The minors today.

The big club was off today.

AAA: SWB lost 8-5. I will be heading there on June 8th for a game. Brett Marshall 8 R in 4 IP. 2 RBI for 1B Josh Bell (http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/belljo01.shtml) who was signed as a free agent by the Yanks five days ago. Brennan Boesch 3 h, rbi. 2 h for Thomas Neal, double, rbi (did I mention he should be up and DFA Francisco? Oh yeah, a lot. Listening Cashman?)

AA: Trenton lost 9-4. Nik Turley 2 R in 3 IP, but 3 H, 5 walks to go with his 5 K. 2B Jose Pirela solo HR. C J.R. Murphy 2 hits. (.295) DH Slade Heathcott 2 RBI.

High A: Tampa lost 12-4. Bryan Mitchell 10 R, 5 ER in 4 2/3. CF Mason Williams 3 hits. C Gary Sanchez 2 Hits, rbi. 3 hits RF Jose Toussen. 2 H LF Ben Gamel.

Low A: 12-7 win for Charleston. Jose Campos 4 R, 2 ER in 4 IP. CF Jake Cave (.315) 3 H, 4 RBI. DH Kelvin De Leon 3 H, solo HR. LF Taylor Dugas 2 h, rbi.

Meanwhile ex-Yankee Jesus Montero was sent down to AAA by Seattle.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB off.

AA: Trenton lost 5-4. Wild night for top prospect Jose Ramirez. 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 5 walks and 1 K. He goes to 0-2, 2.10.  SS Walt Ibarra 3 h, .340. 3 H, HR and 3 rbi for 1B Kyle Roller (.290-6-26). 2 doubles for CF Neil Medchill.

High A: Tampa lost 12-4. Scottie Allen 7 R in 3 IP. DH Angelo Gumbs 3 H, 2 doubles. C Gary Sanchez 2 H, HR, 2 rbi (.276-8-36). 2 H, solo HR for SS Carmen Angelini.

Low A: 4-2 win for Charleston. Dietrich Enns 3 scoreless, 6 K. 1B Greg Bird 2 hits. 2 H and a RBI for 3B Dante Bichette, Jr. Same for LF Taylor Dugas.

Game 46. Yanks lose 6-3. Kuroda knocked out early.

It could have been worse. Hiroki Kuroda entered the game as the Yanks’ ace, 6-2, 1.99. After taking a liner off his calf, he left the game after 2+ innings pitched. The fear was the DL.

He probably won’t miss the next start. Losing tonight is one thing (6-3). Losing Kuroda is another.

Kuroda gave up a solo HR to Markasis in the first and then a 2-run HR to Davis in the same inning. When he left in the third, there were no outs and two on. The Yanks did get a run in the 3rd on a Cano single.

Preston Claiborne came in and probably should have used more time to warm up, since with an injury delay he had all the time he needed. 1st batter, 3 R Hr. Like Nuno the night before, the first runs he gives up in the majors is via the home run ball.  But it let the game get out of hand at 6-1.

Granderson HR’d in the 5th to make it 6-2, his first HR of the year, and David Adams got his 2nd MLB career hr in the  9th to make it 6-3.

Kuroda 2+, 5 R, 8 H, 0 walks and 0 K. He falls to 6-3, 2.67. An un-Kuroda-like performance.

Claiborne 2 Ip, 1 R, 1 H, that big 3-run HR. 0 walks, 2 K. ERA to 0.82.

Adam Warren 5 IP. Garbage innings, but what a job he’s done this year after that one terrible outing last year in his MLB debut. 4 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 0 walks and 2 K. His ERA drops to 1.14.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 5-1. Wang (L, 2-4, 3.07) 1 R in 5 2/3. Cody Eppley 3 R in 1 IP (5.06 and what a difference a year makes). SWB got only 1 run despite 11 hits. CF Melky Mesa and LF Zoilo Almonte 2 h each. 3B Ronnier Mustelier with 3 hits. Thomas (I should be replacing Ben Francisco) Neal 1 H, 2 walks, .323.

AA: Trenton won 3-0. Matt Tracy 6 IP 2 H 7 K. CF Slade Heathcott w/2rbi.

High A: Tampa won 7-0. Sean Black 5 1/3 scoreless. LF Ben Gamel 3 doubles and 3 RBI.

Low A: Charleston won 2-0. Rafael De Paula 6 scoreless.

Game 45. Tit for Tat. O’s win in 10, 3-2.

Last night the Yanks beat the Orioles in 10, tonight it was the other way around as the O’s got a walk-off HR from Nate McLouth in the 10th to win 3-2.

Phil Hughes went six and gave up 2 runs. Much better than his last outing of 7 R in 2/3 of an inning. Ex-Yankee Chris Dickerson tormented his former club with 2 solo HR off of Hughes.

The Yanks got a run in the first on a double by Gardner and a single by Hafner. Hafner pretty much was the whole Yanks offense tonight with 2 H and both RBI. The Yanks only had three other hits all night.

Dickerson’s 1st HR of the night tied it at one in the third.

In the fourth, Wells doubled and Hafner singled. 2-1 Yanks, but Dickerson’s second HR off Hughes tied it in the fifth.

In the seventh, a play that could have turned the game around. With two out, David Adams (doing well since his callup) singled. Jayson Nix lined on to the gap that Nick Markasis made a diving catch on. If it gets by him and to the wall, it’s a double, Adams scores, and the Yanks go up 3-2.

Hughes 6 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 2 walks and 5 K. The good Phil. We never know what we will good. When good, he’s very good. When bad, he’s very bad. A decent effort tonight, ERA to 5.51 (still way too high).

Logan 2/3, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 1 K. 1.93.

Kelley 1/3, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 5.30.

Robertson 1 IP. 3 up, 3 down all by K. 2.79.

Claiborne 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 1 K. He still hasn’t given up a run since being called up to the majors. 0.00.

Vidal Nuno came in (his 3rd MLB game) and gave up a HR to the first batter he faced. Ballgame over. Nuno 1-1, 1.13.

Curtis Granderson is struggling since coming off the DL. .174.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 6-5. Chris Bootcheck 1 R in 6 Ip, 3 H, 3 walks and 7 K but the bullpen blew it. Jim Miller 4 R in 1 IP, ERA 7.20 and you could smell DFA coming. DH Thomas Neal (who SHOULD be up to replace Francisco) 2 H, double, 3 RBI, .323. 3B Josh Bell 2 H, RBI. RF Brennan Boesch has sucked since going down. 2 for 19, .105.

AA: Trenton won 7-3. Mikey O’Brien 3 R, 2 ER in 7 IP. CF Slade Heathcott 3 H, 3 RBI.

High A: Tampa won 2-1. Shane Greene 1 unearned run in 6 IP. Cesar Cabral 1 2/3 scoreless. 2B Angelo Gumbs and C Gary Sanchez 2 hits each.

Low A: Charleston lost 5-2. 2 H 3B Dante Bichette, Jr. (.200) and LF Kelvin De Leon.

Game 44. Pronk saves Yanks in 9th, they win in 10, 6-4.

The Yanks gave CC leads, but he couldn’t hold them. In the end, Travis Hafner tied the game in the 9th and gave the Yanks an insurance run in the 10th as the Yanks improved to 28-16 with a 6-4, 10-inning win over Baltimore.

Mo got the save as the greatest farewell tour ever continues. 17 for 17 in saves, and just 44 games into the season. Save #625 of his career lowers his ERA under 1.50. All this at age 43. More on Mo in a bit.

Cano hit his league-leading 13th HR in the 1st to put the Yanks up 1-0. David Adams’ first MLB HR made it 2-0 in the second.

The record for HR by a second baseman in a season is 42. Rogers Hornsby and Davey Johnson (Johnson had 43 for the 1973 Braves, but one was as a PH). It looks like Cano could break that record this year.

But CC could not hold leads tonight.

Up 2-0 in the second, CC coughed up a HR. 2-1.

A double and single tied the game for the O’s in the fifth. An overzealous fan may have cost the O’s the game. I’m all for kicking fans out of the ballpark that interfere with the action. Hey, you want a ball, fork over $11 or so at a sporting goods store. Instead, this fan’s interference on a double held the runner at third, and may have cost the Orioles the game. Keep your hands to yourself and don’t interfere on fair balls, will ya? Anyway, it worked out great for the Yanks. Runner held at third due to the ground-rule double. We will see how big that turned out.

In the 7th, Overbay’s HR (7) made it 3-2. But CC couldn’t hold that either, as he left pitches up. Not to be critical, but if you are getting $23MM or so a year to be the ace, you have to hold leads. Instead, CC coughed it up, giving two right back. Really, CC has been decent this year, but NOT the ace. That has been Kuroda.

CC 6 1/3, 4 R, 11 H, 0 walks, 2 K. Not dominant. ERA to 3.43.

To the 9th, and the Yanks were losing 4-3. Hafner, who earlier in the game was out in front just a hair too early in missing a 3-run HR, went the other way and tied the game up with HR #8.

Meanwhile, the Yanks bullpen shut things down after CC left. Shawn Kelley 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk and all 3 outs via the K. ERA to 5.40.

Robertson (W 3-0, 2.95) the 9th. 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 2 K.

In the 10th, doubles by Ichiro and Wells put the Yanks up 5-4 and a single by Hafner was insurance.

Enter Sandman. Mo’s 17th save (out of 17) iced it. At 43, he is 17 for 17 in saves, #625 of his career is a 1-2-3 inning. ERA to 1.47.

Tell me again why he is retiring? For he is going out on top of his game.

 

The minors today

AAA: SWB lost 10-4. Caleb Cotham 6 R in 4 1/3. DH Dan Johnson HR, 2 RBI.

AA: Trenton lost 3-2. Zach Nuding 2 R in 5 IP. SS Ali Castillo 2 of Trenton’s 5 hits.

High A: Tampa lost 6-2. Corey Black 4 R, 2 ER in 3 2/3. Joel De La Cruz 3 scoreless IP. CF Mason Williams 2 H, 2 RBI. 2 H 1B Saxon Butler.

Low A:  Charleston won 9-7.  Dan Camarena 7 R in 4 1/3. 3 scoreless from Phil Wetherell. CF Jake Cave 4 h, 3 doubles, triple, 2 RBI. 1B Greg Bird double, solo HR. 2B Claudio Custodio 2 HR 3 RBI.

Game 44. The lineup.

A different look, as the Grandy Man leads off and plays CF (Gardner getting a day off), and newly acquired Reid Brignac is at SS.

The Yanks are in 1st by one game over Boston. 27-16, three games better than their Pythagorean record. The pitching is what is doing it for them. OPS+ 95 (100 is average), ERA+ 119.

BA/HR/RBI  SB/attempts  Comments  Team Leader  *League Leader

1. Granderson CF .267-0-0  1/1  60   4 for 15 since return. 5th game.   
2. Cano 2B .295-12*-31 2/2 138
3. Wells LF .286-10-23  4/5   126
4. Hafner DH .260-7-20  1/1  142
5. Overbay 1B .259-6-24  0/0  104
6. Nix 3B .232-1-9  2/2  63 
Adams gets a day off against the knuckleballer, Dickey 
7. Suzuki RF .241-2-8  5/6  65
Expect his playing time to decrease. The OF most likely will be Wells, Gardner & the Grandyman.   2639 MLB hits
8. Brignac SS .250-1-6  0/0  70  with Colorado. 1st game as a Yankee.
      Career .228; 162 g. ave. .228-6-41, OPS+ 63
9. Romine C .182-0-2  0/0  32    4 for 22; 10th game this year.
                  Career 7 for 41, .171, OPS+ 16  
         
Sabathia P 4-3, 3.19  ERA+ 131   Seeking career win #196.     

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 4-3. Jim Miller, 1 R in 2/3 IP the loss. 0-4, 5.68. Corban Joseph, 2B, double, HR, 2 RBI. Thomas Neal (please bring him up to replace Ben Francisco. Are you reading, Cashman?) 1 for 2, 2 walks, .326.

AA: 6-1 win for Trenton. Nik Turley 6 Ip, 1 R, 1 H, 2 walks and 6 K. 2 H, rbi 2B Jose Pirela.

High A: Tampa won 5-4 in 10. DH Angelo Gumbs 3 H, rbi. 2 H, 2 RBI SS Carmen Angelini.

Low A: Charleston won 10-8. Jose Campos 1 r in 3 IP. 1B Rey Nunez 3 H and 3 RBI. 2 H, 2 RBI for 2B Claudio Custodio.