Yankees 0, Blue Jays 2: Yankees get one-hit for the first time since 2009

The Yankees have beaten Drew Hucthinson three times this season, but on Saturday afternoon, the Bombers were only able to collect one hit in seven innings against the Blue Jays' right-hander in a 2-0 loss at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

A two-run homerun in the 1st inning by Jose Bautista off of Yankees starter Michael Pineda turned out to be the difference-maker in this one, as the Jays rebounded from last night's loss to take the middle game of this three-game series.

After an offensive outbreak last night, and a couple of times in Detroit this past week, the Yankees' offense showed more of what we have been seeing all season long.

The Yankees didn't get their first baserunner of the game against Hutchinson until Carlos Beltran was hit by a pitch with two outs in the 4th inning. Their first hit came a batter later when Mark Teixeira doubled to deep right-center field, putting runners on second and third. Hutchinson then hit Brian McCann to load the bases, but the Yankees wouldn't get anything out of it when Martin Prado flew out to end the inning.

Teixeira's double was the only hit of the game. They only had two more bases runners after the 4th inning, on walks by Beltran and Stephen Drew.

Hutchinson struck out nine and walked just two in his seven one-hit innings. In all, the Bombers struck out 12 times, as they were one-hit for the first time since former Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay did it to them on September 4, 2009.

Pitching-wise, the Yankees had a good game. They got six innings of two-run ball from Pineda, who gave up seven hits and struck out three. Shawn Kelley and David Huff both tossed scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the 7th and 8th.

The Yankees and Blue Jays conclude this series tomorrow afternoon at 1:07 p.m. ET. Brandon McCarthy gets the ball for New York, going up against lefty JA Happ.

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Game 133: Just 30 games left

The Yankees are at that point in the season in which they can't afford to lose very many ballgames anymore. They took home a big win over the Toronto Blue Jays last night, scoring five runs in the 7th inning to take a 5-1 lead, as they would go on to win 6-3.

The Yankees now stand seven games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, and three games back of the Detroit Tigers for the second wild card spot with just 30 games left to play this season.

Today's lineup against Toronto:

CF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
DH Carlos Beltran
1B Mark Teixeira
C Brian McCann
LF Martin Prado
2B Stephen Drew
3B Chase Headley
RF Ichiro Suzuki

* Jacoby Ellsbury gets the day off after hurting his ankle in last night's win. He was seen hobbling around by reporters with his ankle taped. I'm guessing he'll be out for a couple more day.

Pitching matchup: Michael Pineda vs Drew Hutchinson

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Yankees 8, Royals 1: Michael Pineda and the bats take down the streaking Royals

The world is a batter place when Michael Pineda is on the mound for the New York Yankees.

Making just his third start off of the disabled list, Pineda held the hottest team in baseball to just one run over 6 1/2 innings of work, as the Yankees put up six runs against James Shields en route to a 8-1 win at Kauffman Stadium on Monday night in the makeup of a June 9th rain-out.

The win extended the Yankees' winning streak to five games, as they look to climb back into the playoff race for one more shot at a ring in Derek Jeter's final season.

The Bomber struck early against Shields, taking a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning. Ichiro Suzuki reached on an infield single to open the inning, the moved to second base on the same play. After Zelous Wheeler walked to pair a of of runners on, Jacoby Ellsbury grounded into a fielder's choice a second base, moving Ichiro over to third base, then Derek Jeter grounded to score Ichiro for the game's first run.

Kansas City, though, answered back in the bottom half of the inning with it's only run of the game against Pineda and the Yankees' bullpen, jumping on the board with a solo homerun from Mike Moustakas.

Stephen Drew gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead in the top half of the 4th inning with a solo homerun into the right field seats off of Shield -- his 6th dinger of the season.

And from there, Pineda did his thing. He retired 10 straight Royals hitters following the Moustakas homerun; it wasn't until Jarrod Dyson singled with one-out in the 6th that Kansas City would get another base runner. Pineda left with one-out in the 7th inning, having given up just one run on five hits, while striking out five and walking none on 96 pitches.

He was able to leave the game with a 6-1 lead after the Yankees scored four runs in the top of the 7th inning.

Martin Prado, the hottest bat in the Yankees' lineup lately, led off the 7th inning his 4th homerun of the season, a solo blast into the left field seats that extended the lead to 3-1. Chase Headley and Ichiro followed with back-to-back singles, then after a fielder's choice by Wheeler, Ellsbury ripped an RBI single into right field -- the 1,000th hit of his big league career -- to score Ichiro. Jeter singled a batter later, making it a 5-1 game. And then Brian McCann followed with a sac-fly to score Ellsbury, who was initially ruled out at the plate, only to have the call overturned on instant replay.

After walking Carlos Beltran, Shields was finally pulled from the game, having given up six runs on 10 hits, walking three and striking out three. Not a good night for Big Game James.

Ellsbury continued his good night, hitting a two-run homerun in the top of the 9th inning that extended the Yankees' lead to 8-1.

David Huff finished off the final two and a third innings for a the Yankees, giving up just two hits -- both singles -- as he closed out the win for the Yankees, who are now just three games back of the second AL Wild Card spot.

The Yankees now head off to Detroit, where they will open up a three game series with the Tigers, who have won four of their last five games. Rick Porcello will be on the mound for the home team, with Brandon McCarthy getting the game for the Yankees in this 7:08 p.m. ET game.

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Game 129: Makeup game

On what was suppose to be an off-day, the Yankees make a one-game stop in Kansas City to finally wrap of their four-games series at Kaufman Stadium -- the Royals had taken two of the three games played, with the June 9th matchup rained out.

The Yankees are catching the Royals at the wrong time, 24 of their last 31 games, even with a loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday. Kansas City currently holds a two-game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central, and are in a position to make the playoffs for the first time in over two decades.

Tonight's lineup against Kansas City:

CF Jacoby Ellsbury
SS Derek Jeter
C Brian McCann
DH Carlos Beltran
2B Stephen Drew
LF Martin Prado
1B Chase Headley
RF Ichiro Suzuki
1B Zelous Wheeler

* Mark Teixeira is dealing with some tightness in his left hamstring. Joe Girardi doesn't it's much, and expects him in the lineup tomorrow night in Detroit.

Pitching matchup: Michael Pineda vs James Shields

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Yankees 2, Astros 5: Michael Pineda's good effort not enough to beat Houston

And so, seemingly, ends the Yankees' hopes of making the playoffs in Derek Jeter's final season.

Coming off of a disappointing loss to the Houston Astros on Tuesday, the Yankees picked up right where they left off, dropping a second straight the Astros on Wednesday, falling 5-2 for the seventh loss in their last nine games.

Houston took a 1-0 lead against Michael Pineda and the Yankees in the 4th inning when Dexter Fowler hit a two-out triple that scored Robbie Grossman, who singled to open the inning. The Yankees, though, answered right back with a run of their own, getting a solo homerun from Stephen Drew that tied the game at 1-1.

The Yankees gave Pineda a lead to work with an inning later, thanks to some small ball. Ichiro Suzuki led off the inning with a single, stole second base, then moved to third on a groundout by Jeter. Then Jacoby Ellsbury dropped down a suicide squeeze to score Ichiro from third, putting the Yankees up 2-1.

Making his second start off of the DL, Pineda went into the 7th inning pitching very well, keeping his pitch count low throughout the night. Joe Girardi pulled him with one out in the 7th, and finished with two runs on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

I've missed watching him pitch, and any chance the Yankees have left of making a playoffs, he'll be a big part of it.

It all went downhill for the Yankees after Pineda was taken out of the game. David Huff struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. In came Esmil Rogers, who gave up singles to the next four hitters, scoring four runs that put the Astros up 5-2.

Scott Feldman started for the Astros; he wasn't great, but neither were the Yankees and that's all that mattered. Feldman went 6 2/3, giving up just two runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out seven.

The Yankees tried to rally in the 9th, putting a pair of runners on with two down, but Ellsbury flew out to the warning track to end the game.

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Game 123: Michael Pineda returns to the Yankee Stadium mound

This very disappointing season for the Yankees took another hit on Tuesday night, as the Bombers kicked off a very important six-game homestand with a 7-4 loss to the Houston Astros, a team that boasts the third worst record in baseball.

Houston struck out 15 times last night, they left 10 runners on base, and they beat the Yankees by three runs for their third win over the Yankees in four meetings so far this season.

With Baltimore's win last night, the Yankees are now 9 1/2 games back in the AL East -- they're all but officially out in the division, it seems -- and they're four games back of the Mariners and Athletics for the second wild card.

Tonight's lineup against Houston:

LF Brett Gardner
DH Derek Jeter
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
3B Mark Teixeira
C Brian McCann
3B Chase Headley
SS Stephen Drew
2B Martin Prado
RF Ichiro Suzuki

* Carlos Beltran was scratched from tonight's lineup after feeling some pain in his elbow after a swing in last night's game. Joe Girardi told reporters that Beltran will see a doctor later today, and that he only hopes he'll be out for a day or two.

This is the same elbow that has caused Beltran pain for most of the season. He could have had the surgery and probably returned by now, but instead, he's still hurting and might need to get something done in the winter.

Pitching matchup preview:

For the first time since early April, Michael Pineda will take the mound for the Bombers at home in Yankee Stadium this evening. The right-hander made his long-awaited return from the DL last week, one run on two hits over five innings against the Baltimore Orioles.

If the Yankees are going to make any sort of playoff push, Pineda is going to be a big piece of that puzzle.

Going for the Astros will be the right-hander Scott Feldman, who held the Yankees scoreless for 6 2/3 innings on Opening Day. Feldman is coming off of a rough outing against the Boston Red Sox over the weekend, where he gave up seven runs on nine hits.

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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.

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Pitching news: Michael Pineda to start on Wednesday; Manny Banuelos promoted to Triple-A

In Baltimore today to kick off a big three-game series against the AL East leading Orioles, the Yankees made a big announcement.

Right-hander Michael Pineda will make his return to the big leagues to face the Orioles in the series finale on Wednesday night. I'm assuming that Esmil Rogers will be moved back to the bullpen with Pineda back. A roster move might not happen until Wednesday.

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.

Man Ban promoted to Triple-A

Baseball America's Josh Norris has reported that pitching prospect Manny Banuelos has been promoted to Triple-A Scranton after spending the past couple of months with Double-A Trenton.

After starting the season with High-A Tampa, making five starts, Banuelos was promoted to Trenton in May, where he posted a 4.59 ERA with 44 strikeouts and 19 walks in 49 innings of work. He's been pitching a lot better lately, giving up four earned runs in his last four starts.

Banuelos, who is pitching in his first full season since having Tommy John Surgery in 2012, could possibly make his way up to the big leagues in September when rosters are expended to 40. Some say it's possible, but I can't see it.

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Game 111: Facing Cy Young

After six games on the road against last place clubs, the Yankees are back home in Bronx where they welcome the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers for a four game series that kicks off tonight at 7:05 p.m. in Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees return home after going 3-3 on that trip, which made stops in Texas and Boston. New York dropped three of the first four games before taking the final two games against the Red Sox over the weekend, including a 8-7 win last night at Fenway Park.

Detroit, meanwhile, comes in town town boasting one of the best offenses in baseball, scoring 4.74 runs per game. The Tigers are coming off of a three game sweep of the Colorado Rockies after dropping five of six games heading into that series over the weekend.

With the Tigers coming into Yankee Stadium, Yankees fans might get a chance to see Joba Chamberlain pitch against in the Bronx. The former Yankees reliever signed with Detroit during the offseason after spending the first seven years of his career in pinstripes. Well, it's almost the same guy coming back -- he's got a full-on beard on his face now.

Tonight's lineup against Detroit:

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

Pitching matchup preview:

Right-hander Brandon McCarthy gets the ball tonight for the Yankees in the series opener.

Acquired from Arizona in a trade at the beginning of July, McCarthy is 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA in pinstripes. He's turned into a great pickup by Brian Cashman, who only had to give up Vidal Nuno to get McCarthy. With everybody else in the rotation going down to injuries, he's been exactly what they needed.

McCarthy, though, is coming off his roughest outing with the Yankees, allowing four runs and nine hits in six innings against the Rangers on July 29.

The Yankees' offense will have a very tough task ahead of them over the next few days, facing the last three Cy Young awards winners, and it begins tonight with the reigning winner, right-hander Max Scherzer, who has a 5.17 ERA in three regular-season starts at Yankee Stadium.

Scherzer -- 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA over his last seven outings -- in is coming off of a start in which he tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the White Sox on Wednesday night at Comerica Park.

Yankee Notes:

* The Yankees have placed RHP David Phelps on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right arm. Phelps left Sunday night's start against the Red Sox after just two innings because of what the team was then calling inflammation in his elbow. Joe Girardi says that Phelps won't pick up a ball for two weeks.

In a corresponding move, the Yankees recalled RHP Matt Daley from Triple-A Scranton. With Phelps on the DL, the Yankees will need to find a start to Friday night against the Indians.

* Masahiro Tanaka played catch today, making 25 throws from 60 feet. He said that he felt good and didn't feel anything wrong with his elbow. He doesn't really know when he might be back, but will continue his path back to the mound by throwing again tomorrow.

* Michael Pineda almost certainly won't be the man pitching for the Yankees on Friday night. He threw 58 pitches in a rehab outing on Sunday, and Girardi doesn't think he's stretched out enough. Pineda told reporters that he'll pitch again on Friday, but isn't sure where it'll be.

* MLB announced today that Brett Gardner has been named the AL Player of the Week after hitting .478 (11-for-23) with three doubles, five homers, seven RBI, five walks and eight runs.

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Minor League Recap - 8/3/14: Michael Pineda makes his first minor league rehab outing

* Luis Severino was scratched shortly before taking the hill for Double-A Trenton on Sunday, the team announced. No reason was given by the team, but VP of Baseball Ops Mark Newman told Sweeny Murti that it’s a "very slight" oblique issue and they are simply "playing it safe." At least it's not an arm injury.

Triple-A Scranton: 3-1 win vs Syracuse Chiefs

DH Jose Pirela: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, K

2B Rob Refsnyder: 1-for-4

LF Zoilo Almonte: 1-for-4

RF Adonis Garcia: 1-for-4, R, K

1B Kyle Roller: 2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, K -- 12th homerun of the season in AAA

SS Zelous Wheeler: 0-for-3

C Austin Romine: 0-for-3

Michael Pineda: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 4 GO, 1 FO -- 37 of 58 pitches for strikes in the first rehab outing for Big Mike. He told reporters afterwards that he feels great and ready to go, but doesn't know when or where he'll next pitch.

Zach Nuding: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Double-A Trenton: 4-1 loss vs Portland Sea Dogs

LF Jake Cave: 0-for-4, 3 K

1B Greg Bird: 0-for-4, 2 K

RF Tyler Austin: 1-for-4, 2B, K

CF Mason Williams: 1-for-4, K

Jairo Heredia: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Cesar Cabral: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Danny Burawa: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER 0 BB, 3 K

Mark Montgomery: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

High-A Tampa: 9-1 loss (F/7) vs Jupiter Hammerheads - completed early because of rain

CF Mark Payton: 1-for-3

SS Cito Culver: 0-for-2, BB, K

3B Eric Jagielo: 0-for-3, 2 K

DH Dante Bichette Jr: 0-for-3

RF Aaron Judge: 1-for-3, R, HR, RBI, K -- 5th homerun in High-A

2B Angelo Gumbs: 0-for-2, K

Caleb Smith: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Jacob Lindgren: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K -- second four strikeout inning in pro-ball

Low-A Charleston: 8-1 win vs Hagerstown Suns

SS Abiatal Avelino: 2-for-3, 2 R

2B Tyler Wade: 3-for-4, 3 R, 2B, RBI

3B Miguel Andujar: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB, K

1B Mike Ford: 1-for-3, R, HR, 4 RBI -- three-run homerun, his 11th dinger of the season

LF Michael O'Neill: 0-for-3

DH Gosuke Katoh: 0-for-4, 2 K

Rookie Davis: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Short Season Staten Island: 5-4 loss vs Auburn Doubledays

CF Devyn Bolasky: 2-for-4, BB

C Luis Torrens: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB

2B Ty McFarland: 0-for-4

DH Chris Breen: 2-for-4, R, 2B, K

RF Austin Aune: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI, K -- second homerun with Staten Island

SS Vicente Conde: 1-for-3, R, BB

Jordan Montgomery: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Jordan Foley: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

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Game 100: Facing Yu Darvish

The Yankees went 18 innings between scoring runs before Jacoby Ellsbury tied the game in the 13th inning last night with an RBI single after the Yanks had fallen behind, 1-0, in the top of the 13th -- ironically, Ellsbury drove in the last Yankees run on Monday night with solo homerun.

Neither team really deserved to win last night's game on a count of how bad the Rangers played and how bad the Yankees' lineup struggled. But in the end, the team with the most runs win, and that just happened to be the Yankees, even if it took nearly five hours.

Let's just hope somebody can score in the first nine innings tonight.

Tonight's lineup against Texas:

LF Brett Gardner
SS Derek Jeter
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
DH Carlos Beltran
1B Brian McCann
3B Chase Headley
RF Ichiro Suzuki
C Francisco Cervelli
2B Brendan Ryan

* Michael Pineda will throw a simulated game tomorrow. The plan is for him to toss two innings or 30 pitches -- which ever comes first.

* McCann is going to play first base while Mark Teixeira is out, day-to-day, with a light lat strain.

Pitching matchup preview:

David Phelps has been pitching pretty well since rejoining the Yankees' rotation this season, and he hopes to continue his success tonight when he faces the Rangers in the third of four games against the Texas club at Yankee Stadium this week.

Phelps is seeking just his 5th win of the season, but he has worked six innings or more in each of his three July outings, and he's 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA in that span.

Phelps kicked off the second half of the season with a win over the Cincinnati Reds last Friday, giving up two runs on six hits in 6.1 innings.

The Yankees have had a tough time hitting pitchers that you've never heard of the past two games, so it's probably not a good thing that they're facing Yu Darvish tonight, as he goes for his 10th win of the season for the third year in a row.

Darvish is coming off of a win against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, where he struck out 12 and gave up one run in 6.2 innings. This'll be fun to watch.

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Yankees midseason awards: the best and worst of the team's first half

We've reached the official halfway point of the season with the Yankees heading into the four-day All-Star break today. At 47-47, the Yankees are 5 games back of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East.

Hal Steinbrenner opened up his checkbook for the Yankees to spend almost $500 million on free-agents, such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran and Masahiro Tanaka. But that wild offseason spending has hardly paid off for the Bombers, with really only Tanaka and Ellsbury earning their money so far.

There is no doubt that this team has under-performed so far this season, but you could also point out the fact that injuries have riddled the team just as much as they did last season, with four fifths of their Opening Day rotation currently on the DL.

The Yankees had a goal of winning one last World Series calls it a career at the end of the season, but with the way things are going now, they could be out of the playoff hunt by the time September rolls around.

Most Valuable Player: Masahiro Tanaka

Without a doubt, Tanaka has been the best player on the Yankees' roster this season. Named an All-Star in his first Major League season, Tanaka is 12-4 with a 2.51 ERA in 18 starts but has lost three of his past four outings. Regardless, without him, it's hard to see the Yankees even still being in contention for the division title.

There were a lot of expectations on Tanaka shoulders when coming over, having gone 24-0 last season in Japan and then getting such a big contract (seven-years, $155 million) with the Yankees put a lot of eyes on him. He not only met the challenge, but he went above and beyond it in his first couple of months.

Obviously we don't know if the elbow injury was there when his recent downward spiral began, but maybe the routine of having to pitch every fifth day, compared to once a week in Japan, was starting to get to him.

The Yankees are hoping that Tanaka is only going to be out for about six weeks, with Tommy John surgery currently on hold. There is no doubt that should Tanaka be out for the rest of the year, the Yankees' playoff chances are essentially over.

Least Valuable Player: Carlos Beltran

After a brilliant postseason with the St. Louis Cardinals last October, Beltran hit the open market with the Yankees keeping a close eye on him, and likewise from Beltran, who always dreamed of being a Yankee. Brian Cashman, according to some reports, did not want to sign Beltran on anything more than a two-year deal, but in the end, with the Kansas City Royals making a series push, Cashman gave him a three-year pact, for some reason that is already looking like a terrible mistake.

Hitting just .216 with nine homeruns and 28 RBIs in 61 games for the Bombers this season, Beltran has already been on the DL twice -- first for an elbow injury in May, and the second being right now with a concussion from a batting practice accident.

There has always been some concerns about Beltran staying healthy through the end of this deal, but if anything, we thought it would be related to the bum knees that have troubled him in the past. Instead, it's the bone spurs in his elbow which have limited him to being a DH-only for the Yankees since he can't throw. And because of that, the Yankees have had to use Ichiro Suzuki on a full-time basis, and it even forced more regular playing time for Alfonso Soriano, who shouldn't have been getting that.

Biggest surprise: Yangervis Solarte

Where did this guy come from? A career minor leaguer, Solarte broke through in spring training and earned a spot on the Yankees' Opening Day roster. He carried his hot bat in Tampa with him to the regular season, hitting .303 in April and .296 in May, where he started to finally come crashing down to Earth near the end, and eventually posted a .164 batting average before he was optioned to Triple-A.

He didn't stay in the minors very long, coming back after just over a week later. Since his call-up, he's 1-for-9, though.

I don't know, maybe he just went on a hot streak for a couple of months, but it seemed like he would never come back to life, which is no longer the case. I really hope that he can turn things back around and start hitting well again -- not just for the Yankees, but for himself -- because he's a fun person to watch. Long live the Legend of Yangervis.

Biggest letdown: Michael Pineda

Honestly, Pineda is the team's biggest letdown, in my opinion, because we hardly ever got a chance to watch him pitch. He only completed four starts before he was dumb enough to get caught with pine tar on his neck, leading to a ten-game suspension, during which he would get hurt and we haven't seen him sense.

This was suppose to be the year that Pineda finally took the mound for the Yankees and made fans realize why it was such a big deal to acquire him. With a 1.83 ERA in his first four starts, Pineda was off to a great start before stupidity and bad luck caught up to him.

Pineda completed a 25-pitch bullpen session without issue Friday, but a mid-August return to the majors remains his best-case scenario. Coming back anytime in August would be a major addition to the Yankees' rotation, but right now.

Reason to keep believing: the schedule gets easier

The Yankees have 40 home games at Yankee Stadium in the second half of the season -- that's the most in the leagues. The Orioles, meanwhile, who lead the division, have one of the league's toughest schedules in the second half, which could bode very well for the Bombers.

On the flip side, the Yankees have struggled at home this season, but you never know how that might play out in the second half.

This team, for the most part was build for their home ballpark, with the power in Mark Teixeira, McCann and Beltran -- Soriano was another, but was recently DFA'd. McCann and Beltran have struggled, while Teixeira is leading the team with 17 homeruns so far. You have to think that they'll turn it around at some point. This lineup is weak, yes, but it can't hit this bad for the entire season, can it?

Reason to stop believing: the injuries

Four fifths of the Yankees' Opening Day starting rotation is currently on the disabled list -- and two of those guys, possibly three, are pretty much done for the rest of the season, with Pineda, as I mentioned, likely to come back sometime in August, at the earliest.

If there was one player that the Yankees could not afford to lose this season, if was Tanaka. And go figure, they lost Tanaka for at least six weeks, possibly longer if the rehab doesn't work and he needs to have Tommy John.

Coming into the season, the rotation figured to be the Yankees' biggest strength, and now it's their biggest weakness with Chase Whitley only going 3-4 innings a start, and there being no other reasonable in the minors because they're all here. The trade market is dry, and the Yankees don't have much to get the top-tier pitchers out there.

Without injuries, the Yankees are probably sitting pretty in first place right now.

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Game 66: Jacoby Ellsbury is in the lineup, just as we expected

Coming off of a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners this week, the Yankees are in Oakland for a three-game series with the Oakland Athletics, who took two of three games against the Yankees last week at Yankees Stadium -- would you guess Masahiro Tanaka was the only win?

The Athletics, at 40-26, own the best record in baseball, even after dropping three of four games against the Los Angeles Angels this past week.

Outing scoring the A's is a very tough thing to do -- in case their record didn't show that. Their +130 run differential is far and away the best in Major League Baseball ahead of the San Francisco, who stand at +59 entering play Friday.

The Yankees, meanwhile, are having a tough time scoring runs lately. They scored six last night against the Mariners, the most they have scored in a game since May 27, so anything they can get in this series they'll have to take, while also hoping their pitching holds up.

Tonight's lineup against Oakland:

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

* Just as Yankees manager Joe Girardi suggest last night, Ellsbury is in the lineup after leaving in the 7th inning of the 6-3 win over Seattle because of some tightness in his right hip -- the same hip that was bothering him in Kansas City last Sunday.

* Girardi told reporters before the game that Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia are not at all close to returning the to the big leagues any time soon. Pineda is not expected back until at least August, and it would be very "tough" to get Sabathia back before the All-Star break in July.

Pineda has only made four starts this season, and hasn't seen a big league mound since he was ejected for using pine tar in a game against the Red Sox. The Mariners said during spring training that they have no expectations for Jesus Montero, and I'm starting to feel that way about Pineda. Just a shame what he's been through.

* The Yankees don't expect to activate Francisco Cervelli off of the DL before they get back to New York on Tuesday. Cervelli is eligible to come off of the DL today, but the Yankees will wait until after this series, and will likely send John Ryan Murphy down to Triple-A when the bring Cervelli back.

Pitching matchup preview:

David Phelps will get the ball tonight for the Yankees, who are looking to extend their winning streak to four games. Phelps is going through a rough patch right now, having allowed 13 runs in his last two starts and going winless in his last four.

Phelps is coming off of a terrible start against the Royals, in which he gave up a career-high 10 runs on seven hits.

Sonny Gray is also going through a rough patch right now, and he, too, will take the mound in tonight's series opener.

Gray has allowed three-plus runs in three straight outings entering tonight, and is coming off of a start against the Baltimore Orioles that saw him give up five runs in 5 1/3 inning, giving up five runs for just the second time in 25 career big league starts.

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Yankees' bats come alive in win over the Red Sox

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

There's no other way to look at it: Michael Pineda is all but certain to be the Yankees' fifth starter this season. In his second start of spring training, Pineda added to his brilliant spring resume by tossing 4.1 scoreless innings in the Yankees' 8-1 win over the Tuesday Boston Red Sox Tuesday afternoon in Tampa.

The Yankees used a four-run inning against Red Sox starter Felix Doubront to put them ahead big early in the game, and they never looked back, beating Boston in the first of two spring meetings.

Pineda looked just as sharp as he has all spring. He struck out five in before hitting his 60-pitch limit with one out in the 5th inning, giving up just four hits and no walks.

In 9 innings pitched this spring, Pineda has struck out 14 while issuing just one walk. One very noticeable thing is that when he misses on pitch, it's usually down in the strike zone, which is a good thing. I don't know how he wouldn't be named the fifth starter at this point.

The Yankees jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on a soft liner to center field off the bat of Alfonso Soriano, who is coming into form after missing a decent chunk of time early in camp with the flu. After flying out the wall in center field in his second at-bat of the game, Soriano hit a three-run homerun to left field in his third at-bat, which extended the Yankees' lead to 8-0.

Soriano went 2-for-4 in the game with four RBIs. I have liked the way he's been swinging the bat this spring, and don't have any worries about him be a more-than-half decent hitter in the Bronx this season.

The Yankees did most of their damage against Doubront and the Sox in the four-run 2nd inning.

Both Ichiro Suzuki, who hasn't played too badly this spring, and Derek Jeter singled home runs, and then Mark Teixeira came up a couple batters later and singled into left field to plate two more.

As the spring has gone on, Teixeira has been playing well enough to make most of the questions surrounding his right wrist go away. Like a lot of others, he is swinging the bat well down here in Tampa, and assuming he can stay healthy, he should have a pretty good season.

After Soriano's homerun in the 4th inning, the Red Sox would end up tallying the only other run of the game in the 7th inning on a Jonathan Herrera single off of David Henderson.

In all, the Yankees collected 14 hits this afternoon -- 13 in the first four innings. This was one of the few times this spring that they played with almost their complete Opening Day lineup, minus Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann.

Out of the bullpen, David Robertson took over for Pineda in the 5th and gave up a single to the first hitter he faced, but came back to strikeout the next two. Shawn Kelley, Fred Lewis and Matt Daley all pitched perfect innings in the 6th, 8th, and 9th.

The Yankees will travel up to Orlando tomorrow to take on the Atlanta Braves. Ivan Nova will start that 1:05pm ET matchup, and Jeter will also be making the trip for his first road game this spring.

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Spring Training Game 22: Red Sox at Yankees

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

The Boston Red Sox travel up to Tampa today for their first of two meeting against the Yankees this spring. The Red Sox are a team that has not changed much since winning the World Series last season, though many of the regulars won't be playing in today's game.

Probably the most notable player taking the field for the Yankees today will be Michael Pineda, who is making his second start of the spring, and his third appearance overall.

Pineda made his first start of the spring last week against the Baltimore Orioles in a split-squad game in Tampa. He wasn't as sharp as he was in his spring debut, but he was still very impressive, striking out five in just over two scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and a walk.

Like we've mentioned before, his off-speed stuff is looking good, and the velocity might not get up into the high-90's, where it was before his surgery, but it's been looking fine in the 91-93 range, and should continue to build up as the season goes on.

Joe Girardi is expected to name his fifth starter by the end of the week, and the way things stand, Pineda looks to be the front-runner in that race with David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno not far behind.

Today's lineup against Boston:

Today's lineup vs BOS: Gardner LF, Jeter SS, Beltran RF, Teixeira 1B, Soriano DH, Cervelli C, Roberts 2B, Johnson 3B, Ichiro CF, Pineda SP.
— Gavin Ewbank (@GavinEwbank) March 18, 2014

As expected, Jacoby Ellsbury is not in the lineup today as he continues to nurse some tightness in his right calf that the Yankees do not believe to be very serious.

Ellsbury was scratched from Sunday's lineup and had a full day of rest on Monday. His plan is to to have a normal day of hitting, running and throwing workouts on today, while he is not certain if he would be able to play tomorrow.

"I don't want to say yet, just because I haven't talked to them," Ellsbury said. "I'm going to go hit, throw, hit off the tee - just kind of do my normal routine. I'll go stretch out in the weight room and report back to them."

For the most part, the Yankees are playing a lot of their regulars today. There was a handful of roster cuts this morning that have yet to be announced, so the Yanks will also be playing with a lot less no-names for the rest of the spring. We'll have more details on who was cut later in the day, so stay tuned here.

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Fifth starter to be named this week: who will it be?

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

As spring training continues to wind down, we're going to start seeing a little more how the roles of players on the Yankees' roster will play out. By the end of the week, we should know who will be the Yankees' fifth starter this season.

From the NY Daily News, manager Joe Girardi plans to announce who the fifth starter will be at the end of the week so he can start ironing out the rest of the bullpen.

With that said, I'd be pretty shocked if Michael Pineda doesn't win the job with the impressive pitching he has done this spring as he continues to work back from shoulder surgery. He's going to beat out David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno, who have all had good springs as well.

Pineda has made two appearances, in start, so far this spring and hasn't given up a run in the 4.2 innings he's pitched, while striking out nine. Even better than that, he's only walked one, which shows good control early on.

While Masahiro Tanaka was been getting a lot of praise for the way he's looked this spring, Pineda has been highly talked about, too.

His velocity continues to build up -- he's been sitting in the 91-93 range -- which is expected. And his offspeed pitches, especially the slider, have looked very good.

A lot of the decision to have Pineda as the fifth starter would likely come down to who can pitch out of the bullpen, and who can't.

The Yankees had both Phelps and Warren in the bullpen last season, Warren more then Phelps, and both were very solid.

Phelps has had a good spring, with an ERA of 2.63 in four starts. His stuff has also looked good, and the Yankees know that he can pitch out of the bullpen, and even though he would be a good fifth starter, we don't know who well Pineda would pitch out of the bullpen.

Warren has really made himself know this spring with the way he has pitched. A lot like Phelps, he can be a pretty good back-end of the rotation starter in the big leagues, but on this Yankees squad, his stuff is best suited for the bullpen, where he can have a lot of success this season.

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