A(n almost) Perfect Situation

Yankees 5 10 1
Orioles 1 3 1

WP: Pettitte (12-6)
LP: Guthrie (9-13)
S: Rivera (37)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Andy Pettitte. When you take a perfect game into the 7th inning, it's a pretty safe bet that you win the Player of the Game. The lefty went 8 innings, allowing only 1 run on 2 hits, while striking out 8.

PLAY OF THE GAME: I hate to give him an award, but Jerry Harriston Jr.'s barehanded play that , at the time, saved the perfect game. He would then go on to blow it in the 7th inning.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Nick Swisher's solo home run in the 3rd inning that gave Andy Pettitte all the breathing room he needed.

GAME NOTES:

• Yankees pitchers in the last 3 days: 4 runs, 13 hits, 3 walks. That's how winning streaks are made.
• 3 of the bottom four hitters in the order (Cano, Swisher, Melky) pick up 7 hits, 4 RBI's and 2 runs.
  
• Girardi showed that he has absolutely no trust in Brian Bruney. As soon as he got into a little trouble, the Skipper went to Mo. Hopefully Bruney can pull it together soon.
• As much as people (like me) are going to hate Harriston for the next couple of days, it's just an error. It happens and there's nothing anyone can do about it now. And Pettitte would have given up the Perfect Game anyway (if you believe in the fallacy of the predetermined outcome. HA!)

TOMORROW:
Yankees at Orioles
Burnett vs. Hernandez

SEE YA!

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GAME 131: Yankee at Orioles

Lineups via PeteAbe

YANKEES (82-48)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Hairston 3B
Cabrera CF
Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (11-6, 4.18).

ORIOLES (54-77, Fifth Place AL East)
Roberts 2B
Izturis SS
Jones CF
Markakis RF
Reimold LF
Mora 3B
Scott DH
Wieters C
Wigginton 1B
Pitching: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (9-12, 5.26).
TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.

All's Well in teh Bronx Right Now: They Yankees have won three straight and 20 of their last 26. They are 6 games ahead of the Red Sox and have the best record in the majors.
MVC: Most Valuable Captain: Derek Jeter is hitting .381 in August with 26 runs and 17 RBI.
Andy Dandy: Andy Pettitte is 3-1 with a 2.79 ERA since the All-Star break. He has allowed only 43 hits over 51.2 innings and has struck out 54.
Phil Choke: Phil Coke’s last 14 appearances: 11 innings, 15 hits, 13 earned runs, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts and 4 home runs. Not quite "Philthy" as Michael Kay would call him.

UPDATE 7:06: So Jeremy Guthrie leads the league in home runs and runs allowed...I like where this game could be headed.

UPDATE 7:24: "Hey Fans! Greatness has a new home!" Wait. There was no hey fans. That commercial wasn't done by Michael Kay? That's odd. But even the replacement had an annoying voice.

UPDATE 7:32: Swisher goes yard and it's 1-0 Yankees. By the way, Kay left a small detail out of that story. He forgot to mention it was A-Rod's first at-bat since he admitted he used steroids. Another reason why that HR was big, but why should we say anything negative about a Yankee?

UPDATE 8:06: Andy Pettitte has retired 12 consecutive batters through 4 innings.

UPDATE 8:24: Pettitte has not allowed a baserunner through 5. Yankees lead 2-0.

UPDATE 8:35: Naturally, I'd text people to make sure they are watching the game now, but the last time someone pitched like this after 6 innings I did that, changed my seat, and muted the TV, and the game was no longer a must watch.

UPDATE 8:38: This is Jim: Don't anyone move! If this ends, I'm holding YOU personally responsible.

UPDATE 8:42: Jim again: How many times have we heard the knuckleball story? And they will talk about Pettitte sitting around for a long time between innings, the only question is for how long.

UPDATE 8:56: Well there goes the perfect game and no httter. If Hairston makes that play they are out of the inning with the perfecto in-tact.

UPDATE 9:00: Jim: Yankees pitchers the last 25 innings: 3 runs, 10 hits, 2 walks. (It's John updating unless noted otherwise.)

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Back in Action

The last three days the MKS blog has been on a brief break as we got ready to go back to school. We will be back in full force now, and because it's been three days since the blog has been last updated I'll provide some news and notes of what happened in Yankeeland and the rest of the world in baseball.

• The Yankees completed a 3-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox yesterday, defeating them 8-3. Damon and Teixeira both homered and Alfredo Aceves earned the win. Don't get me started on what the Yankees are doing with Joba. I like to focus on the positives, and that would be that Teixeira leads the AL with 101 RBIs.
• For those of you going to Yankee games, there's some new rules for the stadium. You are now allowed to bring one bag into the stadium. This is different than the no bags allowed policy they've had since 2001.
• Zack Greinke threw a 1-hitter against the Mariners yesterday and earned his 200th strikeout of the season in the process. He became the fourth player in MLB history to follow a 15 K game with a 1-hitter. He is 13-8 with a 2.32 ERA. CY Young? I think so.
• The San Francisco Giants swept the Colorado Rockies and just made the NL Wild Card race a lot more interesting, as they are both tied for the Wild Card lead.
• Last week there were several beanings in baseball. Today, MLB announced that they will have new helmets that can withstand 100 mph fastballs. These will be mandatory for all minor leaguers in the year 2010. Ech major league club is expected to have six of these helmets for this year as field tests. David Wright, who was beaned by a Matt Cain fastball on Aug. 15 is expected to wear this helmet when he returns.

That's it for right now. We will have a game post up later this evening as the Yankees face Orioles at Camden Yards (aka Yankee Stadium South) at 7:05 tonight.

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We'll Be Back

I've gotten a few comments over the past couple days asking about the blog and why there has not been much activity lately. Well, I moved into school last Wednesday since I run cross-country at Quinnipiac and have been non stop practicing, attending NCAA compliance meetings, and doing team activities during the times of which the games were going on. So I have been very busy.

Jim spent the last few days of his summer working the beaches of the Jersey Shore and just recently moved into Syracuse and is settling in and is probably going to buzzkill orientation meetings that scare freshman into not drinking (which never works). So, for the remainder of this weekend we will probably be on a mini-vacation from the blog. But once school starts for us Monday, we should be back into action (I know that sounds weird, but the blog will help me procrastinate from doing schoolwork).

So unless something significant happens this weekend we'll do our best to update the blog, but for now we're taking a little break and will be in full force the rest of the season and postseason.

Plus if Michael Kay gets to skip out on at least 50-60 games than we should be allowed to get some time off too.

See Ya!

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Game 127: Rangers at Yankees

Lineups provided by the one and only, PeteAbe.

YANKEES (79-47)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (10-7, 4.08).

RANGERS (70-55)
Borbon DH
Young 3B
Hamilton CF
Cruz RF
Kinsler 2B
Murphy LF
Teagarden C
Davis 1B
Andrus SS

Pitching: RHP Dustin Nippert (4-2, 3.95).

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES.

This is the first ever, MKS blog post from Syracuse University. It's a busy week for both of us as we're getting settled at our respective schools, so the updates are going to be few and far between this week, but we'll be back in full force next week.

Enjoy the game.

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GAME 126 Yankees vs Rangers

Lineups via PeteAbe

YANKEES (78-47, First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Hairston LF
Melky CF
Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (10-6, 4.25).

RANGERS (70-54, Second Place AL West/Wild Card)
Kinsler 2B
Young 3B
Hamilton CF
Cruz RF
Rodriguez DH
Davis 1B
Teagarden C
Murphy LF
Andrus SS
Pitching: LHP Derek Holland (7-7, 4.72).

Notes: Robinson Cano became the sixth Yankee to hithis 20th HR this season. That ties a Yankee record (not held by many) with the 1961 and 2004 Yankees...Matsui has 17 RBI over his last eight games. Seven of his last 13 have been home runs...Pettitte is 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA since the All Star Break.

I'll be out tonight and will be missing the game, so no updates tonight.

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Game 125: Rangers at Yankees

Lineups from PeteAbe

YANKEES (78-46)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF

Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-3, 3.98).

RANGERS (69-54)
Borbon DH
Young 3B
Hamilton RF
Byrd CF
Kinsler 2B
Cruz LF
Rodriguez C
Davis 1B
Andrus SS

Pitching: RHP Kevin Millwood (9-8, 3.48).

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m., My9.

Wild, Wild West: The Yankees are 18-10 against the AL West this season, including a 4-2 record against Texas

7th Heaven: The Yankees are 7.0 games ahead of the Red Sox after Boston won last night.

Home Sweet Home: The Bombers are back in the Bronx, where they are 41-18 on the season, good for a .695 winning percentage.

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MLB News and Notes

• Jonathan Papelbon continues to make himself look like a bigger idiot every day. Last year, it was saying he should close the All-Star Game over Mariano. This time, he speaks out against the Red Sox acquiring Billy Wagner. It's stuff like that that makes Yankees fans appreciate the professionalism of Rivera.
  
• In the pouring-salt-in-the-wound category, Johan Santana was scratched from his scheduled start because of "discomfort in his pitching elbow." While I had originally thought this was the Mets finally just giving up on the season, the ESPN News bottom line just said that Mets players "expect Santana will require surgery."
• The Giambino, Jason Giambi has signed a minor-league contract with the Colorado Rockies. He will report to Triple A and hope for a September call-up.
  

That's it for tonight. Like I said yesterday, it's going to be a rough week for posts and updates as we're both getting to school, but we'll do our best.

SEE YA!

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Go, go Godzilla: Matsui's two homers power Yanks to series win

Yankees 8 10 2
Red Sox 4 9 0

WP: Sabathia (15-7)
LP: Beckett (14-5)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Well with that headline, it's kind of obvious its Hideki Matsui. He hit two home runs for the second time in 3 games. Nobody was on base, so he only got 2 RBI's instead of 7.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Melky Cabrera's catch at the wall on a ball off the bat of Kevin Pukelis in the 8th inning. The Boston crowd pulled a pretty good Michael Kay impression by yelling over that hit.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Teixeira's RBI single in the 3rd to break the 2-2 tie and set up A-Rod's RBI groundout that gave the Yanks a 4-2 lead.

GAME NOTES:

• I know what you're thinking and, yes, Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult is a song.
  
• Derek Jeter's home run in the first inning was his 21st leadoff home run of his career, tying for second on the Yankees all-time list with Alfonso Soriano. The leader is Ricky Henderson with 24.
  
• Matsui on the series: 4-15, 4 HR's, 9 RBI's.
  
• Yankees record in August: 15-5.
• Yankees record since Michael Kay's Successors began blogging: 48-25. That's a .658 winning percentage. And, yes, we're taking full credit for the good play.
  

TOMORROW: Off-day
We'll try to get some sort of post up. It's a busy time of year with both of us going off to school.

SEE YA!

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Game 124: Yankees at Red Sox

Lineups via PeteAbe
YANKEES (77-46)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (14-7, 3.58).

RED SOX (70-52)
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez 1B
Youkilis RF
Bay LF
Lowell DH
Baldelli RF
Varitek C
Gonzalez SS

Pitching: RHP Josh Beckett (14-4, 3.38).

TIME/TV: 8:05 p.m., ESPN.

Sorry this is going up in the 7th inning, but it was my last day of work, so here you are. I'm happy to see that the Yanks are up 7-4. There seems to be some rain falling in Boston, but at least it's an official game.

UPDATE 10:30: No matter what happens this season, at least we're not Met's fans.

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Boston gets Payback on Yanks

So, the series is even after the Red Sox got a little revenge with a 14-1 win over the Yankees today. So the Yankees lead is now back to 6.5 games. With CC Sabathia and Josh Beckett going tomorrow, hopefully there won't be any football scores on the scoreboard. The Yankees just need to do what the Red Sox did today, and just forget what happened and move on.

Maybe tomorrow the game won't be over in the 4th inning.


SEE YA!

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Game 123: Yankees at Red Sox

Lineups provided by PeteAbe

YANKEES (77-45)
Jeter SS
Hinske LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (10-6, 3.69).

RED SOX (69-52)
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez 1B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz DH
Bay LF
Drew RF
Varitek C
Gonzalez SS

Pitching: RHP Junichi Tazawa (1-2, 5.40).

TIME/TV: 4:10 p.m., FOX.

Burn Notice: After going 4-0 with a 2.43 ERA in the month of July, Burnett is 0-2 with a 4.44 ERA. He has run in to some bad luck (like pitching the 15 inning scoreless marathon) but he needs to get back in to that grove today.

Marathon Men: The Yankees and Red Sox have not played a manageable game all season, as all the games have lasted at least 3 hours.

O Captain, My Captain: Jeter is batting .391 with a .956 OPS in the month of August. He has hit safely in 17 of 19 games this month.

I'm working on a 4 hour playlist of music to listen to instead of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

UPDATE 4:31: Ok, so we need Brett Gardner back ASAP. And did McCarver really need to explain what "my bad" meant?

UPDATE 5:02: I guess they should have saved some of those runs from last night.

That may be it for a while, I'll at least recap this mess later.

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Start Me Up: Yanks make grown men cry with relentless attack

Yankees 20 23 1
Red Sox 11 12 1

WP: Pettitte (10-6)
LP: Penny (7-8)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: The entire lineup produced but I think it's safe to say Hidke Matsui and his 7 RBI's get this award. He only had 2 hits, but they were both homers.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Yeah, this game featured 31 runs, 25 hits, 10 walks, and 4 home runs. This wasn't a game for the Web Gem archives.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Jorge Posada's 2-run single in the first inning. It reminded the Red Sox who was in first place and how well the Yanks handled them last time.

GAME NOTES:

• Everyone in the lineup (excluding Johnny Damon, who is day-to-day after leaving the game in the first inning) had a hit, a run scored, and a run batted in.
  
• The Yanks are now 7.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the division. I'll be greedy and ask the question everyone's asking: If the Yankees can sweep, with a 9.5 game lead, is this race over?
• If you're going to give up 11 runs in a game, it might as well be on a night where you score 20, but the Yankees are going to need better pitching to win (sweep?) this series.
  
• With CC and AJ going these next two games, you get the feeling like the Yankees are expected to sweep.
• Nick Swisher didn't hustle in the 9th inning of the game. I'm sure Girardi will address it, and I'm sure Swisher immediately knew he made a mistake, but it forced me to go with my back-up headline. I was planning on 21 Guns, but alas, I go for the Rolling Stones reference.

TOMORROW:
Yankees at Red Sox
Burnett vs. Tazawa

SEE YA!

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GAME 122: Yankees at Sawx

YANKEES (76-45)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (9-6, 4.09).

RED SOX (69-51)
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez C
Youkilis 1B
Bay LF
Ortiz DH
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Gonzalez SS
Pitching: RHP Brad Penny (7-7, 5.22).

Another Idiot in Red Sox Nation: In case you havn't heard, Jim Rice suggests Derek Jeter cheats and plays for a big contract, whereas he and players in his generation played with heart and to win. Don't ask me how a guy who never won anything and got into the HOF on a pity vote can criticize Jeter who was the centerpiece of 4 World Series and has never been suspected of PED use ever.
4-8: No more 0-8 talk for the Yankees. Let's see what they can do this time. Every series has been a sweep but I think this one will be different. That's all the notes I have today, unfortunatly I'm stuck watching all 3 games with Red Sox fans for the weekend. If you hear anything about murders in southern Connecticut, I swear it wasn't me.

UPDATE 8:07: Hello everyone, it's Jim here. The rain allowed me to get home a little early, and since I'm not surrounded by Red Sox fans, I'll be doing the updates. At this point, John is not homicidal as the Yanks hold a 6-1 lead after the Bombers.

And that guy who just got hit should at least get to keep the bat. Come on, just got hit with it, he's earned it.

UPDATE 8:14: I thought we had a George Brett situation about to happen there.

UPDATE 8:46: John commented on this before, but did Jim Rice really wonder why it took so long for him to get into the Hall of Fame? Going after one of the most well-respected players in the game isn't a smart move.

UPDATE 8:55: I have a feeling that Bowden will be in here for a while. Boston isn't going to waste it's bullpen. The Yanks might put up a football score. Right now, they're just missing the extra point. Maybe we should have had Ocho Cinco kick it.

UPDATE 9:00: And the extra point is GOOD!

UPDATE 9:21: They tell you the story about Carlton Fisk's home run on the tour of Fenway Park. Kay didn't have to work hard to get this story.

UPDATE 9:22: And Kay screws the story up! The way it was told to me, the cameraman was supposed to be following the flight of the ball. A rat ran across his foot and he lost where the ball was, so he told his producer that he had lost the ball, so he was going to follow Fisk. And that is how you get one of the most replayed home runs in baseball history.

And it's 12-3, so I'm not going to give Kay grief about telling stories, but he's got to get them right.

UPDATE 9:50: Kay's talking about Rice again, so I'm going to comment again. Guys like Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, and Reggie Jackson compliment Jeter all the time, so Jim Rice's comments shouldn't even be considered.

UPDATE 10:00: I have a bad feeling about this.

UPDATE 10:15: It looks like 2 people are getting married at Fenway Park. I don't think I'm even that stupid.

UPDATE 10:21: So Bruney's out. Let's see if Damaso Marte can get out of a bases loads jam despite the 2 months of rust.

UPDATE 10:26: So, Marte gets out of a big jam. Let's hope he doesn't continue the Carl Pavano comparisons by injuring himself falling down the dugout steps.

UPDATE 10:55: Nick Swisher just ruined my "21 Guns" headline. Thanks a lot.

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Teixeira, Yanks Hold of A's

Mark Teixeira drove in all 3 runs, including a 2-run monster shot to leftfield to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. Howver, the A's chipped back and scored 2 more runs tomake it 3-2. With zero outs and 2 on in the eighth Phil Hughes worked out of a jam which was the turning point in the game. He was able to get a double play and a fly out to end the threat and Mo came in to close out the game. They Yankees are now 76-45 and have the day off today. Tommorow they start a 3-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway.

I'm back at school right now so it's going to be hard for me to get stuff posted as I;m settling in, but hopefully Jim has a Michael Kaysim post since today is an off-day.

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GAME 121 Yankees at A's

YANKEES (75-45 First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LFT
eixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Pitching: RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0, 5.13).

ATHLETICS (53-66 Fourth Place AL West)
Kennedy 3B
Davis CF
Ellis 2B
Suzuki DH
Sweeney LF
Powell C
Cust RF
Everidge 1B
Pennington SS
Pitching: LHP Brett Anderson (7-8, 4.55)

UPDATE 11:30: This is Jim here checking in. This West Coast trip is wearing us out, but Gaudin seems to be doing pretty well. John's just getting back to Quinnipiac and I doubt I'm going to be able to last the night considering it's 11:30 and its only the 5th inning, so enjoy the game if you're staying up to watch.

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GAME 120: Yankees at A's

Lineups via PeteAbe
YANKEES (74-45)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (13-7, 3.64).

ATHLETICS (53-65)
LINEUP TBA
Pitching: RHP Vin Mazzaro (4-8, 5.54).

TIME/TV: 10:05 p.m., YES.

Losing Streak? Is that allowed?: The Yankees lost back-to-back games for the first time this month yesterday. Last time they lost two games in a row was against the White Sox July 31-August 1. They also lost 3 in a row to them. They have CC Sabathia on the mound today to try and turn things around.
The Other MVP: Derek Jeter is 9 for 20 on the road trip with 5 RBI. He has raised his average 10 points to .327.
Cali Guy For NY, Jersey Guy For Oakland: CC Sabathia grew up about 25 minutes away from the Colliseum but he is 1-4 with a 7.12 ERA there in his career. A's rookie pitcher Vinny Mazarro grew up about 13 miles from Yankee Stadium and gave up 6 runs in 4.1 innings when he last faced the Yankees on July 21.

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Can't Always Get What You Want

Yankees 3 8 0
Mariners 10 15 0

WP: Fister (1-0)
LP: Chamberlain (8-3)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jose Lopez. Lopez went 3-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Derek Jeter's RBI double in the third inning. The hit moved Jeter ahead of Luis Aparicio to become all-time hits leader for shortstops.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Ichiro's seeing eye single with the bases loaded in the seventh. If Tex was playinf first it may have been an out, but it got through and it made a 2-run lead into a 4-run lead and put the game out of reach.

GAME NOTES:

• The Yankees have won 12 of their last 14 with this loss and are 7.5 games up. Nothing to fret about, they obviously weren't going to win every game from here on out.
• Since there is nothing else to worry about in Yankeeland we will continue to hear about Joba for the rest of the season and whether or not they are doing the right thing or if he's good enough to pitch in the playoffs. We'll see how he does the rest of the season and pretty much all I'm hoping for is that he and the rest of the team just stay healthy for the remainder of the season. I have no worries at the moment with this team.

Tommorow:

Yankees vs A's 10:05 ET Oakland Colliseum

Burnett vs Mazzaro

See Ya!

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GAME 118: Yankees at Mariners

Lineups via PeteAbe
YANKEES (74-43, First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira DH
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Swisher 1B
Hinkse RF
Hairston CF
Pena 2B
Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-2, 3.85).

MARINERS (60-57, Third Place AL West)
Lineup TBA
Pitching: LHP Doug Fister (0-0, 0.00).

Sweepness in Seattle: The Yankees go for the 4-game sweep today against the Mariners. They have won 12 of their last 13 games and are 7.5 games up on Boston.
Bullpen Gas: Yankee relievers have allowed no runs in their last 12.2 innings, one in their last 19.2 innings and three in their last 30.1 innings. They have struck out 31 batters in the last 30.1 innings pitched.
Jeter Milestone Watch: Derek Jeter needs one hit to tie Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio for the most hits ever by a shortstop with 2,673. Those are hits by a player when he was playing shortstop. Overall, Jeter has 2,685, while Aparicio had 2,677.

UPDATE 4:40: Derek Jeter just hit an RBI double and that passes Luis Aparicio for the most hits ever by a shortstop. Congratulations to Derek Jeter just another accomplishment added to his Hall-of-Fame resume.

UPDATE 4:51: Nice play by A-Rod potentially saving a run. First and third 1 out with the dangerous Russel Branyan up.

UPDATE 5:19: I was just eating dinner but Nick Swisher hit a 2-run HR to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Also, the Boston Red Sox lost to the Texas Rangers. The Red Sox are looking up at more than just the Yankees; they're now looking up to the Rangers as well. Texas with 1/2 game lead in wild card. I wonder if Kevin Youkillis is happy with himself now?

UPDATE 5:39: Rough inning for Joba. Mariners re-take the lead 4-3.

UPDATE 6:12: Cano extends his hitting streak to 14 games after a pinch-hit single for Pena.

UPDATE 6:39: Well, they were probably going to lose sooner or later...

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Smells Like Team Spirit

While you were sleeping, the Yankees won again, defeating the Seattle Mariners 5-2. The Yankees were clicking on all cylinders in this one. Nick Swisher and Derek Jeter led the charge as both hit home-runs to provide the offense. Sergio Mitre did his job by only allowing 2 runs in 5.1 innings pitched. David Robertson got the two biggest outs of the game, by bailing Mitre out of a bases-loaded one out jam without letting any of the runners score in the sixth. The bullpen went on to pitch 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. The Yankees are now 74-43 and have been 23-6 since the All-Star Break. They are simply in cruise control.

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GAME 117 Yankees at Mariners

YANKEES (73-43)
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Hairston LF
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Pitching: RHP Sergio Mitre (1-1, 7.04).

MARINERS (60-56)
Suzuki RF
Gutierrez CF
Lopez 2B
Griffey Jr. DH
Branyan 1B
Hannahan 3B
Johnson C
Wilson SS
Langerhans LF
Pitching: LHP Luke French (1-0, 6.97).

UPDATE 11:40: Late post today, trying to enjoy my last few days before going back to school. Yankees lead in the fifth inning 4-2 thanks to a 3-run HR by Nick Swisher. This team just looks invincible right now.

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Quick Yankees Update and Thoughts

It was another late night for us yesterday, but being that it is 5:30 in the evening, I am sure you have all heard the Yankees won 4-2 last night courtesy of a tie-breaking ninth inning home run by Mark Teixeira.

Here are a few things to take from yesterday's game:

• Mark Teixeira is building a case for the AL MVP. You would think he has a good shot because it's possible that Morneau and Mauer would split alot of votes between them being they are on the same team.
• Andy Pettitte has a 2.04 ERA since the break and only has one win. If he can continue to pitch like vintage Pettitte of the 90's, the Yankees become a much more dangerous team in a short playoff series. They really need to get him some run support though.
• Phil Hughes continued his dominance out of the bullpen last night. He has 44 strikeouts in 33.1 innings pitched. Brian Bruney has also been coming around lately as he threw another scoreless inning last night. That is 5 in his last 4 appearances.
• Mariano Rivera recorded his 34th save in his 900th career appearance. Only 21 pitchers have made more appearances.
• The Yankees are 73-43 and have won 35 of their last 46. The last time they were 30 games over .500 was the end of the 2006 season when they won 97 games. And I should also mention that the Yankees magic number is 31. That's right, we can start talking magic number already. They are that good, and no, I don't believe I'm getting ahead of myself.

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Game 116: Yankees at Mariners

Lineups from PeteAbe

YANKEES (72-43)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Hairston 3B
Cabrera CF

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (9-6, 4.14).

MARINERS (60-55)
Suzuki RF
Gutierrez CF
Lopez 2B
Griffey Jr, DH
Branyan 1B
Hannahan 3B
Johnson C
Wilson SS
Saunders LF

Pitching: LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-1, 3.86).

Sorry for the lateness of this post, and I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to pull off another all-nighter, so enjoy the game.

UPDATE 11:27: Stupid Rangers, you can't do us a favor and hold on to a one-run lead?

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Let the Good Times Roll: CC dominates M's

Yankees 11 15 0
Mariners 1 3 0

WP: Sabathia (13-7)
LP: Snell (2-9)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: CC Sabathia and Hideki Matsui. The Hefty Lefty goes 8 innings in his second-straight dominating performance. He allowed 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run while picking up his 13th win. Godzilla provided all the offense Sabathia needed by going 4-5 with 5 RBIs and 2 home runs.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Derek Jeter's home run to deep left-center field in the 3rd inning. The Captain showed there that he can hit home runs some place other then right field in Yankee Stadium.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: When the Yankees team plane landed in Seattle. The only chance the Mariners had in this game was the Yankees not showing up.

GAME NOTES:

• CC set a new season high with 10 strikeouts in tonight's game as he won his fifth game in his last six starts. CC is 3-0 in August, averaging just under 9 K's, and 2 runs per start.
• The 1-4 hitters (Jeter, Damon, Tex, Matsui): 10 hits, 7 RBIs, 10 runs scored. That's pretty damn good.
• A-Rod's off-day today was scheduled, but it was probably a good idea anyway considering the soreness that's probably there after getting plunked yesterday. Jeter was able to get a couple of innings off when the game got out of reach.
  
• Brian Bruney may finally be coming around (knock on wood). His August stats: 5.2 innings pitched, 5 hits, 1 ER, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Considering he gave up 7 earned runs in 5.1 innings in July, he seems to have bounced back in August.
• The Tigers beat Boston today, so the Yankees are 6.5 games ahead in the Al East once again. With a lead this big, they don't really need to scoreboard watch because the Yanks control their own destiny. They can go 30 games over .500 with a win tomorrow (aka tonight). If they finish the season 30 games over, that's a 95-65 record, probably enough to make the playoffs.
  
• Despite the fact that the Yankees scored 11 runs today, this game was a very manageable 2 hours and 42 minutes.

TOMORROW/TONIGHT:
Yankees at Mariners, 10:05 PM
Pettitte vs Rowland-Smith

SEE YA!

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Game 115: Yankees at Mariners

Lineups via PeteAbe

YANKEES (71-43)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Hairston 3B
Molina C

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (12-7, 3.76).

MARINERS (60-54)
Suzuki RF
Gutierrez CF
Lopez 2B
Sweeney DH
Branyan 1B
Johjima C
Hannahan 3B
Wilson SS
Saunders LF

Pitching: LHP Ian Snell (0-0, 6.14).

TIME/TV: 10:10 p.m., YES.

INJURY REPORT (Info also from PeteAbe)

• Jeter is in the lineup today after leaving yesterday's game in the first inning after being hit in the foot by a pitch.
• Posada is not playing today, as he has two sore fingers, but that is just they're latest reasoning for having Molina catch Sabathia.
• A-Rod is unavailable tonight after being hit in the elbow at the end of yesterday's game.
  
• Adrian Beltre is possibly done for the season after being hit where the sun don't shine while not wearing a cup.

It's a West Coast game, which is why it's starting at 10 PM. If I don't fall asleep at the wheel like did the last time I tried blogging a 10 o'clock game, I'll put a recap up.

UPDATE 10:17: Does it surprise anyone that Michael Kay isn't announcing this series? Yeah, I didn't think so.

UPDATE 10:54: Wasn't that the same part of the field that Griffey said was the hardest part of the field to hit it out? Top of the lineup seems locked in on Snell now.

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Home is where the heart is: Yanks win again in extras to end homestand

Blue Jays 3 14 1
Yankees 4 7 0

WP: Gaudin (1-0)
LP: Camp (1-6)

This is one of those games where it's a little obvious that the Player of, Play of, and Turning Point of the Game are all about Robinson Cano and his walk-off hit.

GAME NOTES

• Gaudin came in and got some big outs for the Yankees in advance of his start on Sunday. Hopefully the joy of going from last place to first place will help Gaudin lock in and pitch well down the stretch.
• Burnett didn't really pitch well today, allowing 12 base runners in 6 innings while throwing 107 pitches, but the Yankees were still able to pull through with a win. It's good that even when one of your top guys has a rough day on the mound, the offense can still hit well enough to win the game.
  
• The Yankees finish this home stand 6-1, and are 15-2 at home since the All-Star Break. Now they head out for a road trip that begins in Seattle tomorrow.

TOMORROW:
Yankees at Mariners
Sabathia vs Snell


SEE YA!

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GAME 114: Yankees vs Blue Jays

Lineups via PeteAbe
YANKEES (70-43, First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Matsui DH
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher 1B
Hinske RF
Cabrera CF
Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (10-5, 3.67).

BLUE JAYS (54-58, Fourth Place AL East)
Lineup TBA

Let the Good Times Roll: They Yankees are 5-1 on the homestand, have won 8 of their last 9 games, are 27 games over .500 and 5.5 games up in the division with A.J. Burnett on the mound today.
Can They Do It Again?: The Yankees have hit back-to-back home runs in their last three games, can they make it 4?
Homer Haven: The Yankees have hit 14 home runs in their last 6 games. They lead the majors with 173 home runs, 105 at home.
Not Quite Invincible: Mariano Rivera gave up his first run since June 12 yesterday after 2 months of throwing scoreless innings.
Joba Update: Girardi has said Chad Gaudin will get the start Sunday and Joba's next start will be on Wednesday. This is to make sure he can limit his innings and stay in the rotation and pitch in the postseason this season.

I don't know if I'll be able to throw in any updates for this game, but I'm sure you will find enough great insight from Michael Kay during the broadcast. That is if he doesn't make the broadcast an extension of his radio show like he normally does.

UPDATE 4:45: So I (Jim) just get home as the game is tied 3-3 in the 10th. Jeter left the game early with a contusion (bruise) on his foot after getting hit by a pitch in the first inning.

UPDATE 5:10: Wow, Robbie got a hit with runners in scoring position. Nice win for the Yanks.

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Oops! They Did it Again: Yanks go back-to-back in eigth to beat Jays

Blue Jays 5 8 0
Yankees 7 14 0

WP: Robertson (2-1)
LP: Carlson (1-5)
S: Rivera (33)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jorge Posada. The catcher went 2-4 with 2 RBI's, including the go-ahead home run in the 8th inning.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

PLAY OF THE GAME: Posada's go-ahead home run in the 8th.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: The Thrilla from Godzilla! Matsui's home run seemed to wake up the team, the Stadium, and certainly John Sterling (I was listening on the radio).

GAME NOTES:

• The Yankees win today's game exactly as they won Sunday's, with back-to-back home runs in the 8th inning after being down by one, hence the "Oops I Did It Again" headline.
• Rick Porcello is my new favorite player not on the Yankees, because he absolutely PWNED Kevin Youkilis. It wasn't as good as the Nolan Ryan v. Robin Ventura (which I can't seem to find a video of, but here's a picture) beat down, but because if was Pukelis, it will hold a special place in my heart.
  
• So the Yankees seemed to jolt themselves from the sleepwalk they were in after the Boston sweep. That's good because I'd like this divisional race to be over as soon as possible, and winning games is the only way that's going to happen.
• New Yankee Chad Gaudin will start on Sunday, with Sergio Mitre going on Saturday. This effectively gives them a 6-man rotation, at least for this turn. It basically helps them limit Joba's innings by pushing him back a day.
  

TOMORROW:
Blue Jays at Yankees
Romero vs Burnett


SEE YA!

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GAME 113: Yankees vs Blue Jyas

Lineups via PeteAbe

YANKEES (69-43, First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixiera 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Hinske RF
Cabrera CF
Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-2, 3.73).

BLUE JAYS (54-57, Fourth Place AL East)
Lineup TBA
Pitching: RHP Scott Richmond (6-6, 3.97

UPDATE 9:20: I've had a long day today, but the Yanks have something stirring in the bottom of the seventh. Jeter got a leadoff single and now Teixeira comes up with 1-out as the Yanks trail 4-3.

UPDATE 9:25: So much for that.

UPDATE 9:44: The Yankees have awoken from the Boston Hangover as Matsui and Posada go back-to-back to take a 5-4 lead. That is now 3 consecutive games the Yankees have hit back to back home runs. If I were actual media they'd be giving me info on the last time that has happened. Now Gaston is arguing a fan interfered but replays showed the ball sailed over Englund's glove and into the fans glove so it should stand.

UPDATE 9:48: And now Michael Kay informs us that it is the first time since 1983 the Yankees have gone back-to-back in 3 consecutive games.

UPDATE 9:55: Melky singles making it 6-4. Btw, here's the video of Kevin Youkillis getting set straight by Jersey born and bred Rick Porcello earlier today. What a coward, who throws their helmet at a 20-year old kid half their size?

UPDATE 10:04: He had to give up a run sometime I guess. That's the first run he's given up since June 12. But hey, it's 7-5 and they're 2 outs away from a W, so if he's going ot give up a run, rather be it this game.

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When it's over: Jays snap Yanks streak

Well, I don't know about the Yankees, but I felt a little burnt out today after that game last night. They kept the game close, and had chances to win, but couldn't pull through. They just need to make sure this hangover doesn't last too long, because you can't count the Red Sox or Rays out until they are mathematically eliminated. The Yankees know better than anyone that you can make up a lot of ground on a team without actually playing them.

We'll be back and recharged for tomorrow's game. Until then, I'm Jim Geant saying,

SEE YA!

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Game 112: Blue Jays at Yankees

Lineups via PeteAbe

YANKEES (69-42)
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Hairston LF
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: RHP Sergio Mitre (1-0, 7.50).

BLUE JAYS (53-57)
Scutaro SS
Hill 2B
Lind DH
Overbay 1B
Wells CF
Rios RF
Encarnacion 3B
Barajas C
Inglett LF

Pitching: LHP Marc Rzepczynski (1-3, 3.74).

Sorry for the lateness of the post, we're both still recovering from the late night at the game yesterday.

Jeter led off the Yankees half of the first inning with a home run to center field as the Yanks try to avoid a let down after the four-game sweep of the Red Sox.

UPDATE 8:50: Yanks have a rally going here as Cano and Hairston go back-to-back, belly-to-belly to tie the game.

UPDATE 9:54: So the Yankees are going to need another comeback to win this one. Let's hope they can pull it off.

UPDATE 10:11: So, Michael Kay asks if the Yankees have a "walk-off in their bones." At the very least, he's added a little variety, which is a start.

UPDATE 10:20: Pena has to RUN! He's watching! WHERE IS BRETT GARDNER, HE DOESN'T NEED HIS THUMB TO STEAL BASES!

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SWEEP THE NATION! Yanks Complete Bronx Beatdown

I can't think of any song that can relate to a four-game sweep of the Red Sox and being in total domination of the American League right now, so I'll just let this picture do the talking:

(NOTE: I found a song on iTunes called Sweep the Nation by Time Tells All. I hate this type of music, but the title fits, and I'm one of the most superstitious people around, so I'm using it- Jim)

We were at the game and it was crazy, playoff-like crazy. The place went nuts when A-Rod hit a home-run, but when Damon and Tex went back-to-back with 2-outs in the eighth it was the loudest I've ever heard the new stadium. If there was a roof, it would have blown off after Tex's home-run. And the "Sweep, sweep, sweep" chants at the end were priceless. Also I cannot forget to mention the job Andy Pettitte did tonight. He was the unsung hero of the night, pitching 7 shutout innings outdueling Jon Lester, who gave up 1 run in seven innings.

The Yanks take on the Blue Jays tommorow, but who cares? Six and a half up!!! And now the Sox are tied with the Texas Rangers in the Wild Card! What a great weekend.

See Ya!

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Yanks go for Sweep Tonight

After the Yankees took the first three games of the series, they send Andy Pettitte to the mound against John Lester to attempt to sweep Boston.

John and I will be at the game, so there won't be any in-game updates. We both feel extremely sorry for those of you who have to listen to the Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, and Steve Phillips (aka the Three Stooges).


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CC to Sox: Can't Touch This

I'm sticking to what Jim's been doing and keeping up with the song title headlines.

Red Sox 0 4 1
Yankees 5 9 0

WP: Sabathia (12-7)
LP: Buchholz (1-2)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: No doubt about this one. Carsten Charles Sabathia. He threw 7.2 scoreless innings giving up 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out nine.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Derek Jeter turning an athletic double play in the seventh. The Red Sox were showing their only signs of life, but Lowell hit a grounder to Cano who tossed it to Jeter, who lept over Youkillis, landed, stepped and threw out Lowell.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: When CC Sabathia got the first out of the game. Red Sox offense was MIA after that (and carrying over from last night).

GAME NOTES:

• Sabathia took a no-hitter into the sixth before Ellsbury broke it up. He also now has the bullpen rested for tommorow night.
• I think it's safe to say Sabathia and Burnett earned their pinstripes this weekend. Could not have asked for better performace out of them.
• This is the first time since 2002 the Yankees shutout the Red Sox back-to-back games.
• The Yankees are now 5.5 games up and go for the sweep tommorow. The Red Sox season is starting to get uglier than Clay Buchholz's face and I say show no mercy. Knock 'em while they're down.

Tommorow:
Yankees Red Sox 8 pm ET ESPN, Yankee Stadium

The members of Michael Kay's Successors will be at the game tommorow to see if the Yankees can finish off the Bronx Beatdown.

See Ya!

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GAME 110: Yankees vs Red Sox

Lineups via PeteAbe
YANKEES (67-42, First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (11-7, 3.95).

RED SOX (62-46, Second Place AL East)
EllsburyCF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez C
Youkilis LF
Ortiz DH
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Kotchman 1B
Green SS
Pitching: RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1, 6.05).

Notes: I am still a little exhausted being at the game last night and having to wake up early this morning, so I'll just run quickly with some notes...They Yankees are on a 5-game winning streak and have a 4.5 game lead over the Red Sox...Mariano Rivera has not allowed a run and struck out 20 batters in his last 20.1 innings pitched...Alex Rodriguez is tied with Harmon Killebrew with 573 career HRs.
David Ortiz: Ortiz held a press conference today regarding why his name was on the 2003 positive test list. And, we still don't know why, but he said he never took steroids and purchased over the counter vitamins and supplements. It sounded like he may have took Andro, which is what Mark McGwire took, but we never got any full answers. Of course, everyone is giving him a pass, but I have already found something that questions Ortiz's credibility. He said he purchased these "vitamins and supplements" from both the US and the Dominican Republic. So, I did some research and found this: http://dr1.com/articles/steroids.shtml Read the part that says reason for use. A very interesting quote from Big Papi; it is opposite of what he said earlier today. His credibility goes right out the door for me.

UPDATE 4:41: Bucholz's parents must be cousins or something. He is one ugly dude. He is from Texas, so it's a possibility.

UPDATE 4:48: I know the game's going on but I need to reiterate my disgust over this whole Ortiz thing. I just read an article on Newsday about how we should put aside everything in the Ortiz thing and realize he is a victim for having his rights violated. Hello? So was A-Rod, Sosa, Manny, and the other players who's names have been released. There is a bigger picture here, and it's that we don't know why Ortiz is on the list and what supplements he was taking. People still think A-Rod isn't being truthful, then what the hell is Ortiz if that's the case? Sorry, I just need to rant right there. CC hasn't allowed a baserunner through 3.

UPDATE 5:05: A run! And it didn't take 15 innings!

UPDATE 5:17: CC has 4 scoreless, baserunnerless innings.

UPDATE 5:35: Hey everyone, Tim McCarver and Joe Buck are discussing why they aren't superstitous and can say whatever they wish to on-air. I, however, am superstitous. And if you are too, maybe you should mute your TV (if you havn't already) if CC keeps it up.

UPDATE 5:46: CC allowed a baserunner on a walk, but that is it. He's at 81 pitches already. Some quick groundouts would be helpful next inning.

UPDATE 5:54: I hope Youkilis is in leffield tommorow when I'm sitting out there. It seems like the fans are having so much fun when he misplays a routine ball.

UPDATE 6:06: There goes the no-no. His pitch count was too high anyway, maybe another day. Now the game is on the line and he K's Pedroia to end the inning. Seven strikeouts though. I hope they throw that arguing elf out of the game if hes going to complain about that call.

UPDATE 6:10: Almost forgot to put this in the notes so I'll mention it now. The Yankees called up Josh Towers from AAA Scranton and sent Melancon down and moved Marte to the 60-day DL. Mark Feinsand has a funny story on Towers that Yankees fans remember a couple years back.

UPDATE 6:33: What a double play to end the inning. Jeter jumped over Youkillis with the ball in his hand, landed, stepped and threw to first and still got Lowell. Wow. I don't know how you don't beat that out.

UPDATE 6:41: So Ramon Ramirez throws up and in at Teixeira. Then he hits A-Rod in the elbow. Umpire threw him out with no hesitation. LOL. Now Francona is freaking out over this.

UPDATE 7:01: Two-out bases loaded walk for Swisher. 3-0 Yankees hopefully Melky can put this game out of reach.

UPDATE 7:02: Nope. Groundout to first.

UPDATE 7:13: Another great game going on here. CC leaves after 7 2/3 with 9 strikeouts and 0 earned runs. Him and Burnett last night recieved HUGE standing ovations. They both earned their pinstripes this weekend, no doubt about it. And to top it off Hughes gets a K to end the eighth. Great pitching by the Yankees today.

UPDATE 7:20: A home run for Rivera and it's 5-0. That ball hit the bottom of the foul pole it looked like and this game is blown open. Red Sox offense is MIA.

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You Shook Me All Night Long: A-Bomb wins it in 15

We've got an abbreviated recap, because I need some sleep and I have to work tomorrow.

Red Sox 0
Yankees 2

You don't need me to tell you that the Player of the Game, Play of the Game, and the Turning Point of the Game all revolve around A-Rod's walk-off home run.

I noticed that I had been using song titles for headlines, and it had been working, so I'm sticking with it.

NOTES:

• The Yankees pick up their 10th walk-off win of the season, and move 4.5 games of the Red Sox for 1st place in the AL East.
• John is going to have some great stories to tell from this game.
  
• The Yankees lead this series 2-0, so they just need to win one of the next 2 to win this series.
  
• I'm thinking it will be two weeks before this is on Yankee Classics on YES.

TOMORROW:
Red Sox at Yankees, 4PM on FOX (have fun listening to Buck and McCarver)

SEE YA!

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Game 109: Red Sox at Yankees

Sorry for the extremely late post, but John is at the game and I was stuck at my real job all day. This has been another great baseball game in this storied rivalry. Hopefully the Yanks can pull out a win.

UPDATE 10:06: By the way, John texted me and told me that he started yelling at a Red Sox fan sitting behind him. Hopefully he doesn't get banned from the Stadium, because we're going to Sunday's game.

UPDATE 10:08: Great at-bat so far here by Damon.

UPDATE 10:16: I wonder if A-Rod will try to steal second, get in scoring position.

UPDATE 10:20: It's up to Jorge now. Hopefully AJ will get the opportunity to pie his catcher in the face in a couple of minutes.

UPDATE 10:24: BONUS CANTOS! Thankfully, Kay doesn't say that anymore. Our bullpen is now going to be tested. I bet Girardi is second-guessing himself for only using Hughes for one out.

Quick story: I helped cook John Stewart's lunch today. Why he was at the Seagull's Nest? I have no idea.

UPDATE 10:31: It's August 7. It's 70 degrees outside. But this feels like October baseball right now. The game hangs on every pitch. This is why I love this game.

UPDATE 10:36: The Walk-Off Wonder, Melky Cabrera is due up third this inning. This is where we win the game.

UPDATE 10:40: Hinske coming up to try and hit yet another home run as a Yankee.

UPDATE 10:43: Okay Melk/Pie Man, let's get it done.

UPDATE 10:47: Jeter vs. Papelbon to decide whether or not we move to the 11th.

UPDATE 10:49: Prepare for Kay's voice to crack 10 times in 10 seconds if Jeter gets a hit here.

UPDATE 10:53: So Papelbon strikes out Jeter and we move to the 11th. It's only because the Yankees haven't made that amazing defensive play that we make before we beat the Red Sox in big games (Jeter's dive, Melky's catch, etc...)

UPDATE 10:58: That play by Tex will work, so let's beat You-Know-Who. (It's not a Harry Potter reference, click the link)

UPDATE 11:04: I would really, really, really, really, really, REALLY like the Yanks to make Papelscum the loser of this game.

UPDATE 11:05: I can't give Kay crap about the call on that one, because I was sitting here trying to will that ball over the wall, too. A-Rod's due.

UPDATE 11:09: You've got to think that Papelscum is done, so we'll just have to settle for beating one of the lesser pitchers in the Boston bullpen. Aceves is going to give the Yankees some innings here.

UPDATE 11:16: Ace is living up to his nickname right now. This is too good of a pitching performance to waste.

UPDATE 11:20: The Yankees are definitely making a killing on concessions tonight.

UPDATE 11:26: I thought for sure that Cano was going to get a hit there. The runner was on first, not second.

UPDATE 11:29: Ok, this is Melky's like 3rd chance to win the game, he's due.

UPDATE 11:34: I don't know if I'll be able to watch this. Bruney in there to (hopefully) get these 3 outs.

UPDATE 11:40: Bruney just went all Darth Vader on me with my lack of faith.

UPDATE 11:50: Ok A-Rod. Let's do this sometimes today. Literally. You've got 10 minutes.

UPDATE 11:55: So this Friday-night game will be decided on Saturday morning. Grab a caffeinated beverage, sit back, and watch a great game. That's what I'm going to do. I'll be back for the recap.

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Yankees find Peace of Mind against Boston

Red Sox 6 8 1
Yankees 13 18 0

WP: Chamberlain (8-2)
LP: Smoltz (2-5)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: It's too hard to pick just one guy, so I'm just giving it to the entire lineup. They pounded out 18 hits and four home runs on their way to scoring 13 runs.

PLAY OF THE GAME: The Jeterian play by Robbie Cano in the top of the eighth inning on a ground ball to short right-center field by David Ortiz.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: I'm going out on a limb here, but I think the turning point was the 8-run 4th inning. After Casey Kotchman homered in the top of the 4th to give Boston a 3-1 lead, the Yankees scored 8 runs on 8 hits, including 2 home runs.

GAME NOTES:

• The Yankees pitching staff allowed 12 walks. That is horrible. 7 of them were from Joba, and he only pitched 5 innings.
  
• While Joba did not pitch well, I'm not worried. He's been pitching very well lately, but he isn't going to dominate every time out.
  
• Now, the Yankees are 3.5 games ahead of the Red Sox and because the Rays were idle, Tampa Bay falls to 6 games behind.
• In case you had turned the game off by that point, Dustin Pedroia was hit by a pitch to lead off the top of the 8th. He decided to be dramatic about it, despite the fact he's shorter than me (and I'm pretty short) by barking at Mark Melancon. So, with Beckett and Burnett on the mound tomorrow, don't be surprised if there are some fireworks.
  
• Now that they finally got the first win against the Red Sox out of the way, the Yankees can just worry about beating up on them all time.
  

TOMORROW:
Round 2
Red Sox at Yankees
Beckett vs. Burnett

SEE YA!

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GAME 108: Yankees vs Red Sox

Lineup via PeteAbe
YANKEES (65-42, First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (7-2, 3.58).

RED SOX (62-44, Second Place AL East)
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez C
Youkilis LF
Ortiz DH
Drew RF
Lowell 3B
Kotchman 1B
Lowrie SS
Pitching: RHP John Smoltz (2-4, 7.12).

Rivalry Weekend: It's Yankees vs Red Sox in a 4-game series in the heat of a pennant race. The Yankees are in first by 2.5 games, but as everybody knows, the Yankees are 0-8 this season against the Roid Sox. This is a big weekend for both teams and can argue who it is more important for.
Joba the Heat: Joba Chamberlain is 3-0 with an 0.83 ERA since the All-Star break. He has allowed only eight hits over 21.2 innings while striking out 19 batters.
Locked In: Nick Swisher is 11 of his last 34 with six extra base hits and Johnny Damon is 10 of 22 with two home runs and six RBIs.
Who's in Left? Kevin Youkillis will play left field for the Red Sox tonight, as Yankee-killer Jason Bay is dealing with a bad hamstring.
Welcome to the Bronx, Big PA-P.E.D.: It's David Ortiz's first game in Yankee Stadium since finding out he tested positive for PEDs in 2003. Although I believe chanting "steroids" would be hypocritical, the Red Sox fans did have their fun with A-Roid, so expect the Yankees fans to get a bit creative and boo a bit louder with Roidtiz.

UPDATE 6:56: Word on the street (and by street I mean various tweets on twitter) is that David Ortiz will address last week's steroid report to the media on Saturday at Yankee Stadium before the game in joint presser with Micheal Weiner. Weiner is the guy replacing Donald Fehr...interesting.

UPDATE 7:14: Joba looks a little too pumped up. He just gave up a double and quick walk to Victor Martinez. Girardi out calming him down.

UPDATE 7:16: And Joba gets Youkillis out, and Ortiz gets booed. Still getting booed. And they are not stopping. Good job Yankees fans.

UPDATE 7:56: There is non stop screaming going on in my living room after that play. Why on earth would Posada not slide on that play? I tmakes zero sense. Posada just cost the Yanks to strike the first blow in the game. I am still baffled on why he did not slide. Martinez was standing up for Christ's sake. Very frustrating.

UPDATE 8:00: Well that sucks. Pedroia just hit a Yankee Stadium home run after throwingout Posada last inning and it's 1-0 Red Sox. Thanks alot Posada.

UPDATE 8:16: Johnny Damon ties it up in almost the same spot Pedroia hit his home run. Tied at 1-1 in the third.

UPDATE 8:21: Four hard hit balls that inning and only one run. That could be a sign the Yankees offense is about to erupt.

UPDATE 8:26: Think there's no problem with Yankee Stadium and home runs? Just watch this game. All three would have been outs anywhere else. 3-1 Red Sox.

UPDATE 8:38: Posada scored without sliding and Cano got an RBI with a RISP? What is going on this inning? 3-2 Red Sox.

UPDATE 8:43: Melky Cabrera is clutch. And that was no cheapie either, as it goes saling into the second deck. 5-3 Yankees still nobody out in the fourth.

UPDATE 9:03: I was so excited over the Posada 3-run HR I forgot to update it on the blog. Anyway Jorge won't have to worrry about not sliding into home plate as he blew the lid off this game. 9-3 bottom 4. See how Joba responds inthe 5th.

UPDATE 9:17: One out in the fifth. Oh yeah, and Joba walked the bases loaded and now Mike Lowell is up.

UPDATE 9:23: Well that was almost disastrous. Joba strikes his way out of further trouble and it's 9-4 Yanks after 4 and a half innnings. That has to be it for Joba, who labored through 5 innings, but is in line for the wins.

UPDATE 9:59: So Robertson strikes out 3 batters and can't finish the inning. The first strikeout of the inning was a passed ball and Ellsbury reached first so he is safe but it is still recorded as a strikeout.

UPDATE 9:59: Yankees just acquired Chad Gaudin from the Padres. Yeah, I have no idea what to make of it, I guess he's better than Mitre.

UPDATE 10:22: We're bringing in the fresh legs...er... hands to finish the blog for the game, as it's Jim here taking over.

We love giving Michael Kay a hard time sometimes (check that, all the time) but before when they were talking about Posada possibly hitting for the cycle, Kay told a story that was relevant and that he had never told before (at least to my knowledge).

While discussing whether Posada was capable of hitting a triple, Kay mentioned that Posada actually pinch ran in the 1995 playoffs. I never knew that.

UPDATE 10:30: In case anyone was wondering, according to Baseball Almanac, the longest 9 inning baseball game in MLB history took place on August 18 in a game between (guess who) the Yankees and Red Sox. That game lasted 4 hours and 45 minutes.

UPDATE 10:37: So, the plunking of Pedroia adds some intrigue to the rest of this series. And while Pedrioa didn't go try to take out Jeter at second base, he changed his mind at the last possible second. You can tell because that was one of the ugliest slides I've seen in a while.

UPDATE 10:39: Rob Cano doing his best Derek Jeter impersonation right there. Pretty play.

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Johnny B. Goode: Damon and Yanks sweep Jays

Yankees 8 10 0
Rays 4 11 0

WP: Aceves (7-1)
LP:Rzepczynski (1-3)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Johnny Damon. With a 3-5 night at the plate with 3 RBI's and a home run, he helped spark the line up.

Image via Wikipedia

PLAY OF THE GAME: The catch by Melky Cabrera as he went back to the wall in the 8th inning in support of Phil Hughes.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: The 7th inning. The Yankees scored 4 runs to take the lead with a game-tying home run by Swisher and then 3 singles by Matsui, Damon, and Teixeira.

GAME NOTES:

• So now that this series is over, we can turn our full attention to the Red Sox series. Thanks to the Rays, the Yankees will go into that series 2.5 games ahead of the Sox.
• The bullpen situation: Hughes has pitched 2 straight days, but Mo did not pitch today. So Philthy may not be available tomorrow, but Mo can maybe get 4 outs tomorrow.
  
• I have the YES Network Postgame on as I'm writing this, and Bob Lorenz just said something about "doing his 'Sweating to the oldies' tape twice a day now." Is the not-talking-about-baseball thing (AKA the Michael Kay syndrome) contagious?
• PeteAbe says the Yankees told him that Muhammad Ali will be honored before the game tomorrow night. Upon hearing this, John and I set the over/under for Michael Kay boxing references at 7.
• The Yankees are 30-16 since the last time they played the Red Sox, so they are a very different team than they were in mid-June.
  

TOMORROW:
The Empire Strikes Back
Red Sox at Yankees
Smoltz vs Joba

And I am rooting for the Yankees not only because I am a die-hard fan, but because I already have a great headline for it if they do.


SEE YA!

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GAME 107: Yankees at Blue Jays

Lineups, as always, courtesy of PeteAbe

YANKEES (64-42, 1st place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Hairston 3B
Molina C

Pitching: RHP Sergio Mitre (1-0, 7.80).

BLUE JAYS (51-55, 4th place AL East)
Scutaro SS
Hill 2B
Lind DH
Overbay 1B
Wells CF
Rios RF
Encarnacion 3B
Barajas C
Inglett LF

Pitching: LHP Mark Rzepczynski (1-2, 3.25).

TIME/TV: 7:07 p.m., YES.

Don't get caught looking ahead: The Yankees begin a four-game series tomorrow against the Red Sox, but they need to win this game first. And Mitre throwing some decent innings tonight to save the bullpen certainly wouldn't hurt for the upcoming series.

Divide and conquer: The Yanks are 21-18 against teams in the division, including 6-2 against Toronto.

One more to decide it all: The Yankees are 4-4 on the current road trip, so tonight's game will decide if they go home up one, or down one on the trip.

UPDATE 7:30: Mitre didn't help the cause there, with 2 runs on four hits. Hopefully he can settle down and give the Yankees some innings.

UPDATE 8:02: So the Yankees got the 2 runs back, Mitre just needs to make sure he doesn't keep putting the team in a hole.

UPDATE 8:45: I have to ask: Why Aceves? His shoulder has been bothering him, and they brought Anthony Claggett up just for tonight's game, and I assume it wasn't to just eat sunflower seeds in the bullpen.

UPDATE 9:05: Looks like the Yanks have locked in on how to hit this guy, and so he's gone.

UPDATE 9:58: That was a nice play by Melky starting off the inning. Let's hope Hughes can get out of this inning pretty quickly.

UPDATE 10:12: Robertson in to get the last 3 outs. Rays up 6-4 over the BoSox with JP Howell in for Tampa Bay.

UPDATE 10:17: The Rays held on to win, 6-4. The Yanks can go up 2.5 games on the Sox with a win here.

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Yankees 5- Blue Jays 3

Yankees 5 10 0
Blue Jays 3 9 1

WP: Pettitte (11-6)
LP: Halladay (11-5)
S: Rivera (31)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mark Teixeira. Big Tex went 2-4 with a home run and an RBI. His home run in the 8th off of Doc Halladay was big as Hughes struggled a little bit in relief.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Melky Cabrera's nice catch going back towards the wall. (In the interest of full disclosure, I missed the game because of work, and just stole that award from the YES postgame show.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Johnny Damon and Teixeira going back-to-back, belly-to-belly in the 8th inning off of Halladay.

GAME NOTES:

• This was Pettitte's first win since July 1. He had been struggling and suffered from a little bit of bad luck. But in his post-game interview, Posada said that Andy's cutter was working well tonight, and that's always a good thing.
• The Yankees finally figured out how to hit Halladay. In their last two games against the Cy Young award winner, the Bronx Bombers have scored 10 runs on 19 hits. That information from PeteAbe.
• Good news on the health front, as Ian Kennedy threw 25 pitches from a half-mound a little over 2 months after having an aneurysm removed from his right arm on May 12.
  
• The stats for the 2-5 hitters in the Yanks lineup: 7 hits, 5 runs, 4 RBI's. That's pretty good.
• Remember people, no matter how bad it gets, just remember: We could be Mets fans.
• Great game going on between the Red Sox and Rays. I'll be watching that closely.
  

TOMORROW:
Yankees at Rays, 7:07 PM at the SkyDome (same situation as Comiskey Park)
Mitre vs. Rzepczynski (thankfully, this blog has no audio portion, because I would have no idea how to pronounce that)

SEE YA!

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GAME 106: Yankees at Blue Jays

Lineups and Notes via PeteAbe and BaseballReference
YANKEES (63-42, First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Hinske RF
Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (8-6, 4.51).

BLUE JAYS (51-54, Fourth Place AL East)
Scutaro SS
Hill 2B
Lind DH
Millar 1B
Wells CF
Rios RF
Encarnacion 3B
Barajas C
Bautista LF
Pitching: RHP Roy Halladay (11-4, 2.68).

Roy is Still in Town: After not being dealt at the trade deadline, Roy Halladay remains a Blue Jay and in the AL East. He has a 16-5 lifetime record against the Yankees with a 2.90 ERA and takes the mound tonight at the Skydome/RogersCentre or whatever the hell it is called now. He is also 8-0 with a 2.10 ERA in his last 10 starts against the Yankees, however, last time the Yankees were victorious on the 4th of July as the Yankees scored 5 runs on 9 hits in 7 innings, leaving Roy Halladay with a no-decision.
No Support for Andy: The Yankees could not ask more out of Andy Pettitte since the All-Star break. He has a 2.70 ERA since the break, however his record is 0-1 due to lack of run support. Pettitte has given up 6 earned runs in his last 3 starts while Yankee hitters only scored 3 runs with Pettitte in the game (8 total).
Beyond the Cycle: Hitting for the cycle Sunday is just a glimpse of how Mellky Cabrera has been playing lately. He is 15 of his last 35 with 5 RBI and 10 extra base hits.
Ha!: A-Rod is hitting .303 with 31 homers in his career at the SkyRogersDomeCenter.

UPDATE 7:13: After striking out Jeter and Tex, A-Rod drives in Damon who scores from first base. It looked like Damon got a lucky hit to even get on base so that is huge. Plus any scoring off Halladay is big.

UPDATE 7:16: Five years later A-Rod is still knocking balls out of peoples gloves. At least this time it was with his feet so he could get away with it and it's 2-0 Yankees. All sorts of sloppy play in that at-bat.

UPDATE 8:11: Pettite's lost the strike zone now. Back to back walks and now 2-0 to Rios with 1 out and the bases loaded in teh 4th.

UPDATE 8:14: Pettitte escapes with minimal damage. A sac fly and groundout keeps the Yankees the lead at 2-1.

UPDATE 8:31: Roy Halladay is cruising right now. He's retired 10 straight batters. As for Pettitte, he's hanging in there, but it's safe to say the two pitchers are heading in different directions at this point in the game, which is not good news for the Yankees.

UPDATE 8:52: Hughes coming in with 2 on and 2 out. Pettitte pitched very well today with Halladay being the opposing pitcher. Andy had 7 strikeouts and gave up 1 run on 4 hits. He did have a little bit of luck though, as a lot of hard hit balls were right at the fielders.

UPDATE 8:58: That was HUGHE! Ok, I know, stupid pun. But still, Yanks needed that.

UPDATE 9:03: Damon's success off Halladay continues and as I type Mark Teixeira wants to get in on the action and hits a monster shot off Halladay and that is back-to-back home runs for Tex and Damon and it is 4-1 Yankees.

UPDATE 9:19: Mo coming in to get a 4 out save. Hughes threw alot of pitches to Millah before striking him out. Two on two out for Mo. As for me, after this inning I'm off to see the movie Funny People, so there will be a recap after 10 when Jim is back.

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Michael Kayisms: Tying a Record Held By Many

It's an off day today in Yankeeland, so you know what that means...Michael Kayism day! Today, we will talk about how pointless it is to say a player has tied a record held by many.



For those unfamiliar (but if you watch enough Yankee games, you are) whenever a player records all three outs in one inning it prompts Michael Kay to say "and he ties a record held by many."



For example, the first out of the inning will be a groundout to Mark Teixeira. The second out is popped up to Teixeira. The third out is another grounder to Teixeira. As Teixeira records the final out Kay will say something along the lines of this: "Pretty play by Teixeira as he makes all three put outs in the inning, tying a record held by many."



Ok, so if it is a record held by many, why even bother saying it in the first place? If it is something many players before him have accomplished, why make it noteworthy? I mean, he could say he made all three put outs, but why say he ties a record held by many? And why stop there when there are plentY of other plays in a game that have happened before. He can easily say someone tied a record held by many in any other circumstance in a game (not that I condone he should).



Say A.J. Burnett strikes out the side. Kay doesn't say, "Burnett strikes out thre batters in one inning, tying a record held by many." Or if Jeter and Damon lead off the game with back-t0-back doubles he won't say, "Back-to-back doubles by the first two batters in the game, tying a record held by many."



Basically what I am trying to say is that you cannot say he ties a record held by many because if it has happened so many times, it really isn't a record. Technically, the amount of times someone has made three putouts in an inning would be the record, but nobody keeps track of this, because it is a common occurence. Baseball has been played for over 120 years and the same player making all three putouts in an inning has probably happened thousands of times.



I know when dealing with Kayisms it could get a bit confusing, but if you didn't understand some of the above just read this. It pretty much explains much of what I tried saying. Just remember, today we tied a record held by many trying to make sense (that's another one, make sense of things) of Michael Kay. See how stupid and pointless it was to say that?

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