Game Threads Archives - Page 4 of 346

Game 151: Beat the Twins, again

September 19, 2017 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

You know, I incorrectly labeled yesterday’s game thread Game 149 instead of Game 150, and either no one noticed or no one bothered to tell me so I could correct it. Not sure what’s worse, to be honest.

Anyway, the Yankees and Twins are back at this evening, with the second game of their three-game series. The Yankees won the opener last night, giving them a five-game lead over Minnesota for the top wildcard spot. The race isn’t over, but a five-game lead with 12 games to play? I like the Yankees’ chances. Here is the Twins’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

It’s raining sideways in New York. Lots of rain and lots of wind. The rain is supposed to slow down a bit before first pitch, though it’s not supposed to stop completely for another hour or two. We might be starting in a delay. Yuck. Tonight’s game is scheduled to begin at 7:05pm ET and you’ll be able to watch on YES locally and ESPN nationally. Enjoy the game.

Rotation Update: Luis Severino, not Masahiro Tanaka, will start tomorrow’s series finale. This gives the Yankees the option of starting Severino three times before the end of the regular season, which could come in handy if they’re in position to win the division. Make sense.

Update (6:50pm ET): The game will indeed start in a rain delay. No word on a start time yet.

Update (7:36pm ET): The field is being de-tarped and the Yankees say the game will start at 8:10pm ET.

Game 149 150: Wild Card Game Preview?

September 18, 2017 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Can’t say I expected a mid-September series to be important for both the Yankees and Twins, but here we are. The Yankees currently sit in the top wildcard spot, four games up on the Twins. The Twins have a two-game lead over the idle Angels for the second wildcard spot. The Yankees have some breathing room in the standings. The Twins are surely looking to close the gap with New York so they could possibly host the Wild Card Game.

Because of the importance of this series, I expect Joe Girardi to manage like the postseason. There’s an off-day Thursday, so don’t be surprised if he uses guys like David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman back-to-back-to-back days, even though he doesn’t like doing that. Chad Green, if he pitches tonight, might only get one day of rest and come back Wednesday rather than his usual two or three days off. We’ll see. Win one before worry about winning three. Here is the Twins’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

It is overcast and on the cool side in New York, and there’s a little bit of rain in the forecast. Shouldn’t be anything that interrupts the game. We’ve had the same weather for about a week now. Kinda sucks. I miss the sun. Anyway, tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and you’ll be able to watch on YES locally and MLB Network out-of-market. Enjoy the game.

Injury Update: Aaron Hicks (oblique) expects to begin taking batting practice soon. The minor league season is over, so there’s nowhere to play rehab games. He’ll have the jump right from batting practice to big league games. Sucks, but that’s how it goes in September.

Game 149: Score runs for Sonny

September 17, 2017 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Following yesterday’s game the Yankees shuffled their rotation to ensure CC Sabathia and his balky knee will not start on the turf in Toronto next week, which means Sonny Gray gets the start this afternoon. Gray has made eight starts as a Yankees, and in those eight starts, the Yankees have scored 24 total runs. Nine of the 24 came in one game. They’ve scored four runs in his five losses. Get that man some runs!

The good news is the Yankees are facing the Orioles at home today, and gosh, they’ve destroyed the O’s in Yankee Stadium all season. They’re 7-1 with a +57 run differential against the Orioles at home. Overall, the Yankees have scored 150 runs in 18 games — 150 runs in 18 games! — against the O’s this season. No team has scored more runs against any other team since baseball expanded in 1961. Crazy. How about another blowout today? Here is the Orioles’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

Another cloudy and humid but not crazy hot day in New York. There’s also a little rain in the forecast. Not much. Probably not enough to interrupt the game. This afternoon’s series finale — it really is a shame this series has to end, isn’t it? — will begin a little after 1pm ET, and YES will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Adam Warren (back) played catch again today and everything feels good. He’s still on track to get in a few games before the end of the regular season … Caleb Smith was placed on the 10-day DL with a viral infection, the Yankees announced. That might end his season. Only two weeks left.

Roster Move: Domingo German was called up from Triple-A Scranton, the Yankees announced. He essentially replaces Smith as the extra long man. The Yankees did not need to place Smith on the disabled list to call up German. German had been down for much more than ten days.

Game 148: Beat up on the O’s (again)

September 16, 2017 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Two games, two comfortable wins so far this series. The Yankees have crushed the Orioles at Yankee Stadium all year. They’re 7-1 against the O’s at home this season and they’ve outscored them 88-37 in the eight games. The Yankees have scored 141 runs against the Orioles this year overall. 141 runs! No team has scored more runs against any other team in 2017.

Anyway, those last two wins tonight were nice, but they don’t mean anything today. Gotta go out and score a boatload more runs this afternoon. The lead for the top wildcard spot is four games and the lead for a wildcard spot in general in six games. Would be nice to gain ground on the Red Sox one of these days, but for now, keep creating separation with the other wildcard hopefuls. Here is the Orioles’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

It is a bit cloudy and humid in New York today, and there’s some rain in the forecast later on. Nothing heavy and nothing that should interrupt the game. Today’s game will start a little after 4pm ET. YES will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Roster Moves: Both Jonathan Holder and Miguel Andujar were called up from Triple-A Scranton, the Yankees announced. There are now 35 players on the active roster.

Injury Updates: Adam Warren (back) threw on flat ground this afternoon. The hope is he’ll be back within a week to a week and a half.

Game 147: More Offense Against The O’s

September 15, 2017 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

A fun fact: the Yankees are 6-1 against the Orioles in Yankee Stadium this year. Another fun fact: they’ve scored 80 runs (!) in those seven games. Yet another fun fact: they’ve scored 17 first inning runs in their last three home games against the O’s. The Yankees have had their problems at Camden Yards the last few years. They’ve crushed the O’s in the Bronx though.

Needless to say, another big offensive effort would be appreciated this evening. Blowout wins are always great. Plus, you know, pounding the Orioles and catching a glimpse of Buck Showalter being miserable is always fun. Blowout or not, the Yankees are closing in on a postseason berth — they’re still within striking distance of the AL East title too — so they need as many wins as possible now. The finish line is approaching. Don’t slow down. Here is the Orioles’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

It is a bit cloudy in New York today, but otherwise it’s a very pleasant evening for a ballgame. Tonight’s game will start shortly after 7pm ET. WPIX will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Aaron Hicks (oblique) played catch and took dry swings, so he’s making progress. Joe Girardi said he expects Hicks to play again before the end of the regular season … Todd Frazier has a stiff back and is out of the lineup as a precaution. He’s available off the bench and will be in the lineup tomorrow.

Game 145: End of the Road Trip

September 13, 2017 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Although the nine-game road trip technically ends today, the Yankees have been sleeping in their own beds since Sunday night. They’ve split the first two games of this neutral site series at Citi Field with the Rays. Last night’s loss was a bummer. Sonny Gray was awesome and an extremely winnable game slipped away. Blah.

This afternoon the Yankees have a chance to clinch their fourth consecutive series win. They haven’t won four straight series since early-April/late-May. The last series in that four-series winning streak was the sweep at Wrigley Field. Been a while. Win the rubber game today then, uh, head home? Seven-game homestand coming up. Here is the Rays’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

It is cloudy and humid in New York this afternoon, which usually means rain is on the way. There’s not much in the forecast. Maybe a quick shower at some point, but probably nothing heavy enough to delay the game. Hope not, anyway. Today’s series finale will begin a little after 1pm ET and you’ll be able to watch on YES locally and MLB Network out-of-market. Enjoy.

Game 144: Sonny at Citi

September 12, 2017 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

The Yankees are on a bit of a roll right now. They’ve won three straight series and seven of their last nine games — the two losses were very winnable too — so tonight is a chance for a fourth straight series win, and eight wins in ten games. A four-game lead over the Twins for the top wildcard spot and a five-game lead over the Angels for a wildcard spot in general is looking pretty good with 19 games to play.

Tonight the Yankees are going to need Sonny Gray to soak up some innings, because the bullpen is really short. Chad Green, David Robertson, and Dellin Betances all figure to be unavailable given their recent workloads. A big night for the offense — the Yankees have scored 65 runs in their last nine games — would be nice too. How about a blowout win and a bunch of mop-up inning for the September call-ups? Here is the Rays’ lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

It is quite cloudy at Citi Field tonight, but there’s no rain in the forecast, and that’s all I care about. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:10pm ET and YES will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Greg Bird (back) had a precautionary MRI today. He feels better, though Joe Girardi is going to try to stay away from him tonight. Bird could play tomorrow.