Recap: Red Sox 8, Yankees 4

Joe Kelly had a dominant first start of the season, surrendering just one run in seven innings as the Red Sox easily beat the Yankees, 8-4, in a Saturday matinee at Yankee Stadium. 

Warren Solid: Adam Warren lasted just 5 1/3 innings for the Yankees in this one, but did limit the Red Sox to two runs (one earned) during that period. He gave up just five hits while walking two and striking out one on the afternoon -- impressively inducing a couple of double plays from Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

Holt's Four-Hit Day: Warren had a tough time dealing with center fielder Brock Holt, however, as did just about all of the Yankees' pitching staff. Holt, the only man on either roster who didn't appear in Friday's 19-inning affair, went 4-for-5 with three singles against a trio of Pinstripe hurlers -- driving in three runs in the eighth with a well-struck double off Matt Tracy.

Defensive Struggles: Alex Rodriguez dropped a low but catchable throw to first in the second, soon resulting in an early unearned run to put the Red Sox up 1-0. Chase Headley then pulled A-Rod off the bag with a wide delivering in the eighth -- eventually handing the visitors three more undeserved to make it 8-1.

Offensive Struggles: The Yankees' bats crossed home in the second on a Didi Gregorius sac fly, but were otherwise quiet in Kelly's seven frames. Indeed, Kelly retired each of the last 17 Yankees he faced in the contest -- though New York did show some life in the eighth when Chris Young hit a three-run homer. 

Bullpen Struggles: With the Yankees still down just 2-1 going into the seventh, Justin Wilson and Chris Martin combined to allow three runs on two hits and a walk -- the big blow coming on a two-run double to center from the aforementioned Pedroia. Batting with two men on and one out in the turn, Pedroia plated a pair with a deep fly ball over Young's head -- essentially sealing Boston's victory.

Next Up: The Yankees will look to avoid being swept in this series when they host the Red Sox again on Sunday -- beginning at 8:05 p.m. ET and airing live on ESPN. Masahiro Tanaka is expected to start for the Yankees in his second outing of the young season -- Tanaka hoping to bounce back following a disappointing Opening Day versus the Blue Jays. 

The Daily Dozen: April 11th Edition

The Daily Dozen: April 11, 2015 Edition

Twelve Takeaways from Today's Game

1. 19 Inning Hangover.  The Yankees looked like a team that was hungover today.  Boston had the same amount of sleep as New York (likely less in fact), but seemed ready to play.  Their regulars (Pedroia, Napoli, Bogaerts, Sandoval) played while Ellsbury, Beltran, Teixeira, and McCann sat out for the Yankees.  I know it was a 6 hour, 49 minute game last night and this morning, but starting the season 1-4 can't be helpful.  However, coming into the game the Yankees were hitting .199 as a team with only 13 runs scored...and that was with the extra 11 innings.

2. Alex Rodriguez at First Base.  I've heard that the experiment during Spring Training went well and he played the position adequately.  It didn't work out too well for the Yankees today, but I'm not sure the experiment should be stopped.  He wasn't exactly helped by the infielders.  Gregorius sent a nice sinker ball in the 2nd that led to the first Boston run.  A-Rod looked fine fielding the ball as the first play of the game went right to him (as per normal thanks to the baseball Gods).

3. Chase Headley, A-Rod's replacement at Third.  Made a great barehanded play in the 2nd inning that was all for naught as Gardner got Yankee Stadium sunned on what should have been a routine fly ball out.  Watch Headley's play HERE.

4. Harold Reynolds Surprised.  HR was surprised that the Yankees fans reacted positively to Alex Rodriguez in his first game this year and during the 1st at-bat today after his error at 1st.  I don't understand why he is surprised.  The Yankees NEED Alex Rodriguez because they really have no other choice.  What other offense will there be?

5. If the Yankees withhold bonuses from A-Rod, it would be shameful.  As if the Yankees didn't really know what was going on in A-Rod's life and his career leading up to not only one but TWO record contracts...part of that last contract was $6 million bonuses as he reaches each of the next 5 home run milestones...the first being tying Willie Mays at 660 Home Runs.  The Yankees organization claims that because of his 2014 suspension and the Biogenesis Scandal that A-Rod is no longer marketable.  Well, he's surely more marketable than Carlos Beltran or any of the other players currently on the roster.  "Pay the man his money..."

"Check, check, check...."

6. Joe Kelly..the Wild Man.  Kelly was very wild in the 2nd inning and couldn't seem to find home plate.  His wildness allowed the Yankees to strike right back.  However, the Yankees were not very patient the rest of the game frequently swinging early in the count.  Let's see...the Red Sox depleted their bullpen in a 19 inning game, but we'll go ahead and help out the starting pitcher any chance we can....arrrghh.

7.  Boston Red Sox Love Fest.  I had been under the impression that all out love for the SAAAAHX was reserved by ESPN.  This is no longer true as the crew of Joe Buck / Harold Reynolds / Tom Verducci couldn't say more positive things about Boston during their FS1 broadcast.  Interestingly, when Alex Rodriguez steps to the plate, it's all about controversy...when Ortiz comes up, nothing...At least be freaking consistent!

8. NAVA, the Yankee Killer?  Daniel Nava had 2 RBI by the 4th inning, the only ones for the Red Sox.  According to Joe Buck..."Nava is a fighter and just won't take no for an answer..." (See lovefest above).  Jeff Quagliata of YES astutely pointed out that Nava was 6 for 11 against Warren...me thinks maybe they should have walked him??

9. You can't spell Dustin Pedroia without DP.  Peddy grounded into TWO double plays before hitting a 2-run double in the 7th to provide Boston with a convincing lead.  You also can't spell Pedroia without P.E.D....just saying...naaaah...he's clean!

10. What a catch by Allen Craig!  Craig was a great pickup by the Red Sox by trading away John Lackey to the Cardinals.  Defense wins Championships...the Yankees who supposedly have such a great defense are giving away games with their errors, lack of awareness, and positioning (see the defensive alignment of the outfield in today's game for reference).

11. The vaunted 7-8-9 of the Yankees.  Boy...we are in for an offensive show this season if the 7-8-9 used today by the Binder holds...John Ryan Murphy, Didi Gregorius, and Gregorio Petit.  Do you think Didi and Petit are related somehow?  Anywho...they were a combined 1 for 8 today and made some pretty bad defensive mistakes.

12. Adam Warren finished with a career best 98 pitches.  He actually had a quality start with a final line of 5-1/3 innings, 1 ER, 5 hits, 2 walks, and 1 strikeout.  More impressive was his 60 strikes out of the 98 pitches.  Warren probably feels a bit like Pineda right about now.  Kelly on the other hand, aided by the previously mentioned lack of patience by Yankee hitters, pitched 7 innings with 1 ER, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts and got the coveted win in Yankee Stadium.

"How about a little offensive support guys?"

Bob Sheppard: The Only Constant was Change

Early this morning, like we do early every single morning, we here on the blog went over this day in New York Yankees history and we saw that Bob Sheppard misses his first day of announcing for the Yankees in 55 seasons. Can you image how much change that Sheppard saw just from his time with the Yankees from his first called game in 1951 to this day in 2006? The only constant, besides the Yankees, had to be change for him so I thought it would be interesting to go against the grain and a little off script today to look at the average price of general items in 1951 and compare them to what they cost in 2006 on average. After looking at the list all I can say is I hope Sheppard was getting a pretty hefty cost of living raise yearly from Mr. Steinbrenner.

Housing:

1951: $16,000

2006: $246,500

Income:

1951: $3,515

2006: $48,451

Milk:

1951: $0.92

2006: $3.12

Gas:

1951: $0.20

2006: $2.88

Bread:

1951: $0.16

2006: $1.62

Stamp:

1951: $0.03

2006: $0.39

Nick's Picks: Red Sox VS Yankees Round 2

Well if last night wasn't a total disappointment then I don't know what is. How you play a terrific comeback effort like what was unfolding for 19 innings in the Bronx and then walk away with the loss. So many mistakes were made in that game, surprisingly none falling on the pitching. Esmil Rogers was exhausted, you cannot fault him for that. What a gritty effort he made, even though he did have a hiccup every other inning or so. The offense is atrocious. Especially with runners in scoring position. Sir Didi, I am not a fan of you at all. How many times are you going to have a chance to prove yourself, like that of Chase "Mr. Clutch" Headley. You will always be remembered for how you do not know how to hit and unless you prove us wrong we will always see you as someone who unfortunately is a weak hitter. So, let's throw all that away and make our picks for today. Hopefully this match-up is a lot better than last night, but then again I am losing hope fast.

Best Pitching Performance: So, we have established that our pen will be a strength for us all year. So, I am picking Mr. Miller to be my pick on the mound today. I think that he comes in and shuts the door down on another hard fought Yankee game today and obviously a win. I think Miller throws a perfect 9th with 2 K's for the save.

Breakthrough Hitter: This is a joke of a category anymore and honestly I am sick of what I saw last night. I am going to go with J.R Murphy here. Yeah I know he likes it spelled out but I think he is going to come up big today and prove why he broke camp with the Yankees. I think he goes 2-3 with a big double and two RBI's.

Mr. Clutch: I know my names change but you catch the drift. I think today the clutch performer will be ARod. Yes I know I did not want to go with him for breakthrough hitter but playing first base today, and finding some sort of stroke I see him being the X-factor today. Watch Arod do some work over at first and maybe come up with a big hit late.

All in all I think this will be another perfect Yankees VS Red Sox game and will go back and forth. Hopefully with young Adam Warren on the mound the Yankees can find some way to remember how to hit the ball. I am picking the Yankees winning this one 4-2. Let's go Yankees, hit the ball when it counts!

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 4/11

It’s game time once again as these two teams play their second game head to head in less than 24 hours. In a day game after a night game you can expect more than a few regulars sitting this game out initially as Adam Warren faces off with Joe Kelly in the contest. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on Fox Sports 1, the YES Network and MLB TV.

Get your Yankees tickets for this series, including the Masahiro Tanaka start tomorrow in the series finale, or any Yankees game home or away right here on the blog through our friends at Ticket Monster. Ticket Monster offers the same tickets, not the cheap print offs, for a lower price through our partnership with The Greedy Pinstripes without the annoying shipping costs or bulky fees. If you’re more of the stay at home and not spend $10 on a beer type then jump on the comments section or give us a follow on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) to chat during the game. We try and live tweet each and every game we can and always have something going on in the comments section of the site.

Jump on and chat as the Yankees look for another victory this season. Go Yankees!!!

Matt Tracy Called Up, Chasen Shreve Going Down, Nova to 60 Day DL

UPDATE:

It's official, Tracy is up, Shreve goes down and Ivan Nova is transferred to 60 day DL.

The New York Yankees have announced that left handed starting pitcher Matt Tracy will be heading up for this afternoon's game in the Bronx. You have to assume that Chasen Shreve, who threw 3.1 IP of relief in the 19 inning affair last night will be going down to the minors for a rest.

Tracy is not on the 40 man roster so some roster move will need to be made just five games into the season. Not exactly how you want to start a season.

Did you watch the CC Sabathia Start or Did You Simply Read the Box Score?

When CC Sabathia was taken out of the ball game on Thursday night I made the tweet that if you actually watched the game instead of simply looking at the box score you could pull a lot of positives out of the start. I wrote this knowing full well that there would be someone out there somewhere that would simply read the final line and write a “CC sucks” post and there were plenty to read on Friday morning. Do these writers not get paid to watch the games and actually know what’s going on or is irresponsible journalism the norm these days?

The final line saw five Blue Jays cross the plate before CC was taken out including four in the second inning but if you actually watched the game you know that doesn’t tell the whole story. Everyone knows that in the spring and the early months of the season the last thing to come back for a pitcher is their control and CC had surprisingly good control during the contest. Sabathia had almost a 2/1 strike to ball ratio in the contest and sawed off at least three bats if my memory serves. CC simply fell onto some bad luck in the contest mixed in with some bad defense.

In that second inning Sabathia induced a ground ball that should have been a double play but it bounced off his glove and everyone was safe after an errant throw from Didi Gregorius. On another play, his final play, Carlos Beltran had the runner out at third to stop the bleeding before hitting the runner and allowing the fifth run to score on an error. CC was able to move the ball where he wanted with offspeed stuff away and power stuff inside. CC was pitching, not throwing, and it was a beautiful thing.

CC was the recipient of some bad luck flares and broken bat gifts for the Blue Jays while his defense didn’t do him any favors. CC was not 2009 CC and flat out skipped covering first base and third base more than a few times in the game but while not being completely dissolved of all fault in the Yankees loss looked a lot better than his box score and final line would suggest. But I guess everyone knew that since they watched the game before they wrote about it and CC does really suck.

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 4/11

The second game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will take place in a couple of hours after these two teams played last night in the Bronx. Last night we watched as Nathan Eovaldi and Wade Miley got their first tastes of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry and this afternoon we have a pair of now veterans to the rivalry. Adam Warren will make the start for the Yankees who won the team’s fifth starter spot out of spring training and will be facing off with Joe Kelly for the Red Sox. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on Fox Sports 1, the YES Network and MLB TV.

Warren won the Yankees 5th starter spot this spring after winning a competition between himself, Chase Whitley and Esmil Rogers after Chris Capuano went down to a quad injury. Warren posted a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 IP this spring after being used exclusively as a reliever in 2014. This will be Warren's fourth career start with the Yankees and his first in the Yankees and Red Sox rivalry.

Kelly started the season on the disabled list and will be activated before the game this afternoon for the Red Sox. Kelly suffered right biceps issues this spring which delayed his season but he is healthy enough to bump the original starter Steven Wright back to the bullpen. 

The Yankees and Red Sox rivalry is always fun to watch because even if one team is bad that season they still both tend to bring their “A” games to the field against each other. I expect no different today as the power house offense of the Boston Red Sox faces off with the pitching and defense first minded Yankees in the Bronx. It’s going to be a fun game to watch but it’s going to be even more fun if the Yankees pull out a victory, so let’s go Yankees!

TGP Daily Poll: Lowest Attendance Since 2010

The New York Yankees on the field product has to be great to keep attendance numbers up inside Yankee Stadium. The team won’t be great and the attendance will fall to its lowest number this decade.

Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

Tampa Yankees Announce Opening Day Roster

The 2015 Tampa Yankees Opening Day Roster has officially been released! Click here to view the roster

The Tampa Yankees start the 2015 season tonight in Lakeland. Listen to the game live with TY Broadcaster Nick Flammia on tybaseball.com and click the LISTEN LIVE link. The first home game at Steinbrenner Field for the T-Yanks is Friday, April 10 at 7:00pm. Gates open at 6:00pm The first 300 fans will receive a three-in-one magnet schedule courtesy of Sonny's BBQ $10 all-you-can-eat chicken wings from 6-8:00pm on the Walgreens Deck Half Price Drinks (alcoholic & non-alcoholic) from 6-8:00pm on the Walgreens Deck Post-Game Fireworks Show courtesy of Bright House Networks