Monday, September 12, 2016

Yankees Fall to Dodgers In Series Opener, 8-2

On a beautiful night in the Bronx, The New York Yankees fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in game one of the three-game interleague set. Brian Mitchell got the start for New York and just did not pitch well, losing his first game of the year in a contest that he could not make it out of the third inning. José de Leon got the start and the win for the Dodgers, improving to 2-0 with his quality performance in their game one win.

Mitchell struggled out of the gate as Los Angeles jumped all over the rookie early and often. Chase Utley and rookie sensation Corey Seager led off the game with back-to-back singles. Utley took third on a Justin Turner fly out to center, scoring on an Adrian Gonzalez ground out to give the Dodgers a one run lead. Then, with one out in the second, Howie Kendrick hit an opposite field single to right followed by an Andrew Toles opposite-field single to left. Both men would come around to score on a huge error made by Aaron Judge that saw him drop an inning-ending fly ball, extending their lead to three. And then Seager smacked another single passed a diving Starlin Castro to make it a 4-0 ballgame.

Starlin Castro got one of those runs back for New York in the bottom of the second, absolutely blasting his 21st homerun of the season into the second deck in left field to make it a three run game.

But the Dodgers would keep the offensive pressure on Mitchell, scoring on the young righty and knocking him out of the game in the top of the third. Yasmani Grandal hit a one out single, advancing to third on a Josh Reddick double. Longtime Yankee killer Howie Kendrick then nubbed an infield single that scored Grandal and forced Mitchell out of the game. Chasen Shreve came on in relief and immediately got Joc Pederson on strikes for the second out of the inning. During the next at bat, however, the Yankee errors continued as Gary Sanchez tried to gun out a base stealer at second but sent the ball into center, scoring Reddick and widening the Dodgers lead to 6-1. Shreve would go on to strikeout Toles in that at bat to end the frame.

Aaron Judge atoned for his earlier error in the bottom of the fifth by blasting the longest homerun I think I have seen in Yankee Stadium this season; a 436-ft solo shot over the visitor's bullpen in left center to make it a 6-2 game. It's a shame that distance doesn't get you more runs, because that one should've been worth two.

Richard Bleier stepped up big for the Yankees when they needed him most, tossing four innings of no-hit shut out baseball to keep his team in the game into the eighth.

The Dodgers added two late inning homeruns to put to bed any ideas of a Yankee come back. Yasiel Puig added the Dodgers seventh run of the game with a pinch hit opposite field solo homerun in the top of the eighth to push LA out by five.  And then in the top of the ninth, Justin Turner smacked another solo homerun over the right-field fence to make it a 8-2 ballgame, where the score would remain for the rest of the game.

The Yankees will try to turn it around tomorrow night as they face off against the Dodgers in game two, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM/EST.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 9/12


Here we go ladies and gentleman, history in the making tonight in the Bronx as the New York Yankees are set to face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers for only the third time in MLB history during the regular season inside Yankee Stadium. That's a lot to take in, isn't it? It's especially fun for both teams since Vin Scully is retiring after this season, and FYI did not want to make the trip to be honored by the club, and since both teams are in the middle of their respective playoff pushes and chases. In tonight's start, write this down as it may be used as a trivia question one day, the Yankees will send Bryan Mitchell to the mound making his second start of the season while the Dodgers will counter with Jose De Leon who is also making just his second start of the season. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen locally on the YES Network and can also be seen on MLB TV wherever you are.

These same two teams meet two more times this week inside Yankee Stadium which gives you two more opportunities to see the boys live in the Bronx. Click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog to secure your seats now. If you cant make it live then you can at least root from afar with us by either liking our page on Facebook or by giving our Twitter handle @GreedyStripes a follow.

Need a win. Get a win. Go Yankees!

ICYMI: The Shohei Ohtani Question I'm Being Asked


One day this week I woke up to a comment on the blog being asked my opinion on likely the latest Japanese import to come to the states in Shohei Ohtani. I touched on my response a bit in the comments but I felt like I held back a little bit so I could make this post for all to read. If you don't read the comments section here I suggest that you do, it's loaded with great minds that don't all think the same and it results in a lot to think about, a lot of discussions and debate and truthfully it leads to a lot of inspiration to write posts for myself. These guys always have me thinking, much like they did on this Ohtani post. The question asked in the comments section was whether I would go after Ohtani and basically how it would affect Masahiro Tanaka on the team. Here is my response.

Ohtani is a pitcher and he's built like a pitcher at 6'4" but he has also been seen acting as a DH on the days he wasn't pitching in Japan. Ohtani offers five pitches that all have a ton of movement including a 100-MPH fastball that may be easily his best pitch in the arsenal. This is all important because we've been hearing about Ohtani for years not but we never had a true time period to expect his arrival in the states, now rumors and reports are saying that he could come to the Major Leagues as soon as the 2017 season. Just in time for the Yankees who need to get younger and may have a couple holes in their rotation. I don't believe in fate, do you?

Last season Ohtani has posted a 15-5 record with a 2.24 ERA and 196 strikeouts in 160.2 innings pitched while two years ago Ohtani posted a 11-4 record with a 2.61 ERA with 10 home runs and 31 RBI as a 20-year old. Now that he has foregone his decision to jump straight from High School to the Major Leagues and has a few seasons under his belt Ohtani can be posted from November 1st to March 1st any season and this offseason may finally be the time it happens.

If Ohtani is posted this season I expect the Yankees to go all-in on him much like they did with Tanaka. I don't see Tanaka as a reason to get Ohtani, the whole easing the transition to the Majors to have a fellow country-mate on the team, or not a reason to get Ohtani, money, too many pitchers on the staff etc. I just think all 30 MLB teams will want Ohtani and only a select few will be able to meet the $20 million posting fee plus whatever contract it will take to get Ohtani to stop playing both ways and focus as a pitcher or an outfielder only in the states. Players like Ohtani, both in age and in terms of talent, don't hit free agency every day. Or any day anymore. For this reason and for so many other reasons New York needs to go all-in on him and they don't need to make any doubts about it.

Sign him now if you can. I know you can't but that's how much I want the guy. Sign him.

Most Popular Article of the Week: The Yankees Remaining Schedule & Playoff Chances After the Tampa Bay Series


The New York Yankees have made a whole lot of people eat crow and choke on their words, maybe no one more so than myself truth be told, in the second half of this season after a fire sale of sorts at the August 1st trading deadline. The Yankees traded off their best hitter in Carlos Beltran, arguably their two best relievers in Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman and other veteran pieces like Ivan Nova yet the team only got better, not worse, after the sale. At one point this season right around the All-Star break I typed up a post looking at the Yankees schedule in the second half and I came to the conclusion that the Yankees were doomed for failure in the coming months. New York had series with the Baltimore Orioles, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox looming and while I had them dead in the water they have come out swinging stronger than ever.

Now with the playoffs a real possibility, despite my previous predictions, the Yankees are sprinting towards the finish line and playing their best baseball of the season at the best possible time. That got me thinking, after this series with the Rays which on paper they should do well in what does the rest of the schedule look like?

9/12 – 9/4 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (3)
9/15 – 9/18 @ Boston Red Sox (4)
9/20 – 9/22 @ Tampa Bay Rays (3)
9/23 – 9/26 @ Toronto Blue Jays (4)
9/27 – 9/29 vs. Boston Red Sox (3)
9/30 – 10/2 vs. Baltimore Orioles (3)




I won’t be the ones to count them out. Not anymore. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 9/12


For only the third time during the regular season in the history of these two storied franchises will the New York Yankees and Yankee Stadium play host to the Los Angeles Dodgers in an interleague matchup. These two teams have played eight times inside Dodger Stadium which could lead me to another rant about MLB schedule makers but really at this point who cares? They are going to do what they are going to do and that's that. Onward to the game that will showcase the Yankees sending Bryan Mitchell to the mound to square off against one of the Dodgers top prospects in Jose De Leon. This is going to be fun.

Mitchell pitched wonderfully in his last start and first start in the Major Leagues and may have earned the rotation spot for New York for the remainder of the season. I don't believe anyone expects him to be as dominant as he was last time out going forward but if Mitchell can give the Yankees innings he may help lead them to the postseason in 2016.

De Leon will make another start tonight for the injured Scott Kazmir and will be looking for his second win of his MLB career as well. In his debut as a starter De Leon struck out nine batters in six innings of work but he did allow four runs in the start.


The historic game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network for Yankees fans and MLB TV. I cannot emphasize just how awesome this series is going to be for the teams and fans of both sides. When two historic teams go head-to-head inside historic baseball stadiums, although of course the new Yankee Stadium doesn't hold the same prestige as the old mind you, it's just fun all-around for everyone involved. Need a win. Get a win. Go Yankees!

The History of the Dodgers and Yankees Rivalry


The New York Yankees will remain home once again tonight as they continue their playoff push towards October but tonight has a little bit of a different feel to it. The Yankees aren't playing host to the Orioles or the Red Sox or even the Toronto Blue Jays but instead they are welcoming a new foe, and an old foe, in the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now if you're like me you are too young to remember these two teams going at it head-to-head in the late 70's in the World Series but apparently at one point and time these two were quite the rivals. Let's talk about it.


The World Series:

The Yankees and Dodgers, the Brooklyn and Los Angeles versions, have met in --- World Series matchups including the 1941 World Series (Yankees), 1947 World Series (Yankees), 1949 World Series (Yankees), 1952 World Series (Yankees), 1953 World Series (Yankees), 1955 World Series (Dodgers, finally), 1956 World Series (Yankees), 1963 World Series (Dodgers, just in Los Angeles this time), 1977 World Series (Yankees), 1978 World Series (Yankees), and the 1981 World Series (Dodgers).

Notable Trades:


May 26, 1957: The Brooklyn Dodgers purchased Tom Lasorda from the New York Yankees.


November 30, 1967: The New York Yankees purchased Gene Michael from the Los Angeles Dodgers.


May 15, 2004: The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Tanyon Sturtze to the New York Yankees for Brian Myrow.


December 13, 2003: The New York Yankees traded Brandon Weeden (minors), Yhency Brazoban, Jeff Weaver and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Kevin Brown.


June 20, 2000: The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Jose Vizcaino and cash to the New York Yankees for Jim Leyritz.


January 12, 2016: The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Tyler Olson and Ronald Torreyes to the New York Yankees for Rob Segedin and player to be named or cash.


July 31, 2007: The New York Yankees traded Scott Proctor to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Wilson Betemit.

Head-to-Head Regular Season:

10 Games. 5-5 Record. Two games inside Yankee Stadium (1-1 record) eight games inside Dodger Stadium (4-4 record)

Weekly Prospects Check In: Clint Frazier


The New York Yankees have many of their minor league affiliates in the postseason this season including their Triple-A squad the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders. Those fans living in the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area are absolutely spoiled in the baseball department this season, aren't they? They've got to watch the likes of Gary Sanchez, Tyler Austin, Aaron Judge, Ben Gamel, Luis Severino to name a few and the Yankees top prospect in all the land to top it off, Mr. Clint Frazier. What has he been up to since coming off the disabled list?

Let's find out:

YearAgeLevAffGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
201621AA-AAACLE-NYY119520751222716551348122.263.335.447.782

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/12: Bernie Williams Has a Week of a Game


Not much has happened on this day in New York Yankees history surprisingly but Bernie Williams did have a week of it on this day in 1996. Bernie had two home runs and a single as he went on to knock in eight RBI helping the Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers by the score of 12-3.

Other notable happenings on this day in Major League Baseball history was on this day in 1979 the Red Sox Carl Yastrzemski collected his 3,000th hit of his career in a victory over the Yankees in Fenway Park. Also Sammy Sosa became the fourth player in major league history to hit 60 home runs in a single season on this day in 1998 as he joined Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, and Mark McGwire as McGwire and Sosa attacked Maris' single season home run record.