The Yankee Bomber

WS Game 6 - WORLD CHAMPIONS!

2009-11-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

Andy Pettitte staired down Old Man River and defied the odds stacked against pitchers going on 3 days rest in the postseason. With Joe Girardi getting grilled about his decision to use a 3 man rotation in the Series, his plan came to fruition, as the Yanks rode the back of an ol' reliable horse. Pettitte tossed 5.2 innings of 3-run ball, with only Ryan Howard's 2-run shot in the 6th marring what was otherwise a brilliant pitching performance, but by then, the Yanks held a 7-3 lead and seemed to be perfectly in command of their 27th World Series Championship.

Hideki Matsui, perhaps in his last game as a Yankee, went out in style, earning the Series' MVP honors. Godzilla was a one-man wrecking crew, destroying Pedro Martinez and JA Happ for 6 RBIs on a 2-run bomb, a bases loaded single and a 2-run double. Matsui finished the Series 8-13, hitting .615 with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs, despite not starting 3 games in Philly.

Mariano Rivera, the Rock of Gilbraltar of the Yankee bullpen for the past 14 seasons, came on to finish this one, as the Phillies and Jimmy Rollins never "figured him out". Mo was the only reliever in the postseason who did not blow a game for his team. Ryan Franklin, Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbum, Jonathan Broxton, Huston Street, Brian Fuentes, and Brad Lidge all blew critical games for their respective teams. Yankee fans have been spoiled for a long time with Mariano, and one day, we'll all have our wake up call when the greatest reliever of all time won't be trotting out to "Enter the Sandman".

The "Curse of The ARod" has been lifted. Unlike the "Curse of the Bambino", which lasted 86 years, ARod's curse only lasted 5 years. Since ARod joined the team in 2004, when the Yanks had their epic collapse against Boston (largely due to Joe Torre's incompetence), the Bombers haven't even sniffed the World Series. But this postseason, ARod put the Yankee offense on his back and 3 times helped tie or put the team ahead in the 9th inning. I guess I can stop being an ARod apologist, as he's finally earned his due.

So the "Core Four", Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Pettitte and Rivera, finally earned their elusive 5th ring, after racking up 4 rings in 5 years between 1996-2000. I'm sure they never anticipated it would take this long, and perhaps later, had doubts if they would ever ascend to such heights again, but here they were, enjoying the fruits of their labors and entrenching their status as baseball immortals.

When these great ballplayers have finished out their careers, will we ever see the like of their talent and will to win again? Somehow, I highly doubt it.

Yankees Postseason: Mission Accomplished - 27th WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

WS Game 5 - Has Girardi Blown This World Series?

2009-11-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

Joe Girardi roled the dice and decided to start AJ Burnett on 3 days rest - terrible move, Joe. Up 3-1 in the Series, Girardi tried to go for the kill, but instead he might have killed the Yanks chances at a 27th championship. Burnett got lit up for 5 runs in 2+ innings, and was down 3-1 after before recording an out. In a word, he was horrendous. Chad Gaudin easily could have given the Yankees that same performance, and nobody would have thought any less of Girardi.

Apparently, Girardi didn't write a list of pros and cons before deciding on Burnett on short rest. I'll do it for him.

Pros: AJ asked for the ball; go for the kill and end the Series quickly; AJ's past record on short rest

Cons: AJ is horrendous on the road; by starting AJ on the road, the Yanks lineup had Swisher batting 5th and Jose Molina in the lineup without Posada and Matsui; that lineup was facing Cliff Lee, who dominated the Yanks in Game 1; how about the fact that they were facing Cliff Lee, thus making their chances to win slim in the first place? And last but not least, if AJ lost, which he did, it now impacts Game 6 and 7 because Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia are going on short rest, as well.

Hey Joe - that Cons list is pretty long. Now the Yanks must entrust their season on the shoulders of Andy Pettitte, who historically does not have great numbers on short rest, and most important of all, is a 37-year old man who hasn't done it in 3 years.

Thoughts on Game 5:

- Everyone of Utley's HRs have come on a pitch right down the pipe - how do the Yankee pitchers keep missing so badly?

- AJ, great job hitting Shane Victorino - couldn't you have hit Utley?

- Has anyone seen Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano? Absolutely horrendous performance in the World Series. At least Tex looks like he cares out there. Cano looks like he's playing in the Dominican Winter Leagues without a care in the world.

- Phil Coke, just go home. We won't need you the rest of the series.

- If Tex got on in the 9th inning, there was no way they were pitching to ARod. Introducing your 5th place hitter - Nick Swisher. Game over anyway.

- With 2 batters, the Phillies tied 2 records: Utley tied for the most HRs in a WS with 5 and Ryan Howard tied the record for most strikeouts in a Series with 12. When does the Yankee staff and coaches wake up and realize maybe they should pitch around Utley and go after Howard?

Yankees Postseason Record: 10-4

World Series: Yankees up, 3-2

WS Game 4 - ARod's Heroics Give Yanks 3-1 Series Lead

2009-11-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

The Yanks led 4-2 for most of the game as their lineup began to take a siesta, but things began to look grim as the momentum changed towards the Phillies. Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz both hit solo shots to tie the game at 4 and Brad Lidge retired the first 2 Yanks out in the 9th with Phil Coke warming up in the bullpen. But Johnny Damon started the improbable rally when he battled back from an 1-2 hole to single to left field on a full count. With Mark Teixeira at the plate, Damon stole second and took off for 3rd when no one (Brad Lidge) covered 3B. Feliz was covering second because of the shift.

Thankfully for the Yanks, Lidge plunked the hyperventilating Teixeira with the next pitch, thus setting the stage for an ARod-Lidge rematch. Earlier in the season, ARod took Lidge deep in back-to-back games. With Damon on third, it appeared Lidge wanted to stay away from his sharp slider, and after getting ahead of ARod on a fastball, ARod didn't miss the second one. He ripped it into the LF corner to knock in Damon with the go ahead run, allowing Mariano Rivera to begin warming up in the pen and hushing the rather obnoxious Philly crowd. Jorge Posada knocked in 2 insurance runs with a single to left center to give the Yanks a 7-4, although he continued his baffling runnig mistakes when he was thrown by 30 feet at second to end the rally.

Things began quickly for the Yanks. Derek Jeter singled and Damon doubled to lead off the game. Tex knocked in a run when Ryan Howard robbed him of a potential double and Posada knocked in the 2nd run with a sac fly. Meanwhile, ARod was plunked for a 3rd time in the Series, leading to a warning for both teams before CC Sabathia even threw a pitch.

Phillies starter, Joe Blanton, 0-3 lifetime with a career ERA over 8.00, settled down to retire 11 straight Yankees. The Yanks touched him up for 2 more runs in the 5th on RBI singles from The Captain and Damon after Feliz tied it up at 2 for the Phillies in the 4th.

Sabathia, pitching on 3 days rest, battled all night. He escaped a 2 runners on, no out jam in the 5th, retiring the heart of the Phillies order, and appeared to be cruising till he gave up a 2-out, 1-2 count HR to his nemesis, Chase Utley. It was Utley's 3rd HR and 4th extra base hit off Sabathia in the series. Out went Sabathia and in came new Yankee hero, Damaso Marte, who retired Howard on a fly ball to LF. Marte is pitching a la Graeme Lloyd in the 1996 World Series when Lloyd dominated Braves lefty hitters Ryan Klesko and Fred McGriff.

The Yanks brought in Joba Chamberlain in the 8th, and for 2.5 batters, Joe Girardi appeared to be a genius. Joba struck out Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez before going up 1-2 in the count to Pedro Feliz. After falling behind 3-2, Joba laid a fat fastball over the plate that the weak-hitting Feliz crushed into the LF seats, sending Citizens Bank Park into bedlam. The sharks smelled blood in the water as it appeared the Phils were going to perform another of their postseason comebacks.

But ARod had other plans, and with the 3 run lead, Mo came out and retired the shell-shocked Phillies on 8 pitches, including Jimmy Rollins for a 2nd straight night, despite his proclamation that the Phillies "had him figured out".

The Yanks will send AJ Burnett to the mound tomorrow on 3 days rest against Cliff Lee, who absolutely dominated the Bombers in Game 1. Nothing would be sweeter than watching the Yanks clinch this series in front of the arrogant, ignorant, and clueless fans of Philadelphia.

Yankees Postseason Record: 10-3

World Series: Yanks up, 3-1

WS Game 3 - Pettitte is Double Threat in Yanks Win

2009-10-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

It appeared that Andy Pettitte was about to be blown out by the Phillies in the 2nd inning. He was touched up for 3 runs, including a solo shot to Jayson Werth, and left 2 men on base when he struck out the greasy-haired Chase Utley to end the long inning. Pettitte, however, settled down after that, only allowing another solo shot to Werth in the 6th inning after the Yanks bats finally woke up.

The Yanks rally began when ARod lofted a shot down the RF line that hit a camera. Initially called a double, the umps reviewed the replay and correctly called it a HR that brought the Yanks to within 1 run in the 4th. The Yanks would tack on 3 more runs in the 5th to chase Phillies starter, Cole Hamels. Pettitte tied the score at 3, knocking in Nick Swisher with a single. That is not a misprint - there was an actual Swisher sighting tonight, as he led off the inning with a double. He also homered in the 6th for his 1st dinger this postseason. Joe Girardi should bench this guy more often.

Johnny Damon also had a 2-run double in the 5th. The Yanks scored their other runs on a Jorge Posada single and a pinch-hit HR from Hideki Matsui. Pettitte only lasted 6 innings, but he gave a gutsy performance, allowing the Yanks to get back into the game. The Yankees only had 8 hits, but fortunately, Philadelphia only managed 6 of their own.

Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte gave the Bombers bullpen hope when they retired 6 straight batters. Marte struck out 2 batters. With a 4-run lead, Girardi opted to start the 9th with Phil Hughes, which is a good call, since the Yanks need him to get things right. Hughes retired his first batter before serving up a solo shot to Yankee killer, Carlos Ruiz. In came Mariano Rivera, who just needed 5 pitches to end the game, including retiring loud-mouth Jimmy Rollins on a weak pop-up.

Thoughts and observations on the Series:

- Melky, Tex and ARod are hitting .100 in the series, while Cano is even worse at .091. ARod was also hit twice and walked tonight, so at least his OBP is over .300.

- Let's hope Ryan Howard continues to sleep walk through this series.

- How do the Yanks continue to walk Rollins who owned a .296 OBP during the regular season? He's walked 4 times already in the Series.

- Pettitte's RBI single was the first RBI by a Yankee pitcher in the World Series since 1964, when Jim Bouton recorded one in Game 6.

- Let's hope the Phillies keep smacking their gums while the Yanks keep playing hard-nosed ball. I know my buddies from Philly have kept their text messages to a minimum themselves these past 2 games. My phone was blowing up in Game 1.

Yankees Postseason Record: 9=3

World Series: Yanks up, 2-1

WS Game 2 - AJ Comes Up Huge in Win

2009-10-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

AJ Burnett may have earned his "true" Yankee title tonight, winning his first postseason game in Game 2 of the World Series with the Bombers down one game to none. AJ tossed 7 brilliant innings, striking out 9 Phillies in the Yanks 3-1 victory. Burnett allowed a run in the 2nd inning on an RBI single to Matt Stairs, but should have surrendered no runs. ARod should have knocked it down, if not field it cleanly, to bail AJ out of the inning after Raul Ibanez sliced a 2-out double into the LF stands. AJ though, was dealing, as he started 22 out of 26 batters with first pitch strikes. He only walked 2, one intentionally. This was the AJ the Yanks envisioned when they signed him to a 5 year, $82.5M contract.

As well as AJ pitched, Pedro Martinez was nearly just as brilliant. He pitched 6+ innings, allowing 6 hits and all 3 Yankee runs while striking out 8. Pedro allowed his 3rd run in the 7th, and probably shouldn't have came out for the start of the 7th after tossing 99 pitches through 6. Like CC Sabathia last night, Pedro only made 2 real mistakes - solo HRs to Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui. Chan Ho Park allowed the 3rd run to score on a Jorge Posada pinch-hit, RBI single in the 7th.

The Yanks had a chance to do some real damage in the 7th, but the usually reliable and clutch Derek Jeter pulled one helluva bonehead play. With 2 strikes, including one which he took right down the middle, he attempted to bunt, fouling it off and striking out for the 3rd time. Johnny Damon then ripped a liner at Ryan Howard that was ruled caught, though replays showed it hit the dirt, and Posada was doubled up to end the threat.

Joe Girardi didn't waste any time in bringing in Mariano Rivera for the 2-inning save. Mo got into a little trouble in the 8th, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with the dangerous and greasy-haired Chase Utley coming to the plate. Mo got him to bounce into a double play, although replays appeared to show Utley beat the relay throw to first. A makeup call? If it was, thank you, Brian Gorman, first base umpire.

Mo wasn't done with the theatrics though. After striking out Howard to saddle him with the Golden Sombrero, he retired Jayson Werth on a soft liner to Robinson Cano before allowing Raul Ibanez to lace a double to left center. That brought up the ancient Matt Stairs. The Canadian Clubber, however, struck out as the Yanks tied up the series.

Thoughts:

- ARod is now 0-8 with 6 Ks. Let's hope this is just an aberration.

- Tex and Godzilla: Thanks for showing up again.

- Replacement Jerry Hairston went 1-3 and now has half the hits of Nick Swisher in 30 less at bats. Did Hairston earn another start against lefty Cole Hamels in Game 3?

- There's been much debate about Jose Molina catching in the place of Jorge Posada, but you cannot argue with AJ Burnett's results with him behind the dish. Molina also nailed Werth at first base on a pick off in the 5th inning, saving Burnett some valuable pitches. He also walked against Pedro and his spot in the order allowed Posada to come in and knock in a huge insurance run. Girardi looks like part genius for at least a day.

- 8 strikeouts against Pedro? Really?

- Johnny Damon went 0-4. He looks terrible this postseason despite his 2 dingers against the Angels.

- How is it the Yanks have walked Jimmy Rollins twice and he always seems to be in a full count when this guy's OBP was .296 this season? Can they please bear down on this guy and keep him off the base paths in front of Utley and Howard.

- Shane Victorino, you look like an idiot with the little league batting helmet.

- It's just a 5-game series now, with 3 games in Philly.

Yankees Postseason Record: 8-3

World Series: Tied 1-1

WS Game 1 - Yanks Never Show Up

2009-10-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

Someone forgot to tell the Yanks the World Series started, as they were laughed out of the Stadium in a 6-1 drubbing to the Phillies. Chase Utley, supposedly hobbled by foot and hip injuries, took CC Sabathia deep twice and Cliff Lee mowed through the Bombers lineup like they were just another weak-ass National League team.

Some thoughts on the game:

- What the hell happened to the Yankees bullpen? Once considered a huge strength this season, they have all but disappeared since the ALCS. Phil Hughes looks petrified, as does Phil Coke. Only Damaso Marte and Mo Rivera have looked good in the postseason. David Robertson, strangely enough, finally made an appearance, but he allowed a 2-run single to Raul Ibanez that broke the game open in the 8th. And Brian Bruney? Let's hope we've seen the last of him this series.

- What the hell happened to the Yanks bats? Derek Jeter was his usual self, going 3-4. The rest of the Yankees though, were a combined 3-28. Lee had 10 strikeouts as his shutout was ruined in the 9th by loud-mouth Jimmy Rollins throwing error. ARod and Tex were horrendous, going 0-8 with 5 Ks between them. Nick Swisher continues to look absolutely useless with a bat in his hand. He had 2 pop ups and a strikeout. The bottom third of the lineup went a combined 0-9. Terrible. Where was Bernie Williams when you need him, to step out repeatedly to break the pitcher's rhythm? Not one Yankee walked tonight.

- Sabathia wasn't great, but he still had a solid effort on the mound. He held the vaunted Phillies offense to 2 runs in 7 innings, striking out 6 while allowing only 4 hits and 3 walks. He had 2 mistakes - 2 pitches to Chase Utley. He was up 1-2 and 0-2 before Utley battled back to hit his 2 solo shots. This is the same Utley that struck out 110 times this year, right?

The Yanks need to come out tomorrow and take Pedro Martinez behind the woodshed. However, despite the big advantage that the Yanks seem to have on paper against Martinez, I'm predicting a game where Martinez dances in and out of trouble, stranding 9 runners and allowing only 1 run in 6 innings. I think the Yanks failure with RISP will finally catch up to them in this series. The Yanks are going to need and capitalize on their scoring chances. The Phillies can put a lot of runs on the board quickly (as evidenced by the Yanks bullpen collapse), and it looks like the Yanks relief corp is in complete disarray.

Another reason the Yanks appear to be in trouble - the Phillies look quite comfortable and totally unfazed by being in Yankee Stadium, unlike the Angels or Twins who needed a change of shorts. It's either going to be a dogfight or a quick series, and the Yanks better wake up before it's too late.

Yanks Postseason Record: 7-3

World Series: Down 1-0

ALCS Game 6 - Yanks Finally Swat Aside Angels

2009-10-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

The Yankees finally vanquished the annoying Anaheim Angels, winning Game 6 of the ALCS and will face the Phillies in the World Series, starting Wednesday. They won 5-2 despite Jorge Posada's best attempts to sabotage the game at all costs. The game's dumbest player went 0-5, leaving 10 men on base, hitting into 2 double plays and failing miserably twice with the bases loaded. He wasn't the only culprit of the game though, but he was by far the worst. The Yanks put 20 men on the base paths, but only mustered 5 runs. 2 of those runs came in courtesy of the Angels horrendous defense.

Fortunately for the Yanks, the grizzled veteran, Andy Pettitte was on the mound, as he picked up his record 16th postseason win. They also had the great Mariano Rivera to finish up this game and toss aside a team that had no business being on the same field as the Yankees. Joe Girardi wasn't going to fool around in the 8th inning - he went straight to Mo to record the game's final 6 outs. Mo did surrender his first postseason run in a home game, but struck out Gary Matthews, Jr. to end the game, and series, in style, as the Yankees celebrated their accomplishment.

Thoughts on the game and the series:

- Mike Scioscia is a fraud. For all the flak Joe Girardi received, Scioscia made just as many puzzling moves. He should have removed Saunders after 3 innings. Clearly, Saunders was walking the tightrope, stranding the New York National Guard on the base paths. It was a matter of time before the Yanks broke through. It came in the 4th. His use of Kazmir was bizarre, too. Let's not forget his removal of John Lackey in Game 5 or removing lefty Darren Oliver to bring in righty Kevin Jepsen to face Robinson Cano. And why, oh why, would you continue to bat Chone Figgins in the leadoff spot.

- Other fraudulent Angel players: Choney, of course. He must have cost himself millions with his utterly horrendous performance in the playoffs. Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, Kendry Morales and Juan Rivera all belong on that list, too. Where the hell were they? Let's not forget Brian Fuentes. If he were the Yankees closer, I would have died of a stroke in mid-May.

- Angels pitches had 9 walks in Game 6. Smells like this team needed to change their underwear.

- Boston Red Sox should be embarrassed they lost to this Angels team. This was by far the worst Angel team that has made the playoffs. After Lackey, they had no pitching whatsoever.

- Another double for Jeff Mathis. He had 5 in the series. He only had 8 all year. Unbelievable.

- Tex had 2 hits and a sac fly. Hopefully, he's heating up in time for the World Series.

- There was a Nick Swisher sighting at the Stadium. And I'm not talking about his great defensive play doubling up Vlad Guerrero at 1B on a line drive. Swisher singled and scored the 2nd run. He still sucks. He is 4-32 in the playoffs. What does he have on Girardi?

- What happened to the Angels hard-nosed style of play? Their defense stunk, their base running was atrocious, and for a team that relies on speed, I can't recall any major stolen base that led to big run in the whole series.

- Kudos to Erick Aybar - you finally look like a man when you shaved your head instead of looking like Manny Ramirez' little girl.

- Girardi, are you nuts for bringing in Joba? Pettitte must have thought you were crazy when you went to take him out of the game. Thank God the move paid off.

- CC had a great series, but ARod's was better. ARod deserved the MVP, if not co-MVP.

There's just a maximum of 7 stressful games left. My heart can't wait.

Yankees Postseason Record: 7-2

ALCS Series: Yankees Win, 4-2

ALCS Game 5 - Gutless Yanks Fail To Go For the Kill

2009-10-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

After looking like crap for 6 innings, the Yanks finally woke up. Too bad they couldn't go for the jugular. Instead of recapping the game, this blog is going to be a pure rant.

- What in the world does Nick Swisher have on Joe Girardi? 8-53 lifetime in the playoffs. He is now 0-8 and has left 19 men on base when he's batting with RISP. Granted, if Gardner started the game, Swisher probably would have been batting in the 9th, but why have him in the lineup making 3-4 outs a game? He's been as useful as a cigarette machine in a cancer ward.

- Has anyone seen Phil Hughes this postseason? He's been dreadful. He gave up a hit to the fossil Vlad Guerrero on a 1-2 count and then pitched to Kendry Morales with a 3-1 count. Terrible, terrible baseball. He's allowed 9 hits and 2 walks in 4.2 innings. Hideous - and Brian Bruney-like.

- Jeff Mathis? Jeff Mathis? How in the hell did this career backup with the career .200 batting average record 6 straight hits, including 4 doubles, is incomprehensible.

- Why bring out AJ Burnett for the bottom of the 7th after sitting for so long? Sure, his pitch count was down. What is Girardi's aversion to using David Robertson? He's only won 2 games this postseason and bailed the Yanks out of a bases loaded, no out jam against the Twins.

- Please, Joe - I don't want to see Joba unless you are up by 10 or down by 10.

- Tex, thanks for finally showing up. That was still a horrible first pitch swinging at bat in the 9th inning.

- I reserve all my venom for Swisher though. 0-5 tonight and an absolute dreadful 3-29 in the playoffs, 2-17 in the ALCS and 0 for his last 11. What in the world is he doing in this lineup? I honestly would have felt better with Jerry Hairston, Jr. for his final at bat. He's a contact hitter and doesn't swing for the fences like the imposter of a player that's playing RF for the Yanks right now. Swisher is not even walking. I still can't believe he popped up that pitch right down the pipe.

- Honestly, this Angels team isn't that good. I don't know how they swept Boston, because their other playoff teams were a lot better then this present bunch. The Yanks essentially have won every game this series. Brian Fuentes needs a change in shorts every time he pitches against the Bombers.

The Yanks have now allowed a dead team to believe that they can win this. The Yanks will only get tighter and I'm smelling a Game 7. Pettitte hates pitching in the new stadium and does not fare well against the Angels. The Yanks are the only team that can't figure out Joe Saunders and his gaudy 4.60 ERA. And with that, I don't think CC Sabathia cannot possibly fool the Angels a third time. I'm calling another epic collapse - unless Girardi had the cajones to bury Swisher on the bench.

Yankees Postseason Record: 6-2

ALCS Series: Yanks up, 3-2

ALCS Game 4 - CC, ARod Lead Yanks to 3-1 Series Lead

2009-10-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

Perhaps CC Sabathia should go by CCC, as in Cool, Calm and Collected. Working on 3 days rest and trying to erase the bad taste in Yankee fans mouth after yesterday's debacle, CC rose up to the challenge and gave the Yankees an incredible 8 innings of 1 run ball. His only mistake was a HR to Kendry Morales in the 5th inning. He allowed 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 and only needed an economical 101 pitches in the Yanks 10-1 thrashing of the Angels to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the ALCS. Through 3 innings, he only threw 29 pitches.

After allowing the HR in the 5th, CC allowed a couple of more hits that got the Anaheim fans excited, but retired Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu to end the threat. The Angels final threat occurred in the next inning, when Torii Hunter walked and Vlad Guerrero singled to start the inning, but a double play ball and a line out by Yankee nemesis, Howie Kendrick, killed their last chance of the night. CC retired the side in the 7th and 8th and Chad Gaudin, making his first postseason appearance, retired the heart of the order in the 9th.

The Yankees offense looked like they were going to allow the Angels to dance out of trouble again and keep them lurking about. Derek Jeter led off the game with a single but was erased on a pickoff. Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano and the useless Nick Swisher wasted runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs in the 2nd inning. Mark, just as useless, Teixeira struck out with Johnny Damon on second to end the 3rd.

In the 4th, it appeared the Yanks would never get a hit with a RISP again. They were 0 for their last 24 when Matsui struck out with runners on 2nd and 3rd with none out. Cano hit a grounder to second when ARod took matters into his own hands and bolted for home, sliding under the tag to put the Yanks up 1-0. After a Swisher walk (thanks Nick) loaded the bases, Melky Cabrera singled in 2 runs, breaking the 0-26 slide with RISP. Things then got weird in the inning. Replays showed Nick Swisher was picked off at 2B but was called safe. Jeter walked to reload the bases. Damon then appeared to hit a sac fly to CF, but the Angels claimed Swisher tagged up too early and umpire Tim McClelland bought it hook, line and sinker. Replays clearly showed Swisher tagged up on time and McClelland wasn't even looking at the runner. Was this a makeup call? I thought baseball was above basketball which is known for its bogus makeup calls on fouls.

No matter. ARod gave the Yanks a 5-run lead when he took Angel reliever, Jason Bulger, deep for a 2-run shot. Of course, the Yanks don't like to put their foot on their opponents necks when they have an opportunity. Jorge Posada stole 2B on a Matsui strikeout. Someone must have been sleeping. But Jorge continues to earn the "dumbest player in baseball" moniker when he had Torii Hunter deke him in CF on Cano's double off the wall. Instead of going half way to third, he went back to tag up and wasn't able to score. What is Posada doing tagging up when there is 1 out? What does it matter if he's on 3rd with 2 out if Hunter was actually going to catch that ball? Of course, things didn't end their for Jorge. With the infield in, he got caught in a rundown between 3rd and home. I still don't know why he stopped or took off in the first place. So Jorge retreats to 3B as Cano is about to step on 3rd. Looking like the Keystone Koppers, both runners were tagged out. Tim McClelland once more blew the call, calling Posada out, but Cano safe. Both runners were clearly tagged out when they were off the bases. Was this a makeup call to the Yanks? Hmm, conspiracy theorists will go haywire with this one. Meanwhile, Posada continues to not use the brain God gave him as he pulled another boner in the 6th when he began to run off the field on a double play with Hunter on 3rd. Problem was, the DP only made it 2 out. ARod had to sprint home to cover the plate. This guy is a rock. No wonder AJ Burnett can't stand pitching to this guy.

Fortunately for the Yanks, they finally found the throats of the Angels in the 8th inning. A 2-run HR by Damon gave the Yanks a 7-1 lead. Melky's 2-run double in the 9th highlighted a 3 run inning that made the final score, 10-1. This gave Joe Girardi plenty of room to get Chad Gaudin some work.

Despite the Yanks big victory, they were still a paltry 3-17 with RISP. They are now 6-45 in the series. They're lucky the Angels are hitting .201 as a team (and that Sabathia pitches for them). Nick Swisher has got to sit in Game 5 against John Lackey. He's 3-33 in the playoffs with 1 RBI. Tex still looks horrendous, even with his 1-5 effort. He looked lost in his first 2 ABs, when he struck out both times. Matsui, who has been hitting well prior to tonight, was an abysmal 0-5 and left 5 men on base. Hopefully, this was just a 1 game setback.

The Yanks are off tomorrow with AJ Burnett looking to clinch the Yanks 40th AL Crown.

Yankees Postseason Record: 6-1

ALCS Series: Yanks Lead 3-1

ALCS Game 3 - Swisher, Girardi are Garbage in Loss

2009-10-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera and Mark Teixeira are missing a helluva Championship Series. Tex is batting a robust .077 and has virtually disappeared at the plate, taking up the playoff curse of ARod. Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera left a small battalion of men on base, with Swisher being the main culprit - twice failing miserably with a runner on third and less than 2 out. Melky is 5-25 in the playoffs and struck out 9 times. Throw a curve ball in the dirt to either Swisher or Melky and their toast.

For the most part, the Yankees have been able to overcome their ineptness with RISP all season long. Today, it caught up with them as they allowed a team, that was utterly deflated after Saturday's tough loss, a second life. Coming into the game, they were 3-20 with RISP in the series and were 0-8 in Game 2. They followed up that with today's encore - an abysmal 0-8 to make it 3-28 in the series. The Yanks scored all 4 runs on solo HRs from Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, ARod and Jorge Posada.

It was the first career postseason loss for the Yanks when they had a 3-run lead. They led 3-0 when a solo shot by Yankee killer extraordinaire, Howie Kendrick, and a 2-run shot by the crippled Vlad Guerrero allowed the Angels to exhale. Kendrick struck again in the 7th when he ripped Joba Chamberlain's first pitch off the RF wall. Swisher didn't do Joba any favors, climbing the wall without actually making any attempt at catching the ball. What is this guy doing? I'd say there is no way in hell Joe Girardi can allow this guy and/or Melky to start again, but both lucky bastards get a reprieve because lefty Scott Kazmir starts tomorrow and Brett Gardner is a lefty.

As for Girardi, he got lucky in Game 2, and did a decent job, but he started to believe he had the Midas touch and got burned today. Once again, he was ripping through his bullpen as if there were a tree growing relievers in the pen. He used lefty Damaso Marte to get the final out in the 7th against Chone Figgins, yet brought in lefty Phil Coke to face left-handed Bobby Abreu to start the 8th. Abreu torched Coke for a double but was erased at 2B when he overran the bag. Why burn Coke there for 1 batter? So for 3 outs, Girardi already used 3 relievers.

In comes Phil Hughes. He was the "long man" out of the pen today, tossing 1.2 innings before he got smacked by a Jeff Mathis double to lead off the 10th. The same Jeff Mathis who is a backup catcher that hitIn came Mariano Rivera, to try the improbable. After botching an attempt to throw Mathis out at 3B, Mariano was able to induce a couple of ground ball outs to Tex to keep the Angels off the board. Mo pulled the Houdini when he retired Vlad the Impaler on a weak grounder to Cano.

Meanwhile, the Yanks couldn't muster anything offensively after Posada tied the score in the 8th. Only ARod reached base in the last 3 innings on an intentional walk. Things got weird in the 11th, as Girardi seemingly panicked after David Robertson retired sluggers Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales. For reasons that Girardi felt "were a better matchup," he pulled Robertson and inserted Alfredo Aceves. The same Aceves that was on a hook for a loss in Game 2 before ARod bailed him out.

In 7 pitches, Aceves and the Yanks lost 5-4 when Killer Kendrick singled and the amazing Mathis hit his 3rd double of the series to win the game. Did I mention Mathis is the Angels backup catcher that hit .211 this season? For his career, he's an even .200 hitter. Why would Girardi pull Robertson there? It makes no sense and reeks of overmanagement. If they get through the 11th inning, Girardi would still need someone to pitch the bottom of the 12th. He could have held Aceves in reserve in case Robertson got in trouble. Once again, Girardi emptied his bullpen with the exception of Chad Gaudin. This time, it bit him in the ass. Tomorrow, CC Sabathia goes on 3 days rest - won't Girardi need his bullpen once again? I fear the more the Angels see these same relievers again and again they'll begin to feel comfortable and start teeing off.

Yankees Postseason Record: 5-1

ALCS Series: Yanks Lead 2-1

ALCS Game 2 - ARod Does it Again

2009-10-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

The Yanks trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the 11th, and ARod was behind in the count 0-2 against Brian Fuentes, the AL Saves Leader. Light-hitting Freddy Guzman and Brett Gardner were also due up in the inning, so there wasn't a chance ARod was going to get a pitch he could drive to give the Yanks a shot at tying the game. Oops. ARod smacked an outside fastball over the RF wall to tie the score at 3 and send the wet crowd at Yankee Stadium into jubilation. Bobby Abreu made a rare visit to the wall as the HR just cleared his girly red mitt and hit a fan in the first row of the bleachers.

ARod's HR sent the game further into extra innings, and the Yanks relied on one of their bench players to provide the heroics. Jerry Hairston, Jr, in his first post season at bat of his career, led off the bottom of the 13th with a single. Gardner bunted Hairston to 2B and the Angels opted to intentionally walk Cano (I would have pitched to Cano - we all know he can't hit with RISP). Melky Cabrera, the owner of 3 walkoff hits this season, stepped to the plate. He hit a ball in the hole between first and second. 2B Maicer Izturis fielded it and inexplicably tried to force Cano out at second instead of getting the sure out at first. Big mistake. The ball went flying by SS Erick Aybar and towards 3B Chone Figgins, who began playing hot potato with the ball. Hairston broke for home and ended the epic 5 hour game and gave the Yanks a 2-0 advantage in the ALCS.

Hairston earned the pie in the face from AJ Burnett, the original starter of the game. Burnett tossed 6.1 solid innings, but was done in by his wildness in the 5th inning. Leading 2-0, Burnett allowed the Angels to tie the game, with the 2nd run coming on a wild pitch and 2 out. The Yankee bullpen threw 6.2 innings of 1 run ball, with Alfredo Aceves on the hook for the loss when ARod bailed him out. The bullpen wasn't dominant, allowing 10 base runners, but they didn't break. Mariano Rivera tossed the majority of the load, going 2.1 innings. It only took 25 pitches for him to retire 7 batters. David Robertson picked up his 2nd win of the postseason with 1.1 shutout innings.

Joe Girardi used 7 relievers, brilliantly mixing and matching. Girardi will unquestionably be called out by fans for his quick hook on some of his relievers, but you cannot fault the final outcome - the Yankees won. He still had Chad Gaudin left in the pen and this game would have had to go 19 innings before there was any concern. Fortunately, the Yankees offense, or should we say the Angels defense, didn't allow that situation to happen.

Next game is Monday in Anaheim and Girardi has already announced CC Sabathia will be his Game 4 starter. The Yanks need to go for the jugular and not let up.

Yankees Postseason Record: 5-0

ALCS Series: 2-0

ALCS Game 1 -CC Cruises as Yanks Go Up 1-0

2009-10-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

On a cold, blustery night, CC Sabathia shook off the stigma that he cannot win the big games, as he won his second consecutive Game 1 in the 2009 playoffs. CC stood for Cruise Control, as he pitched 8 brilliant innings of 4 hit ball, allowing 1 run while striking out 7 in the Yanks 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Sabathia retired the side 4 times and beat the Angels at the perfect time after going 0-2 against them in the regular season.

The Yankees offense was aided by the Angels defense. Angels starting pitcher, John Lackey probably deserved a better fate. He surrendered all 4 runs, but only 2 were earned. Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon led off the game with back-to-back singles. Damon was allowed to move up to 2B on a hideous throw by ex-Yankee Juan Rivera in LF. ARod hit a SF that scored Jeter after Mark Teixeira failed miserably on a 3-0 count, hitting a shallow fly that didn't move any of the runners. Hideki Matsui then hit a pop up to the SS area that should have ended the inning, but Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar just looked at each other and let the ball drop for an RBI single as Johnny Damon came around to score and make it 2-0 Yanks.

The score remained 2-0 till the 4th when Vlad Guerrero ripped a double off the LF wall. With 2 out, Kendry Morales singled in Guerrero to bring the Angels to within 1 run. The Yanks got their 2-run lead back in the 5th, when Matsui doubled in Damon. ARod was thrown out at the plate on the play after running through a stop sign from 3B coach Rob Thomson (announcer Joe Buck let us know at least 7 times). ARod tried his best to mow down catcher Jeff Mathis, but Mathis did everything he could to hang on the ball. He did everything except tag out ARod, but the runner would be called out a 100 times out of a 100 on collision plays like that.

The Yanks tacked on their 4th run when Lackey hurt himself in the 6th. After walking Melky Cabrera with 2 out, he threw the ball away on a pickoff that allowed Melky to reach 2B. The Captain singled up the middle on the next pitch to score Melky as Torii Hunter charged in and booted the ball for the Angels 3rd error of the game that allowed Jeter to reach second. The Yanks had a chance to really blow the game open in the 7th, but with the bases loaded and 2 out, Nick Swisher struck out on a pitch that would have been ball 4.

No matter, Joe Girardi made the right call by allowing CC to come back out for the 8th, and he rewarded his manager's sound judgement by retiring the side. The great Mariano Rivera came on in the 9th, and after uncharacteristically walking Hunter (I thought he was squeezed on a pitch), he smoked the heart of the Angels lineup to wrap up the first game of the ALCS.

AJ Burnett goes for the Yanks in Game 2. Hopefully, he learned a few things from CC - keeping the Angels off the base paths is the base defense against their vaunted running game.

Yankees Post Season Record: 4-0

ALCS: Up 1-0

Angels Rally Against Papelbum - Knock Out Bosox

2009-10-12T01:54:00.000-07:00

The Yanks did their part, sweeping the Twins in the ALDS, but the Sox fell way short on their end of the deal, getting blown out by the Angels in 3 games. The Angels have been knocked out of the playoffs numerous times by the Red Sox, even when it appeared the Angels had a more superior team than the Sox had on the field. This year though, the Angels buried all those ghosts, perhaps even the ghost of the late Donnie Moore, who blew the 1986 ALCS to Boston and later committed suicide.

I thought the Sox would turn the series around when they returned to Boston, the site where many teams seem to crap themselves and where the Red Sox benefit from many, many an umpire's call. It seemed the series was headed for a 4th game, when the Sox jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Jonathan Papelbum came on in the 8th with 2 on and 2 out in the 8th. He and his stupid closer face allowed a 2-run single to bring the Angels within 1-run. The Sox added an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th and with Papelbum retiring the 1st 2 batters, Game 4 appeared inevitable. But ol' Papelbum must have wanted to get home to his swamp in Mississippi, because he allowed an 0-2 hit to Erick Aybar, walked Chone Figgins on a full count pitch that nearly went over the umpire's head, then allowed Bobby Abreu to knock in a run with a double on a 1-2 count. Torii Hunter was intentionally walked, but Papelbum still clung to a 1-run lead. It lasted exactly one pitch. Vlad Guerrero singled home 2 runs to put the Angels up 7-6.

This is certainly a different Sox team - they quietly went down 1-2-3 in the 9th as the Fenway faithful looked shellshocked. I personally thought the Angels would fold against the Sox yet again. Even with a 2-0 lead in the series, I thought the Sox would win both games in Fenway and put a lot of pressure on the Angels in Game 5. As a Yankee fan, I would have much preferred the Sox as an opponent, too. One, just for the chance at knocking out the Sox, and Two, the Yanks match up so much better against the Sox then they do against the Angels. At the very least, I was hoping the Sox-Angels series would be a grueling affair, but the Angels breezed through this series.

It looks like it will be John Lackey-CC Sabathia in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

And it looks like a long winter for Boston. I only wonder what trades Theo Epstein will have up his sleeve - Roy Halladay? Felix Hernandez? Or will he sign free agents Matt Holliday and/or Marco Scutaro? Have we seen the last of Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield, too? It will be an interesting offseason in Beantown.

ALDS Game 3 - The Old Guard and ARod Lead Yanks to Sweep

2009-10-12T01:19:00.000-07:00

Andy Pettitte pitched brilliantly, Jorge Posada hit the go-ahead HR, Derek Jeter once again found himself in a key defensive position, and Mariano Rivera finished up the game for another post season save as the Yanks swept the Twins out of the ALDS with a 4-1 victory. ARod also continued his magical playoff run with a game-tying HR that finally got the Yankees on the board.

Pettitte, with 15 post season wins, tied John Smoltz for the most all time, tossing 6.1 fantastic innings while only allowing 1 run. He didn't allow a hit till the 5th inning and struck out 7. The Twins finally broke through on Pettitte in the 6th with a 2-out rally, although it appeared he was squeezed on a couple of pitches by the umpire. Joe Mauer singled in his only run of the series to put the Twins out front for the third game in a row. But, as the Bombers did all series, they quickly struck back.

For 6.1 innings, ex-Yankee, Carl Pavano, baffled the Yankees, throwing his fastball routinely in the 92-93 mph range. Suspicious, since he usually tops out at 90-91, but where Pettitte was getting squeezed a bit by the strike zone, Pavano seemed to benefit from a very generous one. He struck out a season high and a Twins playoff record, 9 Yankees. ARod once again rose to the occasion, launching a full count pitch over the RF baggy to tie the score at 1. ARod went 5-11 in the series with 2 dingers and 6 RBIs. 2 batters later, Posada put the Yankees up 2-1 with an opposite field shot of his own. The Metrodome faithful and their riduculously outdated homer hankies fell to a hushed whisper as they stood dumbstruck, just moments after starting the inning by unoriginally chanting "Yankees Suck".

For some ungodly reason, manager Joe Girardi removed Pettitte in the 7th after he struck out Jason Kubel. The move immediately looked horrendous when Joba Chamberlain surrendered a double to Delmon Young on a weak-ass slider on a 1-2 count. Joba would escape without further trouble and turned the ball over to Phil Hughes to start the 8th.

Hughes once again embarrassed himself mightily when he allowed the weak-hitting Nick Punto to lace a double to left center. I'm still dumbfounded as to how Punto hit .444 with 3 walks in this series. Hughes then allowed Denard Span to single up the middle, but Jeter fielded the ball before it left the infield. For the second game in the row, the Twins pulled a horrendous base running gaffe. Punto practically ran through the 3B coach's stop sign, before stopping midway to home. Jeter threw to Posada, and Posada threw a bullet to ARod at third to nail a scrambling Punto. Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire, nearly ran into the clubhouse to throw up. Punto went from improbable hero to goat in a matter of seconds, as a hush and utter disbelief quickly overcame the Twins faithful. It was time to put away the useless homer hankies. Hughes retired Orlando Cabrera on a fly ball, and Girardi, not fooling around, brought in the great Mariano to face Mauer. Mo shattered Mauer's bat with a nasty cutter, getting him to ground out to first and began putting in the final nails to the Twins coffin.

The Yanks rallied for 2 more insurance runs in the 9th, with Posada and Cano singling in a run each. The Twins pitchers, who hadn't walked anyone all game, walked the bases loaded before the run scoring singles. Mariano nailed down the save after allowing a leadoff single and the Yanks are on their way to face their nemesis, the Angels, in the ALCS this Friday.

In the meantime, if anyone has seen Johnny Damon, who had the Golden Sombrero today, or Nick Swisher, please let them and their .083 batting average know the playoffs have officially started and their presence would be appreciated. The same can be said to Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and to a lesser extent, Mark Teixeira. They're all hitting .167. Those numbers won't cut it against the Angels and their offense.

Yankees Post Season Record: 3-0

ALDS Game 2 - Yanks Big Ticket Stars Paying Dividends

2009-10-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

AJ Burnett held the Minnesota Twins to 1 run in 6 innings in his 1st postseason start of his career and Mark Teixeira finally showed up with a single in the 9th and a game winning HR in the extra innings to propel the Bombers to a 2-0 lead in the series.

The Yanks appeared to be headed to Minnesota tied up in the series, as they were stymied most of the game by Nick Blackburn, who led the league in hits allowed. Blackburn held the Yanks hitless for 4.2 innings before Robinson Cano broke up the no-no with a single to center. The Yanks were trailing 1-0 in the 6th when The Captain hit a ground rule double and ARod, yes, ARod, hit a 2-out RBI single to knock in Derek Jeter for the 3rd time this series.

The Twins went up 3-1 in the 8th when Phil Hughes had a meltdown after recording 2 quick outs. Hughes inexplicably walked Carlos Gomez, the proud owner of a paltry .287 OBP. Brendan Harris, who earlier in the game tripled in a run, singled to put runners on 1st and 3rd. I can live with that. But then, the inexcusable happened. Hughes allowed the weak-hitting Nick Punto who hit .228 this season to single in the go-ahead run with 2 strikes on a lollipop curve ball. For some reason, the Yanks can't figure out Punto who is 3-6 with 3 walks this series. What is going on? Meanwhile, Joe Girardi, as well as Yankee fans everywhere, had seen enough of Hughes and Mariano Rivera was brought in. He doused a little gasoline on the fire when he surrendered a run-scoring single to Denard Span to put the Twins up 3-1.

After mounting nothing in the 8th, only Joe Nathan stood in the way of the Yanks going up 2-0 are headed for a split. Tex finally broke his 0-7 in the series with a leadoff single. ARod, the target of much vitriol for his past playoff performances, calmly worked the count to 3-1 before depositing Nathan's waist-high fastball into the right field bullpen to tie the score at 3 and send Yankee Stadium into pandemonium and the game into extra frames.

Both teams had their chances to win the game in the 10th inning. After Alfredo Aceves retired the first 2 batters, he walked the "dangerous" Punto and allowed a hit to Span before bailing out of further trouble by setting down Orlando Cabrera. The Yanks even had a better chance of finishing the game in the 10th, when they had runners on the corners with 1 out. Johnny Damon lined a shot up the middle off the reliever's glove, but with the infield in, Cabrera caught the tip and doubled up pinch runner, Brett Gardner, off of 3B.

The 11th inning would bring controversy and anti-Yankee smearing across the nation due to a horrendous call by the left field umpire. Joe Mauer hit what appeared to be a ground rule double down the left field line, but umpire Phil Cuzzi, about 15-20 feet from the play, called it foul. Mauer singled on the next pitch. Jason Kubel also followed with a single and Joe Girardi brought in David Robertson to replace the ineffectual and useless Damaso Marte. Michael Cuddyer then lined a single up the middle, but for some unexplained reason, the Twins held up Mauer at 3B, and the Twins were cooking, with the bases loaded and none out. Mauer would never score. Robertson got a line out to Tex at first, a forceout from Tex to homeplate and then he retired Harris to escape the inning without a scratch.

This led to Tex' heroics, as he led off the bottom of the 11th with screaming line drive that hit the top of the LF wall and bounced over for the walkoff HR. It was pie-time for Tex as Burnett continued the Yankee walkoff tradition from the regular season and all was right in Yankeeland again.

Of course, there are detractors everywhere, including the Twins organzation, who are saying the blown call on Mauer's hit cost them the game. Apparently, none of those people watched the whole game. The Twins lost that game for countless other reasons, with Cuzzi's blown call being at the very bottom of that list. I present the following real reasons the Twins blew this game:

1. The Twins left a small village on base. 17 base runners were left stranded, as the Twins had at least 1 base runner in every single inning.

2. Carlos Gomez got nailed at 2B on a single, when he rounded the base, negating Delmon Young from scoring. Gomez was tagged out by, who else but, Derek Jeter, before Young could cross the plate.

3. Joe Nathan. This guy needs to change his shorts every time he faces the Yanks. He couldn't hold on to a 2-run lead and gave up a HR with a man on base for the first time all season. He was one of the biggest complainers about Mauer's hit being called foul, but let's focus on your own faults there, Joe. For his career, he is 0-4 with 3 blown saves and an ERA over 4.50 against the Bombers. Arguably, he is considered the 2nd best closer in the league after Mariano.

4. Mauer held up at third base on a single. For reasons I may never know, the Twins 3B coach held up Mauer on Cuddyer's hit to center, not challenging the pop gun arm of Brett Gardner. Mauer would have scored easily.

5. Bases loaded and no outs. Mauer still reached base. He even suggested maybe Kubel doesn't get a hit in that situation, because the Yanks had to cover Mauer at 1B, leaving a huge hole between 1st and 2nd, where Kubel hit the ball. They had bases loaded and no outs! They couldn't score. Hence, the Twins, not Phil Cuzzi, blew this game. They had ample opportunities to win this game. Perhaps every Twin should look at themselves in the mirror before whining about a non-call.

Yankees Postseason Record: 2-0

ALDS Game 1 - CC and The Captain Lead Yanks Past Twins

2009-10-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

CC Sabathia looked a little shaky, Jorge Posada forgot how to catch, and the Yankees trailed 2-0 to the upstart Minnesota Twins after 2.5 innings with Yankee fans everywhere holding their collective breath. Thank God for The Captain. With one swing of the bat, Derek Jeter tied the score in the bottom of the 3rd with his career 18th post-season HR, and everything seemed right again in Yankeeland.

Crooked Cap settled down after that, leaving the game in the 7th with a 7-2 lead and runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out. Phil Hughes bailed him out of further trouble by striking out the dangerous Orlando Cabrera. Sabathia pitched 6.2 innings, allowing 2 runs, only 1 earned, while striking out 8 Twins. The Twinkies scored their 2nd run in the second inning when Posada missed a pitch and lackadaisically walked towards it, allowing an indecisive Joe Mauer to score from 3B.

The ol' veteran though, Jeter, demonstrated yet again why he's the beloved son of The Bronx. Jeter singled on the first pitch he saw in the first, homered in the 3rd and walked in his other 2 ABs. ARod finally exorcised some ghosts when he erased his hideous 0-29 with runners on base and 0-18 with RISP when he singled in Jeter in the 5th and again in the 7th. Hideki Matsui greeted Twin reliever, Francisco Liriano with a deep, wind blown HR to deep center in the 5th. Nick Swisher also contributed with an RBI double in the 4th that gave the Yanks a 3-2 lead.

With a comfortable 5-run lead in the 8th, manager Joe Girardi liberally went to his bullpen. Perhaps to spare Hughes from throwing too many pitches, he removed Hughes with 1 out. Phil Coke came in and threw 1 pitch to record the 2nd out, and Joba Chamberlain came in to throw 2 pitches to finish up the inning. Mariano Rivera came in the 9th for some work, and wrapped up the game after embarrassing himself by walking Nick Punto, proud owner of a .228 batting average. Someone please explain to me how Punto went 2-3 with a walk, please?

Game 2 will be on Friday, with some controversy attached. It wouldn't be the Yankees if there wasn't any controversy attached. The light-hitting Jose Molina will catch AJ Burnett instead of Yankee icon, Jorge Posada. Burnett's numbers are far more superior with Molina behind the dish. Granted, Posada is a far better hitter than Molina, but he didn't look good catching Sabathia, twice getting mixed up and then throwing the Crooked One under the bus in the post game interviews. Whether or not he was calling for a fastball, the 2 pitches he absolutely missed were catchable, almost down the middle breaking balls that need to be caught. And Posada continued his boneheaded play that I've seen all season when he half walked, half trotted towards the second pitch he missed, allowing Mauer to score.

The Yanks will face off against Nick Blackburn, and looking to go up 2-0. Angels and Red Sox will play Game 1 tonight in their series. Angels don't stand a chance - they fold like a cheap tent when they see the Sox.

Yankees Postseason Record: 1-0

Game 162 - ARod Reaches Milestones on 2 Swings

2009-10-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Yankees starters were in the lineup, but it appeared they were sleep walking towards the playoffs yet again, before lightning struck in the 6th inning. Trailing 2-0, the Yanks plated a huge 10-spot in the inning. With 2 swings of the bat, ARod knocked in 7 of those runs with a 3-run shot and a grand slam.

Coming into the game, ARod was sitting on 28 HRs and 93 RBIs with no shot at extending his 30 homer, 100 RBI streak. But this is why baseball fans love the game - you're always going to see something that you have never seen before. With ARod's 6th inning heroics, he reached 30 HRs and 100 RBIs for the 13th straight season and set an AL record with 7 RBIs in one inning. His second HR also tied him with Mark McGwire with 583 career blasts.

AJ Burnett pitched 5 innings in a playoff tuneup. It was his 100th career win, as he finished the year 13-9. He is slated to go in Game 2 of the playoffs. The Yankee bullpen pitched 4 hitless innings and struck out 5 to wrap up their 103 victory of the season.

Johnny Damon finally broke out of his snide, going 2-4 with 2 doubles and just barely missing his 25th HR of the season. Mark Teixeira finished tied with Carlos Pena for the AL HR title with 39. He was intentionally walked before ARod's slam in the 6th. Tex did win the RBI title with 122, as he proved his signing as a free agent was money well spent.

The Yanks will have to wait to see who they play in the ALDS, with the Tigers and Twins playing a 1-game playoff after having the same record after 162 games.

Yankees Final Regular Season Record: 103-59

Game 161 - Another Apathetic Loss as Yanks Await Playoffs

2009-10-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

The Yanks put on another lackluster performance, falling 5-3 to the Rays, with a mixture of veterans and role players in the lineup. Andy Pettitte fell to 14-8 on the season, but had a helluva turnaround from last year's 14-14 season where he pitched hurt for most of the second half.

No one stood out offensively, with 9 different Yankees collecting 9 hits. Brett Gardner did still 2 bases and the struggling Johnny Damon did drive in a run. Can anyone remember the last time this guy hit one out of the park?

Last regular season game is tomorrow. Manager Joe Girardi plans to start his regulars to tune up for the playoffs.

Yankees Record: 102-59

Game 160 - CC Denied 20th Win

2009-10-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

Let's hope this isn't a precursor for things to come. With a chance at winning 20 games for the first time in his career, Crooked Cap Sabathia got lit up by the Tampa Bay Rays in a 13-4 ass whooping. The Crooked One lasted just 2.2 innings, getting roughed up for 9 runs, 5 earned while surrendering 8 hits and an unheard of 5 walks, not to mention 1 HBP. He gave up 4 runs in the 1st, 1 in the 2nd and another 4-spot in the 3rd before departing.

Tampa's BJ Upton, the only other player that makes Robinson Cano look like he cares about the game, hit for the cycle and had 5 hits and 6 RBIs. Even Phil Hughes got roughed up, giving up 3 hits and a run in a third of an inning.

Sabathia finished the season 19-8 and had won 9 straight games before this setback. Hopefully, this was just an aberration and not a pitcher "pressing" for his 20th. The Yanks don't need their ace gripping the ball too tight when the playoffs start.

As for the Yanks offense, rookie Juan Miranda was the only bright spot, hitting his first career HR.

Yankees Record: 102-58

Game 159 - Yanks Streak Snapped at 7

2009-10-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

The Yankee regulars came out to play but never really showed up, as the Royals downed the Bombers 4-3 in the first season finale in new Yankee Stadium. Joba Chamberlain reverted to his abysmal form, only lasting 3.2 innings before departing to a chorus of boos. He allowed 7 hits and 4 walks to a non-patient KC lineup, but was bailed out of the loss when Nick Swisher tied the score at 3 with a 2-run shot in the 5th.

Damaso Marte was saddled with the loss after Sergio Mitre allowed Marte's runner to score on a John Buck triple. The Yanks looked poised for another comeback in the 9th, with runners on 1st and 3rd, but Ramiro Pena ended the game with a groundout. If this game meant anything, Pena would never have been allowed to hit.

The Yanks ended their home record at 57-24 in their inaugural season at their new home.

Yankees Record: 102-57

Game 158 - Ol' Friend, Kyle Farnsworth, Gift Wraps Win for Yanks

2009-10-07T15:44:00.001-07:00

Rookie Juan Miranda led the Yanks to their 15th walkoff win of the season when his single off of ol' Yankee, Kyle Farnsworth's knee, allowed the go ahead run to score in the 4-3 victory. AJ Burnett threw his 3rd consecutive solid start, limiting the Royals to 2 runs, 1 earned in 6.1 innings. Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher hit solo shots, with Tex' dinger tying him with Carlos Pena for the AL lead with 39.

The Royals led 3-2 going into the 9th when they went with Farnsworth. They were still resting their closer, Joakim Soria, who had thrown 46 pitches in his previous appearance. Fan favorite, Francisco Cervelli started the 1-out rally with a single and Eric Hinske followed up with another. Robinson Cano, playing a lot of hero of late, tied the game with a SF. Johnny Damon was intentionally walked before Miranda's heroics earned him the post game pie in the face from AJ Burnett.

It was the Yanks 7th straight victory as this team is geared up for the playoffs to start already (as are most Yankee fans).

Yankees Record: 102-56

Game 157 - Yanks Scrubs Better Then Royals Regulars

2009-10-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

With a large majority of the Yankee regulars resting after clinching the AL East, Robinson Cano paced the Bomber scrubs to an 8-2 pasting of the hapless KC Royals. Rookie Ramiro Pena, playing for Derek Jeter, went 2-4 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base and connected for his first big league home run in the 5th inning. The Yankee bench gave Pena the traditional silent treatment to the rookie before mobbing him for his feat.

Cano, batting 3rd in the revamped lineup, hit a grand slam in the 8th that gave the Pinstripers their big cushion. It was his 25th HR of the season, joining Tex, ARod, Godzilla and Swisher with at least 25 dingers. Every Yankee starter, with the exception of 1B, Juan Miranda, had at least 1 hit. Fan favorite, Francisco Cervelli, chipped in with 2 hits, along with Cano, Pena and Jorge Posada, who DH'd.

Chad Gaudin picked up the victory, going 6.2 innings. Damaso Marte came on to retire Alex Gordon and Alfredo Aceves pitched 2 hitless innings to wrap up the victory.

Yankees Record: 101-56

Game 156 - Yanks Sweep Bosox and Capture AL East Crown

2009-10-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

Melky Cabrera and Mark Teixeira both homered, Hideki Matsui singled in the go ahead runs in the 6th and the Yanks swept Boston out of New York to win the AL East Crown and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Andy Pettitte held Boston to 2 runs in 6 innings to pick up his 14th win of the season and Brian Bruney, Phil Coke and the great Mariano held down the fort as the Bombers incredibly tied the Sox 9-9 in the season series despite dropping the first 8 games. Those games seem eons ago as the Yanks turned around their season with the return of ARod.

Tex' shot came in the 8th against Peter Gammons love child, Daniel Bard. It was the 2nd time this season Tex has gone deep against the overhyped Red Sox rookie. Paul Byrd took the loss, despite keeping the Sox in the game. He left with a 2-run lead, but Takashi Saito allowed both of his inherited runners to score.

With the win, expect to see Joe Girardi to start playing his bench players as he rests his starters during the final week of the regular season.

Yankees Record: 100-56

Game 155 - Sabathia Outduels the Dart Thrower

2009-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

Crooked Cap tossed 7 brilliant innings of 1-hit ball as he overcame the Yanks pitiful performance with RISP, as the Yanks defeated the Bosox 3-0. Sabathia retired the first 11 batters he faced and only allowed a Mike Lowell single that led off the 5th inning. He left the game with the Yanks holding a slim 1-0 lead before they rallied for a 2-spot against Billy Wagner. The win reduced the Bombers magic number to 1 and they can clinch the AL East with a sweep against the Sox.

Daisuke Matsuzaka reverted to last season's Houdini form, stranding 9, count them 9 baserunners in the first 5 innings. The Yanks embarrassed themselves with a pathetic 0-11 with RISP, including the bases loaded with no outs in the 5th inning. ARod, going for 100 RBIs despite missing over a month this season, tapped a grounder in front of the plate and Victor Martinez was able to scramble back to homeplate to force Derek Jeter. Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher continued the Bombers incompetence with foul pop ups. Robinson Cano finally reached the Dart Thrower for a solo shot in the 6th. The Dart Thrower finished the game allowing 11 baserunners in his 7 innings of work.

Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera completed the 2 hit shutout. Mo, as usual against the Red Sox, made things interesting. With 2 outs, he allowed a single to Martinez and hit Big Nugget Youkilis before retiring the potential tying run and Yankee killer, Mike Lowell for his 43rd save.

Yankees Record: 99-56

Game 154 - Yanks Pound Bosox and Lester

2009-10-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

ARod went 3-3 with a homer, 4 RBIs and 3 SBs and Joba Chamberlain finally showed up, holding the Sox to 3 runs in 6 innings, as the Yanks won convincingly in a 9-5 victory. The Yanks roughed up Sox ace, Jon Lester for 8 hits and 5 runs in 2.1 innings before he was knocked out by a Melky Cabrera line drive off his knee.

Chamberlain, meanwhile, limited the Sox to 5 hits and 1 walk and struck out 5. His mistakes were a solo shot to Victor Martinez and a 2-run shot to Big Sloppy Ortiz, as the Yanks continued to donate to their favorite charity this season - Resurrect an Aging Slugger Program. Manager Joe Girardi used 5 relievers to wrap up the final 3 innings. Jonathan Albaladejo allowed the Sox final 2 runs, although Johnny Damon's defense didn't do him any favors.

The Yanks swiped 7 SBs against Jason Varitek, at times impersonating a NASCAR race track. This Red Sox team does not represent anything like the team that pounded the Yanks the first 8 games of the season.

Yankees Record: 98-56

Game 153 - Yanks Win Series in Anaheim

2009-10-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

AJ Burnett outdueled Scott Kazmir, as the Yanks held on for a 3-2 victory against the Angels and took 2 of 3 in the series. The Yanks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 4th on a 2-run single from Robinson Cano and scored on a Melky Cabrera double. Burnett pitched brilliantly, albeit for only 5.2 innings, as he struck out 11 Angels.

5 Yankee relievers held the Angels scoreless for the final 3.1 innings, including a scoreless inning from Ian Kennedy. It was his first MLB appearance in over a year and perhaps a miraculous appearance, considering he underwent surgery earlier this season to remove an aneurysm in his throwing arm. Mariano Rivera wrapped up the series win with his 42nd save of the season.

Yankees Record: 97-56

Game 152 - Yanks Finally Win in Anaheim to Clinch Playoff Berth

2009-10-07T14:23:00.000-07:00

ARod and Hideki Matsui homered for the 2nd straight night and the Yanks finally beat the Angels in Anaheim this season in 5 tries. The Yanks won 6-5 despite blowing a 5-0 lead. Jorge Posada also homered in the game against Angels starter, Ervin Santana.

Phil Hughes picked up the win after blowing a 5-4 lead in the 8th, but he could hardly be faulted. Robinson Cano allowed Howie Kendrick to reach on an error and Jorge Posada followed up with a throwing error of his own, allowing Kendrick to reach 3B with none out. After Maicer Izturis singled in Kendrick and Abreu walked, it looked like the Yanks would find another way to lose to Anaheim. But Hughes reared back and struck out Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter to end the threat.

Brett Gardner set the stage for the winning run again for the 2nd time in a week against the Angels, once again beating them at their own game. He led off the 9th with a single and stole second base. After Derek Jeter walked, Johnny Damon sacrificed both runners and Mark Teixeira was intentionally walked. ARod came through with a SF to give the Yanks a 6-5 lead. Mariano Rivera came in and did his thing, giving the Yanks a confidence boost against a potential playoff foe. With the win, the Yanks were able to clinch at least a playoff berth. Barring a total collapse, the Yanks should win the AL East and wrap up the best record in baseball for home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Yankees Record: 96-56

Game 151 - Yanks Lose Again in Anaheim

2009-10-07T14:17:00.001-07:00

The Yanks remained winless in Anaheim, dropping their 4th straight, as Joe Saunders stumped the Yankee lineup in the Angels 5-2 win. He only allowed 7 hits in 8.1 innings - 2 hits apiece for ARod, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and a solo shot to pinch hitter, Hideki Matsui. ARod provided the other run with a solo shot of his own.

Andy Pettitte pitched well in a tough luck loss, going 6 innings and allowing 3 runs. He rebounded well after missing his previous start with a stiff shoulder. Yankee relievers, Brian Bruney and Jonathan Albaladejo both surrendered a run in their dismal performances.

The Yanks had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the 9th, but Robinson Cano flied out to end the game.

Yankees Record: 95 - 56

Game 150 - Joba Terrible, Again

2009-09-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

Joba Chamberlain once again stunk up the joint and the Yankee bats took a Sunday sabbatical, as the Mariners won 7-1. Joba got roughed for all 7 runs in his 3 innings of "work". The Yanks re-opened their favorite charity, Help an Aging Slugger, with Ken Griffey, Jr. going deep and driving in 4 runs.

Meanwhile, the Yankee offense was nothing but offensive to the senses. They managed 5 hits - 3 by Mark Teixeira. This against Ian Snell, who's ERA soars over 5.00. With the loss, the Yanks were not able to clinch a playoff berth and will have to go to Anaheim for 3 games to try and clinch at least a wild card berth. In the mean time, the Red Sox continue to win as they are heating up at the right time before the playoffs. The Yanks are stuck in win one, lose one rut for the past week.

It wasn't all bad for the Yanks. Sergio Mitre relieved Joba and held the M's to 1 hit in 5 innings. Also, the creepy and feminine Ichiro Suzuki went hitless.

Yankees Record: 95-55

Game 149 - Sabathia, Tex Lead Yanks in Blowout

2009-09-26T02:06:00.000-07:00

CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira put the Yanks previous night's rare blip behind them, as they cruised to a 10-1 pasting of the Seattle Mariners. Crooked Cap tossed 7 innings of 1 run ball while striking out 8 and Tex went 4-5 with 2 HRs and a triple while knocking in 5 runs. With a chance for a cycle in the 9th, all Tex needed was a double. Instead, he deposited the ball over the left center field fence.

Tex has also turned into "Triples McGee" as he hit his 3rd in 5 games after having no triples all of last season and none up till 5 games ago. He leads the American League with 118 RBIs. Robinson Cano also had 4 hits in the Yankees 18-hit attack. ARod and Nick Swisher were the only Yankees who didn't join the hit party.

Sabathia earned his league leading 18th win, as the Bombers 2 biggest off-season acquisitions continued to pay huge dividends. He now stands at 18-7 on the year with an ERA standing at 3.31. CC has won 8 straight games and the Yanks have won in his last 10 starts. Despite leading the league in wins, Kansas City's Zach Greinke appears to be the odds-on favorite to win the Cy Young award. Due to his past issues with an anxiety disorder, he's become the media darling. Granted, his numbers are pretty impressive and his ERA is microscopic, but he does pitch in the highly mediocre AL Central Division, whereas, CC pitches in the toughest division in baseball. I'd be interested to see how well Greinke's numbers would translate in the AL East. He hasn't even faced the Yanks this year. He did finally pitch against Boston and pitched a great game, perhaps sealing the award.

Yankees Record: 95-54

Game 148 - Rivera Blows Game

2009-09-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

AJ Burnett finally showed up and pitched 7 solid innings, holding Seattle to 1 run as he turned a 2-1 lead over to the bullpen. He even picked off the napping Ichiro Suzuki twice off of first base. Phil Hughes pitched a scoreless 8th inning, and as it's drafted up, turned the ball over to the great Mariano Rivera to finish up the game. It didn't happen.

Mo looked unhittable for 2 batters, striking them out both, but then lost the game on 2 pitches. He allowed a double to the feeble, decrepit Mike Sweeney, who hasn't played a 100 games in a season since 2005. And then, to my horror, he allowed the girl softball leadoff hitter, Suzuki, to turn on an inside cutter and drill it into the RF seats for the game-winning HR, giving Seattle an improbable 3-2 victory. Why can't this girly slap-hitter do this more often? I might almost respect him if he did. Nah, probably not.

Suzuki's still the only major leaguer I've ever seen lay on the ground for 5 minutes after being hit in the back with a pitch from my hero, Hideo Nomo. I saw Tino Martinez take a 98-mph heater from Armando Benitez in 1998 that touched off an ugly brawl against Baltimore, and he didn't crumple to the ground like nancy-boy Suzuki did.

It was Mo's first blown save since his Boston debacle in April. He recorded a career high 36 straight saves.

Yankees Record: 94-54

Blown Games: 8

Game 147 - Cervelli Wins It With a Walkoff

2009-09-26T01:26:00.000-07:00

Cooler heads prevailed, as the Yanks and Blue Jays played a clean 9-inning game without any incident (although Robinson Cano was HBP). 3rd string catcher, Francisco Cervelli, helped the Yanks split the 2-game series with a walkoff single to score Brett Gardner in the bottom of the 9th. The genius brawler, Jorge Posada, began his 3-game suspension, as he also nurses a stiff neck.

Things looked grim for the Yanks, as they trailed 4-2 in the bottom of the 8th. As they've done all season though, they fought back, with Hideki Matsui hitting a tying 2-run shot off of lefty Scott Downs. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless 9th and would improve to 3-2 on the season. Gardner led off the bottom of the 9th with a single and stole second. He moved to third on a Derek Jeter groundout before Cervelli's game-winning heroics. Gardner's legs also helped the Yanks beat the Angels earlier in the week. The Yanks finished their 9-game homestand 6-3.

Yankees Record: 94-53

Game 146 - Idiot Posada Starts Brawl as Yanks Are Crushed

2009-09-26T00:58:00.000-07:00

The playoffs are within the Yankees sights, but Jorge Posada, perhaps the dumbest player on the team, decided to start a bench clearing brawl against the Toronto Blue Jays with the Yanks getting blown out. Earlier in the game, Yankee pitchers hit 2 Jays, including their star 2B, Aaron Hill, scare in the back. Toronto reliever, Jesse Carlson, taking exception for his teammates, threw a warning pitch that went well behind Posada in the 8th inning. Dummy Posada, instead of realizing the situation and perhaps accepting the warning, began yelling out at Carlson, saying "you don't want to go there". Jorge needs a reality check.

With the Yanks getting pummeled 9-2 at that point, and nothing to gain against a team trying to get through the season, Posada gave Carlson a slight elbow as he came in to score on a Brett Gardner double. Posada was promptly tossed, but he came after Carlson who had some choice words for him. That set off the brawl. Yankee fans would have loved it if Derek Jeter broke a finger or CC Sabathia injured his shoulder in a needless fracas 2+ weeks from the playoffs. How great would that have been? I'm all for brawls, but let's do this in July or August and against the Red Sox, Rays or Angels. Not when you're on the brink of making the playoffs against a team that has nothing to lose.

As for the game, the Bombers allowed Yankee killer, Roy Halladay, off the hook repeatedly, despite touching him up for 11 hits in 6 innings. Sergio Mitre was God-awful, serving up 4 dingers and 7 runs in 5 innings as the Blue Jays pounded the Yanks to a the tune of 10-4. I wonder how Joe Girardi turned that into a positive spin in his post game comments. Toronto was led by Travis Snyder, who mixed in 2 HRs around 3 strikeouts.

Yankees Record: 93-53

Game 145 - Gardner Beats Angels at Their Own Game

2009-09-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

After Phil Hughes allowed the Angels to tie the game in the top of the 8th, it was Brett Gardner who helped the Yanks to avoid finding a way to lose, yet again, to their nemesis. In the bottom of the frame, Gardner pinch ran for Mark Teixeira at 2B, stole third and came home on catcher Mike Napoli's throwing error. ARod, who also stole second on the play, went to third and scored on a Robinson Cano single to make the score 5-3. Mariano Rivera came on the 9th to record his 40th save, the 7th time in his career he's reached that mark.

Tex paced the Bomber offense with 3 hits and 2 RBIs. Nick Swisher had a rare Yankee Stadium HR and Joba Chamberlain pitched well in his abbreviated stint. Joba went 4 innings, allowing 4 hits and 1 run on a Vlad Guerrero dinger. He didn't walk a batter while striking out 2.

This was a makeup game for an early season rainout. The Yanks have won a number of games this season on their way to the playoffs, but have struggled mightily against the Angels since the Joe Torre era began in 1996. Joe Girardi also had a losing record against the Angels last season. The Yanks were swept in Anaheim in a 3-game set right before the All Star break.

Yankees Record: 93-52

Game 144 - Yanks Pull One Out Against Mighty Baltimore

2009-09-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

CC Sabathia won his league-leading 17th game, despite looking average against a bunch of no-name Baltimore players, in the Yankees 13-3 smackdown. The Yanks won despite leaving men on 3B with less than 2 outs all game long, with Mark Teixeira being the main offender, striking out once and hitting back to the pitcher twice in 3 chances.

Johnny Damon also embarrassed himself when he forgot how many outs there were. After making a catch, he nearly threw the ball into the stands with a runner on 2B. Realizing his mistake, he threw the ball in, but too late - the runner scored on the gaffe. Something tells me this team is just coasting into the playoffs and that is a dangerous sign. Joe Girardi cannot be pleased.

The game was actually close for awhile until the Bombers scored a huge 8-spot against the ghastly Oriole bullpen. Hideki Matsui paced the team with 5 RBIs, including a 3-run shot. Melky Cabrera also knocked in 4 runs.

Yankees Record: 92-52

Game 143 - Has Anyone Seen AJ Burnett?

2009-09-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

For 1 inning, AJ Burnett looked like absolute crap again, getting lit up for 6 runs against Balitmore, as the Yanks lost 7-2 in another lackluster performance. Absolute Joke was smacked around in the 2nd inning, getting embarrassed by giving hits to recent Oriole call ups before Brian Roberts tagged him for a grand slam.

Burnett would recover and throw zeroes the rest of the way through the 7th - which he should be doing against a team playing out the season’s string with a lot of young ballplayers. Burnett’s inconsistency these past 2 months has to be a minor cause for concern in Yankeeland. Except for his 1 hit performance against Boston in the 15-inning marathon game against Boston and 12 Ks against Texas, he has looked God awful, posting only 1 win since July 28th. In the meantime, Boston’s starting pitching looks like it’s rounding into form just in time for the playoffs. I’m not liking the smell of this. Should the Yanks consider making Andy Pettitte the Game 2 starter in the playoffs?

Yankees Record: 91-52

Game 142 - Jeter Sets Record in Humiliating Loss

2009-09-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

Derek Jeter went 2-4, passing the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig, for the Yankees all time hit record, but other than that, there wasn’t much for Yankee fans to celebrate during a wet night. The game was delayed twice - before the game and before the 7th inning, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of a young Baltimore team as it smacked the Yanks, 10-4.

Andy Pettitte pitched 5 innings and left with a 4-3 lead. Damaso Marte and Edwar Ramirez got lit up for 7 runs in their brief, but terrible relief performances. But the loss and weather didn’t stop the Yankees and their fans from celebrating Jeter’s feat. The Captain broke the record in the 3rd inning when he slapped a single past the 1B into the rightfield corner. The Yankees came out of the dugout and hugged their teammate to share in his special moment. Yankee fans cheered long and loud for him as once again, he tipped his helmet to the adoring horde.

With the loss, I doubt this game will ever make Yankee Classics on the YES Network. I don’t believe the Yankees have ever lost a game in their Classics. I guess it will have to settle as a “Yankee Classic Moment”.

Yankees Record: 91-51

Game 141 - Jeter Ties the Iron Horse; Oh, and the Yankees Win, Too

2009-09-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

The Captain was stuck in an 0-12 slump. Nothing major, but in NY, everything gets magnified as everyone waited with baited breath for Derek Jeter to pick up his quest for Lou Gehrig's all time Yankee hit record. Jeter didn't wait long, bunting for a hit in the first inning. He grounded out in his 2nd at bat, but hit a deep ground-rule double, fittingly, into Monument Park in his next turn at the plate, leaving him 1 behind the Iron Horse. He didn't waste any time to tie him. In his 4th plate appearance, Jeter slapped a single into RF, tying the legend and sending the crowd into a frenzy. The Captain, tying another Yankee Captain, doffed his helmet twice to acknowledge the adoring fans. His teammates came out of the dugout to cheer him and Tampa Bay even applauded from the top steps of their dugout.

Despite all the excitement, the Yanks found themselves losing 2-0 after 7 innings to rookie Jeff Niemann, who pitched brilliantly and deserved a better fate. Tampa Bay's manager, Joe Maddon, appeared to be terrified to take out Niemann, bringing him out again for the 8th. ARod led off with a single, and that was it for Niemann. In a strange move, the overrated and supposed "genius" Maddon brought in righty Lance Cormier to face the lefty hitting Matsui despite having his lefty, Brian Shouse in the bullpen. Matsui is 2-14 lifetime against Shouse. Matsui made them pay with a single, sending ARod to 3B. Nick Swisher then hit a grounder to first and 1B Chris Richard threw the ball into LF trying to force the runner at 2B. ARod scored their 1st run and the Yanks still had runners at the corners with no outs.

The "genius" Maddon finally brought in Shouse to face Robinson Cano. Of course, Cano choked brutally, striking out with the tying run on third. Jorge Posada was coming to the plate to pinch hit for Brett Gardner, who already failed twice to bring in a run from third base. For some strange reason, again, Maddon took out the lefty Shouse and brought in righty, Grant Balfour, to switch Posada around at the plate. 2 things - 1. Posada was 3-3 lifetime against Balfour and 2. Why would you have anyone turn around to bat left-handed at Yankee Stadium? Posada is now 4-4, as he deposited a full count pitch into the RF seats for a 3-run blast, giving the Yanks a 4-2 lead and eventually, the win.

In all the excitement, Joba Chamberlain had another unimpressive 3 inning, 2 run performance. He gave up a homer to Jason Bartlett (under high suspicion) to start the game and gave up another run in the 1st. The Captain appeared to give Joba a lecture on the mound, and wouldn't you know it, Joba responded with 2 Ks and ended up retiring his last 8 batters. The Yankee bullpen was outstanding, tossing 6 hitless innings. Alfredo Aceves tossed 3 innings, Jonathan Albaladejo pitched 2. Brian Bruney, not Mariano Rivera or Phil Hughes, came out in the 9th. He walked Evan Longoria to lead off the inning, but retired the next 2 batters. Joe Girardi brought in Phil Coke for the final out, and he struck out Gabe Kapler to pick up his 2nd save of the season.

But this night belongs to Derek Jeter. And YES' Yankee Classics can continue to be undefeated in their games when they replay this night over and over again when Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse. Yankee fans and Jeter will have to wait till Friday to break the record and stand alone as the All Time Yankee Hit King.

Yankees Record: 91-50

Photos Courtesy of AP and Yahoo! Sports

Game 140 - Swisher Wins it With Walkoff HR

2009-09-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Nick Swisher earned the pie. After connecting for his 2nd HR of the game, from both sides of the plate, Swisher earned the walkoff pie treatment that AJ Burnett has made the new tradition this season. It was the 13th walkoff for the Bombers this year. The HR just barely cleared the RF wall and gave the Yanks a 3-2 win over the reeling Tampa Bay Rays.

Yankee starter, Chad Gaudin, pitched a helluva ballgame, going 6+ innings and only giving up Evan Longoria's dinger to lead off the 7th frame. Manager Joe Girardi played with fire, letting Gaudin go out in the 7th with no one warming up in the pen. After Longoria's solo shot, Gaudin allowed a single and walk without retiring anyone. Girardi would mix and match Damaso Marte, Brian Bruney and Phil Coke to record 1 out each and get out of the jam.

Phil Hughes came on in the 8th and allowed the much improved, albeit, highly suspicious Jason Bartlett, to tie the game with a solo blast, stunning the stadium crowd. Hughes has been so good this year, it was his first blown save. Mariano Rivera pitched a quiet 9th, setting up Swisher's heroics. With the win, the Yanks magic number is down to 15.

Derek Jeter's quest to catch Lou Gehrig stalled again, taking another 0-4 collar. He is now a season-high 0-12 since returning from the road trip.

Yankees Record: 90-50

Game 139 - Yanks Complete the Doubleheader Sweep

2009-09-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

The Yanks demonstrated yet again, why capitalism shall always overcome socialism. In the second game of the twin bill, the Bombers took the Tampa Bay Rays behind the woodshed and laid a beating on them, drubbing them to a tune of 11-1. The penny-pinching, cost saving, frugal and just outright cheap Rays dropped their 7th straight and probably flushed any chances at a wildcard berth, falling 7.5 games back of the Sawx. The Rays recently traded one of their better pitchers in Scott Kazmir and their bullpen has reeked all season of cutting corners with the payroll. Why the Rays management would skimp on such a talented team all season defies belief and I would imagine making it very hard to root for such a team.

Early, it appeared AJ Burnett's recent struggles were not behind him, as he was hit hard in the 1st inning, giving up 2 doubles as the Rays jumped out to a 1-0 lead. He quickly righted the ship and limited the Rays to only that first run, pitching 6 strong innings while striking out 8 and holding Tampa Bay to 4 hits.

Meanwhile, the Yankee offense exploded against Kazmir's replacement in the rotation, Andy Sonnanstine, in the 3rd inning. They put a huge 8-spot on the board, virtually putting the game in cruise control and allowed Joe Girardi to empty his bench and play a lot of the recent September call-ups. Every Yankee starter, with the exception of Derek Jeter, had at least a hit. Jeter, who needs 3 hits to tie Lou Gehrig for the all time Yankee hit leader, went 0-4 with a walk and 0-8 in the doubleheader. During the big 3rd inning, he made 2 of the 3 outs. Big Tex knocked 2 HRs, including one deep into Monument Park. Melky Cabrera and Jose Molina each had 3 hits apiece in the blowout. Molina reached base all 5 times, walking 2 times as well. Mysteriously, since the return of Brett Gardner began to lurk, Melky has begun hitting again. Apparently, Melky seems to need the extra motivation to keep the fire burning and produce. Let's hope the Yanks keep Gardner on the playoff roster.

Call-ups Edwar Ramirez, Jonathan "Smallest Glove in the World" Albaladejo and Michael Dunn each pitched an inning to wrap up the game. Dunn appeared to heading for another meltdown like his major league debut earlier in the week, when he walked 2 batters around an out. He settled down to K the final 2 batters, showing flashes of why this hard-throwing lefty is highly thought of in the Yankee organization. The win was Burnett's first since July, as he improved to 11-8 on the season.

Although The Captain went hitless today, he did pass Yogi Berra for 3rd on the All Time games played list in Yankee history. He just continues to reach milestones at this point in his career. There are some big names he's been passing, too. With the win, the Yanks division lead is a season-high 9 games and their magic number is down to 16.

Yankees Record: 89-50

Game 138 - Yanks Outlast Rays in Pitchers Duel in Game 1

2009-09-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

CC Sabathia and Matt "Spitting" Garza both pitched 1-run ball for 7 innings, but neither pitcher would factor in the decision as the Yankees broke a 1-1 tie in the 8th with 3 runs to win, 4-1 in the first game of a Labor Day doubleheader. CC limited the Rays to 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 10. Garza was just as good, allowing an unearned run on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7 Bombers.

The Captain, Derek Jeter, went 0-4 as he remains 3 hits behind the immortal Lou Gehrig. ARod went 3-3 and nearly had half of the Yanks 7 hits in the game. He drove in a run with a double in the 1st inning. Robinson Cano broke the tie in the 8th with a bases loaded sac fly after the Rays intentionally walked ARod. Jorge Posada followed up with an RBI single and Eric Hinske also hit a sac fly for the final run. The Yanks finished the game 1-7 with RISP. The Captain and Cano both were 0-2.

The dominant Phil Hughes came out for the 8th inning, but made a huge mistake when he walked the speedy Carl Crawford. The Yankee bench, though, guessed correctly when they ordered a pitchout on the first pitch, and Posada nipped Crawford at 2B while Cano slapped a quick tag. Hughes would finish the inning without further trouble. Mariano Rivera made his return after a brief rest for his sore groin, and picked up his 39th save.

Mo wasn't the only one returning today. Brett Gardner, out for over a month with a broken thumb, returned and made the catch of the game when he robbed a run scoring double off the bat of Fernando Perez in the 5th. With the victory and the Red Sox loss to the Chisox, the Yanks went up 8.5 games again in 3 games. Their magic number now stands at 17. AJ Burnett is slated to start game 2 of the doubleheader.

Yankees Record: 88-50

Game 137 - Yanks Take Off for Labor Day Early

2009-09-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Yankees defense and pitching apparently didn't get the word that there was a game on Sunday before their Labor Day doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays, because both didn't show up in their atrocious 14-8 loss to the Blue Jays.

The Yanks committed 4 errors, with everyone in the infield accounting for one each. Jerry Hairston, Ramiro Pena and Robinson Cano each had a throwing error and Mark Teixeira booted a ball. Nick Swisher added to the comedy of errors by losing a ball in the sun in RF. Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon collided going after a ball and the pitchers would just as horrendous, walking in 2 runs and knocking in another when Josh Towers nearly killed Bronx-born Randy Ruiz when he hit him in the head.

Sergio Mitre was God-awful, giving up 11 runs, 9 earned in 4.1 innings. He quickly flushed the memory of his last brilliant start against the White Sox with this absolute dud of a performance. He couldn't get out of the 5th inning, again, as the Jays overcome a 5-4 deficit to tack on a huge 8-spot on the Yanks to go up 12-5. Mark Melancon was equally horrendous, walking in 2 runs in relief. The 3rd out of the inning alluded him, too, and Josh Towers came in relief. Pitching in his first major league game since 2007, he's the one that skulled poor Ruiz. Towers was clearly shaken up, but Ruiz was fortunate and only suffered some swelling on his face after being pulled from the game.

Offensively, the Yanks were led by Derek Jeter, playing DH, with 3 hits that put him 4 behind Lou Gehrig. Swisher hit a 2-run homer that briefly gave the Yanks a 5-4 lead. Cabrera had a 3-run shot in the 7th that merely served as window dressing on a clunker game.

Yankees Record: 87-50

Game 136 - Pettitte, Yanks Overcome Troubles

2009-09-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

Andy Pettitte kept pitching out of trouble and the Yanks overcome a horrendous 5-19 with RISP to defeat the Blue Jays, 6-4. Pettitte, who has been superb since the All Star break, walked 5 and gave up 4 runs in 6 innings of work. He also benefitted from a replay reversal in the 2nd inning when Randy Ruiz hit a deep drive down the LF line in the second. Originally ruled a homer, the umps reviewed it and rightfully called it foul. Ruiz would still get his HR though, connecting off Pettitte 2 innings later in the 4th.

The Yankee offense put 21 runners reach base, but if there's been a weak spot this season, it's their inability to hit with RISP. They left 14 men on base. Nick Swisher single-handedly left 8 men on in his 5 at bats. Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano each had a solo HR. Cano went 3-4 and his buddy, Melky Cabrera went 2-4 with 2 RBIs. The Captain had 2 more hits as he inched closer to the Yankee hit record. He now needs 7 to tie Lou Gehrig.

The Yankee bullpen threw 3 scoreless innings to wrap up the victory. David Robertson, Brian Bruney and Phil Hughes continued their dominance out of the pen, allowing no hits. Hughes struck out 3 of the 4 batters he faced, earning his 3rd save while Mariano Rivera nurses his sore groin.

With the win, Pettitte improved to 13-6 on the season and now has 191 wins as a Yankee, trailing only Whitey Ford and Red Ruffing. The Bosox lost to the White Sox, as the Bombers stretched their division lead to a season-high 8.5 games.

Yankees Record: 87-49

Game 135 - Thank God for Ramiro Pena

2009-09-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

Joba Chamberlain tossed another unimpressive start, the Yankees defense didn't show up in the first inning, and the Yankee hitters didn't show up at all, as Yankee killer extraordinaire, Roy Halladay, pitched a complete game 1-hit shutout in the Blue Jays 6-0 win.

Joba lasted 3 innings under the "Joba Rules", surrendering 3 runs, 2 earned on 6 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 2. He routinely fell behind batters again and needed 59 pitches to finish his short work. Meanwhile, his defense absolutely fell asleep in the first inning. RF Eric Hinske didn't go back far enough on a ball hit by Aaron Hill and let it go off his glove. As is the norm in baseball, it was ruled a double. Rarely will an OF be charged an error if he's moving on a catchable ball. Later in the inning, SS Ramiro Pena let a grounder go through his legs for an error and allowed the 3rd run of the inning to come around and score. Joba probably should have escaped that inning unscathed.

The Yankee hitters, though, easily were worse than their fielding. Halladay retired 14 straight Yanks to start the game before Jorge Posada worked a 2-out walk in the 5th. Pena finally broke up the no-hit bid with 1-out in the 6th when he laced a clean double down the RF line. Halladay may have been a little rattled, because he walked Hinske and Tex to load the bases with ARod coming to the plate. Down 4-0 at the time, it would be the at bat that determined the game and killed the Yanks last shot. ARod struck out looking. Thank God Pena played in the stead of a resting Derek Jeter. I shudder to think that Halladay may have actually had his no-hitter in The Captain did play. Since his torrid August, he's gone 3-17 in his last 4 games and apparently has a very minor "pinky" issue according to Yankee announcer, Michael Kay.

The Yanks, though, were able to lower their magic number to 21 when the Bosox were mopped up by the Chisox, 12-2. Boston's latest reclamation project, Paul Byrd, was knocked out by the 3rd inning. Good thing the game was played in Chicago - the White Sox were up 12-1 after 4 innings. I'm sure if the game was played in Boston, the Red Sox would have pulled some miracle game out of their ass. Texas beat Baltimore and trails the Sawx by 2 games in the wildcard race.

Yankees Record: 86-49

Game 134 - Jorge Joins the 20-Club and Leads Yanks to 7th Straight

2009-09-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Jorge Posada led the Yanks to their 7th straight win, going 4-5 with a HR and 4 RBIs in a 10-5 victory over the hapless Blue Jays. He became the 7th Yankee this season to hit 20 or more HRs, breaking the team record set in 1961 and 2004. The Yanks jumped out 4-0 in the first inning against rookie, Ricky Romero, and never looked back. Even with Yankee starter, Chad Gaudin, only going 3.2 innings after tiring in the 4th inning and giving up 3 runs, the Bombers were able to keep the offensive pressure on Toronto.

Alfredo Aceves picked up his 10th win, restoring order in the 4th by striking out Adam Lind with runners on 1st and 2nd. He tossed 2.1 innings, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned in the 6th. David Robertson, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte each pitched a scoreless frame. ARod also paced the offense, going 2-4 with 2 RBIs.

With the win, the Yanks magic number to clinch the division is now 22. Derek Jeter went hitless in his pursuit of Lou Gehrig for the Yanks All Time hits.

Yankees Record: 86-48

Game 133 - CC, ARod Help Yanks Sweep Baltimore

2009-09-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

The Yankees highest paid pitcher, CC Sabathia, limited Baltimore to 1 run in 7 innings, and their highest paid position player, ARod, went 3-5 with 4 RBIs to lead the team to a 10-2 victory and sweep over the sad-sack Orioles. Crooked Cap allowed a 1st inning run on a bunt single, a check-swing single and a SF by Nick Markakis. He got into more trouble in the 2nd when he loaded the bases on 3 singles with 1 out. He struck out the next 2 batters to escape the jam and finished up with 9 Ks. He improved to 16-7 on the season and leads the AL in wins.

For a while, it appeared the Yanks were going to waste CC's effort, as they struggled to come through with a big hit against Jason Berken, who came into the game with an unsightly 6.33 ERA. For 5.1 innings, Berken allowed 8 hits and 2 walks, but the Yanks left men all over the place. Only Eric Hinske's HR, his 2nd in 2 days, kept the game tied at 1 till ARod broke the tie with a 2-run single in the 7th.

To my horror, Brian Bruney came out for the 8th inning. Mariano Rivera was unavailable after saving the previous 2 games as Joe Girardi was saving Phil Hughes for the 9th. Why not a 2-inning save? Bruney didn't disappoint in scaring Yankee fans everywhere, allowing a 1-out dinger to Nolan Reimold to bring the Orioles within 1. Girardi, like Yankee fans everywhere, had seen enough, and brought in Phil Coke. He retired Markakis and Girardi brought in Hughes to get the last out of the inning.

In the top of the 9th, the Yanks erupted for 7 runs on 7 singles and 2 walks. Unlike last night, when they scored 8 of their 9 runs via the long ball, only 1 of the 10 runs tonight came on a HR. For the game, they pounded out 17 hits. Johnny Damon led the way with 4 hits. Robinson Cano, who's been absolutely en fuego, had 2 more hits, tying the Yankee record for hits in a season at Camden Yards with 17. He shares the record with Alfonso Soriano.

Phil Hughes struck out the Oriole side in the bottom of the 9th for his 2nd save. With the win, the Yanks moved 7.5 games over Boston, who lost to Tampa. Josh Beckett tossed another unimpressive game and was on the hook for the loss, but Boston tied it in the 8th before their bullpen coughed up 3 runs in the 8-5 loss.

Yankees Record: 85-48

Game 132 - Yanks Overcome (A)nother (J)unker From Burnett

2009-09-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

The Yanks hit 5 long balls to overcome an Atrocious Job from AJ Burnett in their 9-6 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Burnett flushed 2 leads in his 5.1 innings of work, blowing leads of 3-1 and 5-3, despite 2 HRs from Jorge Posada and a 2-run shot from the hot-hitting Robinson Cano. Burnett was roughed up for 11 hits and 2 walks while only striking out 2. He's winless in his last 7 starts, going 0-4, and has allowed 31 runs in 42.1 innings of work while watching his ERA climb from 3.53 to 4.29.

Posada gave the Bombers their second lead with his 2nd blast of the game in the 5th inning. Burnett quickly flushed it in the bottom of the 5th when he surrendered a 3-run shot to Luke Scott that barely stayed fair down the rightfield line. Amazingly enough, Joe Girardi allowed Burnett to come out again in the 6th inning after ARod tied the game with an RBI single in the top of the frame - the only run that came in for the Yanks not via the long ball. AJ was pulled after Teixeira made an error on a throw from ARod.

The Pinstripers pulled out in front to stay on a 2-run shot from Nick Swisher and Eric Hinske followed up with a solo shot of his own in the 7th. Swisher now has 13 HRs in 26 career games at Camden Yards. According to Kim Jones of the YES Network, he has 4 HRs at Camden this season and only 3 at Yankee Stadium. Go figure.

Damaso Marte relieved Burnett and tossed a scoreless inning to pick up his first win this season. He's thrown 3.1 shutout innings since his return from the DL. David Robertson, Phil Coke and Mariano Rivera finished out the game, with Mo picking up his league-leading 38th save.

Burnett's performance has to create some concern for the Yankees brass. He's been touched up for double digit hits in 3 of his last 7 starts. Of course, the Yanks can look at his 1-hit performance against the Bosox in the 15-inning marathon and he only allowed 2 hits last start against Texas to feel better about themselves, but they may want to take a long look at Andy Pettitte for the #2 spot in the playoffs if Burnett continues to produce inconsistent performances.

Yankees Record: 84-48

Game 131 - Pettitte Nearly Perfect

2009-08-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

Andy Pettitte loves pitching against Baltimore, as he improved his career record against them to an unbelievable 26-6 in the Bombers 5-1 win. His performance tonight was just as spectacular as his career has been against the Orioles. Pettitte was perfect for 6.2 innings till Scott Hairston, playing for a resting Arod, let a grounder go through his legs for an error in the 7th. Andy may have lost his focus, because Nick Markakis followed with an opposite-field hit on an 0-2 count to break up the no-hitter. The shutout would also disappear when Pettitte allowed a HR to Melvin Mora in the bottom of the 8th, but it didn't put a damper on his fantastic performance. He tossed 8 great innings of 2-hit ball with 0 walks and 8 strikeouts.

Nick Swisher continued his strange road/home splits by going 3-4 with a HR, double and 2 RBIs to lead the Yanks. Robinson Cano had 2 doubles and 2 RBIs, unbelievably knocking in both runs on a 2-out hit in the 8th. That's 2 days in a row he's done that, despite hitting less than .200 in those situations. This guy would be dangerous if he ever overcame his inexplicable inability to knock in runs. Despite his RBI-phobic tendencies, he has 72 RBIs for the season. If he hit near his average, he'd probably be leading the league.

Joe Girardi made things interesting in the 9th. Instead of going to a well-rested Mariano Rivera to seal the victory, he decided to use Brian Bruney in the non-save situation. I thought Mo could use the work. Bruney, of course, made Yankee fans, and I'm sure Pettitte, nervous, when he gave up a hit and walk sandwiched around an out. Girardi stopped fooling around though, and Mo earned his save, getting the final 2 outs to wrap up the 227th career win for Pettitte. With the win, the Yanks improved their lead to 6.5 games over the idle Red Sox.

Yankees Record: 83-48

Game 130 - Tex, Yanks Bullpen Help Yanks Sweep

2009-08-31T21:34:00.000-07:00

Joba Chamberlain only pitched 3 innings with his new set of "Joba Rules", but the Yankee bullpen tossed 6 solid innings in their 8-3 victory and 3-game sweep of the White Sox. In an effort to limit Joba's innings but keep him in the 5-man rotation, the Yanks will mete out his unknown innings limit in his starts till the end of the season. The limit is believed to be in the 150-inning range. Joba currently is at 133+. Joba allowed 2 runs in his short stint, but Alfredo Aceves tossed 3 scoreless frames to pick up his 9th win of the season.

The Yanks marched out 4 other relievers after Aceves, using Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Phil Hughes and Phil Coke to finish the final 3 innings. Hughes came on in the 7th with 2-out and 2 men on with the Yanks holding a slim 3-2 lead. He got them out of the jam and pitched a scoreless 8th. In the bottom of the inning, the Yanks offense put 5 runs on the board to put the game out of reach.

Mark Teixeira was the offensive hero, knocking in 4 runs to give him a league-leading 101 RBIs. He hit a 3-run shot in the 8th. Johnny Damon's homer earlier in the game, his career-high tying 24th dinger, put the Yanks up 3-2. The Captain collected 2 more hits in his quest to pass Lou Gehrig for the team's all time hit record and Jorge Posada had 2 hits in his return after injury his ring finger 3 games ago.

Although the new version of "Joba Rules" has riled up some fans and media members, it's essential they protect their young talented arms. The Yanks don't want Joba to fall victim like Dwight Gooden or worse, Mark Prior, both tremendously talented pitchers who were overused (abused) in the early stages of their careers. I assume the plan is to have Joba build up his innings as the season nears its conclusion to gear up for the playoffs.

With the win, the Yanks still have their 6-game cushion over Boston, who once again defeated a dead from the neck down team in Toronto. Even Roy Halladay, who hasn't pitched well since his "near" trade can't save them.

Yankees Record: 82-48

Game 129 - Mitre Makes Mince Meat Out of Chisox

2009-08-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

The much-maligned Sergio Mitre held the White Sox to one hit in 6.1 innings and the Yanks mounted a 14-hit attack for a 10-0 beatdown. Mitre was perfect through 4.1 innings before Jim Thome ripped a shot down the right field line for a double. He only allowed 1 more runner on with a walk in the 7th before he had to leave the game when AJ Pierzynski lined a shot off his forearm. Mitre bounced off the mound to throw Pierzynski out, but the Yanks removed him for precautionary members. He had only thrown 73 pitches to that point and may have had an excellent shot at completing the game. He induced 12 ground ball outs in his spectacular effort

Chad Gaudin was pressed into emergency relief and finished off the 1-hitter, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings while walking 1 with 4 strike outs. The Yankee hitters jumped on ex-Yankee, Jose Contreras, for 4 runs in the 2nd inning and another 4-spot in the fourth. Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano led the way with 3 hits apiece. Johnny Damon, ARod, Cano and Jerry Hairston each finished with 2 RBIs. ARod capped the scoring with a solo shot in the 8th, the only HR of the game as the Yanks used a steady barrage of hits to score the first 9 runs. Tex and Jose Molina were the only Yankee starters who didn't join the hit parade.

The Yanks send out Joba Chamberlain out for the sweep. The Red Sox, who have really begun to heat up, once again beat the hapless Blue Jays to remain 6 games back and 2.5 games in front of Texas for the wild card.

Yankees Record: 81-48

Game 128 - Not a Misprint: Cano Wins it With Walkoff HR

2009-08-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

For the second time this season, the RISP-challenged Robinson Cano had the game-winning, walkoff hit to help the Yanks win 5-2 over the White Sox. In a rare moment, Cano came through in the clutch and connected for a 2-out, 3-run shot in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Through 6 innings, it appeared the Bombers would win a tight one, with CC Sabathia cruising through the White Sox lineup, with the Yanks leading 2-0. He struck out 10 while limiting the Chisox to 4 hits. Things fell apart in the 7th inning though, when Crooked Cap surrendered 4 hits and his only walk. He was bailed out twice when ARod and Nick Swisher threw out runners at the plate. With luck and poor running by the Pale Hose, Sabathia escaped the inning tied at 2.

Derek Jeter began the game with a bang against ol' Yankees punching bag, Mark Buehrle - tattooing a blast to deep center to pass Don Mattingly for 10th place on the Yankees All Time list with his 223rd career HR. Buerhle has a career 1-6 record against the Yanks with an ERA over 6.00, but danced out of trouble several times with the Yanks going 0-6 with RISP. Johnny Damon got the Yankees other run with a solo shot in the 3rd inning. Before Cano's extra-inning heroics, he had squandered 2 opportunities when he came up with runners on 2nd and 3rd in the 3rd and bases loaded in the 5th. At least the 3rd time was the charm.

Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera and Brian Bruney each pitched 1 inning and retired all 9 batters they faced. Brian Bruney picked up the win and improved to 4-0. With Toronto Blue Jays rolling over once again against the Red Sox, the Yanks maintained their 6-game lead in the division.

Yankees Record: 80-48

Game 127 - Yanks Done in by RISP Woes

2009-08-27T14:14:00.001-07:00

The Yanks faltered to Texas today, 7-2, dropping their first home series since June. They shot themselves in the foot, going 2-12 with RISP. Both hits came courtesy of Mark Teixeira and knocked in the Yanks only runs. Despite having Texas starter, Dustin Nippert, on the ropes with 7 walks, they couldn't manage the big knock. The Rangers bullpen picked up Nippert's slack and tossed 5.1 innings of scoreless ball.

AJ Burnett recovered from his horrendous outing in Boston to strike out 12 Rangers in 6 innings. He retired the first 11 batters he faced before walking Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz on back-to-back full counts. The .245 hitting Ian Kinsler took him deep to put the Rangers up for good. Of course, this all occurred with 2-out, as Yankee pitchers continue to falter in squelching 2-out rallies.

The Yankees 4-7 hitters were the main culprits in leaving men on base. ARod and the RBI-phobic Cano both left 5 on base, while Matsui and Swisher left 4 on. What is Nick Swisher's hitting allergies in Yankee Stadium? He came into the series carrying a 9-game hitting streak and went 1-12 against Texas. He's hitting around the Mendoza line at home, whereas, every other Yankee is putting up career numbers in the hitter-friendly park. And has anyone seen Melky Cabrera? He's 18 for his last 91 - that includes 2 four-hit games! Take those games away and he's 8-80! That is horrendous. Please, Brett Gardner, hurry back.

Jose Molina grounded into a double play today. Message to Joe Girardi - this guy should never be allowed to swing with a man on first. You're so fond of the bunt, as witnessed by your debacle call on Monday night's loss, you should make it mandatory for Molina without even giving him a sign. He's a double play waiting to happen.

Phil Coke was horrendous in his short relief stint. The lefty allowed a double and 3-run bomb to lefties David Murphy and the contact-phobic Chris Davis. T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. At that point, the game was out of reach with the way the Yankee hitters were going down meekly.

Yankees Record: 79-48

Game 126 - Pettitte, Posada Pace Pinstripers

2009-08-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Andy Pettitte held the vaunted Texas Rangers lineup to 2 runs in 7 innings and Jorge Posada hit a monster 3-run homer to deep center to lead the Yanks to a 9-2 victory. Pettitte only allowed 5 hits while striking out 7. He also induced 3 DPs, including the decrepit Pudge with the bases loaded in the 1st (take notes Joba).

Posada's blast came in the 2nd inning, giving the Yanks an early 3-0 lead. Jerry Hairston, Jr., playing for Johnny Damon, hit a solo shot in the 4th to put the Bombers up 4-0. Pettitte's only problems tonight was David Murphy, who hit an RBI double and a solo shot to bring the Rangers within 2.

The Yanks unleashed for 5 runs in the 7th to put the game out of reach. The Captain hit a 2-run bases loaded single, Nick Swisher doubled in another run and Tex finished off the scoring with a 2-run single. Yankee relievers, Brian Bruney and Phil Coke, pitched 2 scoreless innings to wrap up the victory and even the series. Bruney escaped a bases loaded, 1 out situation when he got the ancient Pudge Rodriguez to ground into his second bases loaded, inning ending DP (Joba, I hope you were taking notes on how to retire this fossil).

Posada injured his catching hand in the 8th on a foul ball and was removed from the game. According to Yankee announcer, Kenny Singleton, he injured his ring finger. X-rays were negative.

In other games, Big Sloppy Ortiz must have made another trip to "GNC" for his "vitamins", because he hit 2 HRs, including the walkoff shot in Boston's 3-2 win over the Chisox. After hitting just 1 HR for the first 2 months of the season, he's swatted 21 since June. Hmmmmm.

Toronto slowed down Tampa Bay's recent hot stretch with a walkoff wild pitch. JP Howell's pitch in the dirt allowed Marco Scutaro to score the winning run. Howell walked the bases loaded after allowing Rod Barajas to tie the score at 2 with 1 out in the 9th. Cheapness is so unbecoming, and the Rays frugal ways with the bullpen are costing them big time. They had an opportunity to put in a waiver claim for Billy Wagner before the Red Sox, but chose not to spend $3.5M to give them a solid shot at the wild card. They'll probably make that amount 10-fold in revenue sharing (they can thank the NY Yankees for that).

Yankees Record: 79-47

Game 125 - Joba Brutal After Week Layoff

2009-08-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

The Yanks came out smoking for 4 runs in the bottom of the first, but the Rangers had the last laugh, crushing Joba and holding on to beat the Yanks 10-9. Joba Chamberlain allowed 7 runs in 4 innings, all after he retired the first 2 batters of the inning. He allowed 2 runs in the 2nd and 5 in the 4th, as the bottom of the Rangers batting order chewed him up. In both rallies, he allowed Pudge Rodriguez, Chris Davis and Elvis Andrus to reach base both times against him.

Pudge was absolutely useless in his short stint with the Yankees and his best days are long behind, but Joba found a way to allow a single and walk a guy who's only walked more than 40 times in a season twice in his whole career. Davis has been so bad, he was sent back down to the minors after he was on pace to shatter the strikeout record, but he touched Joba for 2 singles. Andrus came into the game with 23 RBIs all season, but he knocked in 3 runs. Pitiful performance as Joba continues to go full count to way too many hitters.

The mysterious 2-out run scoring rallies continue to haunt the Yankee pitching staff and it certainly cost them tonight. 9 out of Texas' 10 runs came after 2 outs were retired. Chad Gaudin relieved Joba and wasn't much better. He allowed 2 HRs and 3 runs. He did break up the monotony of 2-out runs when he allowed a 1-out, solo shot to Nelson Cruz. He almost allowed more runs with 2 outs when he escaped a 2-out bases loaded jam. All runners reached after he got 2 quick outs. This epidemic began in the White Sox series in Chicago and has gotten worse. According to a post by River Ave Blues, the Yanks have allowed over 42% of their runs to come with 2 out. The league average is near 36%. It appears the pitching staff is not buckling down or focusing on ending innings without further trouble. Trends like this could hurt the Yanks against playoff-caliber teams, especially a team like the Angels who have players that make contact and force things to happen.

The Yanks made one last charge in the 9th, plating 4 runs before Texas recorded an out. But with runners on 1st and 2nd, Joe Girardi inexplicably had Nick Swisher bunt. He fouled out to 3rd. Why in the hell would Girardi have Swisher bunt against a reliever who was clearly struggling and hadn't recorded an out? Swisher was up in the count 1-0 and he could work out a walk, take him deep or perhaps hit a fly out to move the runner to 3rd. But a bunt? Terrible managing, absolutely terrible. The next batter, Melky Cabrera, lined into a double play to SS to end the game and dreams of another miraculous comeback.

Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano both went deep in the losing effort. Cano's HR was his career high 20th, as he became the 6th Yankee this season to hit 20 or more. That tied a team record set in 1961 and 2004. Posada and Derek Jeter have outside shots to be the 7th player for 20 or more HRs. Speaking of The Captain, he continued his hot streak, going 2-3 and ended his Cano-like walkless streak at 114 plate appearances. In fact, he walked twice.

The Bosox defeated the Chisox and now trail the Bombers by 6 in the division. They were able to complete a trade with the Mets earlier in the day for Billy Wagner. This season is far from over.

Yankees Record: 78-47

Blown Game: 7

Game 124 - Yanks 5 Jacks Beat Boston, Beckett

2009-08-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

Derek Jeter took Josh Beckett deep on the first pitch of the game, and it was a premonition of things to come. ARod, Robbie Cano and another 2 jacks from Hideki Matsui led the Yanks to an 8-4 victory over Boston in the rubber game of the 3-game series. CC Sabathia gutted through 6.2 innings, giving up 4 runs, 3 earned while striking out 8. He allowed no walks in his 118-pitch effort, winning his 5th straight and league-leading 15th game.

The Yanks scored at least a run in the first 5 frames against Beckett. Matsui followed up Jeter's leadoff HR with a shot of his own to leadoff the 2nd. Tex and ARod had RBIs in the 3rd, Cano homered in the 5th, and ARod hit a rising liner over the Monster for a 2-run shot. Matsui finished off the scoring with another solo blast in the 8th. Curiously enough, Terry Francona kept Josh Beckett in the game for 8 innings, despite surrendering all 5 dingers and 8 earned runs. Does this demonstrate a lack of faith in the once highly touted Sox bullpen? The move, or lack thereof, was interesting.

Sabathia, for the most part, kept the Sox in check. He blew an early 2-0 lead in the 2nd. Yet again, the Yanks allowed 2 runs to score with 2 out. After striking out Big Nugget Youkilis and Jason Bay to start the inning, Crooked Cap gave up a double to the crippled Mike Lowell, an RBI single to mysterious fatigue-diseased Rocco Baldelli and an RBI double to the overhill Jason Varitek. It wasn't CC's finest moment.

Cano was at fault for the Sox 3rd run. With 2 outs (of course), he dropped Varitek's pop up after calling off Tex, allowing Bay to score all the way from 1st. It was Cano's 2nd error of the game and it continues his recent fielding slump where recently, he's been making errors at a regular clip. Is this a sign of fatigue or lack of focus with a huge lead? Either way, Cano is someone I don't feel comfortable with in the big game or big moment.

Phil Hughes pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to bridge the gap to Mariano Rivera. Mo walked JD Drew to leadoff the 9th for only his 9th free pass of the season, but struck out 2 of the next 3 hitters to seal the win. With the victory, the Yanks won the series, ended their 10-game road trip at 7-3 and increased their division lead to 7.5 games over the Bosox.

Godzilla's 2-homer game was his 2nd in the series and 3rd in his last 7 games. The man is "en fuego". I don't know how to say "on fire" in Japanese. Reportedly, the Yanks won't be re-signing Matsui in the off-season, but he's making a pretty good case for someone to take a flyer on him. Oakland perhaps?

Off day today and the Yanks return home to the Bronx to face the Texas Rangers, who are 1 game back of the Sox for the wild card. Would the Yanks sabotage this series to help eliminate the Sox? Starting Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin tomorrow may be a good start to hurting the Sox. We'll see.

Yankees Record: 78-46

Game 123 - AJ is Absolute Joke Again in Boston The

2009-08-22T15:24:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox did a great job of putting yesterday's humiliating loss behind them by pasting the Yanks 14-1. It appears Absolute Joke Burnett isn't a big fan of Fenway Park since joining the Bombers this season. In 3 starts and 12.2 innings, he's been torched for 22 hits and 22 runs and his ERA is 14.21. Before this season, he was 3-0 with an ERA of 0.40! Back in April, he cost the Yanks in a meltdown after he was staked to a 6-0 lead against Josh Beckett. Today, he was bitch-slapped for 9 runs in 5 innings. He surrendered HRs to the weak-hitting Alex Gonzalez, the Nugget Youkilis and the decrepit, steroid-addled Big Sloppy Ortiz. P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C.

Alfredo Aceves eventually relieved him in the 6th and fared no better. He allowed Big Nugget to connect for his second dinger of the day and was touched up for 3 runs. Dave Robertson failed miserably in his 1 inning appearance, too, giving up 3 straight doubles after quickly retiring the 1st 2 batters. The Yanks new epidemic lately is allowing runs to score with 2 out. They allowed 13 out of the 14 runs to score with 2 men gone today as they continue to struggle in retiring the elusive third out. It started when they allowed all 10 runs against Seattle last Sunday to score with 2 out, and the theme has continued all week.

Meanwhile, the Yanks allowed another overrated Red Sox rookie pitcher, Junichi Tazawa, to escape out of trouble all day. After blistering the Bosox yesterday by going 15-25 day with RISP, the Yanks came crashing back to earth with an 0-8 performance against Tazawa. Godzilla knocked in 7 runs yesterday, but continued his below par performances against his fellow countryman by leaving 4 men on base today. An Ill-timed strikeout and double play also kept the Yanks off the board against the Tazawa.

Nick Swisher finally broke up the shutout in the 7th with a HR off Peter Gammon's love child, Daniel Bard. He and Robinson Cano had 3 hits apiece - apparently, they didn't get the memo to take the day off after yesterday's hit parade. Let's hope today's pitiful display is not reminiscent of the epic 2004 ALCS collapse after the Yanks buried the Sawx 19-8 and then didn't win a game again.

The Pinstripers blew a golden opportunity to win this series today, with their #2 starter going up against the rookie, Tazawa. I think the boys partied pretty hard at Daisy Buchanan's on Newbury Street. Tomorrow, Crooked Cap goes up against Josh Beckett. I don't like the Yanks chances, especially when it's nationally televised. Their record is abysmal on Fox/ESPN games. Just ask Burnett.

The Captain's hot streak came to an end today, as he went 0-3 and will have to wait till tomorrow to try for hit # 2700. Johnny Damon, as expected, sat out with a bruise on his knee after fouling off a pitch yesterday.

Yankees Record: 77-46

Game 122 - Yankees Hit the Batting Cages in Boston

2009-08-22T02:15:00.000-07:00

The Yankee hitters took the Red Sox pitchers behind the woodshed and pounded them for 23 hits en route to a 20-11 victory. As great as the offense was, the Yankee pitching and defense were awful. Andy Pettitte, perhaps suffering from the effects of sitting 29 minutes while the Yanks batted in the 5th inning when they scored 6 runs, began to get tagged by Boston in the bottom of the 5th and 6th innings. He departed after 3 batters and no outs in the 6th and was charged with 7 runs, 5 of them earned. Despite Pettitte's shaky performance, he's been brilliant since the All Star break, but he only had 1 win to show for it. Tonight, he finally had support and then some.

Every Yankee in the lineup, including Johnny Damon's replacement, Eric Hinske, had a hit, scored a run and knocked in a run. Damon fouled a pitch off his knee in the top of the 1st and left the game with a deep bruise after striking out. ARod went 4-4, Hideki Matsui hit 2 HRs with 7 RBIs, Melky collected 4 hits and The Captain and Tex chipped in 3 hits apiece. In fact, everyone had at least 2 hits with the exception of the slumping Robinson Cano, who finished 1-6. They feasted on Sox starter, Brad Penny for 8 runs, highly touted rookie, Michael Bowden for a 7-spot, and reliever Ramon Ramirez for another 4. Manny Delcarmen got off cheap with 1 run and Takashi Saito was their only reliever to escape unscored upon.

The Yankee pitching didn't fare much better, they just weren't as bad as the batting practice pitchers Boston threw out there. Brian Bruney came in to relieve Pettitte in the 6th and was God-awful. Statiscally, he didn't give up any runs, but he allowed his inherited runners to score and inexplicably walked in a run with a 10-run lead. In the 7th, Joe Girardi had seen enough when Bruney loaded the bases with one out. Damaso Marte, on the DL since April, was activated before the game and got the final 2 outs of the inning and stranded all 3 runners. Sergio Mitre came on for mop up duty for the final 2 innings, and the Sox did just that - mopped him around for 4 runs in the 9th. He surrendered 2 bombs to Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek. Mercifully, the game finally ended.

The Yanks defense was a little sloppy in the blowout, too. Cano had a fielding error and his buddy, Melky, allowed a pop up to drop in the 6th inning, hastening Pettitte's departure. On one odd play, Hinske couldn't make a play on a Yoda Pedroia fly that hit the Monster. For some dumb reason, Yoda thought he could stretch a triple out of it, but Jeter played the rebound off the wall in shallow left and threw him out with the Sox down by 5 runs at the time. I don't watch the Sox much, but it seems Yoda is thrown out at least once a series against the Yanks trying to stretch a hit or steal a base. Is it possible he's a dumber runner than Posada?

With the win, the Yanks now lead the Red Sox by 7.5 games. It was the Yanks first win of the season at Fenway and their first since Mike Mussina won his 20th last season.

Yankees Record: 77-45

Game 121 - Yanks Take Series in Oakland

2009-08-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

In a low hit, low scoring affair, the Yanks defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-2. In all the games I've watched at McAfee Coliseum it appeared to be another typical contest, whether it's because of the spacious foul territory or the damp air from the Bay Area fog. Both teams only mustered 6 hits apiece. Mark Teixeira accounted for all the Yankee runs with an RBI groundout to score Derek Jeter in the 1st and a 2-run HR in the 4th, his 31st of the season.

Yankee starter, Chad Gaudin, only allowed 1 hit in 4.1 innings, but his wildness and high pitch count earned him an early shower as he left the game with the bases loaded. Holding on to a 3-0 lead, Alfredo Aceves saved the game on his second pitch. He induced Kurt Suzuki, who's killed the Yanks all season, into a ground ball back to the mound for an inning-ending double play (pitcher-to-catcher-to-1B). Despite those heroics, Aceves nearly blew the game in the next 2 frames.

Aceves allowed a solo shot to Jack Cust in the 6th. It was Cust's first blast in nearly a month. In the 7th, after striking out the first 2 batters, he allowed 3 straight singles as the A's trimmed the Yanks lead to 3-2. Joe Girardi brought in Phil Coke to bail out Aceves. Then Girardi forgot to manage. Instead of having Coke go out for the 8th to face the switch-hitting Landon Powell and lefty masher, Cust, Girardi brought in his "8th inning" guy, Phil Hughes.

According to Girardi, there are no labels on his relievers, because he prefers matchups, but this move appeared otherwise. Hughes, for all his success out of the pen, does not handle lefties well. He walked Powell and Cust followed with a hard single to right, putting runners at 1st and 2nd with none out. In a curious move by the A's, they didn't bunt the runners into scoring position, and they paid for it. Rookie Tommy Everidge grounded into a double play to ARod, who stepped on 3rd and threw a one-hopper to Tex. Hughes retired the next batter to set the stage for Mariano Rivera.

Mo only needed 7 pitches to retire the side in the 9th, barely enough time for me to snap a picture of the great one, as he picked up his 36th save in 37 opportunities. The Yanks maintained their 7-game lead over the Red Sox as they conclude their 10-game road trip in Boston this weekend.

In the past 2 seasons, I've chosen my Yankees-A's games wisely, or more realistically, I've been lucky. I've been to 4 of the 6 games they've played each other in Oakland, and fortunately, the Yankees have won the games I attended and lost the 2 games I have not. My wife, a huge Oakland A's fan, gets pretty chapped, but I think I deserve this good run, especially after watching Marco Scutaro hit a walkoff, 2-run HR off of Rivera in 2007, after Rivera walked the abysmal Jason Kendall and had Scutaro down 0-2 in the count. It was the most painful loss I've ever seen in person.

Yankees Record: 76-45

Game 120 - Sabathia and The Captain Get Yanks Back on Track

2009-08-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

The Captain continues to rake and their ace stepped up and halted their 2-game losing streak, as the Yanks prevailed over the Oakland Athletics, 7-2. Derek Jeter collected his 3rd straight 3-hit game and knocked in the go-ahead run in the 6th, as the Yankee bats finally broke out and rallied for 5 runs after leaving men all over the place in the first 5 frames.

CC Sabathia, with the exception of 2 solo shots in the 1st and 2nd innings, dominated an overmatched A's lineup. He tossed 8 solid innings, giving up 5 hits while striking out 7. He only needed 94 pitches as he relied mostly on his fastball. David Robertson came on in the final inning to wrap up the victory. For a moment, it looked like he contracted a mild form of Rick Ankiel disease, walking the first 2 batters on pitches that weren't even close to the plate, but settled down to retire the side, including 2 on Ks.

Through 5 innings, the Yanks left 8 men on base and went 1-7 with RISP. They managed to score their runs on an Adam Kennedy error and Jorge Posada's RBI ground-rule double. Posada, perhaps feeling the ghost of ex-Yankee, ex-Athletic, speedster, Rickey Henderson, thought he could reach 3rd when a pitch got away from catcher, Kurt Suzuki. He was gunned down by 10 feet easily, ending the inning and adding to his long, long resumé of stupid base running mistakes (I haven't forgotten about that non-slide against Boston, Jorge). Oakland was kicking the ball all over the place, committing 4 errors in the game, but the Yanks only managed 1 unearned run.

Meanwhile, The Captain has raised his average to .330, going 20 for his last 36. Do I smell an MVP push? I'm sure the sportswriters will once again overlook his season for one of the M&M boys of the Twins, despite their presence in the weak Central Division. Since he set the all-time hit record for shortstops, there's been debate whether or not he's the best SS of all time. He's one of the most consistent players I've ever seen, not to mention, one of the most clutch performers. He has 4 rings to his name and a World Series MVP. Though not the flashiest of fielders or noted for his range, he fields his position well and most Yankee fans will admit that they never have to worry when the ball is hit to his sure hands. Jeter's got my vote for greatest SS of all-time. He may not have the power seasons of Ernie Banks or ARod or the production of Honus Wagner and Robin Yount, but for the length of time he's manned the 6-hole with his steady production, no one's been better.

Yankees Record: 75-45

Game 119 - Tomko's Revenge is Yanks Embarrassment

2009-08-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Yankee castaway, Brett Tomko, mowed down the Yankees for 5 shutout innings en route to a 3-0 Athletics victory. Tomko, in his short stint as a Yankee, allowed 12 runs in 20+ innings and gave up 5 HRs, but felt he got shafted by his former team for the lack of work. Tonight, he got his payback.

Only Derek Jeter showed up to play, going 3-4 while the rest of the team went 4-29. The play of the game occurred in the 3rd inning, when ARod hit a tapper back to the mound with the bases loaded and 1 out. The A's turned the double play and escaped the jam. ARod showed piss-poor judgement swinging at the first pitch after Tomko just walked Mark Teixeira. The Yankees only other threat ended in the 7th when the clueless Jorge Posada watched a 3rd strike go by with 2 runners on.

AJ Burnett was the tough-luck loser, going the distance while only giving up 3 runs. All of the A's runs came in the 4th inning. Burnett surrendered 4 hits and balked in a run. Replays showed his cleats may have gotten caught up on the mound as he attempted a pitch. Despite pitching a decent game, manager Joe Girardi was getting peppered by the media with questions about AJ's performance. I think my first question would have been "how embarrassed are the Yankee hitters for not showing up against Tomko and Craig Breslow, 2 nobodies who have been released numerous times in their careers"? Who cares if Burnett gave up 10 runs - the Yanks were shut out by a last place team fielding a plethora of minor leaguers.

With the loss the Yanks division lead dropped to 7 games.

Yankees Record: 74-45

Game 118 - Joba, Pen Terrible in Loss to M's

2009-08-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

With a chance to go for the jugular against Seattle for the 4-game sweep and increase their division lead after a Red Sox loss, Joba Chamberlain and the Yankee pen fell flat on their faces in a terrible performance against the worse hitting team in the American League. Seattle Mariners smacked them around for a 10-3 victory. All 10 of Seattle's runs came with 2 outs, as they touched Joba for 4 runs, Alfredo Aceves for another 4 and the newly acquired Chad Gaudin for the final 2.

Yankee pitching struck out 32 Mariners in the previous 3 games, but Joba could only muster 2 in his weak performance. After cruising through 2 innings, he labored in the next 3. Twice the Yanks gave him the lead, 1-0 and 3-2, but he surrendered 2 runs in the 3rd and 2 more in the 5th. He allowed 7 hits and 3 walks to the anemic Seattle lineup in 5 innings of work.

Aceves came into the game in the 6th to keep the game close. With the Yanks down by 1 in the 7th, he appeared to be on the verge of escaping a bases loaded jam, but hit the career .217 hitting Josh Wilson that led to a 5-run outburst in the inning. Gaudin came in relief and gave up 3 straight 2-out hits to blow the game wide open. Jose Lopez did most of the damage for Seattle, going 3-5 with 3 RBIs, but weak hitting throw away infielders Jack Hannahan and Wilson were a combined 4-8 with 2 RBIs. Hannahan is hitting .226 for his career and was traded this season from Oakland for a song. The Yankees pitchers inability to buckle down and get the final out of the inning was very disconcerting today.

Lost in today's lackluster performance was Derek Jeter setting the all time hit record for shortstops. He went 3-4 and passed Hall of Fame SS, Luis Aparicio, and now has 2, 675 hits at the SS position. He trails Lou Gehrig by 33 hits for the all time Yankee hits leader.

Fortunately, the Yanks loss this game while the Sox lost. With Boston's defeat to the Texas Rangers, they now trail to them in the wild card standings.

Yankees Record: 74-44

Game 117 - Swisher, Bullpen Lead Yanks Over M's

2009-08-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

The Yanks scored 4 unearned runs in the 2nd inning, capped by Nick Swisher's 2-run HR, and the Yankee bullpen shutdown Seattle for the final 3.2 innings for a 5-2 victory over the Mariners. Starter, Sergio Mitre, had his best start as a Yankee, limiting Seattle to 2 runs in 5.1 innings. He was lifted with the bases loaded, but was bailed out by David Robertson, who struck out the next 2 batters.

Derek Jeter went 2-4 with 2 RBIs. His HR in the 9th gave the Yanks a 3-run cushion. It was his 4th HR of the month and 15th of the season after having only 4 HRs in June and July combined.

Robertson, Phil Coke and Mariano Rivera combined for 8 Ks, as Mo nailed down his 35th save of the season. He retired Jose Lopez, who represented the tying run at the plate with 2 men on. The overrated Ichiro Suzuki helped bail out the Yanks in the 7th when he was inexplicably gun downed at 3rd for the final out on an unacceptable and unexplainable stolen base attempt with the go-ahead run at the plate with their only true power-hitter in Russell Branyan. Thank you, Suzuki, for continuing to demonstrate to me that your legacy is the most overblown in the history of MLB. And is he the most feminine player in baseball? What is with all the girly gyrations every time he comes to the plate?

It was the 5th straight victory for the Bombers and guaranteed a series victory over Seattle in their 4-game set. With Boston losing earlier in the day, the Yanks increased their division lead to a season-high 7.5 games.

Yankees Record: 74-43

Game 116 - Yanks, Tex Hit the 30-Mark

2009-08-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

Mark Teixeira's 30th HR in the 9th inning broke a 2-2 tie en route to a 4-2 Yankee victory over Seattle, and with the win, the Yanks are a season-high 30 games over .500. Since the All Star break, the Yanks are the hottest team in baseball, going 22-6 and have catapulted to 6.5 game lead in the AL East Division.

Andy Pettitte, once again, pitched a hard luck no decision, giving up only 2 runs in 6 innings, while striking out a season-high 10 batters. Since the break, he's gone 1-1 in 6 starts, although he's only allowed 9 earned runs in 39.2 innings. The way he started the game, it didn't look like he'd be around for long. He surrendered 3 straight hits, allowing the Mariners their only 2 runs, before stranding a runner on 3rd by striking out the last 2 batters of the inning. Pettitte was particularly sharp, regularly falling behind batters, but he kept battling back with his sharp cutter. 9 of his 10 Ks were swinging.

The Bombers battled back with single runs in the 2nd and 5th innings. Both runs may have been prevented, but the Mariners shoddy defense let the Yanks back in the game. On a Jerry Hairston RBI fielder's choice, 2B Jose Lopez double pumped the throw, allowing Hairston to avoid the inning-ending DP. The Captain had a 2-out RBI single when Seattle's 3B, Jack Hannahan dove for the ball and blocked SS Josh Wilson's view, allowing it to scoot through the infield and allowing Melky Cabrera to score from second base.

Brian Bruney and Phil Hughes pitched the 7th and 8th innings. Hughes picked up the win to improve his record to 5-3. Tex led off the 9th with his game-winning HR and the Yanks tacked on an insurance run when Nick Swisher singled in Robinson Cano. Mariano Rivera's "cranky" shoulder must be better, hopefully, since he pitched a scoreless 9th to record his league-leading 34th save.

ARod missed his 2nd straight game, but this time, it was for back spasms and not his elbow that was plunked on Wednesday. Jorge Posada returned to the lineup and went 1-4 with 3 Ks.

Yankees Record: 73-43

Game 115 - Sabathia, Matsui Manhandle Mariners

2009-08-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

After closing out the Toronto series, Derek Jeter and ARod were ailing from being HBPs, Jorge Posada got took a foul ball off his hand from a foul tip and Mariano Rivera's shoulder was feeling "cranky" according to Joe Girardi. To say the least, they appeared to be pretty short-handed in their opener against Seattle. No problem.

Derek Jeter actually played, going 2-4 with a HR to deep left in the 3rd. ARod and Posada got their rest and the Yankees offense made sure there was no need for Mo, crushing the Mariners in an 11-1 laugher. CC Sabathia cut through the weak-hitting Mariners lineup, tossing 8 solid innings. He limited them to 1 run on 3 hits while striking out a season-high 10 batters. Hideki Matsui had his best game of the season, going 4-5 with 2 dingers and 5 RBIs. ARod's fill-n, Jerry Hairston went 2-5 with 2 RBIs as the Bombers took advantage of a Boston loss earlier in the day to extend their division lead to 6.5 games.

The Crooked One only needed 104 pitches through 8, giving the bullpen a lift, especially with Sergio Mitre slated to pitch this weekend. Brian Bruney continued his resurgence with a 1-2-3 inning to wrap up the game. After a game like this, there's not much to complain or focus on, particularly with 2 mainstays out of the lineup. Reportedly, ARod likely will miss game 2 of the series, according to the YES Network.

Yankees Record: 72-43

Game 114 - Yanks Top Jays in Pyrrhic Victory

2009-08-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

The Yanks outlasted Toronto in 11 innings, winning 4-3 on a Robinson Cano walkoff single. That is not a misprint - "Robinson Cano" finally came through with a game-winning hit. Prior to his walkoff, the Yanks were 0-7 with RISP. In the first inning, they went 0-4 with RISP after Derek Jeter was HBP and Johnny Damon doubled. ARod reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Posada hit a potential double play that would have killed the whole inning, but Jays 2B, Aaron Hill, bobbled the ball and could only get Posada at 1st, allowing the Bombers to score just 1 run.

AJ Burnett wasn't that sharp today, allowing 10 hits and 3 wild pitches in 6 innings. He only allowed 1 hit to Boston in his last start. The Yanks gave him a 3-1 lead on solo HRs by Damon and Cano, but he allowed Toronto to tie it up in the 6th. Randy Ruiz, in his homecoming to the Bronx, started the Jays rally with a single. He homered for the 2nd straight game earlier in the day (and now has 3 for his career). 2 more hits and 2 wild pitches in the inning brought the Jays even.

After that, it became a battle of the bullpens. Jays reliever, Brandon League, mowed down the Yanks for 3 innings. He entered the game with an ERA of 4.76, but for some reason, he's cut through the Yanks like a hot knife through butter for 8 shutout innings this season and 10 Ks. The Yanks went through the usual suspects, David Robertson, Phil Coke and Phil Hughes out of the pen, but the score remained tied through 9. The Yanks brought in newly acquired Chad Gaudin (pronounced Go-dan) and he immediately began earning Joe Girardi's trust. He tossed 2 shutout innings, striking out 3.

The Yanks, who only mustered 7 hits all day, rallied for the winning run in the bottom of the 11th, when ARod was HBP. Jorge Posada, staring a golden sombrero in the face with 3 Ks already, avoided it by lacing a single, leading to Cano's unlikely heroics.

The Yankee victory may have come at a cost though. Jeter left the game in the 3rd after being plunked right on the toe in the 1st inning. He's listed as day-to-day. Posada took a ball off his right hand and will be out of the lineup tomorrow. ARod's arm went numb went he was hit by a pitch in the final inning. He said he would not have been able to continue if the game went beyond 11 innings. He's scheduled for an off day tomorrow, so it sounds like the Yanks will be without 33% of their starting lineup tomorrow. Not all is bad luck though, as the Pinstripers are finally getting the luck that the Sox seem to enjoy. They're ducking King Felix Hernandez for a 2nd time this season in a 4-game set with Seattle. This is on the heels of finally avoiding Roy Halladay, who appears to always pitch against the Yanks in any Toronto series.

With the win, the Yanks improved to a season high 28 games over .500.

Yankees Record: 71-43

Boston - Detroit Get Into a Tiff

2009-08-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

Here comes Boston. The Red Sox have beaten the Tigers in their 2 games since getting swept by the Yanks and engaged in a good ol' fashion brawl. Tigers rookie pitcher, Rick Porcello, hit Big Nugget Youkilis, and the crybaby charged the mound, swinging his helmet like a purse. How embarrassing. Porcello backed up slightly, then stood his ground and flipped the round-domed Youkilis after he flung his helmet like a little girl. It that was ARod, he would have been ripped by the media for his womanly actions.

Porcello shouldn't be faulted. Like Joba, I think these young pitchers get mesmerized by that huge cranium and that stupid batting stance where it looks like he's playing with a musical instrument. Is anyone more odd than Kevin Youkilis? I know no one is more embarrassing after that silly helmet throwing incident.

Game 113 - Back 2 Back Jacks Lead Yanks

2009-08-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

The night began to look a lot like last night. The Yanks went up 3-0 after 2 innings, but Joba Chamberlain allowed the Blue Jays to tie it up in the 3rd on a Lyle Overbay bases loaded double. Joba gave up a solo HR in the 4th to Bronx-born and bred, Randy Ruiz, that put the Jays out in front, 4-3. Jays starter, Scott Richmond, settled down and pitched 6 innings and Jeremy Accardo pitched a scoreless 7th, as it looked like the tying run would elude the Bombers for the 2nd night in a row.

But this year's team is a far cry from the team of last season. The boys from the Bronx would have gone down quietly last year, but this team never thinks of quitting. Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada led off the 8th with back-to-back HRs to put the Yanks out in front. Godzilla hit a bomb to deep right, and Posada hit an opposite field shot that barely cleared the RF wall. The ball landed in a fan's mitt positioned right behind RF Joe Inglett's leaping glove. Replay review confirmed the ball landed over the fence without fan interference. The Bombers tacked on 2 more runs on RBI singles from Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon.

Joba looked strong for 2 innings, working quickly and appearing sharper than his last appearance against Boston. He ran into trouble in the 3rd, when he walked Inglett, a guy who has spent his career on the minor league shuttle bus. He hurt the Yanks last night, too, with an RBI triple. A single and another walk, Joba's only 2 free passes of the night, loaded the bases with 2 out. But Joba grooved a fastball to Overbay and he drove it into the right-center gap to clear the bags. Another grooved fastball led to Ruiz' shot in the 4th, but Joba settled down to pitch an effective 6 innings.

Brian Bruney, Phil Coke and David Robertson pitched 2 scoreless frames. Robertson picked up the win when the Yanks rallied in the 8th. Mariano Rivera came on in the 9th and allowed a dinger to Edwin Encarnacion to dead center. Good thing Melky and Damon tacked on those insurance RBIs. With Marco Scutaro as the tying run at the plate - Mo's ol' nemesis that beat him with a walkoff blast last season, Mariano struck him out to earn his 33rd save of the season and #515 of his career.

With the win, the Yanks remained 5.5 games ahead of Boston.

Yankees Record: 70-43

Yankees Record since ARod's return: 57-28

Yankees Record since I said they would have to go 60-40 in their last 100 games to make the playoffs: 34-17

Game 112 - Yanks Suffer Post-Dramatic Boston Syndrome

2009-08-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

For once, the Yanks dodged a bullet against Toronto, just missing Roy Halladay. It seems every time they play the Blue Jays, even in the 2-game series last week, Halladay pitches against the Yanks. But the Yanks didn't take advantage tonight, and they appeared to take the night off after a dramatic 4-game sweep of the Sox this weekend. Problem is, the Bosox won their game tonight.

The game didn't start that way. Derek Jeter led off with a solo shot to CF. Sergio Mitre struck out 5 Jays through 2 innings. Mitre surrendered a solo shot in the 3rd to Aaron Hill and after the Yanks scratched out another run, things ran afoul for him in the 4th. With 2 men on and none out, Mitre fielded a comebacker and threw slightly wide of 2B. Robinson Cano couldn't handle the throw as a run scored and the Jays had runners on 2nd and 3rd. Cano was charged with the error, but it wasn't a good throw from Mitre. The Jays would score 2 more runs with Mitre allowing career utility player, Joe Inglett, to triple in the 4th run with 2 out. He has consistently demonstrated a lack of ability to get the 3rd out in innings. It has to be his inability to bear down, because he is not talented enough to let up.

The Yanks though, gave him one last shot. Robinson Cano and Jerry Hairston, Jr. led off the bottom of the 4th with back-to-back HRs to tie the game. Mitre coughed it up one last time when Lyle Overbay crushed one in the 5th. Overbay's dinger would hold up, as the Yanks weren't able to push across the tying run, despite Alfredo Aceves tossing 4 shutout innings in relief. Are the Yanks trying to stretch him out as a starter?

Cano led off the 6th with a double, but was stranded. Jeter led off the 7th with a single, but Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira and ARod all K'd. Their last shot came in the 9th when Hideki Matsui hit a one-out single, but pinch runner Ramiro Pena was left stranded when Swisher struck out for the 3rd time to end the game.

The Yankees will have to ask themselves if they can afford to keep Sergio Mitre in the starting rotation. Granted, only 3 of the 5 runs were earned, but he is not able to nip innings in the bud, and it cost him and the team tonight.

Yankees Record: 69-43

Game 111 - Yanks Use the Broom on Boston

2009-08-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

It began to Look and feel a lot like the Burnett-Beckett game when the Red Sox and Yanks swapped zeroes for 14 innings. Tonight's starters, Andy Pettitte and Jon Lester, matched donuts for the first 6 innings. Lester and Boston blinked first in the 7th, allowing an A-Bomb from ARod to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. The Yanks held the overhyped, overrated, Boston lineup scoreless for 31 innings when Andy Pettitte left the game after 7 shutout innings.

Newly acquired Victor Martinez connected for a 2-run blast off Phil Coke in the 8th, as another brilliant performance by Pettitte resulted in a no decision. Why Joe Girardi went with Coke instead of Phil Hughes is a great mystery. My first guess is that lefty Jacob Ellsbury led off the inning and he didn't want the switch-hitting Martinez to bat lefthanded at the Stadium - obviously, a bad calculation. My second guess is Hughes pitched in back-to-back games. However, he only threw 5 pitches and 4 pitches in those 2 games. Are they really protecting him this much?

The Bombers, though, never blinked, as the game changed on 12 pitches. Not even when the Bosox brought in Peter Gammons love child, Daniel Bard. Gammons, who waxes soliloquies and love poems about the hard-throwing Bard, must be crying in his pillow tonight after watching the rookie soil his pants. Bard allowed back-to-back bombs to Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira with 2 outs. It was the 6th time they've followed each other with a dinger, setting a club record. If you're curious, Mantle and Maris went back-to-back 4 times in their magical 1961 season.

The Yanks weren't done, making sure Boston understood before they left NYC who's the better team and crushing their short-term jubilance after Martinez' jack. Gammons' boy walked ARod and Sox manager, Terry Francona, brought in the freak with the rubber neck, Hideki Okajima to get his whipping. Jorge Posada slapped a double and Nick Swisher followed up with a 2-run single to give the Yanks a 5-2 lead with Mariano Rivera all warmed up in the bullpen.

The Great Mo though, insisted on making things interesting, as he always does against Boston. He allowed the talentless, overpaid bust, JD Drew, to leadoff with a single. He retired the next 2 before walking the fraudulent hack, Big Sloppy. Why he didn't challenge the bum is another mystery. Mo would retire Ellsbury for his 32nd save and give the Yanks a huge sweep of their division foe, increasing their lead to 6.5 games with 51 remaining.

Except for Thursday's 13-6 laugher, this had to be a mentally grueling series for the Yanks. For all of Boston's struggles at the plate, it's not like the Pinstripers were tearing the cover off the ball. They scored 1 run in 15 innings Friday and grinded out 1o runs Saturday and Sunday, going 3-20 with RISP. Josh Beckett was brilliant. Jon Lester was excellent, only allowing 1 run and he left with a lead. This series is a credit to the Yankee starters. Burnett, Sabathia and Pettitte combined to toss 22.1 shutout innings. The relievers weren't nearly as great, but they were pretty damn good - only allowing 4 runs in 14.2 innings of work in the series. For once, with the exception of Thursday's game, the Yankee pitchers challenged the Boston hitters and didn't look like a deer in headlights. Perhaps it helps that they weren't facing a performance enhanced Big Sloppy and all-time Yankee killer, Manny Ramirez.

Yankees Record: 69-42

Game 110 - Sabathia, Yanks Keep Bosox Scoreless

2009-08-09T00:48:00.000-07:00

CC Sabathia tossed 7.2 shutout innings and the Yanks ran Boston's scoreless streak to 24 innings in their 5-0 victory over their rival. CC improved to 12-7 and pitched his best game to date as a NY Yankee. He limited the Sox to 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. He retired his first 13 batters before walking Big Fraud Ortiz on a full count and held Bosox hitless for 5.2 innings before Jacob Ellsbury broke up the no-hitter. CC outdueled Clay Buchholz, who kept the Sox in the game by allowing 2 runs in 6 innings. Buchholz limited the need for Boston's beleaguered bullpen that's emptied its bullpen in 2 games this week. The Yanks have taken the first 3 games of the series and go for the sweep Sunday night.

The Yanks scored a single run in the 3rd on a 2-out, RBI single by Mark Teixeira. They added single runs in the 6th and 7th on a Jose Molina sac fly and Nick Swisher bases loaded walk. The Captain, Derek Jeter, finished the scoring with a 2-run HR that just grazed the top of the wall down the RF line. Jeter is now 3-17 in the series. Robinson Cano had 3 of the Yankees 9 hits, and was the only Bomber with multiple hits. He also collected his 30th double of the season. Despite all that, the only time he was retired came with the bases loaded and 1 out when he forced Tex out at home. Typical Cano. The Yanks also continued their typical ways with RISP, going a combined 2-12. Good thing Boston is struggling a lot worse.

After CC retired the first 2 batters in the 8th, Joe Girardi lifted him after 123 pitches. Phil Hughes struck out Nick Green for the final out of the inning. David Robertson, one of the rare relievers that did not see any action in yesterday's marathon, pitched the 9th. He matched CC's hit total, giving up 2 hits, but escaped the jam to preserve the shutout by striking out the King of Frauds, Big Sloppy to end the game.

Sunday night, it will be a battle of lefties, Andy Pettitte vs. Jon Lester. Pettitte has been outstanding since the break, but is he due for a setback? I'm thinking the Red Sox are due to break out, too. Hopefully, the Yanks will go for the jugular and put their foot on the throats of their division rival. Currently, their division lead is 5.5 games.

Yankees Record: 68-42

Big Sloppy Addresses Positive Steroid Test

2009-08-09T00:38:00.000-07:00

Hey Big Sloppy - NOT. BUYING. IT. It took Big Sloppy Ortiz 5 days to address the media to say he never took or bought steroids and that he was "careless" when he bought supplements and vitamins in the past. Is he kidding with this? This is what his PR team came up with during the week? I wished someone in the media addressed why he was a talentless hack with Minnesota and came out of nowhere when he came to the Sox. I'm sure no one asked - the media slurps this fat fraud for some reason.

The MLB Players Association came to stand by Big Sloppy during the press conference. They tried to sell some hocus pocus voodoo stuff on the number of real positive tests that's really out there. They're claiming there's really only 83 positives and not 104 and that some could have tested positive more than once. C'mon guys - how were the feds able to confiscate 104 positive tests? I hope this rogue vigilante federal agent that keeps the slow trickle of releasing names keeps it up to smack the arrogance out of MLB and the misguided players' union. Keep protecting the guilty, MLBPA, you're only hurting those players that play the game the right way.

Game 109 - WOW!

2009-08-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

ARod ended a marathon 15-inning scoreless duel against the hated Red Sox with a 2-run, walkoff HR, ending an improbable night and a long homerless draught. AJ Burnett and Josh Beckett kicked off a classic pitcher's duel, both matching zeroes and both working out of a 2-on, no out jam. By the time both starters left the game, there was still a long, long, way to go before this game would see its conclusion. Burnett held the Beantowners to 1 hit in 7.2 innings, a leadoff bloop single by Jacob Ellsbury in the first. Beckett went 7 innings and limited the Bombers to 4 hits - two by Hideki Matsui.

As brilliant as the starters were, Boston and NY's bullpen were just as impressive. The Yanks marched out Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera, Alfredo Aceves, Brian Bruney and winning pitcher Phil Coke, combining to toss 7.1 scoreless innings (1 out less than AJ), and limiting the Bosox to 3 hits. Boston threw everybody and the kitchen sink from their bullpen for 7.2 innings (2 outs more than Beckett): Hideki Okajima, Daniel Bard, Ramon Ramirez, Jonathan Papelbum, Manny Delcarmen, Takashi Saito, and the losing pitcher in his major league debut, Junichi Tazawa.

Except for ARod's HR, there isn't anything to discuss about either team's hitting. Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira combined to go 1-20. The bottom of the Bosox order went 0-19. Both teams walked 7 times, with AJ issuing 6 all by himself. This game was so strange, it even included a catcher's interference by the incompetent Jorge Posada. JD Drew made 2 beautiful running catches in RF in the 5th and 14th innings with a runner on 2nd. Even more incredulous, both teams thought they were getting a little squeezed by the home plate ump. Can you imagine if he was calling more strikes? This game might have gone 3o scoreless innings!

Some stats from the game:

* RISP: S0x 0-8 Yanks 0-11 Jeter was 0-3

* LOB: Sox 10 Yanks 12

* Batting: Sox 4-44 Yanks 9-51

* The side was retired 13 times, with the Sox sending 3 up and 3 down seven times and the Yanks six.

* The Sox struck out 13 times, the Yanks 14. Both catchers, Jason Varitek and Posada, led their team with 3 each.

ARod's HR was his 20th of the season and tied him with Harmon Killebrew for 9th place on the all time list with 573. It ended his longest season homerless draught at 73 ABs. The game lasted 5 hrs and 33 minutes and was the longest a game went scoreless ever between the Yanks and Boston (14 innings). It marked the 1st time the Red Sox went scoreless through 14 innings since 1916. That's was a period when Babe Ruth use to PITCH for them.

With the win, the Yanks now lead the division by 4.5 games.

Yankees Record: 67-42

Yanks Trade for P Chad Gaudin

2009-08-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the Yanks picked up SP Chad Gaudin from the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later. Gaudin is 4-10 with an ERA over 5.00. Living in the Bay Area, I got to watch Gaudin pitch numerous times in 2007 when he was with Oakland. I thought he demonstrated some solid stuff. He finished the season 11-13. He got off to a hot start, going 8-3, before tailing off at the end, especially in September, when he went 1-4. However, he tossed 199.1 innings this year after throwing only 64 innings the year before. I thought he looked tired and his fastball was flat, as the numbers proved towards season's end that year. Hopefully, he'll be able to give the Yanks some productivity and could be a much better candidate than Sergio Mitre in the 5th starter spot.

In another Yankee transaction, the River Avenue Blues blog reports the immortal Anthony Cleggett has been sent back down to Scranton and Ramiro Pena recalled. I hope everyone got a good look at Cleggett last night. It may have been your last.

Game 108 - Beantown 8, Bronx 1

2009-08-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

The Bronx Bombers pounded the Beaneaters, 13-6, unleashing 8 games of frustration against their archrivals. After dropping the first 8 games this season, the Yanks finally put 1 in the win column and increased their division lead to 3.5 games. HRs by Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, Jorge Posada and Mark Teixeira paced an 18-hit attack as the Yanks smacked around future Hall-of-Famer, John Smoltz. Cabrera's 3-run blast in the 4th led an 8-run inning that put the Yanks a ahead to stay and bailed out a struggling Joba Chamberlain. The Yanks batted for 37 minutes that must have been grueling for the Boston fielders.

Joba was not sharp, giving up 4 runs, 6 hits, and 7 walks in 5 innings of work. Things looked grim early. Yoda Pedroia and Damon swapped fence scraping solo HRs to RF in the 3rd and newly acquired Casey Kotchman gave the Bosox a 3-1 lead with another new Yankee Stadium special to RF. For the game, Yankee pitchers walked an astronomical 12 Red Sox batters. Boston left an astounding 15 men on base, led by Big Fraudy Ortiz, who left 8 by himself. The immortal Anthony Cleggett made his return to the Bronx, after getting shelled in his major league debut in the Yanks embarrassing 22-4 loss to Cleveland earlier in the season. I didn't think I'd ever lay eyes on him again, but there he was in the 9th inning, performing mop-up duty. I'll say it one more time - I'll be surprised if I ever see him grace a Yankee uniform again. 1 inning, 2 walks, 2 hits, 2 runs and he lowered his career ERA by nearly 10 runs!

Damon, Tex and Posada each led the attack with 3 hits. Posada atoned for his hideous non-slide at the plate in the 2nd when he was thrown out for his lackadaisical base running on a Nick Swisher single. If he slid, he would have been clearly safe. His 3-run blast in the 4th put the exclamation point in the big inning. Every Yankee starter had at least one hit. John Smoltz looked every bit the old man who's hung around 1-year too long in what is otherwise a brilliant career. Boston sacrificed ex-Yankee, Billy Traber, in 3.2 innings of relief to save their bullpen. Well played, Terry Francona, well played.

With the win, the Yanks improved to a season-best 24 games over .500 and guarantees a division lead after this series no matter the rest of the outcome. Hopefully, the Yanks saved some runs and hits for AJ Burnett tomorrow, who goes up against Josh Beckett.

Yankees Record: 66-42

Game 107 - Yanks Sweep Toronto

2009-08-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sergio Mitre kept the Yanks in the game, despite only pitching 4.1 innings and HRs by Nick Swisher and Johnny Damon led the Bombers to an 8-4 victory over Toronto. The Yanks took both games in the short 2-game series, as they return home to face Boston with a 2.5 game lead after the Red Sox loss to Tampa Bay.

Mitre gave up 8 hits in his short stint, but limited the Jays to 3 runs. A HR by Adam Lind and single by Lyle Overbay in the 5th sealed his fate and ended his night. Alfredo Aceves picked up his 7th win when the Yanks rallied from a 1-run deficit with 4 runs in the 7th. Blue Jays rookie starter, Marc Rzepczynski, a soft-tossing lefty, kept the Yanks off-balance all game, limiting them to 2 runs and 3 hits through his first 6 innings of work with 7 punch outs.

After Rbcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyzski (spelling is close enough) retired 11 straight batters, his luck ran out when Swisher led off the 7th with his game-tying dinger. Robinson Cano followed with a double in the gap, ending the night for the guy with the long name, and scored on Hideki Matsui's 1-out, pinch-hit RBI single. Damon and Mark Teixeira hit key 2-out RBIs to give the Yanks a 6-3 lead. After a Marco Scutaro HR off Aceves in the bottom of the 7th, the Bombers tacked on single runs in the 8th and 9th on an Eric Hinske pinch-hit sac fly and Damon's 19th HR of the season. Damon finished the game going 3-5 with 3 RBIs.

Phil Coke got the final 2 outs in the 7th, Phil Hughes pitched a scoreless 8th and David Robertson wrapped the game up in the 9th. I thought Joe Girardi made a couple of odd decisions in tonight's game. He pitched Hughes in back-to-back games, essentially making him unavailable against Boston tomorrow. After Robertson gave up a 1-out single, Girardi had Mariano Rivera begin to warm up with a 4-run lead. Can you say panic button? Geez, Joe, let a run or 2 score before you make your 38-year old reliever, who had to get a 4-out save yesterday, get up and throw in the pen.

Overall, the Yanks did all the little things that help teams win ballgames. Tex busted down the 1B line, avoiding an inning-ending double play to tie the score at 2. Melky Cabrera twice moved Cano over to 3rd with none out. Matsui and Hinske both did their jobs as pinch hitters and each knocked in Cano. Jose Molina, yes the Jose Molina, walked twice! Damon and Tex had their 2-out RBIs and the team was 4-9 with RISP. The bullpen only allowed 1 run and 3 hits in 4.2 innings while striking out 8 and walking no one. The Yanks also played flawless defense. Team efforts like this will lead to nice winning streaks as they ended their road trip 5-4, despite their road bump in Chicago.

The Pinstripers will attempt to end their 0-8 stretch against the Sawx. They have their pitching lined up with Joba, AJ, CC and Pettitte set to pitch in that order. Personally, I'm not feeling confident about the team's chances in this series and would be ecstatic with a split. My worries are these: Joba and Pettitte have pitched great since the break - they're both due for a let down. AJ and CC - which pitcher will show up? The dominant ace or the one who throws the occasional clunker, particularly against teams with winning records this season. Last, but not least, Mo is also due for a let down and came close against Toronto. Historically, he has a tendency to slump in August, and not to mention, Boston has his number.

I shudder to think what will happen if Boston sweeps or takes 3 out of 4. I'm guessing panic in the streets, or the airwaves, of NY.

Yankees Record: 65-42

Game 106 - Yanks Slay the Halladay Dragon

2009-08-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

Prior to tonight, Roy Halladay was 8-0 in his last 10 starts against the Yanks, and 16-5 in his career. Make that 16-6. The Yankees and Andy Pettitte outdueled the notorious Yankee killer in a 5-3 victory. Pettitte defeated the Blue Jays for the 19th time in his career, as he pitched 6.2 solid innings. He limited the Jays to 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 6, finally earning his first win after the All Star break despite pitching well in his previous 3 starts. Luck was on his side, too, as the Jays laced 4 line drives right at his infielders, including 1 for a DP.

The Bombers jumped out quick on the AL All Star starter, putting 2 runs on the board in the first on an ARod RBI double and an error by Halladay allowed ARod to score on a Hideki Matsui grounder. It looked like the Yanks were going to get to Halladay early, collecting 5 hits in the first 3 innings. In the 3rd, with Mark Teixeira on 2nd after a double, ARod hit a shot down the 3B line that appeared destined for another RBI double. Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion dove to keep it in the infield for a single and Halladay was able to escape the jam. Halladay would cruise through the next 15 outs. Only Jorge Posada reached on a single, but he was quickly erased by a DP.

The Yanks finally struck for 2-out lightening in the 8th. Johnny Damon and Teixeira hit back-to-back HRs, providing what would prove to be the winning runs. In the bottom of the 8th, Phil Hughes allowed 2 straight singles before coming back with 2 Ks. Enter Mariano Rivera. He did not look good and perhaps is starting to feel the effects of his 4-out saves this year. He fell behind Vernon Wells before allowing a 2-run double to bring the Jays within 1 run. Matsui provided a little breathing room with the Bombers 3rd solo shot of the night off of Halladay in the top of the 9th. Mo made things interesting again by allowing 2 more singles in the 9th before escaping with a huge victory against Halladay. Especially with Sergio Mitre going on the mound for the Yanks tomorrow.

Yankees Record: 64-42

Game 105 - Yanks Salvage Series With Melky's Cycle

2009-08-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

After blowing their second 3-0 lead in 2 days, it looked like the Yanks were going to be laughed out of Chi-town as another of their high-priced pitchers appeared to be failing miserably when the team needed him most. But Crooked Cap Sabathia hung in there after giving up 4 runs in the 3rd inning. He stuck around till 1 batter in the 8th, eventually giving up 5 runs on 10 hits, 7 of which were extra base hits, including back-to-back HRs to Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome.

Despite another subpar outing from Sabathia, Melky Cabrera saved the day with perhaps his greatest performance at the plate. He went 4-5 with 3 runs, 4 RBIs and hit for the cycle. No longer will Yankee fans see the name Tony Fernandez flashed on the YES Network as the last Yankee to hit for the cycle back in 1995 when a Yankee is threatening to hit for one. It will now read Last Yankee to Hit for a Cycle: Melky Cabrera, August 2, 2009. Melky hit a 3-run HR in the 2nd, led off the 4th with a double and scored, singled in a run in the 5th, and pulled off the cycle the hard way by leading off with a triple in the 9th. Melky's performance played a huge part in the Bombers 8-5 victory.

The Yanks pounded out 15 hits and walked 6 times and were 6-17 with RISP. That's kind of misleading though, since they started out 5-8 with RISP. They left 12 men on base, with Robinson Cano (surprise, surprise) striking out with the bases loaded with 1 out and Jorge Posada striking out with a man on 3rd and 1 out being the chief culprits. Cano left 7 men on by himself. Different game, same old story for Cano.

Phil Hughes entered the game with a runner on 2nd in the 8th. He bookended strikeouts around a Jim Thome walk. Manager Joe Girardi didn't want to take any chances at salvaging a win in the series and brought in Mariano Rivera. Mo would surrender an RBI single to Carlos Quentin, the final run charged to Sabathia, but he got the final 4 outs for his 30th save. It was the 12th time in his career and 7th straight year he's recorded at least 30 saves. With the win, the Yanks held on to their tenuous .5 game lead over Boston.

Yankees Record: 63-42

Game 104 - AJ is Absolute Joke in Pathetic Performance

2009-08-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

The Yanks needed a solid performance today from AJ Burnett, who's been their best pitcher since his loss to Boston. The bullpen has been banged up lately and had to pitch 5 innings yesterday after Sergio Mitre's debacle. Instead, Absolute Joke Burnett got slapped around hard by the White Sox, giving up 7 runs on 10 hits in 4.2 innings of work. He allowed 6 runs to score in the 2nd inning. He only walked 2 - unfortunately, it came with the bases loaded twice and to the same hitter, Jayson Nix en route to a 14-4 pasting. The same guy batting ninth in the White Sox lineup carrying a mighty .231 batting average. Pathetic.

The Yankee hitters weren't any better, as they continue game after game struggling with RISP. They went 2-13 today and are now 12 for their last 62 for a .194 average. Things were so bad, the Yanks loaded the bases in the 6th with none out and only scored one run. It came on a bloop to LF from newly acquired Yankee, Jerry Hairston. Jorge Posada fell for Carlos Quentin's fake catch and was forced out at 3B. He continues to be one of the worse base runners I've ever seen. Cody Ransom signed his own death warrant, going 0-4 with 3 Ks, leaving 5 men on base. Cody, we hardly knew ye. Good riddance.

After Burnett's early exit, the Yankees marched out a myriad of relievers. None were worse than Phil Coke, who wouldn't be outdone by Burnett's 6-run inning. Coke got shelled for a 6-spot of his own, and he only retired 1 batter. Lefty Coke promptly surrendered 3 hits to the first 3 lefty batters he faced. He also issued the Yanks 3rd bases loaded walk of the day to Scott Posednik, another lefty hitter who has no power whatsoever, not to mention, they were down by 6 runs already at that point.

Leave it to the Yankees to wake up the Chisox bats after they'd been dormant in their 2 previous series. There's about 4-5 guys in their lineup I've never heard of either. With the Bosox beating up on hapless Baltimore again, the Yanks 3.5 game lead has dwindled all the way back to a half game. CC Sabathia and the Yanks better wake up tomorrow. They'll be facing Mr. Perfect, Mark Buehrle, himself. I'm smelling sweep.

Yankees Record: 62-42

Game 103 - Sergio Mitre? Is This the Best They Can Do?

2009-07-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

The trading deadline came and went at 4 pm EST today and all the Yankees could muster in a trade was career utility player, Jerry Hairston, Jr. After kicking the tires on Roy Halladay, taking a sniff at Cliff Davis and being linked to starters Jarrod Washburn and Brian Bannister in potential trades, the Yanks came up with bupkis. Nada. Zilch. After watching the pitiful performance of Sergio Mitre in their 10-5 thrashing by the White Sox, I'm sure GM Brian Cashman must be feeling sick to his stomach tonight that he didn't trade one of his overrated, overhyped prospects.

The Yanks came out swinging in the 1st inning, nearly matching their hit total from last night. 4 hits gave them a nice 3-0 cushion. It didn't last long. Mitre had absolutely nothing and looked like complete garbage on the mound. He pitched 3 pathetic innings and gave up 5 runs. Amazingly enough, Mitre did not receive credit for the loss. Eric Hinske hit a 2-run shot in the top of the 4th to tie the score at 5-all. It was his 5th HR in 20 ABs for the Yanks. I'd like to see more of him and less of Nick Swisher.

Through 4 innings, the Yanks had 9 hits and 5 runs off of White Sox emergency starter DJ Carrasco. They only had 3 hits the rest of the game against the bullpen. Ol' friend, Octavio Dotel, shut them down for 2 scoreless frames, allowing 1 hit. For the game, the Yanks were 2-10 with RISP, but 0 for their last 7. Jorge Posada was useless, stranding 6 runners and hitting into a DP.

David Robertson took the loss, allowing the go-ahead run to score in his 2 innings of work. The Yanks were still in the game till the 7th. Alfredo Aceves, who's been nursing a sore shoulder, since his arsonist act against the A's last Saturday, did it again tonight. He got lit up for 4 runs after it looked like he might escape a 2-on, no out jam. He retired the next 2 batters and then allowed 2 hits and a walk to open the floodgates. Aceves must be hurt, because right now, he's hurting the hell out of the Yankees. I guess Cashman didn't want to trade for another reliever, either.

The Sawx pulled out another win out of their ass against Baltimore. Interesting that David Ortiz hit another HR today - he's kind of had a resurgence after 2.5 terrible months...is this guy being tested? With Boston's win and the Yanks loss, the division lead dwindles to 1.5 games. Wouldn't you know, the Sawx end their season with a 4-game set against Cleveland, who traded their one ace, Lee to Philly. Meanwhile, the Yanks have finished their season series against the Indians. Amazing, utterly amazing how Boston continues to duck and weave teams' ace pitchers. When's the last time the Yanks faced Toronto without going up against Roy Halladay? I can't remember, but Boston's ducked him twice this year.

Initially, after watching the Yanks take 9 out of 10 on the homestand and 2 of 3 from Tampa, I thought they could stand pat at the trading deadline. But, with the recent news that Chien-Ming Wang is done for the season and Joba Chamberlain is on some secret innings limit, my gut feeling is the Yanks need another starter. It didn't have to be an ace like Halladay or Lee, but Washburn or Bannister would have been a nice upgrade over Mitre, who has shown nothing in 3 starts since being called up from Scranton. Rumors reported by Joel Sherman of the NY Post said the Mariners were looking for an Austin Jackson-like prospect. I'm not sure why the Yanks are high on A-Jax. My gut feeling is he will be like Melky Cabrera, but makes less contact. No thanks.

Yankees Record: 62-41

Game 102 - White Sox Turn Yanks into Swish Cheese

2009-07-31T11:12:00.000-07:00

The White Sox pitchers, Gavin Floyd and Matt Thornton, mowed through the Yankees lineup for 14 strikeouts, and the Yanks failed to provide any support for the 3rd straight game for poor ol' Andy Pettitte in their 3-2 loss. Teams generally are not going to win games when their 3-4-5 hitters go 0-12 with 8 Ks. Mark Teixeira, ARod and Hideki Matsui essentially took the night off.

As a team, the Yanks only mustered 6 hits. Johnny Damon had 2 of them, including an RBI double. Nick Swisher gave the team false hope by tying the score at 2 with a 2-out HR in the top of the 9th. The Philthys, Phil Hughes and Phil Coke though, lost the game in the bottom frame.

Andy Pettitte pitched solidly for the 3rd straight game since the break, but like his previous 2 starts, the Yanks couldn’t score muster many runs for his efforts. Things turned bleak in the 7th, when the Yankees defense turned into the Ringling Bros Circus. Pettitte slipped and fell on a Jim Thome dribbler for an error to start the inning. After a strikeout, ARod couldn’t handle a single and Pettitte’s night was done. Hughes came in and looked like he was going to get out of the jam when he induced Carlos Quentin to hit a potential double play ball, but Robinson Cano threw wildly past first allowing Thome to score.

The White Sox struck out the side in the 8th and 9th innings. Tex struck out with 2 runners on in the 8th before Swisher’s solo shot in the 9th tied the game. In the bottom of the 9th, Hughes allowed 2 singles and was relieved by Coke with 1 out. Coke retired the 1st batter, but DeWayne Wise, the perfect game hero with his miraculous catch, lined a shot up the middle. Coke actually tipped it, but alas, it went through for the walkoff hit.

With the Sawx win earlier in the day, on a suspicious Big Sloppy HR to boot, the Yanks lead is down to 2.5 games.

Yankees Record: 62-40

Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen

2009-07-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

100 unnamed dirty players remain on the list of 104 that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs during the "anonymous" drug testing of players in 2003. I would love to feign shock, dismay, surprise and utter disbelief as Big Sloppy David Ortiz's and Manny Injecting Manny Ramirez' names were released today by Michael B. Schmidt of NY Times, as one of the Dirty 104. Ortiz and Ramirez join ARod and Sosa on the exposed list this year.

I've been calling Big Sloppy a fraud for years, wondering how he was cut loose by a Minnesota Twins team, the same Twins team that has kept the talentless wonder, Nick Punto, in baseball for the past 6 years. His homeruns jumped from 10 to 54 in a span of 6 years, playing in the friendly confines of Fenway Park. I'm sorry, but no park is that friendly!

Ortiz thinks he's a crafty, though. He's made ambiguous comments in the past, particularly when a lot of Latin American players were testing positive after 2004, saying for all he knows, he may have taken steroids. In 2007, he referenced shakes he would drink in the Dominican Republic, but after realizing he wasn't sure what was in those shakes, he stopped and began buying products at GNC. Oh, Big Sloppy, how naive - naive to think that us fans would swallow that crap.

We didn't buy ARod's 6 versions of how and when he took his steroids. We didn't buy the fact that Barry Bonds thought the cream was flaxseed oil for his aching muscles and the clear a multi-vitamin. We're didn't buy Sammy Sosa suddenly losing his grasp on the English language or Mark McGwire's embarrassing appearance during the Senate hearings. We don't buy Roger Clemens story. Now you say you're "going to get to the bottom of this." I think the only bottom involved is your ass taking a needle.

Then there's the sad case of Manny Injecting Manny. Originally, before Manny was caught this year, I thought the guy was too stupid to know what steroids were or did. I guess I'm the stupid one for ever thinking that. Ol' Manny fittingly got fingered on the same day as his ol' chum and teammate, Ortiz. This is another blow to Manny's image after taking a hit earlier this year for testing positive for a "masking agent" in spring training. Will this cost him a shot at the Hall of Fame?

Where was George Mitchell during his steroid investigation? Apparently, he wasn't looking too hard on the team where he sits as one of their chairman board members. There are numerous of other players during the turn of this century that reek of suspicion. Look at Trot Nixon and Bill Mueller, both players who had 3 year period of career numbers before their careers were ravaged by injuries. Nomar Garciaparra also fits that profile.

No longer can Sawx fans crow like roosters chanting ARoid when ARod strolls to the plate at Fenway. These taunts will sound hollow and they may want to take a hard look at their own "heroes" and their tainted championships.

Game 101 - Joba Pitches Gem Against Rays

2009-07-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

After losing a game on bad pitching, bad defense and bad hitting, the Yanks returned to form and captured the rubber match against Tampa Bay, winning 6-2. Joba Chamberlain had his best game as a major leaguer, tossing 8 shutout innings, and limiting the Rays to 3 hits. He walked 2, both in the 5th inning, while striking out 5. Sticking with his faster tempo pace he's employed since the All Star break, he won his 3rd straight start and improved to 7-2. He only needed 101 pitches to match his career high for innings in a game. Joba has only allowed 2 runs and 8 hits in 21.2 innings since the break.

The Captain set the tone early, tripling to leadoff the game. Mark Teixeira singled in Derek Jeter through a drawn-in infield for a quick 1-0 lead. Rays starter, Matt Garza, though, was up for the challenge. In the 4th, the Yanks were in business when ARod singled and Godzilla doubled to lead off the inning. Jorge Posada embarrassed himself with a first pitch foul out to 3rd, failing miserably to knock in a run and moving Matsui to 3rd with the infield playing back. Robinson Cano came through, not with a hit, but with a run scoring groundout. Garza limited the damage by striking out Nick Swisher.

The Yanks touched Garza for one more run with a Cano blast in the 6th. It came 2 pitches after Cano fouled a pitch off his shin. Despite hitting his shin guard, the TV cameras showed a nice looking knot forming on Cano's leg as the trainer worked on him. The Pinstripers were able to tack on insurance runs off the Rays bullpen in the 8th with a Posada RBI single and solo blasts from Melky Cabrera and Tex in the 9th. Tex's blast was his 26th of the season, tying him with Twins' Justin Morneau for the league-lead.

It took the Rays 8 innings to collect 3 hits off of Joba. It took them 4 batters to do the same against reliever Brian Bruney in the 9th. Carl Crawford led off with a triple and Evan Longoria followed up with a 2-run shot. With 1 out, Bruney allowed a double to Carlos Pena and Joe Girardi and Yankee fans everywhere had seen enough. It was time to bring in the great Mariano. Rivera sandwiched 2 Ks around a walk to seal the victory. As for Bruney, his ERA is now an unseemly 6.16 in 19 innings of work.

There was a little showdown earlier in the game, though no fireworks came from it. In the bottom of the 4th, Joba buzzed Longoria's clock tower with a high hard one that sent the overrated slugger sprawling. Garza glanced a high and tight fastball off of Tex's shoulder in the top of the 5th. Garza stupidly admitted to hitting Tex after the game. I smell a 6-game suspension coming. Are things even now? Perhaps something to watch in future series.

Elsewhere: Boston must have still been stunned from Oakland's comeback win last night. The Athletics came out and put up a 5-spot on the board in the 1st inning. They would hold on and beat the Sawx 8-6 as the Yanks now lead them by 3.5 games. The Rays fell behind by 7.5 games. Phillies traded for last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee, and OF Ben Francisco from Cleveland for a slew of prospects. The Pirates continued their fire sale, dumping SS Craig Wilson and P Ian Snell to the Mariners and then pawning off the other half of their middle infield, Freddy Sanchez to the Giants. When will baseball begin contracting these non-competitive, joke of a franchise teams? I would start by eliminating the Pirates and Nats.

Yankees Record: 62-39

Wang To Have Season-Ending Surgery

2009-07-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

After Chien-Ming Wang's recent visit with Dr. Andrews, it was determined his injured shoulder required season-ending surgery. Reports indicate it's similar to the injury Jorge Posada suffered last season. Wang went 1-6 this year with an ERA in the stratosphere.

The Yankees will have to determine what to do with Wang next year. Do they offer salary arbitration and pay in the $5M range to a player who may not be available till after the All Star break? Will Wang accept a minor-league deal and rehab? I doubt it. I have a feeling we've seen the last of Chien-Ming Wang in a New York Yankee uniform and he'll accept a $1-$2M deal with incentives elsewhere.

Wang - thanks for the memories. When you were on, you were something else.

Sawx Bullpen Implodes Against Athletics

2009-07-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

As I suffered through a terrible Yankee loss, I turned my attention to the Sawx-A's game, and much to my chagrin, I turned it on just as Boston took a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the 8th.

Jonathan Papelbum provided a glimmer of hope, walking Jack Cust to lead off the 9th. Yoda Pedroia and Yankee reject, Nick Green, turned in a couple of nice plays to bail out Papelbum, as the Sawx were 1 out away from gaining a game on the Yanks. Tommy Everidge ripped a double a foot from the top of the Green Monster, his first major league hit, knocking in Cust to bring the A's within 2 runs. Papelbum was one strike away from ending it when Mark Ellis hit a dribbler to short. Nick Green, in his infinite wisdom, decided he was the only man in all the world who could throw out Ellis. Terrible call. Not only was Ellis safe, Green's throw ended up in the stands and Everidge scored. Sawx still led by 1.

Ellis stole 3rd uncontested with Rajai Davis, the Rajai Davis cut by the offensively challenged San Francisco Giants, up at the plate. Davis hit a grounder in the SS hole and Green again had no chance as Ellis scored the tying run. Green threw the ball away again, allowing Davis to reach 3rd, but he was stranded there.

The A's 2-out lightening struck again in the 11th. With 2-out, Ellis doubled to left. Rajai Davis singled in Ellis again. Intuitively, the A's went for the kill - Davis stole second and scored on Adam Kennedy's 5th hit of the game, giving Oakland a 9-7 lead. Boston wouldn't go down without a fight, scoring 1 run and leaving the tying run on 3rd when Yoda Pedroia flied out to end the game, bringing joy to Yankee fans everywhere.

The silence in Fenway was deafening as the Sawx fans watched in horror as their fraudulent, overrated bullpen got roughed up for 7 runs. For the game, Boston surrendered 21 hits to the worse hitting team in the American League and 3rd worse in MLB.

I'd hate to be a Red Sox fan after tonight's demoralizing loss.

Game 100 - Yanks Play Like a Last Place Team

2009-07-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

Instead of looking like the division leaders that have been steamrolling since the All Star break, the Yanks looked like a cellar dwelling team going through the rigors of a long season in their 6-2 loss to Tampa Bay. Crooked Cap Sabathia's pitching was abysmal, their hitting was non-existent, the defense was an absolute joke, and for good measure, they even committed a hideous baserunning blunder.

The Crooked One got lit up for 9 hits and 6 runs in 5.2 innings of work. Granted, his defense deserted him at times, but he never buckled down and caused his own troubles. After Derek Jeter's hideous throwing error over Mark Teixeira's head allowed Ben Zobrist to reach second, Sabathia walked the pitiful .223-hitting Pat Burrell (who struck out in his next 3 at bats) and the equally pitiful Gabe Kapler to load the bases. Instead of knuckling down to try and get the even weaker hitting Dioner Navarro to strike out or hit into an inning ending DP, he allowed Navarro to drive the ball to CF for a sac fly.

Sabathia never found his groove, as he allowed a run-scoring triple to Crawford on an 0-2 count, surrendered a HR to the struggling Evan Longoria, and embarrassed himself further when he allowed the aforementioned pitiful Kapler to double off him in the 6th. Jason Bartlett followed with and RBI single and then BJ Upton, in turn, doubled in Bartlett to finish off Crooked Cap.

As for the Yanks defense - there was none. As previously mentioned, Jeter airmailed one. ARod followed suit with an errant throw of his own. Sadly, it would have held Crawford at 3B, but the bad throw allowed him to score. Then, there's Nick Swisher. He must be drinking buddies with the official scorer, because he blatantly had 2 hideous plays in RF and wasn't given any errors. On one play, he ran down the RF line and unnecessarily went into a slide and dropped the ball that was ruled a triple. A major league ballplayer catches that ball 99 times out of a 100. If not, it's usually ruled an error. Then he allowed a bloop hit from Upton turn into an RBI double instead of knocking it down, or strange as it sounds, fielding it cleanly and holding the runners to first and third.

The Yanks hitting tonight wasn't any better. Facing an old nemesis, Scott Kazmir, someone forgot to tell the Yanks this wasn't the same guy that has given them trouble in the past. Kazmir came into the game with an unsightly 6.69 ERA. Obviously, the rest of the league has been having their way with him like a drunken sorority chick. Not the Yankees though. Even when they scored their first run, Hideki Matsui, running on the legs of an 80-year old, was caught between 1st and 2nd on a late throw to home. Where the hell did he think he was going? Not 2B with those stumps! Tonight clearly could have been collectively one of their worse performances of the year.

The Yanks did have 2 bright spots though. Rookie reliever, Mark Melancon, had his best performance as a major leaguer, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings with 2 Ks. ARod looks like he's coming out of his slump, after doubling in his last at bat last night, he had 2 more hits tonight.

Yankees Record: 61-39

Game 99 - Burnett, Yanks Dismantle Penny Pinching Rays

2009-07-27T20:47:00.000-07:00

After winning 9 of 10 at home, including 6 wins against last place Baltimore and Oakland, it was time for the Yanks to take their act on the road and face some stiffer competition. AJ Burnett and the Bombers rode their hot streak since the All Star with an 11-4 pounding against the Tampa Bay tightwads.

Burnett continued his torrid pitching, tossing 7 innings while giving up just one unearned run, thanks to a passed ball by Jorge Posada on a third strike to BJ Upton. He only allowed 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5, improving to 10-4 on the season, 2-0 against the Rays. He's now won his last five starts.

Burnett was backed up by Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher on offense. Cano went 2-3 with a triple and HR with 2 RBIs. He also walked twice to the astonishment of Yankee fans everywhere. There was a Nick Swisher sighting tonight, as he went 2-5 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs. His homers came from both sides of the plate, as he crushed one lefthanded deep into the rightfield seats and hit a laser righthanded over the leftfield fence. The Yanks pounded out 15 hits, led by The Captain with 3 to raise his batting average to .325. Every Yankee in the lineup had a least one hit and to paraphrase Yankee announcer, Kenny Singleton, Johnny Damon finally "got his invitation to the party" when he connected for a 3-run shot in the 9th for his 200th career HR.

The cheapskate Rays scrounged for 3 late runs against relievers Jonathan Albaladejo and David Robertson in the final 2 frames. Robertson had to bail out Albaladejo in the 8th, striking out Yankee killer, Carlos Pena, with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Robertson gave up a blast to Pat Burrell in the 9th, but picked up his first career save.

A funny thing happened on Damon's career HR. An idiot Tampa Bay fan threw the ball back onto the field and cost himself a chance at bargaining with Johnny Damon for perhaps an autographed bat, extra tickets, or an autographed ball from Damon or one of his teammates. If I went to a game and caught a visiting team's HR ball, I wouldn't care if Big Sloppy Ortiz, Big Nugget Youkilis or Yoda Pedroia hit it - I'm keeping the damn ball! Besides, it's a Chicago Cubs fan tradition to throw the ball back. I've seen Yankee fans doing the same thing this year - I thought Yankee fans were better than that - at the very least, more original.

The best thing about the Yankees early lead tonight - the silencing of the God awful cowbells from the redneck Tampa Bay fans. Let's hope the Yanks saved some runs for CC Sabathia tomorrow.

Yankees Record: 61-38

Game 98- Yanks End Homestand On a Good Note

2009-07-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Yanks concluded their 10-game homestand with a 7-5 win over Oakland, going 9-1 and hitting the road with a 2.5 game lead over the Red Sox. The Captain, Derek Jeter, helped the Yanks overcome a 5-4 deficit with a 2-run single in the 6th inning after Oakland's Mark Ellis had given the A's the lead in the top of the inning.

Yankee starter, Sergio Mitre, starting in his second game since being recalled, quickly ran into trouble in the first when he surrendered 2 runs on 4 hits. The Yanks came right back in the bottom of the first. Hideki Matsui knocked in a run, and overcoming all odds, Robinson Cano hit a 2-out, bases clearing double for 3 more. Cano had everything going against him in this at bat - he has a terrible average the first time he faces a pitcher in a game, horrible numbers with the bases loaded, and God-awful statistics with 2-out and RISP.

Oakland came back with a sac fly in the 4th. Mitre was pulled from the game in the top of the 6th after a leadoff single. Phil Coke retired his first 2 batters before Ellis connected to give the A's their second brief lead. Oakland starter, Dallas Braden, couldn't hold on to his 2nd chance though, as he walked Melky Cabrera and allowed a double to Cody Ransom who played for a resting ARod. This set the stage for The Captain's heroics. Jeter would get picked off, but Johnny Damon followed up with a double and Mark Teixeira finished the scoring with an RBI single.

Phil Hughes came out for the 7th inning. He retired the first 4 batters he faced, striking out 3, until he yielded a walk and a double. With the tying runs on base, Joe Girardi made a gutsy call and called Brian Bruney in to face Ellis. The move paid off handsomely, as Bruney struck him out. Not wanting to push his luck, Girardi brought in the Hammer of God, Mariano Rivera, for the final 4 outs of the game. Mo picked up his 29th save of the season.

Overall, it was a great day for the Yanks, with the exception of losing Brett Gardner to the DL. The Sawx lost, the Rays lost, and the division leading Tigers and Angels lost. The Seattle Mariners got pounded for a 3rd straight day by sad-sack Cleveland, hopefully helping them to decide to become sellers at the trading deadline and giving the Yanks a chance at making a deal for starter Jarrod Washburn.

The Yanks are in for a real test - 19 of their next 26 games will be on the road.

Yankees Record: 60-38

Brett Gardner Goes on the DL

2009-07-26T22:06:00.000-07:00

The Yankees placed CF Brett Gardner on the 15-day DL with a broken left thumb. Apparently, Gardner broke the thumb in the first inning of the Yanks 6-4 loss to Oakland on Saturday. Gardner continued to play, hitting a triple into the rightfield gap and making 2 outstanding catches in the OF plus a strong throw to 3rd to hold a runner at second.

Perhaps worried about the upcoming Tampa Bay series, the Yanks recalled reliever Jonathan Albaladejo, although Yankee relievers have not seen a lot of work due to the effectiveness of the starters since the All Star break.

Unfortunately, Gardner's injury will mean more playing time for Melky Cabrera and Nick Swisher. Both OFs haven't exactly been lighting up the offensive stat sheets as of late.

The timetable for Gardner's return is 25 games which takes him to mid-to-late August.

Game 97 - Aceves Plays Arsonist

2009-07-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

For 6 innings, Andy Pettitte and Athletics' starter, Gio Gonzalez, were locked into an old fashioned pitchers duel. Brett Gardner's triple finally put a run on the board as the Yanks led 1-0 through 6. In the top of the 7th, the wheels fell off the bus. Scott Hairston led off with a double and the fossil of Nomar Garciaparra worked out a walk. After Pettitte got Jack Cust to fly out, Rajai Davis, the same Rajai Davis that was cut last season by the offensively challenged San Francisco Giants, singled in the tying run.

For some inexplicable reason, Joe Girardi visited the mound and forgot to bring Pettitte back with him to the dugout. Bobby Crosby, proud owner of a .227 batting average followed up with a bunt single. Out goes Pettitte and in comes Alfredo Aceves, toting his gasoline can. For 3 pitches, Aceves looked great. He retired Mark Ellis on a first pitch pop up and went up 0-2 on Landon Powell. That's when Aceves lit the match to watch the inning, and essentially the game, go up in flames. Powell singled in 2 runs. Adam Kennedy, the same Adam Kennedy that the St. Louis Cardinals let go last season, singled in another, and Orlando Cabrera capped off the 6-run rally with a 2-run double.

Aceves piss poor performance cost the Yankees their 8-game winning streak. Girardi probably mismanaged the bullpen, too. He should have taken Pettitte out against Crosby and should have brought in Phil Coke to face the lefty hitting Powell or Kennedy, too.

As been the Yankees M.O. all season, they mounted a minor comeback. Derek Jeter hit a 2-run shot in the 8th and 1 out later, Mark Teixeira hit his league-leading 25th homer to make the score 6-4. After there was an actually Nick Swisher getting a hit sighting, Cano ended the threat with a long fly out to right. It wasn't Cano's fault - Swisher had the audacity of being in scoring position with 2 out and should know Robbie doesn't like hitting in those situations.

The Yanks finally gasp came in the final frame, but after leading off with 2 walks, the slug-footed Jorge Posada killed a chance of a rally hitting into a double play after fouling off a pitch down the pipe and swinging at absolute garbage in the dirt. The Captain ended the game with a runner on 3rd with a long fly out to center. And like magic, an 8-game winning streak vanished against a team with a lineup that could challenge for 3rd place in Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Yankees Record: 59-38

Game 96 - Joba Pitches Yanks to 8th Straight Win

2009-07-25T00:32:00.000-07:00

Oakland traded it's biggest weapon, Matt Holliday, earlier in the day, and Joba Chamberlain took advantage of their depleted lineup in the Yanks 8-3 victory. Joba tossed 7 solid innings, limiting the Athletics to 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 6. He improved his season record to 6-2 as he settled down after giving up a run in the 1st inning on an Orlando Cabrera double, stolen base and a sac fly. After Ryan Sweeney's single in the second, Joba didn't allow another hit in the game.

For the second straight night, it appeared the Yankee batters might be in for a long night. Last night, Vin Mazzaro dialed up 6 of the first 10 Bomber hitters. Tonight, Oakland starter, Brett Anderson, struck out the side in the first inning and retired the first 6 hitters. Coming into the game, he had a 21-inning scoreless streak, including a complete game, 2-hit shutout against Boston. In the 3rd inning, the Yanks ended Anderson's scoreless streak and scratched out 2 runs on RBIs from Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon. They tacked on single runs in the 5th and 6th on RBI groundouts from Damon and Hideki Matsui.

Last night, Phil Hughes picked up his first major league save. In the 8th, the other half of the Philtys, Phil Coke, came in to bail out Joba who walked and hit a batter to put runners on 1st and 2nd with none out. Coke sandwiched a fly out with 2 strike outs to escape the inning. The Yanks broke the game open when they put up a 4-spot in the bottom frame. Jorge Posada deposited a shot deep into the night to left field. They scored their other runs on an error and singles from Jeter and Damon. Jeter and Damon combined for 5 RBIs in the game.

In the 9th, there was a David Robertson sighting, though it wasn't pretty. He allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, but on a positive note, he did throw strikes, getting the ball over the plate on 15 of 20 pitches.

Now an ex-Athletic, Matt Holliday went 4-5 with an RBI and stolen base in his St. Louis Cardinals debut tonight. His 4 hits were 2 more than his old team had against Joba Chamberlain. According to the baseball experts, the A's brought in a good haul for Holliday, including a first rounder from last year's draft, Brett Wallace. It must be hard being an Oakland fan with such a high player turnover. I don't know why they print t-shirts with players names on the backs. I can't count the number of former players' names I see on shirts and jerseys when I attend games in Oakland - Zito, Harden, Haren, Mulder and Swisher, just to name a few. It looks like all those Eric Chavez jerseys should be a safe bet - chances are his playing days are numbered.

Yankees Record: 59-37

Game 95 - Tex and Posada Lead Yanks Past A's

2009-07-24T01:42:00.000-07:00

The Yanks waited out a 2 hour, 43 minute rain delay to start the game. The way they started, it looked like someone forgot to tell them the game wasn't called. Things were looking grim early for the Yanks. After 3.5 innings, they were trailing 3-0 to Oakland. The Athletics starting pitcher, Vin Mazzaro, a local kid from Rutherford, NJ, and pitching in front of friends and family, looked unhittable, striking out 6 of the first 10 batters he faced. He struck out 2 hitters in each inning with only Brett Gardner's walk blemishing his line as the Yanks flailed away at his nasty slider.

Meanwhile, Yankee starter, CC Sabathia, ironically from the Bay Area, was getting slapped around by the Oakland lineup. He allowed 3 runs on 6 hits in the first 4 frames. Kurt Suzuki had a double and single with an RBI and run scored. Earlier this season, he took Crooked Cap deep for a 3-run shot. Fortunately for the Yanks, CC settled down and things were a lot different the 2nd time around facing Mazzaro.

In the bottom of the 4th, Mark Teixeira hit a 2-run bomb, connecting on a 3-0 count, to get the Yanks on the board. Jorge Posada doubled in ARod and Eric Hinske singled him in for a 4-3 lead, as the wheels fell off for Mazzaro. The Bombers tacked on 2 more runs in the 5th on RBI hits from Tex and Posada. The RBI-phobic Robbie Cano killed any chance of a big inning by fouling out with the bases loaded and one out. You can lower Cano in the order, but you can't hide him.

Sabathia rebounded from his early struggles to toss 7 innings, giving up 9 hits and 3 runs while striking out 4. He became the Yanks first 10-game winner this season, improving to 10-6. Phil Hughes earned his first career save, pitching the final 2 innings, retiring all 6 batters he faced and giving Mariano Rivera a rest.

Notes: Chicago White Sox' Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game against Tampa Bay. Defensive replacement, CF Dewayne Wise, made a miraculous catch in the 9th inning off the bat of Gabe Kapler. Wise robbed Kapler of a HR as he crashed into the wall. He had to barehand a juggling ball as he fell to the ground. It was the 18th perfect game in MLB history. The Yankees have 3 of them - Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series, David Wells and David Cone. For Buehrle, it was his 2nd career no-hitter.

The Sawx were idle and now trail the Pinstripers by 2.5 games.

Yankees Record: 58-37

Game 94 - Yanks Complete Second Straight Sweep

2009-07-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

The Yanks completed a sweep of Baltimore with another 6-4 victory and have gone 6-0 since the All Star break. AJ Burnett shut down the Orioles for 6 innings before surrendering a 2-spot in the 7th. He pitched 7 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 runs while striking out 6. The Pinstripers were led by Jorge Posada who went 2-3 with a double, homer, walk and 2 RBIs. ARod and Cano each knocked in 1 run and Nick Swisher, in an event-filled day for him, knocked in 2 runs.

Swisher had quite the adventure in RF. In the 3rd inning, he dropped a fly ball that allowed Brian Roberts to reach second. Burnett worked out of trouble, but was bailed out by the man that initially caused the trouble in the first place. Ty Wigginton laced a liner tailing away from Swisher toward the right field line. Swisher made a great running catch at full extension as his momentum carried him up the RF wall. Burnett greeted Swisher at the dugout to share high 5s. Swisher wasn't done in the field, either. In the 6th, he went back and crashed into the wall and robbed Luke Scott of an extra base hit. Something Yankee fans would've never seen with ol' friend Bobby Abreu in the field last year.

Philthy Phil Hughes tossed a scoreless 8th inning and ran his scoreless streak to 20 innings. With the Yanks tacking on an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th for a 4-run cushion, Mariano Rivera sat down and Brian Bruney came into the 9th for some work. Bruney looked great - for 2 batters. He struck out the first 2 guys he faced, but then gave up 2 solo bombs to Adam Jones and Nick Markakis. Manager Joe Girardi quickly gave Bruney the hook and brought in Mo to strike out Aubrey Huff and end the game. It was Mo's 28th save and 510th of his career.

The Bombers increased their division lead to 2 games as Boston got the broom treatment and got swept out of Texas. It's the Sawx 5th straight loss as they dropped to 1-5 since the break while scoring only 13 runs. The Rays also lost, falling 4-3 to the White Sox, and they currently trail the division by 5.5 games. It'll be interesting to see if the Rays make any big moves to help the team or if they will continue their miser ways.

Yankees Record: 57-37, a season-high 20 games over .500

Game 93 - Mitre, Cano Lead Yanks to 5th Straight

2009-07-22T02:29:00.000-07:00

Newly recalled pitcher, Sergio Mitre, won his first game since 2007, and the RBI-phobic Robinson Cano hit a 2-run shot to pace the Yanks in a 6-4 victory over Baltimore. Mitre tossed 5.2 innings, yielding 4 runs, 3 earned, while striking out 4. The Bombers provided enough offense, scoring their 6 runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings.

A bases loaded single by ARod in the 3rd gave the Yanks a 3-2 before Cano connection in the 4th extended the lead to 5-2. Johnny Damon finished the team's scoring with a run-scoring single later in the inning. Baltimore tried to chip away at the lead with a Melvin Mora 2-run single in the 6th. After Mitre struck out the next batter, Joe Girardi went to the bullpen. Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke and Mariano Rivera held Baltimore to 1 hit in the last 3.1 innings to seal the win. The Great Mo earned his 27th save of the season.

For the fourth straight game, the Yankees were held to a low hit total, collecting only 6 knocks. They've amassed a total of 23 hits in the last 4 games. Hopefully, the hitting will come around before the pitching slumps.

Boston lost again to the Texas Rangers and for the first time since the end of the 2006 season, the Yankees stand atop the division alone. Texas' Big Tommy Hunter outpitched Josh Beckett in a 4-2 victory. It was Boston's 4th straight loss.

Yankees Record: 56-37

Game 92 - Matsui's Walkoff HR Leads Yanks

2009-07-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

For a team record 3rd game in a row, the Yanks won 2-1, beating the Orioles in the opening set of a 3-game series. Andy Pettitte pitched 1-run ball for 7.1 innings, with his only blip a HR by Nick Markakis in the 1st inning. He also struck out 8. After Eric Hinske matched Markakis' HR in the top of the 2nd, his 4th dinger in 15 ABs with the Yanks, Baltimore retired 22 of the next 24 Yankee batters. Only Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon were able to get on via walks.

With one out in the bottom of the 9th, Hideki Matsui blasted his 15th HR of the season against reliever Jim Johnson for the win. It was Matsui's first walkoff hit since his rookie year in 2003. AJ Burnett kept up this year's custom of shoving a cream pie into the walkoff hero's face in the post game interview. It's good to see Burnett does not shy away from delivering the pie treatment to stoic and serious players like Matsui and Posada.

There was a moment in the game though, that looked like the Yanks might have needed more than Matsui's heroics. Pettitte left the game in the 8th with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Phil Coke came in to face Nick Markakis with 1 out. Markakis hit a grounder to Mark Teixeira. Tex threw home to catcher Jose Molina, who tagged out Cesar Izturis for the 2nd out. Coke then threw a pitch in the dirt that bounced away, but Molina pounced on it and threw to Coke to tag the speedy Brian Roberts out at the plate.

Alfredo Aceves came in relief during the 9th with a runner on and 1 out. After a stolen base, he sandwiched the final 2 outs around an intentional walk to avoid any trouble. He was credited with the win and improved his record to 6-1. It also gave Mariano Rivera a much needed, not to mention a deserved, night off after saving all 3 games in the Tigers series.

The Yanks, who lead or near the top in most offensive categories, can credit their 4 game winning streak to strong pitching. In the last 3 games, they have combined for only 16 hits, relying mostly on solo shots for their scoring, while holding their opponents to 3 total runs.

With Boston's loss against Texas, the Pinstripers moved into a tie for the AL East division. Kevin Millwood beat his old Atlanta teammate, John Smoltz, as Boston looks like they haven't been notified the All Star break is over. Adding insult to injury, Tim Wakefield took his 11-3 record to the DL. Laptop thief, Clay Buchholz, will take his place on the roster.

Yankees Record: 55-37

Game 91 - Joba Leads Yanks to Sweep Over Tigers

2009-07-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the All Star break gave Joba Chamberlain time to reflect on his mixed first half performance. In his first start after the respite, Joba held Detroit to 1 run in 6.2 innings and struck out 8, demonstrating the ability and potential he has as a future ace. He wasn't exactly sharp, but unlike recent starts, he was able to dance in and out of trouble by inducing pop outs and striking out hitters at key moments. Joba did finish with a flourish though, retiring the final 7 batters he faced, 5 on strikeouts. Joba's only blemish of the day came on a Clete Thomas HR when he hung a fat, hanging slider.

ARod and Mark Texeira provided all the offense for the Yanks, respectively hitting solo shots in the 4th and 6th innings. Tigers All Star starter, Edwin Jackson, limited the Yanks to 5 hits, although he did walk 5 hitters, too.

The Philtys, Coke and Hughes built the bridge to Mariano Rivera. Coke retired the dangerous Curtis Granderson for the last out in the 7th, and Hughes pitched a scoreless 8th with 2 more strikeouts against the Tigers after striking out 6 on Friday.

The Yankees received good news when the fraudulent Red Sox finally faced Roy Halladay after ducking him twice in 2 previous series vs. the Blue Jays. Halladay led the Jays to a 3-1 victory in a complete game effort. The Sox loss left the Yanks one game behind the division lead.

Yankees Record: 54-37

Game 90 - Sabathia Outduels Verlander

2009-07-19T00:59:00.000-07:00

It seems rarely does a marquee matchup between 2 ace pitchers live up to the hype, but CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander hooked up for a pitching clinic in the Yankees 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers. For 6 innings, the score remained at zeroes, as CC dodged a couple of threats by holding the Tigers hitless in 7 attempts with RISP. Verlander didn't have to work as hard, holding the Yankees to 0-3 with RISP, and at one point held the Yanks to 2 Derek Jeter singles till Johnny Damon doubled with 2 outs in the 6th.

In the bottom of 7th inning, ARod finally broke through, leading off with his 571st career HR, an opposite field fence scraper that must have made Verlander nauseous. He now trails Harmon Killebrew by 2 for 9th place on the all time list. The Yanks tacked on another run, piecing together 3 hits with 2 outs. Robinson Cano singled, Nick Swisher doubled and Melky Cabrera's infield single knocked in the important 2nd run. Alfredo Aceves, back in the bullpen after his abbreviated start in Minnesota, surrendered a solo shot to ex-Yank, Marcus Thames, in the top of the 8th. The great Mariano Rivera earned his second save in 2 days for his 25th of the season.

CC rebounded from his loss to Anaheim last Sunday to improve his record to 9-6. The Yanks improved to 4-1 on the season against first place Detroit, with Joba Chamberlain going against Edwin Jackson in the series finale. These wins should provide confidence to a team that has struggled against 1st place Boston, Philadelphia and Anaheim this season. Boston's lost to Toronto currently leaves the Yanks 2 games out in the AL East.

Yankees Record: 53-37

Game 89 - Yankee All Stars Lead Team in Win

2009-07-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th, Yankees All Star shortstop, Derek Jeter, led off with a single, Johnny Damon doubled and All Star first baseman, Mark Teixeira, homered deep to right to erase the one-run deficit and give the Yanks a 5-3 lead over Detroit. The lead held up with the other All Star, Mariano Rivera, closing the door in the 9th in the Yanks first game since the All Star break.

AJ Burnett kept the Yankees in the game, limiting the Tigers to 3 runs in 6 innings, but he was far from stellar. He walked 5 while only striking out 1 and fell behind most of the hitters all night. He had a similar start prior to the All Star game when he walked 4 and struck out 2 batters in a win against the Twins. Hopefully, these 2 starts are just a blip and not a trend.

Mark Teixeira, historically a much better hitter after the mid-season break, led the Pinstripers with 3 hits. Hideki Matsui had 2 hits and knocked in the Yankees first run of the game. Phil Hughes relieved Burnett and struck out the side in the 7th and 8th innings sandwiched around 3 hits, topping the radar gun at 97 mph. Unlike his predecessor, Burnett, Hughes pumped strike after strike, getting the ball over the plate 30 times in 41 pitches.

I found Joe Girardi's decision to use Hughes for 2 innings interesting, as that deviates from the way the Yanks have been using him out of the pen. Girardi and the Yanks have intimated that Hughes has worked his way into the 8th inning role, but this 2-inning appearance virtually takes Hughes out for the rest of the Detroit series.

Hughes also recorded the win to improve his record to 4-2 and snapped the Yanks 3-game losing streak.

Yankees Record: 52-37

AL All Stars Win World Series Home Advantage

2009-07-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

The American League beat the National League 4-3, to remain unbeaten in 13 straight contests that includes one tie. Because of that one tie, MLB concocted this ridiculous plan to have the winner of the All Star game determine who will have home field advantage in the World Series. Hopefully, this year, it means the Boys from the Bronx.

After the infamous extra inning tie in 2002, MLB, in it's infinite wisdom, panicked and threw together this notion that "this time, it counts" slogan for the annual mid-summer's classic. I don't know why they just didn't remind people when there was a collective groan that a game ended in a tie that it's just an EXHIBITION game!

Shouldn't home field advantage go to the team with the best record? Why play 162 games? Many baseball people have recommended the league with the best record after interleague competition should decide home field. This isn't a bad concept, either. If you were a Yankee or Red Sox fan, would you want the fate of where a potential Game 7 of the World Series is hosted in the hands of Kansas City's lone all star vs. the NL's best closer in the 9th inning of a close game? I know I wouldn't, especially when the best All Stars have all been sitting since the 5th inning. In the end though, we all know it's about money and TV ratings. Rumor has it, the ratings haven't changed much since that tie game in 2002. Maybe MLB will have a best of 3 All Star series next.

Personally, I've hated the All Star game. It's usually 3-4 days without watching the Yanks. Hopefully, the ol' timers like Damon, Matsui, Posada and Pettitte are resting up for a strong second half run. I'm sure ARod and his hip needed a break, too. For those reasons, I'll welcome a break in the action. I just wish Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera hadn't been selected - they're no spring chickens, either.

Game 88 - Yanks Faint Again at Sight of Angels

2009-07-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

The All-Star break can't come quick enough for a Yankee team that got embarrassed in Anaheim this weekend. The Angels completed the 3-game sweep with a 5-4 victory over the Yanks and their ace, CC Sabathia. The good news is, the Yanks didn't blow another 4-run lead, but they did have a lead for the 3rd straight day with a 1-0 lead after 3 innings. Crooked Cap got lit up for a 4-spot in the 4th, as the Angels continued putting up big innings.

Ol' friend, Bobby Abreu, haunted the Yanks this series, doubling in a run to tie the score at 1. He went 6-13 in the series with 6 RBIs. The Crooked One then walked a guy hitting .226, an RBI double to Yankee killer, Howie Kendrick, a ground out brought in the 3rd run, and a .221 hitter knocked in the final run of the inning with a single. How come the rest of the league has figured out Kendrick, who was sent down to Triple A earlier this season for his struggles, but he continues to pound the Yanks? Who is in their scouting department? Once again, this weekend's pounding came against a team with their top 2 run producers on the DL.

The Yanks began clawing back with a Jorge Posada pinch-hit RBI single in the 7th. CC, though, handed the 3-run lead right back, and it proved to be the fateful play of the game. With 2 out in the bottom frame, Chone Figgins tripled and Maicer Izturis singled him in. The Yanks gave a valiant effort in the 8th, loading the bases with no one out. Melky Cabrera singled in a run and Posada followed with a sac fly. With 1 out and runners on first and second, pinch hitter, Nick Swisher, ripped a line drive up the middle, heading for CF and tying the game - but, NO! Angels reliever, Darren Oliver, made a miraculous stab of the ball and doubled up Melky off of first. Inning over, threat over, and pretty much - game over. In the 9th, the heart of the Yankees order, The Captain, Tex and ARod, went down meekly as the Yanks go into the All Star break with their tail between their legs. As quickly as the Yanks tied Boston for the division lead, they find themselves 3 games back.

Yankees Record: 51-37

Game 87 - Angels are Hell on Earth for Yanks

2009-07-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

Another blown 4-run lead, and another lost opportunity for the Yankees against their arch-nemesis Los Angeles of Inglewood/Beverly Hills 90210, The O.C., Melrose Place of Anaheim Angels. Andy Pettitte, David Robertson, Brett Tomko and Phil Coke did their worse imitations as Major League pitchers, giving up 14 runs on 16 hits, as the Yanks were blown out 14-8 today. Things went so bad, that even when the Yankees recorded strike outs, 2 runners reached base on dropped 3rd strikes. Unfortunately, my wife and I went to the Giants-Padres game at AT&T Park and I had to be reminded of this hideous loss as I sat directly across from the scoreboard and reminded of the Yanks futile efforts all game (see picture above).

Except for the top 3 hitters of the lineup, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira, who went 1-13 combined with 5 Ks, the rest of the lineup did some some real damage, going 8-22 with 5 HRs. ARod and newly acquired Eric Hinske both went deep twice and Hideki Matsui hit the other one. ARod's second blast and Matsui's were back-to-back in the top of the 8th that brought the Yanks within 10-8 before Coke imploded in the 8th, giving up the Angels last 4 runs to put the game out of reach. ARod entered the top 10 on the all-time HR list with #570, passing fellow juicer, Rafael Palmeiro.

The Yanks started this game in grand fashion again, just as they did yesterday. ARod hit a 2-run homer in the first, Hinske connected for a solo blast in the 2nd, and miracle of miracles, Robinson Cano laced a rarely seen for him, 2-out RBI single, giving the Yanks a 4-0 lead. Andy Pettitte cruised through 3 hitless innings before yielding his first run in the 4th. The wheels came spiraling off the bus in the 5th when the Angels roughed up Pettitte and Robertson for 7 runs. How has a lineup that just lost their 2 biggest run producers (Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter) produce 18 runs in 2 games? Simplest answer - the Yankees pitching has been horrendous.

Couple of things I wish manager Joe Girardi would take note of: Jorge Posada should never start as catcher against the Angels. They ran roughshod over him, going 4-5 in steals. Also, David Robertson shouldn't come in the game in the middle of an inning. He has been ghastly in a number of appearances coming into the game in that situation. He should have been sent to Scranton instead of Jonathan Albaladejo earlier this week after walking in 2 runs in Minnesota. Cano's been batting in the bottom third of the lineup and performing better lately. Let's not be fooled again and raise him in the order. Hinske had a great game today and is 4-9 with 3 HRs since being traded for. Girardi should continue to play the hot hand and stop forcing Nick Swisher and/or Melky Cabrera into the lineup. Swisher's best month of the season was April when he started the season as the 4th OF before Xavier Nady's injury. Melky also picked up his game when he lost the starting CF job to Gardner. Competition seems to motivate both of them.

This loss, on top of a Boston win, dropped the Yanks 2 game back in the division. I did enjoy watching the scoreboard at the Giants game jump from a Boston 9-1 lead close to 9-7, as their bullpen imploded again. KC's bullpen, apparently was worse, as they lost 15-9. Hopefully, I've heard the last about Boston having the best bullpen in baseball. They've been horrendous in July. CC Sabathia needs to be the stopper in the series finale.

Yankees Record: 51-36