Ellsbury Drives in Three in 5-3 Win Over Blue Jays

Hiroki Kuroda gave up just 3 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings and Jacoby Ellsbury drove in three before leaving with a hamstring injury tonight as the Yankees won their third straight game in relatively stress-free fashion, 5-3, over the visiting Blue Jays. 

In this contest's top of the first, after Derek Jeter made a nice defensive play that forced Jose Reyes between second and third, the Yanks fell behind early on an Edwin Encarnacion two-run shot off the left field foul pole, putting them in a pretty discouraging hole with Mark Buehrle (6 IP, 5 ER) on the mound.

Nonetheless, thanks to a single to left by Brian McCann in the first and a two-run home run by Ellsbury in the third New York was in the driver's seat for the majority of this one, with Ellsbury also getting a man home with a strange play in the fourth.

Facing Buehrle with the bases loaded and one out in that frame, Ellsbury hit a hard groundball to second, scoring Stephen Drew before a Jose Reyes throwing error let Chase Headley cross home, too.

So, within a four frame period this evening the Yankees turned a multi-run deficit into a three-run advantage, one that'd hold until the end due to the aforementioned heroics by Kuroda as well as a pair of late jam-escapes by Esmil Rogers and Adam Warren, who would also record a save in the game with a perfect five-out appearance.

Breaking: Jacoby Ellsbury Leaves Game w/ Hamstring Injury

Jacoby Ellsbury was hitting the ball extremely well in tonight's game against the Toronto Blue Jays as he had a double off the top of the wall and a two run home run. Ellsbury's at bat in the fourth inning did not go as well as he hit into a potential inning ending double play but legged out the ground ball as he hit into a fielder's choice. Ellsbury came up lame on the play and grabbed at his hamstring muscle.

Ellsbury was looked at by the trainer and stayed in to run the bases. Maybe, and hopefully, this is just a precautionary move for New York with nothing to play for.

9/19 Open Game Thread vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Welcome to the open thread for tonight’s game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. This is the second of four these two will play this weekend at Yankee Stadium as both teams are simply playing out their September schedules. The Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound to face off with the Blue Jays Mark Buehrle. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

Get your Yankees tickets now as this is literally the last time the Yankees will be in the Bronx for the rest of the season. Also be sure to follow the blog on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and also check out our Facebook page by searching for The Greedy Pinstripes.

It’s an open thread, go crazy. Enjoy the game Yankees family. Go Yankees!!

Jeter Not Trying to Acknowledge His Final Homestand

Retiring Yankees' Shortstop Derek Jeter is not trying to acknowledge that this week's homestand is the last of his career. 

Jeter, 40, hit hit first home run in the Bronx this season last night against the Blue Jays, a line-drive off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey that easily cleared the left field wall.

"I'm trying not to think about it being my last homestand," Jeter told the Journal News after yesterday's 3-2 victory. "We still have a week left. We're trying to win games. I'm going to go out there and play hard like I've always done my entire career."

After tonight, Jeter will have just six games left in NYC. Now for him, that fact is probably depressing, but to the rest of the team it's likely relieving, as the Yanks currently sit at just 78-74 this year despite their big offseason.

"Obviously this year, up until this point, hasn't turned out how I would like it to," Jeter admitted. "But you've got to keep fighting."

Yes you do Jeter. For the sake of our last memories of you, yes, you do.

Headley Open to 2015 Yankees Return

Yankees Third Basemen Chase Headley is open to returning to the team in 2015, he told The Journal News before yesterday's win over the Blue Jays. 

Headley, who was came over to New York in return for INF Yangervis Solarte July 22, has hit .253 with four home runs and fourteen RBIs in 49 games with them this season, numbers slightly better than than the ones he originally put up with the Padres.

"I would certainly be open to it," Headley said. "I haven't given it a lot of thought. There's going to be plenty of time for that in the offseason. There's a lot of pieces to that puzzle. But I've certainly enjoyed my time here."

Judging my the struggles of his predecessor, it's a safe bet the Yankees have, too. Since his aforementioned trade back in July, Headley has walked off three times for the Yanks, with the latest one coming last night on an Adam Lind error.

"This is a great organization," Headley said. "It would definitely be a place that would be high on the list."

Hopefully that opinion stays alive into December. If so, the Yankees will be set at the position come next year, a happening that'd make using Alex Rodriguez unnecessary.

9/19 Game Preview vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Another day and another game between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Tonight these two teams will play in their second of the four game set they have this weekend. The Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound tonight to face off with the Blue Jays Mark Buehrle. The game will be played at 7:05 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.

Kuroda is 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA in eight starts since August 1^st putting to rest any rumors of his third consecutive late season decline. Kuroda has held opposing batters to a .235 average during those two months of starts. The added late season strength can be attributed to Kuroda backing off his between starts work and side sessions.

Buehrle continues to look to get the monkey named the New York Yankees off his back tonight in the Bronx. Buehrle is coming off a no decision start last time out where he pitched six innings and gave up four earned runs on nine hits in an extra innings loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Time is running out, get your Yankees tickets now!

Go Yankees!!

Remembering Yankees of the Past: Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens was brought up this morning in our daily “This Day in Yankees History” post as he started the 2001 season with a 20-1 record (or 20-01 record in 2001 if you want to be clever). Roger was an integral part of the “Dynasty Years” in New York as he added a ferocity unmatched by any pitcher in the game, also known as roid rage. Clemens spent the 1999-2003 and the 2007 season with the Yankees after spending 1984-1996 with the Red Sox and 1997 and 1998 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. Clemens also spent the 2004-2006 seasons down in Houston with Andy Pettitte and the Astros but we as Yankee fans like to conveniently forget that. Today we will remember another Yankee of the past, Mr. William Roger Clemens.

As we all remember vividly Clemens did not sign a contract with the Boston Red Sox after the 1996 season even though he was reportedly offered “by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise.” General Manager Dan Duquette mentioned that Clemens was in the “twilight” of his career when he left for Toronto and two pitching triple crown’s and Cy Young Awards later the New York Yankees acquired Clemens before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Clemens immediate impact was huge as he helped New York win the 1999 and 2000 World Series before ultimately reaching the 2001 and 2003 World Series’ before losing in both.

As we mentioned Clemens best season in pinstripes was by far the 2001 season when he started 20-1 and finished the season 20-3 winning his sixth Cy Young Award of his career. Clemens is the last New York Yankees pitcher to win the Cy Young Award as it stands today. Clemens was on the mound in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series where he out pitched Curt Schilling for six innings before Mariano Rivera blew the save in the 9^th inning to give Arizona their first World Series Championship. Clemens would retire after the 2003 campaign with the Yankees after a season in which Clemens won his 300^th game and achieved his 4,000^th strikeout against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium. Clemens “went out” on top after 2003 finishing with a 17-9 record with a 3.91 ERA and a career 310-160 record with 4,099 strikeouts in his career.

As we all remember Clemens came out of his quick retirement for the 2004 season to join his friend Andy Pettitte in Houston with the Astros. While we could talk about him starting the All Star Game that season, him winning his seventh Cy Young Award, his record breaking $18,000,022 in salary arbitration for the 2005 season, his 1.87 ERA in 2005, his return to the World Series in 2005, or him coming out of retirement for a second time in 2006 but this is YANKEES of the past, so we won’t.  Instead we will focus on Clemens unexpectedly showing up in the owner’s box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007 as he announced he was coming out of retirement for a third time. Clemens would win his 350^th game of his career on July 2 against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. A hamstring injury ended his 2007, and ultimately his career, prematurely in the Bronx. Clemens finished the season with a 6-6 record with a 4.18 ERA and another loss in the postseason for the Bronx Bombers. 

The History Behind the Word “Yankee”

Have you ever wondered where the word “Yankee” actually came from? I have so I did the research and here is what I came up with just in case you were wondering.

The word Yankee is generally considered to be a word that refers to people from the United States if you aren’t living in the US and specifically refers to people from the North if you are currently living in the South. This obviously came from the American Civil War, specifically those who lived and fought in the New England area. The speech dialect in New England is actually called “Yankee” or “Yankee dialect” believe it or not.

The earliest recorded use of the word Yankee was from British General James Wolfe in 1758 when he referred to the people who lived in what was is now the United States. The word caught fire and began being used all across Britain as a derogatory word for the New Englanders and Yankee Soldiers. The word has evolved ever since as Mark Twain wrote a book “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” which was more aimed at New England residents and less towards a United States Citizen. More or less these days the term Yankee, when not being referred to in baseball terms, is used from Americans living in the southern part of the United States referring to the people living in or originally from the northern part of the United States.

The word also has some ties to the Dutch as they inhabited what is now known as New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The Dutch given names of Jan (John) and Kees (Cornelius) were the most common Dutch names and sometimes combined to make a single name, for example Jan Kees de Jager. The pronunciation from the Dutch sounds much like the word Yankee and some believe that Dutch Americans were given the name from the native Dutch. There is also the theory that the Dutch word for pet, Janke, was where the term came from as when you pronounce the “J” in English it comes out with a “Y” sound. The final Dutch theory for the word was the slur “John Cheese” as the Dutch were heavy into dairy cultivation and even introduced the black and white dairy cow from Friesland and North Holland to America in the mid-1600s. When the Dutch would say John Cheese it would sound roughly like “Yankees” and the term stuck over time.

In New York though Yankees just means winning. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. 

Derek Jeter To Skip Series In Boston?

Obviously you have to take the above with a grain of salt but it is interesting. We received this from one of our sources and could not confirm or deny the report. When you look at the source, Erik Mirrow, on Linkedln you learn that he is the CEO at YankeesFanDiscount.com. How that makes him qualified to know that information before anyone else is beyond me but here it is. I'm not saying it's a true statement I am merely saying the report is out there and it's up to you to determine whether you believe it or not, for now anyway.

Have a great Friday Yankees family.

TGP Daily Poll: Derek Jeter Will Do Something “Spectacular” Before The Season Is Out

This is probably pretty hard to predict, and I admit that, but just go with it. We all know Derek Jeter has the flare for the dramatic and tends to come up huge in big spots so with that in mind, do you think Jeter does anything spectacular this weekend or next week against the Orioles as the Yankees finish out their Yankee Stadium schedule?

Vote in our poll!

ICYMI: Derek Jeter is "Made in New York"

Another day and another great Derek Jeter tribute. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/19: Mariano Rivera Is The All Time Saves Leader

The New York Yankees built a new billion dollar stadium for the 2009 season and on this day in 2011 the Yankees saw their smallest crowd in the three year history of the stadium. Coincidentally this was also the day that the great Mariano Rivera became Major League Baseball’s all-time saves leader. The Yankees would beat the Minnesota Twins 6-4 on this day as Rivera nailed down his 602^nd career save, breaking Trevor Hoffman’s record, retiring Trevor Plouffe, Michael Cuddyer, and Chris Parmelee in order.

Also on this day in 2001 Roger Clemens continued to dominate Major League Baseball and the Chicago White Sox in a 6-3 Yankees victory. Clemens would get the victory on the day to improve his record to 20-1 becoming the first pitcher to ever start a season 20-1. Clemens would win his last 16 decisions to reach the feat.