Short of the entire Yankees team plane crashing and the whole squad getting wiped out, the team suffered a major blow before a pitch was even thrown as closer Mariano Rivera tore his ACL during batting practice trying to catch a fly ball. Rivera, although a pitcher, likes to shag fly balls in the outfield as part as his normal pregame ritual. As he went to track down a ball hit by newly acquired outfielder (who the fans are just going to adore) Jayson Nix, his right foot seemed to have gotten caught on the lip of the grass near the warning track and he tore his right knee.
Rivera provided some encouraging news the next day by proclaiming he will return and not let that be the way his Hall of Fame career ends, but for now the Yanks will have to face the rest of 2012 most likely without their clutch closer, and the chances of them winning the World Series this year dropped.
The Royals hadn't won a home game up to this point in the season and the Yankees pathetic bats from the Orioles series was the perfect cure. Royals starter Danny Duffy blistered through the Yankees lineup with 99 mph and 97 mph fastballs while Yankees starter David Phelps, making his first career start in place of the disastrous Freddy Garcia, struggled through 4 innings by giving up 4 runs. The Yanks chipped away at the score to make it 4-3 Royals in the top of the 9th with their closer Jonathan Broxton on the hill. Broxton, back in 2010 as a member of the Dodgers, blew a big lead to the Yanks during an interleague game and it must have still been in the back of his mind.
Derek Jeter led off the inning with a double on a 0-2 pitch which was followed by a walk by Granderson. With two runners on and no outs, the Yanks looked primed to at least tie the score at 4-4, but unfortunately Mark Teixeira had other plans. The Yankees first baseman grounded into a doubleplay which left Jeter at third and A-Rod at the plate to possibly drive him in. To Rodriguez's credit, the ump blew the call on the second pitch which was way inside, that put the batter in a 0-2 hole against a pitcher who can also throw 99 mph. A-Rod worked the count to 3-2 before hitting a tapper which Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas made a barehanded throw to first to nick A-Rod before he hit the bag. A half a second later the play would've been safe and Jeter would've tied the score, instead the Royals had their first home win of the season.
Losers of three straight, the Yanks sent their 3-0 ace CC Sabathia to the hill to stop the bleeding. The atmosphere around the team lightened up a little compared to the night before as Rivera told the media he would return, even though it seems that would have to wait till next season. Teixeira got the Yanks on the board early with a 2-run homer (couldn't do that in the 9th inning in the first game?) off of Bruce Chen, but CC gave it right back to the Royals as they tied the score 2-2 in the bottom of the 1st. Both starters locked in at that point and the game remained 2-2 until the top of the 7th when the Yanks scored 4 runs, capped off by a 2-run homer by Jeter, who continues his scorching start of the season. Joe Girardi didn't officially name a closer at this point, but on the of candidates, David Robertson, game on in the 9th to strike out the side to seal the victory.
With the offense showing life and the Royals already with their expected one measly victory, the Yanks might've thought it was going to be smooth sailing from their, but it wasn't. This time Royals starter Felipe Paulino stymied the Yanks in his 6 innings of work, only facing on tough situation; a bases loaded scenario which he got Jeter to ground out. Hiroki Kuroda was yet again provided with no offensive support and took the hard luck loss in the Royals 5-1 victory, their second home victory of the 2012 season.
Facing the complete embarrassment of dropping 3 out of 4 to the Kansas City Royals to compound with the devastating blow of losing Rivera for the year, the Yanks sent struggling starter Phil Hughes to the mound. The team received some good news for once in as many weeks as Nick Swisher returned to the lineup after his hamstring injury. Swisher's return must have sparked the team as they actually resembled the Yankees. The slumping Robinson Cano broke a 1-1 tie in the 3rd by blasting a grand slam as part of a 6-run inning. The 2 runs came from a Nick Swisher homer of his own. Later in the game, A-Rod added another bomb to make it 10-3 Yankees, and the final was 10-4. Hughes had his first clean start of the season going 6.2 IP with 7 strikeouts and giving up just 3 runs. The Yanks return home at 15-13 without Mariano Rivera to play host to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Everyone knew the day would come of life without Mo, now we'll get a sample for the rest of this season.....
Rivera provided some encouraging news the next day by proclaiming he will return and not let that be the way his Hall of Fame career ends, but for now the Yanks will have to face the rest of 2012 most likely without their clutch closer, and the chances of them winning the World Series this year dropped.
The Royals hadn't won a home game up to this point in the season and the Yankees pathetic bats from the Orioles series was the perfect cure. Royals starter Danny Duffy blistered through the Yankees lineup with 99 mph and 97 mph fastballs while Yankees starter David Phelps, making his first career start in place of the disastrous Freddy Garcia, struggled through 4 innings by giving up 4 runs. The Yanks chipped away at the score to make it 4-3 Royals in the top of the 9th with their closer Jonathan Broxton on the hill. Broxton, back in 2010 as a member of the Dodgers, blew a big lead to the Yanks during an interleague game and it must have still been in the back of his mind.
Derek Jeter led off the inning with a double on a 0-2 pitch which was followed by a walk by Granderson. With two runners on and no outs, the Yanks looked primed to at least tie the score at 4-4, but unfortunately Mark Teixeira had other plans. The Yankees first baseman grounded into a doubleplay which left Jeter at third and A-Rod at the plate to possibly drive him in. To Rodriguez's credit, the ump blew the call on the second pitch which was way inside, that put the batter in a 0-2 hole against a pitcher who can also throw 99 mph. A-Rod worked the count to 3-2 before hitting a tapper which Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas made a barehanded throw to first to nick A-Rod before he hit the bag. A half a second later the play would've been safe and Jeter would've tied the score, instead the Royals had their first home win of the season.
Losers of three straight, the Yanks sent their 3-0 ace CC Sabathia to the hill to stop the bleeding. The atmosphere around the team lightened up a little compared to the night before as Rivera told the media he would return, even though it seems that would have to wait till next season. Teixeira got the Yanks on the board early with a 2-run homer (couldn't do that in the 9th inning in the first game?) off of Bruce Chen, but CC gave it right back to the Royals as they tied the score 2-2 in the bottom of the 1st. Both starters locked in at that point and the game remained 2-2 until the top of the 7th when the Yanks scored 4 runs, capped off by a 2-run homer by Jeter, who continues his scorching start of the season. Joe Girardi didn't officially name a closer at this point, but on the of candidates, David Robertson, game on in the 9th to strike out the side to seal the victory.
With the offense showing life and the Royals already with their expected one measly victory, the Yanks might've thought it was going to be smooth sailing from their, but it wasn't. This time Royals starter Felipe Paulino stymied the Yanks in his 6 innings of work, only facing on tough situation; a bases loaded scenario which he got Jeter to ground out. Hiroki Kuroda was yet again provided with no offensive support and took the hard luck loss in the Royals 5-1 victory, their second home victory of the 2012 season.
Facing the complete embarrassment of dropping 3 out of 4 to the Kansas City Royals to compound with the devastating blow of losing Rivera for the year, the Yanks sent struggling starter Phil Hughes to the mound. The team received some good news for once in as many weeks as Nick Swisher returned to the lineup after his hamstring injury. Swisher's return must have sparked the team as they actually resembled the Yankees. The slumping Robinson Cano broke a 1-1 tie in the 3rd by blasting a grand slam as part of a 6-run inning. The 2 runs came from a Nick Swisher homer of his own. Later in the game, A-Rod added another bomb to make it 10-3 Yankees, and the final was 10-4. Hughes had his first clean start of the season going 6.2 IP with 7 strikeouts and giving up just 3 runs. The Yanks return home at 15-13 without Mariano Rivera to play host to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Everyone knew the day would come of life without Mo, now we'll get a sample for the rest of this season.....
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