MLB Power Rankings: Week 13

washingtonpost.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

MLB Power Rankings: Week 13

1.) Pittsburgh Pirates (51-30) – The Pirates after 81 games have the best record in baseball, and have a two-game lead in the NL Central. They are on a nine-game winning streak, as after a great West Coast trip they returned home to sweep the Brewers this past weekend.

2.) St Louis Cardinals (49-32) – St Louis had a bit of a tough week against the AL West, losing three out of five games to the Athletics and Astros. The Cardinals are still in the top 10 in most batting and pitching categories, and still have the second best record in baseball.

3.) Boston Red Sox (50-34) – A good week for the AL East leading Red Sox keeps them on top of their division, and they cooled off the Toronto Blue Jays, taking three out of four games against them this weekend. They are the number one in runs scored with a lineup led by Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz.

4.) Texas Rangers (48-34) – The Rangers are rolling, and are in first place in the AL West going (8-2) in there last 10 games. Elvis Andrus is having a disappointing first half of the season however batting just .243

5.) Atlanta Braves (48-34) – Atlanta has built a very good pitching staff once again, as they are second in team ERA and quality starts. The main concern for the Braves has to be their team batting average, which is just .245.

Yankees Complete Sweep of Indians

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By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

June 5th, 2013

Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees Post Game Recap

Final Score: Indians 4 Yankees 6

The New York Yankees were able to finish up their home-stand on a positive note, by sweeping the Cleveland Indians before they head out to the West Coast. The win moves the Yankees to (34-25) on the season, and are now 1.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the division lead.

Indians Starter Corey Kluber got hit hard early in the game by the Yankees, who did a very good job against Indians Starters throughout this series. Travis Hafner got the Yankees on the board in the first inning with a two-run homerun, which was his 10th of the year, and scored Robinson Cano, who was on Second Base due to Michael Bourn dropping a line-drive hit by Cano. The Yankees would tack on their final four runs of the game in the second inning, as Chris Stewart had a RBI single to score Lyle Overbay, and then Brett Gardner continued his power surge this season with a three-run homerun scoring Jayson Nix and Stewart. For Gardner it was his sixth home run already this season, which is just one shy of his career-high of seven in 2011. Kluber did settle down after the big first two innings for the Yankees, and was able to throw four scoreless innings.

Teixeria Blast's Yankees Past Indians

nytimes.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

June 4^th, 2013

Cleveland Indians vs New York Yankees Post Game Recap

Final Score: Indians 3 Yankees 4

The New York Yankees were able to make it two straight wins over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night, beating the Tribe by a score of 4-3. The win moves the Yankees to (33-25) on the season, and keeps them 2.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox for the division lead.

For the second straight game the Yankees were able to get to and Indians Starter, this time being Scott Kazmir, who suffered his third loss of the season. Ichiro got the big third inning started for the Yankees with an RBI single knocking in Lyle Overbay for the first run of the game. The rest of the damage the Yankees would do in this game came a few batters later, when Mark Teixeira hit his second home run of the season and the second in as many days. Teixeira's three-run homerun scored Ichiro, and Jayson Nix, while giving the Yankees a nice four-run lead. Kazmir's final line was six innings, while allowing the four runs, on seven hits,and two walks, but he did strikeout seven batters.

Yankees Offense Bounce's Back After a Tough Week

nytimes.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

June 3^rd, 2013

Cleveland Indians vs New York Yankees

Final Score: Indians 4 Yankees 7

The New York Yankees were able to bounce back from a difficult week against the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox on Monday with a nice 7-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians. The win moves the Yankees to (32-25) o
n the year, and 2.5 games behind the Red Sox for first place in the AL East.

Andy Pettitte made his return to the rotation on Monday, but it didn’t go to smoothly for Pettitte in the no decision. Former Yankee Nick Swisher got a nice ovation in his return to Yankees Stadium, and got the Indians on the board in the third inning with a RBI ground out. The rest of the damage the Indians did to Pettitte came in the fifth inning, when Mike Aviles hit a sac-fly scoring Drew Stubbs, and then later in the inning Carlos Santana hit a ground-rule double scoring Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher. The RBI double by Santana also chased Andy Pettitte from the game, as Pettitte finished going just 4.2 innings allowing four runs on seven hits, and three walks. Pettitte was going for his 250^th win, and was spotted a three-run lead, but he was unable to hold on to it, so he will have to wait for another attempt at win number 250 until later in the week.

Week 7 MLB Power Rankings

dallas.culturemap.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

MLB Power Rankings Week 7

1.) Texas Rangers (29-15) - The Rangers are back in the number one spot in the rankings after a great week of baseball. They won five games this week, which included taking three out of four against the Tigers to finish the week.

2.) St Louis Cardinals (28-15) - The Cardinals are still playing good baseball and have the best record in the National League. The pitching has been magnificent for the Cardinals all season, but Jaime Garcia is heading to the DL.

3.) New York Yankees (27-16) - The Yankees continue to find ways to win in large part due to their pitching staff. They got Curtis Granderson back in the lineup this week, but lost Andy Pettitte to a back injury, which is sending him to the DL.

Yankees Bounce Back in Second Game of Doubleheader

usatoday.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

May 13th, 2013

New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians Game 2 Recap

Final Score: Yankees 7 Indians 0

In the old school traditional doubleheader after about a 20 minute break in between games, the Yankees were able to bounce back from being shutout in Game 1. In Game 2 the Yankees got their revenge from being shutout, by shutting out the Indians to split the doubleheader, and move to (24-14) on the season.

Vidal Nuno made his first career start in Game 2, and was sensational for the Yankees. Nuno picked up his first career win, by going five innings, while allowing three hits, three walks, and mostly importantly zero runs.

Adam Warren was very good as well pitching the final four innings for the Yankees after Nuno was taken out. Warren went four innings allowing only two hits, zero runs, and was able to strikeout four batters. Warren also was able to earn his first save of the season with the unconventional four inning save.

Yankees Get Shutout by Masterson in Game 1

sports.yahoo.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

May 13th, 2013

New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians Game 1 Recap

Final Score: Yankees 0 Indians 1

The New York Yankees after sweeping the Kansas City Royals had their five game winning streak snapped by the Cleveland Indians on Monday afternoon in Game 1 of the afternoon double header. The loss moves the Yankees to (23-14) on the season.

Indians Starter Justin Masterson was masterful against the Yankees earning his sixth win of the season. Masterson went the distance for a complete game shutout, only allowing four hits, three walks, and was able to strikeout nine batters including Vernon Wells to end the game.

David Phelps did his best to keep up with Masterson, but had one mistake pitch which cost him the game. For Phelps it is his second loss of the season, as he went 6.2 innings allowing only one run on a Jason Kipnis solo-homerun in first inning which ended up being the only run of the game. The battle for the fifth spot in the rotation has to be Phelps’ to lose now with another strong start today.

Yankees Blow Out Indians for Third Straight Win

nytimes.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 9th, 2013

New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians Post Game Recap

Final Score: Yankees 14 Indians 1

After a rough beginning to the season the Yankees have gotten three straight wins, as the offense has been great, and so has the pitching, both of which has led the Yankees back to the .500 mark at (4-4).

The Yankees were once again led by a great start from their 40 year old pitcher Andy Pettitte, who picked up his second win in as many starts on Tuesday. Pettitte went a strong seven innings only allowing one run on five hits, and three walks. Pettitte’s one mistake came in the sixth inning, when he allowed a solo homerun to Asdrubal Cabrera, which was his only blemish.

Cano Powers Yankees Past Indians

espn.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 8th, 2013

New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians Post Game Recap

Final Score: Yankees 11 Indians 6

The New York Yankees were able to pick up their second straight win, as they took the series opener in Cleveland, and for the Yankees it is their first winning streak of the season, as their record is now (3-4).

Hiroki Kuroda had a very tough first inning, which led to Manager Joe Girardi to get the bullpen going in the first inning, but Kuroda was able to settle down and get out of the tough inning. After being forced to leave his first start due to getting hit in the hand by a line drive, Kuroda was able to pick up his first win of the season against Cleveland. He finished going 5.1 innings allowing three runs on five hits, and four walks, while striking out six batters.