Hang 'em Javy Keeps Yanks Looking Up

You know you had your doubts coming into tonight's Yankees-Blue Jays game when you saw that Javier Vazquez would make the start in place of Andy Pettitte. Joe Girardi talked before the game about how Javy was still in the mix for the post-season roster, blah blah blah.

Vazquez gave up three home runs on a night that the Blue Jays honored retiring manager Cito Gaston. The Yankees gave Gaston their own present, an 8-4 Blue Jays win. Vazquez should be joining A.J. Burnett on the sidelines during the division series since he has done nothing to gain Girardi's confidence.

The Blue Jays are a home run hitting monstrosity and Vazquez was happy to oblige them. Travis Snider, wearing a fake lamp black mustache in tribute to Gaston, homered to lead off the bottom of the 1st and you know things would only get worse from there. Aaron Hill and John Buck also went deep, with Buck reaching 20 home runs for the first time.

One of the few bright spots for the Yankees was the continued hot hitting of Alex Rodriguez. He homered for the fifth time in six games and reached the 30 home run mark for the 13 straight season and 14th overall. (I had predicted he would finish with 28; thankfully I didn't make any wagers on that.) He also added an RBI ground out to increase his team leading RBI total to 123.

The game started a half hour later than usual as the Toronto organization brought back some of Gaston's former players, such as 1992 World Series hero Joe Carter, and presented Gaston with a painting done by outfielder Vernon Wells' father, Vernon Jr. (the ball playing Wells is the III). Gaston then gave a very heartfelt speech.

The Yankees remained a half-game back of the Tampa Bay Rays thanks to a stellar pitching effort by the Baltimore Orioles staff. Kevin Millwood, who has had a horrendous year, limited the Rays to two hits over seven innings in the 2-0 O's win. The victory gave the Orioles the series victory with all three games being shutouts. The Rays now travel to Kansas City for their final four games of the regular season.

The Yankees have Thursday off and travel to Boston for a final three game set with the Red Sox beginning on Friday night.

CC Doesn't Flinch in a Pinch

Written for Baseball Digest.

With his team sputtering through the month of September, manager Joe Girardi wasn’t fooling around when it came to last night’s New York Yankees – Toronto Blue Jays game. Girardi altered his pitching plans to send ace CC Sabathia to the mound and the big man rewarded his skipper and his teammates with a dominant performance that clinched a playoff spot for the ball club.

Alex Rodriguez knocked in a pair of runs and Derek Jeter scored three times as the Yankees topped the Blue Jays 6-1. The story of the game without a doubt though was the performance of Sabathia, who got knocked around in his last start against Tampa Bay. He allowed two hits through the first eight innings, both by Travis Snider (Who also supplied the lone Toronto run with a solo home run), before putting the first two hitters aboard in the 9th. It wasn’t a save situation, but again Girardi was taking no chances- enter Sandman. Mariano Rivera retired the final two hitters to preserve Sabathia’s 21st win of the season and set off a celebration as the Yankees clinched a playoff spot for the 14th time in 15 years.

The Yankees remained in second place in the AL East as the Rays also clinched a playoff spot with a shutout of the Baltimore Orioles. The Rays had their ace, David Price (19-6), going as well in the 5-0 win over the O’s.

As champagne was sprayed about in the visitor’s locker room, Girardi would only confirm one thing- CC Sabathia will get the ball in Game 1 of the Division series. All that remains to be seen is who the Yankees opponent will be and whether or not they have home field advantage.

Oh Canada....Go Away

If you are a Yankees fan you are completely sick of the Toronto Blue Jays by now. Especially those games played up in Toronto where you hear the fans seranading the Bombers with "Yankees suck" chants. What happened to laid back Canuckers, eh?

You're especially sick of watching Jose Bautista hit home runs, ump Jerry Meals blowing calls, etc.

Unfortunately, the Blue Jays and Yankees aren't done yet-they meet again next weekend at Yankee Stadium. The Jays took 2 of 3 from the Yankees in early June and repeated the feat this week when they knocked off Phil Hughes last night, 6-3. In between the Jays, you guessed it, took 2 of 3 at the Stadium to start August. The only success the Pinstripes have had with the home run wrecking machine was their own 2 of 3 series win at home over the July 4th weekend.

Score Blue Jays 7 wins Yankees 5 wins

Oh and just to make matters worse...division/playoff race..three final games with the Blue Jays to end September...in Toronto.

Bautista Belts Bombers Again

Jose Bautista channeled his inner Reggie Jackson last night. Mr. October was famous for getting brushed back, dusting himself off, and then hitting a "take that" home run.

While Bautista didn't get decked, he took exception to a head high pitch from Yankees starter Ivan Nova, and got into a shouting match with the rookie. Both benches emptied, but nothing more came of it. That was until the 8th inning when Bautista, who had earlier hit his 39th home run off Nova, drilled his 40th off of David Robertson for a 3-2 Toronto Blue Jays win.

Bautista's season is one of mystery. This is a guy that never hit more than 16 home runs in a season. Now he's reached 40 faster (124 games) than other player in Blue Jays history and is 7 home runs short of George Bell's team record of 47.

Because of players like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, and yes, Alex Rodriguez, every batter is under suspicion, especially those with a sudden spike in home run power. I would never accuse of player of taking PEDs and I don't believe that Bautista is; not with today's strict testing.

Bautista, who has six bombs against the Yankees this season, is not happy with the speculation and who can blame him.

“I haven’t heard it once,” Bautista responded evenly when asked for his reaction to the unfounded allegations. “Nobody’s said anything to me, and I don’t see why they should. Baseball has a strict policy against those performance-enhancing whatever you want to call them.”

“It’s not a secret and I didn’t reinvent the wheel,” Bautista said. “I keep saying it because it’s the truth. It’s as simple as getting [his swing] started earlier, and I’ve got Cito and [hitting coach] Dwayne Murphy to thank for that.

“They kind of brought it to my attention and they worked with me extensively and it’s sort of the renaissance of my hitting. I owe it to them because without them it wouldn’t have been possible.”

Bautista said he doesn’t consider himself a power hitter – “I don’t aim over the fence” – but he sees no reason why he can’t continue to hit with the same authority in years to come.

“If I can remain consistent, I don’t see why not,” he said. “I think I’m still pretty young. I keep myself in shape and don’t abuse my body.”

Whether you believe him or not, Bautista does deserve the benefit of the doubt.


As for the Yankees, there weren't too many positives coming out of last night's game. One exception was the performance of Nova, whom Joe Girardi pulled after just 5.1 innings pitched and 73 pitches. He allowed the 2-run home run by Bautista that put the Jays up 2-1, but that came with some controversy.

Yuniel Escobar could/should/would have been the third out of the 3rd inning, but 1st base umpire Mark Wegner ruled Mark Teixeira had not kept his foot on the 1st base bag on shortstop Eduardo Nunez's throw. Bautista then made the Yankees pay.

Robinson Cano was right in the middle of the action as usual, doubling in the Yankees 1st run and then tying the game at two apiece when he walked and came home on Nick Swisher's single.

The Yankees struck out 15 times, 12 by starter Brandon Morrow, but none was more upsetting than a horrible called third strike on Curtis Granderson in the 9th inning.

Cano had led off the inning with a walk against closer Kevin Gregg and Jorge Posada followed with a deep fly that just missed leaving the park. That brought up Granderson who got punched out by home plate ump Jerry Meals, who finished a bad night with one more bad call. The strike three pitch was clearly out of the strike zone, in fact it was nearly in the right-handed hitter's batters box.

Meals, shouldn't have earned a post-game one, after also ejecting Escobar and Jays' manager Cito Gaston in the 5th inning.

The series continues tonight with Dustin Moseley facing Marc Rzepczynski (and no, I didn't spell that right the first time.)

A-Rod's 600th - Finally

From BaseballDigest.com

It took him 47 at-bats and was preceded by an 0-17 slump, but Alex Rodgriguez still became the youngest player to hit 600 home runs when he went deep off of Shaun Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon.

The recently turned 35-yr old hit the milestone home run three years to the exact day that he his his 500th home run off of Kanas City’s Kyle Davies. With Derek Jeter on 2nd base, A-Rod drilled a Marcum fastball into Monument Park in dead centerfield.

By hitting the ball to a non-fan spot, A-Rod also doesn’t have to worry about negotiating for the baseball. (Yankee Stadium security guard Frankie Babilonia recovered the baseball.) A-Rod was willing to offer an autographed baseball and bat. Jack Curry of the YES Network reported that if necessary, A-Rod was even willing to throw in a lunch with Cameron Diaz and himself.

A-Rod joined Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, and Ken Griffey Jr. at the 600 HR plateau and joined Ruth as the only player to wear a Yankees uniform while hitting his 600th.

So how does A-Rod stack up in history? That remains to be determined.

Thames Game Winner A Holiday Delight

The Yankees did a lot of things wrong this afternoon, but all could be (relatively) forgotten after Marcus Thames singled home Robinson Cano with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

The nearly four hour, 7-6 win in 95 degree was necessitated by laughable base running, poor starting pitching, and a blown save. The Yankees caught some breaks too, but A.J. Burnett was able to make just his second pie delivery of the year when the Yankees got the last laugh.

The Blue Jays tied the game up at six against Mariano Rivera, who had converted 24 straight save opportunities against Toronto, in the 9th on singles by Lyle Overbay, John Buck, and Dewayne Wise. Rivera got out of further difficulty by getting Alex Gonzalez to ground out to strand a pair of runners.

Cano drew a lead off walk against left-hander David Purcey to start the 10th and was sacrificed to second base by Francisco Cervelli. Purcey struck out Curtis Granderson, who earned the "golden sombrero", but walked Brett Gardner. Joe Girardi sent Thames, who had been activated from the DL earlier in the day, up to pinch-hit for Ramiro Pena.

Purcey fell behind 3-1 before getting Thames to wave at an off-speed pitch for a second strike. He wasn't so fortunate with the next delivery as Thames dropped a broken bat single in front of Wise in center field to score Cano with the game winner.

The fans certainly had to be holding their breath until Cano touched home plate. Who could blame them? The Yankees had three base runners thrown out at home plate on the day.

Nick Swisher singled off Brandon Morrow to start the 5th and Mark Teixeira followed with a drive to deep center. Swisher rounded second base and held up to be sure the ball was over Wise's head. Third base coach Rob Thomson inexplicably waved Swisher home despite the fact there were no outs. Swisher's former teammate Jose Molina perfectly blocked home plate and applied the tag for the first out of the inning.

Teixeira then tagged up on a shallow fly to center field and was a dead duck as Wise made a perfect throw home for the double play.

It was "Deja vu all over again" in the 7th when Teixeira singled home Jeter, for a 6-5 lead, and Swisher went to third on the play. Cervelli hit a foul pop near the stands in shallow right where Jose Bautista made a nice grab, spun, and fired home to nail Swisher at the plate. The ensuing groan from Yankee Stadium could be heard for miles.

The day started out nicely for Phil Hughes. Named to his first All-Star game, Hughes looked sharp through the first two innings. Then the wheels fell off. Lyle Overbay touched him up for a solo home run in the 3rd to temporarily give the Jays a 1-0 lead.

With the Yankees on top 3-1 in the 5th, Hughes allowed a single and a walk before surrendering a towering, foul pole aided home run to the light hitting Wise. An inning later, Lind took Hughes deep to right-center for his 10th home run and a 5-3 lead.

The Yankees benefited from the strong sun for the second straight day. Left fielder John McDonald had turned A-Rod's potential inning ending fly ball into a 3-run double in Saturday's 11-run, 3rd inning. This time it was Wise being victimized on a Brett Gardner fly.

With Jorge Posada on 1st and two down, Gardner skied to deep center. Wise got under it, shielded his eyes with his glove a bit too late, and watched helplessly as the ball ticked off the end of his glove. Gardner raced around the bases (amazing he didn't catch Posada) and was credited with a gift 2-run inside-the-park home run (one day maybe, just maybe, an official scorer will grow a set) to tie the game 5-5.

David Robertson (1-3) picked up his first win with some help from Edwin Encarnacion. Robertson allowed the first two base runners to reach in the 10th to set up a sacrifice situation. Encarnacion, who had been designated for assignment a few weeks back as a wake up call, bunted the ball in the air and stood there angry at himself. A-Rod allowed the ball to drop and quickly turned a 5-4-3 double play, with Cano's strong relay throwing just nipping Encarnacion at first base. Robertson then struck out Molina with the go ahead run 90 feet away.

Notes

Jorge Posada had to leave the game in the 7th after taking a foul tip off his glove hand. He was diagnosed with a sprained ring finger and is listed as day to day. Ironically, earlier in the game Molina was hit with a similar foul tip but was able to stay in the game.

To make room for Thames on the roster, Chad Huffman was optioned to Triple-A Scranton.

A Great Day at the Big Ball Park

We went to Yankee Stadium yesterday (7/3) for the second game of the Yankees-Blue Jays series. A great game and a great day.

Our seats were in the upper deck in right field. Section 405, row 4, seats 1 and 2. We couldn't seat the right field wall and the big board was blocked somewhat by the stairs, but the seats were good nonetheless. The only thing we missed out on was Chad Huffman's diving catch.

Andy Pettitte was shaky in the 1st inning. This was an uncomfortable feeling after Pettitte's struggles out in LA, but like the veteran he is, he worked his way back to the good. Nick Swisher said it best in a post-game interview with Suzyn Waldman. "Andy's like a Cadillac. He doesn't get going until he gets it up to 70".

Jose Bautista hit yet another home run off the Yankees for a 2-0 lead in the 1st as Pettitte threw 25 pitches. But thanks to Huffman's play and the Yankees' half of the 3rd inning, Pettitte was able to settle in.

We went to get some lemonade prior to the bottom of the 3rd and watched the entire inning- couldn't move, superstitions ya know, from behind the wheelchair accessible area to the 1st base side of home plate (grandstand).

Ricky Romero is one of the nastiest left-handers in baseball, but he completely lost the plate in this one. The Yankees sent 14 men to the plate in a half inning that seemed to take an hour.

An 11-3 win!

The highlights:

Brett Gardner started things off with a single and blew the game open with his first career grand slam. It was also his fourth home run of the season. That's a lot of power for the speedster.

Mark Teixeira tied the game with a 2-run double. Perhaps Tex should pay us to go to the games. In the two games we've attended this year, Tex is 4-6, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 runs scored, 2 doubles, and a walk.

Alex Rodriguez got a gift 3 RBI. With the bases loaded, the third baseman lifted a high fly to left field that John McDonald lost in the sun for a bases clearing double. McDonald is one of the best fielding infielders in the game, but clearly is not used to fighting the tough Yankee Stadium sun field in left.

Dustin Moseley made his first appearance as a Yankee and breezed through two innings. After breaking the bats of 2 of the 3 hitters he faced in the 7th, I yelled out "You're already better than Park!".

There were 5 French speaking students sitting in front of us. When Huffman made his great catch, one girl asked me, "Did they win?". And I had to explain how 2 runs is not 2 home runs.

The sun started getting a little overbearing in the middle to late innings, so we moved over to section 410 to get some shade.

* * *
This conversation was heard:

Guy 1: Ah, we forgot napkins.

Guy 2: Wipe 'em on my shorts, they're old. I bet your shorts cost a fortune.

Guy 1: They're Armani's, but they're old. I don't pay that much for clothes, but I once bought a shirt for $125. I tried it on and it was really nice. I went up to pay and there was a beautiful girl at the register. She said, $125, I almost fell over. I had no idea how expensive if was, but I didn't want to be embarrassed, so I bought it.

Guy 2: I would have told her to shove it up her ass.
* * *

Cotton Candy vendor was very funny, had a whole routine. Still wouldn't buy that crap.

The pièce de résistance was though the free gift on the way out of the Stadium. This:

YES! Perfect timing for the hot, sweaty fans. Pinstripe Brownie Blast. Quite good!

We got home to two overexcited Beagles. Virginia has separation anxiety, so when we go out we give her all kinds of natural calm down stuff, but it only does so much. She stresses out our other Beagle, Tinker, who is fine on his own.

Today they are exhausted.

Pen Writes A Bad Ending

Today's game between the Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays should have been about A.J. Burnett's return to the nickname the "Good A.J." as fans like to refer to him as. But instead the bullpen rained on Burnett's parade and the Blue Jays topped the Yankees 6-1 in extra innings.

Pitching coach Dave Eiland said he found a problem with Burnett's mechanics that was causing his front shoulder to fly open. But obviously there was reason to be skeptical after the horrendous month that Burnett endured in June.

This time out though Burnett left to a standing ovation after 6.2 innings with the Yankees clinging to 1-0 lead. It didn't last long.

In the 8th, the Jays rallied against Joba Chamberlain to tie the game on Aaron Hill's single. It was the third base runner allowed by Chamberlain in the inning. The right-hander with the plus fastball continues to get burned by his off-speed pitches. Something, in my opinion, he relies on much too much. It's one thing to throw a variety of pitches as a starter, but you don't need as large an array as a reliever.

The Yankees wasted numerous opportunities in the game, including a bases loaded no out situation in the 3rd inning. Blue Jays starter Brett Cecil struck out Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano, and got Jorge Posada to hit into an inning ending ground out.

Fans were hoping for the first walk off victory of the season, but the Yankees went down in order in the 9th and 10th innings. After Mariano Rivera and David Robertson each tossed a scoreless frame, Robertson got tagged in his first two inning appearance of the season.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases with one out and took the lead when Alex Gonzalez's line drive went beyone the reach of a leaping Alex Rodriguez. Chan Ho Park came on to strike out Jose Bautista, but walked Vernon Wells to put the Jays on top 3-1. Dewayne Wise, who entered the game as a pinch-runner in the 8th, then delivered the back breaker - a bases clearing triple for a 6-1 lead.

This outing once again proved what a horrible signing Chan Ho Park was. Brian Cashman has not learned not to give deals, be it long term or short term, to National Leaguer pitchers who have had one good year. Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Chan Ho Park. The list goes on.

Park's ERA is now 6.66, that in itself is in omen. I actually get angry every time he comes into the game. Park, Chamberlain, Robertson and most of the pen suffer from the same problem. Getting behind in the count. It happened to all three today and all three paid for it today.

The good news, of course, is that Burnett got a tremendous shot of confidence after allowing four hits and three walks, while striking out six. Hopefully he can now build off of today's performance.

Notes

Boone Logan was optioned to Scranton prior to the game to make room for Dustin Moseley. The former Angel pitcher had the option to opt out of his minor league deal. The Yankees wanted to see if he could do a better job as the long man at least until Sergio Mitre is back. With Chad Gaudin out of options, the Yankees decided to send Logan down despite how poorly Gaudin has been pitching.

The Yankees were hitless with runners in scoring position and had just five hits on the day.

photo courtesy of Lohud.com

Yankees Hit Their Way to Finale Win

The Toronto Blue Jays silenced the Yankees bats through the first two games of the their three games series and had done so for much of Sunday's finale. Then the Yankees finally got some clutch hits. Well, it started out just by being hit, period.

Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner each took one for the team as the Yankees rallied for four runs in the eighth inning and a 4-2 win.

Javier Vazquez kept his team in the game with another stellar performance. He actually had a no-hitter going for 5.2 innings, but Vernon Wells broke it up with a 2-run home run that also snapped a scoreless tie.

Brandon Morrow had limited the Yankees to four hits and walk through seven innings, but hit Cervelli in the left shoulder to start the eighth. Cisto Gaston brought in left-hander Scott Downs to face Brett Gardner, but the southpaw drilled the Yankees left fielder on the wrist.

The land of Twitter thought for sure Joe Girardi would bunt as he often does in the situation the Yankees found themselves in. But the Yankees skip let Derek Jeter swing away and it paid off when the Captain doubled down the right field line to cut the Yankees deficit to one.

It was long day for Nick Swisher at the plate, in part due to the appropriately named home plate ump Bruce Dreckman. Swisher had been called out on strikes earlier in the game on a pitch out of the zone and was beside himself when Dreckman said he didn't check his swing for a third strike and the first out in the eighth. Girardi quickly came out to protect his player and got into with Dreckman whose strike zone well exceeded both sides of the tangible part of home plate. Needless to say Girardi got got tossed with Tony Pena taking over.

Even though the numbers have proven otherwise, Gaston elected to walk the struggling Mark Teixeira to face Alex Rodriguez with a force set up at any base. Those situations had resulted in five hits, three grand slams and 18 RBI in seven at-bats.

Jayson Frasor helped the Yankees out further, bouncing a pitch in front of Jose Molina. The ricochet got far enough away from the former Yankee catcher to allow Gardner to slide home head first with the tying run. A-Rod looked at a called third strike (one of the few good calls by Dreckman), but Robinson Cano delivered a 2-run single to the left for a 4-2 lead.

The Blue Jays got a run back off of Joba Chamberlain, but Damaso Marte retired Adam Lind with the tying run on base in the 8th and Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 9th to end the Yankees two game losing streak.

Jays Top Punchless Yanks in 14

Mark Teixeira wasn't worried. He knew that every April he struggled. It was commonplace. And he knew that come May his bat would begin to destory opponent's pitches like he did last year and every year before that.

True to form Teixeira began raking as the calendar turned to May. But then something happened. Teixeira has gone back to his April form. Actually he's been worse at times than he was in April. The first baseman's struggles were magnified yesterday as the Yankees couldn't take advantage of another excellent performance by Andy Pettitte and fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 in 14 innings.

Aaron Hill singled off Edwin Encarnacion in the bottom of the 14th to drop Chad Gaudin's record to 0-3. But it wasn't the Yankees pitching that cost them their second straight game north of the border.

Teixeira was the poster child for the offense's inability. He went for the collar in six at-bats and for the second time in his career struck out 5 times. It was obvious to anyone watching he couldn't differentiate a fastball from an off-speed pitch. (King George back in the day would have sent Tex to the eye dr. immediately.)

The Yankees put two on with two out in the 10th, but Teixeira swung and missed at strike three to end the inning. The Bomberless Bombers also stranded runners in scoring position in the 12th and 14th.

Derek Jeter's 2-run home run in the 5th had put the Yankees on top of Ricky Romero 2-1, but the Yankees managed just eight hits on the day against the Jays staff. Alex Gonzalez (did YES HAVE to show his 2003 World Series home run off Jeff Weaver?) had tied the game up in the seventh off of Pettitte with his 12th home run of the year. The only other run allowed by the tall left-hander was a solo home run by Vernon Wells (his 10th).

The Yankees had a chance to break things open in the 7th when Francisco Cervelli opened the inning with a single and Brett Gardner followed with a walk. Kevin Russo's sac bunt forced the Blue Jays to bring the infield in, but Jeter hit a soft liner right to Hill at second base. Hill bobbled the ball before recording the putout and easily doubled a confused Cervelli off of third base to end the threat.

Abreu Slams Yankees to 7th Straight

Bobby Abreu knows how important is too put up good numbers in a free agent season. Last night the right fielder hit a grand slam in the 10th inning to give the Yankees their seventh win in a row, 6-2 over the Toronto Blue Jays. The 4 RBI left Abreu one shy of the magic century mark, a feat has accomplished in each of the last six seasons, and the seventh time overall in his career.

The Yankees also saw the best of Phil Hughes this year. He'll still finish the season with no wins, but the second year right-hander had his most impressive outing of the season, allowing two earned runs over eight innings. He left the game after having allowed a solo home run to Scott Rolen in the eighth inning that tied the game at two apiece.

Abreu has produced impressive numbers since being acquired with the late Corey Lidle prior to the 2006 trade deadline. He had a poor first half in 2007 after straining an oblique muscle, but rebounded after the break to help the Yankees reach the playoffs for a 13th consecutive season. Abreu's play this season has left the Yankees decision makers in a quandary as to the possibility of re-signing him to a new deal.

While we agree that Abreu has put up consistently good numbers and he, along with Jason Giambi, are the only Yankees that consistently work the count, we think the Yankees would do better to let Abreu walk after this season.

While Abreu comes off as very likeable, and genuinely seems to be popular among his teammates, he's always had a reputation as a soft player, and it is clearly the case when he's playing defense. Will Rogers never met a man he didn't like and Bobby Abreu has never met a right field wall, period. Abreu doesn't go aggressively after any ball hit near the wall, and for that matter, he doesn't attack balls hit in front of him either.

The 34-yr old Abreu would most likely be seeking a three year or more deal. Letting Abreu go would also enable the Yankees to move Xavier Nady to his more natural position in right field.

It remains to be seen whether Hughes figures in next year's plans either. After not being dealt for Johan Santana in the off-season, Hughes was counted on to be a major part of the '08 season. But he struggled early and then suffered a stress fracture in his rib cage that kept him out of action for several months.

Last night he pitched like the prospect the Yankees have been counting on, and they hadn't seen since the 2007 ALDS. Hughes' fastball was clocked at 89-91 all night, and hit a high of 92 mph. He mixed his new cutter in well with his top notch curve ball. It was only one game, but it gives us some hope for next season.

A.J. Burnett, who will reportedly seek $15 million per year when he opts out of his Blue Jays contract after this season, allowed one earned run in eight innings and struck out 11. He finished 3-1, 1.64 in five starts against the Yankees with 43 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched.

Xavier Nady's 2-out, 2-run single in the third inning gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead before Rolen's 11th home run tied things up. Juan Miranda, who had earlier picked up his first major league hit, doubled off of Jesse Carlson to lead off the 10th and Chad Moeller followed with a walk. After Brett Gardner successfully sacrificed the runners over, Robinson Cano was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Abreu then delivered with his 20th home run of the season, giving him eight 20-20 (HR-RBI) seasons in his career. Only Bobby and Barry Bonds have achieved the feat more times than the Venezuelan native.


News and Notes

Jose Veras, who has struggled the last two months of the season, completed his third straight scoreless stint to earn his fifth win of the season. Sidney Ponson, scheduled to start Saturday in Boston, pitched the 10th inning to get some work in.

The Yankees have won 10 of 11...too little too late.

Abreu Slams Yankees to 7th Straight

Bobby Abreu knows how important is too put up good numbers in a free agent season. Last night the right fielder hit a grand slam in the 10th inning to give the Yankees their seventh win in a row, 6-2 over the Toronto Blue Jays. The 4 RBI left Abreu one shy of the magic century mark, a feat has accomplished in each of the last six seasons, and the seventh time overall in his career.

The Yankees also saw the best of Phil Hughes this year. He'll still finish the season with no wins, but the second year right-hander had his most impressive outing of the season, allowing two earned runs over eight innings. He left the game after having allowed a solo home run to Scott Rolen in the eighth inning that tied the game at two apiece.

Abreu has produced impressive numbers since being acquired with the late Corey Lidle prior to the 2006 trade deadline. He had a poor first half in 2007 after straining an oblique muscle, but rebounded after the break to help the Yankees reach the playoffs for a 13th consecutive season. Abreu's play this season has left the Yankees decision makers in a quandary as to the possibility of re-signing him to a new deal.

While we agree that Abreu has put up consistently good numbers and he, along with Jason Giambi, are the only Yankees that consistently work the count, we think the Yankees would do better to let Abreu walk after this season.

While Abreu comes off as very likeable, and genuinely seems to be popular among his teammates, he's always had a reputation as a soft player, and it is clearly the case when he's playing defense. Will Rogers never met a man he didn't like and Bobby Abreu has never met a right field wall, period. Abreu doesn't go aggressively after any ball hit near the wall, and for that matter, he doesn't attack balls hit in front of him either.

The 34-yr old Abreu would most likely be seeking a three year or more deal. Letting Abreu go would also enable the Yankees to move Xavier Nady to his more natural position in right field.

It remains to be seen whether Hughes figures in next year's plans either. After not being dealt for Johan Santana in the off-season, Hughes was counted on to be a major part of the '08 season. But he struggled early and then suffered a stress fracture in his rib cage that kept him out of action for several months.

Last night he pitched like the prospect the Yankees have been counting on, and they hadn't seen since the 2007 ALDS. Hughes' fastball was clocked at 89-91 all night, and hit a high of 92 mph. He mixed his new cutter in well with his top notch curve ball. It was only one game, but it gives us some hope for next season.

A.J. Burnett, who will reportedly seek $15 million per year when he opts out of his Blue Jays contract after this season, allowed one earned run in eight innings and struck out 11. He finished 3-1, 1.64 in five starts against the Yankees with 43 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched.

Xavier Nady's 2-out, 2-run single in the third inning gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead before Rolen's 11th home run tied things up. Juan Miranda, who had earlier picked up his first major league hit, doubled off of Jesse Carlson to lead off the 10th and Chad Moeller followed with a walk. After Brett Gardner successfully sacrificed the runners over, Robinson Cano was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Abreu then delivered with his 20th home run of the season, giving him eight 20-20 (HR-RBI) seasons in his career. Only Bobby and Barry Bonds have achieved the feat more times than the Venezuelan native.


News and Notes

Jose Veras, who has struggled the last two months of the season, completed his third straight scoreless stint to earn his fifth win of the season. Sidney Ponson, scheduled to start Saturday in Boston, pitched the 10th inning to get some work in.

The Yankees have won 10 of 11...too little too late.

What Happens When You are Eliminated

A lineup like this one.

Sept 24 vs. Blue Jays
Gardner CF
Cano 2B
Abreu RF
Nady LF
Giambi DH
Betemit 3B
Ransom SS
Miranda 1B
Moeller C

What Happens When You are Eliminated

A lineup like this one.

Sept 24 vs. Blue Jays
Gardner CF
Cano 2B
Abreu RF
Nady LF
Giambi DH
Betemit 3B
Ransom SS
Miranda 1B
Moeller C

Moose Wins 19th, but Yanks Eliminated

The Yankees hit a high and a low last night in Toronto as Mike Mussina won his 19th game, but the Yankees were officially eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 1993. While the Yankees were beating the Blue Jays, 3-1, the Red Sox were beating the Cleveland Indians, 5-4, in Boston.

It was almost entirely a night of lows when Mussina was hit on the right elbow by a line drive off the bat of Travis Snider. Moose was clearly in pain as he tried to walk it off, with a stressed Joe Girardi looking on. After a couple of warm up tosses, Mussina remained in the game and quickly got Joe Inglett to hit into an inning ending double play.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead against Jay's starter Jesse Litsch in the second inning when Xavier Nady followed Jason Giambi's single with a double, and Robinson Cano grounded out, with the infield back conceding the run. Giambi made it a 2-0 game in the fourth when he crushed a pitch over the wall in right-center for his 32nd home run of the year, and the 396th of his career.

Mussina showed no ill effects in the fourth and fifth innings, retiring six of the seven hitters he faced, but his elbow stiffened up and Girardi removed him before the sixth inning.

The Yankees added a big insurance run in the seventh when Cano doubled, and came around on a pair of wild pitches. The play at the plate was a close one, and catcher Greg Zaun and manager Cito Gaston argued, to no avail, that Cano was out.

After Phil Coke and Brian Bruney combined for a scoreless sixth inning and the first out in the seventh, Girardi sent for Damaso Marte to face a pair of Blue Jays' lefties. But Adam Lind singled and Marte walked Lyle Overbay to bring the tying run to the plate. Girardi quickly went to Joba Chamberlain, who was greeted by a line drive RBI single off the bat of Scott Rolen to cut the lead to 3-1. Chamberlain struck out Zaun and then wild pitched the tying runs into scoring position. But the hard throwing right-hander struck out Snider swinging to end the threat.

Chamberlain got in trouble again with two out in the eighth after a single by Alex Rios and a throwing error by shortstop Cody Ransom on Vernon Wells' grounder. Chamberlain compounded the issue by walking Lind to load the bases, and went to a full count on Overbay. But a nasty slider froze Overbay for a called third strike and the Blue Jays' threat was done.

Mariano Rivera struck out two of three in the ninth, including Zaun, who got the "Golden Sombrero", for his 38th save in 39 tries.


News and Notes

Mike Mussina won his 19th game for the first time since 1996, when he his finished his second consecutive 19-win season. He also needs just 5.2 innings pitched this season to reach 200 innings for the first time since 2003. Elbow permitting, he's set to face the Red Sox in Boston on Sunday.
Derek Jeter was scratched from the starting lineup after not being able to effectively swing a bat, due to the fastball he took off his left hand on Saturday, during batting practice. He came in as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning, with Cody Ransom sliding over to first base to replace Jason Giambi.

Yankees pitching had 14 strikeouts in the game.

Moose Wins 19th, but Yanks Eliminated

The Yankees hit a high and a low last night in Toronto as Mike Mussina won his 19th game, but the Yankees were officially eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 1993. While the Yankees were beating the Blue Jays, 3-1, the Red Sox were beating the Cleveland Indians, 5-4, in Boston.

It was almost entirely a night of lows when Mussina was hit on the right elbow by a line drive off the bat of Travis Snider. Moose was clearly in pain as he tried to walk it off, with a stressed Joe Girardi looking on. After a couple of warm up tosses, Mussina remained in the game and quickly got Joe Inglett to hit into an inning ending double play.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead against Jay's starter Jesse Litsch in the second inning when Xavier Nady followed Jason Giambi's single with a double, and Robinson Cano grounded out, with the infield back conceding the run. Giambi made it a 2-0 game in the fourth when he crushed a pitch over the wall in right-center for his 32nd home run of the year, and the 396th of his career.

Mussina showed no ill effects in the fourth and fifth innings, retiring six of the seven hitters he faced, but his elbow stiffened up and Girardi removed him before the sixth inning.

The Yankees added a big insurance run in the seventh when Cano doubled, and came around on a pair of wild pitches. The play at the plate was a close one, and catcher Greg Zaun and manager Cito Gaston argued, to no avail, that Cano was out.

After Phil Coke and Brian Bruney combined for a scoreless sixth inning and the first out in the seventh, Girardi sent for Damaso Marte to face a pair of Blue Jays' lefties. But Adam Lind singled and Marte walked Lyle Overbay to bring the tying run to the plate. Girardi quickly went to Joba Chamberlain, who was greeted by a line drive RBI single off the bat of Scott Rolen to cut the lead to 3-1. Chamberlain struck out Zaun and then wild pitched the tying runs into scoring position. But the hard throwing right-hander struck out Snider swinging to end the threat.

Chamberlain got in trouble again with two out in the eighth after a single by Alex Rios and a throwing error by shortstop Cody Ransom on Vernon Wells' grounder. Chamberlain compounded the issue by walking Lind to load the bases, and went to a full count on Overbay. But a nasty slider froze Overbay for a called third strike and the Blue Jays' threat was done.

Mariano Rivera struck out two of three in the ninth, including Zaun, who got the "Golden Sombrero", for his 38th save in 39 tries.


News and Notes

Mike Mussina won his 19th game for the first time since 1996, when he his finished his second consecutive 19-win season. He also needs just 5.2 innings pitched this season to reach 200 innings for the first time since 2003. Elbow permitting, he's set to face the Red Sox in Boston on Sunday.
Derek Jeter was scratched from the starting lineup after not being able to effectively swing a bat, due to the fastball he took off his left hand on Saturday, during batting practice. He came in as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning, with Cody Ransom sliding over to first base to replace Jason Giambi.

Yankees pitching had 14 strikeouts in the game.

The Daily Yankeeland - 9/23

What? There's a game tonight? Didn't the season end on Sunday? Oh wait, that's right, the MLB scheduler makers fecked up. The Yankees travel north of the border tonight to visit the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Tonight's game is huge and we're not talking about the fact that the Yankees aren't mathematically eliminated. Mike Mussina (18-9, 3.57) goes for win number 19 tonight. If he gets it, he'll go for number 20 in Fenway Park. Moose will be opposed by Jesse Litsch (12-8, 3.72).

Phil Hughes makes his second start, since coming from the DL, tomorrow night against new Yankee killer, and maybe future Yankee, A.J. Burnett. The series finishes up on Thursday with Carl Pavano going against Roy Halladay, who will be looking for his 20th win.

We waded through many of the reviews of Sunday night's festivities and though most were favorable, there were some definite on-the-money criticisms. The ridiculous re-enactment of the 1923 lineup and of players like Joe D. The complete omission of Joe Torre from the highlights. The inclusion of Jesse Barfield in the highlights.

There was one thing we were quite curious about - who pulled the lever to set the countdown to zero. We saw no mention of it, so we asked Peter Abraham during his live chat yesterday - the answer? Michael Kay. Michael Kay??? WTF. Not even Hal or Jennifer Steinbrenner? By the way, nice of Hank not to show.

Here are some of the good columns we read concerning Sunday's ceremonies and some of the suggestions of what could have made the day better:

Richard Sandomir of the Times.

Joel Sherman of the Post.

Peter Abraham's video chat from yesterday. We asked what Pete would have added and taken away from Sunday's ceremony, how Jason Giambi felt about the possible end of his days in Pinstripes, and about the countdown lever.

Yankees spokesperson Jason Zillo claimed that Torre and Clemens were not intentionally skipped. Yeah, right.

Word has it that Roger Clemens was not invited. Duh. He was reportedly heartbroken over being left out of the montage. Ya reap what you sow.

You knew there were some people who were going to try to purloin some history on Sunday.

As for the business of rebuilding the Yankees. We're not happy about the Yankees considering bringing back Jason Giambi. Remember, this is about winning, and while the Big 'G' is a really likeable guy, it's time to go.

The Daily Yankeeland - 9/23

What? There's a game tonight? Didn't the season end on Sunday? Oh wait, that's right, the MLB scheduler makers fecked up. The Yankees travel north of the border tonight to visit the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Tonight's game is huge and we're not talking about the fact that the Yankees aren't mathematically eliminated. Mike Mussina (18-9, 3.57) goes for win number 19 tonight. If he gets it, he'll go for number 20 in Fenway Park. Moose will be opposed by Jesse Litsch (12-8, 3.72).

Phil Hughes makes his second start, since coming from the DL, tomorrow night against new Yankee killer, and maybe future Yankee, A.J. Burnett. The series finishes up on Thursday with Carl Pavano going against Roy Halladay, who will be looking for his 20th win.

We waded through many of the reviews of Sunday night's festivities and though most were favorable, there were some definite on-the-money criticisms. The ridiculous re-enactment of the 1923 lineup and of players like Joe D. The complete omission of Joe Torre from the highlights. The inclusion of Jesse Barfield in the highlights.

There was one thing we were quite curious about - who pulled the lever to set the countdown to zero. We saw no mention of it, so we asked Peter Abraham during his live chat yesterday - the answer? Michael Kay. Michael Kay??? WTF. Not even Hal or Jennifer Steinbrenner? By the way, nice of Hank not to show.

Here are some of the good columns we read concerning Sunday's ceremonies and some of the suggestions of what could have made the day better:

Richard Sandomir of the Times.

Joel Sherman of the Post.

Peter Abraham's video chat from yesterday. We asked what Pete would have added and taken away from Sunday's ceremony, how Jason Giambi felt about the possible end of his days in Pinstripes, and about the countdown lever.

Yankees spokesperson Jason Zillo claimed that Torre and Clemens were not intentionally skipped. Yeah, right.

Word has it that Roger Clemens was not invited. Duh. He was reportedly heartbroken over being left out of the montage. Ya reap what you sow.

You knew there were some people who were going to try to purloin some history on Sunday.

As for the business of rebuilding the Yankees. We're not happy about the Yankees considering bringing back Jason Giambi. Remember, this is about winning, and while the Big 'G' is a really likeable guy, it's time to go.

Yankees Sleepwalk to Tie Clinch

It seemed like the Yankee veterans were in too much of a hurry yesterday to see their rookie counterparts in Wizard of Oz regalia as part of this year's freshman hazing. The Yankees let rookie Jesse Litsch manhandle them in a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays. They did manage to clinch a tie for the Wild Card last night though, when the barely breathing Detroit Tigers were blanked by the Minnesota Twins, 2-0.

Andy Pettitte felt his stuff was good, but the Blue Jays battled him hard, scoring 3 runs in the 2nd inning to take control of the game. Pettitte retired Frank Thomas to start the inning, but allowed a single to Aaron Hill and walked Greg Zaun. Curtis Thigpen doubled in the game's 1st run and Hector Luna followed with an RBI ground out. John McDonald's double to deep center made it a 3-0 game, before Pettitte finally retired Reed Johnson to end the inning.

The Blue Jays added an insurance tally the next inning when Derek Jeter couldn't handle Hill's potential inning ending ground ball. The Yankees got their only in the 6th when Jeter doubled and came around on ground outs by Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez. It was A-Rod's 147th RBI of the season.

Litsch left after 7.2 innings of 5 hit ball. Casey Janssen came on for the final 4 outs to record his 6th save of the season.

...

Russ Ohlendorf continues to put himself into post-season consideration, especially with Ian Kennedy not likely to pitch this week. Ohlendorf's scoreless inning yesterday lowered his ERA to 2.45 and gave him 5 strikeouts in 2.2 innings.

Derek Jeter's double extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Yankees Sleepwalk to Tie Clinch

It seemed like the Yankee veterans were in too much of a hurry yesterday to see their rookie counterparts in Wizard of Oz regalia as part of this year's freshman hazing. The Yankees let rookie Jesse Litsch manhandle them in a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays. They did manage to clinch a tie for the Wild Card last night though, when the barely breathing Detroit Tigers were blanked by the Minnesota Twins, 2-0.

Andy Pettitte felt his stuff was good, but the Blue Jays battled him hard, scoring 3 runs in the 2nd inning to take control of the game. Pettitte retired Frank Thomas to start the inning, but allowed a single to Aaron Hill and walked Greg Zaun. Curtis Thigpen doubled in the game's 1st run and Hector Luna followed with an RBI ground out. John McDonald's double to deep center made it a 3-0 game, before Pettitte finally retired Reed Johnson to end the inning.

The Blue Jays added an insurance tally the next inning when Derek Jeter couldn't handle Hill's potential inning ending ground ball. The Yankees got their only in the 6th when Jeter doubled and came around on ground outs by Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez. It was A-Rod's 147th RBI of the season.

Litsch left after 7.2 innings of 5 hit ball. Casey Janssen came on for the final 4 outs to record his 6th save of the season.

...

Russ Ohlendorf continues to put himself into post-season consideration, especially with Ian Kennedy not likely to pitch this week. Ohlendorf's scoreless inning yesterday lowered his ERA to 2.45 and gave him 5 strikeouts in 2.2 innings.

Derek Jeter's double extended his hitting streak to 11 games.