Our featured bloggers that provided us with the in depth Report Card series that has just concluded are back to give everyone an in depth look at what the off season holds for the major league teams they cover.  A look at what each team needs, what each team has already gained and lost, and some of the youth in each team’s system will be examined in these articles.  You can find all of the author’s information at the bottom of the article.

With more pieces in place than in any off-season in recent memory, the Royals are hoping less is more. As in less off-season movement will lead to more significant off-season movement.

Roster turnover has become as much a winter routine in Kansas City as the lighting of the Plaza lights. But with the current youth movement percolating to the top, the lineup has become very much set.

Rookies stepped in at catcher, first, second and third and became quickly entrenched. Meanwhile, the new outfield trio of Alex Gordon, Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera exceeded all expectations. There wasn’t the pressing for an overhaul that is typically felt in KC.

Without the cash to shop at the Tiffany’s of free agency, the Royals have typically rummaged through the thrift stores in hopes of finding bargains. That approach paid big dividends last season when they lured Francoeur and Cabrera to KC with minimal investment.

The team parlayed the Cabrera signing into a trade for a proven big-league starter – Jonathan Sanchez.

There was no question the Royals had to improve their starting pitching. And Cabrera was the one starter the team seemed willing to move. Having just had a career year, Melky was probably never going to be worth more than he is right now. And his centerfield spot was the one position where the Royals had a major-league-ready replacement in Lorenzo Cain.

Sanchez has just one year left on his contract, as does Cabrera. So in a sense, the Royals just acquired a year of Sanchez for a year of Cabrera. Or even better, Sanchez plus Cain for Cabrera.

The real question is, which Sanchez will the Royals get – the one who won 13 games and threw a no-hitter for the 2010 World Series champion, or the one who went just 4-7 last year.

The other significant move of the off-season required no movement at all. The Royals re-signed their best pitcher from 2011, Bruce Chen, to a two-year deal. Chen led the team last season with 12 wins and a 3.77 ERA.

So Sanchez will probably join Chen, Luke Hochevar, Felipe Paulino and Danny Duffy in the starting rotation. Should the Royals be forced to look within for another starter, they have some less-than-desirable options. Vin Mazzaro and Sean O’Sullivan failed miserably when given cracks at the rotation last year, but are both still around.

Aaron Crow pitched brilliantly in a setup role for about half a season. He may make another attempt at starting, which he did with mixed results in the minors.

Free-agent Jeff Francis remains an option as well, but he was just 6-16 with a 4.82 ERA last year. He has failed to regain the form he showed in Colorado three seasons ago, and is not likely to be re-signed.

The Royals, owners of last winter’s top farm system, have some talented arms in the pipeline. But just one minor leaguer will have a clear shot at the starting rotation – Mike Montgomery. Regarded one of the top lefties in all the minors a year ago, the 22 year old couldn’t have been much worse last season. But his talent will warrant a long look in the spring.

Cain joins an otherwise settled lineup. He is not young (26 in April), nor is he inexperienced (49 big league games under his belt), and he should be hungry after spending an entire season blocked by Cabrera. Cain tore up Triple-A last summer, batting .312 with 16 homers and 16 steals. He may not match Cabrera’s breakout numbers from 2011, but he is more athletic and probably has a higher ceiling.

The Royals hope they have a nucleus in place that won’t need much more tweaking. Eric Hosmer looks like a budding star, and Gordon finally lived up to his considerable expectations. Francoeur will hold onto the right field job indefinitely, and Alcides Escobar is entrenched at short.

Rookies Mike Moustakas (third base), Johnny Giavotella (second base) and Salvador Perez (catcher) are some of the top prospects at their respective positions, and each gained valuable experience in KC last season.

With the addition of Sanchez, the Royals should expect to top the .500 mark for the first time since 2003. If Gordon and Francoeur don’t regress, if the rookies take another step forward, and if the pitching isn’t as awful as last year, Kansas City might just challenge for the AL Central.

And less (off-season movement) will equal more (wins in 2012).

Todd Fertig
I-70 Baseball

The Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander was the most dominant pitcher in the game en route to 24 wins. Jose Bautista didn’t match his 54 home runs of a year ago, but had another 40+ home run season. Lance Berkman looked like his career was done in 2010, but he hit 30 home runs this season and is an NL MVP candidate. Jacoby Ellsbury was the king of the AL DL a year ago, but this season was a candidate for both the comeback player of the year and AL MVP awards.

Curtis Granderson had a bust out season, topping 40 home runs for the first time in his career. Teammate Derek Jeter picked up his 3,000th hit, while another, Mariano Rivera, broke the all-time record for career saves. Across town, Jose Reyes won his first batting title in what might be his last year as a Met.  Albert Pujols had an “off” year and still hit 35 dingers and Matt Kemp met and exceeded all expectations.  With all of that in mind, the finalists for the individual awards in each league should look something like this…

AL MVP – Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano (NY), Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Jose Bautista (TOR), Justin Verlander (DET)

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander (Det)

AL Rookie of the Year – Jeremy Hellickson (TB), Ivan Nova (NY), Eric Hosmer (KC), Mark Trumbo (LA), J.P. Arencibia (TOR)

AL Manager of the Year – Manny Acta (CLE), Jim Leyland (DET), Ron Washington (TEX), Joe Girardi (NY)

AL Comeback Player of the Year – Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Melky Cabrera (KC)

NL MVP – Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder (MIL), Matt Kemp (LA), Lance Berkman (STL), Justin Upton (AZ)

NL Cy Young – Ian Kennedy (AZ), Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee (PHI), Clayton Kershaw (LA)

NL Manager of the Year – Kirk Gibson (AZ), Ron Roenicke (MIL), Clint Hurdle (PIT), Charlie Manuel (PHI)

NL Rookie of the Year – Freddie Freeman and Craig Kimbrel (ATL), Danny Espinosa (WAS), Javy Guerra (LA)

NL Comeback Player of the Year – Carlos Beltran (NY,SF), Lance Berkman (STL)

But baseball isn’t about the individual, it’s about the teams.

Early on the Indians, Royals, and Pirates played beyond expectation. In fact the Indians held first place in the AL Central for 85 days. The three teams would eventually fade, but the Arizona Diamondbacks did just the opposite. They were six games under .500 in mid-May, but played at a torrid pace the rest of the season to win the division title. Meanwhile Boston and Atlanta entered the final month of the season as virtual locks to make the post-season only to be eliminated on the final night of the season.

The LA Dodgers and the Mets had ownership and money issues, the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds were huge disappointments, and the Baltimore Orioles, despite much promise, finished last in the AL East for the fourth straight year. In the end the Yankees, Tigers, Rangers, Phillies, Brewers, and Diamondbacks captured their divisions while the Rays and Cardinals entered the playoffs as wild card entries.

What’s that? How did the Baseball Digest team do at predicting the post-season teams? Let’s take a look.

Well it appears, ahem, one person knew what they were talking about with the AL East. Yes, that would be me. Michael Maher, likewise, was the only one of our bunch who had the insight to pick the Tigers in the AL Central. He was also the only one to pick the Rays to win the AL wild card. Four out of seven dentist, er writers, chose the Rangers correctly in the AL West, while none of us had the Diamondbacks sniffing a title in the NL West.

Bill Ivie stuck his neck out picking the Braves to win the NL East, while everyone else selected the Phillies. Needless to say, his neck hurts. Bill’s beloved Cardinals didn’t win the NL Central as he had selected, but he was brought joy on the night of Game 162 when they made the post-season. Meanwhile Simon Sharkey-Gottlieb, Kirk Verner, and Matt Wilson all correctly chose the Brewers for the Central crown, but just like the NL West, no one got the NL wild card correct either. So the finally tally of correct predictions..drum roll please…four writers with 3 right each. Meanwhile Josh Landsburg, Mark Healey, and Bill Ivie…um, better luck next year. (In fairness, Bill did get 2 playoff teams correct, just in the wrong spots)

Michael Maher 3
Drew Sarver 3
Simon Sharkey-Gottlieb 3
Matt Wilson 3
Shai Kushner 2
Kirk Verner 2
Josh Landsburg 1
Mark Healey 1
Bill Ivie 0

Please check back after the league championship series for updated standings, and be sure to bookmark Baseball Digest to view all of our post-season coverage.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Philadelphia Phillies – Despite having the best record in baseball, a fairly comfortable 5-game division lead and arguably the best starting rotation in the game, the Phillies know they have some holes that could be exploited in a postseason series.  So the need to pick up a right-handed outfield bat and/or a quality bullpen arm is pretty obvious.  How far they’re willing to go to obtain those is not so apparent.  They have been linked to Mets rightfielder Carlos Beltran, Hunter Pence of the Astros, and Royals outfielders Jeff Francouer and Melky Cabrera by various media and quasi-media outlets.  Similarly, there have been reports that the Phillies have been inquiring about various Padres relievers like closer Heath Bell and highly-regarded setup man Mike Adams.  Most of those rumors, however, also suggest that teams in trade talks with the Phillies are asking for rookie outfielder Domonic Brown, impressive rookie pitcher Vance Worley, top pitching prospect Jarred Cosart or the franchise’s highest rated prospect, Single-A first baseman Jonathan Singleton.   Any of these would be a hefty price to pay for what would likely be a rent-a-player (a potential free agent at the end of the season) and only a small cog in the Phillies championship hopes.  However, a missing piece in the bullpen, or a couple of losses to lefty pitchers in the playoffs can be painful topics of discussion in an offseason.  Besides, GM Ruben Amaro has shown a flair for the dramatic when it comes to deadline deals in recent years.

Atlanta Braves – The Braves situation is not all that far off from the Phillies.  They have a comfortable 5-game lead of their own, albeit for the NL Wild Card spot.  Their strong pitching staff has carried their underachieving offense through the first 4 months of the season.  And they too seem to be searching for some outfield help as well as a reliever, possibly.  The need for the outfielder comes from the fact that Martin Prado and his .760 OPS has been the most successful starting outfielder they have.  The front office is fully aware that an outfield of Prado, Nate McLouth/Jordan Schafer and Jason Heyward (whose season-long sophomore slump is rather disappointing) will put that much more pressure on the team’s pitching.  Along those lines, the Braves stellar, but young, bullpen has already logged many innings.  It’s reasonable to wonder whether or not their arms will be able to maintain their effectiveness in the fall.  So the Braves have been linked to many of the same players as the Phillies.  And while the various rumors suggest that they’re not willing to give up any of their pitching prospects (Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, Arodys Vizcaino and Mike Minor), they may have to if they want to add an impact player this season.

New York Mets – For a team battling to get to/stay at/not fall too far from the .500 mark, the Mets are threatening to impact the postseason.  Early in the season it was expected that the Mets talk in July would likely center around Jose Reyes.  However, instead of looking for ways to get something for him, the Mets are doing what they can to free up money to keep him.  So at this point, trading him is incredibly unlikely.  They’ve already gotten rid of Francisco Rodriguez, or really they’ve gotten rid of his contract option.  So naturally the focus has shifted to their next most valuable free agent-to-be, Carlos Beltran.  As I wrote previously, the Mets don’t have to get rid of Beltran.  Even though they will not be able to get any compensation should he sign elsewhere, they’re still not going to trade him for the proverbial bag of balls.  As already stated, there are teams interested in Beltran, teams with good-to-great prospects.  By most accounts, Mets GM Sandy Alderson seems fully prepared to hold on to Beltran if nothing worthwhile shows up.  The worst thing that happens is that he plays out the rest of his contract on the Mets, finishes up what’s already been a strong season, and puts himself in good position to sign somewhere (perhaps even back in Queens, a possibility that some reports have suggested).  Another player that has begun showing up in rumors is lefty reliever Tim Byrdak.  Lefty relievers are a valued (sometimes over-valued) commodity, and when the only other one who shows up in rumors is the Methusela-like Arthur Rhodes, chances are some team is willing to pay for Byrdak’s services.

Washington Nationals – Most of the calls that the Nationals have been reportedly receiving have been for pitchers, and with good reason.  Middle reliever Tyler Clippard, the Nats lone All-Star representative, is a standout in the righty reliever market, of which many are available.  He’s a valuable chip to have, and the Nationals would be equally wise to hold on to him as they would be if they received a nice return for him.  Starters Jason Marquis and Livan Hernandez are also pieces of potential trade bait but would likely fetch a much less impressive bounty.  As for their hitters (and I use the term loosely), the only player that seems to be discussed is young shortstop Ian Desmond.  However, while Desmond may be among the tops in potential among the young players in the league, to this point he’s shown little else.  It’s hard to picture him as part of a trade deadline deal, as his impact seems far from immediate.

Florida Marlins – The Marlins are in an interesting position for a team that’s unlikely to make a splash during this period.  After starting out the season showing contender-like promise, an awful beginning to the summer has rendered this team all but mathematically eliminated with August approaching.  However, for the most part, this is a young team with some potent potential.  Furthermore, with a new stadium opening up next season, the Marlins will likely focus on strengthening the team in the offseason instead of making any big moves right now.  That said, closer Leo Nunez, reliever Randy Choate, and starter Ricky Nolasco have both value and interest.  While it’s unlikely that the Marlins move Nolasco, he is the most valuable of the three players mentioned and is also the oldest of the supposed core starters (Nolasco, Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez) of the Marlins future.  At this point, the Marlins are neither buyers nor sellers, however it’s hard to imagine that they wouldn’t consider a deal for Nolasco if it would net them a younger starter or a quality third baseman.

Now that teams have played over 100 games in the 2011 season, the true pennant/wild card races have truly begun to take shape, and the separation between contenders and the rest has grown larger.  For teams that already look like their year will end before October, the trade deadline may be the last exciting period of the season.  The National League East contains 2 teams with postseason potential and 3 teams dangling important pieces in front of the rest of the league.  Whether or not any moves come to fruition, this will likely be a more exciting week off the field than it is on the field within this division.

Shai Kushner is a Senior Writer for BaseballDigest.com.  Email Shai at: BaseballDigestShai@gmail.com.  Follow Shai on Twitter at: @BD_ShaiKushner.

After Williams retired, the Yankees have searched for their next great center fielder who would comb center. They tried Johnny Damon — a process which ended with Damon in left — Melky Cabrera who could not hit enough for the position and then Brett Gardner.

However, last off-season the Yankees shipped Austin Jackson — the supposed center fielder of the future — and Phil Coke to acquire Detroit Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson. Granderson has showed since that he possesses all the tools and moxie to be the next great center fielder in Yankees history.

The Yankees had spent years building up the attributes of Jackson, saying he had the potential to be the next great center fielder because of his athleticism, making the trade even more surprising.

It came as a huge shock to local analysts and fans alike that they sent him packing to Detroit, but a closer examination of his Minor League numbers may explain why. During five seasons in the minors, Jackson hit .288 while blasting 30 home runs and stuck out 522 times.

For a player who does not have high power numbers Jackson struck out at a high regularity, making the Yankees worry about his ability at the Major League level. Instead of letting him develop and possibly having a superstar player in their system, the Yankees went with the safe choice and acquired Granderson.

Granderson is already an established star who had made numerous All-Star teams and was coming off of a career season. It didn’t hurt that Granderson is in the middle of his prime and in a affordable contract for a player of his caliber.

The Yankees felt they had earned a steal and after Granderson hit 30 home runs in the spacious Comerica Park, they felt he could have 40 home run power with the famous short-porch in right field at his new home.

However, not everything went as planned for the Bombers and Granderson. The newly-acquired center fielder struggled to begin the season, seemingly struggling to adjust the big-time atmosphere of playing in New York. Then, just as it seemed he was gaining his footing — Granderson suffered a hamstring injury and was placed on the DL.

While in Detroit, Jackson had shown the flashes of becoming a star, hitting over .320 for the first part of the season. The deal which at one point seemed to favor the Yankees, slowly inched toward Detroit for the present and the future.

After being activated off the DL, Granderson continued to struggle. His batting average sat at a disappointing .214 even as late into the season as July. Then after a few sessions with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long, Granderson caught fire.

He finished the season with a .247 average and blasted 24 home runs after a power surge late in the year. The difference in his swing centered around standing closer to the plate and utilizing both hands on his follow-through.

After one season of being acclimated to the Yankees environment, Granderson has excelled. The “Grandy-Man,” as radio announcer John Sterling calls him, has hit eight home runs while batting .272. He has even conquered his biggest weakness — lefty pitching — by blasting his first three home runs off of lefties.

Granderson has captured the hearts of Yankees’ fans with the way he plays the game each and every day — hustling for every ball in the outfield and running out every routine grounder. He seems to geniunely love playing in New York and he understands what the fans expect out of him.

Granderson will never have the career stats of Mantle and DiMaggio, but if he continues to produce at these levels — The “Grandy-Man,” will be mentioned in the same breath of these Yankees legends.

Around the Division:

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles have not been the same team since their eye-opening start to the season. The Orioles young rotation has been up and down with the exception of A.L. Rookie of the Year front-runner Zach Britton who owns a 5-1 record. The Orioles have a bright future ahead of them, but expect a .500 season in Baltimore.

Boston Red Sox: After handing Jered Weaver his first loss of the season on Monday, the Red Sox continued their winning ways last night as they swept the first two games of the four-game set. The Sox are guaranteed of at least earning a series split but will look to win the series tonight.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays continued their hot-stretch with a walk-off win last night against the Jays. After winning five consecutive series, the Rays dropped the series over the weekend against the Angels, but have started their series against the Jays with a win. They look to secure another series win with a victory tonight.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays Jose Bautista earned the A.L. Player of the Month award on Monday after his tremendous start to the season. Bautista has continued to play well after his monster season last year, but thus far his teammates have not followed suit. For the Jays to succeed, they need other players to step up and make a difference.

Ryan Lazo is a Senior Writer covering the A.L. East for BaseballDigest.com. He can be reached at RMLazo13@gmail.com, followed on Twitter @RMLazo13, and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.

His initial call up to the Majors was an embarrassment- a little fish in a big pond. He couldn’t hit big league pitching and even worse, he looked like an ant trying to cover Yankee Stadium’s spacious centerfield and the adjacent gaps. He eventually worked his way up to a regular position, but performed miserably in 2008 and was sent to the minors. But Cabrera came into the 2009 season with a different attitude and eventually overtook Brett Gardner as the starting centerfielder. It was then that the Melkman began to deliver.

The Yankees had a number of new players and a new tradition, including pie ala A.J. Burnett in the face of any walk-off winning run producer. It began early in the season, April 22nd against Oakland- a 14-inning affair was decided when Cabrera hit his second home run of the game for a 9-7 victory. On May 24, the Yankees rallied in the 9th against the Philadelphia Phillies and closer Brad Lidge. Down 4-2 entering the inning, the Yankees tied things up and had the winning run on second base. That’s when Cabrera singled to bring home his best buddy, Robinson Cano, with the winner.

Cabrera wasn’t just a walk-off wizard with the eventual champion Yankees, he excelled at the plate when the innings grew late. There was an 8th inning game-winning home run against Texas in June and an RBI single in the same frame to top the Angels in the first game in May. In late and close games, he hit .304 with 19 RBI and a .754 OPS.  Though he wasn’t credited with a walk-off salutation, it was his 13th inning grounder in Game 2 of the ALCS that Maicer Izturis threw away to give the Yankees the win.

But the Yankees were not completely happy with Cabrera, most likely because of his relationship/influence on Cano, as well as his tendency to carry too much weight on his six-foot frame. Cabrera was jettisoned to Atlanta after the season and his offense plummeted. His OPS dropped to .671 and he drove in just 42 runs in 509 plate appearances. But the Melkman still had some late inning deliveries in him. An August 2-run single in the 9th inning toppled the Dodgers at Turner Field. In May, Cabrera’s infield single combined with a David Wright error gave the Braves a last inning 3-2 win over the New York Mets.

Cabrera moved on again for the 2011 season after Atlanta released him in October. This season is on average about 20 games old, but Kansas City has quickly learned the lore of  “late inning Melky”. Cabrera provided the game winning, 12th inning hit on April 5th to push the Royals’ record to 4-1. Two weeks later, Cabrera threw out the Indians’ Carlos Santana at the plate in the 8th inning to hold the Royals deficit at two. Then in the 9th, he capped off a three run rally with the game winning single. The Melkman had left his calling card once again.

Though he has had an up and down career with the bat, Cabrera has maintained his late inning heroics. His nine walk-off winners since 2006 are the third highest total in Major League baseball (only Andre Ethier (11), and Ryan Zimmerman (10) have more). He may not have a Hall of Fame career, he may be relegated to the bench at some point, but when the game is on the line, fans know that Melky Cabrera can be counted on to set off a celebration.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Speaking of Lee, and that’s all that anyone in NY and Texas seems to be doing, an interesting tweet emerged from Buster Olney of ESPN this morning. It was in response to SI’s Jon Heyman’s insistance that there is a third mystery team involved in the Lee negotations. To which Olney responded,

On Sunday mlb.com’s Bill Ladson reported that the Washington Nationals were out of the running for Lee. It’s unlikely though that this is the so-called “mystery team”, which by the way has it’s own hash tag (#mysteryteam) on Twitter now. I respect Jon Heyman, but it seems Buster Olney is on the money with this one.

Lee’s agent Darek Braunecker reportedly was in contact with the Yankees this morning. So, make up your mind Cliff Lee. Make up your mind.

Rumors, News, and Transactions

The SF Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reports that Hideki Matsui should sign with the Oakland A’s within a day or two. Go go Godzilla. The A’s are also expected to ink free agent pitcher Brandon McCarthyl to a deal.

Olney expects the Yankees to reach an agreement soon with Russell Martin to be their starting catcher. He also reports thats the Rangers have stepped up their pursuit of Adrian Beltre.  This despite not being able to move Michael Young at the moment.

Ken Rosenthal has the Dodgers in hot pursuit of utililty man Bill Hall.

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and a contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Wade LeBlanc took the hill against Jair Jurrjens who, since returning from a hamstring injury on 30 June, has been dominant (2oK in 24.2 IP, 2.19 ERA).  San Diego almost jumped ahead in the first on Nick Hundley’s single, but Brave center fielder Melky Cabrera threw out David Eckstein at the plate.  The play would be costly, as Eckstein re-aggravated his right calf injury and had to leave the game.  He would eventually land on the 15-day DL.  The Padres did take the early lead one inning later thanks to a Chris Denorfia home run.  Jurrjens would settle down after that, allowing San Diego only two more hits over the next 5.2 innings.

LeBlanc would hold the lead until the fourth, when Brave left fielder Matt Diaz drove in Troy Glaus with his third HR in as many days.  It would be a lead Atlanta did not relinquish.  The Braves tacked on two runs off reliever Ryan Webb, and went on to win 4-1.

Tuesday’s game featured Jon Garland against Tommy Hanson, and followed largely the same script.  San Diego jumped ahead in the second inning.  Will Venable was hit by a Hanson pitch, stole second, and scored on Everth Cabrera’s two-out single.  Garland kept the rally going with a soft single, and Jerry Hairston Jr scored Cabrera on a single to right-center.  Atlanta took over the lead in the fourth inning.  This time it was Brian McCann providing the fireworks, hitting a 3-run bomb just after Chipper Jones knocked in the first Atlanta run with a two-out single.

The score would stay that way until the ninth.  Billy Wagner had retired the Padres on 11 pitches the previous day.  Not this time.  After retiring Oscar Salazar on a ground-out, and getting ahead of Scott Hairston 1-2, his next three pitches landed in the left-field stands (Hairston), found its way past third and into left for a base hit (J. Hairston), and ended up in the right-field corner for a double (Yorvit Torrealba) which was enough to get Hairston Jr home from first.  Tie game.

It would stay that way into the twelfth, when Hundley, pinch-hitting for the pitcher Tim Stauffer, lined a double down the left-field line to score Denorfia and Salazar.  Heath Bell came on and blew away the Braves, striking out the side, and San Diego had escaped with a 6-4 win.

Thursday Clayton Richard faced Tim Hudson.  Richard had struggled in his previous 3 outings, allowing at least 5 earned runs in each.  He quickly got in trouble in this game with a leadoff walk, single, and sacrifice fly.  Atlanta was able to keep the inning going thanks to an error by Venable in right, and newly acquired Brave Alex Gonzalez singled in a second run for a quick 2-0 lead.

There would be no comeback on this day.  Jason Heyward drove in Atlanta’s third run in the second, and Gonzalez knocked in his second run of the day in the third.  Hudson mowed the Padres down, allowing only 4 hits through his seven innings.  Atlanta blew the game open in the seventh with four more runs off Mr. Webb, and cruised to a 8-0 win.

San Diego then moved to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates, who had won exactly as many has they had lost at home (23-23).  Newly resurgent Kevin Correia drew de facto Pirate ace Paul Maholm in Friday’s contest.  The Padres jumped all over Maholm in the second inning.  Aaron Cunningham led off with a triple, Salazar reached on an infield single to third, and Cabrera walked to load the bases.  Correia rolled a single through to left, scoring Cunningham.  Hairston Jr’s sac fly plated Salazar, and Denorfia’s double scored Cabrera.  Adrian Gonzalez got into the act with a sac fly as well, and the Padres had a quick 4-0 lead.  Pittsburgh would get two back on a Lastings Milledge single in the fourth, and cut the lead to one on a Jose Tabata RBI groundout, but that was as close as they would get.  Venable hit the Padres’ third sac fly of the game in the seventh, scoring a huge insurance (aided significantly by Pirate reliever Brendan Donnelly, who walked the bases loaded).  5-3 Padres.

Saturday saw Mat Latos, fully recovered from a violent sneeze that landed him on the DL, locking up with Jeff Karstens.  The Pirates scored first on a Tabata HR, but the Padres answered with a Cabrera RBI single.  Pittsburgh re-took the lead thanks to a Delwyn Young solo shot in the fifth, and the Friars responded with three in the sixth, on RBI singles from Gonzo and Headley, as well as a sacrifice fly from Hundley.  San Diego put the game out of reach with a 5 run eighth, a rally they started against former teammate Sean Gallagher, which included a run-scoring balk.  The big blow was Salazar’s 2-run double.  Stauffer worked a scoreless eighth and ninth inning giving the Padres a 9-2 win.

Sunday brought an early start time to San Diego, as LeBlanc squared off against rookie Brad Lincoln.  For the second consecutive game, Pittsburgh struck first, in the second inning, on a Ronny Cedeno two-run blast.  San Diego roared back in the next half inning.  Denorfia doubled in LeBlanc and the Junior Hairston, and Gonzo followed with his 21st home run of the year.  Venable capped the scoring when his single plated Torrealba, who had also singled and stolen second base.  Lincoln would knock in a run in the fourth in support of his cause, but that would be all for Pittsburgh on this day.  Denorfia added an insurance run with a solo shot in the seventh.  Webb, Luke Gregerson, and Bell combined to shut out the Pirates the rest of the way, and San Diego had their 6-3 win.

It also marked the first series sweep of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh since 1998, which was also the last time San Diego won a post-season playoff series.  The Padres enter the final week of July with the League’s best record, and only 4 games behind the mighty Yankees for the best record in all of baseball.  This year’s trade deadline will fall on Saturday afternoon.  Lots of speculation abounds locally as to what the Padres will do.  Will they trade for another hitter?  Will they look for some starting pitching help?  It promises to be an interesting week, to say the least.

San Diego will play six at home next week, hosting Los Angeles and Florida.  After that they will spend most of August on the road; they have only three home games (ironically, against Pittsburgh) from August 2 through August 22.  It’s been a great ride so far this season for the Friar Faithful.  With San Francisco surging, if the Padres can survive this long road trip either close to or in first place, the division should be theirs for the taking.

You can look at it and argue it both ways. On one side you can say that the Braves could only get an average outfielder as the main piece. Yes, Arodys Vizcaino is a nice addition, but having Melky Cabrera as the headliner in exchange for a Cy Young candidate just doesn’t seem to add up.

On the other hand, Vazquez is likely to digress somewhat this coming season, and the Braves probably sold high. And as the entire reason for this, the Braves freed up a good $8-$10 million to acquire the bat they need. Vizcaino should be the main piece looked at in the deal.

I recently wrote a short piece on the Cubs’ center field options and mentioned Melky Cabrera briefly:

Melky Cabrera would probably come at a similar cost as Byrd, just in return instead of money. His BB/K rate went back up to his average after a pitiful 2008, and his OBP went back up to .336. His SLG and ISO were career highs at .416 and .142, and LD% was at a career high 20.9%. As Cabrera enters his prime years, he’s setting himself up for some career years, maybe as soon as 2010.

I do believe Cabrera is capable of turning a slight corner in the next couple years, but the problem is he has entered his arbitration years and is under team control for only a few more years. He will turn 26 in 2010. He should add some power as he develops more and faces NL pitchers, but his ceiling is only so high. Yankees players are always overhyped, and Cabrera is no different. League average with a chance at slightly above average for a corner outfielder.

The key factor for the Braves’ side of the deal is Vizcaino. He’s a young hurler who has tons of potential but is a long way away. As a 18-year-old in A-ball, Vizcaino posted a 2.13 ERA in 42 innings, walking 15 and striking out 52. A H/9 of 0.4 and FIP of 2.49 shows that Vizcaino completely dominated the league, and his solid walk rate is a sign of maturity at such a young age. He has a ways to go (will probably be assigned to Myrtle Beach, though it could be half Rome/half Beach), but at this point he’s automatically a top five prospect for the Braves. I would list him above Craig Kimbrel, just below Julio Teheran, who many have compared him to.

Michael Dunn is a LOOGY in the making. He has control problems that might prevent him from becoming a late-inning option, but he could fill the role of lefty reliever if needed. He will be Eric O’ Flaherty’s backup, just as Boone Logan was.

You can’t get on Frank Wren’s case that much considering it was a salary dump. The Braves acquire an average outfielder, a top prospect that is boom or bust, and a decent enough lefty reliever who is young and cheap, all to free up the payroll. The deciding factor for the Braves: how Wren spends that extra money.

Vazquez was originally acquired by the Yankees prior to the 2004 season. Ironically, recent free agent signee Nick Johnson was part of a package (along with Juan Rivera and Randy Choate) that landed Vazquez from the Montreal Expos.

Vazquez started out like a house afire in the Bronx, winning 10 games and was selected to the 2004 AL All-Star team. But a sore shoulder, which he kept hidden from the team, contributed to a miserable second half (6.92 ERA in 14 starts). He sealed his fate in pinstripes when he gave up a pair of home runs to Johnny Damon (more irony), including a grand slam, in Game 7 of the ’04 ALCS. Vazquez was sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks in January, 2005 as part of a deal for Randy Johnson.

The right-hander is a work-horse, having averaged 216.1 innings over the last decade. He’s in the final year of a free agent deal he signed with the Chicago White Sox prior to the 2006 season (he was dealt to Atlanta - even more irony – with Logan during the last off-season.). Since he’ll be a back end of the rotation guy, this was a good move by Cashman.

Cabrera had his ups and downs in the Bronx. He bounced back from a rough 2008, which included a minor league demotion, and losing his starting job, to posting career bests in home runs (13) and OPS (.752) in 2009.

He helped the Yankees to several walk off wins in 2009, hit for the cycle against the White Sox, and was a solid contributor to the Yankees 27th world championship. He became expendable with the recent acquisition of center fielder Curtis Granderson from Detroit. A solid defender with a strong accurate arm, Melky’s value was never going to be higher and Cashman was smart to move him before his offense had a chance to take a dip next season.

Matsui’s solo shot off Philadelphia’s Pedro Martinez in the sixth inning of Game 2 broke a 1-1 stalemate and was the key blow in the Yankees’ 3-1 victory over the Phillies.

When healthy, Matsui has been one of the most consistent Yankees since arriving from Japan in 2003. But his troublesome knees have given rise to doubt that he will return to the Bronx in 2010. For one night, he puts those doubts to rest.

“Matsui has been huge for us all year,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

The former Tokyo Giants legend posted 28 homers and 90 RBIs in 142 games this season, and his second homer of the playoffs is proof he remains a vital part of the team’s offense.

On the mound, New York was even more impressive.

After A.J. Burnett allowed the Phillies their first – and only – run of the game on an RBI single by Matt Stairs in the second inning, the Yankee offense was quiet until Mark Teixeira homered to right-center leading off the fourth to tie the game at 1-1.

The Bombers got another run in the seventh, when Jerry Hairston led off the inning with a base hit. Brett Gardner pinch-ran, and reached third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Melky Cabrera, and scored on Jorge Posada’s pinch-hit single.

Burnett had a solid outing, striking out nine, including Ryan Howard three times, in his seven innings of work to earn his first-ever Series win. Thought by some to be the weak link in the Yankees’ rotation coming into the postseason, Burnett’s gutsy performance saved the bullpen any extra work after a terrible showing in the Game 1 defeat.

Instead, Mariano Rivera, like he did in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Angels, got the final six outs for the save.

Joe Saunders, who performed so well in Game 2, blanked the Yankees through three innings, but trailing 1-0 in the 4th, the Yankees broke through.  Robinson Cano drew a lead-off walk and Nick Swisher followed with a bust-out-of-a-slump single to left.  After Melky Cabrera successfully sacrificed the runners over, Saunders walked Derek Jeter to load the bases.  Johnny Damon got the Yankees off the schneid with runners in scoring position with a base hit to left field for a 2-1 lead.  After a single by Mark Teixeira loaded the bags again, Saunders walked Alex Rodriguez to force in the third run of the inning.  After that it was all up to Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera.

Pettitte allowed an RBI single to former teammate Bobby Abreu in the third, but was spotless the rest of the night. His biggest challenge came in the 6th when Torii Hunter reached on a two-out single and Vlad Guerrero followed with a double.  But Pettitte knocked down Kendry Morales’ comebacker and threw him out at first to escape the jam.

Pettitte received a standing ovation after he allowed a one-out single to Juan Rivera in the 7th and departed in favor of Chamberlain.  The right-hander bridged the gap to Rivera by retiring pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar to keep the game at 3-1.

The Sandman actually looked human in the 8th inning when he gave up a two out RBI single to Guerrero to cut the deficit to 3-2.  But the Angels, so sound fundamentally, gave the Yankees some breathing room in the home half of the inning.

After a walk to Cano, Nick Swisher laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.  Howie Kendrick dropped Scott Kazmir’s throw to first for an error and the Yankees were in business.  Cabrera followed with another sac bunt, which Kazmir “sky hooked” into right field for a run-scoring error.  Teixeira’s long sac fly to center gave the Yankees an insurmountable 5-2 lead.

In the 9th, Rivera retired Kendrick on a ground-out and Juan Rivera on a fly-out before striking out pinch-hitter Gary Matthews Jr. for the final  out.  Rivera strode off the mound, exchanged hugs with Jorge Posada, and the Yankees’ celebration was on.

Game Notes

Game 1 of the World Series is Wednesday night.  The Yankees will send the ALCS MVP, CC Sabathia, out against his former Indians teammate Cliff Lee.

All of that did indeed happen last night as the Yankees took a commanding 3 games to 1 lead with a 10-1 blowout of the Halos.  Except the game was really closer than that until late and the Yankees did not play a very smart or sharp game.  Smart and sharp was CC Sabathia.  The big left-hander showed little issue of pitching on three days rest.  He struck out just four, but used his defense, which wasn’t tested with any difficult plays.  A Kendry Morales solo home run was the only blight on his record.  Sabathia threw 101 pitches, only nine in one inning, and allowed a run on five hits in eight innings.  He’s 2-0, 1.13 in two ALCS starts and 3-0, 1.19 in the post-season.

Rodriguez homered for the third straight game and is now just one home run behind Bernie Williams (six) for the most home runs in a single post-season.  A-Rod wasn’t just about home runs last night though.  He doubled, singled, stole a base, and scored on an aggressive play at home plate.  Oh, and he had a walk too.  Counting the final regualr season game against Tampa Bay, A-Rod has 7 HR and 21 RBI in his last eight games.

A-Rod finally got some help at the plate last night in the person of Melky Cabrera.  The Yankees have been beyond bad with runners in scoring position this post-season, but got some big hits last night.  Cabrera’s 2-run single in the 4th gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead and his 2-run double in the 9th made Joe Girardi’s decision to bring in Chad Gaudin an easy one.  Johnny Damon also contributed an 8th inning, 2-run home run.

Now to get to the crazy parts and there were plenty of them.  The post-season has already been marked with bad calls- see Phil Cuzzi and the Minnesota Twins- but last night’s calls were inexplicable.

Case 1 – Nick Swisher is clearly picked off of second base, but is ruled safe by Dale Evans (insert Roy Rogers joke here).  Many have asked why didn’t manager Mike Scioscia argue the call? Simple.  Shortstop Erick Aybar, who applied the tag, did not argue the call.  The manager has the worst seat in the house, so he relies on his player’s reactions.  No reaction, no argument.  It will be interesting to see if MLB fines the Angels though for showing the instant replay on the stadium scoreboard to a loud chorus of boos.

Case 2 – It’s hard to say this was a make up call since it wasn’t the same umpire involved.  With Swisher on third base, Damon lofted a fly ball to center field.  Swisher tagged up and scored what would have been a big insurance run at the time.  The Angels quickly appealed, feeling that Swisher had left third base early.  Veteran umpire Tim McLelland agreed and the run was taken off the board.  Replays showed Swisher definitely did NOT leave early and McLelland was looking out at center field, not at the base runner during the play.

Case 3 - This one was a combination of bonehead play by the Yankees and another bad call by McLelland, who was probably wishing for a “simple” pine tar case like back in the day.  Jorge Posada drew a walk in the 5th inning and remarkably stole second base as Hideki Matsui struck out.  That should have been the tip-off right there that strange things were to follow.

Robinson Cano hit a laser to center that Hunter bluffed having a play on.  Posada fell for it, hook, line, and sinker and went back to the base to tag up.  He should have been playing it half way, but instead only ended up at third base despite Cano pulling into second with a double.  Wait, it gets better.

Posada took off on contact when Swisher hit a comebacker.  Posada was a dead duck and headed back to third as Cano was approaching.  Posada ran past the bag while Cano stopped a foot short of the base.  Catcher Mike Napoli wisely tagged out both runners for an easy double play.  But nothing is easy in these playoffs.  McLelland ruled that Cano was safe.  In his post-game press conference, Scioscia said McLelland told him he felt Cano was on the bag already.  The Halos’ manager was exasperated, but knew he had no argument if that’s what the umpire felt had happened.  In his own press conference later, McLelland would admit to blowing both calls.

As if Posada and Cano’s “boneheadedness” was enough on that play, Posada also forgot how many outs there were later in the game after the Yankees turned a double play.  His teammates had to quickly get his attention before the Angels scored an easy run from third.  And of course, Posada has also lost the count while batting this season.

Gaudin had a nice easy 1-2-3 inning in the 9th and Yankees fans, ready to stone Girardi the night before, could relax.  They could also laugh, as Rivera himself did, at the spitball accusations made earlier in the day.  And most importantly, the Yankees are just one win away from their first World Series in six years.

Notes

With Jose Molina catching A.J. Burnett in Thursday’s Game 5, Joe Girardi may consider going with Jorge Posada as the DH gainst John Lackey.  Hideki Matsui has fallen into a 2-11 skid and looked lost last night.

Derek Jeter led off Game 4 with a single, but was picked off, resulting in a caught stealing.  Brett Gardner was also caught stealing and is 0-2 in the series.  And yes, Jorge Posada is 1-1.

Scott Kazmir was less than stellar last night.  The Yankees as a lineup have struggled against Kazmir throughout their careers, but the left-hander didn’t have his control.  He lasted just four innings, allowing six hits, four runs, four walks, and threw a wild pitch.

Nick Swisher was limping around after beating hit on the foot by an Ervin Santana pitch.

Sabathia came out firing bullets in the first inning and was still hitting 95-mph on the radar gun in his final frame.  He threw 113 pitches, 76 of which were strikes, in winning his fourth career post-season game. Sabathia allowed just four hits, a walk, and struck out seven.  His only difficulty came in the 4th inning with the Yankees up 2-0.  Torii Hunter reached on a one out double and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Kendry Morales.  But Sabathia retired Howie Kendrick on a line out to right to end the inning.

The Yankees jumped right on Angels’ starter John Lackey in the 1st inning.  Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon reached on back to back singles, and Juan Rivera contributed a throwing error, to put both runners in scoring position with no one out.  Lackey got a big out when Mark Teixeira popped out, but Alex Rodriguez flew to deep center for his 7th RBI of the post-season and a 1-0 Yankees’ lead.

The Yankees then got a huge break when Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar stared at Hideki Matsui’s pop up until it fell in for a gift RBI single.  Figgins appeared to at first call for the ball, but neither infielder took charge and the Yankees took advantage.

Lackey appeared to be getting stronger in the middle innings, but then the Yankees mounted another threat in the 5th.  Damon led off with a double and one batter later, A-Rod earned an unintentional intentional walk.  Matsui ripped a clean hit to left-center to score Damon, but A-Rod ran through the stop sign at third and was out on a hard collision at home plate with catcher Jeff Mathis.

In the 6th, Melky Cabrera reached on a two out walk and moved to second on Lackey’s errant pick off throw.  Jeter ripped a single back up the middle.  Any chance Hunter had of throwing Cabrera out at home went out the window when the ball kicked off the heel of his glove and shot past him for an error.

Joe Girardi didn’t hesitate at all in sending Sabathia out for the 8th inning, but there was no doubt he was going to Mariano Rivera in the 9th.  The Yankees closer walked Hunter to start the 9th, but retired the next three batters for his 36th career post-season save.

Game Notes

David Cone threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game after nearly not getting there on time.  As Cone relayed on the YES post-game show, he appeared this afternoon on Michael Kay’s radio show at a bar across from the Stadium.  Only Cone didn’t realize how late it was and nearly forgot his pre-game honor.  Luckily, he made it on time and threw a slider strike to Jose Molina.

It was the Yankees first ALCS victory since Game 3 of the 2004 series, exactly 5 yeasrs to the day.

The Yankees also had to be encouraged by the second straight good start by A.J. Burnett. Though he lasted just 5 2/3 innings in 95 degree heat, Burnett struck out 11 and limited the Angels lineup to two runs.  He ran out of gas in the 6th, allowing an RBI double to Gary Matthews Jr., followed by a walk to Mike Napoli.  Girardi sent for Damaso Marte to flip Chone Figgins around to the right side.  The dangerous switch-hitter already had three hits, but Marte retired him on a fly to right to preserve the lead.

After that it was all mix and match and keeping one’s fingers crossed.  The biggest surprise, to the pitcher himself, was when Girardi called on Ian Kennedy in the 8th.  It was Kennedy’s first major league appearance this season after missing most of the year due to surgery for an aneurysm in his shoulder.  It wasn’t pretty, butIPK got the job done.  He loaded the bases loaded with a pair of walks and a hit batter, but got Erick Aybar on a fly to Melky Cabrera in left to set things up for Rivera.

With a lineup that was missing Alex Rodriguez (rest), Jorge Posada (foul ball off his foot), and Nick Swisher (foul ball off his knee), the Yankees knew they would have to scratch and claw for runs.  Mark Teixeira stroked a one out double off Scott Kazmir in the 4th and tried to score two batters later when Shelley Duncan ripped a single to left off the glove of Figgins at third.  Despite the fact Teixeira had started to head back to 2nd base, 3rd base coach Rob Thomson waved Teixeira home, hoping to break the scoreless tie.  Unfortunately for Thomson, Juan Rivera made a perfect throw to nail Teixeira at the plate.

Hideki Matsui, who had drawn a walk, and Duncan both into scoring position on the play.  That’s when the guy you would least expect to deliver in the clutch, did just that. Robinson Cano came into the game barely hitting over .200 with runners in scoring position, but ripped a single to right to plate both runners.  WhenNapoli couldn’t handle the throw home, Cano moved to 2nd base.  The play would prove important when Melky Cabrera followed with a double to easily score his buddy for a 3-0 Yankees lead.

So perhaps the Yankees finally have some confidence in the home of the Halos.  What they definitely have is a six game lead over Boston in the AL East and a six game homestand ahead with the Sox and Kansas City Royals.

Game Notes

The Yankees have Thursday off before starting that 3-game set with the Red Sox.  Joe Girardi has shuffled his starting rotation, moving CC Sabathia to Saturday to give him an extra day’s rest.  Joba Chamberlain will go Friday night against Jon Lester.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, A.J. Burnett is just the third Yankee pitcher to record double digit strikeouts in less than six innings.  Chamberlain did it earlier this season (12 K’s) and David Cone performed the feat in 1998 (11 K’s).

Jerry Hairston Jr. left the game with a wrist injury when he checked his swing in the 7th inning.  Hairston hurt a popping sound and will go for tests today.

WP – Chamberlain (8-2)  LP – Smoltz (2-5)

John Smoltz was one of the premier pitches of the 1990′s and was still going strong when the 21st century began, but a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery has taken its’ toll on the 42-yr old right-hander.  He was a shell of his former self last night as the Yankees finally beat the Boston Red Sox, pounding Smoltz and company to the tune of a 13-6 win.

Joba Chamberlain was nearly as ineffective as his counterpart.  He walked 7 batters and barely made it through 5 innings to pick up the win.  Thankfully for him, the Yankees offense was on a no-holds barred mission.  Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, and Jorge Posada paced an 18-hit attack with 3 hits apiece and the 6 thru 9 hitters combined for 10 RBI.

Home runs by Dustin Pedroia and Casey Kotchman had propelled the Red Sox to a 3-1 entering the 4th inning, but the Yankees jumped all over Smoltz and his replacement, Billy Traber, to take control of the game.

Posada led off the frame with a double and scored on Robinson Cano’s single back up the middle.  Yankees fans held their breath after watching Posada get thrown out at the plate after trying to score from 2nd on Nick Swisher’s single two innings earlier.  (Posada, inexplicably, did not slide on the play in which he would most likely have scored.  Instead he gingerly put a hand up to the mask of catcher Victor Martinez, who easily tagged him out.  75 instant replays later, everyone was still scratching their heads.  Thankfully for Posada’s ego there was no play at the plate in the 4th.)

Swisher followed Cano’s single with a walk and Melky Cabrera put the Yankees on top with a 3-run home run into the second deck in right (he must have gotten permission from Teixeira).  Smoltz finally retired Derek Jeter for the inning’s first out, but after a walk to Damon and a double by Teixeira, manager Terry Francona ordered Smoltz to intentionally walk Alex Rodriguez, before he removed his starter.

Lefty Billy Traber, recalled earlier in the day, retired Hideki Matsui on a run producing force out, but Posada put an exclamation point on the inning with a 3-run blast that traveled well over 400 ft. to dead center field.

Handed a 9-3 lead, Chamberlain still struggled.  He walked the bases loaded with one out in the 5th and allowed an RBI single to Mike Lowell.  Shots of manager Joe Girardi on the dugout steps revealed the inner turmoil going on his mind, whether to take out Chamberlain or let him finish the 5th inning.  Thankfully for Girardi, Chamberlain decided his own fate, getting back to back strike outs of Kotchman and Nick Green to retire the side.

Game Notes

The Yankees won despite pitching ugly and I mean ugly.  Yankees pitchers issued 12 walks – Chamberlain (7), David Robertson (1), Phil Coke (1), Mark Melancon (1), Anthony Claggett (2)- the most in a victory in 42 years.  With 10 strikeouts there was a lot of no-contact.  According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Chamberlain became the first Yankees pitcher in 23 years to beat the Red Sox despite issuing at least 7 walks.  Doug Drabek accomplished the feat back then.

Jorge Posada honored Thurman Munson with a number 15 on his mask.  Last night marked the 30th anniversary of the post-funeral game in which Bobby Murcer drove in all 5 runs in a 5-4 Yankees victory over Baltimore.  YES announcer Ken Singleton, who worked last night’s game, was the O’s right fielder that night and Eddie Murray, the O’s then 1st baseman, was also in attendance for last night’s game and stopped in the booth.

During the game the Yankees announced the acquisition of right-hander Chad Gaudin from the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later or cash.  Gaudin will initially pitch out of the bullpen, but could supplant Sergio Mitre in the rotation.

Muhammad Ali was on hand last night to present Hal Steinbrenner with the “Six Star Diamond Award” for Yankee Stadium and Legends Hospitality, LLC with the “Five Star Award” for the food services and hospitality excellence at the new Stadium.  The Yankees played highlights of Ali’s boxing career on the video screen, including his matches at the old Yankee Stadium.

WP – Sabathia (11-7)  SV – Rivera (30)  LP – Buehrle (11-5)

The Yankees finally beat a team with Sox in their name, thanks in large part to Melky Cabrera who became the first Yankee in 14 years to hit for the cycle.  CC Sabathia gutted his way through 7+ innings and the Yankees topped the Chicago White Sox 8-5.

Cabrera jump started the Yankees with a 3-run home run in the 2nd inning, but the White Sox tagged Sabathia for 4 runs in the 3rd inning.  After cutting the Yankees lead to 3-1, Jermaine Dye hit his 24th home run with a man aboard and Jim Thome followed with a solo shot, his 18th, to give Chicago a 4-3 lead.

But White Sox starter Mark Buehrle, two starts removed from his perfect game, was anything but perfect.  The Yankees took the lead right back on the left-hander in the top of the 4th.  Cabrera led off the inning with a double and moved to 3rd base on Jerry Hairston Jr.’s sac bunt.  Jose Molina punch a single to center to tie the game and Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon followed with singles for a 5-4 Yankees lead.

Cabrera’s RBI single in the 5th knocked Buehrle out of the game and left the center fielder just a triple shy of the cycle.  He grounded out in the 6th inning, but with Scott Linebrink on the mound in the 9th, lined a shot to right field.  Again, Dye misjudged the ball and it sailed over his head to the wall.  As the ball bounced around the fence, Cabrera kicked it into high gear and beat the relay to 3rd to become the first Yankees since Tony Fernandez on September 3, 1995, to hit for the cycle.

Sabathia bared down after the 3rd and was charged with just one more run in the 8th when an inherited runner scored against Mariano Rivera.  But Rivera picked up a 4-out save to finally beat a Sox team.

Game Notes

Melky Cabrera’s cycle was the 15th in the Yankees’ history.  The previous players to accomplish the feat were Fernandez (’95), Bobby Murcer (’72), Mickey Mantle (’57), Joe DiMaggio (’37, ’48), Joe Gordon (’40), Buddy Rosar (’40), Lou Gehrig (’34, ’37), Tony Lazzeri (’32), Bob Meusel (’21, ’22, ’28), Bert Daniels (’12).

Mariano Rivera reached the 30 save plateau for the 12th time in his career.

The Yankees have the day off, then go to Toronto for a 2-game series before heading home to face the Red Sox in a 4-game series.

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of Yankees captain Thurman Munson.  Ironically, the White Sox were the last team that Munson faced.

WP – Chamberlain (6-2)  LP – Anderson (5-8)

Pitching and defense wins champions. Right now it’s win baseball games for the New York Yankees.  Joba Chamberlain pitched into the 8th inning and the Yankees took advantage of sloppy Oakland A’s defense to win their eighth straight ball game, 8-3.

Chamberlain won consecutive starts for just the second time in his career and came out for the 8th inning after throwing 93 pitches through 7 innings.  But leading just 4-1 at the time, Joe Girardi was forced to go to the bullpen when his starter gave up a walk and hit a batter to open the inning.  Phil Coke came on and stranded the A’s runners and the Yankees broke open the game in the bottom half of the inning, enabling Mariano Rivera to enjoy a night off.

Oakland starter Brett Anderson started out well, striking out the side in the 1st inning, but ran into trouble in the 3rd.  Down 1-0, Robinson Cano stroked a lead off single and two batters later his buddy, Melky Cabrera, doubled to left.  Derek Jeter hit a patented lined single to right to tie the game and the Yankees tied it when Anderson didn’t get over to 1st base on Johnny Damon’s potential double play grounder.  Instead the ball hit Damon in the hip as Cabrera scored the go ahead run.  Anderson committed the same faux pas later in the game and will definitely be working on his pitcher’s fielding practice (PFP) next spring.

It was just Anderson’s defense though.  Alex Rodriguez hit a line drive to left field to start the 6th inning.  Until his trade earlier in the day, Matt Holliday would have been out there, but instead Scott Hairston lost the ball in the lights, allowing A-Rod to reach with a 2-base hit.  Two batters later, Hideki Matsui hit a high chopper that brought home Rodriguez for a 4-1 Yankees lead.

Chamberlain gave up a run in the 1st inning, but quickly settled in.  He retired the side in order in the 6th and 7th and eight straight over all before the first two hitters reached in the 8th.  He allowed just 2 hits, walked 3, and struck out 6.  Two of the K’s came in the 5th inning of a 2-1 game. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and just one out, Chamberlain struck out Mark Ellis and newly acquired Eric Patterson swinging, and finished with a fired up first pump.

With Rivera loosening in the bullpen, the Yankees put the game away with 4-run 8th inning, highlighted by Jorge Posada’s long home run to left field.

Game Notes

With 3 hits last night, Derek Jeter surpassed Ted Williams on the all-time career hits list with 2,655.

After all the talk of the Yankees not doing well against young pitching, they are now a MLB best 19-7 against rookie starters.

WP – Bruney (3-0)  SV – Rivera (19)  LP – White (2-1)

Jorge Posada congratulates Mo Rivera after ceremonial 1st pitch

Joba Chamberlain and Brandon Morrow have both heard the debates.  Should they be closers, future closers, set up men, starters (though we’re sure that Morrow has no equivalent of the bag of hot air that is debating it onJoba’s behalf.)?  Last night’s Yankees-Mariners game was a good fodder for throwing them both back in the pen.  Both starters were mediocre, but the Seattle bullpen did a worse job than the Yankees’ relief corp.  The end result was an 8-5 Yankees win that moved them to within 2.5 games of Boston in the AL East.

Brian Bruney had just blown a two run lead when the Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the 8th against Sean White.  Hideki Matsui greeted him with a double up the alley in right-center and the Yankees had an instant rally.  Nick Swisher ill advisedly laid down a bunt, but it was a perfect one.  Pinch-runner Brett Gardner moved to 3rd base and Swisher reach 1st base safely for a base hit.

Melky Cabrera’s double to center put the Yankees ahead 6-5 (the Melkman’s 3rd Ribbie of the night) and Derek Jeter followed with a 2-run single to give Mariano Rivera plenty of breathing room in the 9th.  Rivera had the honor of throwing out the game’s first pitch in commemoration of his 500th save and then had the opportunity of throwing the night’s last pitch as well.  He cruised through a 1-2-3 9th inning for the 501st save of his illustrious career.

Things weren’t so illustrious for Chamberlain, who reverted back to “the nibbler” after his excellent start against the Braves his last time out.  He couldn’t hold the 3-1 lead his teammates had given him and lasted just 5 1-3 innings.  Of his 96 pitches, just 55 were strikes.  He allowed 9 hits, 3 walks, and went deep into counts all night.

Morrow’s night was worse (98 pitches, 58 strikes)- 4.2 IP, and although just 1 of the 3 runs he allowed were earned, he issued 5 walks and gave up 5 base hits.  Both teams failure with runners in scoring position is the only thing that kept the game from being a 14-12 shootout.

Alex Rodriguez belted a long 2-run home run off of Chris Jakubauskas in the 7th to put the Bombers back on top 5-3.  But Joe Girardi pulled Phil Hughes, who had pitched a dominant 9-pitch 7th inning, in favor of his 8th inning “follow the script” guy.  It backfired as Bruney allowed 3 hits and a walk.   Russell Branyan’s bases loaded sacrifice fly tied the game before Bruney finally got Jose Lopez to ground out to end the inning.

Game Notes

The Red Sox have had their way with the Orioles all season, but last night the O’s suddenly woke up.  Boston built a 9-1 lead before the rains came to Camden Yards and delayed matters.  Down 10-1, the Orioles rallied late and pulled out a stunning 11-10 victory.

Eric Hinske’s flight out of Pittsburgh was delayed by the weather and he wasn’t able to get to the game in time.  Ramiro Pena is expected  to be sent down to learn to play the outfield.  The Yankees envision a Mark Mclemore type of player.

Telling stat from mlb.com’s Noah Coslov – 12 of Melky Cabrera’s 29 RBI have came in the 7th inning on and have tied the game or given the Yankees the lead.

Mariners 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre is expected to miss 6-8 weeks after undergoing surgery Tuesday to remove bone spurs in his shoulder.

The Yankees-M’s series continues tonight with Andy Pettitte facing Jarrod Washburn (or is that Keifer Sutherland?).

WP – Saito (1-0)  SV – Papelbon (16)  LP – Sabathia (5-4)

When Nick Green singled off CC Sabathia to start the 8th inning last night, an ominous sense came over me.  The feeling got stronger when Sabathia couldn’t put away Dustin Pedroia, after being ahead of him 1-2, and ended up walking him in a 10-pitch at-bat.  The feeling became overwhelming when Joe Girardi left an obviously cooked Sabathia in the game.  The end result was a 4-3 Red Sox win and a 2-game Sox lead in the AL East.  It also gave Boston victories in all eight games the two teams have played this season.

The Yankees had rallied from a one run deficit to take a 3-1 lead in the 7th.  Francisco Cervelli doubled down the left field line to score Melky Cabrera from first base with the tying run.  Four batters later Alex Rodriguez ripped a 2-run double to the gap in left-center off Manny DelCarmen to give the Bombers their only lead of the night.

But things fell apart for Sabathia in the 8th.  He had pitched an outstanding game, having just allowed a solo home run to David Ortiz (Yes, Papi did take a curtain call) in the 2nd inning.  But as YES announcer John Flaherty prematurely praised Sabathia’s game, things went to pieces for the big left-hander.  After Green and Pedroia walked, Sabathia hung an 0-1 breaking pitch to J.D. Drew.  The right fielder laced it into center field for a run scoring single to cut the Sox deficit to one.  Girardi finally pulled his starter after 123 pitches and sent for the normally reliable Al Aceves.  He was anything but reliable last night.

Kevin Youkilis greeted Aceves will a soft single to right to load the bases with no one out and Jason Bay followed with a line drive to left that short hopped Johnny Damon for a game tying single.   The Yankees lack of arms in the outfield hurt them on the very next play when Mike Lowell lofted a fly ball to medium left-center field.  Take your pick, center fielder Brett Gardner or the even weaker armed Damon.  Gardner made the catch and made a  throw that was nowhere near home plate nor had any zip on it.

Just like that, Boston had the lead back.  Jonathan Papelbon retired the side in order in the 9th, with Mark Teixeira making the only noise- a line out to Youkilis to end the game.

Game Notes

Red Sox’ starter Brad Penny hit Alex Rodriguez in the lower back with a pitch in the 1st inning.  After all four umpires conferred, both sides were given a warning.  If the umpires felt Penny had purposely thrown at A-Rod he should have been tossed from the game.  Otherwise, no warning should have been issued until the Yankees had the chance for some payback.

Nick Swisher deserves to be benched for tonight’s opener with the Mets.  One night after being doubled off first base on a soft liner hit right in front of him, Swisher was doubled off second base on a fly ball to the wall in left.  Both plays killed potential rallies.

Chien-Ming Wang will get one more start and Girardi will take things from there.  The Wanger is set to face the Florida Marlins on Wednesday.

The current Red Sox joined the 1912 Red Sox and 1990 A’s as the only teams to win their first eight games in a season against the Yankees.

The first part of the Subway Series starts tonight at Yankee Stadium.  The Mets are coming off a series loss to their division rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Player of the Month

Mark Teixeira - As bad as his April was, that’s how good Mark Teixeira’s May was.  He led all of baseball with 13 home runs and 34 RBI.  His split were tremendous – .330/.413/.748.  His defensive play at first base was a major reason the Yankees broke the record for consecutive scoreless games.  Johnny Damon gets an honorable mention for carrying the team for the first half of the month.

Highlights
3-run HR, game tying single in 11 inning win vs. Twins
2 HR, 4 RBI in 7-6 win vs. Twins
13-game hitting streak
Home run, 4 RBI in 5-4 loss at Indians
Game Tying 3-run double in extra loss vs. Rays

Worst Player of the Month

Nick Swisher was the polar opposite of Teixeira.  He won the coveted Sarver “Player of the Month” award for April only to fall into a dismal May slump that had many praying Xavier Nady would soon return.  Swisher hit just .150 in May with 29 strikeouts in 80 at-bats, and a paltry .586 OPS.  He didn’t lose his spirit though.

Pitcher of the Month

CC Sabathia – Sabathia was everything in May that the Yankees hoped for when they signed him this past off-season.  He went 4-1, 2.56 in 6 starts, limiting opposing hitters to a .204 batting average.  He allowed just 34 hits, walked 10, and struck 37 in 45.2 innings pitched.

Highlights
CG Shutout at O’s
8 IP, 5 H 2 ER in win at Blue Jays
7 IP, 3 H 1 ER in win vs. O’s

Worst Pitcher of the Month

How much longer will the Yankees continue to hope that Jose Veras turns things around?  He’s been nothing short of putrid.  His mild success last season has to be the only reason the Yankees keep him on the roster this season.  He was fortunate to pick up 2 wins in May, but allowed 9 earned runs in 9.2 IP (8.38 ERA) and walked 8 batters.  Veras needs to return to the minors.

Biggest Win of the Month

I can’t go with just one win for May – I have to go with three of them.  The three walk off wins against the Minnesota Twins, May 15-17. Honorable Mention to the first game of the month when the Yankees rallied in the last two innings from a 9-4 deficit to beat the Angels in the bottom of the 9th.

May 15

The Yankees had just concluded a 4-2 road trip with two straight wins in Toronto.  It put them a game over .500 with the Twins in town. The Yankees trailed game 1, 4-1 in the 7th inning.  Brett Gardner, who had replaced the ejected Johnny Damon, cut the lead in half with an inside-the-park-home run.  Gardner led off the bottom of the 9th with a stand up triple against closer Joe Nathan and scored the Yankees third run on Mark Teixeira’s RBI single.  Nathan walked Alex Rodriguez, but struck out Hideki Matsui and retired Nick Swisher on a ground out.  With runners on second and third and two outs, the Twins elected to walk Robinson Cano and pitch to Melky Cabrera.  The Melkman made them pay with a game winning 2-run single.

May 16

Teixeira’s RBI single in the 8th inning tied the game at 4-apiece.  Mariano Rivera escaped a 2-on, no out jam in the 10th to set things up for 11th inning heroics.  A-Rod’s first hit in the new Stadium was a loud one.  He followed Teixeira’s lead off walk with a long home run to left off Craig Breslow for a 6-4 Yankees win.

May 17

A.J. Burnett and Kevin Slowey were locked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel when the Twins put two on the board in the top of the 7th inning.  The Yankees answered right back in their half of the inning on an A-Rod home run and a Melky Cabrera sac fly to tie the game at 2-2.  The Yankees stranded two runners in the 7th, another in the 8th, and Gardner was cut down at home plate by Joe Mauer when he tried to score all the way from second base on an infield hit.  Al Aceves picked up the win in game 2 and was the winner again when Johnny Damon hit a 1-out pitch from Jesse Crain into the right field seats for a 3-2 Yankees triumph.

Worst Loss of the Month

May 7 vs. Tampa Bay – The Yankees had lost four in a row, all at home, and were playing the finale of a brief 2-game series with the reigning AL champion Rays.  With the game tied 6-6 in the 9th, Mariano Rivera surrendered home runs to Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria for an 8-6 loss. The defeat ended the homestand with a 5-game slide, showed Rivera’s vulnerability, and kept them 4.5 games behind the first place Blue Jays.

Most Devastating Injury

The worst injury May is the same injury that occurred in April.  Brian Bruney appeared in just one game in May before continued elbow pain put him back on the DL and left a hole in the Yankees late inning bullpen scenario.

Clutch Performer

Team Defense – Pitching and defense wins championships.  The Yankees tied the Major League Record for consecutive errorless games (17) and then broke the record as the calendar turned to June.

Most Dramatic Moment
After missing the first 28 games of the season, Alex Rodriguez homers on the very first pitch of his season off Baltimore’s Jeremy Guthrie.

Report Card

CC Sabathia A+
Mark Teixeira A+
Al Aceves A

Melky Cabrera A
Johnny Damon A

Derek Jeter A

Mariano Rivera B+
Francisco Cervelli B
Brett Gardner B
David Robertson B
Robinson Cano B-
Alex Rodriguez B-
A.J. Burnett C
Phil Coke C
Andy Pettitte C
Ramiro Pena C
Brett Tomko C

Joba Chamberlain C-
Phil Hughes C-
Hideki Matsui C-

Kevin Cash D
Jonathan Albaladejo D
Edwar Ramirez D

Nick Swisher F
Jose Veras F
Angel Berroa F

Incomplete

Brian Bruney
Damaso Marte
Jose Molina
Jorge Posada
Chien-Ming Wang