The New York Yankees got a good start out of Mike Mussina but they still lose to the Texas Rangers 2-1 on Monday night.  Mussina struck out eight batters over six innings but gave up two runs and took the loss which dropped his record to 10-6 on the season.  It was really just a bad night at the plate for the Yankees.

The Yankees offense was only able to come up with four hits on the night as they really struggled against the Rangers pitching staff.  Alex Rodriguez did hit his 534th career home run in the fourth inning for the Yankees only run in the game.  Rodriguez’s home run but him in a tie with Jimmy Foxx for 14th on the all time list.

The Yankees will now try to even the series up at 1-1 when the two teams face off on Tuesday night.

Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-5 on Tuesday night but they bounced back nicely with a 10-0 victory on Wednesday night to event he interleague series at 1-1.  The Yankees had pressure on the Pirates all game long as they scored in five of nine innings.

Bobby Abreu had a three run home run and then a rbi double to lead the Yankees at the plate with four rbi.  Jason Giambi had two rbi while Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano both had one rbi.  Cano’s rbi came via the long ball when he went deep in the fifth inning of the game.  Melky Cabrera tacked on another run in the ninth inning with a rbi single.

Joba Chamberlain improved to 2-2 on the season as he pitched a good ball game.  Chamberlain tossed 6 2/3 innings while giving up six hits.  Joba walked one batter and struck out seven others in the game.  Great outing for Chamberlain as he continues to get stretched out in the starters role.

Ross Ohlendorf recorded the last out in the seventh inning and then tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth inning.  Jose Veras gave up two runs in the ninth inning but did not let the Pirates score and kept the shut out in tact.

Good win for the Yankees as they dominated the Pirates pitching staff.  That is how you bounce back from a butt kicking like the Yankees took on Tuesday night!

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Additionally, 10 fans will win first place prizes consisting of a $300 MLB.com gift card and 25 second place prize winners will receive $100 MLB.com gift cards.

Remember, time is running out and you have nothing to lose! Also, remember to vote for your favorite Yankees players to be in the All Star game!

It’s official, folks.  The Yankees are hot.  Andy Pettitte threw 7 scoreless innings last night and the Yankees pounded out 8 runs on 11 hits to make this one look easy.  They got some defensive help as well last night.  Pitching, offense and defense, the Yankees are clicking on all cylinders.  It couldn’t have come at a better time as the Yankees got the news that ace Chien-Ming Wang will miss at least 6 weeks with a foot injury.

The Yankees started their scoring in the 2nd with home runs by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi.  Giambi followed this up with another long homerun in his 2nd at bat in the 4th inning, this time a 2-run shot to deep centerfield.  The Yanks tacked on 3 more runs in the frame after an error by Padres 2nd baseman Craig Stansberry extended the inning for them.  Derek Jeter drove in an 8th inning run to complete the scoring for the bombers. 

Andy Pettitte looked spectacular in his 7 innings of work allowing just 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 9.  He also picked off his 87th runner of his career in the 2nd.  He was helped also by some spectacular defense by Melky Cabrera, the only Yankee who didn’t get into the mix offensively, making a beautiful diving catch in deep centerfield in the 1st inning. 

It was a great win for the Yanks as they seem to be playing with much more confidence now that they have their ‘A’-lineup in there everyday.  Giambi looks like he is ready to carry the team on his shoulders and A-Rod over the last 2 weeks is putting up numbers that rival last years’ incredible season.  Interleague play has come just at the right time for the Yankees.

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The grand prize winner will also get the chance to pick a spot to which two of the Home Run Derby players must compete to try to hit a ball. If the first player hits the ball to the called spot, the promotion ends. If either player succeeds, the fan receives a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid vehicle and a 2009 season-ticket package for any team.

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Mike Mussina logged his tenth win of the season and the Yankee offense powered the team to an 8-4 victory in Houston taking the first two games of the series.  The Yankees have reached their high water mark going three games over .500 for the first time this season.

Alex Rodiriguez got the Yankee bats started in the 2nd by delievering his 11th home run of the season into the right-center field seats.  Back to back doubles from Jason Giambi and Melky Cabrera added another run to make it a 3-2 game.  In the third, with a man on third, Houston pitcher Wandy Rodriguez issued three consecutive walks to Rodriguez, Giambi and Cabrera to tie the score at three.  Jose Molina then ripped a single to left scoring A-Rod and Giambi to put the Yanks in front for good.  The Yankees tacked on three more runs throughout the game including a pinch-hit RBI single by Robinson Cano in the 8th. 

Mussina got off to a rocky start being greeted by a long three-run homrun by Carlos Lee in the first inning, but he settled in quickly after that retiring 13 of his next 15 batters.  Mussina worked 6 strong innings allowing only the three runs.  The bullpen of the Yankees continued to impress allowing 3 hits and 1 run over the final three innings to preserve the victory for Mussina.  Mussina has now reached a minimum of 10 wins in each of his last 17 seasons.

The Yankees go for the sweep Sunday afternoon at 1pm CDT.  Alberto Gonzalez rejoined the team and got the start Saturday after being recalled from Scranton on Friday. Shelly Duncan was sent back to make room for Gonzalez.   

The Yankees salvaged a series win last night with a 4-1 victory in Oakland putting them back to a game over .500.  On a night where their offense was still slow coming out of the box, they were able to put together one rally that helped push them to victory. 

Hideki Matsui celebrated his 34th birthday in style as his 6th inning grand slam powered the Yankee offense.  An infield single by Derek Jeter followed by walks to Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez set the stage for Matsui’s dramatics as he drove a 1-1 pitch just over the 362 sign in right-center field. 

 Andy Pettitte returned to form last night as well tossing 8 strong innings of 1-run ball allowing only 5 hits over that span to pick up his 6th win of the year.  Andy looked very comfortable last night, located his pitches well and seemed to have everything working for him.  He pitched out of trouble in the second and third innings but other than that, he sailed right along.    Mariano Rivera got three outs including 2 strikeouts for his 18th save of the season.

The Yankees flew to Houston after the game for this weeks’ interleague play.  It will be the Yankees first trip to Minute Maid Park and Joba Chamberlain goes for the Yankees in the opener Friday night. 

The Yankees woes of trying to get above .500 continued Wednesday night with a lackluster performance losing 8-4 to Oakland bringing their record back to the .500 mark that they can’t seem to seperate from.  As a whole the team looked flat again. 

Darryl Rasner got the start for the Yankees and early on looked as though he had the Oakland hitters on their heals striking out three in the first two innings.  In the Oakland half of the third inning, the flood gates opened up.  After a costly error by Jason Giambi, the A’s strung together five consecutive hits scoring six in the frame.  This was followed by another 2 runs on 3 hits in the fourth and Rasner’s day was done.  This is the first time this season he’s been knocked around like this, let’s hope it doesn’t effect him next time out.

As for the Yankees offense, there were a few bright spots.  Giambi continued his hot hitting depositing his 15th HR of the season into the right field seats in the 2nd, and a double down the left field line.  However he figured out how to hit to left field again, it’s really paid off.  In the top of the first, Bobby Abreu extended his hitting streak to 10 games and finished the day 2-4.   A 9th inning rally attempt came up far short as the Yanks put together 3 runs on 2 hits in the top of the ninth.  The hole in the Yankee offense came tonight in the form of one baserunner from the 4th inning through the 8th.  Once Oakland scored their runs, the game was all but over. 

Ross Ohlendorf struggled a bit in his 1.1 innings walking three but LaTroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth and Edwar Ramirez all pitched clean innings in the defeat.  All in all, there weren’t many good grades for the Yankees on Wednesday night.  Let’s hope they can turn things back around and salvage a series win in the rubber game tonight.

Yankees Blog

The Kansas City Royals hit two home runs against the New York Yankees pitching staff of Monday afternoon, and they only needed those two hits as they beat the Yankees 3-2 at Yankee Stadium.  Mariano Rivera gave up the game winning hit in the top of the ninth inning as Jose Guillen took him deep for a solo home run.

Rivera is now 2-2 after taking the loss for the Yankees.  The loss put a dampter on the game where starting pitcher Mike Mussina tossed a gem.  Mussina tossed eight innings and only gave up a two run home run in the seventh inning.  Mussina only allowed three hits, just the one home run was the costly mistake.

The Yankees struggled at the plate against the Royals as they only came up with six hits for the entire game.  Alex Rodriguez did hit a two run home run in the seventh inning, but other then that there was no offense at all out of the Yankees.

So now the Yankees are back at .500 with a 32-32 record on the season.  They will now take on the Oakland A’s in a three game series starting Tuesday evening.

Yankees Blog

Talk about a dramatic scene at Yankees Stadium as Jason Giambi was called upon in the ninth inning to pitch hit and hit a game winning two run home run.  Giambi’s home run barely stayed in play as he it into the upper deck to the right field line to give teh Yankees the 9-8 victory over the Blue Jays.

Giambi wasn’t the only Yankees player to hit a long ball as Wilson Betemit had a two run shot in the sixth inning as well.  Besides Giambi and Betemit’s two rbi each, Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez also had two rbi each.  Hideki Matsui finished things up with one rbi on the game.

Kyle Farnsworth was credited with the win as he pitched the top of the ninth inning.  Farnsy is is now 1-2 on the season.  He didn’t even pitch that well in the ninth inning as he gave up three hits and one run.

Starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang only lasted 4 1/3 innings as he was pulled after giving up five hits and seven runs.  Wang was pretty wild as he also had four walks and gave up one home run.  Ross Ohlendorf, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jose Veras all pitched before Farnsworth pitched the ninth.

The Yankees will now start a series with the Kansas City Royals this weekend that I can seem the sweeping.

Yankees Blog