Breathing Room

The Yankees have risen to the challenge the past two nights, giving them a 2.5 game lead over the Rays in the AL East, and lowering the magic number for a playoff birth to 3 after the Red Sox loss tonight.

Hughes came out and pitched a strong 6.1 and then Javy and Joba worked well out of the bullpen. They also gave Mariano a night off, so that's a plus.

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) I feel much better about the State of the Yankees today than I did on Sunday night. But, this is a four-game series, so the Yanks need another win to take the series, and I for one am not going to say "No" to a sweep.

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One Swing changes everything...

It's 3-1 Orioles in the top of the ninth, 2 strikes on Alex Rodriguez. If he strikes out, I'm sitting here yelling about how the Yankees season is collapsing around them. The sky is falling, our pitchers can't shut down opposing lineups, our hitters can't score more than one fun of Kevin freaking Millwood, and the Rays are gonna run away and hide in the AL East.

Luckily, however, A-Rod turns on one and sends an A-Bomb into the left field stands. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief. The Yankees win, the Rays lose, and the Bombers are back in first where they belong. The Yanks, as we all know, have an extremely tough schedule down the stretch, and they need to take advantage of these 3 games against the Orioles.

Enjoy your college football everybody! I'll be at the 'Cuse vs. Maine game at the Carrier Dome tonight. Let's Go Orange!

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Who do the Yankees want to face in ALDS?

Right now the Yankees are 2.5 games ahead of the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Rays are 6.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. So barring a Mets-like collapse that would end in me taking a long walk off a short bridge, the Yankees should make the playoffs. The only question now is whether they go in as the AL East Champ or the Wild Card.

I'm working under the assumption that the Twins will win the Central, and the Rangers win the West. Let's take a look at the scenarios:

If the Yankees win the AL East, and the Rays win the Wild Card:

• Yankees play the playoff team with the worst record, the Texas Rangers.
• Rays play Minnesota, with Minnesota having home field advantage.
• If Yankees advance to ALCS, they will have home field advantage, regardless of who they are playing.

If the Rays in the AL East and the Yankees win the Wild Card:

• Rays play the playoff team with the worst record, the Texas Rangers.
• Yankees play Minnesota, with Minnesota having home field advantage.
• If Yankees advance to ALCS, they will NOT have home field advantage, regardless of who they are playing.
  

So which is a better situation for the Yankees?

Twins:

• The Yankees won the season series 4-2
• Yankees outscored Twins 24-21.
• Likely playoff rotation: Baker, Liriano, Duensing, Slowey.
• Record since Aug 1: 25-11
  

Rangers:

• The Yankees lead season series 4-1 (with a 3-games to play, starting tonight)
• Yankees have outscored 27-16.
• Likely playoff rotation: Lee, Lewis, Wilson, Hunter.
• Record since Aug 1: 16-20
  

So this question might be easier to answer on Sunday after the 3 game set against the Rangers, but I'm asking now; who would you rather play?

Case for wanting to play the Twins:

1. You don't have to face Cliff Lee in a short series
2. Sweeping the Twins in the ALDS is an annual right of passage for the Yankees
3. Starting rotation is kind of weak.
4. Not a powerful lineup, especially if Justin Morneau doesn't return the season.

Case for wanting to play the Rangers:

1. They've struggled down the stretch.
   
2. Pitching staff behind Lee isn't anything special.
3. The away games are in Texas, where average early October temps are between 60-80, instead of Minnesota, where average early October temps are between 40-60.
4. Playing the Rangers means the Yankees finished strong, and have good momentum going into the playoffs, and will have home field advantage in both ALDS and ALCS.
   

So as the next three weeks of the baseball season wind down, these situations are going to be talked about a lot. Only time will tell which one comes to fruition.

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Hey Yankees, WAKE UP!

On the morning of August 1st, the Yankees were 66-37, and 2 games up and the Rays. Since then, the Yanks have gone 6-9, and are now tied with the Rays for first in the AL East.

Someone may have forgotten to tell the Yanks, but teams in the playoff hunt are supposed to play better in August and September. They haven't won a series since taking 3 of 4 against Cleveland at the end of July. They lost a 3-game series to the Rays before splitting series against the Red Sox and Rangers.

If the Yankees are going to make the playoffs, and repeat as World Series Champions, they're going to need to turn this slump around, and fast.

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Rays Burned by AJ

Yankees 7 9 0

Image via Wikipedia

Rays 3 9 0

WP: Burnett (1-0)
LP: Choate (0-1)

Player of the Game: AJ Burnett. In his second outing of the season, A.J goes 7 innings and holds the Rays to 2 runs. On back-to-back (belly-to-belly) days, the top two pitchers in the rotation shut down the Rays and win their second consecutive series to start the season.

Play of the Game: The Curtis Granderson double play. The sliding catch and then throwing behind Pat Burell to get the out was very impressive.

Turning Point of the Game: Jorge Posada's go-ahead home run in the 6th inning off of former Yankee great Randy Choate. The catcher's homer got the Yanks offense going and Granderson, A-Rod, and Swisher helped tack on insurance runs.

• While you never want to lose a game, it does happen, so teams focus on winning series. The Yankees have done that so far this season, taking both series on the road against AL East rivals. And the fact that they did it after losing the first game of both series is even more impressive.
• With weird off-days and a 10-0 win yesterday, Mariano Rivera came in today despite the fact that it wasn't a save situation. Mo just needed to get some work in, and there's an off-day tomorrow, so it was the perfect situation to let him just throw.
  
• Joba came out of the 'pen as well today for the 8th inning and surrendered a RBI triple to Carl Crawford. Maybe it was because it's been 5 days since the electric performance in Boston or maybe it was because it wasn't as "exciting" a situation. If it was the latter, the Yanks might want to watch that because they don't need Joba making a guaranteed victory a close game with a poor outing.
  
• Curtis Granderson has made a good first impression with Yankee fans, so he should get a warm welcome at the Stadium on Tuesday.
  

Off-day tomorrow, but be sure to check in because we always have something to say.

SEE YA!

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Red Sox fan teacher in Central New York harasses Yankee fan student

Being in Syracuse, I get more news from the Central New York Area than anywhere else, and one of my roommates brought this story to my attention.

Nathan Jones, a fourth grade student (keep that in mind A FOURTH GRADER!) at Van Buren Elementary School was forced to turn his Yankee T-Shirt inside out for the entire day because his teacher is a Red Sox fan, besides being a (insert descriptive adjective here) jerk.

Nathan was then teased by 5th graders and other students for the rest of the day because his CC Sabathia shirt was inside out. After the parents filed a complaint to the school principle, the issue was apparently resolved. The article did not disclose the punishment for the teacher, Peter Addabbo, who has Red Sox paraphernalia in his classroom, according to the article.

While doing some research on the Internet (isn't Google great?) I found Addabbo's school-hosted website, where he can put assignments and tell the parents what the students are doing in class. NOWHERE does he mention, between Math, Social Studies, Lunch, and Recess, humiliating, bullying and harassing his students.

I'm not vindictive or stupid (what if there's someone else with the same name) enough to link to it, but Google-ing his name may or may not bring up a possible Facebook page.

This instantly reminded me of a similar (but even more ridiculous) story from 2006. (Yeah, I wish I could remember important things from 3 years ago, but no, I remember things like this). This one involves a Steelers fan teacher and a Broncos fan student.

But I think this story is a rallying point for the weekend. Let's say the Yankees sweep the Red Sox, clinch the AL East, and reach 100 wins, all while putting a dent in Boston's wild-card lead. Little Nathan would be able to walk into his class Monday (or Tuesday depending on the holiday schedule) wearing an authentic Yankee Jersey (which the Yankees should send him if they hear about the story) and basically flip his teacher off.

Let's win this one for Nathan!

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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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New Poll: What do the Yankees Need for the Trade Deadline?

We are just 8 days away from the July 31 trade deadline, and the rumor mill is buzzing with all sorts of news over a bunch of different teams and players. Right now, the Yankees stand 2 games over the Boston Red Sox and 5.5 games over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. However, many believe the Yankees should make some sort of move. With the Red Sox sounding like they are going to make an effort for Roy Halladay or Victor Martinez, it is expected the Yankees will counter. Cashman has gone on the record saying he will solve problems internally first, but we've all heard that before.

So, we ask you, what would you like to see the Yankees do by the trade deadline? Acquire a starter? Reliever? Outfielder? Improve the bench? Or should they just stand pat? Vote on the poll to the right and feel free to comment on who you would like to see them get.

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Game 94: Orioles at Yankees

YANKEES (56-37, 1st place AL East (that feels so good to write)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Gardner CF

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (8-4, 3.81).

ORIOLES (41-52, 5th place AL East)
Roberts 2B
Jone CF
Markakis RF
Huff 1B
Wigginton 3B
Scott DH
Zaun C
Pie LF
Andino SS

Pitching: RHP Jason Berken (1-7, 6.44).

TIME/TV: 1:05, YES.

Going for six in the city:The Yankees are 5-0 during the first homestand after the All-Star break.

Beating up on the O's: The Yanks lead the season series against the Orioles with a record of 8-3.

Captain Milestone: Derek Jeter, with 2,650 hits, is only 4 behind Ted Williams on the All-Time list.

Who?: I've never heard of Jason Berken and he has an ERA over 6. So, if the Yankees decide they are going to go back to not being able hit someone that is horrible, it's going to be a long day.

UPDATE 1:15: So now Jeter's only 3 hits behind Teddy Ballgame. And it looks like the Red Sox traded for Adam LaRoche. From the Yankees perspective, I'd rather face LaRoche than Nick Johnson or Garret Atkins, who were some of the other options the BoSox were looking at.

UPDATE 1:18: Jeter is in the lineup, but it still looks like he's favoring that leg a little.

UPDATE 1:19: Looks like the Yankees already have this guy's number. They've been tattooing the ball.

UPDATE 1:28: That's one of the weakest hits I've ever seen. That's gotta be an error. And they need to score more than 2 runs this inning.

UPDATE 2:48: Let's see if Burnett can get through 7. He's at 89 pitches through 6.

UPDATE 3:08: Well, there goes the shutout.

UPDATE 3:47: This is one of the areas the Yankees need to look to improve: their bench. They need to pick up a right handed or a switch hitting bat to pinch hit in tight situations late in ballgames.

And Michael Kay joked (and no, it wasn't funny. Do you need to even ask?) that YES was putting cameras in his house to see how he prepares for games. I was under the impression that he didn't actually prepare and he was just up there winging it.

UPDATE 3:59: I was literally right in the middle of writing "Bruney is obviously performing much better after meeting Michael Kay's Successors" before he just gave up back-to-back home runs.

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YANKEES ACQUIRE HINSKE FROM PIRATES

Image via Wikipedia

The Yankees picked up Eric Hinske today in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hinske is no newcomer to the AL East as he has played for Toronto Blue Jay, Tampa Bay Rays, and Boston Red Sox. Brian Cashman gave up two young prospects, right-handed starting pitcher Casey Erickson and outfielder Eric Fryer, in the deal. This move is good because it gives us a veteran not named Angel Berroa off the bench. With Hinske coming in and Jose Molina close to coming back, Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli may be headed back down to the minors to play everyday, but that remains to be seen.

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