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. Rained out.

Today’s Yankee game was rained out. No makeup date scheduled yet.

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.

Game 43. Cano (2), Hafner HRs lead Yanks, 7-2.

Robbie Cano was slumping, hitting just .204-2-8 since May 5th. He broke out of it today with two two-run HRs and four RBI as the Yanks beat Toronto 7-2.

Travis Hafner had missed a couple of games due to a shoulder issue, but he got a two-run HR as well.

David Phelps (W, 2-2, 3.83) pitched seven innings, 1 R, 6 H, 3 walks and 8 K.

David Robertson the 8th, 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks and a K. ERA to 3.12.

Boone Logan the 9th. 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 2 K. 2.13.

The Yanks got three in the third on an RBI single by Gardner and Robbie’s first two-run dinger. Toronto got one back in the fourth.

Robbie’s second two-run HR in the fifth made it 5-1. Toronto got a HR by Encarnacion in the 8th to cut it to 5-2 but Hafner’s two-run HR in the bottom of the 8th closed the scoring.

Phelps has done well filling in for Nova. I hope Hughes was watching and noticing.

Game 43. The Lineup and a deal.

I’ll have the report later. I’ll miss today’s game because I have to work 1-5 today.

Yanks 26-16, 1st place by one game in the A.L. East. OPS+ 96 (100 is average), ERA+ 117. They are three games better than their pythagorean record.

Pronk comes back today at DH. Granderson goes to RF. Ichiro sits. Ichiro, at 39, unfortunately is looking more like a 4th OF, PR, Defensive replacement, backup OF right now. Besides a Wells/Gardner/Granderson OF looks better and makes the lineup stronger.

BA/HR/RBI  SB/attempts  OPS+   Comments  Team leader.

Gardner 8 .261-3-15  9/12  98
Cano 4 .291-10-27  2/2  129   Last 12 games .204-2-8
Wells 7 .287-10-23  4/5  129
Hafner DH .260-6-18  1/1  140
Overbay 3 .259-6-24  0/0  107
Granderson 9  4 for 11 since coming off the DL
Nix 6 .231-1-9  2/2  65
Adams 5  4th MLB game. 4 for 11 so far.
Romine 2  18th MLB game, 6 for 38 so far in his MLB career.

Phelps 1-2, 4.33    ERA+ 96

Meanwhile, a deal. The Rockies have traded utility infielder Reid Brignac to the Yankees, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Brignac is a lefty hitter who can play 2B, 3B and SS (mostly SS). He is 27 and in 719 MLB at bats has hit .228 with 11 HR and an OPS+ of 63. His 162 g. average is .228-6-41. My guess is that Alberto Gonzalez goes for Brignac and that they work him in around Nix and Adams at SS and 3B. Brignac was hitting .250-1-6 for Colorado this year in 29 games and he played for the Rays from 2008-2012.