Yankees Complete Double-Header Sweep Against Blue Jays

nypost.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

August 20^th, 2013

Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees Post Game Recap Game 2

Final Score: Blue Jays 2 Yankees 3

The New York Yankees were able to complete the double-header sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off win on Tuesday night. The win moves the Yankees to (66-59), which is 6.5 games behind the Rays and Red Sox in the AL East, and now just 5.5 games behind the second Wild Card spot.

A very rare occurrence happen for Phil Hughes on Tuesday night, and that was him pitching well in Yankees stadium, but despite the good start Hughes only got a no decision for his efforts. In the first inning the Blue Jays go one of their two runs off of Hughes on a wild pitch that allowed Rajai Davis to score, and then in the fifth inning Davis hit a sac-fly to score Munenori Kawasaki. Hughes ended up going six innings allowing just the two runs on seven hits, two walk, while striking out six batters, and he also didn’t allow a home run in a home start, which is a rare thing. Any improvement from Hughes will help the Yankees, as they continue their push towards a playoff spot.

Blue Jays Starter Mark Buehrle also gave his team a very good start, but like Hughes only earned a no decision for his efforts. The Yankees only got two runs off Buehrle, as in the third inning Robinson Cano singled home Austin Romine. Cano had quite the day at the plate going six for eight, which certainly helps the batting average. Jayson Nix would get the best of Buehrle in the seventh inning, as Nix hit his third home run of the season to tie the game up at two runs a piece at the time. Buehrle finished up going 6.2 innings allowing just the two runs on six hits, and one walk.

This game came down to a battle of the bullpens after both teams Starters gave them a good performance, and for the Yankees their 26^th man for the double-header Preston Claiborne gave them two solid innings allowing just one hit. Mariano Rivera had to work double duty on Tuesday pitching in both games, and in the second game he allowed two hits, but no runs, and earned his fourth win of the season.

In the ninth inning the Yankees got to Darren Oliver, as after a lead-off walk by Mark Reynolds, he was pinch-ran for by Ichiro Suzuki. A sac-bunt and then a steal of Third Base set up Jayson Nix to be the hero and that’s exactly what he was, as he singled home Ichiro for the walk-off win.

Next up the Yankees will look to take the four-game series against the Blue Jays, as Adam Warren(1-2, 3.57) will be making the start for the Yankees against R.A. Dickey (9-11, 4.49).

Yankees Bounce Back Behind Strong Start From Nova

nydailynews.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

August 3^rd, 2013

New York Yankees vs San Diego Padres Post Game Recap

Final Score: Yankees 3 Padres 0

The New York Yankees were able to bounce back in the second game of the series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday night, with a shutout victory. The win moves the Yankees to (57-52), but they were unable to gain any ground in the AL East, as they still sit 8.5 games behind the first place Boston Red Sox.

After getting a horrible start from C.C. Sabathia on Friday night, Ivan Nova was exceptional on Saturday night, and picked up his fifth win of the season. Nova went seven shutout innings allowing only four hits, one walk, and struckout eight batters. With the good start Nova sees his ERA drop to 3.08, as he is quite possibly pitching better than ever right now.

Yankees Get Walk-Off Victory Against Rangers

sportingnews.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

June 25^th, 2013

Texas Rangers vs New York Yankees

Final Score: Rangers 3 Yankees 4

The New York Yankees were able to get a walk-off victory against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night thanks to Ichiro Suzuki. The 4-3 Yankees win moves them to (42-34) on the season, and are back in second place in the AL East 2.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox.

Hiroki Kuroda was pretty solid against a talented Rangers lineup, but despite pitching well didn’t earn himself a decision. The Rangers struck first in this game in the third inning, as Leonys Martin hit a solo-home run in the third inning, which was his first of the season. In the fourth inning the Rangers would get one more run, on a Mitch Moreland RBI ground out with the bases loaded that scored Adrian Beltre. Martin would get the best of Kuroda again in the fifth inning with another solo-home run, which was the final run Kuroda would give up. Kuroda finished going 6.2 innings allowing three runs, two of which were earned, on five hits, one walk, and struck out six batters.

Yankees Avoid Sweep with Victory Over Angels

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By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

June 16th, 2013

New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels Post Game Recap 

Final Score: Yankees 6 Angels 5

The New York Yankees were able to avoid a second straight sweep on the West Coast with a 6-5 win on Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Angels. The Yankees finished their West Coast swing going (4-6), and are now (38-31) on the season, and three games behind the Boston Red Sox for first place in the AL East.

The offense for the Yankees finally woke up a bit against Jered Weaver, who was handed his third loss of the season. Travis Hafner hit a three-run homerun in the third inning to get the Yankees an early lead, as it was Hafner’s 11th homerun of the season. The Yankees wouldn’t be done in the third inning, as Lyle Overbay getting the start at First Base for the injured Mark Teixeira had a RBI double to score Vernon Wells, and then Overbay was knocked in by a base hit from Jayson Nix, in what was a five-run third inning for the Yankees.

Pettitte Gets Milestone Win Number 250

yankees.lhblogs.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

June 8^th, 2013

New York Yankees vs Seattle Mariners Post Game Recap

Final Score: Yankees 3 Mariners 1

The New York Yankees were able to bounce back on Saturday afternoon after what had to be an extremely disappointing loss to Jeremy Bonderman on Friday. The offense wasn’t great in this one, but Andy Pettitte gave an exceptional start in his milestone victory. The win moves the Yankees (36-26), and are just 1.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East.

The offense for the Yankees wasted no time getting Pettitte an early lead, as they were able to get a two-out rally going off Joe Saunders. Mark Teixeira had a double, and then Robinson Cano knocked him in with a base-hit for 40^th RBI of the season. The offense would go quiet for a while before Jayson Nix was able to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with a base-hit the scored Ichiro Suzuki. Nix would also add an insurance run for the Yankees in the seventh inning, as after a double by Brett Gardner Joe Saunders was pulled for Danny Farquhar, and Nix promptly knocked in Gardner with a single. Overall it was a pretty good start from Joe Saunders, as he finished going 6.1 innings allowing three runs on seven hits, and two walks, but with no run support he picked up his sixth loss of the year.

Yankees Defeat Rays, But Lose Granderson Again

espn.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

May 24^th, 2013

New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays

Final Score: Yankees 9 Rays 4

The New York Yankees were able to start their weekend series in Tropicana Field with a win Friday night over the Tampa Bay Rays behind a good offensive performance. The win moves the Yankees to (29-18) on the season, and they are still one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox.

Yankees Starter David Phelps has seemed to gain a stranglehold on the fifth spot in the rotation, as he picked up his third win of the season on Friday night. Phelps was cruising in the game until the sixth inning, but with an eight run lead the game was never in jeopardy for Phelps. He finished the game going 7.2 innings allowing four runs on on six hits, with three strikeouts. Ivan Nova was back with the Yankees, but instead of getting the start was sitting in the bullpen, so it would appear that Joe Girardi will be sticking with Phelps for the foreseeable future.

Yankees Offense Carries Them To Victory

nytimes.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

May 10th, 2013

New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals Post Game Recap

Final Score: Yankees 11 Royals 6

The Yankees after a lack of offense in Colorado looked like a completely different team in Kansas City in the win over the Royals, as they scored more runs on Friday night than the entire series in Colorado. The win moves the Yankees to (21-13), and they still hold a slight lead for first place in the AL East.

Phil Hughes was pitching very well coming in to this start, but Friday Hughes wasn’t at his best, but with run support he was able to pick up his second win of the season. Hughes went 5.2 innings allowing six runs on seven hits, and two walks. The long ball hurt Hughes in this one, as he gave up two homeruns to Jarrod Dyson in the second inning, and then Mike Moustakas in the sixth.

Yankees Get Shutout in Colorado

espn.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

May 7th, 2013

New York Yankees vs. Colorado Rockies Post Game Recap

Final Score: Yankees 0 Rockies 2

The New York Yankees first inter-league road game of the season didn’t go so well for the Bronx Bombers, as they lost their second straight game. The loss puts the Yankees at (18-13), and (6-6) on the road.

Hiroki Kuroda gave the Yankees a very good start, but the offense let him down. Kuroda picked up his second loss of the season despite pitching very well. He went seven innings allowing two runs on seven hits, and one walk. The one blunder that Kuroda had was that he allowed a two-run homerun to Carlos Gonzalez in sixth inning, which were the only runs of the game.

Yankees Win Rubber Game of Series with Orioles

espn.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 14th, 2013

Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees

Final Score: Orioles 0 Yankees 3

The Yankees were able to take the rubber game of the series against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday Night Baseball, as Yankees Starter Hiroki Kuroda was sensational in the win.

Kuroda pitched went the distance in the complete game shutout, which was his fifth of his career. Kuroda only gave up five hits in his nine innings of work, and was able to striking out five batters. The win moves Kuroda to (2-1) on the season, and helped his ERA go from a 6.75 to a 2.87.

The Orioles Start Wei-Yin Chen also pitched very well, but was out dueled by Kuroda in this one. Chen went six innings allowing only three runs on six hits, and one walk. Chen was matching Kuroda until the fifth inning when the Yankees were finally able to strike first.

Brennan Boesch getting the start in Right Field went two for three at the plate, and was able to score the first run of the game on a Jayson Nix sacrifice fly. Boesch in his limited time has played well thus far for the Yankees, as he is batting .313.

Overall the bottom of the Yankee order did very well, as Boesch, Francisco Cervelli, Lyle Overbay, and Jayson Nix combined for five hits, and one walk. The production from the bottom of the order was a real difference maker for the Yankees with the heart of the order not getting a hit.

Leadoff hitter Brett Gardner provided the pop in this one in the fifth inning with a moon-shot off the top of the foul pole, which scored Cervelli. For Gardner, who isn’t known as a power hitter by any means it was his second homerun of the season.

The Yankees will be starting their first Inter-League series of the season against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a re-match of the great 2001 World Series, as Ivan Nova (0-1, 7.71) will be facing Brandon McCarthy (0-1, 7.71).

Yankees Beat Tigers to Avoid Sweep

nytimes.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

April 7th, 2013

New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers Post Game Recap

Final Score: Yankees 7 Tigers 0

The New York Yankees were able to pick up a big win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon, in what was the best game overall from the entire Yankees team so far early in the season. The win puts the Yankees at (2-4) in the first week of the season.

Yankees Ace C.C. Sabathia had a bounce back start from a disappointing Opening Day start, as he was able to earn his first win of the season with the great start against the Tigers lineup. Sabathia went seven shutout innings, only allowing four hits, and three walks, while striking out four Tigers batters.

Tigers starter Justin Verlander, who is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, didn’t have his best stuff on Sunday against a weak Yankees lineup, which resulted in his first loss of the season. Verlander went 7.1 innings allowing three runs, on seven hits, two walks, and surprisingly only had four strikeouts.