The Constant Gardner

The Yankees pulled out an important win in the 9th inning against the Baltimore Orioles last night, but Brett Gardner had to leave the game after one at-bat due to a oblique injury. It's possible that Gardner could be lost for the season after undergoing an MRI today, which in case you have forgotten, is Friday the 13th.

Gardner has played in 145 of the Yankees' 147 games, a far cry from last year when an injured right elbow limited him to just 16 games in the regular season. With Derek Jeter limited to 17 games this season, Gardner's role at the top of the order has been crucial to the Yankees keeping their toes in the water of the playoff race.

He's' not as aggressive as he once was, for reasons unknown to just about everyone, but Gardner has swiped 24 bases in 32 attempts this season. His .273 batting average and .416 slugging percentage are both above his career norms, and his hits (147), HR (8) , RBI (52),doubles (33), and triples (10) totals are career bests. His OPS (.759) is just three points lower than the career high he set in 2010.

Gardner also manned centerfield after being moved to left the past two seasons to accomodate Curtis Granderson. The move back to center would have occurred even Granderson hadn't suffered a broken forearm in Spring Training. With Garnder possibly out for at least the remainder of the regular season, Granderson will move back to centerfield and rookie Zoilo Almonte could see some more playing time.

As for Thursday night's game itself, the Yankees entered the 8th inning with a 5-2 lead, but David Robertaon had a rare terrible night that culminated in a game tying 3-run home run by Danny Valencia. Orioles reliever Jim Johnson got him off the hook though with a sloppy 9th inning.

After Brendan Ryan reached on a single, Johnson committed an error on Chris Stewart's sacrifice bunt attempt and everyone was safe. Granderson followed with a successful sac bunt and Ryan scored when Johnson unleashed a wild pitch.

Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 9th and was credited with his sixth. The official scorer could have given the win to Robertson, but didn't feel he deserved it after his performance. With no save for Rivera, the Yankees' closer remains tied for the AL lead with....you got it...Jim Johnson.  Coincidence much?

Granderson hit his 16th career home run aganist the Orioles, second only to Edwin Encarnacion's 19.

Phil Hughes started and was followed by David Huff. Both pitchers allowed one run in thee innings of work.

Kuroda Gem Gives Yankees First Home Series Win

Hiroki Kuroda punches the air after punching out Chris Davis.
(photo courtesy of AP) 

When the Yankees signed Hiroki Kuroda prior to the 2012 season they were hoping to get a pitcher to give them innings, keep them in the ball game, and win more times than not. They not only got all they expected, but much more when Kuroda was their best and most consistent starter for the 2012 season.

Kuroda came into Sunday night's game on the heels of two dubious starts. He took a liner off his finger tip in the second game of the season against Boston, and though he beat Cleveland this past Monday, he still wasn't sharp.

That all changed in front of a national television audience Sunday night against division rival Baltimore. Kuroda dominated the Orioles in a 3-0 shutout that raised the Yankees record to 6-5. The win gave the Yankees two straight series victories and their first one at home.  Kuroda was in control throughout and was pushed to 113 pitches (79 strikes) only because Jayson Nix committed a 9th inning error. With Mariano Rivera loosening in the bullpen, Kuroda struck out Chris Davis for the third time to end the game.

The game itself was reminiscent of last year's wild card series when neither team could hit their way out of a paper bag. Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen was setting down the Yankees with ease until the 5th inning when Brennan Boesch led off with one of his two singles on the night. He moved to second base on Francisco Cervelli's single and then over to third base on a fly out by Lyle Overbay.

Nix made small ball pay off when he lifted a deep fly to right for a ribbie sac fly and a 1-0 lead. Brett Gardner then powered up as much as he can and hit his second home run of the year near the top of the right field foul pole.

That was plenty for Kuroda, whose detractors said would be unable to compete in the AL East. They could not have been more wrong. He limited the O's to five hits, didn't walk a batter, and struck out five. He gave the Yankees innings, kept them in the game, and won. Mission accomplished.

O's Give Yankees Christmas in August

It wasn't Phelps' birthday, but he'll take it.

The Yankees were headed to another boring loss Saturday afternoon when, out of the goodness of their hearts, the Baltimore Orioles handed them the baseball game. Hopefully, after the game Joe Girardi sent a thank you note to Buck Showalter. It's the proper thing to do when someone gives such a tasteful gift.

The Yankees trailed 3-1 in the 7th inning after a shaky start from David Phelps (6 free passes, 3 ER in 4.1 IP) and a lack of hitting from a lineup that looked like it belonged in a future Old Timers Day. Then the magic happened, a magic we haven't seen too often in the Bronx this year.

Skipper Buck Showalter left starter Wei-Yin Chen in just a tad too long and the normally reliable bullpen and defense didn't get the job done.

Chen had allowed just two hits to that point- a 4th inning solo home run by Robinson Cano and a harmless single in the 6th inning by Nick Swisher. He retired Andruw Jones (seriously, still batting Jones in the clean up spot? In case you haven't noticed, Joe Girardi, that was last year that Jones killed lefties, not this year.) to start the inning, before Steve Pearce reached on a single.

No worries, Russell Martin flew out and Chen was about to finish up his day and get ready to watch Jim Johnson and company save the ball game. But the left-hander walked Jayson Nix and was kept in to face the right-handed hitting Eduardo Nunez, who had just been recalled from the minors. YES' Michael Kay and Ken Singleton speculated that it could be the biggest at-bat of Nunez's career, given the Yankees current circumstances.  They weren't wrong and Nunez came through with a broken bat bloop that landed softly in the outfield for an RBI single.

Showalter sent for hard throwing right-hander Pedro Strop to face Ichiro Suzuki with the tying and go ahead runs on base. Strop had been dynamite all year, but in his prior two games, the native of San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic had allowed three runs and five hits in 1.1 innings pitched. Hits weren't a problem against the Yankees, but Strop walked Ichiro Suzuki to load the bases and then lost a battle to Derek Jeter, that resulted in another walk and a tie ball game.

With left-hander Brian Matusz warmed up in the pen, Showalter stuck with Strop despite the fact that Swisher has hit righties at a better rate than when he's in the other batters' box. Perhaps Showalter was thinking about Swisher's "Golden Sombrero" in the series opener. Swisher lined a one-hopper that ate up shortstop J.J. Hardy, who compounded matters when he bobbled a second attempt at making a play. The error allowed the Yankees to take the lead for the first time in the series.

Then it came down to the Yankees bullpen and they were perfect. David Robinson retired the side in order in the 8th and Rafael Soriano struck out a pair in the 9th for his 35th save and an untucked shirt for a well done performance.

Notes

The victory moved the Yankees back to three games ahead of the O's entering Sunday's series finale. Phil Hughes will be pitted against red-hot Chris Tillman.

Curtis Granderson struck out in the 2nd inning and didn't return to the field due to a tight hamstring. The Yankees certainly don't need any additional injuries to their already weakened lineup and, thankfully, an MRI revealed no structural damage. The Grandy Man will be considered day-to-day for the moment.

The Yankees' pen did a fantastic job; in addition to Robertson and Soriano, Cody Eppley retired the only man he faced in the 5th inning and Boone Logan tossed two scoreless innings for the win. Baltimore only had one hit after the 5th inning.

David Phelps entered the game with a 2.7 walks per 9 innings average. He also averaged 9.4 K's per 9 innings, but picked up just 3 K's.