Derek Jeter (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Yankees beat the Rays 5-3 on Tuesday night, so the tonight’s rubber match couldn’t be a more perfect stage for CC Sabathia and David Price to face off.

Here is what I took away from last night’s game:

• David Phelps was better in his second Major League start; and I think he will continue to get stronger as he adjusts. Overall the starters are getting better, as Nova looked solid on Tuesday night.
• The Yankees middle relievers are still dominant, and are tops in baseball for a reason, thank God.
• Closer David Robertson deserves a little breathing room to adjust to his new role, and I do not think anyone can base his future off last night’s blown save. He is not Mariano Rivera, but he is good and Yankee fans need to appreciate the position he has been thrust into here. Compassion is not a word New York fans are familiar with but this qualifies as the exception.
• The Yankee bats left eight runners on base in the loss, and that is just unacceptable. The only run scored came off a Robbie Cano double in the first inning that scored the Captain.

So, what is going on here with the Yankees and how can they avoid losing fewer games?

As I thought about it, I remembered a quote I once heard from motivational speaker Paul J. Meyer:

“Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses… on your powers, instead of your problems.”

The Yankees biggest strength is their hitting, and compared to the rest of the American League their stats give off that impression.(...)
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Post tags: CC Sabathia, David Phelps, David Price, David Robertson, Derek Jeter, Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera, Yankee

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James Shields at Yankee Stadium.

Last time these two teams met was the start of the 2012 season, and the Rays swept the Yankees right out of Tropicana Field.

The Rays stand atop the AL East, tied with the Orioles with a 19-10 record but are coming to the Bronx on a two game losing streak.

Still, the 15-13 Yankees are the ones looking up at the Rays and have a perfect opportunity to make a move in the division and get some of their pride back.

The Rays are without third baseman Evan Longoria, and possibly Desmond Jennings too; but the Yankees will be without Mariano Rivera for the first time at home since 2003 along with a slew of others, including Brett Gardner, on their lengthy DL list.

The pitching match-ups are as follows, along with my predictions:

Tuesday: James Shields (5-0) vs. Ivan Nova (3-1)

Shields is clearly the better pitcher, but the recent awaken of Robbie Cano’s bat could give him some problems as Cano has hit four homers, five doubles, two triples and posts a .400 batting average against Shields. Cano was not a factor for Shields in their earlier meeting this season.

Nova is coming off his first loss after a 15-game winning streak but I do like the way he has pitched lately. He is reminding me of a 2010 Hughes, as he is getting a ton of run support. He has held the Rays to a .170 batting average, allowing two homers, three RBIs, three walks, while striking out 10 of the 47 total at-bats he has logged against them.(...)
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Post tags: CC Sabathia, Desmond Jennings, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes, Run batted in, Shields, Tropicana Field, Yankee, Yankee Stadium

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Nick Swisher - 'roll call'

SUNDAY SUMMARY:

The New York Yankees wrapped up the four game series in Kansas City with a 10-4 win, splitting the series 2-2 with the Royals.

Phil Hughes got the win, and he did pitch better but reality is the Yankee bats were really responsible for the win yesterday.

As Ibanez and Granderson each had a RBI; followed by Cano’s much-needed grand slam and Swisher’s solo shot both in the third; and finally A-Rod joined the party with a three-run bomb in the eighth.

It was great to see Cano break out of his slump, as that was only his second shot on the season but hopefully a sign of good things to come.

The Captain’s hot bat showed zero signs of slowing down, hitting a double off the first pitch thrown in the game and had a successful bunt in the third. Teixeira also helped out by drawing two walks in the game.

REALITY BITES:

The excuse of ‘it still early in the season’ has about worn its welcome but even more so for teams who live in the AL East.

Reality bites and it will sooner than you think if the Yankees don’t get the ball rolling here. They sit at 15-13 on the season, fourth in the division and four games back of the 19-9 Orioles.(...)
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Post tags: AL East, American League East, Boston Red Sox, Bronx, Curtis Granderson, New York Yankee, Nick Swisher, Phil Hughes, Royals, Yankee

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Pavano on the hill at Yankee Stadium - 04.16.2012

After a lovely weekend of taking two of three from the Angels, the Yankees looked good minus Phil Hughes.

Last night the Yankees opened a four game set in the Bronx against the Minnesota Twins with a 3-7 loss.

It didn’t help that Carl Pavano (aka. American Idle) was on the mound for the Twins, as considering his history in New York losing to him didn’t sit well with Yankees fans; of course not much does these days.

Minnesota is in town for three more games, and the Yankees have manhandled the Twins over the last decade, winning 33 of their last 44 meetings in the Bronx; so winning the next three games should be mandatory.

Reality is the Yankees cannot really afford to lose any of them, as things are about to get a lot harder starting this Friday when they head to Fenway Park.

Their schedule is about to get kicked into high gear and the Yankees could very well wind up in a hole come mid-May if they don’t take advantage when possible. Figuring out which way this team will go is the million, I meant billion-dollar question.

Attempting to come up with a logical formula of where any team will be a month from is fundamentally impossible and might even send Bill James brain into a tailspin.

Still, like every team, the Yankees have issues that need to be ironed-out sooner than later but time is not on their side…look for yourself.(...)
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Post tags: Bronx, Carl Pavano, CC Sabathia, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes, Twins, Yankee, Yankee Stadium

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Joe Maddon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you think the New York Yankees are in trouble?

Well, the Yankees are off to a horrid start to the 2012 season, as they got out pitched, out hit and out managed by the Tampa Bay Rays who swept the Bombers right out of Tropicana Field this past weekend.

Even though it is the beginning of the season, I was embarrassed for the Yankees, as it seems like the same old story from the end of 2011 to many men left on base, 26 in total.

Since there are 158 games left to play to say anyone is in trouble would be ridiculous but getting swept to start the season certainly doesn’t feel good.

Here are two things to ponder over in the wake of this semi-concern:

1) Anyone watching the three games will tell you that Rays skipper Joe Maddon might have just taught the rest of baseball how to beat the New York Yankees by employing defensive shifts.

Righty or lefty bat didn’t matter, as the Rays scouting reports had an answer for almost every Yankee hitter as they kept hitting right into the shifts.

All I can say is that Joe Maddon’s moves from this past weekend were the most successful at stopping the Yankees from scoring runs.

I can promise you it is a blueprint that the other 28 managers in baseball will certainly get copies of even if it doesn’t work as well because it probably won’t.

The counter to this argument is that the Yankees could start hitting home-runs and unless Maddon hangs Rays players from the rafters at the Trop there is not shift that can block knocking it out of the park.(...)
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Post tags: Bombers, ESPN, Joe Girardi, Joe Maddon, New York Yankees, Rays, Tampa Bay Rays, Tropicana Field, Yankee

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Joe Girardi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon notoriously gets called out for making ‘risky moves’ all the time but after this weekend’s sweep of the New York Yankees that label seems unfair and inaccurate.

A risk is supposed to be hazardous, as you are acting in spite of what could go wrong.

And the only jeopardizing things I saw during the first series of the 2012 season came from the Yankees bench. Here are the three ‘safe’ moves that potentially lost the Yankees games:

1)    Intentionally walking Rays Sean Rodriguez in the first inning, of the first game of the season against CC Sabathia was senseless. Sabathia always takes a few starts in the beginning of the season to get rolling and he was clearly struggling with his control. To purposefully bring up power hitter Carlos Pena instead of letting CC strike out Rodriguez with breaking balls, which he did later in the game was over managing the Yankees ace. It ended with Pena hitting a grand slam.

2)    Again in the first game, but in the ninth inning, Girardi walked two Rays to get to Pena again who hit a rocket to deep centerfield, which won the game for the Rays.(...)
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Post tags: Carlos Pena, CC Sabathia, Joe Girardi, Joe Maddon, New York Yankees, Nick Swisher, Sean Rodriguez, Yankee

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Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 2012 Opening Day between the Yankees and Rays was not exactly the start New York fans were hoping for, as the game was more than just a loss.

The Yankees were entering the bottom of the ninth with a 6-5 lead, and skipper Joe Girardi called on Mariano Rivera to finish off the Rays.

That is where things got ugly, as Mo allowed a single, a double, which led to a run scored, and no outs.

Girardi had no choice but to instruct Mo to walk the next two batters intentionally so the bases would be loaded. Next he swapped Nick Swisher for Eduardo Nunez to crowd the infield in hopes that the Rays Sean Rodriguez would bunt.

Regardless of what you have or will hear about Girardi’s decision, it was without question the Yankees best option at the time. The Yankees were looking for the double play at either first or third and home plate.

Rodriguez wound up not bunting, but Mo struck him out.

Than came up Carlos Pena, who was 0-11 lifetime against Rivera but he had the hottest bat of the night by far including a grand slam off Sabathia in the first inning.

Well, Pena came through again and hit a deep ball over Brett Gardner’s head and the Rays won the game 7-6.

 SHOULD YANKEE FANS BE WORRIED ABOUT MARIANO RIVERA?

Well, the Yankees and Rays are both playoff contenders and even though this is just one-game, remember that is what last season came down too.

I understand that players are adjusting but what made this loss sting was that Mariano Rivera could not do his job and that is something Yankee fans are not used too.

Rivera is by far the best closer ever to step on a mound, but he is almost 42-years old and in 17-seasons has yet to regress at all, so convincing myself that it is all good after a blown save plus a loss on Opening Day is hard to do.

When it comes to Mo it stings in the hearts of Yankee fans, and New Yorkers are not supposed to care like that about anything but championships but this time it is different.

Now getting back to answering my question of whether I am worried about what transpired at Tropicana Field yesterday afternoon…in my mind no I am not, but in my heart yes.

All I know for certain is that yesterday is over and hopefully the Yankees get a win today.

ABOUT CC SABATHIA?

The table below is for all Yankee fans, including myself, that got chills when Rays Carlos Pena hit a grand slam off ace CC Sabathia in the first inning of the 2012 season.(...)
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© Kate for Lady Loves Pinstripes, 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Carlos Pena, CC Sabathia, Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, Opening Day, Sabathia, Sean Rodriguez, Yankee

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