Tag: New York Yankees

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MLB General

The Full Count: Ice cold brews here!


1. The Slumping Central: Every NL Central team has a losing record in their last ten games, including ice-cold Milwaukee. The Brewers, who have lost 9 of their last 13 games, fell 5-1 to the Dodgers on Wednesday. Brad Penny shut them out in seven innings to improve to 6-1, while Chris Capuano struggled again for the Brewers. Also, the Astros got swept by the Giants in a series that could have been a great chance to catch up to the Brewers. The Cubs, who were nearly above .500 last week, have dropped three straight and remain in third place. As for the other teams…they’ve been in a slump all year, and nothing has changed.

2. Perez beats the Braves–again: If Oliver Perez pitched against the Braves every start, he’d be unstoppable. In three starts against the Braves this season, Perez is 3-0 with only three runs allowed. Amazingly, he has accounted for all of the Mets’ victories against the Braves this season. Perez pitched seven shutout innings on Wednesday as the Mets won 3-0. David Wright homered for the fourth time in four games. The Braves won their third straight series against the Mets this year, but New York retained their division lead.

3. The Yankees Strike Back: Boston crushed the Yankees in their first two series this season, but New York just took two of three from them at Yankee Stadium. They won 8-3 to finish the series, as Andy Pettitte pitched a gem and Curt Schilling was chased after six innings. Schilling allowed 12 hits and 6 runs in what was easily his worst start of the season. Pettitte, meanwhile, went 7 innings for the fourth start in a row and gave up just one run. Surprisingly, he is now fifth in the AL in ERA with 2.66. In a starting rotation that has seen injuries, numerous rookies, and inconsistency, Pettitte is definitely the strongest link. Roger Clemens will join the rotation sometime next week, though his second minor league start was far from ideal.

Player of the Day: Magglio Ordonez, Tigers: 2 HR, 2 RBIs in an 8-7 win over the Angels for the AL MVP candidate. Ordonez has 12 homers, 42 RBIs, and leads the league in slugging and OPS.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Rangers are offensive


1. Two games, 28 runs: The Rangers’ pitching may never be good enough, but their hitting is always playoff-team caliber. On Monday they scored 14 runs for their second consecutive game as they pounded the Twins 14-4. Catcher Gerald Laird hit a grand slam, Sammy Sosa had three RBIs, and Kenny Lofton had three runs for Texas. Carlos Silva had his worst start of the season for Minnesota, as he gave up seven runs in just 4 innings. Reliever Julio DePaula also allowed seven runs in just one inning. The Rangers are still one of the worst teams in the AL at 18-27, but they now rank fifth in the league in runs scored. Unfortunately for Rangers fans, they’ve allowed more runs than anybody in baseball except the Devil Rays.

2. A-Rod is Back: After a 22-game streak in which he only had 1 homer and 5 RBIs, Alex Rodriguez is back to his April self. He has homered in three straight games, bringing his major-league leading total to 18. This is his third streak this season of three or more consecutive games with a homer. He helped the Yankees beat the Red Sox to start off a crucial series. On the pitching side of things, Chien Ming-Wang outdeuled the suddenly struggling Tim Wakefield. Ming-Wang pitched six innings and recorded a season-high five strikeouts, while Wakefield allowed six runs. The host Yankees won 6-2 to slash Boston’s division lead back to single digits (9.5 games). The 20-23 Yankees still have a lot of work to do to catch up with Boston, who is the only major league team with 30 wins.

3. The Power of the Brewers: Who would have thought Milwaukee would be one of the most powerful teams in the majors this season? They rank second in the majors in homers (behind Texas) and third in slugging percentage. The Brewers also have the two leading NL homerun hitters in JJ Hardy and Prince Fielder, who have 14 apiece. Fielder hit two bombs last night in their 9-5 win over the Dodgers. Just wait until their most powerful hitter from last year, Bill Hall, finds his stroke.

Player of the Day: Noah Lowry, Giants: 7 innings, no runs in a 4-0 win over Houston. Lowry has silently put up a 2.69 ERA, fifth best in the NL.

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MLB General

The Full Count: And now back to your regularly scheduled rivalries


1. Another Yankees Starter: The Yankees have started more pitchers this year than any other team in the majors, with 11. Seven of those have been rookies, including Tyler Clippard on Sunday against the Mets. After Clippard’s first three pitches struck out Jose Reyes, it seemed like he would be one of their better pitching experiments this year. And he was. Clippard was efficient in 6 innings, allowing one run, only three hits, and striking out six. He won as the Yankees avoided a sweep in the Subway Series. The Yankees’ offense featured homers from Derek Jeter, A-Rod, and Jorge Posada as they shelled John Maine for five runs. The Yanks are still 10.5 back behind Boston, as the Red Sox took 2 of 3 from the Braves over the weekend.

2. World Series Revenge: The Tigers-Cardinals matchup was a rematch of last year’s World Series, and the result was a complete reversal. The Cards won the series 4-1 last October, but this time around, the Tigers swept struggling St. Louis. Sunday’s 6-3 win for Detroit was highlighted by Justin Verlander’s fourth straight win. Verlander pitched 8 innings, gave up just two runs, and improved to 5-1 on the year. Verlander has quietly been even better than he was last year, with a team-leading 2.68 ERA. Now they are tied with Cleveland atop the AL Central, while St. Louis is in fifth in the NL Central. The Cardinals just cannot find any starting pitching, and their batter have hit a major-league low 20 homers.

3. Interleague Results: The weekend was highlighted by many strong Interleague matchups. Cross-town rivalries included the Yanks-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Angels-Dodgers, and A’s-Giants. The Cubs took two of three from the White Sox, though the White Sox won 10-6 on Sunday after smashing Carlos Zambrano for seven runs in six innings. The Angels swept the Dodgers by a combined score of 19-4 using some excellent starting pitching. Kelvim Escobar finished the series with an 8-inning shutout performance as the Angels won 4-1. Oakland won the first two games of their series against the Giants, but San Fran won 4-1 on Sunday behind a complete-game outing from Matt Morris. Barry Bonds continued his slump, and he has no homers or RBIs in his last ten games. The next Interleague action will be the second week of June, with some of these same rivalries.

Player of the Day: Mark Teixeira, Rangers: 4-6, 2 HR, 3 RBIs in a 14-1 rout of the Astros. Teixeira has been on fire lately with 6 homers, 20 RBIs, and a .349 average in his last 22 games.

Stat of the Day: Randy Johnson’s 5.2 inning, 10 strikeout game on Sunday was his first career double-digit strikeout game with fewer than 6 innings pitched, according to Elias Sports. Johnson has 28 strikeouts and is 2-0 in his last three starts.

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MLB General

Rickey Henderson getting senile in his old age


What’s the first thing you thought when you heard that Roger Clemens signed with the Yankees? If your answer was “Man, that just means Rickey Henderson is due for a comeback!”, then your name must be Rickey Henderson. Rickey Henderson thinks that Rickey is ready to kick some ass on the field again.


Seeing Roger come back, all the seed that it plants is ask me to come back one time. I’m going to look at it at the end of the year. I might come out with some crazy stuff, a press conference telling every club, ‘Put me on the field with your best player and see if I come out of it.’ If I can’t do it, I’ll call it quits at the end,

Is Rickey talking about a steel cage match? A dance off with the mascot from Tampa Bay? That would be something worth watching. Rickey is the best base stealer ever but there’s a reason he’s been out of the majors since 2003.

Links:
[NY Daily News]: Rickey: Clemens? Sign me!

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New York Yankees

Odds and Ends: Yankees fans aren’t delusional at all

ESPN had an interesting poll on how the addition of Roger Clemens affects their postseason chances. A majority of voters (48%) said they’d miss the playoffs while 17% though they will be World Series Champs. What’s interesting is that only in 3 states do a majority of folks feel that the Yankees will be champions at year’s end: New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Delusion in a powerful force. (via be Recruited)

In other news…

[Jacksonville.com]: Goodell’s personal conduct policy claims another victim

[SI.com]: Mets fan who was crushed by a fat man is suing the Mets

[The Offside]: It’s a good thing he didn’t get a hot beef injection

[Wizard of Odds]: Our favorite entry into the Wiz’s great billboard competition

[Larry Brown Sports]: His soul probably still stinks

And finally, Malaysian officials are planning on dumping 196,00 cans of confiscated beer down the drain. It’s as if a million sports fans cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Return of the Rocket


1. He’s (almost) baaaacck: Roger Clemens is back with the team he won two World Series titles with. The Yankees, who have been desperate for starting pitching since the beginning of the season, signed the Rocket in a $28 million deal pro-rated over four months (so he’ll make $18.5 million). While this deal comes as unsurprising, it could have a huge effect on the league this season. When Clemens returns to the mound within the next month or so, the Yankees with have a solid rotation: Clemens, Mussina, Ming-Wang, Pettitte, and Hughes. But since an already old team is adding a 45-year-old pitcher, it also shows the Yankees need a World Series title this year. As Clemens moves from the National League back to the American, he’ll see a rise in ERA from the past two seasons. But with increased run support, he will have a better record than he did with the Astros, and he will help make the Yankees at least competitive with the Red Sox for the division title. I still favor Boston to win it, but Clemens certainly makes the race more interesting.

2. Phenom meets phenom: Barry Bonds didn’t play on Sunday Night Baseball against the Phillies, but the game was still interesting due to a lot of offense and a matchup of young pitchers. The Phillies sent their ace-to-be Cole Hamels to the mound to face the Giants’ Tim Lincecum in his major league debut. Lincecum had lit up the minor leagues for a 0.29 ERA in five starts this year, but he allowed two homers (including a shot to Ryan Howard) and struggled with his control. After four innings and 100 pitches, Lincecum left with 5 runs and 5 walks allowed. Hamels allowed 5 runs as well, but only 3 of them were earned and he had 9 strikeouts. He was credited with the win and improved to 4-1 on the year. Another thing worth noting for the Phillies was the emergence of a new weapon on the basepaths. Pinch-runner Michael Bourn came in on first, stole two bases on two consecutive pitches, then scored on a routine grounder to short that usually would have been an out. The Phillies may only be 14-17, but they certainly have a lot of offensive weapons.

3. Detroit Dominance: The Tigers may have just faced the pitiful Royals over the weekend, but they took advantage of them and extended their winning streak to 7 games. A three-game sweep of Kansas City gave Detroit a share of the division lead with Cleveland. On Sunday they dominated 13-4 and had four different players with a homerun. Gary Sheffield hit his third homer of the past five games and has suddenly heated up after a cold April. Also, rookie pitcher Chad Durbin had one of his better starts with 7.2 innings and just 2 runs allowed. The 19-11 Tigers will be tested with back-to-back road series against the Red Sox and Twins over the next week.

Player of the Day: Trot Nixon, Indians: 5-5, 4 RBIs in a 9-6 win over Baltimore.

Stat of the Day: Padres starter Jake Peavy has struck out at least 10 batters in three consecutive games, while throwing for only seven innings in each game.

Walk Off: An ESPN poll about Barry Bonds shows only 58% of people think he should be in the Hall of Fame. This goes to show the complete unintelligence of baseball fans. Even if you think Bonds cheated in every way possible, he was a Hall of Famer before his alleged steroid use. His is the best hitter in a generation, and should be a unanimous Hall of Fame selection in addition to being considered one of the greatest hitters ever. He has broken more records than anybody since Babe Ruth. Don’t let the crappy person Bonds is diminish his unbelievable numbers.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Yankees get much needed sweep


1. Double Trouble: After going 1-8 in a one-and-half week stretch and falling to the bottom of the division, the Yankees cranked out a much-needed sweep of the Texas Rangers. On Thursday, they won both games of a doubleheader, based on the strength of their pitching, believe it or not. In game 1, Andy Pettitte pitched six strong innings and the bullpen held him up in a 4-3 win. In the second contest, Mike Mussina came off the DL with an excellent 5-inning, one-run effort. After a period in which it looked like the Yankees’ pitchers couldn’t stop a Double A offense, now they’re at full strength again with the return of Mussina and Chien Ming-Wang. More good news for them is that they play the Rangers again next week.

2. Cleveland Comeback: The best team in the league is currently the Cleveland Indians, and lately they’ve refused to lose. The Indians have a 10-1 record in their past 11 games, and on Thursday they completed a sweep of the Blue Jays. Toronto had captured a four-run lead early as Troy Glaus hit his fifth homer, but Cleveland stormed back thanks to Victor Martinez and others. Martinez went 4-4 with two RBIs, and Grady Sizemore hit a game-winning double for a 6-5 victory. The Indians still only have a 2 game lead, because Detroit has been hot lately as well.

3. Criticize him now: The most widely panned signing of the offseason was the $10 million-a-year contract the Royals gave to Gil Meche. But so far this year, he’s been worth it. Meche is 3-1 on the league’s worst team, and has an excellent 2.23 ERA. His pitching was good enough to lead the Royals past the first-place Angels as they became the last team in the AL to reach the 10-win mark. Meche pitched 7 innings and allowed just 2 runs, which came on a first-inning homer to the untouchable Vladimir Guerrero. The Royals’ 5-2 victory gave them a 2-2 tie in the four-game series. Meche now ranks first in the AL in innings pitched and third in ERA.

Player of the Day: Manny Ramirez, Red Sox: 2-5, 2 HR (5) including the game-winner, 3 RBIs in an 8-7 win over Seattle.

Stat of the Day: Since his first start of the season, Daisuke Matsuzaka has allowed 22 runs in 31 innings, good for a 6.38 ERA. He got torched for 7 runs against the Mariners on Thursday.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Yankees keep breaking their toys


1. Showing his potential: Yankees rookie Phillip Hughes was marvelous in his second start. Unfortunately, he’s now just another injured Yankees starter. Hughes had a no-hitter going through 6.1 innings before suffering a hamstring injury that will keep him out 4-6 weeks. He finally showed his great potential after a rocky first start, but now New York will have to find yet another body to put on the mound. The Yankees carried a team no-hitter through until the eighth inning, when the Rangers got their only two hits of the game. But by that point, the game was over, and the Yanks blew Texas away 10-1. Offensively, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, and Robinson Cano each had at least three hits to carry the team.

2. The Central Goes Through Cleveland: Some people didn’t expect anything out of the Indians in the preseason, others thought they would win the division title. So far, the latter group looks right. The Indians lead baseball’s toughest division by 1.5 games after a 12-4 rout of the Blue Jays. The offense took over in this one, as Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta homered, with Peralta driving in 5 runs. Trot Nixon had 3 runs and 3 RBIs, and Victor Martinez drove in two as well. AJ Burnett was the main victim on the Blue Jays’ pitching staff. He allowed 7 runs after a dominant previous start against the Yankees. For the Indians, CC Sabathia improved to 4-0 on the year. Cleveland is 6-0 in Sabathia’s six starts.

3. Back and Forth: Though the AL Central may have better teams, the NL West is just as competitive. Four of the division’s five teams are within two games of the lead, which is currently held by the Dodgers. LA beat the Diamondbacks 2-1 to snap their 6-game winning streak. Pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz hit a game-winning RBI single in that contest. The San Diego Padres have slumped a little lately, but they’re right in the thick of things after a 3-1 win over Washington. Starter Chris Young pitched 8 scoreless innings for the win in his best game of the year. In the division’s other game, the Rockies topped the Giants 9-7 thanks to a terrible start by Russ Ortiz.

Player of the Day: Matt Holiday, Rockies: 3-5, HR (4), 4 RBIs in 9-7 win over the Giants. Holliday is second in the league to Derrek Lee with a .395 batting average.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Streaking Giants move into first place


1. Eight is Great: One of the more surprising teams this season has been the San Francisco Giants. Expected to be one of the worst teams in the NL by many, they have moved up to first place with a league-high 8 consecutive wins. They just swept the Dodgers, who gave up their division lead. Bonds didn’t go deep on Thursday, but Ray Durham and Bengie Molina each had two RBIs, and starter Russ Ortiz somehow found a way to pitch well. Brad Penny (3-0, 1.95 ERA) continued his success for Los Angeles, but the bullpen blew a 3-1 lead for him. The Giants, who have the highest winning streak in the majors so far this year, will look to extend it as they face division foes Arizona and Colorado over the next week.

2. Bartolo is Back: Remember when Bartolo Colon won the Cy Young in 2005? Most people probably don’t due to his injury-riddled 2006. But now, after two starts this year, Colon looks to be an ace again. He improved to 2-0 after shutting down the Devil Rays. He pitched 7 innings, with one run allowed and 11 strikeouts. The Angels offense gave him plenty of support, with 11 runs, including a homer by Vlad Guerrero. The Angels were struggling at the beginning of the year, but now after three straight wins, they’re in first place. Their rotation, when healthy, could be the best in baseball: Colon, John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Kelvim Escobar, and Jered Weaver.

3. Still no pitching: Desperate in their search for capable starting pitching, the Yankees gave one of their best prospects, Phillip Hughes, a major league start. While you can’t draw conclusions based on one outing, Hughes doesn’t seem to be much of an improvement over the other guys they’ve tried out. He only lasted 4 innings against the Blue Jays, allowing 4 runs and throwing 91 pitches. But for Toronto, AJ Burnett gave his best start of the year against the Yanks’ great offense: 7 innings, 5 strikeouts, no runs allowed. The 6-0 win for the Blue Jays was New York’s sixth straight loss after getting swept by the Red Sox and Devil Rays. They are currently in last place.

Player of the Day: Josh Beckett, Red Sox: 8 innings, 2 runs, improved to league-best 5-0 in a 5-2 win over Baltimore.

Stat of the Day: Sammy Sosa’s two homeruns against the Indians made Jacobs Field the 44th park he has homered in. That is a major league record.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Losing the Arms Race


1. All Bats, No Arms: The Yankees have a problem. Their lineup is great — probably the best in the majors — and Alex Rodriguez is already breaking records this season. But, due to injuries and bad trades, they have awful pitching. After allowing four homeruns in a row in a Sunday loss to the Red Sox, the Yanks were torched by the Devil Rays on Monday night. Kei Igawa allowed 7 earned runs and could make it out of the 5th inning. His ERA in four starts is 7.84. Rocco Baldelli, BJ Upton, and other youngsters took advantage as the D-Rays continued their offensive success with a 10-run performance.

Even in a winning effort, the Devil Rays could not stop Alex Rodriguez. He hit two homers, giving him 14 on the year. That ties Albert Pujols’ record for homers in the month of April (set last year), and A-Rod still has six games left in the month. He also now has 34 RBIs, one short of the record. But still, despite scoring 8 runs, the Yankees lost their fourth in a row and are now just a half game ahead of Tampa for last place in the division.

2. Fluke or no Fluke?: Could the Brewers actually be a good team? At 12-7, they lead the NL Central division easily and have won 4 out of their last 5 games. Milwaukee beat the Cubs on Monday in 12 innings. They were down 4-0 but rallied back to tie the game in the eighth. Then Prince Fielder had a solo homerun to win the game, his second of the day. Shortstop JJ Hardy homered, giving him 6 on the year which ranks second in the league. I’m still not sold on this team, but their upcoming series against the Astros and Cardinals will help show if they are for real.

3. AL Central Delivers: The division race that seemed exciting even before the season started — the AL Central — has not disappointed. The top four teams (the Tigers, Twins, Indians, and White Sox) are all within a half-game of the division lead. On Monday the White Sox and Tigers beat the Royals and Angels, while the Indians beat the Twins. Minnesota has led the division most of the season, but they just lost a series to the Royals. Maybe when Johan Santana pitches tonight they’ll do better. Upcoming interdivision series include Tigers-White Sox and Tigers-Twins.

Co-Players of the Day: Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: 4-5, 2 HR (14), 3 RBIs in 8-10 loss to the Devil Rays. Jimmie Rollins, Phillies: 4-5, HR (7), 4 runs, 2 RBIs in an 11-4 win over Houston.

Stat of the Day: The Yankees starting pitchers have averaged 4.8 innings per start, the worst mark in the majors.