Results tagged ‘ David Price ’

Rays Pay Steep Price In 9th On Ichiro’s 2-Run Hit

GAME 18

YANKEES 4, RAYS 3

Ichiro Suzuki entered Tuesday’s game batting just .200 and it was beginning to look as if all those years of playing baseball were starting to take its toll. But the Tampa Bay Rays found out there is no hitter more dangerous than a great hitter in the throes of a horrible slump.

Suzuki slapped a two-out bases loaded single off reliever Fernando Rodney to drive in two runs to break a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning as New York edged Tampa Bay in front of an embarrassingly small paid crowd of 17,644 at Tropicana Field.

David Robertson (1-0) pitched a perfect ninth inning in relief of starter Phil Hughes to earn credit for the victory. Though Evan Longoria greeted him with a first-pitch home run in the bottom of ninth, Mariano Rivera retired the next three hitters to earn his sixth save in as many chances this season.

Robinson Cano started the ninth inning with a single off Rays starter David Price (0-2). Rays manager Joe Maddon then elected to bring Rodney to face left-hander Vernon Wells.

Wells struck out but Cano was able to swipe second base, which forced Maddon to walk pinch-hitter Travis Hafner intentionally to set up a potential double play.

However, Lyle Overbay was able able to draw a walk on a 3-2 pitch from Rodney to load the bases and, after Chris Stewart popped out, Suzuki came to the plate.

Suzuki also was instrumental in allowing the Yankees to tie the game in the eighth with a one-out single and he advanced to third on a single to left by Jayson Nix. He then scored on a infield groundout by Brett Gardner.

Price entered the eighth with a 2-1 lead on a two-out RBI single by Jose Molina that scored Matt Joyce.

Price gave up three runs on eight hits and no walks while he struck out five in eight-plus innings of work.

However, Hughes matched him pitch-for-pitch after a shaky first inning in which he gave up a walk to Desmond Jennings, a double by Ryan Roberts and sacrifice fly to Ben Zobrist that scored Jennings.

Hughes then settled in giving up just two runs on six hits and two walks and he struck out six batters in seven innings. It was his second consecutive strong outing but he has received a no decisions in both of them.

With the victory the Yankees improved their season ledger to 11-8. The Rays fell to 9-11.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Suzuki, 39, has had the Yankees concerned because he slumped miserably in the final three weeks of spring training and began the season in the same hitting funk. Manager Joe Girardi elected to bench him in favor of Brennan Boesch twice against left-handers in the past week. Hopefully his two hits in the last two innings, scoring the game-tying run and driving in the game-winning runs will get him going.
  • In his last two starts, Hughes has given up four runs on 12 hits and two walks and he has fanned 12 in 14 innings. After giving up the sacrifice fly to Zobrist in the first inning, Hughes retired 16 of the next 19 batters he faced until he opened the seventh inning by walking Joyce. Joyce eventually scored on Molina’s hit and it likely cost Hughes the victory. But Hughes is pitching well after two dreadful starts to begin the season. He lowered his season ERA to 5.14.
  • Cano was 2-for-4 and both his hits set up runs. After Eduardo Nunez reached first to lead off the fourth inning on a wild pitch on a swinging third strike, Cano advanced him third on a single. Wells then drove in Nunez with an opposite-field single to right that tied the game at 1-1. Cano raised his season average to .342, which currently leads the team.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • It is just about decision time for the Yankees on Ben Francisco, who started for a second consecutive game as the designated hitter. Francisco was 0-for-3 in the game and he is hitting a miserable .080 on the season after hitting a combined .308 with eight doubles, three homers and nine RBIs for the Cleveland Indians and the Yankees in spring training. The Yankees chose to keep Francisco over Juan Rivera, though Rivera also had a good spring. Rivera is currently a free agent and could be signed by any club.
  • The Yankees are finding out their Achilles’ heel is left-handed pitching. With Kevin Youkilis out of the lineup for a third straight game with lower back stiffness, the Yankees were forced to start Francisco at DH in place of Hafner, the lefty swinging Overbay at first and Nix at third. After Matt Moore shut them down on one run and two hits on Monday, Price held them to two runs on seven hits on Tuesday until the ninth inning when they rallied off the right-handed Rodney.
  • The Yankees were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position until Suzuki delivered his game-winning single in the ninth.

BOMBER BANTER

Youkilis was held out of the lineup for a third straight game on Tuesday and he now is not expected to play until Thursday. Youkilis originally injured the back in the fifth inning of Saturday’s game in Toronto against the Blue Jays and re-aggravated the injury on Monday during batting practice in St. Petersburg, FL.  . . .  Mark Teixeira admitted on Tuesday that he will not meet his stated goal to return to the lineup by May 1. Though Teixiera has been cleared to take dry swings from both sides of the plate, he has not advanced far enough to begin hitting a baseball. Instead of remaining in Tampa to continue his workouts, Teixiera will return with the team to New York after Wednesday’s game.  . . .  Derek Jeter will be in New York on Thursday and will hold a press conference. Jeter, who found out last week that he sustained another small fracture in his surgically repaired left ankle, has not made any public comment since he learned will be out until after the All-Star break.

ON DECK

The Yankees will have a chance to win the rubber game of their three-game set with the Rays on Wednesday.

Veteran left-hander Andy Pettitte (3-0, 2.01 ERA) will start for the Yankees. Pettitte is coming off another strong 7 1/3 innings in a victory over the Blue Jays on Friday. Pettitte, 40, gave up three runs on six hits and a walk while he struck out five. In his last 10 seasons, Pettitte is 16-5 with a 4.13 ERA against the Rays.

The Rays will start right-hander Alex Cobb (2-1, 2.53 ERA). Cobb also allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings in a victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday. He is 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA in three career starts against the Yankees.

Game-time will be 7:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast by the YES Network.

 

Yankees Will Prevail In 2013′s ‘Game Of Thrones’

The New York Yankees open defense of their American League East championship on Monday against the Boston Red Sox with pundits and even their own fans criticizing them for their many injuries and their reluctance over the past few years for opening their wallets to get quality young players. I will try to examine how I believe the division race stacks up and predict how it might go. You may be surprised by my conclusion.

REAL LIFE GAME OF THRONES

If you are a fan of HBO’s series “Game of Thrones” you might notice that the American League East is a lot like the many kingdoms in the show.

The Yankees, with their money and dominance, are a lot like the Lannisters. The Boston Red Sox are a lot like the Starks, highly principled and loyal folk who fight the good fight only to suffer myriad indignities and failures. Of course, you also have those teams like the Toronto Blue Jays, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles who also are swirling around the periphery of Kings Landing believing they have a rightful claim to wear the crown.

The 2013 season will play out a lot like the television series and I can tell you why I believe that.

A DOMINANT KING

Since 1995 the Yankees have only missed the American League playoffs once (in 2008) and they have won the division championship in 16 of the past 17 seasons. If that is not dominance than what is? Like the Lannisters, the Steinbrenner family has lavished riches of the kingdom on the best knights to defend the realm and their loyal subjects have been a fairly happy lot for the most part.

But their knights have grown old and their battle wounds have been severe. Some are ready for the fight in 2013 but others are not. Their apparent weakness has given their rivals confidence they take the crown away and you saw that play out this spring.

THE KING NORTH OF THE WALL

The Blue Jays had a legendary team in the early 1990s and they won two world championships during that period. But since then they have fallen into a barren abyss of failure. But their general manager Alex Anthropoulos engineered a winter campaign to load his roster with the best players the Miami Marlins and New York Mets could offer him.

They boast a starting lineup with the speedy Jose Reyes and a line-drive hitting machine in Melky Cabrera to add to their long-ball threats Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. They also pried away National League Cy Young Award-winner R.A. Dickey from the Mets to add to right-hander Josh Johnson and left-hander Mark Buerhle from the Marlins to form a strong rotation with their own holdover Brandon Morrow.

The kings of North think they now have a team that storm the wall protecting the kingdoms that lie s to the south such as Kings Landing in 2013.

But there are some warning signs that could give them pause before they are able to proclaim victory.

One is the Blue Jays’ bullpen. I was listening to their broadcasters this spring lamenting about how weak this group appears to be.

Closer Casey Janssen is coming off shoulder surgery and they HOPE he will available for Opening Day. Behind him is failed closer Sergio Santos and his awful 7.88 spring ERA and Esmil Rogers and his 6.39 ERA.

Of all the teams in the A.L. East, this bullpen projects to be the worst in the division, especially if Janssen is unable to capture lightning in a bottle and return as the closer he was last season when he saved 22 of 25 games. The Blue Jays may have to cover there bullpen weakness by asking their starters to go longer than they should.

That tends to weaken the starters and it also could be discouraging when the offense builds a 6-1 lead after six innings and they end up losing the game 7-6. That will get mighty old for the Rogers Centre faithful this summer.

The offense has its own issues.

Third baseman Brett Lawrie plays the game all out and he also tends to get hurt a lot. He enters the season banged up and there are questions about how good centerfielder Colby Rasmus, catcher J.P. Arencibia and designated hitter Adam Lind really are. They have yet to establish themselves as quality major-league players.

There also is a major questions about whether Reyes, whose talents in the past have been held back by leg issues, will be able to play a full season on the hard artificial surface of Rogers Centre without issues at age 29.

So instead of automatically installing them as the kings of this division, you may want to look deeper into these drawbacks. Teams do not win championships on paper. Just ask the 2012 Marlins.

THE LORDS OF BALTIMORE

The Orioles remind me of the twisted and tortured King Stannis, who attacked Kings Landing in season two of the “Game of Thrones” only to be turned back at the gates by the eldest of the Lannisters and his men just as if seemed they were winning.

Stannis had a magical sorceress behind him convincing him that he could win the battle, but he failed in the end. She later told him he still could prevail even as he was licking his wounds in defeat. Manager Buck Showalter is much like this sorceress. His skill of masking weaknesses and enhancing strengths of a ballclub made the Orioles seem much stronger than they appeared to be in 2012.

They won such a ridiculous amount of one-run and extra-inning games that they qualified for the playoffs as a wild card only to be dispatched in Game 5 of the American League Division Series by the CC of Sabathia. They were at the gates of the kingdom of The Bronx only to be turned away by their elders, Prince Derek Jeter and the eldest of Lannisters, Raul of of the House Ibanez.

Showalter still believes his charges can storm the gates of the castle and take the throne in 2013. But, unlike most teams in this division, he did not add much of anything to this team. He is largely counting on the same black magic of 2012, which rarely happens.

Those one-run victories in 2012 can easily turn into one-run losses in 2013. Those extra-inning miracles can become extra-inning nightmares a year later.

Their rotation of Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez and Jake Arrieta really scares no one. Nobody is going to get up out of bed at the hotel and say “Oh no, we have no chance of winning because Arrieta is pitching tonight!”

The bullpen with closer Jim Johnson is solid but hardly merits superlatives.

The team largely returns the same cast in 2012 minus Mark Reynolds and with the return of second baseman Brian Roberts, who has not played a full season in the majors since 2009.

Adam Jones and Matt Wieters are marvelous talents and Nick Markakis is healthy after missing the stretch run. But I have to wonder if all the magic Showalter spun in 2012 really will return in 2013. Teams like this usually fall back to the pack and that is what I see for the Birds.

DRAGONS AT THE PORT CITY

The Tampa Bay Rays remind of the Targaryens, who once sat upon the throne in 2008 when they faced the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series but have been unable to mount the offensive to get back there.

They have been trapped wandering in a hot climate in Florida and they have been restricted by the lack of soldiers and a lack of money to really win it all.

One year they lose Carl Crawford and Matt Garza. Another year they lose B.J. Upton and James Shields. They try to compensate with their own farm system because they lack money to compete with the Lannisters or the Starks of this division.

They only have the fire of their small but growing dragons who someday might destroy the mightier armies they have to face. For now, it appears the dragons are way too small and too inexperienced to go the entire distance.

The Rays rely on a pitching staff led by the American League Cy Young Award-winner David Price. How ironic that a team that has to pinch its pennies would be beholden to man named Price.

Behind him on promising youngsters like Matt Moore, Jeremy Hellickson and Alex Cobb. But there are problems here.

Hellickson spent most of the spring throwing much less than fire at opposing batters. He was rocked often and ended up with a 6.75 ERA. Moore did not fare much better. His velocity was way off and his command was even worse. He finished the spring much better but his once-high promise has faded some.

The Rays have to rely on these pitchers and their bullpen led by reclamation project Fernando Rodney and his 48 saves because the offense leaves a lot to be desired.

Without Upton, the Rays will have to rely on Evan Longoria even more for power. Longoria himself has a problem staying healthy and, if he is missing for any portion of the season, the Rays can kiss their hopes bye-bye.

They have a semblance of an offense with Longoria, Ben Zobrist, Desmond Jennings and new shortstop Yunel Escobar. But they also are starting guys like Matt Joyce and Luke Scott, who have not proven they can establish careers for themselves and help a team win.

They also are still counting on Jose Molina to do a bulk of the catching at age 37.

The Targaryens in the television series did not have enough money to purchase the ships to ford the sea leading back to Kings Landing. That kind of jives with the subjects who live in Tampa, FL, who are unwilling to lay down their riches or mount their horses to ford the bridge that leads to the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

The low attendance puts even more stringent strains on the team’s coffers to keep players like Price in the kingdom for their entire careers.

The Rays, with their young dragons, should remain afloat long enough to mount a serious challenge to take the throne. But the rich Lannisters in the Bronx still have the wisdom and wherewithal to stem the tide. Like in the series, men do not blindly follow the bravest warriors but remain loyal to the men with the gold.

The gold remains in the Bronx.

THE STARKS OF BOSTON

In Season Two of “Game of Thrones” the elder Stark loses his head, the eldest daughter is enslaved to the Lannister king, the youngest daughter is lost in the hinterlands, the two youngest boys have their home burned while the man’s widow and the eldest son plot to overthrow and vanquish the Lanisters to avenge the patriarch’s death.

That pretty much wraps up the Red Sox of 2012. Winterfell befell Landsdowne.

Their king (Bobby Valentine) had his head lopped off and served to the media, they abandoned their home fans and cast adrift a lot of their high-priced talent in order to restock and rebuild to defeat their arch-enemy in the rich Bronx. It was indeed a completely lost season for the Red Sox and the Starks.

They hold out hope that a new manager (Jon Farrell) and a team built around Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury will help get them back to the promised land they have failed to reach since 2007. In fact, they have failed to make the playoffs in the last three seasons.

They want left-hander Jon Lester and right-hander Clay Buccholz to pitch better while young Felix Doubront develops and they pray retreads Ryan Dempster and John Lackey (all kingdoms must have their lackeys) have something left. The problem is that this was the division’s worst pitching staff in 2012 and no swordsmanship will make it much better in 2013.

The bullpen has undergone a two purges since Jonathan Papelbon rode off for the riches of the Phillies. They are now hoping a Pirate can plug the leaks in the hull of the bullpen. Joel Hanrahan has come over from Pittsburgh to be the closer while former closer Andrew Bailey and lost child Daniel Bard try to figure out what happened to their talent.

Bailey is the team’s setup man while the Bard (in true Shakespearean fashion) has been cast into the dungeons of the minor leagues. For shame, for shame!

It also appears that the kingdom’s version of Hodor, David Ortiz, is finally showing signs that those seasons of carrying excess weight have a price. He has a bad heel and he can’t even trot, let alone run. Without Ortiz, most of the power and production will fall upon first baseman Mike Napoli.

There are lots of weaknesses everywhere, including shortstop (Stephen Drew, really?) and catcher, where Jarrod Saltalamacchia hits home runs in small bunches and strikes out in major droves.

Though young outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. promises to give the Fenway faithful something to cheer about when the team is dredging the bottom depths of the division, the ponderous weight of the anchor of this foundering team will keep them from even getting a whiff of the roses near the Iron Throne.

THE RICHES OF KINGS LANDING

The Evil Empire in the Bronx has paid its knights Alex Rodriguez, Jeter, Sabathia, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Mark Teixeira handsomely over the years. Along with the reward of titles and championships, the team has also fallen short of its goals of late due to injury and the age of these players.

It actually started last season when spring injuries to Michael Pineda and Joba Chamberlain was just a mere hint of what 2012 would bring. Rodriguez missed time, CC pitched with a sore elbow, Pettitte was lost for a time, Jeter hobbled until he broke in the playoffs,

Speedy outfielder Brett Gardner played in only 18 games.

So why should 2013 be any different?

The rich Lannisters are already missing Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Ibanez, Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones because payroll concerns were such they were ordered to cut back on their excesses.

Injuries to Teixera, Curtis Granderson, Phil Hughes and a slow recovery by Jeter this spring heightened the concerns of fans who have loyally followed this team over the years. The town criers, the scribes and pundits all denounced this team and said it was dead. They would not win the title in 2013.

They may even finish last.

STARK REALITY

But an odd thing happened on Friday. The team that was battered all spring played a Washington Nationals team that many say will win the world championship in 2013 fell to the Yankees. Oh, it was just an exhibition game. I know it did not count.

But what you saw in the Yankees was a semblance of a very good team. Pettitte pitched well and the bullpen proved to be as strong as ever.

The major surprise was the offense with Robinson Cano, Kevin Youkilis, Eduardo Nunez and Vernon Wells seemed to respond and it all seemed to come together in one cohesive package.

Rays manager Joe Maddon said earlier this spring that he fails to believe that the Yankees will be bad in 2013. He said he thinks they will be as difficult to beat as they always have been. I agree.

You see injuries do heal. The Yankees will get Jeter, Hughes, Granderson and Teixeira back at some point this season. They also might get Rodriguez back.

They are a team that has always gotten off to slow starts and got better as the season moved along. I see the same scenario this season.

The pitching with Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Pettitte, Hughes, Ivan Nova and David Phelps is deep. They have Rivera in the bullpen for one last season and David Robertson, Chamberlain and Boone Logan form a strong setup group for the King of Closing.

The offense features the two best singles hitters of their generation in Ichiro Suzuki and Jeter along with the speedy Gardner. Cano, who is due to become a very rich free agent signing after the 2013 season, is poised for breakout season of offense and defense. He could very well win the Most Valuable Player award this season.

Youkilis looks like the Youkilis of 2007, when he led the rival Red Sox to their last championship. You add Granderson and Teixera to that and you have a good offense to go along with strong pitching.

The “new guys” Wells, Brennan Boesch, Ben Francisco and Travis Hafner will have pressure on them to keep the team afloat until the stars come back. They might fail but they can’t be any worse than last season’s Yankees that failed to hit with runners in scoring position.

It also behooves manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman that the Yankees are looked upon as dead meat awaiting a fork to be thrust into them. Perhaps lower expectations is a good thing for the Yankees after always being the team expected to win.

Girardi has a chance to really manage this season and Cashman has staked his reputation by finding these veteran pieces to fill in while the wounded heal in the tent.

That is why I truly believe that some how, some way the Yankees, the rich Lannisters of the Bronx, will have just enough to win this division again.

They may stumble in the playoffs. That is almost as much expected by their fans. But I do see victory here.

PREDICTED FINISH

  1. YANKEES
  2. BLUE JAYS
  3. RAYS
  4. ORIOLES
  5. RED SOX

For fans of the show “King of Thrones” I must add a note that Season Three premieres tonight at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO. If you liked this analogy to the A.L. East please pause a moment miladies and milords to send me a raven. 

 

Yankees To Feature Pat Hand Of Starters In 2013

This is the first of a three-part series on how the New York Yankees’ 2013 roster is shaping up this winter. There will be some changes and we will look at the starting pitching, the bullpen and the starting lineup to see what those changes might involve. This is:

PART1: STARTING PITCHING

Meat cleaver or scalpel?

That is the choice every Major League Baseball general manager ponders over the winter with respect to how to deal with their 2013 rosters.

Teams like the Miami Marlins may believe the meat cleaver approach is the way to go while teams like the Los Angeles Angels are looking to add a piece here and cut out a small piece there with a gentle scalpel.

The New York Yankees and general manager Brian Cashman pretty much have the choice made for them by payroll commitments that restrain what they can or can’t do. Long-term contracts handed out to C.C. Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter plus potential free agency down the road for Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano kind of limits what Cashman can do to repair what needs fixing.

Of course, the criticism of some Yankee fans that the team needs to “get younger” is being counterbalanced by those long-term deals and the signing of veterans like Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Hiroki Kuroda and Ichiro Suzuki.

Some factors have already played out. Catcher Russell Martin has signed a more lucrative multiyear deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates and it is a certainty that right-fielder Nick Swisher will not return.

We also know that Rodriguez, once again, will be unavailable to play a full season for the Yankees. Hip surgery scheduled for January will shelve the 37-year-old veteran until June at the earliest. That will mean Rodriguez has failed to play a full season with the team since 2007.

So what will Cashman do to address the needs of the team? Let’s look at the roster and see what the Yankees have and what they may need.

STARTING PITCHING

There is a huge debate about the Yankee starting pitchers. Though the Yankees won the American League East with Sabathia, Kuroda, Pettitte, Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova, there are those who believe it is not strong enough to carry the team to the team’s 28th championship.

Obviously, Cashman disagrees because he re-signed Pettitte and Kuroda. One reason he may have felt it necessary to sign a 37-year-old right-hander and 40-year-old left-hander was because Kuroda and Pettitte pitched well in 2012. Kuroda posted a career-best 16 victories with a 3.32 ERA. Pettitte was 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA in his 12 starts in a season abbreviated by a broken ankle.

Cashman sees Sabathia, Kuroda and Pettitte as the core of the starting staff.

Hughes regained the form that saw him go 18-8 with a 4.19 ERA in 2010. He was 16-13 with a 4.23 ERA. Though he has won 34 games in his first two seasons as a starter and he is only 26 years old, Yankee fans want him to be more consistent. Unfortunately, Hughes is basically a fastball-curveball pitcher lacking a quality third pitch. So without a quality third pitch, Hughes will pretty much stay on the tract he currently is on.

Nova, however, has possibly the best stuff of the staff. When his fastball, curve and slider are right he can be downright nasty. But after an impressive 2011 rookie season that saw him go 16-4 with a 3.40 ERA, Nova took a step backwards in 2012.

Nova was 12-9 with a 5.02 ERA and he gave up a whopping 28 home runs and hitters hit a ridiculously high .288 against him. But the Yankees are not ready to give up on Nova at age 25. Nova still has the capability of being the same guy who was the team’s No. 2 starter in his rookie season. Why demote a guy who is 28-13 in his first major-league 55 starts?

The Yankees also have a insurance policy behind their top five with rookie right-hander David Phelps.

Phelps earned his way on to the team as a long reliever after being named the team’s top pitcher in the minor leagues in 2011 and the best rookie pitcher on the team last spring. He then drew raves for his work out of the bullpen and as spot starter, finishing the season with a 4-4 record and 3.34 ERA in 33 appearances (11 starts). At age 26, Phelps has a future as a starter.

Cashman may add a starter or two to the mix this winter but it is likely they will be along the lines of the Freddy Garcia scrap-heap variety. Yankee fans are dreaming if they are thinking Cashman is going to obtain Justin Verlander or David Price in a trade.

Of course, the prospects for this staff would have been better if Cashman’s major deal of 2012 did not blow up in his face.

The Yankees traded a power-hitting catcher compared as a hitter to Mike Piazza and Manny Ramirez in 22-year-old Jesus Montero to the Seattle Mariners for 23-year-old right-hander Michael Pineda after he posted a 9-10 record with a 3.34 ERA in 2011. Because Montero was such a heralded young prospect, much was expected of Pineda when he arrived at spring training last February.

However, it was pretty apparent that he came to camp severely overweight and the velocity he showed on his fastball in 2011 was missing. After six starts this spring and he was raked like last winter’s leaves to the tune of a 5.68 ERA it became that there was something wrong.

As it turns out, Pineda was forced to undergo arthroscopic surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder and he missed all of 2012. Pineda is progressing in his rehab and he hopes to be able to pitch this spring. However, the Yankees are not really counting on Pineda to be able to claim a starting spot this spring. He probably will continue to rehab at the team’s spring complex in Tampa, FL, until he is ready to pitch in a lengthy rehab assignment in the minors.

Pineda could be a big boost to the staff at midseason or he could end up working out in a full season in the minors in order to compete for a starting role in 2014.

The Yankees boasted in 2012 the team’s best minor-league pitching depth they have had in many years. Phelps was among five pitchers the Yankees believed were just on the cusp of possible stardom at the Triple-A level.

Though Phelps succeeded, D.J. Mitchell was traded late in 2012 to the Mariners as the Yankees did with Hector Noesi as part of the Pineda deal. Adam Warren struggled in his only major-league start though he remains a potential starter for the team at age 25.

But the team’s two top pitching prospects had disastrous campaigns in 2012.

Manny Banuelos, 21, made only six starts at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before being shut down with a left elbow injury. He ended up having to undergo Tommy John surgery and he will miss all of the 2013 season.

Meanwhile, Delin Betances, a 24-year-old right-hander, pitched so poorly at Scranton (3-5, 6.39 ERA) he had to be demoted to Double-A Trenton and he was not much better there (3-4, 6.51 ERA). Betances has been unable to harness his control in the minors and he needs to show some significant improvement in 2013 to maintain his prospect status.

The Yankees do have a number of pitchers that could have a long-range impact on the team.

Brett Marshall, 22, was 13-7 with a 3.52 ERA at Trenton in 2012. Though the right-hander has not been labeled as a top prospect, he is similar to Phelps in that he has succeeded at each level he has pitched. He was the Yankees’ best minor league pitcher in 2012.

Lefty Nik Turley, 23, is a tall strike-throwing machine who was 9-5 with a 2.89 ERA at Class-A Tampa. Righty Jose A. Ramirez, 22, was 7-6 with a 3.19 ERA at Tampa. Jose Campos, 20, was acquired along with Pineda in the Montero deal and he could be a real gem.

Campos was 3-0 with a 4.01 ERA in five starts for Class-A Charleston before the right-hander had to be shut down with a minor elbow injury. Campos led the Northwest League in ERA and strikeouts in 2011 and he may end up being more valuable in the long term that Pineda. The Yankees will be watching his progress closely in 2013.

Cashman and the Yankees seem to have a matrimonial allegiance to their pitching staff these days. They pledged their devotion to each other to remain in sickness and in health for as both retain their jobs. But in baseball, there are short honeymoons. The problem will manifest itself if the staff does not do its part.

The Yankees’ pledge to reduce payroll makes it hard for this team to spend a large amount of money on a Plan B. So the Yankees have to really hope that what they have on hand is enough.

NEXT: THE BULLPEN

 

Red Sox Receive Their ‘Phil’ Of Yankees’ Hughes

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What’s up Yankees the Red Sox got something to say to you
It’s late September and we really should be playing golf
We know we keep you amused but we feel we’re being “Hughesed”

                          –  Apologies to Rod Stewart for the revision of his classic Maggie May

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GAME 143

YANKEES 2, RED SOX 0

From the first crisp fastball out of Phil Hughes hand to Jacoby Ellsbury in the first inning the Red Sox knew they might be in for a difficult night. Seven and one-third innings later Hughes’ fastball was still crackling and the Red Sox were still staring at a big, fat zero on the Fenway Park scoreboard.

Hughes pitched a thoroughly dominant game in which he shut out the Red Sox on five hits and a walk while he struck out seven batters on his high-riding four-seam fastball as New York downed Boston to retain their share of first place in the American League East on Thursday.

For Hughes (15-12) it was his first time this season he has won back-to-back starts since June 15 while it was the first time the Yankees have won back-to-back games since they defeated Texas from Aug. 13 through Aug. 15.

Hughes and Red Sox left-hander Felix Doubront traded zeros until the fourth inning when Alex Rodriguez led off the frame with his second single of the night and he stole second base.

Doubront then walked Robinson Cano and Russell Martin to load the bases and Andruw Jones launched a line drive into right that scored Rodriguez.

The game remained 1-0 until the seventh when Steve Pearce drew a one-out walk and Eduardo Nunez, starting at shortstop for a hobbling Derek Jeter, lined his second single of the night into left.

Embattled Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine then removed Doubront in favor of right-hander Junichi Tazawa to face Jeter, who was in the game as the designated hitter.

Jeter battled the hard-throwing Tazawa to a 3-2 count before lifting a bloop single into center in front of Ellsbury and Pearce scored a very important insurance run for Hughes.

In addition, the hit was personally important to Jeter. It was the 3283rd hit of Jeter’s career, which ties him with Willie Mays for 10th place on the all-time hit list.

Doubront (10-9) gave up two runs on five hits and five walks and struck out five in his 6 1/3 innings of work.

But Hughes was much better, retiring the first 10 batters he faced  and only giving up one extra-base hit during a 95-pitch outing – the 100th start of his career.

Hughes escaped trouble in the fourth when he had Scott Podsednik on third and Cody Ross on first with two out by inducing Daniel Nava into a infield groundout.

He also had Ellsbury at second and James Loney on first with two out in the sixth but retired Ross on flyout to right.

Boone Logan was summoned in the eighth to face Ellsbury after Hughes had allowed a leadoff double to Pedro Ciriaco and pinch-hitter Mauro Gomez flew out to center.

Logan retired Ellsbury on a flyout and David Robertson came in to retire pinch-hitter Ryan Lavarnway on a flyout to end the threat and keep the shutout intact.

Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 38th save in 41 chances this season.

The victory improved the Yankees’ record to 81-62 and kept them in first place in the division with the Baltimore Orioles, who completed a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays with a 3-2 victory in 14 innings earlier in the day. The Red Sox are 60-84 and 17 1/2 games out in last place in the division. They are sinking faster than new FOX sitcom.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Hughes at age 26 has had his ups and downs in his career with the Yankees and even during the 2012 season. But his performance on Thursday has to be one of the best of his career and likely the most important. While the pundits keep disparaging the Yankees’ starting pitching, Hughes has quietly compiled a 15-12 record and a 3.96 ERA. That is not bad for someone who was considered the team’s No. 5 starter.
  • After the bullpen let the Red Sox get back into Wednesday’s game it was nice to see them bounce back with a good effort to maintain the shutout, It was the first time the Yankees had shut out the Red Sox at Fenway since the 2008 season.
  • Give Jeter a lot of credit. He hobbled through this game with a severe bone bruise on his left shin and he got the timely hit that put the Yankees up by two runs. Tying Mays on the all-time hit list is just gravy for the 38-year-old shortstop. Jeter’s .323 average speaks volumes as to what he has meant to the Yankees this season as a leader and the team’s Most Valuable Player.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

I will mention the Yankees were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position but because Hughes was so dominant it did not seem to matter. The fact the Yankees won with a great pitching and without hitting a home run is kind of refreshing. So there are no negatives in this one.

BOMBER BANTER

It’s official! Andy Pettitte will start for the first time since he suffered a broken left ankle on June 27 on Tuesday in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Pettitte believes he will be able throw about 60 to 65 pitches in the game. Pettitte will take the rotation spot of rookie right-hander David Phelps, who will likely enter the game in relief of Pettitte should he need to leave early on Tuesday.

ON DECK

The Yankees will open a vital home series against the Rays beginning on Friday.

The Yankees will send out ace left-hander CC Sabathia (13-5, 3.56 ERA). Sabathia lost in his last start against the Orioles despite the fact he entered the game with a 16-3 career record against them. He is 10-8 with a 3.12 ERA in his career against the Rays.

The Rays will counter with left-hander David Price (17-5, 2.54 ERA), who has not pitched since Sept. 2 due to shoulder soreness. He is 6-3 with a 3.84 ERA lifetime against the Yankees.

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

 

Jeter Teaches His Critics To Never Sell Him Short

The New York Yankees have reached the halfway mark of the season and they are comfortably in first place in the American League East. This is despite some injuries to some keep players such as Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Michael Pineda, Brett Gardner and Joba Chamberlain. As we do every year, let’s look at the individual components of the team and issue grades for the first half.  

SHORTSTOP – DEREK JETER (7 HR, 25 RBIs, .303 BA, 43 R, 6 SB)

Who knew that suffering a calf injury that would land you on the 15-day disabled list would be a good thing? For Derek Jeter it was in 2011.

Jeter was forced to miss the 2011 All-Star Game so he could rehab his injured calf at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa, FL. While there, Jeter also worked with one of his first hitting coaches in Gary Denbo to find his old swing. It was that work that likely turned Jeter’s season and his fading career around.

Jeter came off the disabled list lacing hits all over the yard and he picked up his 3000th hit by going 5-for-5 and hitting a home run for No. 3,000 off David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays. From the point he returned to the Yankees until the end of the regular season Jeter hit .344. He ended the season hitting .297 with six home runs and 61 RBIs.

The question heading into 2012 was could he keep it up? Or was it just a fluke and he would continue his decline at age 38 this summer?

The returns are in for the first half of the 2012 season and it appears it was not a fluke. Derek Jeter is simply Derek Jeter again.

His 103 hits after 81 games was the third-bast total in the majors and Jeter was passing legends like Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs on the all-time hit list seemingly on a daily basis. There are thoughts that he might even have a shot at 4,000 hits, should Jeter choose to continue his career into his 40s.

Jeter simply may be among a handful of players that are the best singles hitters in baseball history. Along with Ty Cobb and Pete Rose, the current generation of players gives us Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Jeter of the Yankees. These four have to be considered baseball’s elite at what they do best: Rack up hits in bunches.

Jeter’s career batting average is .313 and the fact he is hovering over the .300 mark at the halfway mark proves he has not lost the touch at age 38.

The only thing Jeter may have lost is a bit of his power, though the most he ever hit in one season was a pedestrian 24 in 1999. He also is not able to steal bases as he once did. In 2006, he stole a career-high 34 bags. But he has only stolen more than 18 bases once in his five full seasons after that.

But everything else is still there for Jeter.

The only disappointment this season is his rather low runs scored total of 43 at the halfway point. Jeter has failed to score 100 runs in only three seasons out of his 16 full years in the majors. Some of it can be attributed to the fact that the middle of the Yankees’ lineup – Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira – hit around .200 with runners in scoring position.

Some of it may have to do with age. But Jeter remains one of the smartest base-runners in baseball and he rarely commits a huge blunder to get himself thrown out on the bases.

When you bring up Jeter’s fielding, the sabermatricians go ballistic because Jeter’s range at age 38 is not anything like it was when he was 28. OK, I will give them that one. Jeter does not have the range of an Elvis Andrus or Alexsei Ramirez, who both are considerably younger shortstops.

But Jeter committed only six errors in the first half. The Yankees can live with that and they will. The fact is Jeter has won five Gold Glove awards, including in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, and he is not going to give them back just because Bill James says he should.

IHe also is not going to give back his 13 selections in 16 seasons for the All-Star Game. Jeter will be starting in his eighth All-Star Game in Kansas City on Tuesday.

With Jeter, what you see is what you get. He is just a consummate professional who works hard at his craft and gives 100 percent each and every game. He is not only respected highly by manager Joe Girardi and his teammates but he also is admired by the players and managers on other teams.

Yep, “The Captain” who is affectionately nicknamed in the Bronx is just something very, very special. Cooperstown awaits when his career ends but who knows when that will be the way he is going now.

MIDSEASON GRADE: A-

BACKUP – JAYSON NIX (2 HRs, 6 RBIs, .228 BA)

Nix, 29, became Jeter’s backup when the Yankees decided that Eduardo Nunez needed work on his defense in the minor leagues.

With Jeter requiring a bit more rest, Nix has made seven starts at short in the first 81 games. He has acquitted himself well. He is not going to hit like Jeter and he does not have the dazzling range Nunez has at the position. But, then again, Nix is not going botch half of the balls hit to him like Nunez did.

Because Nix can also play second, third and the corner outfield spots he is very valuable in kind of Jerry Hairston Jr. sort of way.

Nix played his way on the Yankees’ 25-man roster by hitting .323 as a free-agent signee this spring. When Nunez was sent back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Nix was recalled and it looks like he is going to keep his role for the rest of the season.

MIDSEASON GRADE: C

After playing only four games for the Scranton Yankees, Nunez suffered a severely jammed right thumb and he has missed more than a month. He should be able to return soon but the injury apparently is worse than the Yankees thought originally.

Nunez, 25, is still considered the heir apparent to Jeter when he can’t play the position anymore or retires. After all, Nunez was hitting .294 after 51 at-bats when he was shipped out after committing four errors in the first 19 games he played.

Girardi said the Yankees should have not asked Nunez to play so many positions like the outfield. So the thought is that he will concentrate on shortstop mostly at Scranton. But the injury has retarded that development and so Nunez looks like he will stay in the minors until the September 1 call-ups.

Unfortunately the Yankees not only miss his bat but his speed.

With Brett Gardner of the 60-day disabled list and Nunez shipped out the Yankees lost 71 steals from their 2011 roster. Nunez still is tied for second with four Yankees with six steals behind the team leader Rodriguez, who has seven after 81 games.

With Nunez shelved, the Yankees’ old standby Ramiro Pena is playing short at Scranton. He is hitting .241 with one home run and 18 RBIs.

The Yankees pretty much know what they are getting in Pena, 26. He can play the infield near flawlessly, he is an adept bunter and is an aggressive switch-hitter with absolutely no power. He has decent speed but he is not an athlete or a speedster like Nunez.

It appears Pena’s time has past.

The Yankees have an intriguing prospect at Double-A Trenton in 22-year-old Jose Toussen, who is hitting over .300 there.  But all eyes are on Cito Culver at Single-A Charelston (SC) in the Carolina League. He is rated as the ninth-best prospect in the organization. But that might take a hit.

Culver, 19, is hitting just .206 in 74 games there. Scouts are questioning why the Yankees made him their No. 1 in 2010.

OVERALL POSITION GRADE: A-

Barring injury, Jeter should maintain his climb up the all-time hits list while getting on base for the Yankees’ power hitters that follow him. The hope is those power hitters will actually drive him in more often. If Jeter hits over .300 with 100 runs scored and he hits about 15 home runs it will be a very good season for the future Hall-of-Famer.

Girardi has been smart in starting him in only 70 games at shortstop after 81 games. At the same time Jeter has played in 79 games by being used as a designated hitter or a late-game replacement. Girardi will continue to do this to keep Jeter healthy and fresh for the late season push for the division title and the playoffs.

With Nix, Pena and eventually Nunez is the wings, Jeter has three either current or former major-league players behind him. That is not bad depth.

But the Yankees really could not go very far without Jeter leading off and playing shortstop for them. He is much more valuable than you might think and he still remains the face of the franchise.

 

Cano’s 2-Run Firecracker Blows Up In Rays’ Faces

GAME 81

YANKEES 4, RAYS 3

The Yankees had lost their last nine games at Tropicana Field. Rays starter David Price was throwing near no-hit stuff. The Yankees had to dip into their bullpen early and they were losing 3-1 heading into the eighth inning.

The Yankees were, indeed, facing long odds.

But former Bronx fans punching bag Kyle Farnsworth and hotter than a Fourth of July firecracker Robinson Cano provided the Yankees just what they needed to put the frustration of the last two days behind them and win a game late.

Farnsworth (0-1) walked four of the five batters he faced and Cano delivered a game-winning two-run single with the bases loaded off reliever Jake McGee in the eighth as New York rallied for three runs to down Tampa Bay in front of a holiday crowd of 28,033 on Wednesday.

Boone Logan (3-0), who gave up a two-run home run from Carlos Pena in the seventh inning, was credited with the victory.

Rafael Soriano pitched a perfect ninth to record his 19th save in 20 opportunities.

Rays fans seemed to ready to set off firecrackers and bottle rockets to celebrate their 10th straight home victory over the Yankees after Logan gave up a leadoff single to Elliot Johnson and Pena followed one out later by launching Logan’s first offering into the right-field bleachers for his 13th home run of the season.

But the Yankees opened the eighth inning with a very patient approach and Farnsworth, as he did so often when he was wearing pinstripes, obliged by handing the game over to the opponents.

Pinch-hitter Eric Chavez drew a leadoff walk. Derek Jeter then struck out. But Farnsworth dug his own grave deeper by walking, in succession, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira (on four pitches) and Alex Rodriguez. The walk to Rodriguez scored Chavez and brought the Yankees to within a run at 3-2.

Rays manager Joe Maddon then summoned the lefty McGee to face the lefty-swinging Cano. But Cano can hit a pitcher throwing with his left foot as hot as he has been the past month. He proved it to Maddon and McGee.

He laced a 2-2 fastball on a line into center-field to score Granderson and Teixeira and the Yankees took a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish.

Price, an All-Star selection who entered the game 11-4 with a 2.92 ERA, did not allow a baserunner until there was one out in the fourth inning when Granderson drew a walk in a contentious 10-pitch at-bat. The Yankees did not get their first hit off Price until the next inning when Cano led off with an opposite-field single to left.

The Yankees finally broke through in the top of the seventh against Price when led off Teixeira by slapping a 2-1 fastball into the bleachers in left-center to tie the game at 1-1.

The Yankees faced even longer odds against Price by having to start rookie right-hander David Phelps in place of the injured Andy Pettitte. However, Phelps pitched exceptional baseball until conditioning and a high pitch count forced him out of the game in the fifth inning.

But Price no-hit the Rays over the first 3 2/3 innings and struck out eight batters over that span.

Unfortunately for Phelps, Ben Zobrist turned a leadoff walk into a “walking double” by stealing second base. Phelps did strike out Luke Scott and Jose Lobaton looking. However, weak-hitting Sean Rodriguez got the Rays’ first hit by singling into right to score Zobrist to stake the Rays to a 1-0 lead.

With the victory, the Yankees salvaged one game of the three-game series and improved their season record to 49-32. The Yankees remain five games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. The Rays are 43-39 and they are 6 1/2 games back in the third place in the division.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Cano was 2-for-5 in the game with the two big RBIs. Cano is not only a tear with his batting average. He also has been on an unbelievable RBI tear as well. On June 16, Cano had 27 RBIs. In his last 17 games, Cano has driven in 23 runs. His two RBIs on Wednesday also gave him the team lead in RBIs this season with 50. Granderson is second with 48.
  • Phelps was matching Price pitch-for-pitch and strikeout-by-strikeout. Entering the fifth, Phelps had thrown 78 pitches. Since he had been sent down by the Yankees he had not built his arm back up to 100 pitches to allow him pitch further in the game. But this start proved he could be very effective. He gave up only two hits, three walks and hit two batters in 4 1/3 innings. If he pitches like this, Freddy Garcia may go back to the bullpen when CC Sabathia returns after the All-Star break.
  • Teixeira’s home run off Price – his 14th of the season – was a huge factor in getting Price out of the game. Entering the seventh, Price had given up two hits and one walk and struck out eight. Teixeira is showing a little life with his bat in going 3-for-6 in last two games.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Logan is perhaps showing some fatigue after pitching in 41 of the Yankees’ first 81 games. In June, Logan gave up only two earned runs the entire month. In his first two appearances in July he has been scored upon in both outings, giving up three runs on two hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. If anybody needs rest during the All-Star break it is Logan.
  • Andruw Jones and Russell Martin failed to deliver in the seventh inning with the game tied and runners at first and third with one out. Jones flew out to right (I will have more on this later) and Martin grounded out. The Yankees also left the bases loaded in the eighth when Martin hit a routine fly ball to right. Martin is now hitting .178 this season. Ouch!
  • Granderson had another no contact day with two walks and three strikeouts. Granderson is on a pace to strike out a career-worst 192 times this season. His previous season high was 174 in 2006 when he was playing for the Detroit Tigers.

BOMBER BANTER

An obscure ground rule cost the Yankees another run in the seventh inning. With Rodriguez on second and Nick Swisher on first and one out, Rodriguez attempted a steal with Andruw Jones at the plate with a 1-2 count. Price delivered the pitch and home plate umpire Mike Estabrook called it a ball. As Lobaton drew his right hand back to throw to third base, Estabrook’s mask came in contact with the ball and the throw to third was late. However, Estabrook ruled that his interference prevented the throw and ordered Rodriguez back to second. On the next pitch, Jones lofted a fly ball to deep right that would have scored Rodriguez easily. If that is a correct rule it needs to be changed. Why if a ball strikes an umpire in the field of play isn’t the hitter made to hit again? The same logic applies, right?  . . .  The Yankees announced on Wednesday that they have claimed outfielder Darnell McDonald off waivers from the Red Sox and he will be placed on the 25-man roster before the Yankees’ game on Friday. The Yankees will be facing three left-handed starters this weekend and McDonald is a right-handed hitter who is hitting .214 this season with two home runs and nine RBIs.

ON DECK

The Yankees will have a day off at the actual halfway point of the season before beginning a four-game weekend series at Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox starting on Friday.

The Yankees hottest pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda (8-7, 3.17 ERA), will open the series for the Yankees. Kuroda tied a career high with 11 strikeouts as he blanked the Chicago White Sox over seven innings on Saturday. Kuroda is 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA against the Red Sox lifetime.

Kuroda will be opposed by Josh Beckett (4-7, 4.06 ERA). Beckett gave up two runs in six innings in his first start back from right shoulder soreness. In his career, Beckett is 14-7 with a 5.36 ERA against the Yankees.

Game-time will be 7:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by the MLB Network and locally by the YES Network.

 

‘Road Warrior’ Nova Hurls Yanks Into Tie For First

GAME 60

YANKEES 3, BRAVES 0

In the Mad Max film “The Road Warrior,” Mel Gibson (Max) protects a band of survivors in post-apocalyptic Australia. If they did a current version, they would need to cast Ivan Nova as Max because his pitching on the road has protected a Yankee roster ravaged by injuries.

Nova twirled seven shutout innings en route to 11th career road victory with no defeats in 14 starts as New York stormed into Turner Field and blanked Atlanta for their ninth victory in their last 11 games.

Nova (8-2) gave up just five hits – all of them singles – and one walk and struck out six to tie Matt Harrison of Texas, David Price of Tampa Bay and Chris Sale of Chicago for the American League lead in victories. Nova’s victory also lifted the surging Yankees into a tie with the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East.

The Yankees offense, meanwhile, was able to score single runs in the first three innings off Braves right-hander Randall Delgado (4-6).

With two out in the first inning, Alex Rodriguez smacked a line-drive double over the head of left-fielder Martin Prado and to the wall. Robinson Cano followed with a single up the middle to score Rodriguez.

They added a run in the second inning on a leadoff home run into the right-field bleachers off the bat of Raul Ibanez, his 10th of the season.

In the third inning, the Yankees loaded the bases on Delgado with one out on a walk to Rodriguez, a double by Cano and a four-pitch walk to Mark Teixeira. The Yankees have had trouble all season scoring runs with the bases loaded but this time they received some help from Delgado.

With two out and Nick Swisher at the plate, Delgado bounced a change-up into the dirt past Braves catcher Brain McCann and Rodriguez scored from third standing up.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, they were unable to take advantage of the eight hits and seven walks they earned off Braves pitching. They were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and they left 11 runners on base.

Instead, Nova leaned on the Yankees’ defense to keep the Braves off the board.

Swisher made a sensational leaping catch at the wall in right-field to rob McCann of a potential two-run home run in the fourth inning. Cano then ended the fourth with a deft stab of a scorched one-hopper off the bat of Freddie Freeman. The Yankees also turned in a pair of double plays, including one by Nova in which he snared a liner off the bat of Andrelton Simmons and doubled up Jason Heyward at first.

The Yankees’ bullpen – minus a resting Rafael Soriano – shut down the Braves the last two innings as manager Joe Girardi played mix-and-match with righties Cody Eppley and Cory Wade and lefties Clay Rapada and Boone Logan. They retired all six batters they faced and they did not allow a ball out of the infield.

With the interleague victory, the Yankees ran their major-league-best record to 162-109 for a .596 winning percentage. The Yankees are also 7-2 at Turner Field.

The Yankees season record improves to 35-25. The Braves drop to 34-27.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Nova’s seven shutout innings lowered his ERA to 4.64. In his last two starts, Nova is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA having given up one run on nine hits and two walks and fanning 11 over 15 innings of work. His career record is now 24-6. Despite the talk about his early-season ERA, the home runs he has given up and the run support he gets, there can be no denying this 25-year-old right-hander has a brilliant career ahead of him.
  • Cano extended his hitting streak to nine games and he is 11-for-33 (.333) in that span with three home runs and seven RBIs. His 2-for-4 night brought his season average back to .300.
  • Rodriguez’s base-running was crucial to the Yankees scoring a third run off Delgado. He was on first when Cano laced a ball into left-center. Rodriguez chose to challenge the arm of Braves center-fielder Michael Bourn and he slid into third just ahead of the tag of Chipper Jones. He then scored on Delgado’s wild pitch.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • I am going to keep harping on the poor performance of Yankee hitters with runners in scoring position because it will cost them dearly in close games against good teams and in the playoffs.
  • Russell Martin popped out with the bases loaded in the fourth and he hit into an inning-ending double play in the seventh with the bags full. He ended up leaving a total of eight base-runners in going 0-for-4. Martin was yesterday’s big hero, but on Monday he did not deliver when he had chances to break the game open. Of course, he was not alone.
  • Ibanez struck out with one out and runners at second and third in the third inning. Not making contact in that situation is an absolute no-no.

BOMBER BANTER

Reliever David Robertson will make one more rehab appearance on Tuesday at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and he could rejoin the team this weekend in Washington when the Yankees face the Nationals. Robertson has been on the 15-day disabled list since May 15 with a left oblique strain.  . . .  Despite sporting a bruise on his left hand he sustained on Sunday by bare-handing a hard-hit ball, left-hander Andy Pettitte said he will be able to pitch in his next start on Saturday against the Nationals.  . . .  The Yankees will not know if Brett Gardner’s troublesome right elbow will need surgery until after he is examined by a specialist on Thursday for a second opinion. Dr. James Andrews examined Gardner’s right elbow on Monday but is it unclear if surgery would be necessary until Dr. Timothy Kremchek has a chance to examine Gardner on Thursday. Gardner has played in only nine games this season and on two occasions just before being activated Gardner has felt recurring pain in the elbow.

ON DECK

The Yankees will look to take the series and extend their winning streak to five games against the Braves on Tuesday.

Left-hander CC Sabathia (7-3, 3.69 ERA) gets the call for the Yankees. Sabathia is coming off a loss to the Rays in which he gave up five runs in seven innings. He is 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA in two career starts against the Braves.

The Braves are throwing a lefty of their own in Mike Minor (3-4, 6.57 ERA). Minor held the Marlins to one run on four hits over five innings to earn his first victory since April 19. Minor has never pitched against the Yankees.

Game-time will be 7:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by the MLB Network and locally by MY9.

 

‘Super’ Nova Continues His Mastery Over Cold Rays

GAME 55

YANKEES 4, RAYS 1

Through the first third of the season the Yankees have not gotten much consistency from 25-year-old right-hander Ivan Nova, who entered Wednesday’s contest against the Rays with a 5.60 ERA.

Perhaps Nova finally found his groove or the Rays’ offense is in a severe deep freeze. Whatever the reason, Nova looked dominant and he had the Rays in control on the Yankee Stadium mound.

Nova pitched eight-plus innings and just missed pitching a complete-game shutout as New York downed Tampa Bay for the second night in a row and they now have won 10 of their last 13 games.

Nova (7-2) gave up a single to Desmond Jennings to start the game and he did not allow another hit until Sean Rodriguez stroked a one-out double in the eighth inning. In the ninth, Jennings and B.J. Upton hit back-to-back triples to spoil the shutout and end Nova’s evening.

It was the Rays’ first run of the series and their first score in their last 19 innings.

Nova gave up just the four hits, walked one, hit a batter and struck out five to win his third straight start. He faced the minimum in five of his eight innings of work and at one point he retired 13 straight batters.

Rafael Soriano entered the game in the ninth with Upton on third and no outs and he retired Matt Joyce, Ben Zobrist and Hideki Matsui in order to collect his eighth save in eight opportunities.

Meanwhile, Nova received all the support he really needed on a pair of solo home runs.

With one out in the second inning, Mark Teixeira smacked a 0-1 hanging slider from right-hander Alex Cobb into the second deck in right-field for his 10th home run of the season and his fifth in his last 11 games.

Two innings later, Robinson Cano connected off Cobb (2-2) on 2-0 fastball and he lined a rope into the first row of seats over the auxiliary scoreboard in right-center for his ninth home run of the season. It was his fifth home run in his last 13 games.

Those two home runs were only two hits the Yankees managed off Cobb until the bottom of the eighth.

Raul Ibanez led off the inning with a single into right. With Dewayne Wise pinch-running for Ibanez at first, Nick Swisher laced a double down the right-field line that scored Wise easily. Eric Chavez followed with a double off the wall in left-center that scored Swisher to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead.

Cobb left having given up four runs on five hits and one walk and he struck out four in seven-plus innings.

With the victory, the Yankees pulled into second place in the American League East with a 31-24 record, a half-game behind the Baltimore Orioles. The Rays’ season record is 31-25 and they fell into third place in the division.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Nova was at his absolute best on Wednesday. He retired 13 of his 24 outs on ground balls and threw 69 of his 103 pitches for strikes (67 percent). Nova also has run his career record against the Rays to 4-0 and he is 2-0 against them this season. Nova’s effort lowered his season ERA to 5.09.
  • Soriano came to the rescue in the ninth with one run in and a runner on third with nobody out. But he induced Joyce to pop out in foul territory, he fanned Zobrist on a pitch in the dirt and Matsui’s high fly ball to right died at the warning track. Soriano remains perfect in save situations and he lowered his ERA to 1.90. Soriano also has not been scored upon since the Rays scored a run off of him on May 10 at Yankee Stadium, a string of 10 consecutive scoreless outings.
  • Teixeira’s return to driving the ball has led to a recent flurry in which he is 14-for-42 (.333) with five home runs and 12 RBIs over his last 11 games. In that span he has raised his season average from .226 to .249.
  • Despite being hit on the left forearm in Tuesday’s game, Cano was able to play Wednesday and homered. Cano had been in tailspin that had dropped his season average to .286 but he now has a modest four-game hitting streak and he is 5-for-14 (.357) during that span.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • The Yankees had a hard time mustering much offense against Cobb, a rookie right-hander. Part of the problem is that Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson were 0-for-7 against Cobb at the top of the lineup. They were 0-for-8 overall and they only managed to get one ball out of the infield.
  • After showing signs of coming out of his season-long funk on Tuesday with a three hits, including a grand-slam home run, Russell Martin was 0-for-3 with a strikeout on Wednesday. That lowered his batting average back to .206.
  • Alex Rodriguez committed a stupid base-running play in the fourth inning. He drew a walk from Cobb with one out and Cobb’s second pitch to Cano bounced under the glove of catcher Jose Molina. However, Molina was able to retrieve it with Rodriguez halfway between first and second base. Rodriguez tried to get back to first but Molina gunned him down easily. Cano homered on the next pitch and Rodriguez’s mistake cost the Yankees a run.

BOMBER BANTER

Closer Mariano Rivera learned the issue with a blood clot in his right calf has been resolved and he is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and torn meniscus in his right knee next Tuesday in New York. Rivera, 42, said he hopes to be able to pitch in 2013.  . . .  All-Star setup man David Robertson will throw a bullpen session on Thursday at Yankee Stadium and he could possibly pitch in a minor-league game on Sunday. Robertson has been on the 15-day disabled list since May 14 with a strained left oblique.  . . .  Brett Gardner will play for Class A Advanced Tampa on Thursday and he could be activated as soon as Sunday. Gardner has been on the disabled list since April 18 with a strained right elbow.

ON DECK

The Yankees will be looking for a clean sweep of their three-game home series against the Rays on Thursday.

They will call upon ace left-hander CC Sabathia (7-2, 3.68 ERA) to get that sweep. Sabathia gave up three runs on eight hits and two walks and fanned five batters in eight innings of work last Friday in a victory over the Tigers. Sabathia is 10-7 with a 3.11 ERA in his career against the Rays.

The Rays are countering with left-hander David Price (7-3, 2.44 ERA). Price struck five in 7 1/3 innings last Friday while giving up four hits and two walks in a victory over the Orioles. Price is 5-3 with 4.15 ERA in his career against the Yankees but one of those losses was this season and Sabathia outpitched him in that game.

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

 

Rays Pay Price As Sabathia Notches 5th Straight

GAME 31

YANKEES 5, RAYS 3

Just like the swallows who return to San Juan Capistrano every year and the upstream swim of the salmon, you can pretty much set your clock about this time every season when CC Sabathia gets on a roll.

Sabathia (5-0) gave up two runs (neither of them earned) on seven hits and one walk and he struck out a season-high 10 in eight strong innings on Thursday as he outdueled David Price and defeated Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium for his fifth straight victory.

With the victory, the Yankees won the three-game series with the Rays.

Price (5-2), who was 3-0 in his five previous matchups against Sabathia, took the loss this time, giving up five runs on 11 hits and three walks and striking out four in seven innings.

The key blows for the Yankees were one-out RBI single by Chris Stewart in the second inning that tied the score at 2-2 and a two-run home run by Robinson Cano in the fifth inning that put the Yankees ahead of the Rays to stay.

Rafael Soriano, who was summoned to pitch the ninth inning because closer David Robertson was unavailable to pitch, gave up a run but still managed to get credit his first save of the season.

Curtis Granderson also homered for the Yankees. His solo shot to lead off the second inning was his 11th of the season.

The Rays scored a pair of unearned runs in each of the first two innings aided by errors by Eduardo Nunez.

With two out and runners on first and second, Nunez mishandled a bouncer off the bat of Brandon Guyer that loaded the bases and Carlos Pena followed with an RBI single but Nick Swisher was able to cut down Jeff Keppinger trying to score at home plate to end the inning.

In the second inning, Nunez fielded an easy grounder off the bat of Chris Gimenez but tossed the potential double-play relay to Robinson Cano into right-field that allowed Elliot Johnson to slide safely into second. Johnson later scored on a two-out single by Sean Rodriguez.

With the victory the Yankees improved to 17-14. The Rays fell to 20-12.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Sabathia is on a full-fledged roll now. In his last five starts, he has pitched 39 1/3 innings and has given up just 11 runs on 29 hits and five walks and he has struck out 38 batters. That is an ERA of 2.52 and a WHIP of  0.86 in that span. Over the final six innings, Sabathia held the Rays to no runs on just three singles.
  • Cano is back to his old self and it shows. He was 3-for-4 in the game with two singles and his two-run home run. Cano now has an eight-game hitting streak and during that span he is 12-for-32 (.375) with two home runs and seven RBIs. He has raised his season average to .286. Opposing pitchers, beware!
  • Stewart will never be compared to Matt Wieters or  Joe Mauer at the plate, but his RBI single tied the game and set the stage for the Yankees ability to take the lead in the fifth. Stewart is hitting just .240 and he plays largely because of his defense. But he has four big RBIs for the Yankees this season.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • I think even manager Joe Girardi has had enough of “Eduardo Scissorhands” Nunez and his careless errors. Nunez misplayed Guyer’s grounder because he was rushing to step on third before he even had the ball. The errant throw in the second inning was just carelessness. Nunez led the Yankees in errors last season with 20 despite the fact he played only half the time. He leads the team with six errors this season and Girardi actually put Jayson Nix in at third in the SIXTH inning as a defensive replacement for Nunez.
  • Though he did draw a walk in the fifth, Mark Teixeira was 0-for-3 in the game and his season average dipped to .212. He was hitting .288 on April 23 but since then he is 8-for-59 (.136) with a home run and six RBIs. I think we have seen the final transformation of Teixiera into what Jason Giambi was in 2008 when he hit 32 home runs, drove in 96 runs and hit .247.
  • Derek Jeter took a rare 0-for-4 and he did not get a ball out of the infield. Jeter’s batting average dipped to .376. But he can be forgiven the mini-slump because he has been carrying the team for most of the season with his bat.

BOMBER BANTER

Brett Gardner has suffered a setback in his attempt to come back from a right elbow strain. Girardi told reporters that another MRI exam indicated that Gardner has a further strain of a muscle in his elbow and he will miss two to four more weeks of action. Gardner has been sidelined since he injured the elbow making a diving catch on April 18. He was on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday when he reported a lingering pain in his elbow after the game. Girardi said Gardner will not swing a bat for 10 days and then will be re-evaluated.  . . .  Eric Chavez was not activated from the seven-day disabled list on Thursday as expected because he has not been cleared by Major League Baseball. League officials were concerned about one aspect of Chavez’s concussion test. But Chavez participated in a second test and he hopes to be cleared to play soon.

ON DECK

The Yankees will open a three-game home weekend series with the Seattle Mariners on Friday.

Right-hander Hiroki Kuroda (2-4, 3.75 ERA) will start for the Yankees. Kuroda is coming off a disappointing start in which he gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings on Saturday to the Kansas City Royals. He is 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA in his career against the Mariners.

Right-hander Felix Hernandez (3-1, 1.89 ERA) will get the start for the Mariners. He is coming off a seven-inning, one-hit shutout victory over the Minnesota Twins. He is 6-4 with a 3.29 ERA in his career against the Yankees.

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

 

Robertson’s ‘Houdini Act’ Fails In Rays Encore

GAME 30

RAYS 4, YANKEES 1

B.J. Upton lofted a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning and Matt Joyce followed with a three-run home run off new closer David Robertson as Tampa Bay rallied past New York at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

The Yankees held a 1-0 lead from the first inning but No. 8 hitter Sean Rodriguez and pinch-hitter Brandon Allen greeted Robertson with first-pitch singles to open the ninth. Robertson then walked Ben Zobrist to the load the bases. After Robertson fanned Carlos Pena looking Upton hit a flyball to right that scored Rodriguez with the tying run.

Joyce then hit an 0-2 pitch into the right-field seats to give the Rays a 4-1 lead.

Reliever Fernando Rodney (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory. Robertson (o-1) blew his first save of the season and took the loss.

The Yankees season record is now 16-14. The Rays are 20-11.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • The Yankees quartet of starter David Phelps and relievers Boone Logan, Cory Wade and Rafael Soriano pitched eight scoreless innings, giving up five hits and four walks and striking out six. The Rays stranded a total of 10 base-runners and left the bases loaded without scoring in the first and fifth innings. Theses pitchers deserved a better fate.
  • Robinson Cano is showing definite signs of coming around with the bat of late. He was 2-for-4 and drove in the Yankees’ only run of the game when he followed Derek Jeter’s leadoff single in the first with a two-out, opposite-field double off the left-field wall that scored Jeter. Cano has at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games and is batting .308 over that span.
  • Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-4 in the game and even stole third base the sixth inning for his third steal of the season. Rodriguez is now hitting .279 on the season.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Robertson proved he was human on Wednesday. The four runs he gave up broke a string of 26 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball over 13 appearances dating back to last season. Though he blew the save, Mariano Rivera would tell him that in order to succeed as a closer you have learn how to fail. Robertson learned that lesson pretty well on Wednesday.
  • The offense after the first inning was horrific. They were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. If you want to look at one culprit, look no further than Mark Teixeira. Teixeira is simply running out excuses. It is May and he was 0-for-4 on Wednesday and it dragged his batting average down to .217. He did not get a ball out of the infield, he struck out looking and he grounded into an inning-ending double play in the eighth.
  • Curtis Granderson was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the game. In 117 at-bats this season, Gramderson has struck out 33 times, a rate just a bit over one out of every four at-bats.

BOMBER BANTER

Rivera was hospitalized this week after doctors examining his torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee discovered a blood clot in his right calf. Rivera was given blood thinners to dissolve the clot and the condition is not expected to prevent Rivera from pitching for the Yankees next season. Rivera told reporters on Wednesday that he will have surgery to repair his knee when the swelling subsides and the knee strengthens.

ON DECK

The Yankees will have a chance to win the three-game series on Thursday against the Rays.

CC Sabathia (4-0, 4.15 ERA) will start for the Yankees, having won his his last four decisions. Sabathia went a strong eight innings to defeat the Kansas City Royals last Friday. He is 9-7 with a 3.25 ERA in his career against the Rays.

Left-hander David Price (5-1, 2.35 ERA) will pitch for the Rays. He allowed one run and struck out 12 in eight innings to beat the Oakland Athletics last Friday. He is 5-2 with a 3.96 ERA in 14 career starts 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 the YES Network.

 

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