A-Rod ‘fesses up, a tragedy, and Gardner gets surgery.

No surprise to anyone, but A-Rod ‘fessed up to the DEA in January that he was taking PED’s supplied by Biogenesis, with his cousin as the procurer. Then why all the denials, money paid to lawyers, lies, etc. What a waste. Imagine all the money he could have saved, not to mention his reputation, if he had just never done the stuff in the first place.

…and the Yanks have three more years of this guy. Their best bet is that he just retire, but that won’t happen, and the Yanks won’t just release him and eat $61MM. Alex can achieve three major milestones* this year: catching Willie Mays on the all-time HR list, RBI #2000 and hit #3000 but will anyone care? Maybe for all these achievements* they can give him a standing boo.

Sad news. Brad “Admiral” Halsey, who pitched for the Yanks in 2004 and was later included in a deal to net Randy Johnson for the Yanks, died in a recreational climibing accident. He was just 33.

Brett Gardner had surgery to repair a core muscle near his ribcage which hampered him at the end of the season.

 

Game 155. Gardner gets 15000th team HR in 5-2 win.

Brett Gardner hit the 15,000th HR in Yankees history, Brian McCann added two more, and Masahiro Tanaka got a win in his return from the DL (Chaz Roe was DFA’d) as the Yanks beat Toronto 5-2 on Sunday.

Mickey Mantle got HR #5000, Claudell Washington #10000 and now Brett Gardner #15000 in Yankees history.

For the fourth straight game, Derek Jeter got two hits. He came into the home stand on a bad slump, but in the last home stand of his career, has put together some nice games. He had two hits today, including an RBI double, raised his average to .255, and now has 3459 hits for his career. It was his fourth straight two-hit game, all on his final home stand.

Tanaka, limited in his # of pitches due to just coming off the DL, went 5 1/3 and looked, well, like TANAKA. 1 R, 5 H, 0 walks and 4 K. He improved to 13-4, 2.47. If only for those 10 weeks he missed.

He gave up his only run in the top of the first,  but McCann’s first HR of the game tied it in the bottom half of the inning.

Gardner’s 17th HR of the season (and who thought he’d hit THAT many this year?) made it 2-1 in the fifth, and the HR was the 15,000th in Yankees history. They are the first team to hit 15,000 HR in their history.

The Yankees got 3 in the 7th on doubles by Gardner and Jeter and McCann’s 2nd HR of the game. McCann’s 22nd HR gave him the team lead. With Ellsbury out, McCann’s 3 RBI gave him 71 for the season, and the team lead there as well.

Dellin Betances gave up a run in the 8th.

After Tanaka left,

Warren 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 3 K. 3.07

Betances 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks and 1 K. 1.42.

David Robertson picked up his 38th save. 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk and 1 K. 2.79.

The win put the Yanks 2 up on the Jays for 2nd place in the AL East at 80-75. Two more victories means a winning season. They haven’t had a non-winning season since 1992. They may still win less games than last year, when they won 85.

They are 4 1/2 out of the last wild card spot with just 7 games to go and must jump three teams. An almost impossible task to accomplish.

Game 151. Yanks edge Rays, 3-2.

The Yanks won 3-2 Wednesday night as Derek Jeter finally got hit #3451. Before the hit, Jeter was in an 0 for 28 skid.

Brandon McCarthy (W, 10-14, overall ERA 3.93; 7-4 as a Yankee, ERA 2.54 (great pickup) ) went 7, 2 R, 4 H, 1 walk and 4 K.

Dellin Betances set a new mark for strikeouts by a Yankees’ reliever, surpassing the 130 Mariano Rivera set in 1996 when Mo set up John Wetteland.

Betances, 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk and 2 K. 1.33.

David Robertson got his 37th save, 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 2 K. 2.88.

Chase Headley and Brendan Ryan both made excellent defensive plays and had RBI doubles in the game in the fifth inning. I can see the Yanks bringing back Headley (who is a free agent) to play 3B next year, with Prado at 2B. Refsnyder may begin the year at AAA. As for Pirela, he could become a free agent and the Yanks could lose him. If Headley is at 3B (and backing up at 1B) A-Rod (remember him?) mostly DHs. Remember A-Rod would be coming back after missing all of 2014, playing only 44 games in 2013 and off of two hip surgeries. The only thing is, if A-Rod DH’s, (he turns 40 in July 2015), then the 38 year old Beltran MUST be healthy enough to play RF and not have to DH.

Brett Gardner just missed a grand slam in the sixth, but did get as SF that proved to be the winning run.

The Rays got a run in the fourth on an Evan Longoria HR before the Yanks two runs in the fifth. They also got another run in the sixth after the Yanks had gone up 3-1.

McCarthy had an “immaculate inning” in the 7th. 3 up, 3 down, all by K and on 9 pitches. Other Yanks to do it were Al Downing in 1967, Ron Guidry in 1984, A.J. Burnett in 2009 and Ivan Nova last year.

The Yanks only had four hits in the game, but improved to 77-74. With the win they moved into a tie for 2nd in the AL East with Toronto. But as far as that final wild card spot goes, they are six back with 11 games to play and need to jump four teams.

Carlos Beltran left the team. Sympathies to him and his family for losing an unborn son.

Game 143. Yanks come back to win 8-5.

Chris Capuano was terrible, getting just one out, but the Yanks came back from a 4-0 first inning deficit to win 8-5.

Capuano got just one out, a strikeout, but gave up 4 R on 4 H and 2 walks. His overall ERA went to 4.90.

The Yanks got one run back in the bottom of the first on a HR by McCann (18).

They got two more in the third on a two-run single by McCann to cut it to 4-3.

Chris Young hit his 9th HR of the year, and first as a Yankee, in the fourth to tie it up.

An Rbi triple (it should have been a double and error) by Teixeira (triple? by Teix?) and rbi single by Headley gave the Yanks two in the fifth to put them up 6-4.

Doubles by Ichiro and Young drove in two in the eighth. McCann had 3 RBI in the game, and Young had 3 hits and 2 RBI.

On the down side, Derek Jeter was 0 for 4 and his average slid to .256. The last five weeks have been tough to watch. It’s proof that yes, it’s time.

After Capuano was knocked out in the first, the pitching line went like this:

Whitley 2 2/3, 0 R, 1 H, 1 walk and 2 K. ERA 5.13.

Claiborne (W, 3-0, 3.20) 2 Ip, 0 R, 2 H. 0 walks and 1 K.

Warren 1 2/3, 0 R, 2 h, 0 walks and 0 K.  3.07.

Betances 1 1/3, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 1 K. 1.39.

Rogers 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 0 K. Overall ERA 4.83.

The win puts the Yanks record at 74-69. They remain in 3rd place in the AL East (forget the division, they are 11 back and Baltimore’s magic # for clinching is down to 8). As far as the last wild card spot is concerned, they are 4 1/2 back with 19 to play.

Even if a miracle occurred and the Yanks did make the playoffs, the news isn’t good. While Masahiro Tanaka continued to progress in pitching a simulated game and there is a chance he may pitch in one or two games before the season is out, it is looking more and more like Brett Gardner will be shut down for rest of the year with an abdominal strain. Carlos Beltran’s elbow is acting up again. It looks like he’ll need offseason surgery, but can it hold up for 19 more games? It’s looking like the answer may be no and he may be shut down for the year. Martin Prado’s hamstring is preventing him from playing.

 

Game 137. McCann, Kuroda, lead Yanks, 5-1.

Brian McCann went 4 for 4 with a HR and 3 RBI, and Hiroki Kuroda pitched seven strong innings as the Yanks defeated Boston Wednesday night, 5-1.

The win puts the Yanks at 71-66 and keeps them 9 1/2 behind Baltimore and in second place in the AL East. They are four games out of the second wild card spot with 25 games to go.

After the Yanks botched up a double steal, getting both runners eventually thrown out (Jeter and Gardner) in the first inning, McCann hit a 2-run HR (17) in the second to put the Yanks up 2-0.

Jacoby Ellsbury’s SF in the 5th made it 3-0. Boston scored their only run off Kuroda in the sixth to cut it to 3-1.

Kuroda (W, 10-8, 3.78) went 7, 1 R, 4 H, 0 hits and 8 K. He hit one batter.

Dellin Betances the 8th. 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 2 K. 1.44.

David Robertson the 9th. 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 2 K. 2.92.

The Yanks got two in the seventh on a triple by Ellsbury, walk to Jeter and single by Gardner for one run. After a forceout and a walk to Teixeira, McCann singled to make it 5-1.

Derek Jeter got one hit, #3447, as he heads into the final games of his career.

 

Game 136. Yanks lose 3rd straight, 9-4.

Things aren’t looking good. The Yanks lost their third straight game, 9-4. Shane Greene didn’t have it, getting knocked out in the third inning.

The loss puts the Yanks at 70-66, 9 1/2 behind Baltimore in the division. The Yanks are still in second place, but are five out of the final wild card spot with just 26 games left.

The Yanks announced that starting on Sunday, they will be wearing a logo on their caps and uniforms honoring Derek Jeter. Unfortunately, it’s looking more and more like Jeter’s last season will be like Pettitte’s and Rivera’s—one with no postseason.

Greene went 2 2/3, 6 R, 6 H, 3 walks and 3 K in falling to 4-2, 3.88. The Yanks were down 6-0 after just 2 1/2 innings and couldn’t battle back.

You probably thought you’d never see Brett Gardner hitting third, but that is where he was in the lineup last night. He struck out three times and was ejected after the third strikeout when he vehemently argued the call.

Esmiel Rogers 1 2/3, 1 R, 3 h, 1 walk, 1 K. Overall ERA 5.11.

Hill 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 2 K. Overall ERA 3.00.

Warren 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 3 K. 3.29.

Huff 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 1 K. Overall ERA 3.71.

Chaz Roe made his Yankees’ debut. 1 IP, 2 R (1 unearned), 2 H, 2 walks, 2 K. 9.00.

Martin Prado (10th overall) and Brian McCann (16) homered for the Yanks.

Derek Jeter got hit #3446 of his career.

Chris Young made his Yankees’ debut.

Update: Added to roster: C-JR Murphy. OF-C.Young, A.Richardson. P-R.Hill, C.Roe, B.Mitchell, P.Claiborne, C.Whitley,; Daley released, Almonte DFA’d. Prado injured a hammy in last night’s game.

Game 135. Another painful loss, 4-3.

The Yanks had a 3-0 lead entering the bottom of the sixth in Toronto. Brandon McCarthy was working on a two-hit shutout.

Then the game slipped away. McCarthy got two outs but then gave up back-to-back HRs to Melky Cabrera and Juan Bautista to make it 3-2. He then got out of the inning.

Instead of pulling him, manager Joe Girardi left him in for the seventh. Mistake. Edwin Encarnacion homered to tie the game and McCarthy walked the next batter. Dellin Betances got two strikeouts, but in the interim, the runner stole second. Betances then gave up a single which turned out to be the game-winning hit before getting another strikeout to finish the inning.

Toronto won 4-3. The loss puts the Yanks 9 back of Baltimore in the division with just 27 games to play. Worse yet, it knocks the 70-65 Yanks 3 1/2 games out of the last wild card spot and now to get there they would need to pass three teams—Cleveland, Seattle and Detroit.

Brett Gardner led off the game with a HR (16). The Yanks got a run in the fourth on a Cervelli single and another in the fifth when Gardner (who missed the cycle by just a single) tripled and scored on a throwing error.

McCarthy went 6+, 4 R, 5 H (but 3 were HR), 2 walks and 4 K. He falls to 8-14, 4.19 overall, 5-4, 2.80 as a Yankee.

Betances 2 IP, 0 R, 2 h, 0 walks and 4 K. 1.46.

The Yanks are off today.

Derek Jeter got hit #3445 of his career, but has been slumping lately. 16 for his last 85.

The Yanks did make a minor move, acquiring pitcher Chaz Roe.