yankees have had to make do with Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones platooning in left field. The older outfielders are surely past their prime but will make the routine plays.

In the second half of the 2012 season, expect the Yankees to gain the speed element when Gardner comes off the disabled list. You have to think that Nunez will be called back up as a bench player down the stretch. Ibanez and Jones will return to their DH duties and the outfield will once again be one of the best in baseball. The Yankees have been rumored to be looking at starting pitchers on the trading block, such as Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster and Zach Grienke. The three pitchers mentioned will surely have steep price tags, so the Yankees will try to look from within to fill the needs at starting pitching if Freddy Garcia and David Phelps do not work out. They will be getting Sabathia back after the break which is already an upgrade.

To conclude, the Yankees have a post-season worthy team that still has a lot of work to do if they want to get to the promise land. Their pitching has been stable of late and their lineup depends heavily on the long ball. If they want to compete in the playoffs, the Yankees have to play station to station baseball and go back to their winning ways that won them four rings in five years during the dynasty era.

Fourth of July lineup

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Jayson Nix 3B

SP: RHP David Phelps

All Around Sloppy game

What started as a 2-0 Yankees lead in the top of the first inning ended as a btutal 7-4 Yankees loss against a team that doesn't have one hitter who scares a pitcher. The Rays have gotten their way with the Yankees this year, especially at Tropicana Field where the Yankees have now lost their last nine games! Nova pitched relatively well despite control issues. His defense let him down tonight, specifically Russell Martin. Martin had a game that he would like to forget. Once again, he went hitless and he made two costly errors that cost the Yankees several runs. Martin's season average now stands at a measly .182. Any other player who was hitting that low halfway through the season would have gotten sent down but Martin is a catcher so he gets a little more slack from management because most nights, his defense is spectacular. Tonight when you add the errors along with the low average, it doesn't equal something the Yankees and their fans would like. Also, the Yankees cost themselves another run when third base coach Rob Thomson sent Cano around to score on an Ibanez double. Cano ended up getting tagged out by a mile and there were now two outs instead of runners on second and third with one out. At that point, the game was over and the Rays were on their way to winning another one against the Yankees. It's mind boggling how the Rays manage to beat the Yankees every night with a laughable lineup.

Yanks lose a Heartbreaker

The Yankees entered tonight's game against the Rays having lost seven straight games at Tropicana Field dating back to last year. They got out to an early lead against lefty Matt Moore in the first inning. After that inning, the bats would quiet, along with some critical GIDP's throughout. Freddy Garcia gave the Yankees a strong 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on a BJ Upton solo home run then a Carlos Pena blast in the sixth inning. The Yankees would manage to manufacture a run in the seventh inning without the benefit of a base hit. They took a temporary lead that would only last until the bottom of the same inning when the Rays scored two runs against Robertson. The go-ahead run was scored because of an error by Mark Teixeira. Teixeira picked a bad game to make his first error of the season. You can't get on him because he plays such flawless defense day in and day out. Robertson should have gotten Brooks Conrad out instead of giving up the double to him that scored the tying run. The Yankees lose another one without hitting a home run and have lost their eighth straight game at Tropicana Field.

Tomorrow, Ivan Nova is looking for his tenth win of the season against James Shields who has struggled against the Yankees in two starts this year. The Yankee losses are giving the Rays more ground in the standing and with a sweep of the Yankees, the Rays would be right back in it. The Yankees do not want that to happen against them.

Lineup, Wade to Minors

Cory Wade has been optioned to AAA Scanton-Wilkes Barre to work out his problems. Wade had a terrible June, giving up runs at a crazy pace. Qualls has replaced Wade on the 25 man roster and has already joined the team in Tampa to face the Rays.

Derek Jeter DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Jayson Nix SS
Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Freddy Garcia

Hughes on a Roll

Phil Hughes came into today's game against the White Sox with a mission: to give the Yankees a split in the series. They lost the first two games to Chicago painfully. They rebounded yesterday and today with a series split. Hughes' first inning was shaky. He gave up two runs on three hits before the Yankees even stepped to the plate. After that inning, he settled down and delivered seven more innings of shutout baseball. Hughes' ERA now stands at 4.29 after beginning the season with an earned run average of about seven. He hasn't necessarily been the Hughes of the first half of 2010 in the streak, but he has come close to that. He has been striking out batters at an exceptional pace, whiffing eight batters today. Soriano came in to earn his eighteenth save of the season. After a bad start to his Yankee career, Soriano has been a godsend to the Yankees after the Rivera injury. He has stabilized the bullpen and has provided stellar relief in the closer role. He has a Mo-like ERA of 1.78 this season.

Cano continued his hot hitting today with another home run as well as a single. He accounted for half of the Yankee runs. Eric Chavez hit his sixth home run of the year today to account for the other half. Eric Chavez has been an invaluable part of the Yankees this year. He plays brilliant defense and he can still hit with pop. Knowing Chavez is there makes Girardi more comfortable with resting A-Rod.

The Yankees are going into Tampa for a three game series against the Rays starting tomorrow night. Freddy Garcia is getting the start tomorrow opposite Matt Moore, who the Yankees have not seen yet this year. They remember him from last year when he pitched brilliantly against them at the end of the season at Yankee Stadium.

The starting lineup for the All-Star game was announced earlier today. Three Yankees made the cut including Jeter, Cano and Granderson. CC Sabathia was also selected to the game but won't pitch because of his injury.

Phillies trade Qualls to Yankees

RHP reliever Chad Qualls has been traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Yankees for cash considerations or a player to be named later. Qualls was originally the set-up man for closer Jonathan Papelbon but his struggles forced the Phillies to let him go.

Also, Jon Heyman has reported that the Phillies are heavily calling teams to gauge interest in LHP Cole Hamels. Hamels is having a sensational year and the Phillies want the farm for him. I don't see the Yankees making a move unless they are confident they can re-sign him at the end of the season. It's beginning to look like the Phillies are in full selling mode after losing their fifth straight game today. They traded Jim Thome to the Orioles yesterday. Their season record is now 36-45 and they have not even gotten Howard back yet.

Old Timers Day Yankee Lineup

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Raul Ibanez DH
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C
Dewayne Wise LF

SP: RHP Phil Hughes