After the Old Timer’s Day festivities today, Ivan Nova returned from the DL and pitched a good game. According to Chad Jennings:

“Their guy really settled in,” [Joe] Maddon said. “I don’t understand why this guy struggles. I have never seen him bad. I don’t know — one of the best pitchers in the world as far as I’m concerned. He gets that hook over and he’s really tough on left-handers.”

Score was tied 1-1 in the seventh and there were two men out when Nova hit a batter (Desmond Jennings, elbow) and then another (Ben Zobrist, foot) and by the time the inning was over, three pitchers later, the Rays had a 2-run lead on the count of James Loney’s RBI single against Boone Logan.

A shame for sure but something had to give and after scoring a run in the first, the Yanks were blanked for the rest of the afternoon.

Final Score: Rays 3, Yanks 1.

So they settle for a split of the four-game series. Not stellar and not a disaster, pretty much like the Yankee season so far.

David Adams has walked twice in his major league career and both came in yesterday’s game. The critical one came in the 7th inning. The Yanks were down 5-3 because Wil Myers hit a grand slam off C.C. Sabathia (and threw his bat a little too eagerly after he hit it, especially considering that Brett Gardner got a glove on it and the ball just skipped over the wall).

So the Yanks load the bases with one out, Jayson Nix and Adams due up. They’d had the same scenario a few innings earlier and both Nix and Adams stuck out.

In the 7th, Nix whiffed again–95 mph heater that was off the plate. But Adams put together a tough at bat and he drew a walk driving home a run. I didn’t think he had a chance at getting a hit but getting a walk was as impressive. And then, for some luck, some magic, whatever you want to call it–divine inspiration–Vernon Wells pinch-hit and down 0-2 he hit a bases clearing double.

What.

It was enough. Sabathia pitched well other than the Myers home run, Zoilo had another good game, and David Robertson and Mariano put heads to bed late as the Yanks won, 7-5.

Satisfaction.

[Photo Credit: Kahlua Nights; AP]

Sometimes there’s a man…

The Yanks got some much-needed pop from an unlikely source. Zoilo Almonte got three hits, including a solo home run, David Phelps and the Yankee bullpen kept the Rays in check, and the Yanks won, 6-2.

Zoilo, King for a Night, Wells, whadda ya know?

[Photo Credit: NJ Star-Ledger]

The Yanks lost cause they only scored three runs, Andy wasn’t great, and Joba and Boone served up a couple of homers as the Rays beat ’em but good, 8-3.

But the story of the night in sports was Game 7 of the NBA Finals (and so long David Stern). The Spurs were valiant and the game was close but Lebron James had his best shooting game of the series, Shane Battier finally showed up, and that was the difference. Heartbreak for Tim Duncan and the Spurs.

“Missing a layup to tie the game,” Duncan recalled. “Making a bad decision down the stretch. Just unable to stop Dwyane  and LeBron.  Game 7 is always going to haunt me.”

Back-to-back titles for the Heat.

[Photo Credit: Yahoo]

Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch. Phil Hughes did not pitch well. Again. Got behind hitters and when he had to throw a strike they hit it hard; got ahead of hitters and couldn’t put them away. What we’ve come to expect from Hughes. Chris Capuano, on the other hand, throws slop but knows what he’s doing, showed good control and mastered the Yankee hitters as the Dodgers won an uneventful game, 6-0.

The one guy that is an event–Mr. Puig–stole a base, had a couple of hits including a homer, scored 3 times and made it easy to understand what all the fuss is about.

[Photo Credit: Matthew Schenning]

A Yankee-Dodger double-header. Who is going to kvetch more? Dodger fans have more reason to kvetch but this is New York, we’re home and nobody is going to out-kvetch us in the Bronx. Turns out the Dodger fans still have more reasons to moan after a critical throwing error helped the Yanks open the game up. It was a lead that even a two-run home run by Hanley Ramirez (who went 4-4) could not cure.

David Robertson wobbled in the 8th but he did not fall down and Mariano Rivera gave us that patented peaceful, easy, feeling–peacefuleasyfeelingisapatentofmarianoriverandthenewyorkyankees–in the 9th retiring the side in order. Yasiel Puig made the final out, waving at two cutters moving away from him and then staring at one last cutter, also on the outside corner. It was painted black, son, and Puig was schooled by the Master.

Nice day for Ichiro and another solid start from Hiroki as the Yanks win 6-4.

Yanks look for the improbable sweep tonight. Improbable because winning both games of a double header never seems to happen to your team (it can happen to the Red Sox or even the Mets like it did yesterday), unlikely because Phil Hughes is pitching, and unfathomable because it’s hard to imagine us being out-kvetched in our house.

[Photo Credit: Joel Zimmer]

And so…

Our pal Hank Waddles was at the game today. He had great seats, given to him as a year-end present from his students (Hank teaches middle school in Southern California). We texted during the game, Hank and his son sitting five rows behind the Angels dugout, me in my kitchen in the Bronx, cooking for the week.

The Yanks saw a breezy 6-0 lead fall the fuck apart in the 9th. I’ll let Hank give you the dramatic rundown but here was the scene: Yanks 6, Angels 5, bases loaded, 2 out, Mariano Rivera vs. Albert Pujols.

And Mo strikes The Great Albert out on three pitches, the final a check swing.

Here’s how it looked on the YES replay. In the background to the right you can see a Yankee fan with his hands crossed and then cheering…

Our man Hank.

And a win. Hot Damn.

Two, the loneliest number. Cause that’s all the Yanks seem to be able to score these days. Rationed to a couple of runs per game. And most of the time that’s just not enough. Here’s how it goes for them right now–down a run, middle of the game, Ichiro gets on first with a bunt single. He steals second and then swipes third and then three different Angels pitchers strike out the next three hitters and Ichiro is stranded.

The final score: Angels 6, Yanks 2. And the bad news is that Mark Teixeira left the game and returned to New York to have his wrist checked. The underlying feeling with Tex is that this year was going to be a ruined. That isn’t the case yet but it’s hard not to have a bad feeling about what the doctor’s will find.

Here’s hitting coach Kevin Long (via Chad Jennings):

“I don’t know that it’s been right since he’s been here, honestly…A big part of his routine is doing tee work, and he hasn’t been able to do that. It definitely affects him from the left side, not the right side. The right side is fine, but the left-handed part where you kind of go like that (bending at the wrist) in the last minute, he’s not able to execute.

“At this point, he’s going to play and do what he thinks he’s capable of doing to help the team. When he feels like that part of it doesn’t get him far enough and doesn’t get him to where he’s able to help the team, he’s going to say something. He did today. … He had a couple pitches where he was like, ‘I should crush those balls, but I’m not able to take my A-swing.’ He said at that point he should probably come out of the game and reevaluate what’s happening.”

[Photo Credit: Matt Malloy]

One of Mel Brooks’ 2001 Year Old Man bits had him saying that we make fun old an old guy who is bent over and spitting and pretty soon we’re bent over and spitting. I thought of this tonight when the Yanks lost in 18 innings to the A’s, 3-2, because just last weekend the Mets lost in 20 innings. I didn’t take pleasure in the Mets’ misery, necessarily, I was just relieved it wasn’t happening to the Yanks.

The only relief I got from this game was that I didn’t see a pitch of it. I followed the early innings on Game Day, and hours later, followed it some more from my phone after Em and I finished dinner at a restaurant downtown.

“They’re still playing,” I said to the Wife. We got soaked on our way to the subway, which is when I took a picture of the Mariano Rivera New York Magazine cover at a newsstand (pictured above)

And they were still playing when the 1 train got to 125th Street. I put the phone away and didn’t bring it back out until we approached Dyckman. I asked Em if she had a good feeling. She hesitated to say anything and half-smiled which was her nice way of saying she didn’t have a good feeling.

Sure enough when I checked the phone again the Yanks had lost by a run. Upon further inspection it was worse–Mariano was on the hill when they lost. I cursed and gave a short, quick punch to the empty seat next to me.

“Cool it,” said the Wife.

Then came texts came from friends: “Brutal,” “Stab Me Now, Please,” “Way to Ruin the Day.”

Here’s what made it better. As my anger rose I looked up at the young, scraggily-looking couple sitting across from us. Mid-twenties, I guess. Chick has long blond hair and is reading an old paperback copy of a Herman Hesse book. Dude has long hair too. And he’s talking about the world, about politics, about Serbs and Turkey. He’s not just talking, he’s pontificating. Loudly. Finally he puts his head back and closes his eyes and says, “I’m not saying we should all get along but why can’t we all just hang out and enjoy the fruits of our society, man?”

I look up from my phone at him. The Wife squeezes my hand and whispers, “Easy.”

The train stops, we get out and laugh. That help take the sting out of a dispiriting loss for the Yanks.

While some of us were sleeping Phil Hughes was mediocre again and almost, but not quite, as ineffective as the Yankee hitters. And so, after taking three-of-four from the Mariners, the Yanks have dropped the first two in Oakland and are now .500 on this ten-game road trip.

The final score last night: A’s 5, Yanks 2.

As always, the intrepid Chad Jennings has the notes.

[Photo Via: The Absolute Best Photography Posts]

This was a cruel game to watch if you were on the east coast (or if you were working with a serious sleep debt on the west coast, like me). Bartolo Colón was on the mound for the A’s, but he was far from his usual strike-throwing self. He had come into the game having yielded only six walks all season long, but he issued two in the first inning alone as he loaded the bases with one out. Even though Kevin Youkilis and Lyle Overbay popped out to end the threat, it still felt like an effective inning. Colón had thrown 27 pitches, and he didn’t have his typical command. With CC Sabathia on the mound for New York, surely it would be good night for the Yanks.

The first warning that the evening might not go as planned came two pitches into the bottom of the first. Coco Crisp lashed a Sabathia pitch into the seats in left field, and the A’s were up 1-0. It didn’t seem fair, to be honest. The Yankee hitters had worked so hard and been so methodical in the scoreless top half, and here Crisp walked into a fat pitch and Oakland had the lead. CC needed seven pitches to retire the next three hitters, and order was restored.

In the top of the second, Sabathia was simply unlucky. If you just read the play-by-play of this inning, you probably imagined that Derek Norris lashed a long double off the wall in right field to score Josh Reddick all the way from first, but that’s not what happened. Reddick sat on first base with two outs, so he was able to take off immediately as Norris popped the ball out towards right field. The ball was headed for no-man’s land as Mark Teixeira, Robinson Canó, and newbie right fielder Overbay converged. It landed untouched in front of Overbay, who bobbled it a bit, allowing Reddick to score just ahead of his throw. As Michael Kay noted on the telecast, it was the first time that the Yankees had paid a price for putting Overbay in the outfield. It was a ball that Ichiro would likely have caught, and even if he hadn’t, he certainly would’ve held Reddick at third. But Ichiro watched the play from centerfield, and A’s were up 2-0.

Derek Norris struck again in the fourth. The A’s had runners on first and second with two outs when Norris came to the plate. Sabathia’s first pitch was a lazy curve ball that seemed to bend right into Norris’s wheelhouse, and Norris sent it deep into the night over the high wall in left center. That 2-0 lead built on a lucky homer and a botched play by a guy playing the outfield for the fourth time in a decade was suddenly a five-run deficit. I fell asleep on the couch soon after this, so I didn’t see Oakland’s sixth run score on a Sabathia wild pitch in the sixth, but that’s probably for the best.

Colón, of course, cruised through his six innings. After that scare in the first, the Yankees never threatened, never even made him sweat. I simply don’t understand how this guy can still be this good. (At this point, the working title for this post was “Colonoscopy.”) When I woke up five hours later and picked up the game where my wife had clicked it off in the top of the eighth, Colón was gone, and suddenly the Yanks decided to make the night interesting. Brett Gardner, reigning A.L. Player of the Week, continued his hot hitting as he led off the inning with his second hit of the night. Canó then singled him to third, and when Teixeira followed that with a single of his own, the Yankees were finally on the board. Two outs later pinch hitter Vernon Wells somehow squeezed a line drive between short and third to score Canó, and it was 6-2.

When Chris Stewart singled with one out in the ninth, there was a spark of hope. When Canó followed that one out later with a double grounded down the left field line to put runners on second and third, that spark had grown into a flame large enough to force Oakland closer Grant Balfour into the game, a small victory in and of itself. Teixeira fell into a 1-2 count but roped a line drive just inches over Jed Lowrie’s leap at second to plate both runners and bring Travis Hafner to the plate as the tying run.

Hafner also got behind 1-2, but he stroked the next pitch to deep left field. The Oakland outfielders had all been standing on the warning track, and I remember thinking that they were playing ridiculously deep, giving away so much of the field, but it turned out they were positioned correctly. Left fielder Seth Smith only had to spring along the track towards left center where he leaped at the wall and caught Hafner’s ball for the final out of the game.

A’s 6, Yankees 4.

[Photo Credit: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]

Member back when the Yanks used to play against Pedro in his prime and the idea would be to hang in there, keep the game close, drive his pitch count up and then win a squeaker? They took the same approach today against Felix Hernandez and it looked like they might be able to touch him early–loading the bases in the first, runners on the corners in the second–but they only got one run out of it.

And one run was all they’d get against the King (even though Brett Gardner had 4 hits in the game) so it felt like one of those days when, sooner or later, the Mariners would blow it open. But the Mariners can’t score runs and Dave Phelps held them to a single run himself. David Robertson worked out of a jam in the 8th striking out the last two men of the inning.

Cut to the top of the 9th, when Chris Stewart, El Scrubbini, singled home Ichiro with two out to give the Yanks a 2-1 lead. Never mind they stranded the bases loaded, never mind Mark Teixeira struck out four times, they had a lead and Mariano Rivera.

A familiar scene. Went something like this…

Kyle Seager:

Fastball, outside, line drive over short stop into left for a base hit. Seager singled on the first pitch he saw from Rivera yesterday, an inside cutter. It was as if he was waiting for Mo to change it up and he was ready.

Kendrys Morales:

Fastball, outside corner for a strike, 0-1. Cutter, in, and a ground ball to first. It bounces on a short hop to Tex, who snags the ball, steps on bag, and then throws over Seager’s head to Brignac who lays the glove down on the runner for the second out. Four strikeouts, yeah, but Teixeira turned the double play like he was falling out of bed.

Raul Ibanez:

Fastball, high and outside, 1-0. Fastball, inside, 2-0. Another fastball, high and inside, 3-0. Fastball, outside corner for a strike, 3-1. Fastball, inside again, misses, ball four. Second day in a row Rivera didn’t want any part of his old teammate.

Endy Chavez (pinch-hitting for Kelly Shoppach):

Stewart sets up outside, Mo misses the glove, 1-0. Fastball, a fat one, right over the plate for a strike, 1-1. Cutter, low, Chavez bends, Stewart freezes, so does Mo, but Rivera doesn’t get the ball, 2-1. Fastball right down the pike, Chavez swings and misses, 2-2. Another heater, plenty of plate, this one just up enough, Chavez fouls it back, still 2-2. Stewart sets up outside, Rivera misses, cutter darts inside and Chavez flares it into the seats foul. Fastball, high and fat, over the plate, and Chavez lines it to left for a single.

Michael Saunders:

Tall lefty. Sees one pitch, a cutter and swings. Ball popped up, harmless, easy, a nothing-to-it fly ball to Vernon Wells.

Game.

Final Score: Yanks 2, Mariners 1.

Now we can digest.

Once again, it was Mariano Rivera closing out a Yankee win. He allowed a bloop base hit to start the 9th inning, walked Raul Ibanez with two men out, but he struck out three batters and earned his 22nd save of the year. It never gets old. We’ve only got a few more months left of him. More than ever, it’s about the now, appreciating the moment.

Which brings us to another oldie but goodie because Andy Pettitte was great today. The Yanks won, 3-1, thanks to a couple of RBI base hits by Jayson Nix and a fine outing by Pettitte. It’s a memorable day for Andy as this was his 250th career victory. Not only that but the Yanks drafted his kid, Josh.

Nice.

[Featured Image: AP; Silver Surfer by Moebius]

I see Jeremy Bonderman on the mound taking his warm up pitches before the game started last night, listen to the story of his long journey back to the majors, and felt for the guy. Then the other part of me, the devil on my shoulder, reminded me that I’d just have to sacrifice my sympathy for the evening and root for Bonderman to get his ass handed to him.

When Brett Gardner hit a lead-off double and Robinson Cano walked it sure looked as if that’s the way things were headed but Bonderman got out of jams in each of the first two innings, allowing just one run, which is the only run the Yanks scored all damned night.

Meanwhile, our man Hiroki had one bad inning, where he gave up a series of walks and base hits with two men out and the Mariners scored four times. It was all the runs they’d need as Bonderman and his bullpen kept the Yanks in check.

Final Score: Mariners 4, Yanks 1.

There is a slightly surreal quality to these west coast trips. Even if I catch a portion of the game–and last night I made it through five innings, lying in bed with The Wife, listening to John and Suzyn–I rarely stay awake for the whole thing. And so they unfold as if in a dream, comebacks and heartbreak alike, all the action waiting for me to read about in the morning but always just out of reach.

I heard Robbie Cano and Mark Teixeira go back-to-back and belly-to-belly, heard the Yanks stake Phil Hughes to 6-0 lead and when I passed out John and Suzyn were taking a break from the action to honor the passing of Esther Williams. That’s the last thing I remember.

Happy to see they hung on for the win–everyone but poor Austin Romine with at least one hit.

Final Score: Yanks 6, M’s 1.

Here’s how you do it when are an ace. You’ve been spotted an early six-run lead and you’ve cruised through the first five innings. But then, some bumps, and you allow a couple of runs in the sixth and a two-run homer in the seventh. You’re team is done scoring for afternoon and the back-end of your bullpen is tired and unavailable.  So what do you do? You go out and retire the side in the eighth and then do it again in the ninth and you get the damn win.

C.C. Sabathia is an ace and he proved why this afternoon.

Final Score: Yanks 6, Indians 4.

[Photo Via: MPD]

The news broke during the game and it came from ESPN’s Outside the Lines. Big names Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, along with 18 other big leaguers, will reportedly be suspended by MLB. For more, check out this quick analysis from Matthew Poullet. There will be much more in the days to come from apologists, moralists, conspiracy theorists, and amateur satirists. Buckle up.

Meanwhile, the ballgame. The Yanks held a tidy 4-0 lead going into the 7th inning. Dave Phelps was more like himself. Even when two men got on to start the 5th, he didn’t panic and got out of the inning without allowing a run. He doesn’t had overwhelming stuff but he’s a poor man’s Mike Mussina. There is an effective blandness about him, both in his performance and his appearance.

Mark Teixeira hit a 3-run homer, this one coming right-handed, Ichiro had an RBI base hit, and there was the 4-0 lead. But with two men on and two out in the 8th, Joba Chamberlain could not get the third strike against Drew Stubbs who poked a line drive over the wall in right. The Yanks loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning, Robinson Cano was at the plate, an ideal spot. But he got on top of a high fastball and pounded into the ground right at the second baseman who turned the 4-6-3 double play.

Tidy? The big hit? No Sir.

Instead David Robinson walked the lead off man in the 8th. Then Michael Brantley dropped the bat head down on a misplaced fastball and lined it to left for a base hit. That brought Nick Swisher to the plate and a feeling that the game was about the slip away for the Yanks. Swisher took a ball, swung over a curve ball and then nailed a fastball, hitting a low line drive. Ah, Fate. It was right at Jayson Nix, who flipped the ball to Reid Brignac, standing on second base to double off the runner.

And sometimes the sun shines out of a dog’s ass even at night in the Bronx. A harmless ground ball by Carlos Santana ended the inning and the threat.

In the 9th, Mariano Rivera entered the game and this is how it went down.

Mark Reynolds: Cutter, low and away, 1-0. Another cutter, lower and further away, 2-0. Fastball, high and outside, Reynolds waves at it. I feel the breeze all the way in Riverdale. Fastball outside corner, perfect, 2-2. Fastball right down the pike, moving in, Reynolds swings through it.

One out.

Giambo: Fastball paints the outside corner, 0-1. Cutter way inside, 1-1. Cutter, up, doesn’t get in enough, but it’s got enough movement for Giambi to just foul it back. Fastball, trying to paint the outside corner again, Giambi pokes it foul. He wasn’t surprised. Cutter, inside and up, almost hits Giambi in the hands, 2-2. Same pitch, high and out of the zone just not as far inside, and Giambi swings through it.

Two out.

Mike Aviles: Fastball high, check swing. Bounces off Chris Stewart’s glove, 1-0. But Tony Randazzo the home plate ump says it’s a foul tip, so 0-1. Cutter low and away, 1-1. Cutter popped to right, Ichiro makes the catch. Ballgame.  Aviles barks at Randazzo as he trots off the field as the Yankees shake hands.

It takes a cool hand. Little bit of luck never hurts.

Final Score: Yanks 4, Indians 3.

[Illustrations by Greg Guillemin]

Ah, the inviting right field porch at the new new Yankee Stadium. Good for what ails ya if you are a slumping left-handed hitter. Just axe Mark Teixeira whose line drive cleared the wall last night, good for a grand slam. Cheap or not it counted for four runs and although the Indians would tie the game, big hits by Brett Gardner and Travis Hafner gave the Yanks a 7-4 lead and that’s how it ended when Mariano Rivera got Nick Swisher to fly out to left field to end the game.

Final Score: Yanks 7, Indians 4.

Hits! Runs!

Exhale.

[Photo Credit: Reuters; Bags]

Just two weeks ago the Yankees were the surprise story of the 2013 season as they defied all odds and expectations and put together one of the best records in baseball, injuries be damned. Suddenly they’ve lost seven of their eight games and nine of their last twelve, and there could be any number of reasons for the slide.

This could be a simple regression to the mean. There’s no way a team can sustain injuries to Alex Rodríguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Kevin Youkilis, and Andy Pettitte — not to mention Francisco Cervelli, Eduardo Nuñez, Joba Chamberlain, and Chris Stewart — and expect to be competitive for 162 games. If you believe this theory, then you believe the collapse was due.

Or this could be a case of a team relaxing when it shouldn’t. After pedaling so hard for so long to keep things going while they waited for those injured players to get healthy, there would have to be a tendency to relax once some of the marquee names started coming back. But if you looked at the lineup that Joe Girardi sent out on Sunday night, you saw a nine that wouldn’t strike fear into the average American League pitcher. When the opposition is sending an elite pitcher to the mound, as the Red Sox were in Clay Buchholz, well, things can get ugly.

Hiroki Kuroda has been the most consistent Yankee starter over the past two seasons, and early on he appeared to be equal to the challenge of facing Boston’s ace as he cruised through the first three innings before finding trouble in the fourth. The Red Sox come up with something new every year, which is nice of them, so my feelings for them don’t get stale, and this year’s gimmick is the beard. Ryan Gomes, Mike Napoli, Ryan Dempster, and Dustin Pedroia are all sporting them, probably as some type of Brony ritual. Anyway, the beards came out in force in the top of the fourth as Pedroia singled to lead off the inning, went to third on a single by David Ortíz, then scored on soft groundout from Napoli.

The Yankee offense was already done for the night, having notched a single from Ichiro in the second and another from Austin Romine in the third, so it didn’t really matter that José Iglesias homered in the fifth and Big Papi hit one in the sixth. (It might matter that Ortíz posed a bit after his blast, making with his signature bat toss, then pointing into the Boston dugout as he rounded third. Why he gets away with this shit, I’ll never know. I don’t hate Ortíz, but I hate that people think it’s okay for him to act like a jackass.)

And really, that was about it. The rains came two batters after Ortíz, forcing a long rain delay. Boone Logan took the mound when the tarp came off, but the rain came back after four minutes and that was that. Red Sox 3, Yankees 0. (One interesting note. After Logan got the final out of the top of the sixth, Andrew Miller jogged onto the field to take over for Buchholz. But since the game was called before he was able to throw a pitch, he only gets credit for a game played, not a game pitched, and Buchholz gets credit for a complete game and, I assume, a shutout.)

So where do the Yankees go from here? In just a week they’ve gone from first place to a tie for third, and there’s a certain air of desperation in the Bronx. The Cleveland Indians come to town tonight, and they might be just what the doctor ordered. The Yanks have beaten them three out of four games this season, outscoring them 32-8 in the process. It sure would be nice to see the Score Truck show up on Monday night.

[Photo Credit: Kathy Willens/AP]

Last night, it was the bad Phil Hughes, the man who can’t put hitters away, who got no help from the bullpen–or his offense–as the Sox beat the snot out of the Yanks, 11-1. Less said about this one the better.

[Photo Credit: Magnificent Ruin]