Recap: Yankees 6, Angels 2

CC Sabathia threw six innings of two-run ball and the Yankees completed a weekend sweep of the Angels, 6-2, today at Yankee Stadium.

Sabathia Good Again: The veteran left-hander surrendered back-to-back solo homers to Mike Trout and Albert Pujols in the first, but settled in from there en route to his third win of the season. He allowed just five hits while striking out seven, helping him earn his first W in the Bronx since September of 2013.

A Loud Comeback: Down 2-1 heading into the fifth, the Yankees were looking to stage a rally with the bottom of their order due up -- a feat they would accomplish perfectly with a four-spot off C.J. Wilson. The struggling Chris Young began the onslaught with a solo shot to left, followed shortly by a big three-run blast from Brett Gardner to break the tie.

Pirela's Milestone Day: Rookie second baseman Jose Pirela clubbed his first career home run, a solo bomb to left-center, in the seventh -- stretching the Yankees' lead to four and knocking Wilson out of the game. Pirela -- who went 2-for-3 on his productive afternoon -- also doubled to start off the third, scoring later in the inning when Didi Gregorius grounded to second.

Bullpen Stays Effective: It seems to be a pretty common belief that Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller are two of baseball's best relievers, but just in case you need more convincing, the duo made sure to dominate this one's final stages. Indeed, the so-called "Twin Towers" retired all six men they faced in the contest's last two innings -- impressively striking out five to maintain their All-Star numbers.

Too Many Choice Words: After inducing a clutch inning-ending double play in the sixth, Sabathia confronted home plate umpire Dan Bellino about the latter's strike zone -- quickly resulting in a heated argument and an ejection of Sabathia. Sabathia was apparently upset that an earlier 1-1 pitch to Kole Calhoun had been ruled a ball, though nothing ultimately came of L.A.'s threat.

Next Up: The Yankees will take another off-day tomorrow, resuming this homestand on Monday with the first of two against the Nationals. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET, with Masahiro Tanaka (3-1, 2.76 ERA) opposing Max Scherzer (6-4, 1.85 ERA).

Kuroda roughed up early in blowout loss to Angels

Hiroki Kuroda gave up 6 earned runs in 4.2 innings and recently called up prospect Bruce Billings surrendered another 4 in his major league debut tonight as the Yankees were blown by the Angels, 13-1. From his first pitch in this contest, Kuroda really didn't look like himself, surrendering a total of 10 hits and 2 home runs before eventually being taken out out of mercy in the top of the fifth. 

Anyway, as you can see by that -12 run final score, the Yanks offense was ice cold this evening against Angels starter C.J. Wilson, scoring just once in the sixth when Alfonso Soriano, for the second time in three days, collected the team's only RBI with a line-drive Sac Fly. Besides that play, the supposed Bronx Bombers struggled to even reach base here, putting together just 6 hits while walking 5 times.

Still, I guess you could say Jeter played okay in this loss, going 1-for-2 with a walk. Nothing amazing, but, you know, I guess we might as well take it. I mean, what else is there to do, right?

Lineup Analysis: Angels @ Yankees 4/25

The date is April 25th 2014. Today the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are in the Bronx to face off against the Bronx Bombers; a nickname that should be taken quite literally today after having scored 45 runs in the last 7 games. These 45 runs were scored against two teams with good offense; the Red Sox and Rays, the latter having one of the best pitching staffs in the big leagues.

Tonight the Yankees face the ostensible Angels ace in C.J. Wilson. To be fair, C.J. Wilson's stats since linking up with the Angels back in 2012 are far from crummy but they just don't quite seem like Ace numbers. Despite this, he IS the ace and he IS hurling the ball tonight against the Bronx Empire. So far my pitcher analyses, rather predictions, haven't been too great. His WAR since joining the Angels is 5.4, not including this year. He averaged a 7.84 K/9, 3.82 BB/9, 0.75 HR/9, .291 BABIP since 2012. This year his K/9 is up at 9.82, his BB/9 rate is still high at 3.16 but so far is the best he has had it in his career, obviously it is very early so that will be something to watch. His 1.40 HR/9 and .323 BABIP are quite a bit higher than his average, something else to watch. His ERA is at 4.21 while his FIP indicates it should be around 3.94.

So with that said, tonight's lineup fabricated by none other than the mastermind in Joe Girardi
cumulates as such:
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Carlos Beltran, RF
4. Alfonso Soriano, DH
5. Mark Teixeira, 1B
6. Brian McCann, C
7. Brett Gardner, LF
8. Brian Roberts, 2B
9. Yangervis Solarte, 3B

Jacoby Ellsbury is 4-14 vs. Wilson with a .286 AVG, 1 XBH in a 2B and 1 RBI. Jeter, 8-21 with 1 HR, 2 RBI and 3 BBs and 6 K's. Beltran just 1 AB and 1 hit vs Wilson which went for an RBI single. Alfonso Soriano rakes against Wilson smacking him around for 5 hits in 9 ABs amounting to a .556 AVG with 1 HR, 3 RBI and 1 BB. The walk is notable as it is Soriano. Tex is 2-17 with a .118 AVG with 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB and 2 K's. McCann is 0-1 vs Wilson with a popout. Brett Gardner is 2-13, a .154, against the lefty with a triple and 4 K's. Brian Roberts hits .263 against C.J. with 1 of each of the next 3: double, homer and a walk. He has also drove in 2 RBI. Solarte obviously has no ABs vs the 33 year old lefty as he is a rookie.

It seems like Joe is set with this lineup for the next few days and i say see why as it has provided some decent results. Yesterday's stats back this up. Ellsbury was 3-6, Jeter 2-5, Beltran 1-6, Soriano 2-5, Teixeira 1-3, McCann 1-5, Gardner is on a bit of a cold streak; he went 0-3, Roberts is picking it up; 2-5, Solarte is getting it going again after going 2-5 as well.

My reappraised lineup for shapes up like this:
1. Brian Roberts, 2B
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
4. Alfonso Soriano, DH
5. Carlos Beltran, RF
6. Yangervis Solarte, 3B
7. Brian McCann, C
8. Mark Teixeira, 1B
9. Brett Gardner, LF

The guys the Yankees got this year have an optimal effect on slotting in in almost any spot in the lineup and doing well.

Brian Roberts with decent numbers against Wilson and decent numbers over the last few games he has earned the leadoff spot. Derek Jeter's numbers speak for them self and they are perfect for the number 2 spot. Ellsbury is 4-14 vs Wilson and has continued his great hitting to start the season off, as the best hitter on the roster right now he should stay at 3rd. Soriano is perfect where Joe put him going oppo-taco lately plus whilst having sparkling numbers against the ace. Beltran is 1-1 and i have him down at 5th instead of 3rd or 2nd is thanks to a very limited sample size against C.J. and hasn't been too too great from the right side of the plate. Solarte is flashing his discipline which i love and has picked it back up so i slotted him at 6th. McCann is McCann, he went 1-5 last night and is 0-1 vs Wilson. I feel bad for Teixeira but his numbers have been horrid to say the least vs Wilson. His 1 HR is nice but it doesn't overpower the .241 season AVG and .118 Wilson AVG. Gardner's numbers vs CJ are pretty bad and his AVG on the year at .243 is average.

Brett Gardner NEEDS to be in either the number 1 or number 9 spot for the sake of his game, Michael Kay along with other analysts have said Kevin Long has been trying to change up the 5'11 LF's game but having him pull more balls and to try and hit for power but that is not Gardy's game. Gardner is a gritty AB, BB, Slap hitter type guy. He is almost like a mini Ellsbury except less AVG ability, less power, less RBI but more walks/discipline, speed, around the same SB ability and a better fielder. Brett Gardner is one of my favorite guys to watch and it's no fun when he is struggling in a bad offense lineup spot like 7th.

Ichiro is not much better against CJ going 9-49 with 2 2B, 1 RBI, 4 BBs and 12 K's. Johnson is 1-6 with 3 K's and 1BB. Ichiro playing for Gardner for the night in LF wouldn't be too much better and Johnson for Tex wouldn't be too good for defense OR offensively either.

As always, it’s a long season so remember that one game doesn’t make the season! Enjoy 
the game everyone!