Tagged: John Ryan Murphy

Severino Quiets Tribe To Collect His First Victory

GAME 122

YANKEES 6, INDIANS 2

In his first three Major-League starts right-hander Luis Severino received a total of two runs of support in the 17 innings he had pitched. Despite giving up a run in the first inning on Saturday, the 21-year-old rookie got five runs of support in the first two innings of the game.

He pretty much took control of things from there.

Severino pitched six solid innings to notch his first Major-League victory and Brett Gardner and Brian McCann both homered in the first inning as New York downed Cleveland on Jorge Posada Day with a paid crowd of 47,031 on hand at Yankee Stadium.

Severino (1-2) held the Indians to one run on just three hits with three walks and six strikeouts in a workmanlike 100-pitch outing.

The only run he gave up was when fellow rookie Francisco Lindor laced his eighth pitch of the game into the right-field porch for his sixth home run of the season to give the Indians an early 1-0 lead.

It did not last long, however, as Gardner lined right-hander Danny Salazar’s seventh pitch off the top of the right-field wall for his 12th home run of the season. It came with Jacoby Ellsbury on first on a single and it gave Severino a 2-1 lead that he never relinquished the rest of the afternoon.

One out later, McCann crushed a 0-1 fastball into the bleachers in right-center for his 22nd home run of the season.

The Yankees added a pair of runs in the second inning after Stephen Drew and John Ryan Murphy opened the frame with singles to put runners at first and third with no outs.

Salazar then botched a potential double-play ball off the bat of Ellsbury by throwing wide of second base for an error. Ellsbury got credit for an RBI and Murphy was safe at second. After Murphy advanced to third on a fly ball by Gardner, Carlos Beltran scored him on a sacrifice fly that made it 5-1.

After entering the game pitching at least seven innings in his previous seven starts with a 1.45 ERA in that span, Salazar (11-7) was charged with five runs on eight hits with no walks and six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

Meanwhile, Severino got some help in keeping the Indians from mounting a comeback in both the third and sixth innings.

After Jason Kipnis drew a one-out walk and Lindor singled to advance him to third, Michael Brantley hit a hard one-hopper to rookie first baseman Greg Bird. Bird whirled and threw the ball high and wide to shortstop Didi Gregorius at second base.

Second base umpire Dan Iassogna ruled that Gregorius kept his foot on the base to retire Lindor. But, inexplicably, Kipnis elected to stay at third base on the play.

Indians manager Terry Francona asked Iassogna, the crew chief, to review the play using replay but the crew chose only to discuss it amongst themselves. Francona was ejected from the game by Iassogna during an ensuing argument.

In the sixth inning, Severino appeared to be wobbling as he approached the 100-pitch mark by issuing two-out walks to Lonnie Chisenhall and Abraham Almonte, However, he got out of the inning when Gregorius ranged to grab Roberto Perez’s ground ball and he retired Almonte at second base on a throw from the seat of his pants.

The Indians added a run in the eighth inning off right-hander Dellin Betances on a two-out bloop single by Chisenhall that scored Lindor, who led off the frame with a double.

The Yankees got that run back against right-hander Jeff Manship on a one-out double by Gregorius, a single by Drew and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Murphy.

The victory snapped a slight two-game skid and gave the Yankees a season record of 68-54. They remain a half-game ahead of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. The Indians, who are in last place in the American League Central, dropped to 57-65.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Severino actually pitched much better in his previous three starts than he did on Saturday. But run support is essential to his success. Fortunately, Severino got it and he still was able to keep the Indians from coming back despite the four walks he issued. He is 1-2 with a 2.74 ERA and manager Joe Girardi announced on Saturday that he will remain in the rotation for now.
  • In only the second game he used it, McCann was able to hit a home run with a new batting stance that puts a lot more weight on his front foot to prevent him from flying open too early with his right shoulder. It also was fitting on Jorge Posada Day that McCann (who was the designated hitter) and Murphy each got a hit and drove in a run.
  • Gardner’s homer was a product of the short porch in right-field, but it still counts and it was a bit overdue. That was Gardner’s first home run since July 28 at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX. Gardner is batting .274 with 12 homers and 54 RBIs on the season.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • My only issue was the lineup Girardi chose to use against the Indians after they had lost the first two games of the series. With Mark Teixeira still nursing a sore right shin, he elected to bench Alex Rodriguez, which left Beltran hitting third, McCann fourth and the rookie Bird fifth. On Friday, Girardi benched both Ellsbury and Gregorius against a right-handed pitcher and the team lost. The Saturday moves did work but this resting philosophy with the Blue Jays breathing down the Yankees’ necks is just a bit silly.
  • Odd stat of the day: The Indians collected as many hits off Betances and left-hander Andrew Miller in the final two innings than they did against Severino in six. Linder doubled and Chisenhall singled off Betances in the eighth and Miller was touched by a leadoff single by Perez in the ninth. It is rare the “Twin Towers” give up any hits at all much less as many as the starter.

BOMBER BANTER

Right-hander Michael Pineda will come off the 15-day disabled list to start for the Yankees on Wednesday against the Houston Astros to push Masahiro Tanaka’s next start back to Friday, Girardi told reporters on Saturday. Pineda yielded one run on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings in his second rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday. He has been on the DL since July 30 with a right forearm flexor strain. Girardi said he had no plans to remove anyone in the rotation. So it appears the Yankees will use a six-man rotation in the final month.  . . .  Posada was honored before Saturday’s game by having his No. 20 officially retired and a plaque placed in Monument Park. Posada played for the Yankees for 17 seasons and hit .273 with 275 homers and 1,065 RBIs. He was part of five world championship teams and was a five-time All-Star. On Sunday, the Yankees similarly will honor one of his battery-mates, left-hander Andy Pettitte.

ON DECK

The Yankees will have a chance to split the four-game series against the Indians with a victory on Sunday.

Left-hander CC Sabathia (4-9, 5.24 ERA) will go to the mound for the Yankees. Sabathia, 35, gave up four runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in a no-decision that the Yankees won against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

Right-hander Trevor Bauer (9-10, 4.62 ERA) will pitch for the Indians. Bauer, 24, was shelled for five runs on six hits and one walk in just 1 2/3 innings in a loss to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday. In his previous start on Aug. 13, he gave up six runs in 3 1/3 innings to the Yankees at Progressive Field.

Game-time will be 1:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.

 

Birdman! Rookie Swats Pair As Yanks Sweep Twins

GAME 119

YANKEES, TWINS 3

Just six days ago the Yankees raised eyebrows when they called up 22-year-old first baseman Greg Bird. After the performance he put on Wednesday in place of the injured Mark Teixeira it is now clear just why they called him up.

Bird not only hit one two-run blast for his first Major-League home run, the rookie added another two-run homer that proved to be the game-winner as New York completed a sweep of Minnesota in front of a paid crowd of 38,066 at Yankee Stadium.

With right-hander Nathan Eovaldi pitching a perfect game through five innings, Bird provided him with some early support by connecting in the fourth inning on a 0-1 change-up from right-hander Ervin Santana and launching it into the second deck of the right-field bleachers to score Carlos Beltran, who had singled, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately for Eovaldi and the Yankees, it was not enough.

The Twins not only broke up the perfect game in the sixth inning. They also sent nine men to the plate and took the lead.

Chris Herrmann started the uprising with a one-out bloop single behind third base. Shane Robinson followed with a hard-hit single to left and Aaron Hicks advanced both base-runners on a groundout.

Eovaldi walked Brian Dozier to load the bases and Joe Mauer followed with a two-run single to right. Eovaldi then walked Miguel Sano to reload the bases and Trevor Plouffe scored Dozier on an infield roller between home plate and third base.

Santana was sailing despite giving up the two-run homer to Bird in the fourth. He held the Yankees to two runs on five hits and no walks with four strikeouts through 5 2/3 innings until he walked Beltran in the sixth inning.

That allowed Bird to come up to the plate. Santana threw him 1-0 fastball and Bird laced it on a high line drive into the Yankees bullpen in right-center to allow the Yankees to reclaim a 4-3 lead.

After Bird rounded the bases and headed into the dugout most of the Yankees fans were on their feet urging the rookie to take his first Yankee Stadium curtain call. After some fevered encouragement from his teammates, Bird came out to tip his cap to the crowd quickly.

“We’re just trying to win games here and anything I can do to help, that’s all I’m trying to do. Nothing more, nothing less,” Bird told reporters.

Eovaldi (13-2) ended up collecting his eighth victory in a row and he is undefeated his past 11 starts. He was charged with three runs on four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in seven innings.

Santana (2-4) pitched 7 2/3 innings but took the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

With the Yankees bullpen without the services of Andrew Miller after he pitched in two consecutive games, left-hander Chasen Shreve and right-hander Dellin Betances combined to preserve the victory for Eovaldi by each pitching one scoreless inning.

Betances threw perfect ninth and struck out two batters to earn his eighth save of the season in 11 chances. His two strikeouts gave him 101 on the season and he became the first Yankees relief pitcher to ever strike out 100 or more batters in two consecutive seasons.

With the three-game sweep the Yankees also completed the season series with the Twins at 5-1. Since 2002, the Yankees have a record of 69-27 against the Twins  –  a .281 winning percentage for the Twins. That percentage is the worst in baseball for any team against any opponent (minimum 50 games).

The Yankees also also have won six of their past seven games and they are now 67-52 this season. Coupled with the loss by the second-place Toronto Blue Jays to the Philadelphia Phillies the Yankees have extended their lead in the American League East to two games.

The Twins fell to 59-61.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • I could tell when I saw Bird’s spring during the exhibition season that he was going to be something special. You can see why he has a combined minor-league average of .282 with 48 home runs in just over 1,200 at-bats. His swing is similar to former Blue Jays first baseman John Olerud and he might end up as a similar type of hitter. The question will be what do the Yankees do with Bird as long Teixeira is playing first base and Alex Rodriguez is the designated hitter?
  • Eovaldi was simply lights out for five innings and then he ran into a lot of bad luck. Only one of the four hits was hit hard. But he did make things worse by walking Dozier and Sano. Now that Eovaldi is succeeding with his split-finger fastball, he is becoming a very good pitcher. Despite the great run support he has received, Eovaldi has earned his 13 victories.
  • Betances stepped back into the closer’s role and did not miss a beat. If Betances had pitched better during spring training and early in the season, he would have likely been the closer. But you can’t argue with Miller’s 27 saves in 28 chances. Of the two I suspect teams fear Betances more. But they both are pretty devastating.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Rodriguez ended an 0-for-18 slide on Tuesday with a grand slam home run that proved to be the game-winning hit. But on Wednesday it was back into a funk for the DH. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. His season average has now dipped to .259.
  • John Ryan Murphy has been hitting well (.282) when he starts to give Brian McCann a rest. But Wednesday was not one of those days. He was 0-for-3 and struck out all three times.

BOMBER BANTER

Right-hander Michael Pineda will make a second rehab start on Friday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said on Wednesday. Pineda, 26, has been on the 15-day disabled list since July 30 with a right forearm strain. He is 9-7 with a 3.97 ERA in 19 starts. Girardi said the he hopes this will be Pineda’s final rehab start and they would to activate him before Sept. 1.

ON DECK

The Yankees will play host to the Cleveland Indians for a four-game weekend series that begins on Thursday.

Right-hander Ivan Nova (5-4, 3.57 ERA) will open the series for the Yankees. Nova defeated the Blue Jays on Friday, limiting them to three runs on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts in seven innings.

Right-hander Josh Tomlin (0-1, 2.84 ERA) will be making only his second start of the season for the Indians coming off shoulder surgery. Tomlin yielded two runs on five hits with five strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings in a loss to the Twins on Saturday.

Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.

 

Ellsbury’s Blast Propels Yanks Over Former Team

GAME 106

YANKEES 2, RED SOX 1

With the series between the Yankees and Red Sox on the line in the seventh inning on Thursday it would stand to reason that the deciding hit would come from a former Red Sox star  –  and one that was coming into the series struggling at the plate.

Jacoby Ellsbury launched a 2-1 pitch from left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez into the second deck of the right-field stands to break a 1-1 tie and give New York a decisive series victory over rival Boston in front of a paid crowd of 48,608 at Yankee Stadium.

Ellsbury’s fifth home run of the season broke up a spirited and emotional pitcher’s duel between 35-year-old veteran left-hander CC Sabathia and the 22-year-old rookie Rodriguez.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a two-out single by Brett Gardner and an RBI double off the bat of Alex Rodriguez.

But the Red Sox broke through against Sabathia in the fifth on a one-out single by Ryan Hanigan, a costly two-out walk to Jackie Bradley Jr. and an RBI single by Rusney Castillo that just eluded shortstop Didi Gregorius enough to allow Hanigan to score.

The Red Sox extended the inning when Xander Bogaerts drew a four-pitch walk to reload the bases. But Sabathia bowed his neck and struck out David Ortiz swinging on a 1-2 fastball to leave the bases loaded. Sabathia punctuated the moment by shaking his fist and screaming as he left the mound.

Unfortunately, on a night where Sabathia displayed his best stuff in what has been a frustrating season for him, he was not able to get the victory. But he did hold the Red Sox to one run on just three hits with three walks and a season-high eight strikeouts in six innings.

“Hopefully, I can just keep building on this and take this into my next start, and give us a chance to win,” Sabathia told reporters.

Left-hander Justin Wilson (4-0) gave up a two-out single but struck out the side in the seventh to earn the victory in relief. The Yankees vaunted “Twin Towers,” right-hander Dellin Betances and left-hander Andrew Miller, threw a scoreless frame each to preserve the victory. Miller was credited with his 24th save in 24 chances this season.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez held the Yankees to one run until Ellsbury came to the plate with one out in the seventh and launched a massive blast into the bleachers to bite the team that had drafted him and for which he played seven seasons.

“It’s nice to put some good swings on balls and get results. Tonight for sure was a big hit, contributing to a win,” Ellsbury said.

Rodriguez was charged with two runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in seven innings.

Sabathia’s emotion spilled over with one out in the fourth inning when home-plate umpire Rob Drake called a 2-2 pitch to Hanley Ramirez  –  Sabathia’s seventh pitch of the at-bat  –  a ball. Sabathia turned away from home plate visibly upset with the call.

Drake walked out to the mound and said something to Sabathia that angered him even more. After Sabathia retired both Ramirez and Mike Napoli on groundouts he shouted at Drake again as he walked to the dugout.

“I didn’t complain about one pitch all night, so for him to come out and tell me not to walk around the mound, it pissed me off,” Sabathia told reporters.

For the Red Sox it was another game and series loss that has been the story of their dismal season. Their offense is dreadful and their bullpen leaks more a bamboo roof. That is why they are playing out the string and the Yankees are planning to make a huge playoff run.

The Yankees ran their season record to 61-46 and they are 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. The Red Sox are 48-61 and in last place in the division 14 games behind the Yankees.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Ellsbury’s average was .324 when he was injured on May 19. Going into this game he was 19-for-94 (.202) since then to lower his average to .277. But on Thursday, Ellsbury was 2-for-4, including his game-winning blast. If the Yankees are to succeed they need Ellsbury to get on base and create havoc with his speed.
  • Sabathia’s effort was just special to see unfold. Coming into the contest he was 4-8 with 5.54 ERA in his 20 starts. But his velocity and his slider were big reasons why he looked like his former ace self. “CC pitched great,” Ellsbury told reporters. “I thought his velocity was up, his location, showing emotion out there.”
  • I can never give too much credit to the Yankees’ bullpen. It has been the foundation of this team and they are deadly when the Yankees take a late lead as they did on Thursday. Wilson, Betances and Miller combined to strike out five of the last nine outs they recorded. They just give a team no hope to come back.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • After struggling to hit off a gimmick pitch like a knuckleball on Wednesday the Yankees struggled to get anything going again tonight. It may not be a sign of anything. But with a big series coming up it is a concern.

BOMBER BANTER

Brian McCann sat out a second straight game due to a strained right knee. McCann, according to manager Joe Girardi, is available to pinch-hit and he could catch in an emergency. But Girardi said McCann needs a few days to allow the injury to heal and he is still day-to-day. John Ryan Murphy started in McCann’s place and he was 0-for-3.

ON DECK

The Yankees will begin a huge three-game series with the hot Blue Jays on Friday at Yankee Stadium.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (11-2, 4.30 ERA) will open the series for the Yankees. Eovaldi has been just as hot as the Blue Jays, having won eight straight decisions including a 13-6 thrashing of the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Eovaldi, 25, gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

The Yankees will face a knuckleball pitcher again. The Blue Jays will use right-hander R.A. Dickey (6-10, 4.06 ERA). Dickey, 40, shut out the Kansas City Royals on two hits and two walks with six strikeouts in seven innings on Sunday.

Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.

 

Down 5-0, Yankees Rally With 21 To Rout Rangers

GAME 99

YANKEES 21, RANGERS 5

From May 22 through May 25 the Texas Rangers outscored New York 30-15 in a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium. So the Yankees entered this four-game series at Globe Life Park looking for a little bit of payback.

On Tuesday night they got exactly that  –  and then some.

After yielding five runs in the first inning, New York erupted to score 11 runs in the second en route to a crushing defeat of Texas in front of a national TV audience on FOX Sports 1.

Chris Young led the assault with his second grand slam of the season and he knocked in a career-high five runs. Brett Gardner also homered and he joined Didi Gregorius and Brendan Ryan in driving in three runs apiece as the Yankees put up the most runs in a game since they scored 22 against the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 25, 2011.

Rookie right-hander Diego Moreno (1-0), who was just called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier in the day, pitched 5 1/3 innings of no-hit relief to earn his first Major League victory.

Moreno came in relief of left-hander Chris Capuano, who was making a spot start to allow Masahiro Tanaka to get an extra day of rest. But Capuano was unable to make it out of the first inning after walking Delino DeShields and retiring Rougned Odor and Adrian Beltre on routine flyouts.

Capuano walked Prince Fielder, Elvis Andrus followed with an RBI single and Mitch Moreland drew a walk to load the bases. Then Ryan Rua hit a bloop two-run single and Shin-Soo Choo followed with an RBI double.

The 36-year-old veteran than walked Robinson Chirinos to reload the bases and DeShields notched an RBI by drawing Capuano’s fifth walk of the inning.

Capuano gave way to Moreno after giving up five runs on three hits and five walks in a disastrous 42-pitch outing.

However, in the second inning the Yankees were able to tee off on left-hander Martin Perez (0-2), who was making only his third start after undergoing Tommy John surgery last season.

Young led off with a double and scored on Chase Headley’s RBI single. John Ryan Murphy singled and Perez loaded the bases by hitting Gregorius with a pitch.

Ryan followed with a two-run double and Jacoby Ellsbury and Gardner stroked consecutive RBI singles before Alex Rodriguez blasted a RBI double high off the left-field wall to give the Yankees a 6-5 lead.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister replaced Perez with veteran left-hander Wandy Rodriguez. After Rodriguez struck out Mark Teixeira, Young walked and Headley laced his second RBI single of the inning.

After Murphy struck out, Gregorius cleared the bases with a three-run triple and Ryan capped the 11-run explosion with an RBI double.

Perez was charged with eight runs on seven hits and he struck out one in his one-plus inning.

Rodriguez, however, was not much better because the Yankees opened the third inning by loading the bases singles by Gardner and Rodriguez and a walk to Teixeira. Young then blasted a 3-1 offering into the first-row of the left-field bleachers for his 12th home run of the season to extend the lead to 15-5.

After Rodriguez walked Headley he was replaced by right-hander Phil Klein having yielded seven runs on six hits and three walks in one inning.

Gardner completed the Yankees’ onslaught in the ninth with a two-run homer, his 11th of the season, off infielder Adam Rosales, who was used a pitcher in a mop-up role by the Rangers for the second time this season.

Adam Warren pitched three perfect innings to earn his first save of the season and the fifth of his career.

The 11 runs the Yankees scored in the second inning were the most runs the team has scored in an inning and the most they scored in any inning since they scored 12 runs in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles on July 30, 2011. The most runs the Yankees have scored in an inning was the 14 they scored in the fifth inning against Washington on July 6, 1920.

With the victory the Yankees increased their Major League-best July record to 16-5 and they are 57-42 on the season They also maintained their seven-game lead over the second-place Orioles in the American League East.

The Rangers are 47-52.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Young, 36, has been bashing left-handers all season and he did it again on Tuesday. He was 3-for-6 with two doubles, a home run, scored four runs and drove in five. Young is 36-for-97 (.371) with seven homers and 19 RBIs against lefties this season and he is batting .263 with 12 homers and 33 RBIs overall.
  • Gregorius, 25, had another record-breaking night after he drove in a career-high four runs on Monday. He was 4-for-5 with three singles, a double, two runs scored and three RBIs. It was the first four-hit game of his career. In the first two games of the series, Gregorius is 7-for-9 with a homer and seven RBIs. He is now batting .257 on the season.
  • Moreno, 28, was one of two players the Yankees acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in February, 2012 in a trade for right-hander A,J. Burnett. He was making only his third Major League appearance. He did not give up a hit and only walked Choo with two outs in the third. He struck out five and recorded six groundball outs. Unfortunately, he likely will be sent back down on Wednesday so the Yankees can call up another fresh arm from Scranton.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Why should there be a negative after a 21-5 victory? Consider this: The decision to rest Tanaka an extra day by manager Joe Girardi was odd enough. The decision to start Capuano was even odder because Warren was much better as a starter. But Capuano finally proved that he may need a fork stuck in him because he is done. After this outing, Capuano is 0-4 with a 6.97 ERA. There is simply no excuse for walking five batters in an inning. He has got to go.

BOMBER BANTER

In order to make room on the 25-man roster for Moreno, the Yankees optioned right-hander Nick Goody back to Scranton. Goody, 24, was just called up to the team on July 25 and he did not appear in a game for the Yankees in that span. Moreno was 3-0 with a 2.18 ERA in 26 games at Scranton.  . . .  After leaving Monday’s game after 75 pitches with arm fatigue, right-hander Ivan Nova told reporters that he will not miss his next scheduled start on Sunday. Nova was concerned about his arm because he was making only his sixth start after coming back from Tommy John surgery last season.

ON DECK

The Yankees have already clinched a series tie and they can claim a victory in the four-game series against the Rangers on Wednesday.

Tanaka (7-3, 3.64 ERA) will start for the Yankees, The Yankees have won his past five starts and he is 3-0 in that stretch. He yielded three runs on five hits and struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings to beat the Orioles on Thursday.

The Rangers will start right-hander Colby Lewis (10-4, 4.49 ERA). Lewis held the Angels to two runs on five hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings in a victory on Friday.

Game-time will be 8:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.

 

Yankees Rally Past Twins On A-Rod’s 3 Home Runs

GAME 96

YANKEES 8, TWINS 5

There are certain baseball sluggers than fans flock to see do magical things at the plate whether they loved them or hated them. Players like Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and, yes, even Alex Rodriguez. The 40-year-old designated hitter had one of those historic nights you would have wanted to see at Target Field in Minneapolis on Saturday.

With the Yankees trailing 5-0, Rodriguez proceeded to hit three long blasts  –  his final home run tying the game in the top of the ninth  –  and John Ryan Murphy later added a tie-breaking three-run shot in the same inning off All-Star closer Glen Perkins as New York pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat on a stunned Minnesota team.

Rodriguez’s three home runs in a game marked the fifth time in his career he has done it and  –  two days shy of his 40th birthday  –  he also became the fifth oldest player in Major-League history to hit three home runs in a game behind Stan Musial (41, 229 days), Jason Giambi (40, 131 days), Jackson (40, 125 days) and Ruth (40, 108 days).

His first home run was a solo shot into the left-field bleachers off left-hander Tommy Milone with two out in the fourth inning. That was the only hit the Yankees could muster off Milone in the first six innings.

After losing to the Twins 10-1 on Friday, the Yankees were looking at a possible potential sweep of the series by the Twins on Sunday after managing just two runs in the first 15 innings of the series.

But the Yankees turned the game (and possibly the series) around after the Twins had loaded the bases with out the benefit of a hit of a hit off left-hander CC Sabathia after two were out in the sixth inning. Sabathia walked Kurt Suzuki, hit Danny Santana with a pitch and then walked Brian Dozier.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi replaced Sabathia with right-hander Adam Warren, who managed to work into a 3-2 count on Aaron Hicks. His 3-2 pitch was called a strike by home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson.

Twins rookie manager Paul Molitor argued the call so vehemently that Nelson ejected him from the game.

The Yankees then opened the seventh with a leadoff single by Chris Young and Rodriguez followed by depositing Milone’s 1-1 pitch into the center-field bleachers for a two-run homer.

Mark Teixeira then doubled and left-hander Brian Duensing was summoned to replace Milone. Carlos Beltran launched a deep line drive to center that advanced Teixeira to third and Chase Headley scored Teixeira on a sacrifice fly.

Trailing 5-4 in the ninth, Rodriguez launched Perkins’ first offering into the center-field bleachers for his third home run of the night and 23rd of the season to tie the game.

Perkins (0-2) closed out the American League’s 6-3 victory in the 2015 All-Star Game and had blown only one save this season prior to Saturday. He carried a 1.37 ERA and a American-League-leading 29 saves into the contest.

With one out and Carlos Beltran at first after an out call at first base by umpire Tom Woodring was overturned to negate a double play, Headley laced a single to center to advance Beltran to third. Murphy, who entered the game with one career homer and none in 81 at-bats this season, sent a long drive into the center-field bleachers for a three-run home run to complete the improbable eight-run comeback.

Warren (6-5) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory. Left-hander Andrew Miller pitched a perfect ninth inning to notch his 23rd save in 23 chances this season.

The Twins took an early 2-0 lead on Sabathia and the Yankees when the light-hitting Hicks followed a leadoff single by Dozier with only his fourth home run of the season.

Hicks created more trouble in the third with a leadoff bloop single to center. One out later, rookie slugger Miguel Sano rolled a ball against the shift to the right side for an infield single. Torii Hunter then cranked an opposite-field homer to right to give the Twins their seemingly insurmountable 5-0 margin.

The victory improved the Yankees’ season mark to 54-42 and they are 5 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. The Twins dropped to 52-45.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • These are the games that stoke legends and Rodriguez’s magical night drew the Yankees back from the depths of despair. His numbers defy explanation after missing most of the past two seasons. He is batting .277 with 23 homers and 58 RBIs. If anyone saw this coming you are a better man than me. He and Mark Teixeira have combined to hit 47 homers and drive in 123 runs with 66 games left in the season.
  • The Yankees were more than content to go to the bottom of the ninth with a tie score but Murphy’s home run provided a three-run margin. Give Murphy, 24, credit for putting up a tough battle with a good closer. Backup catchers are paid to play good defense and give the starter a rest. If they provide anything offensively it is a bonus and Murphy is now hitting .271 with a homer and eight RBIs in his 23 starts.
  • Sabathia may have yielded five runs on six hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings. But give him credit for this: From the moment Hunter cranked his 16th homer of the season, Sabathia, Warren and Miller held the Twins to just one hit (a two-out single by Suzuki in the eighth) the rest of the game. If the pitching did not keep the Twins off the board the Yankees likely would not have won.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • The Yankees pretty much were sleepwalking through this series until the seventh inning on Saturday. They had just one hit in the first six innings and ended the night with 10. In fact, they outhit the Twins 10 to 7. Phil Hughes shut them out for seven innings on Friday and Milone held them to one run in six until he finally unraveled in the seventh. That is embarrassing.
  • Michael Pineda and Sabathia combined to yield 10 runs on 14 hits and three walks in 10 2/3 innings the past two nights. That is an 8.44 ERA. Starting pitching had been a strong suit of the Yankees 9-2 run up until Friday. The starters have to keep the Yankees in the game in order for them to unleash their strong bullpen.

BOMBER BANTER

Girardi told reporters on Saturday that the Yankees will not pitch Masahiro Tanaka on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers in order to give the 26-year-old right-hander an extra day of rest. The Yankees likely will start either Warren or left-hander Chris Capuano and give each pitcher about 50 pitches. Girardi said top pitching prospect Luis Severino and right-hander Bryan Mitchell, who are both pitching at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, are not viable options. The right-handed Severino pitched on Friday and Mitchell pitched on Saturday. Tanaka will start against the Rangers on Wednesday because the team is managing his innings in the wake of his partially torn elbow ligament that sidelined him for two months last season.  . . .  The Yankees signed right-hander Nick Goody to a Major-League contract and called him up from Scranton to add a fresh arm to the bullpen. In order to get Goody on the 25-man roster right-hander Branden Pinder was sent back to Scranton and to get him on the 40-man roster the team designated for assignment infielder Gregorio Petit. Goody, 24, has a 1.35 ERA in five appearances at Scranton after being promoted from Double-A Trenton. Pinder, 26, had a 2.92 ERA in 11 appearances with the Yankees this season. Petit, 30, hit .167 with no homers and five RBIs in 42 at-bats with the Yankees.

ON DECK

The Yankees will now look to build upon their miracle comeback victory to win the three-game series with the Twins on Sunday.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (9-2, 4.43 ERA) will start the finale. Eovaldi, 25, gave up two runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in a game the Yankees eventually won against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday. He has never faced the Twins.

Eovaldi will be opposed by right-hander Kyle Gibson (8-7, 3.19 ERA). Gibson, 27, was shelled for six runs on 10 hits and one walk with six strikeouts in five-plus innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.

Game-time will be 2:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.

 

Yankees Sweep O’s As Early Big Lead Aids Tanaka

GAME 94

YANKEES 9, ORIOLES 4

The 1927 Yankees with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were also characterized by the term “Five O’Clock Lightning” because somewhere around that time would come a barrage that put an opponent away. The 2015 Yankees should be called “1:30 Lightning” for their penchant for their first-inning outbursts.

They did again in style on Thursday.

Chase Headley stroked a base-clearing double with two out as part of a four-run first inning and Masahiro Tanaka pitched masterfully into the eighth as New York swept reeling Baltimore in front of a paid crowd of 46,875 at Yankee Staduim.

Jacoby Ellsbury added to the onslaught with three hits, four RBIs and finished the day just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle as the Yankees rapped out 13 hits to win their ninth game out of their past 11 to take a commanding 5 1/2 game lead in the American League East.

Tanaka (7-3) capitalized on the 9-1 lead his was given by the bottom of the fifth inning and cruised to victory despite yielding solo home runs to Chris Davis, J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado. Tanaka gave up three runs on just five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings.

The Yankees, meanwhile, immediately jumped all over right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (7-6) in the first as Ellsbury singled to left and Brett Gardner and Alex Rodriguez drew walks on 3-2 pitches to load the bases.

After Jimenez looked to be just about out of danger after striking out Mark Teixeira and retiring Carlos Beltran on a shallow outfield fly, Headley laced a three-run double off the center-field wall. Didi Gregorius followed with an RBI single to score Headley.

After Davis crushed a fastball into the right-field bleachers for his second home run in as many at-bats and his 21st of the season to lead off the second inning, Ellsbury delivered a long home run of his own to lead of the bottom of the inning.

The Yankees then proceeded to put the game away for good in the fourth inning after Gregorius and John Ryan Murphy reached on one-out singles. Stephen Drew delivered the knockout blow to Jimenez with a lined single to right to score Gregorius.

Right-hander Tommy Hunter replaced Jimenez and was greeted with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ellsbury that scored Murphy to make the score 7-1.

Jimenez was charged with all seven runs on eight hits and three walks and two strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings, his shortest start of the season. In his previous outing, Jimenez also surrendered seven runs on seven hits (including three home runs) to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park last Friday.

The Yankees added a pair of runs off right-hander Bud Norris in the fifth inning on an opposite-field single by Headley and a single off the second-base bag by Murphy. Ellsbury capped his big day with a two-out, two-run double to left to pad the Yankees lead to 9-1.

Tanaka, meanwhile, was dazzling the Orioles with pinpoint command. He yielded just the one run and three hits through 7 1/3 innings until Hardy cracked a solo home run to left and, one out later, Machado laced a shot of his own for his 21st home run of the season.

It was Tanaka’s third consecutive victory in his past three starts and he has not lost a game since the Tigers defeated him 12-4 on June 21 at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees are now a season-high 53-41 and they are 5 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays in the division. The Orioles dropped to 46-48 and they trail the Yankees by seven games.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Ellsbury was hitting .327 on July 11, one day before the All-Star break. He immediately fell into a 3-for-26 (.115) slide until Thursday’s game. He was 3-for-4 with a single, double, home run, two runs scored and added four RBIs. In order to light the match to their offense, the Yankees need Ellsbury getting on base along with Gardner. They set the table for the hitters that follow them.
  • Headley is one of those players that just by definition is steady. From May 25 through Thursday Headley’s batting average has stayed within the .242 and .259 range. But since July 1, Headley is 17-for-50 (.340). Oddly though, Headley had no home runs and just seven RBIs during the streak. It is really hard to hit that well and have so little to show for it but Headley is hitting .259 with eight homers and 35 RBIs on the season.
  • Forget the three homers Tanaka gave up. The 26-year-old right-hander seems to be in a nice groove over the past month. In his past four starts, Tanaka is 3-0 with a 3.18 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings. If there is any doubt he is the ace of this staff he is quickly dispelling it.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

Tanaka pitched exceptional baseball, the team scored nine runs and they swept a very dangerous division rival. There is no reason to complain about anything about Thursday’s effort. It is clear that after two injury-plagued seasons, the Yankees have gotten their swagger back. They look like they will be tough to beat for the A.L. East title.

ON DECK

The Yankees are off to Minnesota to play the Twins in a weekend series at Target Field that starts on Friday.

Right-hander Michael Pineda (9-6, 3.77 ERA) will start the series for the Yankees. Pineda, 26, allowed four runs on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts in six innings in a 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

The Twins will look to former Yankees right-hander Phil Hughes (8-6, 4.15 ERA). Hughes, 29, took a no-decision on Saturday against the Oakland Athletics despite giving up just one run on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in seven innings.

Game-time will be 8:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.

 

Tex Hits Two Homers But Drew’s Blast Downs A’s

GAME 84

YANKEES 5, ATHLETICS 4

Sometimes an insurance run in the late innings is just a meaningless addition to the score. Other times it ends up being the difference between winning and losing.

Stephen Drew’s two-out solo home run in the eighth inning on Wednesday off left-hander Fernando Abad proved to be in the latter category.

Mark Teixeira hit a pair of solo home runs and CC Sabathia pitched into the sixth inning but Drew’s home run proved to be the difference as New York edged Oakland in front of a paid crowd of 41,626 at Yankee Stadium.

Though the Yankees trailed 2-1 heading into the fourth inning, they got a break when left-hander Scott Kazmir was forced to leave the game with tightness in left triceps.

Athletics manager Bob Melvin sent in right-hander Evan Scribner and Teixeira greeted him by blasting a 1-2 high and outside fastball deep into the bleachers in right-center for his 21st home run of the season to tie the game at 2-2.

The Yankees were able to take the lead for good in the same inning when Chris Young drew a walk and John Ryan Murphy singled to left-center. After Young stole third and Murphy was able to advance to second on a wild pitch, Jose Pirela launched a one-out sacrifice fly to right to score Young.

The Yankees added to their lead in the sixth inning when Teixeira led off with almost a carbon-copy drive into right-center on a 2-2 high outside fastball from Scribner for his 22nd home run of the season. It also was his second two-homer game of the season.

Drew, who entered the game in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement at second base for Pirela, then added his 12th home run of the season in the eighth to give the Yankees a nice 5-2 cushion heading into the ninth.

But closer Andrew Miller, who was just activated from the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day after not pitching since June 9, show some rustiness in the ninth inning.

Mark Canha stroked a one-out single and Marcus Semien followed with a two-run homer into the left-field bleachers to bring the A’s to within a run.

After Stephen Vogt reached second on a two-base throwing error by third baseman Gregorio Petit, Miller retired Ben Zobrist on a groundout to Petit in which Teixeira had to make a long stretch that barely nipped Zobrist.

Sabathia (4-8) did have a rough second inning in which he was touched for five hits. Josh Phegley and Canha hit back-to-back one-out RBI singles to score Oakland’s only two runs until the ninth inning.

Sabathia was charged with two runs on seven hits and two walks with one strikeout in 5 1/3 innings for his first victory since June 7 against the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium.

The bullpen trio of right-hander Bryan Mitchell, Justin Wilson and Dellin Betances held the Athletics hitless and scoreless for 2 2/3 innings before turning the game over to Miller in the ninth.

Despite Miller’s struggles in his first game back, he still was credited with his 18th save in 18 opportunities this season.

Scribner (2-2) took the loss after yielding three runs on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. He leads all relievers in homers allowed this season with 11.

With the victory the Yankees improved their season record to 45-38 and they remain two games ahead of the second-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East. The Athletics dropped to 39-48.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Teixeira’s potential American League Comeback Player of the Year run continues. His 22 home runs matches his total from all of last season and he still leads the league in RBIs with 61. In addition, Teixeira made several sparkling plays in the field. His selection to the American League All-Star team was well deserved. His is one of the main reasons the Yankees are in first place in the division.
  • Give Drew some credit for a nine-pitch at-bat against Abad with two-out in the eighth. His 12th home run of the season proved to be the decisive run in the game. Drew may be hitting an anemic .179, but his 12 home runs and his steady infield defense have somewhat up for it.
  • Betances was victimized on Tuesday by a 10th inning home run by Brett Lawrie that lost the game for the Yankees. But he got back on the horse in the eighth on Wednesday and looked very sharp. He struck out Billy Butler and Lawrie and retired pinch-hitter Josh Reddick on an outstanding fielding play by Teixeira.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

There was not to much to complain about on this night. Sabathia was unable to get through six innings and Miller did look shaky in the ninth. But you have to give Miller a mulligan on this one. The Yankees are in first place and Teixeira is leading them.

BOMBER BANTER

In addition to Miller, 30, the Yankees also activated center-fielder Jacoby Ellsbury from the disabled list on Wednesday. Ellsbury, 31, started the game and was 1-for-4 with an infield single. He had been on the disabled list since May 20 with a strained ligament in his right knee. To make room for Miller and Ellsbury, the team optioned right-hander Nick Rumbelow and outfielder Ramon Flores to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Rumbelow, 23, was 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in four appearances. Flores, 23, was hitting .219 with no homers and no RBIs in 32 at-bats.  . . .  Third baseman Chase Headley was held out of the game on Wednesday with inflammation in his right calf. Headley is listed as day-to-day. Petit started in Headley’s place and was 0-for-4.

ON DECK

The Yankees will have a chance to claim the rubber game of the three-game series against the A’s on Thursday.

Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (4-3, 3.94 ERA) will start of the Yankees. Tanaka pitched much better in a no-decision against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. He yielded three runs on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts in six innings.

The Athletics will counter with right-hander Jesse Chavez (4-8, 3.20 ERA). Chavez lost to the Seattle Mariners on Thursday after giving up four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

Game-time will be 1:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast nationally by the MLB Network and locally by the YES Network.

 

Nova Brilliant In Return As Yankees Drub Phils

GAME 72

YANKEES 10, PHILLIES 2

When assessing the New York Yankees in 2015 most forecasters discounted any contribution that Ivan Nova might make since he was coming off of Tommy John surgery and 14 months of rehab. By the looks of what he did in his first start back on Wednesday it looks like his potential contribution to the team could be monumental.

Nova pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings and allowed only three hits and two walks with one strikeout as New York avoided a sweep to the team with the worst record in baseball in Philadelphia at Yankee Stadium in front of a paid crowd of 45,877.

Nova, 28, quickly established his mid-90s sinking fastball and sharp breaking curveball to hold scoreless a Phillies team that had tallied 11 runs in both of their two previous games against the Yankees. Nova (1-0) navigated deftly through the Phillies to throw 92 pitches and 51 of them for strikes (55%).

It was his first victory since April 13, 2014 and his first start since April 19 the same year.

In contrast, left-hander Cole Hamels (5-6) was not sharp in his five innings of work. He was charged with five runs on eight hits and three walks with strikeouts.

With the help of a throwing error, the Yankees were able to score a pair of runs off Hamels in the second inning after they loaded the bases on a single by Chris Young, a walk by John Ryan Murphy and an infield bunt single by Didi Gregorius.

Rookie Jose Pirela slapped a grounder to third baseman Andres Blanco, but Blanco’s throw home to catcher Carlos Ruiz bounced away to allow Young and Murphy to score on the fielder’s choice.

The Yankees added three runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Brett Gardner, an RBI double by Chase Headley and an RBI single by Mark Teixeira, who had missed the two previous games with stiffness in his neck.

The Yankees added a run in the sixth inning off left-hander Jake Diekman on a two-out RBI single by Young and they broke the game wide open with a four-run seventh inning off right-hander Justin De Fratus capped by a two-run single by Alex Rodriguez and another RBI single by Teixeira.

The Phillies broke up the shutout with a pair of runs in the ninth inning off 27-year-old right-hander Diego Moreno, who was just called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday.

They scored on RBI single by Dominic Brown and Cody Asche. Moreno was optioned back to Triple A after the game.

With the victory the Yankees ended a three-game skid to improve their record to 39-33. They also pulled to within one game of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. The Phillies fell to 26-48.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Because of some shaky outings from Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia, the successful return of Nova was welcome on a day the team was facing one of the better left-handers in baseball in Hamels. But Nova showed why he had compiled a 40-22 record since his debut in 2010. People forget that he was 16-4 in 2011 and that he was the team’s best pitcher in the second half of 2013 when he finished 9-6 with 3.10 ERA. This was vintage Nova.
  • The Yankees also could breathe a sigh of relief that Teixeira was able to play and, in addition, go 3-for-5 with two RBIs. His two RBIs give him 51, which ties him with Stephen Vogt of the Oakland Athletics for second in the American League. Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers leads with 52. Teixeira had been bothered for two weeks with a stiff neck and had to have a cortisone shot to speed the healing enough to get him back in the lineup.
  • Gardner was 1-for-5 with a single, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. In the eight-game homestand, Gardner batted .472 with three doubles, a triple, four homers, 10 RBIs and he scored 12 runs. Gardner’s .292 average leads the team and he has nine homers and 38 RBIs. After struggling initially when he replaced Jacoby Ellsbury in the leadoff spot, he has come back to post numbers that could get him into the All-Star team picture.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

After two days where they looked looked like the worst team in baseball and the Phillies looked like the contending team, the Yankees finally put together a good starting pitching performance and some timely hitting against a very good left-hander. Hopefully, Nova’s return will help shore up a starting staff that has been poor of late.

BOMBER BANTER

Manager Joe Girardi received his second ejection of the season in the third inning after disputing a checked-swing call on Maikel Franco on an 0-2 count by first-base umpire Alan Porter. Girardi contended from the dugout that Franco swung and Porter ejected him. On the next pitch, Franco struck out when he failed to check his swing.  . . .  Left-handed closer Andrew Miller threw for the first time on Wednesday since being placed on the disabled list with a strained flexor muscle in his elbow. Miller, 29, threw 25 times off flat ground at 60 feet and reported no issues with his arm. Miller, 30, hopes to be able to begin throwing off a mound next week but there is still no firm timetable for his return. Right-hander Dellin Betances will continue to close until Miller returns.

ON DECK

The Yankees are off to Houston to begin a four-game weekend series on Thursday with the surprising Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Right-hander Adam Warren (5-4, 3.52 ERA) will open the series for the Yankees. Warren pitched the best game of his career on Friday, holding the Tigers to two runs on seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in a career-best eight innings.

The Astros will counter with ace left-hander Dallas Keuchel (8-3, 2.35 ERA). Keuchel, 27, was beaten by the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, giving up five runs on five hits and four walks with seven strikeouts in five innings.

Game-time will be 8:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast nationally by the MLB Network and locally by the YES Network.

 

Yankees Take Walk On Wild Side To Defeat Birds

GAME 62

YANKEES 5, ORIOLES 3

There is an old saying in sports that you should “take what they give you.” When the Orioles began losing control of the strike zone on Sunday the Yankees took advantage for a come-from-behind victory at Camden Yards.

John Ryan Murphy laced a two-out, two-run single off left-hander Brian Matusz in the fifth inning to break a 3-3 tie as New York was able to salvage one game against Baltimore in their three-game weekend series.

Trailing 3-2 to start the inning, Chase Headley, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira drew three consecutive walks on 3-2 pitches off right-hander Mike Wright to load the bases.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter yanked Wright in favor of Matusz, who was just returning to action from an eight-game suspension. But Garrett Jones also was able to draw a walk on a 3-2 pitch and Headley came in to score the game-tying run.

After Matusz struck out Stephen Drew and Didi Gregorius, Murphy was able to slap a 2-0 pitch that caromed off the glove of Orioles third baseman Manny Machado and rolled into left-field for a double that allowed Rodriguez and Teixeira to score.

Wright (2-2) was charged with five runs on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 4-plus innings of work.

Meanwhile, the Yankees’ bullpen shut down the red-hot Orioles for the remainder of the game.

Left-hander Chasen Shreve (3-1) entered the game with two in the fifth inning and he pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn credit for the victory.

Left-hander Justin Wilson followed Shreve to hurl two perfect innings and Dellin Betances threw up a scoreless ninth to earn his third save in three opportunities this season.

Right-hander Adam Warren started for the Yankees and he was staked to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning after Brett Gardner led off with an infield single and later scored on a two-out RBI double by Teixeira. It was Teixeira’s American-League-leading 47th RBI of the season.

But Warren was unable to hold the lead after Machado led off the bottom of the frame with a single and advanced to third on a single by Adam Jones. Chris Davis drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases and Nolan Reimold hit a bloop single to center to score Machado and Jones.

The Yankees tied the game in the second after they loaded the bases on Wright on consecutive singles by Drew, Gregorius and Murphy, who had three hits on the day. One out later, Gardner hit a line-drive sacrifice to center that scored Drew.

The Orioles broke the 2-2 tie in the fourth after Reimold walked and J.J. Hardy advanced him to second on a one-out single. But after Warren fanned Ryan Flaherty, Caleb Joseph hit a bloop double to right-center that scored Reimold.

Warren was charged with three runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

The victory by the Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak and allowed them to maintain a share of the lead in the American League East with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees are 34-28 and lead the Rays in the loss column by one game. The Orioles fell to 31-31 and they are three games back in fourth place in the division.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • Murphy entered the game batting .208 in only 155 at-bats. But he ended up 3-for-4 with a double, two singles and two RBIs. The 24-year-old backup catcher deserves a lot of credit for coming up big in a two-out situation and provide a huge game-winning hit with starter Brian McCann resting.
  • Shreve, Wilson and Betances combined to shut out the Orioles over 4 1/3 innings on no hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Over the past three games the bullpen has not been what it should have and this game hopefully re-establishes them as a strength of the team. With Andrew Miller on the disabled list and Esmil Rogers and Jacob Lindgren shipped out to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, right-handers Sergio Santos, rookie Jose Ramirez and Chris Martin have the task of holding the bullpen together until Miller returns.
  • Teixeira’s double extended his hitting streak to five games. Over those five games, Teixeira is 8-for-17 (.471) with three doubles and two RBIs. That has raised his season average from .237 to .256. He is tied for fourth in the A.L. with 17 home runs and his 47 RBIs lead the league.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

  • Manager Joe Girardi elected to remove Warren in the fifth inning despite the fact that he needed only one out to qualify for a victory. Perhaps the reason why was because Jimmy Paredes was on second after a single and Davis drew a one-out walk. After Warren struck out Reimold looking, Girardi brought in the left-hander Shreve to face the lefty-swinging Travis Snider, who was representing the potential go-ahead run. Warren had little to complain about because he had thrown 92 pitches and only 56 were strikes (61 percent).
  • If you take away Murphy’s game-winning double, the Yankees would have been 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. That pretty much tells you that if it were not for the four walks they drew in the fifth, they might have lost the game. The offense needs to be more consistent if this team wants to remain in first place.

BOMBER BANTER

Jacoby Ellsbury, 31, told reporters on Sunday that he hopes to be back with the Yankees before the end of the month. Ellsbury has been on the disabled list since injuring himself on a swing on May 19, spraining lateral collateral ligament in his right knee. Doctors told him it would take six weeks for him to recover, which would put his return date on June 30. But Ellsbury thinks he can return sooner. “I’m optimistic I can be back before that,” Ellsbury told reporters. “If I can trim any time off that, I think it would be a success.”  . . .  Right-hander Ivan Nova pitched six innings of one-run baseball on Saturday for Scranton and the team may decide soon whether he is ready to return. Nova, 28, who has been recovering from Tommy John surgery last year, gave up five hits, walked one and struck out three in his second rehab start. If the Yankees activate Nova he will be slotted back into the rotation and Warren could possibly be shifted back to the bullpen.

ON DECK

The Yankees will begin a four-game home-and-home series with Miami Marlins on Monday beginning at Marlins Park.

Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (4-1, 2.48 ERA) will start the series for the Yankees. Tanaka has given up just two runs in 14 innings in his two starts since he came off the disabled list on June 3. He has not faced the Marlins before.

Right-hander Tom Koehler (4-4, 4.00 ERA) will pitch for the Marlins. Koehler, 28, yielded five runs on eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Game-time will be 7:10 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by WPIX.

 

Yankees Sweep Angels To Extend Win Steak To 6

GAME 57

YANKEES 6, ANGELS 2

Since 2000 there is only one team in baseball that has a winning record against the New York Yankees and it is the Los Angeles Angels led by manager Mike Sciosia. But after what happened to the Angels this weekend, that record will not stand too much longer.

Brett Gardner, Chris Young and Jose Pirela each hit home runs and left-hander CC Sabathia threw six solid innings on Sunday as New York completed its first sweep of Los Angeles in the new Yankee Stadium in front of a paid crowd of 43,178.

The victory allowed the Yankees to extend their winning streak to six games.

Sabathia (3-7) entered the game with a 5.45 ERA and in the first inning he allowed consecutive solo home runs to Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. For Pujols it was the 535th of his career and it allowed him to pass Jimmie Foxx for 17th place on the all-time home run list.

However, Sabathia recovered to retire 17 of the next 20 batters he faced until he was ejected from the game in the sixth by home-plate umpire Dan Bellino for arguing balls and strikes. Bellino subsequently also ejected Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

But relievers Justin Wilson, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller combined to pitch three scoreless and hitless innings while striking out five batters to nail down the victory for Sabathia.

Trailing 2-0, the Yankees scored a run off left-hander C.J. Wilson (3-5) in the third inning after Pirela led off with a double, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on a groundout by Didi Gregorius.

The Yankees tied it and later took the lead off Wilson in the fifth when Young led off with his seventh home run of the season and his first since May 2. In fact, Young entered the game mired in a 5-for-46 (.109) slide that dropped his season average from .306 to .220.

One out later, John Ryan Murphy reached on an opposite-field bloop single and Gregorius followed a lined single to right. Gardner then put the Yankees ahead to stay with a long blast to right on a 2-0 fastball. It was Gardner’s fifth home run of the season.

Pirela led off the seventh inning with a deep drive into the left-field bleachers for his first major-league home run and it extended the Yankees’ lead against Wilson and the Angels to 6-2.

Wilson was charged with six runs on seven hits and no walks with eight strikeouts in seven innings. Wilson entered the contest with a 2.44 ERA in 44 1/3 prior innings at the ballpark.

Sabathia, 34, ended his day giving up two runs on five hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in six innings.

However, it was his sixth strikeout in the fifth inning that allowed the veteran left-hander to reach a rare milestone. When he struck out Johnny Giavotella looking for the second out of the fifth, Sabathia became the 31st pitcher in Major League Baseball history to reach 2,500 strikeouts. Sabathia, already baseball’s active leader in strikeouts, also became only the ninth left-hander to reach the mark.

With one out and one on in the sixth inning, Sabathia threw a 1-1 slider to Kole Calhoun that Bellino called a ball. Television replays clearly showed that the ball was over the plate and crossed above Calhoun’s right knee.

On the next pitch, Calhoun rapped into an inning-ending double play. As Sabathia left the mound he asked Bellino where the previous pitch was. Bellino said down and, when Sabathia countered by saying the pitch was not down, Bellino ejected him. Girardi hopped over the dugout railing to get between Bellino and Sabathia to pick up the argument and he also was ejected.

It was Sabathia’s first ejection since 2006 and the first of the season for Girardi.

With their victory, the Yankees are now 32-25 and they maintained their 1 1/2-game lead over the second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. The Angels have now dropped five straight games and they are 28-29.

PINSTRIPE POSITIVES

  • You have to give Sabathia credit for keeping his composure after allowing two first-inning home runs. It was his first victory since May 16 against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium and his first at Yankee Stadium since Sept. 20, 2013. There is no doubt that Sabathia is no longer the ace that he was. But he proved on Sunday that he can provide the Yankees with quality starts.
  • Gardner’s three-run blast was his first home run since he launched another three-run blast on May 25 against right-hander Jeremy Guthrie to cap an eight-run first inning against the Royals at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won that game 14-1. Gardner was a pain in the Angels’ backsides the entire series. He had hits in each game and was 5-for-13 (.385) with a walk, a triple, a homer and five RBIs. Gardner had been slumping ever since taking over for the injured Jacoby Ellsbury in the leadoff spot on May 20.
  • Pirela, 25, has always been considered the best pure hitter among all the team’s prospects. That is why it was odd after he batted .305 in 2014 in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and he hit well in spring training that he only was hitting .200 on May 25. Since then, Pirela is 5-for-11 (.455) and has raised his season average to .268. Pirela was 2-for-3 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and an RBI. He still is very weak defensively, but with Stephen Drew batting .168 he deserves to start against left-handers as he did on Sunday.

NAGGING NEGATIVES

Former Gold Glove winner Chase Headley committed his 13th error of the season in the third inning. However, it was later erased by a boneheaded attempt to move up to second base by Trout on a fly ball to right by David Freese. Beltran caught the fly and threw out Trout at second before Erick Aybar could cross home plate, which means his run did not count. So the way I look at it there is nothing to really complain about because the Angels were outsmarted and outscored in the series 22-11. (Right-hander Esmil Rogers handed them five of those runs on a platter in Friday’s nail-bitter.)

ON DECK

Fresh off their two consecutive series sweeps of the Seattle Mariners and the Angels, the Yankees will take Monday off before opening a two-game home series with the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.

Right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (3-1, 2.76 ERA) will make his second start after being activated from the disabled list. Tanaka was brilliant in limiting the Mariners to one run on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts in seven sharp innings of a 3-1 victory on Wednesday.

The Nationals will counter with right-hander Max Scherzer (6-4, 1.85 ERA). Scherzer is coming offa loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last Tuesday in which he was touched for four runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings.

Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be broadcast by the YES Network.