Recap: Yankees 4, Orioles 3

Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a milestone home run and the Yankees snuck past the Orioles, 4-3, on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.

It's Gone: Rodriguez lined a Chris Tillman offering over the center-field wall in the third for his 661st career homer, passing Giants great Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time list. The solo blast came two innings after A-Rod was robbed of another long ball by the Orioles' Delmon Young, though Rodriguez was still credited with a run-scoring sac fly on the play.

Mini Tex Messages: It's been awhile since Mark Teixeira drove in a run with a normal base-hit, but the veteran infielder did just that in this one. In fact, he did it twice -- singling in Brett Gardner following Rodriguez's RBI in the first and recording the go-ahead double later in the fifth.

Eovaldi Okay: Nathan Eovaldi served up a pair of solo home runs to Jimmy Paredes and Caleb Joseph in the contest's early stages, and frankly wasn't very sharp on the evening. Nonetheless, he was able to hold the Orioles to just three earned runs in his 5 2/3 innings -- striking out three for his third victory of the year. 

This Bullpen, Wow: The Yankees' relief core continued its amazing start to the season with 3 1/3 innings of no-hit ball, allowing just one man to reach when Steve Pearce walked in the ninth. Justin Wilson logged the last out of the sixth as well as all three in the seventh, with Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller easily closing it out from there. 

An Interesting Escape: The Orioles had runners on the corners with one out against Eovaldi in the fifth, and with the red-hot Adam Jones at the plate, seemed bound to take the lead. Eovaldi stopped them from doing so, however, with a pick-off at first and a groundout from Jones -- keeping the game even despite an ugly performance in the frame.

Next Up: The Yankees will look to put together a winning streak on Friday when they battle the Orioles again in the Bronx -- beginning at 7:05 p.m. ET and airing live on the YES Network. Adam Warren (2-1, 4.78 ERA) will get the start for the Yankees hoping for a third straight quality outing, opposing always-dangerous O's right-hander Miguel Gonzalez (3-1, 2.59 ERA).

Recap: Orioles 7, Yankees 5

The Yankees bullpen spoiled a solid five innings from Nathan Eovaldi, yielding five runs in a rough bottom of the sixth as the Yanks fell to the Orioles, 7-5, in Wednesday's series finale at Camden Yards.

Eovaldi Alright: Eovaldi held the Orioles to just two earned runs in five frames, surrendering nine hits and three walks while impressively fanning nine. He escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the third with a much-needed flyout of Adam Jones, maintaining the 3-2 Yankees advantage with which he would ultimately exit. 

Bullpen Struggles: Unfortunately for Eovaldi, though, his relievers didn't pitch nearly as well -- quickly allowing a five spot in the sixth to put the Orioles up four. David Carpenter started the rally by serving up a solo home run to Jonathan Schoop (one of three runs Carpenter was charged with), and Justin Wilson made things worse with a couple of subsequent RBI knocks to Delmon Young and Chris Davis. 

Beltran's Big Hit: Not that guys failing to come through was much of a problem on the night for the Yankees -- indeed, Carlos Beltran laced a two-out, two-run double in the third to erase a 1-0 deficit. The line drive to right-center off Bud Norris missed being a homer by inches, bouncing close to the top of the wall as the Yankees took their first lead.

A-Rod's Solo Four-Bagger: The evening then really appeared to be working in the Yankees' favor in the fourth when Alex Rodriguez drilled a no-doubter to left off Norris -- a towering fly ball that temporarily silenced the crowd. It didn't keep the Orioles in check for long -- Manny Machado hit his own solo blast to begin the bottom of the fourth -- but for a moment, the moon-shot did seem to hand the Yankees a cushion.

Comeback?: Still, that cushion obviously disappeared in the sixth, and from there all the Yankees could do was try to chip away. They pulled to within 7-5 in the eighth thanks to a Brian McCann sac fly and a Tommy Hunter wild pitch -- though their attempt to tie it failed when Chase Headley rolled over to end the ninth. 

Next Up: The Yankees will look to rebound from this disappointing defeat when they head to St. Petersburg for a Friday meeting with the Rays -- beginning at 7:05 p.m. ET and airing live on MLB Network. Adam Warren will get the start for the Pinstripes when he faces off with Tampa Bay's Nathan Karns -- a second-year Ray who gave up six runs in his season debut last Tuesday. 

Cyber Monday Deals Still Left on Tuesday: Positional Players

We’re back still hunting down the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals that are left over on this Tuesday afternoon and I found more than a few capable positional players that New York may want to take a look at.

• Jed Lowrie may only be a shortstop on the back of his baseball card but if the Yankees signed him they would probably see an improvement in range and defense over what the team had the past three or so seasons. Lowrie can still produce offensively and wouldn’t be a terrible fall back option at second base if the team gave the reigns to Jose Pirela or Robert Refsnyder to start the season. This team is built on options, flexibility and versatility and Lowrie gives the team all three.

• Alex Rios does not seem likely in an already crowded outfield in the Bronx but hear me out. The Yankees carried five outfielders last season with the idea of one of them alternating in the DH role. If the team can rid themselves of Alex Rodriguez, which I do not feel is likely admittedly, then a Rios deal makes sense here.

• Like Rios the same can be said for Delmon Young who actually made strides with his bat and his defense in 2014 with the Baltimore Orioles. Delmon is not good enough to not need a platoon partner but it is worth mentioning that he hit a career best .312 against right handed pitching in 2014 while producing his best defensive ratings of his career. Could Young possibly be a late bloomer?

Could Or Should We Steal Kendrys Morales

The free agent market for Kendrys Morales is drying up rather quickly after the Baltimore Orioles signed Delmon Young to a deal to presumably be their designated hitter. Looking around the league I haven't seen many teams that would be interested in the Scott Boras client so should the Yankees jump, beef up the lineup and the bench, and convince Morales to be a part time player?

Morales is just 30 years old and will be 31 by the time the season really begins to heat up in June so he would fit in with the aging Yankees core. Morales is a switch hitter that the Yankees love and that balance out the lineup, and to add he has shown he could stay healthy unlikely other Yankees switch hitting, here's looking at you Brian Roberts. Morales is listed as a designated hitter but can be hidden at first base to give Mark Teixeira a day to a day and a half off a week when he is not DH'ing or riding the bench.

Morales missed the entire 2011 season with that nasty leg injury that he suffered on a walk off home run celebration of all things but bounced back well proving the leg was finally healed. Could the Yankees convince Morales to ride the bench, maybe try to learn some third base in a pinch, get into games three or four games a week, and pitch him the whole "win a championship" here talk? I doubt it, but it would be nice if we could because teams are not exactly beating down his door on Major League deals right now.

Here are his career stats courtesy of Baseball Reference:

Year	Tm	G	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2006	LAA	57	215	197	46	10	1	5	22	17	28	.234	.293	.371	.664	71
2007	LAA	43	126	119	35	10	0	4	15	6	21	.294	.333	.479	.812	111
2008	LAA	27	66	61	13	2	0	3	8	4	7	.213	.273	.393	.666	73
2009	LAA	152	622	566	173	43	2	34	108	46	117	.306	.355	.569	.924	139
2010	LAA	51	211	193	56	5	0	11	39	12	31	.290	.346	.487	.833	129
2012	LAA	134	522	484	132	26	1	22	73	31	116	.273	.320	.467	.787	119
2013	SEA	156	657	602	167	34	0	23	80	49	114	.277	.336	.449	.785	123
7 Yrs		620	2419	2222	622	130	4	102	345	165	434	.280	.333	.480	.813	120
162 Game Avg.		162	632	581	163	34	1	27	90	43	113	.280	.333	.480	.813	120
LAA (6 yrs)		464	1762	1620	455	96	4	79	265	116	320	.281	.331	.491	.823	119
SEA (1 yr)		156	657	602	167	34	0	23	80	49	114	.277	.336	.449	.785	123

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/19/2014.

Delmon Young Released But Is He A Target?

The New York Yankees are suddenly creeping right back into the wild card race and the playoff hunt with a strong series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and a little help from the league. The Yankees may now consider some upgrades on the roster, especially if they only require money and not players in trade, and a intriguing player just became available on the free agent market. The Philadelphia Phillies released Delmon Young yesterday after he refused an assignment to AAA after being designated for assignment. Young is a right handed bat with some power and has put up a stat line of .260/.301/.397 in 291 plate appearances this season after signing a one year deal worth $750,000 in the off season.

If the Yankees were to sign Delmon we would only be on the hook for around $180,000 for the rest of the season and he would become a free agent at the end of the season. Delmon is really a DH only kind of player but has dabbled some right field and other outfield spots in his career. Delmon has a career 162 game average triple slash of .283/.316/.423 with 16 home runs but would he be a fit for the Yankees?

If Delmon could play first base and finally give the Yankees the right handed platoon partner with Lyle Overbay I think he would already be signed but do the Yankees really need another outfielder and DH type to rotate into the lineup? We honestly need another outfielder like we need another injury or another prospect to bust. Also I cannot see the Yankees clogging up the DH spot so it seems likely that the Yankees will pass on Young whether he is an upgrade to the lineup or not.

Yankees Said To Not Be Interested In Delmon Young

The Yankees still need a right handed batter, preferably someone who can hit in the middle of a lineup, and a designated hitter but for some reason have shown zero interest in free agent Delmon Young. Delmon Young is entering his age 27 season after the last season and a half with the Detroit Tigers. Delmon is listed as a left fielder by sites like baseball reference but let's face it Delmon is a DH only kind of guy, much like a Raul Ibanez last season. He has hit a combined 30 home runs in the last two seasons but most of that has been in Comerica Park which was never too friendly to batters anyway. His defense would be suspect and his off the field actions leave a lot to be desired, which I do not feel like really feel like getting into, but I think the Yankees should at least make the phone call. The problem will be the budget and his, assuming, unwillingness to accept a one year deal after his post season. I predicted that Delmon would be the Yankees DH in 2013 when I did my free agency predictions and it is not looking too good right now.