Game 36. Robertson to DL

Cody Eppley has been recalled. David Robertson (of the incredibly shrinking bullpen) has been D’L'd. He won’t pick up a ball for 7-10 days. Strained left oblique for D-Rob.

Yanks 20-15, 3rd place. 1 1/2 out. OPS+117, ERA+ 106.
They are one game BETTER than their pythagorean record.

BA/HR/RBI/SB/attempts, OPS+

Jeter 6 .367-5-15  2/3  151   9 hits behind Paul Waner, 11 behind Brett.
Swisher 9  .277-7-26  0/0  138
Cano 4 .303-3-14  1/1  113
Rodriguez 5  .292-5-14  3/3  122  See Below
Teixeira 3 .231-5-19  1/2  83   Need to get him going.
Granderson 8 .257-12-21  1/3  142   12 HR, 21 RBI mean solo HRs
Jones DH .240-4-8  0/0  115
Nix 7    1 for 10; hit a HR, 2 RBI
Stewart 2  .240-0-5  0/0  49     6 for 25

Sabathia 1   5-0, 3.51   ERA+ 123

Alex has 38 hits, 30 singles. The average is ok, but you wonder about the power. 3 doubles, 5 HR.

Game 35. Banged up Yankees post an 8-5 win.

So, where to start? Ivan Nova took one off his leg and although he went 5 1/3, he limped off with a bruise & could miss a start. Teix has been playing through illness, now it appears that Rapada has picked up a viral infection. Ibanez was HBP tonight and was removed from the game.

The Yanks did pick up a game on the Orioles with an 8-5 win. Nova wasn’t great, got hit by a liner, may miss a start but a W is a W. Teixeira, struggling through an illness, hit a 2-run HR to break a 5-5 tie, then later doubled and scored.

Nova was off from the get-go. He gave up two in the first. The Yanks tied it in the fourth on a two-run double by Swish, then went ahead the next inning on a HR by Granderson (12).

Nova however, gave up 3 in the fifth. It is unknown whether the injury hurt him in that inning or not.

Nova 5 1/3, 5 R, 7 H, 3 walks and 4 K. Not impressive. A no-decision, ERA to 5.44 (yuk) despite the 4-1 record. He may need to miss his next start because of the bruise.

If so, hopefully David Phelps takes the start. Phelps got his first MLB win tonight.

Down 5-3, the Yanks bounced back in the sixth. An error enabled the Yanks to tie the game, but with the bases loaded and one out, Jeter whiffed and Granderson flew out. Opportunity wasted.

Teix hit his two-run HR (5) in the seventh to give the Yanks the 7-5 lead. In the ninth Teix doubled and scored on a SF for the final tally, 8-5.

Nova’s stats are above.

Rapada 1/3, 0 R, 0 h, 1 walk, 0 K. 3.60.

Phelps 1 IP, 0 R, 3 h, 0 walks and 1 K. Shaky, but his first MLB win. ERA 2.96.  (1-1).

Logan 1 IP, 0 R, 0 h, 0 walks and 3 K. 2.30.

Wade 1/3 IP, 0 r, 0 h, 0 walks and 1 K. 1.59.

Soriano the 9th. Save #2. 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks, 1 k. ERA 2.57.

Jeter got hit 3143 to pass Yount.

A-Rod three hits, but it’s interesting to see the O’s play him as if he were Jeter. Not for power, and not to pull. Playing him to hit singles to RF.

The Yanks (20-15) won despite going 1-11 with RISP and stranding 10.

Robertson has been out with a sore rib cage. Sheesh.

A win tonight. We will see how this M*A*S*H* unit is tomorrow.

 

Game 32. Kuroda, Ibanez lead Yanks, 6-2.

Hiroki Kuroda outdueled King Felix as the Yanks won 6-2.

Jesus Montero did HR in his return to the Bronx.

Kuroda gave up a leadoff HR to Dustin Ackley in the first, but an RBI single by Robbie Cano in the bottom half of the inning tied it up. Cano is finally starting to heat up. His 4 for 4 tonight upped his average to .308.

It stayed that way until the 6th, when Montero went the other way into the porch for a HR. The Yanks came back in the bottom half on a 3-Run HR by Ibanez (6, 258 career).

In the bottom of the 8th, the Yanks got insurance runs when Andruw Jones hit #4 (424 career) to make it 6-2.

Kuroda went 7, (3-4), 2 R, 6 H, 3 walks and 2 K. ERA 3.56.

Girardi then mixed and matched.

Rapada 1/3, a groundout. 4.15.

Wade 1/3, groundout. 1.20.

Logan 2/3, 2 K, 1 hit. 2.02.

Robertson 2/3. Flyout, groundout 2.51.

Jeter hit 3139.

Game 30. D-Rob blows it in the 9th, Yanks lose 4-1.

You don’t know what would have happened had Mo come in to go for the save in the 9th inning.  Usually Mo is money.

But Mo isn’t here for the rest of the year.

Instead, it was David Robertson, with a 1-0 lead. Robertson came into that inning with an ERA of 0.00. You knew that wouldn’t last. No one is perfect, and Robertson wasn’ t tonight. Two hits and a walk and the bases were loaded. He got the K, but then a SF tied the game. You hoped he’d hold it there.

Nope. A 3-run HR. His first (obviously) of this season. In 66 2/3 innings last year, do you know how many HR Robertson gave up? ONE.

You hoped the kid (David Phelps) would get the win in his second MLB start. It would be his first MLB win. He ran into trouble in the first but got out of a bases loaded jam.

Then in the bottom of the first, Jeter singled (3138) and Cano doubled him in.

That’s where it stood for a while. Phelps did well in the second, third and fourth. Then in the fifth he got two outs and had an 0-2 count on the batter. One strike away from being eligible for the W. But a double on that 0-2 pitch followed by two walks forced Phelps from the game. No possible W for the rookie. Boone Logan came in with the bases loaded and got the out and out of the inning. You were pulling for the kid, but Girardi has to do what is right for the team.

Phelps 4 2/3, 0 R , 3 H, 4 walks and 3 K. ERA to 3.08.

Logan 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 2 K. 2.13.

Wade 1 1/3, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 1.23.

Soriano a shaky 8th. 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 1 K … and an error by Cano. 2.25.

Robertson the 9th, and you know what happened.

2/3 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 walk, 1 K. ERA jumps to 2.63. The loss. (0-1).

Rapada 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 4.32.

Game 29. Ibanez 2 HR leads Yanks, 5-3.

Raul Ibanez had 2 HR and 3 RBI, and Curtis Granderson added a solo shot as the Yanks held on to beat the Rays 5-3.

The Yanks got a taste of life without Mo as both Soriano and Robertson staggered in the 8th and 9th before closing it out.

Ivan Nova started and hopefully has started a new streak. The last time out, his loss snapped a 15-game regular season winning streak going back to last year. Nova, 4-1, 5.02 (ERA still ugly) went 7, 2 R both on HR, 6 h, 2 walks, 8 K.

In the 4th, Ibanez hit a 2-run HR to put the Yanks up 2-0. Granderson’s solo shot in the 5th (10) made it 3-0.

Nova gave up a HR to our old buddy Jose Molina in the 6th, then one to Luke Scott in the 7th. 3-2 and here things got hairy.

After the HR to Scott, Nova gave up a walk and a double. 3-2 Yanks, but the Rays had 2nd and 3rd, one out. A short fly couldn’t bring the runner home. Then Nova got the strikeout of the last batter he faced.

Ibanez’ 2nd HR of the game (5; 257 career) in the bottom of the 7th made it 4-2.

The Yanks would need that HR. Soriano came in and gave up a leadoff triple. He then struck out the next two hitters but then drove you nuts by letting in the run anyway on a wild pitch. 4-3. A walk, then another K.

Soriano 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 walk and 3 K. ERA 2.45.

The Yanks got an insurance run in the 8th when Alex singled, went to second on an e-8 by Upton and scored on Teix’s double. 5-3.

Jeter got hit #3137 in the game.

To the 9th. Life without Mo. Robertson in. GO, walk, single. K. Walk. Bases loaded, tying run on 2nd. Pena up. K. Nothing like making it interesting.

Robertson 1 IP, 0 R (ERA 0.00), 1 hit, 2 walks and 2 K.

Yanks go to 16-13.

Congrats to Josh Hamilton. 5 for 5, double, a record-tying 4 HR, 8 RBI. I couldn’t even do that in wiffle ball.

Game 26. CC stops losing streak. 6-2 Yanks.

This is why CC gets the bucks. To be the ace. To be the stopper. To go deep into ballgames.

It was a rough beginning, but then CC settled in.

Jeter got a hit, then Teix hit a 2-run HR (#5) in the first. 2-0 Yanks. With 2 rbi last night, hopefully Teix is heating up. The Yanks need it, for even with the win tonight, the 14-12 Yanks still have only 1 HR and 4 RBI from Cano.

CC gave the lead right back in the bottom of the first. 2-2.

It stayed that way into the seventh. Cano singled, and with two out, Nunez broke a long hitless drought with a triple. Stewart singled (how bad is it that Stewart has as many RBI as Cano?) and Jeter hit a two-run HR (#245 of career) to make it 6-2. Put it another way. How bad is it that Jeter has more HR (5) than Cano has RBI (4)?

Jeter is at .404. His two hits take him to 3134, seven behind Tony Gwynn on the all-time list.

DeWayne Wise got a PH double filling in for Nix later in the game. Nix is 0 for 6 as a Yank. As for Wise, welcome to the Yanks.

CC went 8, 2 R, 7 h, 0 walks and 5 K. He goes to 4-0, but the ERA is still a bit high at 4.15.

MLB.com suggested that Soriano would replace Mo as closer. I differ. Robertson. Granted it wasn’t a save situation tonight with the four-run lead, but D-Rob had a 1-2-3 ninth, all by K.

He’s my guy for the ninth. It could be that Girardi alternates between the two.

Game 25. Anticlimactic after Mo. Middle of lineup woes continue in 4-3 loss.

After Mo’s injury, this is hard to write.

The Yanks fall to 13-12 tonight. What the future holds without Rivera, who knows. MLB talked about Soriano becoming the closer. Me? I prefer Robertson. What have THEY been watching lately? Sometimes, we fans/bloggers know more than they do. Give me D-Rob now.

But as I wrote about in the past couple of days, the middle of the Yankees’ lineup, namely Teix and Cano, are killing the Yankees, and there isn’t anything Girardi and Cashman can do about that right now.

I saw some encouraging things tonight in the 4-3 loss. For one thing, David Phelps, who lost (0-1, 3.74) is a battler. He threw too many pitches and could not go too far, but 4 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 0 walks and 5 K wasn’t too bad. Better than what we have seen from Garcia or Hughes. I would certainly give him another start and hope that he lasts longer.

Rapada 1/3, 1 R, 0 H, 1 walk, 1 K.

D.J. Mitchell couldn’t get out of the fifth when he had two outs. This and something else, helped lead to the loss tonight. 2-1 KC, man on first, two out, and Mitchell couldn’t get out of the inning. Next thing you know, it is 4-1.

The Yanks’ run in the 3d was on doubles by Jeter and Teix.

Down 4-1 in the sixth, a SF by Nunez. 4-3.

Teix SF in the seventh. 4-3.

Jeter was 4 for 5 tonight. Hits total to 3132, 9 behind Tony Gwynn. Yes, Teix had 2 RBI, but came up little later.

I hate to dump on Robbie Cano, but how can I not? He left six on tonight. 25 games in, just 4 RBI. He HAS to be dumped on.

Cano: Two on, two out in the first. He whiffs. Two on, two out in the third, grounds into a force. Two on, two out in the seventh. A groundout.

The Yanks lost by one run tonight. THREE times, Cano came up, two on, two out, and did nothing.

Four RBI in 25 games don’t lie. You want to point fingers? Are mad the Yanks are 13-12? Besides Hughes and Garcia, point at Cano.

And not only him. For in the 9th, Jeter and Granderson got on. Two on, no outs. Down 4-3. Teix GIDP, A-Rod out on a slow tapper.

You have a leadoff hitter hitting .404. And while Jeter has been incredible, Cano, Alex and Teix have 27 RBI—combined—in 25 games.

13 hits tonight. Heck, Jones got 3. Martin got 2. Two guys under the Mendoza line. NO key hits. Against KC.

Phelps 4 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 0 walks, 5 K. 0-1, 3.74
Rapada 1/3 1 R, 0 h, 1 walk, 1 K. 4.70
Mitchell 1 2/3, 1 R, 2 h, 1 walk, 0 k. 3.38
Logan 1 IP. 0 R, 0 h, 0 walk and 0 k. 0.87
Soriano 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walk and 0 K. 2.00.

Over the course of a season, you would want A-Rod, Cano and Teix to team up for, say, 330 RBI (110 apiece over 162 games). That is 2.04 RBI/game from the three of them combined.

Now? 25 games. 29 RBI. 1.16 from them. Combined.

Yes, Phelps only went four. But still, even without Mo, this is a game they can, and SHOULD win.

Cano. 4 RBI in 25 games. That is Buddy Harrelson like, and that is all you need to know.

Rivera injured during BP

A note the other day said it’s been nine years since the durable Mariano Rivera went on the DL.

They must have jinxed him.

I hope it isn’t what I fear it may be.

Mo was injured shagging flies during BP. He was carted off the field, putting no weight on his right leg.

I’m hoping it’s a sprained right knee, and not a possibly (at his age, 42) career-ending ACL injury.

We’ll find out more later. But it didn’t look good.

MLB states Soriano would close. I’m not too sure about that. I’d use Robertson.

Updates as they become available.

 

Game 22. Kuroda, Chavez guide Yanks 2-1 win.

Hiroki Kuroda followed a strong but losing Texas outing with a winning outing against Baltimore, and Eric Chavez provided all the Yankees offense in a 2-1 Yankees win tonight that pushed the Yanks record to 13-9.

The Orioles got a SF in the top of the 2nd off Kuroda for a run, but the Yanks got 2 in the bottom half of the inning on a 2-run HR by Chavez. Chavez’ 3rd HR of the year already surpasses the total he had last year.

…and that was all she wrote. Kuroda got into trouble in the 7th. Markasis singled, a flyout, a HBP. A WP. 2-1 Yanks, top of the 7th, 2nd and 3rd, one out. Kuroda got a much needed K. Then a WP that didn’t get too far away. Martin fed Kuroda for the out at the plate and then it was D-Rob and Mo time.

Which meant the O’s got nothing.

Kuroda 7 IP (2-3, 3.69, ERA the best so far, 1 R, 4 H, 1 walk and 3 K).

Robertson a 1-2-3, ALL by Strikeout. 0.00.

#608 for the Great one. A GO, a single, a DP. Mo’s ERA, after that horrible first game, is where we expect it. Save #5 leaves Mo’s ERA at 2.16.

Not much offense tonight outside of Chavez, but the pitching is what we want. 7 strong by Kuroda after 8 from CC yesterday.

That is more like it.  

Game 21. CC steps up in Yankees 6-2 win.

The Yanks needed a good outing from their ace. They needed innings. They needed CC to be ace-like, just to save the overtaxed bullpen.

The Yankee starters coming into this game were terrible. Only Kuroda had an ERA less than 5.00. Even CC was at a 5.27.

CC came through. 8 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 walks and 8 K. The only mistakes were a HR to his ex-teammate, Prince Fielder, and an RBI double by Miguel Cabrera. He goes to 3-0, but his ERA is still high at 4.58.

For much of the game, it appeared like the Yankees would squander CC’s great game. For the game, the Yanks stranded 15.

A gift call (was it strike three?) on Jeter helped the Yanks to two in the second—an inning which saw two infield hits. Granderson walked with the bases loaded, and A-Rod’s infield hit (Jeter had the other one) accounted for the other run.

Granderson hit HR #8 in the fourth, a drive that Austin Jackson almost snared.

With the score 3-2 Yanks in the seventh, they broke it open. Alex got an RBI groundout, RBI #1904 of his career, enabling him to pass Willie Mays on the all-time list. Cano finally got his fourth RBI of the season (enabling him to pass, of all people, Chris Stewart) to make it 5-2.

In the eighth, Andruw Jones, who replaced Swisher (tight hammy), hit HR #3, #423 of his career. 6-2.

Robertson pitched the ninth. 1-2-3 with 2 K and his ERA remains at 0.00.

The Yanks go to 12-9. Jeter’s 2 infield hits put him now at 3124 career hits.

Swisher will have an MRI. I’ll have word on that, a possible DL stint, and a possible callup when the info comes in.

Update per Meredith Marakovits, Twitter (YES network): Low grade strain for Swish. Will be out a few days but no DL as of yet.

Update II from MM: Phelps to take Garcia’s start and stay in the rotation. If he does well, he could stay there. As for Hughes, watch your back. Andy’s coming.

The rotation soon could be CC, Kuroda, Nova, Pettitte and Phelps.