NYCurve Yankees Blog

Royals Beat Yankees, 5-2

The Yankees are back at .500 (4-4) after losing to the Royals today. Conditions were horrible for pitchers, with a lot of wind. Phil Hughes only pitched for three innings, allowing three runs and six hits in the process. Ross Ohlendorf came in for another three innings after Hughes, and gave up four hits and two runs. BIlly Traber and LaTroy Hawkins both pitched a scoreless inning each after that.

The Yankee offense was not able to overcome the 5 runs put up by Kansas City. They combined for seven hits and only two runs. Alex Rodriguez had a notably bad day with four strikeouts. Tomorrow is the rematch against the Royals at 8:10 EST. Ian Kennedy will face off against Zack Greinke. The game will be aired on YES.

Mussina Leads Yanks to Victory

The Yankees beat the Rays today, ending the 4 game series with 2 wins and 2 losses. Mike Mussina started and had a wonderful day, pitching 6 innings and allowing only 2 hits/1 run. With this win Moose tied Bob Gibson on the all time wins list. He used a variety of pitches and was able to get some nice outs. Reliving Mussina were Brian Bruney and Kyle Farnsworth. Both pitched an inning of hitless ball before making way for LaTroy Hawkins, who would close. Hawkins allowed one hit, but ended the ninth without giving up any runs. He left with the W.

On the other side of the ball things finally seem to be picking up. The Yankees scored 6 runs today and combined for a total of 11 hits. Bobby Abreu had a great night, going 3 for 3 including a home run off of Jason Hammel.

The biggest news of the day was probably Derek Jeter (although Mussina’s day was big too.) Jeter left before the third inning after feeling something in his leg. It had been bothering him last Sunday, so he didn’t want to take any chances last night. An MRI later revealed that it was a minor strain, meaning Jeter won’t be placed of the DL, although he may miss a few days. And with that the ‘A Rod to shortstop?’ question began…

It is possible since we now have Ensberg, who used to play 3rd base for the Astros. If it happens it probably won’t be a big deal (atleast to me), since Jeter should be returning in a week or two.

The Yankees will head out to Kansas to play the Royals next. The game is at 4:10 EST tomorrow and it will be aired on YES. We will get to see Phil Hughes start again, this time against Brian Bannister.

Finally Beat the Rays

The Yankees got their first win against the Rays this season, in a 2-0 shutout. The offense is still struggling, but the defense looked stellar today. Chien-Ming Wang started and had an excellent day, getting 6 Ks and only allowing 4 hits in over 6 innings pitched. He left with the win as his record improves to 2-0. Joba Chamberlain came in to relieve and pitched two innings of hitless ball, with one strikeout. Rivera closed, pitching a hitless ninth as he recorded his third save of the year. So far this year both Joba and Mariano Rivera have been stellar. The rest of the defense looked great too, particularly in the seventh when Robinson Cano and Joba worked together to get the team out of a jam.

On the other side of the ball it was the same as it has been so far this year. The Yankees were able to get nine hits, but only capitalized once, during a two run shot by Matsui.

Girardi was back for this game and was pleased with the outcome. Tomorrow is the last of a four-game series against the Rays. The game will be at 7:05pm EST and will be aired on both ESPN2 and YES. Moose will take the mound for the Yanks, as Jason Hammel starts for the Rays.

Rays Win Again

Today was Andy Pettitte’s first start after the rough offseason, but it didn’t go as planned. The Yankees dropped another game to the Rays in a 6-3 loss. Pettitte pitched for 5 innings, allowing 8 hits and 5 runs. He was applauded by Yankee fans as he entered the stadium and he felt remorse afterwards for not being able to give a solid performance. I would just like to say, that we aren’t disappointed, it happens to everyone. Despite the bad day, Pettitte was still happy to be playing ball again. Here is a quick post-game quote: “I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it was great and (I’m) much appreciative.”

Pettitte should be back to his normal self soon enough, but our offense really needs to start stepping it up as well. We ended with nine hits and only three runs off the Rays. It has been five games and we still haven’t scored more than three runs a game. Hopefully they will be able to pick it up soon and give our hurlers some more run support.

Just a side note on the game: Joe Girardi was not there for the second day today due to an upper respiratory infection. He later said that he hopes to be back for tomorrow’s game when the Yanks take on the Rays again. The game is at 1:05 EST and will be on YES. Chien-Ming Wang will take on James Shields.

Oh yea, and Giambi is injured again. He is day-to-day after leaving in the 5th with a sore left groin. Who didn’t expect it?

Tough Loss to the Rays

The Yankees are now 2-2 on the season after a 13-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays tonight. Ian Kennedy struggled against the Rays in his first start of the season. He pitched only 2.1 innings in which he didn’t have good command over the ball, leading to six runs by the Rays. We aren’t used to seeing this kind of performance from Kennedy because he usually has great command. Hopefully he can get his command back before his next start.

Following Kennedy came in Jonathan Albaladejo, who had a good night. He pitched 2.2 innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four. After Albaladejo were Traber, Hawkins, and Farnsworth in that order. Hawkins had a horrible night allowing six runs to the Rays in .2 innings. Farnsworth closed and gave up the last run to the Rays.

On the offensive side, the Yanks had only six hits. Four runs off of six hits is good, but the offense really needs to start picking it up soon because everyone knows that they can do better.

Overall this game was all over the place for the Yanks. Hopefully everything can come back into place fro tomorrow’s rematch against the Rays. Andy Pettite will make his first appearance of the regular season against Edwin Jackson. The game is at 1:05EST and will be aired on YES.

Yankees Beat Blue Jays, Win Series

In the third game of the opening series for the 2008 season, the Yankees pulled through with a close victory. Bobby Abreu’s single in the eighth inning put the team on top 3-2. Phil Hughes started the game and looked magnificent. He pitched six innings, had four strikeouts and allowed only four hits. Looking at his command and pitches no one would guess that he is the youngest starter in the majors. He looks like he has been doing it for years and that bodes really well for the Yankees because as he progresses he will get even better.

Following up were Traber and Bruney who both pitched less than an inning each. Joba came into the game in the eighth and had another good game as setup man with one K and one hit allowed in one inning. He would walk away with the win. Mariano Rivera came into the ninth and successfully closed the game, getting three straight outs and securing another save.

Next up are the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:05 EST tomorrow. The game will be on YES as we get to see the third man in the “Big Three”, Ian Kennedy. He will face off against Rays’ pitcher Andy Sonnanstine.