Game 119: Michael Pineda returns

After Tuesday night's game was rained out, the Yankees and Orioles return to the field this evening for the finale of what should have been a three game series this week at Camden Yards -- yesterday's game has been turned into a double header on September 12.

The Yankees lost the first meeting between the two sides on Monday night, taking a 3-1 lead in the 2nd inning before the Orioles came back to score 10 unanswered runs, winning the game 11-3.

The loss put the Yankees seven games behind the Orioles in the AL East. New York can't afford to lose any ground in the standings, and losing to Baltimore isn't helping.

At least Tuesday's rain out meant they didn't have to risk falling another game behind.

Tonight's lineup against Baltimore:

LF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Carlos Beltran
3B Chase Headley
2B Stephen Drew
RF Martin Prado
C Francisco Cervelli

Pitching matchup preview:

Big Mike is back! Michael Pineda will finally make his long awaited return to a big league mound for the Yankees this evening.

Pineda only made four starts in April before he was caught using pine tar during a game against the Red Sox, leading to a 10-game suspension. He got hurt during that suspension and has been on the disabled list ever since.

Pineda, who had a 1.83 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 15/3 K/BB ratio over his first 19 2/3 innings (four starts) this season, looked good in a minor league rehab start for Triple-A Scranton on Friday, allowing one run on six hits over 4 1/3 innings of work while striking out seven.

Right-hander Chris Tillman will get the ball for Baltimore tonight, as he looks to keep his his good run of pitching since the All-Star break, having posted a 2.30 ERA since then.

Tillman is coming off of a strong start against the St. Louis Cardinals in his last outing, tossing 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball, giving up just four hits before losing his shutout in the 7th inning.

Follow @GavinEwbank Tweet

Read More

Tonight's game against the Orioles has been postponed

Tonight's game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards has been postponed due to rain, according to multiple reports.

The game will be made up as part of a double-header in Baltimore on September 12.

On the bright side, the Yankees won't have to lose any more ground to the Orioles tonight.

Read More

Yankees 3, Orioles 11: Carlos Beltran stole home and the Yankees still lost

With an opportunity to gain ground on the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles this week, the Yankees missed their first of three chances, as they took an early lead and fell behind late, falling to the Orioles, 11-3, on Monday night at Orioles Park in Camden Yards.

The Yankees and O's traded runs in the 1st inning of the ballgame. Brett Gardner tripled to kick things off against Baltimore start Bud Norris, then scored a couple pitches later on a groundout by Derek Jeter.

The Orioles were quick to counter against the Yankees and starting pitcher Chris Capuano. Manny Machado hit a one-out double, moved to second base on a wild pitch, then scored two batters later in a sac-fly to center by Nelson Cruz, who would come up big for Baltimore later in the game.

After Baltimore came back to tie the game, the Yankees jumped right back into the lead with two runs off of Norris in the 2nd.

The big right-hander walked Carlos Beltran to open the inning, then gave up a single to Chase Headley, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. He struck out Stephen Drew before Beltran stole home -- yeah, Carlos Beltran stole home -- to put the Yankees up 2-1. Headley took second on the play, then moved over to third on the same play when Machado's throw to the plate hit Beltran. Norris, backing up the play, made a bad toss to the play, letting Headley to score.

Yeah, it was a crazy play. You're going to need to look up the video of it on MLB.com.

And with that, those were the only runs the Yankees were able to manage against Norris, who went five innings, giving up three runs on five hits. Jeter doubled off of Norris with one out in the 5th, and that was actually the last hit the Yankees would get in the game.

Baltimore got a run back against Capuano in the 3rd when Adam Jones hit a one-out single to left field, scoring Jonathan Schoop, who singled to open the inning then move to second base on a ground out.

Chris David put the O's up 4-3 in the 5th with a two-run homerun to left off of Capuano, who lasted six innings, giving up four runs on six hits. He struck out seven and didn't walk anybody. Not a bad start from him, considering what the Yankees got him for, but again, it was the offense that failed to pick him up.

Things only got worse from there, as Jones made it a 5-3 game with an RBI double in the 7th, right before Cruz extended the game with a two-run bomb deep into the Baltimore night off of Adam Warren, who has pretty much been getting worse since about May, making it a 7-3 lead.

After the three-run 7th against Warren, the O's opened the game wide open against Chase Whitley in the 8th. Jonathan Schoop, who only hits well against the Yankees -- that's not even a joke, he's hitting .385 with 3 HR and 10 RBI in 8 games, his best average against any club this year -- and hit his third homerun against the Bombers this season, a three-run shot to left off of Whitley, pushing the score to 10-3.

They got one more run off of Whitley before he was finally taken out of the game, getting an RBI single from David Lough for the 11th run.

This was ugly, and the Yankees, after winning six of seven games, have lost three straight and look worse than they have at any point this season.

Now seven games back of the Orioles, the Yankees will continue this series on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. ET. Shane Greene will start for the Yankees, and Baltimore will counter with Wei-Yin Chen.

Follow @GavinEwbank Tweet

Read More

Game 118: Time to gain some ground

The Yankees are in Baltimore tonight for a very big series with the Orioles, who currently hold a six game lead over their New York rivals.

The Yankees, who have lost six of nine games to the O's this season, including two of three in Camden Yards, can not afford to lose any ground this week, meaning they'll need to steal at least two of three games, starting tonight at 7:05 p.m.

New York went into Saturday's game against the Cleveland Indians having won three straight, including taking three of four from the Detroit Tigers earlier in the week, then managed to go the entire weekend scoring only one run -- a solo homerun from Jacoby Ellsbury with two outs in the 9th inning in Sunday -- as they lost the final two games against the Indians.

The Yankees can't afford more games like that this week as they go up against the O's and Tampa Bay Rays down at The Trop this weekend.

Tonight's lineup against Baltimore:

LF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Carlos Beltran
3B Chase Headley
2B Stephen Drew
RF Martin Prado
C Francisco Cervelli

* The Yankees optioned RHP Bryan Mitchell back to the minors after tossing two scoreless innings in his major league debut on Sunday. Chris Leroux has been called up from Triple-A Scranton to give the Yankees another fresh arm in the bullpen.

Pitching matchup preview:

With the playoff race starting to heat up, the Yankees will send left-hander Chris Capuano to the mound on Monday night for the series opener.

Capuano took home a no-decision in his last start, against the Tigers last week, giving up just one earned run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. He out-dueled Tigers starter Justin Verlander, surprising everybody with a great outing.

Right-hander Bud Norris will be on the mound to take on the Yankees this evening.

Norris brings in a 2.63 ERA since the All-Star break, having pitched very well over the past few weeks. Norris suffered a loss in his more recent outing, giving up just two runs over 5 1/3 inning -- the Orioles' offense wasn't able to back him up with any runs.

Follow @GavinEwbank Tweet

Read More

Yankees 1, Orioles 3 (F/5): Rain-shortened loss sends Yanks into the break at .500

Tonight's game against the Baltimore Orioles called off after four and a half inning, meaning that the O's have won the series finale, 3-1, to head into the All-Star break with a five-game lead over the Yankees. Not really the way you want to head into the break if you're the Yankees, but after a two hour rain delay, you'll take anything to make it stop.

Brett Gardner put the Yankees on the board with a solo homerun to lead off the game against Kevin Gausman. The Yankees' offense was pretty quite after that until what would be the end of the game in the 5th, ending with only four hits.

Gausman pitched all five innings for the Orioles, giving up a run on four hits, striking out two without walking a batter.

Chase Whitley, back in the rotation with Masahiro Tanaka on the DL, held the Orioles scoreless before the first three innings before giving up Baltimore's three runs in the 3rd.

Nelson Cruz walked to open the 4th, then Chris Davis went the opposite way to left for his 15th homerun of the season, a solo shot that put the O's on the board and give them a 2-1 lead. JJ Hardy followed with a double; Whitley retired the next two hitters before Johnathan Schoop singled to center to score Hardy, making it a 3-1 game.

David Huff took over from there, replacing Whitley, who was charged with three runs in five hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.Huff retired Nick Markakis to end the 4th, then walked Steve Pearce to open the bottom of the 5th right before the game went into a two-hour rain delay.

With this rain-shortened loss, the Yankees will head into the four-day break at 47-47 -- obviously not what Brian Cashman and company envisioned when they spent nearly half a billion dollars over the offseason, but with the starting rotation all but completely dead, it could be worse. You never want to say that you're happy with your team being at .500, but I'll take it with this Yankees team and the way things are going.

The Home Run Derby is tonight in Minnesota, and the All-Star Game is on Tuesday, Derek Jeter and Dellin Betances will be there -- Tanaka won't be, he decided he'll skip the game. Jeter will be the starting shortstop for the AL, as you know, and I'm sure they'll do something special for him in his final Mid-Summer Classic.

Until then, I'll see you guys throughout the week on the blog, hopefully. The full Yankees squad will be back on Friday when they open up a series against the Cincinnati Reds at Yankee Stadium.

Follow @GavinEwbank

Read More

Game 94: Final game of the first half

It's been an up and down first half of the season for the Yankees to this point, and it comes to a close tonight in Baltimore on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

The Yankees and Orioles have split the first two games of this series -- the Orioles won in 10 innings on Friday night with a 3-2 victory, then the Yanks came back on Saturday to win 3-0, getting a very strong performance from Shane Greene, who tossed 7 1/3 shutout innings, giving up just four hits while striking out nine.

Entering play just four games back of the AL East leading Orioles, the Yankees (47-45) will look to get back a game on Baltimore, while also going into the break with some momentum that they'll hope to bring with them into the second half of the season.

Tonight's lineup against Baltimore:

CF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
DH Jacoby Ellsbury
1B Mark Teixeira
C Brian McCann
2B Brian Roberts
RF Ichiro Suzuki
LF Kelly Johnson
3B Yangervis Solarte

* The Yankees have called up right-hander Bryan Mitchell from the minor leagues to give them an extra arm in the bullpen -- I guess they've realized Whitley hasn't been dependable lately. In a corresponding move, Zoilo Almonte was optioned down to Triple-A.

Pitching matchup preview:

Chase Whitley will be on the mound for the Yankees tonight, making his first start since being moved into the bullpen when the Yankees acquired Brandon McCarthy from the Diamondbacks last weekend. Whitley's last start was against the Minnesota Twins, when he gave up four runs on eight hits in just three innings of work.

He was moved to the bullpen a couple days after, making an appearance against the Indians on Wednesday, tossing two scoreless innings.

Over his last three starts, Whitley has allowed 17 earned runs in nine innings. Hopefully get can get back on track and starting pitching just as he was after being called up in May.

Right-hander Kevin Gausman will oppose Whitley and the Yankees tonight after being recalled from Triple-A on Friday to take the spot of Ubaldo Jimenez, who was suppose to start against the Yankees yesterday before he was placed on the DL with an ankle injury.

Follow @GavinEwbank

Read More

Yankees 3, Orioles 0: Shane Greene dominated the Orioles

Shane Greene made his first big league start on Monday against the Cleveland Indians, where he took a no-hitter into the 5th inning. He made his second big league start on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, where he also took a no-hitter into the 5th inning. The Yankees' offense, once again, was pretty quite, but scored enough runs to back up Greene, who tossed another great game en route to the second win of his major league career.

After the Yankees stranded runners on first and second base with nobody out to open the 2nd inning, Mark Teixeira put the Bombers on the board in the 3rd inning with an RBI double into the right field corner, scoring Brett Gardner, who reached on a fielder's choice, from second base, with Derek Jeter being gunned down at the plate to end the inning.

That was the only run that Chris Tillman had given up through the first six innings. The Yankees also wasted a good scoring chance in the 6th when Brian Roberts struck out with runners on the corners to end the inning.

Tillman ran into trouble in the 7th, however, and that's when the Yankees where able to pad their lead with a pair of runs.

Kelly Johnson singled to open the inning, moved to second base on a wild pitch from Tillman, then scored on a two-out single by Jeter, who collected a pair of hits for the 1,001st multi-hit game of his career. That knocked Tillman out of the game after 6 2/3 innings; TJ McFarland came on an immediately gave up an RBI double to Jacoby Ellsbury, making it a 3-0 game. Tillman was charged with all three runs on seven hits and three walks, with four strikeouts.

And now to Greene, who was very good in just his second start. He cam out early attacking hitters and throwing strikes to a pretty impatient Orioles lineup. He was really having success with his hard-sinking sinker and a pretty good breaking ball. Like I said, he didn't give up a hit until there were two outs in the 5th, and that hit came from a good piece of hitting by Ryan Flarerty, who reached out to hit a two-strike sinker off the plate, smacking it right back up the middle.

Greene did a great job of working out of trouble in the 6th inning, where he gave up back-to-back singles to Nick Markakis and Steve Pearce to open the inning. The next batter, Adam Jones, though, grounded into a double play, then Nelson Cruz struck out to end the threat.

Greene took the mound to open the 8th inning, retired Steve Clevenger, then Joe Girardi decided to pull the plug on his great day. He struck out nine, giving up just four hits with two walks on 106 pitches in 7 1/3 innings. He and Hiroki Kuroda in back-to-back games has made it look like there's actually some hope for this rotation after all.

David Huff only faced one batter in the 8th -- it was Markakis and he singled -- before Girardi brought in Shawn Kelley, who retired the next two hitters to end the 8th.

Then in the 9th, David Robertson did David Robertson things, striking out the final two batters of the game to seal hsi 23rd save of the season, and a 3-0 win for the Yankees, which brings them back to four games within of the first place Orioles.

The Yankees will finish up the first half of their season tomorrow night on ESPN'S Sunday Night Baseball. Kevin Gausman will be on the mound for the O's, while the Yankees are expected to counter with Chase Whitley.

Follow @GavinEwbank

Read More

Game 93: Jeff Francis activated; Matt Daley optioned to Triple-A

After the Baltimore Orioles took home the victory on Friday night with a walk-off win in 10 inning against the Yankees, these two teams will be back at it again on Saturday afternoon at Camden Yards for the second game of this three-game set.

Brian Roberts made his return to Baltimore last night for the first time as a member of the Yankees after spending the last 13 seasons as an Oriole. Roberts homered on the first pitch he saw, sending a solo homerun over the right field wall.

According to the Yankees' game notes, in Camden Yards' 23-year history (1992-2014), Roberts ranks first in doubles (155), second in hits (703; Markakis-728), runs scored (382; Anderson-440), triples (13; Anderson-15) and walks (286; Anderson-398), and third in games played (660; Anderson-703, Ripken-674).

Today's lineup against Baltimore:

LF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Brian McCann
RF Ichiro Suzuki
2B Brian Roberts
3B Kelly Johnson
C Francisco Cervelli

* The Yankees have added left-handed pitcher Jeff Francis to the active 25-man roster. Francis was acquired by the Yanks on Friday from the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later. Manager Joe Girardi told reporters on Friday that he'll be a 30-40 pitch guy for the time being. In a corresponding move, Matt Daley was optioned back to Triple-A Scranton after being called up on Friday.

Pitching match up preview:

Shane Greene made his first big league start on Monday against the Cleveland Indians, and things went pretty well, as the young right-hander tossed six-innings of two-run ball, getting him his first big league victory.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Greene became the first pitcher in Yankees franchise history to
earn a win in his first Major League start while recording at least 6.0IP and allowing four-or-fewer hits
without walking a batter -- the last Yankee to do that was Darrel Rasner way back in 2006.

That outing earned Greene another, which will come this afternoon against the O's in the second game of this three-game series.

Heading into Friday, Ubaldo Jimenez was scheduled to start today's game for the Orioles, but an ankle injury landed him on the disabled list before last night's game, meaning that Chris Tillman will now get the ball today to oppose Greene and the Bombers.

Tillman has quality starts in four of his last five games and he pitched well in Washington against the Nationals on Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits in seven innings.

Follow @GavinEwbank

Read More

Yankees 2, Orioles 3 (F/10): Hiroki Kuroda's strong effort not enough to beat Baltimore

Entering the night just four games back of the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles, Hiroki Kuroda took the mound for the Yankees with a chance to close the gap this weekend as the two teams opened up a three-game series on Friday at Camden Yards. Kuroda pitched a great game, but it wasn't enough for the Yanks to beat the O's, who walked off in the 10th inning for a 3-2 win.

Brian Roberts, who returned home to Baltimore for the first time since signing with the Yankees over the winter, opened the scoring with a solo homerun off of Miguel Gonzalez in the 2nd inning, giving the Bombers a 1-0 lead. An inning later, in the 3rd, Kelly Johnson, the DH for the night, made it a 2-0 game with a solo shot of his own to open the inning.

And that was all she wrote for the Yankees' offense, which had another poor game collecting just seven hits, including those two solo homeruns.

Kuroda had only given up one hit through the first three innings -- a Nick Hundley single with two outs in the 3rd -- and was pitching pretty well until the Orioles scored a pair of runs in the 4th to tie the game.

Kuroda hit Steve Pearce to open the inning, then Adam Jones reached on an infield single hit to Derek Jeter; that set up runners on the corners with nobody out. With Nelson Cruz at the plate, Pearce scored on a wild pitch by Kuroda. Cruz struck out, then with Chris Davis at the plate, Kuroda threw another wild pitch that got Jones to third. He would come in to score on a sac-fly by Davis, making it a 2-2 game.

I missed not of the game, so I didn't get to see how well Kuroda actually pitched, but his numbers suggest that it was a pretty good night. He made it through seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits, without a walk and three strikeouts, throwing 103 pitches.

Gonzalez, for Baltimore, was just as good, pitching eight innings of two-run ball, giving up six hits with five strikeouts on 106 pitches.

Dellin Betances pitched two very strong innings for the Yankees, retiring six of the seven Orioles hitters he faced in the 8th and 9th -- hitting Pearce with a pitch in the 8th -- to help send the game to extra innings.

Adam Warren, who last faced the O's on June 22 in New York when he was tagged for four runs in one inning, opened on the mound for the Yankees in the 10th. Manny Machado led off with a double into the right field corner. Warren struck out Ryan Flaherty for the first out of the inning, but the next batter, Hundley, ended the game with a walk-off single up the middle.

Another tough loss for the Yankees, who fall back to .500 on the season at 46-46. They wasted a good start from Kuroda by not scoring enough runs in a pretty winnable game. We can talk all day about the mangled pitching staff, but the offense hasn't been anything special either.

Shane Greene and Chris Tillman will be on the mound for their teams Saturday afternoon, when the Yankees continue this three-game series at 4:05 pm ET.

Follow @GavinEwbank Tweet

Read More

Game 92: Hiroki Kuroda opens for the Yankees in Baltimore

After taking two games from the Cleveland Indians this week, the Yankees are in Baltimore for a three-game series with the Orioles that will take them into the All-Star break for a much needed four-day break as they get ready to run through most, or all of, the the second half of the season without their ace Masahiro Tanaka.

The Yankees will enter this series tonight just four games back of the AL East leading Orioles, so they have a good chance to make up ground this weekend.

As you should have heard by now, Tanaka was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, effectively putting him on the shelve for at least six weeks, with Tommy John surgery still very much possible.

The challenge for the Yankees moving forward will be still trying to compete for a playoff spot in the American League East with now four-fifths of their Opening Day rotation now on the DL. The last standing member of that five is the 39-year-old Hiroki Kuroda, who will now have to be the guy that carries the rotation -- realistically, that probably won't happen.

Brandon McCarthy will have to be a valuable starter along side David Phelps, Chase Whitley and Shane Greene....never mind, we're screwed.

Tonight's lineup against Baltimore:

LF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
1B Mark Teixeira
C Brian McCann
2B Brian Roberts
RF Ichiro Suzuki
3B Yangervis Solarte
DH Kelly Johnson

Pitching matchup preview:

Getting over Tanaka began last night with Phelps tossing six+ quality innings, but it'll start tonight for Kuroda, how will be on the mound for the Yankees during this series opener at Camden Yards, as he faces the O's for the third time this season.

His first meeting against them was on April 7 at Yankee Stadium, getting the win in that one, then he took home a no-decision in a June 20 start, giving up two runs in six innings.

In his last trip to the mound, Kuroda gave up four runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings, beating the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez will be on the mound for the Orioles tonight, looking to improve on his 4.22 ERA this season.

Gonzalez is coming off of a pretty good start in which he allowed just two runs -- one earned -- and in a season-high eight innings.

Follow @GavinEwbank

Read More

Gardner Leaves Game With Oblique Strain

Move over, Derek Jeter, Jayson Nix, Kevin Youkilis, David Phelps, Michael Pineda, and every other Yankee on the disabled list this season, another player is likely to be joining to list.

Yankees OF Brett Gardner left Thursday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning because of a left oblique strain. Gardner struck out in his first at-bat of the game, and walked straight to the clubhouse from the batters box.

As of now, Gardner is considered day-to-day, but the problem with oblique strains is that they're tricky to deal with. It's usually an injury that could last for a few weeks. If it doesn't heal quick, Gardner's season is likely to be over.

For the Yankees to lose Gardner would be a serious blow to their playoff chase, as Gardner has been a strong bat of the top of the Yankees lineup. With a .344 on-base percentage, he hit .273 with 8 homeruns on 52 RBIs this season for the Bombers.

This has easily been Gardner's best season since debuting in the majors, as he had set new career-highs in hits, doubles, triples, homeruns and RBIs.

He was replaced in center field by Curtis Granderson, who is now expected to take over the role as the Yankees everyday center field, while also sharing time with Ichiro.

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter.

Read More

Hughes Back In The Yanks' Rotation To Face The O's

Yesterday in Baltimore, the Yankees announced that they were shutting down 39-year-old shortstop Derek Jeter for the remainder of the 2013 season because of his ailing left ankle. Jeter finished his season after just 17 games, and even if the Yankees make the playoffs, he won't be a part of it.

"It's very disappointing not to be able to play, especially this time of year," Jeter said. "This is when I want to play the most. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The entire year has been pretty much a nightmare for me physically, so I guess it's fitting that it ends like this."

The Yankees were able to fight back against the Orioles Wednesday night to pull away with another victory, going for their third straight win tonight, as well as capturing the series victory in their final game against the O's this season -- regular season, that is.

Thanks to a grand slam for Mike Carp in the top of the 10th inning Wednesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox went on to win their game 7-4 against Tampa, letting the Yankees to pull within just one game of the second Wild Card spot.

Tonight's Lineup vs Baltimore:

Gardner CF
Rodriguez DH
Soriano LF
Cano 2B
Wells RF
Nunez 3B
Reynolds 1B
Ryan SS
Stewart C
Hughes RHP

Pitching Preview:

Following Wednesday night's win, Yankees manager Joe Girardi shared the news that Phil Hughes was be back in the Yanks rotation are the team skipped his last start in favor of David Huff, who would end up getting shelled by the Red Sox for nine runs in 3.1 innings.

Hughes, who hasn't won a start since July 2nd, has posted a 6.69 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP since the All-Star break, and is presumably enter his final weeks as a starter for the Yankees.

Hughes' last start before being skipped in the rotation came on September 2nd against the White Sox when his day was cut short after 1.1 inning because of a near two-hour rain delay -- rain is also in the forecast tonight.

"We just have to win games," Hughes said. "There's no underlying stories there. I'm just trying to help us out, throw the ball as well as I can and do the best job that I can. I'm excited for that. I'm not really worried about redemption or proving anybody wrong or stuff like that. I'm just trying to throw as many quality innings as I can."

Taking the mound for the Orioles Thursday night will be left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, who's coming off a quality start against the White Sox after giving up just two runs on six hits over six innings.

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter.

Read More

Another Late Comeback Leads The Yanks Past The O's

Remembering the tragic events at the World Trade Center exactly 12 years ago today, the New York Yankees were in Baltimore for the third of a four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles.

On the day the Yankees decided to shut down Derek Jeter for the rest of the season, the team needed a good win to take their minds off of the Jeter news.

Andy Pettitte was pretty good once again, and Alex Rodriguez went deep for the 6th time this season, as the Yankees beat the Orioles 5-4 Wednesday night at Camden Yards, thanks to a go-ahead homerun in the 9th inning by Robinson Cano.

"We don't want to take anything for granted," said Cano. "We just want to go game by game and give it all we've got."

Just like they did in the first two games of this season, the Yankees jumped out to an early 1-0 in the first inning after Brett Gardner walked to open the game, and after stealing second base, he moved to third on a slow ground out by A-Rod, then came home to score on a groundout by Cano.

Then, of course, as the Orioles have done in every game of this series, they jumped back into the game to take the lead in the bottom of the 4th inning on a two-run down near the line in right field, scoring Brian Robertson and Manny Machado to give the O's a 2-1 lead.

JJ Hardy added on another run in the 5th inning when he sent a double to deep right center field to score Danny Valencia, who doubled to lead off the inning against the Yankees' starter Andy Pettitte.

Pettitte pitched pretty well for the Yankees, giving them 6.1 innings, permitting three runs on nine hits, while walking just one and striking out three on 109 pitches. There were points in the game where Pettitte could have made some better pitches, but overall, I thought he was pretty good.

"Obviously we've seen them a lot," Pettitte said. "They know what I'm trying to do to them. You've got to be sharp. I was thankful I was able to give us a decent outing tonight."x

Curtis Granderson made it a one-run game in the 5th inning when he absolutely clobbered a solo homerun to right field, sending it 428 ft, well beyond the right field wall. It was his first homerun since August 21st, spanning 61 at-bats.

"Grandy is one of those guys that's a game-changer with his bat," Girardi said. "He can do that."

Granderson's homerun with the Yankees' first hit of the game against O's starter Scott Feldman, who was just as good as Pettitte, if not better, giving up just three runs on three hits,including two homeruns, while walking two and striking out six over 7.2 inning.

The second homerun he gave up was another solo shot to right field, this time by A-Rod to tie the game. A-Rod now needs just six more homeruns in order to get to 660 and tie the great Willie Mays on the all-time list, also giving him a $6 million bonus.

"He's driving the ball both ways; he's driving it to right and he's driving it to left," Girardi said. "That's encouraging, because when Alex is going good, that's who he is."

David Robertson pitched for the first time in over a week, tossing scoreless 8th inning, and the go-ahead homerun by Cano to open the inning off Tommy Hunter and an infield single by Lyle Overbay gave the Yankees a 5-3 lead to setup a save situation for Mariano Rivera.

Only needing to get through one inning tonight, Mariano retired Hardy and Nick Markakis, before giving up a two-out double to Nate McLouth and an RBI single to Brian Roberts to pull the O's within a run. But Rivera stopped the rally by striking out Machado to end the game, capturing his 43rd save of the season.

"It's just battle; figure out a way," Pettitte said. "We've been doing it all year. We're going to continue to do it. We're going to continue to push through this and no matter how you lose a game here or there, it's not over until we're eliminated, as far as I'm concerned."

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter.

Read More

Pettitte Faces The O's, Going For 6th Straight Quality Start

If you thought that the New York Yankees were out of the playoff chase after losing four of the last five games heading into Tuesday night, then think again, because they're still right in the middle of the second Wild Card race.

Trailing 4-3 after seven innings of play, the Yankees exploded for a four-run inning against the Baltimore Orioles, kicking off the inning with a double by Alex Rodriguez, who would score on a base hit to center by Robinson Cano to tie the game. Alfonso Soriano followed a two-run homerun to take a 6-4 lead, and Mark Reynolds doubled home a tack-on run.

Mariano Rivera came out of the bullpen to record the Yankees' final four outs of the game, sealing the Bombers' 7-5 victory. With and win and a loss by the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees will enter play on Wednesday just two games back of Tampa for the second Wild Card.

Just as important as the Wild Card standings, A-Rod, Austin Romine and starter Ivan Nova all left last night's game because of injuries. A-Rod's left hamstring tightened up on him on his scoring play in the 8th; Nova left because of some tightness in his triceps; and Romine left with a possibly concussion after taking a foul-tip of his facemask.

Tonight's Lineup vs Baltimore:

Gardner CF
Rodriguez DH
Cano 2B
Soriano LF
Granderson RF
Reynolds 3B
Overbay 1B
Ryan SS
Stewart C
Pettitte LHP

Derek Jeter is out of the lineup for the fourth straight game because of his ankle; A-Rod is in the lineup, but it could be something that we'll know more on after batting practice; newly acquired Brendan Ryan is starting at shortstop, and he'll be wearing No. 35 tonight.

Pitching Preview:

Andy Pettitte got off to a good start this season for the Yankees, after about the first month of the season, he started to fall into a funk to suggest being 41-years-old was finally catching up to him. After a couple months of terrible pitching, Pettitte has once again found his grove on the mound, as he takes the mound in Baltimore looking for his sixth straight quality start.

Pettitte is coming off a good start against the Boston Red Sox last week, but the Yankees' bullpen couldn't back him up, as he would take the no-decision after giving up three runs on five hits over six innings.

"I felt good. I hate it," Pettitte said. "I wish I'd gone a little bit deeper in the game, but all my pitches were working. It was a game where you feel maybe like you could've got a little bit deeper."

Going up against Pettitte and the Yankees will be Orioles right-hander Scott Feldman, who;s coming off one of his best pitching performances of the season, going the distance against the Chicago White Sox, giving up just five hits over nine innings in the the O's 4-0 win.

"The first time through, they were kind of taking the first pitch a little bit, then after that, they got a little more aggressive," Feldman said. "So I was able to try not to live in the middle of the plate, kind of to hit the corners and hope they'd swing and get some early outs that way. If I go nine or seven -- whatever it is -- as long as we win, it's a good game."

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 Tweet

Read More

Yanks Come Back In The 8th To Beat The O's 7-5

Through the first seven innings, it looked like the New York Yankees were going to waste another decent effort by their starting pitcher, and fall to the Baltimore Orioles to lose for the 5th time in their last six games.

But entering the 8th inning down 4-3, the Yankees put together a big four-run inning, batting around in the inning to come back and take the lead, going on the defeat the Orioles 7-5, Tuesday night at Camden Yards.

"I've said all along, there's no quit in this team and there's a lot of character in that room," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "They've fought all year long and they continue to fight."

The inning started with a double down the line field line by Alex Rodriguez, who would come around to score on a single up the middle by Robinson Cano to tie game. After a close play at the plate, A-Rod would leave the game, and we're still waiting on word of why he left.

Following Cano, Alfonso Soriano blasted his second homerun of the game deep the right-center field to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. His second homerun gave Soriano his 7th multi-homerun game this season -- no other player has more than four. Mark Reynolds tack on another run with an RBI double of his own.

"The difference is I'm having fun right now," said Soriano. "I'm playing for a team to be a contender in the playoffs, so every game counts."

The game had the same type of face-paced feel to it that it had in Monday night's game. It also followed along with the same type of scoring pace. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning on a double into the left-center field gap by A-Rod, scoring Chris Stewart all the one from first base.

Then just like Monday, the Orioles attacked in the 5th inning, putting up three-runs against Yankees starter Ivan Nova, who was coming off a complete-game shutout the last time he faced Baltimore, so he was picking up right where he left off, tossing four scoreless innings to start the game.

Nova was taken out of the game after six innings and 79 pitches, because of tightness in his right triceps. He had been pitching pretty well all night if you exclude the 5th inning. He had only given up four-runs on six hits, while walking two and striking out two.

"He had this thing that he's dealt with for awhile now," Girardi said. "It hasn't kept him from making a start. Sometimes it tightens up a little bit. He said it tightened up a little bit, so I took him out."

"You never want to tell your manager, because they can push you back or skip you, whatever," Nova said. "You just want to keep pitching."

Eduardo Nunez was a key player for the Orioles in the 5th, as his throwing error off the first base bag lead to a run scoring, setting up runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. After a sac-fly by Nick Markakis gave the O's a 2-1 lead, Chris Davis crushed his major league leading 49th homerun of the season, a two-run blast to give Baltimore a 4-1 lead.

The Yankees started to pull themselves back into the game in the 6th inning when Soriano and Reynolds each launched solo homeruns to right field off Miguel Gonzalez to pull the Yanks within a run at 4-3. Soriano's was his 14th with the Bombers, and Reynolds' homerun still hasn't landed yet, I don't think.

"I've had Alfonso. He's been a good Major League player for a long time," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He certainly doesn't get cheated. He's been a good player for a long time. It's a good pickup for them."

After Adam Warren took care of business in the 7th, Shawn Kelley recorded the first two outs of the 8th before Joe Girardi decided to go to Mariano River for the four-out save, and unlike his last two outings, Mariano got the job done, setting the O's down in the 8th and 9th to seal the Yanks win.

Austin Romine replaced Chris Stewart behind the plate in the 7th inning, but was forced to leave the game after taking a foul-tip off his facemask. He originally stayed n the game, but left a couple pitches later. He presumably left because of concussion like symptoms.

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter.

Read More

Nova And Yanks Look To Get On Track In Baltimore

Monday night in Baltimore, the most exciting part of the New York Yankees' 4-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles was a first inning scramble between both side's manager, Joe Girardi and Buck Showalter. After arguing for a few second between innings, both manager had to be restrained by the umpires.

As for the game, CC Sabathia gave the Yankees seven plus innings, but giving up four-runs on seven hits wasn't enough to lead the Yankees to victory. Alex Rodriguez and Lyle Overbay were the entire Yankee offense, with both slugging solo homeruns to right field off of O's starter Chris Tillman.

With every game becoming more important than the last, the Yankees really need to get things back on track tonight in Baltimore, having lost four of their last five games after losing three of four against the Boston Red Sox this past weekend in the Bronx.

"This is obviously an important four-game series, because they're trying to do what we're trying to do. They're trying to get back in the mix of things," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "They played well the past four days, and it's an important series, but every series is important for us the rest of the way out."

Tonight's Lineup vs Baltimore:

Gardner CF
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Soriano LF
Granderson DH
Reynolds 1B
Suzuki RF
Nunez SS
Stewart C
Nova RHP

Pitching Preview:

Looking to get back on track along with the Yankees is right-hander Ivan Nova, who's been shaky in his last couple of starts are posting a 5-0 record with an ERA just above two in the month of August on his way to being named AL Pitcher of the Month.

He's looking to rebound in Baltimore after failing to go at least six innings for the first time since April 26th, when he gave up three-runs on five hits in just four inning against the Red Sox on Thursday. In three appearance (two starts) against the O's this season, Nova is 2-0 with a 1.52 ERA, including a complete-game shutout on August 31st at Yankee Stadium.

"I remember in the past we had tough games, and I really enjoy those games. Those are the days that I put everything I got on. Those days, you've got to go out and get a win for your team," Nova said. "After you get a win for your team in a situation like that, you feel special. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, and like I said, get a win for the team."

Opposing the Yankees on the mound for Baltimore is right-hander Miguel Gonzalez, who's coming off a quality start against the White Sox last week after tossing seven innings of one-run ball, snapping a four-game losing streak.

In 11 starts at Camden Yards this season, Gonzalez 6-2 with a 3.80 ERA, seven of which have been quality starts.

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 Tweet

Read More

Seven Plus Inning By CC Not Enough, Yanks Fall To The Orioles 4-2

On a night where most of the area was presumably sitting at FedEx Field, watching the Philadelphia Eagles' new and improved offense run circles around the Washington Redskins, the Baltimore Orioles were hosting the Yankees in the opener of a four-game series that could affect the postseason races.

CC Sabathia wasn't great, but he was good enough to save the bullpen and go deep into the game, and Alex Rodriguez blasted his 5th homerun of the season, but it wasn't enough for the Yankees to overcome a dominating performance by Chris Tillman, as the Bombers fell to the O's, 4-2, Monday night at Camden Yards.

"It's frustrating, but it's baseball," Sabathia said. "You've got to go out and try to keep the game close. He's been pitching well all year, and it's up to me to try to keep the game close and give these guys a chance to win."

The Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning when A-Rod, who batted second in the lineup for the first time since August 26th, 2006, launched a solo homerun to right field of Tillman. It was 3-2 pitch that A-Rod got enough of to send out of the park.

Sabathia took the mound with the lead in the bottom of the 1st, but he didn't hold it for long, giving up a leadoff double to Nick Markakis, who would move to third on a shallow groundout to third base, then scored on a sac-fly by Adam Jones.

Tillman and Sabathia dueled it out through five innings as the teams played tied until the 5th when Baltimore scored a pair of runs off CC, with Matt Wieters driving in the first run on a sac-fly to center field, then Markakis came through again with an RBI single to center field to make it a 3-1 game.

"It's that time of the year, and situations call for it," Sabathia said. "You're trying to get the runner over to third; get runs however you can. So they did a good job of that."

Working with the lead, Tillman dominated. Up until Lyle Overbay added another run for the Yankees in the 8th with a solo homerun to right field, making it a 4-2 game, he had retired 14 straight hitters, allowing just two runs on four, while striking out nine to compliment zero walks in seven plus innings.

"His changeup was outstanding tonight," Girardi said of Tillman. "He also has a good curveball, but I thought his changeup was the equalizer tonight; moving his fastball up and down as much as in and out."

Manny Machado tacked on another run for Baltimore in the 7th inning on a double -- what else -- to right field, scoring Wieters to extend the lead to 4-1. CC pitched into the 8th before being relieved by Adam Warren. He gave up four runs on seven hits, while striking out six in 7.1 innings.

The Yankees tried to put together a rally in the 9th against O's closer Jim Johnson. But with two outs and a runner on first, Curtis Granderson flew out to the warming track in right-center field the end the game, giving the Yanks their fourth loss in the last five games.

"We're still in it," Romine said. "It's baseball. Anything can happen. We're coming out here to win every game, and you can't count us out. We keep battling and battling and battling."

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 Tweet

Read More

Pre-Game Notes: Jeter, A-Rod and The Rotation

Starting tonight in Baltimore, the Yankees open up a very important four-game series against the Orioles, whom the Yanks are chasing in the Wild Card standings. Coming off a wild weekend in the Bronx against the Boston Red Sox, there's been a lot of injury news to report on for the Yanks, as well as some other little nuggets.

First pitch at Camden Yards is scheduled for 7:05 pm EST, and until then, here's what is happening around the team as they enter play tonight.

A-Rod in the two-hole: That's right, according to the Yankees lineup at just after 3:40 pm this afternoon, Alex Rodriguez will be batting second for the Bombers tonight, slotted right between Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano.

The last time that A-Rod was listed as hitting second in the lineup was on August 26th, 2006 against the Los Angeles Angels. In his career, he has batted second 497 times, hitting a combined .320 with 118 homers and a .948 OPS.

Almonte back in uniform: Zoilo Almonte is finally back with the Yankees after being out for several weeks due to a sprained left ankle he suffered in a Yankees loss to the Red Sox back in mid-July. Almonte had began his rehab assignment with Double-A Trenton last Thursday, playing a few games on New Jersey before heading out to Baltimore to rejoin the Bombers.

Is it Huff, Hughes or someone else? When the Yankees lineup card was posted, even more noticeable than A-Rod batting second was the fact that David Huff was listed as just another reliever for the Yanks, along with Phil Hughes, suggesting the Yanks currently have a four-man rotation.

Manager Joe Girardi told reporters that Huff could be used out of the bullpen tonight, but he also said that no changes have been made in the rotation. So as of right now, who will be starting for the Yankees on Thursday is currently unknown.

“We’re going to get through these three days and see where we're at," Girardi said. “I'm not saying I’m changing anything, but if we need Huff (out of the bullpen), we need Huff."

Still no baseball for Jeter: Girardi also announced before the game that Derek Jeter, who's currently nursing a sore left ankle, would not be taking part in any baseball related activities today. He also said that he's unsure if Jeter would be able to play on Tuesday.

When he asked about Jeter playing tomorrow, Girardi responded, "To play? I don't know. We'll go a day at a time with him. We'll just try to keep him off it from doing a lot of baseball activities; see how it is tomorrow."

"I might use him in an emergency if I had to use him tonight," Girardi added. "That's kind of the situation we're in. It's not like I have a number of shortstops lying around."

Thanks for reading, and as always, follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter.

Read More

Yanks And O's Open Big Three-Game Set In Baltimore

Coming off one of the craziest Yankees/Red Sox series in recent memory, the New York Yankees managed to not lose any ground to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card standings, still floating just 2.5 games back entering play on Monday.

And after finishing up a 10-game home stand with a 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday -- thanks to a wild pitch by Brandon Workman in the home half of the 9th, scoring Ichiro from third base to win the game -- the Yankees hit the road to start a 10-game road trip that could easily decide the fate of their season.

The first stop on the three-city tour is a four-game set at Camden Yards to face off against the Baltimore Orioles, whom the Yankees are currently chasing in the standings. Baltimore is coming off a successful series against the Chicago White Sox this past weekend, having won three of four games.

These two teams met with each other just last week in the Bronx, with the Yanks taking two of the three games. As the O's sit a half-game ahead of the Yankees on the standings entering play, the next four-games could prove to be extremely important to the Bombers in their bid to play in October.

Tonight's Lineup vs Baltimore:

Gardner CF
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Soriano LF
Granderson DH
Nunez SS
Overbay 1B
Suzuki RF
Romine C
Sabathia LHP

For starters, yes, Alex Rodriguez is batting second. Second, Zoilo Almonte is in Baltimore to rejoin the Yankees. He was recently rehabbing in Double-A Trenton. Third, Derek Jeter is still out of the lineup with a sore left ankle.

Pitching Preview:

Leading the Yankees into tonight's series opener is a man who's put up big numbers against the Orioles in the past, CC Sabathia, who's 18-5 with a 3.33 ERA in 29 career starts against Baltimore. Although this season, he's 2-1 with a 4.67 ERA in four starts.

Sabathia has been going through a ton of ups and down all season, and he earned the win in his last start against the White Sox, although he didn't pitch that great, giving up three runs on five hits over 7 1/3 innings last Wednesday.

"I feel like I'm getting better," Sabathia said. "Like I've said, I'll keep building, keep working and try to help the team win."

Taking the mound for the Orioles Monday night, also trying to lead his team to victory, is Baltimore right-hander Chris Tillman. Tillman is coming off a sloppy loss to the Cleveland Indians, struggling with his control, walking five in 5.1 innings, while giving up four-runs on five hits.

"I need to be better than that," Tillman said. "It's coming down to the wire here and I think I expect better from myself. It was close. I was a couple pitches from getting through there."

Follow @GavinEwbank2013 on Twitter.

Read More