Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 6/7

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are set to battle head-to-head again tonight in the second of a three-game set inside Yankee Stadium. In the middle game of the contest the Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound to square off with one of the Red Sox many aces in Rick Porcello. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network, NESN and MLB TV. You can also follow along in your cars and on the radio by tuning into the WFAN broadcast.

Follow us on Twitter by giving @GreedyStripes a follow. Enjoy the game, renew the rivalry and as always…. Go Yankees!

The Chris Carter Countdown Has Begun

*cue the music*

It’s the final countdown…… Yeah I’ll stop there but really we could be all witnessing the final countdown of Chris Carter in Yankees pinstripes. The New York Yankees announced on Monday that first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin had been activated off the 60-day disabled list and had been optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Chris Carter, you’re on the clock.

Austin broke a bone in his foot back in February and has been sidelined ever since but has finally worked his way back to live game action. The Yankees first baseman have struggled for the majority of the 2017 season and Austin may be the remedy to the problem. Having Austin on the roster, even when Greg Bird is deemed healthy enough to return, takes a one-dimensional player off the team that is only there for his right-handed power and adds a versatile player with right-handed power. It really is a win-win for the Yankees since the cost of Carter’s contract is already a sunken cost.

At the time of this writing Carter was hitting .180/.279/.333 with four home runs in 129 plate appearances which is a far cry from his 2016 campaign when he led the National League in home runs. Austin can do that and play defense too. Make the move, it’s a move for the now and for the future. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 6/7

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are back at it again tonight with the second of their three-game set this week in the Bronx. Rivalry renewed. In the middle game of the series the Yankees will send their big lefty CC Sabathia to the mound to square off with Rick Porcello, the 2016 American League Cy Young Award Winner, taking the mound for the Red Sox.

Sabathia has found his cutter once again and is seemingly enjoying a good string of starts lately because of it. Sabathia has won each of his last four starts for New York while posting a 1.48 ERA in that span. This will be the first time the southpaw will face the Boston Red Sox in 2017.

Porcello was sharp in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles despite two first inning solo home runs. Porcello finished the night with six innings pitched and three runs allowed in a loss but that was due in large part to his offense not giving him enough run support, he pitched well enough to win. Winning is something Porcello hasn’t done against the Yankees in five career starts at Yankee Stadium though as the right has posted a 1-3 record with a 4.78 career ERA in the Bronx.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. You can also watch the game if you are behind enemy lines on NESN. Finally, you can follow along in your cars and on the radio by tuning into WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Rivalry renewed a second time. Enjoy the game. Go Yankees!!

Losing that Winning Feeling...

Credit:  Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports, via Reuters

Red Sox 5, Yankees 4...

I was not confident with Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday night and he proved my concerns to be correct with yet another horrendous start.  Tanaka has become the National League's version of the pitcher batting (generally speaking)...an automatic out or in this case, an automatic loss.  

I did not like the thought of Tanaka opening the series with the Red Sox because of the fear that he'd put us at the disadvantage.  He's easily the weakest link in the rotation right now and I have no clue what can be done to turn him around.  If he's not hurt, there is no explanation for why he's become a batting practice pitcher on the mound during games.

The first two Red Sox batters at the start of the game both singled.  So, there were runners at the corner before Tanaka could even record an out.  It looked like it could have been a big inning for the Sox, but Tanaka was able to limit the damage to one run.  

The Sox scored three runs in the fourth.  After an inning opening walk to Xander Bogaerts, Mitch Moreland and Hanley Ramirez went deep for back-to-back homers.  

The Yankees had a threat going in the bottom of the fourth after two one-out singles, but Chase Headley hit into a double-play to kill the potential rally.  Headley was 0-for-3 for the game.

The next inning, Tanaka served up another home run, this time a solo shot by the youngster Andrew Benintendi.  The Sox were up 5-1 and it would be all the runs they would need on this night.

The Yankees tried to scratch and claw their way back.  Chris Carter opened the bottom of the fifth with a home run.  Aaron Judge doubled with two outs, but Matt Holliday struck out to strand Judge.

In the bottom of the sixth, Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks both singled, bringing Didi Gregorius to the plate.  Didi hit into a double play, but Castro was able to score on the play to close the gap to 5-3.

The next and last opportunity for the Yankees would be in the eighth.  Matt Holliday opened with a double.  After the next two batters recorded outs, Didi was up again.  The Red Sox brought closer Craig Kimbrel into the game.  Kimbrel struck out Didi swinging, but it was a wild pitch and Didi beat the throw to first base to keep the inning alive and allow Holliday to score.  5-4, Red Sox.  Chris Carter could have rehabilitated his image in the eyes of Yankees fans with a key hit, but he struck out to end the inning.  Kimbrel would go on to strike out the side in the ninth to finish with five strikeouts in four outs, picking up his 17th save.

Credit:  Associated Press

The Yankees were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.  This was their 14th loss in 25 games since May 8th.  

Aaron Judge made a great catch in the second inning, jumping and crashing into the right field wall to take an extra base hit away from Jackie Bradley, Jr.  Although he had the game-ending strikeout, he was 2-for-4 with a walk.  He was trying.

The Yankees bullpen did an outstanding job to hold the Sox scoreless after Tanaka departed, but special acknowledgement goes to Chad Green for his 3 1/3 innings of perfect relief with 5 strikeouts.  

The final line on Tanaka (5-6) was 5 IP, 5 hits, 5 runs, 1 BB, 2 K, 3 HR.  This process of Tanaka trying to find his pitches in games is killing us.  

The Red Sox matched the Yankees (32-23) in total victories and moved to within one game of the AL East lead (the Sox have two more losses than the Yankees).  The Baltimore Orioles beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 in 10 innings so they moved to within 2 1/2 games.

Odds & Ends...

Major League Baseball released its first AL Update for the All-Star Game voting on Tuesday.  The leader is Aaron Judge with 1,251,543 votes.  He overtook the injured Mike Trout by 96,187 votes.  In the AL Outfield, Brett Gardner is 9th with 364,493.  In the 'I don't know what the heck they were thinking' category is Jacoby Ellsbury with 269,974 votes.  Aaron Hicks is far more deserving of those votes.

Other Yankees in the AL Results:  

Catcher:  Gary Sanchez (4th behind Salvador Perez, Wellington Castillo and Brian McCann) with 461,152 votes.  First Base:  Yeah, right.  Second Base:  Starlin Castro (2nd behind Jose Altuve) with 778,699 votes.  Third Base:  Oops, no one is covering.  Shortstop:  Didi Gregorius (3rd behind Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa) with 397,326 votes.  DH:  Matt Holliday (2nd behind Nelson Cruz) with 460,355 votes.  

This year's All-Star Game will be held at Marlins Park in Miami on Tuesday, July 11th.

Aroldis Chapman is targeting the upcoming A's series for his return.  The Yankees will be in Oakland for a four-game set starting Thursday, June 15th.  I am very anxious to show a showdown between Chapman and the A's Rajai Davis with the game on the line.  I feel that a healthy and rested Chapman is the superior competitor in that situation and I want to see Davis strike out to lose the game (as retribution for his home run off Chapman in Game 7 of the World Series).

On Monday, the Baltimore Orioles acquired infielder Ruben Tejada from the Yankees for cash considerations and assigned him to AAA.  On Tuesday, they elevated him to the Major League roster.  Things seem to have worked out for Tejada in his new home as he was not likely to see the Big Leagues in Pinstripes anytime soon.  I just hope this doesn't become a Steve Pearce situation where he starts crushing home runs for the O's.  

Chance Adams took the loss on Tuesday night in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders' 8-1 loss to the Rochester Red Wings.  He pitched six innings, giving up 3 hits and 3 runs.  He walked 4 batters, allowed one home run, and struck out 7.  The outing pushed his ERA to 2.17.  The winning pitcher for the Red Wings was former Yankees prospect Nik Turley (who had 15 strikeouts).

Have a great Wednesday!  On the bright side, Masahiro Tanaka is not pitching today.  Go Yankees!

Estevan Florial & Like the Yankees Need ANOTHER Great Outfielder Prospect

The New York Yankees farm system is absolutely stacked, let’s not mince words and let’s not equivocate or down play that fact. Some publications have the Yankees with the best farm system in all of Major League Baseball while others have New York listed no lower than second giving the team a true embarrassment of riches in my opinion. The last thing the team needs, and please see the sarcasm in that statement from the owner of the GREEDY Pinstripes, is another stud outfield prospect but it seems as though they have found one in Estevan Florial.

Florial was signed by the Yankees as an international free agent back on March 19, 2015 out of the Dominican Republic with a $200,000 signing bonus. Florial has enjoyed a great start to his professional career but in 2017 the outfielder is beginning the process of separating himself from the rest of the pack with a strong start to the season. In Florial’s first 52 games with the Single-A Charleston Riverdogs the outfielder has slashed .289/.364/.473 with 13 doubles, three triples and six home runs. All this at just 19-years old.

Florial has pop to all fields, speed to take extra bases with that pop and a patience at the plate that you just don’t see very often in 19-year old prospects. I could go on all day about his offense but his offense is just a slice of the pie, the Yankees are truly in love with his talents because of the defensive side of the baseball. Florial is a center fielder by trade but has played all three outfield positions without making a single error. Not one in 397.1 innings at the time of this writing.

Florial is in Low-A Ball so before we start printing his baseball cards and pre-ordering his jersey’s I know there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of time between now and the time he reaches the Major Leagues but you will have to excuse me if I’m not just a little bit excited right now. 

So it Seems Hank Steinbrenner is Alive & Greedy

So boy does this post come across to me as a little bittersweet. Hank Steinbrenner, part owner of the New York Yankees and brother to Hal Steinbrenner, is still alive and kicking despite his apparent cigarette addiction and he is still greedy, just like his father. The Yankees used to be, in my words, greedy when it came to free agents and acquiring players hence the name The Greedy Pinstripes. They used to want them all and more times than not the team used to get their man too. New York could have three All-Star first baseman and would go after a fourth if they thought it would bring a World Series championship to the Bronx. Anyway, I’m babbling.

Steinbrenner was interviewed at the Trump Gold Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx after standing with “Hank’s Yanks.” Hanks Yanks are a youth baseball team that were attending Hank’s Yanks Golf Classic, which benefits the youth baseball teams. Anyway you didn’t click this article or read this far to read about that, you want to know why Hank is greedy. Let’s get to that. At the benefit Steinbrenner was quoted as saying when talking about the Yankees playoff chances this season:

“We’re greedy. We want to win this year. It would be great to win the championship this year. They’re playing great as a team. Of course we’re going to try and win it this year.”

Get Greedy. Win it all in 2017. Good morning everybody. Especially you. Hey you. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 6/7: Damon Goes 6-6

On this day in 2008 Johnny Damon went off at the plate going 6-6 including a walk off single in a 12-11 Yankees comeback victory. Damon lit up his old team in the Kansas City Royals and became the first Yankee and the second player in Major League history to collect six hits at Yankee Stadium.



Also on this day in 2007 the New York Yankees would beat the Chicago White Sox 10-3 for Joe Torre's 2,000th victory as a manager. Torre won 257 games with the Braves, 286 games with the Mets, 351 games with the Cardinals, and 1,106 with the Yankees. Torre would also become the first manager to reach 2,000 wins and have 2,000 hits as a player.



Finally on this day in 1936 the New York Yankees and the Indians had a pretty uncommon anomaly happen in their 16 inning game. The Yankees would beat the Indians on this day 5-4 in extra innings at Yankee Stadium. What made this game special was that no pitcher in the game recorded a single strikeout in the game.

You can't predict baseball...