A fresh pair of socks

             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 party-poopers

             For scheduling reasons only some MLB head office janitor would know, the Yankees had to face the Atlanta Braves for a second time this season during this interleague phase. Although facing NL teams seems to be a delight to the Yanks, this time the NL struck back and in addition to snapping their fun 10-game win streak, the Yankees were also slapped around at home.



             Things got off to a good start with a rematch of last week's lefty match-up of CC Sabathia and Mike Minor. Previously in Atlanta, Minor had been cruising to the 7th inning with a 4-0 lead, when the walls crumbled on the Braves bullpen and the Yankees reversed it to a 6-4 win. Parallel in this game, Minor had been doing fine with a 2-0 by the 5th inning, when things slipped away again as soon as he reached near the 100-pitch mark. The Yankees in the bottom of the 5th had cut the score 2-1 and had the bases loaded with Derek Jeter at the plate. The Yankee Captain delivered with a 2-RBI single to give the Yankees the lead 3-2. That was more than enough for CC Sabathia who went the distance for his 9th win with a complete game performance that included 10 strikeouts. More runs were tacked on later by the Yanks thanks to longballs from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano which ran the score up to its 6-2 final.



             The next rematch from last week featured Hiroki Kuroda, who has been on a pitching tear lately, against Tim Hudson. The Yankees had to have been feeling good in the 2nd inning when Nick Swisher hit a double which scored 2 runs, but the Braves answered back in the 3rd with an RBI groundout, and then scored 2 more runs to take the 3-2 leads. Thanks to some sloppy Braves defense, the Yanks were able to tie the score 3-3 on Russell Martin grounder misplayed by Chipper Jones in the bottom of the 4th. Tim Hudson was squeezed on the mound by the homeplate umpire which allowed Derek Jeter to walk to load the bases. On the ropes and about to get knocked out by Curtis Granderson, Hudson got out of the jam with a 3-pitch strikeout.



           The Yankees had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the 5th when Nick Swisher doubled with Mark Teixeira standing on second base, but the ball was hit hard enough to reach right fielder Jayson Wayward, who gunned the slow-footed Teixeira at home to end the inning. The big out must have energized the Braves, because Brian McCann lead off the 6th with a double off of Kuroda and would eventually come around to score and give the Braves the 4-3 lead. The Yankees had one final shot to get a run and it looked promising when Granderson and Rodriguez reached to put 2 runners on first and second with no outs. Cano moved them over with a sacrifice ground out, then next hitter Teixeira hit a sharp grounder to Chipper Jones who was able to throw out Granderson trying to score at home, and last hitter Ibanez struckout, as he continues to wear down from overuse due to Gardner's injury. In the 9th, the Braves sent out their superman unnecessary hunched-over closer Craig Kimbrel with his 99mph fastball mixed in with 89mph breaking stuff and he made the Yankees first three hitters look childish as he saved the 4-3 game without problems.



             For the rubber match it came down to a pair of pitchers who did not face eachother last week; Phil Hughes and Tommy Hanson. With a heatwave hovering over New York and temperatures at Yankee Stadium reaching 95 degrees, Phil Hughes must have had his brain fried because he simply didn't have it. Already down 1-0 in the first inning, Hughes gave up a 2-run shot to Francisco Freeman to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. Derek Jeter struck back immediately by depositing the first pitch from Tommy Hanson over the right field wall to get one back for the Yankees, but Hughes gave it back in the 4th inning with a solo homer from Martin Prado. Just for good measure Hughes gave up two more homers to Jayson Heyward and even 9th-place hitter David Ross that increased the Braves lead to 6-1. Hughes couldn't even finish the 5th and Girardi had to come and get him out of the sun.



             The hot air helped the Yankee hitters as well as they started to mount their comeback with homeruns from Eric Chavez in the 5th inning, then Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano back-to-back in the 6th to cut the lead 6-4. In the bottom of the 7th, the Yanks had a golden opportunity to tie the score. The Yankees had cut the Braves lead to 6-5 and had runners on first and third with one out and A-Rod at the plate. A sacrifice fly or groundout would tie the score, but instead he did the absolute worst thing he could in that situation, he grounded into a double-play that ended the inning. In the top of the 8th, Boone Logan was on the mound with one out and a runner at first and third for the Braves this time. A ball was hit hard to Chavez (filling in for Teixeira who didn't start) and what would've been a double-play ball to end the threat, the ball was booted by Chavez and the runner scored from third to make it 7-5 Braves. Afterwards, Jayson Heyward ended it essentially with a 2-run bomb to right field that made it 9-5, and the game ended at 10-5 in a homer happy heat drenched afternoon.



             With the 10-game winning streak seemingly like a long distant memory after two frustrating losses, the 41-27 Yankees go for one final NL match-up, this time a rematch against the Mets, hoping the don''t turn things around like the Braves did....

Taking the nation by storm

             The Yankees cemented themselves as the hottest team in baseball after yet another sweep, a first place team this time, in the Washington Nationals. The nation's capital was the sight of the match-up as the Yanks wrapped up their road trip against the former Montreal Expos.



             Luck was bestowed on the Yanks before a pitch was even thrown as they would miss facing phenom starter Steven Strasburg due to the fact he pitched in the Nationals' previous game in Toronto. The Yanks would get a look at their other big-named player getting alot of attention lately, nineteen year-old centerfielder Bryce Harper. Winners of six games in a row themselves, the Nationals instead sent Gio Gonzalez, part of their revamped rotation in 2012, out to open against Phil Hughes. Gio looked sharp early after he struck out Jeter and Granderson to start the game, but soon enough the Yankee machine applied pressure and got his pitch count up. By the 3rd inning, singles by Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher with runners on put the Yanks up 2-0. In the bottom of the 3rd the National would stage a little rally of their own by loading the bases and hitting a single to even score a run to cut the lead in half, but then Hughes buckled down to get Ian Desmond to ground into a double-play to end the threat. Desmond would end up being the Yankees best friend throughout the weekend.




             Gio Gonzalez started the 7th inning, but after giving up a leadoff single, Nationals manager Davey Johnson of 1986 Mets World Championship fame brought in Brad Lidge to make things even worse. After a couple more walks, one intentional, the bases were loaded for Derek Jeter who plated two run thanks to an infield single and throwing error by their shortstop Ian Desmond. Johnson then went to lefty Mike Gonzalez, but Curtis Granderson went opposite field for a double to score two more runs and the usually solid Nats bullpen had surrendered 4 runs. Hughes gave six good innings and Girardi had the bullpen close out the final three innings. Curtis Granderson tacked on a solo homer in the 9th to make it 7-1 Yankees and David Robertson made his return in the 9th from his DL stint to give a run back and finish off the game 7-2.



             Saturday afternoon turned out to be a five-hour marathon affair with both managers emptying out their bullpens and it would take the Yankees a whole fourteen innings to cap off their eighth win in a row. It begun simple enough as Andy Pettitte took the hill against the Nationals other Zimmermann, Jordan Zimmermann (with two N's at the end instead of one). The Nats grabbed an early 2-0 thanks to a broken-bat double by Jesus Flores that carried deep to the left field wall. Other than that, Pettitte was solid and made youngster Bryce Harper look ugly on three strikeouts, and Harper himself would strikeout five times during the long afternoon.



             In the 4th inning, an error by Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond allowed Russell Martin to score to make it 2-1 Nationals, and then in the 6th a sacrifice groundout by Raul Ibanez and a long double by Eric Chavez made it now 3-2 Yankees. Before the Chavez double, Swisher tried scoring on a Martin infield single, but was thrown out at home and suffered a leg contusion on the collision that would take him out for the rest of the series. Cory Wade came out to start the eighth after Pettitte's seven innings of work, and Ian Desmond made some amends by knocking a solo homer to left to tie the game at 3-3 to put a blemish on this time the usually reliable Yankees bullpen. Things could've gotten worse in the bottom of the 8th for the Yankees with Boone Logan, relieving Wade, came on to face pinch-hitter Adam LaRoche. A single by LaRoche with Tyler Moore at second put the Yanks in danger of falling behind, but the ball was hit hard enough to right that Dewyane Wise, actually doing something significant for the first time in pinstripes, threw Moore out at home trying to score. Luckily for the Yankees, the homeplate umpire had blown the call as replays showed Moore's hand on the plate before the tag.



             With the score 3-3 in the 9th inning and through the extra frames, it was blown opportunity after blown opportunity for both teams. The managers were running out of pitchers and Girardi was forced to let Freddy Garcia to just stay out there until they take a lead or just lose. Turns out the Yanks finally grabbed at lead and hit with RISP thanks to a 2-run double in the top of the 14th by Mark Teixeira off of Brad Lidge again which plated Jayson Nix (also doing something big in a Yankee uniform for the first time with a leadoff single) and Derek Jeter that put the Yankees up 5-3. After the game, the second poor outing in a row by Lidge caused the Nationals to release him. With the lead, Girardi was able to go to closer Rafael Soriano and instead of putting an end to the never-ending game, Soriano made it very interesting with allowing two singles to put the game in the hands of phenom hitter Bryce Harper with two-outs that he could win the game with a walk-off homer. It wouldn't be that day Harper as he quietly grounded out to second to avoid the scare and let Soriano untuck his shirt for the 5-3 victory.



              The Yankees must have liked their chances of achieving their third sweep in a row of a NL club when they sent their reliable road warrior Ivan Nova to cap off the third game against the oft-traveled Edwin Jackson, also part of the revamped 2012 Nationals rotation. The Yankees went up 1-0 in the 1st inning from an RBI flyout from Mark Teixeira, but the Nationals answered back in the 2nd with a solo homer from Adam LaRoche. With homeruns being the theme of the game, Curtis Granderson hit his 21st of the season in the 5th inning and Cano hit one in the 7th to make it 3-1 Yankees. Then yet another Nationals error lead to the Yankees' 4th run; on what was seemingly an unintentional-intentional walk to Andruw Jones with Teixeira at third base, catcher Jhonathan Solano allowed the ball to go by him which brought Teixeira in to score. Nova was able to stretch it into the 8th inning with 7.2 innings of one-run ball for his 9th win of the season and Soriano less-dramatically closed it out for his lucky 13th save.



               With a poor May behind them, the Yankees stand at 40-25 that ties them with the Texas Rangers in wins (plus Texas has two more losses) in the AL and the Yanks are only two losses behind the MLB win-leading Dodgers....

             

Climbing up the ladder

             After being in the dumps about two weeks ago, the Yanks returned back to the Bronx after a much needed 6-3 road trip and were looking to leap over the Rays in the AL East standings. Two teams ahead of the Yankees, the Orioles and the Rays, had been struggling in recent games and it gave the surging Yanks a great opportunity to make up some ground.



              Trying to put his subpar start in Anaheim in his rear view mirror, Andy Pettitte took the ball in the first game against the Rays' "Big Game" James Shields, who has been nothing but in his last few starts against the Yankees. Pettitte made it look too easy as he put the Rays to sleep with no runs and two hits over 7.1 innings. Even returning Yankee fan favorite, Hideki Matsui, recently picked up by Tampa to help their offensive woes, wasn't able to make a dent and became one of Pettitte's 10 strikeout victims. The offense kept Shields in the palm of their hands as usual and blasted him for 7 runs in his 5 innings of torture, highlighted by a 4th inning grand slam by Russell Martin of all hitters. The defense didn't help Shields either as a pair of early errors led to two of the Yankees first runs. The seldom used Freddy Garcia made a rare appearance in a winning cause in the 8th inning to finish the Rays off for the 7-0 win.



             In keeping with the theme of strong starting pitching by the Yankees recently, and also trying to repent after an evil performance in Anaheim, Ivan Nova took over where Pettitte left off. Going up against Alex Cobb (I know...who?...) Nova came within inches of throwing a complete game shutout. Up 2-0 thanks to solo homers from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano off of Cobb earlier in the game, the offense tacked on 2 more insurance in the bottom of the 8th, which proved to be mighty later on.



             Girardi allowed Nova to come out in the top of the 9th, as he was cruising along all game, to finish it off. But then a lead off triple, followed by another triple made the score 4-1 Yanks with a potential run standing at third. Rafael Soriano entered the game to clean up Nova's mess.



             Like a machine, Soriano refused B.J. Upton, standing on 3rd, to score. First victim Matt Joyce popped up to the catcher. Next, Ben Zobrist struckout, and that set the stage with a familiar face in Hideki Matsui who could make it 4-3 with a swing of the bat, with the dangerous Carlos Pena batting behind him who could make it 4-4 with another swing. Instead, Soriano challenged Matsui with a fastball and Godzilla took it to the very end of the warning track as Yankee fans held their breath, but luckily it safely landed in the glove of Nick Swisher to end the game at 4-1. With Soriano's 8th save of the season, he secured Nova's 7th win and help the Yanks pass the Rays in the standing by a half-game.



             Looking for the sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees had to like their chances with sending their 7-2 ace CC Sabathia to the hill. Opposing him was the equally difficult David Price at 7-3, but the Yanks had been able to rough up Price in his last few visits to the Bronx. This time Rays manager Joe Maddon didn't put Matsui in the lineup and it seemed to have a reversal of fortunes for the Yankees. Tampa had a 5-1 lead by the 4th inning with Sabathia not being sharp at all, plus Jayson Nix having a difficult time playing in left, as Brett Gardner's eminent return can't come soon enough. An inning later, the Yankees had a sign of life to possibly tie the game with one swing, or at least cut into the deficit. With bases loaded and only one out, Alex Rodriguez battled David Price to work the count to 3-2 and fouled off pitch after pitch, until Price finally got A-Rod to strikeout. Rodriguez returned to the bench to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Cano after that grounded out and that was the Yanks last big chance of the night. Although they added another run in the 8th to make it 5-2, the Rays answered back with 2 more runs in the 9th and the game ended with a 7-3 final. With the win, the Yankees got the series, but the Rays took back their half-game lead in the standings.



                 With a third of the season already gone, A-Rod stands at a whopping 9 homers and only 22 RBIs, and for thirty-million a year in salary is on course for 27 homers and 66 RBIs. He'll get his chance to erase the bases loaded strikeout from fans' memory as the 31-25 club enters Round 1 of the Subway Series against the surprising Mets...