Luis Severino makes his third start.
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Chase Headley 3B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Never mind prosperity:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Credit: Christopher Frank Beitz]
As in “Tanaka” who pitched a complete game on Saturday afternoon in Toronto as the Yanks beat the Jays, 4-1.
He was in control all game with the exception of the 5th inning. The Yanks had a 1-0 lead when a base hit and a couple of walks loaded the bases for Josh Donaldson. Game of inches? You bet. Because Donaldson just missed hitting a grand slam–he got under a 2-0 pitch. Instead of a fat 4-0 lead, his fly ball out to left was good to score a run, but then Tanaka struck out Jose Bautista and retired Edwin Encarnacion on a soft line drive to second base.
Yanks tacked on a few runs–including a long dinger by Mark Teixeira–and the win ensures they’ll leave town in first place no matter what happens today.
We’ll take it. Yes, we will.
The Yankees got on base against David Price on Friday night but could not plate a run off the man. Meanwhile, Ivan Nova had one inning that went screwy on him, but otherwise out-pitched his counterpart. Still, as the 8th inning began, the Yanks trailed 3-0. A very loud Toronto crowd enjoyed themselves and why shouldn’t not?
A run-scoring double to the gap by Chase Headley finally got Price out of there and then Carlos Beltran pinch-hit for Chris Young with runners on second and third, one out. Aaron Sanchez, 15 years Beltran’s junior replaced Price. The first two pitches he threw were clocked at 97 mph–high and out of the zone. Still, Beltran swung, waving at them both. Sanchez threw another high fastball, this one too high and too inside and then came back with yet another heater. This one was 97 mph too but it wasn’t out of the strike zone, it was right over the plate. And Beltran did not miss it.
His 3-run homer put the Yanks ahead by a run. Delin Betances, who threw a lot of pitches and didn’t look wonderful on Thursday in Cleveland, came on to pitch the 8th and was blazing–killer fastball, nasty breaking ball.
His partner Andrew Miller pitched the 9th and goddamn it was an adventure. With one man out, he walked Chris Colabello and then gave up a hard-hit single to Kevin Pillar. A wild pitch greeted Ben Revere putting the tying run at third and the winning run at second.
Miller composed himself and struck Revere out like he was supposed to but then had to contend with Troy Tulowitski. And you had to figure it could go either way. Seemed like everybody in the park was standing and when a team is on a wining streak like the Jays have been, well, I figured he’d get a base hit and win the game. I muted the TV and watched in silence, pacing back-and-forth in my living room.
The at-bat had plenty drama. The count went full, of course, all three balls came on fastballs that were outside. The rest were sliders, fast ones, slower ones, backdoor, inside and low, and Tulowitski kept fouling them off, one after the other. On the 12th pitch of the at bat he foul tipped a slider, bearing in on him but up. Brian McCann held onto the ball and the Yanks had the game.
A thriller goes the Yanks. Hot damn.
Final Score: Yanks 4, Jays 3.
Today, they’re back at it and the Jays can leapfrog right back into first.
Let’s hope for more good things.
Never mind the Toronto Turf:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
The Yanks are up in Toronto this weekend where they’ll try to tame the surging Jays.
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Brian McCann C
Chase Headley 3B
Chris Young RF
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B
Never mind the glare:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
Okay, it wasn’t smooth either. Nathan Eovaldi didn’t pitch deep into the game, Dellin Betances pitched more than one inning, Alex Rodriguez is pressing, and Greg Bird didn’t get a hit, but a win is a win. Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner had good games, as did Stephen Drew and Brian McCann hit a big home run. The Yanks will take it as they move on to Toronto.
Final Score: 8-6.
No, we’re not in NYC, I just love this picture. Still, the Yanks are looking for a win tonight, man before they split from Cleveland.
The Jays won again this afternoon and it sure would be nice to see the Bombers head to Toronto with a win.
Young Greg Bird makes his major league debut tonight and gets the start at first base.
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Carlos Beltran RF
Brian McCann C
Chase Headley 3B
Greg Bird 1B
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
It’s Eovaldi–dude, Yanks are looking to you to have a strong start, Holmes.
Never mind the late night flight to the Great White North:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
There is good news. The good news is that the Yankees are pitching well. Sure, the starters aren’t going deep enough into games, and yes, the bullpen is taxed, but as a whole, they are performing well. CC Sabathia wasn’t terrific last night, giving up 9 hits, but he bulled his way through 6 innings allowing only a couple of runs.
It’s just that nobody is hitting. Four lousy hits all night. Rallies left limp and for dead in the 8th and 9th. I could recount these failures by why bother? If you didn’t see it live, you’ve seen something like it before, enough to know you don’t need to know more. Less you are a some kind of masochist or something.
2-1 was the final and that’s how it unfolds when you’re in a slump.
Oh, the Jays won again, and now they are in first place.
Game on, fellas. Something tells me good t hings are right around the corner.
Let’s try this again, shall we?
Never mind the dog daze:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
‘Cause there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues.
The Yanks’ offense looked dead in the water again last night. Never mind a slump, they were up against a formidable pitcher in Carlos Carrasco. But solo home runs by Stephen Drew and Carlos Beltran tied the score and the top of the 10th inning, pinch-hitter Chase Headley dropped an RBI single in front of the right fielder, the Yanks scored a couple, and it was Miller Time. Ah, Miller time.
Hell of a spot to blow your first game of the season. Miller wasn’t awful, the Indians hit a couple of good pitches. Still, by the end of the inning, the score was tied. And that’s how it remained through good relief pitching–or weak hitting–on both sides. On and on.
The Indians finally scored the winning run in the bottom of the 16th and those of us who stayed up for it are now feeling less than spry.
And so it goes during a slump–hard hit balls go for outs, the other guys’ bloopers fall in for hits.
Course the Jays won, too.
Shake it off. Today is…well, it’s already today. Onward!
[Illustration by Francis Livingston]
Yanks turn to lil’ Luis to get them back on the good foot tonight in Cleveland.
Never mind those footsteps:
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Didi Gregorius SS
Stephen Drew 2B
Brendan Ryan 3B
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Photo Via: We Heart It]
I was in high school in 1986 the year Platoon and Hannah and Her Sisters and Something Wild came out. They made big impressions on me. So did David Lynch’s masterpiece.
All you need to know about yesterday’s fait accompli is that after Jose Bautista hit a home run, a fan threw it back on the field and accidentally hit Brett Gardner in the back.
It was close for awhile there yesterday. Then Ivan Nova gave up a grand slam and that was more than enough for David Price, who pitched a sweet game as the Jays beat the Yanks, 6-0. Toronto is now just two-and-a-half back. That makes today’s game especially important for the Yanks. Yes, they’ve got Masahiro Tanaka going, but he hasn’t been great lately, and well, this feels like one of those lost weekend’s don’t she?
This has the makings of a long weekend. But that’s cause I’m never much on confidence when it comes to my sports teams. I still remember those horrible late-season series vs the Jays in the mid-’80s. Screw those guys and screw these Jays, too. Upstarts. Fuckos. Douche Knots. They are a perfectly agreeable team to dislike–even though I like a bunch of their players (Martin, Donaldson, Price, Tulo). Their manager looking like a tin-cup-spitting-bar-stool-sitting hard ass pal of Brian Dennehey’s. Goddamn crotchy fucking goat.
The Yanks had done reasonably well against Price and that’s a concern. Figure he’s due for a good one against them. Only hope Nova is up to the task.
Ah, never mind my gloom–it’s a gorgeous day here in New York:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
Maybe I should stop doubting Nathan Eovaldi. He pitched a swell game last night. Gave up a solo home run to Josh Donaldson in the first on a 99 mph fastball on the black and that was it, as he pitched into the 7th inning. Really nice job. Shame his boys couldn’t help him out s’more, but Eovaldi’s benefitted from a ton of runs this season so I suppose it all evens out.
R.A. Dickey, the dastard, pitched well too, and the game went into extra innings tied at 1. Andrew Miller pitched a nifty 9th inning on only 6 pitches but he did not return in the 10th to face the heart of the Blue Jays line up. First guessers just ahead of second-guessers on this move by manager Joe Girardi for sure.
Instead, the young right-hander, Branden Pinder–nice slider, powerful fastball–replaced him. Pinder got Donaldson to look bad swinging at a couple of sliders and then threw a third one which Donaldson lined to center field. Good thing Didi Gregarious was positioned to catch it–though the ball almost took his glove off. Pinner got a called strike one on Jose Bautista with the slider, another called strike on a fastball inside and then tried to get another fastball by one of the better fastball hitters in the game. The location was off and Bautista hit the ball over the fence in left field.
That’s all the Jays needed as they won, 2-1.
Third straight 2-1 game the Yanks have been involved in. A difficult loss for sure, especially at the hands of that made-for-TV-bad guy, Bautista. David Price goes today for the Jays and the Yanks have held their own against him, which is what I’m afraid of.
Could be a long weekend for the Bombers which is a drag for the rest of us because it is diamond-in-the-back-sunrooftop beautiful here in New York.
The Mighty Mighty Blue Birds are in town this weekend; next weekend, the Yanks go up to Toronto. Be interesting to see what shakes out. From the looks of it, there should be many runs scored.
I’ve doubted Nathan Eovaldi many times this season only to be pleasantly surprised. Tonight, with Toronto’s Gashouse Gorillas on a roll, I just can’t see him doing well. Again, hope I’m wrong.
R.A. Dickey, another infuriating knuckleballer, goes for the Jays. Hey, so long as the Yanks don’t get swept, we’ll be able to digest.
Never mind the Heebie Jeebies:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
[Picture by Diebs]
Another 2-1 game, this time the Yanks won, thanks to a go ahead home run by Jacoby Ellsbury. The story of the night, though, was CC Sabathia, who not only pitched with determination and force but who was more animated than I ever remember seeing him. There he stood, sweat pouring off him like he was Zero Mostel under the hot stage lights. The stuff was sharp and he got into it with the home plate ump–aw, sensitive. When CC stuck out David Ortiz with the bases loaded to end the fifth, he let out a yell that we could feel uptown. Onions! And pride. A terrific way to enter what should be a tough weekend series against the red hot Jays.
[Photo Credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images]
We love CC around these parts even if he’s struggling. Even if he’ll never be an Ace again.
Not sure how much he’s got left, but I do know how much of a boost it’d be to the team if he could be even decent down the stretch.
Dream big, right?
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Chris Young RF
Chase Headley 3B
John Ryan Murphy C
Didi Gregorius SS
Brendan Ryan 2B
Never mind the standings:
Let’s Go Yank-ees!
Luis Severino has a plus fastball and at times last night he had a sharp-breaking slider and a decent change. He didn’t pitch deep into the game–and was done a disservice by Chase Headley who made another throwing error–but he made a good impression in his debut. The Yanks were stymied by Steven Wright–the other Steven Wright, though it is fitting that a guy with that name is a knuckle ball pitcher. And they had the tying and wining runs on base in the 9th when pinch-hitter Brian McCann flew out to center field to end the game. Near miss and bummer of a loss since the O’s and Jays both won.
Speaking of Steven Wright I once saw him in the lobby of the Brill Building. This was 25 years ago. He got out of the elevator, wearing an old Red Sox cap. I just looked at him and said, “The Red Sox?” And in that monotone voice he looked at me, deadpan, and said, “Well, I’m from Boston.”
Which made sense.
[Photo Credit: Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports Images]
