Use the Oven Mitts

            A run was needed and a run has been received as the Yankees have steadily transformed into one of the hottest teams in baseball. After a string of wins against tough opponents such as the Detroit Tigers, the Angels (yes - they're terrible this year, but Mike Scioscia usually owns the Yanks), the Red Sox at Fenway, combined with continued success against the roll-over Toronto Blue Jays at home; the Yanks need to be handled with oven mitts to prevent burns.



            Leading the charge has been Alfonso Soriano who chipped in with a mind-blowing 8 homeruns and over 25 RBIs since returning to the Bombers nearly three weeks ago. The trade by Brian Cashman, which received little media attention when it occurred, has to be the quickest impact trade in MLB history. In a 4-game span during his hot streak Soriano clubbed 5 homers and over 18 RBIs. Another pick up of Cashman's, Mark Reynolds, cut by the Indians, introduced himself in his first Yankee at-bat by hitting a homerun over the Green Monster.



            The second major factor in the Yankee surge has been the underestimated Alex Rodriguez who looks anything but the slow and withered reports that came out of his rehab assignments. Although the 211-game suspension finally came down upon A-Rod as was expected, also as was expected, A-Rod appealed it and took the field for the Yankees in 2013. His bat speed is much improved from the embarrassing display from last October and he's able to play third base without a hitch. After the third base merry-go-round this season, the Yankees finally have a steady player at that position who can actually hit a ball over the outfield wall. The bizarre part about all this are the stories and rumors that keep leaking out in which Rodriguez ( or his handlers) accuse the Yankee organization of falsifying his MRI and X-Ray reports with the goal in mind of keeping A-Rod out of the lineup, including back in last season's playoff run.



            Cashman admitted he's no longer able to speak with his highest paid player and one-time corporate lackey ally Randy Levine said he would like to get rid of A-Rod entirely. While that front office mess goes on, the biogenesis drama stays strong with A-Rod being accused of informing on other participants, including his teammate Francisco Cerveilli. Rodriguez denied that story, but with that craziness, battling the front office, and all the other baggage that comes with A-Rod, he's been able to concentrate at the plate and has completely taken everyone off guard by his production.



            Whatever dissenters A-Rod had on his own team might've been won over thanks to Boston starter Ryan Dempster, who purposely plunked the media star in cold blood and fired up the Yankees to a major come back win up at Fenway. Manager Joe Girardi went absolutely ballistic on the field after the umpire warned both benches after the beaning, and not before when Dempster threw his first pitch behind A-Rod's legs. The warning took away the Yankees right to retaliate with a beaning of their own. It was a moment that brought the Yankee clubhouse together and its one beaning that Boston may look back to regret.



              The last piece that has helped get the Yanks rolling has been the return of Curtis Granderson to the lineup and he's yet to have a break in his hand or wrist. After months and months of sporting a lineup that was even weak by National League standards, the Yankees have assembled a squad of batters who can drive pitch counts up and knock the ball out of the ballpark. Also, Granderson's return allows Girardi to give Gardner and Ichiro some much needed rest and lengthens the lineup whereas players like Nunez and Overbay can hit further down in the order with no pressure to put up major numbers. Derek Jeter made a visit to the DL after his second return this season and his rehabbing for his third 2013 return, which should be sometime next week. Once Jeter is back the team will make a long-shot run at the AL East with the Wild Card being more realistic.

Position:

67-59 (4th Place AL East - 6.5 games behind 1st Place Boston Red Sox and 4 back of Wild Card leader Tampa Bay Rays). 

Homeruns:
- Alfonso Soriano is in the best offensive stretch of his career at age 37 - hopefully he's not been hanging out with A-Rod after school.
- Alex Rodriguez shows no signs of being distracted by his suspension appeal or the war of words with the Yankee front office. His hip surgery must have went well because he's been hitting the ball with authority and showing enough range at third.
- Ivan Nova is the Yankees most trustworthy starter these days behind Kuroda.

Foul Tips:
- Mariano Rivera blew three consecutive save opportunities for the first time in his career, but then he followed that up with 3 saves and a Win shortly thereafter.
- CC Sabathia has been slightly better in his last few starts, but still far from the dominant starter he once was not too long ago.
- Andy Pettitte also has been slightly better in his past couple of starts, but he's been struggling to get out of the 6th innings most times.
- Derek Jeter has been on the DL three times in the past two months with various leg and calf issues. If this latest rehab stint doesn't hold his legs up, they may have to consider shutting him down for the season.

Strikeouts:
- Joba Chamberlain has completely fallen out of favor with Girardi. The once jeweled prize of the Yankee farm system has been buried deep in the bullpen for having an atrocious season.
- Phil Hughes is stuck on 4 wins for the season, and although the offense has let him down alot this season, his starts have mainly turned into batting practice for the opposing team.
- Important utility man Jayson Nix suffered a broken bone in his left hand from an errand pitch and is likely done for the season. Nix was able to play all infield positions without Girardi having to hold his breath. Cashman might need another clever pickup replacement because in no way are they trusting Eduardo Nunez's defense.
- Both David Phelps and Michael Pineda appear to be shutdown for the season due to various nagging injuries. There was hope earlier in the year that Pineda could come up as a bullpen man in 2013 and just throw blazing fastballs.
- The biogenesis daily media reports as well as the infighting with A-Rod and the front office is overshadowing the on-the-field activity for the team. It's gotten very ugly and A-Rod warned alot more stories will likely come out over the next few months.


           
            The Yankees are set up to make a run at a postseason birth if they can keep everyone in the lineup healthy for once in 2013. Boston can usually be relied upon for a good September collapse, but the Yanks would still need to keep up this current intensity in order to compete with the many other AL teams in the hunt.



             Maybe the Yankees can be the small-town feel good story this time......

Welcomed With Open Arms

             With the Yankees riding high to the peak of being twelve games over .500, while receiving contributions from youngsters such as David Adams and crafty veterans like Lyle Overbay, many were wondering if the 'Re-Enforcements' would hurt the good chemistry that had developed in 2013. Well, a nightmarish four-game sweep at the hand of the lowly Mets and a de-moralizing weekend series loss to Boston has left the team begging for any shred of offense as they fall down to 3rd Place in the AL East.



              Before any of the 'Re-Enforcements' came back, one needed to be added to the ever-growing list. Andy Pettitte tweaked a trapezoid muscle, or something, in his back and needed a 15-Day DL stint. He's scheduled to be back today, thankfully.



             The first big name to return was Curtis Granderson, who broke his forearm during the opening Spring Training game this season by an errand pitch. After a week back in the "Bigs", Granderson was sent back down, thanks to another hit-by-pitch at Tropicana Field that broke a bone in his pinkie finger. This break isn't listed as severe as before and will only require five weeks before he can return. Some rotten season so far for a player in his contract year who needs to put up big numbers to get a nice new juicy deal.



             After a great weekend against the Rays (despite the Granderson injury) which included an amazing comeback against Fernando Rodney, the Yanks were geared up for the 2013 Subway Series which had been designed differently this year. Instead of the two weekend series showdowns, this time it would be four games during the week, with two in Flushing and two in the Bronx. The Mets had been reeling badly coming in and this was shaping up to be a shellacking at the hands of the Yanks, or three out of four games at the very least, knowing Mets pitching phenom Matt Harvey was starting one of them. This series would turn out to be the beginning of the bump in the road everyone had been anticipating with this surprisingly successful undermanned Yankee squad.



            The Mets took all four games!!



            This included two-walk off wins at CitiField, smacking David Robertson around one night and causing Mariano Rivera to blow his first save opportunity of the season. Then at Yankee Stadium, the Mets totally pounded David Phelps one night and got a great pitching performance from Dillon Gee the next as he struck out twelve Yankee batters. Other than the bad Phelps start, Yankee starting pitching did their best to keep their team in the games, but the offense completely hit a wall and getting Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira back for the Boston series was at an opportune time.



           Things looked promising the first game against the long-time rivals. CC Sabathia turned in his best performance of the season going 7.1 innings and holding the Sox to one lone run. Both Teixeira and Youkilis were instrumental in Yankee rallies that lead to a 4-1 Yankee win. Any thoughts the Yanks had snapped out of their offensive woes were washed out over the next two games. The Sox battered the Yankees 11-1 the following night and shut down the Yanks the next night 3-0. Although, the finale was called by the 6th inning due to rain, but it didn't seem like it would've made a difference anyways. They can't find their hitting!!



Position:
31-25 (3rd Place AL East - 3 Games behind 1st Place Boston Red Sox)

Homeruns:
-Hiroki Kuroda has transformed into the team's most reliable starter (which has been the case since 2012).
-Ivan Nova has life on his pitches again since he's returned from the DL, but for now he's being used solely as long relief. It looks like its David Phelps' starting job to lose.
-Vidal Nuno looks like a keeper!! Even if he's sent back down to the minors, the lefty starter has shown alot of poise and maturity during his first major league stint. Hopefully he'll be a regular in the rotation in the future.
-Lyle Overbay seems to have a knack of getting clutch hits late in ballgames.
-Brett Gardner made some unbelievable catches at CitiField and has been very good as the Yanks lead-off hitter.

Foul Tips:
-Taking away the good start recently against Boston, CC Sabathia has been struggling to keep the other teams off the scoreboard and posts a mediocre 5-4 season record.
-Chris Stewart needed to stay out a few games to rest his groin, but now he left a game to deal with dizziness. Austin Romine seems to be the only healthy catcher.
-After a good start with the bat, David Adams has stopped hitting. Perhaps scouts have figured out something with Adams that Adams doesn't know about.
-Travis Hafner never needed a DL stint for his sore shoulder, but aside from one tremendous homerun in Camden Yards, his power has taken a major vacation.
-No word yet on returns for Nunez, Jeter, and A-Rod.

Strikeouts:
-Ichiro has looked horrible all season long at the plate, thankfully he hasn't carried it into the field.
-After the hot start from Vernon Wells, he's now looking like the Wells the Anaheim Angels wanted to get rid of in the worst way.



              With the return of Teixeira of Youkilis, pending they too don't get a case of the 'Curtis Granderson' Curse, the lineup will be deeper and that takes the pressure off the likes of Ichiro, Wells, and even Cano. The team had smooth sailing all season long up to this point, they had to struggle eventually.

               It happens to every team every season, and at multiple times.....

Top of the AL East heap

             After all the months of injuries, hot and cold streaks, too many homers, not enough small-ball, it all came down to three games for the Yankees against their heated foe the Boston Red Sox to determine if they'll be comfortably crowned the AL East champs or would have to roll the dice with the new one-game playoff  rules of the Wild Card round. The Yankees showed up in a big way to make their claim as the best team in the division and all the pieces are coming together in just the right time for a successful playoff run.



             While the Orioles, in a dead heat with the Yankees in the standings, were down in Tampa to mettle with the Rays, whose playoff chances were hanging by a string, the Yankees hosted the last place Red Sox and their last place roster with lame duck manager, Bobby Valentine, on his way out the door. CC Sabathia was looking for his fourth strong start and the decimated Red Sox lineup was the perfect opponent. Starting for the Red Sox was the oft-injured Clay Buchholz and the Yankees tore him apart in the 2nd inning and put the first game away immediately. Robinson Cano started the fun with a solo homerun, Curtis Granderson added a 2-run shot, Russell Martin then went opposite field for another, and by the time Cano got up again in the long inning, his double made it 7-0 Yankees and drove Buchholz from the game after 1.2 innings. Mark Teixeira made his return to the lineup after his weeks long calf injury, and he launched the fourth homer of the inning, a 2-run blast off of Alfredo Aceves. With the 9-0 lead, CC Sabathia had things well in hand; just giving up a solo homer to Daniel Nava in the 4th and a sacrifice fly in the 7th. Sabathia went 8 innings and struck out 7 batters to reach his 15th win of the season. Base running expert Melky Mesa had his first hit and RBI in the majors to increase the lead to 10-2, which is where the score ended. The Yankee win, combined with an Oriole loss in Tampa on the night, put the Yankees back in sole possession of first place!!



             If there was a game the Yankees were going to lose in this final regular season series, it likely was the second with tough-lefty Jon Lester starting against David Phelps, replacing the ineffective Ivan Nova in the rotation. Under wet skies the Red Sox took an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning from a Jacoby Ellsbury single followed by a Dustin Pedroia double. Pedroia would eventually come around to score, but Phelps held the punchless Red Sox lineup from there. Meanwhile the Yankee offense was knocking on the door almost every inning against Jon Lester, but couldn't get that big hit with runners on. In fact, Mark Teixeira painstakingly hit into two double-plays with two runners on. The first Yankee run didn't come across until the middle of the Teixeira hitting gaffs, the 2nd inning, and it took an Eduardo Nunez lined shot to short that wasn't handled well and Curtis Granderson came into score. The score amazingly stayed 2-1 Red Sox to the top of the 9th inning when Rafael Soriano was brought out in the non-save situation. As he has been bit by the homerun bug lately, Soriano gave up another to James Loney that increased the Sox lead to 3-1. With the Orioles winning their game in Tampa, the pressure was on for the Yanks to hold onto their one-game lead. In the bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox went with their free agent replacement of Jonathan Papelbon, Andrew Bailey, and the struggling closer brought the Yankees back to life. A Curtis Granderson single put a runner on, then Raul Ibanez, solid in pinch-hitting scenarios lately, slapped a game-tying over the right field wall which put the Stadium crowd into a frenzy.



            The Yankees would go on to load the bases in the inning, but couldn't push across that winning run, yet. It wasn't until the bottom of the 12th that the Yankees were able to hold serve with the Orioles. After two solid innings of relief from Derek Lowe, which included a frog on the field game pause, the Yankees had a two-out rally. September call-up Francisco Cervelli, in as catcher, was in the hole 0-2 against the tough, tall, hard-throwing Andrew Miller. Somehow, Cervelli worked the count to 3-2 and drew a walk. The next hitter, Curtis Granderson, was the beneficiary of a four-pitch walk, which put Cervelli into scoring position. With that hero again, Ibanez, due up next, Girardi stuck with him instead of going to Andruw Jones for the righty-lefty match-up. The night ended with a well-placed single by Ibanez through the shortstop hole and the speedy Cervelli rounded the bases for the 4-3 game-winning run.



            There was one game left and the AL East, along with the best record in American League, was in front of the Yankees for the taken. A win would not only secure them the AL East title, but with the Texas Rangers limping to end the season, the Yankees also had the opportunity to give themselves home field advantage through the AL rounds. Two Japanese imports would take the hill, Boston's also oft-injured Daisuke Matsuzaka and his mythical gyro-ball versus the solid Yankee Hiroki Kuroda. Boston grabbed a quick 1-0 in the 1st inning, but Curtis Granderson erased that and then some with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd. An inning later, Robinson Cano went deep as well on Dice-K with a massive 2-run shot that made it 5-1 Yankees and eventually would make Bobby V to have to call upon his overworked bullpen.  Cano wasn't done with just the first homer, he smoked another in the 5th inning and then poked a 2-run single with the bases loaded in the 6th. The rout was on for the Yankees and the AL East was only inches from their grasp, as the Orioles were also trailing in their final game in Tampa. Boston would score again in the 7th to make it 9-2, but Curtis Granderson responded with his second homer of the night, the 43rd of the season. Just about every Yankee hitter got into the action one way or another and by the time the 7th inning was done, the Yankees had a massive 14-2 lead. Kuroda went 7 innings and picked up his 16th victory of the season. The Orioles ended up losing anyways, which would've given the division to the Yankees, but the Yanks stormed their way to finish the regular season with the 14-2 and Robinson Cano elevated his hitting to a whole new level before the playoffs are about to start.



              On Friday night the Orioles and Rangers play the one-game Wild Card playoff to determine which team faces the 2012 AL East Champion Yankees. Meanwhile the 95-67 Yankees can rest up some of their overused and overworked players and prepare for Game 1 of the ALDS. The Bomber line-up finally resembles what GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi had in mind with all the sluggers back healthy and Ichiro making his impact. CC Sabathia looks strong again, and Andy Pettitte is as sure as a bet as their is for postseason starts. There's no Mariano Rivera for those automatic saves, but a few days rest should serve Rafael Soriano well. Meanwhile Bobby Valentine would be relieved of his managerial duties in Boston after just one season of turmoil, Miquel Cabrera would be the first Triple-Crown winner since 1967, and the Mets had another wasted season. All is right in Yankeeland for the time being......

Too close for comfort

             With the Orioles bumper-to-bumper behind the Yankees, the last trip of 2012 to Fenway Park against a watered down Red Sox was a great way to try to put some more room between themselves of those pesky birds of Baltimore. The Sox officially tossed in the towel for 2012 by trading away some of their biggest names to the Dodgers including Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford (injured anyways), and a real staple of the organization, Josh "Beer Belly" Beckett.



             Still, its Yankees-Red Sox, and its Fenway Park, so it turned out to be not such a cakewalk as one would think. After splitting a four-game series in Camden and winning the final game in unlikely fashion, the Yankees were trying to turn the page of their doldrums and Hiroki Kuroda was the one of the mound to get things started. Not shipped out by the Sox was Beckett's fried chicken partner, Jon Lester, and the Yanks were primed to knock him out early. Lester had control issues early in the 1st, and after falling behind 1-0 from a Robinson Cano RBI ground out, the bases would eventually be loaded for Curtis Granderson. With a chance to put a crooked number up on the board early, Granderson would pop up and end the threat. Lester settled down and the Red Sox had their fun in the bottom of the 3rd. Two other "normal" Red Sox still left, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, hit RBI singles to turn the lead 2-1 Red Sox. Derek Jeter stepped up in the 6th with two runners on when the Captain slapped a double to the opposite field that stayed fair and went for a ground rule double. Of course, its still Yankees-Red Sox, and in the bottom of the frame Dustin Pedroia tied it up at 3 with a solo homerun over the green monster. Kuroda pitched into the 7th and needed to be lifted after one out. It stayed that way until the bottom of the 9th with one out and Yankee reliever David Robertson on the mound. The ever-annoying Pedro Ciriaco would single to get on base. The next hitter, Mike Aviles, hit a soft grounder in the hole at shortstop that Jeter wasn't able to make a play on. This placed the speedy Ciriaco at second base, and would end up costing the Yankees the game when Ellsbury followed with a RBI single into right that scored the game-winning run at 4-3.



             Needing wins against a weak Red Sox squad in a tight division race, the pressure was on for rookie Yankee starter David Phelps to come through. The game was scoreless until the top of the 4th when the Yankee hitters finally got to Aaron Cook. Curtis Granderson got it started with a solo homerun to right field, and soon after, Robinson Cano when yard with a 2-run shot over the green monster that made it 3-0. The Red Sox did get to Phelps for a run in the 4th, but the young starter was brilliant in a near-playoff importance type of game, especially in the 5th inning when he erased the threat of a lead-off triple by getting the next three outs without the run scoring. Phelps gave the Yankees 5.2 innings and would end up getting the win. Curtis Granderson added to the Yanks' lead in the 7th with his second homerun of the night, a 2-run shot to make it 5-1 and it seemed the game was over. Dustin Pedroia's pregnant wife helped the Bombers out by going into labor during the game, causing the able-bodied Pedroia to exit the game early to be with his wife.



            Without Pedroia, the Sox kept fighting back against their New York rival and got two of those runs back in the bottom of the 7th. With a 5-3 score in the bottom of the 8th and runners on, Yankees manager Joe Girardi went to Rafael Soriano to get a four-out save. On a 3-2 count to Cody Ross, a low slider was called for strike three to the Yankees' benefit and fury spread across the Red Sox dugout which caused Ross, manager Bobby Valentine (plus two of his coaches), to get tossed from the game. The drama didn't end there; in the bottom of the 9th Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered and brought the game to 5-4. Then the very next hitter, Daniel Nava, took Soriano deep to the green monster and had the crowd in an uproar, but it wasn't hit quite well enough and the ball landed in Chris Dickerson's glove for the first out of the inning. Soriano kept his composure from there and was able to record the final two outs for the 5-4 win and his 37th save of the season. Even though the Yanks won, it was at a cost with their MVP Derek Jeter having to leave the game after re-injuring a bone bruise on his foot he's been (secretly) nursing.



             It came down to a final showdown with Phil Hughes, the Yankees best starter at the moment (sadly), and lefty Felix Doubront, who has been tough on the Yanks this season. Jeter was able to make the lineup, but as a DH, and Pedroia was totally out of the picture playing daddy. With the thin Red Sox lineup even further weakened with the loss of Pedroia, Phil Hughes did what he should do in that situation and pounded the strike zone. It looked like the Sox weren't even interested in playing by swinging early in the count and giving Hughes one easy inning after another. Doubront was good in his own right, but a bases loaded situation in the 4th allowed Andruw Jones to sac fly in a run and give the Yankees all the offense they would need at 1-0. The injured Captain, Derek Jeter, added another run in the 7th by poking a bloop-single to center off of Red Sox reliever Junichi Tazawa. Hughes was dominating in 7.1 innings of work with 7 strike outs for the night. Rafael Soriano came on in the 9th to close it out, and made it less dramatic this time for save number 38 for the season. The 2-0 win let the Yankees keep pace with the Orioles who never lose a game anymore.



            The 81-63 Yankees should be kicking themselves for letting the first game against Boston get away, next up is three games at home against the Tampa Bay Rays, who are also treading on the Yanks' AL East/Wild Card property.....