YANKEES GET STUNG IN OAKLAND!

For golf fans, today was a big day.  The British Open concluded at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in England.  Growing up around the game of golf, I always loved the British Open, especially the commentary of the late Henry Longhurst.  Mr. Longhurst would always call a spade a spade.  Formerly Captain of the Cambridge University Golf Club, rest assured Henry knew his golf.  If a player misread a putt or misplayed a shot, old Henry would intone, in that thick British accent, "That was a dreadful effort."  I shutter to think what Longhurst would have said about the Yankees the last three days had he been a baseball commentator.  Dreadful indeed, especially on the offensive side of things, but the pitching was certainly not clutch either, yielding late runs on Friday and Saturday that cost the Yankees a chance for victory.

 

The Yankees were in desperate need of help to salvage something from the four game series in Oakland.  Who better to turn to than their horse, northern California native CC Sabathia.  Sabathia was the closest thing to a genuine stopper today, and the team really needed him. Pennant races in this division have a way of turning dramatically and quickly.

Sabathia had pitched well his last outing,  throwing 87 pitches, 66 for strikes, in 6+ innings in securing his 10th win of the season.  On Sunday, CC squared off against old teammate Bartolo Colon in this critical match up against the red hot Oakland A's.

 

Sabathia began the afternoon pitching reasonably well.  In the first four innings, he allowed only a Josh Reddick double in the first and a Johnny Gomes single to left in the fourth.  Offensively the Yankees showed a little life in the third inning sending nine batters to the plate.  DeWayne Wise, Chris Stewart, and Curtis Granderson all singled and scored.  Wise came home on a Mark Teixeira single while Stewart and Granderson scored on a double to center by Alex Rodriguez.  The Yankees added a solo home run by Granderson in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.

Then the trouble started.  Sabathia faltered giving up two runs in the fifth inning on solo blasts by Brandon Inge and Kurt Suzuki.   Sabathia gave up yet another run in the sixth on a Reddick walk, a Yoenis Cespedes fielders choice, a Chris Carter single to left, and one more fielders choice by Inge who was credited with the RBI as Cespedes scored the run.  At the end of six the Yankee lead had shrunk to 4-3.

 

Sabathia survived one more inning, but gave up a couple of hard hit balls in the seventh.  A single by Seth Smith and a smash off the bat of Jemile Weeks on which Teixeira made a diving stop to preserve a scoreless inning left fans wondering how much CC had in the tank.  Sabathia appeared to be tired following the sixth inning.  Perhaps he has not fully recovered his stamina following his three week stint on the disabled list.  Whatever the problem, he seems to be suffering some ill effects from the layoff, throwing only 98 and 87 pitches in the last two outings. 

Evidently Girardi had seen enough and went to his bullpen to try and preserve the one run lead.  The manager's plan failed.  David Robertson pitched well enough in the eighth, but Rafael Soriano blew his second save of the year in the ninth by allowing a home run to Seth Smith on an 80 mph slider delivered on a 3-1 count. Smith hammered the pitch to straight away center field and the ball cleared the wall by several feet.  Soriano seemed a bit shaken and gave up a single to Eric Sogard who followed Smith.  He rallied and was able to retire the next two batters to preserve a 4-4 tie in regulation.

 

Meanwhile the Yankee offense had gone dormant after Curtis Granderson's 26th home run in the fourth.  The next nine Yankee batters were retired in succession but Bartolo Colon was replaced following a hit by Teixeira in the seventh.  No worries however, as the Athletics bullpen continued the Yankee offensive futility.  The Yankees struck out six times against the A's bullpen combination of Jordan Norberto, Grant Balfour, and Jerry Blevins.  The Yankees also left runners in scoring position against the A's relief crew in the seventh, tenth, and twelfth innings.

(In Photo: Coco Crisp gets showered with water by the Oakland A's after win today)

Cody Eppley allowed the winning run to score in the bottom of the 12 inning on and infield single that glanced off Derek Jeter's glove and could have been scored an error, a Jemile Weeks sacrifice of the runner, Derek Norris, and an RBI single to right by Coco Crisp to propel the A's to another one run victory over the Yankees, 5-4.  This one stung.  I mean losing stings, but four consecutive one run losses in a row hurts like hell. 

 

The Yankee performance in this series leads to the conclusion that the recent Yankee success was more aberration than representative of the team's actual capabilities.  I know the late Henry Longhurst would have been incredulous had he watched these last four games.  I can only imagine his utterances concerning this "dreadful" Yankee effort.   

 

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer



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A'S STAY COMFORTABLE IN OAKLAND AS YANKEES LOSE AGAIN

At game time, the 70 degree, cool, clear air in Oakland Coliseum finished the job on the already cooling Yankee offense. The Yankee hitters turned completely anemic! Blame it on the transition from the heat and humidity of New York to the cool, clear air of northern California. Blame on the Oakland pitching, or blame it on Yankee ineptitude! Whatever the cause, the Yankees could not generate any offense last night.

No New York batter reached base via a walk in the first two games of this series, and as you know, both were Yankee losses. Curtis Granderson finally broke that string and worked a walk in the top of the sixth, but he was the last Yankee to reach base until a lead off single by Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning. More on that in a minute.  The walk saved the Yankees the ignominy of going three straight games without earning a walk for the first time since 1991.

Nick Swisher's hip-flexor strain/quad injury forced DeWayne Wise into right last night.  His offensive performance was similar to Cano's ineptitude.  Wise's three at bats produced two weak unassisted ground outs to first and a strikeout leading off the eight inning.  The Yankees did produce a lone run in the fourth inning.  ARod led off the inning with an infield single and subsequently scored on an RBI single to center by Eric Chavez. The Chavez hit followed ground outs by Cano and Teixeira that had moved Rodriguez to third.

 Phil Hughes, pitched adequately.  He struck out six, allowed four hits and two walks in 7.2 innings of work.  The problem was he allowed two monster home runs.  One to Yoenis Cespedes in the the fourth inning and another to Brandon Inge in the eighth.

(In Photo: Brandon Inge)
In typical fashion, Hughes missed location a few times and two pitches thrown middle-middle were hit hard, high, and far. In fairness, Cespedes is a red-hot hitter. He is now 18 for 31 since the All-Star Game, a .581 average, so he has torched a few pitchers other than Hughes. Likewise Oakland is a hot team at 13-2 for the month of July. Boone Logan recorded the final out for the Yankees in the eighth on a pick off play.  He actually picked off A's base runner Coco Crisp twice, but on the first play the Yankees badly botched the run down, and Crisp was able to safely return to first.

(In Photo: Sean Doolittle)
As for that single by Rodriguez in the ninth, Oakland reliever Sean Doolittle struck out Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, and pinch hitter Andruw Jones in succession to end the game, earn his first career save, and secure the third consecutive one-run win, 2-1, over New York for the surging A's. With the strikeout of Cano in the ninth, Doolittle also stopped the second baseman's 23 game hitting streak.  Cano went 0 for 4 on the night, and frankly looked pathetic in the process. Weak ground outs to second and first followed by two strikeouts ended the longest hitting streak in MLB this year and the longest such streak in Cano's career.

The third straight Yankee loss to Oakland has this seven game west coast road trip headed for disaster.  The Yankees have lost three games off their AL East Division lead already on this trip, and the suddenly struggling offense, combined with the injuries to Brett Gardner and Swisher, offers little hope for immediate relief. Bottom line, the Yankees need to turn it around...fast.

This 2-1 loss to Oakland makes it crystal clear... the Oakland A's are very comfortable playing home and were able to keep the Yankees just out of reach 3 days in a row with great pitching.

They held the Yankees down and they just couldn't get over the hump. Meanwhile, it's left Yankeeland quite uncomfortable...we need a win today boys...let's do it!

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer




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WHY THE CHAVEZ INJURY WILL FORCE THE YANKEES HAND

Eric Chavez on the DL… Wow! No one saw that one coming! It's actually the 7 day concussion DL, according to Suzyn Waldman.  I didn't realize they had that, but ok.

The crazy thing is, the season started for Eric Chavez the same way it did last year when he got hurt in Detroit, on May 5, 2011, read HERE. That turned into a lot of time missed.  Look, I find Eric Chavez to be a very dynamic player, or should I say... maybe I am thinking too much about the old Eric Chavez before he got hurt a lot.  Chavez to me is one of those guys that has had a string of bad luck for a long long time when it comes to injury.  When he’s healthy though, he’s great to watch and I seriously dig him as an athlete.  The problem is, and we know this, you’re always taking a chance with Chavez.  I mean whiplash? Seriously? How does that even happen? I often joke that Eric Chavez is a walking cermanic because the guy's way too fragile.  Well, what are you going to do now? The Yankees made some moves, Jayson Nix for one.

It's funny though, ironically I was just talking about Brandon Inge last week, a terrific defensive third baseman whom I suggested the Yankees could have signed for nothing.  Well, the timing was off, Inge was signed by Oakland within days of his unconditional release by the Tigers and then last night…Chavez got hurt. 

So, the Yankees did the next best thing, they signed infielder Jayson Nix to be the backup and he and Eduardo Nunez will juggle duties between the infield and outfield. Read about Nix HERE.  Don’t forget, Brett Gardner is still out too and so is Nick Swisher. Not to mention Mariano Rivera got hurt last night fielding fly balls in batting practice, he twisted his knee, read HERE. This is nuts. 

Jayson Nix is someone the Yankees appear to like, but what I found interesting was a nugget from Mikey Blue when was down at Spring Training.  We were having a conversation about Nix and he told me “I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the dugout.” Nix was there, talking to Kevin Long.  But not just for a moment… for many innings, all the time… he was literally shadowing Long.  Mikey said “Nix was taking it all in getting as much knowledge as he could, it was obvious, he wants to play.” 

We all know that Nix is no home run hitter, and as a hitter in general, he’s nothing outstanding.  The Yankees signed him for his defense, and if Nix can hit too, well, that’s a plus.  

But the bigger question is, how long with it take for Chavez to get back? No idea.  Look, one thing I know about Chavez is, whatever number of days they a lot for his injury… it’s always safe to say you should tack on 30 additional days.  Chavez takes a long time to heal.  It’s always been that way.  In the meantime, Nix and Eduardo Nunez will have to step it up.  Look, Eric Chavez is no longer a superstar ballplayer, but when healthy, he’s darn good.  

I just hope that in his absence, guys like Swisher and Gardy come back and guys like Nunez and Nix step it up…back up roles are important pieces of the puzzle too and I’d love for the Yankees to start winning as a team…it’s time already! Enough's enough.

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WHY THE YANKEES COULD SNAG INGE FOR NOTHING

Sure, this is coming out of left field, but what the hell, I’m always the type that likes to think too hard in ways to improve our New York Yankees and I love asking questions and getting reaction.  I like to get your thoughts and then we all move on... after all, we're fans and sure, I run Bleeding Yankee Blue, but in no way am I suggesting my word is law…this is just too much fun, that’s it so enjoy this craziness...

The Tigers just gave Brandon Inge an unconditional release on Thursday, read HERE, and plenty of people were surprised and puzzled by it, but according to several reports, the Tigers felt like it was just time.  Many teams are interested in Inge, read about the Athletics HERE and the Twins HERE... and that got us here at BYB thinking: “Why not try to get Brandon Inge for, probably nothing, and ask him to contribute with his excellent defense when we need him?"  

Inge can play third base and was a catcher much earlier in his career. He's a solid defender and would be a perfect back up in not only third, but in my estimation even first base or the outfield.  He's agile and great with the glove. He’s a gritty veteran and while his numbers have never been outstanding, he may just be the defensive piece of the puzzle the Yankees are looking for in that backup role...  Make sense?

One thing you need to think about with Brandon Inge is, he may just be the diamond in the rough that needs to be explored.  Yes, we have Eric Chavez and yes, we have guys like Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones, but I said it once and I’ll say it again, Raul and Andruw were signed for their bats, and sure, if they needed to get out in the outfield to try and snag a fly ball, we’d cross our fingers, but as we’ve seen with Raul and Jones… there isn’t exactly faith when they're out there.  Might I suggest someone like Brandon Inge as a possible substitute for the outfield?  We've heard the Yankees suggest someone like Derek Jeter could play the outfield near the end of his career... why not a Brandon Inge? He's got the defensive talent under his belt...why not? 

Eric Chavez can play first and third, and yes, he’s the natural backup for Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira and there is no denying that, but what’s to say Mr. Fragile gets hurt? Then what? Inge could fill in at third if needed and as a veteran, you know you’re getting quality. I think it’s foolish to allow Eduardo Nunez to play a base position, he can’t catch, so my solution with him is simple, either train him hard at shortstop and train him to be a future outfielder for the New York Yankees.

Look, this is all my head spinning trying to think of way to plug the holes and help out team win.  Inge may be an unusual idea… but hey, he may just work. What do you think? Comment.

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SITTING DOWN WITH CURTIS GRANDERSON

Haley Smilow is 10 years old. Recently her father sent and email to Bleeding Yankee Blue and asked if we would be interested in printing an interview Haley did from Baseball Youth Magazine with Curtis Granderson back in July. Who are we to say no? First off, we here at BYB love Granderson and Haley is clearly a future journalist. I wrote her father back immediately and let him know we were interested and showing off Haley's work. I am happy to now bring you Haley Smilow's interview with The Gentleman, Curtis Granderson:
Haley: In your book "All You Can Be: Dream It, Draw It, Become It", you share the lessons that you learned growing up, what is one lesson you would tell the Baseball Youth readers if they haven’t read the book?

Curtis Granderson: The selection of friends, good and bad, positive or negative and the people you surround yourself with, will shape your whole life.

Haley: I also know you are an ambassador for MLB and have traveled to England, Italy, South Africa, China, and New Zealand is there any place you would really like to go and represent MLB?

Curtis Granderson: I have never been to South America so that would be amazing. I would also like to go to Japan and Australia, those would be on my top 3 list.

Haley: Why did you choose the #28 in Detroit and #14 in New York?

Curtis Granderson: I was given the #28 in college, which was great because the numbers 2 and 8 are my favorite numbers, so it was both of them together. When I became a Yankee Joe Girardi was #28 so I chose #14 because that was my number from high school.
Haley: What is it like in the Dug Out before and after a game?

Curtis Granderson: It is a fun place filled with energy and lots of handshakes. We are always meeting people before games. After the game it depends if we won or lost. If we win everyone is happy and celebrating and if we lost we need to move on to the next game.

Haley: When you are on the road do you share rooms with your teammates?

Curtis Granderson: In the majors we get our own rooms. In the minors we share rooms, I used to share with Ryan Raburn, Joel Zumaya and David Espinosa.
Haley: AJ Burnett has created a celebration for a walk off win, a pie in the face. Have you ever gotten pied?

Curtis Granderson: No, I have not been pied. If I get pied it means we won but I am afraid it will burn. (The pies are Shaving Cream.)

Haley: Who is the biggest practical joker you have ever been on a team with? Have you ever been the victim of a practical joke?

Curtis Granderson: Brandon Inge on the Tigers will do funny pranks, silly ones and even some gross ones. We had a little battle going when I played for Detroit. Once I opened his car and filled it with paper and construction tape making it a big mess inside the car and out. Jorge Posada is a real joker as well.
Haley: My little brother is a fan of WWE, I heard you are as well. Who are some of you favorite wrestlers of today?

Curtis Granderson: Of course I like CM Punk because he is a great wrestler and from Chicago. Jon Cena is another favorite. I also like the Diva’s because they work hard and are as good as the guys.
Haley: Who would you consider your closest friends on the Yankees?

Curtis Granderson: Of course I have special bond with my fellow outfielders Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner. But I also like to hang out with CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Russell Martin we go out to dinner and movies together.

Haley: What is your favorite meal?

Curtis Granderson: I really love Thanksgiving dinner because you get to eat a little bit of everything and you can go back over and over for more helpings.

Thank you to the Smilow family for wanting to be apart of Bleeding Yankee Blue and terrific job with your interview with Curtis Granderson Haley! You have a future in sports journalism for sure! We hope you all enjoyed this interview. Comment here and let Haley know just how great she did! --Casey



-- Haley Smilow, BYB Guest Writer





 

WHY THE YANKEES FELL SHORT

The Yankees started off aggressive in the Motor City. Not knowing what to expect from CC Sabathia tonight, we needed to strike early and we did. Yankees had a 2 -0 by the end of the first, but it was clear that CC Sabathia wasn't doing his best CC impersonation. Instead he was doing his best AJ Burnett. Not good and walks galore.

By the bottom of the 3rd, the game was tied at 2. It was the second time around in the Tigers order and CC clearly didn't have it. Luckily for us, he did what he does best... fake it and get through the innings, not giving up a ton of runs and he kepy his team in it. On the other side Justin Verlander started out not looking great either. But that's what makes baseball great... you never know what's going to happen. In what was billed as a pitching duel, it wasn't. 2 pitchers on short rest, but only one would look good. It wasn't CC. Michael Kay said that the umpire was calling the same game for CC and Justin Verlander. I disagree. Clearly I wanted CC on top, but I tell you what, the strike zone for CC Sabathia was mysteriously small tonight, no doubt. I noticed several pitches that were strikes, were never called strikes for the Yankees. I'm not saying Verlander wasn't throwing them in the zone, he was, but so was CC. Bottom line.

In the 5th, it was clear that CC was laboring. Ramon Santiago put the Tigers in the lead 3-2. Both he and Brandon Inge were 2 for 2. You know, it was strange, Verlander appeared better than CC later, like he had something in reserve, striking out the side in the top of the 5th inning, making Brett Gardner and Russell Martin look silly. To me, I felt terrible. Yes, CC was doing his best dance, but the stuff wasn't there. But say what you will about CC, the guy showed heart and never gave up and never let the runs get out of hand. He did his best under the circumstances, I give him that.In the 6th, Derek Jeter got his second hit of the night. Granderson struck out and was clearly over-matched. He looked like a Little Leaguer up there. ARod struck out and looked ridiculous. To be honest, back to calling balls and strikes, 2 pitches to ARod both were the same pitch, one was a ball, one was a called strike three. I don't get it.(Photo: Getty)
CC Sabathia got knocked out in the bottom of the 6th and Rafael Soriano came in and took care of business. At this point it was 4-2 Tigers and I felt confidence again, my stomach wasn't in knots. I know that if we have stability on the mound, we can get some runs... or can we? We've done nothing since the first inning.

The 7th was nerve racking but there was hope. Posada walked and Martin got hit by a pitch and suddenly Verlander didn't look so good. Of course we needed a base hit for Brett Gardner just to keep the rally going with 2 outs and take the Detroit crowd out of it. Gardy delivered big, 2 RBI double and the game was knotted at 4. I was screaming in my basement at that point, Detroit was silent. But, you know what ticks me off? The announcers sounded sad about it. What the hell is that all about? I thought maybe I'd blow it off,
then Rafael Soriano made a pitch that Delmon Young drove into the right field seats and Brain Anderson, the announcer, was overjoyed. What a dick. At this point, it's 5-4 and I am longing for Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling. I can't stand the way TBS does baseball.

The top of the 8th, Granderson gave one a ride, but it was an out. Cano struck out on a crappy high called third strike. Alex Rodriguez came up and walked. But he looked slow and disoriented the whole at bat. Teixeira came up with 2 outs and a man on first and popped out weakly to Inge. Again Brian Anderson, the announcer sounded thrilled. John Smoltz actually made a comparison of Justin Verlander to hall of famer Nolan Ryan saying he's never seen anything like "this" since Nolan. Are you kidding me? The guys pitching a good game, can't we just we just leave it there?
David Robertson came in in the bottom of the 8th inning. Robertson struck out the first batter but then nails Peralta. It happens.

Then, Valverde came out to try and close out the 9th against the Yankees. Nick Swisher came up and popped out. Unbelievable. One out and Jorge Posada stepped into the box. He's 4-8 at this point. Posada worked a walk. Man on first and 1 out. Running for Posada was Eduardo Nunez and when Russell Martin came up, he gave the pitch a ride, but it was caught in right and Nunez could not advance. 2 outs and Gardy came to the plate. Nunez stole second and now he's in scoring position. Next thing you know, Gardner works a walk and men are on 1st and 2nd for Derek Jeter. The table is set. But there was not joy in Yankeeland... Derek Jeter had struck out.

Final Score: Tigers 5 - Yankees 4

Tomorrow IS do or die.

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