Game 141: Derek Jeter Day

It's the day we've all been wishing would stay away for several more years -- Derek Jeter Day. The Yankees will be holding a big pre-game ceremony for Jeter, very similar to the one held for Mariano Rivera last season -- minus Metallica, of course.

The ceremony is expected to start sometime around 12:30 p.m., according to the Yankees, so whether you're at the game or watching from home, you'll want to make sure you don't miss it because it's going to be big, emotional, and a little fun.

Joe Torre, Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Gerald Williams, Tim Raines, and probably many more will be at The Stadium today for Jeter.

As for the game, which will start around 1:35 p.m. ET, the Yankees and Royals split the first two games of the series after the Yankees took last night's game, 6-1, on the strength of another good outing from Brandon McCarthy.

Today's lineup against Kansas City:

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

Pitching Matchup: Shane Greene vs Yordano Ventura

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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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Game 63: The rain can stop, but will the Yankees score tonight?

The Yankees' offense is struggling right now and is throwing too many "let's not score any runs" parties. There is plenty of blame to go around, and a handful of people to throw it at.

1-for-17 with runners in scoring position on Sunday was pretty atrocious, as the Yankees were only able to produce one run through a countless number of scoring chances.

Derek Jeter, for one, has been awful lately, hitting .115 (3-for-26) over the past week. Joe Girardi really needs into moving him down in the lineup because he is not helping the Yankees at all, and that's what matters to Jeter. Just because it's Jeter, that doesn't mean he has to bat second every game, Joe.

Tonight's lineup at Kansas City:

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alfonso Soriano RF
Yangervis Solarte 3B
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran DH
Ichiro Suzuki LF
Brendan Ryan 2B

LHP Vidal Nuno

It's raining right now at the ballpark, and it has been all day with no stop in sight, according to the weather reports. Let's see if they get this game in.

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Yankees 1, Royals 2: Bombers waste a good performance from Hiroki Kuroda

How could Hiroki Kuroda, a solid pitcher that has spent seven seasons in the Major Leagues with the Yankees and Dodgers and have a career 3.45 ERA, be a below-.500 pitcher? Easy, he never gets any run support.

That was the case again on Sunday Kuroda pitched well, giving up just two runs over seven innings, but took the 74th loss of his career when the Yankees fell to the Kansas City Royals, 2-1, for their 6th loss in the past eight games, falling to .500 (31-31) on the season.

The Yankees as a team struck out 11 times, and missed out on countless scoring chances -- going 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position -- as the offense continues to play the "let's not score any runs today" game.

The Yankees started off the game by stranding a pair of runners on base after Brett Gardner singled and Carlos Beltran walked. Then in the 2nd inning, the Bombers loaded the bases with nobody out, but failed to capitalize when Brian Roberts struck out, Gardner grounded into a 3-2 fielder's choice at the plate, and Derek Jeter struck out to end the inning.

After his offense squandered an awfully good chance to put runs on the board, Kuroda gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning, both with two outs, that put the Royals up 2-0.

Salvador Perez singled ahead of Lorenzo Cain, who doubled to make it a 1-0 game. Mike Moustakas followed with a single that extended the lead to 2-0.

But Kuroda settled down after that and took control of the game, limiting the Royals to just one hit over the next five innings. After going 6 2/3 in his last start, Kuroda made it through seven innings for the second time this season, and finished off the 7th having retired 11 straight Kansas City hitters. He only gave up two runs on five hits, while walking two and striking out three on 90 pitches. Maybe he's starting to turn things around this season after getting off to a slow start.

It took the Yankees awhile to get on the board against Jame Shields, who wasn't overly impressive today. The Yanks made him work, throwing 49 pitches in the first two innings.

Yangervis Solarte doubled off of Shields in the 6th, moved to third base on a past ball, then scored on a groundout to the shortstop by Ichiro, cutting the Royals' lead to 2-1.

Shields was chased after just six inning because his pitch-count had risen to 110 pitches. He gave up one run on six hits, walked two and struck out eight.

After Adam Warren worked a quick 8th inning, setting down the Royals in order, the Yankees came close to tying the game in the 9th. Ichiro singled to leadoff, moved to second base on a wild pitch, then to third on a Brian Roberts sac-fly, but Mark Teixeira struck out and Gardner struck out to end the game.

The Yankees and Royals wrap up this four-game series tomorrow night at 8:10 pm ET when Vidal Nuno takes the mound, facing off against Jason Vargas.

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Game 62: Hiroki Kuroda looks to build off his last start

The Yankees still aren't playing well right now, and they just need some sort of winning streak to help them turn their season around. Just one game above .500, the Yankees enter play on Sunday having lost five of their seven games this month, including last night to end a short two-game winning streak.

David Phelps was tagged for a season-high seven runs on 10 hits, as the Yankees fell to the Kansas City Royals, 8-4, in the second game of this four-game series to kick-off a 10-game road trip.

On the bright side for the Yankees, though, not only is Jacoby Ellsbury back to hitting everything throw his way, but Carlos Beltran is back in the Yankees' lineup and collected his first hit last night since coming off of the DL, breaking an 0-for-9 start with a key RBI double in the 6th inning that helped the Yankees to rally back and tie the game with a three-run frame.

Beltran hardly played in any rehab games before rejoining the club this past week, so it was kinda expected that it would take some time to get back into the swing of things. For now, he's only going to be playing as the DH, but eventually will see some time in right field again.

"At some point, we'll try to have him throw, but I just don't have a date," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Today's lineup against Kansas City:

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

Pitching matchup preview:

If there is any pitcher that the Yankees were counting on to have a big season this year, it was Hiroki Kuroda, who dominated the league during the first half of the 2013 season before falling off the grid in the final six weeks.

Kuroda hasn't been good this so far this season, but is probably coming off of his best start of the year after limiting the A's to one run and two hits in 6 2/3 Tuesday -- his second longest start of the year since going eight innings against the Los Angels Angels back on May 8.

Kuroda is 3-0 with a 3.52 ERA when pitching on four days' rest this season, compared to being 1-3 with a 4.83 ERA otherwise. It's four days rest for him today.

As for the Royals, they'll be giving the ball to their ace, James Shields, who  has given up 17 runs (15 earned) in three straight no-decisions. Shields had won six of the seven starts prior to that and has seen his ERA jump from 2.67 to 3.68.

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Yankees 4, Royals 8: David Phelps allows season-worst seven runs

Even after the Yankees scored three runs in the 6th inning to tie the game, David Phelps gave those runs right back, as the Bombers fell to the Kansas City Royals, 8-3, on Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals roughed up Phelps throughout his start, tagging him for three runs in the 2nd and four runs in the 6th to give give him a season-worst seven earned runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings.

Kansas City took a 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning against Phelps. Billy Butler doubled to open the inning, then Alex Gordon followed with a double to bring him home. After Salvador Perez singled, Lorenzo Cain singled to score Perez, putting the Royals up 2-0. Mike Moustakas dropped down a bunt to move the runners over, then Alcides Escobar singled to drive in the third run.

After stranding runners on first and second with two outs in the 5th, the Yankees finally got to Royals starter Danny Duffy in the 6th, taking three runs on the board to tie the game.

Derek Jeter singled with one out, and two batters later, Mark Teixeira walked to put runners, once again, on first and second with two outs. But this time, the Yankees capitalized. Carlos Beltran picked up his first hit since coming off of the DL after starting 0-for-9, doubling to right to score Jeter.

Then the next batter, Yangervis Solarte, singled into center field to drive in both Beltran and Teixeira, evening the game at 3-3.

The Yankees and Royals didn't stay even for long, though, as Kansas City would come out swinging the in the bottom of the 6th against Phelps.

Phelps opened the inning by walking Butler and Gordon, then Perez made him pay for those walks, hitting a three-run homerun to left field, putting the Royals back on top, 6-3. Cain tripled off of Phelps immediately following the homerun, and after finally recording the first two outs of the inning, Norichika Aoki singled to make it a 7-3 game.

That was the end of Phelps' awful night, as Matt Daley then took over. Daley finished the 6th, gave up a solo homerun to Eric Hosmer to open the 7th, then gave the ball to Jose Ramirez with two outs in that inning. Ramirez walked one in the 8th, but nothing more than that in 1.1 innings of work.

The Yankees were able to add a run in the 9th when Brian Roberts grounded out to score Solarte, who doubled to open the inning then moved to third base on an Ichiro single, from third base, cutting the deficit to 8-4.

With the loss, the Yankees fall to 31-30 on the season, and will look to stay above .500 tomorrow when they send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound to face James Shields at 2:10 pm ET.

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Game 61: Yankees going for a third straight win

The Yankees kicked off their 10-game road trip last night on a good note, beating the Kansas City Royals thanks to seven innings of two-run ball from Chase Whitley, and a bases-clearing double in the 3rd inning by Brian McCann that turned out to be the difference-maker for the Bombers.

That win puts them on a two-game wining streak, as this four-game series continues tonight on FOX at 7:15 pm ET with David Phelps and Danny Duffy squaring off.

Derek Jeter is back in the Yankees' lineup after sitting out last night following being in the lineup seven straight games. Because Jeter was out, Joe Girardi was able to have Jacoby Ellsbury lead off last night with Brett Gardner batting second. I really liked the lineup that way, and think it should be like that more often, as Ellsbury and Gardner can use their speed at the top of the lineup to create runs.

But as long as Jeter is healthy, we probably won't see much of that with him always batting second.

Ellsbury, by the way, has been hitting the ball a lot better over the past couple of weeks, even as the No. 3 hitter. He enters tonight's game on an eleven game hitting streak going, and over the span is batting over .400 (17-43).

Pitching match-up preview

David Phelps will get the ball for the Yankees tonight as he looks to follow up Whitley's quality performance last night. Phelps (1-3, 4.11 ERA) had one of his worst outings of the season Monday against the Mariners, as he was tagged for six runs in six-plus innings, while walking three and hitting a batter in the loss.

Phelps has only received an average of 2.89 runs of support in his six starts, so hopefully the Yankees' offense will give him something to work with tonight, rather than the usual lack of support.

Danny Duffy will be Ned Yost's starter tonight. Duffy is looking to turn things around after giving up 11 runs total in his last two starts, which have come after he took a perfect game into the 7th inning against the Baltimore Orioles on May 17th.

Game thread: Lots going on in the sports world tonight. Obviously you can use the comment section below to talk about tonight's game, or even the Belmont Stakes, Stanley Cup (Go Rangers!) and US Men's National Team game against Nigeria. Let's chat, you guys.

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Yankees' lineup vs Royals: Derek Jeter back after day off

The Yankees and Royals continue this four-game series tonight at Kauffman Stadium. Derek Jeter is back in the lineup after sitting out the series opener last night. With Jeter back, Jacoby Ellsbury slides back down into the three-hole after batting leadoff on Friday, and Brett Gardner leading off again. I liked it better when Ellsbury and Gardner were the 1-2 punch, but Joe Girardi must not want to move Jeter down because, well, he's Jeter.

1. Brett Gardner LF
2. Derek Jeter SS
3. Jacoby Ellsbury CF
4. Mark Teixeira 1B
5. Carlos Beltran DH
6. Yangervis Solarte 3B
7. Alfonso Soriano RF
8. Brian Roberts 2B
9. John Ryan Murphy C

David Phelps will be on the hill for the Yankees tonight. Full primer coming later.

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Yankees 4, Royals 2: Chase Whitley tosses seven innings for fist MLB win

By: Gavin Ewbank | Lead Writer

Chase Whitley went through his first four big league starts without picking up a decision or making it past five innings. He accomplished both of those feats on Friday night, holding the Kansas City Royals to two-runs over seven innings in the Yankees' 4-2 victory over the Royals in the first of a four-game set this weekend at Kauffman Stadium.

The Yankees scored four runs in the first three innings, and didn't manage to get any more runners across the pate for the rest of the game after that, but Whitley and the bullpen made sure that wasn't an issue.

Brian Roberts put the Yankees up 1-0 in the 2nd inning on a two-out single to center field that scored Mark Teixeira, who singled to open the inning then moved over to second base on an Brian McCann groundout.

The Royals, though, tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the 2nd inning on an single off the bat of Salvador Perez following an Alex Gordon double.

The Yankees re-took the lead in the 3rd inning after Jeremy Guthrie loaded the bases with one out. Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner singled back-to-back to open the frame -- and I want to note that Ellsbury was batting leadoff for the first time in forever with Derek Jeter on the bench tonight, and I really like those two together at the top of the lineup, creating runs with their speed -- then after Carlos Beltran grounded out to move the runners over, Mark Teixeira was hit by a Guthrie pitch to load the bases.

A batter later, McCann slapped a ball the other way into left field, getting all the way into the left field corner for a bases-clearing double, as McCann ended up at third base when the thrown from the cut-off man went to the plate, putting the Yanks up 4-1.. McCann might not be hitting too many homeruns this season, but he sure is going to the opposite field.

Whitley was able to hold that three-run lead for the next couple of innings before the Royals tagged him for one more run in the 5th.

Gordon singled then stole second base to kick off the inning, then two batters later, Lorenzo Cain singled into center field, scoring Gordon to cut the lead to 4-2. Ellsbury threw the ball back into Brendan Ryan around the edge of the infield, and Cain caught Roberts sleeping, taking second with nobody at the bag. It was alright, though, because he didn't score.

Whitley made it through that inning, as well as the 6th and the 7th, finishing his best start as a big league pitcher since being called up back in May. He gave up just the two runs on five hits, striking out three without a walk on 87 pitches.

This was his fifth start this season, and I must say that I really like this kid. He's not the kind of guy that is going to end up as a second of third starter down the road, but I do think he is very quality, and as long as he can start getting past five innings in each start, he can be a very solid No. 4 starter going forward, possibly.

Joe Girardi handed the ball to Dellin Betances to begin the 8th. He struck out the first two batters -- because that's what he does -- then gave up a double to Alcides Escobar before getting a groundout to end the inning.

Betances then gave way to David Robertson, who locked down his 14th save of the season. He put on his best Betances impression by striking out the first two batters, but then put on his best Robertson impression by making the game far more interesting than it should have been. He gave up a double to Billy Butler, then walked Gordon on four pitchers before getting Perez to groundout to Yangervis Solarte to end the game.

The Yankees and Royals will continue this four-game series on Saturday night at 7:15 pm ET with David Phelps and Danny Duffy squaring off in that contest.

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Beltran to the Yankees starting to look unlikely

Everything you have heard about Carlos Beltran likely coming to the Yankees might soon be a lie.

ESPN's Buster Olney reports that Beltran has a three-year, $48 million offer and the table, and he says that the offer is from the Kansas City Royal, who Beltran began his career with, and have been showing serious interest lately.

After hearing that, sources tell Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com that the Yankees won't match or exceed the three-years, $48 million offer Beltran has.

Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News was also told that the three years won't totally be a deal breaker, but it'll make getting a deal done with the Beltran a lot less likely. The Yankees have been noncommittal all along about giving Beltran the third year he is looking for.

The Yankees had been the seen by many to be the frontrunners to land Beltran this winter after both sides had been showing a lot of mutual interest towards each other. Beltran really liked New York, and tried to sign with the Yankees back in 2004 before he eventually signed with the Mets because the Yanks had no room in the outfield for him at that time.

No matter how you look at this, it would be, somewhat, a disappointment to the Yankees after they made him their No. 1 priority when the locked up Brian McCann.

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Beltran expected to sign with the Yankees

According to multiple Major League executives that spoke with Joel Sherman of the NY Post, the Yankees are the strong favorites to land free-agent outfielder Carlos Beltran.

As one executive put it, "I think at this point it would be an upset if he didn’t end up there."

The Yankees have made Beltran their No. 1 priority this winter after signing Brian McCann to a five-year, $85 million contract last weekend, and have seemed to be the favorites all along to sign the 36-year-old outfielder.

The only problem up to this point is that the Yankees are trying to sign Beltran on nothing more than a two-year deal.

"Beltran wants three years, so I think the Yankees will either go three years or give him a [bleep]-load more on a two-year deal." One AL official told Sherman. "I think the feeling in the industry is if it comes down to a two-year deal because no one goes to three, then the Yanks will win."

A new team has recently jumped into the bidding for Beltran, though, as the Kansas City Royals, who Beltran broke into the league with, are starting to show heavy interest.

As the AL official said, Kansas City "really, really wants him." but the AL official also noted to Sherman that "because of the history, it will be hard for them to sell themselves as championship contenders."

Where ever Beltran signs, it will likely be on the final deal of his career, and after making it to the World Series for the first time in his career this past October with the St. Louis Cardinals, he wants another chance to get a ring before his playing days are done.

The Royals have only finished above .500 twice since 1994, and they haven't made the playoffs since 1985 -- the longest playoff drought in the league. Kansas City believes that it will be able to contend for a playoff spot in 2014, but it will be hard to convince Beltran of that.

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The Yanks' Playoff Hope Is Still Alive, But Not By Much

In sports, nothing compares to the last week of baseball. As some of the divisions have already been claimed, the divisions still wide open are always a joy to watch, as the pressure of winning in the crunch time of the season grows on all contending teams.

For the Yankees,crunch time started a long time ago, and as they head into the final week of the season with six games left against the Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros, they're four games back of the Cleveland Indians in the Wild Card race.

Every last game for the Yankees can be considered a must-win game, because if they fail to win even one of the remaining six, they can almost certainly say goodbye to their playoff hopes.

Starting tomorrow in the Bronx, the Yankees open up their most important series of the season -- and their best chance at clinching a Wild Card berth -- with a three-game against the Rays, who currently lead the Wild Card.

Enter play four games behind, the Yankees can't afford to lose any of the three games, as a loss on Tuesday could potentially set them five games back with five left to play -- not exactly good odds.

More so, the Yankees would also need to get some help from the teams currently ahead of them in the Wild Card race, but the strength of schedule for the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers and Indians are not in the Yankees' favor.

The Indians have two games home games left against the awful Chicago White Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday, then finish their season with four games against the Minnesota Twins. The Royals are in Seattle for three games against the no-so-competitive Mariners starting on tonight, then go to the White Sox for more more easy games to finish the season.

Then you have the Rangers, who had been playing very poorly lately, but still find them selves just 1.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot, with three games against the Astros and four games at the Angels -- two very easy opponents.

At this point, on a scale of 1-10, the Yankees chances of making the playoffs are probably at a two, but if you think about it, a two if still better than a zero. They still have life, but not much left. If they plan in making the playoffs, it's going to take a miracle of a six-game winning streak, along with some, I mean a lot, of help from the other teams involved.

The season ends Sunday in Houston, but the Yankees' playoffs hopes could end a few day before that if they don't start winning now.

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The Yankees Aren't Out Of This Playoff Race Just Yet

As they say, it's not over until it's over. Many of you might be able to argue that this season might actually already by over for the New York Yankees, but it you look at the facts in front of you, you might be able to ask, is it really over?

Well, the Yankees left Boston this weekend after and atrocious showing against the Red Sox, losing all three-games in the series, and being outscored by the Sox 22-7.

Yet, somehow, the Yankees "only" managed to lose one game to the Tampa Bay Rays, whom the Yankees now trail by three-games in the Wild Card. Even better, the Rays are actually tied with the Texas Rangers for the top spot in the Wild Card race, meaning the Yanks are just three games back of both of those teams.

Tonight in Tampa, the Rays and Rangers begin a critical four-game series at the Trop, with the first Wild Card spot, and possibly a playoff berth on the line.

With as well as the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians are playing right now, you can almost write one of those teams into the playoffs if either the Rays or Rangers have their way this week.

Both Tampa and Texas has been playing sloppy baseball of late, but the only team playing worse than the Yankees did in Boston this past weekend is the Rangers, losers of six straight, and nine of their last 10 games.

Just as the Rangers did last season when they let the Oakland Athletics come all the way back to win the AL West last season, Texas is currently running themselves out of the playoff race again this season.

If the Yankees were to really make a run at this Wild Card, this would be their best chance to do so, as the Bombers are in Toronto for three-games starting on Tuesday, to face a Blue Jays team that the Yanks have owned this season.

Of their last 12 remaining games, the Yankees play nine of them against current last place teams -- three against Toronto, three against the San Francisco Giants, and three against the worst team in baseball, the Houston Astros to finish the regular season, with the other the three against the Rays next week in the Bronx.

"We've got 12 games to go, there’s no time to be concerned, we've got to go," Said Alex Rodriguez after Sunday's 9-2 loss. “You got to play as hard as you can and you never know, crazier things have happened, we just have to worry about getting back on a good winning streak on Tuesday.

"I know we are right in the mix, nothing that a two- or three-game winning streak can’t fix," A-Rod said. “If we go out and win four of the next five starting on Tuesday I think we are right back into this thing. If you take Boston away over the last two to three weeks, we've played really good baseball. Boston has done a number on us, they basically whipped our ass."

Right now, the Yanks would need to leapfrog over the Baltimore Orioles and Indians in order to grab a Wild Card spot. Cleveland's last 13 games are against Kansas City, Houston, the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox. They have the easiest schedule of all the contending teams.

The Orioles finish up with a tough 13 game fix against the Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays and one more series against the Red Sox to end the season.

I'm not saying that it will be done, but it certainly can be done. The Yankees obviously have a ton of issues to sort through if they actually plan on making the playoffs -- with everything from injuries to terrible pitching, but I'll get into that later.

All I'm saying is that you shouldn't write off the New York Yankees just yet, because as we've seen in the past, anything can happen in these last few weeks.

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Nova Takes The Mound Needing A Yankees Win

Once again a lack offense gave no help to the Yankees Tuesday night as they fell to the Royals for the second day in a row, extending the losing streak to three games.

CC Sabathia did all he could, pitching a complete game while giving up just three runs on seven hits, taking the loss. The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the first inning, but came away with only one run.

"It's frustrating; a loss is a loss," Sabathia said. "It doesn't matter how many innings you throw or how many runs you give up, if you lose the game, you lose the game. That's all that really matters."

Tonight's Lineup, 7:05 EST @ Yankee Stadium:


Gardner CF
Ichiro RF
Cano 2B
Hafner DH
Almonte LF
Overbay 1B
Nunez SS
Cruz 3B
Stewart C
Nova P

Pitching Preview:

Ivan Nova takes the mound for the Yankees after tossing a masterful outing last Friday. Since his last call-up in June, Nova has been nothing but solid for the Yankees, pitching to a 1-1 record with a 2.95 ERA in his past three outings.

"It changed my whole mind," Nova said about his last outing. "[Knowing] I'm pitching Wednesday, that makes me build up my comfort a little bit more. It's great to have a game like that and get back on the mound."

Nova has been much better than what he was before landing on the DL in last April, eventually being placed in Triple-A. Prior to his injury, he was 2-1 with a 5.16 ERA.

"The first time I get to the Yankees, to spring training, I knew there was going to be a fight. That's what I've been doing," Nova said. "There are ups and downs, I'm not perfect. When you're down you have to find a way to get back on track, and I think I'm doing that right now."

He'll be squaring off against another former AL East opponent in Wade Davis, who's coming a good start against the Athletics on Wednesday, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out eight over seven innings.

Going in the Yankees favor, Davis' ERA on the road this season is 6.81, compared to 4.44 at home, while his ERA during night games is also much higher, at 6.19.

Yankee Notes:

* A-Rod played in his 6th rehab on Wednesday, playing with the Single-A Tampa Yankees. He went 1-for-3 with a single and an RBI, his second hit during this rehab stint.

* David Robertson is still in second place in the American League Final Vote, trailing Steve Delabar of the Toronto Blue Jays. There's still plenty of time to vote, with voting ending Thursday at 4pm EST. Robertson also wanted to remind everybody that from 10am to 4pm, if you use the hashtag #HighSocksForVote, every tweet including the hashtag will count as one vote for Robertson.

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Sabathia Takes The Mound Following Milestone Win

Several factors lead to the Yankees losing to the Royals, 5-1, in the series opener Monday night. An hour long rain delay forced the Yankees to pull starter Phil Hughes from the game after only four innings. And failing to score with the bases loaded with nobody out in the 9th out the icing on the cake for Kansas City.

Now on a two-game losing streak after their six-game winning streak was snapped on Sunday, the Yankees will try to rebound in the second game of this four game set.

Tonight's Lineup, 7:05 EST @ Yankee Stadium:

Gardner 8
Ichiro 9
Cano
Hafner DH
Almonte 7
Overbay 3
Nunez 6
Cruz 5
Stewart 2
Sabathia 1

Pitching Preview:

CC Sabathia passed a major milestone in his last start, notching career win win No. 200 against the Minnesota Twins last Wednesday. He held the Twins to two runs over seven innings while striking out nine while throwing a season-high 121 pitches.

"He's been huge," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "You think about all the wins that he's had, and I'm glad to get that out of the way for him. I don't like milestones. Players are going to think about it, and people are going to ask him about it. For CC, I think it's great. He's been huge for this organization."

CC did not face the Royals when the Yankees went to Kansas City in May, but he is 18-10 with a 3.26 ERA against them in his career.

He'll be going up against a former AL East foe, James Shields, who hasn't been pitching very well lately, with only one win and two no-decisions over his last three starts, while piling up a 6.48 ERA over that span.

Shields isn't coming off a great outing against the Indians, allowing five runs on nine hits while walking two and striking out three over 5 1/3 innings, which included a 34-pitch first inning.

"In the beginning of the game I was just missing my fastball," Shields said. "I kind of settled in, but it was about 80 pitches later. I've got to do a better job early in the game of getting ahead of batters."

Yankee Notes:

* Travis Ishikawa started at first base yesterday, but was replaced by Lyle Overbay in the 7th inning, who went 1-for-1 with a walk and a pinch-hit solo homerun in the 7th. His homerun would be the only run that the Yankees would score on Monday.

* Phil Hughes' night was cut short after throwing only 62 pitches in four innings when a one hour rain delay caused the manager Joe Girardi to put Adam Warren on the mound once play resumed.

"I was throwing in the cages and stuff and they asked me if I was OK, and I said, 'Yeah, I'm ready to go,'" Hughes said. "I just left it in their hands. Joe told me he never wants to mess with anyone's health, so you have to respect that."

* Derek Jeter played in his third rehab game with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Berre RailRiders, going 0-for-2 with a walk, as well as reaching base on an E6.

"I feel good, there's been no issues whatsoever," Jeter said. "I had to run a lot [tonight], and everything felt good."

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Yanks Look To Start A New Streak With Hughes On The Mound

Sitting on the cusp of victory, a two-run homerun off the bat of Adam Jones, served up by baseball's greatest closer, Mariano Rivera, the Yankees lost out on a chance to not only dish out a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, but it also snapped a season-high 6-game winning streak.

The Yankee will now try their hand at starting a new winning streak with the Kansas City Royals coming to town. These two teams have already met once this season, with the Bombers coming out of KC with a three-game sweep.

Tonight's Lineup, 7:05 EST @ Yankee Stadium:


Gardner CF
Almonte LF
Cano 2B
Hafner DH
Wells RF
Ishikawa 1B
Cruz SS
Gonzalez 3B
Romine C
Hughes P

Pitching Preview:

A couple weeks ago, Phil Hughes was on the verge of possibly losing his starting job, but he hasn't done much to hurt his reputation since then.

Hughes held the Rangers and Twins to a combined three runs on 11 hits in 15 innings. Facing the Twins last Tuesday, Hughes allowed only run on six hits over seven innings in the Yankees 7-3 win.

"They had a lot of lefties in the lineup, and I felt like I was able to get my fastball inside to those guys, for the most part," Hughes said. "I made a few critical pitches when I had to to get out of some jams, the offense did their job, and it was a good win."

Hughes has also faced the Royals once already this season, back on May 10th. He allowed six runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, picking up the victory.

Jeremy Guthrie takes the mound for the Royals, looking for his first win since June 10th against the Detroit Tigers. Guthrie began the season off on the right foot, going 3-0 with a 3.06 ERA in April, but has hasn't been as good since then, going 4-6.

Guthrie's last start came against the Indians in which he held them scoreless through the first five innings before giving up a couple hits in the sixth, eventually followed by an inside-the-park home run when left fielder Alex Gordon crashed into the left-field wall.

Yankee Notes:

* Derek Jeter played in his second game for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Berre RailRiders on Sunday, reaching base three times, including a single a single to left field.

"It's good [to get a hit], better to get a hit than get an out," Jeter about his first rehab hit. "As long as I'm seeing the ball good, I'm fine. The results at this particular point I don't think is the No. 1 priority."

Jeter batted leadoff for the RailRiders, serving as the team's designated hitter a day after playing five innings at shortstop. Jeter drew a walk in his first at-bat, then collected his lone hit in his second trip to the plate. After striking out in his third at-bat, Jeter worked another walk in the seventh in his final plate appearance.

Reaching base three times, Jeter got a chance to work out his recovering ankle and said he wasn't at all worried about running the bases and testing his ankle.

"I'm not concerned with that," Jeter said at his postgame news conference. "I've done a lot of that down in Florida. It's good to get back into a game, but I don't have a checklist."

Jeter will be back in the field at shortstop on Monday night for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He's hoping to get some more chances after only one play on Saturday; a grounder hit directly at him, nothing that made him run to the side.

* Travis Ishikawa was claimed off of waivers from the Orioles yesterday, he'll be starting at first base for the Yankees in his first game. Ishikawa will be the 25th position players used by the Yankees this year. David Adams is no longer on the 25-man roster, yet nothing has been officially announced.

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