April 27, 2011

Yanks 3  White Sox 1

Bartolo Colon gave a solid pitching performance through 8 innings and secured the win through a 9^th inning save from struggling Mariano Rivera. Colon looked pretty impressive today. He got into a bases loaded situation in the second inning and worked his way out of it with no damage.  Colon must have drunk from the fountain of youth because he looking pretty close to his old form. He is throwing lots of strikes and hitting zones pretty much on the money.

It was good to see Colon make it to through 8 innings so Girardi didn’t have to go to his “8^th inning guy” Thank God Colon was strong so we didn’t have to see that scenario.

Robbie Cano had a nice line drive homerun to right field.  Cano was described by Andrew Jones as a cross between Ruth and Aaron. 

Jeter another hit, 52 away from three large.

Game ball:  Colon

Win Colon 2-1

Yankees  13-8

April 26, 2011

Yankees 2  White Sox 3

Soriano, our “8^th inning guy” blew the game once again and showed no signs of the Soriano who dominated last year at Tampa Bay. This guy is starting to become Mr. Automatic for giving the opposing teams an instant run or runs. It is obvious he is struggling big time and having a problem adjusting here in New York or on this team and possibly both. I don’t know how he could have a hard time adjusting into the 8^th inning role as opposed to the 9^th inning when it seems less pressure in the 8^th. New York is a tough place to play in and this could be the difference. Perhaps he is feeling the pressure. The fans in the stands really did give him the boo’s. He was awful once again. He needs to start stepping up.

Nova was great today. What I don’t understand is why are our pitchers getting yanked early through six innings here with the Yanks where in all of baseball pitchers are going the distance. Yes, I do know Girardi’s philosophy about keeping innings down early in the season for the long haul but the time is now and if we are not winning games now there will be no tomorrow.  Girardi should have left Nova in the game through 8. He was fired up and was putting a strong session in

Cano crushed that ball to right.

Good to see Gardner go yard as well.

A good day and outing for Nova. There was a silver lining in today’s loss with his performance.

Yankees  12-8

Monday April 25, 2011

Yankees 0 White Sox 2

Yankee bats went silent against Sox’s Phil Humber who was lights out with a no hitter against the Yanks to the seventh when A-Rod broke it up with a single. Burnett pitched great today. It was a pitcher’s duel that could have gone either way. The important thing to day in this loss was Burnett pitching through to the 8^th inning and showing signs of confidence back in his game.

Nothing you can really say about a game like this. Our bats go silent and we give no support to Burnett .

LP- Burnett  3-1

Yankees  12-7

Sunday April 24, 2011

Yankees 6   Orioles 3

Mariano blew the save again and gave way for the tie in the ninth and we headed to extra innings for the win in the 11^th.

Garcia pitched effectively but Mariano appears to continue to struggle as you could see he had no command at all. Because Soriano was out for today’s game because of a stiff back Mariano was forced to come in the game in the 8^th with two outs and pretty much blew the game there if it wasn’t for Gardner’s spectacular catch to end the inning. And after giving up the run to tie the game Mariano almost lost the game with a two out single to right where Swisher connected with Cano and Cano fired a rocket to home plate for the play at the plate and the out.

Cano was spectacular out there today with that amazing relay throw and his at bat in the eleventh that started the rally and his heads up base running that led him to third base to start the runs in the eleventh. If it isn’t Cano’s bat that dazzles it is his glove and heads up baseball that makes him one of the most complete baseball players in the game today.

So  should we worry about Mo? Well he is human and he will lose. It just appears he is having some problems with his control. I still have confidence in him and he still needs to get the ball when it counts. The day will come when he can no longer get men out the way he once did but that day is not today and I think he is fine.

Garcia should have been given the shot to go deeper in the game. This is a decision that Girardi makes with his pitchers that makes me a bit upset. He knows Soriano is out, Garcia looked great tonight and should have been given that chance. Joe needs to start focusing on today, now,  instead of ahead when we continue to get in close games like this when luckily we won.

Game ball: Cano

April 23, 2011

Yanks 15 Orioles 3

Ona night of history CC Sabathia got his first win of the season and the Yankees beat down the Orioles like step children in a 15-3 rout at Camden Yards.

A-Rod had 6 RBI”s and crushed a grand slam placing him second in MLB all time grand slam list passing Manny Ramirez and just one behind Lou Gehrig with 23. A-Rod also moved into 10th place all time in RBI leaders with 1847 RBI’s. An amazing night for A-Rod. I mentioned before but it has been a great year so far watching Alex continue to write history with his bat.

CC had a great night earning his first win of the season. You could just tell from the beginning he was on his game and the ball was just moving. He went 8 frames and was good to see him back at form.

Cano is on fire bring his hitting streak to 12.

Homerun’s today for Posada and Gardner.

And Russel Martin continues to see the ball well and crush at the plate. He had a three run shot and then went yard behind Posada in a back to back showcase. Six homers so far this season in just April compared to last year when he played 150 plus games with the dodgers and had only 5 homeruns. He is definitely feeling good and appreciating his return from injury last season.

It was interesting to see Martin get hit by pitch in the ninth. He took a good shot to the back and it appeared it was for hitting the two homeruns in the game. The question is whether it was the pitchers call or whether Buck caled the shot, either way it’s baseball and this is part of the game in the history of the game. If looks could kill Rupe would have been dead with that look Martin gave hime from the plate. I was trying to figure out what Tex was yelling from the dugout to Rupe but it was clear the dugout was pissed. I guess it is a good thing A-Rod was pulled from the game early. Tomorrow is another game and I wouldnt be surprised if Gracia shows some loyalty in his new team and throws at someone tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Game ball: Alex Rodriguez for a night of history.

April 20 2011

Yanks 6 Tornto 2

Colon was pretty impressive in todays game. To come in with his history and on the verge of never returning to baseball, it is a great story. Colon came into today and went seven innings with a total of 89 pitches with 56 of those strikes. His control hitting the corners and locations, he just looks so comfortable out there on the mound. It is funny how Garcia and Colon have stepped up huge in these pitching roles. There is a lot of season to come but Colon just looked solid out there. I know he is a big guy, overweight but if you watch him on the mound he has almost perfect balance. Never comes off the rubber at all. His balance is key and kind of hard to believe he has such balance by his appearance,

Grandersonn looks pretty good right now. He is seeing the ball well. It has been a pleasure so far to see him play at this level. Wth the line up so potent it must be a pain in the *** for a pitcher to deal with the second half of the line up with Granderson. As John Sterling says. ” The Grandman can”

Game ball Colon

April 17, 2011

Yanks 6 Texas 5

Eric Chavez came through once again with a huge hit in the eighth inning to knock in Tex and help take the rubber match against first place Texas. I thought Chavez was a huge question mark coming into spring but he has managed to come through with huge hits when it counts. In Boston earlier this season he set the tone with two doubles off the wall and has managed to get those huge hits ever since. I guess the change of scenery has helped him from Oakland. The key for Chavez is obviously staying healthy. With a gold glove as well he has just been money. What a shot he took at third and managed to knock it down and get it to first. Chavez looking good right now.

CC continues to go long innings with a no decision. Yes, ultimately it is about winning. He will get his wins. The bullpen seems to be trying to find their way. It may be the most talented bullpen in baseball. So as soon as they find their groove, everything will work out for CC. Its only April. Every thing will fall into place.

Granderson, Martin and Cano all went yard today. It is a slugfest so far in April for us.

Also, I think it was important to take the series against this red hot Texas team. Basically they were shut down and the level of baseball rose in the Bronx from the Yanks. Great weekend.

Game ball: Chavez

April 15, 2011

Yankees 3 Texas 5

Nova had no command today, was pretty awful. Showing no signs of spring training he looked pretty flat out there today. The rotation is starting to show cracks now and Nova has to step up huge especially with Hughes struggling, Nova’s importance has been elevated. We need better outings now.

So Hughes was place on DL today with a dead arm and Colon was brought into the starting rotation. Also Lance Pendelton was brought up from triple A to fill Hughes spot. Not really sure how 15 days is suppoed to get his arm strength back. He had all of spring training to work on this and had no luck. Girardi knew in spring training these problems Hughes was having with velocity. I guess we will see what happens in 15 days. I think they should take Phil back to triple A after this DL stint and see if he can get his groove back. It should be interesting to see if Colon can get things going and return back to CY Young form.

Today six double plays to set a record.

Granderson goes yard

Is Texas this good? Garcia goes up tomorrow on the bump. Lets see what he has. This rotation has to start showing sihns of life. Either that or there will definitely be some mid season trades for some arms.