Rivera is Fine, Yanks Win

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

Mariano Rivera returned to his usual self today by successfully closing out last night’s game against the A’s. Chien-Ming Wang also seems to be back to his ace-like self, going for over seven innings today in which he allowed only one run on seven hits. Jose Veras was sandwiched between the two and successfully pitched two strikes without letting up any runs.

The Yankee offense wasn’t booming but it got the job done, considering the excellent performances by the pitchers. The Yanks ended with three runs on seven hits opposed to only one run by Oakland on eight hits. The first two runs came thanks to A. Rod. and Giambi, both who drove in a run during the first. The last was a solo blast by Melky Cabrera in the ninth that game the Yanks a little breathing room.

Overall a good day with solid play. Later today is game two of the series against the A’s and it too will be at 10:05ESTand aired on YES. Darrell Rasner will make the start against Oakland’s Justin Duchscherer.

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Brett Marshall, Corban Joseph, and Mykal Stokes

Posted on June 10, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

Brett Marshall was the 6th round pick for the Yankees out of Ross S. Sterling High School in Texas. The young pitcher displayed great velocity, having improved by a few mph from the previous season to the 94-96 range. He still has some inconsistencies with control, but that is something that he will be working on as he plays in the minors. Marshall throws a fastball, plus slider, and a change-up.

Corban Joseph is a shortstop out of Franklin High School in Tennessee. He was named the state’s high school player of the year and was dratted in the 4th round by the Yanks. He had a tremendous senior year with a batting average of .510 and 15 home runs. Both of these stats show that he can hit for both power and average, a great combination for any hitter.

Center fielder, Mykal Stokes, was drafted 1250th overall by the Yankees. He went to Tustin High School in California, where he batted .432 during his senior year. He hit for 14 RBI, had a .476 OBP and racked up 41 hits in the 26 games he played.

This post is part of the MLB Draft 2008 draftee informations series.

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Royals Squeeze By

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

The Yankees lost in a close one to the Royals today. It all came down to the top of the ninth inning, with a 2-2 tied score, and Mariano Rivera on the mound. He had a 0-2 count against Jose Guillen and then it all went downhill as Rivera threw the ball and Guillen homered off of it. Rivera was very unhappy afterwards and unlike his usual, calm self he was even shouting as soon as he let up the run. The closer was very displeased with himself, which could clearly be seen in postgame talks with reporters. He may not forgive himself, but we as Yankee fans certainly should because he has been a dominant closer in the game for so long and this year is no exception, with an ERA under 1 and 16 saves already. It happens to the best of them.

The offense is who should’ve really stepped up. Two runs in six innings against the not-so-great Luke Hochever isn’t acceptable. But again, everyone has off days. Alex Rodriguez was responsible for the two runs by the Yanks, which came due to a homer by him in the 7th.

Mike Mussina, who started had another good day today, but sadly the run support is what hurt him. Moose pitched for 8 innings, giving up only 2 runs off of 7 hits. He now has a season ERA of 3.82. Let’s hope he can keep up the good work.

And with this loss we find ourselves at a familiar place… .500. Next up are the Oakland Athletics, with whom we start a series tomorrow at 10:05EST. The game will be on YES. The starting pitchers are Chien-Ming Wang and Dana Eveland.

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A Closer Look: John Folino, Mike Lyon

Posted on June 9, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

Since the MLB draft is so big, there are always tons of players who many fans don’t know about. To help with giving you more info on specific draftees by the Yankees, I am starting a new series where I will take a few of the draft picks in each post and give you a little background on them. So here we go, with the first MLB Draft 2008 get-to-know the draftees post:

Jonathan Folino was chosen in the 49th round of the 2008 draft. He played with the UConn Huskies and had an overall record of 4-4 this season, having started seven games and pitched in thirteen total. His four wins, lead his team as did his 39 strikeouts. His ERA was 5.02 in a little over 57 innings pitched.

Mike Lyon was drafted in the 24th round of the 2008 draft. He played for Northeastern University, where he had a batting average of .357, 14 home runs, and 46 RBI in the 2008 season. He broke several school-records this past season including most extra-base hits (36) and total bases (138) in one season. He also now holds many school-career records as well.

This post is part of the MLB Draft 2008 get-to-know the draftees series.

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Yankees in Third!

Posted on June 8, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

A victory against the Royals today and a Blue Jays win over the Orioles now puts the Yankees in third place. Sure it may not last, but it does feel good to say it for once. Hopefully we can keep winning and leave behind Toronto and Baltimore. Here we come Rays and Red Sox!

Ok, now that I got that out of my system it’s back to the game report. Joba Chamberlain made career start number two, which was a lot better than his debut. He threw 78 pitches and was in the game into the fifth inning. He racked up 5 Ks and allowed three runs off of five hits. His velocity was great and the only mistakes he really made were in the third when he let up a homer to Jose Guillen and in the fifth when he walked David DeJesus. Both pitches were curveballs on full counts. Still, today’s outing was a welcomed improvement over Joba’s debut and his bright future can certainly be seen in his pitches.

Dan Giese relieved for Chamberlain again and did another great job. He pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to get the first win of his career. Jose Veras and Mariano Rivera each pitched an inning after that to close out the game, with Rivera getting the save.

The pitching was pretty solid today, as were the bats. The Yankees got six runs off of nine hits, which was more than enough to beat the Royals, who scored only three. Jason Giambi has another great day, with a homer in the bottom of the 6th, which gave the Yanks the lead. Bobby Abreu also went yard in this game, during the first inning.

Things are looking up as the Yankees look to close out the series against the Royals with another win tomorrow. The game is at 1:05EST and will be aired on YES. Mike Mussina will take on Royals starter Luke Hochevar.

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Another Walk-off Win

Posted on June 7, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

Quite a game it was against the Kansas City Royals today. The Yankees were able to pull off yet another walk-off victory, in a high scoring game that ended with a final score of 12-11. This time the hero was Johnny Damon, who not only got the winning single, but also had a career day, hitting 6 for 6. He is now tied for both the club and AL records for hits in a 9 inning game.

Damon wasn’t the only shining star in today’s performance. The Yankee offense really surged, with 8 of 9 hitters getting atleast one hit (Wilson Betemit was the only one not to get a hit.) The team combined for 19 hits, including home runs by Giambi, Rodriguez, and Posada.

As you can see by the score, the Yankee bats weren’t the only ones hitting maple. The Royals combined for 12 hits, 10 of which were against Yankee starter Andy Pettitte. Pettitte allowed five runs in his first six innings and gave up another five during the seventh before being taken out. He still had a better day than Royals starter, Brian Bannister who was pulled in the fourth after giving up eight hits and five runs.

Today was another great boost to the momentum, but hopefully this time around we can build on it. Joba Chamberlain will make career start #2 against the Royals who will be using Zack Greinke tomorrow. The game is at 1:05EST and will be on YES.

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MLB Draft 2008: Day 2

Posted on June 6, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

Today were the remaining 44 rounds of picks in the 2008 MLB draft. Here is a list of the players the Yankees drafted, as well as the position each plays and where they attended school last year:

RHP Brett Marshall, Ross S. Sterling HS (Texas)
C Kyle Higashioka, Edison HS (California)
CF Daniel Brewer, Bradley University
RHP Michael O’Brien, Hidden Valley HS (Virginia)
RHP Willian Mitchell, Clemson University
CF Raymond Kruml, University of South Alabama
RHP Luke Greinke, Auburn University
RF John Rye, Florida State University
RHP David Phelps, University of Notre Dame
RHP Matthew Richardson, Lake Mary HS (Florida)
1B Luke Anders, Texa A&M University
SS Addison Maruszak, University of South Florida
RHP Brandon Braboy, University of Indianapolis
C Mitch Abeita, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
RHP Patrick Venditte, Creighton University
1B Mitchell Delaney, Western Texas College
RHP Cory Arbiso, California State University, Fullerton
SS Ryan Wilkes, University of Kentucky
3B Michael Lyon, Northeastern University
C Jeff Nutt, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
LHP Blake Monar, South Spencer HS (Indiana)
SS Garrison Lassiter, West Forsyth HS (North Carolina)
RF Chad Gross, Cuesta College
OF Michael Jones, Arizona State University
C Benjamin McMahan, Bishop Moore School (Florida)
2B Spencer Lucian, Princeton University
LHP Andrew Suiter, University of California Davis
RF Tom Baldridge, Coastal Carolina University
RHP Brad Rulon, Georgia Tech
RHP Andrew Shive, Azusa Pacific University
LHP Christopher Dwyer, Salisbury School (Massachusetts)
RHP Justin Harper, Yavapai College
RHP Clay Caulfield, College of Charleston
1B Erik Lovett, Mount Olive College
SS Samuel Mende, Clearwater Central Catholic HS (Florida)
CF Mykal Stokes, Tustin HS (California)
LHP Clint Preisendorfer, San Diego Christian College
RHP Matthew Summers, Chaparral HS (Arizona)
RF Evan Ocheltree, Wake Forest University
SS Creede Simpson, Auburn HS (Alabama)
RHP Matt Veltmann, San Diego Community College
RHP Ryan Flanney, Fairleign Dickinson University- Madison
RHP Rob Scahill, Bradley University
RHP Johnathan Folino, University of Conneticut
LHP Nikolas Turley, Harvard-Westlake HS (California)

…and there you have it, the 2008 MLB draft picks by the New York Yankees.

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MLB Draft 2008

Posted on June 5, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

Here are the day one picks by the New York Yankees in the 2008 MLB Draft:
Round 1 RHP Gerrit Cole, Orange (California) Lutheran HS (28th overall)
Round 1 LHP Jeremy Bleich, Stanford (44th overall)
Round 2 RHP Scott Bittle, Ole Miss (75th overall)
Round 3 2B David Adams, Virginia (106th overall)
Round 4 INF Corban Joseph, Franklin (Tennessee) HS (140th overall)
Round 5 OF Chris Smith, Centennial HS, Compton, Calif. (170th overall)
Round 6 RHP Brett Marshall, Sterling HS, Baytown, Texas (200th overall)

This is only the tip of the iceberg, as there are 44 rounds remaining tomorrow, stay tuned to this blog to find out who the Yanks pick tomorrow as well.

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Wang Struggles- Doesn’t Matter, Yanks Win

Posted on June 5, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

The heading says it all. The Yankees were able to leave victorious despite another tough outing for Chien-Ming Wang. The game ended in incredible fashion with Jason Giambi hitting a pinch-hit, walk-off home run to wrap things up. The final score was 9-8, Yanks. The momentum is really starting to build again because we have now won two straight and are once again within six of the division leaders (who are now the Red Sox.) Also, today’s game featured a comeback for the Yanks after being in a five-run deficit. Oh yea, and we are back at .500 and back out of last place (now in fourth.)

Giambi wasn’t the only one stepping up today. The bullpen looked solid for the second day in a row, pitching for roughly half the game and only giving up one run. Even LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning! There were only a couple of sour spots in the day which were an error Melky Cabrera and of course Wang’s pitching. Wang walked four and gave up seven runs off of five hits in a little over four innings. Posada later said that he struggled with pitch angles and keeping his arm throwing in a steady direction. Let’s hope Wang can pull it together next time around.

Next game is against the Kansas City Royals tomorrow at 7:05EST. Darrell Rasner will take the mound for the Yankees, Kyle Davies will for the Royals. KC is 2-8 in their last ten, have lost the last two, and in last place. Let’s feed on that down swing and make it even worse for them; it is time for us to move up. You can catch the action on YES tomorrow.

Update: Red Sox just won, so we are now 6.5 games back, but it still isn’t as bad as where we were two days ago

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Losing Streak Snapped

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Yankees Blogger

Moose came through for the Yankees again today by pitching an excellent game that put a stop to the losing streak. The 39-year-old was pitched six innings and gave up only one run off of five hits. He would get the W, and is now tied for most wins in the AL with 9. After the game he said, “A lot of people assumed that my best stuff was behind me, I still know how to pitch.” I’m not going to lie, I didn’t see him starting the year off like this either. Quite a surprise, but definitely a pleasant one.

This game was also a big day for Derek Jeter, whose single in the third now puts him at third place on the all-time hitting list for the Yanks, past Mickey Mantle. Oh yea, and we had a great day from the bullpen, including Kyle Farnsworth. I don’t think we could have asked for a better game than this one. Ohlendorf, Farnsworth, and Rivera only allowed one run in three innings of scoreless ball that wrapped up the game. Final score: 5-1 Yankees. Let’s start a winning streak this time!

We have an opportunity to start a streak tomorrow against the Blue Jays again. Let’s hope Chien-Ming Wang has the stuff he showed at the beginning of the year as he squares off against Jays’ Dustin McGowan. Game is at 1:05EST and will be broadcasted on YES.

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