Charleston Falls In Extras In Road Finale

Charleston Falls In Extras In Road Finale

Greenville ties it in the 9th, wins it in the 11th to avoid the sweep

GREENVILLE, SC - Mario Martinez hit a broken bat, walk-off RBI single into left field with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to send the Greenville Drive to a 2-1 extra innings win over the Charleston RiverDogs at Fluor Field at The West End on Wednesday night.

With the loss, the RiverDogs fall to 34-32 in the second half and 73-61 overall. Charleston finishes the season an even 35-35 on the road. The Drive improve to 27-36 in second half play and 49-83 overall with the win.

It was an old fashioned pitcher's duel for the first seven innings of the game with neither team scoring a run until the eighth.

In the top of the eighth, Jake Cave led off with his sixth triple of the year and promptly scored on Jose Rosario's RBI single to give the RiverDogs a 1-0 lead. However, the lead would not last.

In the bottom of the ninth the Drive tied the game thanks to a two singles and an error to force extra innings.

That's when Martinez came through with the walk-off single to win it in the 11th.

Rookie Davis made his Charleston debut, and the righty was impressive. In five shutout innings he didn't walk a batter, gave up eight hits, and fanned six.

Sergio Gomez made the start for Greenville and was even better. Gomez allowed just two hits in six shutout innings, walked three, and collected three strikeouts.

The bullpens were phenomenal for both squads as well. Derek Varnadore threw five innings in relief for Charleston and gave up just one run on three hits with four strikeouts. John Brebbia got tagged with the loss for the Dogs following the walk-off single in the 11th. He recorded two outs, gave up a hit, and walked a man. Brebbia falls to 0-2 on the year.

Raynell Velette went two innings in relief for the Drive and surrendered the only run Charleston scored in the game. He allowed four hits and struck out three. The most effective pitcher in the pitching dominated game was Kyle Martin who spun three hitless, scoreless innings with one walk and four strikeouts. Martin earned the victory to improve to 2-1.

Danny Oh had a fantastic game offensively for the RiverDogs with a 3-3, double, walk performance. Greg Bird went 0-3, but walked twice, once intentionally.

COMING UP: Thursday is the final off day of the season for the RiverDogs. The team will open their final homestand of the year at The Joe on Friday night with the first of four games against the Rome Braves. Charleston will start RHP Brett Gerritse (8-7, 3.60 ERA) for the last time this season, and Rome will counter with RHP Mauricio Cabrera (3-8, 41.8 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 on Friday night.

It will be the final Red Shirt Friday of the year as fans who wear red to the box office can save $1 off their ticket OR donate that dollar to local charity Canines for Veterans. "Titus the Wonder Dog" will be on hand to show off his batboy skills and multiple tricks during the game. As part of the last Red Shirt Friday there will be a silent auction during the game to win the unique red, white and blue digi-camo jerseys off the backs of the RiverDogs players. Fans of Dante Bichette, Jr., Greg Bird and Cito Culver can bid online at www.RiverDogs.com until Saturday. After the contest, we will again light up the sky over the scenic Ashley River with another Piggly Wiggly Postgame Fireworks show. It's also a Miller/Coors Aluminum Pint Nite as folks 21 and older can enjoy $2 specials on aluminum pints. Fans can purchase tickets at www.riverdogs.com, over the phone at 843/723-7241, or in-person at the Riley Park Box Office. Fans may also listen to the game live locally on ESPN Radio 910AM or online at www.riverdogs.com.

Box Score: http://atmilb.com/185R8uY

Being posted with permission from the Charleston Riverdogs organization. The original article can be seen HERE. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/29

On this day in 1985 Don Baylor was hit by a pitch for the 190th time in his career passing Minnie Minoso's American League record.

On this day in 1998 Derek Jeter established a new record for home runs by a Yankees short stop when he hit his 17th home run of the season.

Kuroda drops third straight start to Blue Jays, 7-2

Hiroki Kuroda gave up 5 earned runs in 5 innings of work tonight as the Yankees disappointingly dropped this rubber game to the Blue Jays, 7-2. Now this kinda stuff can't happen. Kuroda has got to get better NOW. Three losses in three starts is not what this team should be getting from their ace. Also, losing to the Blue Jays, really? Isn't this the same team we just swept without mercy last week? Apparently they got really good in the entire three days the Yankees weren't playing them. But seriously, you gotta win these series against last place teams. Now is not the time to screw up. 

Game Thread: Yankees @ Blue Jays 8/28

The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays complete their three game set in Rogers Centre tonight at 7:07 pm ET. The pitching match up is Hiroki Kuroda for the Yankees and Todd Redmond for the Blue Jays and it can be seen on the YES network and MLB TV. Kuroda has had his August struggles once again and hopes to bounce back on this final start before the calendar turns and the rosters expand. 

Here is the Yankees lineup

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson DH
Alfonso Soriano LF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Mark Reynolds 2B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chris Stewart C

Follow us on twitter by following @GreedyStripes. Go Yankees!!!

Michael Pineda Resumes Throwing Off Flat Ground

I have to say that I am getting sick and tired of the New York Yankees and how they baby and coddle their pitchers. Michael Pineda is back to throwing off of flat ground after being shut down 26 days ago with stiffness in his surgically repaired right throwing shoulder. Originally the Yankees said that Pineda would be shut down somewhere around 10 days before resuming throwing again and what they really meant was almost triple that and then we will baby the guy back into the rotation so we can waste a second year of team control for NOTHING. #EndRant

Pineda is still hoping to be back with the big league club sometime in September but he will have to be throwing in games before that can happen. The minor league seasons are ending in a week or so not counting possible playoffs for teams like the Trenton Thunder so time is running out for Pineda.

Phil Hughes Still Set To Start On Saturday

The New York Yankees season is on the line and Joe Girardi refuses to do what needs to be done. The same man that benched the highest paid baseball player in history, Alex Rodriguez, not once but three times in last years postseason is afraid to send Phil Hughes to the bullpen. Phil Hughes is scheduled to take his normal turn in the rotation on Saturday at home against the Baltimore Orioles in a game we have to have. David Huff has come in and pitched his behind off out of the pen giving the Yankees length and shut out inning after shut out inning and is getting no respect. I can't say I understand this move, or lack of a move, at all but Joe Girardi is known to be loyal to certain players and this is the perfect example of that.

Eduardo Nunez Scratched Late, Mark Reynolds Plays 2B

Eduardo Nunez left last nights game with an apparent knee injury but was in the lineup today originally before becoming a late scratch. Mark Reynolds will fill in for him and play second base which should be interesting to watch. We all knew that Robinson Cano would probably sit out today as a precaution but when his backup goes down we may be in trouble a little bit. Hopefully they Yankees are just thinking of giving him two consecutive full days off to rest and make sure the knee is fine for the Orioles on Friday.

Hiroki Kuroda New York Yankees Meme

This gave me a little chuckle and I felt like I had to share. No matter what Hiroki you are still my hero, lol.  Enjoy! 

Can The Yankees Do It?

The Yankees have won 13 of their last 19 games, and find themselves 4.5 games in back of a Wild Card berth into the postseason. A lot has been written about their chances of completing a comeback and getting to the playoffs, including something from me. But I'd like to give you some more precise reasons why I think they can get it done.

"I can't wait to hear this."

The Yankees have been hitting very well lately, and over the past 14 days they have the highest team batting fWAR in the American League. During that time they were led by Alfonso Soriano and his 6 HR, 19 RBI, and batting line of .333/.387/.684. Along with Soriano's production, Robinson Cano has hit .418/.448/.618. Curtis Granderson has come back strong as well, and is getting on base over 41% of the time since he returned to the team on August 2nd. Furthermore, Austin Romine has started hitting the ball well. Romine's triple-slash in August (37 plate appearances) is .310/.417/.448. Alex Rodriguez is doing his part too, having hit .284/.369/.473 since coming back.

Let's move to pitching, where Andy Pettitte has started to look like the Andy of old. In his last 3 starts, totalling 19.2 innings, Pettitte's given up just one earned run, and held opposing batters to a line of .221/.284/.309. I've talked a lot of trash on Ivan Nova, but I can't deny him props for what he's done since July 5th. In that time he has thrown at least 6.1 innings, which having an ERA of 2.34, and opposing hitters have batted .238/.309/.316. If Hiroki Kuroda can continue to pitch to a sub-3.00 ERA, and Sabathia can figure out just what in the hell is going on, then Yankee pitching can be a force.

"I got this, boys."

Last season, the Texas Rangers had a 5.5 game lead on the Oakland As, but the Athletics ended up winning that division. That same season, the Chicago White Sox had a 2 game lead on Detroit, yet they not only lost the AL Central to the Tigers, they completely missed the postseason.

In 2011, and Yankees fans are surely happy that I'm bringing this tidbit up, the Boston Red Sox had the best record in the American League. But the boys from Beantown played horrible down the stretch and missed the playoffs.

Back in the glorious year of 2009, before the Yankees defeated the Phillies for their 27th World Series title, the Tigers led the Minnesota Twins by 4.5 games in the AL Central. However, Detroit played so bad that they not only lost the division title, but missed the postseason.

Looking at who the Yankees are chasing for a Wild Card spot, we start with the Baltimore Orioles. So far this month, the Os have lost a series against the Mariners, Diamondbacks (three-game sweep), and Rays. They will start a three-game series against the Yankees on Friday, before going to New York to face them four more times. Baltimore also has 8 games left against the Red Sox, and four against the Rays.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians have played .500 ball in August, including a stretch of six straight losses to the Tigers and Angels. Their pitching has done well over the last month, but is it good enough to overcome an offense ranked last in the AL in terms of batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage? I'm not so sure, and Indians fans are surely biting their fingernails right now.

"We suck again!"

Then there's the Oakland Athletics, who are actually under .500 in August, having gone 11-12. Their offense has been mediocre during that time, while their pitching has been one of the worst in the league. The good news for them is that 20 of their last 31 games are against teams below .500, but the other 11 games against the Tigers, Rays, and Rangers. While Oakland fans surely feel better about their chances than Cleveland fans, they definitely should not start making plans to watch their favorite team in the postseason yet.

Finally there’s the Tampa Bay Rays, who currently have the best record among non-division leading teams in the American League. Over the past month both the Rays’ pitching and the Rays’ hitting have been “okay”. However, their hitting has been among the best in the league over the course of the season, while their pitching has been pretty good too. So the Yankees chances to get above them in the standings will be much tougher. We’ll just have to hope that they falter in their 14 games against the Athletics, Red Sox, Rangers and Orioles. While at the same time hoping the Yankees can get it done against Tampa Bay in their remaining three-game series.

I know it’s hard to imagine the Yankees making the postseason this year, after they played under .500 for an 81-game stretch between May and July (40-41). But you can’t look at those facts and count the Bombers out. I’m not saying the chances are good that we see the Yankees play another game after September 29th, but there’s no way I’m counting them out just yet.

"Let's do this!"

New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays 8/28

The New York Yankees will finish their three game set with the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Rogers Centre before the Yankees off day tomorrow. The Yanks will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound to face off with Todd Redmond for the Blue Jays. The game will be televised at 7:07 pm ET on the YES network and MLB TV. If the Yankees have any shot at the playoffs this is a must win game before the off day so let's hope Hiroki can be the hero once again for the Yanks.