No Offense = Getting Swept

The story stays the same tonight for the New York Yankees, who now fall to just three games over .500 and are in danger of getting too far out of the race on only June 30th. The offense tonight against Chris Tillman, who did not pitch well resulted in a bases loaded walk by Gardner in the second inning followed by a solo home run by Robinson Cano in the sixth. The Yankees had only six hits as they went quietly into the night, getting swept in three games by the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards. With the sweep, the Yankees also lose their fifth straight game, extending back to the second game of the series against the Texas Rangers. With tonight's loss the Yankees fall back to fourth place in the American League East behind the Red Sox, Orioles and Rays. The Yankees need to act and they need swiftly to acquire a bat. They are not in good position heading into the All Star break and could very well finish the first half of the season as a below .500 team. The offense is clearly not effective for the Yankees aside from Gardner and Cano who are the only guys that would be in the regular lineup anyway. Zoilo Almonte is hitting fifth in the lineup for the Yankees, a spot that used to be filled by Robinson Cano when Jeter, A-Rod and Teixeira were playing and healthy. After Travis Hafner the Yankee lineup is a joke of an offensive group that should all be in AAA or out of baseball all together.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched well again but fails to win, again. The right hander went 6+ innings and allowed four runs but by the time those four runs were allowed the game was all but over. When people say that you need to have faith, I tell them that I am thinking in realistic terms. I know that this group of Yankees as is will not get the job done to come from behind and score three runs. The days of blasting three-run home runs are behind as the Yankees need to figure out a way to score runs in order to prevent them from becoming sellers by the trade deadline. The downward trend that the Yankees are on is not promising in any way. After the hot start, the Yankees are losing almost nightly, all because they cannot score runs in big spots. The Yankees a boatload of runners in scoring position tonight but they fail time and time again at getting the runners home.

Hopefully things will change for the Yankees as they head into the Twin Cities to face their friends, the Twins. The Yankees have had the Twins number for almost a decade now, and a visit to Target Field may be just what the doctor ordered for the Yankees to get going offensively again. Andy Pettitte will try to level his record at 6-6 tomorrow against Scott Diamond, who is 5-7 with a 5.40 ERA on the season.

Lineup (weather permitting)

Brett Gardner CF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Robinson Cano 2B

Travis Hafner DH

Zoilo Almonte LF

Lyle Overbay 1B

Jayson Nix SS

Chris Stewart C

David Adams 3B

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda vs. RHP Chris Tillman

Four Game Slide

The player at fault for tonight's Yankee loss was David Phelps. His offense didn't do a good enough job of scoring runs when they were needed, but Phelps was just pathetic all by himself. The Yankees loaded the bases in the first inning with two outs and were not able to get any runs in on the opportunity. Phelps, who was probably set on pitching with a lead, promptly gave up four runs in the first inning. Chris Davis hit his 29th and 30th home runs of the season off Phelps and the Yankees found themselves drowning before the game even began. After a bounce-back second inning from Phelps, he completely imploded in the third inning when he served up a five-spot to the Orioles. At that point the game was already over. When the Yankees were down by four runs early you figured they would be able to get something going at some point in the game but after they were down by nine runs you knew the game was over. Too bad there isn't a mercy rule in the Major Leagues because the Yankees only hurt themselves by finishing the game. This is not the first time this season where Phelps has given up a ton of runs early in a game. Against the Mets at home, Phelps recorded one out and gave up seven first inning runs to a Mets team that has been scratching for offense the entire season. When the pitching doesn't keep the Yankees in the game you know that it will be a long night. Tonight was one of those nights, and the silver lining you take away was that Ivan Nova continued to pitch well in relief over 5.2 innings. He allowed only two runs to score in his mop-up role out of the bullpen  Unfortunately for him and the rest of the team, the offense was 3-16 with runners in scoring position opposed to the Orioles 4-7 in those situations. The Yankees left ten runners on base. If nine of those runners scored in the opportunities that the Yankees were presented with, they would have won tonight's game. You can't always count on runners scoring when they are in scoring position with the Yankees. Their offense has been comparable to that of the Houston Astros this season. They are slumping badly at the plate right now, and have now lost four in a row to fall back to four games back in the loss column to Boston. But hey, at least Cano is hitting!

The Yankees will hope to win at least one game tomorrow night on ESPN. Maybe playing in front of a national audience will help their offense to get something going. Hiroki Kuroda, the Yankees most consistent starter, will try to ride the Yankees to a win to snap their skid. Chris Tillman, who has won nine games will pitch for the Orioles.

Wells DH again

Brett Gardner CF
Jayson Nix SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells DH
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Zoilo Almonte LF
David Adams 3B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Austin Romine C

SP: RHP David Phelps vs. LHP Zach Britton

A Frustrating Yankees Loss

CC Sabathia did the best he could this evening, going seven strong innings in the Yankees one-run loss. In the start, CC did not allow a hit until the sixth inning when everything fell apart for the lefty. He allowed three of the four runs in that inning. Two of the runs were driven in by Manny Machado on what was his 37th double of the season. Most players don't hit 37 doubles in a full season. Machado is a special player for the Orioles who they could ill afford to ever lose. He and Adam Jones are the core of this team along with Matt Wieters behind the dish. This is one of those games where you have to tip your cap to the Orioles offense that got the big hits when they mattered. The big blow of the game came in the seventh with Sabathia on the mound. Nate McLouth took him deep as he hit a towering shot off CC's breaking ball which was fooling batters all night. Fatigue may have factored into CC throwing that pitch right down the middle as he was worrying about a no-hitter early in the game. The letdown of almost throwing a no-hitter may become a letdown if the starting pitcher allows runs later on in the start. CC's fastball velocity was up tonight but eventually the Orioles put up a good fight against the veteran lefty and came out on top because of a late home run by McLouth. It's unfortunate that the Yankees lose another game to a division rival because sooner or later tonight's game may come back to haunt them. The division is tough this year, as everyone is .500 or better which doesn't bode well for the ailing Yankees who can't seem to get consistent offense from the middle of their order.

Robinson Cano had three hits tonight against Orioles pitching including a first inning RBI single to put the Yankees on the board. Cano's success is vital to the team's overall success because Cano is the type of player that cam put the Yankees on his back for a few weeks during a hot streak. Robinson has the ability to be a better hitter than Miguel Cabrera but in order to be considered the best you have to play like you are the best. Cano swings at pitches out of the zone too much, which contributes to his slumps. I don't think Miguel Cabrera has even heard of such a word, and definitely not in the last two years.

The Yankees have lost their last three games and six of their last ten. If they want to stay in the race, they need to play like the Orioles played them tonight. Tomorrow evening, David Phelps will try to pitch the Yankees out of a losing streak. Zach Britton will make the start for the birds as the Yankees are happy to see the lefty. In a handful of starts against the Yankees, Britton has gotten hammered by the Bombers. This is a much different team though so the Britton may be happier to see the Yankees this time around.

The lineup behind CC

Brett Gardner CF
Jayson Nix SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells DH
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Zoilo Almonte LF
Chris Stewart C
David Adams 1B
Alberto Gonzalez 3B

SP: LHP CC Sabathia vs. LHP TJ McFarland

Holland Breezes Past Yankee lineup

This afternoon was about Derek Holland, who had never won a regular season start against the Yankees in his career. Today, Holland came with his guns loaded and knocked the Yankees out rather effortlessly. In his complete game shutout of the Yankees, he only had to use 92 pitches. The Yankees have looked anemic at the plate. They swing early in counts, often resulting in in lazy fly balls or grounders for double plays. Cano made a huge mistake in the seventh inning as he tried to get greedy after earning a lead off walk versus Holland. On a wild pitch that didn't go too far, Cano strutted into second base and looked indifferent in his efforts. Had Cano have hustled a little more on his way to second base he would have been in scoring position for the middle of the order. Speaking of the middle of the order, Vernon Wells went 0-3 with three strikeouts. Wells is now 11 for his last 99! Those numbers are purely pathetic for a player who got off to as hot of a start as Wells did.

Phil Hughes pitched his heart out today and kept the Texas lineup to two runs in eight innings of work. Hughes is frustrating because he has the ability to do this every time out, but many time he gives up big innings. Hughes always seems to pitch well when his offense doesn't score him any runs. With the loss, Hughes falls to 3-7 and the silver lining is that he lowered his earned run average. If this is the Hughes that the Yankees can have for the remainder of the season they would take it in a heartbeat. It would also give them some leverage in trade talks regarding Hughes at the deadline in the case of them being out of the race. A lot of things have to go right for the Yankees if they want to stay in it for the rest of the season. By the looks of it they are not heading into the right direction. 

If not for Ichiro's ninth inning heroics on Tuesday, the Yankees could have possibly faced a sweep. The Yankees will head to Baltimore for three games against the Orioles. This is a huge series for the Yankees as it could bump them up in the standings or it could just as well sink them further down. 

Gardner out with head cold

Ichiro Suzuki CF
Jayson Nix SS
Robinson Cano DH
Vernon Wells RF
Zoilo Almonte LF
Lyle Overbay 1B
David Adams 2B
Alberto Gonzalez 3B
Austin Romine C

SP: RHP Phil Hughes vs. LHP Derek Holland

Pettitte Not Strong in Loss

The Yankee offense did the job tonight, scoring five runs to back up their pitching. Andy Pettitte has not pitched well lately, with his record falling to 5-6 with tonight's loss. Pettitte is the kind of pitcher who you don't think will go through slumps because when he pitches well he makes batters look foolish at the plate. In six innings of work, Pettitte gave up three earned runs which is respectable but four of the runs scored in the third inning. When pitchers put up crooked numbers it is difficult mentally for the starter's offense to put him on their backs and score all of those runs again. Aside from all the runs given up, the Yankees played sloppy defense. Jayson Nix and Brett Gardner both committed errors on which runs came home to score. Three of the eight runs scored by the Rangers were unearned. If the Yankees play fundamentally sound defense, the game would have gone into extra innings and would have possibly had a better outcome for the Yankees. A concern I have is Joba Chamberlain, who is pitching for his spot in the bullpen right now. In two-thirds of an inning, Joba allowed four hits and three runs to score. His ERA had inflated to a nasty 6.38 in what could be a very crucial year for him. If the Yankees had any ideas of trading Chamberlain they will not be getting much back. Joba is a great pitcher; he throws very hard and is capable of striking everyone out. Then he has his lapses, similar to what he is going through right now, where he can't record an out without allowing at least one rum to score. What Joba really needs is a change of scenery. If he gets traded to a different team I expect that Joba will look like he did when he first came up. He can pitch but with Chamberlain it is more a matter of where he pitches. His days in the Bronx are numbered. Shawn Kelley has not pitched well recently either, as he allowed two more runs tonight thanks to an error by Brett Gardner in the ninth inning.

The offense did all it could and the runs scored tonight should have equated to a win. However, the Yankees again squandered opportunities. In the sixth inning with one out and the bases loaded with the Yankees down by only one run Jayson Nix grounded into a double play that put the fans to sleep for the rest of the game. Ichiro has been on a roll lately, going 3-4 in tonight's game with another home run to put the Yankees to within one run before the Rangers scored insurance runs in the ninth inning. With his three hits tonight, Ichiro's season average has climbed all the way up to .278 and a .300 average isn't looking unachievable anymore.

In tomorrow's early getaway game, Phil Hughes will put his 5.09 ERA to work against Derek Holland as the Yankees are looking for a win in the rubber game of the series. The Yankees have done well against Holland in the past but this team is very different, so you can't expect the same results.

In other news, Brian Cashman told Alex Rodriguez to shut the f--- up after Rodriguez made comments on his Twitter regarding a clearance by his doctor to play in minor league games. Cashman is clearly fed up with A-Rod's antics and he is unsuccessfully trying to run the injured slugger out of town.

Also, Mark Teixeira's wrist has not recovered so the doctor has recommended season ending surgery that will shelve Teixeira for six months. Girardi stated that the earliest we will see Mark will be in spring training, where he should be ready to start fresh.

A couple of lineup changes

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Zoilo Almonte LF
Jayson Nix 3B
Chris Stewart C
Alberto Gonzalez SS

SP: LHP Andy Pettitte vs. RHP Justin Grimm

Ichiro Walks it Off

This was a game decided by long balls. Six of the seven runs scored in this game came via the home run and the Yankees came out on top in that department, belting dour solo home runs to give themselves a walk-off victory in the ninth inning with two outs. Three of the four home runs came from unlikely sources. After Travis Hafner homered in the fourth inning, Brett Gardner hit his seventh home run in the following inning and Jayson Nix followed up Gardner with a home run of his own in the sixth. The Rangers kept scoring one run per inning in the early part of the game but the Yankees were able to answer back every time. The Texas offense tonight came from center fielder Leonys Martin who his only his fourth and fifth home runs of the season. Martin is not a power hitter but for some reason he liked what Kuroda had to offer... twice. With the way the Yankee offense has been slumping recently, this game could have gone either way. Extra innings were on the horizon before Ichiro homered to give the Yankees a much needed comeback win. Despite Ichiro's fantastic career number in the Major Leagues, this was only his second ever walk-off home run. The first of his career came in 2009 against Mariano Rivera where there were also two outs. Rivera said that Ichiro cheated, meaning he started his swing early and was able to hit a laser off the great Mariano. Ichiro did a similar thing today off reliever Scheppers who has been pitching lights out this year. Even after allowing the solo home run to Ichiro, Scheppers has a 1.13 ERA on the season. That is an impressive ERA to have as a pitcher in the big leagues. Not even Mariano Rivera's ERA comes close to that of Scheppers. Long story short: Ichiro can hit. Those April and May struggles have come and gone and Ichiro's average has gone all the way up to .270 after being in the .230's as recently as May. He has really picked up the pace and is beginning to resemble the Ichiro Suzuki of old.

Tonight's much-anticipated pitcher's duel between two Japanese-born players turned out to be a bit of a slug fest despite the game being relatively low scoring. Ichiro went 6.2 strong innings, striking out six but allowed two home runs to Leonys Martin. There will always be one batter in a lineup that a pitcher has trouble with. However, the two home runs didn't hurt the Yankees as they went on to out-slug Martin and the Rangers. Darvish exited the game due to a high pitch count, going 5.1 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits. All three runs came on solo home runs but Darvish wasn't his usual self in tonight's start. Last year when he faced the Yankees in Texas, he almost threw a complete game shutout. Joe Nathan had to finish the job for him but ultimately Darvish pitched a gem. The Yankees figured something out during that span of time and hit rockers into the seats versus Darvish today.

The Yankees win tonight is as sweet as they come as they look to do it again tomorrow night. Andy Pettitte will try once again for win 251 in his illustrious career and he will have to do it against a very potent Rangers lineup featuring Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz. The Yankee bats will have to face Justin Grimm who has had an awful season in the ERA department. The young right hander has a 5.57 ERA on the season in thirteen starts.

Lineup vs. Darvish

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Zoilo Almonte LF
Jayson Nix SS
David Adams 3B
Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda vs. RHP Yu Darvish

The Silent Bats

Ivan Nova was dealt a bad hand today as he left the game having given up only one run in 6.2 innings of work. Nova was cruising at times, notching seven strikeouts in his start. Six of the seven strikeouts came on his curve, which had batters swinging and missing all afternoon. Innocently enough, the Rays rally began with a hit by pitch from Nova in the seventh with two outs. He followed the HBP with another HBP to Ben Zobrist. Shawn Kelley came in with the Yankees hoping for a strikeout but instead Kelley walked Longoria to load the bases for the Rays. Boone Logan was next in line and surrendered the big blow with a two out, two strike, 2 RBI single to James Loney who had three of the Rays nine hits today. The runs were charged to Ivan Nova but Nova was not deserving of the result. He pitched his heart out today and it showed. Nova wants to stay in the big leagues and today's start was an indication of that. Realistically speaking, Nova is not the answer. Despite his effort he still allowed twelve base runners in 6.2 innings of work. Sooner or later those runners will score. If the goal of Nova coming up was to scare Phil Hughes, Girardi and Cashman may have done themselves wrong because Hughes could have delivered the same performance that Nova gave the Yankees today. The problem with both starters is consistency. Neither Hughes nor Nova are consistent for the Yankees which is why the Yankees keep playing musical chairs with their starters, meaning giving one starter a rest and calling someone up from the minor leagues.

The real culprit of today's loss though had to be a result of the lack of offense by the Yankees bats. Aside from the rookie Almonte, none of the Yankees are hitting and it shows by the number of runs scored this afternoon. Unless your pitchers are going to pitch shutouts every day, one run will not give you wins. You need to capitalize on base runners. Home runs aren't always the answer as the Yankees have shown earlier in the year. Run scoring singles will do the job. Swinging for the fences never provides for a good winning formula. With all the teams in the AL East above .500, the Yankees need to find some offense on a consistent basis. That is easier said than done, but if the Yankees reach into their farm system, I'm sure they will be able to find a diamond similar to Almonte who can take the league by storm and provides the Yankees with a spark.

With Baltimore and Boston both coming home losers today, the Yankees don't suffer in the standings as much with today's loss. They had an opportunity to take three out of four from the Rays at home but instead earn a split and don't gain any ground on the top two teams in the division. After an off day tomorrow, the Texas Rangers come into Yankee Stadium for three games. Yu Darvish and Hiroki Kuroda will face off as Tuesday's game will definitely be one to watch.

Old Timers Day lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Robinson Cano 2B

Travis Hafner DH

Lyle Overbay 1B

Zoilo Almonte LF

Jayson Nix SS

David Adams 3B

Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Ivan Nova vs. RHP Chris Archer

A Slumping Wells is the Hero

Vernon Wells came into his pinch-hit at bat in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and two outs having gone 0 for his last 11 and 9 for his last 87. All of those numbers went flying out the window when facing lefty Jake McGee as he lifted a bases clearing double to right-center field. The third run that scored on the double was initially called back to third base after the ball was touched by a fan before coming back out onto the field. The umpires conferred and made a judgment call saying that David Adams would have scored regardless of whether or not the fan would have touched the ball. You can't make any assumptions about Wells and his future, but after Zoilo Almonte went 1-2 with 2 walks and 3 RBI. Almonte certainly wants Wells' job and thus far he has shown that he is up for the challenge. It would only be of benefit for the Yankees to have the pair compete, trying to see who comes out on top in the end with more playing time. A positive in Almonte's game is that he is a switch-hitter, whereas Wells only hits righty. When it comes time to making a decision, the Yankees may go with Almonte purely because he can hit from both sides of the plate. Also, the rookie doesn't look like the big moment eludes him. He stays patient at the plate and works counts in his favor before finding a pitch that he likes. Before today, the Yankees were 3-21 when their opponents scored five or more runs. They buck that trend today as they come from behind down two runs late in the game, which is something that they have not done since earlier in the season when Wells and Hafner were hitting well.

CC Sabathia pitched a great game aside from making one mistake to Wil Myers which ended up off Gardner's glove and bounced into the seats into the short porch for his first career home run, a grand slam to give the Rays a 5-3 lead. The Yankees were 0-3 with three strikeouts with the bases loaded before Wells doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs. Sabathia qualified for the win after the Yankees scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Sabathia deserved better than what he was handed on the Myers grand slam. The ball was inches away from being caught by Gardner to end the inning and hold the Rays to one run. After the Yankees rally in the seventh, David Robertson pitched an impressive eighth inning and Rivera notched his 26th save of his farewell season. Having Mariano Rivera is beautiful, and watching him pitch is truly an honor as a fan of baseball in general.

The Yankees have at least a split of the four game set versus the Rays as they head into the final game tomorrow afternoon. The Yankees have done well on Old Timers Day and will look to close the series out with a win against the Rays following all the festivities.

Lefty Heavy lineup

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Zoilo Almonte LF
Jayson Nix SS
David Adams 3B
Chris Stewart C

SP: LHP CC Sabathia vs. RHP Alex Colome

Pitching and Offense Align

Things finally fell into place for the Yankees as they were in the midst of a slide in recent days following a sweep at the hands of the Oakland Athletics. The A's ballpark has not been good to the Yankees going back to last year as they have been swept in their last two visits to the coliseum. The sweep didn't seem to affect the Yankees today as they went on to an easy 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees play the Rays well at home but stumble as soon as they visit Tropicana Field. It's strange how that works but for the Yankees a winning formula has always had to do with the short porch in right field. In recent weeks the short porch has not been getting as much action from the Yankee batters but tonight they didn't need the porch en route to their win over the Rays. I have always said that the Yankees needed a spark in their lineup. I think that Zoilo Almonte can be that spark plug for the Bombers. Almonte went 3-4 today, including hitting his first Major League home run. Almonte is a switch-hitting outfielder with power. The Yankees have been lacking a right handed bat all season that could pose as a viable threat to opposing pitchers. Almonte coming up doesn't solve all of their offensive woes but he can make a name for himself if he continues to hit like he did in his first start in the Major Leagues. He notched three of the eleven Yankee hits tonight as he and Lyle Overbay were the only two Yankees with multi-hit days. Jayson Nix was the only player who didn't get a hit tonight but had a sac bunt that moved runners over into scoring position for David Adams.

On the pitching side, David Phelps was not economical with his pitch count as he was lifted with two outs in the sixth inning having already thrown 102 pitches. His control has not been great of late, as he continues to walk batters. The one thing about Phelps that everyone was raving about is his ability to throw strikes. He has gotten away from that formula this year, resulting in more walks. He needs to be able to pitch to any batter and not just that hitters he feels comfortable against. Of all people, Phelps walked Yunel Escobar. Escobar swings at pitches early in the count, so how Phelps manage to hand him a walk is beyond me. Following Phelps' departure from the game the Yankees bullpen did the job as they provided 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. The only base runner allowed by the bullpen was given up by Robertson, who gave up a base hit to Wil Myers.

The Yankees will try to get a leg up in the series tomorrow afternoon against the Rays as they will send CC Sabathia to the mound to face rookie Alex Colome. Colome is making his second career Major League start as he pitched himself to a victory in his first start against the lousy Miami Marlins. Sabathia has had a lot of trouble pitching against Tampa Bay in his career as a Yankee so tomorrow afternoon should serve as a good test to see where Sabathia is mentally against a team that has dominated him.

Yankees Offense Anemic Again

Once again, the Yankees offense couldn't do squat against Matt Moore who lost his last three decisions and has pitched to an ERA of over four. The Yankees lineup can't do anything when Cano isn't hitting, and only now are they beginning to show their true colors after getting off to a hot start. Robinson Cano continues to struggle at the plate while Vernon Wells continues his horrific offensive slump. It's time the Yankees bench Wells for a few days, much like they did with Granderson in 2010 in Texas. It would do Wells some good to clear his mind for a series then return and see how he recovers. In the meantime, the Yankees can try Zoilo Almonte who recorded his first big league hit tonight in the ninth inning against Kyle Farnsworth. The ball didn't leave the infield but it was a hit nevertheless. Almonte could really catch fire with the Yankees if he hits like he showed them he could hit in Spring Training. Until the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson return the Yankees will have to look in-house for their backup options. That is unless, Brian Cashman decides to dip into the trade market. There are many options that Cashman can explore. The Yankees need a right handed designated hitter/corner infielder.

Pettitte was solid but instead of getting a win, he gets handed his fifth loss of the season to go along with five wins. Like Hughes last night, Pettitte gave up five runs but lasted into the seventh inning before the bullpen came in and did a horrible job against Longoria and Escobar who both homered, with Longoria hitting two bombs. 

This extended four game series can either really help the Yankees or it can bury them in the standings. The Tampa Bay Rays are only two games behind New York in the loss column and if the Yankees lose this series they could be staring at fourth place in the division. Luckily for the Yankees, the Red Sox lost tonight in the ninth inning against the Tigers. 

Lineup vs. Moore

Brett Gardner CF

Jayson Nix 3B

Robinson Cano 2B

Travis Hafner DH

Vernon Wells LF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Lyle Overbay 1B

Chris Stewart C

Reid Brignac SS

SP: LHP Andy Pettitte vs. LHP Matt Moore

Yanks Blanked in Game 2

The Yankees put a truly pathetic offensive effort on display tonight against Chris Capuano and the Dodgers bullpen. The Yankees managed only three hits in nine innings! That is something that would make even the Mets cringe. There is no other way of putting it other than by saying the Yankees offense is pathetic when Cano isn't hitting. After tonight's game Robinson's batting average dipped below the .280 mark which is unspeakable territory for Cano. The Yankees better think long and hard before giving Cano more than five years on his new contract, assuming a deal gets done. The Yankees faced Capuano who isn't exactly Mr. Cy Young and made him look as such while attempting to get anything going against him.

Phil Hughes pitched like trash tonight, allowing five runs in six innings of work. Hughes needs to get out of the AL East and pitch for a team that plays in a bigger ballpark despite not giving up any home runs tonight. Hughes was still largely ineffective tonight by giving up FIVE runs to a Dodgers team that is ravaged by injuries. The Yankees were lucky to have the Dodgers reliever, Belisario, commit the crucial error in game one or else the Yankees would have possibly gotten swept. Thank god for sloppy defense. 

The Yankees will welcome in the Rays tomorrow night for a four game set into the weekend leading up to Old Timers Day on Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow evening, Matt Moore will face off against Andy Pettitte who is looking for career win #251.

Game 2 lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Jayson Nix SS

Robinson Cano 2B

Vernon Wells DH

Thomas Neal RF

Ichiro Suzuki LF

David Adams 3B

Lyle Overbay 1B

Austin Romine C

SP: RHP Phil Hughes vs. LHP Chris Capuano

Yankees Take Advantage of Dodgers D

After an off day on Monday and a rain out last night, the Yankees were about as refreshed as they will ever be heading into this afternoon's game against the Dodgers. The Yankees offense was off to a quick start when the offense put two runners on base in the second against Ryu then took advantage by having David Adams bunting the runners into scoring position to have Overbay double in both runs to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead that would change into a 6-4 final. Despite Overbay getting the big hit with runners in scoring position early in the game, the player of the game was Ichiro Suzuki by a mile. The outfielder came into today with two home runs and only 11 RBI with the season over 60 games deep. Ichiro decided that today would be his day as he went 3-4 with a home run and three RBI. Ichiro homered in the sixth to extend the Yankees lead to 3-0 and he would add to his RBI column in the seventh by poking a single with the bases loaded to plate two more runs that gave the Yankees a 6-2 lead that would turn into a 6-4 lead when things got hairy in the eighth inning for the Yankees. In the seventh inning, Mattingly went to the bullpen to bring Ronald Belisario to pitch against Vernon Wells who has been awful lately. Belisario induced a weak pop up that he should have caught but instead the ball missed his glove and trickled behind his body to get Jayson Nix score from second base and also allowed to go all the way to third when Belisario threw the ball away on an attempted out at second base. Who knows how the game would have ended without the Dodgers' four errors.

Hiroki Kuroda was cruising through six innings but in the seventh a couple of Dodgers singled and Kuroda allowed two runs to score on an AJ Ellis sac fly and a Jerry Hairston Jr. pinch hit single. Shawn Kelley came into the game and struck out the only batter he faced as Girardi went to Claiborne to begin the eighth. Claiborne was awful as he allowed a two-run home run to Hanley Ramirez who went 4-4 in the game. It would have been a three-run homer if Ichiro didn't make a sparkling play on an Adrian Gonzalez fly ball. Robertson came into the game with one out in the eighth and lose the plate when he walked two batters but was able to get the final two outs on consecutive batters to end the inning and hand the ball over to Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning who struck out two batters in another perfect inning for his twenty-fifth save of the season.

The Yankees will look to sweep the day/night double-header tonight as Phil Hughes will look to pitch a solid game against Chris Capuano and the Dodgers explosive offense. A sweep is tough to accomplish in a double-header but the Yankees were able to do it last September against the Blue Jays. They split their last double-header they played this year against the Indians in Cleveland.

Wells batting cleanup

Brett Gardner CF
Jayson Nix SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Thomas Neal DH
Ichiro Suzuki RF
David Adams 3B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Phil Hughes vs. LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu

Yankees Hold On

In a game where the Yankees had a commanding lead over the Angels, they still had to sweat this one out in what turned out to be a thrilling one-run victory. The Yankees bats finally broke out for six runs and they would turn out to need each of the six runs scored against Weaver and Williams. Jered Weaver, who doesn't throw hard anymore, gave up five runs to the Yankees in six innings and looked much like Sabathia has looked in many starts against other teams when he gave up many runs in a short period of time. Today, the opposite happened as Sabathia looked like an ace and Weaver looked like a shell of his old self. After Weaver, Jerome Williams provided the Angels with three innings of representative relief, allowing only one run which would prove to be the difference in the game and give the Yankees an edge. The difference today for the Yankees was he number of clutch hits they received from the players who have been struggling in May and June. Wells, Hafner and Overbay drove in five of the Yankees six runs and the Yankees managed to beat the opposing team. What a coincidence! When the main hitters in the lineup are hitting, the Yankees do well. When you combine that with a great starting pitching effort you get an even better result.

CC Sabathia pitched a great game as he went 8+ innings and allowed only two runs. He allowed only one run on the mound and the other one came around to score after he left the game in the ninth after letting two men reach base. Things got dicey in the ninth with Robertson and Rivera who gave up a combined three runs and made the game an almost disaster for the Yankees. After walking Trout to load the bases with two outs, Mariano Rivera struck Albert Pujols out on three pitches to seal the deal on the Yankees 6-5 win en route to a home stand in which they will play the Dodgers, Rays and Rangers. The road for the Yankees is only getting tougher as they get ready to welcome AL East foes into the Bronx. They have an opportunity to make up for some losses in the standings if they do well against the Rays. For now, the team will enjoy an off-day as they adjust back to the eastern time schedule and get ready for the two game set against Puig and the Dodgers.

"Whatever works" lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Robinson Cano 2B

Travis Hafner DH

Vernon Wells LF

Lyle Overbay 1B

Jayson Nix 3B

Reid Brignac SS

Chris Stewart C

SP: LHP CC Sabathia vs. RHP Jered Weaver

Running out of Adjectives

This Yankee team is becoming unbearable to watch. From bad hitting in important situations to not being able to hold leads, the Yankees are an all-around disaster at the moment. They don't look like they will be coming out of this drought anytime soon. In addition to all facets of the team performing awfully, the Yankees suffered another injury tonight. This injury could be devastating as Mark Teixeira left tonight's game with an injured wrist which was the same wrist that he injured in spring training and kept him sidelined for three months. Now, Teixeira will visit with a doctor in New York and figure out what the next step will be. Teixeira's health is vital to the Yankees success. If Teixeira needs season-ending surgery the Yankees season is in jeopardy if it already wasn't before the Teixeira injury.

Teixeira or no Teixeira, this flawed team has to figure themselves out before they dip under .500 and the crap really hits the fan. A once promising start to the road trip has turned into the Yankees trying to avoid a six game losing steak against a team that hasn't reached the .500 mark all season. 

CC Sabathia will be on the mound to try and stop the skid at five. However, the Yankees' jobs don't get easier as Jered Weaver makes the start against them for the Angels who are going for the sweep tomorrow. The Halos are feeling like they are playing with house money so there's no pressure on them in tomorrow afternoon's game. For the Yankees it's a hands on deck as they continue to find ways to lose on a road trip to forget. 

The desperation lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Jayson Nix 3B

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Lyle Overbay DH

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Thomas Neal LF

Reid Brignac SS

Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP David Phelps vs. RHP Tommy Hanson

The Silent Bats

This is becoming a depressing theme for the Yankees. In yesterday's game the Yankees managed to score in only one inning on a Cano home run. Tonight, their scoring comes in the fourth inning with two outs and the bases loaded. David Adams singled in two runs which came as a surprise considering how much he's struggled lately. Regardless, Adams did his job which is more than the rest of the hitters on the Yankees were able to say. The Yankees had their opportunity to tie the game in the eighth inning when they were down 4-2. The reliever for the Angels allowed a consecutive single and a walk. Cano then followed by popping out on a 3-1 count then the remaining Yankees went down without a fight as the Angels were able to maintain their lead, which would grow to 5-2 by the time the game ended. The offense for the Yankees is not doing it at all, and a litmus test came in tonight's game as the Yankees lost to an Angels team which has been awful this year. The Angels have not been hitting and their pitching has been that much worse. Coming into tonight's game CJ Wilson hadn't won a game since the beginning of May and besides the fourth inning the Yankees managed to make Wilson look like Randy Johnson. In their last 72 innings, the Yankees have scored 22 runs which is pathetic and won't win your team many games. To put it in even more perspective, the Yankees offense has scored two runs in their last 26 innings.

Andy Pettitte was great for the Yankees tonight despite getting the loss. He gave up two runs and in the seventh inning a missed catch on a pop up came to score after Pettitte allowed a couple of hits to the following batters. Pettitte had a lead after the Yankees scored him two runs but gave it up. The problem with the pitching is that they aren't getting runs to work with so if they give up three runs there is a good chance that they will lose the game, which is the fate Pettitte suffered tonight against the struggling Halos.

CC Sabathia will try to stop the bleeding tomorrow evening as he faces Jered Weaver who recently came off the disabled list for the Angels. The Yankees quest for runs will get interesting tomorrow night as they go against a legitimate ace in Weaver. Sabathia has to keep the Angels off the scoreboard and give his team a chance to score him some runs.

Lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Jayson Nix 3B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Robinson Cano DH

Vernon Wells LF

Thomas Neal RF

David Adams 2B

Reid Brignac SS

Austin Romine C

SP: LHP Andy Pettitte vs. LHP CJ Wilson

Pathetic and Heartbreaking

Today's loss puts the icing on the cake for the Yankees as they lose their third straight game against the Oakland Athletics and their seventh straight game at the Coliseum. Today's game dragged on for eighteen innings and when it seemed like the game would be un-tied, the Yankees offense knew just when to not get hits in crucial spots. To give you an idea, Travis Hafner, Kevin Youkilis and Vernon Wells went a combined 0-23 in this game with nine strikeouts. When the big at-bat came to them they squandered opportunities countless times. Then at a certain point, when exactly escapes me at the moment, I started to laugh; not because my team was losing, but because we put a pathetic offensive display on in spots with runners on base and in scoring position. The team went 1-13 with runners in scoring position all together and stranded fourteen men on base as they fell to the Oakland A's, 3-2 in eighteen innings.

Hiroki Kuroda was brilliant for the Yankees but again failed to receive any legitimate run support as Kuroda goes another start without winning. Hiroki Kuroda has not won a start since May 17th. His ERA stands at 2.78 to give an idea of just how bad the Yankees offense has been in Kuroda's starts. If all goes well for the offense Kuroda would be a ten game winner right now but the anemic offense is costing Kuroda, and more importantly the team, wins. Aside from the third inning where Kuroda walked two batters and gave up two runs, he was perfect. Without the third inning, Kuroda allowed no hits and no walks in seven innings of work. The early offense he received came promptly in the first inning as Brett Gardner doubled to start the game and Cano drilled a two-run home run two batters later. The Yankees would finish the game with seventeen consecutive scoreless innings-- SEVENTEEN!

In all of this hoopla two very good things will be forgotten: Kuroda's fabulous start and Adam Warren's outstanding relief pitching. The rookie right-hander tossed six innings of scoreless ball, allowing only four hits and striking out four. Unfortunately for him, because of all the pitchers used in the bullpen the Yankees will likely send him down to AAA in exchange for a fresh arm. Claiborne pitched 1.1 innings and allowed one batter to reach in the final inning with one out which prompted Girardi to go to Mariano to get out of the jam. A couple of broken-bat bloop hits later and the Athletics were celebrating with fatigue at home plate as Nate Freiman who entered the game in the latter innings as a defensive replacement, singled home John Jaso.

The Oakland Athletics didn't have many chances in the game despite always seeming to record outs in big spots. The resilient A's team makes the Yankees look that much worse as they had far less base runners and managed to score with the bases loaded, which is something the Yankees failed to do a number of times in this marathon game.

The Yankees will take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror as they enter a three game set against the Angels in Anaheim. The Angels have been struggling all season and the Yankees are catching them at a good time. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they will need to score runs to win these games. This is a series that can go either way based on how both teams have been struggling to score runs.

Last chance lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Jayson Nix SS

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Travis Hafner DH

Kevin Youkilis 3B

Vernon Wells LF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda vs. RHP Jarrod Parker 

Walk This Way

Despite the offense coming up short again, the culprit in this game was the Yankees pitching collectively. Phil Hughes began the trend by walking five batters in 4.1 innings. Hughes gave up only three runs but with his five walks he was not able to remain in the game due to a high pitch count. Following Hughes, Shawn Kelley pitched another scoreless outing and Joba Chamberlain stunk up the game for the Yankees as he allowed two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning when the Yankees were originally down by one run. Brandon Moss was the difference in tonight's game as he homered twice and drove in three of the A's five runs.

There is no pretty way to put this, but this team is showing its weaknesses. Before tonight the Yankee pitchers handed out the least amount of walks in the Major Leagues and with the nine walks handed out by Yankees pitching they were put into a deep hole which they couldn't get out of because of the walks. Almost everybody in the lineup is slumping collectively. Robinson Cano is just plain pathetic, and most of his outs are soft outs. He told reporters a couple of days ago that he feels great at the plate and that his .277 average is not his fault. When players become complacent it means something wrong is happening at the top of the chain. Joe Girardi is the manager of the Yankees, and some of the blame has to fall upon him. He isn't reaching to the players right now and they are all showing weaknesses right now. If I didn't know any better I would say that they are playing like the Mets right now. The only difference between the Mets and the Yankees is that the Mets are expected to lose. With all the star power on the New York Yankees, there is no reason that they should be scoring two runs a game. When you play good teams, they will score more than two runs a game and when your team scores almost nothing, it doesn't bode well for your team. The Yankees won three of four games against the Mariners who can't score for anything, and they were lucky to win those games. The Athletics are a representative team that knows how to score runs and tack on runs. The Yankees can't afford to walk so many batters in a game when their hitting is not doing anything.

In what should be an interesting game tomorrow afternoon, the Yankees send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound in search of his seventh win. Kuroda unraveled in Seattle for a big inning which cost him the game. With the Yankees offense in a deep slump, Kuroda needs to pitch the game of his life if he wants to sniff a victory.

Lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Travis Hafner DH

Vernon Wells LF

Kevin Youkilis 3B

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Jayson Nix SS

Austin Romine C

SP: RHP Phil Hughes vs. RHP Dan Straily

Wasted Opportunities and Bad Pitching

The latter part of the title applied more to this post than anything else, as CC Sabathia went six innings and allowed six earned runs to inflate his ERA past the four mark. Following two great starts by Sabathia, he allows two home runs to an A's offense that is certainly powerful. However, instead of limiting the damage Sabathia kept the bleeding going when he served up a three-run to a slumping Derek Norris who was hitting under .200 before taking Sabathia deep. Norris also drove in a run on a bloop double in the second inning. CC is supposed to pitch well in a ballpark like this one, but in his career CC has had trouble pitching in his home town, as his record at the Oakland Coliseum is 4-6 with a very high ERA which is puzzling. Either Sabathia doesn't like the mound at the Coliseum or pitching in front of close friends and family gets him nervous. Either way, Sabathia's six runs allowed could have been prevented and had he given up one or two less runs than he ended up allowing. With keeping his offense in the game, Sabathia had a chance to get a no decision out of the contest and would have likely given the Yankees a win based on how they rallied to come back into the game in the eighth and ninth innings.

 

Bartolo Colon was on the ropes in the first inning, issuing two walks after allowing six walks all year. With the bases loaded and one out, the Yankees offense couldn't drive in a run as Youkilis popped up and Overbay flied out to end the inning. Between the second and seventh inning the Yankees offense looked futile. They were getting dominated by Colon and the A's defense which came into play on the final out of the game. In the eighth, the Yankees were able to rally for two runs to get themselves back into the game. The ninth inning was a thriller as Teixeira drove in two runs with a single to bring the tying run in Travis Hafner to the plate. Hafner drove the ball the opposite way all the way to the wall in  left center field but Seth Smith caught the fly ball on a leaping try and the Yankees night was over. They went down to the Athletics after squandering opportunities early in the game. Had they scored even one run in the first, the final outcome of the game would probably have been dramatically different. Instead, the Yankees go back to the team hotel thinking that this was a game in which they should have rallied.

Tomorrow night, Phil Hughes will look to build off his stellar start in Safeco last week as he drove the Yankees to a blowout victory. Hughes' 4.80 ERA has been fluctuating start by start. The era he is sporting will not get him many offers at big money contracts, so Hughes is on the right step by pitching well in Seattle. Hughes has had great numbers in his career at the Oakland park. He was close to pitching a no-hitter here in 2010, the year he won eighteen games.

Lineup backing CC

Brett Gardner CF

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Travis Hafner DH

Kevin Youkilis 3B

Lyle Overbay RF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Jayson Nix SS

Chris Stewart C

SP: LHP CC Sabathia vs. RHP Bartolo Colon

Yankees Wait Felix out, Beat Bullpen

This was a pitcher's duel that featured Felix Hernandez on one end, and David Phelps on the Yankees' side. Most people would think that this would be a one-sided affair with King Felix coming out on top. However, the Yankees took a different approach to Hernandez. Like they did with Pedro Martinez, the Yankees were able to score one run off Hernandez and worked his pitch count to have him exit the game after the seventh inning with the game tied at 1. Brett Gardner was the catalyst to the Yankees offense, collecting four out of the Yankees seven hits on the day. Brett drove in the first Yankee run in the second inning to give his team a temporary lead that lasted less than have of an inning. Gardner did what he does best; get on base. When Gardner is hitting, the Yankees win. He provides the Yankees with an extra dimension they lack when Gardner isn't performing. With Cano in a deep slump, the Yankees need a hitter they can rely on. Right now Gardner is that man as he finished the Mariners series with nine hits and was the catalyst to the Yankees winning three out of four games against the Mariners in Seattle.

David Phelps did his job today as he allowed just one run in six innings to a weak Mariners offense. Even though he walked three batters, Phelps was able to get key outs. It helped Phelps out that this lineup can't hit consistently. With Michael Morse out of the lineup, the Mariners have only three legitimate hitters in Kyle Seager, Kendrys Morales and Raul Ibanez. When Mariano Rivera entered the game he knew who he was facing when Raul Ibanez came to the plate as the tying run. Mariano did as he did yesterday when Ibanez came up, he walked him. Mariano was smart because he saw what Raul did time and time again last year with the Yankees in the regular season and even more so in the postseason. Two batters later Mariano recorded the third out and collected his 23rd save of the season. The 43 year old has not skipped a beat despite his age. 

The Yankees' next stop on their west coast trip will be in Oakland on Tuesday with CC Sabathia on the mound facing an Oakland team that continues to win games after being counted out season in and season out. Bartolo Colon will start for the Athletics. He has made one start against the Yankees this year where the Yankees took batting practice off him and hit several home runs.          

Finale lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Travis Hafner DH

Vernon Wells LF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Jayson Nix 3B

Reid Brignac SS

Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP David Phelps vs. RHP Felix Hernandez

"A good day for the Pettitte's"

... is what was said by Andy's son, Josh Pettitte after learning that he was drafted by Yankees on the same day his father won his 250th career game. That is a pretty neat occurrence and coincidence. Although Josh Pettitte still plans to attend Baylor and will pitch there, he was ecstatic that he was drafted by the same team his father was drafted by over twenty years ago.

In his pursuit to win number 250, Andy Pettitte pitched a gem, going into the eighth inning and allowing just one earned run that came after Jayson Nix couldn't turn a double play in the fourth inning, which allowed the lone Mariners run to score on a sac fly with one out. Pettitte's performance was vintage Andy as he gave the Yankees length and quality pitching. He wasn't too bad for the oldest starting pitcher in baseball...

Unlike yesterday, the Yankees were able to score just enough runs to give themselves a comfortable lead. Two of the three runs were driven in by Jayson Nix, and the other was driven in by Robinson Cano in the first inning after a Teixeira double with two outs. The Yankees still left men on base today but that will be overlooked because they were able to get the win by scoring three runs. Winning today's game puts the Yankees in a good position for the series at Seattle. With Felix Hernandez pitching tomorrow, the Yankees are faced with a  challenge   but certainly one they can and have been able to overcome once this year already. If they don't win tomorrow's game they were still able to split a four game series on the west coast which should not be overlooked. 

As already mentioned, King Felix will pitch for the Mariners tomorrow and David Phelps will get the start for the New York Yankees. Phelps has been pitching well of late, so I have confidence in the young righty tomorrow as he faces a tough opposing starting pitcher.   

Teixeira at DH

Brett Gardner CF
Jayson Nix SS
Mark Teixeira DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Vernon Wells LF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
David Adams 3B
Chris Stewart C

SP: LHP Andy Pettitte vs. LHP Joe Saunders

Yankees Fade Quietly into the Night

After the first inning the Yankees were only able to amass three hits the rest of the way. Jeremy Bonderman, who entered the game with an ERA of over 13 was able to hold the Yankees to one run on three hits in six innings. This is the same Jeremy Bonderman who hasn't pitched in the Major Leagues since 2010. In his second game back in the Majors, he makes the Yankees look like a punch and judy team that can't get around a 90 MPH fastball. There are some nights where you have to top your hat to the pitcher because he was so darn good. Tonight was not one of those nights, as Bonderman deserved to get smacked around by this explosive Yankees offense that includes the likes of Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira, both of whom went hitless today. Robinson Cano's batting average is continuing to slip, as he is now batting .276 on the season. Cano's slump has been so prolonged that it almost makes me feel like he will never get on another hot streak, even though that day will come. For example, Cano mashed a three-run home run in last night's game but was unable to follow that performance up with anything in today's matchup against a Mariners team that sent out a pitcher who hasn't faced Major League hitters in three years. It's kind of sad that the lone Yankees run scored on a groundout by Travis Hafner in the first inning and the remainder of the game featured a whole lot of goose eggs.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched better than his line indicates. He went 6.1 innings and allowed four runs to the Mariners. The four runs all came in the fourth inning as Kuroda couldn't find command of his fastball and was walking men. In between two of those walks were two big hits by players who are hitting .218 and .224 respectively in Brendan Ryan and Jason Bay. I thought that Kuroda would thrive pitching in a pitcher's ballpark. He didn't allow any home runs but was still on the losing end of a clunker where his offense couldn't back him up. With his loss tonight, Kuroda falls to 6-5 on the season when he should really be 7-3, at least. Like when he was with the Dodgers, the Yankees have a hard time finding runs in support of Kuroda. It's some kind of epidemic that has reached both coasts.

Tomorrow evening the Yankees will try to do something with their bats other than keep them on their shoulders. Two lefties will take the mound as Andy Pettitte will go for the Yankees. On the other side, Joe Saunders will take the ball for the Mariners. Saunders pitched well against the Yankees last year during his time with the Orioles. The Yankees are looking for different results this time around.

Lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Travis Hafner DH

Kevin Youkilis 3B

Vernon Wells LF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Reid Brignac SS

Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda vs. RHP Jeremy Bonderman 

Big Inning Leads to Big Win for Yankees

The only offense for the Yankees tonight came in the third inning off starter Aaron Harang when the Bombers connected for two home runs; one by Robinson Cano with two men on base and the second coming from Mark Teixeira following Cano's long ball. The Yankees would get more runs in the inning by RBI singles from Vernon Wells and Ichiro. If not for the third inning the Yankees would have been blanked. Following Harang's departure from the game, Blake Beaven came into the game and pitched a scoreless 6.2 innings to give the Mariners length and effectiveness. Coming off the Mariners' sixteen inning loss yesterday against the White Sox, you could tell that Seattle was out of gas when facing the Yankees pitching. The Mariners scored only one run as Phil Hughes was sensational.

Robinson Cano continues to struggle despite his three-run home run in the third inning. His average is continuing to sink into the .270's which is extremely unlike the Robinson Cano who always hits over .300. The contract situation may be affecting Cano at the plate because he is too good of a hitter to be slumping like he has slumped over the last few weeks. Mark Teixeira's power stroke continues to be evident as he blasted a majestic home run in the third inning of tonight's game. Since he's come back to the Yankees Mark Teixeira already has three home runs and has been getting clutch hits after starting off slow.

Phil Hughes was magnificent in his start tonight. I've always said that Hughes would thrive in a park like Safeco Field and tonight, my opinion was correct as Hughes delivered seven solid innings. In his start, Phil allowed one earned run and struck out seven batters, five of which came on swinging strikes meaning Hughes was delivering nasty pitches to put batters away. Hughes remains a mystery for the Yankees as he continues his Jekyll/Hyde trend. In one start Hughes pitches the way he did tonight, and in the next he allows five runs and doesn't get out of the fourth inning. If he pitched the majority of his games in the AL West, Hughes would be competing for a Cy Young award. Being that he will be a free agent at the end of the year I would take a close look at Hughes if I'm a team playing in a large park.

The Yankees will try to go for five wins in a row tomorrow night against Jeremy Bonderman, who has been out of the Majors for a couple of years. The Mariners task won't get any easier as the Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound in a spacious ballpark. Kuroda has pitched like an ace this season and with larger dimensions, he too has the ability to throw a shutout against a largely weak-hitting team.

Romine catching opener

Brett Gardner CF

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Travis Hafner DH

Kevin Youkilis 3B

Vernon Wells LF

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Jayson Nix SS

Austin Romine C

SP: RHP Phil Hughes vs. RHP Aaron Harang

CC you Later

Today could have been a historic day with CC Sabathia on the mound, coming off his brilliant performance against the Red Sox on Friday. Sabathia was cruising through four innings before allowing a base hit to Mike Aviles in the fifth inning with two outs. Despite the perfect game being ruined, Sabathia was still able to go the distance by throwing nine innings of dominant baseball. Sabathia struck out nine batters on his way to his sixth win of the season and his first complete game of the season. More importantly than just for himself, Sabathia pitching a complete game enabled Girardi to save his entire bullpen for the upcoming west coast road trip that will feature stops to Seattle, Oakland and Anaheim. At times in today's start, Sabathia looked like his old self despite his fastball topping out at 92-93 MPH.

The offense in today's game came in two innings but was able to be enough for a victory. First, Hafner slammed a home run into the second deck in right field after Cano reached on an error by center fielder Michael Bourn. Following Hafner's home run, the Yankees added a run on a Chris Stewart RBI single in the second inning before Brett Gardner hit a bomb into the right field seats for his sixth home run of the season, one short of his career high. The Gardner home run seemingly put the game out of reach for the Indians, but they were able to score off Sabathia in the sixth and seventh innings of the game. The six runs scored early in the game by the Yankees were enough for them to hold on for the win. 

The Yankees finish their home stand off strong with a sweep of the Indians and head to Seattle for four late games. In tomorrow's opener Phil Hughes will try to pitch well in a spacious Safeco Field against Aaron Harang. 

Lineup

Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Travis Hafner DH
VernonWells LF
Lyle Overbay RF
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Jayson Nix SS
Chris Stewart C

SP: LHP CC Sabathia vs. RHP Corey Kluber

Teixeira Rides Yankees to Another Win

Mark Teixeira has really been the reason for the two Yankee wins thus far in the series against the Cleveland Indians. After hitting a grand slam last night to give the Yankees a comfortable lead, Mark repeats his performance tonight with a three-run home run in the third inning which gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead after Ichiro drove in Overbay with a single to put the Bombers on the board in the same inning. Besides the third inning, the Yankees didn't have another inning in which they scored a run which isn't exactly what you want from a team but if the runs in the one scoring inning hold up, you will take it. The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the seventh when Cano came up with the bases loaded and one out. Cano grounded into an inning-ending double play to get the Indians out of the inning. There's no excuse for Cano not to come up with a hit in that spot but in his defense he was facing a lefty who had a spaghetti delivery and arm. Nevertheless, no harm no foul as the Yankees are able to hold on to get the win.

David Phelps was in trouble all night, yet didn't give up any runs in six innings of work. Phelps allowed just one base hit to the Indians on a Drew Stubbs rolling grounder early in the game. However, Phelps' control was not on point, as he allowed four walks to Cleveland and was flirting with disaster the entire game. In his final inning of work, Phelps retired the Indians in order which made me want Girardi to keep him in the game for the seventh and go batter by batter. Girardi elected to use Chamberlain who has pitched very well since coming off the DL. Joba quickly ran into trouble when he put two men on base and once again, Drew Stubbs hit a home run to the opposite field into the short porch in right field to put the Indians within one run of tying the game. Robertson came in to pitch the eighth and he too, flirted with disaster but he was lucky when Swisher lined the ball to Nix at second base, who was able to flip the ball to Brignac for a double play as the lead runner strayed too far off the bag. Mariano Rivera came into the game and worked his usual magic, retiring Reynolds, Giambi and Aviles in order for save number twenty-one and the 629th of his illustrious career.

With Joba being as unreliable as he has been this year, Girardi has to be wondering about Joba in the pecking order within the bullpen. He has options in the bullpen, whether it's Claiborne with his 0.55 ERA or Kelley with his 38 strikeouts in 22.1 innings pitched.

As the Yankees go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon they will send their lefty ace to the mound who pitched brilliantly against the Red Sox in his last start on Friday. Sabathia enjoys pitching in the afternoon, which should fare well for him in tomorrow's start. The Yankees offense is beginning to click and Corey Kluber is not exactly an ace with the Indians.

Gardner gets night off

Ichiro Suzuki CF
Jayson Nix SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano DH
Vernon Wells LF
Kevin Youkilis 3B
David Adams 2B
Lyle Overbay RF
Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP David Phelps vs. LHP Scott Kazmir

Teixeira Slams Past Tribe

In a game where the Yankees were trying Overbay in right field, most things went right for the team. Andy Pettitte was cruising through four innings and everyone assumed the Yankees were on their way to a win and Pettitte's 250th of his career. However, things unraveled for Pettitte in the fifth inning. The inning began with a double by Stubbs to right-center field and was followed by a swinging bunt base hit from Michael Bourn. After the Bourn hit, things went sour for Pettitte when he walked Swisher and Reynolds with one out and gave up a three run lead on a double down the line to score two more runs. Pettitte exited the game after throwing 83 pitches, looking exhausted and out of sync. After the cheap hit to Michael Bourn the floodgates opened for Pettitte who could have easily pitched his way out of the inning unscathed with a chance to qualify for the win. After leaving the game, Shawn Kelley entered to replace Pettitte and walked a batter but recorded the third out of the fifth inning to keep the game at a tie. The Yankee bullpen was able to record the final thirteen outs of the game by allowing just one hit, ironically enough coming via Mariano Rivera. What I'm trying to say is that the bullpen has been the Yankees rock over the course of the season and without key pieces such as Shawn Kelley, the Yankees would not have been as solid of a team coming out of the bullpen. Kelley and Claiborne, who didn't pitch tonight, have been pleasant surprises out of the bullpen. Claiborne is channeling a 2007 version of Joba Chamberlain with his breakout season, sporting a 0.55 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched.

After scoring only six runs over their last four games, the Yankee offense was able to bring out the bats tonight and they had their power stroke ready for Masterson, who dominated the Yankees a couple of weeks ago in Cleveland as he pitched a complete game shutout. Masterson unraveled in the third inning by loading the bases for Mark Teixeira who drilled a grand slam into the first row of the short porch in right field to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead that they would lose but would get back in the sixth inning. The home run was Teixeira's first of the season. Before the home run he struggled in his first three games back. It is expected that he won't be 100% comfortable at the plate but the Yankees will take what he gave them today. With the game tied at four, Brett Gardner slapped a hard line drive over Masterson's head and into center field to score two runs, giving the Yankees a 6-4 lead that they would not relinquish. Travis Hafner added an insurance run by homering to right field in the seventh inning. Hafner has been struggling lately and watching him launch the home run is a positive sign for the slugging DH.

The Yankees will try to keep this going tomorrow as they will send David Phelps to the mound to face Scott Kazmir, who has won three games but has an ugly 5.13 ERA. Phelps struggled in his last start against the Mets where he only lasted one-third of an inning and allowed five runs. Scott Kazmir has resurrected his career with the Indians but he has had his fair share of starts against the Yankees when he pitched for the Devil Rays. The lefty is 7-6 against the Yankees in his career and Robinson Cano is among the hitters who has done well against Kazmir with three home runs and an even .300 average.

Overbay in RF

Brett Gardner CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay RF
Ichiro Suzuki LF
David Adams 3B
Reid Brignac SS
Austin Romine C

SP: LHP Andy Pettitte vs. RHP Justin Masterson

Rain Shortened Loss

In a game that featured three rain delays, a 400 foot bat flip and a lot of hype the Yankees end up being on the bad end of a rain shortened loss. The game was to feature Hiroki Kuroda and Clay Buccholz who carry around among the lowest ERA's in the American League. The game got off to a promising start for Hiroki Kuroda, but ended in Kuroda carrying a tough luck 3-0 loss after exiting following the second rain delay after 5.1 innings. Before the rain began to fall, Kuroda allowed a long home run to David Ortiz where Big Papi flipped his bat Valdespin style. Again, Ortiz is known for his bat flips following a long home run, especially against the Yankees. He repeatedly does it because the Yankees almost never retaliate. In fact, the only ever HBP for Ortiz against the Yankees came two years ago after he flipped a bat two miles away. CC Sabathia was he Yankee pitcher who would come after Ortiz with a hit by pitch. If anyone, I would choose Sabathia for the job because of his size.

That was just rain delay banter and considering the game lasted less than six innings, I needed to fill the blog with something. Just thought that the above would be an interesting read about Ortiz and his bat flips versus the Yankees.

Clay Buccholz was brilliant for the Red Sox tonight, as he allowed only one hit to a Yankee that came from Ichiro on an infield hit to Dustin Pedroia. Aside from the infield hit and a walk, Buccholz was cruising through the lineup. After the second rain delay Buccholz would not be coming out to pitch the bottom of the sixth inning, so the Yankees thought they would be able to catch a break. However, four minutes after the second rain delay, Loud thunder and huge raindrops came coming down and the game would eventually be called, meaning the Red Sox get a gift victory by not having their starting pitcher go deep into the game and still earn a complete game shutout.

The Yankees are really tumbling into the wrong direction in the standings as they fall back to three games behind the Red Sox and are now a half game back of the surging Orioles for third place in the division. They need to go on a streak where they can put themselves into a comfortable position in the standings before the stretch run begins.

The Cleveland Indians are coming to town for three games beginning tomorrow evening. The pitching matchup will feature Justin Masterson for the Tribe, and Andy Pettitte will be making his first start since coming off the disabled list. The Indians have been playing well, so this will not get easier for the Yankees unless Cano and Teixeira come around.

Rubber game lineup

Brett Gardner CF

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Travis Hafner DH

Vernon Wells LF

Kevin Youkilis 3B

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Jayson Nix SS

Chris Stewart C

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda vs. RHP Clay Buccholz

Bombers get Romped

The title of the post says it all. As I predicted, tonight's game was high scoring but in favor of the Red Sox as all the Yankees could manage to get across in nine innings was one meager run. The Red Sox had an offensive explosion, hitting a grand slam and a three-run home run en route to an east 11-1 victory over Phil Hughes and the Yankees. Hughes was coasting through three innings until he hit a bump in the fourth. After intentionally walking David Ortiz to load the bases with one out in the fourth inning, Mike Napoli made Hughes pay by crushing a grand slam home run to knock Hughes out of the game. Phil Hughes is becoming an enigma for the Yankees, much like AJ Burnett was in 2010 and 2011. He has the ability to throw shutouts, which he has shown he can do over the course of his young career. This season he has had several outings where he left the game having given up one or two runs but eventually comes away with nothing. Then he has nights like tonight, where he doesn't have anything in the tank and blows games open for the opposing team, making it nearly impossible for the Yankees to make a comeback.

The Yankee offense was as mentioned above, meager. The only run to cross the plate was via a Chris Stewart sac fly. Stewart would end up leaving the game due to dehydration. The only thing drier than Stewart's system is the lack of offense by the Yankees. They are not hitting home runs and their former run producers look like they are running out of gas two months into the season. Mark Teixeira is slowly looking more comfortable at the plate and Youkilis never really stopped hitting for the Yankees. The success of Mark Teixeira is vital to this team's success as he becomes the second-best hitter on the team after Robinson Cano, who is slumping badly himself. When Cano isn't hitting and the rest of the lineup looks anemic, the Yankees are in trouble. For the sake of Robinson Cano, he better start hitting and soon. The lineup needs an impact bat that puts fear into opposing pitchers. Right now the current lineup as it stands is not doing it for the Yankees. As for Hughes, he is pitching himself out of earning a big time contract. If I was one of thirty teams in MLB, I wouldn't give a pitcher with an ERA of 5.37 anything more than a one year deal to see if he can straighten himself out. It's still early in the season and Hughes can have an excellent year the rest of the way but for right now, he needs to figure out how to put batters away.

Tomorrow night will be a battle of two outstanding pitchers as Hiroki Kuroda will pitch for the Yankees coming off his brilliant no decision against the Mets. Kuroda is looking for his seventh win and he will try to get it against a nasty Red Sox lineup and a starting pitcher who doesn't give up earned runs in Clay Buccholz. Buccholz is pitching to a 1.73 ERA and only has one loss against seven wins.

Same lineup as yesterday

Brett Gardner CF

Kevin Youkilis DH

Robinson Cano 2B

Mark Teixeira 1B

Vernon Wells LF

Jayson Nix SS

David Adams 3B

Ichiro Suzuki RF

Chris Stewart C

 

SP: RHP Phil Hughes vs. LHP Felix Doubront