Pinstripes Destiny

I can't believe the Yankees, who were once ten games ahead in the AL East are now tied for first place. The Yanks were unstoppable at one point, in such a good position, but as the weeks went on they slipped and are currently in a slump that can cost them a playoff spot. In my previous post I mentioned that I truly believe they are in a small slump that they will overcome in the series with the Rays, but so far it's not happening. Last night the Yanks offense started them off and gave Freddy Garcia a 2-0 lead to work with but it wasn't big enough. Garcia allowed five runs in five innings. The Yankees could not produce any offense after Cano's home run in the first inning. It is obvious that their offense is suffering, as well as their pitching. When they do have great pitching, like with CC Sabathia on Monday night, they couldn't deliver offensively, and when they start off with some offense to take the lead, the pitching can't keep up. It's a lose-lose situation. On top of the Yanks struggling, the Orioles are soaring, beating Toronto 10-0 last night. Tampa Bay is only 1.5 games behind both the Yankees and the Orioles. It is crucial that the Yankees win tonight. They are 10-14 right now.

Up until last night, no one saw any frustration or panic in the clubhouse, especially from Joe Girardi. He has remained calm, which would have the most positive effect on his players. Last night, Girardi was ejected by umpire Tony Randazzo over a third strike call. How can players not feel the pressure? After leading the AL east by ten games and now being tied for first place? The Yankees seem to be in a better place, both offensively and defensively when they relax and don't try too hard. As long as they see patience and get good vibes from the staff and Girardi, they should all calm down and work collectively together to play better.

"Since the divisional format was introduced in 1969, the Yankees have made the playoffs all 15 times they entered September with a division lead. They have essentially a month’s worth of games remaining to make sure this is not the season when a September swoon costs them a playoff spot." (NY Times)

Tonight's pitching matchup is Hiroki Kuroda (12-10, 3.04 ERA) vs. M. Moore (10-8, 3.58 ERA). Kuroda has been struggling for the Yankees. Last week Kuroda lost to the Orioles 6-1, following a loss to the Indians the week before. Hopefully he will get his confidence back up and start pitching like he is capable of to help give the Yankees a win in Tampa Bay. As always, go Yankees!

Time to Step it Up

It's going to be a tough week for the Yankees. They are currently in the middle of a series with the Rays in Tampa, have a four game set with the Orioles in Baltimore, and then go to Boston to face the Red Sox. With the Orioles now 1 game behind them, and the Rays 2.5 games behind, the Yankees NEED to play their "A" game to shut both teams out. Injuries are definitely going to play a huge factor in these series. While Alex Rodriguez returned to the team in game one of the Yankees-Rays series yesterday and looked good, Mark Teixeira and Granderson have been out for small injuries. Andy Pettitte is making slight improvements and the team hopes he will throw off the mound in a bullpen session in Baltimore this weekend. Granderson pinch hit in yesterday's game against the Rays in the ninth inning to try to get the win, but couldn't deliver. Granderson is in the lineup tonight. Mark Teixeira (strained calf) is expected to return at the end of this week or early next week.

The Yankees seem to be in a slump offensively. While CC Sabathia dealt last night and struck out four, and only allowed eight hits, the offense could not deliver to overpower the Rays. A-Rod had his first hit during his first game back, while the rest of the offense came from Eric Chavez, Russell Martin, and Raul Ibanez. In order for the Yankees to score and to start winning games again, they need to be able to score runners. They are leaving too many men on base, while other teams like Tampa Bay are taking advantage of that. Good pitching can only get a team so far. While Sabathia did his job (the game was tied at 3 when he exited), David Robertson gave up a hit to Gimenez, and Roberts scored, giving the Rays a 4-3 lead. The Yanks could not deliver.

The return of Granderson and Teixeira might be their answer. Once they come back, Nova and Pettitte will still be on the DL, with a very strong possibility that they might return within a few weeks. On the Joe Girardi show, Michael Kay asked the status of Brett Gardner and whether or not he would be activated this season if the team needs him. Girardi said right now they are not planning on activating him but that might change if they really do decide that they need him for the remaining of the season. Andruw Jones, who was a strong force for the Yanks a couple of weeks ago has been struggling of late. Nick Swisher also is struggling after having a great month in July and early August. The Yankees really miss Teixeira at first base. It is very difficult to fill his shoes defensively, even though Nick Swisher (who has played first most of the time Teixeira has been out) is good.

Tonight's pitching matchup is Freddy Garcia (7-5, 4.90 ERA) vs. A. Cobb (8-8, 4.39 ERA). While steady, Garcia has not continually been successful on the mound but with the injury to Nova and Pettitte he has gotten many more starts. He has gotten the job done lately, but now the Yankees offense has to help him and score runs. As always, go Yanks!

Yankees - Blue Jays Preview

The Yankees are going into this series against the Blue Jays pretty confident. The Yanks have won eight straight home games against Toronto. The Blue Jays are struggling, to say the least. They have lost seven straight and are in last place in the AL East.

New York (74-53) has outscored Toronto 48-20 with a 13-4 edge in homers during this run at home in the series. The Blue Jays (56-70) are losers of seven straight for the first time since a nine-game skid from May 19-27, 2009, and 14 games under .500 for the first time since Sept. 25, 2009.

The pitching matchup for Monday's game is Phelps (3-4, 2.69 ERA) against Alvarez (7-11,4.84 ERA). Phelps is starting in place of Ivan Nova, who was placed on the 15 day DL list due to shoulder inflammation. Alvarez is 0-0 with a 5.25 ERA in two career starts against the Yankees. It will be interesting to see the matchup between Alvarez and Curtis Granderson who is for 3 for 5 against him. Tomorrow's probable starters are Hughes vs. Happ.

Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher have been sparking the Yankee offense recently. Swisher capped a strong weekend with three hits in a 4-2 victory Sunday at Cleveland. He went 7 for 11 as the Yankees took two out of three games. Swisher is hitting .378 over his last 19 games.

The Blue Jays are still without Jose Bautista, who re-injured the wrist that he was originally placed on the DL for. Adam Lind, who was not scheduled to return until next week due to a back injury, will be back in the lineup since July 25th.

The Yankees are going in as the favorite due to the record they have against the Blue Jays and how they have been performing but they do need to do certain things to win this home stand. First, Phelps needs to have a good game. He needs to deliver and keep the threatening Blue Jays offense to a minimum. Second, the Yanks need to continue to hit and run the bases as well as they have been doing. They have been producing more hits and RBI's and not only relying on home runs. Of course, home runs don't hurt! With both of those things, their defense also has to be on target. A game with good offense and pitching, but no defense and a lot of errors can certainly hurt them, and any other team. As always, go Yanks!

A Lot on the Line

With each game becoming more and more important, each team is striving to win more to ensure a spot in the playoffs. The Yankees are in first place in the AL East with a 73-52 record, but the Rays and Orioles are right behind them. The Rays were on a winning streak but the Oakland A's just beat them, by the skin of their teeth last night in a 5-4 win. Tampa Bay is now 3.5 games behind the Yankees, and the Orioles are 5 games behind. The closest the Rays were was earlier in the week when they were two games behind the Yankees (when they got swept by the White Sox). It is more important now than ever for the Yankees to hold onto their lead, and increase it when they can. CC Sabathia was activated from the DL last night and started against the Indians. He held them to one run and the Yankees won 3-1. In a loss to the White Sox, Ivan Nova injured his shoulder and was placed on the 15 day DL due to inflammation in his rotator cuff. Other than that, the Yanks have not seen any really bad injuries as of late that would prohibit them from performing their best. Considering who the Yankees lost for a long period of time, including the all time great closer, Rivera, they have performed very well. The Yanks have lost four of their great players, Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner, and most importantly, their closer, Mariano Rivera, but with all the great players down, the Yankees have gotten the job done. Their record is superb, their offense has been great, their pitching has been stable, and the guys that have stepped up in the absence of ARod and Brett Gardner have been awesome. Both Pettitte, who fractured his left fibula, played catch on Friday and had no ill feeling and ARod, who fractured his left fibula, will be evaluated on Monday. An October return is possible, depending on what the doctors say on Monday.

Let's just talk about Jeter the Great for a second! In the past 27 games, since July 25th, his batting average is .381 (45 for 118) with six home runs and 16 RBI's. Three of the home runs have been hit in consecutive games, which is a first for Jeter.

Nick Swisher is also having a very productive season. This season his average is .273 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI's. Nick homered to right center in the seventh inning last night to give the Yanks a 3-1 lead, and the win.

Today's pitching matchup for the second game against the Indians is H. Kuroda (12-8, 2.96 ERA) against J. Masterson (9-11, 4.73 ERA). While both teams were on a losing streak (Yankees - 3, Indians - 9), the Yankees managed to pull through with CC on the mound dealing and great base running, along with Nick Swisher's home run. Let's see if the Yanks can come out with another win. Of course, let's go Yankees!

Tight Race

The race in the AL East is on. It is the most competitive right now with the Yankees (72-50) leading but Tampa Bay (68-54) is right behind them, and Baltimore (66-56) is six games behind. This is such a crucial time for the Yanks to continue to win, because one loss can put them in jeopardy of losing that first place spot. Teams like the Rays and Orioles are too good to slip behind. Tampa Bay has a five game winning streak and they are playing some of their best baseball right now. The Yankees have a tough schedule coming up with two more games against the White Sox, a series with the Indians, who are playing very well, and then they play the Blue Jays, and the Orioles. The White Sox are leading the AL Central with a record of 66-55, and came back last night to beat the Yanks. It was all Yankees until the fifth inning, when Chicago scored five runs. The Yankees and the White Sox battled it out in the fifth when the Yanks tied it and then took the lead to make it 6-5 but then Beckham homered to right and tied the game once again. From then on, it went downhill for the Yankees. Chicago scored three more runs, winning the game 9-6.

The White Sox scored five runs off of Garcia and Joba Chamberlain was booed off the mound when he gave up a leadoff home run to tie the game. "He has to be more consistent, he has to help us." Girardi said of Chamberlain. (nypost.com)

Derek Jeter has been a key to the Yankees success lately. He homered on Monday against the White Sox, and went 4 for 5 to raise his average to .398. "He just continues to have big days for us," Joe Girardi said. "That's what he's doing. It is pretty amazing." (ESPN.com)

Ivan Nova (11-6,, 4.76 ERA) is on the mound for the Yankees tonight against Liriano (4-10, 5.22 ERA). Nova has been inconsistent but he has shown signs of improvement over his last couple of outings. The Yankees need to get more wins on the board in order to stay in first place with a nice lead above Tampa Bay and the Orioles. Hopefully they can deliver. Of course, let's go Yankees!

Soaring Over the Blue Jays

The Yanks have arrived! After coming off of a split in Detroit and winning the last two games, the Yankees took on Toronto with confidence. I was hesitant to see Freddy Garcia pitch because of his recent inconsistencies but to my (and a lot of other peoples) surprise, he pitched a great game. Jeter, Suzuki, and Swisher all went 2-5, with Cano 2-4. The team's hitting has been unstoppable and right on target and hopefully it will continue throughout their series with the Blue Jays and continue into their series against the Rangers and the Red Sox.

Today's pitchers are Nova (10-6) and Laffey (3-2). Nova has had some struggles on the mound lately, losing two in a row, but here's hoping to him turning things around to give the Yanks a second win in Toronto. Since joining the Yankees, Ichiro has been right on target, a great addition to the team both offensively and defensively. Suzuki matched a career high with 5 RBI's. He is batting .269 in 17 games since being traded to the Yankees. Mark Teixeira has become much more consistent who homered for the second straight game. Nick Swisher has also been hitting very well, along with Ibanez. In last night's game, Joe Girardi opted to bring Ibanez in to hit for Andruw Jones which was a smart decision, as Raul gave the Yanks a 10-3 lead.

While Bautista is out on the DL, Encarnacion is batting .285, has 29 home runs, 75 RBI's, and 69 runs but has been struggling lately with 1-13 in his last four and he's 1-9 against Nova. The Blue Jays have lost four games in a row and are 13 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.

Let's see if the Yanks can continue their awesome offense and if Nova can turn his game around and help them win the second game of the series. Let's go Yankees!

Tame Those Tigers Once, Tame Them Twice

The Yankees had a tough first couple of games against the Tigers, losing both and ultimately putting their first place standing into jeopardy. Last night we all saw the true Yankee team. They were right on target with their offense and CC Sabathia was dealing very tough pitches. The Yanks started off strong in the first inning. It all started with Eric Chavez, who singled to center to score Nick Swisher. Granderson was looking to leave his slump behind came up to bat and singled to right, which allowed Mark Teixeira to score to make it a 2-0 game. Granderson wasn't done there! He went yard in the third inning with a three run home run which made it 5-0. It was all Yankees throughout the first four innings when Swisher singled to right, scoring Jeter and Teixeira's sac fly to score Jeter to make it 7-0. Who would think the Tigers would come back? Great pitching, great offense for the Yanks..But they did. Boesch singled to center to get Detroit on the board. Before we all knew it, it was 7-3 Yankees. Ichiro reached on an infield single to first and Granderson scored which gave the Yankees an even bigger lead, but the Tigers weren't going to completely back down. The seventh inning was very long. The Tigers picked up four more runs to make it an 8-7 game. After watching their lead diminish the first two games against Detroit and losing I was thinking the same thing was about to happen last night too. The Yanks took over in the eighth and ninth innings, scoring two more runs which ultimately gave them a four run lead, and the final score was 12-8.

Today's matchup is between Kuroda (10-8) and Fister (6-7). I think the Yankees success last night definitely had to do with both their pitching and offense, but a key to their success early on in the game is to have shut out pitching. With a team like Detroit with great hitters like Cabrera, Kuroda cannot give them an easy pitch to take advantage of. If their pitching is on point and they continue their great base running and hitting, they will have no problems splitting this series! Let's go Yankees!

Sweeeep!

The Blue Jays arrived in the Bronx hopeful, but they left discouraged after the Yanks swept the series. They won Monday, 6-3, yesterday, 6-1, and closed out the series today with a 6-0 win.

Phil Hughes got the start on Monday against the Jays. He had a very productive outing, considering he had a one out walk to Bautista in the sixth inning, but the Yankee offense was too much for the Blue Jays to handle. Raul Ibanez, who had been struggling for some time hit his tenth career grand slam in the eighth inning to tie the game. Ibanez has assisted the Yanks to win for the seventh time in nine games, according to ESPN. He has received much more playing time in left field since Brett Gardner was placed on the DL, which has most likely helped his numbers. Robinson Cano increased his hitting streak to 19. Way to go Robbie!

The first inning was crucial for the Yanks. It really set the tone for the entire game. It started out when Swisher singled to right, allowing Jeter to score, making it 1-0. Teixeira homered to left center and Swisher scored making it 3-0. But wait! The Yanks weren't done.. Andruw Jones came up to the plate and singled to right, and scoring was Robbie Cano. 4-0 Yanks and it was only the first inning? You got it! What an inning! The Blue Jays just couldn't catch a break. It started again for the Yankees in the bottom of the fourth. Jayson Nix started the offense off with a double, Russell Martin walked, Dewayne Wise hit a ground rule double to right and Nix scored making it 5-0. In the 6th inning Wise singled to center and Nix scored for the final time, making it 6-0. The game was cut short due to rain after the sixth inning.

The Yankees offense was unstoppable during the whole series but they couldn't have won without their pitchers. CC. Sabathia had just come off the DL and he had an amazing game. Kudos to CC for pitching on a 95 degree night too! Kuroda and Hughes also had very productive outings as well. Cano also ended the series with his career high 23 game hitting streak!

Other news: David Ortiz headed to the DL for injured right achilles tendon. The Red Sox will call Mauro Gomez up to fill his spot.

Subway Series Round 2

The Yankees took first Subway Series at Yankee Stadium and swept the Mets. Could the Mets rally and take the second series from the Yanks?

After a 53 minute rain delay on Friday, June 22nd the second Subway Series got underway. It was Jonathan Niese (5-3) against Andy Pettitte (3-3). The Mets were off to a quick lead, scoring five runs in the first inning with just two outs. Ike Davis hit a three run home run, with Turner hitting a two run single. Davis followed Turner's hit with a fly to right that Swisher got a hand on but the ball decided to hop the fence and make it 5-0. The Yanks rallied in the top of the sixth when ARod homered to center and Andruw Jones went yard to left in the seventh inning. It was 5-2, the Yankees were giving the Mets a run for their money. David Wright wasn't going to let that happen! He doubled to deep left center which allowed Quintanilla to score to make it 6-2 Mets. Robinson Cano homered to right center in the eighth which scored Mark Texeira and made it 6-4. The Yanks were catching up, but Francisco came in closed out the game (Mets' 6-4 victory) after calling their crosstown rivals "chickens".

Although making several comments about their crosstown rivals, Francisco apologized and said he didn't mean anything by it. The Mets nicknamed the chicken 'Jerry Seinfeld'.

The starting pitchers were Young and Nova for the second game of the Subway Series. Chris Young is fresh off the DL, recovering from a shoulder injury. Nova, who is 9-2 has been spectacular for the Yanks. This was his fourth start in 13.5 months. The Mets started off strong again with a homer by Nieuwenhuis in the third inning. The Mets continued to soar in the bottom of the fourth when Josh Thole grounded out to first and Hairston scored, Quintanilla to third. It's not going to stop there for the Mets. Young singled to right to score Murphy making it 3-0, Thole to second. The Yanks were not going to take that! Ibanez homered to right and Texeira and Swisher scored tying the game at 3. Eric Chavez homered to left in the seventh to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. The Yanks held on and kept the Mets at 3 to win the game.

Fans were going to see the best pitchers in the rubber neck matchup of the second Subway Series, CC Sabathia and R.A. Dickey. The Yanks started the scoring off in this game with Mark Teixeira hitting a sacrifice fly to right, allowing Granderson to score in the third inning. Nick Swisher homered to center, also in the third and ARod and Robinson Cano scored making it 4-0 Yankees. The Mets started to rally in the third when Tejada hit sacrifice fly to left, scoring Torres. The Yanks were hungry for a win and it showed! Mark Teixeira grounded into fielder's choice and Granderson scored, and Tex got to second on an error by Tejada. David Wright singled to left and Dickey scored, Tejada went to second. The Mets weren't about to give up either. In the bottom of the sixth Torres singled to right and Turner and Thoele scored, Rottino to third.  Tejada singled to left, Rottino scored, and Torres went to second. The game was tied at 5 in the sixth. Leave it up to Robbie Cano! He homered in the eighth to make it 6-5. The Yanks took the series 2-1 and continue to dominate over the Mets in the Subway Series.

Let's see if the Yanks can keep their winning streak going in their upcoming series against the Indians.

Soaring or Plummeting?

The Baltimore Orioles have thrown everyone for a loop early this season. Baltimore, who ended the 2011 season with a 69-93 record, at the bottom of the AL East is currently 18-9 and in first place in the AL East with a four game winning streak. What are the contributing factors? Well, the Orioles have a fantastic bullpen. Not only is it deep, but it's strong too. They have a great starting rotation which makes having a deep bullpen even better.

Jim Johnson has eight saves this season thus far and has not given up one run this season.

The Orioles also have great defense as well, with Adam Jones and Nick Markakis. Matt Wieters could potentially be the best catcher in baseball right now, leading the Orioles in home runs (he has seven already this season), 17 RBI's, and .391 for on base percentage.

They recently won 2-3 of their series against the Red Sox and 2-3 against the Yankees, but were just swept by the Rangers.

The Rangers are spectacular right now. They are leading the AL West at 20-10. Their hitting is spectacular, as well as their defense, and pitching. The Rangers have it all right now. Can they maintain their great start to the season? Time will tell!