Plans for Stating the Obvious

With just a couple more hours to go before the New York Yankees take on the Washington Nationals inside Yankee Stadium I wanted to go over a quick plan just in case Joe Girardi and company just happen to be reading. I have a plan and that plan starts with how to attack the Nationals hitter and one hitter in particular. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, pitch to Bryce Harper in this series. Harper is having a great season, loves the limelight of hitting on the big stage with no stage bigger than Yankee Stadium and is easily the Nationals best and most potent hitter in the lineup. Do not pitch to him, period.  I know it seems like I am stating the obvious right now but if you watched the Yankees pitchers continually pitch to him in the first series, by the way New York got swept in that series, and if you watched the Yankees pitchers continually pitch to Stephen Vogt when they were playing the Oakland Athletics, FYI the team lost that series too three games out of four, then you understand why the obvious needed to be put into print and needs to be said one more.

Albert Pujols and Mike Trout did not get much to hit in the last series with the Angels and New York swept them, coincidence? The Seattle Mariners offense lacks that true bat outside of Nelson Cruz, who again FYI got little to nothing to hit all series long because of Robinson Cano’s struggles, and the Yankees swept them too. It’s not rocket science here folks, there is going to be one batter in every lineup that absolutely should not and cannot beat you and that batter should not see anything over the middle of the plate. It’s Trout in Los Angeles, it’s Cruz in Seattle, it’s Vogt in Oakland and it’s Bryce in Washington.

The offense is going to have to run into one tonight with Max Scherzer on the mound but if you’re searching for positives out of this pitching matchup then you must remember that the Yankees have killed right handed pitching this season. Girardi loves to stack his lefties and switch hitters up against pitchers like Scherzer and generally against any left-handed pitcher and I expect nothing less from the Yankees manager tonight. Stephen Drew has hit better and so had Didi Gregorius of late while Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Mark Teixeira have remained hot so while it will be no easy task the Yankees do have something going for them heading into the series. The Yankees have their now potent offense and they also have some guy named Masahiro Tanaka on the mound for them tonight in the Bronx

Expect a pitcher’s duel and a Rob Manfred Special, three hour game or less, as long as the Yankees stick to the plan and have no problem with stating the obvious. Don’t pitch to Harper, swing at the first strike that Scherzer throws you, get a good pitching performance from Tanaka and ride Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller into the sunset after the off day yesterday and with the off day on Thursday. Yankees keys to victory, you’re welcome.

Kuroda's Dominance Not Enough as Yanks' Bullpen Blows Another One

With two outs and nobody on in tonight's top of the eighth, the Yankees looked to be in pretty good shape.

The Bombers, who came into the contest on an ugly two-game losing streak, led 2-1 thanks to recurring heroics from the returning Mark Teixeira and Starter Hiroki Kuroda, both somewhat surprising.

Teixeira, who hadn't played since Saturday, drove in both of the team's runs in his first three at-bats, first on a first-inning bloop single and then on a go-ahead solo home run in the sixth.

That pair of trips around the bases was all the Yanks salvaged off the A's Scott Kazmir, who received a no decision after a solid 6.1 frames.

Thankfully, the minimal offensive production was enough for the home team, who received a nearly-perfect outing from the before-mentioned Kuroda, who tossed 6.2 innings of 2-hit (HR from Brandon Moss included) ball to set Dellin Betances up nicely.

Betances, coming off that dominant performance Sunday, entered the contest with two outs in the seventh, striking out Moss before recording the first two outs of the eighth routinely.

At that point, the Yanks were in control. Just four more outs and they'd be winning again.

Or not.

Facing Alberto Callaspo with a 1-2 count, Betances lost all control, walking the veteran before surrendering a pinch-hit, game-tying double to Stephen Vogt.

Betances would rebound to get the last out of the inning, but still, the damage had been done.

In the top of the ninth, David Robertson would retire all three hitters he faced, but that didn't necessarily cover for Adam Warren, who unfortunately was picked to throw the tenth.

The first hitter Warren (1-3; 1/3 IP, 3 ER)) faced in the AB, Brandon Moss, drove another one into the seats, followed shortly by two more runs to put the game out of reach.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Pinstripes went down 1-2-3, officially ending the disaster. Once again, the $200 million team had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, dropping their 2014 record to an extremely dissapointing, 29-28.