The New York Yankees swept away the visiting Minnesota Twins on Wednesday with a 5-1 victory.  The Yankees pretty much dominated the entire series against the Twins as they won all three games pretty easily.  I have a feeling that the Yankees are going to go on a nice run and get right back up there with the Rays and Red Sox in the standings.

Mike Mussina tossed eight shutout innings to pick up the victory.  It was a great outing by the moose as he only gave up six hits and struckout seven batters.  Mussina is now 13-6 on the year.  LaTroy Hawkins came in and pitched the 9th inning and gave up one run as he had some troubles.  Mariano Rivera was then brought in to finish off the Twins and pick up his 25th save of the season.

The Yankees didn’t get on the scoreboard until the 5th inning when left fielder Justin Christian had a two run double to score two runs.  Alex Rodriguez then had a two run double in the 6th inning before he scored on a Richie Sexson rbi sac fly.  Those two innings were all that was needed for the offense because Mussina threw the ball so well.

The Yankees are now off on Thursday and will head to Boston to take on the Red Sox in a weekend series.  So how well will they fare do you think?  This is a huge series at this point in the season.

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The New York Yankees didn’t have any problems with the Minnesota Twins on Monday night as they opened up their weekday series with a 12-4 victory.  The Yankees had 16 hits to score those 12 runs as the offense was really swinging the bats well while the pitchers pitched well enough to get the victory.

Alex Rodriguez hit a two run home run while Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter both added solo shots for the Yankees.  A-Rod finished the game leading the team with three rbi.  Cano and Jeter both had two rbi each while Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu both chipped in with one each.  That is a big balanced scoring attack for the Yankees as almost everybody contributed.

Sidney Ponson improved to 6-1 on the season as he threw 5 2/3 innings to get the win.  Ponson gave up nine hits and three runs while walking and striking out two batters.  Edwar Ramirez, David Robertson, and LaTroy Hawkins all threw out of the bullpen.  Hawkins threw the final two innings of the game while only allowing one hit.

It was a very good win for the Yankees and they will now hope to go up 2-0 in the series when they face off againast the Twins on Tuesday evening.  Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees scored nine runs in the seventh inning as they beat the Texas Rangers by the score of 18-7.  It was a very high scoring game between the two teams but the Yankees were able to come out on top to avoid the sweep.

Jason Giambi had a grand slam and two run double to finish the game with six rbi’s to lead the Yankees at the plate.  Alex Rodriguez had a three run home run as he finished the game with three rbi.  Jorge Posada was right behind A-rod as he had two rbi.  Johnny Damon and two rbi, Robinson Cano, and WIlson Betemit, and Bobby Abreu all contributed with one rbi of their own.

Sidney Ponson struggled in his first start with the Yankees.  He only lasted five innings and gave up nine hits and seven early runs.  The Rangers hit two home runs off of Ponson who will really need to turn things around if he wants to stay in the rotation.

Edwar Ramirez pitched the sixth and seventh innings without giving up a run and then Kyle Farnsworth pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Yankees.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched the ninth inning for the Yankees as he finished off the Rangers.

The Yankees will now play the Red Sox for four games this weekend.  The series is always a huge one between the fans I expect this one to be the same way.

Yankees Blog

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

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

New York Yankees relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins was suspended for three games after throwing at the head of Baltimore Orioles left fielder Luke Scott.  Hawkins threw high and inside to Scott in the sixth inning of the Orioles’ 12-2 blowout win on Tuesday, three innings after Yankees captain Derek Jeter was hit by a pitch.

Also it has been announced that Joba Chamberlain will be stretched out in the bullpen and eventually be moved into the starting rotation.  The Yankees need a starting pitcher in there that they can trust as Mike Mussina and Andy Pettite are really struggling at this point in the season.  Look for Joba to throw 2-3 innings a time unless they Yankees need him in long relief and he can pitch 70 or pitches.

I would expect in two - three weeks we will be seeing Joba in the starting rotation.  What do you think?

Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees are in a unfamiliar place after they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 5-2 on Thursday afternoon.  The Yankees are now in last place in the divsion, and they better start making some changes before management makes those changes for them.

Ian Kennedy dropped to 0-3 on the season as he took the loss.  Kennedy tossed five innings and gave up five hits and five runs.  Two home runs accounted for three of the five runs as Kennedy’s era now stands at 8.48 on the year.

LaTroy Hawkins, Jose Veras, and Edwar Ramirez all pitched one scoreless inning in relief of Kennedy.

The Yankees scoring came in the seventh inning when Derek Jeter and Melky Cabrera both had rbi singles.

The Yankees pretty much just sucked it up all series long against the Rays.  Did they try taking the series easy?  Who know but they better start playing better.

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Joba Chamberlain has lost his first game in the Major Leagues.  The relief pitcher gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth inning when Joe Crede singled in the winning run as the White Sox beat the Yankees 7-6.

Phil Hughes pitched two innings and only allowed a hit as he started the game for the Yankees.  The rain delay affected Hughes not pitching longer and the Yankees went with Ross Ohlendorf for the next two innings which was a mistake.  Ohlendorf gave up five hits and five runs in only two innings of action.  LaTroy Hawkins also pitched two innings and gave up a earned run.  Talk about a bad pitching performance by the entire Yankees staff on Thursday night.

At the plate for the Yankees, Melky Cabrera hit a two run home run in the sixth inning to finish with two RBI.  Bobby Abreu also had two RBI in the game.  Derek Jeter and Morgan Ensberg contributed with one RBI each as well.

The Yankees’s record drops to 12-11 after the loss.

Yankees Blog

Mike Mussina and Bobby Abreu dominated the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night as the New York Yankees won 6-1 to move their record to 4-3.

Mussina pitched six inning to pick up his first win of the season.  Mussina only gave up two hits on the night and one earned run.  It was also nice to see Moose only give up one walk while striking out three batters.

Brian Bruney, Kyle Farnsworth, and LaTroy Hawkins all pitched one inning in relief and did not allow an earned run.  They all pitched great so overall it was a very well pitched game for the Yankees.

Abreu led the Yankees at the plate going 3-3 with one homerun and two RBI.  Hideki Matsui also had two RBI, while Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez chipped in with one RBI each.

The Yankees are now 4-3 on the season.

Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees played a terrible game tonight as they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 13-4.  The Yankees fell behind early as they were down in a 6-0 hole heading into the bottom of the 3rd inning when they scored four runs to make it 6-4.  They could never battle all the way back however and the Rays eventually went onto win.

Ian Kennedy was the starting pitcher and a very bad outing.  He only lasted 2.1 innings while giving up four hits, six runs, four walks, and two strikeouts.  The rest of the pitching staff was alright except for Latroy Hawkins who pitched in the 8th inning and gave up another six earned runs.  Kyle Farnsworth tried to stop the bleeding but he also allowed one earned run.

It just wasn’t the Yankees night tonight against the Rays.  I fully expect the Yankees to come out and get a victory on Saturday against this same Rays team however.  They won’t take another ass kicking like this.

Yankees Blog