NYCurve Yankees Blog

Rangers beat Yankees, again

Where have the Yankees bats gone? Another night, another good pitching outing for Texas- the second in a row for them. They beat the Yankees 3-2 Tuesday night in the Bronx.

The Rangers got an RBI single from Michael Young in the top of the 9th to break a 2-2 tie. Texas scored 2 in the second inning, from a Chris Davis RBI single, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia RBI. Robinson Cano drove in Jason Giambi in the fourth and Wilson Betemit drove home Jorge Posada in the sixth to nod the game at 2.

Mariano Rivera took the loss, to drop him to 2-3. He allowed 3 hits and 1 run in the 9th. Frank Francisco picked up the win for the Rangers, moving him to 2-2 on the season. Both teams used many pitchers in this game. Starters Joba Chamberlain and Kevin Millwood both had short outings. Chamberlain only lasted four innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, and walking four batters. Dan Giese, David Robertson, and Jose Veras threw four shutout innings for the Yankees. Millwood went 5 innings for Texas, allowing 5 hits and 1 run. Josh Rupe gave up the tying run in the sixth inning, pitching two innings, and yielding four hits. Francisco pitched a scoreless 8th, before giving way to C.J. Wilson, who picked up his 19th save of the season.

The Yankees and Rangers will conclude the three game series Wednesday evening.

An Important Week and a Half for the AL East

Yesterday kick-started a very important span for our division, with a series between the Red Sox and Rays. After that series the BoSox will play our Yankees in a four-game series and after that the Bombers will go on to play the Rays for a two-game stint. The coming 8 days may have a huge impact on the division in terms of who will go on to win it as well as who will get second place (which will most probably be the wild card.) The Rays are currently in the best situation, sitting atop the division with a 1.5 game lead on Boston. If Tampa can continue to pull through this week may be where they really set themselves apart from the rest of us. The Red Sox can also reclaim their lead atop the division if they win a few games, but it won’t be enough to give them much breathing room over the Rays (or Yankees.)

Let’s hope that things go another way and the Yankees end up dominating in the combined six games against our division rivals. A good run can certainly put us right there with them at the top, in what will be an even closer three-team fight.

If any team falls behind in the next week and a half they will still have a shot at getting back to the top, but it will be harder. Just keep in mind that all three teams will be playing each other again, so it won’t be the end of the world for anyone if they lose. It sure would be nice to see the Yanks get to second place though…

Yankees/Rangers game 2

Kevin Millwood will take the mound for the Rangers on Tuesday, trying to help the Rangers to 3 games over .500 for the season. A win will also guarantee a series win, as the Rangers won last night’s match. New York will counter with Joba Chamberlain, and his big, strong right arm.

Millwood is 5-4 with a 5.08 era on the season. He was roughed up in his last outing against the Astros, allowing 12 hits and 7 runs in just 5 innings pitched. Before that outing Millwood had won his last three decisions. For his career, Millwood has started six times against the Yankees, and is just 1-4, with a lofty era of 4.82. Millwood is also 1-4 on the road this season. A few Yankees hitters with some success in the past against Millwood are:

Bobby Abreu 14-39, 1 homerun, 4RBI
Melky Cabrera 4-9, triple
Jason Giambi, 5-11, 2 homeruns, 3 RBI
Derek Jeter 5-19
Alex Rodriguez 6-14, 1 homerun, 2 RBI

For the Yankees, Chamberlain is coming off his best outing as a starter. On June 25th Joba went 6.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, zero runs, and striking out 7 Pittsburgh hitters. Chamberlain is 2-2 with a 2.02 era during the 2008 season. He has never faced Texas in his career.

Could be a good pitchers-duel, but Joba will out-duel Millwood! Go Yankees!

1. Damon, DH
2. Gardner, LF
3. Abreu, RF
4. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Giambi, 1B
6. Posada, C
7. Cano, 2B
8. Betemit, SS
9. Cabrera, CF

Rangers slow down Yankees bats

Texas Rangers pitcher Scott Feldman threw one of his best outings of the season, and his career Monday night. He got added help from 3.1 innings from his bullpen, allowing no hits to hold on to a 2-1 lead, and win.

Feldman improved to 2-3 on the season allowing just four hits and one run, walking three and striking out three. The only Yankees run came on an Alex Rodriguez solo blast in the bottom of the 4^th, his 16^th of the season. Mike Mussina was the tough luck loser, dropping him to 10-6 on the season. Mussina threw 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, and 2 runs, striking out 8 Rangers hitters, and only allowing 2 walks. Mussina has now dropped two straight tough starts.

Besides Rodriguez- Giambi, Posada, and Molina were the only other Yankee hitters to garner a base hit on the night. The loss dropped the Yankees to 44-39 on the season, falling another game back of first place Tampa, who was a 5-4 winner over Boston.

Yankees set to take on the Rangers

Tonight the Yankees will take on the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium. The 7:05 start will feature two teams that are above .500, but both sitting on the outside looking in, in the playoff race.

Texas comes into tonight’s action at 42-41, 7.5 games out in the AL West. The Yankees come in 44-38, third place in the AL East, behind Tampa Bay and Boston. Texas has won 6 of their last 10, and are 21-23 on the road. The Yankees are 5-5 in their last ten and 22-18 at home.<

The Rangers will start the three game set with Scott Feldman on the mound. Feldman is 1-3 on the season, with a 4.60 era. He has not won a start since May 9^th, a 4-0 shut out win against Oakland. Feldman is 0-0 in his career against the Yankees, just throwing 1/3 of an inning, allowing 3 hits and 3 runs in that short appearance.

For the Yankees, “The Moose”, Mike Mussina will take the mound. Mussina is 10-5 on the season, with a 3.93 era. Mussina lost his last outing, 4-2 to the Reds, but pitched 8 strong innings in that start. Mike is 4-1 in his last 6 starts, and 17-12 in his career against Texas.

Some notable numbers for the Rangers against Mussina include:

Hank Blalock: 5-33
Michael Young: 9-35
Milton Bradley: 0-9

Feldman has only faced a couple Yankee batters in his career. Here are their numbers:

Melky Cabrera: 1-1
Derek Jeter: 1-1, homerun
Jose Molina: 0-1

This should be a fun series! Go Yankees!

Mets silence Yankee bats

The Mets avoided a third straight loss at home this afternoon with a 3-1 win over the Yankees. The Mets got single tallies in the second, third and sixth inning, and held the Yankees to just one run in the 7^th, for the win. The win for the Mets moved them one game closer to .500, at 38-39, while the Yankees fell to 44-38.

Luis Castillo got the Mets on the board in the second inning with a RBI single, driving home Endy Chavez. Then, in the third Carlos Delgado hit his 14^th home run of the season to make the game 2-0. David Wright added a sacrifice fly in the 6^th, for the Mets third and final run. The Yankees’ only run was scored in the bottom of the 7^th when Wilson Betemit sent one over the left field wall.

The Mets starter, Oliver Perez went 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run, while striking out 8 Yankee batters. Perez is now 6-5 on the season. For the Yankees, Darrell Rasner pitched well, going 6 complete innings, and only allowing 2 runs on 8 hits, but was the tough luck loser. Rasner is now 4-6 on the season.

Billy Wagner picked up the save for the Mets, his 18^th of the season. Derek Jeter picked up half of the Yankee hits for the game, going 2-4 to raise his average to .284 on the year.

The Yankees will host the Texas Rangers for a three-game series starting Monday at the stadium before entertaining Boston over the weekend, for four games.