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 New York Yankees escaped a sweep by beating the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 4-1 on Wednesday night.  The Yankees really needed to pick up this win as they try to get on a nice run and go on a nice winning streak.

Andy Pettitte picked up the win as he tossed 6 2/3 innings.  Pettitte allowed eight hits but only two runs in his six plus innings of action.  Pettitte is now 5-5 on the season.  Joba Chamberlain came in and pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief and only gave up one hit.  Mariano Rivera then came in to pick up his 13th save of the season in the ninth inning.

Jason Giambi hit his 11th home run of the season in the fourth inning as he finished the game with two rbi.  Giambi also had a rbi single in the second inning.  Derek Jeter had a sac fly in the fifth inning and Johnny Damon had a infield rbi single that scored Hideki Matsui in the ninth inning.

Good win for the Yankees, let’s see if they can get some momentum and go on a nice winning streak now.

***Ian Kennedy has been placed on the disabled list so we could see Joba make his first start next week in Kennedy’s rotation spot.***

Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees were hammered by the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 12-2 on Tuesday night. I really don’t have a whole lot to blog about because the Yankees pretty much got their butt handed to them.

Mike Mussina only lasted 2/3 of an inning as he got rocked.  Mussina gave up five hits and seven runs to take the loss.  Ross Ohlendorf gave up another three runs over the next three innings.  Jose Veras also gave up a run as he pitched in relief.

The two Yankees runs came in the sixth inning when Alex Rodriguez hit a two run home run.  It was A-Rod’s 13th home run of the season.

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.

Is there a Yankees fan out there that would like to write game recaps for Yankees Homeplate?  We are currently looking for someone to cover game recaps.  If you are intersted, please click the contact us link at the top of the blog to email us.  Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees were finally able to beat the Tampa Bay Rays.  The Yankees beat the Rays 2-1 on Wednesday night as they try to get back above the .500 mark.

The Yankees got two runs and made sure that was enough to win the game.  Bobby Abreu and Robinson Cano had the rbi’s for the Yankees.  Cano had a rbi single in the fourth inning and Abreu had a rbi double in the fifth inning.

On the mound for the Yankees, Mike Mussina pitched 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win.  The win was Mussina’s sixth of the season.  Mussina gave up five hits and one run in the game.  Good outing for Mr. Mussina.

Ross Ohlendorf and Joba Chamberlain pitched the Yankees into the ninth inning and then Mariano Rivera got his 11th save of the season.

Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees sent the game to extra innings on a Hideki Matsui solo home run in the ninth inning but then went on to lose the game 2-1 against the Tampa Bay Rays in the 11th inning.  Gabe Gross had a rbi single in the bottom of the 11th off of Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

Rivera took the loss the Yankees and is now 0-1 on the season.  Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang pitched seven innings and gave up up seven hits but only one run. Want pitched well enough to get the win, but had no run support in the game.

Joba Chamberlain and Kyle Farnsworth both pitched a scoreless inning of relief after Wang left the game.

At the plate, the Yankees struck out seven times and left fourteen runners on base.  Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees ran into a red hot Tampa Bay Rays team on Monday night as they lost 7-1.  The Rays have now won five straight games and the Yankees could have trouble with them the next three games of the series if they don’t make some adjustments.

The Yankees only had six hits and one run in the game tonight.  The only run came in the eighth inning when Johnny Damon grounded out to first base and Jose Molina scored from third base.

Andy Pettite pitched terrible as he gave up eight hits and five runs in the game while only pitching four innings.  Pettitte is now 3-3 on the season as he took the loss.

Chris Britton and Jose Veras both gave up one run as well in relief.

All around it was just a bad game for the Yankees.  They will look to turn things around tomorrow agains the Rays.  Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees avoided a three game sweep by beating the Cleveland Indians 6-3 on Thursday afternoon.  Out of no where the Yankees hit four home runs and put up six runs on the board to pick up the win which was their 18th of the season as they are 18-18 now.

Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Robinson Cano, and Wilson Betemit all hit home runs for the Yankees.  Damon and Giambi finished the game with two rbi each while Cano and Betemit had one rbi each.

Mike Mussina picked up the win for the Yankees.  Mussina tossed five innings of four hit ball as he gave up three runs.  Ross Ohlendorf, Joba Chamberlain, and Mariano Rivera pitched the final four innings of the game to finish off the Indians.  Rivera picked up his ninth save of the season.

Yankees Blog

The New York Yankees and Chien-Ming Wang lost to the Cleveland Indians by the score of 3-0 on Wednesday night.  Wang was going up against Cliff Lee in a battle of the unbeatens but Lee got run support and Lee did not as the Yankees were shutout.

Wang threw seven innings and only gave up five hits and three runs.  The lack off offense by the Yankees really hurt Wang’s chances of improving to 7-0 on the season.  With the loss Wang’s record is now 6-1.

Kyle Farnsworth and Jonathan Albaladejo each pitch a inning to finish the game and neigher player allowed a run.

There really isn’t much to talk about the Yankees offense as everyone pretty much sucked.  Bobby Abreu was the only Yankees hitter to have more the one hit in the game.

Yankees Blog