Yankees 16 , White Sox 3 – Contreras + Yankee Stadium = loss

The Yankees crushed the Chicago White Sox tonight, doing so with 8 home run blasts off of CWS pitching, which tied a Yankee franchise record in the process. Unfortunately, Alex Rodriguez wasn’t one of the 7 Yankees who hit a HR tonight. He’ll try again tommorrow night. The former Yankee Jose Contreras showed his usual Yankee Stadium form, giving up 3 HR before being pulled n the 3rd inning.

The Yankees offense has really been pouring it on. Coupled with a Cleveland loss today, the Yankees are 3 out of the Wild Card lead. Boston’s loss tonight leaves the Yankees trailing them by 7 games.

It should be noted that Phil Hughes will be re-joining the Yankees this week, and will be pitching on Saturday. Good news all around!

The trade deadline passes…

Today, the NY Yankees aquired Wilson Betemit from the LA Dodgers for right-handed reliever Scott Proctor. Proctor sealed his own fate when he gave up a home run last Friday when he came on in relief of Andy Pettitte. The Yankees were down 3-2, and Proctor gave up a HR to his first batter faced. He has been pretty much worthless for most of the season, and this was clearly a move to dump him. Betemit is a guy that the Yankees were looking at last season, and now that they have him, I’m not really sure what they will do with him. Andy Phillips is playing great at first base, and Miguel Cairo has been good as well filling in for Jeter and Rodriguez when needed. Betemit will most likely be spending a lot of time on the bench…

It was a quiet trade scene for the Yankees this year. They watched Texiera go to Atlanta, and Gagne go to Boston, but decided not to give up from the farm system to get these guys. I’m very pleased with this – lets see what the farm system has if we need some relief pitching. Our offense seems pretty good right now (more on that later…)

The trade deadline approaches…

With the trade dealine coming up on Tuesday, I would like to offer up three scenarios where the Yankees could possibly upgrade the team:

1. Trade Jason Giambi to the LA Angels for Scott Shields. I think that Giambi’s time in pinstripes should come to an end. Send him back to the west coast where he flourished and probably wants to be. Scott Shields has been great this year. He boasts a 2.32 ERA and has 48 strikeouts. The Angels need a strong bat, and can have that in Giambi, who would probably do well with a change of scenery since he has fallen out with Yankee management over his comments about “MLB owing the fans an apology”. Steinbrenner is pissed about it, and probably can’t wait to dump Giambi, who failed to bring a World Series ring to NY in his tenure. He was injured just as long as he was healthy.

2. Kyle Farnsworth to Atlanta Braves for Rafael Soriano. Farnsworth flourished in Atlanta, and would probably do so again. Atlanta needs consistency in late innings, and Farnsworth could bring them that. Soriano is prone to injury, and Atlanta may want to use him to lure back Farnsworth.

3. Release Mike Myers, and use Kei Igawa was a lefty specialist. Myers doesn’t get the lefties out, which is his primary job. Lets cut our losses already. He puts more men on than he gets out. With so much money invested in Igawa, lets use him properly. He has shown, in relief, that he can do well. He’s obviously not working as a starter.

That’s it – call me crazy – I just think that the Yankees need something to help get them into the playoffs – I certainly hope there are a few more trades coming up in the next 48 hours…

Orioles 7 – Yankees 5 ; Yankees 10 – Orioles 6

The Yankees split the final two games of the weekend series vs Baltimore. The Yankee offense has been hit and miss this weekend. Not much else to say – We knew they weren’t going to play .750 ball for the rest of the year, however we have seen this team come back in games they would have lost in the first half of the year. A-Rod is in a little bit of a slump, unable to get that magic #500 HR. I’m sure he will hit it at home in the CWS series. At least I hope so – I will be at all 3 games Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday…with that said, I may be a little slow in getting the updates online this coming week.

In some notable pitching news, Jeff Karstens should make his return to the team this week, probably as the long reliever in the bullpen. Phil Hughes has his last rehab start tonight, and will rejoin the team late this coming week, and will take his place as the Yankees 5th starter.

Yankees 8, Orioles 6 ; Orioles 4, Yankees 2

The Yankees took the continuation of the suspended game from late June 8-6. Pretty simple stuff – Mike Myers, as usual, couldn’t get outs, so Mariano Rivera had to come in for 5 outs. Mo put a few on before closing out the game – nothing to worry about – lack of usage I think.

In the second game, Andy Pettitte wasn’t all there. His pitches weren’t good, and to make matters worse, he insists on involving himself in the defense. Ball hit up the middle – he goes for it rather than letting Jeter field. A pop up? Any Pettitte is right there in the mix, trying to catch it, muddling up the infield. Plain and simlpe: Andy is a pitcher, and needs to learn his place -you’d think he’s know this already. It was very uncomfortable to watch him blow two easy plays early on in the game, which extended his innings… He tries to do too much, rather than concentrate on his pitches. He should have much better than a 6-7 record – if he stopped fielding, I’d bet he would have a better record (sorry about the rant, but I’m sick of watching him do this time and time again)

The Yankees were in the game, trailing 3-2 into the 9th inning, when good ol’ Scott Proctor gave up a home run on his first batter, and put the game out of reach 4-2. With only a few days left until the trade deadline, I pray that Brian Cashman has something up his sleeve to better this bullpen.

There was very little offense in this game (technically the series opener) so you can expect alot today and tomorrow. Hopefully we will see the long awaited A-Rod #500 home run this weekend.

Royals 7 ,Yankees 0 : Igawa works his way to Triple A

The Yankees couldn’t get the sweep against KC, but took the series 3 out of 4. Kei Igawa was his horrible self, and as of today, he was demoted to Triple A – hopefully we will not see him again for the rest of the season, at least as a starter. He can be used as a lefty specialist – if only to utilize the money wasted on him. What a disappointment. Hopefully we will see the return of Karstens for Igawa’s next start, and then Karstens should become the long reliever once Phil Hughes returns for the follwing 5th spot in the rotation.

Yankee fans really can’t be upset about this game. Call it a learning experience – Igawa is worthless. KC is a good team, and we took 3 out of 4.

Tonight the Yankees finish up the suspended game in Baltimore, and then have a series of 3 in which Alex Rodriguez will look for his 500th home run.

Jason Giambi to rejoin the Yankees next week

by jeepsunday

Jason Giambi is close to rejoining the Yankees – he could be added to the roster as early as next week.

I am concerned about this move. It reminds me of how last season ended. The Yankees were on a tear, when Sheffield and Matsui joined the team from the DL in September. It killed the team momentum, and as a result, the team went limp against the Detroit Tigers.

This Yankee team is on a TEAR right now. I am concerned that inserting Giambi into a team that has learned to win without him may have negative consequences.

I would rather see Giambi traded to another team at this point. We need relief pitching and we could get some GREAT additions to the bullpen for Giambi’s bat.

by johnbutchko

I am in agreement with my esteemed cowriter on this issue. Giambi’s return does evoke memories of last year’s returns of Sheffield and Matsui. The lineup has developed some great chemistry. It goes beyond that, though. Melky Cabrera has flourished in a regular role. He also has been great defensively at the important centerfield position and hit over .300 since he started playing every day.

Melky was awful early in the season when he was not getting consistent at bats. He pressed at the plate and lost his discipline, trying to do too much to earn playing time. A developing 22 year old, Melky needs to be a regular. It is not clear what Giambi can offer or even whether he is completely healthy. Unless he is at his best, Jason’s hitting will not help the team as much as Melky’s bat and defense at such a critical position. If Giambi was going to take Damon’s place as DH, it would be one thing. However, Johnny reputation will keep him in the lineup over a superior player. Damon and his noodle arm will return to centerfield, making the defense much worse. The wear and tear of playing the field certainly will not help a banged up player like Damon. The Yanks will hinder the development of a young player and hurt the team.

Given how bad the bench is, keeping Giambi there as a big lefty pinch hitter would be a great course of action. That will not happen, though, because the leadership would be criticized for benching such an expensive player with such a big reputation if the team ends up missing the postseason. Playing the biggest names is the safest course of action. It just is not the best course.

Yankees 7 Royals 1

Mike Mussina had his first great game since early June tonight. He was solid, and went into the 6th inning pitching shutout ball. He gave up one run, and Torre went to the bullpen, which was fantastic, going scoreless through the rest of the game.

It should be noted that A-Rod hit his 499th Home Run tonight. The team offense is just great – still averaging over 7 runs a game since the All Star Break.

Tonight, The Red Sox were defeated by the Indians, so the AL East lead is down to 6.5 – the lowest defecit since May, I believe. The Yankees are now 8 games over .500 and climbing. They trail Seattle by 1/2 game for second place in the Wild Card Race.

Tommorrow night, Kei Igawa goes for the sweep of the Royals, and he will pitch to Jose Molina, in his first catching stint since being traded to the Yankees.

Yankees 9 Royals 2 , Yankees 9 Royals 4

The Yankees took the first half of the four game series, outscoring the Royals 18-6 in the first two games. Tuesday night’s victory was their 5th in a row. They have not lost a game since the horrible outing on Friday night vs Tampa. Here are a few notes worth mentioning:

1. Since the All Star break, the Yankees are 11-3. The team is averaging 7.7 runs per game, and the team hitting average is .324. This is how you get to the playoffs.

2. The Yankees are taking pitches. One of the biggest problems I saw with the team in the first half was that they were swinging miserably at the first pitch – they were trying TOO hard. In tonight’s game, 10 Yankees walked. Robinson Cano had a career high 3 walks tonight alone… The Yankees went 24 straight innings with having a baserunner on. This is a streak that could have NOT happened without the walks…

3. The Yankees are scoring early, scoring multiple runs early. This helps two-fold. Not only do the hitters gain confidence and momentum, they are also giving their starting pitchers leads early, leading to their own confidence build. The pitching staff all around is more relaxed, and definitely doing much better (sans Myers and Farnsworth)

4. The Yankees are winning on the road! The Yankees had the worst road record in the AL the first half of the season. In the second half they are leading. They are striking first on the road – taking two in a row on this current road trip against a good KC team – a team that took a series from Boston last week.

Things are looking up up up. The Red Sox defeated the Indians again today – and now the Wild Card lead over the Yankees is down to 4.5 games. As I have said before, there are two more months of baseball left, and there is no reason the Yankees cannot be in post-season play if they ontinue on like this…

Yankees 21, Devil Rays 4

…makes Friday night’s game seem very insignificant.

As Joe Torre stated early last week, the Yankees NEED to win series, and did so today, taking their third 3 out of 4 series. The Devil Rays collectively gave up 21 runs today to a Yankee offense that has not been seen in a long time. Everyone was hitting. Even Johnny Damon got on. There were four very noteworthy items I want to write about:

1. Hideki Matsui is on FIRE! He hit his 9th home run in 10 games today. Unbelievable. We needed the lefties to start hitting and they ARE.

2. Alex Rodriguez hit his 498th career home run, and 99th RBI of the season. Most definitely his career year. Start the MVP chants.

3. Andy Pettitte showed up today. Got his 6th win of the season, and held the Devil Rays off. Lets hope he shows the same stamina against Boston, Anaheim, and Detroit later this season.

4. Shellie Duncan is an absolute treat to watch. This kid made the weekend so much fun. In his first three MLB games, he hit 3 home runs. (2 today!). Welcome to the big leagues, boy!

The Yankees head to Kansas City tomorrow. Here is the real test. Are the Yankees really really back, or is this just a continuation of the season long see-saw of “Good Yanks/Bad Yanks”. The answer to this lies SQUARELY on the shoulders of one Roger Clemens, who seeks out his 3rd win of the season tomorrow.