Game 22: Yankees vs White Sox

Yankeees

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

LHP Andy Pettitte

White Sox

Alexei Ramirez SS

Gordon Beckham 2B

Andruw Jones RF

Paul Konerko 1B

Alex Rios CF

Carlos Quentin DH

Mark Teahen 3B

Donny Lucy C

Juan Pierre LF

RHP Freddy Garcia

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Cano and Co.

We apologize for not getting a post game post last night...it's finals time so it makes us kind of busy. But as you've probably heard, Robinson Cano and A.J. Burnett led the Yankees over the Orioles in a 4-0 win yesterday. Cano had three hits, including two home runs to provide the offense for the Yankees, while Burnett threw eight scoreless innings and struck out four.

Marcus Thames, the man who couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat during spring training, had three hits and an RBI yesterday. That gives him 10 hits in 17 at bats (.588) for the season.

I still can't get over how good Cano has been. Historically, he's a slow starter that doesn't start finding his groove until June, but the fact that he has eight home runs and is hitting a league-leading .407 in April has me all giddy for the rest of the season. I know it's early, and A-Rod and Tex haven't done jack**** but Cano has been the team MVP of April, and I wouldn't be surprised if you hear his name and MVP in the same sentence come September. Hopefully he doesn't cool off and continues to have what is looking like a great season.

Oh, and how about A.J. Burnett? Just another day at work, throwing 8 innings of shutout ball, improving to 3-0, and bringing the ERA down to 2.43. I know the Orioles suck, but when he is on, he's as good as any other pitcher in the league.

Today

Yankees vs White Sox (finally a home game)

Pettitte (2-0) vs Garcia (0-2)

Photo from NJ.com

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Game 21: Yankees at Orioles

Lineups via Chd Jennings:

Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF
RHP A.J. Burnett

Orioles
Adam Jones CF
Nick Markakis RF
Matt Wieters C
Miguel Tejeda 3
BLuke Scott DH
Ty Wigginton 2B
Rhyne Hughes 1B
Nolan Reimold LF
Cesar Izturis SS
LHP Brian Matusz

League Leader: Cano has been on an absolute tear to start the season. He leads the league in hitting with a .390 batting average and hit his sixth home run of the season last night.
Rubber Game: The Yanks are going out against the Orioles best pitcher (Matusz) to try and avoid their second consecutive series loss.
Jorge Update: Posada is available as only a pinch-hitter for tonight.

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Swish and Hits

NYY 8 15 0
BAL 3 11 1

WP: Sabathia (3-1)
LP: Guthrie (0-3)

Player of the Game: Nick Swisher. Swisher had 3 hits and drove in 3 runs, including a 2-run triple in the second and scored 2 runs as well.

Play of the Game: Robinson Cano's home run. I was skeptical of him entering the season as the 5 hitter. But man, it seems like every at bat he's hitting the ball hard. That was his sixth home run of the season.

Turning Point of the Game: Swisher's triple in the second inning. It made it 4-0 and a 4-run lead with CC Sabathia on the mound that early is enough to put any team out of the game. It was Swisher's second triple of the season. He had two all of last year.

Notes:

• Jorge Posada left the game in the second inning after getting hit by a pitch in the back of the knee. Cervelli replaced him but Posada said he just needs to ice it and will be fine.
• CC Sabathia is 10-1 with a 2.62 ERA in 15 career starts against the Orioles.
• Curtis Granderson broke out of an 0-for-17 slump with a single in the second. Mark Teixeira went 1-for-5 and is hitting .133 on the season...yikes!
• Jeter's double tied him on the all-time Yankees list with Don Mattingly for third with 442.

Tomorrow

Yankees at Orioles 7:05 p.m.

Burnett (2-0) vs Matusz (2-0)

See Ya!

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Game 20 Yankees at Orioles

Lineups via Chad Jennings

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

Orioles
Adam Jones CF
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 2B
Miguel Tejeda 3B
Matt Wieters C
Garrett Atkins 1B
Nolan Reimold DH
Lou Montanez LF
Cesar Izturis SS

Four out of Five: That's how many losses the Yankees have had in as many games. Yes, they are struggling right now and are 1.5 back of the first place Rays.
Not So Grand: Curtis Granderson is stuck in the middle of an 0-for-17 slide. Girardi is keeping him in the lineup and Granderson thinks he will snap out of it.
SI Cover Jinx? In case you don't get Sports Illustrated, the core four (Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Pettitte) were featured on the cover this week. So far the Yankees have lost 4 of 5 and Jeter and Posada each made errors last night. But get this, Jeter's never heard of the jinx.

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Yanks hated less than the Red Sox

A story in the Wall Street Journal this morning discussed a Nielsen report that uses some crazy math that I will never understand to figure out who the most hated team in baseball is. It measures positive and negative reaction on the internet. Here's the top 10 most hated teams.

1. Cleveland Indians
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. Houston Astros
5. New York Yankees
6. Washington Nationals
7. Chicago White Sox
8. Baltimore Orioles
9. New York Mets
10. Los Angeles Dodgers

Now most of these teams have not been doing well lately, so their own fans are probably the ones bringing them down in these ranking. But the Red Sox and Yankees are the teams that you either love or hate.

I could look at this two ways. The first is that I could say that, since people hate the Red Sox more, this "Red Sox Nation" stuff is crap. But, I personally would have liked the "most-hated" title, because the reason people hate the Yankees is because they are so good. I'm conflicted, but the stats are what they are.

What do you think? Leave us a comment or send us an email (michaelkayssuccessors@yahoo.com).

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Too Little Too Late

NYY 4 9 2

BAL 5 9 2



WP: Castillo (1-0)
LP: Robertson (0-1)
S: Simon (1)


Player of the Game: Cesar Izturis. Despite almost blowing the game for the Orioles with an error in the ninth, Izturis drove in 3 runs and singled twice in the win.



Play of the Game: Curtis Granderson made an outstanding play in the first inning robbing Miguel Tejada of a base hit by diving forward to make the catch.


Turning Point of the Game: When David Robertson hit Ty Wiggington in the seventh inning. It set up a 2-out, 3 run rally for the Orioles and Robertson just didn't have his stuff tonight.


Notes:

• The Yankees made an effort to comeback in the ninth, scoring 2 runs off Alfredo Simon on an error by Cesar Izturis and RBI single by Teixeira. But it was too little too late (hence the headline) as A-Rod made the last out grounding into a fielder's choice at second.
• Jorge Posada hit his fifth home run of the year which gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead at the time.
• Curtis Granderson is looking awful at the plate. He is hitless in his last 16 at bats and could use a day off. Meanwhile Cano looks hot as he went 3-for-4 today, however, he couldn't capitalize on a bases loaded opportunity in the third.
• Boone Logan was unable to get the job done as he allowed the tying run to reach base.
• The Yankees have now lost 4 of their last 5 games...it's official, first slump of the season.

Tomorrow

Yankees at Orioles 7:05 p.m.
Sabathia vs Guthrie

See Ya!

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Game 19: Yankees at Orioles

Lineups via Chad Jennings

Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Nick Swisher DH
Randy Winn RF
RHP Phil Hughes

Orioles
Adam "Don't Call Me Pac-Man" Jones CF
Nick Markakis RF
Matt Wieters C
Miguel Tejeda 3B
Luke Scott DH
Ty Wigginton 2B
Rhyne Hughes 1B
Nolan Reimold LF
Cesar Izturis SS
RHP Kevin Millwood

Philthy: Phil Hughes looks to follow an outing where he came within 6 outs of a no-hitter before an Eric Chavez line drive went off his glove in the 8th. He allowed 1 hit, 1 run and struck out a career-high 10 batters.
O Brother: The Orioles come in to face the Yankees as the team with the worst record in the MLB at 3-16. Girardi said he's not overlooking them and "struggling teams can get hot too."
Winn vs Mill: Randy Winn is 11-for-18 (6.11) and has 2 HR against Orioles starter Kevin Millwood in his career.
Injury Report: Nick Johnson still isn't in the lineup but is expected to be back in it tomorrow. Chan Ho Park, however, continued to feel tightness in his hamstring and will be reevaluated in Tampa tomorrow.

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Maybe Gregg Zaun Should Try Reading Playboy

Speaking of the Major League movies, Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker, who played the team's radio voice in the movie, will be undergoing heart surgery later this week, so best wishes to him.

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New Jersey Courts to Michael Kay's Successors: You're Not Journalists

A recent appeals court decision in the great state of New Jersey, our home state, has decided that bloggers are not considered journalists in the eyes of the law. A blogger was asked to reveal a source for a story she had posted on her blog, and tried to evoke the Shield Law, which is to protect journalists. The court turned down the appeal, saying that the writings "amount to no more than a letter to the editor comment on an article published by the 'newspaper.'"

This has absolutely nothing to do with the Yankees or sports, but this is a blog, so it is an interesting story to note. But as long as John and I don't become Woodward and Bernstein meeting with Deep Throat, we should be ok.

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