Sunday, May 8, 2016

Yanks Drop Series Finale to Boston, 5-1

      As the Yankees tried to finish off the three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, both teams squared off on Mother's Day, complete with plenty of pink on both teams uniforms. Hoping to turn around a shaky start to 2016, Luis Severino took the ball for the hometown Yankees. The Red Sox countered with knuckleballer Steven Wright, who has far and away been the best starter for Boston, carrying a 1.67 ERA. Making it all the more impressive is the fact that he is one of two remaining knuckleball pitchers in the game, with the other being R.A. Dickey of the Toronto Blue Jays. And it was Steven Wright who stole the show tonight in Yankee Stadium.
     Severino was very "Jekyll and Hyde" throughout the evening. In the first, after walking the first hitter of the game Mookie Betts on four straight pitches, Severino served up a homerun, just over the outstretched glove of Carlos Beltran, to Dustin Pedroia, giving the Red Sox a very early 2-0 lead. After that, Severino went on to retire the next 10 straight batters, seven via the strikeout. But then in the top of the fourth, he gave up another homerun, this time to David Ortiz, extending the lead to 3-0. The young right-hander was bitten again by Ortiz, this time coming in the top of the seventh-inning when the DH launched another solo homerun into the right field seats, now 4-0 Boston. The only other run Boston scored came in the top of the following inning (8th) when Xander Bogarts hit yet another Red Sox longball off of newly inserted reliever Chasen Shreve.
      Contrastly, Steven Wright cruised all night long against the Pinstripers, only allowing three hits and one walk throughout the entire evening, in route to his first complete game of the season. The loan blemish the knuckleballer suffered came in the bottom of the ninth inning when Brett Gardner hit a solo homerun off the righty, inching the Yankees closer, 5-1. But, that was as close as the Yankees got. Thirty-one year-old Wright showed everyone why he is sporting the best statistical year for any starter in Boston this season, displaying impeccable control over a pitch that does not typically come with that kind of accuracy.
     Although he showed some promise, Luis Severino could not keep the ball in the ballpark, which ended up being his demise, as he again was unable to pitch himself into the win column. And yes, The bats were again silent. But, unlike previous nights, tonight they were simply out-dueled. If the Yankees are going to make any noise with Aroldis Chapman coming off his suspension tomorrow, they really need to get the offense rolling so that every starting pitcher doesn't feel like they have to pitch a masterpiece every single outing.
     The Yankees will have a chance to get back on the right track tomorrow as they begin a three-game series with the defending champion Kansas City Royals, beginning at 7:05 PM ET.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 5/8


The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are set to finish off their three game set tonight inside Yankee Stadium with the Bronx Bombers looking to return a favor. That favor is a sweep as the Red Sox swept away the Yankees inside of Fenway Park last week while New York has won the first two games this weekend in the Bronx. If the Yankees want to sweep past Boston the offense will need to show up once again and they will have to get a good pitching performance from Luis Severino. Donned with the task of getting out of New York with a victory for the Boston Red Sox is Steven Wright. The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET and can be seen on ESPN as a part of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

The Yankees welcome the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals to town tomorrow and they welcome closer Aroldis Chapman to the team tomorrow night in the Bronx. To see these two major events live inside Yankee Stadium click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog to visit Ticket Monster and to grab a pair of premium tickets for non-premium prices. Until then though you can always follow along on Twitter by giving @GreedyStripes a follow as we try and live tweet each and every Yankees game each and every season.

How sweep it is? How sweep it would be. Make it happen. Go Yankees!

Weekly Prospects Check In: Dietrich Enns

Enns Named Eastern League Player of the Month

Enns_Email


The Thunder, in partnership with the Eastern League, are pleased to announce that LHP Dietrich Enns has been voted the League's Player of the Month for the month of April.

Enns made four starts in the month and did not allow a run. His 3-0 record led the Thunder and he tied for fourth in the league in wins. In 23.2 innings he allowed nine hits (.120 BAA), walked 13, and struck out 25 batters.

His 23.2 scoreless innings to begin the season is the franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings thrown by a pitcher. Enns surpassed RHP Alfredo Aceves (19 innings, May 2008) in his start on April 27 against New Hampshire.

The left-hander from Frankfort, Ill. becomes the first Thunder pitcher to receive the league's monthly award. The Thunder have had two position players receive Player of the Month recognition: Brandon Laird (May, 2010) and David Eckstein (May, 1999).

Enns' award comes on the heels of RHP Ronald Herrera earning the Eastern League's Pitcher of the Week award for throwing eight no-hit innings. Following Herrera's performance in the combined no-hitter thrown by the Thunder on April 26, Enns threw 5.1 innings of no-hit baseball against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on April 27.

The 24-year-old also set a career-high with 11 strikeouts in his outing on April 22. On that day he allowed just one hit, a sixth inning double by Akron's Clint Frazier, and walked three as part of a Thunder pitching staff that struck out 17 RubberDucks.

The Pitcher of the Month award for Enns is his first league-wide recognition since he was named the South Atlantic League's Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 27, 2013. He was also named an SAL All-Star that season.

The Thunder return to ARM & HAMMER Park on Friday, May 6 at 7pm when they host the Harrisburg Senators for a three-game series. Friday night features post-game fireworks. For more information and tickets, visit www.TrentonThunder.com.

YearAgeTmWLERAGGSIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
201625Trenton311.265528.21744118291.2215.30.35.79.1

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 5/8


The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have had a great weekend of baseball with a pair of great pitching matchups that continues tonight in the Bronx. Friday night we had the David Ortiz hissy fit like a three-year old baby which made me chuckle and Saturday afternoon we had the obligatory start against David Price on whatever team he is pitching for these days. Tonight in the night cap and the finale we will all watch as Luis Severino takes the mound against the Red Sox knuckle-baller Steven Wright.

Severino has not had the start to his 2016 season that anyone could have expected or wanted but he has shown the Yankees signs of life in his last couple of starts. Severino is trending in the right direction but he still isn't there yet and this was on full display in his last start against the Orioles. Severino took the loos but seemingly had full control over the game until a pair of Mark Trumbo home runs and two errors buried him and the Yankees on the night. 


Wright is off to a strong start this season much like many of the Red Sox starters this season but Wright has seen his knuckleball keep batters off balance this year. Wright has allowed two earned runs or fewer in all five of his starts this season and has gone six innings in each start while holding batters to a .188 batting average against. 


The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET inside of Yankee Stadium and can be seen on ESPN as a part of their ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcast. This will mark the second straight Sunday night that we can watch these Yankees and Red Sox face off on Sunday night with their new color commentary crew. After one start, because admittedly I haven't watched much non-Yankees baseball thus far this season, I have to give ESPN credit where credit is due, Aaron Boone and Jessica Mendoza is much better than John Kruk and Curt Schilling.

Go Yankees!!

My Review of "Fanchest"


In a world where anything can be ordered or found online it's getting harder and harder to be original. We saw some originality with the OneUPBox and the HorrorBox and all the equivalents but as far as I knew there wasn't a "box" for the sports fan. Until now. Fanchest is like those other "boxes" but they cater to the New York Yankees, New York Rangers or New York Mets fans. For us by us kind of thing.


Now if you click the Yankees section on Fanchest.com you can find that they have different tiers of boxes that naturally change every single month. The fanchest that I purchased was the "MVP" tier which will cost you $79.99.


What I received was a pair of Majestic Yankees T-shirts and not the cheap ones either, these are the authentic shirts that the Yankees are wearing on the field and in the dugouts. I also received a pair of Yankee Stadium seating chart themed coasters for my living room and one of those silicone bands to wear on my wrist. The box also contained a Yankees jersey bottle coozie, a one-size fits all Yankees hat and one of the awesome Yankees wigs pictured above.


You can get smaller tiered boxes ranging in price from $49 and $59 and you can also get Mark Teixeira and Paul O'Neill themed boxes that contain signed baseballs with authenticity paperwork for $199.99 and $174.99 respectively.


So head over to Fanchest.com, pick your team, pick your box and blow your loved ones away for Fathers Day, Christmas or just because. I highly recommend this box and I already have my eye on another for next month. We hope this review helps!

Weekly Prospects Check In: Domingo Acevedo


The countdown has begun for Domingo Acevedo and his impending call up to to the Tampa Yankees. Acevedo finished the season with a single game in Charleston with the Charleston Riverdogs last season and has begun the season there in 2016. The countdown has begun because Acevedo has been seemingly on the fast track through the Yankees system since last season, the right-hander played for two teams and the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League last year, and the way he is pitching it's only a matter of time before he gets another call up in 2016.

Does he have another month? Another week? Is his last start this week in Charleston? I don't know but rest assured when the move happens we will have it here. Stay tuned.

YearAgeLevWLERAGGSIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
201622A212.436633.12712915370.9607.30.31.410.0

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/8: Alex Rodriguez Returns w/ a Bang!


On this day in 2009 Alex Rodriguez made his season debut and wasted no time hitting a three run home run on the very first pitch he saw. The blast helps the Yankees beat the Orioles 4-0 and snap the Yankees five game losing streak.


Also on this day in 1961 the Yankees trade fire-baller Ryne Duren, relief pitcher Johnny James and outfielder Lee Thomas to the Angels for right hander Tex Clevenger and outfielder Bob Cerv. This would be the third time that Cerv would be a member of the Yankees. Duren would spend two seasons with the Angels and post an 8-21 record but would set an AL record for striking out seven consecutive batters with the team.