The Detroit Tigers were supposed to have been wiping the walls in the AL Central in 2012, but in actuality its been the surprising Chicago WhiteSox under new manager Robin Ventura that has taken hold of the division. With the uncensored Ozzie Guillen off to manage the third installment of the big spending Miami Marlins and Adam Dunn's return from the dead, the Southside club has been one of baseball's feel good stories. Things got even better for them when they recently added third baseman Kevin Youkilis and his stupid goatee with egged head from a trade with the Yankees' favorite team, the Boston Red Sox.
The top team in the AL Central and the top team in the AL East met at Yankee Stadium in a possible playoff preview (though its still quite early for that type of discussion). Ivan Nova's turn was first and stand in his way was no other than Dylan Axelrod (yes, that's his real name). Axelrod kept the Yankee hitters off-balanced for the first four innings, but in the 5th trailing 1-0, RBI doubles by both A-Rod and Robinson Cano gave the Yanks the 2-1 lead. Mark Teixeira added a solo homerun later on, and things were looking ripe in the 9th inning for the Yanks to have a 3-1 victory. Joe Girardi decided to give Rafael Soriano a night off due to a heavy workload in the Mets and Indians series, and went with his usual mix-n-match bag of tricks with the bullpen. A key moment came when Clay Rapada threw away a potential doubleplay ball into centerfield. With two runners on now, Girardi went with the reliable David Robertson to get out of the jam, but he uncharacteristically served up a 3-run homer to Dayan Viciedo that allowed Chicago to take the lead back 4-3. In the bottom of the 9th, with two outs and the surging Dewayne Wise on first base from a lead-off single, Derek Jeter gave the ball a ride to the wall off of closer Addison Reed which had the look of a cheap homer, but instead the ball died out into the glove of Alex Rios for the 4-3 WhiteSox win.
Round 1 of no CC Sabathia reared his ugly head when the Yankees called up Adam Warren to start in his place. Things looked promising for the youngster as he got through his first major league inning and was staked to a 4-0 lead when the Yankees roughed up WhiteSox starter Jose Quintana in the bottom of the frame. Warren gave it all back in the 2nd inning, plus two more runs and was charged with six total in his terrible 2.1 innings of walks and getting hit hard. The Yanks offense stepped up to tie at 6-6, but reliever David Phelps (who should've made the start) gave up two more runs to make it 8-6 WhiteSox. Cory Wade, who has been atrocious lately out of the Yankees pen, kept on being horrible and was cuffed around in the 7th inning that ended up costing him six earned runs. It got so bad for Girardi that outfielder Dewayne Wise was called in to get the final two outs in the 14-7 WhiteSox romp. Although there was some good news in that Derek Jeter surpassed Cal Ripken Jr. on the all-time hit list, but the bigger issue was that Warren wasn't ready to give the team a quality start. After the game, Warren was sent back to AAA and the front office called up DJ Mitchell.
In desperate need of a real starter and a rested bullpen that could do it's job, Hiroki Kuroda was the perfect place to start. In the blazing hot sun, the Japanese pitcher stopped the Chicago avalanche with 7 strong innings of shutout baseball that included 11 punch-outs. The offense provided enough runs in the form of the Yankees special dish, the homerun. Long balls against Jake Peavy went out by Curtis Granderson, Dewayne Wise, and Robinson Cano. The hot Wise also added another run with an RBI double in the 5th inning that brought Nick Swisher home. Robertson got back on track with a characteristically good 8th inning that featured 2 strikeouts. Up 4-0 in the 9th, Girardi had Boone Logan start the 9th inning against Kevin Youkilis and Logan was able to get the goatee to line out. Next batter, the left-handed hitting Dunn was able to work a walk, so now with it being a save situation the manager brought Rafael Soriano in to finish it off. Things got scary when Soriano went up 3-0 on the count to the next hitter Paul Konerko, but after getting the count to an even 3-2, Konerko ended up grounding into a game-ended doubleplay which gave the Yankees a 4-0 win to snap their 2-game skid.
Usually when the Yankees and the WhiteSox play its a 4-game series, and this time was no different. This gave the Yankees the opportunity to salvage the final game and at least end the tug of war in a tie. Phil Hughes, like Kuroda, coming off a great start last time out against the Indians, took the ball into another blazing hot summer's day and was hit around early in the 1st inning that put the Yanks behind 2-0. The Yankees were primed to take that back and then some in the bottom of the 1st by loading the bases with no one out against Hughes' counterpart Gavin Floyd. Getting back to what the Yankees were doing in April and May, Robinson Cano bounced into a home to first doubleplay that scored no one, and the next hitter Nick Swisher struck out to end the threat. An inning later the Yanks redeemed themselves with a 2-run homer from Eric Chavez to tie up the score, and then another 2-run bomb from Robinson Cano in the 3rd inning to give the Yanks the 4-2 lead. That where the scored stayed for the rest of the game as both starters settled in. For the second consecutive start, the cleaner cut Phil Hughes was able to give Girardi eight innings to rest the bullpen, only needing Soriano to come out in the 9th to record his 18th save of the season. In a roster move afterwards, the Yankees picked up veteran reliever Chad Qualls and optioned Cory Wade back to the minors to learn how to throw a baseball again.
A big divisional week for the 48-30 Yankees lies ahead with trips to Tampa and Boston on the schedule and no more scary pitching to Kevin Youkilis in Fenway.....
The top team in the AL Central and the top team in the AL East met at Yankee Stadium in a possible playoff preview (though its still quite early for that type of discussion). Ivan Nova's turn was first and stand in his way was no other than Dylan Axelrod (yes, that's his real name). Axelrod kept the Yankee hitters off-balanced for the first four innings, but in the 5th trailing 1-0, RBI doubles by both A-Rod and Robinson Cano gave the Yanks the 2-1 lead. Mark Teixeira added a solo homerun later on, and things were looking ripe in the 9th inning for the Yanks to have a 3-1 victory. Joe Girardi decided to give Rafael Soriano a night off due to a heavy workload in the Mets and Indians series, and went with his usual mix-n-match bag of tricks with the bullpen. A key moment came when Clay Rapada threw away a potential doubleplay ball into centerfield. With two runners on now, Girardi went with the reliable David Robertson to get out of the jam, but he uncharacteristically served up a 3-run homer to Dayan Viciedo that allowed Chicago to take the lead back 4-3. In the bottom of the 9th, with two outs and the surging Dewayne Wise on first base from a lead-off single, Derek Jeter gave the ball a ride to the wall off of closer Addison Reed which had the look of a cheap homer, but instead the ball died out into the glove of Alex Rios for the 4-3 WhiteSox win.
Round 1 of no CC Sabathia reared his ugly head when the Yankees called up Adam Warren to start in his place. Things looked promising for the youngster as he got through his first major league inning and was staked to a 4-0 lead when the Yankees roughed up WhiteSox starter Jose Quintana in the bottom of the frame. Warren gave it all back in the 2nd inning, plus two more runs and was charged with six total in his terrible 2.1 innings of walks and getting hit hard. The Yanks offense stepped up to tie at 6-6, but reliever David Phelps (who should've made the start) gave up two more runs to make it 8-6 WhiteSox. Cory Wade, who has been atrocious lately out of the Yankees pen, kept on being horrible and was cuffed around in the 7th inning that ended up costing him six earned runs. It got so bad for Girardi that outfielder Dewayne Wise was called in to get the final two outs in the 14-7 WhiteSox romp. Although there was some good news in that Derek Jeter surpassed Cal Ripken Jr. on the all-time hit list, but the bigger issue was that Warren wasn't ready to give the team a quality start. After the game, Warren was sent back to AAA and the front office called up DJ Mitchell.
In desperate need of a real starter and a rested bullpen that could do it's job, Hiroki Kuroda was the perfect place to start. In the blazing hot sun, the Japanese pitcher stopped the Chicago avalanche with 7 strong innings of shutout baseball that included 11 punch-outs. The offense provided enough runs in the form of the Yankees special dish, the homerun. Long balls against Jake Peavy went out by Curtis Granderson, Dewayne Wise, and Robinson Cano. The hot Wise also added another run with an RBI double in the 5th inning that brought Nick Swisher home. Robertson got back on track with a characteristically good 8th inning that featured 2 strikeouts. Up 4-0 in the 9th, Girardi had Boone Logan start the 9th inning against Kevin Youkilis and Logan was able to get the goatee to line out. Next batter, the left-handed hitting Dunn was able to work a walk, so now with it being a save situation the manager brought Rafael Soriano in to finish it off. Things got scary when Soriano went up 3-0 on the count to the next hitter Paul Konerko, but after getting the count to an even 3-2, Konerko ended up grounding into a game-ended doubleplay which gave the Yankees a 4-0 win to snap their 2-game skid.
Usually when the Yankees and the WhiteSox play its a 4-game series, and this time was no different. This gave the Yankees the opportunity to salvage the final game and at least end the tug of war in a tie. Phil Hughes, like Kuroda, coming off a great start last time out against the Indians, took the ball into another blazing hot summer's day and was hit around early in the 1st inning that put the Yanks behind 2-0. The Yankees were primed to take that back and then some in the bottom of the 1st by loading the bases with no one out against Hughes' counterpart Gavin Floyd. Getting back to what the Yankees were doing in April and May, Robinson Cano bounced into a home to first doubleplay that scored no one, and the next hitter Nick Swisher struck out to end the threat. An inning later the Yanks redeemed themselves with a 2-run homer from Eric Chavez to tie up the score, and then another 2-run bomb from Robinson Cano in the 3rd inning to give the Yanks the 4-2 lead. That where the scored stayed for the rest of the game as both starters settled in. For the second consecutive start, the cleaner cut Phil Hughes was able to give Girardi eight innings to rest the bullpen, only needing Soriano to come out in the 9th to record his 18th save of the season. In a roster move afterwards, the Yankees picked up veteran reliever Chad Qualls and optioned Cory Wade back to the minors to learn how to throw a baseball again.
A big divisional week for the 48-30 Yankees lies ahead with trips to Tampa and Boston on the schedule and no more scary pitching to Kevin Youkilis in Fenway.....
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