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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September 1

It's been a while. Cross country preseason, moving into my house at school, and school itself, has consumed my life the last 10 days or so, causing me not to have time to blog. Anyway, today is September 1 and the Yankees sit atop the AL East at 82-50. However, they are just one game up on the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Yankees have the best home record in the AL so winning the division would be a priority instead of falling back into the wild card. The Rays have 15 games left against teams under .500 records, while the Yankees have just six. The Yankees and Rays have seven more games against each other head-to-head. The Rays finish the season against the Royals while the Yanks finish against the Red Sox at Fenway. The Yankees expect Andy Pettitte and A-R0d to return shortly.

With all that being said, do you think the Yankees will win the division or the wild card? How do you feel about the team at this point? Check out the new poll and feel free to comment.

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Uh-Oh...

AL East Standings
NY Yankees
66-39 .629
Tampa Bay
66-39 .629
Boston
60-46 .566 6.5

After losing two of three to the Rays, A.J. Burnett melted down in the fifth inning and the Yankees lost 8-6 to the Toronto Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the red-hot Twins and the American Idle himself (Carl Pavano) couldn't take care of the Rays, and both teams are in a dead tie for first place. The Red Sox lost 6-5 to the Indians, but still loom just 6.5 games back.

For the first time all season, I'm a little nervous about the Yankees. Burnett cannot, and I mean CANNOT, keep pitching like this. A-Rod needs to hit his 600th home run so he can just move on and stop worrying about it, and the Yankees desperately need Andy Pettitte back from the DL. The Rays are hot right now, the Red Sox are getting healthy, and even if the Yankees fall back and land the wild card, do you want them to face Cliff Lee and the Rangers in a five game series?

Tomorrow is the beginning of the race for the AL East. There are 57 games remaining. Out of the Rays and Yankees, whoever finishes with the best record over the next 57 games, wins the AL East and avoids Cliff Lee. Every game will be under the microscope until a playoff birth is clinched. It's time for the Yankees to find their identity this season and show us who they really are.

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What's Worse?

There's so many things that have gone wrong this past week and this game was a microcosm for the week from hell for the Yankees. I don't know what is worse about tonight's loss. The fact that they were getting embarassed on national television for the second night in a row and with our ace on the mound (until the ninth inning). Or the fact that they came back in the ninth, reeled me back into the game, and had me hanging on every pitch raising my hopes of a potential win. I spent the whole night wondering, how can we lose 2 of 3 to the Mets. They're the Mets! Then A-Rod comes up as the go-ahead run against K-Rod and then I started thinking "They're the Mets! Of course they'll blow it." But after holding my breath through that 8-pitch at bat A-Rod swung through a K-Rod curveball and I returned back to my frustrated state.

It's even more frustrating when you look at the bigger picture. The Yankees are 6 games behind Tampa Bay. The Toronto freakin' Blue Jays and their strangely potent offense are just one game behind the Yankees.

I want to put this loss and series behind and move on, but I can't because there's too many issues with this team right now. It's time to start sweating.

AP photo of CC Sabathia

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Game 40: Yankees vs. Rays

YANKEES (25-14)
Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Francisco Cervelli C
Marcus Thames RF
Juan Miranda 1B
Randy Winn LF

RHP A.J. Burnett (4-1, 3.31)

RAYS (28-11)
Jason Bartlett SS
Carl Crawford LF
Ben Zobrist RF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
B.J. Upton CF
Hank Blalock DH
John Jaso C
Reid Brignac 2B

RHP Wade Davis (3-3, 3.38)

The First Place Rays: This is the start of another two-game series, this time against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Can the real Mariano please stand up?: Rivera hasn't been pitching like the Greatest Closer of All Time the past few days. With the blown save on Sunday and the loss last night, he's given up 4 runs (2 earned), 3 hits (one homer), and a walk in his last 1.1 IP

On Scene: John is at the game tonight, so he'll probably throw in some tweets from the game @jphealy.

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Which Upcoming Series is More Exciting?

First of all, let me go on the record saying two-game series are the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Now, tonight the Yankees host the Red Sox for the first time at the Stadium, but to me it seems like this rivalry is beginning to lose a bit of its luster. This is the seventh time in the first six weeks of the season that these two teams are facing each other and I'm not all that excited for it. It may be because they've faced each other too much in a short period of time, or because of the Yankees dominance over them this season, or the fact that the Red Sox are trying to dig themselves out of fourth place of the AL East.

Anyway, I'm not as pumped up about facing the Red Sox as I usually am. I know last time out there were some fireworks with some hit batsmen, but I just feel like tonight isn't as exciting as it should be. There's just something missing.


That being said, Wednesday and Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Rays is what I'm looking forward to most. I do have tickets for Wednesday night's game, but they are also battling for first place right now which makes those games more exciting.


So I ask you, what series are you more excited for?


The two-game series against the Red Sox?
The two-game series against the Rays?
Or, the three-game subway series against the Mets?


Feel free to comment on why you are more excited for the particular series.

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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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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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