Attention all Yankee fans! We will be doing yet another live game chat tomorrow night with our friends from Fire Brand of the American League. The chat will start at precicely 7:00 p.m. Help Jason, Brien, and the gang reverse the live game chat hex I’ve put on the Yankees by participating tonight!
With September call ups right around the corner and the deadline for getting postseason eligible players in the organization upon us, it’s always a good time to take stock of any holes on the teams that are likely to make the playoffs, and the Yankees are no exception. But honestly, other than some injury issues, there aren’t a lot of holes to fill on this roster right now. The rotation has been solid, and whatever worries anyone may have about them they’re not things that can be addressed now, the bullpen is deep, and will likely add either Bartolo Colon or Phil Hughes once the tournament begins, and the lineup is among the best in baseball.
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According to Joel Sherman of the NY Post, Jesus Montero will come up tomorrow when rosters expand (though Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances will not). Sherman says Montero will have opportunities to “play and specifically hit,” which suggests to me he’ll be taking away some DH ABs from Posada. With a big September, it’s possible he’ll be the playoff DH, though that’s probably unlikely. At any rate, hooray.
Hoping to extend their win streak, the Yankees headed to their rivals to the north on Tuesday. CC Sabathia has struggled against the Red Sox this season, but had a stronger start this time, despite throwing a lot of pitches early. As happens, the game went about four hours, but the Bombers walked away with a 5-2 victory.
After a scoreless first inning, the Yankees managed to put a couple hits together in the top of the second. Robinson Cano worked a walk and was followed by a single from Nick Swisher. Eric Chavez then grounded a pitch from John Lackey up the middle, for a RBI single, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
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Triple-A Scranton beat Lehigh Valley 4-1
This was as big a game as you get in the minors; Scranton’s elimination number is one, so just a single loss would’ve eliminated them from playoff contention. With Scranton trailing 1-0 in the ninth, Jorge Vazquez hit a solo home run to extend the game. They then played fourteen innings, scoring three in the top of the fourteenth on a Brandon Laird homer. Laird was 2-for-6 with a double as well, and Vazquez was 3-for-6. David Phelps threw seven innings of one-run ball, and Andrew Brackman got the win for two scoreless innings with a walk and three strikeouts.
John Lackey gave up a home run to Francisco Cervelli. Not a cheapy either, a towering fly ball that landed in the back row of seats above the Green Monster. And then when Cervelli came up for his next at bat, Lackey put the first pitch in Cisco’s back. And then he stood there in the middle of the field while Cervelli gave him a piece of his mind. And then, thanks to a wild pitch that allowed Cervelli to go to second, and bunt hit by Brett Gardner, and a GIDP by Derek Jeter, Cervelli scored an insurance run to push the Yankees’ lead to 3 runs.
This has to be one of the most humiliating nights of John Lackey’s career. And it’s definitely in my top three list of “favorite Francisco Cervelli” moments.
Attention all Yankee fans! We will be doing yet another live game chat tomorrow night with our friends from Fire Brand of the American League. The chat will start at precicely 7:00 p.m., and we’ll cover such topics as:
- The battle for the AL East crown
- Which team has the stronger rotation?
- Biggest concerns as we head into the postseason
- Is A-Rod sharing his lip gloss with Mark Teixeira?
- Cake vs. Pie (and the many reasons Mark and Scott are wrong for liking pie)
- Plus many others!
Considering the hex Tamar claims I put on the Yankees, you guys will need all of the support they can get! Please join us as the Red Sox duke out with the Yankees for AL East supremacy! On behalf of Jason, Brien, Larry, Josh, Anna, and Will; go Yankees!
When you bump C.C. Sabathia from a start you’d better bring your good stuff to work with you, and that’s exactly what Freddy Garcia did last night. Taking the mound for the finale of the four game set with the Orioles and fresh off the disabled list for a cut finger, Garcia picked up right where he left off, hurling a solid six innings and allowing just two hits (one a solo home run by Mark Reynolds for the only run the Orioles would get from Garcia) and one walk. Garcia also struck out four, and seemed to have his entire repertoire of junk pitches working on this night.
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The Yankees got another strong starting pitching performance, as Freddy Garcia made his first start since coming off the DL. Despite Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez spending another game on the bench, the Yankees were able to put together enough offense to earn a split, as New York took a 3-2 victory.
Curtis Granderson worked a walk in the top of the first and scored on a double by Mark Teixeira for the first run of the game. Garcia gave up a two-out double to Adam Jones, but got Vladimir Guerrero to line out to keep the 1-0 lead.
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It was a busy day on the farm, but it was filled with plenty of wins for the Yankees’ affiliates.
Scranton blanked Pawtucket 3-0 in the first game of their doubleheader:
Jesus Montero started the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the first, which was all the offense the Yankees would need, as Pawtucket only managed one hit against the Yankees. Greg Golson reached in the bottom of the fifth on a throwing error by Pawtucket’s third baseman. Kevin Russo singled to right and both runners moved on a wild pitch. Golson scored on another wild pitch and the Yankees had a 2-0 lead. They added another run in the bottom of the sixth, as Brandon Laird worked a walk. Jordan Parraz grounded into a force out at second, but reached second when Nate Spears threw the ball away. Greg Golson walked and another error loaded the bases. Raymond Kruml grounded into a force out, allowing Parraz to score as the Yankees won 3-0. Manny Banuelos pitched a gem, going all seven innings and giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out six.
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Per Bryan Hoch, Alex Rodriguez went to New York today to get an MRI on his thumb. Results were negative, but according to Girardi it’s “really questionable” that he’ll play the upcoming Boston series. Thoughts on this behind the cut.
As expected, Freddy Garcia came off the DL today and will face the Orioles tonight, his first start since August 7 against Boston. Hector Noesi was sent down to Triple-A Scranton to make room for him on the 25-man roster. September call-ups are eligible to start coming up on Thursday, though Noesi must wait the ten days to come back up to the big league club.
Amidst all of the hullabaloo between the Orioles and the Yankes about this weekend’s scheduling mess, here’s a simple solution to prevent something like this from happening again: Don’t let the home team make these decisions. Frankly, I don’t understand why the rules are what they are now, where the home team has authority over weather postponements and so on (except when they don’t, as we found out when Tampa Bay was allowed to veto a proposed doubleheader in New York during the DJ3K chase). We’ve certainly seen teams accused of using the weather to their advantage (Tony LaRussa just this season in a game with Cincinnati) and for the life of me I don’t see why the league doesn’t control this. They’re supposed to be the neutral arbiters in the game, let them get input from the teams and then make a decision based on the best interest of baseball. And then we won’t see more situations like this one, or have to worry about the home team engaging in weather related funny business.
