E-3, Thank You Very Much

Eduardo Nunez, Pinball Wizard

The Yankees-Oakland A's series this weekend has been an exciting (agita) one. Friday night's series opener saw a great pitcher's duel between CC Sabathia and Jarrod Parker that the Yankees won in extras after Rafael Soriano blew the Yankees lead in the 9th.

Saturday went a few steps further; pitching was pretty mediocre, fielding even worse (by the A's), but when it was all over that word "improbable" was being bandied about again. Hey, I even got to use the word "bandied". In the end the Yankees pulled out an "improbable" 10-9 victory in 14 innings.

The Yankees had to go to Freddy Garcia for a 4th inning of relief due to a shortened bullpen (neither Soriano or David Robertson was available). Using Garcia for that length of time is like juggling sticks of dynamite. You know that eventually it's going to go off. Just ask Arzt - "Dude, you've got some Arzt on you".

The 13th inning is when things blew up for the Yankees. Garcia gave up a 2-run home run to Jonny Gomes (who really looks like he should be a professional wrestler) and followed that up by throwing a meatball to Yoenis Cespedes for a solo home run. Back-to-back and belly-to-belly is not so much fun when it's the other team.

Joe Girardi then went to a Red Sox castoff, you notice these guys never pitch well?, Justin Thomas who gave up a solo bomb to Chris Carter for a 9-5 A's lead. With the day game turning into a night game there weren't too many people left watching for an improbable victory. For shame, for what they missed out.

A's skipper Bob Melvin went to his 7th pitcher, Pedro Figueroa, to start the bottom half of the 13th. No relation to Ed Figueroa, as far as I know, the A's reliever surrendered singles to Ichiro Suzuki, Alex Rodriguez, and Robinson Cano to load the bases with no one out. John Sterling ran another ad for "this call to the bullpen..." and Pat Neshek came on.

The one time highly regarded Minnesota Twins product immediately threw a wild pitch to cut the lead to 9-6. Eduardo Nunez followed with a sac fly that halved the deficit and brought Raul Ibanez to the plate as the tying run. Ibanez had delivered a pinch-hit home run earlier in the game, his first long ball since August 5. It wasn't hist last of the day. The veteran of 17 seasons smashed Neshek's side winder into the right field seats to tie the game at 9 apiece. What was left of the crowd went bananas...or maybe that's because liquor had been cut out six innings earlier.

Corey Wade tossed a perfect 14th to set the stage for a walk off, well more of a stumble off, victory.  Tyson Ross replaced Neshek and gave up a lead off single to Eric Chavez. Derek Jeter sacrificed pinch-runner Melky Mesa (who ever though not one, but two Melky's would play in the Majors.), which led to an intentional walk to Ichiro.

A-Rod ripped a line drive to center that was hit too hard to score Mesa, but the bases were loaded with just one out. That quickly became two outs when Cano weak grounder to the right side was fielded by Ross, who got the force out at home. But the A's, who already had two errors, thrown three wild pitches, balked, and hit a batter, were happy to oblige once more.  Nunez hit a sharp grounder that ricocheted off first baseman Branon Moss for the A's third error of the day and enabled Mesa to score the game winner, the Yankees seventh straight victory.

Notes

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, and thank you to NJ.com's Jeff Bradley, the Yankees came back from a 4-run deficit in extra innings and won for just the second time in franchise history. The firs time was back on September 17, 1980 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Derek Jeter's 1-7 performance extended his hitting streak to 16 games, but it is now unlike the captain can catch Miguel Cabrera for the batting lead. Jeter dropped to .321 while Cabrera's 1-4 performance left him at .332. Mike Trout is in between at .325.

Steve Pearce did his best Mark Teixeira imitation yesterday, making a pair of diving stabs to save the game.

Pen Beats a Tribe Called Less

I will not untuck before it's time.

Fans of the Cleveland Indians had their hopes up when the team burst out of the gate with a 27-21 record and led the AL Central from May 2 to May 28. But after splitting the first 100 games, the Tribe entered Sunday's action with the Yankees having lost 21 of their last 26 games and plummeted to 14.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.

The teams split the first two games of the series with Swisher & Soriano saving Sabathia's start (I've been waiting days to say that....if Dan Rather said it, he'd whistle your ear right off) for the win on Friday and then the Yankees hitters let down Hiroki Kuroda, who was excellent again after a shaky first inning, in Saturday's defeat.

Sunday afternoon's rubber game of the series was all about the Yankees' bullpen after Sweaty Freddy Garcia couldn't make it out of the 5th inning for the second straight start. The Yankees built a 3-0 lead against starter Ubaldo Jimenez  on RBI singles by Nick Swisher and Ichiro Suzuki, sandwiched around a Derek Jeter run producing ground out in the 2nd inning,

But after seeing leads slip away in a three game series sweep at the hands of the Chicago White Sox, manager Joe Girardi was not going to let the finale of the six game road trip get away when Garcia ran aground in the 5th.

Garcia had worked out of a pair of jams leading up to his final inning, but the Indians stranded five men on base, three of them in scoring position.  Garcia retired the first two hitters in the 5th, but gave up a double to Jason Kipnis, hit Asdrubel Cabrera,  and walked Shin-Soo Choo to load the bases.

Catcher Carlos Santana had flied out to right in the same situation back in the 3rd inning, but this time singled to center to for a pair of runs and sent Garcia to the showers. Lefty Boone Logan got left-handed hitter Michael Brantley to ground out to end the threat.

Curtis Granderson gave the Yankees an insurance run in the 6th, when he belted his 200th career home run off of lefty reliever Tony Sipp. It was the Grandy man's 33rd home run of the season and RBI number 74.

Logan retired the side in order in the 7th before he exited when Kipnis reached on a out-single in the 8th. David Robertson picked up the final two outs of the inning and left in the 8th after he retired two batters and allowed a single to Brantley.

Closer Rafael Soriano induced an inning ending fly out from Matt LaPorta, before he worked the 9th inning for his 33 save. The victory didn't come without a scary moment, however, when Kipnis hit a comebacker that got a piece of Soriano's glove and bare hand (he wasn't sure after the game which it hit first).  Soriano was able to recover to throw Kipnis out at first and said after the game that he felt fine. Hopefully that will still be the case on Monday.

Notes

Ironically, a day after the passing of astronaut Neil Armstrong, the Indians honored former astronaut and US Senator John Glenn for the 50th anniversary of Glenn's orbit of earth. The 91-year old threw out the first pitch (underhanded) for a strike.

Nick Swisher continued his torrid August with three hits and an RBI. He's now hitting .336 for the month with five HR, 19 RBI, and seven doubles. He narrowly missed a home run when he hit the base of the right field wall and settled for a double.

Yankees Dig The Long Ball

Grandy goes yard - courtesy of WIBX.com

Former Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver must love watching this version of the New York Yankees. The Earl of Baltimore was known for playing for the 3-run home run, and while the Yankees may not have it it as a strategy, they indeed live and die by the long ball. Yesterday was a good day to be alive.

Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson supplied the power in the Yankees 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium. Starter Freddy Garcia sweated and battled his way through five innings to pick up the victory with much help from the Yankees bullpen.

Down 2-0 after the top half of the 1st inning, Cano quickly tied the game with his 21st home run of the season off Angels starter Jerome Williams. (He later added an RBI single in the 6th after the Yankees lead was cut to one.)

Two innings after Cano's heroics it was Granderson's turn to hit one out with a man aboard. Williams, just off the DL, laid in a fat one that Granderson crushed for 4-2 Yankees lead.

Garcia allowed five hits and issued five walks, and worked out of trouble every inning. The 35-yr old improved to 4-2 on the season and is 2-0, .3.17 in the three starts he's had since he was returned to the rotation on July 2.

The Yankees bullpen stepped up again after Garcia used up his pitch count after five innings. Cody Eppley (2 IP), David Robertson, and Rafael Soriano finished off the win with Soriano striking out Albert Pujols on a check swing to end the game.

Michael Kay was joined in the YES booth by Paul O'Neill and David Cone, an excellent trio of entertainment and knowledge. But Kay made one error concerning Chris Stewart. Kay remarked on how well Stewart has hit on the season (a .265 average at that moment), but Stewart's batting average is truly not an indicator of the season he has had at the plate. After a 1-3 performance on Saturday, Stewart's OPS sat at an incredibly weak .572. That's pitcher-worthy not a number a positional player would want to have.

Mike Trout continued his remarkable rookie season on Saturday. Three more hits, two stolen bases to give him a league leading 30, and a run scored. In July alone, Trout is hitting .429 with a 1.321 OPS, four home runs and eight RBI. He's an amazing player to watch and very mature for a 20-yr old.

Alex Rodriguez got a temporary reprieve from the idiot boo-birds with a two hit game and his 10th steal of the season. Players get booed, it happens, but when your team is in first place, 21 games over .500, you really need to shut up.

I almost never give Nike any props (I hate their company and it's CEO Phil Knight), but this "Chicks Dig The Long Ball" campaign is still classic. Especially consdering Mark McGwire was fully pumped with 'roids (and possibly HGH among other things) at the time.


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YCN: Phil Hughes' Time in Pinstripes Running Out: A Fan's Take

Phil Hughes was a model of mediocrity again tonight. Which is bad for the Yankees, but fits well for the article I had published for Yahoo today. Hughes' could be joining Freddy Garcia in the bullpen soon if he doesn't straighten things out. Andy Pettitte will be returning soon, which means David Phelps or Hughes goes to the pen. And in Hughes' case it could mean trade bait. Of course you still have to have value to get something of value in return.

Click here to read my latest Yahoo piece.

Time to Say Adios to Freddy Garcia

Freddy Garcia was a huge find for the 2011 season - a 12-8 record to go along with a 3.62 ERA in 25 starts (plus one relief appearance.) Based on that performance, the Yankees brought him back for 2012. But this isn't your Father's Oldsmobile Garcia of a year ago.

The 2012 version of Garcia is out of the ball game before most people have settled into their seats. The 35-yr old has lasted just 13.2 innings in four starts and hasn't made it out of the second inning in his last two appearances,. Garcia told reporters prior to Saturday's start that he had made adjustments to his mechanics. Apparently all that did was make the ball go farther for the Yankees opponent (the Detroit Tigers) as he got hammered for six runs in 1.2 IP.

Garcia's record is "just" 0-2 because the Yankees came back from 4-0 and 5-0 to win his other two starts. His overall numbers are awful - 13.2 IP 19 H 20 R 19 ER 5 BB 11 K 3 HR 12.51 ERA.

If for some reason the Yankees don't want to DFA him, they need to at least move Garcia to the pen and switch places with long man David Phelps. The Yankees could also use D.J. Mitchell in Garcia's spot, though the Clemson product was recalled this (Sunday) morning more likely to add another arm to the bullpen (Phelps and Cody Eppley both worked three innings on Saturday).

Update: 1:30 PM 4.29 - Garcia has been sent to the bullpen. No official announcement as of yet, but likely Phelps will take his spot, with Mitchell being a less likely option.

Pineda To Miss 2012..WHAT???

While I was out chasing that little white ball around this afternoon, the Yankees were informing the press that Micheal Pineda will miss the entire 2012 season due to a torn labrum.

I remember the day I heard of the trade that sent Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to Seattle for Pineda and a prospect. I was sad to see Montero go, but ecstatic to get a young stud pitcher like Pineda. Now I sit here wondering if Pineda has a future.

According to mlb.com's Bryan Hoch, Pineda will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday to repair the anterior labral tear. The operation will be performed by Dr. David Altchek (with assistance from Yankees' team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad) at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC.

Now the first thing you are thinking is, "Did Seattle send damaged goods?" Brian Cashman emphatically told the press "No" when queried on the subject.

"We had the opportunity to do a full physical exam, which we did, which came out clean. Michael has never had a shoulder issue nor has he complained of one with the Mariners, nor has he ever had any tests on the shoulder with the Mariners. This is just an unfortunate circumstance that can happen. It happened."

Cashman also reported on Pineda's current mental state:

"He's down. I can tell you that obviously he's someone with a bright future that has a lot of things going through his mind about what his future is going to be. He'll get the best medical care possible." 

Pineda raised eyebrows when he reported to Spring Training overweight and lacked velocity on his fastball. Normally lighting up the radar gun in the mid-90's and occassionally higher, Pineda's not-so-fast fastball was clocked at 90-91 mph and didn't improve as camp went on.

It wasn't until he was forced to leave a game against the Phillies on March 30, that the Yankees learned Pineda had been troubled by a sore shoulder for weeks. Afraid of losing out on a spot in the rotation, Pineda kept his mouth shut and tried to pitch past the pain, which was originally evaluated as tendinitis. When Pineda had a bullpen session shut down due to pain this past weekend, the Yankees sent him for an MRI with contrast and that's when the tear was discovered.

The Yankees are optomistic that Pineda will make a full recovery and be back on the mound in a year's time. (Based on what we know from Michael's MRI scan, there is a discrete tear," Ahmad said. "We do feel that tear can be repaired arthroscopically. Based on that, we're optimistic that we can get him recovered."). In the meantime, the Yankees will count on Andy Pettitte's comeback to fill the hole left by Pineda and the ineffective performance, thus far, by Freddy Garcia.

Down 9, Swish & Tex Deep Six Red Sox

When Bobby Valentine was introduced as Boston's new manager in December there was skepticism, but overall Red Sox (third world) Nation was happy. Especially when Valentine took shots at the Yankees. Then the season started and the Red Sox were swept in a three game series by the Detroit Tigers.

Entering Saturday's play, Boston was in the midst of a four game losing streak that included a 6-2 defeat at the hands of their bitter rivals on the day they celebrated Fenway Park's 100th anniversary. Valentine had to be stung, who wouldn't be, by the tremendous ovation former manager Terry Francona, who was at the helm of the Red Sox first title in 86 years in 2004 and another in 2007, received when introduced on Friday. But Saturday was to change all that.

The Red Sox pummeled Yankees starter Freddy Garcia (1.2 IP) and continued against the Yankees bullpen to build a 9-0 lead after five innings. This could be the game that could turn everything around in 2012. Tonight, most Red Sox fans are hoping the Mayans are right. The Yankees scored 15 runs combined in the 6th through 8th innings to come away with a 15-9 victory.

Things started out harmless enough- Sox starter Felix Doubront had scattered three hits over the first five innings before he surrendered a solo home run to Mark Teixeira with two out in the 6th inning.. His day ended when Curtis Granderson popped up pitch number 100 to end the inning. And then the fun began.

The Red Sox bullpen has been a mangled, tangled mess so far this season. Boston had acquired closer Andrew Bailey from Oakland during the off-season, but then lost him to thumb surgery. Another trade pick up, Mark Melancon, had saved 20 games for Houston last season, but was sent to the minors after he compiled a 63.00 ERA. The closer role fell to Al Aceves, whom the Red Sox would rather have as a 2-3 inning reliever. So when Dubront left the game, the Yankees had to be happy.

Vincente Padilla was the first victim in the 7th. He loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk before he surrendered an opposite field grand slam to Nick Swisher. 9-5, still not so horrible. Robinson Cano's double sent Padilla to the showers and Matt Albers stepped into the punching bag role. He didn't get any help either when shorststop Mike Aviles booted Alex Rodriguez's routine grounder. Teixeira then did something he hadn't done all of last year, belt an opposite field home run. 9-8, the Fenway faithful were in full panic.

Lefty Franklin Morales gave up a single to Curtis Granderson, but then retired the next two hitters to preserve the Boston lead. Rafael Soriano kept the score where it was after he gave up a lead off double in the bottom of the 7th and then it was the Yankees turn to bat and batter the Red Sox bullpen.

Eduardo Nunez led off the 8th with a single, which prompted Valentine to send for his closer, Aceves. The former Yankee walked Derek Jeter, before Swisher tattooed the left field wall for a go ahead 2-run double and his 5th and 6th RBI of the day. With no one out, Valentine inexplicably intentionally walked Cano, only to have Aceves unintentionally walk A-Rod.

With the bags loaded, Teixeira matched Swisher's RBI total  with a rope to right that bounced into the seats for a ground rule double and two more runs. Justin Thomas would come in and give up a 2-run double to Russell Martin (both charged to Aceves) and Junichi Tazawa was touched for an RBI single by Jeter (charged to Thomas).

When the bloodbath was over, Boston relievers had allowed 14 runs, 12 hits, and five walks in three innings.  It got so bad that Valentine was booed with all of the frustration felt in the park. All he could do was tip his cap and hope no one threw anything at him.

Notes


Not all the news was good from the Yankees. Michael Pineda suffered a setback in his throwing program (weakness in his shoulder) and will go for an MRI with contrast.

Freddy Garcia better be sleeping with one eye open. Andy Pettitte makes his next start for Double-A Trenton on Wednesday.

Bullpen, Ibanez Save The Junk Man

Anyone that ever watched the classic TV series Sanford & Son knows that lead character, and junk man, Fred Sanford (as portrayed by Redd Foxx) would introduce himself with the middle initial G. He would then say what the 'G' stood for and it would always depend on the situation. For example, it stood for 'Grammy' when Sanford met blues legend B.B. King.

If Fred were in Baltimore last night he would have said it stood for Garcia. Freddy Antonio Garcia wild pitched his junk into a 4-0 hole for the Yankees. But the Yankees pen, led by Cory Wade and David Phelps (2.1 scoreless innings each), held Baltimore in check and the Yankees rallied for a 5-4 victory in 12 innings.

Robinson Cano led off the 12th with a double, but stood at third base with two outs after both Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira failed with runners in scoring position (the Yankees were 2-16 on the night with RISP). Newbie Raul Ibanez saved the day though,
when his gapper to right-center one hopped over the fence for a ground rule double and a game winning RBI. Mariano Rivera tossed a scoreless bottom of the 12th for his first save of the season.

Garcia was nothing short of awful...he tossed five wild and walked three in his first start of the regular season. Handed a 1-0, 1st inning lead on a Derek Jeter home run, Sanford, er Garcia, was fortunate the Orioles were as miserable with runners in scoring position as the Yankees were. J.J. Hardy tied the game with a solo home run in the home half of the 1st and the Orioles put another run on the board when a pair of Garcia wild pitches allowed Nick Markakis to come around from second base with the go ahead run.

The O's increased their lead in the 4th when another wild pitched moved Adam Jones to third and enabled him to score on Nick Johnson's ground out. Garcia's final errant toss allowed Robert Andino to score the O's final run in the 5th inning. Garcia got off the hook when the Yankees rallied in the 6th against Orioles rookie starter Wei-Yin Chen. The Taiwanese native pitched the last seven seasons in Japan and is still just 26 years old. He kept the Yankees at bay through five innings before they finally caught up to the left-hander in the 6th.

Singles by Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira, and a walk to Curtis Granderson loaded the bases with just one out. Andruw Jones' sac fly brought home one run and another scored when Mark Reynolds muffed Russell Martin's grounder to third. Brett Gardner's RBI single tied the game and ended Chen's MLB debut. It then came down to a battle of attrition with the both
bullpens stifling any rallies.

Phelps was marvelous in just his second big league appearance. Four of the seven outs he recorded were by strikeout and the right-hander retired all seven men he faced. In fact, the Yankees pen allowed just five base runners over the final 7.1 innings, capped by Wade's clutch performance. The second year Yankee continued to impress and matchEd Phelps' output of four K's in 2.1 innings. he gave way to Clay Rapada with one out in the 11, which enabled Rapada to earn his first Yankees' win.

Notes

Derek Jeter's home run in the 1st inning allowed him to reach base safely in five straight at-bats. He went 4-4 in the first game of the series and added a sacrifice bunt as well. The Captain is 13 hits behind Dave Winfield for 19th on the all-time list.

Raul Ibanez not only has 6 RBI, but stole second base Tuesday night. He's halfway to his total of two that he stole last season with the Phillies.

CC Sabathia faces Jake Arrieta in the series finale on Wednesday.

YCN - Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The Southpaw

Okay, so the above title got rejected by Yahoo for being too vague. But you can read what I wrote up about "Andy Pettitte Ready to Saddle Up Again For Yankees" by clicking here.

Plenty of talk these days of who Pettitte will replace in the rotation - Michael Pineda, Freddy Garcia, Phil Hughes, or Ivan Nova.

YCN - 5 1/2 Reasons The Yankees Will Win The AL East

CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Hiroki Kuroda, Michael Pineda, Phil Hughes, and Freddy Garcia. Those are the six pitchers for the five spots in the Yankees starting rotation that will win the AL East. Joe Girardi said there are four pitchers (not counting CC and Kuroda) competing for three spots, but you'd be fool to buy into that. Barring a physical setback, Pineda and Nova will be in the rotation.

To read about the 5 1/2 reasons the Yankees will win the East, click here to get the Yahoo Contributor Network.

Scherzer Keeps Yankees Offense Below Their Max

It was an ugly day in the Bronx Sunday afternoon and I'm not talking about the two hard downpours of rain that took place during Yankees rallies. Detroit Tigers start Max Scherzer no-hit the Yankees for 5.1 innings and shut down the Yankees big guns in a 5-3 Tigers win. The victory evened the series at a game apiece with Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia squaring off in Game 3 Monday night in Detroit.

Detroit jumped on former Tiger Freddy Garcia for a pair of runs to set the tone for the game. Magglio Ordonez reached on a one out single, the first of three hits he had on the day, and two batters later Miguel Cabrera smacked an opposite field home run.

The Yankees had a chance to come right back in the bottom of the inning when Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez drew two out walks. But Mark Teixeira continued his struggles against right-handers this season (.773 OPS vs. 967 from the right side) and popped up to end the inning. Scherzer retired the next 11 hitters until he walked Jorge Posada with one out in the 5th.

Scherzer than hit Russell Martin in the left hand to put two aboard with one out, but bounced back and retired Brett Gardner on a soft liner to third and and Derek Jeter on a bounce out. Garcia, meanwhile, settled down after Cabrera's home run.

The 12-game winner allowed just a single through the next four innings until the Tigers took advantage of a Jeter error to build some insurance in the 6th. Speedy Austin Jackson hit a soft grounder to short that Jeter played well, but threw into the dirt to allow the lead off man to reach. Ordonez then followed with his third single of the day to chase Jackson to third with no one out.Garcia struck out Delmon Young, but gave up back to back RBI singles to Cabrera and Victor Martinez to put the Yankees in a 4-0 hole and brought Girardi out of the dugout to go to call on the bullpen.

The Yankees finally knocked Scherzer from the game in the 7th when Posada led off with a single and Swisher reached safely on a walk. But the Tigers bullpen and a sudden torrential rain impeded the Yankees progress. Set up man Joaquin Benoit, a free agent bust in the first half before he returned to his 2010 form in the second half, stranded both runners. He retired Martin on a fly out and struck out pinch-hitter Eric Chavez. Then with the rain at it's hardest, Jeter struck out to end the threat.

Curtis Granderson finally got the Yankees on the board an inning later when he ripped a home run into the right field seats, but the Tigers answered right back with a crucial run in the 9th. Joe Girardi, for reasons unknown, went to Luis Ayala for the second straight night despite the game being "just" a three run difference. Rafael Soriano or David Robertson would have been more likely to put up a zero on the scoreboard.

Instead, Ayala hit light hitting Brandon Inge, who moved to second on a sac bunt and scored on a single by Don Kelly for a 5-1 Tigers' advantage. The Yankees hadn't hit all day, but that run proved to be a back breaker when they attempted a comeback in the 9th against closer Jose Valverde.

Swisher greeted him with a home run to right and Jorge Posada followed, improbably, with a triple. Valverde then walked Martin to bring the tying run to the plate. Andruw Jones, who had replaced Gardner in the top of the 8th, ripped a shot to right that Kelly snared for a sac fly and suddenly the Yankees were down two. The rains returned again in time for Jeter and he struck out once again. Down to their final out, Granderson walked to set up a show down between Valverde and Cano. The Tigers closer, who recorded a perfect 49-49 in save attempts during the regular season, won out this time around when Cano grounded out to second to end the game.

Notes

The Yankees fans did a horrible job when Alex Rodriguez was booed in the 8th inning after he popped out. I am not a fan who says you don't boo your players, but Rodriguez is playing on one leg and with a bad thumb, and deserves better from the fickle fans. That being said, Joe Girardi needs to move Rodriguez down in the lineup. Other teams see what he's like right now and his name alone will not protect Cano in the lineup.

A.J. Burnett will start Game 4 against Rick Porcello with the Yankees either up or down two games to one.

Girardi Sets His Lineup And His Starter

The great national crisis is over...Joe Girardi has chosen his ALDS Game 3 starter and it is...Freddy Garcia. The 13 year veteran surprised everyone with a 3.62 and 12 wins in 25 starts, 17 of which were quality starts.

The move also confirmed that CC Sabathia would work on three days rest of pitch a Game 4 and Ivan Nova would go in a Game 5 against Justin Verlander if all came down to one game.

Girardi has also set his lineup with four right-handed starters going for Detroit. Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira have been flip-flopped between the three and five spots and Jorge Posada has been given the DH spot.

The Captain and The Kid Rock The Sox

With their off-season signings, their returning players, and all the hype that surrounded the Boston Red Sox during spring training, it's hard to imagine just how tough things are for the old towne team right now. Jon Lester, one of the most dependable starters in the American League, couldn't make it out of the 3rd inning on Saturday as the Yankees belted Boston 9-1 to shrink the Sox wild card lead to just 1.5 games over Tampa Bay.

Derek Jeter capped a six run 2nd inning with a 3-run home run to the opposite field and Jesus Montero later homered and drove in four runs for the game. Lester allowed eight earned runs in 2.2 innings pitched and has now allowed 18 earned runs in 13.2 innings over his last three starts.

Montero helped his cause for making the post-season roster with an RBI single in the 2nd, a 2-run double in the 3rd, and a frozen rope home run to right in the 6th. Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman must decide if Montero's bat justifies him on the squad as the backup catcher as well. Jorge Posada is likely to make the team as well, with Austin Romine left out. Meaning the Yankees hope Russell Martin stays healthy throughout.

Freddy Garcia earned his 12th win and probably a Game 3 start in the ALDS by tossing six shutout innings.

What Jesus Did Do

New York Yankees fans have been waiting for Jesus Montero's arrival for some time. He made his Yankee Stadium debut this past Saturday, but this afternoon is when he arrived. Montero hit a go ahead solo home run in the 5th and added a 2-run home run in the 7th that proved to be the difference in an 11-10 Yankees win.

Montero hit his first Major League home run off of Orioles reliever Jim Johnson (5-5) into the seats in right-center and took a curtain call when the Yankee Stadium crowd beckoned. His second home run came with a man aboard wasn't far from the landing spot of his first one. Montero wasn't alone in having a big day though as the two teams used 12 pitchers.

Orioles' starter Brian Matusz lasted only in 1.1 innings and was charged with five runs while Yankees' starter Freddy Garcia didn't fare any better, allowing seven runs in 2.2 innings. Reliever Aaron Laffey picked up his first win with .2 scoreless innings. Mariano Rivera notched his 38th save, but it didn't come easy either. He allowed a run on two hits and hit a batter before he struck out J.J. Hardy with two on and two out to end the game.

The Orioles had 1-0 and 5-2 leads, but Curtis Granderson's 2-run double cut the lead to 5-4 and Robinson Cano capped the 2nd inning with his seventh career grand slam for an 8-5 Yankees lead. But Mark Reynolds smacked a 2-run home run off Garcia and Robert Andino welcomed Scott Proctor back to Yankee Stadium with a game tyng solo home run in the top of the 5th.

But then Jesus Montero rose to the occassion and, Yankees fans hope, a star was born.

Notes

Nick Markakis (15) and Mark Teixeira (36) each hit home runs in the 1st inning.

The Yes Network's Jack Curry tweeted this afternoon that the Yankees are considering promoting prospect Dellin Betances to add depth to the pitching staff.

The Post-Season Numbers Game

With a month left in the season it's time to do some speculation on the make up of the Yankees 25-man roster for the post-season. The opponent will likely either be the Detroit Tigers or the Texas Rangers, though either should have little impact on who makes the roster and who doesn't.

Most of the roster spots are obvious, but there are still a few spots up for grabs. Teixeira, Cano, Jeter, A-Rod, Gardner, Granderson, Swisher, Martin, Cervelli, Nunez, Chavez, Jones are the 12 hitters/fielders that are a given.

The pitching staff has Sabathia, Nova, Garcia, Colon, Rivera, Robertson, Soriano, Logan, and Wade for a total of 9.

That's 21 rosters spots taken with four opening to be filled. The Yankees have their four starters, so there's no reason that A.J. Burnett should be on the post-season roster. Phil Hughes could be added as a righty specialist. Perhaps Luis Ayala, the team's current long man might be added to eat innings in case of a blow out. But I think the big surprise here is that Hector Noesi is added over the three of them. The dark horse could be Raul Valdes, a journeyman lefty that was recalled by the Yankees today and will get a chance in September to prove the team needs a second lefty in addition to Logan.

You normally carry 12 pitchers during the regular season, but there's really no reason to go with more than 10, 11 at the most in the post-season, especially in a short series.

On offense Jorge Posada is not a given due to his lack of production. If Jesus Montero shows any thing at all, he'll be on the roster. The Yankees are likely to add another infielder (Ramiro Pena) and another outfielder, likely Chris Dickerson.

Garcia Seals Up Rotation Spot

With Joe Girardi announcing earlier in the day that he would go back to a five man rotation once the Yankees leave Boston Thursday night, Fredddy Garcia basically just had to prove his injured finger was healed in his start in Baltimore tonight. The 13 year veteran did more than that, holding the Orioles to a Mark Reynolds home run over six innings in a 3-2 Yankees win. The victory gave the Yankees a split of the four game series after losing the first two games.

After he allowed a 1st inning double to Adam Jones, Garcia retired 11 straight before he gave up Reynolds' 31st home run of the season. It would be the only two hits Garcia allowed. He walked just one batter and struck out four to improve 11-7 after sitting out three weeks due a kitchen mishap that left him with a cut finger on his pitching hand.

The Yankees got Garcia a run early on Orioles starter Alfredo Simon when Curtis Granderson drew a one out walk in the 1st inning and scored on Mark Teixeira's double. With no Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez in the lineup, the Yankees struggled on offense and managed just five hits on the night. But two big ones came in the 4th inning when Robinson Cano stroked a one out single and Nick Swisher followed with a 2-run home run over the high wall in right field for a 3-0 Yankees lead.

David Robertson allowed his first home run on the road this season, a solo shot by J.J. Hardy in the 8th, but Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera sandwiched scoreless innings around him to cut idle Boston's lead to 1 1/2 games. Rivera picked up his 34th save with a seamless 1-2-3 9th inning and is now just seven saves away from 600 for his career.

Notes

Curtis Granderson, who solely leads the AL in RBI and runs scored, is back in a tie for the home run lead after Toronto's Jose Bautista connected for his 38th of the season in a game against the Rays Monday night. Granderson struck out twice to raise his season total to 140. Just 10 strikeouts shy of 150, if he were to win the AL MVP Granderson would be just the fourth player to capture an MVP Award with at least 150 strikeouts. The others were Philly's Ryan Howard (181, 2006), the Cubs Sammy Sosa (171, 1998), and Boston's Mo Vaughn (150, 1995).

J.J. Hardy's home run tied his career high of 26 that he hit with Milwaukee in 2007.

Mark Teixeira's 1st inning RBI was his 100th of the season. It's the eighth straight season he's reached the century mark. His rookie year in Texas is the only time he fell short (84). Remarkably, Teixeira finished 5th in the AL Rookie of the Year voting that year behind winner Angel Berroa, Hideki Matsui (the rightful winner), Rocco Baldelli, and Jody Gerut. Seriously.

The Yankees Did Nothing...And Nothing Was Good

There are probably plenty of Yankees fans out there tonight bemoaning the fact that Yankees did not acquire one player at the trade deadline. Despite another excellent outing from Freddy Garcia, there's a sense of panic that the pitching staff won't hold up and won't get the job done when the biggest games are on the line.

But what these fans don't realize, there was nothing of substance on the market. Yes, there was Ubaldo Jimenez, who personally I have concerns about, but Colorado wanted Phil Hughes, Dellin Betances, Jesus Montero, and Manny Banuelos. That is bananas. Cashman was willing to include Hughes in a deal, but the Rockies weren't interested especially after the Yankees wanted to see Jimenez's medical records ahead of time.

Some fans probably are livid that the Red Sox landed Erik Bedard, but the achy-breaky left-hander hasn't exactly had a lengthy, healthy track record. The Red Sox didn't even have to part iwth any of their top tier prospects to get him. (Though the Dodgers gave up their 10th rated player, Trayvon Robinson, to Boston who then dealt him to Seattle.)

The price was too high for San Diego's Heath Bell and though Mike Adams would have been a nice addition, where exactly would he fit with Soriano, Robertson, and Rivera?

King Felix was not available. The Yankees were willing to pay $21MM of the remaining money owed Houston's Wandy Rodriguez, but the Astros wouldn't pick up the rest.

The Yankees could use another bat..and they'll have one soon. His name is Alex Rodriguez.

It is what it is and it's not good to make a trade just for the sake of making a trade.

Yankees Extend Manglers Losing Streak to 16

That's not a typo, do not adjust your monitors. I would like to see the Seattle Mariners officially change their name to the "Manglers". Because no one can mangle a baseball game like the Mariners right now. The Yankees beat them up early and went on to an easy 10-3 win. The loss was the 16th straight for Seattle, who did their best to help the Yankees in every way possible.

Freddy Garcia cruised into the 8th inning with the help of the impatient M's. He threw 11 pitches in the 1st inning, nine in the 4th, eight in both the 5th and 6th innings in raising his record to 9-7.

Mark Teixeira got Garcia off to a good start in the bottom of the first with a 2-run home run off Seattle starter Jason Vargas. Up 2-1 in the 3rd, Derek Jeter hit one into the right field seats for a solo home run.

The Yankees broke things up open with a five run 4th inning as the Mariners stumbled along. Eduardo Nunez and Brett Gardner stroked RBI singles for a 5-1 advantage, and another run came home on Dustin Ackley's throwing error. Curtis Granderson's sac fly and Teixeira's RBI single closed out the scoring for the inning. Vargas was given a reprieve by manager Eric Wedge after the inning as Chris Ray came into pitch.

No one could blame Wedge if he walked out the door and never came back. The Mariners were 43-43 and in the thick of the AL West race....and they haven't won since. Even Ichiro is having issues. He got picked off in a crucial situation in Boston and kicked a Derek Jeter ball in the right field corner into a triple tonight.

All of this also makes you think the Mariners may reconsider dealing Felix Hernandez as they are a team in need of massive changes.

Notes

Steve Garrison made his Major League debut, getting the final two outs in the 9th inning. He's likely to be sent down when Rafael Soriano is activated this week.

Yankees started their annual HOPE Week by honoring Daniel Trush and the Daniel Music Foundation.

The Yankees moved to 60-40, the first time they have been 20 games over .500 on the season.

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.

CC Stops The Bleeding

"You ain't hitting this."

After shaky outings from Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia, you can bet Joe Girardi was ecstatic to put CC Sabathia's name on the lineup card as the starting pitcher.

Sabathia became the Major's first 14-game winner with a dominant eight inning performance against the Toronto Blue Jays in a 4-1 Yankees win. The victory snapped the Yankees two game losing streak with a chance to gain a split of the series tomorrow afternoon.

Sabathia won his seventh straight after he allowed a run in the first inning. Rajai Davis drew a lead off walk and stole his 25th base of the season. One out later Yunel Escobar singled past a diving Robinson Cano for a 1-0 Blue Jays lead. But Sabathia would allow just one more hit until John McDonald's one out double in the 8th. He allowed three walks, struck out eight and won for the 12th time in 13 starts. The 6'7" left-hander has also won seven straight starts and has allowed just two earned runs in his last 39.2 innings pitched.

The Yankees took the lead in the 2nd inning when Andruw Jones followed Nick Swisher's ground rule double with an RBI single off Rickey Romero. Jones homered twice in Thursday night's loss. Brett Gardner's double put boith runners in scoring position with Jones scoring on Eduardo Nunez's chopper to third.

The Yankees played sloppy defense in the first two games, but Saturday it was Toronto's turn to do some gifting. Curtis Granderson drew a lead off walk to start the third and one out later Robinson Cano singled him to third. Romero struck out Swisher, but Cano broke for second to draw a throw from catcher J.P. Arencibia. Second baseman Aaron Hill threw wildly home as Granderson scored the Yankees third run.

The Yankees scored again in the 4th when Gardner, who had three hits, hit a bloop to center and hustled to second for a lead off double. He scored from third on a two out RBI single by Derek Jeter for a 4-1 Yankees lead.

The Blue Jays got back to back one out bloop singles off Mariano Rivera in the 9th, but the Yankees closer picked up his 23rd save when he struck out Hill and got Travis Snider to ground out to Jeter to end the game.

Notes

In addition to his three hits, Brett Gardner stole his 10th consecutive base without getting caught.

Eric Chavez will reportedly start a rehab assignment any day now.

Eduardo Nunez's fielding trouble continued Saturday. He made his 12th error of the season.

The Blue Jays hope to get Jose Bautista (twisted ankle) back on Tuesday. For now, he's in a walking boot.