Jays Mightier Than The Pen

Blue Jays left fielder Travis Snider stepped to the plate in the 10th inning last night mired in a 4-40 slump and had struck out three times in his prior at-bats. Snider was highly touted by Blue Jays scouts and was selected as the 14th overall pick in 2006, but has yet to "put it all together" at the Major League level. For one at-bat Tuesday night he did; Snider doubled off Ivan Nova in the 10th inning to score Edwin Encarnacion from 1st base with winning run in a 6-5 victory over the Yankees.

The game had gone extra innings after Mariano Rivera had his first blown save in eight chances. Yuniel Escobar led off the 9th with a double and moved to third on a Snider ground out. Rivera then committed a double whammy when he walked Jose Bautista and threw a run scoring wild pitch on ball four. Adam Lind single Bautista to third and John McDonald brought him home with safety squeeze bunt hit. Jose Molina singled to load the bases, but Eric Chavez temporarily saved the day. He stabbed Corey Patterson's grounder, stepped on third and threw to first to complete the double play.

The Yankees had taken a 4-2 lead in the top of the 6th inning when Mark Teixeira belted a Kyle Drabek pitch for a 2-run home run. But A.J. Burnett, who earlier gave up (what seemed like the 700th) home run to Bautista began a full melt down in the home half of the inning. The Blue Jays picked up a run on an Encarnacion double and had the bases loaded with just one out. Joe Girardi sent for David Robertson, who would have been the hero last night had the Yankees lead held up. "D-Rob" struck out Escobar and Snider to end the threat and the inning to preserve the 4-3 lead.

The Yankees final run came courtesy of a Curtis Granderson solo home run in the 7th inning.

Twins Lock Up Capps

The Minnesota Twins have made a move to strengthen their bullpen, but time will tell if it's a good move. The Twins have acquired Washington Nationals' closer Matt Capps for highly touted catching prospect Wilson Ramos.

Capps, 3-3 with 25 saves and a 2.80 ERA, will set up another former Nats' reliever Jon Rauch. But the price is high. Ramos was rated this past winter by Baseball America as the number 2 prospect in the Twins' organization. It's an awful lot to give up for a set up guy.

Meanwhile, Aaron Gleeman has just tweeted that the Twins are also sending Joe Testa, a left-hander out of Wagner College, to the Nats as well.

UPDATE 11:11 AM 7/30 - Word came last night that the Twins will use Capps as closer and move Rauch to the set up role. AL only fantasy league owners are scrambling!

Big Game Andy

photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports

Andy Pettitte has had a lot of big game starts in his career. More often than not, he's come out on top. You wouldn't think a late May game would qualify in the big game category, but that was the case tonight when Pettitte took the mound and the win in the Yankees 3-2 triumph over the Minnesota Twins.

With a slumping offense and a shortened bullpen, Joe Girardi needed Pettitte to come through with a huge game and that's just what he did. Eight innings, two earned runs and a 3-2 victory.

Pettitte threw 94 pitches and was warming up to start the 9th, but it was merely a ploy to give Mariano Rivera additional time to get ready.

Rivera, who struggled through a save in the conclusion of game one, breezed through the 9th to give Pettitte his sixth win of the season against just a single defeat. In picking up career win no. 235, Pettitte didn't walk a batter and struck out four. He's now in sole possession of 61st place on the all-time wins list and is 3rd on the Yankees' franchise list with 198 victories).

The win, which gave the Yankees two on the day after a victory in the completion of Tuesday night's suspended game, came in the 9th when Nick Swisher drove a Jon Rauch delivery over the fence in right field for a solo home run.

Notes

The Yankees gained 1 1/2 games on the Rays, who lost for the second straight night to the resurgent Red Sox.

Kevin Russo once again came through with a clutch hit when he doubled in the Yankees first run of the game. Brett Gardner later added an RBI triple.

Hump Day Rumors - 7/23 Edition

Things are starting to heat up as we get closer to the July 31st trade deadline. Locally the Yankees are taking a look at Seattle's Jarrod Washburn, Pirates' lefties Damaso Marte and John Grabow, the Reds' Bronson Arroyo (yech), and the Rockies' Brian Fuentes. The Denver Post reports that a team source said the Rockies have asked for Rays Double-A starter Wade Hendrickson, the Yankees' Ian Kennedy, the Red Sox's Clay Buchholz or Mets minor-leaguer Jon Niese. The Yankees have even talked about the Jays A.J. Burnett.

The Post's George King reports that the Yankees have also sent a scout to watch the Dodgers' Derek Lowe, who becomes a free agent after this season. The Yankees are also looking at hitters Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and others.

Many of the decisions regarding the Yankees plans will be made this Thursday when the front office meets in Tampa. According to the Daily News' Mark Feinsand, the Yankees will be going for it.

The meeting will include co-chairmen Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman, special adviser Gene Michael, pro scouting director Billy Eppler and senior VP Felix Lopez. Manager Joe Girardi isn't expected to be at the meeting, but he is expected to have some input.

A source with knowledge of the situation said that the Steinbrenner brothers have been pleased with the team's recent play, so they want to show the players that they are committed to winning this year by making moves to bolster the roster.

"They're ready to do whatever they need to do at the deadline," the source said. "They want to make a run this year."

A couple of minor trades did go through yesterday. For some reason the Houston Astros acquired left-hander Randy Wolf from the San Diego Padres for minor league Chad Reineke. Perhaps the Astros will look to re-deal Wolf since they aren't coming close to sniffing a playoff spot.

The Diamondbacks strengthened their bullpen by getting setup man/part-time closer Jon Rauch from the Washington Nationals for infielder Emilio Bonifacio. The Dbacks now have two of the tallest players in baseball in Rauch and Randy Johnson.

Okay, enough fact, back to rumor. The Cardinals, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch are looking for a left-hander. They've expressed interest in Orioles All-Star closer George Sherrill, who has 29 saves and a 3.83 ERA, Rangers set up man Eddie Guardado. The Brewers are said to be eyeing Sherrill as well.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the Brewers are close to signing former Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons to a minor league contract. The oft-injured outfielder couldn't find a major league job after being named in the Mitchell Report last Fall. He's been playing this season for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League.


UPDATE 3:15 PM EDT

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports is reporting that the Yankees are looking for an offensive upgrade at catcher with Jorge Posada not expected to be able to play the position the remainder of the season. The Yankees have reportedly contacted the Texas Rangers about Gerald Laird and the Kansas City Royals about Miguel Olivo.

The Rangers are looking for young pitching in return for Laird, who is signed through 2010. The Royals are working hard to move Olivo, who would come at a lower asking price.

Hump Day Rumors - 7/23 Edition

Things are starting to heat up as we get closer to the July 31st trade deadline. Locally the Yankees are taking a look at Seattle's Jarrod Washburn, Pirates' lefties Damaso Marte and John Grabow, the Reds' Bronson Arroyo (yech), and the Rockies' Brian Fuentes. The Denver Post reports that a team source said the Rockies have asked for Rays Double-A starter Wade Hendrickson, the Yankees' Ian Kennedy, the Red Sox's Clay Buchholz or Mets minor-leaguer Jon Niese. The Yankees have even talked about the Jays A.J. Burnett.

The Post's George King reports that the Yankees have also sent a scout to watch the Dodgers' Derek Lowe, who becomes a free agent after this season. The Yankees are also looking at hitters Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and others.

Many of the decisions regarding the Yankees plans will be made this Thursday when the front office meets in Tampa. According to the Daily News' Mark Feinsand, the Yankees will be going for it.

The meeting will include co-chairmen Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, president Randy Levine, general manager Brian Cashman, special adviser Gene Michael, pro scouting director Billy Eppler and senior VP Felix Lopez. Manager Joe Girardi isn't expected to be at the meeting, but he is expected to have some input.

A source with knowledge of the situation said that the Steinbrenner brothers have been pleased with the team's recent play, so they want to show the players that they are committed to winning this year by making moves to bolster the roster.

"They're ready to do whatever they need to do at the deadline," the source said. "They want to make a run this year."

A couple of minor trades did go through yesterday. For some reason the Houston Astros acquired left-hander Randy Wolf from the San Diego Padres for minor league Chad Reineke. Perhaps the Astros will look to re-deal Wolf since they aren't coming close to sniffing a playoff spot.

The Diamondbacks strengthened their bullpen by getting setup man/part-time closer Jon Rauch from the Washington Nationals for infielder Emilio Bonifacio. The Dbacks now have two of the tallest players in baseball in Rauch and Randy Johnson.

Okay, enough fact, back to rumor. The Cardinals, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch are looking for a left-hander. They've expressed interest in Orioles All-Star closer George Sherrill, who has 29 saves and a 3.83 ERA, Rangers set up man Eddie Guardado. The Brewers are said to be eyeing Sherrill as well.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the Brewers are close to signing former Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons to a minor league contract. The oft-injured outfielder couldn't find a major league job after being named in the Mitchell Report last Fall. He's been playing this season for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League.


UPDATE 3:15 PM EDT

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports is reporting that the Yankees are looking for an offensive upgrade at catcher with Jorge Posada not expected to be able to play the position the remainder of the season. The Yankees have reportedly contacted the Texas Rangers about Gerald Laird and the Kansas City Royals about Miguel Olivo.

The Rangers are looking for young pitching in return for Laird, who is signed through 2010. The Royals are working hard to move Olivo, who would come at a lower asking price.