Yankees Offense Scores a Month of Sundays

Mike Mussina and the rest of the Yankees pitching staff must have been in shock yesterday as one Yankees runner after another came across home plate. The Yankees scored more runs on Sunday than they had in their previous five games combined, and beat the Kansas City Royals 15-6. In winning their first series of the month, the Bombers finally lived up to their nickname, banging out 15 hits to help Mike Mussina win his 16th game of the season.

It's the most wins in a season for Mussina- who started the game by giving up three quick runs in the first inning- since he earned 17 victories in 2003. Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Xavier Nady, and Cody Ransom each went deep as the Yankees pounded Royals starter Brian Bannister and the KC pen.

The Yankees wasted no time in immediately erasing the 3-0 deficit in the first inning. After Johnny Damon singled and Derek Jeter reached on a walk, A-Rod drilled a Bannister delivery into Monument Park for a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Nady belted a solo shot off the foul screen in right for a 4-0 advantage.

The Yankees ended up hitting for the cycle in the inning as Robinson Cano singled and scored on a Jose Molina double, and Molina came home on Brett Gardner's triple. Bannister finally retired Damon on a fly out to end the inning.

The Yankees didn't let up in the second inning, belting Bannister for four more runs. After a single by Jeter, the first of four hits by him on the day, and walks to Bobby Abreu and A-Rod, Giambi unloaded a grand slam into the right field seats for a 10-3 lead. When Nady and Cano followed with singles, Royals skipper Trey Hillman mercifully pulled Bannister from the game.

The game didn't start off on a good note though. You could hear the sounds of "here we go again" as the Royals flared and grounded their way on base against Mussina in the first inning. David DeJesus, Mark Teahen, and Jose Guillen singled to load the bases with one out. Billy Butler doubled to left to score a pair of runs and Alex Gordon's fly to deep center field brought home another runner for a 3-0 Royals advantage.

The Royals looked like they would come right back from the 6-3 deficit when John Buck started the second with a double and moved to third on Estaban German's single. But Mussina retired DeJesus on a shallow fly, and got Mike Aviles to bounce into an inning-ending double play. After that Mussina breezed, retiring the side in order over the next four innings before turning things over to Billy Traber and the bullpen.


News and Notes

Leading 13-3 in the seventh inning, Ransom hit his first Yankee home run in his first at-bat as a Yankee. He got a curtain call from the fans, which included his family. He also got the ball back from a fan in exchange for a bat. It was his first major league home run since September 16, 2007.

Mike Mussina's win was the 266th of his career, tying him with Hall of Fame members Eppa Rixey and Bob Feller for 35th place on the all-time wins list. Mussina will need two more wins to catch Orioles great and Hall of Fame member, Jim Palmer.

Hideki Matsui is expected to be activated for Tuesday's game with Toronto.

Joe Girardi conceded that the Yankees will need to call up a starter for Sunday's game with Baltimore, but did not say who it would be. Phil Hughes got knocked around for Scranton yesterday, while Carl Pavano pitched well for Trenton. Here's to hoping they select Hughes, or anyone rather than Pavano.

Derek Jeter was 9-14 in the series and is 12-19 over his last four games. His .295 average is the highest it has been since May 23.

August 17, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Kansas City	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2		6	10	1
NY Yankees	6	4	1	0	0	0	4	0	X		15	17	0

Kansas City	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
DeJesus, CF-LF	5	2	2	0	0	1	3	.293
Aviles, M, SS-2B	4	1	1	1	0	1	2	.317
Teahen, LF-RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.249
Guillen, RF	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	.253
b-Maier, PH-CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.345
Butler, DH	4	0	1	2	0	1	0	.266
Gordon, 3B	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	.255
Gload, 1B	4	1	2	2	0	0	1	.272
Buck, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.220
German, 2B	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.226
a-Pena, PH-SS	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	.162
Totals	35	6	10	6	1	7	10
a-Grounded out for German in the 7th. b-Grounded out for Guillen in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Butler (16, Mussina), Buck (20, Mussina). HR: Gload (3, 9th inning off Britton, 1 on, 1 out). TB: DeJesus 2; Aviles, M; Guillen; Butler 2; Gload 5; Buck 2; German; Pena. RBI: Butler 2 (41), Gordon (51), Aviles, M (32), Gload 2 (33). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gload. SF: Gordon. GIDP: Aviles, M. Team LOB: 4. FIELDING E: Buck (6, throw). DP: 2 (German-Gload, German-Aviles, M-Gload).

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, DH-LF	4	2	0	0	2	1	2	.313
Jeter, SS	4	3	4	0	0	0	0	.295
Betemit, SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.261
Abreu, RF	3	2	1	1	2	0	4	.289
Christian, RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	3	3	5	2	0	0	.313
Traber, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Britton, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Giambi, 1B	4	1	1	4	0	1	3	.251
a-Ransom, PH-3B	1	1	1	2	0	0	0	1.000
Nady, LF-1B	4	1	2	1	1	0	0	.327
Cano, 2B	5	1	2	0	0	1	1	.266
Molina, C	5	1	1	1	0	0	3	.227
Gardner, CF	5	0	2	1	0	0	1	.192
Totals	38	15	17	15	7	3	14
a-Homered for Giambi in the 7th.
BATTING 2B: Molina (17, Bannister), Abreu (31, Fulchino). 3B: Gardner (1, Bannister). HR: Rodriguez, A (28, 1st inning off Bannister, 2 on, 1 out), Nady (20, 1st inning off Bannister, 0 on, 2 out), Giambi (24, 2nd inning off Bannister, 3 on, 0 out), Ransom (1, 7th inning off Fulchino, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Jeter 4; Abreu 2; Rodriguez, A 6; Giambi 4; Ransom 4; Nady 5; Cano 2; Molina 2; Gardner 4. RBI: Rodriguez, A 5 (77), Nady (75), Molina (13), Gardner (9), Giambi 4 (72), Abreu (80), Ransom 2 (2). 2-out RBI: Nady; Molina; Gardner; Rodriguez, A 2; Abreu; Ransom 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Damon; Gardner; Giambi 2. GIDP: Abreu. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Damon (21, 2nd base off Bannister/Buck), Jeter (9, 2nd base off Bannister/Buck). FIELDING DP: (Jeter-Cano-Giambi).

Kansas City	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bannister (L, 7-12)	1.0	10	10	10	3	0	3	5.96
Newman	4.0	3	1	1	4	1	0	7.36
Fulchino	3.0	4	4	4	0	2	1	10.24

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 16-7)	6.0	6	3	3	0	5	0	3.35
Traber	2.0	2	1	1	0	1	0	5.65
Britton	1.0	2	2	2	1	1	1	4.63

Bannister pitched to 6 batters in the 2nd.

WP: Traber.
HBP: Jeter (by Fulchino).
Pitches-strikes: Bannister 65-37, Newman 67-37, Fulchino 41-26,
Mussina 97-67, Traber 23-16, Britton 24-17.
Ground outs-fly outs: Bannister 1-2, Newman 2-7, Fulchino 4-3,
Mussina 9-4, Traber 4-1, Britton 0-2.
Batters faced: Bannister 16, Newman 16, Fulchino 14,
Mussina 23, Traber 8, Britton 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Newman 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Laz Diaz. 1B: Scott Barry.
2B: Kerwin Danley. 3B: Wally Bell.
Weather: 80 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 7 mph, Out to LF.
T: 3:07.
Att: 54,114.

Share

The Sunday Yankeeland - 7/27

New title, what the heck.

In case you missed yesterday's roster moves, Brett Gardner was optioned to Scranton and LaTroy Hawkins was, at last, designated for assignment. Justin Christian will now serve as the extra outfielder and pinch-runner.

The Yankees also had to make room on the 40-man roster and they did so by putting Kei Igawa on waivers. Unfortunately, no one claimed him.

Carl Pavano threw batting practice yesterday and is scheduled to pitch for the GCL Yankees on Tuesday.

Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star is reporting that the Yankees are taking a serious look at starting pitcher Brian Bannister. Bannister pitched well last year and started out '08 in the same manner, but currently has a 5+ ERA. The Royals are reportedly interested in Melky Cabrera, which really doesn't make a lot of sense for their team.

Melky's been a big disappointment at the plate this season, but we wouldn't mess with the outfield defense right now, nor with Robinson Cano's psyche by trading his best friend. If you want to upgrade the offense in center field, wait until the off-season.

The Yankees could end up souring on Jarrod Washburn due to reported monetary demands he's making to waive his no-trade clause. According to the Seattle Times, Washburn and agent Scott Boras worked out scenarios as rumors began to fly that he would be dealt. Washburn is already set to make 10.9 mill next year.

Goose Gossage, at long last, getes inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame today.

The Boston Globe has a piece on today's starter Sidney Ponson and the happiness he has found in Pinstripes.

One of our fave's, Mike Vaccaro, has a feature on the Yankees put the pedal to the metal.

Share

Yankees vs. Royals - June 6

The Yankees just need to look back to April 19, 2007 to realize they better not let down this weekend. On that date, Alex Rodriguez capped a 3-run comeback with a walk-off 3-run home run off the Indians Joe Borowski for an improbable (we like that word) 8-6 win. Then the Yankees went to Boston and got swept in a 3-game series by the Red Sox. There's no comparison between the Red Sox and Royals, but you see what we are driving at. Build off the victory, don't get buried under it.

The Yankees already loss 2 of 3 to the Royals in April, scoring just 2 runs total in the 2 losses. The Royals have gone through some struggles since then. They were just swept by the White Sox in a 3-game series and have lost 15 of their last 17 games. The bullpen, once dominant, is now a mess with injuries and struggles.

The series opens tonight with Darrell Rasner (3-2, 2.67), coming off his only bad outing of the season, going against right-hander Kyle Davies (1-0, 1.80). Davies has made just one start this season, a 5 inning stint in which he helped stopped the Royals 12 game skid. He's only faced the Yankees once in his career and was tagged for 5 earned runs in 3 innings pitched.

Saturday's game pits Andy Pettitte (5-5, 4.21) against Brian Bannister (5-6, 4.60) in a battle of inconsistent starters. Bannister has faced the Yankees just twice, going 1-1, 8.10.

Joba Chamberlain (1-2, 2.42) will make his 2nd start on Sunday against Zach Grienke (5-3, 3.56), who was the winning pitcher in the Royals 4-0 victory on April. Grienke is 2-2, 6.10 in 8 career appearances, 5 of them starts, against the Yankees, who selected his brother Luke in today's amateur draft rounds.

The series wraps up on Monday with Mike Mussina (9-4, 4.01) going against youngster Luke Hochevar (3-5, 5.13), who is making his 11th big league start. He threw 3.1 scoreless innings in his one career relief appearance against the Yankees.

Yankees vs. Davies

Abreu 1-4 1 HR 2 RBI
Betemit 3-4 2 HR 5 RBI
Cabrera 0-2
Cano 1-2
Damon 2-4
Jeter 2-2
Matsui 1-1
Moeller 0-1
Posada 0-2
A-Rod 1-1 1 HR 3 RBI

Jose Guillen is the only KC Royal to face Rasner, going 0-4.

LaTroy Hawkins 3-game suspension was upheld by MLB.

Share

Royals Phil'et Hughes

Today went from bad to worse for the Yankees. The day started out with rainy, cold weather, the latter remaining throughout this afternoon's contest. Then came word that Derek Jeter would miss at least the entire Royals series and could still land on the DL. Phil Hughes then went out and was God awful, and didn't make it out of the 4th inning. To top on the things off, on the heels of a 5-2 loss, the Yankees announced they were sending Jorge Posada for an MRI on his sore right shoulder.

Aprils in recent years have not been kind to the Yankees. They have won just 44 of 93 contests in April (incl. 2 games in March in '04) over the last 4 seasons. This year's 4-4 start would indicate more of the same. And just as happened last season, key players are off to miserable starts.

These Yankees batting averages read as follows after today's game:

Johnny Damon .200
Derek Jeter .208
Robinson Cano .188
Jason Giambi .071
Jorge Posada .176
Wilson Betemit .154

Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera, and Alex Rodriguez have hit the ball well, though A-Rod's golden sombrero in today's game dropped his average 44 points (.276).

There's going to be growing pains with young pitching, as already evidenced by Ian Kennedy's performance against Tampa Bay on Friday and Phil Hughes' start today. Whether the cold weather had an affect remains to be seen, but Hughes never had "it" today.

Joey Gathright singled to lead off the ball game and stole the first of three bases on the day. One batter later he came home on Mark Teahen's double. The Yankees gave Hughes the lead in the 2nd on an RBI single by Betemit and a bases loaded walk to Damon, but Hughes gave it right back again.

Alex Gordon lead off with a single and advanced to 2nd when Abreu over ran the ball in right. A ground out and John Buck's sac fly tied the game. Hughes issued back-to-back two out walks in the 3rd to load the bases before escaping the jam. He wouldn't be so lucky in the 4th.

Gathright singled, stole 2nd and 3rd, and came home on Mark Grudzielanek's single. That spelled the end of the day before the young right-hander, who lost his first game of the season. Ross Ohlendorf pitched impressively to prevent further damage in the inning, but he let the game get away in the 5th, giving up a 2-run single to Ross Gload.

The Yankees had Royals starter Brian Bannister on the ropes for most of his 5 innings, but couldn't deliver the knock out blow. After scoring the 2 runs in the 2nd inning, Robinson Cano stuck out with the bases loaded to end the threat. The pitch was well out of the strike zone, an issue that remains a problem for the 2nd Baseman.

Singles by Abreu and Matsui gave the Yankees a chance with one out in the third, but Posada flied out and Giambi grounded out. Bannister allowed just one base runner over the next two innings before turning things over to the bullpen.

Veteran Ron Mahay got himself in a jam by allowing a walk to Jason Giambi and a two out single to Melky Cabrera in the 6th, but Damon struck out. Then the Royals young, hard throwers (Ramon Ramirez, Luis Nunez, Joakim Soria) came in, and the Yankees were toast.

News and Notes

Ever day, in every way, we are less and less impressed with Wilson Betemit. He can't hit right-handed at all and barely hits from the left side. He also dropped two throws today that might have caught would-be base stealers.

Apparently the Yankees can't handle anyone with the name Wilson, whether it be first or last. Think Enrique and Craig.

The only bright spots on the day were scoreless innings tossed by Billy Traber and LaTroy Hawkins.

The Royals have now won their last 2 home openers. Last season they pounded Curt Schilling and the Red Sox. There's a phrase we always like seeing in writing.

The Royals were successful in 5 of 6 steal attempts. Time to get Phil Hughes working on a slide step.

We're now going to take a big swig of Listerine in hopes of washing this game out of our mouths and our memories.

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	0	1	1	2	0	2	.200
Cano, 2B	5	0	1	0	0	2	5	.188
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.379
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	4	2	.276
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	.357
Posada, C	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	.176
Molina, C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.286
Giambi, 1B	2	1	0	0	2	1	2	.071
Betemit, SS	4	0	1	1	0	3	1	.154
Cabrera, CF	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.294
Totals	33	2	7	2	5	11	17
BATTING TB: Damon; Cano; Abreu; Matsui; Posada; Betemit; Cabrera. RBI: Betemit (1), Damon (1). 2-out RBI: Betemit; Damon. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano 2; Giambi; Damon. GIDP: Abreu. Team LOB: 9. FIELDING E: Abreu (1, fielding). DP: (Cano-Betemit-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hughes (L, 0-1)	3.0	6	3	3	4	2	0	5.00
Ohlendorf	3.0	4	2	2	0	3	0	3.86
Traber	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Hawkins	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	15.75

Kansas City	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gathright, CF	4	2	2	0	0	1	1	.214
Grudzielanek, 2B	4	0	2	1	1	0	1	.417
1-German, PR-2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Teahen, LF	4	0	2	1	1	1	4	.296
Guillen, RF	5	0	0	0	0	2	4	.138
Butler, DH	4	1	2	0	0	1	2	.414
Gordon, 3B	4	2	2	0	0	1	1	.300
Gload, 1B	3	0	2	2	1	0	1	.360
Buck, C	2	0	0	1	1	1	1	.200
Pena, SS	3	0	0	0	1	1	4	.048
Totals	33	5	12	5	5	8	19
1-Ran for Grudzielanek in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Teahen 2 (3, Hughes, Ohlendorf), Gordon (2, Ohlendorf). TB: Gathright 2; Grudzielanek 2; Teahen 4; Butler 2; Gordon 3; Gload 2. RBI: Teahen (3), Buck (4), Grudzielanek (2), Gload 2 (2). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Butler 2; Teahen 2; Pena 2; Gathright; Guillen. SF: Buck. GIDP: Teahen. Team LOB: 11. BASERUNNING SB: Gload (1, 2nd base off Traber/Molina), Gathright 3 (5, 2nd base off Hughes/Posada, 2nd base off Hughes/Posada, 3rd base off Hughes/Posada), Pena (1, 2nd base off Hughes/Posada). CS: Gload (2, 3rd base by Traber/Molina). FIELDING DP: (Grudzielanek-Pena-Gload).

Kansas City	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bannister (W, 2-0)	5.0	5	2	2	4	6	0	1.50
Mahay (H, 2)	1.1	2	0	0	1	2	0	1.93
Ramirez (H, 2)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Nunez (H, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Soria (S, 4)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

Hughes pitched to 2 batters in the 4th.

HBP: Gathright (by Hughes).
Pitches-strikes: Hughes 87-47, Ohlendorf 36-23, Traber 13-8, Hawkins 14-9, Bannister 97-58, Mahay 31-18, Ramirez 11-7, Nunez 13-9, Soria 14-10.
Ground outs-fly outs: Hughes 3-4, Ohlendorf 4-2, Traber 0-0, Hawkins 2-0, Bannister 6-3, Mahay 0-2, Ramirez 0-1, Nunez 0-1, Soria 1-2.
Batters faced: Hughes 20, Ohlendorf 12, Traber 3, Hawkins 5, Bannister 23, Mahay 7, Ramirez 2, Nunez 3, Soria 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Ohlendorf 1-0, Ramirez 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mark Wegner. 1B: Chad Fairchild. 2B: Rick Reed. 3B: Jeff Kellogg.
Weather: 46 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 10 mph, L to R.
T: 3:15.
Att: 37,296.

Share

Yankees vs. Royals - April 8

Here are this afternoon's lineups:

NY Yankees
Damon, LF
Cano, 2B
Abreu, RF
Rodriguez, 3B
Matsui, DH
Posada, C
Giambi, 1B
Betemit, SS
Cabrera, CF Hughes P

Kansas City
Gathright, CF
Grudzielanek, 2B
Teahen, LF
Guillen, RF
Butler, DH
Gordon, 3B
Gload, 1B
Buck, C
Pena, SS Bannister P

Word is that Derek Jeter will miss the entire series. Hopefully he'll be ready for the Red Sox this weekend.

Now lets grit our teeth and try to make it through a Sterling-Waldman broadcast.

Share

Going to Kansas City

The Yankees open up a 3-game series in Kansas City today with a 4:10 p.m. EDT start. The game is the Royals home opener after going 4-2 on the road to start the season. Phil Hughes is opposed by former Met, Brian Bannister in today's opener.

The Royals have a new skipper, Trey Hillman, who worked at one time in the Yankees organization and was briefly mentioned during last Fall's managerial hunt. Hillman had great success in Japan and his enthusiasm and dedication is expected to help improve the Royals ball club.

It was raining earlier today in KC, but it's not supposed to effect today's ball game. As expected Derek Jeter is out of the lineup, though he said his leg does not feel as bad as it did yesterday. Jason Giambi will return to the lineup after missing the last 3 games with a strained groin.

Hughes gave up 2 runs in 6 innings against the Blue Jays his first time out this season, but didn't figure in the decision. Bannister dominated the Tigers for 7 innings, not allowing a run in picking up the win. Needless to say, both pitchers have had limited exposure to the opposing team.

The Yankees took 9 of the 10 games played between the two teams last season. Hopefully the Yanks can steal a base in this series. They have not stolen a base so far this season, matching their slowest start in that department since 1982.

Yankees vs. Bannister

Bobby Abreu 1-3
Wilson Betemit 1-1 1 RBI
Melky Cabrera 0-2
Robinson Cano 1-2
Johnny Damon 2-3 1 HR 2 RBI
Derek Jeter 0-3
Hideki Matsui 0-2
Jorge Posada 0-2
Alex Rodríguez 2-2 2 HR 3 RBI

Royals vs. Hughes

Billy Butler 1-2
David DeJesus 2-3 1 HR 3 RBI
Joey Gathright 1-1
Ross Gload 1-2
Alex Gordon 0-2
Mark Grudzielanek 0-3
José Guillén 1-2
Tony F. Peña 0-2
Jason Smith 0-2
Mark Teahen 2-3

The Legendary Muddy Waters

Share

Break up the Royals

No one outside of Kansas City, and maybe not even there, picked the Royals to win the AL Central. But they're well on their way to a 162-0 season. They beat the Detroit Tigers for the 2nd straight time today, coming Edgar Renteria short of pitching a no-hitter. "Huh?", you ask.

Renteria had all 3 Tigers hits on the day, 2 of them allowed by starter Brian Bannister, who dominated the Tigers through 7 innings in a 4-0 win.

Kenny Rogers pitched well for Detroit, allowing 2 runs in 6 innings, but the Royals reached the Tigers shaky pen for 2 more.

Share