Thursday, April 23, 2015

Recap: Yankees 2, Tigers 1

Masahiro Tanaka had a highly-productive outing, surrendering just one earned run over 6 1/3 innings to lead the Yankees past the Tigers, 2-1, on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park. 

Tanaka Time: Tanaka allowed just three hits in his second consecutive quality start, striking out six while walking two. He gave up a run in the bottom of the first -- handing the Tigers a 1-0 advantage -- but rebounded from there for an overall-promising performance. 

Walks and Balks: With the Yankees still trailing 1-0 in the sixth, Jacoby Ellsbury attempted to rally them back with a walk and a stolen base -- eventually reaching third with two outs in the frame. It was then that Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez balked on an unusual delivery home, tying the contest in a manner pretty unpleasing to the crowd. 

Hustle Pays Off: Ellsbury created another Yankees threat with a hustle double to kickoff the eighth, sliding into second head-first before advancing to third on a bunt. Ellsbury would later score the go-ahead run on a sharp groundout from Brian McCann, crossing home easily after a Miguel Cabrera deflection cost Detroit a double play.

Escaping Trouble: Having put runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh, the Tigers were preparing to break the draw when Dellin Betances was brought in to relieve Justin Wilson -- inducing a much-needed foulout of Nick Castellanos following a six-pitch battle. Betances then went onto toss a 1-2-3 eighth as well, logging a pair of strikeouts during the quick at-bat. 

Miller Closes it Out: Andrew Miller has been great for the Yankees so far this season, and only continued his nice April with an easy save in the ninth. He retired the Tigers in order in the game's final inning, clinching the series for New York with punch-outs of Cabrera and J.D. Martinez. 

Next Up: The Yankees will welcome the 13-3 Mets to Yankee Stadium Friday when the two teams face off in the first set of the interleague schedule -- beginning at 7:05 p.m. ET and airing live on MLB Network. Michael Pineda (2-0, 5.00 ERA) will get the nod for the Yankees in his fifth start of 2015, looking to upset 2014 NL ROY Jacob deGrom (2-1, 0.93 ERA).

Bernie Williams Career Highlights


Weekly Check in: Greg Bird


We’ve checked in on Robert Refsnyder. We’ve checked in on Jacob Lindgren. We’ve checked in on Luis Severino. We’ve checked in on Aaron Judge, so why not Greg Bird? Bird is hitting the cover off the ball at first base and has put himself on the radar for the Yankees as soon as the Mark Teixeira contract expires.


Here is his stat line for the 2015 season:

LevGPARH2B3BHRRBIBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
AA125299301377.214.365.357.723

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers 4/23


The New York Yankees have been out on the road for what feels like a month now and will finally return home after today’s game with the Detroit Tigers. We may be in for what I like to call a “Rob Manfred Special” type of game where four runs or less are scored between the two teams and the games are over in about two and a half hours, especially when you consider that Masahiro Tanaka is on the mound for the Yankees and Anibal Sanchez is pitching for the Tigers. The game will be played at 1:08 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network, and MLB TV.

Get your Yankees tickets now before the team comes home to host the new best team in baseball, the New York Mets, and the Tampa Bay Rays. For the Rays series the Yankees are having Masahiro Tanaka Bobble Head Night at Yankee Stadium so you’ll want to show up early and have tickets in hand for that one. Click our Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and see what we and our friends at Ticket Monster can do for you. If you’d rather stay home and watch, and who could blame you, jump on Twitter and give us a follow (@GreedyStripes) or jump on the comments section of the site and interact with us during the game. We like to put the social part in social media and we thoroughly enjoy interacting with you guys.

That’s enough from me though, Mr. Tanaka will do my speaking for me now (through his interpreter of course). Go Yankees! #TanaKa


The ALMOST Daily Dozen - April 22nd Edition

The Daily Dozen - April 22, 2015 Edition

Twelve Takeaways from Last Night's Game:

1. The Yankees Dominate David Price.  Something fishy is going on here.  How can Mr. Price, former Cy Young award winner have a 0.40 ERA coming into last night's contest after his first 3 starts and then surrender 8 earned runs in 2-1/3 innings.  The Yankees have figured out Price's tell.  He's forecasting his pitches somehow.  It's the only way to explain how they could get NINE consecutive hits against him last season (the last time they saw him) and then score 6 runs in a blink in the first inning last night.

2. Each Yankee Got a Hit.  This wasn't so until Mark Teixeira hit his 5th bomb of the season in the 7th inning to push the score from 10-4 to 13-4.  In the olden days, if someone (say Alex Rodriguez) had done something like that the blogosphere would ignite with "he can only hit HRs when it doesn't matter."  Now this wouldn't necessarily ring true for Teix since he did hit one early on Monday night (the Yankees only run by the way), but his lackluster .204 average would beg to say that he is also FAR from a "clutch" or "hot" hitter right now.
"What's that dm23HOF? Come at me bro!"
3. How often do you see back-to-back triples?  It's one thing to see a team hit back-to-back Home Runs...that is easy in comparison.  Triples back to back is MUCH harder since it actually requires you to hit it relatively hard, relatively far (usually on a line drive), without hitting it out of the park, and to be fast.  Oh...and a little bit of luck.  Imagine my surprise when Carlos Beltran and Chase Headley hit triples back-to-back yesterday.  Isn't Beltran supposed to be slow now?  I bet he eats more triple cheeseburgers this year than he hits triples...

4. Sir Didi is Having a Rough Go.  Didi Gregorius is having a difficult time living up to the shadow of Derek Jeter.  Tino had the same problem after replacing Mattingly.  Sure...Gregorius was brought on as a defensive shortstop...I mean with a .205 average (.001 higher than Teixeira) he better be GREAT at defense!  Last night was not his best game with two strange decisions and one error in a matter of 2 innings.  But then he totally redeemed himself with 2 RBI later in the contest.
Wait...aren't you supposed to practice on your feet?
5. Adam Warren....SERIOUSLY!?!  You get spotted 6 runs in the 1st inning and then walk 4 batters?  Dude...just throw strikes.  I know, I know....easier said than done, but at the MLB level and a starter for the Yankees you should be expected to at least be able to hit the freaking strike zone with a 6-run lead.  Good thing the Yanks have Price's number!

6. Runs, Runs, and More Runs.  The Yankees have now outscored the Tigers 18-8 in the first 3 games of the season.  Prior to this series the Tigers were touted as the best team in the majors, let alone the A.L.  I believe the Yankees should have won game 1...

7. 15 Game Spotlight.  What can we tell from the Yankees after 15 games of which they went 8-7?  Well...they will hit a bunch one night and then have a drought.  There are really no .300 hitters on this team unless Ellsbury gets his act together, which of late he has.  The bloop and a blast is in full effect...after a slow start, the Yankees are now hitting some meaningful home runs again...not just solo HRs.  The pitching besides Tanaka and Sabathia the last time out is....just okay.  Give them another week for Pineda and Eovaldi to get really going and I'll give them a 'B' as a starting rotation.  Warren gets a D-.

8. A.L. Leaders.  Looking at a copy of the Columbus Dispatch, there is only one Yankee listed in the top-5 of any "meaningful" category...and that is Mark Teixeira with 13 RBI (#5 in the A.L.).  As Yankees fans, we are just not used to mediocrity...but that is what we got last season and looks like what we'll get this year as well.  Wait a minute...Gardner is tied for the lead in league steals with 5...good job Gardy!

9. Chris Young.  He is suddenly a beast.  Dude is hitting .368 and went 3 for 6 last night.  He doesn't quite qualify for a batting title but will likely see more time in the OF if he keeps blasting....especially against the Mets this weekend.  The NY Post has a good article on Chris HERE.
Courtesy of NYPost.com
10. Balls and Strikes.  The Yankees long known for striking out or hitting home runs (at least in the recent past) had 6 walks and 6 strikeouts last night.  This is a trend I would like to see continue as it bodes well for the win column.

11. It Snowed in Detroit on April 22nd.  Granted I am from the Frozen Tundra of NW Ohio, but seriously...it SNOWED in Detroit on April 22nd.  Good thing my parents were at the April 21st game instead of last night, ehh?  So much for Global Warming...

12. ONE GAME.  On April 23rd, 2015, the Yankees sit at 1 game behind the AL East leaders, Boston Red Sox.  Of course they are also 1 game from being in last place as the teams have played each other to a logjam of 9-6 to 7-8 records.  The AL East crown will come down to how the teams play against the other divisions and in Interleague play as they will undoubtedly continue to beat each other up into obscurity.

Nathan Eovaldi Giving Yankees Fans Hope


Nathan Eovaldi’s stat line may not give Yankees fans much to be happy about but if you have actually been watching the games you would know that the young RHP is giving Yankees fans everywhere a little hope with every start he makes. Eovaldi pitched into the 8th inning with a shutout going for the Yankees against the best team in baseball, at the time, in the Detroit Tigers. Eovaldi made the likes of Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes look overmatched at times as they continuously pounded the ball into the ground or struck out on high 90’s heat. Many weren’t happy about the trade that saw David Phelps and Martin Prado head to Miami for Eovaldi and Garrett Jones but those doubters may change their mind by the end of the season.

Eovaldi credits his sensational start to a mechanical change, a change in his arm angle, for the great start in Detroit. It’s worth remembering or noting as well for those who didn’t watch the game that the temperatures were in the 40’s and there was a slight to heavy rain for much of the night, not that it seemed to bother Eovaldi in the slightest. Eovaldi’s always had a fastball that could touch 100 MPH but always lacked a true breaking ball and put away pitch entering the 2015 season but if the young Texan can replicate that arm angle going forward he may have found two in one night with his slider and his curveball. Both were thrown in pitchers counts and both were breaking well enough to keep the Detroit batters off balance and more importantly inside the ballpark. Eovaldi moved the ball with all his pitches at will, both north and south and east and west, and really took a step forward in his development in front of our eyes in my opinion.


Eovaldi induced three ground ball double plays and induced another on a line drive comebacker due to the fact that he consistently had the Tigers hitters pounding the ball into the dirt. Whether this is a glimpse into the future of what Eovaldi can do for the Yankees or if this is just another tease of what kind of potential he has when his off-speed stuff is on is yet to be determined but you have to at least get a little excited about what Eovaldi did against Detroit and hope that he can build on that going forward. Eovaldi’s final line was 7+ IP with one earned run with one walk and four strikeouts. Eovaldi is now 1-0 for the Yankees and if he pitches like he did Tuesday night in Detroit he could see quite a few more wins on the back of his baseball card in 2015 for New York.

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Detroit Tigers 4/23


The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers finish off their four game set this week at Comerica Park in Detroit with what looks to be yet another good pitching matchup. The first game of the series saw a CC Sabathia gem wasted away in the 8th inning while the second game saw a similar gem thrown by the Yankees Nathan Eovaldi. Alfredo Simon was that much better for Detroit in Game One and Kyle Lobstein pitched extremely well for the Tigers in Game Two before the bullpen blew it late. In Game Three David Price and Adam Warren went head to head setting up the finale today with Masahiro Tanaka and Anibal Sanchez going head to head. The game will be played at 1:08 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV.

  • Tanaka turned back the clock a little bit in his last start and looked a lot like the Tanaka the Yankees signed for seven years and less like the Tanaka who was struggling with confidence and a torn ligament in his elbow. Tanaka allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings to the Tampa Bay Rays while striking out eight and walking none in the victory for the Yankees. Tanaka has never faced the Detroit Tigers in his career.


  • Sanchez is coming off a start in which the Chicago White Sox lit him up for nine runs in 3.1 innings in a loss for Detroit. Sanchez has allowed five home runs this season already which is one more than the four he allowed all of the 2014 season. Sanchez comes into the start with a  1-2 record and a 7.71 ERA in 2015.



The Yankees have played well against Detroit this series and are possibly one line drive ground ball off the glove of Didi Gregorius away from another victory over the Tigers. New York will return home after the series for an extended home stand that includes series with the New York Mets and the Tampa Bay Rays. Let’s win this game and let’s get the heck out of Hockey Town, shall we? Go Yankees!

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees Win & Go Home



Short, simple and to the point. The Yankees win the finale of their four game set with Detroit behind Masahiro Tanaka and head home to play host to the New York Mets and Tampa Bay Rays.


Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

ICYMI: Yankees Could Be Going Down Under


We reported this about a year ago and it’s looking more and more likely that it’s going to happen, the New York Yankees are going to make a trip down to Australia to start a major league season. The best known sporting franchise in the world is close to signing a deal with the city of Sydney to potentially open a season as soon as 2018 in Australia much like teams have opened up in Tokyo and other places across the globe.

Early indications were that the team the Yankees would face off with would be the Oakland Athletics but nothing is confirmed as of yet. You have to wonder how these negotiations are going now that the Yankees recently released their Australian born prospect Adam Silva. Only one way to find out, stay tuned.

Here is the original link to the post ON THE BLOG and from SMH.com.AU

Recap: Yankees 13, Tigers 4

David Price surrendered eight earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings and the Yankees blew out the Tigers, 13-4, on Wednesday night at Comerica Park.

A Good Start: The Yankees' bats arrived ready to play in this one's top of the first -- plating six runs off the usually-dominant Price to put the Tigers in an early hole. Brian McCann and Chase Headley got the rally started with a couple of RBI singles, followed shortly by a three-run double from Gregorio Petit and another run-scoring single from Jacoby Ellsbury.

Warren Struggles, But Rebounds: Adam Warren had himself a rough bottom of the first despite his 6-0 cushion, walking four and allowing four runs to give the Tigers some momentum. From there, though, Warren was solid on the evening -- ultimately finishing with 5 2/3 innings and three strikeouts under his belt. 

Helping Out Your Pitcher: Having had their advantage cut to two going to the second, the Yankees immediately answered with a two spot off Price to repair some of the damage -- scoring both runs with two outs when Headley and Carlos Beltran connected on back-to-back RBI triples. Crossing home on Beltran's knock was the aforementioned McCann, who is now 9-for-16 in his career against Price after recording two more hits. 

Insurance: Didi Gregorius drove in two with a double in the fourth to make it 10-4 -- the second time the Yankees have scored 10+ runs this season. It was Gregorius' first extra-base hit with the Yankees, coming in his thirteenth game. 

It's Gone: Mark Teixeira then continued his productive week with a three-run home run to right-center in the seventh, Teixeira's team-leading fifth four-bagger already this year. The long ball carried slowly over the wall before landing in an area similar to Teixeira's shot on Monday, when he also went deep in a 2-1 Yankees loss. 

Next Up: The Yankees will look to take 3/4 in this series Thursday when they battle the Tigers in the final contest of the road trip -- beginning at 1:08 p.m. ET and airing live on MLB Network. Masahiro Tanaka will start for the Yankees in his first outing since Saturday's seven-inning shutout, facing off with struggling Detroit right-hander Anibal Sanchez. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 4/23: Home Runs from Both Sides of the Plate


On this day in 2000 the Yankees Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada become the first set of teammates to each homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. The Yankees would beat the Blue Jays 10-7 on this day.

Also on this day in 1985 Don Baylor collected his 999th and 1,000th RBI of his career when he hit a two run home run off of Oil Can Boyd against the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees lost 5-4 but the 36 year old designated hitter ended his 19 season career with 1,276 RBI's.


Finally on this day in 1903 the New York Highlanders, formerly the Baltimore Orioles and soon to be the New York Yankees, win their first game in their franchises history. Spitballer Harry Howell went the distance and threw a two hitter to get the victory when they beat the Washington Senators at American League Park 7-2.