Minor Night-Cap 5/31/11

SWBW 10-3

Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Krum	CF	6	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.227
Pena, R	SS	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.265
Montero	C	5	2	2	0	1	1	3	0	0	.309
Vazquez	1B	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.281
Maxwell, J	LF	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.260
Nunez, L	2B	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.179
Laird	3B	5	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	.254
Parraz	DH	5	1	4	1	0	0	4	0	0	.301
Russo	2B-LF	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	.264
Brewer	RF	5	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.280

Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Silva (W, 2-0)	6.0	7	3	3	0	1	1	3.44
Carlyle	2.0	1	0	0	2	1	0	2.95
Wordekemper	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.45

Jealous Much?

The overrated players poll came out on SI.com  and of course it’s filled with Yankees.   Have a laugh and enjoy.

WHO IS THE MOST OVERRATED PLAYER IN BASEBALL?

Alex Rodriguez, Yankees 3B 18%

Joba Chamberlain, Yankees RP 12%

Derek Jeter, Yankees SS 7%

Jayson Werth, Nationals OF 4%

Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox RP 4%

FAST FACTS

A-Rod and Chamberlain filled the top two slots in the same poll last year but in reverse order…. Yankees OF Nick Swisher also received 4% of the vote…. Of the top 14 active vote-getters, all but three play in Boston, Chicago or New York…. Combined, the five players above have made the All-Star Game in 57% of their seasons.

Based on 185 MLB players who responded to SI’s survey

NYY @ OAK – 5/31/11

Lineups:

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Russell Martin C
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones DH
Brett Gardner LF

Pitchers:

Freddy Garcia (3-4, 3.26) vs. Brett Anderson (3-4, 2.84)

 

Gotta love the 10:05 PM start on a week-day. Not really.

MLB Prospect Rankings by Keith Law

Keith Law from espn.com reranked his top 25 prospect and a couple Yankees made the list.

3. Jesus Montero, C/DH, N.Y. Yankees: A weird April, when he hit for average with no walks — literally, zero walks — and little power has been followed by a May when he drew a few walks but hasn’t hit either. (He’s in the midst of one of those meaningless hitting streaks that gets overreported — “Montero has hit safely in 10 straight games!” — since he’s a whopping 11-for-41 in that span with 16 punchouts.) I’m holding on this one, because I think he’ll hit and no one is reporting anything significantly wrong with him except over-eagerness at the plate; I imagine there’s some frustration that the Yankees are employing a guy hitting .174/.292/.348 in a spot Montero could fill. Previous position: No. 4

Click here for more info on Montero

8. Manny Banuelos, LHP, N.Y. Yankees: Not a great start to the year, although the stuff is largely intact (if not quite as electric as it was in the AFL last year) and he’s among the youngest players in the Eastern League. Command was never an issue in the past; this could be a small-sample fluke, it could be that his command was never as good as it seemed, or there could be something more serious wrong. But every source save one said he was still an elite prospect in their views, worthy of a top 10 spot. Previous position: No. 12

Click here for more info on Banuelos

Martin to Play Today?

Here’s the latest as of 7:28 PM yesterday on Martin, from Lohud. There hasn’t been any talk about his ability to play tonight’s game, today. I’m sure we’ll know, closer to game time.

About three weeks ago, a batted ball hit Russell Martin in the left foot during batting practice. It bothered him for a while, got better, and Saturday night he fouled a ball off the exact same spot, right on the big toe.

It bothered him yesterday, and it was still bothering him after stretch this afternoon. Joe Girardi decided to give Martin another day off, but the Yankees believe they could have their regular catcher back in the lineup tomorrow.

“My hope is he’s available,” Girardi said.

Morning Bits 5/31/11

Good Morning.  Last day of May. Nice win from Colon yesterday.

here are your morning links.

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira having trouble keeping ball in the park, belts 16th home run

Sore toe keeps Martin sidelined

Colon still thumbing nose at Father Time

 

Minor Night-Cap 5/30/11

SWB L 8-5

Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Krum	LF	5	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.211
Pena, R	SS	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	.259
Montero	DH	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.306
Vazquez	1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.289
Maxwell, J	CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.260
Laird	3B	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Russo	2B	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.258
Brewer	RF	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.284
Molina	C	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.214

Pitching

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Warren	6.0	9	4	4	2	4	0	3.81
Texeira (BS, 1)(L, 0-1)	1.0	4	4	2	0	1	0	13.50
Kontos	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.13

Colon Dominates A’s in 5-0 Victory

Game recap from MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch:

OAKLAND — The Yankees had absolutely no expectations for Bartolo Colon when he arrived in camp this spring, but by now they’ve figured this out: When he’s on, expect plenty of zeroes.

Colon again recaptured his old form on Monday, dominating the Athletics for nine scoreless innings as the Yankees posted a 5-0 victory at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

The A’s lineup seemed to be consistently flailing at everything the 37-year-old Colon fired their way, as the right-hander limited Oakland to just four hits while striking out six.

Wearing Stars & Stripes Memorial Day caps in the field, the Yankees provided Colon with all of the support he’d need in the first inning, getting to Trevor Cahill for three runs.

Derek Jeter led off the game with a single, his 2,981st career hit. The captain was aboard when Mark Teixeira homered for the fourth time in five games — a two-run shot to right field, his 16th.

Robinson Cano followed an Alex Rodriguez walk with a run-scoring double to right-center field before being cut down on an outfield assist rounding second base.

Against an Oakland lineup that has less homers (30) than Teixeira and Curtis Granderson (16) combined, the lead held up, even as Cahill settled in and limited the Yankees to just one hit over the next six innings.

With Cahill’s pitch count climbing in the seventh, the Yankees manufactured a fourth run. Brett Gardner walked, stole second, executed a double steal with Francisco Cervelli and scored on a Jeter sacrifice fly.

Cahill allowed four runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking five and striking out two before yielding to Craig Breslow.

Working efficiently, Colon allowed only a second-inning Josh Willingham double that struck the wall in right-center field and then a sixth-inning Kevin Kouzmanoff single. Kurt Suzuki had an infield single in the eighth and was promptly erased on a double play, while Cliff Pennington hit a leadoff double in the ninth.

It was a solid bounce-back for Colon, who was commanding two starts ago on May 18 over eight scoreless innings in Baltimore but allowed a season-high six runs to the Blue Jays on May 23. It was Colon’s first complete game since July 5, 2006, when he was a member of the Angels.

Boxscore:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NYY	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1		5	7	0
OAK	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	4	0

 

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	3	1	1	1	1	0	2	.259
Granderson, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.276
Teixeira, 1B	4	1	1	2	0	1	1	.258
Rodriguez, Al, 3B	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	.277
Cano, 2B	4	0	2	1	0	0	0	.284
Posada, DH	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	.169
Swisher, RF	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.212
1-Dickerson, PR-RF	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.308
Gardner, LF	3	1	1	0	1	0	1	.255
Cervelli, C	2	0	1	1	1	0	0	.200
Totals	30	5	7	5	5	5	8	.253

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Colon(W, 3-3)	9.0	4	0	0	0	6	0	3.26
Totals	9.0	4	0	0	0	6	0	3.56

NYY @ OAK – 5/30/11

UPDATE, 3:18 PM EST: Martin has been scratched from the lineup with a sore toe. Here’s the new lineup:

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner LF
Francisco Cervelli C

Lineup:

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Russell Martin C
Jorge Posada DH
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner LF

Pitchers:

Bartolo Colon (2-3, 3.77) vs. Trevor Cahill (6-2, 2.02)

Series Preview: NYY @ OAK – 5/30/11-6/1/11

5/30/11: Bartolo Colon (2-3, 3.77) vs. Trevor Cahill (6-2, 2.02)

Against the Blue Jays, Colon pitched five strong innings but faltered in the sixth. A five-run explosion, fueled by three walks — two intentional — led to his third loss of the season. He struck out eight in defeat but walked four overall.

Cahill wasn’t at his best in his last start, giving up back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to the Angels. He lasted six innings, scattered 10 hits and five walks while being tagged for four runs (three earned) and just his second loss.

5/31/11: Freddy Garcia (3-4, 3.26) vs. Brett Anderson (3-4, 2.84)

Garcia looks to string together back-to-back wins after defeating the Blue Jays with 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball on May 25. The veteran has allowed three runs or fewer in three of his last four starts.

Anderson was dominant against the Angels in his last outing. He tossed a three-hit shutout over eight innings and struck out four batters en route to the win. He has allowed just four runs combined in his last three starts.

6/1/11: A.J. Burnett (5-3, 3.99) vs. Gio Gonzalez (5-2, 2.17)

Burnett ran out of steam after needing 97 pitches to grind through five innings against the Mariners on May 27, tying a season high with five walks. He completed the month of May 1-2 with a 4.06 ERA, logging quality starts in three of five outings.

Gonzalez didn’t earn a decision the last time out, but saw his stellar May come to an end after five innings in which he gave up two runs, fanned seven and walked five. For the month, he was 3-0 and struck out at least six in all five of his starts.

Pitcher Probables/Previews from MLB.com’s Gameday.

Morning Bits 5/30/11

Morning All.  Take the time to remember why we have this Holiday.  Thank a Vet if you pass one today.

and here are your morning links.

What We Learned About the Yankees This Weekend

Posada left behind at DH

Nova’s hold on rotation spot slipping

Hughes Update

We need ya Phil!

Here’s the latest on Phil Hughes from Lohud:

He threw a 30-pitch bullpen this morning. The first 20 pitches were fastballs. The last 10 were a mix of four fastballs, three changeups and three curveballs. He said everything went as planned, no problems and no pain.

“No news is good news,” he said.

Larry Rothschild said the only thing set in stone is that Hughes will take two days off and throw another bullpen on Wednesday. Hughes said he believes he could throw batting practice this coming weekend in Anaheim.

 

Sabathia Strong in 7-1 Victory in Seattle

From MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch:

SEATTLE — The Yankees had been unable to spark anything against the Mariners’ bullpen all weekend, so they left nothing to chance on Sunday, getting to the starting pitcher instead.

New York battered Jason Vargas for six runs in the first three innings, offering CC Sabathia plenty of cushion as they cruised to a 7-1 victory at Safeco Field, salvaging the finale of a three-game series.

Seattle’s relievers had fired nine scoreless innings in the first two games of the set, including five after Felix Hernandez was knocked out of Saturday’s extra-inning affair.

Hours later, the Yankees pounced on Vargas, using five hits and four walks to chase the left-hander early on an afternoon when every Bombers starter would log at least one hit.

Nick Swisher started the offense with a second-inning homer, his third, and New York batted around in a five-run third inning that saw each run cross the plate with two outs.

Andruw Jones had the big hit in the frame, clearing the bases with a three-run double to right field. Robinson Cano also had an RBI single, and Eduardo Nunez knocked in Jones with his first career triple.

On the way to his third consecutive winning start, Sabathia had no problems with the output.

The left-hander held the Mariners scoreless into the sixth inning, when he fell behind Justin Smoak. Challenging the first baseman with a 3-1 fastball, Sabathia lost his shutout bid as Smoak’s drive landed beyond the left-field fence.

Otherwise, Sabathia was stellar, pitching out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fifth inning by getting Ichiro Suzuki to bounce back to the mound for a 1-2-3 double play.

The run support should have been nothing new for Sabathia, who is following the Phil Hughes trend from last season — entering play on Sunday, Sabathia’s support average of 7.63 runs per game was the second most in the Major Leagues.

Mark Teixeira added an RBI single in the fourth off Jeff Gray for the Yankees, who have not been swept in a three-game series in Seattle since Aug. 26-28, 1996.

Boxscore:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NYY	0	1	5	1	0	0	0	0	0		7	11	0
SEA	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0		1	6	0

W: Sabathia (6-3)

L: Vargas (3-3)

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, DH	3	0	1	0	2	0	0	.258
Granderson, CF	5	2	3	0	0	0	3	.282
Teixeira, 1B	5	0	1	1	0	0	4	.258
Rodriguez, Al, 3B	5	1	1	0	0	1	5	.282
Cano, 2B	5	1	1	1	0	0	2	.279
Swisher, RF	2	2	1	1	2	0	0	.210
Jones, An, LF	3	1	1	3	1	0	2	.236
Gardner, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.253
Nunez, E, SS	4	0	1	1	0	0	1	.250
Cervelli, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.174
Totals	36	7	11	7	5	2	19	.253

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Sabathia(W, 6-3)	8.0	5	1	1	3	5	1	2.98
Pendleton	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Totals	9.0	6	1	1	3	5	1	3.63

NYY @ SEA – 5/29/11

UPDATE 2:12 PM EST: A quick note- Exactly 16 years ago, Derek Jeter made his MLB debut in Seattle.

Lineups:

Derek Jeter DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Francisco Cervelli C

Pitchers:

C.C. Sabathia (5-3, 3.17) vs. Jason Vargas (3-2, 3.86)

Enjoy the game.

Morning Bits 5/29/11

another tough loss last night.  Hopefully the Yankees can turn it around today.

Here are your morning links…

Captain should be cherished, not criticized

Nothing swinging Swisher’s way at the plate

Yankees’ Phil Hughes finally gets some good news as he works way back from arm injury

 

 

Yanks Beat in Extras by Mariners, 5-4

From MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch:

SEATTLE — The losses that come with Mariano Rivera walking off the mound often go down this way, with a ball hit just well enough that it finds a safe patch of outfield grass to land on.

Adam Kennedy was the one providing the ending on Saturday, knocking in pinch-runner Luis Rodriguez with the winning run in the 12th inning to lift the Mariners to a 5-4 victory over the Yankees at Safeco Field.

“It was the game,” Rivera said. “I made good pitches and the ball found places. You can’t do [anything]. I wish we’d still be playing, but it’s done.”

The loss resides next to Rivera’s name in the box score, but the Yankees knew better.

After wrestling a lead away from Felix Hernandez in the seventh inning, four Seattle relievers silenced their bats until the end of a four-hour, 18-minute grind that ended well after most New Yorkers had retired to bed.

“They’ve been throwing a lot of strikes,” said Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano. “They’ve been pitching really well. You can see their ERAs. They’re really good and you’ve got to give them some credit.”

In the decisive 12th, Justin Smoak got aboard with a one-out single before leaving for the pinch-runner, and Jack Cust followed with a well-hit double into the left-field corner.

“You can’t defend that. There’s no excuses,” Rivera said.

An intentional walk loaded the bases for Kennedy, who won it with a shallow looper to center field.

“I’m trying to survive,” Kennedy said. “You know what’s coming. That’s my second hit off him ever and the other one was just the same. It’s not easy.”

David Pauley was the last of Seattle’s relievers on Saturday, hurling two scoreless innings for the win. The Yankees have gone quietly over nine frames against the Mariners’ bullpen in the series.

“It’s been two nights in a row we haven’t scored on them,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I thought we had a couple of chances, we hit some balls hard. We just didn’t score.”

Hernandez struggled early, serving up a solo homer to Cano in the second inning and a two-run shot to Mark Teixeira in the third.

“They were waiting a little bit, but after the third they started hacking,” Hernandez said. “I made two mistakes with fastballs to Cano. That was right in the middle. And Teixeira, too. I fell behind and you pay.”

He settled in, but the Yankees were able to get him to cough up a one-run lead in the seventh.

With Derek Jeter aboard, Granderson belted a drive to right field that Ichiro Suzuki pursued oddly, leaping on the warning track and missing the ball entirely. Granderson charged to third base as Jeter scored the tying run easily.

It was an interesting night for Jeter, who had two hits and is now 21 away from becoming the first player in a Yankees uniform to reach the 3,000-hit plateau.

Jeter also used the evening to reach another statistical milestone, logging his 327th career stolen base in the third inning, surpassing Rickey Henderson for the most in franchise history.

That was all book-keeping in the end. As he watched from the clubhouse, Ivan Nova took responsibility.

Down, 3-1, after three innings, the Mariners took the lead with three runs in the fourth, knocking Nova out.

“I feel bad about that,” Nova said. “I had the lead twice in the game and I can’t hold on. I don’t feel happy with that.”

Franklin Gutierrez started the fourth with a bad-hop single that ate up Jeter, and Kennedy doubled to set up Miguel Olivo’s game-tying, two-run double.

Nova also uncorked a wild pitch and allowed the go-ahead hit, a Brendan Ryan RBI single, before leaving.

“I don’t have really good command today, but I’ve got to find another way to fight and stay in the game,” Nova said. “I’ll try to do better next time.”

Girardi said that he would have liked to see Nova challenge hitters more. The righty allowed five hits in 3 2/3 innings, walking three and fanning one.

“You have to be able to throw strikes,” Girardi said. “This is a ballpark where there aren’t a lot of home runs hit. I think you can be more aggressive in this ballpark and attack the strike zone. That’s what he has to do.”

You couldn’t pin it on the Yankees’ bullpen. Hector Noesi performed admirably in relief, holding the Mariners scoreless over 2 1/3 innings of two-hit ball.

Dave Robertson struck out the side in the seventh. Joba Chamberlain hurled two scoreless innings and Boone Logan faced the minimum in the 10th before Luis Ayala set the Mariners down in the 11th.

Ultimately, even as Kennedy’s humpback off Rivera rolled past Granderson and was abandoned in center field, the Yankees had to look back at the early innings as the turning point.

“It’s frustrating,” Girardi said. “We had leads in both of the games and weren’t able to hold them. We gave free baserunners and it hurt us.”

Boxscore:

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	5	1	2	0	1	0	1	.257
Granderson, CF	6	1	1	1	0	1	2	.274
Teixeira, 1B	3	1	1	2	3	0	0	.259
Rodriguez, Al, 3B	6	0	1	0	0	1	5	.284
Cano, 2B	5	1	3	1	0	1	0	.281
Martin, C	4	0	0	0	1	2	3	.253
Posada, DH	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.174
a-Jones, An, PH-DH	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.231
Swisher, RF	5	0	1	0	0	1	1	.206
1-Dickerson, PR-RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.308
Gardner, LF	5	0	0	0	0	0	3	.253
Totals	44	4	9	4	5	7	16	.252

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Nova	3.2	5	4	4	3	1	0	4.67
Noesi	2.1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0.96
Robertson	1.1	1	0	0	0	3	0	1.27
Chamberlain	1.2	0	0	0	1	2	0	3.12
Logan	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.15
Ayala	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.80
Rivera, Ma(L, 1-1)	0.1	3	1	1	1	0	0	2.11
Totals	11.1	13	5	5	5	8	0	3.68