Despite Pettitte's nice game, Yankees fall to Rangers without a fight

Despite Andy Pettitte giving up just two earned runs over six innings of work, the Yankees lost another boring, noncompetitive, game tonight to the Rangers, 3-1. The Yankees only run in this one came in the sixth, when Robinson Cano tied the game with an RBI Single. But that would be it for the good part of the night as the Rangers would break the tie in the bottom of sixth and tack on another in the eighth to seal the victory. Overall, the Yankees pitching staff had another nice night. But this offense simply isn't good enough to compete at the level they're being asked to. This is getting ridiculous. 

Trenton Thunder Game Recap For 7/24

	Press Release - July 24, 2013 Early Run Not Enough in 4-2 Loss TRENTON, NJ – Trenton scored in the bottom of the first, but by the time they came to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning they were trailing the Altoona Curve 4-1, in Wednesday’s loss. Trenton scored a run in the bottom of the first inning off Altoona starting pitcher David Bromberg for an early 1-0 lead. Reegie Corona walked with one out, and Slade Heathcott followed with a triple to the right field corner to score him from first base. Kyle Roller and Carmen Angelini followed with a pair of strikeouts to end the inning without Heathcott crossing the plate. Trenton starting pitcher Shane Greene picked up the loss in six innings of work. He allowed seven hits and two runs which both came home on a 4th inning homer by Jarek Cunningham to give Altoona the 2-1 lead. Already leading 2-1, Altoona scored a pair of runs in the 7th inning as well to give them a comfortable 4-1 lead heading into the 9thinning. Trenton scored a run on Jose Gil’s two-out double, which brought Shane Brown to the plate representing the tying run. Brown struck out to end the ballgame in front of an afternoon, Camp Day crowd of 5,034 fans at ARM & HAMMER Park. The Thunder hit the road to Binghamton for five games in four days starting Thursday night at NYSEG Stadium. Thursday’s ballgame begins at 6:35 p.m. and features LHP Nik Turley (7-5, 4.50) for the Thunder facing the Binghamton Mets LHP Darin Gorski (3-0, 2.63). Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and streaming online begins at 6:20 p.m. --THUNDER-- Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. The original article can be seen HERE.

Morales or Morneau: If both are available, who do you want?

I've been doing a lot of wedding planning lately and not enough Yankee planning. With rumors abounding around and the repors that the Yanks have inquired about Justin Morneau, I offer a comparison between him and the Mariners Kendrys Morales.

According to Baseball Reference.com:

Age:

Morales: Just turned 30 in June 

Morneau: Turned 32 in May

Contracts:

Both are in the final years of their deals. Morales was making $5.25 mil and Morneau making an average of a little over $14 mil.

BA this season:

Morales: .282

Morneau: .272

HR this season:

Morales: 15

Morneau: 7

RBI this season: 

Morales: 57

Morneau: 52

BB/K this season:

Morales: 28/69

Morneau: 28/64

WAR this season:

Morales: 2.1

Morneau: 0.9

Both can play first base and DH. Morales is a switch hitter which gives Girardi some lineup flexibility and Morneau would add to an already stacked left-handed batting lineup. 

Rumor has it that the Mariners do not plan on being sellers this year but have a first baseman in Justin Smoak and a DH in Ibanez. Should this really be a hard question if the Yankees are seriously considering adding a piece to the struggling lineup?

Game Thread: Yankees @ Rangers 7/24

The Yankees and the Rangers play tonight in Arlington as the Yankees send Andy Pettitte to face off with Matt Garza. Andy is 2-4 in his last seven starts with a 5.04 ERA even though he says he feels completely healthy and okay mechanically and physically. Matt Garza is making his first start since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs. The Yankees need this game in a big way so go Yankees!

Here is the Yankees lineup

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Vernon Wells DH
Eduardo Nunez SS
Brent Lillibridge 3B
Melky Mesa LF
Chris Stewart C

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Last Night's Win Will Be The Beginning Of A Comeback

Last night's win took and showed a lot of heart and I really think it may be the turning point in this season for us. With the Yankees inching closer to get healthy with possible returns of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jayson Nix, Curtis Granderson, and Francisco Cervelli in the next two to three weeks mixed in with a potential Alfonso Soriano trade and a Travis Hafner benching this team may finally get the offensive push it needs to make a run at the playoffs. Currently we are seven games back in the AL East but have plenty of head to head games left with the teams in front of us, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Boston Red Sox.

The Rays will be tough as always and the Orioles pitching looks like it is getting better with the additions of Scott Feldman and Wei Yin Chen off the DL but the Red Sox is the team I can see collapsing a little. The Red Sox bullpen is getting thinner and thinner by the day with injuries to the likes of Andrew Bailey, Scott Hanrahan, and Andrew Miller, and barring a trade may not have enough in the back end of that pen to last all season long. Not saying that the Red Sox would not make the playoffs but they may not have enough to hold on to the AL East lead. I said all that to say this, the comeback trail started last night and I am officially leading the bandwagon back to the good side. If you're not down to be on board then get out of the way but everybody just remember that you heard it here first. Now Go Yankees!!

Alfonso Soriano Willing To Accept A Deal To New York

Alfonso Soriano, in a interview with Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Times and others, told reporters that he was ready to move on from the Cubs and would be willing to go to New York. While Soriano did say that he wants to finish his contract with the Chicago Cubs he also pointed out that he is 37 years old and wants to compete for a World Series one more time before he calls it quits. The Yankees give him a much better chance at that right now then the Cubs do. Now if the Yankees could just get the deal done already.

Curtis Granderson & Jayson Nix Start Rehab Tomorrow

Both Curtis Granderson, who is rehabbing a broken pinky, and Jayson Nix, who is rehabbing a groin injury, will begin their 20 day rehab assignment with the Tampa Yankees tomorrow. Both players have been taking simulated at bats so the process may go quick for both players. Nix is obviously a lot closer to returning to the big league club then Granderson is and may be back by the time the calendar says August. Granderson may be back in the first week of August which is not a total loss of the season if he can come back strong and healthy.

Alex Rodriguez Starring In The Bronx Is Burning II

This whole season with the New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez has seemed like something thought up from ESPN and the writers of The Bronx is Burning. We all know about the hip injury and subsequent surgery, we all know about the Biogenesis bombshell and the possible lifetime ban from baseball, and we all know that A Rod hurt his quad in the game before the last rehab assignment game he would be in before rejoining the Yankees and the media crap storm, or did he?

Alex Rodriguez was diagnosed with a grade 1 strain of his quadriceps muscle and was kept on the 60 day disabled list rather then being activated this Monday for the series with the Texas Rangers. Alex Rodriguez went to get a second opinion on his own, which is apparently a violation of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement but hell so is steroid use, from Dr. Michael Gross and he testifies that there is no quad injury. To clarify the player can get a second opinion if they so chose but they have to inform their team in writing and naturally Alex did not do that much like he did not just show up to minor league games when he pleased.

Naturally the doctor did not examine Alex himself nor did he give him an MRI all he did was look at the existing MRI that Alex provided. Gross also went on to admit that a slight grade 1 strain may not even be present in an MRI but still speculates that Alex could play tonight if he really wanted to. This is going to get rally ugly REALLY fast. Stay tuned.

Luis Cruz Sent To DL, David Adams Called Up

Luis Cruz has been added, as expected, to the 15 day DL with what is being called a knee sprain. This morning we reported that it was an MCL injury so that report seems acurrate. To take his spot on the 25 man roster the Yankees have called up David Adams. Adams has been crushing AAA pitching so the call up seemed obviously, especially considering the fact that he is already on the 40 man roster. As bad as Adams has hit this year in the majors he is still an upgrade offensively over Luis Cruz. Defensively maybe not so much and definitely not in the versatility role but it is what it is at this point in the season.

New York Yankees @ Texas Rangers 7/24

The New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers will continue their four game series tonight as they will play game three of this four game set. The Yankees will send Andy Pettitte to the mound trying to avoid those early inning run blues. The Texas Rangers will show off their new toy in Matt Garza making his first start back in the American League. The game will be televised at 8:05 pm ET on YES and MLB TV.