River Avenue Blues

Late rally comes up short, Yankees fall to O’s

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It’s pretty late and it’s Friday, so I’m going to do this as quickly as possible…

  • A.J. Burnett struck out a season-high ten (his most in a game since 2009), but he allowed five hits (all for extra bases) and three of them to the reanimated corpses of Vladimir Guerrero and Derrek Lee. I’ll take eight innings and four runs from him all year, but I hate seeing him get beat by two over-the-hill guys like that. Oh well.
  • The Yankees didn’t muster much offense until late, when the certifiably terrible Kevin Gregg put on an LOLshow. Brett Gardner struck out to end the game (with the tying run on base) after the pitch that should have been ball four was called strike two. He smashed his bat into the ground out of frustration, smashing it to pieces, and I’m pretty confident in saying that if some other players did that (not necessarily on the Yankees), we’d hear about what terrible people they were.
  • Mark Teixeira hit a solo homer, Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher had doubles, and Jorge Posada reached base four times (two singles and two walks). Luis Ayala needed 30 pitches to throw a scoreless ninth down three runs.
  • Here’s the box score, here’s the FanGraphs stuff, here’s the standings.

These two teams will play two games tomorrow, with Bartolo Colon and some guy named TBA (either Zach Britton or Chris Tillman, most likely) going for the Orioles at 1pm ET.

Brackman flirts with no-hitter, Tampa plays best game ever

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Dante Bichette Jr. is the third hottest prospect in the minors according to this week’s Prospect Hot Sheet. In other news, remember Chris Garcia? He signed with the Nationals and was assigned to their High-A squad. I checked to make sure it was actually him and not just another dude with the same name, and it’s him. Hopefully he stays healthy, kid’s got a great arm.

Triple-A Scranton (8-5 loss to Buffalo)
Kevin Russo, LF: 1 for 5, 1 R, 1 K
Austin Krum, CF & Luis Nunez, 2B: both 0 for 4
Jesus Montero, C: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 K
Mike Lamb, DH: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 RBI
Jorge Vazquez, 1B: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K – second straight game with a homer, fourth in five games
Brandon Laird, 3B & Jordan Parraz, RF: both 2 for 3, 1 2 B, 1 RBI, 1 HBP – Laird scored a run
Doug Bernier, SS: 0 for 3, 1 BB
Andrew Brackman, RHP: 3.1 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 9 BB, 2 K, 2 WP, 2-3 GB/FB – just 35 of 82 pitches were strikes (42.7%) … hey, the title wasn’t a lie
Eric Wordekemper, RHP: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – 0-1 GB/FB – 12 of 19 pitches were strikes (63.2%) … allowed all three of the runners he inherited from Brackman to score
J.C. Romero, LHP: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HB, 0-2 GB/FB – just 11 of 28 pitches were strikes (39.3%) … eek
Josh Schmidt, RHP: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 4-4 GB/FB – 26 of 41 pitches were strikes (63.4%)

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Game 103: Welcome the O’s

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This comfy little ten-game homestand continues with four games in three days against the Orioles. It’s always fun playing Baltimore, mostly because the Yankees end up winning most of the time. Here’s the starting nine…

Brett Gardner, LF
Derek Jeter, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nick Swisher, RF
Eric Chavez, 3B
Jorge Posada, DH
Russell Martin, C

A.J. Burnett, SP

The game starts a little after 7pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.

Update: The tarp is being put on the field right now (6:33pm ET), so expect a delay. In the meantime, you can watch former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang make his triumphant return to the Major Leagues. He’s starting against the Mets tonight (7pm ET in Washington), so you can see the game on SNY if you’re in the New York area. Go Wanger.

Heee’s back! Soriano activated off DL

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As expected, the Yankees have activated Rafael Soriano off the disabled list today. Steve Garrison was sent back to Double-A Trenton to clear a 25-man roster spot, but I have no idea what the corresponding 40-man move was. They did have an open spot earlier in the week, but Eric Chavez took that. Anyway, Joe Girardi said they plan to ease Soriano back into things, but who knows what that means.

Update: The official site says that Sergio Mitre has been placed on the 60-day DL, so he’s the 40-man move. He was sent for an MRI on his injured shoulder earlier today.

Trade Rumors: Ubaldo, Betances, Brown, Kuroda

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The latest from the trade rumor circuit…

  • Talks between the Yankees and Rockies about Ubaldo have not gone well, mostly because Colorado is marketing him as an ace while the Yankees see him as more of a number two. There’s also some suspicion that’s something’s wrong since he’s on the market in the first place. (Joel Sherman)
  • The Yankees are willing to move Jesus Montero and Dellin Betances in the same package for a sure thing, but they don’t feel Ubaldo fits the bill. (Sherman)
  • There’s some speculation that the Yankees could get involved in the Hunter Pence-to-Philadelphia deal by being a third team. They would trade Betances for Domonic Brown, the left-handed impact bat they lack. I’d make that deal too, in a heartbeat. Philadelphia had a scout in Trenton last night to watch Betances. Remember, that scenario is just speculation. (Sherman, Sherman)
  • One note on Hiroki Kuroda: because of his no-trade clause, there’s a league mandated 24-hour period before a deal can be finalized. That means the deadline to trade him is tomorrow, not Sunday. There still hasn’t been an indication that he’s on the move.
  • One rival executive said the Yankees have been “suspiciously quiet” so far, or as I like to say, ninja-like. (Marc Carig)

Update: Ken Rosenthal says the Yankees have made multiple calls to the Dodgers about Kuroda today, but none to the Rockies about Jimenez.

The RAB Radio Show: July 29th, 2011

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We’re talking plenty of deadline stuff, so let’s get to the bullets.

  • Of course we’re talking about Ubaldo Jimenez, both in terms of benefits and costs. How bad do the Yankees want him? If they really want him, you can expect a deal before 4 p.m. on Sunday. If they’re waiting for him to come down to a lower price tier, it’ll be a last-minute thing.
  • There are other starters, too, and we spend the bulk of the show talking about them. Wandy Rodriguez could be a last-minute addition at a cheap price. Hiroki Kuroda might be available, and it looks like the Yanks are as good a bet as any for his services. And don’t forget John Danks.
  • There are other positions where the Yanks could add a player. Mike’s big on a lefty reliever. There’s DH, too, but that solution might come internally.

Podcast run time 53:03

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  • Download the RAB Radio Show by right clicking on that link and choosing Save As.
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[audio:http://riveraveblues.com/podcasts/TheRABRadioShow072911.mp3]

Intro music: “Die Hard” courtesy of reader Alex Kresovich. Thanks to Tyler Wilkinson for the graphic.

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