Hughes on mound looking to break out brooms

YANKEES
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF

Phil Hughes

TWINS
Denard Span CF
Orlando Hudson 2B
Joe Mauer C
Jason Kubel RF
Delmon Young LF
Jim Thome DH
Michael Cuddyer 1B
Danny Valencia 3B
J.J. Hardy SS

Brian Duensing

Ceremonial first pitch: Yogi Berra

Time/TV: 8:37 PM/ TBS(I know, I know, these guys have me pining for Tim McCarver, they're so bad)

A picture's worth 1,000 words: Sweep

Hughes in October: This will be Hughes's first start, but in 11 games out of the bullpen, he has a 1-1 record, 5.25 ERA, and 13 K in 12 IP.

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CC on mound with series, Cy Young on the line

So after the Rays won last night, the Yankees are 1.5 games ahead of the Rays for the AL East divisional lead. So if you're a baseball fan, tonight's game is a piece de resistance. We've got CC Sabathia vs. David Price in a Cy Young pitcher's duel. The Rays came out on top the last time these two lefties faced each other, but hopefully the Yanks can pull out this one, and get CC win #21.

Lineups

YANKEES (92-60)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Greg Golson LF

LHP CC Sabathia (20-6, 3.05)

RAYS (90-61)
B.J. Upton CF
Jason Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Evan Longoria 3B
Ben Zobrist 1B
Rocco Baldelli RF
Willy Aybar DH
Kelly Shoppach C
Sean Rodriguez 2B

LHP David Price (17-6, 2.79)

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State of the Yankees (It's Not Good)

Last week the Yankees went on an eight-game winning streak which saw them extend their AL East lead on the Tampa Bay Rays to 2.5 games. Then, the Orioles came to town and took two of three. Then the Yankees traveled to face the Texas Rangers. The bullpen blew the game the first night. Mariano Rivera had one of his three meltdowns he has all year and blow the second game. And Cliff Lee was Cliff Lee and the next thing you know the Yankees are dealing with their first three-game sweep of the season, lost six of their last seven, and enter a three game series with the Tampa Bay Rays who are just 1/2 a game back. The Yanks would be on a seven game losing streak if not for Nick Swisher's walk-off home run on Wednesday.

The rest of the Yankees schedule is against all AL East teams. They have just three games against the Orioles, who are the only team under .500 (and have been playing good baseball since Buck Showalter took over). Over the last seven days the Yankees as a team are batting .236/.337/.303 with one home run and 16 RBI. On the pitching side the last seven days, they have a 4.66 ERA have allowed 44 hits in 46.1 innings, while allowing 25 runs and striking out 36.

Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher are battling through injuries. A-Rod still needs to sit out about once a week. The only consistent pitcher the Yankees have in their rotation is CC Sabathia. If Andy Pettitte returns at the end of the week he is probably only good for about 80 pitches.

The Yankees are staring at a very possible scenario where they back into the playoffs in the wild card spot. The seven games they have left with the Rays are going to be playoff games because knowing the Yankees, they'd rather have the division crown than the wild card. But if they cannpt capitalize on these games against the Rays, you have to wonder, just how far can this team go into the postseason?

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Swish Stops Sweep

With one swing of the bat, Nick Swisher put a halt to the Yankees 3 game losing streak and prevented the lowly Baltimore Orioles from sweeping a series in the Bronx for the first time since 1986.

If the Yanks had gotten swept by the Orioles this late in the season, that would have been horrible. Losing 2 out of 3 to the O's this late in the season is still pretty pathetic, but obviously not as bad as getting swept.

As of 4:15 PM, the Yankees are 2 games in front of the Rays in the AL East. The Yankees have an off day tomorrow before heading to Texas to take on the Rangers. Just so you know Cliff Lee will start in Sunday's game against Dustin Moseley, as the Yankees are skipping over Phil Hughes in order to keep his innings under the limit.


SEE YA!

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Game 125: Yankees at Blue Jays

YANKEES (77-47)
Brett Gardner LF
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Ramiro Pena 3B
Francisco Cervelli C

RHP Ivan Nova (0-0, 0.00)

BLUE JAYS (64-59)
Fred Lewis LF
Yunel Escobar SS
Jose Bautista RF
Vernon Wells CF
Adam Lind DH
Aaron Hill 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Jose Molina C

RHP Brandon Morrow (9-6, 4.45)

Notes:

• Former Yankee (and Red Sox) was claimed off waivers by the Boston Red Sox today. The Tigers and Sox have 48 hours to work out a deal, and Damon also has a no-trade clause.
• Ivan Nova gets his first MLB start. He's pitched 3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen so far this year, but let's see what he's got against a good Blue Jays lineup.
• Let's hope things go better this time in Toronto.
  

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Offense finally wakes up as CC earns 16th win

Finally. After attending last night's game in the awful humidity and watching the Yankees offense look anemic against Max Scherzer the Yankees offense finally woke up tonight against Justin Verlander of all people.

After Sabathia led off the game surrendering a home run by Austin Jackson things looked bleak for the Bronx Bombers in the beginning. But Nick Swisher hit a two-run single in first to give the Yankees the lead and they never looked back.

Curtis Granderson hit a solo home run off his former team and has been hitting the ball much better since Kevin Long worked with him to make some changes with his swing. Granderson is going to be a key piece down the road for the Yanks so the more production out of him the better.

CC Sabathia had a solid outing going seven innings while striking out nine and allowing three runs.

Robinson Cano capitalized in the cleanup spot with his 22nd home run of the season.

So good things all around, right? Well, not so much.

First, the Rays won, so they're still tied in first and the Red Sox won too so they're not separating themselves from them.

Second, Andy Pettitte had an MRI today on his left groin and it revealed that there was still a strain so he won't be back untill September.

Finally, A-Rod had an MRI on his calf today andd it revealed a minor strain and he should remain day-to-day.

All we can do now is hope the Yankees offense is out of this funk and can keep them ahead of the Rays until Pettitte comes back.

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Game 98: Yankees at Indians- Game 5 of the A-Rod watch

YANKEES (62-35)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Javy Vazquez (8-7, 4.68)

INDIANS (41-57)
Michael Brantley CF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Shin-Soo Choo RF
Carlos Santana C
Travis Hafner DH
Jhonny Peralta 3B
Matt LaPorta 1B
Trevor Crowe LF
Jason Donald 2B

RHP Jake Westbrook (6-6, 4.74)


History in the Making?: A-Rod has had past success against Jake Westbrook, so there's a good chance he could hit #600 tonight. Too bad only like 300 people will be in the stands to watch at Jacobs Field (I know it's not called that anymore, but I don't really care). Remember when the Indians used to sell out every game for years and years?

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Game 95: Yankees vs Royals (A-Rod 600 HR Watch)

Yankees
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Colin Curtis RF

Royals
TBD


Milestone watch: As many of you already know, A-Rod is on the brink of history to join an exclusive club as he is sitting on 599 career home runs, one shy of 600. Only 6 players have ever hit 600 home runs and A-Rod would be the seventh. While there's alot of controversy that has surrounded A-Rod over the last year-and-a-half expect the media coverage to be, well, Bonds-like.
Psycho: A.J. Burnett makes his first start since his Saturday afternoon meltdown in which he cut his hand smacking a glass window in the clubhouse and had to be taken out of the game for it. Burnett has had a dissapointing season (7-8, 4.99) and needs to pitch better.
Swish Scratched: Nick Swisher was scratched from the lineup with a sore achilles. Sounds like a precautionary thing to me.
Dejesus Out: Royals outfielder and a local Jersey Shore high school product David Dejesus is out for the season to undergo surgery on a torn ligament in his right thumb. DeJesus has been a topic of trade speculation lately, especially with the Yankees as a fourth outfielder.

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For the Boss and Bob

Nick Swisher hits the walk-off single to win the game 5-4 in the ninth. What an emotional, dramatic, and key win for the Yankees tonight. They distance themselves to 3 games ahead of the Rays in the AL East and Mr. Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard are looking down at Yankee Stadium with a smile on their faces.

I'm going to have to admit, I'm still disappointed Derek Jeter didn't come through for the storybook ending in the ninth. He probably had the closest relationship with both the Boss and Sheppard out of all the Yankees. Nonetheless, all the Boss would have wanted is a win, no matter how it got done or who got it done.

Mariano Rivera had an impressive ninth inning where he picked off B.J. Upton and struck out Evan Longoria. David Robertson also had an impressive outing, striking out the side in the eighth inning.

Down 3-1, Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada hit back-to-back homers to tie the game. The Rays were able to take the lead thanks to some misplays by Nick Swisher, but he made up for it tying the game with a monster shot to right field. He later got the big hit winning the game in the ninth.

This game kind of reminded me of the game after Thurman Munson died. Very emotional. Back and forth contest. 5-4 final score, both games won in the ninth. I thought the ceremony was well done, the Bleacher Creature silent roll call, and the PA address system shutdown for the game were go ideas remembering Bob Sheppard and the Boss.

No question it will be an Instant Yankee Classic...probably Monday.

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NL Gets World Series Home Field

Yeah yeah, I know this is late but I feel obligated to make a post on the All-Star Game. Yesterday the NL All Stars defeated the AL All Stars 3-1 behind Brian McCann's bases loaded double off Matt Thornton. Phil Hughes was charged with the loss while Matt Capps earned the win and Jonathan Broxton closed it out for the NL's first victory since 1996.

As for the Yankee All Stars, Robinson Cano had the AL's only RBI with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Derek Jeter walked against Ubaldo Jimenez, struck out against Josh Johnson, and singled off Roy Halladay. Nick Swisher struck out against Adam Wainwright.

Andy Pettitte pitched a scoreless third inning, striking out two batters and inducing a groundout to Jeter who flipped to Cano for a force at second (very familiar).

Phil Hughes recorded one out and allowed two singles before being relieved by Thornton. Thornton could not get out of the jam and the runs he allowed were charged to Hughes, hence whyHughes picks up the loss.

Alex Rodriguez did not enter the game at all. Now, this seems to be the subject of debate today, and I found it a little surprising but here is what I think. First, it seemed Girardi wanted to give guys who were in their first All Star Game a chance to play, hence why Adrian Beltre, Ty Wigginton, and Nick Swisher got in the game ahead of A-Rod. Secondly, I think maybe he didn't want to use A-Rod unless necessary so he can give him full rest these four days. But with home-field advantage on the line, I think you need to find a way to get A-Rod an at bat late in the game.

Either way, the NL was due. I've been expecting them to win for the last five years. It's just the law of averages. The Yankees have won World Series titles without home field advantage before, I'm sure they can do it again if they get back there this year.

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Swisher to Compete in HR Derby

Nick Swisher will be competing in the Home Run Derby on Monday July 12. His announcement comes two days after the fans selected him as the final All Star for the American League team. Obviously, this will become an issue inside the Yankees clubhouse after the coaches already expressed dismay when Robinson Cano was going to compete in it before a minor back injury caused him to pull out. (I think they faked it). Now Girarde and Kevin Long will be getting questions on whether Swisher should compete or not.

I think they'll have less of a problem with Swisher competing than with Cano. I know I do. The Yankees coaching staff has put so much work and effort into making Cano a complete hitter over the last two years, they did not want to see it all go away because of the Home Run Derby. Swisher, on the other hand, is a born power hitter. That's what he's done his entire career up until this year, when the Yankees finally got him to start hitting for average. The only thing I'm worried about is if this will cause Swish get in a habit of swinging for the fences every at bat. Hopefully not, and if he's quickly eliminated we won't have to worry.

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We Did It!

The announcement everyone in New York has been waiting for all day has just been final. Nick Swisher is going to the All Star Game! Nick tweeted thank you to all the fans for voting. The Yankees fans came through and did it, and more importanty we beat out Red Sox Nation by voting Swisher in over Youkilis. Where's that "Nation" now?

Joey Votto was voted in as the last man for the NL roster. But if you weren't voting for Joey Votto what the heck were you doing? He's like top five in every offensive category I have no idea why he wasn't on to begin with.

Maybe next year the fans won't vote a Yankee in over you...ha!

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Game 83: Yankees at A's

YANKEES (51-31)
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Colin Curtis RF

LHP CC Sabathia (10-3, 3.33)

ATHLETICS (41-43)
Coco Crisp CF
Daric Barton 1B
Kurt Suzuki C
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Mark Ellis 2B
Jack Cust DH
Adam Rosales SS
Matt Carson RF
Rajai Davis LF

RHP Trevor Cahill (8-2, 2.74)

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Send Swish to All-Star Game

Kevin Youkilis is leading the vote for the final spot on the AL team for the 2010 All-Star game. This is UNACCEPTABLE, so I'm gonna give you all the reasons why Swisher should be the last man voted on the team, and then I'm gonna tell you how to vote him in.

Why Swisher should be on the team.

1. If Swisher doesn't go to the ASG, Kevin Youkilis will.
2. Swisher's having a great season so far, with a .296/13/47 year.
3. If Swisher doesn't go to the ASG, Kevin Youkilis will.
4. If the game goes deep into extra innings, Swisher can pitch.
   
5. If Swisher doesn't go to the ASG, Kevin Youkilis will.
6. Ty Wiggington's already on the team. If a .251 hitter is gonna be on the All-Star team, Nick Swisher should be, too.
7. If Swisher doesn't go to the ASG, KEVIN YOUKILIS will.

Ok, I think I've proved my point, so now to tell you how to cheat the system.

First things first, you go here and fill out the ballot. For anyone concerned about giving out their email address, just make one up (more on that in a second). Then click Nick Swisher for the AL and anyone else for the NL (and if you don't vote for Joey Votto, your an idiot). Then you vote up to 25 times. Oh wait, once you reach the limit, you just make up a new email address and keep voting. And it keeps all your other info so all you need to put in is the validation key.

If Youkilis gets voted in over Swisher, I will be disappointed in Yankee fans everywhere.

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Game 82: Yankees at A's

Yankees
Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Colin Curtis RF

RHP Javier Vazquez

Athletics
Coco Crisp CF
Daric Barton 1B
Ryan Sweeney RF
Kurt Suzuki C
Jack Cust DH
Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Gabe Gross LF
Mark Ellis 2B
Cliff Pennington SS
RHP Ben Sheets

Get Off My Mound: The Yankees return to Dallas Braden's mound tonight, but the man from the 203 is on the DL. Thank goodness.
Gardner Leading Off: Brett Gardner is hitting in the leadoff spot with Jeter back in the two-hole. The reason is to split lefties in the lineup.
Send Swish: Although some other candidates may have better numbers, Swish has proven he is one of the best outfielders in the league this season so far, and he deserves the nod. Keep voting.

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Pettitte Named to All Star Team

Via Bryan Hoch's twitter, Joe Girardi has named Andy Pettitte to replace Clay Bucholz in the All-Star Game. I know Buchholz is injured, but it's kind of an awesome feeling to know a Yankee was named as his replacement.

Also,the first update of the final fan vote came out and Nick Swisher is in the lead for the AL while Joey Votto leads the NL. Which reminds us, Send Swish and keep voting!!!

Update: My bad, Joe Girardi did not make the selection, Andy Pettitte was next on the players ballot to get in. Girardi can still choose who to replace Sabathia since he will be pitching Sunday.

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Phew! Yanks Avoid Sweep

SEA 2 5 0
NYY 4 7 0

WP: Sabathia (10-3)
LP: Aardsma (0-5)
S: Rivera (18)

Player of the Game: Despite blowing a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning in large part to a wild pitch, CC Sabathia continued to show his dominance of late, striking out four and going eight strong to win his sixth consecutive start and earning his tenth win of the season almost three weeks earlier than last season when he won 19 games.
Turning Point/Play of the Game: I didn't see all of this game but Alex Rodriguez's two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth can account for each of these as he helped regain the lead for the Yanks. It was A-Rod's 595th career homer as he closes in on 600.

Notes:

• Robinson Cano hit a solo home run to continue his MVP-type season.
• You have to wonder if Girardi will take Sabathia or Phil Hughes along with Andy Pettitte for the All-Star game. Sabathia has been much more effective than Hughes of late and you can make a case he deserves it over Hughes.
• Speaking of the All Star Game, remember to help get Nick Swisher in by voting all day today until midnight.

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Game 78: Yankees vs Mariners

Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF
Ramiro Pena 3B
LHP CC Sabathia

Mariners
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chone Figgins 2B
Milton Bradley DH
Jose Lopez 3B
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Josh Wilson SS
Josh Bard C
Michael Saunders LF
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith

No King in NY: No, not King James. The Yankees will be relieved to see King Felix oback in the dugout today after he dominated them last night. Instead they will be delighted to see Ryan Rowland-Smith, and is 1-7 record and a 6.18 ERA.
Carsten Charles in Charge: In the month of June Sabathia went 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA and 35 strikeouts. He looks to carry that over into July today.
Vote Swisher: Nick Swisher is having an amazing season and the All-Star voting ends tonight at midnight. Help vote Nick Swisher in because Girardi may not choose him in fear of being accused of taking his own players over others more deserving. Only thing is Swisher is deserving! So vote Swisher!

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Yanks Take Back-to-Back Ace Kickings

Two games. Two aces. Two losses. The Seattle Mariners put Cliff "Yankee Killer" Lee and "King" Felix Hernandez on the mound in back-to-back games and the Yankees faltered in each to back-to-back complete-game efforts. Lee dominated everyone but Nick Swisher Tuesday in a 7-4 loss while Hernandez absolutely dominated the Yankees, pitching a complete-game shutout and striking out 11 batters while only allowing two hits.

Many can look at these games and complain about the Yankees offense, but this is how Seattle drew it up in the beginning of the season, that Lee and Hernandez would be a dominant duo, however, it is just the second time they've followed one another with victories this season.

What is a little alarming is the fact that the Yankees have given up seven runs the last two games to an inept Mariners offense. Phil Hughes had the extra rest and you could use that as an excuse and Javier Vazquez didn't pitch awful, but he did not pitch well either. And the bullpen did not help as they were unable to stop the bleeding and keep the Yankees in the game.

These past two games are the type of games where you want CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte on the mound, the guys who can go toe-to-toe with the opposing pitchers. But tomorrow things will be back to normal as the Yankees have the upperhand in the mismatch of Sabathia versus Ryan Rowland-Smith.

All in all, not to fret, things will return to normalcy tomorrow.

Note: The last time the Yankees lost back-to-back games to pitchers throwing complete games was in April of 2000 when Chris Carpenter and Kelvim Escobar defeated the Yankees as members of the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Yanks Sign First Round Pick

Today the Yankees signed their first round draft pick Cito Culver, a shortstop out of Irondequiot HS, NY. This is good news considering the Yankees have failed to sign first round draft picks in the past (see Gerrit Cole).

Also, as we were both out late last night, we did not have a postgame post for the game. But how about that beatdown of Roy Halladay? And Granderson, Swisher, and Tex all coming through with home runs. Swisher is having an amazing season and should be on the All-Star team. I don't care if it means seven Yankees, he deserves it.

Also CC looked dominant early, struggled in the middle, then settled down to go seven innings allowing just three runs and striking out seven. I think CC is a couple starts away from going on a tear similar to how he threw at the end of the year last year. He's just got to piece it all together in one start and he'll be off.

A.J. Burnett vs the ageless Jamie Moyer tonight, 7:05 p.m.

A-Rod remains to be a game-time decision.

See Ya

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