With Beasts of AL East Gone, Division Up For Grabs

There seems to be no grey area when the so-called experts talk about the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. One or both teams will compete for the AL East crown or will crash roughly into the basement. One thing is for sure, the divisional race will be a five team free-for-all.

Yankees - The two-time defending AL East champs are in a bind, but no one is feeling sorry for them. The team has been beset by injuries, gone on a payroll slashing spree, and has aged seemingly overnight. They won 95 games last year, but some of the keys to that team are either gone (Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Rafael Soriano) or on the disabled list (Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira).

What remains is a pretty good starting rotation of CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, and either Ivan Nova or David Phelps. Mariano Rivera is back after missing almost all of 2012 with a torn ACL and is joined by David Robertson, Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain, and Shawn Kelley to form a strong pen.

But the Yankees have several question marks about their offense and defense.  The Yankees relied heavily on the long ball last year to win games, but much of the power is now gone. Joe Girardi will instead depend on Brett Gardner to set the table as the lead off man. Gardner played only 16 games last year due to a surgically repaired elbow, causing the team to not be able to play much small ball.  His game is especially critical with Jeter out indefinitely as he continues to repair the ankle he broke in last year's post-season. An average between .270 and .280, a decent amount of walks, and 40+ steals are a must by Gardner.

Robinson Cano is now the go to guy in the lineup, the team's best hitter. The Gold Glove second baseman destroyed international pitching in the World Baseball Classic (1.296 OPS) and was commended for his leadership by Yankees bench coach and manager of the Dominican Republic entry, Tony Pena.

Cano slugged 33 home runs, knocked in 94 runs and had a career best .929 OPS in 2012.  The Yankees need him to repeat those type of numbers as well as improve his hitting with runners in scoring position (.268) and RISP with two outs (.207). They'll also need to find someone to bat behind Cano's third spot to give him some protection in the order.

Kevin Youkilis in a Yankees uniform? No way...wayyyyy. Timing is everything in life; back in 2003 Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone sent the Bronx Bombers to the World Series with a walk off solo home run in Game 7 of the ALCS. That winter Boone tore up his knee playing basketball prompting the Yankees to deal for Alex Rodriguez after Texas' deal with the Red Sox fell through.

This past off-season Rodriguez had hip surgery that opened a spot in the Yankees lineup. Youkilis banished from Boston at last season's trade deadline, signed a one year deal with the Yankees to fill the void. As it turns out Youkilis will non-simultaneously fill two voids. With Mark Teixeira sidelined with an injured tendon in his right wrist, Youkilis might see considerable playing time at first base when the opposing pitchers starts a left-hander.

Speaking of Teixeira, he and Swisher are both switch-hitters which made things tougher on opposing managers. But with Teixeira sidelined and Swisher now in Cleveland, the Yankees do not have a switch-hitter in their lineup. The Yankees may very well have three straight left-handers at the top of their lineup - Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki, and Cano - even when a left-hander is starting for the opposition.

The Yankees will need a healthy Teixeira, who is overly optimistic about a May 1 return, to come back healthy and with some strength in his wrist. He still faces the possibility of season ending surgery on the partially torn sheath.

The return of Curtis Granderson will be another huge step forward for the Yankees. Granderson had the bone in his right forearm broken in this year's first Spring Training game. (Thanks a lot J.A. Happ.) Granderson hit 43 home runs last year, but his overall at-bats were nowhere nearly as proficient as they were in 2011 when he hit 41 home runs and led the league in RBI (119) and runs scored (136). His OPS dipped over 100 points last season, he stole just 10 bases, and he struck out a ridiculous 195 times.

Granderson's 169 strikeouts in 2011 were too high as well, but it was tolerable due to everything else he brought to the table. The Yankees need Granderson to have a season more like the one he had with the Detroit Tigers in 2007 when he had 20+ doubles, triples, home runs, stolen bases, hit .302 and slugged .552.

With those two power sources out, Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, Brennan Boesch, and Ben Francisco are going to need to pick up the slack. (My guestimate is that Hafner will be DL'ed or released by mid-Summer.)

Lastly, the Yankees need for their captain to get healthy sooner rather than later, but they may have no choice. Ankles don't heal quickly and Jeter's is no exception to the rule. He had a phenomenal season with the bat in 2012 after a resurgence in the second half of 2011. His return to the lineup would also allow Girardi to mix up the right- and left-handed hitters. Jeter is also the face, heart, soul, and emotion of the ball club, and the Yankees could use a big dose of all of those.

Red Sox- The downfall of the Red Sox in 2012 actually began in 2011 when, on the verge of a playoff appearance, they collapsed down the stretch and went home with no post-season plans. There was the chicken eating/beer drinking controversy among the starting rotation and the thought that manager Terry Francona had lost control of the team.

Francona was fired, and over the objection of GM Ben Cherington, the organization hired Bobby Valentine. The move turned out to be a disaster. Whereas Francona was a players' manager, Valentine never connected with the squad and the team finished in last place with just 69 wins.

Cherington and company started the team makeover at the trade deadline last year when he dealt injured/under achieving Carl Crawford, whiny/sapped of power Adrian Gonzalez, and Non-leader leader and pain in the rump Josh Beckett to the LA Dodgers. In the off-season they brought in character guys Shane Victorino and Mike Napoli, and traded for closer Joel Hanrahan to strengthen their bullpen. They also signed free agent Ryan Dempster to try to solidify the starting rotation.

With Beckett gone, Jon Lester is now the ace, but he must revert to his pre-2012 performance. New manager/former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell needs Clay Buchholz and John Lackey to stay healthy and perform at a high level.

The Red Sox are counting on David Ortiz and Jacoby Ellsbury staying healthy to help Dustin Pedroia in the lineup and on youngsters Jackie Bradley Jr. and shortstop Jose Iglesias to perform like veterans. In Iglesias' case, at least until Stephen Drew returns from a concussion. Ortiz is already on the 15-day DL with troublesome heels- not a good omen for Boston.

Rays - Some teams like to flaunt their prospects, talk about how great they are, especially their pitchers. Neither the Tampa Bay Rays or the Oakland A's need to do that. They just continue to churn out guys that know how to pitch and are successful. The unfortunate side for both squads is they have to deal them away when the big contracts come into play.

The Rays have dealt Matt Garza and James Shields as they were on the brink of a big payday. But Joe Maddon can still turn to David Price (20-5, 2.56, 200+ innings for the fourth straight year), last year's AL Cy Young Award winner. He'll be followed by stars in the making Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore, promising youngster Alex Cobb, and veteran Roberto Hernandez (the former Fausto Carmona, beat out Jeff Niemann for the 5th spot).

Fernando Rodney was one of the most inconsistent relievers in all of baseball from 2002-2011. Then last year he was suddenly unhittable and saved 48 games in 50 attempts. He's joined by a host of power arms that gives the Rays an outstanding bullpen.

Offense has been an issue with the Rays for years, especially when their best hitter, Evan Longoria, is out of the lineup. Longoria missed 29 games in 2011, and a much more damaging 88 last year. Executive Vice-President of Baseball Operations/VP Andrew Friedman brought in second baseman Kelly Johnson and shortstop Yunel Escobar to help boost a lineup that finished 18th out of 30 teams last year in runs scored.

The Rays also need Matt Joyce and Desmond Jennings to continue to grow as offensive forces and Wil Myers (acquired for Shields and Wade Davis) waiting in the wings, but Longoria's health remains the key to success.

Orioles - Baltimore took everyone but themselves by surprise last year when they won 93 games and earned a wild card spot. They then knocked off the two time defending AL pennant champion Texas Rangers in the one game wild card playoff before losing in five games to the Yankees in the division series.

Buck Showalter's squad got big performances from rookies Miguel Gonzalez and Wei-Yin Chen, and a career-best year from veteran Jason Hammel. Closer Jim Johnson came into his own with a 51 save season to lead a solid bullpen.

Offensively, Chris Davis had a bust out year, Adam Jones shone like the star scouts always thought he would be, and catcher Matt Wieters produced his second consecutive solid season with the bat. Third baseman Manny Machado, a natural shortstop, played in 51 regular season games and played like 10-year veteran and not a 19-year old rookie. Imagine what they might do if second baseman Brian Roberts could ever stay healthy.

As a team, the Orioles got things done when they needed to. They were a phenomenal 29-9 in one run games, the best winning percentage (.763) in the modern era. The team also won 16 straight extra inning contests and did it all by using 12 different starting pitchers.

The O's are going to find it difficult to repeat the level of last year's play unless they can get a steady performance from their starting rotation and not have their offense fade away as it did in the playoffs.

Blue Jays - Toronto is the last team written about here, but they won't be near the bottom of the AL East standings. Though I am not going to go crazy on the Blue Jays bandwagon as many people have, the team's off-season moves have made them a formidable opponent.

This past November, the Miami Marlins, in one of their notorious salary dumping move, dealt veteran pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, shortstop Jose Reyes, and utility man Emil Bonifacio  to the Jays for four young Major Leaguers and three minor leaguers.

It cost them highly touted prospect Travis d'Arnaud, but Toronto then added NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey through a trade with the Mets. If Johnson stays healthy, Brandon Morrow gets more consistent, and Ricky Romero can revert to pre-2012 form, the Blue Jays starting staff is one to be reckoned with.

The bullpen is of major concern though with closer Casey Janssen  and former closer Sergio Santos both returning from shoulder surgery. The Blue Jays hope both are healthy in which case Santos will have ample opportunity to win back the job the Jays acquired him for after the 2011 season.

The two biggest question marks on offense are, is Jose Bautista healthy and can Edwin Encarnacion come anywhere near repeating his 2012 season? After winning two straight AL home run titles, Bautista went down with the injury that is now plaguing the Yankees' Mark Teixeira. After missing a month of the 2012 season, Bautista returned for two games in August, but was immediately shut down and required surgery to stabilize the tendon in his left wrist. He appears ready to go this year after he hit six home runs in Spring Training  and compiled a 1.000+ OPS.

Encarnacion has always been a player that has the burden of potential. Last year he realized it when he had career years in almost every offensive category, including 41 HR, 110 RBI, and a .941 OPS. Everyone doubted that Bautista could repeat his 2010 season when he slugged 54 home runs, but he followed that up with a 43 home run performance. Can Encarnacion follow suit?

The answer here is somewhat so; I would expect the 30-year old to be closer to 30 home runs and his RBI potential will depend on the risks the team took when they acquired Colby Rasmus last season and signed free agent/busted PED user Melky Cabrera.

Expect the Blue Jays to score plenty of runs either way, home and away. One final note- very odd choice to bring John Gibbons back as manager after being the skipper from 2004-2008.

Predictions:

So there you have the team by team preview of the AL East. So who wins the division and where do the Yankees fit?

1. Tampa Bay takes the AL East due to their combination of starting pitching and bullpen. They should also be improved offensively.

2. Toronto; the Blue Jays will have plenty of offense and solid starting pitching. The bullpen should be the only issue (outside of unpredictable injuries) that could sink their season. Otherwise they'll compete for one of the two wild card spots.

3. Yankees; the starting rotation and bullpen will get the job done, but the team is short on offensive firepower and looking to catch lightning in a bottle with guys like Vernon Wells and Brennan Boesch. If Granderson, Teixeira, and Jeter  (and what of Alex Rodriguez?) can return and contribute the team could slide up to second place and a wild card slot. But the feeling here is they will miss the playoffs for just the second time since the 1993 season.

4. Orioles; there would be plenty of outrage in Baltimore at this prediction. The Orioles starting rotation doesn't intimidate anyone and too many things would have to go right to win 90+ games again, especially with Toronto's improvement. Baltimore will give everyone a hard time though.

5. Red Sox; there should be no shock here. The Sox were in last place last year and didn't improve enough to get back to .500. Even before he was hurt, Lackey was struggling. Victorino isn't the player he once was and Napoli is overrated offensively.

Yankees Battery Powers Past Tampa Bay

The Yankees best pitcher of the second half picked up his 14th win of the season and his catcher continued his mini-resurgence with his 17th home run of the year in the Yankees 6-4 defeat of the Tampa Bay Rays.  The loss dropped the Rays five games back in the AL East and four games behind Baltimore for the second wild card spot.

Hiroki Kuroda (14-10) was outstanding through the first five innings before he ran into trouble in the 6th inning, and the Yankees bullpen blanked the Rays over the final three innings.  Kuroda faced seven batters in the first two innings and struck out six of them. The only batter to make contact and put a ball in play was Ben Zobrist who doubled with one out in the 1st inning.

Kuroda ended his day with 10 K's, second only to his 11-strikeout performance against the Chicago White Sox on June 30. Kuroda's battery mate, Russell Martin, gave his partner a big boost when the Yankees got on the board with a five-run 3rd inning against Rays starter Matt Moore.

Eduardo Nunez, making another start at shortstop, drew a lead off walk and quickly stole second base. DH Derek Jeter followed with an RBI single to right to snap the scoreless tie. It was Jeter's 199th hit of the season and his only base knock of the day.

Jeter advanced to second base on the play and was sacrificed to third by the slumping Nick Swisher. Alex Rodriguez continued to swing a hot bat with an RBI single of his own for a 2-0 Yankees lead. Robinson Cano then walked and Martin deposited a pitch in the right field seats for a 5-0 advantage. Martin is one home run shy of his total from last season and two behind his career high of 19 that he established as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007.

Zobrist homered off Kuroda in the 4th to get the Rays on the board, but A-Rod quickly got the run back with a sac fly after Nunez reached on an error and stole second and third in the bottom of the inning.  A loss of Kuroda's control and an oblivious Yankees fan nearly cost the Yankees the lead in the 6th.

Kuroda walked Jonathan Lobaton to start the frame and Desmond Jennings followed with a single. Zobrist hit a foul pop on the right side that 1st baseman Steve Pearce had a chance to put away. The ball was about a row deep into the seats, but a leaping Pearce collided with a Yankees fan who was looking for a souvenir and the ball fell free. The fan apologized and Pearce was forgiving (clearly this was not a "Bartman" incident), but Kuroda proceeded to walk Zobrist to load the bases.

Evan Longoria took advantage of the opportunity with a two-run single that cut the Yankees lead in half. The Rays pushed another run across, but the Yankees traded it for the double play Matt Joyce hit into. With the score 6-4, Kuroda k'ed B.J. Upton, who had the Golden Sombrero on the day, to end the inning.

The Rays put two aboard with two out an inning later, but David Phelps struck out Jennings to escape the jam. The last gasp for the Rays came in the 9th when A-Rod made an error that brought the tying run to the plate. But Rafael Soriano picked up his 40th save when Jeff Keppinger bounced into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.

The Pena is Mightier Than The Closer

An opening game (opening day is really at home...to me anyway) match up of CC Sabathia and James Shields. You're talking a 2-1/3-2 game! And it was...by the 2nd inning. Only the Rays had already scored four.

Despite a shaky outing from Sabathia, the Yankees led 6-5 in the 9th thanks to an even shakier start from Shields and Raul Ibanez' 4 RBI. And then things got really ugly. Mariano Rivera started his 18th season by blowing the lead and then the game in the 9th inning. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was thinking, "game over" when Mo stepped on the mound.

But Rivera left a pitch up to lead off hitter Desmond Jennings that resulted in a lead off single and Ben Zobrist ripped a cutter up the alley in right-center for an RBI triple. Rivera, who intentionally walked two batters in all of 2011, issues free passes to Evan Longoria and Luke Scott to set up a force at any base.

Rivera struck out Sean Rodriguez, but threw another meatball to Carlos Pena, who drove it to the base of the wall in left-center for the game winner. It was a big day for Pena who was a member of the Rays from 2007 - 2010 and was greeted with a standing ovation his first time at-bat. The 1st baseman, who spent last season with the Cubs, got the fans even louder when he stroked a grand slam off of Sabathia to give the Rays a 1st inning, 4-0 lead.

Some questionable strategy came into play prior to Pena's at-bat when Joe Girardi intentionally walked Rodriguez with two outs and a base open. Though it set up a lefty-lefty confrontation, Pena is a much more dangerous hitter than Rodriguez.

The Yankees had cut the lead to 4-3 with the help of a rare bout of wildness from Shields and took the lead in the 4th when Ibanez blasted a 3-run home run deep into the right field seats. Ibanez had struggled for most of spring training, but had said that it was meaningless. He was right for at least one day. Rivera backed Ibanez's words up by having a great spring training and a really bad opener.

Notes

The Yankees looked like the Yankees for much of last season, going 2-11 with runners in scoring position. Though Mark Texeira walked twice, he and Nick Swisher looked off balance most of the day.

No manager love defensive shifts more than Joe Maddon and it paid off on Friday when his strategy took two hits away from Curtis Granderson.

Baseball Digest | For Napoli, The Price Was Right

The pitcher is tall and lean, fluid and precise; a baseball magazine cover boy. The batter is average looking, the guy next door changing the oil in his driveway. But the batter can mash and today he did. Mike Napoli’s 2-run home run off of David Price in the 7th inning gave the Texas Rangers their first lead of the day en route to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The victory also gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead in the best of five series.

Price had scattered five hits and a walk through six innings before Adrian Beltre led off the top of the 7th with a single. After a wild pitch moved Beltre into scoring position, Price threw a 2-2 fastball right into Napoli’s wheelhouse and the catcher turned on it and sent it into the left field seats. The Rangers grabbed the momentum by the horns and used their speed to gain another two runs. After Craig Gentry’s two out single knocked Price from the ball game, Brandon Gomes walked Ian Kinsler and the two base runners pulled off a double steal.

When Gomes walked shortstop Elvis Andrus as well, Rays’ manager Joe Maddon brought in left-hander J.P. Howell to face the left-handed hitting Josh Hamilton. But the career .278 hitter against southpaws came through with a line drive single to right to plate two more for a 4-1 Rangers’ lead.

Read the rest of this free story at BaseballDigest.com

Posada's Pinch Is A Clinch

He's had a miserable season. Benched, pinch-hit for, his position taken away from; publicly humiliated, some of it caused by his own actions. But through it all Jorge Posada never gave up and Wednesday night he was rewarded. Posada snapped a 2-2 tie with a bases loaded single in the bottom of the 8th to give the Yankees a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays that enabled them to clinch the AL East.

Posada wasn't the only one dissed this season. The entire Yankees squad was dissed as it seemed 99% of the media picked the Boston Red Sox to win the division. But as Boston lost Wednesday night for the 14th time in 18 games, the Yankees knocked off the Rays for the third straight game, actually helping Boston out in the process. The Red Sox remained 2.5 games ahead of Tampa Bay in the wild card race, though the LA Angels are also back in the mix, just 2.5 back as well.

CC Sabathia hoped to earn his 20th win tonight and now will likely stay at 19 since his scheduled start on Monday will be a short one with Game 1 of the ALDS scheduled for Friday. Sabathia threw 127 pitches, but was pulled with one out in the top of the 8th after he walked Evan Longoria to load the bases. Sabathia got a no decision when David Robertson came on and induced an inning ending double play ball from Ben Zobrist.

With one out in the bottom of the 8th, pinch-hitter Nick Swisher hustled his way to a double when he dropped a fly in left-center field. Lefty Jake McGee retired Curtis Granderson on a shallow fly for the second out and then Rays manager Joe Maddon decided to mix and match. Right-hander Juan Cruz walked Mark Teixeira though and then after lefty Cesar Ramos couldn't get Robinson Cano to chase a pitch out of the zone, Maddon ordered an intentional walk to Cano to load the bases.

With righty Jesus Montero due up, Maddon went to the pen again for right-hander Brandon Gomes. That's when Girardi opted to pinch-hit Posada for the player who not that long ago seemed like a lock to play ahead of Posada in the post-season. Posada, who later admitted to Kim Jones that he thought it was the 9th inning, hit a rope to right to score pinch-runner Greg Golson and Teixeira to take the lead.

With Mariano Rivera unavailable after pitching in the day porition of the day-night twinbill, Rafael Soriano came on in the 9th for the save. He allowed a two out single to Casey Kotchman, but struck out Matt Joyce to end it.

Notes

After watching fellow rookie Ivan Nova toss a gem on Tuesday night, Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson tossed a great game of his own. He limited the Yankees to just two runs and two hits over seven innings and lowered his ERA to 2.90.

The Yankees held a 2-1 lead on Robinson Cano's 27th home run and an a DP grounder by Jesus Montero that plated a run, but CC Sabathia allowed a solo home run to Sean Rodriguez in the 7th inning to tie the game.

Cano Pulls Up The Sox

It has to be painful for Boston Red Sox fans right now. Not only has their team been in a tremendous slump for weeks, but now they have to root for the Yankees as well. And so far, the Yankees have done right by their rivals to the north. Robinson Cano delivered the game winning 2-run double this afternoon as the Yankees rallied late to top the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 in the first of a day-night doubleheader. The win assured the Yankees of a post-season appearance for the 16th time in 17 years.

The victory came on the heels of last night's excellent performance by Ivan Nova (16-4) in a 5-0 white washing of the Rays and dropped Tampa Bay 2.5 games behind Boston in the AL Wild Card. The Yankees,can thank their bullpen for giving them a chance to win this afternoon.

Starter Phil Hughes was scratched due to back spasms and was replaced by Hector Noesi. The rookie last just two plus innings and allowed a 2-run home run to fellow newbie Desmond Jennings to put the Yankees in a 2-1 hole. But as Rays starter James Shields was putting up goose eggs on the scoreboard, the Yankees pen was matching him. Raul Valdes, George Kontos, Aaron Laffey, Cory Wade, Boone Logan, Luis Ayala (2-2), and Mariano Rivera scattered five hits and one walk over the final 6.1 innings.

Meanwhile Shields dominated a Yankees lineup that had no Curtis Granderson or Mark Teixeira in it. Held to just four hits through seven innings, New York tied it up when Eduardo Nunez led off the 8th with his 5th home run of the season. When Brett Gardner followed with a single and Derek Jeter walked, Rays manager Joe Maddon went to lefty J.P. Howell to face Cano. But Cano, who entered the game hitting .318 against southpaws, smashed a pitch to the base of the wall in center to score both runners. Mariano Rivera then picked up save #603 with a 1-2-3 9th inning.

- - -

Getting back to Nova's game last night. No other Yankees starter, besides CC Sabathia, would have been given the opportunity to escape the 7th inning, bases loaded no out jam in last night's ball game. It showed the tremendous trust that manager Joe Girardi has in his rookie starter. Nova retired Desmond Jennings on a fly to shallow left-center and got B.J. Upton to hit into an inning ending double play.

Nova, who leads all rookies in wins, has won his last 12 decisions. He's the 5th Yankees pitcher to go 12-0 over a 15 game span, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The others are Whitey Ford, Lefty Gomez, Ron Guidry, and Roger Clemens.

The Yankees stranded 18 runners on Tuesday night; the most since they left 20 on base in 1956.

Yankees Give Rays The 'G' Treatment

It's not quite the same as the M & M boys of Mantle and Maris, but the Tampa Bay Rays got a double dose of the letter 'G' on Wednesday night. Curtis Granderson homered, made a marvelous catch in centerfield, and shook off a mid-90s David Price fastball to his back to help Freddy Garcia and the Yankees to a 4-0 win.

Garcia was every bit as good as he was bad against the Blue Jays last week. He would have pitched seven full innings if not for an Eduardo Nunez error that kept the inning alive. Garcia was on target all night, 66 of his 93 pitches were for strikes, as he struck out seven and did not walk a batter.

Granderson gave him a good head start when he followed Derek Jeter's lead off walk in the 1st inning with his 26th home run of the season into the right field seats. It was just the fourth home run a lefty batter had hit against the left-handed Price in his career (the second by Granderson). The Yankees added some insurance in the 9th on a two out, two run single by Nunez for a 4-0 final. Until then the game was a nail biter. Garcia struck out Matt Joyce with two runners aboard to end the bottom of the 1st and did the same to Evan Longoria in the 3rd.

Sam Fuld doubled with two away in the 4th and moved to third on a wild pitch, but Garcia K'ed Sean Rodriguez to strand another Rays' runner in scoring position. Casey Kotchman's two out double in the 5th put two runners in scoring position for Longoria, who hit a deep drive to center field. Granderson, who lost a crucial fly ball in the ceiling Tuesday night, this time had the ball all the way and tracked it down just before crashing into the center field wall.

The Yankees bullpen was dominant in the game as well. Boone Logan came on in the 7th to strike out Casey Kotchman to strand a pair, and David Robertson and Mariano Rivera struck out two of the three batters they each faced.

Notes

Tampa Bay's Matt Joyce earned the "Golden Sombrero" with a four strike out night.

Eric Chavez went 4-5 as a DH for the Single-A Tampa Yankees on Wednesday. He'll play the field on Thursday.

Rafael Soriano, who pitched 1.1 innings in a rehab appearance for Tampa on Tuesday, will make another appearance on Thursday.

Ivan Nova was placed on Scranton's disabled list with a sore ankle.

Yankees Walk To Win

Mark Teixeira snared the last out from the stands.

A.J. Burnett was going through one of those frustrating nights last night that has become the hallmark of his 2 1/2 years as a Yankee. He wasn't putting hitters away, he put his team in a 4-1 hole, and he got into a verbal disagreement with a Yankees fan sitting behind the visitors' dugout. But the Tampa Bay Rays had a bigger issue. They had used nine pitchers the night before- actually the same day, since the game ended after 1 a.m., in a 16-inning loss to the Red Sox. The result was a kid making his Major League pitching debut and a come-from-behind 5-4 win for the Yankees.

23-yr old Alex Torres was one out away from getting out of a 9th inning jam, but it was not meant to be. He gave up a lead off single to Curtis Granderson, but struck out Mark Teixeira for the first out. (Teixeira, like players and managers on both sides, had trouble with home plate umpire Ed Hickox' balls and strikes calls and it affected his final two at-bats, both of which were strikeouts.) Granderson swiped second with Robinson Cano up and moved to third when Cano grounded out to second.

Rays' manager Joe Maddon decided to intentionally walk Nick Swisher to set up a matchup with the less productive Andruw Jones. The move backfired though, when Torres unintentionally gave Jones a free pass to load the bases. Then, everything exploded in Maddon's face when Torres missed with a 3-2 pitch to Russell Martin to force in the go-ahead run. Mariano Rivera then pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 24th save.

Trailing 1-0, the Rays came right back with a three spot in the bottom of the 1st inning. Burnett got off on the wrong foot by walking Johnny Damon and then allowed a single to Ben Zobrist. Evan Longoria brought both runners home with a double to left-center for a 2-1 Rays lead. Casey Kotchman singled to move Longoria up a base, but Teixeira's Gold Glove defense temporarily saved Burnett from further trouble.

Teixeira gloved B.J. Upton's grounder, froze Longoria at third and started a 3-6-3 double play. (It helped that Upton, as usual, didn't run hard to first). Burnett didn't take advantage of his good fortune though, when he fielded Sean Rodriguez' chopper and threw wildly to first for a run-scoring error.

Rookie starter Alex Cobb held the Yankees to three hits over six innings, but the Yankees chipped away at the lead in the 8th against Cesar Ramos and former Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Cano singled to start the frame and Swisher followed with a walk. Farnsworth retired Jones, but gave up back-to-back singles to Brett Gardner and Martin to produce a run, and another scored on Eduardo Nunez' fielder's choice.

David Robertson struck out two of the three batters he faced in the 8th inning to raise his record to 3-0. He now has 59 strikeouts in 37.1 innings.

Tie Me Up Tie Me Down

The Yankees made their first trip to Port Charlotte, FL yesterday to take on the Tampa Bay Rays and pitching ruled the day. The game was called after 10 innings of a 1-1 tie.

Freddy Garcia made his latest pitch(es) for a spot in the starting rotation throwing two scoreless innings. He had 1-2-3 1st which concluded with a strikeout of Evan Longoria and got some help in the 2nd when he gave up a pair of singles, but Matt Joyce killed a potential rally with a base running error. Ivan Nova, one of the favorites to be a starter, helped his own cause with three scoreless innings.

Dellin Betances still needs to work on his command and it showed when he walked in the only Rays run with the bases loaded in the 7th. It was his third walk in an inning and two-thirds. The Yankees tied it up on an error in the 8th.

The Bombers were bomberless, managing just four hits off Rays pitching. Starter James Shields tossed three scoreless frames for Tampa.

Yankees and Red Sox play tonight in Tampa and as much as Michael Kay wants to promo the game, it does not "renew the rivalry".

The Yankees are concerned about Francisco Cervelli who fouled a ball off his foot against the Astros on Wednesday. He initially stayed in the game, but later went for a CT Scan, which showed no issues. However an MRI taken the next day has been sent to NY for further evaluation as the Yankees fear there may be a fracture.

UPDATE - Further tests on Friday revealed a fracture in Cervelli's foot. He's expected to miss a month, which will open a big door for Jesus Montero to be the back up catcher.

Cano Tops List of AL Gold Glove Winners

Anyone who got the opportunity to watch Robinson Cano play 2nd base this past season knew he had a great chance of winning his first Gold Glove. Today those thoughts came to fruition.

Cano won his first Gold Glove award after a season filled with displays of remarkable range, sparking plays, and most importantly perhaps, consistently making the routine plays.

Cano was joined by shortstop Derek Jeter, who won his 5th Gold Glove, and Mark Teixeira, a 4-time winner. Cano and Jeter became the first Yankees middle infield duo to win the award in the same season.

Adding to their previous awards were pitcher Mark Buehrle, outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, catcher Joe Mauer, and Evan Longoria. In addition to Cano, outfielders Franklin Gutierrez and Carl Crawford each picked up their first award.

Jeter's award, of course, immediately set off a firestorm of discussion on Twitter as does anything the Yankees' captain does.

Rays ReJoyce

Phil Hughes was cruising along, mixing a mid-90s fastball with a great curve. Then the 6th inning came along and all of that hard work changed in the blink of the eye. Matt Joyce belted a Hughes cutter into the right field seats with two aboard and the Tampa Rays went on to a 3-2 victory. The win moved the Rays to within one game of the Yankees in the AL East.

Hughes had allowed just two hits through the first five innings before John Jaso started the 6th off with a single. A one out walk to Evan Longoria brought the go ahead run to the plate in the person of Yankee killer Carlos Pena. The Rays 1st baseman bounced into a force out, but Joyce connected on a 2-2 pitch well out of the reach of a climbing Nick Swisher in right.

Rafael Soriano recorded his 29th save when he retired the Yankees in order in the 9th. It included getting Alex Rodriguez, who went 0-4, to pop up for the first out of the frame.

The Yankees took the lead off Wade Davis in the 1st when Derek Jeter led off the game with a single and Swisher followed with his 19th home run of the year. But that was all the offense the Yankees could put up on the board as they had just two more hits the rest of the evening.

It was only the 4th home run of the year for Joyce, but his second big one within a week. His home run broke up the duel no-hitter between Detroit's Max Scherzer and Tampa's Matt Garza on Monday. Garza would go on to complete the no-no.

Joba Chamberlain made a good appearance, retiring all six men he faced. Half of them were by strikeout.

And You Wanted To Be My Latex Salesman

My pre-season pick for the AL MVP was none other than the Rays' B.J. Upton. I had a hunch this would be a bust out year for him. The one that took his game to another level.

Boy was I wrong.

Upton's splits - .223/.318/.392 stink. He's got just 29 RBI.

Back in 2007 it appeared Upton was ready for stardom. He hit .300, belted 24 HR and drove in 82 runs. His OPS was nearly .900.

But his lack of hustle, and it's not a perceived lack, at times and his attitude have diminished as has his game. Things came to a head on Sunday when Upton loped after a ball hit to the gap in left-center field. When the Rays got back in the dugout Evan Longoria got in his teammates face. Upton's reaction, as you can see in the video, was none too pleasant.

Ironically, the game ended when Chris Young hustled to catch a deep fly ball hit by Upton.

Upton's days in Tampa Bay very well becoming to an end. The Rays have shown their not afraid to move talented, but underachieving players (i.e. Delmon Young).

Perhaps a deal for Carlos Zambrano?





Zambrano's weekend flip out. Is there something in the dugout water?



photo courtesy of onpublicspeaking.com

Swisher Keeps Summer of Fun Going

Swishhhh...nothing but seats
Written for Baseball Digest

The Summer of Fun continued in the Bronx last night as Nick Swisher provided the first and last runs in the Yankees 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. After a rare "bad" outing by Phil Hughes, Swisher's second home run home run of the game provided the Yankees 13th walk off win of the season. The 9th inning victory put the Pinstripes 40 games over .500 (90-50) and raised their winning pct. to .750 since the All-Star break.

Hughes came on in the 8th to protect a 2-1 lead, but Jason Bartlett smacked his 13th home run of the season to tie things up. It was the first earned run allowed by Hughes since August 4 and the first home run given up since June 10. But Swisher, who had smacked his 25th home run of the season in the 1st inning off starter David Price, turned around to the left side against Dan Wheeler and hit a laser into the first row in right field.

A wild celebration ensued, the culmination of course being an A.J. Burnett delivered pie to the face. Swisher, whose personality has helped turned the ball club from a corporate, button down philosophy to a more relaxed business casual, enjoyed every moment of it.

Alex Rodriguez' RBI single in the 6th had given the Yankees a 2-0 lead behind Chad Gaudin (6 IP 6 H 1 ER 2 BB 6 K), who was clearly having his best outing as a Yankee. Through six scoreless innings he had thrown just 65 pitches and scattered four hits. But Evan Longoria greeted him in the 7th with a lead off home run, his 30th, and Gaudin was pulled after a walk and single followed. Joe Girardi fully utilized his bullpen, bringing in Damaso Marte, Brian Bruney, and Phil Coke to strand both runners.

Game Notes

Derek Jeter's hitless string continued as he only put the ball in play once. His third straight 0-4 left him 0-12 in his last three games.

Mariano Rivera (2-2) earned the win after pitching a scoreless 9th inning.

From the Elias Sports Bureau - Nick Swisher tied his own AL record (2007), shared with Tony Clark, for most games (3) in which he has homered from both sides of the plate in one season.

Rays 1st Baseman Carlos Pena will miss the rest of the season after suffering two broken fingers on his throwing (left) hand. CC Sabathia hit him with a pitch in Monday's day part of the day-night doubleheader. Pena currently leads the AL with 39 home runs.

David Robertson has been experiencing discomfort in his elbow and will be visiting Dr. James Andrews for further evaluation.

Joba Chamberlain will get his 3 inning stint tonight when he faces Jeff Niemann in the series finale (7:05 P.M. ET TV-ESPN).

Yankees Take Tampa Opener

Nick Swisher's hustle helped score the game winner.

Written for Baseball Digest Online

Derek Jeter moved no closer to Lou Gehrig's all-time Yankees hit record, but the Yankees took the opener of a day-night doubleheader with the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1. CC Sabathia and Matt Garza dueled for seven innings in a 1-1 game before the Yankees broke through against the Rays bullpen in the 8th inning. Mariano Rivera came on in the 9th, making his first appearance since September 1st, and picked up his 39th save.

Jeter was 0-4 and made the final out in the 7th. He then watched as seven of his teammates came to the plate an inning later. Nick Swisher drew a lead off walk from Lance Cormier and Mark Teixeira followed with a single to right. Gabe Kapler booted the ball, allowing both runners to move up a base. Joe Maddon knows the Yankees well so he walked Alex Rodriguez to set up a match up with Robinson Cano. The 2nd baseman entered the game hitting just .240 this season with the bases loaded. But Cano drove a ball to deep center to score pinch-runner Jerry Hairston Jr. with the go ahead run.

Maddon sent for submariner Chad Bradford, but Jorge Posada lined an RBI single to right and Eric Hinske added another insurance run with a sacrifice fly. That left things up to Rivera to close things out. He walked Pat Burrell to start the inning, but struck out Evan Longoria, retired pinch-hitter Gabe Gross on a pop up, and struck out pinch-hitter Aki Iwamura to tie Brian Fuentes for the AL lead in saves.

Phil Hughes pitched a scoreless 8th inning to improve his record to 6-2. He got off the wrong foot, issuing a lead off walk to speedster Carl Crawford. But the Yankees guessed correctly and called for a pitch out. It enabled Jorge Posada to throw out Crawford trying to steal 2nd base.

The Yankees had just seven hits on the day, three of them by A-Rod, who drove in the Bombers first run with a 1st inning single. Longoria tied the game at one apiece with his 29th home run, and 101st RBI, in the 2nd inning.

Game Notes

CC Sabathia allowed three hits, walked four and struck out 10, matching his season high.

Brett Gardner was 0-3 in his return to the Yankees line up. He had been on the DL since July 26 with a fractured wrist.

A.J. Burnett faces Andy Sonnanstine in the nightcap.