Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Cincinnati Reds 5/9

Here we go ladies and gentleman, it is game time in Cincinnati as the Cincinnati Reds play host to the New York Yankees in the second and final game of this quick two-game interleague series. Last night was Masahiro Tanaka’s turn to take the ball for the Yankees and tonight it is CC Sabathia’s turn who is looking to turn around a recent rough string of starts. The man looking to keep the Yankees offense in check, and good luck with that lately, is Tim Adleman for the Reds. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside the Great American Ball Park and can be seen on FOX Sports One. You can also follow along on the radio if you’re blacked out on WFAN.

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Go Yankees!

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Another week down and another week of pure Yankees dominance, just ask those Chicago Cubs. Not even 18-innings could keep the Yankees down, although next time guys you don’t necessarily have to make it so interesting, as the team continues to fly high not only in the American League East Division but in these rankings as well. Let’s see just how well they did.

The New York Yankees climbed two more spots this week and are currently the third best team in all of Major League Baseball according to these rankings. The Washington Nationals are still first, the Houston Astros are second, the Baltimore Orioles are 4^th and apparently being swept at home by the Yankees is good enough to drop you three spots to the 5^th position if you are the Chicago Cubs.

The rest of the American League East can be found at the 9^th position with the Boston Red Sox, the 13^th position with the Tampa Bay Rays and the 27^th position with the Toronto Blue Jays. Imagine how low the Blue Jays will fall if Marcus Stroman misses significant time or has a flare up with his armpit muscle. Scary thought for them.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Cincinnati Reds who rose a whopping thirteen spots all the way to the 14^th best position in the rankings while the Texas Rangers fell a staggering 10 spots to the #22 position. For Texas, in the now immortal words of Yankees manager Joe Girardi, it’s not what you want but the Reds are getting hot just in time for a series with the Yankees that continues tonight.

The Yankees are for real ladies and gentleman. Deal with it. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Cincinnati Reds 5/9

And just like that the series between the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds is over. Well, it will be over tonight anyway as these two teams complete their quick two-game interleague series tonight inside the Great American Ball Park. Stand up for the Judge and release the Kraken because the ball should be flying out of Cincinnati tonight if the opposing offenses have anything to say about it. There are two men donned with the task of keeping the ball in the ballpark and they are CC Sabathia for the Yankees and Tim Adleman for the Reds.

Sabathia has been absolutely horrible in his last three starts which is beginning to cause concern here in the Bronx. After a great start to the season Sabathia has posted a 10.43 ERA in his last three starts lasting just 14.2 innings while allowing 17 earned runs on five home runs. How about more of the early season Sabathia and less of this guy.

Adleman last faced the Pittsburgh Pirates allowing two runs in six innings of work which resulted in a 4-2 victory for the Reds. Adleman is especially tough against left-handed bats while right-handers are hitting over .300 against him this season so don’t expect Aaron Judge or Gary Sanchez to see much to hit tonight because if they get a good pitch to hit it’s going to go a long way out in Cincinnati.

The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside the Great American Ball Park and can be seen on Fox Sports One. I’m, again, not sure how the Fox and their affiliates broadcast affects MLB TV so you will just have to check in at game time. If anyone knows beforehand please let me know and I’ll update the post. If it is blacked out you can always follow along on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on the WFAN broadcast.

Go Yankees!

There’s Time For Rest in November…

Sleep?  Who needs stinkin’ Sleep!  The Yankees arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio at 5:08 a.m. yesterday following their 18-inning marathon win over the Chicago Cubs and by the end of the day, they had their sixth consecutive victory with the 10-4 pounding of the Reds.  The Yankees treated their former top prospect Rookie Davis, banished to Ohio in the Aroldis Chapman trade, like, well, a rookie.  Run-scoring singles by Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius put three runs on the board in the first inning and the sleepless Yanks were in charge early.

It was another okay, but not great, pitching performance by Masahiro Tanaka.  He definitely went the ‘bend but not break’ route in picking up his fifth win of the year.  The Reds had the bases loaded with no outs in the fourth inning, trailing the Yankees by three.  But a pop out and a double play ended the threat.  It was probably the game-defining moment.

Credit:  John Minchillo/AP

In the seventh inning with former Washington Nationals closer Drew Storen on the mound, three Yankees were hit by three pitches.  It wasn’t intentional but that’s a lot for one inning.  The last one, a pitch that hit Chase Headley on the bone just below his knee (ouch!) with the bases loaded, scored a run.  Ronald Torreyes, after being knocked down by a high, inside pitch from the wild Storen, singled to put the Yankees up 7-2.  The second runner, Gary Sanchez, was easily thrown out at the plate, for the final out.   

In the bottom of the seventh inning, with Tanaka running on fumes after reaching the 100-pitch mark, he walked Zach Cozart and then gave up a no doubt-about-it home run to Reds slugger Joey Votto.  With his 112th pitch, Tanaka somehow got Adam Duvall on a swinging strikeout to end the inning.  As Tanaka walked off the mound, he was clearly upset about the Votto home run but his night was done with the Yankees leading 7-4.

The eighth inning featured another long home run to right by Brett Gardner, scoring two runs, and a solo shot by Matt Holliday, playing his second straight game at first base.  

From there, it was up to the depleted Yankees bullpen.  With most of the relievers unavailable, the Yankees went with Tyler Clippard for the eighth.  Clippard was his usual self with a quiet inning that saw three up and three down.  I have to admit that I got a sick feeling to my stomach when I saw lefty Tommy Layne warming up for the ninth inning.  A six-run lead should make one feel fairly secure, but if any Yankee could blow a large lead, it’s Layne.  It didn’t help when the first batter reached on an infield single.  The next batter hit into a ground out but the Yanks were unable to turn a double play, capturing only the lead runner.  That brought the speedy Billy Hamilton to the plate.  Layne fell behind in the count very quickly with three successive balls.  I started to have chills, knowing the heart of the Reds order was coming up.  After a couple of well-placed strikes, Hamilton hit a grounder to Didi Gregorius.  This time, the Yankees were successful in turning the double play and it was game over.  Yankees win, 10-4.

The Yankees (21-9) maintained their half-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles.  The O’s withstood a late challenge to beat their former catcher Matt Wieters and the Washington Nationals 6-4.  The O’s have won five in a row as they seemingly match the Yankees step-for-step on a nightly basis.  The Boston Red Sox had the night off.

Prior to yesterday’s game, there had been speculation the Yankees might send down Sunday night heroes Chasen Shreve and/or Jonathan Holder to bring up fresh arms.  But in the end, it was Rob Refsnyder who got the ticket to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  In his place, the Yankees recalled pitcher Chad Green.  

For the Reds, the loss cost them first place in the NL Central as they were overtaken by the St Louis Cardinals.  

The Yankees face a more challenging pitcher today in Tim Adleman (1-1, 4.22 ERA).  For the Yanks, CC Sabathia (2-1, 5.45 ERA), who hasn’t instilled confidence in anyone except opposing hitters in recent starts, takes the mound.  I expect to see a much stronger Reds team today so hopefully the Yankees offense can rise up to the challenge.  It will be good to see a rested Aaron Judge back in the lineup.  

Tomorrow is a day off so the Yankees will be able to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Have  a great Tuesday!  Let’s grab a W and head back to New York!

Rumors: Yankees Interested in Gerrit Cole

Gerrit Cole at 11-years old

Here we sit not even two weeks into May and the hot stove and trade mill winds are already beginning to blow. The high-priced and big name players are already being rumored to have new homes once the calendar turns to August 1^st and already the New York Yankees who are exceeding most everyone’s expectations are being thrown right in the middle of the rumors. See the rumors surrounding the Pittsburgh Pirates ace and former New York Yankees draft pick Gerrit Cole and the absolute stable of Yankees prospects it would potentially take to land him.

The asking price for Cole would be steep but one has to wonder if it would be worth it knowing that you would have an ace on your staff for at least two-and-a-half more seasons. Cole is not set to be a free agent until the 2020 season and much like my arguments for Jose Quintana all winter long this deal needs to be done and needs to be done now if Pittsburgh is willing to pull the trigger.

While I would unlikely trade Clint Frazier or Gleyber Torres you have to think the rest of the Yankees prospects would be fair game for a player the caliber of Cole. Now notice I said prospects, Aaron Judge is not a prospect. Aaron Judge is the starting right fielder for the MLB team. Luis Severino is not a prospect. Luis Severino is the Yankees fourth starter. So on and so forth. I’m talking a package of prospects from the group of Justus Sheffield, Jorge Mateo, Domingo Acevedo, Dustin Fowler, Blake Rutherford and hell maybe even Chance Adams. I like Cole that much. Two or maybe even three of those guys plus a lower tiered guy would likely get the job done.

The Yankees would be getting back a 26-year old  right-handed starter who has made seven starts at the time of this writing with a 1-3 record and 3.14 ERA with 42 strikeouts all for the low-low price of $3.75 million. The Yankees could send Jordan Montgomery back to Triple-A or even to the bullpen while making Luis Severino possibly the best fifth starter in all of Major League Baseball. This move would also protect against the potential losses of Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda after this season making this more of a no-brainer for New York. Will they look two steps ahead and pull the trigger? Stay tuned.

So it Seems My Back is Turned

I don’t consider myself an overly religious person but I do tend to go along with the fundamentals of the whole religious thing. I treat others the way I would like to be treated, sometimes better, and I try to help out anyone I can however I can whenever I can. If you need the shirt off my back, it’s yours. If you need the last $10 to my name, it’s yours too. I am a firm believer in Karma, well I was until yesterday.

Karma is basically supposed to be what goes around comes around but I feel like someone somewhere down the line got that messed up when it came to me. This isn’t a poor pitiful me post but damn, enough is enough. Now don’t get me wrong I have had a great year. It’s been an incredibly tough year but I’m healthy, my children are healthy and I’ve met some absolutely great people along the way that I adore and love with all my heart and soul… but damn.

So I officially turn my back on karma, religion and everything else. I’m done. Find another punching bag. Have a great day everyone.

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/9: Mariano Rivera & Franchise Records

On this day in 2002 Mariano Rivera notched his 225th save as a member of the New York Yankees setting a new franchise record. The previous record of 224 saves was set by Dave Righetti. The Yankees would win the game 3-1 in Tampa over the Rays.


On this day in 1999 Mike Stanton started his first Major League game after pitching in 552 relief appearances. Gary Lavelle had the record for most appearances without starting a game before Stanton shut out Seattle for four innings giving up two hits in a Yankee's 6-1 victory at Yankee Stadium.

Resiliency-R-Us, Open All Night…

Credit:  MLB.com

When you have one of Baseball’s elite closers on the mound with a three run lead in the bottom of the 9th, it should be game over.  Sadly, it was an off night for Aroldis Chapman as he allowed three runs before being pulled from the game.  From that point, it felt like it was only a matter of time before the Chicago Cubs pulled off a walk-off.  Fortunately, these are not the 2016 New York Yankees.

In an 18-inning affair that lasted six hours and five minutes (sorry, I didn’t stay up), Aaron Hicks , Ronald Torreyes and Starlin Castro emerged as the heroes of heroes.  Leading off the 18th, Aaron Hicks bunted toward third and reached second thanks to a throwing error by Cubs catcher Wilson Contreras.  After a sacrifice bunt by Torreyes moved Hicks to third, he scored on a grounder to short by Castro.

When Chasen Shreve (1-0) struck out Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks at 2:13 a.m., the Yankees (20-9) had completed an improbable and very exhausting 5-4 victory.

It’s tough to play a night game on “getaway” day, but even tougher to play what essentially equates to a double-header in terms of innings played.  It was an incredible job by the bullpen for anyone not named Chapman.  Tyler Clippard, Adam Warren, Jonathan Holder and Shreve combined for 9 1/3 innings of scoreless relief following Chapman’s blown save.  The Yankees and Cubs set a Major League record for strikeouts with 48.  Yankees pitchers accounted for 26 of those K’s, including 9 by starter Luis Severino and 5 by Shreve.  The Cubs also set a record by using three pitchers as pinch-hitters.  

I am thankful the Yankees didn’t have to employ the last man standing in the bullpen (Tommy Layne) given his recent propensity for watching the opponent score while he is on the mound.  

Chapman’s underwhelming performance against his World Series teammates wasted another great start by Severino.  With a four-hitter in 7 innings of work while allowing only a single run (a 2nd inning home run by Javier Baez), he bested former Boston Red Sox nemesis Jon Lester and stood in line for the victory until Chapman let it get away.  A run scoring triple by Aaron Judge in the 7th inning had put Severino in position to win, with a two-run homer by Jacoby Ellsbury in the 8th for support.  But the Cubs, stealing a page from these exciting young Pinstripers, showed that the game is not over ’til it’s over…to borrow a line from legendary Yankees catcher Yogi Berra.  

Castro completed his three day Chicago reunion with 2 RBI’s despite an 0-for-8 night.  He also had a run-scoring ground-out in the first inning.  

The game had its humorous moment when left fielder Aaron Hicks lost sight of Baez’s home run ball.  That’s how I would play every inning…

Credit:  MLB.com

Matt Holliday did a solid job with his first Yankees start at first base.  He went 2-for-4 until he was lifted for pinch-hitter Chris Carter.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see Holliday play some more first base in Cincinnati.  Heck, at this point, the Yankees should probably play Aaron Hicks at first.  They have to find ways to keep that dude’s bat in the lineup.  

For the Yankees, they became only the second team to sweep the Cubs this season.  They maintained a half-game over the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead.  The O’s had a broom of their own with a weekend sweep of the Chicago White Sox.  Sadly, the Red Sox won again after providing 17 runs for their ace, Chris Sale.  

The Yankees make a short hop to Cincinnati, Ohio for a game against former Yankees top pitching prospect Rookie Davis and the Cincinnati Reds later today.  I would generally say that the Yankees may be a little sluggish after the late night, but that would be underestimating the resiliency of this team.  It will be a challenge as the Reds (17-14) are the current leader in the NL Central, thanks to the Yankees’ sweep of the Cubs.  But if any team can find a way, I’ll take my chances with the Yankees.

Have a great Monday!  Hopefully we’re in line for a restful and victorious day!

True Statement — The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field!…

Credit:  Chris Sweda/The Chicago Tribune

While the Cubs did have their chances, Saturday’s game felt like it was over after the Yankees took their first swings in the top of the first inning en route to the 11-6 victory.  Admittedly, I felt badly for Cubs starter Brett Anderson.  He gave up three doubles, two singles and a bunt with a throwing error that led to multiple runs.  When Anderson departed after 23 pitches, he had gotten only one out…a swinging strikeout by Aaron Judge.  The Yankees held a 5-0 advantage, and we were off the races.

Anderson was once a promising young starter for the Oakland A’s.  He’s pitched very well when healthy, but unfortunately health has not been his friend.  He made 31 starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015 and then missed most of last year after surgery for a bulging disk in his back.  After yesterday’s start, Anderson was showing signs of back trouble so yet another DL-stint is likely.  After the game, Anderson said that it was “embarrassing”.  He went on to say “Whenever the backup catcher gets more outs than you, it’s not a positive”. Cubs catcher Miguel Montero pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Cubs although he did walk two. Hopefully Anderson is able to recover from his latest setback.

Credit:  Chris Sweda/The Chicago Tribune

Jordan Montgomery (2-1) was solid again for the Yankees as he continues to cement his role in the starting rotation.  He made it into the seventh inning until running into some trouble after throwing 100 pitches.  He allowed 3 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), and struck out 3.  He did walk 4 batters.  After two groundouts in the top of the 7th, it looked like it was going to be another quiet inning for Monty.  But he walked Jon Jay and it was followed by a run-scoring triple by former Tampa Bay Rays nemesis Ben Zobrist which ended Montgomery’s day.  

Aaron Hicks, subbing for Jacoby Ellsbury who is still nursing a sore elbow, delivered the clinching shot, a three-run homer in the eighth inning, that put the Yanks up 11-3.  The Cubbies tried to mount a rally in the bottom of the 8th against reliever Tommy Layne, scoring three runs.  Adam Warren came in with a runner at first (Miguel Montero) and two outs.  He allowed a double to Jon Jay which advanced Montero to third.  Ben Zobrist came to bat with a chance to chip away at the 11-6 Yanks lead but Warren struck him out swinging.  Another nice job by the  2016 World Series ring holder.  

Credit:  Tannen Maury/EPA

Hicks finished the day 4-for-5 with 3 RBI’s and 3 runs scored.  He continues to impress and is making it hard for Manager Joe Girardi to keep him on the bench.  I read one columnist who suggested that Hicks should permanently replace center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.  I wouldn’t necessarily argue but are we really only four years into Ellsbury’s seven-year $153 contract?  The end of the contract seems so friggin’ far away.  Despite his recent heroics, Brett Gardner remains the more marketable outfielder and it seems that it would make more sense to move him to make room for Hicks…unless GM Brian Cashman would hoodwink some other GM into taking Ellsbury off his hands.  Maybe ply former buddy Billy Eppler with some tequila when the Yankees visit Anaheim in mid-June.  

The other hitting star of the game was the former Chicago Cub Starlin Castro.  You know that he enjoyed his fourth inning home run.  He even paused for a moment to enjoy the view as the ball traveled to the left outfield bleachers.  Increasing his batting average to .381, Castro went 3-for-4.  He had 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.  Starlin has been enjoying his time at Wrigley Field so I am sure these games will be memorable to him for a very long time.  

Credit:  Chris Sweda/The Chicago Tribune

The Yankees maintained their half-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East.  The O’s held off a late challenge by the Chicago White Sox to win 6-5.  Sadly the Boston Red Sox also won.  

I’ve said it before but Tommy Layne is just not doing it for me this year.  His appearance always seems to be accompanied by multiple runs for the opponent.  His ERA is now an unsightly 9.45 after giving up the 3 runs to the Cubs while only recording 2 outs.  I will gladly take Chasen Shreve as my lefty specialist over Layne.  I think we’re seeing why the Boston Red Sox gave up on Layne last year.

I wonder if we’ll see Matt Holliday at first base today as the Yankees face an old foe in former Boston Red Sox ace Jon Lester.  It should be a great game as the Yankees go for a sweep with Luis Severino on the mound.

The Yankees completed their off-season trade that sent reliever Nick Goody to the Cleveland Indians.  On Friday, they acquired 21 year-old pitcher Yoiber Marquina, a converted catcher, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month.  The Yankees see promise in Marquina’s lively arm, but meanwhile Goody is delivering the goods for the Indians.  He has an 0.00 ERA in 7 appearances with 10 strikeouts.  He has allowed only three hits in 9 1/3 innings of work.  Sounds like the Indians are making up for lost ground with the talent they gave up in the Andrew Miller trade.

I saw the debate that TGP’s Daniel Burch sparked yesterday when he suggested that the Yankees should trade backup catcher Austin Romine.  My first question is why?  Unless you can include Romine in a trade for a frontline pitcher, I do not see the motivation to make a deal.  He has shown that he can be a very valuable backup catcher.  It’s not that I dislike Kyle Higashioka, but Romine has earned his shot to be a member of the New York Yankees.  If you tell me that the Yankees could acquire Gerrit Cole from the Pittsburgh Pirates (don’t we always send our catchers to the Steel City?) by including Romine with other prospects, I’m on board.  Otherwise, I think Romine should stay.  

I am not trying to look ahead but the Yankees will, for the first time, face the ramifications of their  December 2015 trade for closer Aroldis Chapman.  The team will be traveling to Cincinnati after they complete the three game series against the Cubs later today.  On Monday, they’ll face former top pitching prospect Rookie Davis who is scheduled to start opposite Masahiro Tanaka.  Davis is the only player on the Reds MLB roster in the deal that sent Davis, third baseman Eric Jagielo, pitcher Caleb Cotham, and second baseman Tony Renda to Cincy.  

Credit:  Justin Berl/Getty Images

Have a great Sunday!  Let’s hope the wind carries us to a sweep out of Chicago!

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/7: Torre Wins 1,000

On this day in 2006 Joe Torre became the fourth Yankees manager to win 1,000 games with the team. The other three Yankees managers were Joe McCarthy (1,460), Casey Stengel (1,149) and Miller Huggins (1,067) for the record. Torre at the time was 1,000-645 after beating the Rangers 8-5.


Also on this day in 2000 the Yankees held Bob Sheppard Day at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The Yankees were honoring Sheppard's 50 years of service as the ”Voice of God” with a plaque in Monument Park.


Also on this day in 1999 the Yankees Hideki Irabu faced off with the Mariners Matt Suzuki in the first match up of Japanese starting pitchers in Major League history. Irabu would get the best of Suzuki as the Yankees beat Seattle 10-1 on this day.


Also on this day in 1966 only twenty games into his second season as manager of the Yankees Johnny Keane was fired by General Manager Ralph Houk with Houk returning to the dugout to manage the team after the firing. The Yankees were 4-16 under Keane and would go on to win 13 of its next 17 games under Houk.


Finally on this day in 1903 the rivalry began between the Highlanders and the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims beat the Highlanders at Boston's Huntington Avenue Grounds 6-2. The teams would eventually change their named to the Red Sox and the Yankees but the rivalry stayed the same.