Tag: CC Sabathia (Page 2 of 17)

      Yankees’ postseason experience shines in Game 1 of ALDS

      October 7, 2010 /
      New York Yankees' Mark Teixeira hits a two-run home run against the Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning of Game 1 of their MLB American League Divison Series baseball playoffs in Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 6, 2010. REUTERS/Andy King (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      The Yankees entered the playoffs losers of eight of their last 11 games. But no matter how much they’ve struggled or how many chinks in the armor they may have shown, this is still their time of year.

      For five innings Wednesday night, the Yankees were making Twins’ starter Francisco Liriano look like Cy Young. They trailed 3-0 in the top of the sixth, but after Nick Swisher struck out swinging to start the inning, Mark Teixeira doubled to deep left, Alex Rodriguez walked and then Teixeira scored on a Robinson Cano single to right.

      After Marcus Thames struck out, Jorge Posada lined a single to right to score A-Rod and move Cano to second. Curtis Granderson delivered the big blow by tripling off the wall in deep right center to score Cano and Posada to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

      They never trailed after that.

      The Twins scratched across a run in their half of the inning, but Teixeira blasted a 355-foot home run in the top of 7th to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. After allowing two base runners to reach in the ninth, Mariano Rivera got Jim Thome to pop out to third to end the game and give New York a 6-4 victory.

      This is the time of year when the Yankees are never out of any game. They may have showed their age throughout the regular season, but there’s no replacement for postseason experience. When the stakes are high, this is when the Bombers are at their best.

      Of course, this is still a team that’s going to struggle to win it all. Their pitching is a major concern and Joe Girardi’s stomach must have been in knots watching his ace C.C. Sabathia struggle in the early innings last night before finally settling in. He’s supposed to be the rock of the rotation and if he struggles, then the Yanks are doomed.

      Game 2 is set for tonight at 6:07PM ET, as Andy Pettitte will take on former Yankee Carl Pavano.

      External Sports, MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      September 4, 2010 /

      The Yankees just keep winning, and suddenly the Padres keep losing, sitting with an 8-game losing streak, but still clinging to a three-game lead over the Giants. We may wind up with very few pennant races, but we are likely to have lots of new match-ups in the postseason this year. For that, I’m excited. And let me go out on a limb here. Watch out for the Rockies. They have this knack for winning 98% of their games in September and climbing fast in the standings.

      1. New York Yankees (85-50)—They haven’t lost since I did my last rankings. The Rays caught up, but then the Yanks jumped back out to a 1.5-game lead. I know I’ve been high on the Rays, but the Yankees ain’t gonna fold. And CC for Cy Young?

      2. Tampa Bay Rays (83-51)—With a 7-game lead in the wild card, that’s got to be what the Rays are gunning for. And they’d have to suffer a major collapse for that to happen at this point.

      3. Cincinnati Red (78-56)—No longer a flash in the pan, the Reds are not just for real, they are striking fear in every other MLB team. How about the addition of Aroldis Chapman? Did anyone thing he would be helping this team in a pennant race in September?

      4. Minnesota Twins (78-57)—The White Sox have Manny Ramirez now, but that won’t stop the Twins from pulling away this month.

      5. Atlanta Braves (78-57)—Hanging tough as the Phillies make a charge. This could be one division race worth biting your nails over.

      6. San Diego Padres (76-57)—Speaking of biting nails, how are you Padres’ fans feeling these days? Yikes.

      7. Texas Rangers (75-59)—Now with a 9-game lead, Nolan Ryan can print those playoff tickets.

      8. Philadelphia Phillies (77-58)—This team has caught fire at the right time, and we all knew they had it in them. One game back, and the Braves could wind up missing the postseason entirely after a great year.

      9. Boston Red Sox (76-58)—A good season, and they’d be in the divisional hunt in every other division but the AL East.

      10. San Francisco Giants (74-61)—With the Padres losing 8 in a row, the Giants have still not been able to capitalize. And now they trail the Phillies by 3 games in the wild card hunt.

      External Sports, MLB

      Red Sox, Yankees open 2010 season with a bang

      April 5, 2010 /

      There’s really no other way to open up a baseball season then to pit the Yankees and Red Sox against each other on national TV, which the MLB did last night.

      The BoSox’s Dustin Pedroia had a two-run homer and an RBI single to power Boston past New York 9-7 in a wild opener. The Red Sox overcame an early 5-1 deficit thanks to timely hitting by Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and newcomer Adrian Beltre. The biggest hit came off Pedroia’s bat when he took a Chan Ho Park pitch over the Green Monster in the seventh inning, giving him dingers on consecutive Opening Days now.

      As usual for this time of year, the starting pitching was spotty. CC Sabathia went 5.1 innings, allowing five runs on six hits while striking out four. Josh Beckett only went 4.2 innings while giving up five runs on eight hits and allowing two home runs. He struck out only two batters.

      Game 2 of this three-game series will be played on Tuesday.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      MLB

      2010 MLB Preview: AL Central

      March 23, 2010 /

      In order to help get you ready for the MLB season, we’re doing division-by-division rankings with quick overviews on how each club could fair in 2010. Next to each team, you’ll also find a corresponding number written in parenthesis, which indicates where we believe that club falls in a league-wide power ranking. Be sure to check back throughout the next two weeks leading up to the season, as we will be updating our content daily. Enjoy.

      All 2010 MLB Preview Content | AL East Preview | AL Central Preview | AL West Preview | NL East | NL Central | NL West

      Next up is the AL Central.

      1. Chicago White Sox (9)
      Some folks will think that this is too high for the White Sox – that they should be behind the Twins and out of the top 10 in terms of the overall power rankings. Some folks will say that Jake Peavy won’t be healthy all season and that the Chi Sox will once again falter as they try to live station to station on offense. Well, I say the folks that disagree with my opinion are friggin idiots. Harsh? Yeah, but it also needed to be said. I realize that I’m taking a risk by moving the Sox to the head of the AL Central, but really, it’s hard to argue that this division isn’t a crapshoot anyway. Every team has question marks heading into the season but at the end of the day, pitching makes or breaks a team. I realize Peavy missed all of last year due to injury, but the Sox were second in the AL in pitching last season with a 4.14 ERA without him. If he stays healthy, Peavy will only add to Chicago’s solid rotation (which also features Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Freddy Garcia) and the addition of J.J. Putz should bolster the bullpen as well. Outside of injuries, the only thing that could potentially hold Chicago back this year is its offense. What do you mean that’s kind of a big deal? I’m banking that youngster Gordon Beckham develops quickly and that Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios return to form. I also think the Sox will get key contributions from the additions GM Kenny Williams made this offseason in Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre and Mark Teahen. I’m not expecting the Sox to magically transform into the Yankees of the AL Central, but I do believe they have enough offense to get by while their pitching carries them to a playoff berth.

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      Decade Debate: 10 Pivotal MLB Trades

      December 14, 2009 /

      There have been countless trades this past decade in the MLB, with some obviously more significant than others. But what were the most pivotal deals of the past 10 years? As part of our Decade Debate series, here are 10 trades in the past decade that turned out to be pivotal for one or both of the clubs involved. Keep in mind that the trades didn’t have to be blockbuster in order to be pivotal. So if you’re wondering why you see the Mets’ acquisition of Johan Santana in the honorable mention section, don’t forget that New York has yet to even make a playoff appearance since that trade.

      10. Red Sox trade “No-mah.”

      While many Boston fans were sad to see Nomar Garciaparra traded to the Cubs as part of a four-team deal that sent Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz to the BoSox, they can’t deny that the deal worked out in the end. Thanks to the contributions of Cabrera and Mientkiewicz during the year, the Red Sox went on to win the 2004 World Series – their first in 86 years. A groin injury derailed Nomar’s days in Chicago, although he did wind up getting a World Series ring for his half season in Boston. It was well-deserved recognition for a player that had meant a lot to the Red Sox organization.

      9. Brewers land CC.

      Did the Brewers win a World Series after unloading prospects Matt LaPorta, Zach Johnson, Rob Bryson and Michael Brantley for CC Sabathia in 2008? No, but that hardly takes away from Sabathia’s value that season. He virtually lifted Milwaukee into the postseason almost single-handily that year by posting an 11-2 record with a 2.70 EA. Granted, he was rocked for five runs in only 3.2 innings by the Phillies in Game 2 of the 2008 NLDS, but the fact that he finished sixth in the NL MVP award voting that year proves how much he meant to Milwaukee.

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑