Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/22

The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics will face off in the fourth game, the finale, of their four-game series this weekend on the west coast. The Yankees offense has woken up against the best the Athletics had to offer in Sonny Gray and Sean Manaea and today they will look to learn how sweep it is with the series sweep. Looking for the series sweep and looking to turn his season around will be Michael Pineda who will take the ball for the Yankees while the Athletics will counter with Jesse Hahn. The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and of course MLB TV.

After this game this afternoon the Yankees head back to the east coast and the friendly confides of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to play host to the Toronto Blue Jays. New York will have an off day for travel though tomorrow before that series and you always, ALWAYS, want to go into an off day and a travel day with a victory. Always. Get it? So follow along this afternoon on Twitter by giving @GreedyStripes a follow and click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog to get your Yankees tickets for the Toronto Blue Jays series.

How sweep it is? Let's find out. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/22

The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics will finish off their four game set this afternoon on the west coast with the finale of the series. The Yankees have won the first three games of this series and it hasn't been close in many of the starts. This afternoon the Yankees will go for the sweep with Michael Pineda on the mound looking to turn his season around. With their eyes on spoiling the Yankees sweep the Athletics will send Jessee Hahn to the mound to oppose him.

Pineda has had one big struggle in 2016 with one exception, an April 19th start against the Oakland Athletics earlier this season in the Bronx. In the start Pineda allowed just two runs and seven hits in six innings pitched while striking out seven batters. Pineda is 2-1 in his career with a 2.25 ERA in four starts against the Athletics. 

Hahn hasn't been back from the minor leagues long and has faced a pair of tough opponents since his return to Oakland. In his first start against the Texas Rangers he allowed three runs on 10 hits in 6.2 innings and will face New York in the second start since his promotion this afternoon inside the Oakland County Coliseum.

The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET inside the Oakland County Coliseum and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. The Yankees want to know how sweep it is and so do I. No clever antics or writings here, get the victory and let's go home. Go Yankees! All Business!!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/21

The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics will face off this afternoon in the third game of a four game set between the two clubs this weekend. Once again we're set to be entertained by another strong pitching matchup that includes the Yankees present and ace Masahiro Tanaka facing off with the Athletics recent draftee and future Sean Manaea. The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET inside the Oakland County Coliseum and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees are just two games away including today's contest from coming back home to the Bronx and Yankee Stadium to play host to their AL East rival Toronto Blue Jays. To see any of those games live click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog to visit our friends at Ticket Monster who wont tack on fees or shipping costs onto any of their ticket sales. Until then follow along on Twitter with the crew over here at TGP by giving @GreedyStripes a follow. I know we've been quiet as of late but these west coast games really get to the working man. You have my apologies.

Now let's get to it and let's win another game this series. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/21

This is more like it, an afternoon game while the New York Yankees are on the west coast. This time the Yankees will face off with the Oakland Athletics inside the Oakland County Coliseum with the sun on their backs and with their east coast fans rooting them on live. On the mound for the Yankees will be their ace and stopper Masahiro Tanaka while the Athletics will counter with their own future in Sean Manaea.

Tanaka had been easily the best Yankees pitcher for much of the 2016 season but his last couple of starts have been shaky as best. In his first six starts of the season Tanaka had allowed two earned runs or less in each of the starts before surrendering a combined 10 earned runs in his last two starts. No good Tanaka. 

Manaea received his first MLB win in his last start and will be looking for his second MLB win this afternoon in Oakland. In the start Manaea threw 6.2 innings allowing just one run after slightly altering his mechanics. Manaea was absolutely bombed in his MLB debut so nobody knows which Manaea will show up this afternoon against the Yankees.

The game will be played at 4:05 pm ET inside the Oakland County Coliseum and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. Tanaka hasn't looked as sharp as he had earlier in the season and Manaea hasn't taken the league by storm like the A's would have hoped with his call up leaving the fans wondering what will happen this afternoon in Oakland. That's the great thing about baseball though is that you never know what's going to happen from day to day leaving you obligated to watch, and watch I will. Go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/20

So last night we discovered that if two teams played a game in the middle of the night on the west coast that it did actually happen. Now that we have that out of the way we can move on to the more important questions like does the tree that falls in the woods make noise if no one is around and where does a bear use the bathroom. I joke but hopefully the Yankees are all business tonight as they welcome CC Sabathia back off the disabled list. Opposing the Yankees left-hander is the A’s ace and Yankee killer Sonny Gray. The game will be played at 9:40 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network locally and of course MLB TV nationally.

At least the majority of us with daytime jobs can watch tonight and through the weekend, there’s always that. Friday night or not it still irks me to stay up half the night just to watch the Yankees lose. So win. Please? And follow along on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes as we finally live tweet a game again, it’s been too long.

Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/20

The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics continue their four game set tonight on the west coast with the return of a Yankee and an emergence of a Yankee killer on the mound. For the former the Yankees welcome back CC Sabathia off the 15-day disabled list after he struggled with a tight groin muscle while the Athletics counter with their ace Sonny Gray. This is a homecoming of sorts for Sabathia who is a California-boy so presumably he should be pumped to come off the disabled list and make the start tonight for the Yankees.

Sabathia returns off the DL tonight after straining his left ground and missing 15 days with the injury. Sabathia is a Vallejo, California native and will presumably have his friends and family in the audience rooting him on tonight in his return. Sabathia has made 15 starts inside the Oakland County Coliseum in his career and has struggled a bit posting a career 4-7 record with a 5.44 ERA in 15 starts.

Gray has not had the start to the 2016 season that many would have hoped for but with a pitcher with as much talent as the Oakland right-hander has he can turn it around at any point. Gray is winless in his last four starts and has a 5.84 ERA as he has struggled in each of his first eight starts this season. Nine sounds so much better than eight, doesn’t it?

The game will be played at 9:35 pm ET inside of Oakland County Coliseum and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. The Yankees desperately need wins after dropping the ball in the Arizona series and the team desperately needs them now. Every game is important and every game is inching closer and closer to a must win as their gap in the AL East gets wider and wider. No pressure CC but we need a vintage start from you tonight and a little help from the offense. Go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/19

If a game is played in the middle of the state of California in the middle of the night on the East Coast did it really happen? We’re about to find out as the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics kick off their four-game extended weekend set tonight inside of Oakland County Coliseum. In the matchup the Yankees will send Ivan Nova to the mound making his third start of the season for New York while the A’s will counter with right-hander Kendall Graveman. The game will be played at 10:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees need to beat the teams, in my mind anyway, that they should beat and the Oakland Athletics are one of those teams. I mean no disrespect and I fully understand that there is a level of parity in Major League Baseball that allows any team to beat any other team on any given night but across a long series, and four games would be long enough you would think, the better team should win more times than not. The records might not suggest it and the standings may not suggest it but the Yankees are the better and the more talented team. They just need to believe it themselves and start acting like it.

Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/19

The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics will begin a four-game weekend series tonight inside the Oakland County Coliseum with the Bronx Bombers hoping for some better results than the last time these two teams met. Earlier this season the Athletics came to the Bronx and watched as the Yankees crapped the bed in their three-game set leaving many fans disappointed and hoping for different results tonight on the west coast. In the contest the Yankees will send Ivan Nova to the mound looking to keep his starting rotation spot when Luis Severino returns from the disabled list while the A’s will counter with Kendall Graveman.

Nova will be making his third start of the season tonight in Oakland after making his previous two starts against tough Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox offenses. Nova has pitched to a 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings during those two starts and looks to improve on a career 1-0 record and 4.24 ERA in three starts against the A’s tonight.

Graveman has not pitched well as of late for Oakland and has allowed at least four runs in each of his last four starts. In the span of two outings Graveman has given up five home runs which could be just what the doctor ordered for the team commonly referred to as the Bronx Bombers.

The game will be played at 10:05 pm ET inside the Oakland County Coliseum and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. If you’ve been paying attention to the weekly USA Today’s MLB power rankings you would know that the A’s are slipping, falling and we can’t let them get up. Beat the A’s and turn this ship around again after a tough series loss in Arizona. If the team can’t turn things around and wets the bed again here against the A’s the season may be over. I’m not ready to watch August and September meaningless baseball, I don’t know about you, so Go Yankees!