HEY... YANKEES CAN'T WIN 162 GAMES

The game was close last night.  Then the 8th inning happened and the wheels fell off.  That's baseball.

Michael Pineda looked decent and was able to hold the Jays to just a few runs, trying desperately to give the Yankees offense time to crush Happ and the Blue Jays but it just never happened.  When Ivan Nova entered the game, he just didn't have it. Pineda went 6 innings, gave up 5 hits and 3 runs. He struck out 6. 

Yates did his job and then Nova came in, giving up an additional 4 runs over just 1 inning. 

The only Yankee scoring went like this...

In the 5th Aaron Hicks grounded out, but Ronald Torreyes scored in the process.  Then, in the 8th, with Drew Storen throwing, Mark Teixeira homered.

Over all, not a great night for the Yankees, but losses are gonna happen once in a while, just let it be.  It's a new day, we come back stronger today and win.  The goal is always to win the series against your opponent... you can't win 162 games... you just can't.

Final: Blue Jays 7 - Yankees 2

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THAT TRADE BETWEEN THE NATS & JAYS? IT'S OFFICIAL!

The Washington Nationals are in the midst of a makeover after their disappointing season last year— one punctuated with Jonathan Papelbon choking Bryce Harper in the dugout late in the season.

In their latest move, the Nats have unloaded the guy that Papelbon replaced—closer Drew Storen is heading north of the border to Toronto in return for outfielder Ben Revere.

Revere adds another lefty bat in the lineup (in addition to 2B Daniel Murphy who the Nats added this week) and plugs a hole in the outfield left by Denard Span. Span was signed by San Francisco as a free agent on Thursday.

(In Photo: Daniel Murphy)
Storen performed well with 29 saves and a 1.73 ERA until the Nats got Papelbon. Storen was asked to take over eighth inning reliever role and didn’t get another save for the rest of the season—which ended in September after slamming his dumb in his locker. I don’t see his role changing since the Jays have Roberto Osuna as their main closer, but a fresh start and new locker room for Storen may help him get back to his performance level.

This trade should also give some indication to the looming question for Nats fans on whether the team would keep Papelbon as their closer.

GM Mike Rizzo repeatedly told reporters that he would keep both Papelbon and Storen in the bullpen unless a real baseball offer was made. With this trade of Storen, it’s likely that Papelbon will remain in D.C. unless Rizzo can get another quality arm for unloaded Papelbon.


   
--Alexis Garcia, BYB's "Eye on MLB" Columnist &
Los Angeles Dodger fan
Twitter:  @heylexyg



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THE FINAL YANKEE TUNE UP WAS GOOD

The Yankees needed a nice win to finish the Spring... and they got it.

Nathan Eovaldi gave up 3 runs in 5 innings.  Not his best performance, but it's the Spring... don't panic. The offense bailed out the Yanks today.

There were 2 home runs today that helped them along.  Stephen Drew was able to crank out a 2 run shot in the 5th.  There was another later on when we really needed it.  I'll let MLB.com take over to explain:

"Doug Fister turned in his best performance of the spring, but the Yankees spoiled it later when Chris Young hit a two-run homer off Drew Storen in the eighth for a 4-3 victory over Washington in the exhibition finale for both teams Saturday."

The hitting looked good today.  Even Didi Gregorius had a double.  Glad he's back and all tuned up.

Well, this is it ladies and gentlemen.  It's Easter Eve.  Easter's next... then Yankees Opening Day.  We made it.  How great is that?

Final: Yankees 4 - Nationals 3

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