River Avenue Blues

Yanks come back against Red Sox (again), lose anyway (again)

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Source: FanGraphs

Same story, different day. The Yankees are playing a pretty crummy brand of baseball these days, winning just three of their last ten games against three teams that are a combined one game under-.500. To make matters worse, five of those seven losses have come by one run. That’s brutal. Let’s recap…

  • My Hiro: Man, Hiroki Kuroda is just awesome. Eight innings of two-run ball, a career-best four ground ball double plays … and a no decision. Life isn’t fair. He came into the game with the eighth worst run support (5.44 runs per game) in the AL and it managed to go down.
  • One Man Army: All of the offense came from Russell Martin, at leave the driving in runs part. He hit a solo homer off Felix Doubront — a below-average pitcher (97 ERA+) who the Yankees have made look like Cy Young three times this year — in the seventh then singled in Andruw Jones to tie the game in the eighth. The eighth inning rally started with two outs, so hooray for that.
  • Bleeder & Blooper: David Robertson created his own mess in the tenth by walking Jarrod Saltalamacchia and his .285 OBP to lead off the inning, but the Red Sox scored the go-ahead run on a little ground ball single that scooted through the infield and a bloop that dunked into shallow right. The walk’s clearly on Robertson, the other stuff just kinda happens. Sucks.
  • Leftovers: Robinson Cano went 0-for-5 and saw 16 total pitches on the day his agent said he wants a ten-year deal #timingfail … Ichiro Suzuki had an infield single and still has exactly one hit in every game with the Yankees, but he also made the final out of an inning with a man in scoring position three times (!) … the top four hitters in the lineup went a combined 1-for-19 with a walk and six strikeouts, the bottom five hitters went 7-for-21 with four walks and five strikeouts … Rafael Soriano only threw eight pitches in a scoreless ninth, and he probably would have gone back out for a second inning had he not pitched on Saturday … absolutely weak effort by the fans on Mark Teixeira’s foul ball in the tenth, they let Ryan Sweeney lean right in to catch it for the out.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the nerd stats, and ESPN the updated standings. The Orioles won, so the lead in the division is down to eight games. They’re coming to town for a three-game set starting Monday, when Freddy Garcia gives it a go against rookie Miguel Gonzalez. Check out RAB Tickets for the latest deals.

Update: Pettitte suffers setback during ankle rehab

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9:36pm: Via Davidoff, Brian Cashman said it was just the “ebb and flow of rehab” and will not delay his return. Pretty much the nicest way you can say it was a setback without actually saying the magic word.

5:41pm: Via George King and Ken Davidoff, left-hander Andy Pettitte has suffered a setback during his rehab from the broken ankle. Pettitte said he “did a little too much in Seattle,” and the ankle “hasn’t healed up as much as (the doctors) thought it would.” There wasn’t as much progress made during weeks 2-4 as there was in weeks 1-2, so for now they’re just going to back off a bit and “take it easy.”

Pettitte, now 40, was expected to miss approximately two months after a one-hop ground ball fractured his left ankle. That put him on target to return in early-September, so any kind of delay will put his return to the team in jeopardy, at least for the regular season. He’d obviously need some time to shake the rust off after coming back.

Austin apparently hurt in Tampa win

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UTIL Ronnie Mustelier (foot) has been activated off the Triple-A DL. I wonder if we’ll see him take some reps at third base in the coming days/weeks. IF Matt Antonelli was released (again) to make room on the roster.

Triple-A Empire State (4-0 loss to Pawtucket) I thought they were playing a doubleheader today, but apparently not … not idea when or if they’re going to makeup yesterday’s rain out
CF Chris Dickerson: 1-4, 1 K
DH Jack Cust: 1-4, 1 2B
Everyone Else: combined 0-21, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 E (fielding) — 2B Corban Joseph and 1B Brandon Laird drew the walks, SS Eduardo Nunez made the error (to no one’s surprise)
LHP Mike O’Connor: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 3/4 GB/FB — 54 of 82 pitches were strikes (66%)
RHP Manny Delcarmen: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GB/FB — ten pitches, eight strikes
RHP Chase Whitley: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1/2 GB/FB — 21 of 31 pitches were strikes (68%)

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Game 101: Hirok you like a hurricane

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(REUTERS/Adam Hunger)

The weather forecast for tonight is a lot better than it was yesterday, but the Yankees and Red Sox still figure to be dodging some rain drops throughout the game. As long as no one slips and get hurt, I’m fine with whatever happens. Long-term health is far more important than the outcome of a single game at this point for the Yankees. Here’s the starting lineup…

SS Derek Jeter
CF Curtis Granderson
1B Mark Teixeira
2B Robinson Cano
DH Nick Swisher
LF Andruw Jones
C  Russell Martin
RF Ichiro Suzuki
3B Jayson Nix

RHP Hiroki Kuroda

Tonight’s game starts a little after 8pm ET and can be seen on ESPN. Enjoy.

Joba strikes out three in latest minor league rehab outing

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7:56pm: Via Marc Carig, Joba will make one more minor league appearance just to sharpen up before joining the Yankees.

7:27pm: In his latest minor league rehab appearance and first with Double-A Trenton, right-hander Joba Chamberlain allowed a single and struck out three in 1.1 scoreless innings. He entered the game with two outs and the bases empty by design, then struck out the side in the following inning after the leadoff man singled. Mike Ashmore has some video of the outing right here. Joba hit 98 on the gun and threw 23 of 30 pitches for strikes.

Thunder manager Tony Franklin would not confirm, but it sounds like Joba may remain with Trenton through Tuesday and presumably made another appearance. His 30-day rehab window expires one week from tomorrow, and now that he’s conquered back-to-back days and mid-inning entrances, it shouldn’t be long before Joba rejoins the big league bullpen.

Sunday Trade Deadline Open Thread

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The trade deadline is 4pm ET on Tuesday, and the Yankees will definitely be in the market for a fill-in third baseman with Alex Rodriguez on the DL with a broken bone in his hand. Pitching help — both rotation and bullpen — could also be a target, though they figure to be done looking for outfielders following the Ichiro Suzuki pickup. We’re going to keep track of any Yankees-related trade deadline rumors right here throughout the day, so check back often for updates. The latest stuff will be on the bottom…

  • Chase Headley is still an option for the Bombers, who could use him at third base while A-Rod is hurt and then potentially stick him in right field to replace Nick Swisher next season. The two sides have not exchanged names yet, and the Yankees worry the asking price will be too high [Ken Rosenthal & Joel Sherman]
  • The Yankees did try to acquire Marco Scutaro before he was traded to the Giants on Friday night. They wanted Colorado to foot a significant portion of the $2.25M left on his contract, but that wasn’t happening. [Jon Morosi & Sherman]
  • Rockies right-hander Rafael Betancourt is on the Yankees’ radar. He’s under contract for $4.25M next year and continues to post fantastic peripherals (2.88 FIP), though he’s one of the most fly ball prone pitchers in the game (career 29.6% grounders). You’re also going to pay a premium for a Proven Closer™ tag, so I prefer teammate Matt Belisle. [Troy Renck]
  • The Yankees have not been aggressive in their pursuit of Headley but they have inquired. Don’t expect them to part with much of anything for a stopgap third baseman. [Marc Carig]
  • Some other names that have popped up in the team’s third base search include Willie Bloomquist, Brendan Ryan, Yunel Escobar, Chone Figgins, Jose Lopez, Cody Ransom (!), Mark Reynolds, and Scott Rolen. Obviously some are more available and desirable than others. [Jon Heyman]