Sunday, May 5, 2013
Yankees.com: Yanks rally after Pettitte exits, but fall to A’s
NEW YORK—Lyle Overbay’s two-out two-run single in the sixth got a struggling Andy Pettitte off the hook Sunday, but Josh Donaldson’s one-out solo homer to left field off reliever Boone Logan in the eighth sent the Yankees to a 5-4 defeat which gave Oakland the rubber match of the three-game series.
Pettitte, who had given up seven runs to Houston in his previous start, surrendered home runs Sunday to Luke Montz and Yoenis Cespedes. He was relieved successfully by Preston Claiborne, who pitched two spotless innings in his Major League debut before Donaldson connected into the second deck off Logan.
The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the eighth when Travis Hafner’s bloop fell just fair in left and Ichiro Suzuki’s grounder barely found the hole on the right side for a single. But reliever Ryan Cook blew a fastball by Jayson Nix and retired Overbay on a fly ball just short of the right-center-field warning track to end the threat.
It would have been nice to take this one and finish off an 8-2 home stand but the Yankees couldn’t quite pull it off. If David Robertson was available today I think the Yankees probably end up winning, but I guess it’s silly to think that the Yankees would have an uninjured player.
It would also have been nice if Jayson Nix wasn’t batting sixth today
The A’s are a good team, so I’m less annoyed about them losing this series than I am that they didn’t sweep the Astros. Day off tomorrow and then on to Colorado for the foolishness known as interleague play. Colorado has been loads better than I expected them to be and that park presents a unique challenge so it should be an interesting set of exhibition games.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Yankees.com: Kuroda off his game as Yanks drop series finale
NEW YORK—The mood in the Yankees’ clubhouse after this 5-4 loss on Sunday was light-hearted and jovial, with laughter drowning out the clicking of camera phones. Music blasted through the sound system, a rarity even after wins, as rookies dressed in “Star Wars” costumes and left Yankee Stadium to the movie’s theme song, departing for a seven-game road trip with 10 games to play and a one-game lead in the American League East on the Orioles, even after dropping their series finale against Oakland.
There was no finger pointing, either, although there were plenty of complaints from the home dugout during the three-hour, 45-minute game.
Twice Yankees lingered at home plate, letting home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook know they were upset with his strike zone. And manager Joe Girardi bounded up the dugout stairs in the second inning to speak to first-base umpire Larry Vanover, who called Josh Donaldson safe on a play at first base that many of the 43,867 at Yankee Stadium disagreed with.
The Yankees blew a shot at increasing their AL East lead, but at least they remained in sole possession of first place. Now they head to Minnesota for a three game series they probably need to sweep since Baltimore will be hosting the injury-ravaged Blue Jays for four games.
Kuroda’s now had six straight starts where he’s given up at least three runs or more and has an ERA of 4.91 and FIP of 4.40 over that stretch. Hopefully it’s just a bump in the road and he’ll get better over his last two starts of the year.
The A’s are a good team, so taking two out of three should be viewed as mostly positive. Yesterday’s comeback win takes some of the sting off losing today’s eminently winnable game.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Yankees 10, Athletics 9 (14 innings)
Yep.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Yankees.com: Martin’s walk-off HR keeps Yanks alone in first
NEW YORK—As Russell Martin galloped down the third-base line, taking a moment to see how far he could possibly fling his batting helmet, the Yankees clustered at home plate to celebrate what most agreed was their biggest hit of the season.
The schedule is growing thin, the games are becoming more crucial, and the Yankees went home with exactly what they needed on this night. Martin’s 10th-inning blast was the game-winner, lifting New York to a 2-1 victory over the Athletics on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
“There’s pressure, but it’s fun; it’s a fun atmosphere,” Martin said. “There’s a lot of energy in the crowd, you can feel the weather change a little bit. Playoff weather is coming. I like it. I enjoy it. I’m ready for it.”
No kneeling tonight.
I didn’t see much of CC’s performance but it looks like he had a heck of a night. Apparently, it’s too much to ask the Red Sox to play the Orioles hard this weekend. I guess they’re saving themselves for the last series of the season in the Bronx.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Yankees.com: Yanks’ skid hits four after being stunned by A’s
“It’s tough. It’s tough to lose four games regardless of how it looks,” said shortstop Derek Jeter, who couldn’t handle the single that put the winning run on base with one out in the 12th. “You know, we were playing pretty good coming in here. Those guys have been playing good. They beat us four games, that’s all you can say. They’ve been playing well, they continue to play well, and they’re playing with a lot of confidence.”
Right-hander Cody Eppley was again on the mound for the Yankees when the A’s notched their 11th walk-off of the season, just like Friday night when the A’s rattled off No. 10. The Yanks on Sunday also had a rare blown save from Rafael Soriano to blame. He let up a solo home run to Seth Smith that tied the game at 4 in the ninth.
I saw maybe three innings of these four games, which is probably why this sweep doesn’t bother me as much as it should. Even the best closers blow saves, so I’m not going to crap on Rafael Soriano for last night. I guess if I was going to quibble about anything, it’d be why Cody Eppley is pitching with the game on the line. Joe Girardi used his “long” reliever (David Phelps) for 1.2 innings and 19 pitches in an extra inning game where his team had shown no interest in scoring. When you leave yourself with Eppley , Clay Rapada and Chad Qualls as your only options in a game where the first run you allow likely loses it, you’re really just waving the white flag.
I wonder how often a team loses all four games of a four game series by one run?
The luxury of building a big lead is you can handle something like this. The Yankees have lost four games to Baltimore in four days, but luckily for them the rest of the AL East contenders weren’t much better than them so the impact hasn’t been as bad as it could have been. They really need to sweep Seattle to make up for this though.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Yankees.com: Hughes stung by home runs; Cano’s streak ends
The Yankees’ third straight loss to the A’s came 2-1 Saturday night, decided by a tie-breaking home run from Brandon Inge in the eighth inning at the Oakland Coliseum. Phil Hughes was impressive in 7 2/3 innings, allowing just four hits and striking out six, but two of those hits were solo bombs. Even with the Yanks’ mighty lineup, a strong starting pitching performance doesn’t guarantee a win.
“Here we have the luxury,” Hughes said, “When you do pitch like that, we normally win.”
So much for my theory that Oakland would help Hughes’s gopheritis. I suppose a cynic would say something like, yeah, but he’d have given up six homers in DNYS, but there are no cynics here, are there?
This is the least bothersome three game losing streak (soon to be a four-game sweep) that I can remember in quite some time. All the games have been decided by one run and I’m kind of pulling for Oakland to sneak into one of the wild card slots and the Yankees are helping further that goal.
I may feel differently if they get swept though.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Yankees.com: Yanks pound A’s with record three slams
NEW YORK—Russell Martin’s sixth-inning grand slam fueled a historic Yankees rout, as the Bombers rallied to post a 22-9 victory over the Athletics on Thursday at Yankee Stadium.
Robinson Cano also belted a fifth-inning grand slam for New York, which avoided a series sweep by overcoming a poor start from Phil Hughes, who served up six runs in just 2 2/3 innings. Curtis Granderson’s eighth-inning slam was the third of the afternoon for the Yankees, who set a Major League record for most slams in a single game.
Expect Boston to his four grand slams in some game this weekend.
Admit it. When the Yankees went down 7-1 in the top of the third, you didn’t think they had a chance, right?
For a brief shining moment, Derek Jeter’s average sat at .300, although when he struck out in his seventh PA of the game he dipped back down to .299.
Watching first baseman Nick Swisher dig out a low throw from second baseman Jorge Posada for the final out of the game (yes, seriously) was fun too.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
NYDN: Coco Crisp takes Rafael Soriano deep for three-run home run in 10th inning, A’s beat Yankees
Moments after Coco Crisp’s 10th-inning home run landed in the second deck in right field Wednesday night, thousands of fans at the Stadium rose from their seats and headed for the exits. The ones who remained hooted at Rafael Soriano, serenading the $35-million setup man with boos after he finally got the last out of the inning.
Hoot.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
NY Times: Strong Effort by Colon Helps Yankees Take Care of Business
In the oppressive heat of a playoff race, this stretch serves as an oasis — three series against teams that entered Sunday a combined 43 games under .500. As the Yankees strive to keep pace with — and, they hope, overtake — Boston in the American League East, these are the games that they should win, that should fatten their victory total.
On Sunday, they accomplished their primary objective, closing this three-game set against the Oakland Athletics with a series victory. Behind seven strong innings from Bartolo Colon and a two-run home run by Curtis Granderson, the Yankees won, 7-5, holding on after Mariano Rivera staggered while recording his first four-out save of the season. Rivera stranded both runners he inherited in the eighth with a two-run lead, but stumbled in the ninth, allowing four consecutive singles with one out, including Hideki Matsui’s fifth hit of the afternoon. But with the bases loaded, he got David DeJesus to line out to Mark Teixeira, who stepped on first base to complete the game-ending double play.
Maybe it’s just me, but I thought the first two singles that Rivera “allowed” were plays that should have been made by Cano. So I’m going to pretend Mo retired all four batters he faced.
Everything is now set up for the Yankees to gift the Mariners with the end of their losing streak.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
NJ.com: Yankees, A.J. Burnett fall to Oakland Athletics, 4-3
NEW YORK — Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira held his pointer finger just apart from his thumb in an attempt to illustrate how narrowly the barrel of his bat missed a cut fastball that could have won the game in the ninth inning today.
Oakland closer Andrew Bailey, a Haddon Township native, rarely throws the cutter, which is designed to zip back toward the hitter at the last second. It was just enough of a shift in movement to keep Teixeira from getting all of the ball, and rounding the bases with a three-run homer.
Whatever.
I am glad I chose to go see a matinee of Captain America instead of this game. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, I am going to guarantee two things.
1) Seattle will enter their series with the Yankees on Monday mired in a 15 game losing streak.
2) Seattle will leave that series with their losing streak over.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Yankees.com: Swisher’s swat solidifies sweep for Yankees
OAKLAND—Nick Swisher’s three-run homer supported A.J. Burnett’s strong effort as the Yankees completed a series sweep of the Athletics with a 4-2 victory on Wednesday.
Swisher’s fourth-inning blast off Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez was all Burnett needed in his back pocket as the right-hander allowed just three hits, winning for the second time in three starts.
Burnett allowed two hits and two runs in the first inning then pitched six scoreless allowing just one other hit, albeit with three walks. The offense was mainly provided by Swisher’s homer that gave the Yankees the 4-2 lead that would hold up for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, this just continues the disturbing trend of the Yankees scoring runs by the HR instead of stringing together a bunch of singles and productive outs, although Swisher did start the AB showing bunt so his heart was in the right place.
With Tampa Bay and Boston both losing, the Yankees are now three games up on both teams in the loss column. There’s an off day tomorrow, then it’s on to Anaheim of Los Angeles to get swept.
Can they swap those games with the Angels for more games with Oakland?
Yankees.com: Granderson leads way in Yankees’ barrage
OAKLAND—Curtis Granderson homered and drove in four runs, Alex Rodriguez had three hits to knock in another three, and the Yankees rolled to a 10-3 pounding of the Athletics on Tuesday.
New York’s third consecutive victory went into the books for Freddy Garcia, who held the Athletics to three runs over seven innings, posting a win for the second straight start.
Gramderson continued to put his past futility vs. LHP in the rear-view mirror. Here are Granderson’s career splits vs. LHP, pre and post Kevin Long’s reworking of his swing in August of last year.
| Dates | Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | BR/650 | BB/PA | K/PA |
| 9/13/04 - 8/11/10 | vs LHP | 795 | 151 | 25 | 7 | 17 | 50 | 197 | .209 | .260 | .334 | .261 | 50 | .063 | .248 |
| 8/12/10 - 5/31/11 | vs LHP | 133 | 36 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 29 | .305 | .368 | .669 | .427 | 129 | .090 | .218 |
It’s only 133 PA, but it’s been one hell of 133 PA.
Freddy Garcia pitched another quality start, although his peripherals are still a bit worse than his actual performance so far. His BABIP against is probably unsustainably low, and he’s also got a very high strand rate of runners. If he regresses towards his FIP/xFIP he’ll still be pretty good though.
Tomorrow’s game is a must-win with a sweep by Anaheim looming to close out the road trip, so let’s hope A.J. Burnett can pitch a bit better than he did against Seattle last time out.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Yankees.com: Colon hurls complete-game gem vs. A’s
Colon again recaptured his old form on Monday, dominating the Athletics for nine scoreless innings as the Yankees posted a 5-0 victory at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The A’s lineup seemed to be consistently flailing at everything the 37-year-old Colon fired their way, as the right-hander limited Oakland to just four hits while striking out six.
I was able to catch just a few innings of this game, but it looked like Colon was locked in.
And repeating SG’s sentiment, a big thank you this Memorial Day to all those who have served. And thoughts and prayers to the families of those who have lost their lives doing so.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Yankees.com: CC allows just one hit as Yanks sweep A’s
NEW YORK—CC Sabathia continued his regular-season unbeaten streak at Yankee Stadium, turning in a dominant performance as the Yankees completed a four-game sweep of the Athletics, 5-0, on Thursday.
Curtis Granderson, who replaced an injured Nick Swisher in the second inning, provided the bulk of the offense with a pair of home runs in New York’s sixth consecutive win. The Yankees won nine of the 10 meetings with Oakland this season.
On a sweltering afternoon in the Bronx, Sabathia was as good as he has been all season. The only hit he allowed over eight innings was a Mark Ellis ground-ball single through the right side. He faced a threat in the third, when Jorge Posada committed a two-base throwing error with nobody out.
Big deal. His FIP for this game was 3.50.
It was win #19 on the season for Sabathia, and with 5 or 6 starts left, CC’s got a very good shot at 20 wins. Although readers of this blog should understand that pitcher wins aren’t really a very good measure of a pitcher’s value, it’s still fun to see a guy get to 20.
Curtis Granderson’s almost certainly going to end the year with a disappointing overall line, but his performance since re-working his swing with Kevin Long is cause for optimism going forward IMO.
Sweeping Oakland is awesome, but ultimately meaningless if the Yankees don’t take two of three from Toronto.
Complain away.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Yankees.com: Burnett returns to form; Yanks win fifth straight
NEW YORK—Mark Teixeira drove in three runs and A.J. Burnett submitted a quality start in the Yankees’ fifth consecutive victory, a 4-3 win over the Athletics on Wednesday night.
The Yankees jumped on Oakland early once again, scoring once in the first and three times in the second to build a 4-0 lead. Derek Jeter got the ball rolling with a leadoff single off Brett Anderson, just the shortstop’s second hit in a span of 26 at-bats. He scored on Teixeira’s RBI double later in the frame.
Eh, I realize I’m probably spoiled but I don’t think six innings and three runs against Oakland is anything to be excited about, although I will take it over three innings and six runs. With Tampa Bay and Boston both winning, the Yankees pick up no ground, but drop their magic numbers by one.
Other important notes:
Pettitte’s latest bullpen session encouraging.
A-Rod takes BP, is practicing caution
Vazquez earns way back to Yanks’ rotation
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Yankees.com: Yanks close August alone in first
NEW YORK—Mark Teixeira crushed a three-run homer and Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson also went deep, leading the Yankees to a 9-3 pounding of the Athletics on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
By virtue of the Rays’ loss to the Blue Jays, the Yankees enter September with sole possession of first place in the American League East.
Teixeira cracked the game open with his fourth-inning shot off A’s starter Vin Mazzaro, reaching the second deck of right-field seats for his 30th home run of the season and second in as many games.
With the blast, Teixeira became just the sixth Yankees player all-time to hit at least 30 homers in each of his first two seasons after joining the club, a feat also accomplished by Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield.
I’d suggest the Yankees rent in first place and not buy, because they’ll be out of first by Thursday.
That being said, the next time someone tells you that Brian Cashman is a horrible GM who only appears competent because of his payroll advantage, remind them that he turned the tattered remains of what used to be Scott Proctor’s right arm into Nick Swisher.
Hughes was meh, but he’s also now cracked his prior career high for IP in a season, so I’d expect him to struggle a bit now.
In unrelated news, Aroldis Chapman has hit 103 mph twice in his first inning in MLB. Let’s ignore the fact that he signed for about the same cost that the Yankees paid for Kei Igawa, and just be happy that the fans of a team that’s not considered a large market team get to enjoy having a top talent pitching for them.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Yankees.com: In rout of A’s, Yanks mar Cahill’s surge
NEW YORK—Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira belted back-to-back home runs as part of a six-hit showing between the two sluggers, and Marcus Thames added a three-run shot as the Yankees pounded the Athletics, 11-5, on Monday at Yankee Stadium.
New York battered Oakland starter Trevor Cahill in his shortest start of the year, getting to the right-hander for a season-high eight earned runs and nine hits in just four-plus innings, including the consecutive home runs by Teixeira and Cano in the third inning, lined into the right-field seats.
I’d like to thank Trevor Cahill for participating in the AL Cy Young race this year. We have some lovely parting gifts for him.
Teixeira’s first 46 PA: .083/.283/.111, wOBA: .223
Teixeira’s last 525 PA: .276/.383/.530, wOBA: .395
I guess the thumb is ok.
The Yankee announcers have been talking about how Dustin Moseley’s ERA doesn’t reflect how he’s pitched so far. They’re right, although it’s for the wrong reason. Their claim is that he’s pitched better than his ERA.
As a starter, here’s how Moselely’s done so far this year including tonight:
39.1 IP, 42 H, 22 R, 22 ER, 8 HR, 18 BB, 22 K
RA/ERA: 5.03
FIP: 6.25
Component ERA: 5.49
A pitcher who gives up 8 HRs in 39.1 innings while walking 18 and only striking out 22 is not going to keep an ERA below five for very long. The Yankees have gotten some value out of Moseley to this point, and have now won five of his seven starts, but the sooner he’s not starting the games the better off the Yankees will be.
And I really want to believe that Javier Vazquez’s two successful long relief outings mean he’s ready to rejoin the rotation, but at this point I just can’t believe that Vazquez is going to be a useful part of this team.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Yankees.com: Swish, Tex dingers signal sweep of A’s
OAKLAND—Mark Teixeira slugged a three-run homer and Nick Swisher supported the last hours of his Final Vote candidacy by adding a solo blast, as the Yankees completed a series sweep of the Athletics with a 6-2 victory on Wednesday.
The long ball support benefited A.J. Burnett, who notched his first victory since May 30, turning in his second straight positive start by limiting Oakland to two runs in seven innings.
Sweeps are nice.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Yankees.com: A-Rod’s five RBIs set up CC’s 11th win
OAKLAND—Alex Rodriguez’s first multihomer game of the season moved him within three blasts of the 600-homer club, and CC Sabathia won his seventh straight start as the Yankees defeated the A’s on Tuesday, 6-1, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
When Tampa Bay and Boston are playing each other, the Yankees are guaranteed a chance to pick up a game on someone if they can just win. They blew two chances for that against Seattle last week, but they’ve taken advantage of that the last two nights.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Yankees.com: Vazquez puts Yanks 20 games over
OAKLAND—Javier Vazquez was desperately in need of a confidence boost the last time he pitched at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and upon crossing that same mound a few months later, the Yankees right-hander discovered a little bit more in the well.
Vazquez enjoyed a fine performance, allowing only a third-inning run over seven frames of three-hit ball, while Mark Teixeira homered to headline the charge as New York posted a 3-1 victory over the Athletics on Monday evening.
Because of the hole he dug to start the season, it’s not going to be easy for Vazquez to end the season with good overall numbers, but he’s pitched very well over his last 10 starts, with an ERA of 3.06 over his last 64.2 innings.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Yankees.com: Yankees’ streak ends despite triple play (aka 4/22/2010 Complaint Thread)
OAKLAND—The Yankees turned their first triple play in more than 40 years, but even that memorable display of defensive excellence couldn’t make up the difference as the Athletics salvaged the final game of a three-game series with a 4-2 victory on Thursday.
Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia had trouble finding his rhythm early and paid the price in the end, surrendering a three-run homer to Kurt Suzuki in the first inning and a later unearned run as the ace walked five in front of a matinee crowd at the stadium where he attended games growing up.
The home sixth inning, as it was, would be worth the price of admission by itself. With two runners aboard, Suzuki chopped a grounder to Alex Rodriguez at third base. A-Rod tagged the bag to force out Daric Barton, and fired to Robinson Cano at second base to nail Ryan Sweeney.
The throw at first base landed in Nick Johnson’s glove in time to complete the Yankees’ first triple play since June 3, 1968 against the Twins—a span of 6,632 consecutive regular season games without turning a triple play.
The triple play was cool. The rest of the game, not so much.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Yankees.com: Electric Hughes nearly no-hits A’s
OAKLAND—Yankees right-hander Phil Hughes carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before settling for his second victory of the season, posting a 3-1 win over the Athletics on Wednesday at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
Working with a fastball that consistently sat around 93-94 mph, the 23-year-old Hughes was overpowering against Oakland’s lineup, setting a career high with 10 strikeouts.
Pitching in front of 30,211 on a cool evening in the Bay Area, Hughes issued a first-inning walk to Daric Barton—the second batter he faced—but that was the only blemish on his line through seven frames.
Eric Chavez notched the first hit of the evening off Hughes, hitting a chopping grounder back to the mound that struck Hughes in the chest. The ball bounced back toward the plate, but Hughes’ reaction was to look up, leaving him no chance to throw out Chavez at first base.
Hughes really was great tonight, and he needed to be because Ben Sheets and the Oakland bullpen held the Yankee offense to three runs. So far, it’s safe to say that Hughes may end up being a decent fifth starter.
Yankees.com: With help, Vazquez tallies first win
OAKLAND—Alex Rodriguez belted a tape-measure home run to help back Javier Vazquez’s first victory of the season as the Yankees outslugged the Athletics, 7-3, on Tuesday at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The Bombers’ fifth straight victory went in the books for Vazquez after the right-hander had endured two difficult starts to open the campaign after rejoining the Yankees in a December trade to serve as their fourth starter.
Vazquez wasn’t great, although I don’t know if I blame him for the the last two runs he gave up. The first batter reached on a “hit” that was a popup that fell between Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson that should have been caught, then there was a delay after the home plate ump got hit by a foul ball prior to him giving up a two-run HR. But I’ll take this start as a sign of progress.
With the Rays falling to the White Sox, the Yankees are back in sole possession of first in the AL East too. Yay!
Page 1 of 1 pages: