Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Recap: Yankees 6, Blue Jays 3

Michael Pineda logged his best start of the young season, shutting out the Blue Jays over eight five-hit innings to lead the Yankees past their AL East rival, 6-3, on Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.

Pineda Dominant: Pineda struggled somewhat through this one's first three frames -- allowing three hits and a walk while throwing 45 pitches -- but was otherwise great in his fourth win of the year. He let just one runner reach third and struck out six, retiring seven consecutive to end the outing. 

A-Rod's Clutch Hit: The Yankees put two men in scoring position immediately in the top of the first, and were hoping for a big go-ahead hit with Marco Estrada laboring. They got just that in the form of a two-run double by Alex Rodriguez, a line-drive to left on a changeup up in the zone.

He Only Hits Home Runs: Batting with a runner on in the Yankees' half of the fifth, Mark Teixeira drilled a two-run shot to force Estrada's removal -- crushing a first-pitch fastball high into the right-field stands to break the game open. It was Teixeira's tenth four-bagger of 2015, extending the Yanks' advantage to 5-0.

Another Late Scare: On the mound with the Yankees up 6-0 in the ninth, David Carpenter surrendered a three spot to give the Blue Jays some momentum -- yielding three hits and a Russell Martin homer to suddenly make things close. Indeed, Carpenter's rough two-out appearance added stress to the Yankees' victory, though Andrew Miller was still able to convert the save shortly afterwards.

Ellsbury Stays Hot: Two days removed from a four-hit evening in Boston, Jacoby Ellsbury continued his recent hot-streak with a 3-for-5 performance -- singling all three times to improve his average to .358. He drove in the Yankees' third run with a knock in the second, plating Gregorio Petit with a sharp grounder to left.

Next Up: The Yankees will try to take this series on Wednesday when they battle the Blue Jays in the finale north of the border -- beginning at 7:07 p.m. ET and airing live on the YES Network. CC Sabathia (0-4, 5.40 ERA) will get the ball for the Yankees looking to record his first W, facing veteran Jays lefty Mark Buehrle (3-2, 6.75 ERA).

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays 5/5


The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays continue their three game set this week at the Rogers Centre as these two teams continue to fight for American League East supremacy. The Yankees currently sit atop the division while the Blue Jays are trying to scrap and claw their way out of the cellar after a little more than a month of baseball. Tonight we will watch Michael Pineda face off against Marco Estrada with the game being played at 7:07 pm ET. The game will be televised on the YES Network and MLB TV.

Get your Yankees tickets for the big four game extended weekend set at Yankee Stadium when the Yankees play host to the Baltimore Orioles. Through our Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog you can purchase third hand Yankees tickets without any fees or shipping costs associated in for the cheapest prices around. If you can’t make it to the Bronx then be sure to jump on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) and/or the comments section of the site to interact with us during the game.

Pineda, from the top! Go Yankees!


Marketable Twitter Milestones & Thank You’s


Whether or not this milestone for the blog is marketable or not is up for debate and it may go to an arbitrator or not but I am going to make the executive decision and say that it is. If you weren’t following along on Sunday night when the New York Yankees were facing off with, and subsequently sweeping, the Boston Red Sox you missed out on a bit of a milestone for the blog. We eclipsed the 3,000 follower mark in the 8th inning of the contest due to nothing less than hard work and determination. We didn’t pay for followers, we never paid for SEO help on the blog, nothing like that. We worked hard, we interacted with you guys and enjoyed every second of it.

This is truly a humbling experience for me because honestly I didn’t even want a blog. I wanted a sports forum. Long story short sports forums are dying and the blog is flourishing as it approaches the big 1,000,000 view mark and honestly I still can’t believe it. I have no words to truly put how I am feeling down in print as I write this and all I can say is thank you about a million times. I truly do appreciate each and every one of you and everything you do with and for the blog. You make it worth doing every single day and because of everyone reading this, every commenter on the site, everyone who sends me emails, tweets me, etc. this has all become possible.

The best part about it though is this is just the beginning and the sky is the limit. So excuse me while I break my arm patting myself, Bryan Van Dusen who also owns the site and pushed for this and anyone and everyone who has ever posted on the site or written for the site. They deserve it. We deserve it. We, the writers, the owners and the readers, deserve this. Thank you.

Daniel Burch


USA Today’s Weekly Power Rankings 5/4


I think we may have skipped last week’s power rankings because I don’t remember doing one so my apologies for that but we’re back this week with a fresh new set of power rankings from USA Today. New York should be ranked pretty well this week after a weekend series sweep of the Boston Red Sox and a series victory over the Tampa Bay Rays but just how well are they ranked? Keep reading to find out.

I know you’re here for the Yankees ranking but we have to start at the top with the St. Louis Cardinals. Raise your hand if you had the Cardinals having the best record in Major League Baseball at this point in the season. Now keep your hand raised if you’re a liar. Rounding out the top five are the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the surprise Houston Astros. Just outside of the Top 5 in the sixth position is the Bronx Bombers who are three spots up from last week and one spot ahead of the New York Mets. The American League East is well represented in the Top 15 with Tampa Bay coming in 10th, Baltimore coming in 12th, the Boston Red Sox coming in at the lucky #13 spot and the Blue Jays rounding at the Top 15 at #15.

The biggest jump in the rankings belonged to the Miami Marlins who jumped nine spots all the way to the #14 spot while the biggest fall belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates who fell five spots to #11. The worst five teams according to the rankings are, in order, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago White Sox, the Texas Rangers, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers.


These rankings are starting to mean something the larger the sample size gets so it may be time to start paying attention to them. Remember when the Yankees were ranked #28 though and the sky was falling in the Bronx? Yeah, me neither. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays 5/5


The New York Yankees remain red hot coming into the series and look to keep their great start to the 2015 season going tonight when the team is back inside the Rogers Centre facing off with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees faced off with knuckle ball pitcher RA Dickey last night and will face Marco Estrada tonight as he moves from their bullpen to the rotation. On the mound for the Yankees in their new ace by default in Michael Pineda. The game will be played at 7:07 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

  • Pineda took a no decision in his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays in a very Pineda-esque start for the Yankees. Pineda allowed just two runs on six hits in 5.2 IP once again lowering his season ERA. Pineda has struck out 32 batters this season and has only surrendered two walks in 31.1 innings as his control has been once again on point. Pineda started the second game of the season and his first start of his season against this same Toronto lineup and took a no decision in a Yankees come from behind victory.


  • Estrada is making his first start for Toronto this season after starting the regular season in the Blue Jays bullpen. Estrada is replacing Daniel Norris who has struggled all season long in the Toronto rotation and will try and figures things out in the minor leagues after being sent down. Estrada currently owns a 1-0 record with a 0.84 ERA this season but there is a huge difference in facing players once a night and two to three times in an order, something the Yankees need to take advantage of tonight to grab another victory.



New York has all the momentum coming into this series and will look to keep their grip on the American League East division starting tonight in Toronto. Every victory now improves the likelihood of snapping the long two season playoff-less drought in the Bronx so let’s take one step closer tonight. Go Yankees!

Twitter: To Jose Pirela or Not to Jose Pirela

To Jose Pirela or not to Jose Pirela, that is the question I asked our Twitter followers yesterday morning after the Yankees second baseman had 10 hits over the weekend while on a rehab assignment with the Scranton RailRiders. I’m not quite sure, and I am exaggerating but honestly not by much, if Gregorio Petit has even had 10 hits period in his major league career begging the question once again, to Jose Pirela or not to Jose Pirela? Will Pirela be activated and called up for New York with Petit sent down to Triple-A? I think so, what say you?






I know that Petit’s sole purpose on the team is to provide some insurance at the shortstop position but without looking it up I’d feel safe in saying that Gregorio has played much more second base than shortstop this season. The Yankees have Stephen Drew at second base who could slide into the shortstop position while Pirela could play his natural, and best, position at second. In case of an injury or emergency you could always bring Petit back up anyway making this a bit of a no-brainer for New York. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the Yankees will call up Pirela but they definitely should.


To be involved in our next Twitter poll be sure to give @GreedyStripes a follow and be on the lookout for a post. I will always inform you guys and girls that I may use your responses in an upcoming blog post. 

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees Win More Than Houston



The Houston Astros are the hottest team in Major League Baseball right now but the Yankees are on quite the tear themselves. Including the Monday – Sunday games New York will win more games than the Astros this week.


Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

Weekly Check In: Aaron Judge


The good news for the New York Yankees is that Carlos Beltran may finally be coming around with his bat offensively after trying to repair a year’s worth of bad habits and mechanics after playing hurt. The bad news for Aaron Judge is he seems less and less likely to push the envelope and less likely to make his own case for a call up as long as Beltran and Chris Young are hitting. Judge is still smashing in Double-A Trenton making many wonder how long he is for the Thunder before making the logjam in the outfield in Scranton even worse than it already is. With stats like these though you cannot justify for too long keeping him down in Double-A and not with the RailRiders: 

YearLevGPARH2B3BHRRBIBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2015AA22101123041412526.319.356.511.867

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/5: The Yankees in 3D!


On this day in 2010 DirecTV and the YES Network strike a deal to televise the first major league baseball game in three dimensions. The July 10 Safeco Field telecast between the Yankees and Mariners will be available in 3-D in New York, Connecticut, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Montana, and Idaho.

Also on this day in 1955 the musical "Damn Yankees" opens up on Broadway. The comedy set in Washington, D.C. and based off Douglass Wallop's novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, tells the tale of an aging Washington Senators fan's bargain with the devil to stop the Yankees dominance in the 1950's.


Finally on this day in 1930 the New York Yankees traded Cedric Durst to the Boston Red Sox for Red Ruffing. This deal allowed the Red Sox to sell Tom Zachary to the Braves for the waiver price. Boston will never learn.