Down 9, Swish & Tex Deep Six Red Sox

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes


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

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

Happy Yankeeversary

It was a big day in Boston on Friday afternoon, the Old Town Team was celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park. A veritable plethora of Boston Red Sox alumni was introduced prior to the game with the Yankees. From 91 year old Bobby Doerr to Carl Yastrzemski to Jim Rice to Johnny Pesky to Rico Petrocelli to recently fired manager Terry Francona. On and on it went. Then the teams got down to business and the Red Sox continued to struggle.

The teams wore throw back uniforms circa 1912, which contained no numbers on the back. But like most Yankees-Red Sox contests over the years, the Yankees got the better of Boston. This time the Yankees crashed the Red Sox party with five solo home runs, including a pair of Eric Chavez blasts, and came away with a 6-2 victory. Ivan Nova was very good for six innings and won his third game of the season. He allowed two runs, seven hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out five. David Ortiz's solo home run in the 2nd inning was one of the few mistake pitches Nova made on the day.

Meanwhile the Yankees took advantage of a shaky Clay Buchholz. The right-hander missed most of last season with a back injury and hasn't looked good so far this season. The Yankees led 1-0 in the 2nd when Nick Swisher hit an opposite field blast for third home run and 14th RBI of the season. Two batters later Chavez hit his first long ball of the season.

Chavez struck again in the 4th with a long blast to deep centerfield for his first multi-home run game in six years. One inning later, Alex Rodriguez, who also had an RBI single in the 1st, took Buchholz deep for his second round tripper of the year.

The Red Sox got a run back in the home half of the 5th on Mike Aviles' RBI double, but that was the last run the Red Sox would score against the Yankees pitching. Cory Wade, David Robertson, Cody Eppley (in his Yankees debut), and Mariano Rivera scattered three hits over the final three innings to seal the win. The Yankees weren't done scoring though- Russell Martin added one more home run when he finished Buchholz's scoring line with a solo blast in the 6th.

Grandy Trifecta Bails Out Hughes

When Curtis Granderson was struggling during the 2010 season, my Dad kept telling me how awful he was;what a mistake the trade had been. My brother and I kept telling him, just wait, this guy is a legitimate star. While we weren't the reason, we were right.

Granderson's bat was sluggish that season until he worked hard with hitting coach Kevin Long to make adjustments. Granderson got hot down the stretch and exploded last year with an MVP type year- 41 HRs, a .916 OPS, 26 doubles, 10 triples, and a league lead 119 RBI and 136 runs scored. The left-handed hitting Granderson was a notoriously poor hitter against southpaws, but actually hit better against left-handers than righties in 2011 (.940 OPS 16 HR in 191 AB).

Thursday night Granderson had the first three home run game of his career. Down 4-0 in the first after some shaky pitching from Phil Hughes and a costly error by Eduardo Nunez, Granderson started the Yankees hit parade with a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st off of lefty Anthony Swarzak. He took the Twins starter deep again an inning later, this time with a man aboard to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead.

In the 4th, Granderson's home run, his 6th of the year, proved to be the difference maker in the Yankees 7-6 victory. This time the victim was Twins' right-handed reliever Jeff Gray.

By the time Granderson stepped up to the plate again in the 6th, many people were no longer thinking about another rough start for Hughes. The right-hander hadn't made it out of the 5th inning in his first two starts and, for a time, didn't look like he would get out of the 1st inning Thursday evening. Granted his pitch count rose quickly in the first frame due to Nunez's throwing error from 2nd base.

Playing in place of Robinson Cano, who started at DH, Nunez fielded Joe Mauer's grounder with one out and one on and lollipopped his throw to 1st base. Mark Teixeira leapt up to grab the errant throw, but couldn't get a tag on Mauer. The Twins took advantage when Ryan Doumit stroked a 2-run single and Danny Valencia added a 2-run double.

Hughes got better as the game went on, but he walked Justin Morneau to start the 6th inning and then surrendered a 2-run home run to Doumit to end his night. But the Yankees bullpen was sharp. Boone Logan finished the 6th and was followed by the usual sequence of Rafael Soriano, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera. The Yankees closer picked up his third save of the season to salvage a split of the four game series and put the Yankees back above .500 at 7-6.

The story line though was Granderson, who stepped up to the plate in the 6th against Alex Burnett and ripped a hard single to right. Nunez, who was on 2nd base, had to hold up to be sure the ball wasn't caught and had to stop at third. In the 8th, Granderson got one more chance to join the four-home run club, but hit a dribbler. The good news is that he beat the throw to first for a 5-5 night that raised his batting average 75 points.

The Captain Climbs The Ladder

Derek Jeter had just one hit on the night, and RBI single in the 2nd, but it was the 3,110th of his career. That was good enough to tie him with his idol Dave Winfield for 19th on the all-time hits list. Jeter needs 31 hits to catch Tony Gwynn for 18th place.

The Last Trifecta
According to the YES Network, August 14, 2010 was the last time a Yankee hit three home runs in one game. That was courtesy of Alex Rodriguez in KC.

Nick Swisher is...

a) Nuts

b) a Moron

c) Crazy

d) Over Enthused

e) Hyperactive

f) All of the Above

I'll go with f) after this statement from Nick Swisher after yesterday's game.

“We still have to go out and prove it, but I feel like this could be a new generation of the old-school ‘Murderer’s Row.”

Derek Jeter summed it up best, "Easy there, Swish."

Kuroda Shines On Opening Day

Hiroki Kuroda's Yankees debut was less than memorable - 4 earned runs allowed in five-plus innings in an 8-6 loss to Tampa Bay a week ago. But despite being admittedly nervous, Kuroda stepped on the mound for the home opener and pitched a gem and the Yankees beat the LA Angels 5-0.

Kuroda allowed five hits over eight innings, before David Robertson finished up in the 9th, to pick up his first American League victory. Kuroda got an early boost when Nick Swisher delivered a two out, bases loaded double to jump start the Yankees to a quick 3-0 lead in the 1st inning against Ervin Santana.

The former Dodger is now 2-2, 1.71 against the Angels, whom he faced three times in inter-league play. He threw 109 pitches, 71 of them for strikes, walked two and struck out six, including an aggravated Albert Pujols in the 6th.

The Yankees added some tack on runs with a pair of home runs. Alex Rodriguez tied Ken Griffey Jr. for fifth on the all-time home run list with blast number 630, a shot to straight away center field. Curtis Granderson then took advantage of the short porch in right with his second home run of the season.

Bullpen, Ibanez Save The Junk Man

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes

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

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

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

The Yankees CAN Win A Game

Ivan Nova proved last night that you can throw Spring Training numbers out the window. Nova, after pitching to an 8.06 ERA in exhibition games, limited the Baltimore Orioles to two runs over seven innings to help the Yankees to their first win, 6-2.

The Yankees have now scored six runs in three of their four games, but last night was their first win. Nova gave up an early home run to Matt Wieters, but scattered 10 hits and mixed off speed pitches with a fastball that averaged 94 mph and occasionally topped out at 96.

Nova got plenty of support in the field and at the plate. Derek Jeter had four hits, plus a sac bunt, run scored, and an RBI. Andruw Jones had a long home run, and he Curtis Granderson scored two runs a piece.

Eduardo Nunez, whose error got the ball rolling in the wrong direction on Saturday, made a leaping grab at third base to take a way a base hit and RBI.

David Robertson and Mariano Rivera, in a non-save situation closed out the win over lefty Brian Matusz.

Notes

Joe Girardi used his 4th DH in four games, sitting Alex Rodriguez.

Yankees in Cellar's Market

1966 was a horrible year for New York Yankees baseball. Their stars either retired early or had stayed too long. The Yankees finished 70-89 that year and in 10th place...which was out of 10 teams.

No one is saying 2012 holds the same fate for the Yankees, but the last time the Yankees and Boston Red Sox (who blew two final inning leads on Sunday) started the season with an identical 0-3 record was in that horrid 1966 season.

The Yankees pitching staff only allowed three runs on Sunday, but their bats were put to sleep by a near complete game shutout by Jeremy Hellickson. Only a two out walk to Nick Swisher in the 9th prevented the second year right-hander from finishing off a 3-0 Tampa Bay Rays win.

Phil Hughes made his first start of the season and took the loss. While he had effective stuff, he burned out early and was pulled after 99 pitches and 4.2 innings. Stuff will only get you so far, just ask A.J. Burnett.

The Yankees continued to make the mistake of pitching to Carlos Pena. Already leading 1-0 on a Matt Joyce 1st inning RBI triple, Pena double the score with his second home run and 7th RBI of the series. He later had a near home run turn into a ground rule double due to fan interference.

But the story of this game was Hellickson, who walked four batters, but limited the Yankees to just three hits. All three were doubles (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Swisher), but the Yankees bats failed in the clutch, much as they did in the entire three game series. Pena's 24 home runs against the Yankees are his second highest total against any one team.

Series Notes

It's only the first series of the season, but a team should be embarrassed when Fernando Rodney saves two games against you.

The Yankees three starters in the series, CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, and Hughes, combined to allow 11 earned runs in 16.1 innings pitched. Mariano Rivera, Clay Rapada, and Boone Logan gave up a combined five additional runs out of the pen.

Eduardo Nunez' season got off to a rocky start in the field Saturday evening. After making an error on the very first ball hit to him in this year's Spring Training debut, Nunez repeated the feat when he started at shortstop behind Kuroda. Unfortunately for Nunez, Kuroda didn't pick him up and gave up a 2-run single to Luke Scott.

Kuroda fooled no one, except maybe his catcher Russell Martin, in his AL debut. The former Japanese star and LA Dodger mainstay, allowed six runs, four of them earned, eight hits, and walked four in just 5.2 innings.

Joe Girardi has fans and media scratching their heads already. He left southpaw Clay Rapada in to face right-handed hitters in Saturday's game despite the fact Rapada cannot get righties out. The result was a pair of extra runs that proved to be the difference in the ball game.

The Yankees had managed just one run off of starter David Price through 6-plus innings, but rallied against the Rays pen in the 9th. Swisher had the big blow with a 3-run home run to pull the Yankees to within two. But after a Robinson Cano walk, Rodney retired Rodriguez, who represented the tying run, with a bounce out to second to end the game.

The Week Ahead

The Yankees move on to Baltimore for a three game set with the Orioles before returning home for Friday's home opener with the LA Angels.

The Pena is Mightier Than The Closer

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes

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

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

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

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

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

Mariano Is Ready For His Close Up

One of the rites of spring, along with seeing the first robin, is when Mariano Rivera toes the rubber in a Spring Training game. That day has come as Rivera will face the Philadelphia Phillies today in Tampa. The game will be televised on YES at 1 pm. Rivera will likely pitch in the middle innings like he starts out every year.

Watch it and appreciate it, because it may be a "last first".

Relieved Reliever:

It looks like David Robertson can somewhat breathe a sigh of relief. D-Rob injured his foot in a fall while trying to be ecologically responsible (throwing out recycling). The Yankees had cause for concern from an MRI, but the righty is done with his crutches and hopes to shed the walking boot soon after being diagnosed with a bone bruise. The Yankees will take it slowly with him.

Rotate on this:

CC Sabathia will also face the Phils while Phil Hughes takes the bus ride to Ft. Myers for a game with the Twins. Hughes needs to have a good outing after looking a little shaky his first time out. The one plus from that first game, which came in relief of Sabathia, was that his fastball was 92-93 mph. A good start today would go a long way towards helping his confidence.

Hughes would also like to have a good day after Freddy Garcia, his competition for the five spot in the rotation, threw three scoreless innings against the Braves on Friday.

Ivan Nova is looking to show that last season's 16 game output was no fluke, but the right-hander struggled on Thursday. Location, location, location is the key to pitch and so far Nova's hasn't been there.

I can hear the complaints already, but anyone who does complain is being ridiculous. I am, of course, talking about Michael Pineda's spring thus far. The Jesus Montero lovers, who already have him in the Hall of Fame, must bash Pineda in return. But the kid tends tonot have his fastball up to snuff early in spring training and has admitted to taking it slow. And that's just fine with the Yankees. This kid is the real deal. That is my mantra and I'll stand by it.

Hiroki Kuroda, a lock for the #2 spot in the rotoation, looked pretty good his first time out and should be no worries.

Benchmen:

Good interview by the Star-Ledger's Jeff Bradley with Eric Chavez, particularly about the movie Moneyball. Chavez was on that 2002 A's team and didn't give the movie a full thumbs up. Check it out here.

Eduardo Nunez isn't ready to hit yet after being hit with a pitch on the hand and is still in pain. He's planning on getting it re-checked on Sunday.

YCN: No One Hits Home Runs Like The Yankees

Ever wonder who the Yankees' top 10 franchise leaders in home runs are? I'm sure you know where Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle are on the list, but what about Graig Nettles, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada.

That was the latest assignment for the Yahoo Contributor Network. Unfortunately, I was limited to 400 words and the first draft was over 1,000. Still I hope you find it interesting.

New York Yankees' Top 10 Home Run Hitters

Yankees Take Grapefruit Opener

There are some basic rules in Spring Training:

1. Stay healthy. This rule far exceeds any other.

2. Get your batting eye ready; get your swing set; get your fielding down; get your pitches in and throw strikes.

3. Don't get hurt. Yes I said it already...still can't stress it enough. Just ask Austin Romine (back) and George Kontos (oblique) about that.

4. If you weren't in shape, get in shape. NOW. Michael Pineda wants (needs) to lose 10 pounds.

5. Make people take notice of you...and be sure it's in a positive way.

Won/Lost record is not on the list of rules. George Steinbrenner would totally disagree, but it doesn't matter. You want to be sure to play well, but the won/loss record does not matter, even if you play the Red Sox or Mets or whomever.

The Yankees did win today, 8-5 over the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, but the play wasn't all positive. The Yankees made three errors, including Eduardo Nunez booting the first ball of the game at shortstop.

On the up side, Curtis Granderson picked up where he left off last season, with a home run and two hits. On a day the wind helped many a baseball elude fielders, free agent signee Cole Garner needed no help in ripping a 2-run home run to left.

Ivan Nova started for the Bronx Bombers and looked pretty good. He allowed two runs, one earned, in two innings of worked. Manny Banuelos and David Phelps threw a couple of scoreless innings apiece as they followed Nova in the pecking order.

Dellin Betances struggled with mechanics and control in an inning of work, but induced a double play to put a goose egg up on the scoreboard. A couple of lefties had mixed results in the last two innings.

Rule V pick (from Boston ) Cesar Cabrel got off to a good start in his bid to make the Yankees bullpen with a scoreless 8th inning, but Mike O'Connor was not so fortunate. The 31-yr old, who pitched in parts of three seasons with the Nationals and Mets, allowed three runs on three hits and a walk to make things interesting in the 9th.

Brett Gardner (0-3), Nick Swisher (0-3), and Russell Martin (0-2) were the only returning lineup regulars to accompany Granderson on the trip. Newbie, and former Phillies outfielder, Raul Ibanez made his Yankees' debut with a 1-3 afternoon that included an RBI.

Yankees on MLB, Saturday at 1

After playing the Univ. of So. Florida on a Friday (an 11-0 win), the Yankees begin the exhibition season against the big boys today.

Ivan Nova will get the start as the Yankees face the Philadelphia Phillies at 1 pm ET on the MLB Network. Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, and David Phelps are all expected to pitch and half dozen regulars are expected to play.

YEAH!!!