Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Meme

No, they had it right. 

Thunder Advance to Championship Series with Sweep

Binghamton strands 15 baserunners in shutout loss

BINGHAMTON, NY - In a ballgame that featured 15 baserunners for the Binghamton Mets, Trenton's pitching was able to strand all 15 in a 3-0 series-clinching win at NYSEG Stadium.

Trenton's series sweep of the Binghamton Mets didn't come without extra-inning heroics (Game 1), 9th inning suspense (Game 2) or even a benches-clearing altercation (Game 3), but the Trenton Thunder advanced to the Eastern League Championship Series for the fifth time in seven years under manager Tony Franklin.

The Thunder used six shutout innings by Shane Greene to allow the Thunder offense to strike first in the ballgame. Greene- who has not allowed a run in 13.0 innings over his last two starts- earned the victory for the Thunder while Danny Burawa tossed a scoreless 1.1 innings for the save.

Trenton scored a pair of runs in the 5th inning to open the scoring. Ali Castillo doubled and was driven home on an opposite-field single by Zoilo Almonte for the first run of the game. And then Jose Pirela hit a ball to shortstop that Wilfredo Tovar threw wide to first base allowing Ramon Flores to score.

In the middle of a sequence in which Binghamton manager Pedro Lopez, second baseman Danny Muno and shortstop Tovar were ejected, Thunder second baseman Jose Pirela was thrown from the game as well. The scene unfolded in the bottom of the 7th inning with the Thunder ahead 3-0 and Binghamton trying to rally with runners on first and second base and no outs.

Wilfredo Tovar hit a ground ball to second base when Pirela flipped to Trenton shortstop Ali Castillo to begin a double-play. The relay throw from Castillo never materialized, however Danny Muno was ruled to have interfered with Castillo on the slide and Tovar was ruled out at first base as a result. From there, the four ejections were handed down as a flood of Thunder and B-Mets players and coached streamed from the dugout and bullpens towards the center of the diamond.

The fracas set-off a ten minute delay in the ballgame as the umpires restored order and tried to sift through the ejections. It appeared no punches were thrown.

Trenton awaits the winner of the Harrisburg Senators-Erie SeaWolves series to see which team from the West Division will travel to ARM & HAMMER Park for Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship Series starting Tuesday. Tickets are available for Game 1 of the ELCS by going to www.trentonthunder.com/tickets or by calling (609)394-3300. Radio coverage of Tuesday's game on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and online coverage begins at 6:45 p.m.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. The original article can be seen HERE. 

Boston Red Sox @ New York Yankees 9/7

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will play their third game in this big four game set that will play out all weekend long at Yankees Stadium. The Yankees will send Phil Hughes, oh wait no we wont, the Yankees are sending David Huff to the mound to face off with John Lackey for the Red Sox. It will be interesting to see if any fastballs get a little too inside to Alex Rodriguez from Lackey who was also not very happy that A Rod could play while appealing his suspension. The game will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on FOX.

ARod's Appeal Date Set

If the Yankees do indeed miss the playoffs, that means Alex Rodriguez's appeal of the 211-game suspension will happen sooner. The appeal is currently set for September 30th, but would be pushed back should the Yankees make the playoffs.

Seeing how the last two nights went, and knowing the Yanks will be without David Robertson to help what has been a horrible bullpen recently, I think Mr. Rodriguez should enter that September 30th appeal date into his smartphone.

Jim Miller Called To Help Ailing Bullpen

The Yankees have called up right-hander Jim Miller to help out in the bullpen. This after the news that David Robertson will sit for 5-6 days due to shoulder tendinitis inflammation, to go along with Boone Logan's soreness in his bicep and Shawn Kelley's tricep issue.

A loss is always tough, but the last two have been pretty devastating. The Yankees had nice leads in both games, but the bullpen couldn't hold onto the lead in either one. I'm about ready to say the Yankees should start eyeing next season again.

Battle For The Ages: Romine vs. Stewart

Why in the world do we, and when I say we I mean Joe Girardi, continue to run Chris Stewart out there day and night? I know we hear reports that Girardi is splitting time between these two catchers, which will be disproved when we get into the statistical look, but the Yankees need every win that we can get but continue to run this guy out there. Stewart has been terrible not only behind the plate but at the plate and has served no purpose on this team lately. I know you can make the case for Stewart over Romine for most of the season but is Girardi that much of a loyalist or has he not been watching here lately? Let's take a look at the Austin Romine vs. Chris Stewart battle from August and September.

Chris Stewart's August and September Stats

65 At Bats

.169 BA

11 Hits

2 Extra Base Hits

1 Home Run

9 RBI's

5 Walks

13 Strike Outs

0 Stolen Bases

1 Error

8 Stolen Bases Allowed

4 Caught Stealing

4 Passed Balls

8 Wild Pitches

Austin Romine's August and September Stats

43 At Bats

.256 BA

11 Hits

3 Extra Base Hits

1 Home Run

5 RBI's

6 Walks

12 Strike Outs

0 Stolen Bases

2 Errors

17 Stolen Bases Allowed

4 Caught Stealing

3 Passed Balls

7 Wild Pitches

First of all if Girardi is splitting the time as well as he can why does Stewart have over 20 at bats more then Romine? If we are trying to win games and get into the playoffs how are we sacrificing offense for an "upgrade" on defense. I don't want to hear how well Stewart frames pitches and I don't want to hear how well he works with the pitching staff because it is all a fallacy. There is no room on this team anymore for Chris Stewart and especially in the starting lineup. Wake up Girardi before it's too late. 

Game 142 Lineup: Yankees vs. Red Sox

1. Brett Gardner CF

2. Derek Jeter SS

3. Robinson Cano 2B

4. Alfonso Soriano LF

5. Curtis Granderson DH

6. Eduardo Nunez 3B

7. Lyle Overbay 1B

8. Ichiro Suzuki RF

9. Austin Romine C

David Huff P

- Relief pitcher Jim Miller has been called up to the Bronx.

Bullpen Injuries Piling Up

David Robertson will be shut down 5-6 days with shoulder tendinitis and Boone Logan will be having an MRI on his biceps.

Shawn Kelley is throwing a bullpen today after being unavailable the last couple of days with a triceps issue. If all goes well he could be available tomorrow.

These injuries can be absolutely deadly for the Yankees as you saw in last night's game. 5 or 6 days is a very long time to be without Robertson with all of these important September games. It seems odd that his shoulder is fatigued, as he is only 55th among MLB relievers with 58.1 innings and 37th in appearances with 61.

Hopefully, Kelley can return tomorrow so the Yankees can have some semblance of a setup man. If he had been available the last two nights things might have turned out differently. These injuries have really hit the Yankees at the worst possible time.

Yankees blow five-run lead in another slugfest loss to the Red Sox, 12-8

Well, this one really was depressing. The Yankees had an 8-3 lead heading into the top of the seventh tonight, but that was when all hell broke loose. The Red Sox managed to score five times in just that inning, four coming off of Hughes, and one off of Logan. Then in the eighth, Boston touched up Claiborne for three more and the always terrible Joba Chamberlain for a twelfth charity run. I could go into more detail here about how the runs were scored, but right now I just don't feel up for it. This game was ridiculous. I mean, how much run support do you need?

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/7

On this day in 1952 Johnny Mize hit a pinch hit grand slam in a 5-1 Yankees victory over the Washington Senators in Washington's Griffith Stadium. With this home run Mize has now hit a home run in all 15 stadiums that were in use that the time.

On this day in 1955 Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford became only the fifth pitcher to ever throw consecutive one hitters. The Yankees would beat the A's 2-1 in this game after Ford held the Senators to one hit in his previous start.