Yankees make seven September call-ups, other roster moves

The Yankees on Tuesday afternoon announced a flurry of roster moves prior to tonight's series opener against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

September call-ups:

C John Ryan Murphy
OF Chris Young
OF Antoan Richardson
RHP Preston Claiborne
RHP Bryan Mitchell
RHP Chase Whitley
LHP Chaz Roe
RHP Rich Hill

Not really the biggest moves they could have made, and nothing in there that'll make this club good enough to reach the post season. Whatever, I guess.

In other roster moves:

Outfielder Zoilo Almonte was designated for assignment; right-hander Matt Daley was released; outfield prospect Slade Heathcott was recalled from Double-A Trenton and then placed on the 60-day DL; and Masahiro Tanaka was transferred over to the 60-day DL, which means he's done for the season.

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Joe Girardi needs to consider changing around the Yankees' lineup

Sometimes the easiest, most obvious answer is the one right in front you. Despite all the Yankees' troubles this season, they still have a shot at the playoffs. The starting rotation has been decimated, the offense has been lackluster for much of the season, and yet there is still a chance.

Getting the offense going is and has always been the key to this year's Yankees, and a simple lineup change could do wonders. For much of the year, Jacoby Ellsbury has been masquerading as a No. 3 hitter, it's safe to assume that's not what Brian Cashman had in mind when he signed the former Red Sox outfielder to a seven-year, $142 million contract this past offseason.

Brett Gardner -- who is having a career year -- has hit first all season. Followed by Gardner has been Derek Jeter, who in his final season, has been underwhelming at the plate, and that's putting it lightly. This was supposed to be a year-long farewell to Jeter, but his power has been nonexistent.

In August, as the Yankees were trying to catch Seattle and Detroit for the second Wild Card spot, Jeter hit .207 with four extra base hits, while Ellsbury was absolutely on fire. For the month, Ellsbury hit .324/.366/.539 with five home runs, 16 RBIs with five doubles, one triple and 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.  

Martin Prado and his .466 slugging percentage have fit in nicely at the No. 3 spot followed by Brian McCann, Mark Texiera and Carlos Beltran have made the Yankees offense good enough at this time. Jeter batting second with his inability to hit the ball in the air has just a .312 slugging percentage is unacceptable at this time.

I wanted Jeter's final year to be a great last hurrah as much as the next guy, but he hasn't been the same since he broke his ankle in the first game of the 2012 ALCS. Given Girardi's relationship with the aging star, it's not surprising that he's sticking with No. 2, but that has to stop now.

For 20 years Jeter has professed to not care about personal statistics, if that is the case and there is no reason to doubt his team-first stance, then he should have no problem dropping down to the No. 7 spot in the lineup. This isn't A-Rod dropping to No. 7 by Joe Torre in the 2006 ALCS by any means.

The Yankees need for Jeter to move down in the lineup for the sake of the team. Masahiro Tanaka is on pace to return to the mound later this month to join Michael Pineda, Hiroki Kuroda and surprise additions' Shane Greene and Brandon McCarthy.

Sure, they trail Detroit/Kansas City by four games for the second Wild Card, and they would have to win a game just to get to the Division Series, but the playoffs aren't out of reach.

It's time for Girardi to stop looking at his shortstop like the future first-ballot Hall of Famer that he is, but a 40-year-old with no power, who is no longer fit to hit second for a contending team. It's a cold truth to swallow, but Father Time is undefeated in matters such as these.

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Yankees 3, Blue Jays 4: Toronto powers their way past New York with three homeruns

The Yankees got their hits today, but it wasn't enough for them to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, who used three homeruns to power their way past New York, 4-3, in the finale of this three-game series on Sunday afternoon at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Brett Gardner put the Yankees up 1-0 just two pitches into the game with a solo homerun to right field off of Blue Jays starter JA Happ to lead off the ballgame.

The Yankees doubled their lead in the top of the 4th inning to make it a 2-0 game. Martin Prado singled to open the frame; after a couple of outs, Chase Headley and Francisco Cervelli hit back-to-back singles, the later scoring Prado for the game's second run.

Gardner continued his great day at the plate the very next inning, slapping a triple into the left-center field gap. Jose Reyes' relay throw to third base sailed into the Jays' dugout, giving Gardner homeplate free of charge, extending the Yankees' lead to 3-0.

Gardner would go on to double in his next at-bat, needing just a single to reach the cycle. He wouldn't get it though, grounding out to second base in his final at-bat of the game, in the 9th inning.

Yankees starter Brandon McCarthy was cruising along through the first five innings, giving up just two hits -- he even struck out the side in the 5th. His stuff was looking good and his was putting together another great start, but that was until Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista hit back-to-back solo homeruns to quickly make it a one run game, at 3-2.

Then to open the bottom half of the 7th, Edwin Encarnacion tied the game with a solo blast to left field off of McCarthy, who walked the next batter before Joe Girardi ended his day and brought in Dellin Betances to get out of the inning. Betances got out of the inning, but not before Steve Tolleson, who pinch-ran for Dioner Navarro then stole second base, scored on a single to right field by Munenori Kawasaki, just barley making it into the plate before the tag could be applied by Cervelli.

McCarthy was charged with all four runs on five hits. He walked a pair and stuck out three on 90 pitches in six-plus innings.

After working out of the 7th, Betances came back out for the 8th inning and worked around a two-out single by Adam Lind to toss a scoreless inning. In all, he tossed 29 pitches.

Starting the game on the bench with a slightly injured ankle, Jacoby Ellsbury pinch-hit for Zelous Wheeler with one out in the top of the 9th inning, and doubled into shallow right field to put a runner on second base. Ichiro Suzuki pinch-ran for Ellsbury, and moved to third on the Gardner groundout. And then batting for the final time in Toronto, Derek Jeter lined out to second base to end the game.

After finishing up this seven-game road trip in which they went 3-4, the Yankees head back home to the Bronx, where they will open up a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

Shane Greene will face off against Joe Kelley in that Tuesday night matchup at 7:05 p.m. ET.

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Game 134: More than one hit today, please

One step forward, two steps back. That seems to be the way to describe the Yankees' struggling offense this past week. After scoring eight run against the Royals on Monday, they were limited to just two runs the next day in Detroit. They put up eight more runs, all in the 3rd inning against David Price, on Wednesday, then scored just two on Thursday.

And then they came into Toronto, where a five-run 7th inning on Friday night gave them a series opening win over the Blue Jays, only to collect one hit the very next day in a 2-0 loss.

Today, with Jacoby Ellsbury still out due to an ankle sprain, as Joe Girardi called it yesterday, the Yankees will look to take the rubber match of this three-game series in Toronto, as the Bombers wrap up their seven-game road trip this afternoon at 1:07 p.m. ET.

Today's lineup against Toronto:

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

Pitching matchup preview:

The Yankees' ace of the past month and a half, Brandon McCarthy, take gets the ball for Joe Girardi's club this afternoon, as the right-hander is looking to bounce back from his worst start since joining the Bombers, when five runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings in a loss to the Tigers.

"I've thrown well enough to get through outings where I haven't been as sharp, and today, that's the disappointment," McCarthy said after the Detroit outing. "I'd like to be able to fight back. You know days like this you're going to give up some runs, especially against a good team like that. You'd like to be able to limit it a little bit more."

McCarthy, who has posted a 1.90 ERA (11 earned runs in 52 innings) since joining the Yankees, is 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA in seven career appearances (four starts) against the Blue Jays.

He'll be going up against Blue Jays left-hander JA Happ, who is still looking for his first win since July 22, when he beat the Boston Red Sox. Happ has not been pitching well lately, having given up 11 runs in his last 15 1/3 innings.

This'll be Happ's second start this season against the Yankees, who hit him for three runs (two earned) on four hits, including a pair of homeruns, in 5 1/3 innings at Yankee Stadium back in July.

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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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Minor League Recap - 8/29/14: John Ryan Murphy goes yard in Scranton's loss

Triple-A Scranton: 6-5 loss vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs

SS Jose Pirela: 0-for-2, K
RF Chris Young: 1-for-4, K
2B Rob Refsnyder: 0-for-4, K
1B Kyle Roller: 1-for-4, R, K
CF Adonis Garcia: 2-for-4, R, 2 2B, RBI
C John Ryan Murphy: 2-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, K -- 6th homerun of the season

Manny Banuelos: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
Tyler Webb: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Preston Claiborne: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Double-A Trenton: 3-0 loss vs Reading Fighin' Phils

LF Jake Cave: 0-for-5, 2 K
DH Ben Gamel: 0-for-3, BB, K
1B Greg Bird: 1-for-4, K
C Francisco Arcia: 2-for-4, 2B
CF Mason Williams: 0-for-3, BB, K

Luis Severino: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Mark Montgomery: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

High-A Tampa: 8-4 loss vs Daytona Cubs

CF Mark Payton: 0-for-4, BB, K
SS Cito Culver: 1-for-5, R, K
3B Eric Judge: 1-for-4, R
RF Aaron Judge: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
DH Mike Ford: 1-for-3, R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB

Miguel Sulbaran: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR

Low-A Charleston: 6-1 win vs Augusta GreenJackets

SS Tyler Wade: 1-for-4, R, RBI, BB, 2 K
DH Michael O’Neill: 3-for-4, R, RBI, K
3B Miguel Andujar: 1-for-5
2B Gosuke Katoh: 0-for-4, BB, 4 K

Rookie Davis: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K

Short Season Staten Island: 8-7 win (F/10) vs Vermont Lake Monsters

CF Collin Slaybaugh: 1-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K -- walk-off double
DH Connor Spencer: 2-for-5, R, RBI
1B Chris Breen: 3-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, BB -- second homer in his last five games
RF Austin Aune: 0-for-5, 3 K
C Luis Torrens: 1-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, K

Jordan Montgomery: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Jordan Foley: 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Rony Bautista: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

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Yankees 8, Tigers 4: Shane Greene dominates after Yankees chase David Price early

Baseball is a very weird game sometimes, you guys.

Facing former Cy Young winner David Price one night after getting just two runs over eight innings against Rick Porcello, the Yankees knocked Price out of the game with nobody out in the 3rd inning after collecting nine straight hits, as they would go on to beat the Tigers, 8-4, on Wednesday night in Detroit.

Price gave up three singles in the first two innings, but the Yankees weren't able to put any runs on the board. At least until the 3rd inning came around, when the Yankees collected nine straight base hits to open the inning.

Jacoby Ellsbury singled to lead off then stole second base before Derek Jeter doubled down the right field lineup, putting the Yankees up 1-0. Martin Prado singled, Mark Teixeira doubled home Jeter, moving Prado to third. Carlos Beltran singled home Prado, then Brian McCann singled home Teixeira. Chase Headley singled to load the bases, then Brett Gardner reached on an infield single to score Beltran, then Francisco Cervelli drove in McCann on a single to left field, making a 6-0 game.

Price left with nobody out and the bases loaded in the 3rd inning. None of the secondary pitches were working for him, and the Yankees were taking full advantage of it. He gave up eight runs on 12 hits in two-plus innings.

Detroit was forced to go to it's bullpen far earlier than expected, but the Yankees still added to the score, scoring two more runs on back-to-back sac-fly's by Ellsbury and Jeter, extending the lead to 8-0.

That gave Yankees starter Shane Greene more than enough room to work with, as if he really even needed it.

Greene didn't give up a hit until Torii Hunter singled to open the 4th inning. Miguel Cabrera doubled a batter later to drive him home, putting the Tigers on the board to close to gap -- just a little bit -- to 8-1. A couple innings later, Victor Martinez, crushed his 26th homerun of the year to make it an 8-2 game.

That was all the Tigers were able to get against Greene, who was dealing. The young right-hander went seven strong innings, giving up just the two runs on five hits, striking out eight and walking just one on 101 pitches.

Adam Warren gave up a run in the 8th inning after issuing a one-out walk to Martinez, then giving up an RBI triple to Nick Castellanos. Dellin Betances finished off the 9th inning, giving up a run on a couple of two-out hits, to close out the Yankees' sixth win in their last seven games.

The Yankees and Tigers will finish up this three-game series on Thursday afternoon at 1:08 p.m. ET. Hiroki Kuroda will be on the mound for the Bombers, facing off with Kyle Lobstein.

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Game 131: Brett Gardner returns

The Yankees and Tigers continue their three-game series tonight at Comerica Park. Detroit took the opener last night on the strength of eight innings of two-run ball from starter Rick Porcello, who was giving the Yankees fits all night.

The only high note in the game for New York was the two solo homeruns hit by Jacoby Ellsbury, who has hit three dingers in his last two games.

Tonight's lineup against Detroit:

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

Pitching matchup:

Shane Greene gets the ball for the Bombers tonight, as the Tigers will trot out David Price to face the Yankees for the since time since being traded to Detroit on July 31.

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Yankees ink outfielder Chris Young to a minor league deal

The Yankees have signed former Mets outfielder Chris Young to a minor league deal, as first reported by Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Young will spend a few days in Triple-A Scranton, and is almost certain to be added to the Yankees' 40-man roster and brought up to the big leagues as a September call-up on September 1.

Young was released by the Mets on August 16 after batting .205 with just eight homeruns. He was in his first season with the Mets after signing a one-year, $7.25-million  contract over the winter.

A right-handed bat, Young can give the Yankees another option off of the bench in September, and will be able to give the 40-year-old Ichiro Suzuki some more time off here and there.

The Yankees aren't losing anything with this signing, so I don't see any problem with it.

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Game 130: Going for six straight

The Yankees continue their road trip with a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers that starts tonight at Comerica Park. New York enters on a five-game winning streak, their highest of the season, after taking down one of the hottest teams in baseball, the Kansas City Royals, 8-1 last night, bringing them to within 2.5 games of the second wild card spot.

This will be the second meeting of the season between the Yankees and Tigers. The two teams met about three weeks ago at Yankee Stadium, when the Yankees took three of the four games.

Detroit just split a four game series with the Minnesota Twins over the weekend, and are currently 1.5 games back of the first place Royals in the AL Central.

Tonight's lineup against Detroit:

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

Pitching matchup: Brandon McCarthy vs Rick Porcello

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Yankees are in the playoff race because of their starting rotation

It's truly amazing what the Yankees have been able to accomplish so far in 2014 given the circumstances they have been playing under.

Coming into the season having spent near half a billion dollars in free-agency, the Yankees quickly fell victim to the the infectious injury bug, losing four of their five Opening Day starters before the All-Star break, coupling with an offense that never got going.

Starting pitcher Ivan Nova went down for the entire season in April because of Tommy John surgery. CC Sabathia got hurt in May, and was never seen again after eventually deciding on knee surgery. Michael Pineda missed nearly four months because of back issues. And Masahiro Tanaka has been out since July because of a partial tear of the UCL ligament -- he's on the comeback trail, and hopes to return in mid-September. Even David Phelps is out for a few more weeks because of an arm injury.

But somehow, with the Yankees' offense putting up some of it's worth offensive numbers in years -- showing just as lame as last year's offense -- it's been that same fill-in pitching staff that has kept this team just 2.5 games out of a wild card spot with nearly five weeks left to go in the regular season.

As the Yankees go into Detroit tonight to open up a three-game series with the Tigers, who the Yankees took three of four games from in the bronx three weeks ago, they boast a 3.81 starters' ERA, good enough for 6th in the American League -- thats even better than the Tigers, who hold the last three AL Cy Young award winners in their rotation; the only teams with a better starters' ERA than the Yankees are all current playoff spot holders.

And like I mentioned, most of the work has been put in by fill-in starts. Guys like Brandon McCarthy, who has posted a 1.90 ERA with just seven walks in 52 innings in eight starts since joining the team in early July (probably the best of the trades that Brian Cashman has made this season). And Shane Greene, who looked good in his eight starts, going 3-1 with a 3.19 ERA. Chase Whitley had his moments at the beginning before falling apart, for the most part. Chris Capuano, too, and even Vidal Nuno had one decent start -- you'll have to do some research to find it, though.

The Yankees enter tonight's game on a five-game winning streak, their longest of the season. In those five games, their starter has not given up more than three runs in at least five innings of work. That streak, in all, goes to six games, and seven of their last eight.

It's one of those things that I'll never understand, really: how could the Yankees still be in the position to hunt for a playoff spot when their offense ranks 19th in Major League Baseball in run scored, and the pitching staff has seen 12 different players start a game for them this season?

I don't care how they're doing it, honestly, just as long as this trend continues.

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Minor League Recap - 8/25/14: Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez, Mason Williams power Trenton to victory

Triple-A Scranton: 4-2 loss vs Rochester Red Wings

RF Ramon Flores: 1-for-4, 3B, RBI, K
2B Rob Refsnyder: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB, K
1B Kyle Roller: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, K
LF Zoilo Almonte: 0-for-4
3B Scott Sizemore: 2-for-4

Bryan Mitchell: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Preston Claiborne: 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Double-A Trenton: 9-2 win vs Akron RubberDucks

RF Jake Cave: 3-for-5, R, 2B, RBI
LF Ben Gamel: 0-for-4, R, BB, 3 BB
C Gary Sanchez: 1-for-3, R, HR, 3 RBI, K -- 13th homerun of the season
1B Greg Bird: 2-for-3, 2 R, HR, RBI, 2 BB, K -- 7th homerun in Double-A
CF Mason Williams: 1-for-3, R, HR, 4 RBI, BB -- 5th homerun of the year

Daniel Camarena: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 12 K

Short Season Staten Island: 2-1 win (F/10) vs Brooklyn Cyclones

1B Connor Spencer: 1-for-5, K
LF Chris Breen: 2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, RBI, BB, K -- 7th homerun of the short season
3B Ty McFarland: 1-for-3, BB, 2 K
C Luis Torrens: 2-for-4

Ty Hensley: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Andrew Chin: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

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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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Minor League Recap - 8/24/14: Ramon Flores hits two homeruns in Scranton's loss to Rochester

Triple-A Scranton: 5-4 loss vs Rochester Red Wings

CF Jose Pirela: 2-for-5, R
RF Ramon Flores: 3-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI -- 6th and 7th homeruns of the season
2B Rob Refsnyder: 2-for-4, R, 2B, BB, K
1B Kyle Roller: 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB, K
LF Zoilo Almonte: 0-for-4, 3 K
C John Ryan Murphy: 0-for-3, BB, K

Zach Nuding: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
Chase Whitley: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Nick Rumbelow: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Double-A Trenton: 7-3 win vs Harrisburg Senators

CF Jake Cave: 2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K -- 2nd homerun in Trenton
LF Ben Gamel: 0-for-4, BB, K
1B Greg Bird: 0-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
3B Dante Bichette Jr: 1-for-4, R, K
RF Mason Williams: 1-for-4, R

Luis Severino: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Cesar Cabral: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

High-A Tampa: 5-1 win vs Dunedin Blue Jays

CF Mark Payton: 0-for-2, R, RBI, K
SS Cito Culver: 1-for-3, R, R, RBI, BB, K
3B Eric Jagielo: 0-for-3, R, BB, K
RF Aaron Judge: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
1B Mike Ford: 2-for-4, RBI

Brady Lail: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Low-A Charleston: 5-4 loss (F/12) vs Rome Braves

SS Abiatal Avelino: 1-for-5, BB, 2 K
2B-3B Tyler Wade: 1-for-5, R, 3B, BB, K
DH Miguel Andujar: 1-for-6, K

Rookie Davis: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Short Season Staten Island: 3-1 win vs Vermont Lack Monsters

1B Conner Spencer: 1-for-4, R, 2B, K
2B Ty McFarland: 0-for-3, BB, K
LF Chris Breen: 2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, K
C Luis Torrens: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI

David Palladino: 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

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Yankees 7, White Sox 4 (F/10): Yankees finish off sweet of the Sox on Brian McCann's walk-off homerun

Coming off of the bench to pinch-hit for Francisco Cervelli, Brian McCann ripped a three-run walk-off homerun just inside the right field foul pole to send the Yankees home with a 7-4 win in 10 innings on Sunday, extending their winning streak to four games.

White Sox shortstop Alexi Ramirez put the Yankees into a 1-0 hole just two pitches into the game with a solo homerun to left field off of Yankee starter Chris Capuano that just barley made it's over the wall and into the season.

Capuano didn't let the homerun to open the game effect him very much, as he would go on to only give up five more hits after that, including a two-run homerun to Conor Gillespie in the 6th inning that extended Chicago's lead to 3-0.

Capuano went six innings for the Yankees for the fifth time in his first six starts with the team. He gave up the three runs on six hits, striking out five without walking a batter.

The Yankees rallied to take the lead with four runs in the bottom half of the 6th inning. Derek Jeter opened the inning with a grounded, then Martin Prado reached second base on an error in left field by Dayan Viciedo. Mark Teixeira followed up with a double to put the Yankees on the board, making it a 3-1 game. Sale walked Carlos Beltran, struck out Chase Headley for the second out of the inning, and then walked Cervelli to load the bases with Zelous Wheeler coming up.

It didn't take long for Sale to hit Wheeler, forcing in a run to pull the Yankees to within one, and then a batter later, Ichiro Suzuki singled to deep right, driving home a pair of runs to put the Yankees up 4-3.

Because of Viciedo's error to kick off the rally, none of the four runs against Sale in the 6th inning were earned, has he would give up just those four on four hits in six innings of work, walking three and striking out seven.

Esmil Rogers and Rich Hill combined to pitch a scoreless 7th inning ahead of Adam Warren, who struck out one in a three up, three down 8th inning.

That led to David Robertson in the 9th inning, as he was looking to convert his 23rd consecutive save opportunity, However, things would not go his was as Adonis Garcia opened the top of the 9th inning with a game-tying, solo homerun into the right field seats.

The Yankees had a chance to win things in the bottom of the 9th inning when with a runner on second base, the White Sox walked Stephen Drew to get to Jeter with runners on first and second base with one out. The plan worked, as Jeter would ground into a 6-3 double play to end the inning.

David Huff would enter the game to pitch a scoreless 10th inning before the Yankees ended the game in the bottom half of the frame. Beltran hit a two-out double, Headley was intentionally walked, and then McCann did his thing, hitting his 15th homerun of the year to end the game.

After six games at home in the Bronx, the Yankees now hit the road for a seven game trip that starts tomorrow night with a one-game stay in Kansas City where they will play a makeup game with the Royals at 7:00 p.m. ET. Mike Pineda will be on the mound for the Yankees, facing off with James Shields.

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Game 128: One more for the road

After taking the first two games of this three-game set on Friday and Saturday, the Yankees are looking for a clean sweep of the Chicago White Sox in the series finale this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET.

The Bombers' offense put in one of it's best performances in a while -- albeit still lackluster -- putting up five runs yesterday for the first time since August 8, as New York would go on to win the game 5-3 on the strength of six quality innings from Hiroki Kuroda.

Following today's game, the Yankees will pack up and prepare to hit the road, where they'll play a makeup game against the Kansas City Royals tomorrow, followed by three games in Detroit, and then wrap up with three games in Toronto over the weekend.

Today's lineup against Chicago:

SS Derek Jeter
LF Martin Prado
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Carlos Beltran
3B Chase Headley
C Francisco Cervelli
RF Zelous Wheeler
CF Ichiro Suzuki
2B Brendan Ryan

* Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury are out of the lineup today with the Yankees facing a left-handed pitcher. Gardner is dealing with some soreness in his right ankle after getting hit yesterday, and Joe Girardi says that Ellsbury is a little beat up.

Pitching matchup preview: Chris Capuano vs Chris Sale

Lefty against lefty, Chris against Chris, it'll be Sale and Capuano facing off today at Yankee Stadium.

Capuano gets the ball for the Yankees coming off of a no-decision against the Houston Astros earlier in the week, in which he gave up four runs on eight hits, with eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. It was the first time that Capuano was unable to complete at least six innings in a start since joining the Yankees.

Meanwhile, the White Sox will have their ace, Sale, on the mound for them today, as the lefty comes in boasting 2.12 ERA this season -- a number that trails only Felix Hernandez (2.07) for the best in the American League.

Sale has lost his last two decisions over his three starts, including his last start in which he gave up just three runs on eight hits over six innings of work.

Sale has already faced the Yankees once this season, back in May during the Yankees' trip to Chicago. He was making his first start off of the DL, and tossed six one-hit innings before being pulled after just 86 pitches.

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