Lineup for series finale

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

SP: RHP Freddy Garcia

The King Earns his Throne

Today was a day where the Yankees picked the wrong day to face Felix Hernandez. From the first inning on, you knew that Felix had his best stuff. Aside from two early hits, the Yankees were scrambling to even get a base runner. King Felix was outstanding today. It isn't possible to get on the Yankees offense because he did not give them any chances to break through. Every pitch had a meaning and every pitch was executed successfully to the point where the Yankee hitters looked foolish coming to the plate. From each at bat, you knew the Yankees were dead men walking. The best thing for the Yankees to do after this game is to completely forget about it. Not many pitchers are capable of shutting down the Yankees offense. Of the three pitchers who are capable, Felix showed the crowd who was king today.

As Kuroda goes, his stuff was excellent today. On any other day, Kuroda would have won this game but today he pitched against a freak of nature. Hiroki Kuroda continues to be a shining light in the Yankees starting rotation. Had Kuroda not have given up one run, the game still would have probably resulted in a loss as Felix would have pitched ten innings if it was a scoreless tie. Today was a tough luck loss for the Yankees and they have to move on and win tomorrow's game against Iwakuma.

The Yankees will send Freddy Garcia to the mound tomorrow as the Bombers try to win the series against the Mariners in their last match up of the season barring an unlikely comeback by the Mariners to end up in the postseason. The Yankees faced Iwakuma in Seattle and did little against him but came back late in the game against the M's bullpen.

Chavez in the lineup

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

SP: RHP Hiroki Kuroda

Sabathia Mows down the M's

CC Sabathia came into tonight needing a win in the biggest way, not only because of how the team has played recently but also because he has not been dominant in a very long time and the fans needed to see CC pitch a representative game tonight. He didn't face a hefty lineup but a Major League lineup is still a Major League lineup and twenty-seven outs need to be recorded. Sabathia was breezing through the game and until the ninth inning, had given up only one hit which happened to be a home run. The ninth inning was a tad tumultuous for CC but he recorded twenty-seven outs and the game went into the book as a complete game for CC Sabathia. The Yankees bullpen has been taxed of late and by giving them two full days off, they enter tomorrow's game re-energized and ready to go in case Kuroda does not pitch well. If Sabathia struggled against this Mariners lineup, I would start to get worried. This start was no litmus test for the big lefty, but it proved that his stuff is able to get out Major League players.

Kevin Millwood gave his team a decent effort tonight but ended up getting the loss. He started the game off nicely but the third inning was not nice to him as he allowed a two-run single to Curtis Granderson. Eric Chavez chipped in as well with his tenth home run of the season. Chavez continues to be an invaluable part of this roster and his power only proves that he still has a lot left in the tank. The Yankees need to bring him back next year and make that their first priority after locking up Cano and Granderson. With Alex Rodriguez slowly transitioning into a designated hitter, the Yankees need a veteran third baseman who is reliable on a day in, day out basis. The Yankees offense continues to produce with men like Ibanez and Chavez leading the pact in tonight's game.

Tomorrow afternoon, Felix Hernandez makes another start against the Yankees, his third of the year. His previous outing against them in Seattle was dominant but he was hit around in his last start in the Bronx. King Felix will be pitching against Hiroki Kuroda, who has been unbelievably good since May.

Teixeira back in the lineup

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

SP: LHP CC Sabathia

Yankees Avoid Sweep with Blowout

On a day that threatened the Yankees with rain, they managed to salvage the final game of the three game set against the Baltimore Orioles. They did so in dramatic fashion, scoring twelve runs highlighted by a Robinson Cano grand slam, the Yankees eighth grand slam of the year. The Yankees eight grand slams on the season are the highest number in the American League. The next best AL team has four grand slams. The offense managed to get Zach Britton out of the game in the third inning after getting more runners on which led to the Cano grand slam against reliever Kevin Gregg. Cano looks to be coming out of his slump with a home run in each of the last two days. Jeter continues his hot hitting with an additional three hits today. His batting average on the season is now at .316. This is the kind of game the Yankee offense needed after losing four straight which they could have easily held on to. The Yankees remain one of three teams in baseball that have avoided a five game losing streak.

Phil Hughes did not impress anyone today, but the Yankees scored him eleven runs early and he held on to the lead, as opposed to what Ivan Nova did yesterday after being given a five run lead in the first inning. Hughes allowed nine hits and struck out only two batters in six innings of work. He was not fooling anyone today but the Orioles still had trouble getting the big hit. Hughes ended up pitching six innings and allowed one run to earn his eleventh win of the season. In the seventh inning, Girardi called on Joba Chamberlain to make his season debut. Joba went 1.2 innings and allowed two runs. His fastball was not as impressive as it was during his minor league appearances. His fastball sat at 92-93 MPH and he threw his slider a lot. Not an impressive debut but he got his work in which is what the Yankees wanted before putting him in any important situations.

The Yankees have an off-day tomorrow but welcome the Seattle Mariners to Yankee Stadium on Friday night. Felix Hernandez is scheduled to pitch on Saturday afternoon. Can the Yankees give him some payback after he drilled A-Rod? It should be an interesting weekend to see how the Yankees respond to a bad team playing them at home.

Nova Implodes as Yankees Drop Another

The Yankees came out of the gate swinging. They scored five first inning runs against Baltimore starter Chris Tillman. In the second inning, Nova put the first two men on and proceeded to get two straight outs until his nightmare started. The inning ended up scoring seven for Baltimore as Nova gave up a grand slam to Chris Davis and other run scoring hits prior to the home run. He did not have control of any of his pitches tonight and struggled mightily against the Baltimore lineup, which does not feature many great hitters. Adam Jones and Matt Wieters, their best hitters, probably did the least amount of damage against Nova. Ivan Nova has the stuff to be an ace on a staff. He has a devastating curveball and a slider that baffles hitters when it is on. His fastball is above average as it hits 94 MPH on the gun consistently. When he finds out how to combine all of those pitches for strikes, then he will be able to become that stud we have all seen flashes of. Quick side-bar, but AJ Burnett threw a one hit shutout against the Cubs and did not allow the hit until the eighth inning.

Moving forward, the Yankees offense was stagnant after the crazy first inning, as they did not score another run the rest of the game. The energy was sucked out of the crowd after Davis hit a grand slam and did not seem to re-appear for the remainder of the game. Jeter was the only bright spot in the lineup, as he collected three hits to raise his season average to .312. The rest of the lineup did nothing in the game.

Before the game, the Yankees traded Chad Qualls to the Pirates in exchange for Casey McGehee. The third baseman had a monster year for Milwaukee two years ago and the Yankees will try to capture lightning in a bottle as they acquire him as insurance while Alex Rodriguez is out of the lineup. Also, Joba Chamberlain was activated from the disabled list prior to tonight's game but did not pitch. I was at the game, so it would have been a great experience to see the stadium's reactions to Joba's debut after not pitching for over a year.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Yankees will try to close the series out with a victory against the Orioles as they send out Phil Hughes to the mound. The Orioles will counter with Zach Britton, a young lefty making his first start of the year against the Yankees.