Tagged: Alfredo Aceves
Roberts, Yankees Score 3 In 12th To Shuffle Cards
YANKEES 6, CARDINALS 4 (12 INNINGS)
The New York Yankees seem to have a penchant lately for ending up playing in extra-inning games and they are starting to figure out the way to win them, too.
Brian Roberts laced a bases-loaded RBI single with one-out in the 12th inning to break a 3-3 tie and the Yankees went on to add two more runs as New York won its third extra-inning game within the past six days by downing St. Louis in front of a paid Memorial Day crowd of 47,311 at Busch Stadium.
Heading into the 12th inning, the Yankees had managed just one hit since the fifth. But they managed to load the bases on left-hander Randy Choate.
Jacoby Ellsbury started it by drawing a walk and stealing second base. Choate then hit Brian McCann with a pitch and Yangervis Solarte advanced them a base with a sacrifice bunt.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny then chose to have Choate walk Ichiro Suzuki intentionally to load the bases and Roberts made Matheny pay for the strategy by slapping an 0-1 pitch into left-field to score Ellsbury.
Pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano, facing right-hander Jason Motte, then lifted a sacrifice fly to right to score McCann and Brendan Ryan followed with an RBI single to left to score Suzuki.
Despite being victimized by an RBI double off the bat of John Jay to score Jhonny Peralta with an unearned run in the bottom of the 12th, David Robertson closed out the game to earn his 11th save of the season.
Alfredo Aceves (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the Yankees to earn his first victory since he returned to the team this season.
Choate (0-2), who originally came up in the Yankees' organization, was charged with the loss.
The Yankees actually held a 3-1 lead after scoring two runs off Cardinals starter Michael Wacha in the fifth after Suzuki drew a leadoff walk and Roberts followed with a single.
Kelly Johnson, who was starting in place of an injured Mark Teixeira at first base, then rolled a single up the middle to score Suzuki. One out later, Bret Gardner scored Roberts with a sacrifice fly.
The Yankees scored the first run of the game in the first off Wacha when Gardner walked, Derek Jeter singled and Ellsbury scored Gardner with an RBI single.
Wacha was charged with three runs on four hits and two walks and two strikeouts in seven innings.
The Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the first off right-hander Chase Whitley when Matt Carpenter opened with a triple off the wall in right and Kolten Wong followed with an RBI double to right.
Whitley settled in and pitched extremely well until the sixth when Matt Holliday hit a double off the top of the wall in left. Matt Adams advanced Holliday to third with a single and Whitley loaded the bases by hitting Yadier Molina with a pitch.
Reliever Preston Claiborne came on and gave up a RBI groundout to Allen Craig that scored Holliday and a sacrifice fly to Peralta that scored Adams to tie the game at 3-3.
Whitley yielded three runs on eight hits, he struck out two and did not walk a batter in five-plus innings.
The game remained 3-3 until the Yankees were able to score three in the 12th, although Molina came within inches of winning the game off Aceves in the bottom of the 11th when he sent Gardner to the wall in left. But Gardner leaped and grabbed the ball off the top of the wall to rob Molina of a potential home run.
The game was delayed in starting by a one hour and one minute rain delay.
With the victory, the Yankees' third in a row, the team's record improved to 27-23. They remain in second place in the American League East just 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays. The Cardinals are now 28-23.
When manager Joe Girardi said in spring training that Roberts would be the team's every day second baseman this season a lot of eyebrows were raised because of Roberts' long history of injuries. But give the 36-year-old veteran credit for playing well for the Yankees so far. Roberts was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored to extend his modest hit streak to three games. Roberts is 4-for-10 (.400) with a home run, two RBIs and four runs scored in that span. His season average is up to .241.
Once again the bullpen turned in another stellar performance after Whitley left in the sixth. Claiborne, Matt Thornton, Dellin Betances, Aceves and Robertson held the Cardinals to an unearned run on two hits, no walks and four strikeouts in seven innings of work. Betances retired all six batters he faced and fanned two. The bullpen has been the strongest part of the team all season.
Despite giving up the lead in the sixth inning, Whitley, 24, turned in another very good outing. In his three starts (all of them won by the Yankees), Whitley has yielded four runs on 16 hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in 14 innings. That is an ERA of 2.57 and a WHIP (Walks-and-Hits-to-Innings-Pitched) ratio of 1.22. With CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda on the disabled list, Whitley is providing quality starts and giving the Yankees a chance to win those games.
With Whitley's good work, the bullpen's great effort and the offense waiting for the perfect chance to win the game, you can't really criticize anything. Oh, the offense could have been better but the Cardinals do have an excellent pitching staff. The Yankees are going to have to earn victories against them. They did in this game.
Teixeira was scratched from the lineup on Monday with stiffness in his surgically repaired wrist. He began feeling the stiffness after the Yankees' extra-inning victory in Chicago on Saturday and he told Girardi about it on Monday morning. No tests have been scheduled and Girardi said Teixeira is day-to-day. Johnson started at first base in place of Teixiera, who is hitting . 248 with nine homers and 25 RBIs, and was 1-for-4 with an RBI. . . . Outfielder Carlos Beltran took 15 swings from both sides of the plate with a fungo bat at Yankee Stadium on Monday and reported no issues with his right elbow. Beltran is has been on the 15-day disabled list since May 13 with a bone spur in the elbow and he is hoping to avoid having surgery to remove it. Beltran will take some more swings with a regular bat on Tuesday and he could progress to taking batting practice off soft tosses on Thursday. . . . Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith and the Cardinals honored Jeter in a pre-game ceremony in which Jeter was presented cuff links with the likeness of Cardinals legend Stan Musial and a check for $10,000 for Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation.
The Yankees will continue their three-game series with the Cardinals on Tuesday.
Hometown boy David Phelps (1-1, 3.18 ERA) will pitch in St. Louis for the first time as a major-league player. Phelps grew up in the area and attended high school there before attending Notre Dame. Phelps, 26, is coming off a hard-luck loss to Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Phelps gave up just two runs on six hits and a walk while he fanned eight in seven innings. But he lost the game 3-2.
Right-hander Lance Lynn (5-2, 3.60 ERA) will start for the Cards. Lynn yielded two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out six in six innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. But he did not get a decision in a game the Cardinals later won.
Game-time will be 8:15 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by MY9.
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Triple-A Subs Help Yankees Rally Past Cubs In 13
YANKEES 4, CUBS 2 (13 INNINGS)
When a baseball team suffers through a spate of injuries it has to rely a great deal on its players from Triple A to fill in for those injured players. Add to the fact that when a team is in a 13-inning game they up asking players to do things they never have done before.
That is exactly what happened at Wrigley Field on Wednesday and those former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders came up big for the Yankees.
Pitcher Preston Claiborne set down a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt in his first major-league at-bat in the top of the 13th inning, Brendan Ryan scored the tie-breaking run on a wild pitch and John Ryan Murphy drove in an insurance run on a single as New York rallied for two runs in the ninth to tie it and scored two in the 13th to down Chicago.
Claiborne (2-0), who was recalled from Scranton for a second time this season on April 27 to fill a void in the bullpen, pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory. David Robertson pitched a scoreless 13th frame to remain a perfect 9-for-9 in saves this season.
Former Yankee right-hander Jose Veras (0-1) took the loss.
Ryan, who entered the game as pinch-runner for Brian McCann and scored a run in the ninth, led off the 13th with a lined single to left off Veras. Yangervis Solarte then drew a walk to set the stage for Claiborne's bunt.
The Yankees were out of position players and Robertson was only reliever left in the bullpen. That forced manager Joe Girardi into asking Claiborne, who had never had at-bat in major-league game, to put down a sacrifice bunt to advance Ryan and Solarte.
The Cubs, defending the bunt, actually put on the wheel play to cut down Ryan at third base, however, Claiborne's bunt on the first pitch from Veras was deadened so much on the Wrigley Field turf that third baseman Luis Valbuena had only the play at first base.
While facing Murphy, who entered the game after Ryan pinch-ran for McCann in the ninth, Veras uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Ryan to score the tie-breaking run. Two pitches later Murphy, who was recalled from Scranton on April 15 when Francisco Cervelli was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a pulled right hamstring, laced a RBI single to right that scored Solarte.
Considering the effort of Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzjia, it is lucky that the Yankees were able to tie it in the ninth, much less win the game.
Samardzjia entered the game with a 1.62 ERA but was sporting an 0-4 record and a 15-start streak in which he had failed to win a game dating back to Aug. 24, 2013 victory over the Padres in San Diego.
He held the Yankees to just four hits and two walks while he struck out three in seven innings. That lowered his season ERA to National League-leading 1.46.
The Cubs, meanwhile, were able to push across a run in the fourth inning against right-hander Chase Whitley, who was recalled from Scranton on May 15 and who was making only his second major-league start.
Valbuena slapped a one-out single and Wellington Castillo followed with a single of his own. Then Nate Schierholtz slashed a liner off the glove of Mark Teixeira at first base for a single that loaded the bases.
Mike Olt scored Valbuena on a sacrifice fly.
Whitley left the game with one out in the fifth and Emilio Bonifacio on third with a leadoff triple. But right-hander Dellin Betances bailed him out of the inning by retiring Anthony Rizzo on a swinging strike and Starlin Castro on a flyout.
Whitley gave up on run on six hits and one walk along with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. In his two starts since being called up as an emergency fifth starter, Whitley has yielded one run on eight hits and three walks and seven strikeouts in nine innings.
The Cubs added a run in the seventh inning off right-hander Adam Warren when pinch-hitter Ryan Kalish lined a one-out triple to right and Bonifacio scored him on a bunt single.
But the Yankees both ruined Samardzjia's great outing and saved themselves a loss by scoring two runs with the help of an error by Darwin Barney, who had just entered the game at second base as part of a double switch in the top of the ninth.
Teixeira opened the inning with a single off right-hander Hector Rondon, the Cubs' closer. McCann followed by drawing a walk and he was replaced by Ryan.
Solarte loaded the bases with an infield single and Ichiro Suzuki followed by hitting a grounder to Castro at short. Castro fed the ball to Barney to retire Solarte but Barney's throw to first skipped past Rizzo at first base to allow both Teixeira and Ryan to score.
Because of the length of the game, thousands of Yankee fans and a majority of the sellout crowd of 34,808 saluted Derek Jeter with repeated standing ovations when he came to the plate. Jeter ended the day 1-for-7 with a single in the sixth in his final game at Wrigley Field.
"I was hoping the game wouldn't take that long, but I told you, the way the fans have been treating me on the road this year. It's been unbelievable," Jeter told reporters after the game.
With the victory the Yankees split the two-game series at Wrigley but won the inter-league season series three games to one. Their season record improves to 24-21 and they are in a statistical tie with the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the American League East, a half=game ahead of the third-place Baltimore Orioles.
The Cubs fell to 16-28.
Whitley certainly deserves another start after what he did against the Cubs on Wednesday. Girardi was pleased and only removed him in the fifth in favor of Betances with Bonifacio on third and Rizzo up because Girardi wanted a strikeout in the that situation. With Ivan Nova out for the season after Tommy John surgery and Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia on the disabled list, the 24-year-old right-hander is seizing a great opportunity after spending the past three seasons at Scranton.
Let's also give credit to the bullpen for pitching 8 2/3 innings of one-run baseball. They allowed only five hits and three walks while striking out 12 batters. Despite the loss of setup man Shawn Kelley, who is on the DL with a lower-back strain, the team is getting help from Betances, Alfredo Aceves, Matt Daley, Matt Thornton, Warren, Claiborne and Robertson. Robertson is certainly settling in replacing the legendary Mariano Rivera.
Give Murphy, 22, credit for staying sharp with the bat despite getting limited playing time behind the perennial All-Star McCann. With Murphy's single in the 13th he has raised his season average to .406. He is 13-for-32 with a home run and six RBIs. He is making Austin Romine and Cervelli irrelevant to the Yankees future plans as long as he continues to play this well.
It is clear that Samardzjia is a good pitcher but the Yankees can not be happy that they played the weak-hitting Cubs for 17 innings heading into the ninth inning on Wednesday and they managed to score just a single run on 10 hits. The acquisitions of Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury and McCann were supposed to make the offense better than it was in 2013. But those three, so far, are failing to provide much. Ellsbury singled in the 10th and the 12th innings to snap a 1-for-27 slump and he only has one home run all season.
More bad news on the injury front. Kelley, 30, had his rehab placed on hold Wednesday due to a recurrence of his lower back pain. Kelley felt a twinge as he was playing catch on Monday and he was told to halt all baseball activities. Tests indicated no problems with the discs in his back. But plans for the right-hander to begin a minor-league rehab stint this weekend have been cancelled.
The Yankees stay in Chicago but their bus will head to U.S. Cellular Field on the south side of the city to open a four-game series with the White Sox beginning on Thursday.
Right-hander David Phelps (1-0, 3.33 ERA) will start for the Yankees coming off his best start of the season. Phelps shut out the Pirates on five hits and three walks in five innings on Friday. Though Phelps had command issues throughout his outing, he got out of jams and held the Bucs scoreless.
This is just how the Yankees' season has gone. All-Star Chisox left-hander Chris Sale (3-0, 2.30 ERA) was not supposed to pitch in this series because he was on the 15-day disabled list with a left flexor muscle strain in his left elbow. However, after he fanned 11 batters in four innings in a rehab start last Friday, Sale was summoned to Chicago and he will be activated for Thursday's game. Oh goody, goody!
Game-time will be 8:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.
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Despite Split With Bucs, Yankees Claim First Place
YANKEES 4, PIRATES 3
The Yankees' hitters must have gotten an early wakeup call on Sunday because they came out blazing against the Pirates.
The Yankees scored three runs in the first inning and added a run in the second and then they let Hiroki Kuroda and their bullpen hold it as New York extended its winning streak to four games with a victory over Pittsburgh in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium.
Kuroda (3-3) was touched for a run in the first inning on a one-out solo home run off the bat of Neil Walker but he settled in after the Yankees came back to give him a 4-1 cushion.
The Yankees jumped on hard-luck right-hander Charlie Morton (0-6) when the first five batters he faced reached base.
Brett Gardner drew a leadoff walk and Derek Jeter followed with a perfectly placed bunt single. Morton then loaded the bases when he hit Jacoby Ellsbury with a curveball.
Mark Teixeira stroked a two-run single and Brian McCann scored Ellsbury with a RBI single.
The Yankees added a run in the second inning on a leadoff single by Kelly Johnson, who later stole second and reached third on an error by catcher Tony Sanchez. Gardner then scored him with an RBI double.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, their bats promptly went to sleep after Gardner's double. Morton went on to retire 16 of the 17 batters he faced. The only batter who reached, Zoilo Almonte singled with two out in the fourth inning, was picked off first base by Morton.
Morton was charged with four runs on six hits and on walk while he struck out six in seven innings.
Kuroda was touched for two runs in the fifth when Sanchez led off with a home run into the left-field bleachers. Clint Barmes then doubled and he scored one batter later on an RBI single by Walker.
Kuroda left after giving up three runs on six hits and two walks while he fanned seven batters in six innings.
The Yankee bullpen combination of Matt Daley, Matt Thornton, Adam Warren and David Robertson held the Pirates scoreless on one hit over the final three innings to seal the victory for the Yankees.
Robertson pitched 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief to earn his eighth save in eight chances this season.
PIRATES 5, YANKEES 3
Reserve utility player Josh Harrison broke a 3-3 tie with two out in the seventh inning with a home run as Pittsburgh salvaged one game of the three-game series with New York in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader.
Gerrit Cole (4-3) yielded three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out eight in six innings of work to earn the victory. Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.
Reliever Alfredo Aceves (0-2), who came in relief of left-hander Vidal Nuno in the seventh, was charged with his second loss in the past eight days.
Nuno yielded three runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk and he struck out five batters in six innings.
Despite splitting the doubleheader, the Yankees – with a season record of 23-20 – pulled into a half-game lead in the American League East over the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates are now 18-25.
Kuroda was hardly at his best. But he did pitch much better than he has previously this season. Kuroda had much better command of his slider, which made his fastball and split-finger fastball much more effective. After winning two of his first three starts, Kuroda was 0-2 with a 5.10 ERA in his past five starts.
Teixeira extended his hitting streak to eight games in the opener and managed to end the day one RBI in back of Yangervis Solarte for the team lead in RBIs with 22.
Gardner has been on a hitting tear that began on May 3 and he has not stopped. In his past 15 games he is 20-for-58 (.345) with two home runs and 10 RBIs. He was 3-for-7 in the doubleheader and has raised his season average to .297.
Manager Joe Girardi basically gutted the Yankees' offense in the second game by holding out Jeter, Ellsbury, McCann and Alfonso Soriano. I understand that he needed to rest McCann (as the catcher) and Ellsbury (due to his recent illness). My only quibble is he could have balanced it so that two of them played in one game and two the other. In the second game, Johnson batted cleanup. Huh?
Aceves, 31, may be quickly paving his way to being designated for assignment of he does not get his act together real soon. In his past four appearances, he has yielded eight runs on nine hits and three walks in six innings. That is an ERA of 12.00 and a Walks-To-Innings-Pitched (WHIP) ratio of 2.00. Pitchers who get shelled in relief do not stay in a Girardi bullpen for long.
Solarte and Brian Roberts cost Nuno and the Yankees a valuable run in the second inning when Solarte made an errant throw after fielding a Starling Marte grounder and Roberts then dropped a potential double-play relay from Solarte one out later which would have ended the inning. Instead, Chris Stewart, of all people, drove in a run with a two-out single.
The Yankees will get a well-deserved day off on Monday before flying to Chicago to open a two-game series with the Cubs on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.
Rookie right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (6-0, 2.17 ERA) will open the series for the Yankees. Tanaka is coming off his his first major-league complete-game shutout, which he threw against the New York Mets on Wednesday. He gave up only four hits, did not walk a batter and struck out eight. He also beat the Cubs by shutting them out for eight innings ay Yankee Stadium on April 16.
Veteran right-hander Jason Hammel (4-2, 3.06 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Cubs. Hammel surrendered five runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings in loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in his last start on Thursday. He also took the loss to the Yankees on April 16 at Yankee Stadium.
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Nuno Cruises As Yanks Win Jeter's SoCal Farewell
YANKEES 9, ANGELS 2
San Diego native Vidal Nuno invited 50 family members and friends to come to see him pitch against the Angels on Wednesday night. What they got to see was the 26-year-old left-hander pitch one of his best major-league games.
Nuno (1-0) pitched into the seventh inning and yielded just one run-on four hits and one walk and the Yankees took advantage of two errors to score five runs in the first inning as New York beat Los Angeles in a series in Anaheim, CA, for the first time since 2004.
Nuno, 26, entered the game with no record and 4.50 ERA in his three previous starts. But he held the Angels high-scoring offense to only one run that scored in the third inning after back-to-back singles by Howie Kendrick and C.J. Cron and a RBI fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Erick Aybar.
The Yankees, meanwhile, got an early break off left-hander Hector Santiago (0-6) after Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a single when right-fielder Collin Cowgill ran into center-fielder Mike Trout just as he was about to catch a routine fly ball off the bat of Derek Jeter for an error on Cowgill that left Ellsbury at third and Jeter at first.
Santiago then walked Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira made the Angels pay for the error by delivering a two-run double down the left-field line.
One out later, Yangervis Solarte lofted a sacrifice fly to score Beltran and Brett Gardner followed with an infield single in which Santiago hit Gardner with the ball and it rolled down the right-field line to allow Teixeira to score.
Jeter, who was honored before the game and presented with pinstriped paddle board by the Angels, commemorated his final regular-season game at Angel Stadium with his first home run of the season with two out in the second inning to make it 6-0. Many of the announced crowd of 44,083 gave the Yankee captain a standing ovation as he crossed the plate.
The Yankees chased Santiago in the third inning and he was charged with six runs (only two of them earned) on five hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings. In his two starts against the Yankees this season Santiago was 0-2 with a 8.10 ERA.
In contrast, Nuno ended up giving up a two-out single to Grant Green in the third inning that advanced Aybar to third and he walked John McDonald to load the bases. But he escaped the bases-loaded jam by retiring Cowgill on a foul popup to Teixeira.
He then retired 12 consecutive batters over the next four innings until Cron led off the seventh inning with a double. After retiring Aybar on a flyout to deep left, he was removed in favor of right-hander Dellin Betances, who gave up a RBI single to Cron in the eighth inning.
But, by that time, the Yankees had padded their lead to 9-1 by scoring three runs off left-hander Nick Maronde and right-hander Cory Rasmus, keyed by a two-run double by John Ryan Murphy and a sacrifice fly by Beltran.
With the victory the Yankees improved their season record to 18-15 and they remain tied with the Baltimore Orioles in first place in the American League East. The Angels dropped to 16-17.
After Alfredo Aceves pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of CC Sabathia on Sunday it was generally assumed that if Nuno did not pitch well in his outing on Wednesday that Aceves could take the No. 5 spot in the rotation. For now, it appears that Nuno will remain in the rotation because he is 1-0 with a 3.54 ERA. Aceves might be better served by replacing Sabathia and his 5.75 ERA but that is never going to happen.
Jeter entered the game with a .332 career average at Angel Stadium, the third highest among players with 500 or more at-bats. With his 2-for-5 night Jeter ended the three-game series 5-for-11 (.455), which has raised his season average to .262.
The decision to call up Murphy to replace the injured Francisco Cervelli was a stroke of genius. The 22-year-old former second-round draft pick is hitting .348 with a home run and five RBIs. In addition, his home run and five RBIs have all come against the Angels. Murphy homered and drove in three runs in a game against the Angels at Yankee Stadium on April 26.
The Yankees collected 12 hits on Wednesday and the only starter who did not produce one was designated hitter Alfonso Soriano, who ended up 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Soriano has always been a very streaky hitter but he looks terrible at the plate lately. In his past five games he is 2-for-18 (.111). Perhaps he needs a day or two off.
Even in a victory the Yankees can manage to screw up a bases-loaded, no-out situation. In the fourth inning Murphy singled, Ellsbury doubled and Jeter reached on an infield single to load the bases. But, Beltran hit a grounder to Albert Pujols and Pujols cut down Murphy at the plate. Then Teixeira hit into an inning-ending double play. The Yankees hit into five double plays in the series.
The Yankees have Thursday off before opening a three-game weekend series against the Brewers in Milwaukee starting on Friday.
Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (4-0, 2.53 ERA) will pitch for the Yankees. Tanaka gave up three early runs to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday but ended up with a 9-3 victory. Tanaka has 51 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings this season.
The Brewers will counter with right-hander Yovani Gallardo (2-1, 2.47 ERA). Gallardo was charged with four runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out one in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
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Tanaka Goes 4-0 As Patient Yankees Hammer Rays
YANKEES 9, RAYS 3
Sometimes you can predict the game's outcome by looking at how pitchers fare through the second and third time in the batting order. Saturday's pitchers, Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees and Jake Odorizzi of the Rays came into the game as polar opposites.
The rookie right-hander Odorizzi tends to pitch well early and lose it the second time through the order. Tanaka gets hit early but gets much tougher the second and third times through the order. That is exactly the way Saturday's game played out.
After the Rays nicked Tanaka for three runs on seven hits,, including two solo home runs, in the first four innings, the 25-year-old Japanese rookie right-hander shut out the Rays on just one hit in his last three innings of work. Meanwhile, after Odorizzi retired the first nine batters he faced, he was hammered for three runs on five hits and two walks by the next 10 batters he faced.
Tanaka (4-0) remained undefeated as a pitcher dating back to Aug. 19, 2012 when he was pitching for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan.
The Yankees got a solo home run from Kelly Johnson off right-hander Josh Lueke (0-2) to lead off the sixth inning that broke a 3-3 tie and the Yankees rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to score nine unanswered runs to defeat Tampa Bay in front of a paid crowd of 43,325 at Yankee Stadium.
Tanaka ended up giving up three runs on eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts in seven innings to earn a victory punctuated by adjustments he made to stop the Rays after their early assault.
"You know what you're going to get from him," manager Joe Girardi told reporters. "You're going to get a guy that's really going to compete and is going to give you distance and is going to keep you in the game. He's going to give you every opportunity to win."
The Rays jumped out early when Desmond Jennings sent Tanaka's 12th delivery into the bleachers in right-center for a solo home run with one out in the first inning.
They added a run in the second inning on a little bit of luck and some well-placed hits.
James Loney singled to left against the shift to start the inning. One batter later, David DeJesus hit a line drive that deflected off Tanaka and rolled into left to advance Loney to third. After retiring Sean Rodriguez on a popup for the second out, Ryan Hanigan rolled a ball that just squirted through Johnson and Yangervis Solarte.
Wil Myers gave the Rays their 3-0 lead when he slapped Tanaka's first pitch to the opposite field and in the corner of the right-field porch for home run.
True to form, Odorizzi fell apart in the fourth when Jacoby Ellsbury led off the frame with a lined single to left. After Brett Gardner forced out Ellsbury on a fielder's choice groundout, Mark Teixeira launched a mammoth blast into the second deck in right field for his fifth home run and his fourth in his past five games.
The Yankees then chased Odorizzi in the fifth when Ichiro Suzki led off with a double to the wall in left-center and Solarte drew a four-pitch walk. After Ellsbury tied the game with a ground-rule double to left-center, Rays manager Joe Maddon pulled Odorizzi in favor of left-hander Cesar Ramos.
Odorizzi left after giving up three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four in four-plus innings.
But after Johnson deposited his fourth home run of the season into the Yankees' bullpen in right-center, the floodgates opened as the Yankees blasted Lueke and right-hander Heath Bell for six runs on seven hits and one walk over the final three innings.
Teixeira added an RBI single and Alfonso Soriano scored another run with a sacrifice fly off Lueke in the seventh. That Yankees tagged Bell for three runs in the eighth, keyed by an RBI single by Brian Roberts and two-run single by Gardner.
With the victory, the Yankees broke a three-game skid and they reclaimed the lead in the American League East with a 16-12 record. They lead the second-place Baltimore Orioles by a half game. The Rays fell to 14-17 and they are three games back in fourth place in the tightly bunched division.
Tananka, by all rights, should have lost. By his own admission, he did not have good stuff. "All my pitches weren't there today," he said through his interpreter. "As for the split, it was more like a changeup, I feel. Everything wasn't crisp today." Yet he was able to win because he did not panic and he found a way to shut down the Rays to allow the Yankees' offense to get into the game. It shows that Tanaka, on a day when he was not as his best, can still win a game. That makes him special.
It is May so that means that it is time for Teixeira to wake up and he has. He was 2-for-4 in the game with a single, a homer, he was intentionally walked and he scored a run while driving in three. In his past five games, Teixeira is 7-for-19 (.368) with four home runs and six RBIs. That has raised Teixeira's season average from .212 to .269. For those pundits who doubted Teixeira's recovery from wrist surgery have some Tabasco to put on your steaming plate of crow.
You think the Boston Red Sox would not want Ellsbury back. Think again! In his two games against the Rays, Ellsbury is 7-for-10 with two walks and he has scored two runs and driven in a pair. That has raised Ellsbury's season average from .309 to .346, which is second to Matt Wieters (.354) of the Orioles in the American League.
Despite the victory there were some moments that the Yankees did not deliver with runners in scoring position. Brian McCann was 1-for-5 with a double but Ramos struck him out with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth after the Rays elected to walk Teixeira to load the bases. He then lined out to Rodriguez in shallow right in the seventh with two on and nobody out. He ended his day flying out to end the eighth with one on and two out. So he stranded six runners. McCann is still struggling, hitting just .228 on the season.
Soriano, despite his sac fly in the seventh, was not much better than McCann. He was 0-for-3 and he followed McCann in the fifth by grounding out to short to leave the bases loaded. Despite going 3-for-7 with a home run and an RBI on Friday, Soriano is 4-for-22 (.182) in his past five games with six strikeouts. He is hitting .252 with five home runs and 12 RBIs on the season.
Solarte's magic touch appears to be waning quickly. He was 0-for-3 and he is 7-for-35 (.200) in his past nine games. It appears the league is catching up to him because pitchers are feeding him a steady diet of breaking pitches and Solarte seems to be expanding his strike zone instead of being patient. He has drawn only four walks this season.
The Yankees optioned right-hander Chris Leroux to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday and recalled veteran right-hander Alfredo Aceves from the same club. Aceves, 31, had no record with a 1.98 ERA in three games (two of them starts) with the RailRiders. Aceves pitched for the Yankees from 2008 through 2010, compiling a 14-1 record and a 3.21 ERA in 59 games (five of them starts). Aceves has pitched as a starter, long reliever, middle innings pitcher and as a closer in his career and he gives the Yankees some flexibility in how he can be used. Leroux, 30, was hammered for five runs on five hits in the 14th inning of Friday's game against the Rays and he was charged with the loss. . . . Because of the 14-inning game on Friday, Girardi elected to rest shortstop Derek Jeter and outfielder Carlos Beltran. Solarte started in place of Jeter and Suzuki drew the start in right-field in place of Beltran.
The Yankees can claim the three-game series over the Rays with a victory on Sunday.
Left-hander CC Sabathia (3-3, 5.11 ERA) will start for the Yankees. Sabathia gave up four runs on nine hits in five innings a loss to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. Sabathia held the Rays to one earned run on seven hits in seven innings at Tropicana Field on April 17.
Veteran left-hander Erik Bedard (0-1 5.52 ERA) draws the start for the Rays. Bedard gave up one run on seven hits and three walks before having to leave due to a high pitch count after five innings against the Red Sox on Tuesday. He gave up four runs on six hits in just 3 2/3 innings to the Yankees at home on April 18.
Game-time will be 1:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast nationally by the MLB Network and locally by the YES Network.
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Kuroda Good, Tanaka Great As Yanks Zip Marlins
YANKEES 3, MARLINS 0
TAMPA – Most times in spring training everything is pretty much mundane and downright dull. But for anyone who saw Hiroki Kuroda and Masahiro Tanaka pitch against the Marlins on Friday it was mesmerizing and electric.
The Japanese right-handers combined to shut out Miami on six hits with no walks and 14 – count them, 14 – strikeouts as New York rolled to victory in front of a paid crowd of 10,581 at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
As good as Kuroda was in his three innings of work in his final tuneup before his first start on April 2 against the Astros in Houston, Tanaka was even better.
Kuroda yielded three hits and fanned four but Tanaka (2-0) went six innings, gave up six hits but he struck out 10 Marlins in what was his best outing of the spring. Of his 82 pitches, Tanaka threw 60 strikes.
The Yankees, meanwhile, initially had troubles of their own with Marlins starter Kevin Slowey. The veteran right-hander pitched three perfect innings against the Yankees, striking out two.
This is the same Marlins pitching staff that no-hit the Yankees in the first game of the Legends Series in Panama City, Panama for a 5-0 victory on March 15. Carlos Marmol, Dan Jennings, A.J. Ramos and Michael Dunn followed Slowey with four additional no-hit innings until the Yankees touched Marlins closer Steve Cishek for two runs on three hits in the eighth inning.
The Yankees actually scored an unearned run off Marmol in the fourth inning, taking advantage of an error, some wildness from Marmol and Brett Gardner's speed.
Gardner reached on a fielding error by shortstop Donovan Solano. Gardner stole second and later swiped third. After Marmol walked Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira to load the bases, Gardner scored on a groundout off the bat of Brian McCann.
That run held up until the Yankees added to their lead in the seventh on a leadoff double by Kelly Johnson, an RBI single by Brian Roberts and they capped the inning with an RBI single by Yangervis Solarte to score Antoan Richardson, who was pinch-running for Roberts.
With the victory the Yankees improved their spring training record to 17-12-2. The Marlins fell to 18-12.
Both Kuroda and Tanaka were absolutely dominant against the Marlins. Kuroda, 39, ends the spring with a 1-0 record and a 4.76 ERA. The ERA is a bit deceiving since he only had one bad outing. Tanaka, on the other hand, was every bit as good as advertised. He ended his spring 2-0 with a 2.14 ERA with 26 strikeouts and only three walks in 21 innings. Batters hit a mere .190 off him. For those who said the Yankees rotation was not good enough to contend in 2014 better think again.
Leave it to Gardner to break up a pitcher's duel by reaching on an error and stealing two bases to get the Yankees on the board without the benefit of a hit. Gardner's .386 spring on-base percentage proves how valuable he will be batting ninth in the lineup this season. Look for a banner year from the speedy Gardner this season.
Johnson is not going to hit 30 homers and drive in 120 runs like Alex Rodriguez. But Johnson did average 21 homers and 67 RBIs in his three previous seasons as a starter. The Yankees will take that and – just remember this – A-Rod has not approached 30 homers and 120 RBIs since 2010. Johnson is hitting .267 with a home run and seven RBIs this spring.
Other than the fact the Yankees can't seem to get many hits off the Marlins there is not much negative to say after Tanaka was so sensational.
The Yankees filled out the roles in the bullpen by awarding spots to right-hander Dellin Betances and left-hander Vidal Nuno. Betances, 26, had no record and a 0.73 ERA with 11 strikeouts and four walks in 12 1/3 innings over 10 games. Nuno, 26, had no record with a 3.38 ERA in 8 innings over four appearances (two of them starts). They will join closer David Robertson and set-up men right-hander Shawn Kelley and left-hander Matt Thornton. Right-handers David Phelps and Adam Warren also were shifted to the bullpen after they lost the battle for the No. 5 starting spot to Michael Pineda. . . . The Yankees informed infielder Dean Anna, 27, that he has made the team as a backup infielder and they will decide the final roster spot between utility infielders Eduardo Nunez and Solarte on Saturday. Anna was acquired in a winter trade with the San Diego Padres after he won the Pacific Coast League batting title in 2013 with a .331 average. Anna hit .262 and drove in four runs in 22 games this spring. A back injury that sidelined infielder Brendan Ryan since March 4 opened the door for Anna to make the team. Ryan will start the season on the 15-day disabled list. . . . Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-for-5 with an infield single in six innings in a minor-league game on Friday. Ellsbury, 30, told reporters that he has recovered from a strained right calf and he is ready to start the season with the Yankees. . . . The Yankees announced on Friday that they have re-signed right-hander Alfredo Aceves to a minor-league contract. Aceves, 31, opted out of his contract with the Baltimore Orioles earlier in the day after being told he would not make the team's roster. Aceves will report to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and will be used there as a starting pitcher.
The Yankees will conclude their Grapefruit League schedule on Saturday against the Marlins at home.
Right-hander Ivan Nova (2-1, 3.66 ERA) will start for the Yankees in what also will be Jeter's final appearance as a player at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
The Marlins will start right-hander Tom Koehler (1-1, 1.50 ERA).
Transmission of this report was delayed due to technical difficulties.
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Bosox Finger Kuroda As Buchholz Handcuffs Yanks
RED SOX 7, YANKEES 4
Yankee fans realize there is something wrong with this team but they just can't seem to put a finger on it. On Wednesday night, Hiroki Kuroda put a finger on a screaming line drive in the second inning and it ended his evening – and with him went pretty much any chance of a victory.
Clay Buchholz pitched seven innings of one-run baseball and the Red Sox took advantage of Kuroda's early departure as Boston downed New York on a crisp, cold and windy evening at Yankee Stadium.
Already down 1-0, Kuroda (0-1) opened the second frame by giving up a lined single up the middle off the bat of Shane Victorino. Unfortunately, Kuroda threw up his pitching hand and the ball grazed his right middle finger as it zipped into centerfield. After a few warmup tosses, Kuroda elected to stay in the game.
However, the normally pinpoint control Kuroda displays was gone. He hit the next batter, Jackie Bradley Jr., and – after recording an out – he walked Jacoby Ellsbury to load the bases and then hit Daniel Nava to force in a second run. Kuroda was then forced to leave the game.
The Red Sox subsequently pounced on a less-than-sharp Cody Eppley in the third after he induced an inning-ending double play in the second.
The Red Sox pounded Eppley for four runs on four hits, scoring all four runs after two were out in the inning. The big blow was a two-run single by Ellsbury off reliever Adam Warren.
Buchholz, meanwhile, held off the Yankees, giving up only a solo home run to Travis Hafner with two out in the fourth inning.
Buchholz (1-0) surrendered six hits and two walks while he struck out four batters.
The Yankees did manage to rally in the eighth inning off left-hander Andrew Miller and right-hander Alfredo Aceves.
Miller opened the frame by hitting Ichiro Suzuki with a pitch and Aceves entered the game one out later and gave up a single to Kevin Youkilis. After Hafner grounded out, Vernon Wells launched a line-drive blast into the left-field bleachers to bring the Yankees to within three runs.
But it was the proverbial too little and too late for the Yankees.
Joel Hanrahan pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his first save as a Red Sox closer.
Warren pitched well in his 5 1/3 innings of work in relief. He gave up one run on five hits and a walk while he fanned four. But his real contribution was saving the rest of the bullpen from having to pitch after Kuroda was forced to leave the game so early. Though I still think Warren is not a great long-term solution to the Yankees' pitching puzzle, you have to give him kudos for this outing.
Hafner was 1-for-2 in the opener and he was 1-for-4 on Wednesday with his first home run in pinstripes. Hafner's blast was a legitimate Yankee Stadium home run. It landed in the Yankees' bullpen in right-center. Now if he could only connect with men on base we might have a good designated hitter here.
Wells collected three of the team's eight hits and all of them came off fastballs. Wells was 3-for-4 with his first Yankee homer and three RBIs. The Yankees' scouting department noticed this spring that Wells had a much quicker bat than he had shown the past few years and the gamble to sign him may be paying off.
Eppley pitched poorly after not pitching well this spring. The 27-year-old side-winding right-hander was a valuable piece to the bullpen in 2012, going 1-2 with a 3.33 ERA and limiting right-handers to a .227 average in 46 innings. Of course, manager Joe Girardi exposed him by having him pitch to two switch-hitters in Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Victorino and the lefty-swinging Bradley in the third inning. All three got hits off Eppley.
It is hard to get runners on base and score runs when your leadoff hitter goes 0-for-5. Brett Gardner did not have a good night. He struck out twice and looked overmatched at the plate in just about every at-bat.
The Yankees were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and they are 3-for-15 in the first two games of the season. You can blame it on the free-agent defections and injuries if you like, but the bottom line is it is going to have to improve if the Yankees want to contend in 2013.
Kuroda underwent X-rays and CT scan of his right hand after the game and the tests only showed a bruised middle finger. However, Kuroda told reporters he is not sure if he will be able to make his next start. Kuroda is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Friday in Detroit and he should know more then. Warren would likely make the start of Kuroda is unable to pitch. . . . Mark Teixeira told reporters that he believes he could be ready to play for the Yankees by May 1. Teixiera is recovering from a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist. He was expected to miss eight to 10 weeks but Teixeira said he thinks he could be ready by the first of the month. That is roughly the same time Curtis Granderson (broken right forearm) and Derek Jeter (recovering from a surgery on a fractured left ankle) are expected to be back. . . . Right-hander Phil Hughes (bulging disk in his upper back) was cleared to pitch on Saturday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a rehab start. Hughes will likely rejoin the rotation after that start. . . . The Yankees elected to release left-handed reliever Clay Rapada after designating him for assignment last week. Rapada, 30, has been sidelined with bursitis in his left shoulder but the Yankees decided they needed to make room on the 40-man roster. Rapada was 3-0 with a 2.82 and limited left-handers to a .186 in 38 1/3 innings.
The Yankees will try to salvage the last game of the opening homestand on Thursday against the Red Sox.
Left-hander Andy Pettitte (2-0, 3.52 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Yankees. Pettitte, 40, was 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA in 12 starts with the Yankees last season, a season cut short by fractured right ankle. Pettitte is 15-9 with a 4.16 ERA in the past 10 seasons against the Bosox.
He will opposed by veteran right-hander Ryan Dempster (1-2, 3.74 ERA). Dempster, 35, was a combined 12-8 with a 3.34 ERA between the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers last season. He is 0-4 with a 7.62 ERA in five career starts against the Yankees.
Written by mlblogsruthianclout Leave a comment Posted in Baseball, Dailies, Uncategorized, Yankees	Tagged with Adam Warren, Alfredo Aceves, Andrew Miller, Andy Pettitte, Brett Gardner, Clay Buchholz, Clay Rapada, Cody Eppley, Cubs, Curtis Granderson, Daniel Nava, Derek Jeter, Hiroki Kuroda, Ichiro Suzuki, Jackie Bradley Jr., Jacoby Ellsbury, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Joe Girardi, Joel Hanrahan, Kevin Youkilis, Mark Teixeira, MLB Network, Phil Hughes, Rangers, Red Sox, Ryan Dempster, Shane Victorino, Travis Hafner, Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Vernon Wells, Yankee Stadium, Yankees, YES Network