Shout It From The Rooftops: Opening Day Is Here! - Lineups

Regular season test 1 of Tanaka's elbow

April 6, 2015. A lovely Spring day that is perfect for the opening of the baseball season at the big Stadium in the Bronx.

The Yankees open with a tough week - three games each with the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.  The Yankees send Masahiro Tanaka to the hill for the opener. It's the first time since he became a Yankees in 2009 that CC Sabathia isn't the Game 1 starter.

The Yankees lineup, which looks very strange without Derek Jeter in the two hole, is

CF Jacoby Ellsbury
LF Brett Gardner
RF Carlos Beltran
1B Mark Teixeira
  C Brian McCann
3B Chase Headley
DH Alex Rodriguez
2B Stephen Drew
SS Didi Gregorius

The Blue Jays go with

SS Jose Reyes
  C Russell Martin
RF Jose Bautista
1B Edwin Encarnacion
3B Josh Donaldson
DH Dioner Navarro
CF Dalton Pompey
LF Kevin Pillar
2B Devon Travis

Let the game begin.

Will A-Rod Say "Pleas"? Lawyer Says Not So Fast

Does this look like a guy who's going down without a fight?

Word on the street is that this will be the week when Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig slams down suspensions on a number of players like the mighty Thor swung his hammer.  Everyone is waiting with bated breath...not to be confused with those who ate sardines...for the names and the length of time players will get sent to the "baseball brig".

Bad puns aside, this could be a make or break period for Alex Rodriguez and whatever career he has left. It's been widely reported that A-Rod has been offered a plea deal - accept a suspension for the remainder of this year and all of next year - that if accepted would allow A-Rod to return to baseball in 2015. It would also allow him to collect the $60MM that will still be owed to him by the Yankees. Selig is reportedly ready to ban A-Rod for life if he doesn't take the plea arrangement.

However, the reports of the plea offer were denied by A-Rod's lawyer, David Cornwell, who represented Ryan Braun after the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder failed a drug test last year.

Speaking Monday afternoon to ESPN radio's Stephen A. Smith, Cornwell said that Major League Baseball has not approached A-Rod with a deal and that he is focused on readying an appeal for when Selig announces a suspension.

Cornwell said he believes the next step in the process will be for the union to meet with MLB to discuss the investigation and focus on "particular players" and that union head Michael Weiner previously laid out some groundwork on how the process will take place.  Cornwell also said he would not bother to respond to anything reported by any of the media, since it is irrelevant to the appeal process that he is preparing for.

Cornwell also emphasized that the paperwork containing evidenced was stolen by a "disgruntled ex-employee", Porter Fischer of the Biogenesis clinic. Clearly Cornwell will look to discredit Fischer, who has been looking to make a buck by selling the evidence, and the clinic owner Tony Bosch, who is looking to save his butt by cooperating with authorities.

Cornwell added that A-Rod is only focused on getting back to playing baseball, which it looks like he'll do if he does appeal any suspension handed down.

While no fan of A-Rod, it's absurd if Selig is uses him as an example in order to show other potential cheaters that he is tough, especially to those who dare cheat the game multiple times. That being said A-Rod deserves a lengthy suspension if he indeed cheated, but he should not be the only one. As I have said before, Ryan Braun 65 game "sentence" is a joke.

Whatever happens it is time for Major League Baseball and the players union to get things right. Both sides mishandled things from day one- MLB by ignoring the drug issue and the union by refusing to agree to stringent testing sooner.

Times are changing though; the majority of players appear to be fed up with the cheaters as is Weiner. Selig has had enough of players that ignore the warnings or try to finagle their way around the truth.

You can bet there are still players in the league that used steroids in the past, prior to testing and maybe even afterwards, and may try to do so again. You'll never hear them speak up about cleaning up the game. The younger players though want an even playing field. Guys like Chris Davis, who had a breakout season last year and is having a monster season this year, are tired of hearing whispered accusations about possible PED use, because of greatly improved play.

Brace yourself for a long fight.

Yankees Closer to Cellar Than Penthouse

Indeed, the decision to watch a movie last night was the correct one. The Yankees who looked foolish at times Friday night, looked foolish for the entire 11-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday's nationally televised game. Starter David Phelps was hammered and didn't make it past the 33r
d inning. It's probably time to try out Ivan Nova again tin that spot.

Suddenly the Bronx Bombers-less are 5 1/2 games out of first and just 2 games out of the AL East basement. Things have take quite a turn in the division over the last two weeks. Like the Yankees, the Boston Rex Sox and Orioles have gone through up and down periods. So much so that despite losing 7 of 10, the Yankees have dropped just two games in the standings.

Meanwhile, everybody's pre-season bandwagon pick, the Toronto Blue Jays, finally came to life. They reeled off 11 straight wins and got back into contention. They did despite the fact that the lowest ERA by a starter (R.A. Dickey) is 4.72. The team is not short on power, though, with Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, J.P. Arencibia, and Colby Rasmus contributing to the damage.

The Blue Jays are also getting healthy. Jose Reyes is back after being out since April 12 with a badly injured ankle. Though the results have been mixed, Josh Johnson is throwing the ball better after a stint on the DL. The team has also gotten an unexpected boost from Adam Lind (.938 OPS), who has bounced back and forth between the Majors and the minors  when he struggled at the plate.

The Tampa Bay Rays have stayed the course. The team has produced good to great pitching for years, though they end up dealing away the talent when the big money is due. Matt Moore started out the season like a house afire, winning his first eight decisions. Alex Cobb was having a marvelous season until he took a line drive to the head in mid-June. Last year's AL CY Young winner, David Price, will be back from the DL shortly with the hope that he'll throw better than he has all year. (1-4, 5.24 in 9 starts)

The team has called up Wil Myers to help the offense, which still doesn't produce nearly enough. Yet they are still in contention, 6 games back of Boston for the division lead, and 3 1/2 out of the wild card.

The Yankees need to get better fast or Brian Cashman best get some better fill-ins, or this team's season will done by end of July trade deadline.

Teixeira and His Wrist Are Finished

Mark Teixeira will join Kevin Youkilis on the sideline.

The bad news everyone has been expecting for the last few days has come down from the front offices of the New York Yankees. First baseman Mark Teixeira will undergo season ending surgery to fix the injured sheath tendon in his right wrist.

Teixeira missed the first 53 games of the regular season after he injured his wrist working out with Team USA in preparation for the World Baseball Classic.

After he had just one hit in nine at-bats, Teixeira homered in three of four games, but was in a 3-31 tailspin when he was pulled from a contest with the Los Angeles Angels on June 15. He was sent back to New York ahead of the team to have the hand evaluated. An MRI showed inflammation, but no additional damage and Teixeira was administered a cortisone shot.

A week passed and Teixeira's wrist showed no improvement since he received the shot. A contrast MRI also showed that the wrist had not healed adequately.

The surgery will take place as soon as possible with a six month recovery expected. (Toronto's Jose Bautista went through the same procedure last season.) Teixeira has three years and $67.5MM left on his contract.

Phelps Shows He Belongs

The Toronto Blue Jays haven't exactly been tearing the cover off of the baseball in a season in which many picked them to win or place in the AL East horse race. David Phelps' performance against them on Saturday should not be diminished by the fact that the Blue Jays record fell to 17-26 and they are the current owners of the AL East basement.

Phelps shook off some early inning control issues and threw a career high seven innings to improve to 2-2 on the season. Phelps will never be talked about in the same sentence with Stephen Strasburg or Justin Verlander, and that's all right. Phelps may get compared to a Mike Mussina; a guy that can dominate without firing upper 90s fastballs (He was around 90-91 mph all day Saturday) to the catcher's mitt.

While Robinson Cano (two) and Travis Hafner provided 2-run home runs in the 7-2 win, Phelps was steady and followed his plan just about to the letter. He's a guy that knows what he's doing on the mound, clearly a pitcher and not a thrower.

The University of Notre Dame product started out by facing five hitters in the first inning without one putting the ball in play. He struck out lead off hitter Melky Cabrera on a curveball that broke so hard in on the former Yankee, that it hit Cabrera in the ankle as he couldn't check his swing. His curveball and slider broke too much for right-handed hitters Jose Bautista and Edward Encarnacion, both of whom he walked.

Phelps came back and struck out catcher J.P. Arencibia, then spun around to pick Bautista off a second base with Adam Lind in the batter's box. Phelps scattered six hits the rest of the way, walked just one more hitter and finished with eight strikeouts.

The Yankees didn't take Phelps until the 14th round of the 2008 MLB amateur draft, and while some of the top tier prospects in the organization have been slow to rise up through the ranks, Phelps has quietly gone about his business and succeeded.

Yesterday was his fourth straight start since Ivan Nova was put on the disabled list. The two competed in Spring Training for the fifth spot in the rotation and though Phelps performed better, Nova won the job based on his track record and Phelps' ability to fill the Ramiro Mendoza swing man role.  Nova has been fragile and inconsistent the last two years though and Phelps is doing his best to stake a claim in the rotation. With Andy Pettitte out, Nova should join Phelps in the once he returns from the DL. What happens when Pettitte returns will be determined at that time.

In the meantime Phelps will just keep trying to get better as he has done with each of his four starts. He allowed four runs in 5.2 innings against a weak hitting Houston Astros team, but didn't figure in the decision as the Yankees won. He didn't come out with a win his next time out either in the Yankees 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies, but he limited the opposition to two runs and three hits in six innings.

Phelps was a hard luck loser when the Cleveland Indians won the opener of this past Monday's twinbill, 2-1. The five walks Phelps issued were unusual, but he struck out seven and allowed one run in 6.2 innings. The Yankees will certainly take three wins out of every four of Phelps' starts. (His other win came in a four inning relief apperance, also against the Blue Jays.) Now they just need to let him take the ball every fifth day.

Yan-Kees Are Hafner There..Oh Oh, Living on a Prayer

Yeah, it doesn't get much cornier than that. But you can bet the Yankees are praying that Travis Hafner can stay healthy.  Hafner was the hero in Saturday's come from behind 5-4 win against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Hafner was a one man wrecking crew for the Cleveland Indians from 2004-2007. Then he became a man with a wrecked body. Hafner played in more than 100 games just once between 2008 and 2012.  So far, he's been vintage Hafner, or "Pronk" as he is known (half project/half donkey), for the Bronx Bombers.

With Ben Francisco not able to hit his away out of a paper bag right now, the left-handed hitting Hafner got a rare start against Blue Jays' left-hander J.A. Happ. A Jose Bautista home run had helped put Yankees starter CC Sabathia and the pinstripes in a 3-0 hole after the the top of the third inning. Super Hafner to the rescue.

With one swing of the bat Hafner tied things up with his 207th career home run and his sixth as a Yankee.  The ball easily cleared the 385-ft mark in right-center field. Brett Lawrie took Sabathia deep in the 6th inning for a 4-3 lead, but Hafner and his fellow resurrected super hero Vernon Wells came to the rescue.

Robinson Cano  continued to rake with a lead off double in the 7th against reliever Esmile Rogers. Wells has struggled with runners in scoring position, but singled to center to tie the game at four apiece. Kevin Youkilis grounded out, but Wells advanced to second on the play. With lefty Brett Cecil on the mound, Wells then stole third base. The extra bag wouldn't matter as Hafner drilled a ball to center field.

Rajai Davis ran the wrong route to the ball, which caromed off his glove and the wall as he tried to recover. By the time Bautista got the ball back into the infield, Hafner was on third was a stand up triple. Just the 13th three-bagger of his 12 year career.

With Joe Girardi not wanting to use Mariano Rivera three days in a row, it was on Joba Chamberlain to nail down the save in the 9th. It's kind of like watching a horror movie between the fingers you have covering your eyes.

Chamberlain struck out Colby Rasmus to start the frame, but Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonifacio reached on back to back singles. Jayson Nix, playing the hot corner, took a potential double and game tying RBI away from Bonafacio on the play.

Chamberlain retired Davis on shallow fly to Ichiro in right to set up a showdown with former teammate Melky Cabrera. Chamberlain won out when the Melk-man tapped to Nix, who merely stepped on the third base for a game ending force out.

Notes

Hafner must think he's dreaming and doesn't want to be woken up. His .309/.433/.727 split (1.160 OPS) is what dreams are made of.

After a slow start Bautista is getting back on track. He now has 18 home runs in 197 at-bats against the Yankees.

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 Rally, Rivera Ties Hoffman

With Bartolo Colon battered by the Toronto Blue Jays' hitters, it didn't appear any monumental records would be tied this afternoon's game between the Yankees and Toronto. But the Yankees slumbering bats woke up to give the team a 7-6 lead entering the bottom of the 9th. That's all Mariano Rivera would need as he retired the side in order to earn his 42nd save of the season and number 601 for his career, tying Trevor Hoffman for the all time record.

Rivera can thank Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson most of all for the opportunity to enter Saturday's game with a lead. Down 6-1 in the 6th inning, the Yankees had already put a second run on the board when A-Rod came to the plate with two men on base. He promptly turned on an inside fastball from rookie Henderson Alvarez and drilled it over the left field fence to cut Toronto's lead to a single run.

After Aaron Laffey (3-2) held Toronto in check in the bottom of the inning, the Yankees went back to work in the 7th. Derek Jeter beat out an infielder grounder to start off the inning and Granderson then did battle with reliever Carlos Villanueva. After fouling off several 2-2 pitches, Granderson hit a pitch low in the zone and sent it over the fence in centerfield for his 40th home run of the season and the Yankees first lead of the day.

The Yankees pen made it stand up; after Scott Proctor and Laffey, Hector Noesi tossed a scoreless 7th and Rafael Soriano came on in the 8th to strike out the side for the second straight game. That left it all up to Rivera who was entering his 60th game for the 14th time in his career. He struck out Colby Rasmus looking, got Brett Lawrie on a ground out, and finished the save off when he retired pinch-hitter Eric Thames on a fly out to Granderson in center.

Notes

Alex Rodriguez's home run was the 629th of his career and his first since September 4.

Bartolo Colon's four inning start was his shortest outing since he lasted just 4.2 innings against Boston on August 5.

Nova Pitches Yankees Into First Place

Ivan Nova started out Friday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays with a lead off walk followed by a pair of singles. A sacrifice fly later and the Yankees were down 2-0. But Brett Gardner made two fine catches to end the inning and Nova only allowed one hit over the next six innings as the Yankees rallied for a 3-2 win. The victory combined with Boston's loss to Texas moved the Yankees into sole possession of first place in the AL East.

Nova became the first Yankees rookie pitcher to win 15 games since Stan Bahnsen won 17 in his freshman campaign in 1968. (Hopefully the Yankees won't foolishly trade him away as they did Bahnsen for the lowly Rich McKinney.)

Gardner not only made the big plays on defense, but also smacked a 2-run home run off of Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow to tie the game at 2-2 in the 3rd. The Yankees took the lead for good in the fifth after Morrow retired the first two hitters. Derek Jeter singled and Curtis Granderson drew a free pass. Robinson Cano, as he has done all season, delivered in the clutch with an RBI single for the 3-2 lead.

Nova cruised through the 7th on 97 pitches before Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera closed out the win. Rivera picked up his 37th save with a 1-2-3 9th inning.

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.

FullCountPitch - Fans Doing An All-Star Job

In 1957, seven Cincinnati Reds players had been voted to start in the All-Star game. Commissioner Ford Frick responded by taking the vote away from the fans. Things are a little better in 2011.

Halley’s Comet, Steak Tartare, total solar eclipses…all three are less rare than baseball fans voting for the proper starters in the annual Major League All-Star game. But this year the average baseball Joe/Josephine is doing a pretty good job of mixing popularity with the deserving player. There are still mistakes of course, though some would argue that they are not errors since it is who the fans want to see. That being said, it is time to take a look at the current positional leaders for this year’s game, which will be played in Phoenix on July 12. (The statistical numbers indicated are accurate entering Sunday’s play unless otherwise indicated. All-Star vote totals are as of June 20.)

Read the rest of this free article at FullCountPitch.com

Adrian Beltre • Adrian Gonzalez • Albert Pujols • Alex Avila • Alex Rodriguez • Brandon Phillips • Brian McCann • Bruce Bochy • Chipper Jones • Curtis Granderson • David Ortiz • David Wright • Derek Jeter • Dustin Pedroia • Joe Mauer • Joey Votto • Jose Bautista • Jose Reyes • Lance Berkman • Matt Holliday • Matt Kemp • Michael Young • Miguel Montero • Pablo Sandoval • Prince Fielder • Robinson Cano • Ron Washington • Russell Martin • Ryan Braun • Ryan Howard • Ryan Zimmerman • Troy Tulowitzki • Victor Martinez

Curtis Granderson Crushes Pitcher's Souls

There are certain players whose abilities you truly don't appreciate until you get to see them on a regular basis. Yankees centerfielder Curtis Granderson is one such player. And that's not to say that he wasn't already a good/great player before he got to New York. He had a 30 home run season; he had become one of just a handful of players to have a season that included at least 20 home runs, stolen, bases, doubles, and triples, and he had been an All-Star. But there were still holes in his game.

Granderson couldn't hit left-handed pitching. It wasn't that he didn't try, he just didn't have success. (As opposed to say the way Wilt Chamberlain shot free throws.) His first year in New York in 2010 wasn't a very good one. There were signs of success- he would finish the year with 24 home runs and 67 RBI - but until he worked with Kevin Long during the dog days of Summer, Granderson was having a very pedestrian season. But boy have things changed since then.

The Yankees would be nowhere without him this season. On a team that has not hit consistently this season, Granderson has been the rock (though Freddy Garcia actually looks like "The Rock"). Last night, for example, he jump-started a laugher against the Oakland A's with a 2-run home run off of left-hander Brett Anderson. That's right, a left-hander, the hurler whose delivery baffled Granderson for several seasons.

Granderson used to release the bat with his bottom hand as he swung through. Long changed that so that Granderson continues to drive the bat through the ball as contact is made. He had him stay back on the ball longer. As Long has said, "This wasn't just about hitting left-handers."

The results have been remarkable. From August 31 until the end of last season, Granderson hit nearly half (10) of his 24 home runs. In his last 82 games, from that final day in August through Tuesday night, "the Grandyman" has hit 26 home runs and driven in 67 RBI in 83 games. Those are basically the same numbers he produced in 136 games last year. And today is only June 1. One more statistic to note- Granderson is hitting .323 against left-handers and .268 versus righties.

Once seemingly clueless against southpaws, you couldn't blame Granderson if he laughed in the face of those anti-righties today. Entering Tuesday night's play, Granderson was hitting .298/.355/.789...do the quick math...that's a 1.144 OPS! (His overall OPS is 190-200 points higher than each of the prior two seasons.) He now has more than half his home runs (9) against left-handed pitching. In addition to Anderson, he has homered off the likes of David Price, and Jon Lester.

Granderson can also thank manager Joe Girardi's lineup for a boost in production. His numbers were good when he batted lower in the order, but since he was moved to the number two spot in front of Mark Teixeira, Granderson has been on a tear. In 34 games he has amassed 12 home runs, 29 RBI, six doubles, three triples, and 40 hits overall.

On a team that has treated runners in scoring position like a disease, Granderson has hit .280 and with a man on third and less than two outs, he's hit an un-Godly .750. The centerfielder's game hasn't just been good in hitter's parks too, he's destroyed pitcher friendly Safeco in Seattle and Overstock.com in Oakland.

To further demonstrate just how good Granderson has been, consider Jose Bautista, the Blue Jays right fielder. Major League baseball media and fans have marveled at the home run display that has been put on north of the border in the last year plus. From August 14 to now, Bautista has hit 38 home runs...Curtis Granderson has hit 31. It's unusual for a player in a small market to get more attention than a player in baseball's biggest market, but that's what happens when you (Bautista) crack the 50 home run mark in a single season.

Granderson has yet to embrace his power stroke - "I've never been that kind of a guy" is his answer when queried about being tagged as a home run hitter. Bautista told the Washington Post he feels otherwise. “He’s a power hitter,” said Bautista, during a Blue Jays-Yankees series in the Bronx. “He might as well embrace it.”

While Granderson may not embrace his Ruthian status, the Yankees fans have certainly embraced him, though it took some time. Acquired in a three way deal that sent Phil Coke and Austin Jackson to Detroit, and Ian Kennedy to Arizona (the Tigers also received Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth from the Diamondbacks), Granderson slumped, was injured, and wasn't feeling the love from his new hometown fans. The attitude in the Bronx has done a complete 180 degree turn and it's not surprising.

Besides being a great athlete/baseball player, Granderson is one of the most thoughtful, well spoken players on the team. I had the chance to ask him a few questions in the Yankees' clubhouse prior to the September 1st game last year. He treated me as though I could have been from one of the major New York papers or national media outlets instead of the relative neophyte I am. His Grand Kids Foundation has done tremendous work with youth in both the Detroit and New York areas. He's the type of player that relishes being a role model and it shows.

Opposing pitchers just wish he were kinder to them.

Yankees Steal One In 9th

Tonight's Yankees-Toronto Blue Jays game looked like most other Yankees games these days. Fall behind, stay behind, lose. Maybe tease with a run or two late. But tonight was different, down 4-3 and down to their last out in the bottom of the 9th, Curtis Granderson singled home Chris Dickerson with the tying run. Moments later after Granderson had stolen second base, Mark Teixeira singled off the glove of first baseman Juan Rivera to give the Yankees a huge 5-4 victory.

After a Russell Martin home run gave the Yankees an early 1-0 lead, things went south for CC Sabathia. Tied 1-1 in the fourth, the Blue Jays took the lead on an J.P. Arencibia double and a Rivera single. One out later, back to back singles by Edwin Encarnacion and Rajai Davis produced a third Toronto run and John McDonald made it a 4-1 lead with a suicide squeeze bunt.

Two batters later the Jays had the bases loaded and the team's top hitter, Jose Bautista at the plate. It was a make or break at-bat and Sabathia came out on top, getting the slugger to ground out to end the inning. Meanwhile the Yankees couldn't do a thing against Jays' starter Rickey Romero, who turned things over to the bullpen. It was the best thing to happen for the Yankees all night.

Granderson led off the 8th with a double off Casey Janssen and scored on a two out double by Robinson Cano off lefty Marc Rzepczynski . Martin brought home Cano with an RBI single and suddenly the Yankees had themselves a ball game. But Rzepczynski got Nick Swisher to pop out to end the 8th.

After Sabathia retired the Jays in order in the 9th, and the final 16 batters he faced, Jorge Posada delivered a pinch-hit one out double off closer Frank Francisco. Posada's gapper to right-center eluded a sliding Bautista, who still might have thrown Posada out at second base if his throw hadn't gone to the cut off man. With Dickerson attempting to steal third base, Derek Jeter bounced out to short and Dickerson momentarily thought about making a break for home. Thankfully for the Yankees, Dickerson left the game in the hands of Granderson and Teixeira.

Notes

CC Sabathia's complete game win was the first for a Yankees pitcher since May 8, 2009.