The Yankees failed to win the series finale against the Royals, as the first pick of the 2002 draft, Bryan Bullington, tossed eight innings of shutout ball in a 1-0 win. A.J. Burnett threw all eight innings but was the hard-luck loser.
Best of All: The Yankees didn’t get perfect game’d. Robinson Cano broke it up in the fifth, but Lance Berkman promptly grounded into a double play and rolled his ankle by stepping on Bullington’s heel. He’s day-to-day.
Brett Gardner got the only other Yankee hit, but he was caught stealing shortly after.
Worst of All: The Yankees’ woes against pitchers they’ve never seen before continued Sunday. I think t
The Yankees committed three errors on the day, including two on one play in the sixth.
Coming Up: The Yankees are back at home this week with series against the Tigers and Mariners.
August 15, 2010
Yankees shut out by former 1st-rounder
August 13, 2010
Sabathia sets the tone for Royals series
The big Yankees’ ace CC Sabathia put on a show in the series opener with the Royals last night, as he fell just one out shy of completing the game, a 4-3 victory.
Best of All: With a reformed swing, Curtis Granderson notched two hits, including a double, against lefty starter Bruce Chen. It’s only one game, but there’s good reason to believe last night’s game was the start of a turnaround to his season.
Nick Swisher collected three hits and inched closer to the .300 mark. Austin Kearns hit his first homer as a Yankee in the fourth inning.
Worst of All: Mark Teixeira went 0-for-4 in his first game back after the birth of his child. Let’s hope he can return to home run-hitting form soon.
Coming Up: The second game of four is tonight at 8:10 p.m.
August 12, 2010
Yankees-Royals series preview
The Royals are tied with the Indians for last place in the AL Central and are well out of playoff contention. That doesn’t mean these are giveaway games for them, however; no games are.
Head to Head:
The Yankees took three out of four in late July, and this weekend is the last time the Royals will see the Yankees this year.
Pitching Matchups:
| Date: | Yankees starters | Royals starters |
| Thurs., 8:10 p.m. | CC Sabathia (14-5, 3.14) | Bruce Chen (7-5, 4.44) |
| Fri., 8:10 p.m. | D. Moseley (2-1, 3.86) | Kyle Davies (5-7, 5.21) |
| Sat., 7:10 p.m. | Phil Hughes (13-5, 3.92) | S. O’Sullivan (1-3, 5.05) |
| Sun., 2:10 p.m. | A.J. Burnett (9-9, 4.87) | B. Bannister (7-11, 5.95) |
Prediction:
As Kevin Rozell pointed out on his blog, this is the first series of a very easy stretch for the Yankees. I expect the Yankees to come away with wins in at least seven, hopefully eight, of their next 11 games. It all starts with a series victory against the Royals at worst.
July 26, 2010
First Tex, then Grandy, what about A-Rod? [Video]
I attended both Yankees games this weekend with intentions of seeing Alex Rodriguez make history in the Bronx. Saturday, the red hot Mark Teixeira launched two homers to right. Sunday, the underachieving Curtis Granderson blasted two solo shots to right. But A-Rod couldn’t follow suit, and now will likely crack the 600 mark on the road.
At least the Yankees won Sunday, 12-6. Splitting a series with the Royals at Yankee Stadium would not have been an ideal way to end the homestand.
A-Rod had five chances to reach the milestone yesterday, but only three of which came before the two-and-a-half hour rain delay (which my friend and I waited through). He didn’t homer, but he did have another fine day at the plate. Here are my recorded video highlights for A-Rod.
The video starts with his third-inning RBI double, then goes to his RBI single in the seventh and then his final AB. For more multimedia from yesterday’s game, check out the photo album I uploaded to Facebook. And yes, A-Rod is OK after getting hit in the hand in his last AB.
I was at the stadium from 12:30 to 6:30 because of the rain delay in the sixth. I knew A-Rod would get at least one more AB, and I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night if he had hit his 600th while I was watching from my couch.
But I did witness one milestone — a little smaller in size — nonetheless, still cool to see. Robinson Cano reached the 1,000-hit plateau with a ground-rule double in the eighth inning. It’s pretty cool Cano has 1,000 hits and he’s only 27.
July 24, 2010
Yankees bring the rain in wet win
The Yankees won the second game of their four-game series with the Royals on Friday night, and they did it in spite of the rain.
After an 85-minute rain delay, the Yankees completed all nine innings in a 7-1 pounding of the Royals. Instead of Alex Rodriguez hitting his historic 600th home run, fans witnessed Jorge Posada’s 1,000th RBI in the first inning.
Best of All: A-Rod didn’t get the homer, but he’s not slumping. He had two hits, scored once and walked.
Robinson Cano added three RBIs and two hits to his MVP season.
Worst of All: Just as A.J. Burnett was finding a rhythm, the rain shortened his start to five innings. It was good enough for the win, but it would’ve been nice to see him go eight shutout innings.
Coming Up: The Yankees have two day games scheduled for the weekend, and in all likelihood, I will be attending both! Today, I have outrageously good seats (check back later to find out how good) and I’ll be at the stadium Sunday just in case A-Rod hasn’t hit No. 600.
Check out the blog during the game for my live updates and after the game for photos, videos and more!
July 22, 2010
Royals-Yankees series preview
The Royals have the top team batting average in baseball but rank fifth worst in team ERA. They’ve won just two of their last nine games separating themselves in the bottom of the pack in the AL Central.
The Yankees’ pitching hasn’t been the same after the All-Star break, but they’ve managed to win three out of five games against contending teams.
The Royals will be no slouch this weekend, as life begins without Andy Pettitte on Saturday.
Pitching Matchups:
| Date: | Royals starters | Yankees starters |
| Thurs., 7:05 p.m. | Bruce Chen (5-3, 4.06) | CC Sabathia (12-3, 3.13) |
| Fri., 7:05 p.m. | Brian Bannister (7-8, 5.65) | A.J. Burnett (7-8, 4.99) |
| Sat., 1:05 p.m. | Kyle Davies (4-6, 5.45) | Sergio Mitre (0-1, 2.88) |
| Sun., 1:05 p.m. | Anthony Lerew (1-4, 8.54) | Phil Hughes (11-3, 3.99) |
Players to Watch:
Royals: David Dejesus. He’s hitting .320/.386/.446 and the Yankees have been linked to him this year as a possible bench utility player.
Yankees: Nick Swisher. He’s got three multi-hit games in his past five and he’s hitting .358/.419/.642 in July. Mark Teixeira is another guy to keep an eye on, especially after hitting coach Kevin Long revealed the flaw he discovered in Tex’s swing.
Prediction:
The Royals’ pitching is really hurting lately, but the Yankees have pitching issues of their own. Something tells me a bad series this weekend could trigger a rushed move. I’ll say the Yankees split the series, based on the last round through the rotation.
June 4, 2010
Heyman: Yankees not confident for a Nick Johnson return this season
Jon Heyman tweets the Yankees are not confident for Nick Johnson being able to return this season. Heyman says Royals outfielder David DeJesus would be a good fit, and it’s hard to disagree with that.
DeJesus, the left-handed hitting 30-year-old is hitting to the tune of .304/.383/.466 for the Royals this season, and, like Heath Bell, is in his contract year. DeJesus has been used primarily as a right fielder this year, but he has shown in the past he can play anywhere in the outfield.
I think it would be a great move for the Yankees to acquire DeJesus just for the depth he would add. He’s a proven hitter, he’s versatile and he’s making $4.7 million this year with a $6 million club option for next year and a $500,000 buyout.
