Yankees baseball blog

Yanks extend lead over Red Sox with win vs Indians

With large swarms of annoying mosquitoes and midges dancing in the Progressive Field lights last night, the Indians had the same chance against the Yankees as a bug headed for a speeding windshield.

Jorge Posada said this season's edition reminds him of the 2006 Yankees, who crawled off the mat to win the AL East.

However, for two-plus weeks the Yankees have counted on the same things the powerhouse 1998 unit displayed: solid pitching, timely hitting, air-tight defense and plate discipline.

One night after securing the AL East penthouse, the Yankees had a chance to stretch their lead over the Red Sox and didn't waste it. Continue

Yanks take 1st, Pettitte leaves with back issues

Joe Girardi's lineup was whole again, and the Yankees took over sole possession of first place.

But there might be some question about Girardi's rotation.

There's a surprise.

Andy Pettitte mostly cruised through five innings of Friday night's 3-1 win over the Indians at Progressive Field, but he was removed from the game with two men on and none out in the sixth. The reason announced was lower back stiffness.

Still, as they've done much of the last two-plus weeks in winning 13 of their last 16 games, the Yankees yawned away the adversity. They took over first in the AL East, a half-game ahead of Boston, which lost to Toronto. Continue

A-Rod was spark for Yanks winning ways

Has a .258 hitter ever made as much of a difference as A-Rod has over the past three weeks?

Ever since A-Rod and his surgically repaired hip returned from the disabled list on May 8, the Yankees have been rolling. At the time of Rodriguez's arrival, the Bombers were languishing in third place with a 13-15 record, but a run of 14 wins in 19 games has thrust the Yankees toward the top of the American League East, only a half-game behind the Red Sox.

A-Rod provided an immediate spark, drilling a three-run homer off Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie on the first pitch he saw this season. The Yankees split their first four games with Rodriguez in the lineup, but there was a different feeling inside the clubhouse, helping them win 12 of the next 15. Continue

Yanks roll into tie for 1st

Lose another player. Win a game. And move into a tie for first place.

At some point the smart money will be on the mounting injuries smothering the Yankees.

Xavier Nady, Jorge Posada and Brian Bruney are on the disabled list and Melky Cabrera could be headed there after yesterday's MRI exam revealed a bruised right shoulder.

Nevertheless, the Yankees continue to thrive thanks to solid starting pitching. A.J. Burnett was the supplier last night at the Ballpark, where the Yankees topped the Rangers, 9-2, in front of 38,409. Continue

Joba continues early struggles, Yanks lose 7-3

Things didn’t go well for Joba Chamberlain in the first inning Tuesday night against the Rangers. Then again, not much went well for the Yankees the rest of the night, either.

A victory over the Rangers would have pulled the Bombers into a first-place tie with the hated Red Sox , but the Yankees dropped a 7-3 decision in Texas, losing for the third time in the last five games after winning nine in a row.

Chamberlain gave up two runs in another puzzling first inning, leaving the game after four innings with a 3-0 deficit. The Yankees battled back to tie it up in the sixth against Kevin Millwood, but Alfredo Aceves (3-1) gave up three more in two-plus innings to take his first loss of the season.

“I could go on for days and days telling you how bad I was,” Chamberlain said. “Plain and simple, I was terrible. There’s really no getting around it.” Continue

Hughes comes up huge, Yankees crush Rangers 11-1

Someone forgot to tell Phil Hughes this is a hitter's park.

The 22-year-old dominated the first-place Rangers with eight shutout innings, leading the Yankees to an easy 11-1 win Monday. Hughes allowed only three hits and one walk, striking out six to record his second straight victory.

While the Rangers' bats went limp, the Yankees didn't forget how to hit here, hammering Rangers starter Matt Harrison for seven runs in the first five innings. Continue

Yanks comeback but can't close deal in extra innings, lose 4-3

There were no cream pies Sunday. Still, the 10-game home stand that admittedly ended on a sour note had propelled the Yankees from a struggling team into the confident one that swaggered out of town Sunday night.

The Phillies scored in the top of the 11th and the Yankees could not muster another of their late-game heroics, falling to the defending world champions, 4-3, in front of 46,986 at the Stadium on Sunday.

"Today we had our chances," Johnny Damon said. "We hated the result, but on this home stand, we played well. We pitched, we hit well and defensively we were pretty good. Our team is in a much better position than say, 10 days ago." Continue

Melky delivers again, Yanks win in 9th

A.J. Burnett didn't play in Saturday's game, but he delivered the exclamation point, splattering whipped-cream pies in the faces of both Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano after the two combined to bring home the winning run in another home victory for the Yankees in their final at-bat.

Cabrera hit a one-out single off Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge in the ninth inning to score Cano from second and lift the Yankees to a 5-4 win over the defending world champions at the new Stadium. Cano had singled and stolen second base to set up Cabrera's third walk-off hit of the season, which sent delirious Yankees out onto the field to celebrate. Continue

Phils end Yankees win streak

Yankee Stadium certainly lived up to its reputation Friday night.

The Phillies probably never thought they would play in a more homer-friendly park than their own, but their first visit to the new Stadium resulted in a Home Run Derby, with the .defending champs outslugging the hottest team in baseball.

Philadelphia blasted four home runs to the Bombers' three and ended their nine-game winning streak with a 7-3 beating.

"The bottom line is that if you make your pitches, you'll get people out," Joe Girardi said, defending the integrity of the homer-happy new Stadium. "If you leave pitches up, you're going to give up some home runs no matter where you are."

The seven combined home runs boosted the season total to 82, a record for the first 21 games at a new big-league stadium. Continue

Joba takes a hit, but bats don't slow down: Yanks win 9 in a row

When Nick Swisher saw Joba Chamberlain get drilled by a line drive in the first inning Thursday night, he thought the Yankees' luck had finally run out.

"I was thinking, 'Wow, that's not a good sign; this could be a long night,'" Swisher said. "The next thing you know, it's four-nothing."

That's the way things have been going for the Yankees, who put Chamberlain's injury out of their heads long enough to trounce the Orioles, 7-4, at the Stadium and extend their winning streak to nine games.

The Yankees last won nine straight from June 5-14, 2007, but tonight they will try to push the streak into double digits, something they haven't done since May 7-17, 2005. It will be a tall order for the Bombers, who welcome the Phillies to the Bronx to start a three-game set against the defending World Series champs. Continue