Game 127 - Yanks Done in by RISP Woes

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 104 - AJ is Absolute Joke in Pathetic Performance

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 96 - Joba Pitches Yanks to 8th Straight Win

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 92 - Matsui's Walkoff HR Leads Yanks

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