Sunday, September 14, 2014

Irresponsible Use of Robertson Punished in Ninth as Yanks Fall 3-2

Hiroki Kuroda gave up just 1 earned run in 7 innings and Brian McCann broke a 1-1 tie with a solo home run in the top of the ninth, but since David Robertson was doubled off of three times in the bottom of that frame the Yankees fell in the toughest of tough fashions tonight to the Orioles, 3-2, to drop this weekend's series.

For just about all of this contest, though they didn't actually play that well, the Yanks led 1-0, a lead they jumped out to early when Martin Prado lined one over the left field wall in the top of the second.

Nonetheless, once Kuroda blew the lead in the bottom of the sixth after looking near-perfect in Baltimore's first five at-bats a general sense of unease seemed to fill New York's dugout, something that apparently wasn't changed by McCann's late shot. 

Indeed, throughout this one's last three innings the Yanks just looked tired. And unfortunately for them, the bullpen wasn't there to save them this time, with Robertson allowing the aforementioned three doubles (walk-off one was hit by ex-Yankee Kelly Johnson) in the ninth to hand Baltimore the W.

In other words, this evening the Yanks seemed to finally break. No, this defeat doesn't completely knock them out of the playoff race, but still, it definitely makes them rallying for a spot that much more unlikely, a depressing fact we all must now admit.

9/14 Game Thread vs. Baltimore Orioles


The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles will play in the final game of their four game series this weekend tonight in Camden Yards. The Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound looking to bounce back from a bad start last time out. The Orioles will send Chris Tillman to the mound looking to continue his dominance against New York this season. The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET and can be seen on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

Derek Jeter's final games at Yankee Stadium are drawing near so grab your Yankees tickets now for those games by clicking HERE. Also be sure to follow us on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and be sure to like our page on Facebook by searching for The Greedy Pinstripes.

It's an open thread so drown John Kruk out and chat in the comments section. Enjoy the game Yankees family and as always, Go Yankees!

9/14 Game Preview vs. Baltimore Orioles


The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles will finish out their four games in three days set this weekend in Camden Yards tonight as a part of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. The Yankees had a demoralizing loss Friday afternoon that has all but ended any shot of a postseason run so these games feel more and more like they are simply being played out. Tonight in prime time the Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound to face off with the Orioles Chris Tillman. The game will be played at 8:05 pm ET and can be seen on ESPN, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Kuroda has officially figured out how to throw a full season in the Bronx and not break down during the final months of the season. Kuroda has cut back on how much he threw in between starts since the All Star Break and has seemingly gotten stronger as the season goes on unlike his last two seasons as a Yankee. Kuroda should be fresh tonight as well as he allowed nine hits last time out and only lasted 3.1 innings. 

Tillman is coming off a start in which he allowed one run on six hits with five strike outs in five innings in a victory. Tillman has owned the Yankees this season and I cannot say I expect much different tonight on ESPN.



Go Yankees!!

Robertson Hopeful Yankees Will Still Make Run

Yankees' Closer David Robertson is hopeful the team will still make a playoff run. 

The 30-year-old closer, who has successfully converted 36 of 39 save opportunities (or 92%) this season, escaped a man-on-second, one out jam in yesterday's bottom of the ninth with a pair of groundouts, sealing for the Yanks a 3-2 win over the Orioles.

“This is September baseball," Robertson told The Bergen Record's Pete Caldera after the W. "And I’ve seen amazing things happen. I’ve seen Tampa get in on the last day and Boston fall out of the playoffs [in 2011]. So you can’t give up hope."

Prior to the big victory, though, Robertson struggled in Friday's 2-1 loss, throwing 35 pitches and loading the bases.

Eventually, since the offensively-dead game ended up lasting 11 innings, he was able to escape the jam without giving up a run, although he did still later admit that the long outing made his arm sore prior to Saturday's appearance.

“I was a little sore warming up,’’ Robertson said. “The shoulder, side and hamstring were real tight but I knew I had enough to get the job done.’’

Yes, you did Robertson. It wasn't necessarily perfect, but yes, you did.

Don't Count Us Out Yet

That's not going to be easy to climb.

The mountain the Yankees need to climb in order to get into the playoffs seems insurmountable. With just 15 games remaining, they are 4.5 games in back of the Kansas City Royals for the second wild card berth. On top of that, they have to pass not just the Royals, but also the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, and Seattle Mariners.

But it's not impossible.

I know... I know. Here goes Bryan again, being overly optimistic about the Yankees. But hear me out.

The Yankees are tied with the Indians in the standings, but the Tribe hasn't been "killing it" lately themselves (5-5 in their last 10 games). Therefore, getting ahead of them doesn't seem to be a big issue. Although, to be fair, Cleveland's remaining schedule isn't that hard, either. They will face Houston four times, and Minnesota and Tampa Bay three times each. So while ESPN has the Indians playoff chances at just 2.8%, you can't dismiss them.

Seattle faces Lester later today, and has seven games against the Angels... who have the best record in baseball. There other games are against the Astros and Blue Jays. The Mariners could easily lose today, lose four of the seven games against the Angels, lose one game out of the three against Houston (they are in Houston), and one or two games on the road against Toronto. Finishing the season 6-8 or 7-7 would not put them in a good spot at all, unless they are only concerned with where they will sit in order to watch the MLB Postseason.

Looking at the rest of the schedule for New York, it's definitely not daunting.

They will have to face Alex Cobb again, but if Michael Pineda can keep the game close then there's certainly a chance at a "W". The other two games versus the Rays are against Jake Odorizzi (10-12) and Nathan Karns (just one start this season), two guys that are absolutely beatable.
Edit: News just came that Alex Colome will start on Monday. Not sure how this affects the rest of the schedule, but it doesn't change my opinion any.

The Yanks will then come back home to face the Toronto Blue Jays, one of the teams standing in their way to the playoffs. Although the Jays are playing well as of late (7-3 in their last 10 games), none of the four pitchers they will put out there to start games are that imposing (RA Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Marcus Stroman, and Drew Hutchinson). I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Bombers swept the Jays, leapfrogging them in the standings with ease.

The team's last four games at Yankee Stadium this year (at least in the regular season) are against the first place Orioles. Although it's not going to be easy in any of those four games, the pitching matchups look good. In the first game it will be Brandon McCarthy vs. Wei Yin Chen, Shane Greene will face off against Kevin Gausman in game two, the third game will feature Hiroki Kuroda vs. Bud Norris, and finally it'll be Chris Capuano vs. Miguel Gonzalez. Again... not easy, but certainly not impossible to win games.

The final three games of the regular season will be played against the Red Sox in Boston, and there's no reason why the Yankees couldn't sweep that series and end 2014 on a great note. Not only will Michael Pineda take the ball in the first game, but Brandon McCarthy will likely get one of the last two starts, and we could see Masahiro Tanaka in one of those games as well. Even if Tanaka doesn't pitch, though, it's not as though Greene, Kuroda, or Capuano would be a problem.

No matter what happens in the final 15 games this season, 2014 has been a disaster. There's no way you can watch a team spend big in free agency like the Yankees did and not be big-time disappointed with a wild card berth into the playoffs. But you can't dwell on the past. This is what needs to be done now, and while the road will be rough it can be crossed. So let's get it done!

Carlos Beltran Continues To Hurt The Team

When I read this tweet I simply got angry. Usually I just shake my head and give a "typical" or a "whatever" but this simply made me angry. Beltran knows he needs the surgery and he knows the team's season is over either way in a couple weeks so why not just get the surgery done?

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees Bring Back Core Four For Derek Jeter's Final Game


Yesterday I watched again and again Mariano Rivera's final game as a member of the New York Yankees. To this day I cannot watch that moment without crying or at least getting tears in my eyes. How will the Yankees take Derek Jeter out of his final game in Yankee Stadium to honor him? They have to bring back the entire Core Four, right?

Vote in our daily poll.

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/14: Red Sox Suck!


As everyone knows by now the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox have one of the strongest and most hated rivalries in all of Major League Baseball history. The rivalry was especially hot and in full form in the 2000's as the two teams traded division titles and both teams won multiple World Series championships. On this day in 2007 that rivalry went to a whole new level when Yankees infielder Shelley Duncan signed an autograph for a ten year old Red Sox fan Griffin Whitman. Shelley signed the autograph "RED SOX SUCK" before signing his name.