Results tagged ‘ Brian Matusz ’

‘Pronk’ Bonks O’s In Ninth, Wells Wins It In 10th

GAME 44

YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 4 (10 Innings)

Some teams are built with a lot of money. Some teams are built with a collection of players with special skills. But successful teams are built with lots of players who have heart.

The 2013 New York Yankees are a team with an awful lot of heart and that was on display Monday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Down 4-3 with one out in the ninth inning and Orioles closer Jim Johnson on mound, Travis Hafner blasted an opposite-field home run into the bleachers in left-center to tie it and Vernon Wells laced a game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning as New York came from behind to down Baltimore in front of a paid crowd of 24,133.

Hafner and Wells embody the heart of what has been called “The Replacements” and they provided the Yankees with the clutch hitting just when they needed it.

The Orioles took a 3-2 lead away from left-hander CC Sabathia and the Yankees in the bottom of the seventh inning when Nick Markakis slapped an RBI double to left-center to score Alexi Casilla and J.J. Hardy followed one out later with an RBI double down the right-field line.

The Orioles made their 2012 wild-card run largely on the strength of their incredible 24-6 record in one-run games. But 2013 is looking like a much different season for them.

Johnson, who had entered the game having blown his last two save opportunities, fell behind Hafner 3-1 when the 35-year-old designated hitter sent a belt-high outside fastball into the 80-degree evening air and by the time it landed Johnson was hanging his head in disbelief.

David Robertson (3-0) came in to pitch a scoreless ninth inning that sent the game into extra innings, where the Orioles posted an incredible 16-2 record in 2012.

What a difference a year makes!

Ichiro Suzuki opened the top of the 10th with a line-drive double into the right-field corner off right-hander Pedro Strop (0-2)

Wells, who entered the game as pinch-hitter in the eighth inning then picked on a 1-2 hanging slider from Strop and slashed it to the base of the wall in left and the ball bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double that scored Suzuki.

After Austin Romine bunted Wells to third, Brett Gardner was retired on hard grounder and Strop walked Robinson Cano intentionally.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter replaced Strop with left-hander Brian Matusz to face Hafner. But Hafner spoiled the strategy by slashing a 0-1 slider into right for a single to score Wells with an insurance run.

Mariano Rivera, who entered the evening a perfect 16-for-16 in saves this season, pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th, punctuating his 17th save by striking out Chris Dickerson swinging to push the Orioles’ current losing streak to six games.

Believe me when I say that this one really hurt the Orioles.

Sabathia, who was 19-4 with a 2.90 ERA in his career against the Orioles including two victories in the 2012 playoffs, was unable to keep any of leads the Yankees kept providing him with throughout the evening.

Cano opened the scoring with a solo home run  -  his American League-leading 13th of the season  -  off former Yankee right-hander Freddy Garcia with one out in the first frame. David Adams followed with a one-out homer of his own, his first in the major leagues, in the second inning.

But Chris Davis reclaimed a share of the A.L. lead in homers with his 13th home run off Sabathia with one out in the bottom of the second.

Two innings later, Markakis tied it up at 2-2 with a one-out RBI single to score Steve Pearce, who led off the inning with a double.

But Lyle Overbay promptly untied it for the Yankees in the seventh with a leadoff home run in the bleacher sin right center off left-hander Troy Patton.

Sabathia then ran out of gas in the seventh and surrendered the lead to the Orioles.

Sabathia gave up four runs on 11 hits and he struck out two in 6 1/3 innings. Garcia, meanwhile, yielded two runs on three hits and two walks while he fanned two in six innings for the O’s.

The Yankees extended their winning streak to three games and, combined with the loss by the Boston Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox, they extended their lead in the American League East to 1 1/2 games. The Orioles fell to 23-21 and they are now a whopping five games behind the Yankees in third place in the division.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Hafner’s dramatic home run and RBI single in the 10th must have Yankee fans saying “Raul who?” because Hafner is making them forget how important Raul Ibanez was to the Yankees during the stretch drive and in the playoffs last season. Hafner is hitting .267 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs.
  • Wells, another reclamation project courtesy of general manager Brian Cashman, knew his playing time would be reduced when Curtis Granderson returned but he is proving to be very valuable off the bench. With his game-winning double in the 10th, Wells is hitting .267 with 10 home runs and 24 RBIs, which is third on the club behind Cano and fellow “Replacement” Overbay.
  • Adams’ rookie legend may be growing by leaps and bounds in just five major-league games. Adams was 2-for-4 including his homer. Adams also made some sterling plays in the field, which is surprising because he is not considered to be a good fielder. Adams is 6-for-18 (.333) with a home run and two RBIs and is looking like he might be staying long after Kevin Youkilis comes off the 15-day disabled list.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Sabathia was just not very sharp at all in this game. In his past two starts, Sabathia has given up 21 hits and two walks in 12 1/3 innings for Walks and Hits to Innings Pitched (WHIP) of 1.82. The Orioles used an opposite-field approach against the left-hander and they burned him repeatedly with it. Sabathia is also paying for a dip in velocity in his fastball.
  • Granderson is struggling at the plate and it may be a byproduct of rushing through his rehab in just five games. Granderson was 0-for-4 with a strikeout and he did not get a ball out of the infield. He is 4-for-19 (.211) without a home run and an RBI in five starts.

BOMBER BANTER

First baseman Mark Teixeira reported on Monday that he took his first at-bats in a simulated game in Tampa, FL, and he was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk. It was the first at-bats for Teixeira since he tore the sheath in his right wrist in March. Teixiera is hoping to play in his first game of the season by June 1 but that timetable may be a bit too optimistic.  . . .  Both Youkilis (back) and Alex Rodriguez (hip) took ground balls and batting practice at the team’s spring complex on Monday as both rehab their injuries. Manager Joe Girardi said that Youkilis likely will not be activated before the Yankees return home in a week. Though Rodriguez was able to take ground balls at third base on Monday, his timetable has not changed. He is expected back some time after the All-Star break.  . . .  The Yankees entered the day with a all-time major-league best 18-0 record in one-run games this season and they were within two outs of losing their first one-run game. But Hafner’s homer and Wells’ RBI double allowed them to extend the mark to 19 games.

ON DECK

The Yankees will continue their three-game road series with the Orioles on Tuesday.

Right-hander Phil Hughes (2-3, 5.88 ERA) will start for the Yankees. Hughes will have to better on Tuesday because he is coming off what he called his worst major-league start on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners. Hughes lasted only two-thirds of an inning and gave up seven runs on six hits and two walks. He is 6-5 with 5.47 ERA lifetime against the Orioles.

Baltimore is countering with right-hander Miguel Gonzalez (2-2, 4.58 ERA). Gonzalez is being activated from the 15-day disabled list after he sustained a troublesome blister on his right thumb. He is 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA in his career against the Yankees.

Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by the MLB Network and locally by MY9.

 

Orioles Blast Three Homers To Cool Off Yankees

GAME 10

ORIOLES 5, YANKEES 3

Ryan Flaherty, Nick Markakis and Nolan Reimold each hit solo home runs and Jason Hammel pitched six solid innings as Baltimore edged New York on Saturday in front of a paid crowd of 41,851 at Yankee Stadium.

All three solo home runs came off Yankees right-hander Phil Hughes (0-2), who is showing signs that he is now paying for missing all of spring training with a bulging disk in his upper back.

Hughes was hammered for five runs on nine hits and two walks and struck out three in four-plus innings of work.

The Yankees scored all their runs as a result of their new acquisitions. They got a pair of solo home runs from Travis Hafner and Vernon Wells and an RBI single from Lyle Overbay. But the Yankees could not overcome Hughes’ struggles enough to mount a late charge against the Baltimore bullpen.

Brian Matusz, Darren O’Day and closer Jim Johnson shut out the Yankees in the final three innings and Johnson was credited with his fifth save of the season.

Hammel (2-1) gave up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk while he struck out four to pick up the victory.

The Yankees had their four-game winning streak halted and their season record fell to 5-5. The Orioles improved to 6-5.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Wells blasted his third home run of the season to bring the Yankees to within 5-3 but the Yankee offense pretty much died after that. Wells was 2-for-4 in the game and even got himself an outfield assist in throwing out Adam Jones trying to stretch a hit into a double. Wells is hitting .333 in the early going and it appears he is loving the fact he is playing every day again.
  • Hafner also stroked his third home run of the season to lead off the second inning. It was a laser shot that landed in the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center. Hafner is hitting .303 so far and he is looking more like the star he was with the Indians than the injured wreck he has been the past five seasons.
  • David Phelps made a case for himself to be inserted into the starting rotation. He came into the game in the fourth with the Yankees trailing 5-3 and a runner on second and no outs. He then proceeded to retire six batters in a row, four of them by strikeout. He ended up pitching four shutout innings and the only hit he gave up was Jones’ single and Wells threw him out at second.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Hughes, 26, is basically pitching his own version of spring training and it shows. Hughes simply lacked command of all of his pitches and the Orioles just teed off on him. The Yankees have to hope he will right himself as he gets stronger. Hughes, who was second in the American League in giving up 35 home runs in 2012, also needs to try harder to keep the ball in the ballpark.
  • It is hard to criticize Kevin Youkilis because he came into the game hitting a team-best .424 and he had at least one hit in all of the team’s first nine games. But he was Missing In Action (MIA) on Saturday. He was 0-for-5, including a strikeout and hitting into an inning-ending double play. His average fell to .368.
  • Hammel used shortstop Jayson Nix as an escape hatch to maintain the lead for the Orioles. Nix bounced back to Hammel in the second inning with a runner on. In the fourth, Nix struck out looking with two on and in the sixth he fouled out to first baseman Chris Davis with two on.

BOMBER BANTER

Shortstop Eduardo Nunez only was available to pinch-run and the Orioles took advantage by targeting Nix to shut down rallies. Manager Joe Girardi used pinch-hitter Brennan Boesch for Nix in the eighth inning with two and two out, but Boesch struck out swinging against O’Day. That forced Girardi to shift catcher Francisco Cervelli to second base, Robinson Cano moved from second base to shortstop and Chris Stewart was inserted behind the plate for the ninth inning. It was Cano’s first major-league appearance at shortstop and only Cervelli’s second appearance at second base. Nunez, who left Friday’s game with a bruised wrist after being struck by a pitch from Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez, will not be available to play in the field until at least Tuesday.  . . .  Girardi refused to comment on new allegations surrounding Alex Rodriguez and a clinic in Miami that allegedly supplied players with performance-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball reportedly believes it has unearthed evidence that a representative for Rodriguez attempted to have documents purchased from the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic.  Girardi said the team is aware of the charges but he said the news has not affected the clubhouse at all.

ON DECK

The Yankees will hope to win the rubber game of the three-game weekend series with the Orioles on Sunday.

Right-hander Hiroki Kuroda (1-1, 6.75 ERA) will start for the Yankees. Kuroda, still suffering the effects of a bruised right middle finger incurred in his first start, gave up three runs in the first inning and struggled with his command in 5 1/3 innings against the Cleveland Indians on Monday. But still he won the game. He is 1-1 with a 2.93 ERA in his career against the O’s.

The Orioles will start left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (0-1, 3.75 ERA). Chen gave up three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three over 6 1/3 innings in a loss to Clay Buchholz and the Boston Red Sox. Chen was 1-2 with a 5.25 ERA against the Yankees in 2012.

Game-time will be 8:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by ESPN.

 

Yankees Suffer Another Afternoon For The Birds

GAME 3

ORIOLES 5, YANKEES 1

Brian Roberts doubled twice and scored two runs and left-hander Brian Matusz pitched two scoreless innings as Baltimore defeated New York in front of a crowd of 7,335 at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, FL.

Roberts’ doubles sparked the Orioles to an early 2-0 lead. He stroked a one-out double in the first, advanced to third on a balk and scored on a two-out RBI single from Adam Jones. Roberts slapped another one-out double in the third and scored on an RBI single by Nick Markakis.

Matusz (1-0) gave up two hits to the first two batters he faced but retired the next five to earn the victory. Left-hander Vidal Nuno (0-1) took the loss despite the fact that five of the six batters he retired struck out looking, including Markakis, Matt Wieters, Chris Davis, Conor Jackson and Manny Machado.

The Yankees’ scored their lone run in the ninth inning on a walk and stolen base by Corban Joseph and an RIBI single by Walter Ibarra. The run broke a string of 19 consecutive scoreless innings for the Yankees.

The Yankees fell to 1-2 in Grapefruit League play while the Orioles are 3-0.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Leadoff hitter Brett Gardner was 3-for-3 with three singles and second batter Jayson Nix collected two singles in three at-bats. The rest of the Yankees were 3-for-28 (.107). Gardner, who missed virtually all of the 2012 season with a right elbow injury, is hitting .667 in the early going. Nix is hitting .750 in the two games he has played.
  • Though Nuno was touched for Roberts’ double and Jones’ RBI single, he certainly looked impressive in striking out five batters in his two innings of work. Nuno, 24, was signed by the Yankees last winter off the independent Washington Wild roster and he’s been dominating minor-league hitters ever since. At Double-A Trenton Nidal was 9-5 with a 2.45 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 114 innings in 20 starts last season. Since he has learned a change-up he being tabbed as an older version of Manny Banuelos, who will miss the 2013 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
  • Josh Spence, a 25-year-old Australian left-hander, was the only Yankee hurler to pitch a perfect 1-2-3 inning and that was in the ninth. The Yankees claimed Spence off waivers from the San Diego Padres in early November after he was 4-2 with a 4.20 ERA 31 games at Triple-A Tucson.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • For the second straight day the Yankees’ offense was pretty much missing in action. If Ibarra had not driven in Joseph in the final frame the Yankees would have been 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position in their last two games.
  • If Matt Diaz and Juan Rivera are seeking to stake a claim to replace Curtis Granderson as the team’s starting left-fielder as he recovers from a broken right forearm they have got to do better than they did on Monday. Diaz was 0-for-3 and stranded six base-runners. He hit into a double play and did not get a ball out the infield. Rivera also was 0-for-3 including a strikeout.
  • Before you get too angry at the Yankees’ pitching staff for giving up five runs just remember that pitchers such as Nuno, Bryan Mitchell, Corey Black, Shane Greene, Ryan Pope, Kelvin Perez and Spence are not battling for roster spots. They are all headed back to the minors. The Orioles, in contrast, threw veterans like Matusz, Tommy Hunter, Pedro Strop and Mark Hendrickson.

BOMBER BANTER

With the Yankees looking to replace Granderson, veteran outfielder Johnny Damon told ESPN Radio’s Michael Kay that he would be interested in returning to the Yankees if he got a call to come to spring training. Damon, 39, said he is willing to fill in for Granderson for the six weeks he will miss, he would play for the minimum salary and would need about three or four weeks to get in shape. Asked about the possibility of bringing Damon to camp, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said, “We will focus on what we have at this time.”  . . .  Mariano Rivera threw 32 pitches in a live batting-practice session on Monday, and CC Sabathia threw batting practice to hitters for the first time this spring as the rehabbing hurlers continue prepare for Opening Day.  . . .  Manager Joe Girardi said that outfield prospects Tyler Austin and Slade Heathcott will not be considered to open the season in New York.  . . .  Yankees outfielder Melky Mesa said that even after Granderson’s injury, he still plans to leave camp to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.  Bench coach Tony Pena will be managing the Dominican squad.

ON DECK

The Yankees will travel to Clrawater, FL, on Tuesday to take on the Philadelphia Phillies.

Hot prospect right-hander Jose Ramirez will draw the start for the Yankees. He will be opposed by veteran right-hander Kyle Kendrick.

The Yankees will send Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis and Travis Hafner to play in the game. Relievers Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson are also scheduled to make the spring debuts.

Game-time will be 1:05 p.m. EST and the game will be broadcast live on the MLB Network.

 

Yankees Lose Granderson, Game On Gloomy Day

GAME 2

BLUE JAYS 2, YANKEES 0

TAMPA  -  A dark cloud hung over the Yankees before spring training even began as they lost third baseman Alex Rodriguez for half the season due to hip surgery. They opened their home exhibition season on Sunday under a blanket of gloomy dark clouds that hung over George M. Steinbrenner Field throughout the game.

But that was nothing compared to the dark cloud casting a pall over the team upon learning that starting outfielder Curtis Granderson would be lost to the team until mid-May with a fractured right forearm after he was struck by J.A. Happ breaking ball in his very first at-bat of the spring in the first inning.

While the business of spring training will continue manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman will be tasked with trying to find a way to replace Granderson’s 43 home runs on a team that is already missing 109 home runs from last season’s squad.

The game was pretty much academic. The result did not matter.

Emilio Bonifacio followed an Anthony Gose triple with an RBI single in the third inning and Sean Ochinko doubled in a run in the eighth while the Yankees pounded out 11 hits but went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base as Toronto blanked New York in front of a crowd of 10,184.

Happ (1-0) gave up three hits in two innings but got credit for the victory. Cody Eppley (0-1) took the loss. Rich Thompson pitched a scoreless ninth to earn a save.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • As far as we know no other Yankee starters were injured in the contest.
  • Kevin Youkilis made his debut in pinstripes and came within about 10 feet of a grand slam home run in the first inning but Jays outfielder Ryan Langerhans made a running catch on the warning track. Youkilis also slapped a screaming line drive to third with two on and two out in the third that was caught by Brett Lawrie. In his final at-bat, Youkilis led off the sixth by sending a drive to the warning track in center that was run down by Gose. That pretty much defined the Yankees’ day.
  • Robinson Cano followed his home run on Saturday with three line drives but he ended up with just one hit because his old pal Melky Cabrera robbed him of a hit in the first with a sliding catch.
  • Adam Warren, 25, started the game and pitched two scoreless and hitless innings. Warren looked sharp with his location and fanned two batters. Though Warren is ticketed for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he could be factor later in the season if does well this spring.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Eppley proved why he is a specialist used primarily against right-handers. After striking out the right-handed-hitting Lance Zawadzki, left-handed-hitting Gose tripled and the left-handed-hitting Bonifacio singled him in. Eppley showed why he is exposed as a pitcher when he has to face lefties.
  • Though Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki were on base after three of their six plate appearances neither of them stole a base. Suzuki did attempt a steal in the third inning with Cano up but Cano fouled the pitch off. Neither made another attempt to steal. It would seem that as home run hitters are dropping like flies for the Yankees that running the bases a lot would be a good idea.
  • This game had the look of the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers. No home runs, plenty of chances with runners on base but no big hit came. This might be a repeating scenario and we will have to watch it closely this spring.

BOMBER BANTER

Derek Jeter is targeting March 10 for his first spring training action as he recovers from surgery on his fractured left ankle, Cashman said on Sunday. Jeter ran for the first on the infield at Steinbrenner Field on Saturday and he hopes to begin spring play as a designated hitter with an eye on being ready to start at shortstop at home on Opening Day on April 1 against the Boston Red Sox.  .  .  .  With Granderson out of action for 10 weeks the immediate outlook would dictate that non-roster outfielders Juan Rivera and Matt Diaz may now be vying for a starting outfield spot. The Yankees do have minor-league outfielders Zoilo Almonte and Melky Mesa on the 40-man roster but the Yankees may not elect to use either as starters, Almonte has not played above Double-A Trenton. Cashman could also look to engineer a trade but it is pretty clear the Yankees do not want to add much to the current payroll and other teams are going to drive hard bargain because they know the Yankees might be a bit desperate. Not making an offer for the Washington Nationals’ outfielder/first baseman Michael Morse is looking like a real bad move now. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners instead.

ON DECK

The Yankees head to Sarasota, FL, on Monday to face the Baltimore Orioles.

Left-hander Vidal Nuno, 24, will get the start for the Yankees. The Orioles are scheduled to start left-hander Brian Matusz.

Game-time will be 1:05 p.m. EST and the game will be telecast nationally on tape-delay at 9 p.m. by MLB Network.

 

Joe’s Move To Sub Ibanez For A-Rod Was Genius

 

“Choices are the hinges of destiny.” 

 

                                                               - Pythagoras, Greek philosopher

 

ALDS GAME 3: KEY MOMENT

In the pivotal game of the Yankees-Orioles division series, manager Joe Girardi made one the boldest and ballsiest calls in major-league postseason history.

With his big power-hitter Alex Rodriguez 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in the game and 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in the series, Girardi elected to sit the most dangerous home run hitter of this generation and replace him with a 40-year-old left-handed hitter to face the American League’s best closer this season in right-hander Jim Johnson.

The Yankees were down 2-1 and they were two outs away from being left down in the playoff series 2-1 to the upstart Orioles.

But Girardi was resolute in his decision. He told Rodriguez to sit and Ibanez to grab a bat.

Think of the blowback if Ibanez had failed. The New York scribes would have had a foot race to the clubhouse for reaction from A-Rod. Headlines would have blared “Joe Loses Cool By Subbing Raul” or “Joe Panics; Yanks Fall.”

That, of course, is the nature of the New York media. They are with you until you fail and then you are left out to dry. Billy Martin, Yogi Berra Dick Howser were folded spindled and mutilated by the headline hungry denizens in  the Bronx Zoo.

But after Johnson had retired Ichiro Suzuki, the crowd on the one hand stunned and, on the other hand, hopeful with fingers and toes crossed routed on Ibnez as he lumbered to the plate.

 

“Raul had to come through,” Girardi said. “Raul had some kind of day for us today, and you have to make decisions sometimes that are tough decisions. But I just had a gut feeling.”

Ibanez had his share of travails this season, too.

In spring training, Ibanez hit in the first three weeks of spring training as if he just picked up a bat at age 40 and was giving the major leagues a try. It was if he could not hit a ball off a tee he was so bad. But Girardi told the press that Ibanez was a professional hitter his entire career and that he had faith he would turn it around soon.

Sure enough, Ibanez starting roping line drives all over the place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL, and the wolves (the writers) were forced to stop baying at the moon.

Ibanez then became an integral part of the Yankees success this season. Forced into playing more outfield than he had expected in the absence of starting left-fielder Brett Gardner, Ibanez hit 19 home runs, drove in 62 runs and batted .240 in 340 at-bats this season for the Yankees.

Of course, Ibanez also fell into a severe slump in late August that bled into September. Once again, Girardi kept faith with his veteran outfielder/designated hitter. And again Ibanez rewarded the skipper.

Beginning with a Sept. 22 game against Oakland in which Ibanez entered the game as pinch-hitter in the fifth inning and he ended up hitting two game-tying homers, he went on a full-fledged tear in the final two weeks of the season. Ibanez went 15-for-37  (.405) with five home runs and nine RBIs down the stretch.

He also punctuated his hot streak with a game-tying two-run pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth and a game-winning RBI single in the 12th in a must-win 4-3 victory the Red Sox on Oct. 2.

But those heroics on Sept. 22 and Oct. 2 were but a dress rehearsal for what he was being asked to do on Wednesday. It is one thing to pinch-hit for Casey McGehee (as he did on Sept. 22) or Eduardo Nunez (as he did on Oct. 2). It is quite another to pinch-hit for A-Rod.

That is pressure.

But Ibanez was able to cast it aside enough to concentrate on what he wanted to do: Get a Johnson sinker up enough so that he could launch it into the seats. Johnson provided it on the very first pitch and Ibanez took care of it.

The subdued but hopeful crowd of 50,497 seemed to rise as one while the baseball traveled on a low, line-drive trajectory towards the straightaway right-field. It rose well over the head of Oriole defensive replacement Endy Chavez and some five rows into the bleachers.

On the top step of the dugout cheering loudly was A-Rod.

 

“Maybe 10 years ago, I’d react a much different way. But I’m at a place in my career right now where team means everything,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t think there was anybody in the ballpark more excited for Raul than me.”

 

That home run, harkening Yankee fans back to the days of Bucky Dent, Reggie Jackson and Aaron Boone, allowed the Yankees to stave off what would have been a saddening blow to their playoff hopes. But Ibanez wasn’t having it.

The game remained tied until Ibanez’s next at-bat leading off the bottom of the 12th. Orioles manager Buck Showalter had opted to leave in left-hander Brian Matusz to face him.

Again, Ibanez was looking for a pitch up to drive. Matusz threw a chest high fastball but it was in the middle of the plate. Ibanez was ready and the sound so familiar to the fans rang out all over Yankee Stadium.

Ibanez, knew, Matusz knew and the fans there and those watching at home knew where it was going.

In one mere stretch of just two swings in two at-bats, Ibanez – should the Yankees advance to their 28th world championship – will be remembered in Yankee lore for what he did this evening.

While they are at it, they should also remember the guts it took for Girardi to push the correct button. Managers seem to get little of the credit and most of the blame in baseball.

This is not one of those instances. Girardi played his roster like a maestro and the music hit a real high note in the Bronx.

 

Orioles Fall To Ibanez’s Pair Of ‘Buckshot’ Blasts

Hear people talk about going to heaven
Grab a little bit of heaven right here on Earth
Troubled times lead to healing times
I was sad now I’m feeling fine
It’s the taking and the giving that makes this life worth living,
Makes this life worth living

 

                                             - Lyrics to “State of Mind” by Raul Midon

 

GAME 3 – AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

YANKEES 3, ORIOLES 2 (12 INNINGS)

There have some memorable home runs in Yankees’ history: Bucky Dent in 1978, Reggie Jackson in 1979 and Aaron Boone in 2003. How about adding a pair of them from Raul Ibanez in 2012?

Yankee manager Joe Girardi – summoning up all the courage of his convictions – sent Ibanez to pinch-hit for a player who is fifth on the all-time home run list in Alex Rodriguez with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and Ibanez delivered a huge game-tying line-drive home run to right on the first pitch from Orioles closer Jim Johnson.

Three innings later, Ibanez led off the bottom of 12th inning with a high-arcing, no-doubt-about-it blast on the first pitch from left-hander Brian Matusz into the second deck in right-field of Yankee Stadium as New York became the first team this season to defeat Baltimore in walk-off fashion.

The come-from-behind victory on Wednesday also turned the momentum of the series clearly to the team in pinstripes as the Yankees have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series and the next two games will be in their backyard. They will have a chance to punch their own ticket to the American League Championship Series with a victory on Thursday.

The Yankees have also proven to be a bit of a thorn in the side of the Orioles in extra innings this season. After the Orioles lost their first two extra-inning games of the regular season to the Yankees, they ran off a streak of 16 straight to finish 2012. But they have now lost a third game in extra frames to the Yankees and this one really stung because the O’s were two outs from victory in the ninth.

As with all of the three games of series, the Yankees and Orioles got locked into another pitchers’ duel between 37-year-old right-hander Hiroki Kuroda and 28-year-old rookie right-hander Miguel Gonzalez.

Both were brilliant. Both would have been worthy victors. But both left the game empty-handed.

Kuroda was tagged for a pair of home runs from two Orioles’ rookies, Ryan Flaherty hit one with one out in the third and Manny Machado posted his leading off the fifth.

Other than those two mistakes, Kuroda proved to be worth every bit of the $10-million, one-year contract to which he was signed this winter. Kuroda only gave up the two runs on five hits, one walk and two hit batters while he fanned three in 8 1/3 innings.

However, the Yankees had another difficult time trying figure out Gonzalez. In his two regular season starts against the Yankees, Gonzalez was 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA in the Bronx.

In this contest, the Yankees only got to Gonzalez in the third inning when Russell Martin lined a one-out double off the wall in the left-field corner and Derek Jeter lined a high fastball into center-field that Adam Jones misjudged into a triple.

Gonzalez, along with Darren O’Day pitching a 1-2-3 frame in the eighth, shut down the Yankees cold until the ninth. Gonzalez surrendered just the one run on five hits and no walks while he fanned eight Yankees in seven innings.

The ninth began with Johnson, who gave up a game-winning home run to Martin and five runs (four earned) in Baltimore’s 7-2 loss in Game 1, retired Suzuki on a routine fly ball to left.

Girardi then stunned the paid crowd of 50,497 by sitting Rodriguez, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in the game and 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in the series, and sending up instead 40-year-old outfielder/designated hitter Ibanez to face the right-handed Johnson.

Girardi figured that the lefty-hitting Ibanez had a better chance of  pulling Johnson’s “bowling-ball” sinker out to right-field than Rodriguez had hitting the same pitch to the deeper dimensions in left – especially with a swirling wind blowing out stronger to right.

On Johnson’s first delivery, Ibanez managed to put the barrel of the bat on the low fastball and lift it up on a line about five rows back into the bleachers in right as the fans in the stadium and the Yankees in the dugout went into delirium for getting to the closer, who led the American League with 51 saves this season, in two games this series.

Johnson had only given up three home runs during the regular season. He now has given up two critical longballs (to Martin and Ibanez) within four days to the playoff-tested Yankees.

Meanwhile, the Yankees’ bullpen was doing a number on the powerful Orioles’ lineup.

Lefty Boone Logan came in to relieve Kuroda with one out in the ninth and struck out the lefty-swinging Jim Thome, who along with A-Rod are the only two active players who have 600 or more home runs.

Yankees closer Rafael Soriano came on to strike out the righty-swinging Mark Reynolds and he also contributed a scoreless 10th inning.

Right-hander David Robertson (1-0) pitched two scoreless frames in the 11th and 12th to set the stage for Ibanez’s heroics in 12th.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter elected to use Matusz (0-1) in the 12th after he pitched a perfect 11th. Matusz was thought to be among the Orioles’ best young starters when the season began but he was banished to the bullpen, where he became e a specialist against left-handed hitters like Ibanez.

But Ibanez stepped to the plate looking for a fastball up in the zone so he could drive it out and Matusz obliged him. The sound of the bat striking the ball was all you needed to hear because it struck flush on the sweet spot and the ball rose majestically into the thin 62-degree, low-humidity air.

Wind or no wind, it was obvious to the Yankees and to Matusz where it was going. The only doubt was how far back into the second deck it would land.

Ibanez tossed his helmet as jogged around third and headed toward home plate. His thrilled teammates were there to pound him about as hard he hit the baseball. Matusz turned away the second the ball was struck and trudged slowly to the dugout – his head down and with the look of a defeated punch-drunk fighter wearily stumbling to his corner after yet another crushing knockout.

For the veteran-laden Yankees, who have participated in 17 of the past 18 postseasons, it was just another day at the office. But destiny laid her precious hands on their backs and provided them with a gentle nudge to yet another classic postseason victory.

For the young and cobbled-together Orioles, who have not been in a postseason since 1997, it was a cold slap in the face with some serious reality. Another defeat will mean this magical trip to the big dance will end up with them as wallflowers again.

If you want to beat the Yankees you had better beat them when you have a chance. The Orioles have had chances in all three games to do just that. But they failed twice.

That is twice too many.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Give Girardi credit for doing something most managers would never do in benching Rodriguez in the bottom of the ninth. But give Ibanez even more credit for coming through with another pair of clutch hits for the Yankees.  On Sept. 22, Ibanez entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the fifth and stroked a solo homer to tie it at 5-5. He later tied the game again with a two-run home run in the bottom of the 13th as the Yankees rallied from a 9-5 deficit in the top of the 13th. The Yankees won the game in the bottom of the 14th, 10-9. On Oct. 2, Ibanez pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth with one on and no outs and he hit a two-run shot that tied the game against the Boston Red Sox at 3-3. Ibanez later won the game, 4-3, in the bottom of the 12th with a two-out, opposite-field single to right. Ibanez had a lot to do with the Yankees winning the division and he now is poised to become the big hero of the ALDS. He becomes the first player in postseason history to hit two home runs in a game in which he did not start.
  • Kuroda, minus the two solo homers, was absolutely amazing in his 8 1/3 innings of work. Those who thought the Yankees’ starting pitching would be their undoing in the series were dead wrong. CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Kuroda have combined to give up only seven runs on 20 hits and three walks and struck out 15 batters over 24 innings. That is an ERA of 2.62 and a WHIP (Walks and Hits to Innings Pitched) of 0.96.
  • Jeter entered Game 3 hitting .444 (4-for-9) and added to that by going 2-for-4 with a clutch RBI triple to raise his average to ,462 in the series. On a team where a lot of productive hitters are coming up small in the series, Jeter is not resting on his 216-hit regular season.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • If there was not a left-handed pitcher scheduled for Game 4 for the Orioles, it might have possible that Rodriguez might have been benched altogether. I am not so sure he should not be benched anyway after his 1-for-12 (.083) start. Rodriguez has not really shined in the postseason over the past three years and he looks clueless at the plate in this series.
  • Curtis Granderson pulled another one of his disappearing acts in this game. He was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and he did not get a ball out of the infield. Granderson is 1-for-11 (.091) with six strikeouts in the series. On two occasions on Thursday, Granderson struck out on just three pitches. He and Rodriguez seem to be having a contest going on who can stink it up the most in the series.
  • In a game in which the Yankees needed him to hit well, Robinson Cano was 0-for-4 and he saw only 11 pitches. Cano is again being too aggressive at the plate and he is basically getting himself out by hitting pitches that are not in his wheelhouse. Cano is 2-for-12 (.167) for the series but he does have three RBIs.

BOMBER BANTER

Jeter fouled a pitch from Gonzalez off his left foot in the third inning two pitches before he legged out his RBI triple. However, Jeter hobbled throughout the rest of the game in noticeable discomfort and was removed in favor of Jayson Nix in the bottom of the ninth inning. It is not clear if the injury will force Jeter to miss Game 4.  . . .  Injured closer Mariano Rivera threw out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 3. Rivera was not introduced but drew a loud standing ovation as the strains of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blared from the public address system. Rivera was shelved after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on May 3 in Kansas City.  Rivera, 42, has said he will return to pitch for the Yankees next season.

ON DECK

The Yankees can advance to the ALCS with a victory over the Orioles on Thursday.

The Yankees will send 26-year-old right-hander Phil Hughes (16-13, 4.23 ERA) to the mound. Hughes struggled in September, giving up at least four runs in four of his six starts. However, he is the team leader in victories this season. In his four starts against the O’s he was 2-2 with a 4.76 ERA.

The Orioles will hand over their dying hopes to journeyman 31-year-old lefty Joe Saunders (9-13, 4.07 ERA). Saunders started September off 2-0, but he wound up failing to win in three of his last four starts. He did defeat the Yankees at Camden Yards in his only start against them on Sept. 8.

Game-time will be 7:30 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by TBS.

 

CC, Yankees Ride 5-Run Ninth To Soar Past Birds

 

Well now C., C.C. Rider, well now see 
See what you have done 
Well now C., C.C. Rider, well now see 
See what you have done 

 

                 - Lyrics to “C.C. Rider” by Chuck Willis and Ma Rainey

 

GAME 1 – AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 2

Before this series began, the Orioles were counting on the fact that CC Sabathia came into Sunday’s game with an 0-2 record and a 6.38 ERA in the regular season against the Orioles after posting a spectacular 16-3 mark against them in his career.

They also believed their vaunted bullpen, led by closer Jim Johnson and his 51 saves, would hold the Yankees down long enough for the Orioles to sneak off with another one of their patented one-run victories at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Neither of those two things happened, however.

Sabathia pitched a brilliant 8 2/3 innings and the Yankees pounded Johnson in the ninth inning for five runs on five hits, including a tie-breaking leadoff home run from Russell Martin, as New York clipped the wings of Baltimore to take a pivotal 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

The game was tied 2-2 when Orioles manager Buck Showalter elected to bring Johnson into the game to attempt to hold the Yankees scoreless in the top of ninth. However, Johnson elevated a sinker on a 2-0 pitch to Martin and the veteran catcher blasted a long line drive into left-field that landed six rows up into the bleachers.

You could hear a collective gasp in the crowd because the deluxe sinker-baller Johnson had only given up only three home runs all season and none after June 5.

Raul Ibanez followed with a sharp ground single into right and Derek Jeter then executed a perfect hit-and-run single into the hole between first and second to advance Ibanez to third. Eduardo Nunez was inserted into the game to run for Ibanez.

Ichiro Suzuki then delivered a swinging-bunt single that scored Nunez and one out later Robinson Cano, who came into the game hitting .615 in his last nine games but was 0-for-4 on the night, slapped an opposite-field double to score Jeter and Suzuki. Cano advanced to third on a throwing error by J.J. Hardy.

Johnson (0-1) left in favor of right-hander Tommy Hunter and Nick Swisher was able to loft a fly ball into center to score Cano with fifth and final run charged to Johnson.

Meanwhile, Sabathia (1-0) pitched skillfully and came within one strike of pitching a complete game against a team that was playing in its first postseason since 1997 in front of a raucous towel-waving paid crowd of 47,841.

The Yankees actually broke open the scoring in the game before some of those fans had enough time to dry off their seats after a two hour and 21 minute rain delay had pushed back the first pitch to 8:42 p.m. EDT.

Jeter, who led the major leagues in hits this season with 216, stroked a hard-hit single up the middle off Orioles starter Jason Hammel. Suzuki, playing in his first postseason game since his rookie season of 2001 with the Seattle Mariners, then laced a double to the wall in left-center that scored Jeter standing up.

That run stood until the third inning when Chris Davis lined a single to center off Sabathia and Lew Ford followed with a single in the hole between shortstop and third into left-field. Robert Andino laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance them a base and Sabathia perhaps made his only real mistake of the whole evening.

Sabathia hung a first-pitch slider and Nate Mclouth slapped it into right-center to score Davis and Ford to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead.

The Yankees tied it up in the fourth by taking advantage of some wildness on the part of Hammel, who had not started a game since Sept. 11 because of a recurrence of a right knee injury that landed him on the disabled list early in the season.

Alex Rodriguez drew a walk to lead off the frame and one out later Swisher was walked on a 3-2 pitch. Mark Teixeira followed with a towering shot that hit the top of the scoreboard in right-field to score Rodriguez, however, Teixeira was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double on a bullet throw from Davis.

The game remained tied until the ninth but Sabathia earned the victory by turning away several serious Oriole scoring threats.

The Orioles mounted a rally in the fifth when Davis led off with a broken-bat single to right and one out later Andino rolled a ball just past a diving Jeter into left. However, Sabathia fanned McLouth looking and he retired Hardy on inning-ending groundout.

The Orioles put two men on base with two out in the sixth on a Mark Reynolds single and an error by Jeter on a short-hop grounder off the bat of Manny Machado. But Sabathia got Davis to fly out to center to end the threat.

In the eighth, Hardy led off with an opposite-field double to right. But Sabathia struck out Adam Jones swinging, got Matt Wieters out on a foul pop to Teixeira and Reynolds rolled out to Jeter to strand Hardy and set the stage for the Yankees five-run explosion in the ninth.

Sabathia surrendered two runs on eight hits and one walk while he fanned seven batters in a gutty 120-pitch outing. He left with two out in the ninth after Ford hit a two-out double on a 1-2 pitch.

David Robertson came on and struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Flaherty swinging to end the contest in front a quiet and dispirited Camden Yards crowd.

The Yankees had some chances to score more runs earlier in the game off Hammel. But base-running blunders and the fact the team was 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position until the ninth saved the Orioles.

After Suzuki doubled in Jeter in the first he was thrown by Wieters trying to steal third. Teixeira getting thrown out trying to stretch his RBI single in the  fourth also short-circuited a potential big-inning.

Hammel gave up two runs on four hits and four walks while he struck out five in 5 2/3 innings.

Reliever Troy Patton escaped a two-on, two out jam in the sixth on a running catch of a ball off the bat of Curtis Granderson in foul territory in deep right by Davis.

The Yankees mounted a threat against Patton in the seventh when Martin and Ibanez drew back-to-back walks to start the inning.

After reliever Darren O’Day gave up a sacrifice bunt to Jeter that advanced Martin and Ibanez, Suzuki hit a hot smash to Andino and he threw Martin out at the plate. Rodriguez ended the threat by striking out swinging.

The ninth, however, would prove to be a much different story against Johnson.

The Yankees hold a vital 1-0 lead, having taken a game on the road in the best-of-five series. Since divisional play began, teams with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five sets have won 48 of the previous 68 series.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Sabathia shook off the long rain delay and retired the first six batters he faced. He threw 80 of his 120 pitches for strikes (67 percent).  Sabathia also redeemed himself after pitching so poorly this season against the Orioles in his three starts and the 6.23 ERA he recorded in the best-of-five ALDS loss in 2011 to the Detroit Tigers.
  • Martin has been delivering clutch home runs lately and this one was probably even more important than his three-run home run in the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 28 that broke open a game the Yankees eventually won 11-4 to keep their lead in the American League East. Though Martin hit .211 this season, a hot final month allowed him to post a career high 21 home runs.
  • Though Suzuki’s base-running foray in the first hurt, he delivered for the Yankees in the game by going 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and two RBIs. He also combined with Jeter to reach base six times in 10 plate appearances.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Rodriguez is virtually useless to the Yankees. He did draw a walk and score the tying run in the fourth. However, in his other four trips to the plate he struck out three times and rolled out weakly to short. After another disappointing season, Rodriguez is continuing his inept hitting in the playoffs.
  • Granderson was not much better. He was 0-for-3 with an intentional walk. He hit into a fielder’s choice, fouled out to right and struck out. That is odd for Granderson because he entered play with a career average of .313 in division series play. In the seventh inning reliever Brian Matusz deliberately walked Teixeira on four pitches to face Granderson with two out and he struck him out on three pitches.
  • The runners-in-scoring-position curse that has followed the Yankees much of the season almost sunk them against the Orioles. The Orioles were 3-for-8 but those five times they did not deliver against Sabathia cost them the game. The Yankees were very lucky to have won.

BOMBER BANTER

The Yankees posted a 25-man roster for the series that included some surprises. The Yankees found out middle infielder Jayson Nix was healthy enough to put on the roster. His left hip flexor injury he sustained in game on Sept. 27 was supposed to have sidelined him for 10 to 14 days but he was cleared to play on Saturday. In addition, Andruw Jones was left off the roster in favor of outfielder Brett Gardner and Nunez. Jones struggled badly in the second half and ended up hitting just .197. The Yankees also elected to go with a 11-man pitching staff that did not include 12-game winner Ivan Nova, veteran Freddy Garcia or reliever Cody Eppley. Late-season acquisition Derek Lowe was placed on the roster along with rookie right-hander David Phelps.

ON DECK

The Yankees will have a chance to deal a severe blow to the Orioles if they can win a second game at Camden Yards on Monday.

The Yankees have decided to go with 40-year-old left-hander Andy Pettitte (5-4, 2.87 ERA), who happens to be the all-time leader in postseason victories and boasts a 19-10 record with a 3.83 ERA in 42 starts. Pettitte was 2-1 with a 1.62 ERA in his three starts after being activated from the disabled list with a broken bone in his left ankle. He is 27-6 with a 3.52 ERA lifetime against the Orioles.

The Orioles will counter with a rookie right-hander from Taiwan in Wei-Yin Chen (12-11, 4.02 ERA). Chen wore down in September as evidenced by his 0-4 record and 5.05 ERA in his final six starts of the season. Chen started against the Yankees four times and was 1-2 with a 5.25 ERA.

Game-time will be 8 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by TBS.

 

Yankees Say Sayonara To O’s With Kuroda’s Gem

GAME 22

YANKEES 2, ORIOLES 1

Just when the pundits, press and fans became apoplectic over the inconsistency of the Yankees’ starting pitching Hiroki Kuroda followed CC Sabathia’s outstanding eight-inning outing on Sunday with a gem of his own on Monday.

Kuroda (2-3) held the Orioles to one run on four hits and one walk and struck out three over seven innings of work and he got a two-run home run from Eric Chavez as New York continued their dominance over Baltimore at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y.

The 37-year-old right-hander even protected his one-run lead with a dazzling defensive play of his own at home plate in the seventh inning.

With Nick Markakis on third and Matt Wieters on second and two out, Kuroda threw a 1-0 pitch to Wilson Betemit that hit the dirt and rolled past Russell Martin. Markakis broke for home, Martin scrambled to the ball, made a backhand toss to Kuroda, who blocked the plate and applied the tag to Markakis to end the inning.

Right-hander Jason Hammel (3-1) took his first loss of the season, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and fanning five in six innings. His big mistake came on a first-pitch fastball to Chavez in the second inning with Mark Teixeira on first and one out.

Chavez blasted the pitch 375 feet off the wall of the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center to give the Yankees a lead they would never relinquish thanks to Kuroda and the bullpen duo of David Robertson and Mariano Rivera.

Robertson pitched a perfect eighth by striking out the side. Meanwhile, the 42-year-old future Hall-of-Fame closer Rivera needed only nine pitches to dispatch the Orioles in the ninth for his fifth save of the season and the 608th of his career.

The Orioles broke the seal on the scoring in the top of the second inning when Adam Jones drew a walk, he adavnced to third on a Matt Wieters single and he scored on a deep sacrifice fly off the bat of Chris Davis. However, Kuroda, with help from the Yankees’ bullpen, shut down the Orioles the rest of the way.

With the victory the Yankees improved their season record to 13-9. The Orioles, who have now lost all four contests they have played against the Yankees this season, fell to 14-9.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • It is real easy to see now why the Yankees shelled out $10 million on a one-year contract for Kuroda. He kept the Orioles off balance with a mixture of sliders and split-finger fastballs. He threw 52 of his 87 pitches for strikes (60 percent) and he lowered his season ERA to 3.69. In his last two outings against good-hitting teams in the Rangers and the Orioles, Kuroda has given up just three runs on nine hits and three walks in 13 2/3 innings. That is an ERA of 2.03 and a WHIP of 0.90.
  • Once Kuroda handed off the one-run lead to Robertson and Rivera, it was lights out for the Orioles. Robertson blew away the Orioles with a fastball clocked as high as 94 mph. He fanned Betemit swinging and Mark Reynolds and Robert Andino were caught looking on perfectly placed fastballs on the outside corner at the knees. Rivera has not been scored upon since he blew his first save on opening day against Tampa. In his last 7 1/3 innings, he has given up just three hits and no walks and he has struck out seven batters.
  • Chavez’s home run in the second was his third of the season and that is one more than Chavez hit all of last season for the Yankees in 58 games. Chavez is getting more playing time with Brett Gardner on the disabled list and manager Joe Girardi’s decision to use Alex Rodriguez more often as the designated hitter. The 34-year-old veteran is taking advantage of it, hitting .321 with three home runs and five RBIs.
  • Teixeira was 2-for-3 in the game and he finished April with a .244 average, which is far cry better than his career average of .190 in the opening month.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

When the starter goes seven innings, the bullpen holds a slim one-run lead and the team plays errorless defense, there is not much negative to say. The Yankees could have gotten their offense untracked more, but Hammel is the Orioles’ ace and he entered the game with a 1.73 ERA.

BOMBER BANTER

Eduardo Nunez made his first major-league start in left-field and he handled all five of his chances without making an error. He made an excellent catch on sinking liner off the bat of Markakis in the first inning and he made an excellent catch at the wall on Davis’ sac fly in the second. But his catch of liner off the bat of Andino was a bit of an adventure as he caught the ball sprawling awkwardly to the turf.  . . .  One reason Nunez played left was because Nick Swisher is out with a slight strain of his left hamstring. Swisher hopes to return in three days but Girardi said it will be closer to a week before he allows Swisher play.   . . .  Gardner, meanwhile, is targeting a return from the disabled list on Thursday when he is eligible to be activated. He has been sidelined with a strained right elbow  . . .  The numbers may not show it, but Andy Pettitte declared himself ready to help the Yankees now. Pettitte gave up six runs (five earned) on 10 hits, walked none and struck out eight in six innings of work for Class-A Tampa in the Florida State League on Monday. Pettitte threw 96 pitches and he said he could make his next start for the Yankees. However, general manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees would prefer that Pettitte make one more minor-league start on Saturday and he could be ready to pitch for the Yankees on May 10.

ON DECK

The Yankees will continue their three-game home series with the Orioles on Tuesday.

The Yankees will start right-hander Phil Hughes (1-3, 7.88 ERA). He lasted just 2 2/3 innings of his last start against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. Hughes is 4-2 with a 5.24 ERA in his career against the Orioles.

The Orioles will counter with struggling left-hander Brian Matusz (0-3, 5.66 ERA). Matusz gave up two runs in six innings in his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays but he did not get a decision. He has lost 12 straight decisions dating back to last season and he is 2-5 with a 5.10 ERA lifetime against the Yankees.

Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast by the YES Network.

 

Nova Wins 13th Straight As Yankees Down Birds

GAME 4

YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 2

Monday’s New York versus Baltimore pitching matchup of 25-year-olds was marked by some very stark contrasts.

The Yankees starter was a right-hander who spent six years in the minors before a breakthrough 2011 season and he entered the 2012 season having won 12 consecutive games. The Orioles starter was a left-hander who was rushed to the majors a bit too soon and he paid for it by ending his 2011 season having lost nine consecutive games.

The result was Ivan Nova of the Yankees scattered 10 hits over seven innings in winning his 13th straight game and Brian Matusz (0-1) of the O’s gave up four runs on six hits and four walks in four innings as New York got back on track and defeated Baltimore at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Derek Jeter sparked the offense with four hits, including an RBI double in the fourth, and executed a perfect sacrifice bunt in the sixth and a textbook hit-and-run single in the eighth. Andruw Jones added a solo home run in the sixth inning as the Yankees broke a 0-3 start with an 11-hit attack to win their first game of the season.

The Yankees avoided starting the season 0-4 for the first time since 1973.

The Yankees also extended a streak of 18 consecutive victories in games in which Nova has started.

Though Nova gave up a lot of hits, he got tough with runners on base. The Orioles were 6-for-11 (.545) with the bases empty and were 3-for-15 with runners on against Nova. They also were 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

The Yankees are now 1-3 on the young season while the Orioles fell to 3-1.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Nova pitched with steely confidence on Monday and did not allow the pressure of having base-runners on in every inning except the first get to him. He also struck out seven batters by liberally using his breaking pitches. Nova is on a mission to show his 16-4 record was not a fluke or only a product of a lot of run support. He is off to a good start after a spring in which he recorded a 8.06 ERA.
  • Jeter, like most of the Yankees, loves hitting in Camden Yards and it showed with his 4-for-4 night. Showing his ability to use all fields, Jeter had a single to left, a single to center, a single to right-center (on a hit-and-run play) and a double to the right-field corner. Jeter raised his average from .231 to .412 in one night.
  • Manager Joe Girardi started Jones in left in place of Brett Gardner for the second straight game against a left-hander and Jones delivered a home run to left off Orioles right-hander Darren O’Day’s first pitch of the sixth inning. Jones now has 421 career home runs.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Whatever book the Yankees have on how to pitch Matt Wieters they are going to need to revise it in a hurry. Wieters was 4-for-4, including a solo home run in the second inning, a double and two singles. The Yankees previously had some success in getting Wieters out but it looks like 25-year-old catcher is becoming the good hitter he was predicted to be when he was in the minors.
  • The Yankees have a way of making things more difficult on themselves even in victory. The Orioles recorded three double plays on Monday and two of them came with the bases loaded. The third one came on a strange double-steal play in the third inning. With Jeter on second and Robinson Cano on first and Alex Rodriguez up with a 3-2 count, Girardi sent both runners. Rodriguez struck out and Wieters threw out Jeter at third easily.
  • The No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters in the lineup – Nick Swisher, Cano and Rodriguez – were a combined 1-for-11 and left a total of 14 runners on base. As a result, though Jeter was 4-for-4, he scored only one run and that was driven in by Mark Teixeira in the first inning on a two-out single.

BOMBER BANTER

While the game was going on the Yankees also were monitoring Andy Pettitte’s start for Class-A Tampa in a Florida State League game on the road against Clearwater. Pettitte gave up one run on two hits and struck out two in 3 innings of work. Pettitte, who threw 26 of 32 pitches for strikes, said he felt good about his outing. The 39-year-old left-hander, who hopes to be ready to pitch in the major leagues in May, will make his next start for Tampa on Sunday.  . . .  Yankees catcher Russell Martin and Orioles second baseman Robert Andino ended up in a heated discussion after Monday’s game. Martin apparently was upset with what he believed was Andino relaying pitch location from second base to the last two batters in the ninth with Mariano Rivera on the mound. Andino took exception to Martin’s accusation and he had to be restrained by Orioles first base coach Wayne Kirby. Girardi summed it all up later by saying “Boys will be boys.”

ON DECK

The Yankees continue their series with the Orioles with their fifth game of a six-game season-opening road trip on Tuesday.

Freddy Garcia, 35, will make his 2012 debut after a 12-8 season and 3.82 ERA in 2011. Garcia was 2-0 with a 4.35 ERA in four starts against the Orioles last season.

He will be opposed by 26-year-old left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, who will be making his major-league debut after spending four seasons pitching for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan. Chen, a native of Taiwan, was 2-2 with a 3.60 ERA in five spring starts for the Orioles.

Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by the MLB Network and locally by MY9.

 

Yankees Leave Tampa Bay Area With Blank Glare

GAME 3

RAYS 3, YANKEES 0

This weekend for the Yankees was like it came from the mind of 1970s disaster film king Irwin Allen. The title could be “Voyage to the Bottom of the Division.”

Jeremy Hellickson blanked New York on three hits in 8 2/3 innings as Tampa Bay gave the term “Bronx Bombers” a new twist in a weekend opening series sweep on Sunday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL.

Hellickson (1-0) struck four and walked four before giving way to Fernando Rodney for a one-out save in the ninth.

Phil Hughes (0-1) actually pitched well but did not get any support for his efforts, He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks and struck five in 4 2/3 innings when his pitch count reached 99. The Rays were determined not to swing until at any offering unless they had two strikes on them.

The whole weekend was a series of contrasts. The balls the Yankees hit would either go right to a Rays’ fielder and the long fly balls stayed in the ballpark. But every ball the Rays hit would just elude a Yankee fielder or inch over the wall. Maybe instead of Irwin Allen it was more like a haunting Alfred Hitchcock.

One would guess is that if Rays manager Joe Maddon had stationed a fielder on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge one of the Yankees would have hit it right into his glove.

The Yankees are an early 0-3. The Rays are 3-0. But I seem to remember the Rays starting poorly last season and it did not deter them.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • No Yankees were actually harmed in the production of this disaster.
  • The last time the Yankees started a season 0-3 was in 1998 and they happened to win 114 games and went on to win a world championship, So there is a silver lining in the Tampa Bay thunderstorm clouds.
  • Hughes actually did pitch well and it bodes well for a bounce-back season for him.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • On Saturday Jeff Keppinger of the Rays deliberately hit the ball to the right side of the infield to advance Luke Scott to third base. I do not recall a single Yankee “giving themselves up” to advance a baser-runner this entire weekend. All I saw was a lot of weak popups, grounders and strikeouts with runners in scoring position. For the weekend they were 5-for-25 (.200).
  • Nick Swisher failed twice in run-scoring opportunities on Sunday and it set the tone for the Yankees’ frustrating day. In the fourth, with one out and Alex Rodriguez on third and Mark Teixeira on second after a double, Swisher messed up a 3-1 count by hitting a weak popup to third. In the sixth, with two outs and Rodriguez on third and Teixeira at first, Swisher was called out on strikes.
  • I remember in spring training how manager Joe Girardi was proud of his veteran designated hitters Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez for their experience in playing the outfield and how it would give the team lots of flexibility. Girardi chose on Sunday to start Ibanez in right-field and Swisher as the DH. However, just because Ibanez “can” play the outfield doesn’t mean he should. In the first inning, Evan Longoria doubled to left with two out. Matt Joyce followed with a sinking liner to right that Ibanez misplayed into a triple and the Rays scored the only run they needed the rest of the day.  Ibanez has no business playing the outfield on an artificial surface, period.

BOMBER BANTER

Andy Pettitte will make his first start in a minor-league game on Monday with Class-A Tampa against Clearwater in Florida State League game in Clearwater, FL. Pettitte, 39, hopes to resume his major-league career with the Yankees sometime in May.  . . .  Despite the fact he was limping after the game, Curtis Granderson said his sore right calf was not a serious injury. Granderson fouled a ball off his right calf in the third inning. He later struck out and finished the day 0-for-3 with a walk.  . . .  Girardi opted not to rest Rodriguez on Sunday and he said the veteran third baseman likely will DH on Monday. Girardi said there will be focus on trying to keep Rodriguez and Derek Jeter rested throughout the season.

ON DECK

For the first time since they arrived in Tampa, FL., in February for spring training the Yankees will be in Baltimore on Monday to play the Orioles.

The Yankees will start right-hander Ivan Nova. Nova had a pretty forgettable spring after recording a 16-4 record and a 3.70 ERA in his rookie season. He was 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA in four starts against the Orioles last season.

The Orioles will counter with left-hander Brian Matusz, coming of a 1-9 record and 10.69 ERA in 2011. Matusz is 2-4 with a 4.70 ERA against the Yankees in his career.

Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast by the YES Network.

 

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