THE YANKEES UNLUCKY 18

Yeah... that title's lame, but so was the game.  Look, whenever you invest all your time in a game that goes 18 innings, and your club loses... you ain't exactly thrilled.  I'm not and you're not either.  My Yankees were swept by the A's.  Now, the fans take it harder than the players. The players let it sting them and they'll turn it around tomorrow.  We go to bed mad and we'll probably wake up mad too, and then, we hope our team turns it around.  No doubt though... it's frustrating.

I'm not going through every inning. It's just going to annoy you. Truth be told, Hiroki Kuroda went 8 innings and got screwed. He pitched real well. He gave up 2 hits, 2 runs and struck out 3. David Robertson, Boone Logan, Shawn Kelley, Adam Warren, Preston Claiborne and Mariano Rivera followed and in the end, Claiborne got the loss.

On the the hitting front, Robinson Cano hit a 2 run homer in the 1st inning scoring Brett Gardner.  That was it.  The rest of the game it was goose eggs. Vernon Wells went 0-8.. you read that right.  Kevin Youkilis went 0-7. Travis Hafner, 0-8.  Seriously. Can someone say WTF? No need... I just did.

On the flip side, Ichiro, Cano and Gardner each had hits, Gardner has 2, the others had 3 each. Bottom line, it wasn't a great showing, but I guess you tip your cap to the A's pitching.  Overall, the pitching on both ends was great, but in the end, a walk off in the 18th ended it when Nate Freiman singled in John Jaso.

Boom! Done... Yankees lose... Yankees swept.

Final: Athletics 3 - Yankees 2.

Now I go to bed pissed... see how that happens?

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ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL. MICHAEL MORSE TO SEATTLE

There is no doubt about it.  There comes a time and place where Yankee fans are definitely onto something when we suggest certain players or certain moves Yankee brass needs to make to better our club.  We do it because we believe in our team and while we may not know the "ins" and "outs" of player contracts, injury reports and the like, we do know what we need.  Tonight, it's been revealed that a guy the Yankees should have traded for has slipped away.  It's not only a shock, it's a disappointment and freaking embarrassing and I ask... what in God's name are the New York Yankees doing? Hey... anyone want BYB as the Yankee GM?

I kid of course, but there is absolutely no reason and no excuse for Michael Morse to slip through the Yankees fingers.  Brian Cashman is either sleeping right now and has no idea this trade just happened and will read it tomorrow on BYB or he's about to get bitch slapped by Yankeeland, or, both.  No excuse, this was a smart player to pick up and we didn't do the job...again!

Morse was involved in a 3 team deal, he went to Seattle.  AJ Cole went to the Nationals from the Oakland Athletics and Mariners catcher John Jaso went to the A's. Read HERE.  

Now, I ask you... was a 3 team trade really needed to net Michael Morse? No.  There was definitely a combination of players the Yankees could have sent to Washington to snag Morse.  He would have been a good addition for the Yankees.  A right handed bat with power, something Cashman said we needed, remember?  Morse is a part time outfielder, a first baseman and he could even fill in as a part time Designated Hitter. He was right there in our grasp... plain and simple, but NO.  The Yankees either have something up their sleeve or all their talk about "not being done yet" is just a bunch of crap. Don't blow smoke Hal, do something.

I said it earlier today in WE NEED TO HOLD YANKEE BRASS TO THEIR WORD, and we do. Now Morse is gone. Now we need to get that right handed bat... Guess what? Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Upton appear to be the only other 2 options left and I don't have much faith.

So... what's it gonna be Cash? What's it gonna be?

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LATE GAME HEROICS BY NIX HELP YANKS WIN SERIES IN SEATTLE

The New York Yankees entered this game against Seattle having lost their last six games when facing a rookie starting pitcher. Wouldn't you know it, the Mariners were starting rookie right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma.  The Yankees really needed a win, but the deck seemed stacked against our struggling offense that was further handicapped by the loss of Alex Rodriguez to a broken hand.

Derek Jeter gave the Yanks a spark when he homered in the first.  With ARod lost to the disabled list for a six to eight week period, Jeter was batting second in the re-shuffled Yankee lineup for the first time this season.  Apart from giving the Yankees an early 1-0 lead, Jeter had to be pleased that he hit the shot to left field following yet another brush back pitch from a Mariner pitcher.

Unfortunately, Yankee starter Ivan Nova could not respond.  He allowed two runs in the bottom of the first.  Nova yielded back to back singles to Michael Saunders and Jesus Montero.  He also allowed back to back walks to John Jaso and Kyle Seager.  The Seager walk produced an RBI as Saunders was forced home, and a 3-6 fielder's choice off the bat of Mike Carp scored Montero.  Just that quickly, the Yankee lead had evaporated.

Nova only allowed two hits and the two first inning runs during his 5+ inning outing.  Despite walking six, Ivan Nova was able to keep the Yankees close. Bottom line, he didn't have great command and only 58 of his pitches were strikes.

Later on, Ichiro laced a one out single to center, but was caught stealing.  Jeter followed with a single to center and Robinson Cano doubled to left.  Jeter had to stop at third.  Mark Teixeira then flew out to right field to end the inning in which the Yankee managed to score no runs on three hits.

The game rocked along at 2-1 into the eighth inning.  Yankee relievers Clay Rapada, David Phelps, and David Robertson combined for three innings of both hitless and scoreless work.  Offensively, the Yankees found a little groove in their half of the eighth.  Derek Jeter was hit by a pitch, again, and the Mariners replaced Josh Kinney with lefty Lucas Luetge.  Luetge allowed singles to Jeter and Cano to load the bases.  Following a fly out by Curtis Granderson, Girardi played his trump card.  

He opted to pinch-hit Jayson Nix for Raul Ibanez, and in so doing, he forced Mariner manager Eric Wedge to bring in a right hander.  Nix immediately responded with a 3-run double to left field.  His drive cleared the bases and the Yankees finally had a lead at 4-2.  Russell Martin added an RBI single to score Nix, and the Yankees had a 5-2 lead and their highest run total of any game on the road trip!!!

Rafael Soriano closed out the 9th inning and recorded his 26th save.  He allowed one hit and struck out one in the process. The Yanks will now head home with a series win against the Mariners following the 5-2 win today.

The Boston Red Sox will be in New York for a three game series starting Friday...be ready.

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

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