Rally comes up short, Yanks lose 3-2

A day after falling into a tie in the loss column with Toronto atop the AL East, the Yankees fell a game back gain.  David Price did his thing against the Orioles up in Canada this afternoon and suddenly the progress the Yankees had made last night was erased.  To lose today kind of sucks because tomorrow's game is going to be really, really hard to win with Chris Archer pitching against Nova.

Eovaldi wasn't very good for the second straight outing.  He had no command of his fastball and that was evidenced by the four walks and five hits he surrendered in just 5.1 innings.  He did leave the Yanks within striking distance upon exiting but they couldn't mount a big enough comeback and Nate was sacked with his first loss since June 16th.

Their biggest chance came in the bottom of the 8th when Colome loaded the bases for Gregorious.  It's pretty amazing how Didi has become a guy you wan't up in these situations.  Unfortunately he hit a frozen rope right at Forsythe and ended the inning.  It was the same kind of deflating feeling you got when he hit what would have been a go-ahead grand slam to the warning track in Boston on Monday.

It was pretty disappointing not to put forth a better effort against Matt Moore who's really struggled this year.  Although they did chase him in the fifth inning, he seemed to have everyone off balanced until Didi's RBI double.  Tomorrow's not going to be any easier.  They'll be playing with a full deck minus Tex against the righty Archer but I'm not expecting a whole lot.  You've just got to hope it's one of those days for Nova where he's got everything working and is as good as anybody but we haven't seen that guy in a really long time.

Jacoby out with a bellyache

I'm going to start by saying that I hate the practice of criticizing guys for how they handle their injuries.  It's easy for some fat ugly slob to sit on his couch and scream about how someone isn't tough enough because they aren't playing hurt.  Having said that, Jacoby Ellsbury may be the softest player in the history of professional sports.  Every time he exerts himself it's a goddamn calamity waiting to happen.  Now he's an injury risk every time he eats lunch too fast.

Now in all honesty he probably was actually sick and vomiting yesterday and if the Rays weren't throwing a lefthander he'd probably be in the lineup this afternoon.  But it's just remarkable how often you have to worry about this guy and his ability to stay on the field.  Good thing we're only less than two years into that seven-year contract.

On another note, days where the Yankees win and the Blue Jays lose have become somewhat of an apparition over the last month but it happened last night.  There's now a tie in the loss column atop the American League East after the Yanks topped Tampa and Baltimore pummeled Toronto.  Both the Blue Jay game and the Yankee game are on at 1 in the middle of all the college football madness so there's a lot to watch this afternoon.  Park yourself on your couch, grab a few half-and-half twisted teas, order yourself some mild wings and have a great Saturday.

Yanks come home for 10 straight against the AL East

These last few Septembers have been much more interesting for Yankee fans than in years past.  That's in part due to the fairly new wild card format but mostly because the Yankees just haven't been as good recently.  For the better part of the 90's, 2000's and early 2010's the Yanks were beating people's brains in for 162.  There was never any apprehension in September about a postseason berth.

The last two seasons, while we were still technically "in it" on September 4th, anybody who was watching knew we didn't have the horses.  This year is different.  While there's been plenty of poor play mixed in there have been several stretches this season where the Yankees have been the best team in baseball.  They have all the makings of a division winner and a championship contender but they haven't quite put it all together yet.  We'll find out what they're made of over the next four weeks starting with a 10-day, 10-game homestand against all divisional opponents.

After a 5-1 road trip it's fair to say the Yankees are playing well which is exactly why I'm terrified of this weekend series with Tampa.  Every time you think the Yanks are about to get on a roll they start playing shitty again, mostly because the bats disappear at random.  Add in the fact that the Rays are always a pain in the ass and are still very much in the playoff hunt and you have yourself a very dangerous series coming up.

As per usual Tampa comes into the Bronx with an excess of good starting pitching.  Jake Odorizzi will toe the rubber tonight against my man Luis.  Odorizzi is a young, tough righthander but carries a lifetime 4.84 ERA against the Yanks heading into tonight.  McCann's numbers against him are insane (10-for-16, 2 HR, 6 XBH).  Severino will make his 6th start tonight and you can make a case that since he's been inserted into the rotation that he's been the Yankees' best pitcher.  He hasn't gone further than six innings in any of his starts but if there's one team that can afford that kind of brevity it's the one with the best bullpen in baseball.

Matt Moore was just recalled from AAA and will make his first start back in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon.  Moore was sent down after struggling mightily following his return from Tommy John surgery in July.  We've seen him enough where we know he's going to be a much tougher match-up than his 8.78 ERA suggests.  Nasty Nate is coming off the kind of win he was far more accustomed to earlier in the season.  A mediocre performance against the Braves (five runs in five innings) aided by a profusion of run support.  Either way, it was another one in the win column for Eovaldi as he now sports the league's highest winning percentage (.875) and is 9-0 with a 3.32 ERA since June 20th.

Sunday's going to be tough.  Chris Archer is as good as it gets and he absolutely kills the Yankees, especially in the Bronx (3-0, 1.54 in Yankee Stadium).  It'll probably be up to Ivan Nova to keep the Yankees in the game but I'm not sure he'll be up to the task.  He's lost three in a row and is currently the weakest link in the Yankee rotation.  The Rays don't have the greatest lineup but they're plenty pesky and I'm sure they're going to give him fits.



Who's hot?


Didi Gregorius

On the road trip Didi went 14-for-24 with 2 HR and 10 RBI.  He's playing short like a gold-glover and is legitimately one of the best players on this team right now.


Stephen Drew 

I'm almost reluctant to include Drew here because I can't stand all of the proverbial dick sucking the last few days.  He went 9-for-20 in five games during the road trip and now the Yankees have nothing to worry about at second base.  Broadcasters and writers talking about how Girardi's had his faith rewarded.  This guy's hitting .194 in a full season's worth of at-bats as a Yankee.  In a perfect world this past week gives him enough confidence to change the kind of hitter he's been for the last calendar year but I doubt it.




Who's Not?



Jacoby Ellsbury

He went 4-for-22 this week with a .280 OBP.  That's not going to get it done.  Apparently he's still nursing that hip after his body touched the ground against the Astros so hopefully that doesn't linger for too much longer.

It's kind of strange how the lineup has worked itself out down the stretch.  Whenever the Yankees face a lefty they're forced to either bench Ellsbury or Gardner because you can't afford not to start Chris Young against a southpaw and Beltran has become almost too important to take out under any circumstances.


Who to watch for


Kevin Kiermaier

There's really nothing exciting about this Ray's lineup but this dude is fun to look at.  Seriously....

Honestly every time we play the Rays I can't stop thinking about how good looking this guy is.  He's really got everything working.  The eyes, the chin, the physique.  If I could switch lives with any one baseball player I think it would be Kevin Kiermaier.  He gets to live somewhat of a normal life, flying under the radar because he's really not that good and he plays for Tampa but he's still young and super hot and gets to tell girls he matches with on Tinder that he's a starting center fielder on a major league baseball team.

Too bad you can't use Vine on Tinder.

Yanks explode for eight in the 2nd, win 13-8

It's funny how two games can make you forget about how devastating Monday night was.  A grind it out win on Tuesday followed by a trouble-free victory today and the Yanks finish their road trip 5-1 and will maintain pace with Toronto after they inevitably win by 10 runs tonight.  The Yanks will go home, get a day off tomorrow and embark on another 10 game homestand.  Three against Tampa, three with Baltimore and then a HUGE four game weekend series against the Blue Jays.

The Yanks took the rubber game of the series today in emphatic fashion.  They hung an eight-spot in the 2nd starting with back-to-back jacks by Bird and John Ryan Murphy.  Chris Young and A-Rod ripped RBI singles to chase Henry Owens after 1.2 awful innings.  Beltran greeted the next pitcher Ryan Cook with a two-run shot the opposite way over the monster to make it 8-1 and put the Yanks on cruise control the rest of the way.

It could have been easier though.  This was the second straight start Tanaka scuffled after being spotted a huge lead early in the game.  Maybe he lets down a bit and pitches to the score, I don't know.  He hasn't looked much like an ace since that CG in Toronto but I'm not worried about it.  I'm worried about winning games right now and I'm willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that when he gets a chance to pitch in a big game he'll have the perfect demeanor to get it done.

Also I understand that Stephen Drew is scorching hot right now but let's not lose our heads here.  This is still the guy who's hit .189 in 492 ABs as a Yankee.  Kay and Cone on the broadcast laughing about all the people who were calling for Refsnyder or any other replacement for Drew.  GTFO of here.  If there's one thing I've learned watching Stephen Drew this past year+ it's that another awful slump is coming and it's probably coming sooner rather than later.

Tex is "weeks away from returning" according to Cashman

This isn't exactly breaking news but hearing it from Cashman does give it a little more validity.  Honestly I'm not counting on Tex at all for the rest of the regular season.  This thing has already lingered far longer than anyone expected so who knows when he's coming back.  There's really nothing he can do in terms of rehabbing to get back onto the field so it's kinda out of his hands.  The good news is that it's not a fracture so I can't imagine a bone bruise, no matter how deep, is going to keep him out of playoffs games a month from now.

The job still appears to be Bird's to lose.  He's starting at first again today against the lefty Henry Owens, although he actually pitches tougher against righties than left-handers.  Don't be surprised to see Dustin Ackley thrown into the mix over there in the next few weeks.  I still doubt A-Rod will be making any appearances at first although Girardi seems a bit more open to the idea than Cashman.  Either way it doesn't appear like the Yankees will be getting MVP production out of first base for the duration of 2015.

As for today, with Tanaka on the bump a win would be really, really nice.  Like I said, this division is going to be decided during the seven remaining head-to-head games between the Blue Jays and Yankees.  But I think as far as team morale is concerned it'd be nice to be able to win a series against the Red Sox with your ace on the mound.

Yanks get one back, outlast Sox 3-1

Sometimes you lose the games your supposed to win and win the games your supposed to lose.  Last night's loss was awful.  The Sox literally handed the game over and the Yanks couldn't take it.  Tonight, on a night where Rick Porcello dominated the Yankees on a level only reached before by Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez, the Yankees capitalized on a big error, took advantage of what were probably a couple missed calls and squeaked out a win.  That's baseball Susan.

Stephen Drew delivered the biggest blow of the game, a 2 RBI double in the fifth to take a lead the Yankees would never relinquish.  The hit came after an error by Travis Shaw on a ball off the bat of Didi.  It ran down the right field line and put runners on second and third with two outs.  Gardner would tag Porcello for his only earned run, a solo shot to right in the 8th to add an insurance run.

Big Mike wasn't quite as good as Porcello (8 IP, 13 K, 1 ER), but he was awesome tonight.  Six innings, one earned run, seven strikeouts, no walks.  Giardi lifted him after 92 pitches in favor of his go-to bullpen guys who locked it up and threw away the key.

As all this was happening the Indians tied it up with Toronto in the 9th inning on Yan Gomes' second home run of the night but Ryan Goins hit a walk-off two-run homer in the 10th to win it.

Ryan Goins hits #walkoff 2R HR https://t.co/8znuhjTgHV #BlueJays

— Moore Baseball (@moorebaseball) September 2, 2015

Blew the roof off the place.  I hate the fucking Blue Jays but Toronto looks like most fun place in the world to watch baseball right now.

A-Rod moved down to 5th in the order

You had to figure this was coming eventually.  A-Rod hit his way into the 3 hole after being buried at 7 in the order on Opening Day but the currency he accumulated over the first fourth months of the season has run out.  It makes sense to make this move tonight against the right-hander and there's a possibility he still hits 3 against lefties but for the time being Beltran deserves to hit there.  He's been their best hitter for more than a month and right now is far and away their most dangerous and productive offensive force.  How will this affect A-Rod?  Who knows.  But if he continues to scuffle down the stretch it won't hurt the team as much while he's hitting further down in the order.

With rosters expanding today there are eight new faces in the Yankee clubhouse.  Andrew Bailey has made his long awaited return to a major league roster after missing two years following shoulder surgery.  Caleb Cotham and lefty James Pazos will join him in an effort to bolster the bullpen.  Dustin Ackley is back after going out with a back injury pretty much the instant the Yankees traded for him.  Jose Pirela and Rob Refsnyder will also provide a little infield depth and should get an opportunity to give the Yankees something else at second base when Stephen Drew isn't playing.  Austin Romine and Rico Noel are both up as the obligatory third catcher and pinch-running specialist respectively.  Cashman has caught a little flack for not bringing up Aaron Judge but 1) he doesn't have a spot with Chris Young on the roster and 2) he just hasn't hit much since he was called to Scranton (.229 BA).

Big Mike will toe the rubber tonight to try and even the series after last night's brutal loss.  He always pitches well against the Sox (3-1, 2.18 ERA) but was not received warmly in his return from the DL last week against Houston.  Hopefully he's shaken off enough rust to keep the Yanks in the game tonight and give them a chance to get a win.

Part of me wants to say that tonight is a must win but the Yankees and Blue Jays have 7 head-to-head games left.  The fact of the matter is that as long as the Yankees are in striking distance on September 10th when Toronto comes to the Bronx they'll have a chance to win the pennant.  Until then, these game are important but they aren't as important as they seem.