Vegas Update - Day 3 Conclusion

C.C. Sabathia has a contract, A.J. Burnett is closer to one, and the Mets strengthened their bullpen. Those were the highlights of day 3 in Las Vegas. In addition, the Orioles have reportedly made a 7 year, $150 million offer for Mark Teixeira, who has also made progress in negotiations with the Red Sox. The Angels will certainly stay in the mix as well. Teixeira is said to want to play on the east coast, but Sabathia was said to have wanted to stay on the left coast.

The Rays dealt enigmatic starter Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for outfielder Matt Joyce. The Rays just seem to collect outfielders. Of course they have one less with Rocco Baldelli most likely leaving as a free agent.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports says the Phillies are close to signing Chan-Ho Park. Doesn't seem like that long ago that the Rangers made that huge mistake signing Park to a mega deal.

No bats have been banned from the bigs yet, but Bud Selig wants the bat manufacturers to make better quality products. Can't blame Bud for that, but is that all MLB is going to do?

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Yankees Replay Victory

The Yankees and Rays made history tonight when instant replay was used for the first time in a major league baseball game. With the Yankees leading 6-3 and man aboard in the eighth inning, Alex Rodriguez hit a tremendous drive, that at first appeared to hit the left field foul pole. Actually Rodriguez thought the ball was foul until the umpires ruled the ball was fair.

Replays showed that the ball hit the bottom of the cat walk clearly to the left of the foul pole, but the drive was hit so high it's possible the ball cleared the top of the foul pole and hooked into foul territory. Rays manager Joe Maddon came out to question and the call and soon crew chief Charlie Relaford was in the replay room conferring with the MLB office in New York. The home run call was upheld after a two minute, fifteen second delay. More importantly the Yankees won their third straight game and second in a row against Tampa, 8-4.

The Yankees gave Carl Pavano a 6-1 lead, but a two run home run by Gabe Gross in the fourth cut the lead in half and Pavano was removed in favor of Edwar Ramirez after allowing a single to B.J. Upton and issuing a walk to Carlos Pena to start the fifth. Cliff Floyd's line drive ricocheted off of Robinson Cano's glove for a gift base hit to load the bases, but Cano got redemption when he gloved Willy Aybar's line drive and stepped on second base to double off Pena. Ramirez then retired Eric Hinske on a pop up to Derek Jeter to end the inning.

The Rays led 1-0 when some poor pitching by Edwin Jackson and shoddy Rays defense put the Yankees ahead for good. Jackson issued a one out walk to Xavier Nady in the inning, and two batters later Hinske couldn't make a diving catch on Cano's liner. It resulted in an RBI double to tie the game. Ivan Rodriguez followed with a double of his own to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

Back to back doubles by Bobby Abreu and A-Rod, the latter helped out when Hinske bobbled the ball in left-center pushed the advantage to 3-1 in the third inning, and Jason Giambi then added a double of his own for a 4-1 lead. Giambi moved to third base on Nady's ground out and came home on an RBI single by Hideki Matsui. Cano would follow with a single, but Jackson retired Ivan Rodriguez on a ground out to escape further trouble.

The Yankees knocked Jackson out of the game in the fourth when singles by Johnny Damon and Jeter put runners on the corners with no one out. Jackson would retire Abreu on a pop up, but then gave way to submarining right-hander Chad Bradford. He wouldn't do his job immediately though as A-Rod delivered an RBI single to right.

The only left to decide was whether or not Mariano Rivera would pitch for the first time since Friday, but that changed disappeared when the inaugural MLB instant replay took place.


News and Notes

Alex Rodriguez's home run was the 549th of his career, moving him past Mike Schmidt for sole possession of 12th place on the all-time list. The four RBI allowed him to eclipse the 90-RBI mark (92). It was also his second 4-RBI game in the last three.

Phil Coke made his second major league appearance and retired all six men he faced, with some help on a nice catch by Johnny Damon in center. Carlos Pena hit a deep drive that Damon tracked and caught as his back smashed into the wall.

Derek Jeter had one hit, putting him five behind Babe Ruth for second place on the Yankees career hit list.

September 3, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	2		8	12	0
Tampa Bay	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1		4	8	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	5	1	1	0	0	0	1	.316
Jeter, SS	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	.295
Abreu, RF	4	2	2	0	1	1	2	.301
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	2	3	4	1	1	1	.315
Giambi, 1B	4	1	1	1	1	1	3	.250
1-Ransom, PR-1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.600
Nady, LF	4	1	0	0	1	1	4	.318
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.303
Cano, 2B	4	1	2	1	0	1	0	.269
Rodriguez, I, C	4	0	1	1	0	1	2	.281
Totals	38	8	12	8	4	8	14
1-Ran for Giambi in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Cano (28, Jackson), Rodriguez, I (18, Jackson), Abreu (36, Jackson), Rodriguez, A (32, Jackson), Giambi (15, Jackson). HR: Rodriguez, A (31, 9th inning off Percival, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Abreu 3; Rodriguez, A 7; Giambi 2; Matsui; Cano 3; Rodriguez, I 2. RBI: Cano (61), Rodriguez, I (35), Rodriguez, A 4 (90), Giambi (87), Matsui (44). 2-out RBI: Cano; Rodriguez, I; Matsui; Rodriguez, A 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Damon; Rodriguez, I; Nady. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Abreu 2 (18, 2nd base off Jackson/Navarro, 2nd base off Percival/Navarro), Damon (26, 2nd base off Jackson/Navarro). CS: Rodriguez, A (3, 2nd base by Balfour/Navarro). FIELDING DP: (Cano).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pavano	4.0	6	3	3	2	1	1	4.20
Ramirez (W, 5-1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3.61
Coke (H, 1)	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bruney (H, 8)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.33
Veras	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	0	3.62

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Iwamura, 2B	5	0	1	1	0	1	1	.278
Upton, CF	5	1	2	0	0	0	1	.272
Pena, 1B	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	.248
Floyd, DH	3	0	2	1	0	0	1	.276
a-Zobrist, PH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.222
Aybar, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.246
Hinske, LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.252
Navarro, C	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.289
Gross, RF	3	2	2	2	1	0	0	.242
Bartlett, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.279
Totals	34	4	8	4	3	3	12
a-Struck out for Floyd in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Upton (33, Pavano), Floyd (11, Pavano), Navarro (22, Pavano), Iwamura (29, Veras). HR: Gross (12, 4th inning off Pavano, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Iwamura 2; Upton 3; Floyd 3; Navarro 2; Gross 5. RBI: Floyd (34), Gross 2 (36), Iwamura (40). 2-out RBI: Floyd; Gross 2; Iwamura. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Aybar; Bartlett; Hinske; Upton. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Gross (4, 2nd base off Pavano/Rodriguez, I), Upton (41, 2nd base off Pavano/Rodriguez, I). FIELDING DP: (Navarro-Bartlett).

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jackson (L, 11-9)	3.1	10	6	6	1	2	0	4.07
Bradford	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.16
Howell	2.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	2.59
Balfour	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1.38
Percival	0.2	1	2	2	1	0	1	4.08
Salas	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	10.38

Pavano pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.

HBP: Bartlett (by Pavano).
Pitches-strikes: Pavano 79-47, Ramirez 11-8, Coke 26-17,
Bruney 11-7, Veras 20-11, Jackson 70-46, Bradford 7-5,
Howell 34-22, Balfour 25-15, Percival 25-16, Salas 8-2.
Groundouts-flyouts: Pavano 4-7, Ramirez 0-2, Coke 2-4,
Bruney 2-0, Veras 1-1, Jackson 3-5, Bradford 2-0, Howell 2-1,
Balfour 1-1, Percival 1-1, Salas 0-1.
Batters faced: Pavano 21, Ramirez 3, Coke 6, Bruney 3,
Veras 5, Jackson 21, Bradford 3, Howell 6, Balfour 6, Percival 4, Salas 2.
Inherited runners-scored: Ramirez 2-0, Bradford 2-1.
Umpires: HP: Greg Gibson. 1B: Jerry Layne. 2B: Charlie Reliford. 3B: Brian Runge.
Weather: 72 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 3:31.
Att: 25,215.

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Ponson, Abreu Keep Yanks Surging

The Yankees continued to have trouble scoring runs yesterday afternoon, but the Yankees pitching continued to come through. One day after Andy Pettitte led the Yankees to a 5-0 win, Sidney Ponson and three relievers held the Rays to just one run in a thrilling 2-1, 10th inning win for the Bronx Bombers.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 10th, and Mariano Rivera having already pitched two innings, Bobby Abreu doubled home Derek Jeter with the game winner. It pushed the Yankees to within 6.5 games of the Rays in the AL East race and kept them 4.5 back of the Red Sox in the Wild Card chase.

The Yankees hadn't scored since the 1st inning, when Jeter drew a one out walk from Grant Balfour in the 10th. Abreu then hit a gapper to right-center. Jeter raced around the bases to easily beat the throw home. It touched off a wild celebration that culminated with Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera dumping a Gatorade bucket on Abreu's head. In a post-game interview with Suzyn Waldman, Abreu said it felt "cold, but good".

None of it would have happened if not for the Yankees pitching. Ponson wasn't perfect, but he allowed just a solo home run to Carlos Pena in the 6th and escaped early jams in the 2nd and 4th innings. The Yankees gave him a quickly lead in the first, when Jeter singled off of Edwin Jackson, moved to 2nd base on Abreu's walk, and scored on Jason Giambi's single to left-center. The mustache clad crowd was appreciate on "Jason Giambi fake mustache" (not the actual promo name) day.

Jose Veras and Kyle Farsnworth retired all six men they faced before Rivera came on in the 9th. He allowed a one out to Cliff Floyd, but no other base runners, as he recorded his second 2-inning win in 4 days.

The Yankees had a chance to win the game in the 9th when Jorge Posada drew a lead off walk from J.P. Howell, and Cano sacrificed pinch-runner Justin Christian to 2nd base. But Balfour came on to strike out Cabrera, and retired Jose Molina on a pop out after Christian had stolen 3rd base.


News and Notes

Joe Girardi is hopeful that Hideki Matsui will be able to rejoin the club by month's end.


July 9, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10		R	H	E
Tampa Bay	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		1	5	0
NY Yankees	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		2	7	0

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Iwamura, 2B	5	0	2	0	0	3	0	.275
Crawford, LF	5	0	0	0	0	1	2	.280
Upton, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.280
Pena, 1B	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	.233
Longoria, 3B	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.281
Floyd, DH	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.256
1-Gomes, PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.186
Navarro, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	4	.312
Hinske, RF	2	0	0	0	1	2	1	.262
Brignac, R, SS	4	0	0	0	0	1	5	.000
Totals	33	1	5	1	3	11	17
1-Ran for Floyd in the 9th.
BATTING HR: Pena (14, 6th inning off Ponson, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Iwamura 2; Upton; Pena 4; Longoria. RBI: Pena (47). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Brignac, R 3. GIDP: Crawford. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING CS: Upton (11, 2nd base by Ponson/Molina).

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jackson	6.1	6	1	1	2	3	0	3.93
Howell	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	2.73
Balfour (L, 2-1)	1.0	1	1	1	1	2	0	1.37

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner, LF	5	0	1	0	0	3	2	.143
Jeter, SS	4	2	1	0	1	1	2	.284
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	1	1	0	1	.274
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.317
Giambi, 1B	3	0	1	1	1	1	0	.257
Posada, DH	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	.282
1-Christian, PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.253
Cabrera, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.247
Molina, C	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.231
Totals	33	2	7	2	4	8	14
1-Ran for Posada in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Abreu (21, Balfour). TB: Gardner; Jeter; Abreu 2; Rodriguez; Giambi; Cabrera; Molina. RBI: Giambi (54), Abreu (57). 2-out RBI: Giambi. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada 2; Rodriguez; Jeter; Molina. S: Molina; Cano. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (4, 2nd base off Jackson/Navarro), Christian (1, 3rd base off Balfour/Navarro). FIELDING DP: (Ponson-Jeter-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ponson	6.0	5	1	1	2	4	1	3.96
Veras	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2.45
Farnsworth	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.60
Rivera (W, 4-3)	2.0	0	0	0	1	4	0	1.06

HBP: Hinske (by Ponson), Longoria (by Ponson).
Pitches-strikes: Jackson 100-63, Howell 37-22, Balfour 27-18,
Ponson 87-50, Veras 14-8, Farnsworth 11-6, Rivera 30-18.
Ground outs-fly outs: Jackson 4-12, Howell 2-1, Balfour 0-1,
Ponson 8-5, Veras 1-0, Farnsworth 1-1, Rivera 1-1.
Batters faced: Jackson 27, Howell 7, Balfour 5, Ponson 25,
Veras 3, Farnsworth 3, Rivera 7.
Inherited runners-scored: Howell 1-0, Balfour 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Ted Barrett. 1B: Dana DeMuth.
2B: Lance Barksdale. 3B: Doug Eddings.
Weather: 86 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 14 mph, Out to LF.
T: 3:19.
Att: 53,552.

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Yankees vs. Rays - July 9

Holy Cow White, we thought it was a night game. In fact the Yankees and mustaches take on the Rays this afternoon at 1:05 at the Stadium. Sidney Ponson (this could get really ugly) goes against the Rays Edwin Jackson.

Iwamura 2B
Crawford LF
Upton CF
Pena 1B
Longoria 3B
Floyd DH
Navarro C
Hinske RF
Brignac SS

Gardner LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

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Yankees Waste Wang Effort

Mariano Rivera knew that his "perfect" season would end some time, he probably just wished it hadn't been tonight. The Yankees wasted another great start by Chien-Ming Wang and lost to the Tampa Rays 2-1 in 11 innings. The win was the Rays 6th in a row and 11th straight at home. It also moved them into sole possession of 1st place in the AL East after Boston lost to Baltimore.

The bomberless Bombers managed just 6 hits against Edwin Jackson and the Rays bullpen. One of those hits was a game tying home run by Hideki Matsui in the 9th inning against closer Troy Percival. It was Matsui's 5th home run and Percival's 2nd blown save.

The Rays had pushed a run across in the 4th against Wang on a double by Carlos Pena and a single by Erick Hinske, who came into the game hitting .444 in 27 at-bats versus Wang. But Wang would scatter 7 hits and 3 walks over 7 innings and not allow another run. But for the second time this season Jackson made the Yankees look sick.

The Yankees had a base runner on in three of the first four innings with nothing to show for it. The Yankees biggest failure came in the 6th inning when Derek Jeter raced to 3rd with a 1-out triple only to be stranded there.

This all points to a problem with this Yankees team that isn't any different from the teams of the last few years. They are still a station to station team. When a team fails to score runs they should be attempting to steal bases, putting on hit and runs, etc.. While the lack of some offensive spark falls in part to the makeup of the team (e.g. Jason Giambi and Jose Molina won't be winning any foot races), some of it also falls on manager Joe Girardi for not putting small ball plays on during the game.

Rivera escaped trouble after allowing a lead off single to Carl Crawford in the 10th, but couldn't manage to make like Houdini in the 11th. Cliff Floyd singled through the right side to lead off the inning before being replaced by pinch-runner Jonny Gomes. Gomes promptly stole 2nd Base, his third theft in two nights. Gabe Gross then lined one back through the middle to easily score Gomes ahead of Melky Cabrera's throw.

News and Notes

Mariano Rivera last gave up at least one run in a regular season game in the final contest of the 2007 season.

Jason Giambi (.194) continued his climb towards the Mendoza line with a 2-2 night. He also walked twice.

Shelley Duncan struck out looking pinch-hitting for Alberto Gonzalez in the 7th inning and is just 6-32 (.188) on the season. Melky Cabrera is in a 6-31 slide while Jose Molina has just 3 hits in his last 41 at-bats.

New York Yankees
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Johnny Damon, DH	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	.271
Derek Jeter, SS	5	0	1	0	0	2	1	.305
Bobby Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	1	1	2	.287
Hideki Matsui, LF	5	1	1	1	0	0	3	.319
Jason Giambi, 1B	2	0	2	0	2	0	0	.194
Melky Cabrera, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.269
Robinson Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.183
Alberto Gonzalez, 3B	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.290
a- Shelley Duncan, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.188
Morgan Ensberg, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.219
Jose Molina, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.203
Totals	37	1	6	1	3	7
a-struck out for Gonzalez in the 7th
Batting
3B - Derek Jeter (3, Jackson)
HR - Hideki Matsui (5, Percival)
RBI - Hideki Matsui (18)

New York Yankees
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Chien-Ming Wang	7	7	1	1	3	2	0	2.90
Joba Chamberlain	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	2.76
Kyle Farnsworth	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2.84
Mariano Rivera (L,0-1)	1	3	1	1	0	1	0	0.56
Pitches-Strikes - Chien-Ming Wang 101-67, Joba Chamberlain 15-6, Kyle Farnsworth 12-5, Mariano Rivera 17-11
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Chien-Ming Wang 14-3, Joba Chamberlain 2-0, Kyle Farnsworth 1-2
Batters Faced - Chien-Ming Wang 29, Joba Chamberlain 4, Kyle Farnsworth 4, Mariano Rivera 6

Tampa Bay Rays
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Akinori Iwamura, 2B	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	.263
Carl Crawford, LF	4	0	1	0	1	1	1	.287
B.J. Upton, CF	4	0	0	0	1	1	3	.287
Carlos Pena, 1B	4	1	1	0	1	1	2	.210
Evan Longoria, 3B	5	0	1	0	0	0	2	.222
Cliff Floyd, DH	4	0	2	0	1	0	2	.391
Jonny Gomes, PR-DH	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.225
Eric Hinske, RF	3	0	1	1	0	0	2	.259
Gabe Gross, RF	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	.214
Dioner Navarro, C	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	.375
Jason Bartlett, SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.242
Totals	37	2	11	2	5	3
Batting
2B - Carlos Pena (2, Wang)
SH - Jason Bartlett (3)
RBI - Eric Hinske (18), Gabe Gross (8)
2-OUT RBI - Eric Hinske (4)
SB - Jonny Gomes (5, 2nd base off M. Rivera/Molina)
Team LOB - 11
Fielding
DP - Longoria-Iwamura-Pena, Iwamura-Bartlett-Pena

Tampa Bay Rays
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Edwin Jackson	7	5	0	0	1	5	0	3.47
Dan Wheeler (H,9)	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	1.29
Troy Percival (BS,2)	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	2.40
J.P. Howell (W,3-0)	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	2.67
WP - Edwin Jackson (4)
Pitches-Strikes - Edwin Jackson 111-72, Dan Wheeler 11-9, Troy Percival 24-13, J.P. Howell 23-13
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Edwin Jackson 9-6, J.P. Howell 3-2
Batters Faced - Edwin Jackson 26, Dan Wheeler 3, Troy Percival 5, J.P. Howell 6

Game Information

Attendance - 16558

Game Time - 3:32

Temperature - 72

Umpires - Home - Ron Kulpa, First Base - Rob Drake, Second Base - Dale Scott, Third Base - Dan Iassogna

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