My obligations to school coming first, I have been unable to write since the eighth. However, now that I have completed all of my work, I am going to briefly run through the last four games.

4/8 Yanks at Kansas City

The Yanks lost 5-2 in KC, but the bigger story was Posada’s sixth inning trip to the training room due to his shoulder. The Royals took advantage of Jorge’s arm troubles by stealing four bases in four innings. They also made Hughes work, he threw 56 pitches through the first two innings. The nail in the coffin came when the Yanks were down 3-2 and Ohlendorf gave up a two run single.

On his arm Posada said:

“I’m not helping the team out, it’s as simple as that. I’ve got to be
100 percent to be back there and right now I’m not,” he said. “I’m
hoping for the best but I don’t know.” (LoHud)

4/9 Yanks at Royals

Here was the lineup:

YANKEES
Damon DH
Cano 2B
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Giambi 1B
Molina C
Cabrera CF
Gonzalez SS
Kennedy RHP

The KC team doctor diagnosed Posada with a shoulder strain, but shouldn’t be on the DL. Morgan Ensberg looks to have injured his ankle, (I guess), and will be put on 15 day DL.

The Yankees continue to struggle at the plate, and lost again. They’re average with RISP is a dreary .167, and have score only 25 runs so far, their worst start since 1989. As a side note they lost 87 games in ’89. On a questionable call last night, Girardi entrusted Farnsworth to pitch more than one inning. After getting out of the fourth, he came into the fifth and immediately gave up a huge jack to John Buck. Then he allowed an RBI single to Jose Guillen. Whoops.

Yanks lose 4-0.

4/10 Yankees at Royals

The Yanks finally one a game in KC, avoiding the impending series sweep.

Here was the lineup:

YANKEES
Damon LF
Cabrera CF
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Matsui RF
Molina C
Cano 2B
Ensberg 1B
Gonzalez SS
Pettitte LHP

Girardi got a little crazy with the lineup last night, but in order to break a slump you have to be creative. The Yanks had twelve hits, and A Rod homered and had two RBI’s. Cabrera tied the game in the third with a homerun of his own. Posada hit a big fly as well, for a total of three homers in the game. The only KC run came in the first inning off of Pettitte.

The Yankees won 6-1.

4/11 Yankees at Boston

The Yanks faced up for the first of 18 against Boston on Friday, and continued on with their win over KC the day before.

Here was the lineup:

YANKEES
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Posada DH
Giambi 1B
Molina C
Gonzalez SS
Wang RHP (2-0, 1.38 ERA)

CMW continued looking like an ace pitcher, coming within a few hits from a No Hitter. His ERA continues to stay awesomely low, 1.23 after this game.He’s 3-0.  BTW he threw a complete game.

On offense the Yanks scored the tying run in the seventh with a Big G homer to straightaway center. Cabrera helped out with a Sac Fly that score Molina. Molina also had driven in Matsui. The last Yankee run came in the ninth, when Abreu drove in Alberto Gonzales.

Yankees win 4-1.

4/12 Yankees at RedSox

The Yanks kept it close on Sunday, but ended up losing 3-4 to the Sox.

Here was the lineup:

YANKEES
Johnny Damon LF
Melky Cabrera CF
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi 1B
Jorge Posada DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Jose Molina C
Alberto Gonzalez SS
Mike Mussina RHP

The big story was Girardi’s decision to allow Moose to pitch to Manny Ramirez in the sixth inning. Up 2-1, the RedSox had runners on second and third, with first base open. Youk was on deck, and Ramirez at the plate. Girardi went out and discussed the situation with Moose on the mound. The normal decision would be to walk Manny and face Youkilis, but the Yanks went ahead and pitched to Ramirez. Manny had homered off of Moose already in the fourth, but Moose was nervous about Youk hitting with the bases loaded. He went ahead and pitched to Ramirez. RBI double. Moose was pulled and Bruney allowed an RBI hit from Youkilis for a 4-2 RedSox lead.

The Yanks scored two more, but couldn’t get ahead.

RedSox 4, Yanks 3

The Yankees face off this afternoon in Kansas City in the Royals home opener. Jeter is not playing, and will not for the entire series. Betemit is at SS.

 

Here is the Lineup:

YANKEES
Damon LF
Cano 2B
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Giambi 1B
Betemit SS
Cabrera CF
Hughes RHP

Well, why not? Tonight I’m going to do a live blog, albeit I’m starting a bit late.

 

Throught he second inning Moose has allowed no runs, and looks pretty good. The Yanks scored two in the bottom of the first on a Bobby Abreu HR.

Bottom of the Second:

Robbie Cano, who has been struggling in the lineup, (we’ll who hasn’t been), just hit a ground ball for the first out.

Betimit strikes out and Cabrera flys out to 7.

Top 3rd:

 Jeter has been taken out of the game without a reason given. Betimit moves to 6, Morgan Ensberg at 3.

Johnny Gomes just belted a changeup down the middle over the left field wall.

2-1 Yanks

Moose walks Bartlett, 1 out.

Bartlett goes and Molina makes a pretty high throw. Betemit tries to lay the tag down on him, but essentially flies over him. Rays RISP.

Iwamura hits a ground ball for the second out, but Bartlett moves to third.

Moose pitches a ground ball and gets out of the inning.

Bottom 3rd:

The Yanks have put Molina on third and Abreu on first wih two outs.

A Rod hits into a force out. Not what we wanted but atleast the Yanks have been hitting the ball tonight.

Top of 4th

 Moose retires the side on ground balls. Nice.

Bottom of the 4th:

 Yanks go down 1-2-3 as well

Top of fifth:

Moose retires the side again.

Bottom of the fifth:

With two outs, Damon (2 for 3 tonight) gets on first with a little blooper. He’s left stranded.

Top of Sixth:

One out, no runners on base.With two outs Pena gets on base with a Cano error. Trying to get fancy. Again. Moose gets out of the inning with no runs.

Bottom of Sixth:

With no outs Bobby Abreu once again hits a hard drive that this time bounces off the right field wall. He is gets himself a nice stand up triple.

A Rod! Alex just broke his bat on an RBI single to right.

3-1 Yankees

Matsui just hit an RBI double (he’s now 1-3) to score A-Rod.

4-1 Yankees 0 outs

Cano then advances Matsui to third on a broken bat ground out.

Rays pitcher Hammel gets a big out with a strikeout, but is definately almost done for. He intentionally walks Melky to get to Molina.

It’s a good move as Molina gets an out to end the inning.

Top of Seventh:

Mussina is out of the game, and has been replaced by RHP Brian Bruney. He is able to get out of the inning with no earned runs.

Bottom of Seventh:

Hammel is out and reliever Scott Dohmann is on the mound. He faces Johnny Damon.

It is reported that Jeter was taken out with a strained groin. He is slated to get an MRI before leaving for KC.

Damon flys out.

Ensberg and Abreu (BB) are on base with A Rod up. Abreu is a double away from hitting for cycle. Last time a Yankee did that? ’95.

A Rod is called out looking on a garbage strike, but Matsui makes them pay with an RBI single.

5-1 Yanks

Robbie Cano hits a two out RBI single and the Yanks are looking like the team they really are. Abreu scores for the 6-1 lead, and last run of the inning.

Top of the Eighth:

Kyle Farnsworth comes in as the setup man, instead of Chamberlain. He sets the Rays down 1-2-3.

Nice Outing.

Bottom of Eighth:

Yanks are sat down without any runs.

Top of Ninth:

The Rays are looking at one more chance to get the win in this one, but I don’t foresee it in the near future.  

 LaTroy Hawkins is the Yankee closer.

He works out of trouble, striking out Gomes for the win.

Yanks Win!

6-1

 

They hit the road for a DAY GAME tomorrow in Kansas City. Ouch.

They will be on the road for the next 18 games, including a series with ALE rivals Boston RedSox.

The lineup looked alot better tonight, and Mussina was magical as he had a start that rivaled CMW’s.

Jeter will be news as they will be cautious with his injury this early in the season.

Look for some play from Betemit and Ensberg as the Yankee bench is short due to suspension.

Hopefully tonights performance will start up the offense for the month of April.

 

 

 

 

 

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Ok! Tonight is the fourth and final game of this four games series, and the Yankees are looking to tie it 2-2.

I will be watching live tonight, here are the starting lineups:

 

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Betemit 1B
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Mussina RHP

Iwamura 2B
Crawford LF
Pena 1B
Upton CF
Floyd DH
Hinske RF
Aybar 3B
DiFelice C
Bartlett SS
Hammel RHP

 

I’m gettin pretty fancy with these line up graphics.

I spent the last weekend totally immersed in watching baseball games, but none pertaining to the New York Yankees. My hometown Carolina League A Advanced team, the Salem Avalanche, started off their year with a home series against the Potomac Nationals. It was amazingly refreshing and fun to spend the weekend watching the games in our beautiful stadium with a beautiful date. (Hi baby!) The Avalanche took the series 2-1 and they look good coming into the 2008 season. However, while I was watching the live ball, the Yankees were working themselves into some questions. Here is a look back at the weekend.

 

4/4 Yankees/Rays

The Lineup was changed again due to Posada not catching. He DH’d instead. Joe Girardi had some upper respiratory sickness, and a high fevel. Rob Thomson managed in his place.

Here was the new lineup:

Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Posada DH
Matsui LF
Molina C

Ian Kennedy made his season debut, and got booted after 2 and 2/3 innings. He threw only 12 strikes in a nearly 30 pitch first inning and gave up a run almost immediately while walking two. His third inning was what did him in though, and he earned five runs in the inning. The big blow was a three run homer that came on his 70th and final pitch of the game. Ouch. He ended up walking four and throwing only 32 strikes. It should be noted that he is generally noted for his command.

He said: “As a young guy, you have to prove yourself and throw strikes,” Kennedy said. “I know that sometimes when you hit the back of the plate and you’re expecting that call, you might not get it.” (lohud) No kidding.

The Yankees came back and rallied their recently anemic lineup in the bottom of the inning, scoring four on Sonnanstine. Andy collected himself though, and exploited the Yankee lineup for only one hit through the seventh.

In the eighth Latroy Hawkins pitched for the Yanks, but soon gave up a homerun. After five more consecutive Ray hits he was pulled for Farnsworth.

Farnsworth looked decent; that is until a monster three run shot from Carlos Pena.

Overall the Rays spanked NYY 13-4.

 

 

4/5 Yankees/Rays

On Saturday the Bombers looked for a little bit of redemption after suffering a pretty bad defeat the night before. Andy Pettite made his season debut, and cost John Albaladejo his spot on the MLB roster. Joe Girardi was a game time decision, but ended up not managing again. Rob Thomson took the reins once again.

Here was the lineup:

YANKEES
Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi DH
Cano 2B
Posada C
Matsui LF
Duncan 1B
Pettitte LHP

RAYS
Iwamura 2B
Crawford LF
Pena 1B
Upton CF
Gomes RF
Aybar 3B
Bartlett SS
Riggans C
Johnson DH
Jackson RHP

The sleepy Yankees offense had trouble getting men on base, and then converting those RISP’s into runs. They pulled ahead quickly 1-0 on an A-Rod RBI, and proceeded to load the bases early on in the game, but then Jeter and Damon were both set down to spoil the effort. Posada was back catching again, but Giambi left the game after his second at bat due to tightness of the groin. So far the Yanks have been outscored 28-15 and are .162 with RISP. Makes me wonder if Girardi is experiencing some tightness somewhere himself. BTW Giambi really rallied to become the starting 1B this season, iinstead of a DH. Looks like he was able to stay healthy for 4.2 games.

Pettitte didn’t look to horrible for his first start, but wasn’t deserving of any awards either. He only allowed two earned runs through the fourth inning. The fifth inning brought his undoing however, and Johnny Gomes smacked a high hanging offspeed pitch over Matsui in left. Oh yeah, it counted for three runs. Overall Pettitte surrendered eight hits, walked two, and hit Carlos Pena twice. Oops. He threw 86 pitches. On his performance he noted:

“I feel good. I got a little gassed in the fifth inning, but physically I feel great. My body feels good, but I just didn’t have anything today, man,”

“I felt bad for Jorge. I didn’t give him hardly anything to work with. It was not a real good day at all.”

The Yanks were down 6-1 in the eighth and once again got the bases full. Posada was able to turn that into a two RBI hit after Cano fanned out.

Rays Win 6-3

 

The Yankee offense is certainly struggling to this point. None of the batters are doing to much, notably the top of the lineup and Cano in his new #6 spot.

However the Yankees defended themselves and their performances as not being indicative of too much besides remarkable pitching. Here is what they said:

John Damon: “Guys are pitching us tough but we’re good enough players to hit anybody.”

Derek Jeter: “We wanted to get a few runs there but sometimes the pitcher is just better than you are.” (Ha thats what I want to hear from you, Captain)

Rob Thomson: “This offense is going to hit. At some point it’s going to hit.”

Jason Giambi: “I’m not worried because over the long haul we’re going to score runs.” “But unfortunately we’re not getting much done right now.”

(All Quotes from Lohud)

 

4/6 Yankees/Rays

The Yanks once again matched up against the Rays, who were trying to work on a series sweep.

The lineup was:

YANKEES
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Posada C
Betemit 1B
Cabrera CF
Wang RHP

 

Joe Girardi was back in control on the bench as the Yankees, I mean CMW, shut down the Rays 2-0. He pitched well, and as usual was not scared to allow the ball to be put in play. His six innings didn’t allow any runs (obviously) and besides a bit of trouble in the seventh had a pretty nice outing.

Hideki Matsui was the other difference maker in Sunday’s game, driving in two runs on a crucial homer in the fourth, as well as having two other hits. 2-0 Yanks.

When CMW put runners on the corner in the seventh with no outs, Girardi went ahead and put in Joba Chamberlain instead of Farnsworth. Chamberlain wiped out the side on eight (count them-) pitches, including a 100+ mph four seamer. He struck out the first batter and the next hit into a dounle play. His work in the eighth? 1-2-3, no earned runs. Mo took care of the ninth, business as usual.

Yankees finally win 2-0. 

 

Tonights Starting Lineup is:

YANKEES
Damon CF
Jeter SS

Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B

Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Matsui LF
Betemit DH
Kennedy RHP

Melky Cabrera had his suspension hearing, and had it reduced down to two games. Betemit will DH tonight against Andy Sonnanstine.

Tonight the Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays for the first game of a four game series.

I’ll post the lineup when I get my hands on it.

I really wanted to watch the game last night, but was unable to due to a pressing chemistry exam. And, while i was working out -b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4(a)(c) all divided by 2 (a) just to determine the equilibrium constant of the methylation reaction, the Yankees were facing a formidable opponent as well.

A combination of Blue Jay pitching and cold weather have certainly contributed to a shortage of Yankee hits. In the end however, the Yankees worked out a winning three game series, and it looks like last nights 3-2 win was a good game.

Hughes got the N.D. last night, but looked great, especially in light of the pressure of high expectations. Hughes was certainly a considered trade in the off season, and keeping him around in spite of Johan Santana’s availability says a lot about what the front office is working on. He sat down the first nine out of twenty-three batters he faced, and gave up two earned runs on four hits.

The Yankees scored two runs in the sixth inning and one in the eighth
on an Abreu RBI single to edge out the Jays’ two runs from the fourth
and fifth.

Joba Chamberlain was awarded the win, and pitched a no run inning in the eighth, setting up for Mo Rivera to pick up his second save in the ninth.

Yankees 3, Jays 2

The Yankees host the Blue Jays for the last of a three game opening series tonight. First pitch will be thrown by Phil Hughes at around 7:05 p.m. from the Bronx. Jorge Posada is still out tonight, with his minor shoulder injury. He’s day to day right now, but Girardi said that he could play if really needed. Johnny Damon will be DH’ing tonight, and newlywed Matsui will be making the start in LF. The series is tied up at 1-1 and the Yanks have only scored seven in the last two games. That lack of offense must be noted to be inversely related to the Jays super strong pitching staff, and not telltale of the lineup in general.

Here are tonights starters:

YANKEES

Johnny Damon DH

Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B

Jason Giambi 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Hideki Matsui LF
Jose Molina C
Melky Cabrera CF
Phil Hughes RHP

Updated Roster:
Jose Molina will be catching for Posada due to a stiff shoulder. Matsui moves up in the order and Molina hits eighth.

So far things are going ok.

Jays scored one in the top of the first on a Giambi error that allowed Eckstein on base. Mussina got into a bit of trouble but worked his way out of the inning on a ground ball.

In the bottom of the first Abreu got on base with a classic inside outed opposite field hit. He attempted a two out steal while A Rod was at the plate and got caught.

Jays didn’t score in the top of the second inning. Moose got out of the inning with another DPB.

A Rod struck out in the bottom of the second to end his interrupted at bat. Then Burnett shuts down the side.

Mussina left one hanging over the plate and Vernon Wells hit it over Johnny Damon and the left field wall. Oh yeah, it was a two run shot.

Jays lead 3-0

Things aren’t looking too good.

A.J. Burnett is just a bit to much tonight, and the Yankee bats aren’t really working.

Jays score two more runs in the third, one in the sixth, one in the seventh. They lead 5-0.

In the bottom of the seventh A Rod smacks homerun number 519, a two run blast.

No more runs for either side.

Jays hit 12, score 5        Yanks hit 7, score 2

Overall a pretty slow going game, unless your the Jays. Mussina was relieved by Hawkins, Farnsworth, and Ohlendorf. The weather at the Stadium looked to be very miserable, and there was a noticeable lack of filled seats.

Mussina gave up three earned runs, but looked pretty decent. He said: “It felt good throwing the baseball. I just made some mistakes, and
they took advantage of it. If I have that stuff 30 times, I’ll be fine.”

Yankees Record: 1-1