The Sommer Frieze

For a guy not in the starting lineup, Curtis Granderson had a great day.

Nick Swisher was pulled after one at bat due to a stiff knee. So Gardner switched from CF to LF. Granderson went to CF. Austin Kearns went from LF to RF.

…and Granderson hit 2 HR. 3 RBI in the Yanks 5-0 win over the A’s today. A four-game sweep. It shows you just don’t know, do you?

Granderson now has 17 HR, 45 RBI.

Posada got it started with a solo HR in the 2nd. #17 for the season and #260 for Jorge’s career.

Granderson had a solo shot in the 6th, and a 2-run shot in the 7th. Austin Kearns had an RBI single in the 8th.

Granderson’s off-the-bench exploits overshadowed CC’s day. For CC could have had a no-hitter.

Instead, he and Albaladejo combined on a one-hit shutout. CC went 8, 0 R, 1 H, 3 walks and 5 K. 19-5, 3.02. It sure looks like CC will hit 20 wins for the first time. Not only that, his home streak continues. He hasn’t lost a regular season game at the Stadium since 7-2-09.

Rays off. Yanks lead 1 1/2.

Pitchers better start taking BP now. Remember that the NL broke a long losing streak by winning this year’s All Star Game. Nice to know that CC swings a mean bat. As for the others…. ????    

For five consecutive days, today through Labor Day, the Yanks will have afternoon games. As for today’s it’ll be hot. Recap later as I work today, a middle shift. Here’s the lineup:

Yankees 83-50, + 1; Magic  # for a playoff spot is 22 over Boston.
Dead on with the Pythagorean record. OPS+ 117; ERA+ 103 

Jeter SS .266-10-59-15sb/19att; OPS+ 94; 3 for his last 35. 2894 hits. Leads league in PA, MLB in AB.
Swisher RF .295-25-80-1/3; 143
Teixeira 1b .268-30-98-0/1; 141; red hot lately, leads MLB with 100 R scored.  
Cano 2b .323-26-90-2/4; 156
Thames DH .308-10-28-0/0; 151
Posada C .261-16-50-3/3; 131
Kearns LF .269-10-48-4/5; 113; as a Yankee, .250-2-6 in 60 AB.  
Nunez 3b 9 for 31. .290-1-7; 2 for 2 in SB. OPS+ 106
Gardner CF .286-5-41-39/46; 114

Sabathia P  18-5, 3.14, ERA+ 127.

Don’t want to jinx CC, but he hasn’t lost at home since 7/2/09.

CC vs. Dallas “Get off my mound” Braden. It’ll be interesting to hear or see the reaction Braden gets from the crowd. No Alex in the lineup, so hopefully nothing like what happened in the FLA/WASH game last night.

Vazquez is back in the rotation and starting on Saturday instead of Moseley.

Pettitte had a great bullpen session yesterday and seems on track to rejoin the rotation in ten to fourteen days or so.

Exasperating. That is the best way to describe AJ Burnett.

Tonight the Good AJ showed up, well, 3 R in 6 IP. That doesn’t sound great but it was good enough for the W. He is either good or lousy. Not too many in-betweens. If you want to count this as so-so, so be it. But good enough for the win.

It doesn’t have to be like this. He is more talented than that. Joel Sherman hit the nail on the head in a recent NY Post column. He doesn’t pitch from the stretch well, doesn’t hold runners on well, and when he gets in trouble he can’t pitch out of trouble well. In other words, the anti-Pettitte. … with 3 more years on his contract.

Tonight, 6 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 2 walks and 8 K. Improves to 10-12, 5.15.

Joba the 7th. Got two out, gave up two hits. Got the last out. 4.81.

Logan for one batter in the 8th. A K. Marte doesn’t look to be coming back. Logan has been superb. 2.56. Wood for the last two outs in the 8th. Go, single, walk, Go. A little blip, but Wood has been a great addition. Overall ERA 4.05, but as a Yankee? Superb.

You-know-who to protect the 4-3 lead in the 9th. Mariano with the save. #28. # 554 of his career. ERA a ridiculous 1.11. (Bowlers know what they call a 111!) 

The Yanks had to hold on, however. They got one in the first on a Teixeira double, 3 in the 2nd on an error and a 2-run single by Teixeira. Teix had 3 hits and 3 RBI.

…and that was all. The A’s got two in the 4th, one in the 5th and after that it was bite-your-nails time.

Jeter was 1 for 5. He is now 3 for his last 35 and down to .266.

Berkman PH and in his 1st AB off the DL, doubled.

I don’t know if you caught it, but Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban defector, made his MLB debut. The Reds called him up yesterday so he would be eligible for the postseason roster. He pitched an inning of relief and could be a force in the NL playoffs. The Reds haven’t made the playoffs since 1995. They lost the playoff for the wild card (one game sudden death) to the Mets in 1999. According to gameday, Chapman hit 104 on the gun today and had a couple of 102s and a 99.  Wow. You may recall that before the Reds signed him, that a few teams (including the Yankees) were interested.  The Reds have opened a surprising 8 game lead over the Cardinals.

Boston won. Yanks Magic # to make the playoffs is 22.

Tampa won. Yanks still one game up.

Get a chance, catch the brawl between the Marlins and Nats tonight.  

Should also mention. College Football. My alma mater PSU is in a six-team conference (starting next year) with Ohio St. Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois. A crossover game will be with Nebraska.

Not only that, a child will lead them this year. Robert Boldin, a TRUE FROSH, will be the starting QB on Saturday vs. Youngstown St. Ok, I know. Youngstown St. But the 2nd game of the year? Vs. Defending champ Alabama.       

I was interviewed for the Yankee Roll Call Radio Podcast last night. You can download it here: http://www.yankeerollcall.com/    Go to Yankee Roll Call, 82-50 to listen.

Here is another link.

I work today and won’t be able to see the game. Lord only knows how AJ will do.

Interesting news from LoHud: The Yanks won the waiver claim to Ted Lilly before the Dodgers pulled him back. That means he had to slip through EVERYBODY to get to the Yanks.

Some callups being that today is Sept. 1st. Moeller, Albaladejo and Golson.

Going to the Arizona Fall League are Romine, Laird, Joseph, Kontos and Heyer. It’s my guess that the Yanks want Laird to get more OF reps out there.

The Yanks and Rays have been in a dead-heat tie for 8 straight days now. According to Elias, that is the most consecutive days that two teams have been tied for first place this late in a season in major league history (from the NY Post, also).

The Post had another tidbit. Before Vazquez’ relief effort of last evening, he and Burnett had the sixth and seventh worst ERAs in the AL. Only twice have the Yankees ever allowed pitchers to make as many starts with ERAs as bad as Burnett (5.17) and Vazquez (4.96 before last night). That was in 1991 and in 1930.  I’ll let you go to baseballreference.com and check out the names.

I had a busy day so I am joining you mid-game. Work, then an appt, then barely made another one.

Tonight’s lineup:

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada C
Marcus Thames DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Ramiro Pena 3B

RHP Phil Hughes (15-6, 4.12)

The Yanks got 3 in the first. Gardner singled and SB #38. Jeter walked. A double steal (love it). #39 for Brett and #15 for Derek. Teix HBP then a run scored as Cano GIDP. Another scored on an error. Posada tripled (tripled? Jorge?) Swisher home.

The A’s got one in the 3rd off Hughes, but Swishalicious hit a two-run shot in the 3rd. #25.

A wild Hughes (five walks through four innings) gave up anohter run in the 4th.

Granderson got it back. HR #15. As I write, it’s in the bottom of the 4th. 6-2 Yankees.

Make that 9-2. Teix hit #30, a three-run shot.

I’ll be back later.

Before I go, I would like to mention that I did an internet radio interview tonight with Yankee Roll Call.  I ‘ll have a link up to the interview shortly.

Update: The final was 9-3. Hughes (16-6) went a sloppy five. 5 IP, 2 R, both earned, 4 h, 5 walks (ugh) and 1 K. ERA 4.10. 4 H and 5 walks in 5? 9 runners in 5? Too high.

Gaudin (5.34 combined ERA) went 3. 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks and 2 K. Nice job. Robertson the 9th. 0 R, H or walks, 1 K. ERA to 4.05.  

One ugly thing. I don’t know when my buddy, Josh “The Yankee Truth,” e-mailed me, but at that time he mentioned Jeter as in a 2 for 30 slump. As I look, after the game, Derek’s BA is down to a sickening .266.

That is almost 50 points below the career BA. Fifty. .266. These offseason contract negotiations are going to be interesting.

  
Thames’s streak came to and end. 0 for 4, 3 K tonight.

The Rays lost. Yanks 1 up.  

This week it was revealed that 91 year old HOFer Bob Feller has been battling leukemia. God Bless. Feller won 266 in his career. He missed all of 1942-1944 and most of 1945 serving in WWII in the Pacific Theater. I met him a few years ago. God Bless Him.     

I worked late 8-7, and have some things to take care of at home. Here is the lineup. Teix is back.

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada C
Marcus Thames DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Ramiro Pena 3B

RHP Dustin Moseley (4-2, 4.53)

Moseley got off to a terrible start. Two singles, a walk and a SF brought in one run. After an strikeout, a walk reloaded the bases before a two-run single. The A’s get 3 in the first.

The Yanks came right back with an RBI single by Cano and a 2-run double by Swisher. Does it surprise you? Those two have been the best two offensively for the Yanks all year.

After 2 1/2, tied at 3.

I’ll check on Berkman’s rehab later tonight.

Bottom of the 3rd. Teixeira (29) and Cano (26) hit back-to-back HRs. 5-3. Meanwhile, the Captain’s BA sinks to .269. 5-3 Yanks after 3.  

Nice to see that Joba was hitting 98. Nova was clocked at 97 yesterday.

…and Moseley gives one back in the 4th on a gopher ball. 5-4. 

The Yanks got one in the 4th on an RBI single by Pena, 6-4. They then broke it open with five in the 5th.

Teix doubled and Cano singled him in. A double by Swisher brought in another run. Jorge was HBP…and then Thames did it again. A 3-run HR (10). 

Thames has hit six HR in a week. That was all the scoring for the Yanks.

Moseley (4.86) was pulled after 4 1/3. Not a good performance. 4 R, 5 H, 4 walks and 4 k.

The win went to Javy Vazquez, who came out of the ‘pen for his second straight good performance from the ‘pen after being demoted. 4 2/3, 1 R, 2 H, 1 walk and 6 K. 10-9, 4.86.

Jeter took an 0-fer. BA down to .268.

Teix, coming off the bruised thumb, had 3 hits, a HR and an RBI. Cano and Swisher each had 3 hits and 3 RBI. … and Thames is on a HR tear with his 3-run blast.  

The win keeps the Yanks tied for first with Tampa. The magic # for a playoff spot (eliminating Boston) is 25.   

Aceves started at Lehigh Valley for SWB (about 7 miles from my home, nope, wasn’t there couldn’t make it). 1 1/3, 1 R, 2 H, 1 walk and a k.

Trenton is tied in the 10th; Berkman is 2 for 5. Both singles.  

…and a rookie shall lead them?

Ivan Nova had his 2nd major league start be as good as the first, and this time, instead of a ND, he wound up with his 1st MLB win.

5 2/3, 1 R, 5 H, 1 walk and 7 hits, for Nova, 1-0, 1.93.

In case you are wondering, Mel Stottlemyre joined the Yanks Aug. 12, 1964, and started Games 2, 5 and 7 of the WS. Mel was 9-3, 2.06 down the stretch. K-Rod had five MLB games of experience (0-0, 0.00, 5 2/3 IP) when he was in the 2002 postseason for the World Champion Angels. Marty Bystrom made his MLB debut 9/7/80 for the Phillies. He went 5-0, 1.50 and pitched well in the postseason for the Phils that year.

Could Nova follow the same path?

The Red-Hot Marcus Thames Hr’d in the 2nd (9) to put the Yanks up 1-0. The Yanks added a run in the 3rd. Cervelli doubled and Gardner singled him in. That was all the offense the Yanks would muster.

Teixeira, listed in the previous post as playing, was a late scratch. Swish at 1st again, Kearns in RF.

The slumping Jeter went 0 for 4, .270.

The slumping Cervelli had his biggest game in a while. 4 for 4 to get his average up to .253. He also threw a man out stealing at a big moment in the game.

Nova left for Logan (2.59), who faced one batter and gave up an infield hit. Wood came in, a WP and a walk loaded the bases, but he got a groundout to end the 6th. Wood (4.13, combined, but much better with the Yanks) got the first two outs in the 7th. Joba got the last in the 7th and the three outs in the 8th (ERA 4.89). Then Mo. Save #27, 553 of his career and the ERA drops to 1.13.

Tough day for Kearns, who left a few stranded.

Manny is apparently going to Chicago (but not in time for this series). It could be a straight waiver deal, which means all of his salary leaves the Dodgers and is dumped on the White Sox.

It looks like 2 rehab games for Berkman at Trenton, then he’ll rejoin the Yanks.

The Yanks go into today 79-50, tied with Tampa Bay for the AL East lead and 5 1/2 up on Boston.

A few questions need to be answered today as they take on the White Sox in Chicago.

First off, another throwing session for Pettitte. Will he go all-out? Will the groin hold up? This is a huge must-answer for the Yankees.

Will Teixeira (bruised thumb) play today after having to be removed last night?

How will Nova, in his second major league start, fare?

Nova is apparently being investigated, along with Wilkens De La Rosa, for giving each other shots of B-12 while with AA Trenton last year. While the B-12 is legal, it’s silly for one to shoot up another. Heck, see the story I wrote about when Mantle went to a quack at the end of 1961 to get rid of the flu. That was a doctor, granted a quack, and not a rank amateur.

I’ll be at work and will miss the game. Recap late tonight.   

Update: Apparently Teix is fine.

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Marcus Thames DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Francisco Cervelli C

Also, good news: LoHud reports on Pettitte:

Andy Pettitte sounded much more encouraged today than he did on Friday. He threw 35 pitches in the bullpen, and despite a plan to throw with the same intensity as last time, Pettitte said the last 20 pitches or so were like a normal bullpen session.

“I heated it up pretty good,” he said. “I just felt good.”

Pettitte guessed that two weeks is the soonest he could possibly be ready, but he was encouraged by how strong his arm felt. He graded it a nine out of 10.

“My arm bounced back big time,” he said

Two weeks from today would be Sept. 12th. That leaves four maybe five starts with the Yanks before a possible postseason.     

Hopefully it isn’t more than day-to-day.

Mark Teixeira suffered a bone bruise yesterday, and had to come out of today’s game after one at bat.

With Alex on the shelf until Labor Day, the last thing you need is Teix out for a few days.

The Yanks survived a rocky CC outing to win 12-9. How rocky? Consider that even while up 12-7 going into the 9th, Mo still had to be used because David Robertson was completely ineffective.

CC’s line was nothing to write home about, but he did get win #18. 18-5, 3.14. 7 IP, 5 R, 9 H, 1 walk, 9 K. He gave up 2 dingers, one of which was #358 by Paul Konerko, tying him with Yogi on the all-time list. The other was a 2-run dinger by Andruw Jones, # 406 for him, one behind Duke Snider.

But the Yanks had a bunch of two-run HRs of their own, including the first MLB HR by Eduardo Nunez.

In the first, the Yanks got off to a quick 2-0 lead as Jeter walked and Swish hit #24. CC gave a run right back.

The Yanks got two in the 2nd on that first MLB HR by Nunez. I don’t know if there was a wind blowing out to LF in Chicago tonight, but there were 7 HR, all to left. There were three more doubles to left.

The Yanks made it 6-1 in the 3rd on a two run HR by Thames. Konerko made it 6-3 in the bottom of the third.

Then 6-5 in the 4th on Jones’ HR.

The key inning was the fifth. Four runs, two on a double by Posada and two on a single by Nunez.  10-5.

Swisher singled in Nunez in the top of the 8th. 11-5. Safe, right?

Wrong.

Joba in. Got one out via the K but gave up 2 hits. Both runners scored. Joba ERA back over (yuk) 5 to 5.01. Logan (2.59) got the last two outs of the inning but gave up a hit that let the two Joba runners score.

Thames hit his 2nd HR of the game in the 9th. #8. After that, the Yanks loaded the bases, but Jeter whiffed (Jeter has only one career grand slam) and Swisher lined out. Still, 12-7.

Safe right?

Wrong.

Robertson came in and faced three batters. HR by Ramirez, triple, single. All of a sudden it is 12-9. D-Rob got no one out. 2 R, 3 hits. ERA to 4.14.

Now it is 12-9. No shitting around now. You-know-who comes in to stop the crap.

DP.

But then a single and a walk. 2 out, tying run at the plate.

Mo gets a lineout. Game over. Save #26 for Rivera. #552 of his career and the ERA goes to 1.16. Yup. 1.16.

A win the Yanks had to have. They stay tied with Tampa for first. The Rays got a walk-off HR in the 10th to beat Boston. Magic # to eliminate Boston goes to 28.

We can let the division/wild card race play out later. There are two chairs in the musical chairs game. Division champ and wild card. Get player #3 (Boston) out of the race as soon as you can. Make sure you get a chair (postseason berth). 

Besides his 1st MLB HR, Nunez also got his first MLB SB. 3 for 4, 2 R, 4 RBI tonight and a walk.

Jeter one hit (2893). But now 140? MLB at bats with only 8 XBH.

3 RBI for Swish. Three hits for Cano.

2 HR, 3 RBI for Thames. 2 doubles, 2 RBI for Posada.