With players such as Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Brett Gardner now entrenched in the major leagues the Yankees now have the task of replacing them in the system. In addition the trades the Yankees have made this past off season sent two of their top prospects to other teams in order to strengthen the big club.

It was an up and down year for the Yankees in the minor leagues as several of their top players experienced injuries such as Dellin Betances, Jairo Heredia, and Jesus Montero. Former first round pick Andrew Brackman struggled in his first professional season but found success at the end of the season out of the bullpen. Others however emerged such as the young Jose A. Ramirez who ended the year on the NY-Penn League championship roster of the Staten Island Yankees.

1. Jesus Montero – Young, big, and powerful are three words that can best describe catching prospect Jesus Montero who comes as no surprise to be number one on our New York Yankees top prospect list. The 6 foot 4 inch 225 pound right handed slugger has impressed at every level he has competed at.
2. Austin Romine – Coming in right behind the slugging Jesus Montero is the best defensive catcher in the organization in the form of Austin Romine. The Yankees selected the 21 year old catcher in the second round of the 2007 First-Year Player draft out of high school and made his professional debut later that season appearing in just one game where he went 1 for 2 with a RBI for the Gulf Coast Yankees.
3. Manny Banuelos – Probably the best left-handed pitching prospect the New York Yankees have developed since current Yankee Andy Pettite. Manny Banuelos was neck and neck with Arodys Vizcaino for the title of best pitching prospect in the Yankees organization but a trade solved that debate.
4. Slade Heathcott – One of the two members of the 2009 First-Year Draft class who made our Top 10 prospect list is outfielder Slade Heathcott. Although he appeared in only 3 games during the season with the Gulf Coast Yankees.
5. 

   Zach McAllister pitching for the Trenton Thunder - Photo Credit: Robert M. Pimpsner

   Zach McAllister – Zach McAllister was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 3^rd round ove the 2006 First-Year Player Draft and made his professional debut later that season as a piggyback starter with fellow draft pick Dellin Betances.

6. JR Murphy – John R. Murphy is the second member of the 2009 Draft class to be named to the Top 10 Prospects. Murphy was selected in the second round of the draft out of high school. The 6foot 190 pound catcher then made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Yankees where he hit .333 in 9 games with a homerun, a double and 7 RBIs.
7. Andrew Brackman – As a former two-sport athlete in college the towering Andrew Brackman never has been through the regular off-season training routine that typical pitchers went through, in addition sitting out a season due to Tommy John surgery he did not have his best stuff in 2009, but the Yankees still liked what they saw from his development.
8. Wilkins DeLaRosa – Originally signed as a right fielder with a killer arm DeLaRosa’s bat was not able to come around and the Yankees moved him to the mound in 2007.
9. Jeremy Bleich – Selected in the supplemental round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft the left-handed pitching Jeremy Bleich made his professional debut pitching 3 innings allowing 2 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 4 for the Staten Island Yankees in September of that season.
10. Ivan Nova – Ivan Nova is a guy that Yankees fans could see sometime soon in the Bronx. The young right hander signed on July 15, 2004 as an International Free Agent and then made his United States debut in 2006 with the Gulf Coast Yankees.

Other Names to Know

Beyond the top ten prospects are several players that could break into the list next year such as right-handers Jose A. Ramirez, DJ Mitchell, Christian Garcia and Hector Noesi. That latter was added to the 40-man roster this past off-season. Infielders Bradley Suttle and Corban Joseph are also names to follow in the minors. Newly signed catcher Gary Sanchez has yet to get into a game but could be on the list next season after making his professional debut. In addition the young Kyle Higashioka has the ability to be great defensive catcher as well as become a good hitter.

Check back throughout the week as we take a closer look at the Top 10 New York Yankees Prospects

At first glance, this signing looks like an incredible pickup for the Red Sox. In 2009, Lackey pitched well against all of the AL East teams except for the Tampa Bay Rays. In his career, he has pitched well against the AL East and interleague teams. Lackey will join Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and Daisuke Matsuzaka to top off the first four spots in the rotation.

Even Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe cannot ignore this impact signing has in the arms battle with the New York Yankees.

A rotation of Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka and either Clay Buchholz or Tim Wakefield would be better than what the Yankees have right now in CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, TBA, TBA.

While Abraham’s assessment discounts the real possibility that Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes will continue to develope and improve, the reality is the Red Sox rotation is now stacked with pitchers who have shown the ability to succeed for full seasons and continue that success in the postseason.

The biggest concern for John Lackey’s 5 year deal with Boston is probably with his health. Lackey started each of the last two seasons on the disabled list, but avoided the DL once in the rotation. He made 24 starts in 2008 and 27 in 2009.

The question that arises now, with the Mike Lowell to Texas trade potentially hitting a snag due to Lowell’s thumb injury, will Clay Buchholz become expedible in hopes of acquiring a third baseman to fill Lowell’s shoes? How 43 year old Tim Wakefield responds to back surgery could play a role in Buchholz’s future in Boston as well.

After a relatively quiet Winter Meetings for Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox, it seems Christmas has come early for Red Sox fans!

It is that time of the year again. The World Series is over, awards are being handed out and before you know it, pitchers and catchers will be reporting.

For the next eight weeks, we will be taking a quick look inside each division and will address the offseason outlook for each of those teams. First up, the American League East.

NEW YORK YANKEES:

Well, what more could you really want? They just won their 27th World Series, while leading the majors in wins and $100 million contracts. The season was a gigantic success, even if they did pay top dollar for it. “If it aint broke, don’t fix it”, right? Well, sort of. There are several issues that will need to be addressed in the offseason.

For starters (pun intended), as nostalgic as it may have been to see Andy Pettitte succeed in the post-season once again, one has to wonder whether his time is almost up. He was great in April and August, but was below average for most of the 2009 season. At 37 years old, he can hardly be considered a mainstay in a World Series-caliber rotation. Loyalty can only be stretched so far and I am not sure that I consider bringing back a 37-year old starter in the twilight of his career a smart move. Expect the Yankees to be at the forefront of the John Lackey and Aroldis Chapman bidding wars and heavily involved in trade talks with the Blue Jays regarding Roy Halladay.

Enough is enough. “Joba-rules” has even been referenced on Chamberlain’s Wikipedia page, and I can’t take it anymore. Take the kid off the leash. He clearly lost a bit of confidence towards the end of 2009 and it seems the pitch-counts did more harm than good. Phil Hughes’ role is another situation that needs to be worked out prior to April. A trade to the Blue Jays could resolve the issue for the Yankees, but assuming he remains in the Bronx, is his effectiveness in the bullpen going to keep him out of the rotation yet again? Or better yet, can the Yankees afford to give him a rotation spot? If they are able to acquire another top-of-the-rotation starter, I think they have to keep him in the late-innings role he was so successful in during the 2009 season.

Lastly, the Yankees are going to be very active in the free-agent outfielder market. They have to be. As great as their lineup was in 2009, Melky Cabrera was very inconsistent and Brett Gardner is a one-trick pony. Re-signing a 36-year old Johnny Damon isn’t exactly the best-case scenario. He is primed to earn one last big contract after resilient 2009, and it would be tough to expect a positive return on investment beyond 2010 as his age catches up with him. You can bet Scott Boras is going to milk as much out of Damon’s 2009 season as he can and I believe the Yankees would be foolish to pay that type of premium.

BOSTON REDSOX:

Boston’s season was largely a disappointment, but there were a few positives to make note of. For one, Jon Lester has officially established himself as one of the top starters in the A.L.. From June on he was one of the most dominant pitchers in all the majors. Take this comparison into consideration.

June through September:

Player A: 8-7, 147 IP, 2.76 ERA, 154 Ks
Player B: 11-3, 138 IP, 2.34 ERA, 151 Ks

What would you say if I told you that one of these players won the A.L. Cy Young Award on Tuesday? Well, you probably wouldn’t be too shocked. However, what if I told you that Player B is Jon Lester? Now that is shocking.

Another pleasant surprise of 2009 was the way Jason Bay fully acclimated himself in front of the “Green Monster”. Bay did about as much as he could to guarantee himself the largest payday of his career, posting career-highs in HRs (36) and RBI (119). In addition to the power production, Bay registered an on-base percentage of .384 and walked 94 times. The highest either of those numbers had been since 2006. The Sox are expected to make a big push for one of the two big-name free agent outfielders (Bay and Matt Holliday), but the fact that Bay has already demonstrated his ability to deliver in a market like Boston should swing the Red Sox interest his way. They are going to have to reach deep down into their wallet for either one of them, so they might as well write the check to the guy who has already proven his worth to the organization.

One of the few glaring concerns the Red Sox have heading into the offseason is what they are going to do about the shortstop position. The Sox declined their $6M option on Alex Gonzalez and Jed Lowrie is clearly not the answer. There also isn’t anyone in the minors even remotely close to successfully occupying the position on an everyday basis. They could bring back Gonzalez at a discounted rate or they could not-so-shockingly gut the farm system to bring back Hanley Ramirez. At this point the Sox intentions are anyone’s guess, but they do have the pop in their lineup to reserve the position for a defensively superior player like Gonzalez. I have a tendency to think they may want to think long-term at shortstop and Alex Gonzalez will be 33 when pitchers and catchers report.

“The Kids Are Alright”. Lester, as mentioned above, is turning into one of the best lefties in the game. Josh Beckett ran into some rough patches throughout the year and he is again giving up too many HRs, but he remains an ace in his own right. Even Clay Buchholz rebounded nicely in the second half of the season. However, Tim Wakefield’s body continues to grow more brittle by the day and although Daisuke Matsuzaka seemed to pitch with considerably more conviction towards the end of the season, he really can’t be trusted to deliver quality starts on a consistent basis. The Red Sox will almost certainly want to explore the possibility of acquiring another top-flight starter, and whether they go after John Lackey, Roy Halladay or even Rich Harden, one thing is for certain. The Red Sox have always understood that depth at the front of the rotation is a must for a World Series run and the defending champion New York Yankees will likely be stocking up once again.

Offseason Outlook: A.L. EAST (Part 2) will cover the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles later this week.

Down 3-0, Alex Rodriguez, hitless to that point, got the Yankees on the board in the 4th when he lined a 2-run home run off a televsion camera near the right field corner.  Originally ruled as being in play, the umpires conferred and went to replay to confirm the call (Fox’s Joe Buck continued to call rhe replay inconclusive the rest of the night).

Pettitte helped out his own cause with a game tying single an inning later and Johnny Damon put the Yankees ahead for a good with a 2-run double in the same frame.

Nick Swisher, who snapped out of a 4-35 skid with a double, added a solo home run in the 6th and Hideki Matsui added some insurance with a pinch-hit solo shot in the 8th inning.

Pettitte started out shaky and the Phillies took advantage.  Jayson Werth hit the first of two home runs  in the 2nd inning and the Phillies added two more when Pettitte walked Jimmy Rollins with the bases loaded and Shane Victorino followed with a sac fly.

But Pettitte settled down through the middle innings.  He dominated the dangerous left-handed trio of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Raul Ibanez.  Howard, in fact, has gone 0-8 with seven strikeouts in the last two games.

Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte, of all people, retired all six batters they faced to build the bridge to the 9th.  Joe Girardi decided to go with Phil Hughes, but after retiring the first batter, Hughes gave up a solo shot to Carlos Ruiz to make it a 3-run deficit.  On came Mariano Rivera, who needed just five pitches to close the ball game out and give the Yankees their first series lead.

Series Notes

Pettitte’s RBI was the first game tying RBI by a Yankee pitcher since Jim Bouton during the 1964 series.  Pettitte, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera became the first trio to play in a World Series together 13 years apart.  Pretty cool.

Hideki Matsui’s home run was ironic in that it was the first one he hit to the opposite field all season.

People are still marveling over the performance by A.J. Burnett in Game 2.  Burnett has heard all the praise – plus fastball, wicked movement on breaking pitches, among the bestcurveballs in the game.  He’s also heard all the negative- no heart, empty head, bad attitude.  Burnett shook off the latter and a slow start and dominated thePhillies hitters for seven innings.  It was actually surprising that Girardi didn’t send him out for the 8th inning so that Rivera wouldn’t have to go for a six out save.

CC Sabathia faces Joe Blanton tonight in Game 4.  Sabathia will be working on three days rest for the second time in the post-season.  Burnett is scheduled to face Game 1 winner Cliff Lee in Monday night’s Game 5.

The Yankees hitters were off balance all night as CC Sabathia did his best to keep his team in the game. Despite not having his best stuff or control, the big man allowed just two runs, both Chase Utley solo home runs, in seven innings of work.

The Phillies scratched across four more against a suddenly very shakey Yankees bullpen. Phil Hughes, David Robertson, and Brian Bruney were chief among those who didn’t get their job done.

The Yankees had never been shut out in the opening game of a series, but nearly were last night. They got a run in the 9th, in part thanks to a Jimmy Rollins throwing error. It snapped a streak of 17 scoreless innings by the Yankees in World Series play (they had been shut out by Josh Beckett in the final game of the 2003 series).

Chase Utley joined Babe Ruth as the only left-handed hitters to have a 2-HR game against a left-handed pitcher. The Bambino accomplished the feat against the Cardinals in 1928.

The Yankees and Andy Pettitte trailed Carl Pavano and the Twins 1-0 after six innings.  That’s right, the former “American Idle” had blanked the Bombers on just two hits up to that point.  Pettitte was nearly Pavano’s equal, having not allowed a base runner through four innings, and just one earned run and three hits.  That’s when the Yankees newest Mr. October, at least for round one round of the playoffs, struck.

Alex Rodriguez came to the plate with out in the 7th and drilled a 3-2 fastball high atop the wall in right-center field for a game tying home run.  In seven career post season game against the Twins, Rodriguez has now driven in nine runs. Pavano bounced back to strike out Hideki Matsui for the inning’s second out, but Jorge Posada went the opposite way for a solo home run to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

The Yankees bullpen then took over as Pettitte exited with one out in the bottom of the 7th. Joba Chamberalin allowed a double to Delmon Young, but retired Brendan Harris and Jose Morales to preserve the lead.  Phil Hughes would need a little luck in the 8th inning to do the same.

Nick Punto doubled to lead off the inning and Denard Span followed with a bouncer back up the middle.  Derek Jeter cut the ball off, but had no play on Span at first.  But the Captain alertly spun and threw home to keep Punto at third.  He did more than just that.  Punto had gone half way down the line and was now caught in between.  He scurried back to third but Posada’s throw beat him to the bag and A-Rod applied the rally crushing tag.  Instead of runners on the corners with no one out, the Twins merely had a man on first with one out.  Ron Gardenhire, hands a top his head in frustration, looked on in exasperation, his team having run themselves out of another potential big inning.

Hughes retired Orlando Cabrera for the second out and Joe Girardi sent for Mariano Rivera to face Joe Mauer.  Rivera shattered Mauer’s bat as the soon to be AL MVP grounded out meekly to Mark Teixeira for the final out of the inning.

Posada and Robinson Cano added RBI singles in the 9th and, after allowing a lead off single to Michael Cuddyer, Rivera retired the next three batters for a four-out save and sent the Yankees back to the ALCS for the first time since 2004.

Series Notes

Alex Rodriguez was 5-11 (.455) with 2 home runs and 6 RBI in the series.

The Yankees three starting pitchers – CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte combined to allow three earned runs in 19 innings.

Johnny Damon was just 1-12 in the series and swung and missed his way to the “Golden Sombrero” in Game 3.  It comes on the heels of a 22-89 (.247) last month of the season.

Andy Pettitte tied John Smoltz for the most career post season wins with 15.

Joe Mauer was 5-12 (.417) with two walks, but his RBI in Game 3 was his only one in the series.

A-Rod had a pair of RBI singles and the New York Yankees spanked the Minnesota Twins, 7-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the best of five series. A-Rod wasn’t alone though in getting off to a good post-season start.

Derek Jeter reached safely in all four at-bats and belted the first playoff home run in the new Yankee Stadium. It tied the game at two apiece in the 3rd inning and fired up the home crowd that had been temporarily silenced when the Twins took a 2-0 lead.

Nick Swisher doubled in the 4th scored Robinson Cano all the way from first base to give the Yankees their first lead of the night. A-Rod’s RBI single off of rookie starter Brian Duensing an inning later put the Bombers ahead by two and the next hitter, Hideki Matsui, hit a long home run to straight away center field off lefty Francisco Liriano for a 6-2 Yankees lead.

CC Sabathia wasn’t spectacular, but was very good. He threw 113 pitches in 6 2-3 innings and allowed one earned run. The Twins put two runs on the board against him with two outs in the 3rd. Orlando Cabrera singled and Joe Mauer followed with a double to the gap in left-center. Michael Cuddyer’s single to right brought home one run and Mauer scored when Jorge Posada couldn’t handle Sabathia’s delivery for a passed ball.
Sabathia passed an immediate test in the 1st inning when Denard Span reached 3rd base with less than two outs. But the Yankees ace struck out Mauer and retired Cuddyer on a fly out to center. He exited with two on and two out in the 7th, but Phil Hughes stranded the runners when he struck out Cabrera.

Game Notes

Even with Hideki Matsui on deck, odd decision by Ron Gardnehire to pitch to Alex Rodriguez with Derek Jeter on 3rd base in the 7th. A-Rod delivered his second RBI single, this time off of Jon Rauch.

Admiral Eric Olson threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Derek Jeter’s home run was the 18th of his post-season career.

Mariano Rivera pitched the 9th inning, allowing a 2-out walk and a single before retiring Cabrera to end the game.

Jorge Posada had the dubious distinction of committing two passed balls.

2nd Base

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.

Despite a solid outing from spot starter Chad Gaudin, the Yankees slept their way through seven innings of dull baseball and trailed 4-2 in the 8th. Phil Hughes started things out with a dynamite top of the inning and then the bats came to life.  Alex Rodriguez dunked n a 1-out single off lefty Scott Downs and then it was time for Godzilla to destroy another city.  Hideki Matsui entered the game with nearly half his 24 home runs coming against southpaws.  Number 25 landed in the right field stands and tied the game at four apiece.

“Pie Anticipation” set in after Mariano Rivera tossed a scoreless 9th and Brett Gardner kept the momentum going with a lead off single against Jays’ closer Jason Frasor in the home half of the inning.  The speedster swiped his 22nd base in 27 attempts and moved to third on Derek Jeter’s ground out up the middle.  With no third catcher available due to Jorge Posada’s suspension, Joe Girardi had no choice but to let Francisco Cervelli bat for himself.  The “Cisco Kid” didn’t let his manager down, singling through the left side for yet another last at-bat win for the Pinstripes.

Cervelli also showed the exuberance that has affected both the youngsters and the veterans.  He joyously rounded first and headed towards right field in an attempt to out run his teammates/mob scene.  But a smiling Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera caught him, setting up another raucous Bronx celebration that culminated when A.J. Burnett gave the rookie catcher his first taste of victory pie.

The Yankees were in the game because Gaudin, starting in place of Andy Pettitte, was solid through five plus innings.  He allowed a solo home run by Jose Bautista, but got out of other jams with run producing ground outs.  The Blue Jays tacked one on against Brian Bruney in the 7th, but mystique, aura, and exuberance were waiting in the wings.

Game Notes

Mariano Rivera won his 3rd game of the season and the 71st of his career.

The Yankees have Thursday off and will travel to the west coast for games at Seattle and LA (Ana).

The Yankees got on Halladay right away in the first inning on an RBI double by Alex Rodriguez and a run-scoring error by king idiot, Kevin Millar.  But it was the unusual power display against Halladay that made the difference.  Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the 8th, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira hit back-to-back 2-out home runs for a 4-1 lead.

After the Jays cut the lead to 4-3 against Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera, Hideki Matsui led off the top of the 9th with a solo home run, his 16th of the season.  Rivera, who had let an inherited runner score in the 8th, was not sharp and ran into trouble again in the 9th.

Singles by Jose Bautista and Marcos Scutaro put two aboard with two out, but Rivera got Aaron Hill to pop out to Melky Cabrera in center field for his 31st save of the season.

Pettitte allowed a run on 4 hits in 6.2 innings, walked 4 and struck out 6th before tiring in the 7th.  Hughes came on with two on and two out in the 7th and struck out Bautista looking with a wicked curveball.  In improving to 9-6, Pettitte has allowed 7 earned runs in his last 4 starts (26.2 innings) and has struck out 29.

Game Notes

Johnny Damon continues to own Roy Halladay.  He’s now 32-90 (.356) with 3 HR and 5 RBI.

Sergio Mitre goes for the 2-game sweep tomorrow when he faces Mike Rzepczynski.

CC Sabathia started slowly, putting his team in a 3-0 hole, but settled down and picked up his 10th win of the season with a 7-inning stint.  Phil Hughes went the final two innings to earn his first major league save.

New Jersey native Vin Mazzaro had the Bombers stumped until the 4th when Mark Teixiera smacked a 2-run home run into, where else?, the second deck to get the Yankees on the board.  Jorge Posada’s RBI double tied the game and Eric Hinske put the Yankees on top 4-3 with a single.

The Yankees added two more in the 5th on a Teixeira double and an RBI single by Posada.  With Mariano Rivera unavailable, Hughes retired all six batters he faced to close out the win.

Notes

Chien-Ming Wang had his achy shoulder examined by Mets team doctor, David Altcheck, and will now consult with Dr. James Andrews.

Matt Holliday played his last game in an A’s uniform last night.  He was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals today for three prospects.

Damaso Marte threw a 9 pitch rehab inning for Scranton last night.  He allowed one hit and 8 of his 9 pitches were strikes.

The Yankees enjoyed some afternoon delight on Wednesday, defeating the Baltimore Orioles 6-4 to complete their second straight 3-game series sweep.  In doing so they extended their current winning streak to six games and moved two full games ahead of Boston in the AL East.  A.J. Burnett threw an effective 7 innings to pick up his 9th win, buoyed by a pair of RBI each from Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher.  Mariano Rivera picked up his 28th save after Brian Bruney allowed a pair of 9th inning home runs.

The Yankees jumped on Orioles starter, and loser, Jason Berken for four runs in the 1st inning.  Derek Jeter led off the ball-game with a double to left-center and moved to third base two batters later when Mark Teixeira singled to center.  Alex Rodriguez drove his 10th run in his last 9 games with a single through the left side for a 1-0 lead.  With the bases loaded and two out, Robinson Cano doubled the lead with an infield single and Swisher followed with a 2-run single to put the Yankees up 4-0. On the day, the Yankees were 7-15 with runners in scoring position. They came through with no on base as well-Posada added his 12th home run two innings later for a 5-0 advantage.

Burnett put men on base in every inning but the 5th, but the Orioles couldn’t deliver they key hit to score a run. They finally got on the board in the 7th on Nick Markakis‘ sacrifice fly and a Burnett wild pitch.  Burnett also got help on defense from Swisher, who made the worst and best plays of the day.

The right fielder dropped Brian Roberts‘ fly ball to star the 3rd inning for a 2-base error.  But with two aboard and two outs, he made a leaping, over the shoulder catch of a ball driven to right by TyWiggington to end the frame.  Swisher later took an extra base hit away from Luke Scott in the 6th inning with a leaping catch at the wall.

Bruney, working for the first time in 12 days had an up and down appearance in the 9th.  He struck out the first two batters he faced, but then gave up back to back home runs to Adam Jones and Markakis.  Joe Girardi quickly called on his closer, Rivera, who struck out Aubrey Huff looking to convert his 24th consecutive save opportunity.

Game Notes

The Yankees begin a 4-game series with the Oakland A’s on Thursday night (7:05 p.m. ET).  CC Sabathia will oppose New Jersey native Vin Mazzaro in the opener.

The Yankees are in 1st place this last in the season for the first time since the final game of the 2006 season.  They’re at a season high 20 games over .500.  It’s the first time they’ve accomplished that feat since the ‘07 season.

Phil Hughes tossed a scoreless 8th inning to lower his ERA in relief to 0.81.  He has not been scored upon in 20 innings.

WP – Hughes (4-2) SV – Rivera (24)  LP – Zumaya (3-3)

The comeback kids did it again last night.  Trailing the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in the 7th inning, the Yankees rallied against hard throwing reliever Joel Zumaya for a 5-3 win, their 12th after trailing entering the 7th inning.  Derek Jeter started the rally when he fought off an upper 90’s fastball and lined it to right field for a single.  Johnny Damon followed with a double off the glove of a leaping Clete Thomas in right-center to put the tying and go ahead runs in scoring position.  With rain falling steadily, Mark Teixeira turned on a Zumaya fastball and hit a moonshot that landed in the 2nd deck for what proved to be the game winning 3-run home run.

With Jeter batting in the 8th, the game was halted nearly an hour due to the heavy rain that fell during a thunderstorm.  When the ball game resumed after 11 PM on the East coast, the Yankees sealed the victory with Mariano Rivera notching his 24th save of the season.  Phil Hughes picked up the win in relief of A.J. Burnett with a 6 strikeout, 2 scoreless inning performance.

Burnett looked like someone who hadn’t pitched in 9 days.  His fastball was all over the place- that is everywhere, but over home plate.  He walked 5 batters in his 6 inning stint and struck out just one.  But he kept the Yankees in the game by allowing 3 earned runs.  Among them was a solo home run by Curtis Granderson that gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead in the 5th.

The Tigers normally stellar defense helped the Yankees cut the margin to a run in the bottom of the 5th with some sloppy play.  Starter Luke French struck out Jeter to start the inning, but allowed back to back singles to Damon and Teixeira.  Left fielder Josh Anderson allowed Teixeira’s base hit to skip through his legs, allowing Damon to score all the way from first base.  Alex Rodriguez reached on a Brandon Inge throwing error, but was doubled off of 1st base when Hideki Matsui lined out to 2nd baseman Placido Polanco.

The Yankees didn’t have much luck with the lefty throwing French after scoring a run in the 1st inning.  Thomas mishandled Matsui’s RBI single to right, allowing Teixeira and Matsui to each move up a base, but Jorge Posada grounded out to leave the two runners in scoring position.  Posada was also gunned down at the plate by Anderson in the 6th when he tried to score from 2nd base on Melky Cabrera’s 2-out single.

Game Notes

With a growing reputation in the outfield, runners have become hesitant to test the arm of Melky Cabrera.  The result has been just one outfield assist this season.  But the Melkman now has 3 assists after throwing out Miguel Cabrera trying to leg out a double and doubling Gerald Laird off of 1st base on a fly ball out.

The series resumes this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET with a great pitching match up of Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia.  David Cone will throw out the first pitch to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his perfect game.  No word if Joe Girardi (or for that matter Yogi) will catch it.

Joel Zumaya threw 37 pitches last night and landed on the DL after the game with shoulder soreness.

WP – Albaladejo (4-1)  SV – Rivera (23)  LP – Liriano (4-9)

The Yankees didn’t get what they had hoped for out of spot starter Al Aceves, but the bullpen stepped up and the Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 6-4 to complete a 3-game sweep in their final regular season trip to the Metrodome.  The Yankees also completed the season sweep, having beaten the Twins in all seven meetings.

While Aceves struggled in his first start of the year, his Twins’ counterpart, Francisco Liriano, had harder a time of it.  The Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning with just one base hit.  They loaded the bases on a walk to Alex Rodriguez, a hit batsman in Jorge Posada, and a Matt Tolbert error that allowed Robinson Cano to reach safely.  Liriano walked Cody Ransom to force in the first run and a second run followed when Brett Gardner followed with a force out.  Derek Jeter got the inning’s first base hit to score Cano for a 3-0 lead.

The Twins quickly came back against Aceves in their half of the inning on a Jason Kubel home run and a throwing error by Ransom, who got the start at third base so A-Rod could DH.  The miscue allowed Michael Cuddyer, who got into scoring position with a walk and an errant pick off throw by Aceves, to score to cut the margin to 3-2.

The Yankees gave Aceves more breathing room in the 4th.  Posada led off the inning with a single and moved to third on Cano’s double.  Liriano retired Melky Cabrera on a shallow fly ball, but Ransom made up for his error with an RBI single.  A Gardner RBI single made it a 5-2 game before  Jeter bounced into an inning ending DP.

Aceves wouldn’t be around for the win though after the Twins loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on consecutive hits by Cuddyer and Brian Buscher, and Mike Redmond was hit by an Aceves pitch.  Dave Robertson struck out Nick Punto for the 2nd out of the inning, but issued consecutive RBI walks to Denard Span and Tolbert to cut the Yankees lead to 5-4.  Amazingly, Joe Girardi stuck with Robertson to face Joe Mauer, but the move paid off.  Mauer hit a routine grounder to Cano to end the inning.

Mark Teixeira snapped a 95 at-bat homerless streak with his 21st long ball of the season off of Liriano in the 5th and the Yankees’ pen slammed the door on the Twins.  Jonathan Albaladejo, who picked up his 4th win, Phil Coke, Phil Hughes, and Mariano Rivera combined on 4.2 scoreless innings.  Rivera, who earned his 23rd save, retired Mauer to end the game just as he had less than 24 hours earlier.

Game Notes

The Yankees have won 13 of 15 and 8 straight on the road.  They venture to Anaheim where they have had more than their share of misadventures in the past.    Joba Chamberlain faces Joe Saunders in the series opener Friday night (10 p.m. ET).

Brett Gardner was 5-12 (.417) in the series with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored.

Jonathan Albaladejo has thrown 4 scoreless innings over 3 appearances since his recall to the majors on July 5.

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 – Hanson (3-0)  LP – Wang (0-6)

The Yankees hitting woes continued tonight, as the punch-less Bombers dropped the opener of their 3-game series with the Atlanta Braves, 4-0.  New York had a number of opportunities in the early innings against Braves rookie starter Tommy Hanson, but couldn’t manage to come up with a clutch hit.  Hanson and the Braves bullpen didn’t allow a hit over the final 3 2-3 innings.

Chien-Ming Wang continued his improvement, but was tagged for three runs in the 3rd inning and the loss.  After a pair of strikeouts to start the frame, Wang gave up a single to Yuniel Escobar and walked Chipper Jones.  Brian McCann followed with an RBI double and Garrett Anderson brought home two more runs with a double of his own.

The Yankees loaded the bases without the aid of a hit in the 2nd inning, but Wang grounded out to end the inning.  Derek Jeter led off the 3rd with a double, but he and Mark Teixeira were stranded when Alex Rodriguez struck out and Robinson Cano flied out.

The Yankees had a huge chance in the third thanks to a Braves error.  Melky Cabrera reached on a 1-out double and mistakenly took off for third base on Brett Gardner’s grounder to the left side.  But Chipper Jones dropped Escobar’s toss for an error and everyone was safe.  The Yankees though had the misfortune of having Wang come up in a key situation.  He successfully sacrificed Gardner to second, but after a walk toJeter loaded the bases, Hanson retired Nick Swisher on a force out to escape trouble.

The Yankees last gasp came in the 6th when they loaded the bases with one out, but reliever Pete Moylan got Jeter to bounce into an inning ending double play.

The Braves tacked on a run in the 9th when McCann took David Robertson deep for his 7th home run of the season.

Game Notes

Phil Hughes retired all six batters he faced in a two inning relief stint.  Hughes has allowed 2 earned runs out of the pen in 10.2 innings.  He’s also struck out 14 batters.

CC Sabathia will throw a bullpen session on Wednesday to determine if he can make his scheduled start against the Mets on Friday.

Alex Rodriguez is in a 4-42 (.095) slump.

The Yankees stole four bases in the game, including Brett Gardner’s 16th in 17 tries, and Mark Teixeira’s first.

Jorge Posada hit, or I should say, “didn’t hit” for the Golden Sombrero. 3 of his 4 strikeouts came against Hanson.

The Yankees-Braves series continues on Wednesday with Joba Chamberlain facing Japanese rookie Kenshin Kawakami.

As expected, the Yankees protest of Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the Florida Marlins was denied by the MLB front office.

WP – Wakefield (8-3)  SV – Papelbon (15)  LP – Wang (0-4)

Another game in Fenway Park, another loss for the New York Yankees.  The Bombers dropped to 0-7 against the Red Sox this season, with five of the losses coming on the road in Boston.  Wednesday night the Yankees belted three home runs, but couldn’t overcome another horrendous start by Chien-Ming Wang, and fell 6-5.  The victory gave the Red Sox sole possession of first place in the AL East.

In Wang’s start against Texas last Thursday he showed a glimmer of his old self, shutting down the Rangers the first time through the lineup. That would not be the case tonight.  Wang retired Dustin Pedroia to start the game, but then issued a pair of walks prior to a Jason Bay RBI single.  The Yankees tied things up immediately on Jorge Posada’s home run off Tim Wakefield in the 2nd, but the Red Sox tagged Wang for a pair of runs in their half of the inning. George Kottaras doubled in one run and Nick Swisher gave Pedroia a gift when he turned a catchable ball into a run scoring ground-rule double.  Wang lasted just 2.2 innings, the second straight night the Yankees starter did not make it out of the 3rd inning, and was charged with 4 earned runs.

Phil Hughes did a great job out of the pen with 3.2 innings of relief.  He allowed a 2-run home run to Kevin Youkilis in the 4th, but otherwise kept his team in the game.  Down 6-3 in the 6th, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira hit back to back home runs off Ramon Ramirez to cut the deficit to a single run.  The Yankees had the tying run on second base with one out in each of the final two innings, but couldn’t deliver the big hit.

Hideki Okajima struck out Derek Jeter and Damon to escape the 8th and Jonathan Papelbon struck out Robinson Cano and retired Jorge Posada on a ground out to preserve the lead in the 9th.

Game Notes

Mark Teixiera was 4-5 with two doubles and a single in addition to his league leading 19th home run.  He’s hitting a season high .296 and is batting .343 since May 1st.

Nick Swisher made a tremendous diving catch in right field to take away an extra base hit and had a pretty push bunt for a base hit, but it’s a game he’ll want to forget.  Besides completely missing Pedroia’s fly ball in right, he was also doubled off of a first on a soft line out to shortstop by Melky Cabrera.  The Yankees had runners on the corners with no one out at the time, so it completely killed a potential rally.

The Yankees were 2-15 with runners in scoring position.

CC Sabathia will try to salvage the finale of the series Thursday night when he faces veteran Brad Penny.

WP – Pettitte (6-2)  SV – Rivera (14)  LP – Sonnanstine (4-6)

A home run hitter’s ballpark is good for both teams playing in a game there, but the home team can take advantage if they have a bunch of guys that can hit the ball in the air.  That’s the case with the 2009 Yankees and the new Yankee Stadium, a marriage made in home run heaven.  The Yankees hit four more home runs Monday night (they had just six hits in total) to account for all of the runs in a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.  The victory enabled the Yankees to take two of three from the Rays and move a full game ahead of the Boston Red Sox, setting up the big three game series in Fenway Park beginning Tuesday night.

Not to sound like John Sterling, but Andy Pettitte gave a gritty, gutty performance.  He struggling in the fourth and fifth innings, but finished up by retiring the Rays in order in the 6th to raise his record to 6-2.  Mariano Rivera came on for the third straight day and earned his 14th save of the season.

The Yankees built a 3-0 lead on Rays’ starter Andy Sonnanstine with home runs in the first two innings.  Mark Teixeira hit his league leading 18th with two away in the 1st and Nick Swisher hit his 12th, with Robinson Cano aboard, in the 2nd.

Pettitte got out of a bases loaded jam in the 1st and struck out two batters in each of the first three innings.  But something was amiss beginning in the 4th.  Ben Zobrist reached on an Alex Rodriguez error and Pettitte wild pitched him to second base.  One batter later, Michel Hernandez got the Rays on the board with an RBI single.  Gabe Kapler then tied things up with a long 2-run home run to left field.  Pettitte issued a 2-out walk to B.J. Upton, but retired Carl Crawford to escape further trouble.

A walk to Evan Longoria and a one out single by Zobrist put Pettitte into a jam again in the 5th, but some fancy footwork by Derek Jeter got him out of it.  Jeter fielded Joe Dillon’s chopper near the second base bag, stepped on it and eluded the on-coming Zobrist to complete the double play to first.

Johnny Damon slugged his 12th home run of the year and 9th at home, with one out in the 6th to put the Yankees back on top for good.  Jeter added some insurance by taking Sonnanstine deep in the 8th for his 8th home run of the year.

Phil Hughes got into his first game in relief and looked outstanding as he posted a scoreless 7th inning.  His fastball was in the 93-94 MPH range and he blew a strike three pitch past a swinging Longoria to end the frame.

Game Notes

105 home runs have already been hit in 29 games at the new Stadium.  160 were hit all of last season across the street.  There have now been 10 games with 5 or more home runs.

The Yankees had a rare oddity – they had no runners in scoring position and still won the game.

Mariano Rivera’s save was his 496th and he and Andy Pettitte extended their own record of 59 combined wins.

Remember that 18-game errorless streak? The Yankees have now made in error in 6 straight games.