Yanks Go Yard is closed, moose out front should have told you

I apologize in advance but I will not be around until midway through the Indians series (Tuesday night) as I am heading down the shore for a few days with limited to no internet access. While I may not have as many laughs and crazy hi-jinx as those irreverent Griswolds do, I can assure you I will be drunker.

However, I will return greater and more powerful than you could ever imagine. Until then, keep the Yanks in your thoughts and prayers.

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The Yanks aint got no alibi

That game was ugly.

Over the course of a 162-game season there’s bound to be some clunkers like Tuesday night’s abortion. There’s nothing you can do about it but put it out of your mind and come back the next day ready to play. Hopefully they do just that.

Instead of going into great detail, here are some facts about that atrocity:

Sean O’Sullivan (SULLY!!!!) retired 17 of the final 18 batters he faced.Hughes — who finished with a line of five-plus innings pitched, nine hits, six runs, three walks, two strikeouts and two homers — also made his first start of the season against the Angels on April 15, when he went five innings and gave up three hits, two runs, five walks, six strikeouts and a homer to Matsui (who also went deep Tuesday). The Yanks won that one 6-2, though.Phil was averaging 104 pitches per outing, with his season high being 117 and season low being 94. He threw 98 on Tuesday, with 57 going for strikes.Hughsie has now allowed nine homers in his last six starts after yielding four in his first 11 starts. All 13 of his dingers have come at Yankee Stadium.Derek Jeter, who went 0-for-4 Tuesday, is hitting .147/.171/.176 since the start of the Seattle series. (H/T Mike Axisa)Swisher hit his 150th career homer in the first inning (17th of the year).A-Rod recorded his 467th career double.The Yanks have not won a season series against the Halos since 2003…but they did when it mattered — the 2009 ALCS.Mike Napoli — he of the .261/.330/.504 line on the year — went 3-for-5 with a homer, four RBI and two runs scored. His career OPS against the Yanks is 1.174, which is the highest OPS against the Yanks since 1920 (minimum 85 plate appearances).Posada caught his fifth and sixth runners stealing on the year (both were Abreu) in 39 tries. Meanwhile, Frankie Cervelli has caught just four of 36.Girardi was tossed in the sixth for arguing that Tex was safe at first on a grounder. Perhaps he was paying homage to Lou Piniella, who announced he was retiring at season’s end. It was his ninth ejection as manager of the Yankees, third this season and 11th of his career.The Yanks fell to 34-10 when scoring first.The Yanks have still won 10 of their last 13 games, although you wouldn’t have known it with the way they played on Tuesday.

Next up the Yanks play the finale of this two-game set with Javy going against Joel Pineiro at 1:05 tomorrow. Many questions will be answered: can The Kid move to a career-high 5-0 at The Stadium? Will A-Rod hit two bombs for number 600

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Yanks To Expand Empire To EPL?

According to the Daily Star, the interest comes after Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner died at 80-years-old last week and control of the famous outfit passed down to his sons Hal and Hank.

Hank, a former college soccer player, expressed an interest in buying the club back in the early 1990s. Now it's believed he's rekindled his interest, following the lead of fellow American Stan Kroenke, who has snapped up 29.9 per cent of the shares at north London rivals Arsenal.

Coincidentally, Spurs are in New York ahead of their friendly with the New York Red Bulls this week.

The Steinbrenners have no intention of expanding their sports business empire by buying into any of the other major American markets, such as the NBA, NFL or NHL.

It is Spurs' rise to stardom over recent seasons though, culminating in their qualification for the Champions League, that has caught the eye of the Americans.

Asked about buying into another sports franchise recently, Hank told reporters: “The only thing would be a major soccer team in ­Europe, preferably in the Premier League. That’s always a possibility for me.”It was also reported in the article that the Yankees may have even made a £450 million offer.

The Yankees had tried a partnership with Manchester United back in 2001, but apparently that didn't work out too well.

Posted byGreg Cohen

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Yanks Showing Interest in Kevin Gregg

Earlier today, Domenic looked at some relievers the Yankees might look to acquire. Well, here's three guys that the Jays just put on the market.

From Bob Elliott:Jays make RP Kevin Gregg available, re-route a Tor scout into Seattle for final 2 games of Yanks-Sea seriesI assume that since the scout was at the Yanks-Mariners game that it's the Yankees who are interested, plus they have an obvious need in the bullpen.

Rod Bradford is also reporting that the Jays have also made Jason Frasor and Scott Downs available.

Scott Downs is 3-5 with a 2.65 ERA in 41 games. FIP: 3.14; xFIP: 3.58.

Jason Frasor is 3-2, with 3 saves, and a 4.67 ERA in 38 games. FIP: 3.49; xFIP: 3.92

Kevin Gregg is 0-3, with 20 saves and a 3.67 ERA. FIP: 3.67; xFIP: 3.88

I've always liked Downs and think he'd be a great addition to the pen, but Gregg or Frasor are also pretty decent options.

What do you think?

Posted byGreg Cohen

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Werth on the Block, the Yanks May Sign Garrett Atkins. and Some Other Rumors

Here's a tweet about Werth from Buster Olney:
Heard this: The Phillies are casting a wide net and talking with a lot of teams about possible matches for Jayson Werth. They continue to look for a proven starting pitcher who could be a No. 2 or No. 3 type of guy. Mike Axisa over at RAB and Zell from Ray Rothfeldt from Zell's Pinstripe Blog wondered if this could possibly open the door for a Javier Vazquez for Werth deal, since Vazquez is exactly "a No. 2 or No. 3 type of guy" in the NL. I like Werth, but I don't think I'd make this deal. The Yankees don't necessarily need Werth plus it creates a hole in the rotation.

Buster Olney also mentioned Toronto's Jose Bautista as an "absolutely perfect fit for the Yankees," who are looking for someone who can hit and provide some depth at third. However, he made no mention of the Jays actually looking to trade the guy.

Also, Mike Silva is reporting that the Yankees may sign Garrett Atkins to a minor-league deal. Atkins had some nice years in Colorado, but hit .219 this year and was recently released by the Orioles. There's really no risk involved so I'd have no problem with this move.

Thoughts?

Posted byGreg Cohen

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Javy Sharp As Yanks Drop A's 3-1

Final123456789RHEN.Y. Yankees «020001000380Oakland001000000130W: J. Vazquez (7-7) L: B. Sheets (3-8)
S: M. Rivera (19)

Heading out west to end the first half is a pain in the ass, at least I'm sure it is for the players. So, getting this trip started with a win is very important and that's what Javier Vazquez and the Yankees did last night, winning 3-1 over the A's.

It was a well pitched game on both sides. Javy was great over seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits and two walks. He also struck out two and threw 72 of his 110 pitches for strikes. With a nice mix of fastballs and breaking balls he had the A's batters off-balance all night leading to many weak grounders and pop ups.

His only blemish came in the third with the Yankees already up 2-0, and it was a triple off the bat of Cliff Pennington. He would later score on a sac fly by Coco Crisp. Besides that, Javy allowed just two singles and two walks.

A's starter Ben Sheets was also very good, but the Yankees scored a couple off him early and thanks to Javy the runs held up.

The Yankees didn't have too many opportunities to score tonight, only having three at-bats with RISP. But they cashed in when they had the chance picking up hits in two of those at-bats.

With two out in the second, Nick Swisher doubled. That was followed with a triple by Curtis Granderson and then an RBI single by Francisco Cervelli.

The third Yankees run also came off Sheets, a solo shot by Mark Teixeira in the sixth. It was his 14th homer of the season.

After Javy left the game the bullpen did their job as Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera retired all six batters they faced. Joba picked up two strikeouts and Mo picked up his 19th save of the year.

The Yanks are now 20 games over .500 and with Boston losing to Tampa last night at Tropicana Field so they're now two games ahead of the Rays and two and a half ahead of the Sox.

CC Sabathia looks for win no. 11 of the first half as he takes the mound tomorrow night against Oakland right-hander Trevor Cahill. First pitch is at 10:05 p.m. and the game will be on YES.

HittersABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVGBrett Gardner, LF4000002.314Derek Jeter, SS4010000.281Mark Teixeira, 1B4111011.243Alex Rodriguez, 3B4000011.272Robinson Cano, 2B4010011.342Nick Swisher, DH4120001.296Curtis Granderson, CF3111112.228Francisco Cervelli, C4011012.271Colin Curtis, RF4010012.286Totals3538316

Batting2B - Nick Swisher (17, Sheets)3B - Curtis Granderson (4, Sheets)HR - Mark Teixeira (14, Sheets)RBI - Mark Teixeira (54), Curtis Granderson (23), Francisco Cervelli (30)2-OUT RBI - Curtis Granderson (9), Francisco Cervelli (20)RISP: 2-3 (Curtis Granderson 1-1, Francisco Cervelli 1-1, Brett Gardner 0-1)
Team LOB - 6
PitchersIPHRERBBSOHRERAJavier Vazquez (W,7-7)73112204.81Joba Chamberlain (H,18)10000205.09Mariano Rivera (S,19)10000001.08Pitches-Strikes - Javier Vazquez 110-72, Joba Chamberlain 11-7, Mariano Rivera 10-6Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Javier Vazquez 9-10, Mariano Rivera 1-2First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Javier Vazquez 15/26; Joba Chamberlain 2/3; Mariano Rivera 1/3
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Javier Vazquez
HONORABLE MENTION: Curtis Granderson

Posted byGreg Cohen

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Yanks treat Toronto like the G20 Summit

On Brian Cashman’s birthday the Yankee offense exploded, if only for an inning. The Yanks recorded an 11-run third inning to rout the Blue Jays 11-3 on Saturday and somewhat erase the memories of Friday’s 6-1 11-inning debacle.

That fateful third saw the Yanks snap an 0-for-25 streak with RISP and end a 12-inning scoreless streak. The Yanks had scored seven runs all week heading into Saturday’s game, they scored 11 in the third frame alone. In other words: they scored more runs in the third inning on Saturday than they did all week combined. The 11 runs given up tied a Blue Jays record, the last time they did it was on August 6 of 1979 against the Royals. It was also the most runs the Yanks have scored in a single stanza since they put up a 13 spot against the Devil Rays in 2005.

Girardi:

A lot of times things in this game don’t make sense. We all try to say we know why it’s happening, sometimes things just don’t make sense and they happen.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the third was that Brett Gardner — he of three homers all season — slugged a grand slam (the first of his career, and he now has as many as Derek Jeter). Gardner is hitting .342 (40-for-117) with a .428 OBP and four homers at home this year. As a whole, he is at .316/.398/.421 in 2010…not bad for a guy hitting ninth in the lineup. His shot was the eighth GS the Yanks have hit this season…they haven’t had that many in a WHOLE season since they had nine in 2004. If 2009 was the year of the pie, 2010 is the year of the salami.

Gardy:

I told somebody I’ve never hit a grand slam before — little league, high school, college. I haven’t hit many homers in my life, so it was a good moment because our offense had been struggling. We’ve been really struggling the past four or five games, we scored 11 in the one inning and didn’t score the other seven innings. It’s a crazy game and that’s just the way it works out sometimes. When you’re on that side of it it’s a lot of fun, but I’ve been on the other side just as many times…I know how it feels on the other side too.

A-Rod also had a three-run double (which I thought should have been ruled an error, but I’ll take it) in the third that made John McDonald look like Luis Castillo. No disrespect to McDonald intended.

Tex went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBI to record his first multi-extra base hit game since that three homer game in Boston on May 8…yikes.

Jeter achieved yet another milestone, as he passed Eddie Murray (not to be confused with this guy) and Paul Waner for 38th on MLB’s all-time runs scored list with number 1,628.

Chad Huffman went 0-for-3 at the plate but made a phenomenal catch in right.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the guy who made it all possible — Andrew Eugene Pettitte. The 2010 Cy Young Award winner settled down after a shaky first and retired 14 batters in a row. The 38-year-old lefty is now 10-2 with a 2.82 ERA and just keeps on rolling. He is 7-0 with a 1.67 ERA and .198 BAA in eight day-game starts this year. Holy shit.

I expect to win, wins are hard to get. Coming into this year I felt like I could give us a solid year. I’ve had some big hits to help get some wins…Obviously it’d be great (to make the All-Star team). It’d be something that you’d love to be able to make. I won’t be watching it that closely but hopefully you get a chance to go.

Don’t cha know, Cano is 2 for his last 16 to see his batting average “plummet” to .342, which is cool, but Adrian Beltre (the one-nut wonder) now has a higher BA than he. Not cool.

I won’t even get into what the bullpen did today — two innings of perfect relief from the new kid Dustin Moseley and another perfect inning from CHoP. Maybe CHoP was destined to be a mop-up guy.

If that’s what the Yanks had planned for Cash’s birthday, I wonder what they have in store for Mr. Steinbrenner’s b-day tomorrow. They got Future Ace Phil Hughes going against Brandon Morrow. LET’S GO YANKS!!!!

The Sox are in action later tonight against the O’s, but no matter what they do they can’t claim a share of first place. But let’s put our orange and black hats on just for the sake of it. GO ORIOLES!

On another note, here are some injury updates courtesy of RAB.

How do you feel about the Yanks offense?

They scored 11 runs in an inning. Fugetaboutit. Not convinced. They put up goose eggs the other seven stanzas.

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Burnett's Disastrous Month Continues, Yanks Fall 9-4

(A.J. takes out his frustrations on a bucket of gum.)

Final123456789RHEN.Y. Yankees301000000481L.A. Dodgers «20320020x9111WP: H. Kuroda (7-5) LP: A. Burnett (6-7)

Congratulations A.J., you just had the worst month in Yankees history. His 11.35 ERA this June was the worst in by any Yankees pitcher with at least five starts in a month. Honestly, I may just stop watching games he starts until he gets back on track, because it's becoming a frustrating waste of time.

Last night, he was handed a 3-0 lead before he even took the mound, thanks to a first-inning three-run homer by Mark Teixeira. But it didn't take too long for Burnett to begin giving those runs back. Two of the first three batters he faced singled, Manny Ramirez was next and drove in a run with a ground-rule double, and then James Loney drove in another with a sacrifice fly.

Both teams went down scoreless in the second, and then the Yankees extended their lead back up to two with a run in the third. That would be the last lead of the game for the Yankees, because Burnett, who had a decent second inning, completely fell apart.

Here's the first five batters of the bottom of the third: 5-pitch walk, single, 5-pitch walk, single, 5-pitch walk. He finally recorded an out, actually two, when Russel Martin grounded into a double play, but the lead run would score on the play and it was 5-4 Dodgers.

The Yankees had a chanced to score in the next inning, when they got two on with one out. Nick Swisher reached when Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda threw a wild pitch on a swinging strike three, and Brett Gardner singled a couple batters later to put men on the corners with the pitcher's spot coming up.

Burnett had already given up five runs so I figured Girardi would hand this one over to the pen, even after just three, and bring up a pinch hitter. Well, he didn't, Burnett bunted Gardner over to second, and Derek Jeter struck out to end the inning, and worst of all, Burnett was coming out for the fourth.

Burnett allowed the first two batters to reach; Furcal on a bunt single and Kemp on a walk, and that would be the end of his day. So by trying to get an extra inning or two out of Burnett not only led to giving away a free out with runners on the corners, but it meant that Boone Logan now has to come in the game in the fourth, but instead of nobody on, they're are now two on with nobody out. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's easier for a pitcher to come out of the pen to start an inning rather than in the middle of a rally.

Logan not only allowed both of the inherited runners to score, but one of his own and the Dodgers extended their lead to 7-4.

Those two runners made it six runs allowed on six hits and six walks for Burnett in just 3

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Facing Torre Brings Back Old Memories For Yanks

Bryan Hoch wrote this nice piece about how the Yankees feel about facing their former manager and how it's bringing back some fond memories. There are a lot of good quotes in the article, but here are a few from the core fore:


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Yanks Pound Pelfrey for 5-3 Victory

(REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine)

Final123456789RHEN.Y. Mets102000000360N.Y. Yankees «10220000x580WP: P. Hughes (10-1) LP: M. Pelfrey (9-2)
SV: M. Rivera (16)

It’s felt like a long time in Yankeeland since the last victory at Yankee Stadium. Well, maybe that’s because I’ve been at the past three games and the Boys from the Bronx have managed to score a measly 4 runs in 27 innings.

From a “bleacher creature” prospective, it’s been extremely difficult to keep positive unless blood alcohol level was increased above .08. Having to deal with incredibly obnoxious Phillies fans was no doubt most difficult. Although I have more respect for Mets fans, that was not exactly a walk in the park last night either. However, things would change drastically on Saturday.

Saturday afternoon promised to deliver a pitchers duel between two of New York’s finest. Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey, both 9-1, have blossomed into fantastic starters for the Yankees and Mets. Both took the mound looking to gain ground in the standings as well as bragging rights.

It certainly didn’t take long for the Mets to get on the board. On the second pitch of the game, Jose Reyes crushed an 0-1 fastball deep into the rightfield seats to give the Mets a quick 1-0 lead. “Not again” resonated throughout the minds of Yankee fans at the stadium as Mets fans applauded the efforts of Reyes.

Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher led off the bottom of the 1st with back-to-back singles to have runners on the corners for Mark Teixeira. Although Teixeira grounded into a double play, started by Alex Cora, Gardner would score to tie the game 1-1.

Henry Blanco worked a 1-out walk in the top of the 3rd to bring up Reyes. The walk would come back to bite Hughes as Reyes would once again take him yard to give the Mets a 3-1 edge. Angel Pagan would walk, only to be thrown out by Jorge Posada. Hughes then struck out David Wright to end the top half of the frame.

Gardner would lead off the bottom of the 3rd with a single up the middle. He would advance to 2nd base on a Swisher groundout and Teixeira would come to the plate. Mark sent a ridiculous “Tex Message” into the right-centerfield seats to tie the game at 3’s. This homerun ended Mike Pelfrey’s homerless streak at 31.1 innings, the 2nd longest active streak in baseball.

And as the Yankees came back up to bat in the bottom of the 4th, the damage still wasn’t done. “Leadoff walks will come back and bite you”. Yes, they will and they certainly did. Posada worked a leadoff walk and Curtis Granderson smashed a ball into the rightfield seats to put the Yankees up 5-3.

The Yankees and Mets would exchange zeroes heading into the top of the 8th inning. Pagan hit a 2-out double into rightfield off Joba to bring the tying run to the plate in David Wright. Joba Chamberlain would throw three straight curveballs to Wright to make the count 1-2. A slider in the dirt was all it took to put away Wright as a resurgent Chamberlain left the mound pumped with adrenaline.

Mariano Rivera would come to the mound in the 9th to record a one-two-three inning for his 16th save of the year and preserve a 5-3 victory in the process.

The Yankees improved to 42-26 while the Mets dropped to 39-29. Tomorrow’s game is at 1:05 pm in what will definitely be a pitchers duel between two kings of New York pitching, CC Sabathia and Johan Santana. All the action can be caught on the YES Network or WCBS 880.

HittersABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVGBrett Gardner, LF4220000.312Nick Swisher, RF4010000.294Mark Teixeira, 1B4112000.224Alex Rodriguez, DH3000110.282Robinson Cano, 2B3020100.371Jorge Posada, C3100114.285Curtis Granderson, CF3112113.240Ramiro Pena, SS4010002.190Kevin Russo, 3B3000004.196Totals3158443

Batting2B - Robinson Cano (21, Igarashi)HR - Mark Teixeira (11, Pelfrey), Curtis Granderson (6, Pelfrey)RBI - Mark Teixeira 2 (40), Curtis Granderson 2 (20)RISP: 1-8 (Mark Teixeira 1-2, Kevin Russo 0-2, Curtis Granderson 0-1, Ramrio Pena 0-2, Jorge Posada 0-1)
Team LOB - 6FieldingDP - Pena-Teixeira, Russo-Cano-Teixeira
PitchersIPHRERBBSOHRERAPhil Hughes (W,10-1)75333423.17Joba Chamberlain (H,16)11000105.52Mariano Rivera (S,16)10000101.16WP - Phil Hughes (3)Pitches-Strikes - Phil Hughes 99-62, Joba Chamberlain 12-10, Mariano Rivera 15-8Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Phil Hughes 4-10, Joba Chamberlain 2-0, Mariano Rivera 2-0First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Phil Hughes 15/26; Joba Chamberlain 3/4; Mariano Rivera 0/3
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Curtis Granderson
HONORABLE MENTION: Mark Teixeira

Posted byChris McKeown

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Yanks Sign First Round Pick Culver

From the Democrat and Chronicle, with a hat-tip to Zell's Pinstripe Blog:
Irondequoit’s Cito Culver has signed a professional contract with the New York Yankees, with a reported bonus of nearly $1 million.

“We are very excited to get Cito signed so quickly and get him out on the field to begin his development as a Major League prospect,” said Damon Oppenheimer, vice president of amateur scouting for the Yankees.Apparently, he's so happy to be a Yankee that he even shaved the interlocking NY onto his head.

Posted byGreg Cohen

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The Yanks are back in first place

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Well, at least a tie for first place.

A 9-5 win on Sunday completed a three-game sweep of the Astros. Add that to the fact that the Marlins trumped the Rays and the two best teams in the AL East (let alone in baseball) have identical 40-23 records.

The Good:

Georgie Posada. JoPo was left for dead after coming off the DL, putting up a .133/.297/.133 line with one RBI in nine games since being activated. In the two games since that slump, he’s hit two grand slams and went 3-for-6. It’s the first time a Yankee hit salamis in back-to-back games since Bill Dickey did so in 1937, and it was just the fourth time in franchise history it’s happened (Ruth did it in 1927 and 1929). With the GS, Posada moved past Greg Nettles and into seventh place on the franchise home run list (251). The 38-year-old also caught his first game since May 16 (hairline fracture in right foot) on Sunday, but left early due to “soreness” in his foot. It should be noted that the soreness is in a different part of the foot than the fracture was, and he is confident that he’ll catch on Tuesday when the Yanks open a three-game set against the Phils.

To be in the situation to hit two grand slams is amazing. It doesn’t happen often, you can tell (because) it’s been a while. So, I’m happy. It’s important to get some runs for the pitcher. I think after that Hughsie calmed down and threw the pitches he wanted to.

Ramiro Pena. Old noodlebat came through with a huge two-run single in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie. The base knock will no doubt be overshadowed by Posada’s grand slam, but it was HUGE at the time.

Ace. Alfredo Aceves threw off flat ground on Sunday and reported that “nothing hurt” in his back, which is good. He could throw again tomorrow but there is still no timetable for his return.

The bullpen. Damaso Marte, CHoP, Joba and Mo combined to throw 3 1/3 innings of one-hit relief. It was huge because Hughes kind of shit the bed, though he was getting bamboozled by home plate umpire Ted Barrett.

Chad Huffman. “Huff, Huff, Give” made his major league debut on Sunday in place of Marcus Thames, who was placed on the DL with hamstring soreness. The Huffster went 1-for-4, legging out an infield single, with a walk and reached on a dropped third strike. He looked solid in right.

I was trying to calm myself down was the biggest thing. I battled back…got out in front of it and got lucky, that’s a part of it and I had a great time.

A-Rod. Girardi said it’s possible the Yanks will have Big Al back in the lineup for the series opener against the Fightins on Tuesday. He didn’t say if that would be as a DH or at third, but either way is good news.

The Yanks. The team drew 10 walks on Sunday. They have also won 12 of 16 and have a better record at home (22-7) than The Greatest Team Ever Assembled (the Rays) does on the road (22-8). Take that you cowbell-toting pieces of shit.

The Bad:

Phil Hughes: Maybe we’ve been spoiled by The Kid earlier in the season, but he just didn’t seem to have his stuff today or the past few starts. For what it’s worth, I think he should have been removed after Geoff Blum’s double in the sixth. In a long, rainy game there’s no reason to leave a 23-year-old kid out there. Oh well, he got the win to move to 9-1 (his career-high nine wins tie him with David Price for most in AL) so there’s really nothing to complain about…despite the fact that his ERA is over 3.00 for the first time in a long time.

I was locating for the most part; my fastball, I threw some decent cutters, I was just trying to move the ball in and out, and tried to limit the damage after that first inning. Unfortunately that sixth inning kind of blew up, but we had enough runs to hold up…I just look at it like I’m out pitching the ball. The wins can kind of be deceiving sometimes; I haven’t pitched great over the last four starts but our offense has been so good that I’m able to keep us in the game. The wins are great but I feel like I’m throwing the ball decent as well.

Home plate ump Ted Barrett. He wasn’t calling strikes the same for Hughes as he was for Moehler. It was a joke. Plus,  he botched many calls including a hit by pitch to Tex and a few strikes to Swish Dog…among many others.

Grandy. He was the only starter not to record a hit Sunday, but that’s kind of nit-picking when you win by four runs.

Up Next: The Fightin’ Phils come to town for a World Series rematch starting on Tuesday. I’ll be going to the CC vs. Halladay game on Tuesday (who wants to touch me? I SAID WHO WANTS TO F

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Yanks Win 9-5 To Finish Off Sweep Of 'Stros

(AP Photo - Kathy Willens)

Final123456789RHEHouston100004000581N.Y. Yankees «00034200x991WP: P. Hughes (9-1) LP: B. Moehler (0-3)
Even though Phil Hughes wasn't at his best, the Yankees were able to slug their way to a 9-5 win over the Astros to complete the three-game sweep.

It was a weird start for Hughes, who didn't have his best stuff all and had trouble hitting his spots day, but still managed to hold the Astros to just a run on three hits and two walks over the first five. Meanwhile, the Yankees, who were shutdown over the first three, scored three in the fourth and four in the fifth to blow the game open and take a 7-1 lead.

Robinson Cano began the scoring with his 13th homer of the season, a solo shot to tie the game at one. Later, with two out in the inning, Ramiro Pena gave the Yankees the lead with a two-run bloop single to right with the bases loaded.

Jorge Posada followed up his grand slam on Saturday with another one on Sunday to extend the Yankees lead to six. It's the first time a Yankee has hit a grand slam in back-to-back games since Bill Dickey all the way back in 1937. Babe Ruth was the only other Yankee to achieve this feat, doing it twice, once in 1927 and again in 1929.

After being handed a 7-1 lead Hughes' lack of command finally caught up with him in the sixth. Carlos Lee led off the inning with a single. Hughes did retire the next two batters he faced on just four pitches, but the next three batters would be Hughes' last. Geoff Blum put runners on second and third with a double. Then Tommy Manzella battled through a 10-pitch at-bat to drive in both runners with a single. Then, former Yankee Kevin Cash capped off the rally, and ended Hughes' day, with a two-run homer to left. The five runs allowed in just 5.2 innings bumped his ERA over 3, but it was still enough for Hughes to pick up his league-leading ninth win of the year.

Damaso Marte came in to replace Hughes and struck out Michael Bourn to end the inning.

The Yankees didn't waste any time pushing that lead back to four, scoring twice in the bottom half of the inning. Nick Swisher drove in the first with a single. Two batters later, Brett Gardner picked up his second hit of the day and drove in the Yankees ninth run. Besides the two hits, Gardner also stole his 22nd base of the season, and he made a great leaping play in the seventh to rob Carlos Lee of a double.

Chan Ho Park pitched the seventh and needed just eight pitches to get through the inning. Joba Chamberlain followed Park with a 10-pitch, scoreless eighth. Then, even though they were up four, the Yanks went to Mariano Rivera to finish off the game. He struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth and the Yankees had their 40th win of the season. And with the Marlins beating the Rays, the Yankees also moved into a tie with the Rays for first in the division. Today's win also finishes off a 16-game stretch that saw the Yankees go 12-4.

Before I forget to mention it, Chad Huffman went 1-for-4 with a walk in his major league debut. His hit was a slow roller to short that he beat out for an infield single, and came in his first AB in the third.

Like I said before the Yanks have an off-day tomorrow before they start a three-game series with the Phillies on Tuesday in a rematch of last year's World Series. The pitching matchup in the opener is a good one, with CC Sabathia facing off against Roy Halladay. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be on MY9.

HittersABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVGDerek Jeter, SS5010003.293Curtis Granderson, CF4100112.241Mark Teixeira, 1B4110002.229Robinson Cano, 2B3311210.371Nick Swisher, DH4111132.299Jorge Posada, C3214214.288 Francisco Cervelli, C0000000.282Brett Gardner, LF3121201.317Chad Huffman, RF4010115.250Ramiro Pena, 3B3012111.208Totals33999108

Batting2B - Mark Teixeira (13, Wright)HR - Robinson Cano (13, Moehler), Jorge Posada (8, Daigle)RBI - Robinson Cano (47), Nick Swisher (40), Jorge Posada 4 (23), Brett Gardner (20), Ramiro Pena 2 (8)RISP: 4-13 (D Jeter 0-1, C Granderson 0-1, R Pena 1-1, B Gardner 1-1, J Posada 1-3, C Huffman 0-3, N Swisher 1-2, R Cano 0-1)
2-OUT RBI - Jorge Posada 4 (7), Brett Gardner (9), Ramiro Pena 2 (6)SB - Brett Gardner (22, 2nd base off Daigle/Cash)CS - Derek Jeter (3, 2nd base by Moehler/Cash)Team LOB - 11FieldingE - Mark Teixeira (1, Misplayed grounder)
PitchersIPHRERBBSOHRERAPhil Hughes (W,9-1)5.27552613.11Damaso Marte (H,8)0.10000103.09Chan Ho Park10000105.71Joba Chamberlain11000004.76Mariano Rivera10000201.21Pitches-Strikes - Phil Hughes 110-73, Damaso Marte 5-3, Chan Ho Park 8-6, Joba Chamberlain 10-8, Mariano Rivera 15-11Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Phil Hughes 4-8, Chan Ho Park 1-1, Mariano Rivera 1-0First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: Phil Hughes 17/27, Damaso Marte 1/1, Chan Ho Park 2/3, Joba Chamberlain 2/4, Mariano Rivera 3/3
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jorge Posada
HONORABLE MENTION: Brett Gardner

Posted byGreg Cohen

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Yanks Overtake Man U. As Most Valuable Team Brand

From Forbes:
Add another accolade to the Steinbrenner family trophy case. Their New York Yankees have dethroned Manchester United as the world’s most valuable team brand. It is the first time since we started tracking brand value--the portion of a team's overall value that is derived from its name as opposed to its market and league--across sports three years ago that the Bronx Bombers have topped our list.

The Yankees brand is worth $328 million (21% of their $1.6 billion total team value), while we calculate the Man U name to be worth $285 million (16% of their $1.835 billion value). The two teams swapped spots as the Yankees saw a merchandising frenzy thanks to a 27th World Series title and the opening of their new stadium. Gross sales of World Series and Yankees championship-emblazoned products totaled $450 million last year, while the new ballpark spurred 40% growth in sponsorship revenue. Local TV ratings on YES Network (Forbes is a partner in a show on YES) were up 11%, even as most baseball teams saw ratings decline. Also helping push the Yanks to the top was a strengthening U.S. dollar, which gained 17% on the British pound over the 12-month period we reviewed. Here's the top ten:

1. New York Yankees - $328 Million
2. Manchester United - $285 Million
3. Real Madrid - $240 Million
4. Dallas Cowboys - $208 Million
5. F.C. Barcelona - $180 Million
6. Bayern Munich - $178 Million
7. Arsenal - $176 Million
8. Boston Red Sox - $163 Million
9. New York Mets - $158 Million
10. New England Patriots - $156 Million

Posted byGreg Cohen

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Even The Yanks Have A Case Of World Cup Fever

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Yanks Take Advantage Of O's Mistakes, Win 4-2

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Olney: No Talks Yet Between Yanks and Mariners About Lee

For those wondering about the rumors regarding a potential Leeto the Yankees deal, Buster Olney tweeted today that "The Mariners and Yankees have had zero conversations about Cliff Lee." He says "The reason why is that they are philosophically opposed, in general, to the idea of absorbing the double-barrelled cost of trading prospects for a guy who is about to become a free agent, and then paying that player top-of-the-market price for an extension."

He also reminds us that "the Yankees have basically passed on trade talks for three Cy Young caliber pitchers in the last three years"

This doesn't surprise me at all. Like I said the other day, I don't think the Yankees believe there's a need for Lee right now, so unless they suffer a major injury I wouldn't expect the Yankees to be so quick to hand over Jesus Montero or Austin Romine for a pitcher they probably don't need. But Lee fans don't worry, next season, when Pettitte and Vazquez are gone, they'll need him and they'll sign him.

Posted byGreg Cohen

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No Sweep For Yanks As They Fall 4-3 To O's

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Yanks lose second straight to Blue Jays

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The Yanks dropped a 14-inning heartbreaker, 3-2, to the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon despite a stellar showing from Andy Pettitte and the bullpen.

Pettitte went 7 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on five hits with a season-high 10 strikeouts to three walks to get a no-decision. He was denied in his bid for his 200th win as a Yankee (and 237th overall), even though he threw a gem. Old reliable also tied David Wells for 52nd place on the all-time strikeout list with his 2,201st punchout.

Andy (Can I) Pettitte has now allowed two runs or less in nine starts this year, more than any other pitcher in the AL.

Joba, Marte, D-Rob and CHoP combined to throw 5 1/3 innings of four-hit no-run relief with six strikeouts to four walks before Chad Gaudin gave up the winning single to Aaron Hill in the 14th. However, you can’t pin this one on Gaudin as the offense wasn’t producing a goddamn thing. You could make the argument that Girardi should’ve used Mo instead of Gaudin, but I have no problem with using Chad in that situation during a June 5th game…it’s not like it was Game 7 of the World Series.

Swish Dog made a couple of ridiculous catches in right field, just throwing that out there.

Girardi:

Our relievers threw the ball great, only gave up one run in basically 6 1/3, seven innings. So did theirs, unfortunately we didn’t win today…(Losing is) never any fun, the guys are playing hard, but we’ll just bounce back tomorrow.

“Red Hot” Robbie Cano is now 0 for his last 12 with four strikeouts. What’s more disturbing is that Tex, A-Rod, Cano and Posada combined to go 2-for-24 on Saturday, with Tex donning the platinum sombrero. It was the second five-strikeout game of Tex’ career, with the other coming on August 18, 2003 — his rookie campaign.

Tex:

We’re not seeing the ball well, he kept us off-balance. He’s (Ricky Romero) a good pitcher, you try to battle off him. He pitched really well today…Both teams, the offenses weren’t really clicking. So we knew every opportunity we had we wanted to take advantage of it but we just couldn’t do it.

What can you do about Tex and his laughable .215/.328/.370 line? Wait it out? Bench him? Move him down the lineup? Get him a few nights with Kate Hudson? My suggestion would be to switch him and Cano in the lineup, so the batting order would look something like this:

JeetSwish DogCanoA-RodTexPosadaCervelliGrandyGardner

Shuffling this slumping bastard to fifth wouldn’t be too much of a slap in his face and I think it’s just crazy enough to work. Something needs to be done, the Bombers have scored just three runs over 23 innings in this series and, if you take away those games against the sub-par Indians and Orioles, haven’t done very much scoring at all.

The team got its only offense Saturday via a two-run homer from Jeter in the fifth frame. Jeter finished 2-for-6 and now has 266 hits against Toronto, the most by any player in history. He also recorded his 1,109th RBI, which pushes him past Hitman for ninth place on the Yankees’ all-time list.

Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all. Plus, the Rangers beat the Rays so the Yanks are still just two back of the division lead, but these Jays are now creeping and are 1 1/2 behind the Yanks. The Red Cox, who are mired in a pitcher’s duel with the O’s as I type this, can move into a tie with Toronto with a win.

The Yanks, with a burnt-out bullpen mind you, have Javy going against Brandon Morrow tomorrow at 1 in the finale of this craptacular three-game set. LET’S GO YANKS!!!Share this post:RSS FeedTweet ThisShare on FaceBookDigg ItStumble Upon ThisReddit ShareYahoo! Share

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Javy Hurls A Gem As Yanks Avoid Sweep

(Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images)

Final123456789RHEN.Y. Yankees «000000040460Toronto000002010330WP: J. Vazquez (5-5) LP: S. Downs (1-5)
SV: M. Rivera (13)

Thanks to some stellar pitching by Javier Vazquez, and a pretty lucky four-run eighth, the Yankees were able to get out Toronto with a win. Vazquez was outstanding, holding the Jays to just one hit, walked four, and struck out nine in seven innings. Things may be turning around for Vazquez, who has now put up an ERA of 2.77 over his last five starts.



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