Andy Pettitte Faces Live Hitters

Andy Pettitte threw an inning of a bullpen session to live hitters for the first time since fracturing his ankle which seems like forever ago. Andy thre 15 pitches and drew praise from Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Andy is expected to throw another bullpen session on Friday and hopefully stretching himself out to 30 pitches. We need Andy more then ever so PLEASE come back healthy, effective, and quickly.

Yankees @ Rays 9/5/12

Alex Rodriguez double ties the game at 1-1

Russell Martin has a two rbi ground rule double to put the Yankees up 3-1

Russell Martin solo home run puts him above the mendoza line and gives the Yankees a 4-3 lead

#untuck 6-4

The Yankees will go into Tropicana Field tonight looking to avoid a three game sweep and stay in first place in the AL East. The Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound with the task of giving us 7 or 8 great innings and will be facing off with Matt Moore. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on MLB Network and YES Network.

Lineups

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Russell Martin C
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF *puke*
Steve Pearce 1B
Jayson Nix 2B

Go Yankees!!

Yankees... Win.... Now!

Let's just get to the point here ever since the All Star break the Yankees have sucked. They have, to this point, blown a 10 game lead in the division and look like at best a first round exit in the playoffs. Granted a lot can change in the next 27 games but I am not one to look too far ahead anymore. Everyone who knows me, reads my blog posts, or follows me on twitter knows I am not one to equivocate or mince words. I am a straight shooter because straight talk is easily understood. This will be my first and my last rant calling out the Yankees and their players to get their head out of their behinds and start playing like we, the guys and girls paying their salaries, expect them to. Get it done and start getting it done now!

This Day In Yankees History : 9/5/12

In 2007 the Yankees hobbled 3B Alex Rodriguez, who prior to the game was seen limping to the hospital to get his ankle examined, belted two home runs in one inning against the Seattle Mariners. Alex was only the fourth player to ever achieve the feat.

Yankees legendary announcer Bob Shepard announces his last game at Yankees Stadium. He was the Yankees announcer since 1951 and did so over 4500 times in his years as the Yankees announcer. Bob Shepard was 96 years old.

Pedro Feliciano Throws Another Scoreless Inning In Rehab

Pedro Feliciano's 30 day rehab window is quickly coming to a close this weekend and Pedro Feliciano is still sitting at 84 mph. He is getting batters out but the velocity is still a little scary, although after not pitching for two years and a major shoulder surgery it may never come back. Pedro did seem to tweak something in his foot when covering first base for the final out in the inning but it does not seem like it will be a serious issue.

Congrats To David & Andrea Aardsma

According to David Aardsma's twitter he surprised his wife with a trip to their home in Phoenix and Andrea Aardsma's water broke. I do not know if it is going to be a boy or a girl but David says that the baby should be here any time now. Here is to a great labor and great birth with no complications! Congratulations to David and Andrea Aardsma!

Yankees @ Rays 9/4/12

UPDATE:

Robinson Cano's hip looked fine on that 29th home run of the season...

Yankees down 3-2 on an Evan Longoria home run. Orioles up 3-0.. #ScoreboardWatching

Yankees down 5-2

First place is on the line and this is as close as a must win as we are going to get in early September. The Yankees AL East lead is down to 1 game and we are sending Freddy Garcia to the mound. Cano will probably miss the game today and we do not know what we will get from Alex Rodriguez or Curtis Granderson. To sum it all up if there is not panic within the Yankees clubhouse then maybe there should be. The Rays will send Alex Cobb to the mound to put the Yankees away. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm on ESPN.

Casey McGehee is back with the Yankees and Ichiro is sitting tonight so two good signs.

Lineups

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Nick Swisher 1B
Robinson Cano DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Raul Ibanez LF
Jayson Nix 2B
Chris Dickerson RF
Chris Stewart C

Go Yankees!!

This Day In Yankees History : 9/4/12

On recommendations from then Commissioner Fay Vincent the Statistical Accuracy Committee removed the distinction between games played and season records in 1991, thus eliminating the asterisk by Roger Maris' 61 home run season. Babe Ruth was pushed to #2 on the season high home run list with 60 home runs.

In 1993 Jim Abbott threw a no hitter for the New York Yankees against the Cleveland Indians. Would be an impressive feat regardless but when you consider that Abbott was born without a right hand you can really put how impressive this is into perspective.

In the magical season of 1998 the Yankees won their 100th game of the season, the earliest a team won their 100th game in Major League history. That Yankees team would go on to win 114 games and a World Series Championship.

David Aardsma Bombed In 2nd Rehab Game

David Aardsma pitched in his second minor league rehab game yesterday, this time for the Staten Island Yankees, and it did not exactly go as planned. David allowed more runs, four(three of them earned), then he got outs, two (including a strike out), in his 2/3 of an inning pitched.  David threw 27 pitches total and hit as high as 89 mph in the outing. You want to see David come out and destroy minor league hitters but as long as he comes out of it healthy that is all that you can ask for. We just all need to scale back our expectations a little of him being this years bullpen savior.

Add Robinson Cano To The List of The Walking Wounded

We all were watching when Robinson Cano let that ground ball past him and allowed the eventual game winning run to score for the Rays. We were all also watching when Cano was seen grimacing afterwards in obvious pain. Cano has been diagnosed with a mild hip strain after that play and is day to day. He iced it down after the game and will get treatment tomorrow before the Yankees decide if he will play or not.

If he can play and not be a total liability or risk hurting himself more seriously I really think he has to play right now. We have Alex Rodriguez back and Curtis Granderson should be back tomorrow before Mark Teixeira arrives on Thursday so the team is starting to take shape and we cannot afford to lose Cano for ANY period of time.