Boston on a humid night dampen Yankee hopes for the post-season 9-4

El Bronx -- On a hot early September muggy evening  in the Bronx a Red Sox-Yankees faceoff took place - well, not really as it was  just another game in a not 'that type of a season' for these two teams; the Red Sox with no hope (had dropped 11 of their last 15 games) and the Yankees whose hope for the post-season gets dimmer with regular play drawing to an end.  

The Yankees found themselves in second place  8.5 games behind Baltimore; the Sox 19.5 games behind and dead last in the AL East. Yet they trounced the Yankees 9-4 and the lost was the third in a row for New York.

The Yankees entering the game with just 5 more games won than they have lost can't seem to put a sustained long winning streak together as they struggle to score runs. If catching up with Baltimore for first place in the AL East is just wishful thinking the second Wild Card is an outside possibility.  

Both teams are last and next to last in runs scored.

In this contest, the Red Sox after 4 innings were playing like their 2013 championship  season with 3 home runs and a 7-1 lead over the Yankees whose only hit up to then was a Marin Prado home run. 

The Yankees had won each of Greene's last five starts. He  has left the game with the Yankees leading or tied in eight of his nine starts. Greene was  unbeaten in his last six starts, allowing 3ER or fewer in each of those outings.  In his last four starts (since 8/7), Greene is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA (26.0IP, 7ER, 7BB, 30K) but today he just lasted 2.2 innings allowing 6 runs on 6 hits while walking and striking out 3 batters. Certainly a bad outing for a team running out of time; for a team needing to win every day.

Skipper Joe Girardi said of Shane Green's performance: "I just don't think he had his location and he got into some bad counts ... he got into some long at bats as well."

A bottom of fifth mix up and the Yankees miss out on possibly scoring more than 2 runs.

Carlos Beltrán singled to center and Brian McCann laid down a bunt up the third base line where no infielder was playing due to the shift . Then  Martin Prado hit a ball over the left fielder, the Cubano Yoenis  Cespedes. But Carlos Beltrán stayed close to second base instead of half way between the bases and thus just managed to reach third while McCann just got to second.

Prado running a double all the way got to second  where he discovered McCann was standing.  Prado had no chance in getting back to first base and was tagged out. The next batter, Yankees third baseman Chase Headley walked to load the bases and catcher Francisco Cervelli also walked to force in a run.

After Jacoby Ellsbury made the second out, Derek Jeter hit a grounder to the short stop whose throw to first was called an out by the umpire. The play was challenged and Jeter was ruled safe with an infield single and an RBI for the Yankees second run of the inning.

With the bases still loaded Brett Gardner looked at a third strike and wound up being thrown out of the game for expressing his displeasure.  (2 Runs, 4 Hits, 3 LOB) 

On the play Beltrán did not position himself between second and third to score on the Prado double, it may well be that Beltrán thought Cespedes would get to the ball and the reputation he has of a rifle accurate arm may have stymied Beltrán, but on the other hand, Prado seemed to run with his head down thinking his blast was good for a double.

Both teams scored on the ninth. Boston on a Cespedes triple followed by a Napoli sacrifice fly and the Yankees on a homerun by McCann.

Can the Yankees with respectable pitching still get to the post season with a miracle run in September?  

Article written for Latino Sports and an edited vesion www.latinosports.com

Tampa on a sweep; Yanks on to weep with 5-game losing streak prior to 11-game road trip preceding All-Star Game

El Bronx, NY - As the team leaves New York for an 11-game road trip before  the All-Star Game (No Baseball in el Bronx for 15 days) they've lost 5 in a row and fell under .500 ball. Tampa on the other hand leaves with 5 straight victories.

The Yankees began the game with four straight loses and an even record at 41-41 on a hot steamy clear afternoon at the Stadium. Scoring runs have been an issue. Power numbers down and batting averages are low in the heart of the batting order.  To boot, Mark Teixeira and Jacoby Ellsbury were not in the lineup.

The Yankees starting pitcher has been, after RHP Masahiro Tanaka, somewhat mediocre, yet the bullpen has been its strength and helps explains at least their staying  in the mix when other teams in the division are also struggling. 

Bret Gardner scored the first run of the game on the bottom of the 1st inning leading off with a homerun (8).

Two additional hits by catcher Brian McCann and Designated hitter  Carlos Beltrán followed  a Derek Jeter fly-out to center, but the next two outs stranded those runners on base. In all, the Yankees would leave 9 runners stranded on base.

Tampa tied the game on the top of the 3rd on a walk and a two base hit by DH Ben Zobrist putting runners on second and third, followed by Brian MaCann letting a pitch by Vida Nuño get pass him thus allowing the runner on third to score.

But the Yankees  -- and one may say MaCann -- got a run back in their bottom of the 3rd when he hit towering homerun (10)to right.

On the top of the 4th the Rays scored a run to tie the game on successive hits: second baseman Logan Forsyth doubled  followed by Sean Rodriguez single who was thrown out on second trying to stretch it into a double while the run scored. The play was challenged but the out was upheld.

For a third time the Yankees retake the lead  -- on a mini rally at best: a hit by Alfonso Soriano, a walk to Ichiro Suzuki and after two successive outs, Brett Gardner bounced a ground ball single under the glove of Tampa first baseman James Loney scoring Soriano for the Yankee's third run.

On the top of the 5th, on what up to then seemed to be one for you and one for me see-saw scoring game, Tampa tied the game for the third time: a  runner was thrown out at the plate by Brett Garnder on a hit by Branden Guyer that scored the front runner of previous single and double. 

In the bottom of the 5th, the Yankees went down in order. Tampa began its top of the 6th with a hit by Logan Forsythe, his second of the game and this was all for Yankee's starter Vidal Nuño.

Skipper Joe Girardi bought in reliever Shawn Kelly. Well, Tampa shortstop Sean Rodriguez  greeted him with a 2-run home run (8) to deep left center field, allowing Tampa to take a 5-3 lead.

Tampa plated another run on the top of the ninth on a bases loaded grounder to first baseman Kelly Johnson  who could not come up with the ball cleanly to throw home for a force out. On the other hand, Tampa relievers kept the Yankees scoreless for 5 innings after the 4th. With two outs, runners were left in scoring position by Alfonso Soriano,  Derek Jeter, Kelly Johnson and Yangervis Solarte. Yet the Yankees dished out 10 hits (to Tampa's 12)

The Yankees  began with a good 17-3 record when leading after the first inning, but this was not going to be one of them.  Somehow in the upcoming road-trip the Yankees need to make a statement -- one that will carry over to the post-All Star hot days of summer.

Final Rays 6, Yankees 3

WP: Jake Odorizzi (4-7)

LP: Vidal Nuño (2-5)

SV: Brad Boxberger (1)

Cuban players in MLB increasing in numbers

San Juan, Puerto Rico -- maybe it is a sign of what's now possible within Cuba, but more importantly, what can become regarding  the relations between the U.S. its beleaguered neighbor. As a preview, in the world of baseball: there are now 19 Cubans in MLB rosters.

Regarding the first scenario, 'El Duque' Orlando Hernandez's wife and children were allowed by the Cuban government to unite with him while still on the Yankees, and after his illustrious career in the 'Big Show'  ended, El Duque returned to visit his native land. Quite a difference when one considers he was once banned from Cuban baseball in his native land after being detained by Cuban State Security, and interrogated on a relationship to an American Sports agent. Returning to the independent island-nation is now possible for many Cuban players; it does show a change of the times: the once tight governmental control in Cuba has been evolving to something else; only now the ending of the U.S. embargo (because most players would like to return home, yes, with money)  can determine if Cuba continues its path of being the next source of Latino baseball players after the Dominican Republic (83), Venezuela (59)and a distance third from Puerto Rico (17). and the few from other Latin American countries.

Last season had 15 Cubans in MLB rosters and with this year's 19, after the two biggest Latin American countries cited above, Cuba has become a country with the most players born outside the U.S.  Puerto Rico, neither a state nor an independent nation, comes in fourth place.

As of this writing an outstanding Cuban player making headlines has been Chicago White Sox first baseman José Abreu who played for Cienfuegos in the Cuban League and was an integral member of its national team. He has been the American League's homerun and RBI leader. Abreu led both leagues in both departments until Giancarlo Stanton surpassed him in Runs Batted In recently.

In October of 2013 Chicago offered José Abreu a 68 million 5-year contract. Chicago management  must be glad on its investment return; after the first 30 games in 2014 , José Abreu has 11 homers and 33 RBI -- both a record for a rookie in that span of time beginning a season. Yet he struck out 28 times and walked only 9 times, but all things being equal, or is it considered? --  his great start offers a glimpse of what Abreu can accomplish if he stays free of injury for the long haul ahead.

In addition to José Abreu, the White Sox have 3 more Cubans that at times may be in the same lineup: Catcher Adrián Nieto, outfielder Dayán Viciedo and its regular shortstop Alexei Ramirez (batting .328).

From the L.A. Dodgers we have the colorful Yasiel Puig, only 23 years old, (.309 BA) who started lukewarm but began to pick up his game.

The Miami Marlins feature another José, Fernandez (4-1 with a 1.74 ERA) who has become a thorn in the side of the Atlanta 'Braves;' in one game he punched out 14 of these miss-named team batters and has beaten Atlanta twice this season, both times by a score of 1-0 on eight innings each time. Fernandez was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for April.

And on and on. So, reader, if you know something, say something about any of these 19 Cuban players including how they made their way to MLB from the Caribbean island the U.S. would love to ....(Okay, I am for ending the U.S. Embargo, but Latinos Sports is tolerant of other point of views as long as it is civil).

The above article is partially an adaptation from an El Nuevo Día newspaper "Ponen su sazón los cubanos" by Joel Ortiz Rivera;  Sunday, May 4th 20014

Cubans in the Big Leagues

1. Adrián Neto Chicago White Sox

2. Adeiny Hechavarría Miami Marlins

3. Alexander Guerrero LA Dodgers

4. Yosián Herrera LA Angels

5. Dayán Viciedo Chicago White Sox

6. Roenis Elías Seattle Mariners

7. Aroidis Chapman Cincinnati Reds

8. Yasmani Grandal San Diego Padres

9. José Iglesias Detroit Tigers

10. Leonys Martín Texas Rangers

11. Brayan Peña Cincinnati Reds

12. Yonder Alonso San Diego Padres

13. Yunel Escobar Tampa Rays

14. Onelki García LA Dodgers

15. José Abreu Chicago White Sox

16  José Fernández Miami Marlins´

17. Alexei Ramirez Chicago Whiet Sox

18. Yasiel Puig LA Dodgers

19 Yoenis Céspedes  Oakland As

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At age 25, the making of a baseball and Yankee fan

Yankee Stadium, El Bronx, NY -- Tino Ongis went to his first ever game at Yankee Stadium and saw the Yankees beat the Cubs 3-0 behind the 2-hit, 8 innings pitched by Masahiro Tanaka. What makes this worthy of mentioning is that 25 year old Tino (short for Martino) is an Italian visitor to New York, has been to several basketball games, but was waiting for the baseball season to begin before his departure to Bergamo, Italy in early May. 

This writer gave him a crash course on baseball fundamentals after which he said, "Ok, I will remember," and was very excited the days leading to the game.

The game originally was to have taken place on Tuesday evening April 15th, but was rained out, so it became part of a Wednesday double header, and the makeup game was scheduled for the afternoon; it turned out to be an arctic breezy sunny day with temperature at 43 degrees at game time.

Great -- as his anticipation of being there was full of an exuberant enthusiasm that one would only hope would not become a letdown by a fan of fast moving NBA games and soccer back home in Italy.

By mid-game when asked how he thought of the game so far he said, "I really like baseball, I thought I would get bored."

In the first inning he witnessed Carlos Beltran's 4th homer of the season land a few feet below in the famed low porch area in front section 204. Tino had a glove on his left hand even though he is a lefty thrower. The run produced by Carlos Beltran would be the first of 3 runs allowed by Chicago's starter righthander Jason Hammel who would pitch 7 innings of quality ball, only to be outdueled by Tanaka's two-bunt base hits allowed while striking out 10.

Tino was fascinated by the double play Jacoby Ellsbury grounded into in the bottom of the third inning. Not yet far along to be disappointed that his newly adopted team had one of its star players hit into a double play, but the motion set in play to execute it, he found interesting. "I like the structure of the game and I loved how the double-play happened," he observed (I had gone over the play with him after it happened and reminded him of the baseball lesson of what to expect on the field, which included the two revised plays).

After watching this writer look behind to see the speed of Tanaka's delivery on the scoreboard  and other information, Tino began to do likewise to keep track of the ball and strike count and also keep track of Tanaka's strikeouts.

At one point he said that Chicago with two innings to go, would not have a chance, until I told him that in baseball anything is possible. I reviewed the three-outs before a team took the field and the other came to bat and that a team could keep on batting until the 3rd out was recorded in their half inning.

"I really like this game, it is not boring, "Tino repeated several times." And in it there are a lot of actions that are fast."

He watched with anticipation the game ending on the top of the ninth. He inferred that the Yankees did not have to bat if the score remained unchanged. 

At the end, it was obvious Tino was a fan. The cold? "In Italy for a soccer match it is worst."

Waiting to catch the number 4 train, he added, " I would like to come again to the stadium before I return home, maybe the weather will be nice again." Thus we have the making of a new fan, at 25 --and from Italia no less.

To be featured in www.latinosports.com

In The Yard & In The Pen Tidbits: Yankees’ Five Man Rotation’s First Go-Around

Posted by: William Gerena-Rochet on April 6, 2014 in Baseball, Featured  www.latinosports.com

El Barrio, New York - With the 4-0 Yankees loss to Toronto, the positive part of the event was the performance of Michael Pineda as the 5th starter. Thus the five-man rotation went through its first go-around with a 2-3 won-lost record.

RHP Micahel Pineda’s, in his Yankees debut, allowed just 1ER in 6.0IP in taking the loss (5H, 0BB, 5K) and it was his first Major League start since 9/21/11 w/ Seattle at Minnesota. CF

Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has shown his star quality and the catalyst he is;  has recorded 3 hits per game for the second straight time this season. So far he is 6-for-16 with 3R, 2 doubles, 3BB and 3 stolen bases in 5 games.

Infielder Yangervis Solarte has multi-hit games in each of his first three career starts (4/3-5), becoming the first Yankee to accomplish the feat since Joe DiMaggio from 5/3-6/36 (also 3G) according to the Elias Sport Bureau. Solarte leads the Yankees this season in hits (7), doubles (3), extra-base hits (3), RBI (4), on-base percentage (.600), slugging percentage (.769) and OPS (1.369).

But the Yankees 7-9 batters have combined to bat .370 (20-for-54) with 8R, 6 doubles, 4RBI and 6BB this season. The glass is half full; half empty.

As it has been noted in the Yankees  second straight victory 7-3, Tanaka  had a few rough moments. Eventually, he settled down and put up zeros from the 3rd to the 7th inning.  With the offense providing 7 runs on 16 hits,  he got the team’s second victory of the young season; he became just the third pitcher in the last 15 seasons (since 2000) to strike out at least  eight batters without allowing any walks in his Major League debut. Tanaka’s line: 7.0IP, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 8K, 1HR (to ex-Yankee delivery man Melky Cabrera).

The Yankees first victory of the season had RHP Ivan Nova pitch just 5.2 innings, allowing 2ER (6H, 5BB, 1K, 1WP, 2HP) as the relievers (Warren, Kelley and Robertson) combined to toss 3.1 perfect IP (5K). It was a game Yankees 8-9 hitters (Solarte and Suzuki) had five of the team’s seven hits and scored all four Yankees runs.

In the second game of the season  RHP Hiroki Kuroda started and took the loss, allowing 2ER in 6.0IP (3H, 1BB, 5K, 1HR). A quality start by today’s standards, but lacking run support. In the 4-2 defeat, Yankees pitchers allowed just four combined hits (two of which were solo HRs). Yankees batters on the other hand had one extra-base hit (Beltran double) and scored their only run on a double-play groundout in the seventh.

In the season opener C.C. Sabathia LHP CC Sabathia started  and took the 6-2 loss to Houston, allowing 6ER in 6.0IP (8H, 1BB, 6K, 2HR). Seem as if Spring Training did not follow him into the season, but instead showed some of the deficiencies of the 2013 season. Maybe it was just a one-time case of a “Houston, we have a problem.”

He will pitch the final game of the 6 game road trip before the team opens at home next Monday. It would be a 13-game stretch to open the season.  While that number is taboo for some, it wasn’t an issue to one…oh, never mind.

Wouldn’t you know, Yankees batters have not homered in their first five games of the season, but then again, in 5 games, neither has newly Seattle Mariner Robinson Cano.

Data Source: YankeesPressbox.com

Yankees’ Eduardo Nuñez In Limbo: Designated For Assignment. What Does It Mean For Him?

New York, El Barrio - Eduardo Nuñez has possibly lost his opportunity to play for the Yankees. What does the term designated for assignment mean? Sometimes my intent in writing baseball is to educate the would be fan on terms and plays in the game.

Last season, Eduardo could have cemented his role as an everyday player in 2013 when Derek Jeter missed most of the season playing less than 20 games. He was once coveted as Derek Jeter’s replacement at short and prior to trade talks other teams wanted Eduardo in the mix, but the Yankees had him virtually in a ‘no-trade’ list.

While he passed the grade with his offensive ability to some extent, it was always questionable if he was a good defensive infielder.
In a year that promises to be a second in a row celebratory departure for a future hall of famer, last year Mariano Rivera and this year Derek Jeter, Eduardo Nuñez had been bypassed by infielder Yangervis Solarte in the opening season roster.

Now the Yankees have signed Solarte to a Major League contract and selected him to the 25-man roster. And while infielder Brendan Ryan was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a cervical spine nerve injury (retroactive to 3/22), Eduardo was designated for assignment.

So, Wikipedia (I know it has its pros and cons) will tell you that “Designated For Assingment is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball. A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team’s 40-man roster, after which the team must either:

• return the player to the 40-man roster within 10 days from the date of designation, or
• make one of the following contractual moves:

1. Place the player on waivers (which can only be done within the first 7 days of the 10-day period)
2. Trade the player
3. Release the player
4. Outright the player from the 40-man roster into the Minor Leagues.

With that much said, Eduardo Nuñez can possibly be placed back on the 40-man roster within 10 days, or navigate through waivers. What is that? Well, maybe that will be part 2 of this story as we keep an eye open on Nuñez’s fate within that 10-day period. Those who have gotten to know Nuñez hope that he can move forward to a solid major league career — if not with the Yankees, then with some other team. In the meantime we welcome comments and any clarifications or questions from the reader.

This article was written for Latino Sports and was posted on April 2, 2014