Eovaldi Gives Up Two Bombs In Fifth, Loses Game, 4-1, Split Series With Crosstown Foes

On a perfect evening for baseball in the Bronx, The Yankees fell to the Mets in the fourth and final game of the Subway series. Nathan Eovaldi started for the Pinstripers and pitched well, but, one bad inning put the Mets ahead for good and put another L in the loss column for the Houston Texas native. On the mound for the Mets was the oldest starting pitcher in all of baseball Bartolo Colon, who improved to 10-6 while lowering his ERA to 3.46 with his vintage performance tonight.

After both starters held the opposition scoreless through the first four frames, Eovaldi got himself into trouble and was bitten by the longball in the top of the fifth. Kelly Johnson began the inning by ripping a hanging Eovaldi cutter just over the wall in right to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. After a Matt Reynolds strikeout, Curtis Granderson lined a double into left-center. The next batter Alejandro De Aza hit a ball back to Eovaldi, who in turn tried to pick off Granderson at second trying to take too big of a secondary lead, but ultimately, both runners ended up being safe. And that mental error came back to haunt the righty in a big way as Jay Bruce recorded his first hit as a Met, a three-run shot to right-center that put the Mets up by a 4-0 score. If Eovaldi had just taken the sure out at first off the De Aza comebacker, Bruce wouldn't have had the chance to bat, but as it happened, Nate didn't make the play and really put himself and the Yankees in a big hole as a result

It took A few innings but the Yankees finally put a run on the board against Colon as they knocked him out of the game in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Gary Sanchez ripped a double over the head of Curtis Granderson for his first big league extra-base hit of his career. After a Rob Refsnyder line out to first, Colon was lifted for Jerry Blevins, who immediately served up a single up the middle to Aaron Hicks, scoring Sanchez and pulling the Yankees to within three. Unfortunately, however, that was the last time anyone would touch Homeplate as the Yankees fell to the Mets by a score of 4-1, making Colon the first pitcher ever to win a subway series game for both the Mets and the Yankees.

The Yankees will welcome in the AL Central leading Cleveland Indian's tomorrow for a three-game weekend set, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM/EST.

Subway Series Game Four Thread: New York Yankees vs. New York Mets 8/4

Here we go one last time before the Subway Series fades to black as the New York Yankees and the New York Mets face off head-to-head in the finale of their four-game set. The first two games took place inside the home of the Mets, Citi Field, and tonight’s contest will mark the second and final game in the Bronx’s Yankee Stadium. In the pitching matchup the Yankees will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to square off against a former Yankees arm in Bartolo Colon. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 for the Yankees, SNY for the Mets, MLB Network and MLB TV.

Get your Yankees tickets for the next series in the Bronx or for any game remaining this season as we press on in this year’s second half by clicking the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. Also be sure to click the TGP T-Shirts link also located at the top of the blog to get your Yankees-related t-shirts including the Jacoby Ellsbury milk carton shirt that commemorated him stealing home plate for the second time in 2016.

Follow along during the game and all season long with us by either liking us on Facebook or by giving @GreedyStripes a follow. We’re always around and always talking or ranting and raving about something so check us out. Bartolo Colon vs. Nathan Eovaldi. Should be a fun one, especially if we beat the Mets. Go Yankees!

Meet a Prospect: Erik Swanson & Nick Green

The New York Yankees made a lot of big trades before the August 1st trading deadline this year and the team went from having a farm system that was widely considered to be “middle of the road” to arguably one of the best if not the best. The big names that propelled the Yankees to or near the top are Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, Billy McKinney and Dillon Tate but on top of the immense amount of talent the Yankees already had they added a few key pieces that many aren’t talking about. I unfortunately could not find enough information to justify a post for each of Erik Swanson and Nick Green, the two additional prospects the Yankees received from Texas in exchange for Carlos Beltran, so I figured I would lump them together and introduce the Yankees fan base to them both at one time. So this is Meet a Prospect: The Erik Swanson and Nick Green Editions.


Nick Green and Erik Swanson are both right-handed pitchers who were both drafted out of Iowa based junior colleges in the 2014 MLB First Year Players Draft. Green has an easy delivery and a good pitching frame that helps his fastball touch 95 MPH, although he sits closer to 92-93 comfortably, and his changeup hit around 81 MPH keeping batters off balance. Green also throws a 12-6 curveball but the pitch is just considered to be average at this point. Green is 21-years old and still pitching in short-season ball though which shows his projectability and his future with the organization. He may surprise a lot of people, Adam Warren and David Phelps were never considered to be aces in the making either by any means, so stay tuned for Green.


As far as Erik Swanson goes he is just another in the long line of big-bodied right-handed power pitchers that throw really, really hard in the Yankees system. Swanson pitched Iowa Western to a national title in 2014 and has been seen throwing gas up to 99 MPH as recently as this season. Swanson sits comfortable at 94-97 MPH and has enough movement to not become another Nathan Eovaldi from his Miami Marlins days. Swanson also throws a slider and a changeup but both are considered raw and below-average at this point meaning Swanson will have to add at least two more pitches if he wants to be a starter and at least one more if he wants to be a reliever at the Major League level. If not he could just be an organizational filler. The sky is the limit though and there is projectability there, his changeup is showing improvement from everything I have read, and that’s good enough for right now.

So join me in welcoming both Erik Swanson and Nick Green to the organization and to the Yankees family. We’re glad to have you.

Remembering Game Four of the 2000 Subway World Series

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 4 of the 2000 World Series.

The New York Yankees sent Denny Neagle to the mound to face off with the Mets Bobby Jones in Game 4 of the Subway World Series. Derek Jeter led off the game and blasted a home run over the left field fence giving the Yankees a lead that they would never relinquish in this game. This would extend Derek Jeter's World Series hitting streak to 13 games and would be only the 16th lead off home run in World Series history. The Yankees would win the game 3-2 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Subway World Series. Jeff Nelson would take the victory and Bobby Jones would take the loss with Mariano Rivera notching the save for the pinstripers.

Subway Series Game Four Preview: New York Yankees vs. New York Mets 8/4

Unless the stars all fall down and the world takes a tumble off its gravitational spin this will be the last time the New York Yankees and the New York Mets face off during the 2016 MLB season. Sure the Mets could take Jay Bruce and slug their way to the World Series and sure the Yankees could call up Clint Frazier and Aaron Judge and others thus sparking the offense all the way back to the World Series for the first time since 2009 but let’s be realistic. Let’s also enjoy this last chapter of the Subway Series 2016 as the New York Yankees send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound to square off against Bartolo Colon for the Mets. No really guys, it’s not happening.

Eovaldi has shown drastic improvement since returning to the Yankees rotation in the second half including his last start on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Eovaldi allowed three runs in six innings in the start and has allowed just six runs in his last six appearances for New York.

Colon made a start on short rest last time out and you could clearly see that the 43-year old is not made for that kind of abuse anymore. Colon ran out of gas in that start but he will be back to his normal four days of rest before tonight’s start in the Bronx. Yay us.

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the WPIX Channel 11 for the Yankees feed, SNY for the Mets feed, MLB Network and MLB TV. The one thing I don’t like about these four-game sets is there is the possibility of a tie in the season series where my OCD will only allow for series victories or losses. That’s just how I’m hardwired, sorry. But that’s neither here nor there, I’m still rooting for a Yankees victory regardless. Go Yankees!

Meet a Prospect: Dillon Tate

The New York Yankees seemingly have a new philosophy these days as we finally close the chapter on the George Steinbrenner era and I think our very own Bryan Van Dusen said it best when he said, to paraphrase, “If you can’t draft in the first round then just trade for first round picks” and that’s exactly what the Yankees have done. The team has added a stable of great prospects that came with pre-draft hype to their organization including Gleyber Torres, our weekly check in showcase from this morning Clint Frazier and today’s introduction to the Yankees fan base, Dillon Tate. Tate was drafted with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 MLB First Year Players Draft and the Yankees took the chance on his upside when they traded away veteran right fielder Carlos Beltran, now let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Dillon Tate Edition.

Dillon Michael Tate was born on May 1, 1994 and began his collegiate pitching career at the University of California, Santa Barbara. It was there that he caught the eye of the Texas Rangers who drafted him fourth overall in the 2015 Draft signing him to a $4.2 million signing bonus. In his first professional season Tate made his debut for the Class-A Short Season Spokane Indians before getting the call up this season to Low-A Ball where he will likely begin his Yankees tenure and career with the Charleston Riverdogs.

Tate is a buy-low candidate for the Yankees to be completely honest but the stuff is there. During spring training of this year Tate was throwing a 96 MPH with a plus-slider and an above-average changeup but the fastball velocity had dipped a bit and Tate spent time on the disabled list this season. The DL stint was for a hamstring and not his arm, which is encouraging, but without your legs you can and eventually will throw your arm out so with the dip in velocity you were just a bit.

Either way Tate possesses #2 starter potential and is a work in progress inside the Yankees system. Tate adds another high-end potential starter into the mix and one can never have too many of those so welcome to the team Dillon, welcome to the organization and most importantly welcome to the family.

Weekly Prospects Check In: Justus Sheffield

Justus Sheffield is one of the many new prospects that general manager Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees added to the organization and one of the now many bright spots in the Yankees organization and farm system. We’ve already officially met him and introduced him the only way that we know how here on the blog so let’s check in with him as well and see just what he has been up to statistically this season as a member of the Cleveland Indians and as a member of the New York Yankees family. Enjoy. 

Year	Age	Lev	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2016	20	A+	7	5	3.59	19	19	95.1	91	40	38	6	40	93	1.374	8.6	0.6	3.8	8.8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

This Day in New York Yankees History 8/4: A-Bomb x500 and A-Bomb x600

At one point in his career everyone thought that Alex Rodriguez would be the man to finally break Hank Aaron's and then Barry Bonds all-time home run mark. Alex hit two home runs on this day on his way to the record books. It all started in 2007 when Alex became the 22nd and the youngest player (32 years and 8 days) to hit 500 home runs. Alex only took 14 seasons to reach the mark when he hit the three run home run off Royals starter Kyle Davies. Alex joined Mickey Mantle as the only other player to hit his 500th home run inside Yankee Stadium.

A mere three years later on this day in 2010 Alex was in the news again for hitting a home run, this time his 600th home run of his career. Alex would pass Babe Ruth to become the youngest player in the history of baseball to reach the 600 home run plateau. A Rod's first inning two run home run would make him the seventh player in baseball history to reach 600 home runs.

Also on this day in 1985 the Yankees honored Phil Rizzuto by retiring his #10 jersey before the game. Rizzuto was a former Yankees player and a play by play color broadcaster that was best known for his "Holy Cow" expressions. The Yankees honored Rizzuto by a gift from the team of a cow wearing a halo.

Also on this day in 1985 Tom Seaver becomes the 17th player in major league history to win his 300th game. Seaver ruins Phil Rizzuto Day at Yankee Stadium by beating the Yankees 4-1 allowing only six singles to reach the milestone.

Finally on this day in 1968 the Yankees held their second of three days honoring the great Mickey Mantle. Prior to the game over 2000 fans paid tribute to the future Hall of Famer in the Bronx.

Yanks Trounce Mets in Game Three, 9-5

On a beautiful night in the Bronx, as the Subway series shifted to Yankee Stadium, the Yankees pounded the rival Mets in the third game of the four-game series. Although Chad Green got the start for New York, it was Luis Severino's exceptional bullpen work that was the story of the game tonight. Getting the call for the Mets was young left-hander Steven Matz, who struggled early in the game bad enough to earn the loss, falling to 8-8 with his rough outing this evening.

Trouble for Green, just as it did in his last start, began on the very first pitch of the ballgame when Curtis Granderson smacked a first pitch fastball into the bleachers in right, giving the Mets a very early 1-0 lead. Following the long ball, Neil Walker and Yoenis Cespedes hit back to back singles, followed by a Jay Bruce walk to load the bases with still no one out. James Loney then hit a broken bat single to center field that scored Walker and extended the Mets lead to two. Michael Conforto then struck out and had it not been for Wilmer Flores's inning ending double-play, both the inning and the game could've got very out of hand very quickly.

Unlike last night, however, the Bombers came back in the bottom of the first to take the lead on young Matz. With one out, Rob Refsnyder singled and Mark Teixeira followed with a walk, both scoring when the surprising cleanup hitter Chase Headley drilled a double to left, tying the game at two. After a Starlin Castro backwards K, the most productive offensive player for the Yankees Didi Gregorius stayed hot by drilling a double of his own that scored Headley and put the Yankees up by one.

With five total runs having scored in the first inning alone, you could just tell that it wasn't going to end there and it didn't as Green allowed the Mets to tie the game in the top of the second. Kelly Johnson started the frame with a double, coming around to score when the next batter Renée Rivera singled up the middle, tying the game at three. Curtis Granderson followed with a walk, but it was another double-play ball, this time off the bat of Neil Walker, that saved Green's beans for a second straight inning. The young righty needed 51 pitches to get through the first two frames.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued in the bottom of the frame as the Yankees would retake the lead against the struggling young left-hander. With two outs, Jacoby Ellsbury and Refsnyder hit consecutive singles past the shortstop, both coming around to score when the next batter Mark Teixeira belted a three-run homerun just over the wall in right field that put the Yanks up 6-3.

After tossing a very stressful 3.2 innings, Chad Green was pulled in the top of the fourth after throwing 85 pitches. With two outs, Granderson drew another walk and Neil Walker followed with a single, Girardi went to the bullpen to get Luis Severino to face Cespedes, who was representing the tying run. Severino proceeded to strike out the Met slugger on three pitches, ending the threat and the frame with the three-run lead still intact.

Although there were no runs scored in the bottom of the fifth, there was definitely some shady nonsense a foot. The first pitch that Mark Teixeira sought after building his three run shot ended up plunking him in his already ailing left knee, sending the slugger to the ground. Tex immediately popped up as if to charge the mound and both benches cleared. Although Matz pled his case that the HBP was unintentional, it sure as hell did not look that way.

Severino found himself in some trouble in the top of the sixth but made a case that he should be inserted back into the rotation with his electric performance. Granderson led off the frame with yet another walk, Neil Walker caught the Yankees shift offguard by laying down a perfect bunt and Cespedes smoked a ground ball to third that was misplayed by Headley, loading the bases for the cleanup hitter Jay Bruce. After a HUGE strikeout by Bruce, the Yankee killer James Loney grounded out to first, scoring Granderson and pulling the Mets back to within two. But then Severino got Michael Conforto to strike out with the tying run on second base, ending the threat and walking off the field to a chorus of cheers that hasn't been heard in Yankee Stadium in quite some time.

Gary Sanchez was called up from AAA today and was able to record his first big league hit in the bottom of the seventh. Sanchez started the inning with a ground ball single up the middle off of reliever Hanzel Robles, advancing to third when the next batter Aaron Hicks drilled a double off the right-field wall. After Ellsbury struck out, Refsnyder then hit a sac fly that allowed Sanchez to score his first big league run, pushing the Yankee lead back up to three. After consecutive walks to Teixeira and Headley to load the bases, Starlin Castro hit an infield single that scored Hicks, 8-4. And then Gregorius drew another walk that forced in Teixeira from third to push it to a 9-4 score.

Severino's performance tonight cannot be understated enough as the young righty pitched 4.1 brilliant innings, allowing just the one run on one hit(the bunt single) while striking out five. Girardi, Rothchild and the rest of the Yankee brass, I believe, will have to strongly consider having Severino start five days from now.

Neil Walker hit a solo shot in the top of the ninth off Tyler Clippard that pulled the Mets back to within four, but no more damage would be done as the Yankees notched their second victory in the past three games.

Tomorrow, Eovaldi takes the ball for the Pinstripers in hopes of locking down another four game series win in the final game of the Subway series, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 PM/EST.

Subway Series Game Three Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. New York Mets 8/3

The New York Yankees and the New York Mets continue their annual Subway Series with the third game of the four game set tonight. The first two games came in Queens inside the home of the Mets, Citi Field, but for the final two games the Bleacher Creatures get to remind Mets no matter what the standings say and no matter who the Yankees trade away that it’s the team in the Bronx than runs this city. Always has been that way and always will be that way, deal with it. In the contest tonight the Yankees will send Chad Green to the mound replacing the recently traded Ivan Nova while the Mets counter with Steven Matz. The game will played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, SNY, ESPN and MLB TV. 

Let's get it. Go Yankees!