River Avenue Blues, A New York Yankees blog

Update: Eduardo Nunez day-to-day with left ribcage irritation
By Mike Axisa
4:34pm: The MRI came back negative and Nunez is day-to-day with what they’re calling “irritation.” Joe Girardi said he might not be ready in time to play on Tuesday, which is a problem because that means they’ll be short a position player in an NL park.

3:16pm: Nunez left the game with tightness in his left ribcage, the team announced. He will have an MRI.

2:41pm: Eduardo Nunez was removed from today’s game for an unknown reason in the fifth inning. He was on deck when the bottom of the fourth inning ended, and the cameras showed him standing in the on-deck circle and chatting with Joe Girardi. Chris Nelson took over at third and Jayson Nix shifted over to short. Stay tuned for updates. · (30) ·

May

Game 30: End of the Homestand

By Mike Axisa in Game Threads. · Comments (226) ·

It’s a Jorge Posada kind of day. (Chris Trotman/Getty)

The Yankees wrap-up their ten-game homestand today, a homestand that has already been a smashing success. They’ve won seven of nine so far, including all four against the division rival Blue Jays. This afternoon’s game will determine whether they go 8-2 or 7-3 on the homestand, and I think we all agree the former sounds a whole lot better than the latter. Plus the Yankees are off tomorrow, and you know as well as I do that off-days are so much better when they follow wins. Here’s the starting lineup that will face rookie righty Dan Straily…

And on the mound is the 2001 ALCS MVP, left-hander Andy Pettitte.

Couldn’t have asked for better weather this weekend. It’s gorgeous outside. The game is scheduled to start at 1:05pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

David Robertson Update: Robertson (hamstring) played catch for the second straight day and still feels a little bit of tightness. He’s going to play catch again before Tuesday’s game and if that goes well, he’ll throw some pitches off a mound in the bullpen.

Mark Teixeira Update: Teixeira (wrist) took batting practice on the field today for the first time. He’d been hitting in the batting cages for a week or so. Like pretty much every other Yankee on the DL, Teixeira will head to Tampa while the team goes out on the road trip.

Categories : Game Threads

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Granderson hit by pitch in right arm in Extended Spring Training game
By Mike Axisa
Via Mike Fitzpatrick: Curtis Granderson is fine after being hit by a pitch in the right arm during an Extended Spring Training game yesterday. It’s the same arm he had broken by an errant J.A. Happ pitch during Spring Training. “It was going to happen one of these days,” he said afterwards.

Granderson, 32, has been playing in ExST games since Wednesday, and Fitzpatrick says he has spent time in all three outfield positions. The Yankees insist he will return as the center fielder, so it will be interesting to see how the outfield shakes out once he returns. I don’t think anyone expected Vernon Wells to hit as well as he has, which has complicated things for the time being. We can worry about the outfield alignment when Curtis is actually ready to rejoin the team, I guess. · (19) ·

May

Austin homers, Rondon rocked in Trenton loss

By Mike Axisa in Down on the Farm. · Comments (28) ·

Triple-A Scranton was rained out yet again. That’s at least their seventh postponement of the season. They’re going to play a doubleheader tomorrow.

Double-A Trenton (15-8 loss to Richmond)

LF Ramon Flores: 1-6, 1 R, 2 K
RF Tyler Austin: 2-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K — second homer of the year and his first extra-base hit in eight games
C J.R. Murphy: 1-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB — eight hits in his last 23 at-bats (.348) with three walks and one strikeout
CF Slade Heathcott: 3-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K — boy did he need a game like this
LHP Francisco Rondon: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 10 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 3 WP, 6/3 GB/FB — 56 of 93 pitches were strikes (60%) … 22 runs allowed in his last 13.2 innings with ten walks and nine strikeouts

Categories : Down on the Farm

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May

Hughes dominates as Yankees top Athletics

By Mike Axisa in Game Stories. · Comments (26) ·

Source: FanGraphs

The Yankees have lost consecutive games just once since the 1-4 start to the season, and they avoided the dreaded two-game losing streak on Saturday with an impressive 4-2 win over the Athletics. Good pitching and timely hitting, there’s your ballgame. Let’s recap…

Philthy Phil: As I mentioned in the open thread, this was tied for the best start of Phil Hughes‘ career (by Game Score). He allowed three singles, one double, and one walk in eight scoreless innings of work, striking out nine and throwing a first pitch strike to 21 of 29 batters faced. Eighty-two of his 118 total pitches were strikes — including a ridiculous 19 swings and misses — the most strikes thrown by a Yankee and sixth most by any pitcher this season. Hughes retired the last ten men he faced and didn’t allow a single A’s player to make it to third base. He was awesome and has been for four starts now.
Solo Homers & Singles: The Yankees built a bit of a picket fence against Bartolo Colon and the Oakland bullpen, scoring exactly one run in four of the first seven innings. Chris Stewart (!) opened the scoring with third inning solo homer down the left field line while Lyle Overbay followed with a bigger blast into the second deck in right two innings later. They tacked on ultimately important insurance runs in the sixth and seventh with singles from Travis Hafner and Brett Gardner. Both of those rallies started with extra-base hits and ended with soft hits — Hafner’s was a bloop off the end of the bat while Gardner’s was an infield single off the second baseman’s glove.
Short Leash: I don’t understand why Joe Girardi bothered to send Shawn Kelley to the mound in the ninth if his leash was one base-runner. Mariano Rivera didn’t pitch on Thursday or Friday, plus the team is off on Monday. Rest isn’t an issue. If you’re willing to bring in Mo with a four-run lead after a man reaches, just send him out for the full inning so he can start it fresh. Eh, whatever. Two runs scored in the ninth, one charged to Kelley and one to Rivera. Four Athletics batted while representing the tying run that inning.
Leftovers: The Yankees had eight hits, including five for extra-bases. Overbay was the only player with two knocks while Ichiro Suzuki and Chris Nelson went hitless. Everyone else had one hit apiece … the Bombers didn’t draw a single walk, which isn’t surprising. Bartolo Colon has walked one batter (!) in 37.1 innings this season … I have to think Preston Claiborne has a chance to take Kelley’s job if he pitches well between now and when Joba Chamberlain comes off the DL. Kelley has pitched poorly and he clearly doesn’t have Girardi’s trust.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs some other stats, and ESPN the updated standings. The Yankees will send Andy Pettitte to the mound in the rubber game on Sunday afternoon while the Athletics will counter with rookie right-hander Dan Straily. If you want to catch the final game of the homestand in person, check out RAB Tickets.

Categories : Game Stories

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May

Saturday Night Open Thread

By Mike Axisa in Open Thread. · Comments (136) ·

So YES has this YES View thing now. Could be cool?

Nice bounceback win this afternoon, especially since Phil Hughes turned in his best start of the season and fourth consecutive strong start. By Game Score (81), it was the best start of his career, tied with this one. Pretty awesome. Good Phil sure is fun to watch.

Here is your open thread for the night. There is plenty of NHL action on tonight, plus the Nets are playing Game Seven. The Mets were rained out, but MLB Network will air a game later. Most will see the Dodgers at the Giants (Magill vs. Vogelsong), which is always fun. Talk about those games or anything else. Have at it.

Categories : Open Thread

Comments (136)

Nova feels no pain in triceps, begins playing catch
By Mike Axisa
Right-hander Ivan Nova played catch today for what I believe is the first time since being placed on the DL with triceps inflammation last week. He said he still feels some tightness in triceps, but no pain. Like every other injured Yankee, he will head to Tampa next week while the team leaves for their road trip.

Nova, 26, has been awful in four starts this year, posting a 6.48 ERA and 3.60 FIP in 16.2 innings. There’s certainly a chance the struggles may be related to the injury, ditto his second half trouble last year (7.05 ERA and 5.06 FIP). Remember he missed about three weeks with shoulder inflammation. The bottom line is the Yankees need Nova healthy because he can’t work on things and improve if he can’t get on a mound. · (10) ·

May

Game 29: Matinee

By Mike Axisa in Game Threads. · Comments (247) ·

(Presswire)

The Yankees were one of four AL East teams to get shutout by AL West teams last night — the Red Sox (vs. Rangers), Blue Jays (vs. Mariners), and Orioles (vs. Angels) also scored zero runs — so at least the rest of the division hit as poorly as the boys in the Bronx. The day game following the night game means a quick turn-around and a chance to make amends for the loss with a win this afternoon. Here’s the starting nine…

And on the mound is the man the Yankees selected with the first round pick they received from the Astros when Andy Pettitte signed with Houston, right-hander Phil Hughes.

We’ve got some excellent weather for this afternoon’s game, which is scheduled to start a little after 1pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

Categories : Game Threads

Comments (247)

May

Yankees shutout by A’s, drop series opener 2-0

By Mike Axisa in Down on the Farm, Game Stories. · Comments (17) ·

Source: FanGraphs

The Yankees have made a bit of a habit of losing series openers lately, as Friday’s shutout loss to the Athletics was their second consecutive series opener loss and third in their last four series. Was that confusing enough for you? Good. Let’s quickly recap…

Shaky Sabathia: CC Sabathia was in trouble all night — six innings, ten base-runners, only one 1-2-3 inning — but it was really just one bad pitch that earned him the loss. Adam Rosales hit the very first pitch of the game out into the left field seats for a leadoff homer and a quick 1-0 lead, and that was all Oakland needed.
Blown Chances: The Yankees had opportunities to put some runs on the board, but they came up empty each time. They left a man on second in the first, men at second and third in the third, a man on first in the fourth, a man on second in the fifth, and a man on second in the seventh. Six scattered hits and one walk usually isn’t enough to win, even when the pitching staff only allows two runs total.
Leftovers: Nice job by Adam Warren to throw three scoreless frames, though they weren’t the cleanest of innings … Brett Gardner and Jayson Nix both had a pair of hits … it’s become pretty obvious the Yankees need another bat. The 5-9 spots are just awful these days … apparently Sabathia had some kind of verbal confrontation with home plate ump Jordan Baker? I was at the game and didn’t see it.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs some other stats, and ESPN the updated standings. Former Yankee Bartolo Colon and future former Yankee Phil Hughes will be on the bump for Saturday’s matinee. Check out RAB Tickets for some last minute deals.

Minor League Update: No DotF tonight, but I will link you to the box scores: Triple-A Scranton (win), Double-A Trenton (win), High-A Tampa (loss), Low-A Charleston (win). RHP Rafael DePaula was the star of the night, striking out seven in five shutout outings to lower his season strikeout rate to 15.1 K/9. CF Mason Williams and SS Cito Culver both went deep, and it was Mason’s second homer in three games.

Categories : Down on the Farm, Game Stories

Comments (17)

May

Game 28: 1,000

By Mike Axisa in Game Threads. · Comments (165) ·

(Jonathan Daniel/Getty)

You thought this was just another early-season game, but no. Joe Girardi is managing his 1,000th big league game tonight, which is kind of a big deal. He is 574-425 (.575) all-time, including 496-341 (.593) in 837 games with the Yankees. Girardi is sixth in games and seventh in wins among Yankees managers, and he’ll likely climb into sixth on the wins list before the end of the month. Here’s the lineup he filled out for tonight’s game against the Athletics and right-hander A.J. Griffin…

And on the mound is the guy who signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of Hawaii way back in the day, left-hander CC Sabathia.

Lovely weather in New York, so there will be no issues getting this game started at 7:05pm ET as scheduled. You can watch on YES. Enjoy.

David Robertson Update: Robertson (hamstring) feels better but is not available today. He doesn’t expect to miss more than “a couple of days.” The Yankees are off on Monday, so I’m guessing we don’t see him at all this weekend.

Roster Moves: As expected, Corban Joseph was optioned to Triple-A Scranton to clear a spot on the roster for the recently acquired Chris Nelson. Preston Claiborne was officially called up to replace the injured Joba Chamberlain. Cody Eppley was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster.