Preview: New York Yankees @ St. Louis Cardinals 5/26

Happy Memorial Day everyone and what better way to spend it than to watch two historic baseball teams going head to head. In today's matchup the New York Yankees will travel to Busch Stadium for a three game set with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Yankees will send Chase Whitley to the mound to face off with 2013 phenom Michael Wacha. The game will be played at 4:15 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, ESPN, MLB TV, and WFAN.

Whitley is filling in admirably for the injured CC Sabathia and will look to keep his impressive start going in his third career start. Whitley had an early hook in his last start only throwing 71 pitches against the Chicago Cubs while holding them to one run and six hits in 4.1 innings. Whitley is expected to throw anywhere from 80-85 pitches today against the Cardinals.

Wacha's last start ended when a foul ball struck him in the right throwing elbow while sitting in the dugout. Wacha had only allowed two hits in six shutout innings last time out before being lifted from the game. Obviously there were no lasting effects from the injury because he will be back on the mound this afternoon against the Yankees.

Go Yankees!!

Start in St. Louis a Homecoming for Phelps

For Yankees Pitcher David Phelps, tomorrow's start in St. Louis means something. 

Phelps, who has given up just 2 earned runs over his last 12 innings pitched, grew up rooting for the Cardinals 15 minutes away from Busch Stadium, making this a rare homecoming for the youngster. 

It looks like he intends to make the most of it.

“I am excited and my family is to see me out there,” Phelps recently told the New York Post's George A. King III. "One of the best memories is, I was listening in 2005 when Pujols hit that home run off Lidge. I was listening in the car.’’

So far this season, Phelps has been solid for the Yanks, going 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 34 innings. In a game against the Red Sox April 10, he even recorded save, tossing 2.1 perfect frames. 

Still, #41 did lose his last outing to the White Sox (7 IP, 2 ER), making this start one of a rebound.

It won't be easy, as the Cards' Lance Lynn is 5-2 with a 3.60 ERA, but in the end, being on the home field should give Phelps the advantage, even though he isn't actually standing in Yankee Stadium. 

Can't Predict Baseball: Inside The Park Home Runs

On this day in 1997 for the first time in over twenty years two inside the park home runs are hit in the same inning between the Cubs and the Pirates. Sammy Sosa hits one for the Cubs and Tony Womack hits one for the Pirates for the home runs that are only five minutes apart in the sixth inning. The Cubs would beat the Pirates 2-1 at Three Rivers Stadium.

The last time this happened was when a pair of Texas Rangers teammates Bump Wills and Toby Harrah hit back to back inside the park home runs on consecutive pitches at Yankee Stadium in 1977.

Charleston Riverdogs Game Recap 5/25

Ford Hits a Record Four Homers to Win Series Finale

Charleston splits series, road stretch after high-scoring, back-and-forth contest

HICKORY, NC - Mike Ford blasted a team-record four homers for the Charleston RiverDogs, which lost an early 7-0 lead to the Hickory Crawdads before rallying to claim a 17-10 Charleston victory on Sunday at L.P. Frans Stadium in South Atlantic League action. According to SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research, Ford's four homer game is the most ever by a Charleston professional baseball player.

The RiverDogs are 25-23 this season while the Crawdads go to 23-25. Charleston split this four-game series and also went 4-4 over its season-long eight-game road stretch. Seven home runs were hit in Sunday's contest, including five by the RiverDogs.

Charleston scored the first seven runs over the opening four innings of play. Brandon Thomas snapped an 0-for-19 spell with a run-scoring single in the second that plated John Murphy. The RiverDogs scored four runs in the third, including Kale Sumner's two-run triple. Ford's first home run came in the fourth, a two-run dinger that gave Charleston a 7-0 advantage.

Hickory tied the game at 7-7 in its half of the fourth by erasing the seven-run deficit. Ronald Guzman brought in two runs with a single to start the rally. Three batters later, Guzman scored on a Jairo Beras single. Michael De Leon followed with a single to load the bases for Evan Van Hoosier, who hit a grand slam to even the score.

Despite the game-tying rally, the RiverDogs had back-to-back answers in the sixth. Aaron Judge hit his first pitch for a go-ahead solo home run and his fifth professional blast. Two pitches later, Ford collected his second home run of the game to put Charleston up 9-7.

Ford homered near the end of a seven-run seventh inning that produced a 16-7 RiverDogs lead. Murphy opened the scoring, coming in after a Gosuke Katoh sacrifice bunt that was coupled with an error. Thomas added a single to bring in Sumner. Dustin Fowler hit a two-run triple before scoring on Judge's sacrifice fly. Ford's third home run was a solo shot to create an eight-run lead. Murphy finished the scoring with a two-out double that brought in Miguel Andujar.

The Crawdads only scored two runs in the eighth inning before Ford made history in the ninth. Ford led off the final inning with his record-setting fourth home run to put the RiverDogs ahead 17-9. It was also Ford's team-best eighth round-tripper of the season. Hickory's Ryan Cordell answered with his own solo shot in the bottom of the ninth to cap the scoring in a wild contest.

SABR's research on four home run performances or better (http://bit.ly/RWatfY) indicates that Ford is the first player representing Charleston to accomplish this feat. The last South Atlantic League player with a four-homer game was Tony Mongeluzzo, who did it on April 20, 2002 for the Savannah Sand Gnats in a game against the Asheville Tourists.

Charleston's Angel Rincon earned the win, moving to 1-0 following 2.2 shutout innings. Hickory's Paul Schwendel gave up four runs, all on RiverDogs home runs, and is 0-1 with the loss.

COMING UP: The RiverDogs host an eight-game homestand at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park, starting on Monday, May 26 at 7:05pm against the Greenville Drive. Charleston LHP Ian Clarkin (1-1, 3.66 ERA) will open against Greenville RHP Teddy Stankiewicz (4-2, 4.17 ERA). Coors and Z93 Jamz present Dollar Dogs and Beers Night, with $1 hot dogs and $1 drafts in the Ashley View Pub. The RiverDogs and the Drive also continue The Battle of the Palmetto State Rivalry Series, presented by Spinx, which also features a Re-Opening Night doubleheader at 6:05pm on Tuesday, May 27. Tickets may be purchased at the Riley Park Box Office, (843) 577-DOGS (3647) or on-line at www.riverdogs.com. If fans cannot make it to the ballpark, they are encouraged to tune in to all the action this year both home and away worldwide on www.riverdogs.com and locally on 1250 WTMA, the new radio home for RiverDogs baseball.

Box Score: http://atmilb.com/1jNZOPj

Being posted with permission from the Charleston Riverdogs, the original post can be seen HERE. 

Trenton Thunder Game Recap 5/25

Thunder Drop 9-1 Decision to Squirrels

RICHMOND, VA - The Thunder scored in the top of the first inning for a 1-0 lead, but Richmond piled on nine unanswered runs in a 9-1 Flying Squirrels victory at The Diamond.

Starting pitcher Brian Mitchell took the ball in the bottom of the first inning with the lead and recorded the first out of the ballgame, but then he surrendered three straight hits and then a three-run homer to Angel Villalona for a 4-1 deficit. Richmond added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to make it 7-1 and then used a walk and two doubles in the eighth inning to put them ahead 9-1.

In his third start since coming off the Disabled List, Mitchell was charged with the loss in 3.0 innings with four runs (4 ER) and no strikeouts. In relief of Mitchell, Graham Stoneburner went the final 5.0 innings, allowing five runs (4 ER) on 86 pitches-- 57 strikes.

The Thunder offense was held to just four hits in the ballgame, but they were able to manufacture a run in the top of the first inning to avoid being shutout. Mason Williams began the game with a walk and a steal of second base. After a strikeout by Ben Gamel and a hit-by-pitch to Rob Segedin to put runners on first and second with one out, Peter O'Brien dropped an RBI single down the left field line for Trenton's lone run of the game. O'Brien finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Trenton lowers its record to 27-23 with the loss, after having won 4-of-6 overall entering Sunday's ballgame.

The Thunder continue their seven-game road trip Sunday in Richmond, Va. against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. First pitch is scheduled for a 1:35 p.m. start time with a 1:20 pre-game show that can be found streaming on 91.3 FM, the TuneIn Radio app and on www.trentonthunder.com.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder. The original post can be seen HERE. 

Quick Hit: Happy Memorial Day Yankees Family

We here at The Greedy Pinstripes wanted to take the time to wish everyone out there a Happy Memorial Day. While you are out spending time with family, drinking beer, cooking out on the grill, etc just please take a second to remember what this day is for. If it were not for the men and women in uniform fighting for our freedom now and in the past we wouldn't have this day and we wouldn't have anything we probably take for granted daily.

If you see a veteran, thank him. Enjoy the day Yankees family and remember why we're all here celebrating it.

This Day In New York Yankees History 5/26

On this day in 2000 a fan at Yankee Stadium falls from the upper deck and remained motionless for five minutes on the screen behind home plate. The 24 year old man suddenly sits up and raises both his arms high and is immediately arrested.

On this day in 2006 Derek Jeter becomes only the eight player in New York Yankees history to collect at least 2,000 hits in his career. The little dribbler that became an infield single off Kansas City's Scott Elarton would put Jeter into the record books. The other seven Yankees to reach the milestone are Yogi Berra, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly, Babe Ruth, and Bernie Williams.

Tanaka, Jeter lead Yankees to easy win over White Sox

This was nice.

Lately, as you all already know, the Yankees haven't played all that well, making today's 7-1, split-clinching win over the White Sox extremely enjoyable.

Not only did it end early, as the Yankees scored four times in the second inning alone, but the pitching made it pretty stress-free, surrendering just one earned run in the team's first non-extra inning W in a week. 

Of those 9 frames, 6.2 of them came from Starter Masahiro Tanaka, who, as usual, dominated, surrendering just one 1 trip around the bases while striking out 6 to improve his record to 7-1.

Backing up the Japanse phenom on offense was the trio of Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury, who combined to drive in five of the team's seven runs. 

In the Bombers' big top of second, Gardner drove in two with a single, Jeter knocked in another with a bloop hit, and Ellsbury drove in the rally's final run with a line-drive sac fly, giving New York an early 4-0 lead. Besides that play, Jeter also led the Yanks to their fifth run of the contest in the fifth, tripling to right-center to set up a run-scoring wild pitch.

Overall, Jeter was 4-for-5 with 2 RBI on the afternoon, scoring a runner from third in the sixth with another base hit.

Following that play, the red-hot Pinstripes would circle the bases for the final time in the eighth, when Brian Roberts made it 7-1 with his second home run of the year.

Game Thread: Yankees vs. White Sox 5/25

The New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox will finish up their four game weekend set this afternoon at US Cellular Field. The Yankees will look to start a new streak with their second straight victory and their pitcher this afternoon, Masahiro Tanaka, will also look to start a streak of his own. The White Sox will send Brazilian and 4-0 starting pitcher Andre Rienzo to face him. The game will be played at 2:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Get your Yankees tickets for this game or any game when the Yankees come home RIGHT HERE on the blog. If you can't make it out to the ball park then join @GreedyStripes on Twitter to chat with us during the game. The comments section of the site is always open as well if you're interested in some Yankees discussion.

Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Let's get the hell out of Chicago.

Yankees Set-Up Man Kelley Likely Out Two More Weeks

Yep, more bad news.

Despite the fact that he was supposed to come back for this weekend's White Sox series, Yankees Set-Up Man Shawn Kelley (back) will likely be out two more weeks, The Newark Star Ledger's Jorge Castillo reports. 

Kelley, who is eligible to come off the 15-Day DL today, suffered a set back on Tuesday, causing him to miss his scheduled rehab activities (games of catch, bullpen sessions).

Because of that, #27 will have to do everything over again this week, keeping him out the extra time.

“If he did everything he was supposed to this week, he would’ve been back maybe tomorrow,” team Manager Joe Girardi told Castillo yesterday. “So we were going to take a week, but with the extra week, it probably takes a little longer.”

Right now, as you all know, the Yankees bullpen is still doing alright, with minor-leaguer Matt Daley and veteran Matt Thornton filling in nicely for Kelley.

Lately, the two have pitched seventh innings, with Adam Warren moving up to the eighth. 

Due to that switch, it again appears that the team can withstand the loss of Kelley, as the rest of their relievers seem good enough to carry the temporary extra load.