Tonight’s game between the Yankees and Detroit Tigers was postponed because of rain. Sounds familiar, right? This was the 23rd game this season in which rain played a part in either delaying it or postponing it.

Really Mother Nature? Come on now.

So the game will resume tomorrow night – weather permitting – at 8:37pm and then Game Two will now be played at 3:07pm on Sunday which was originally the first off day of the series.

Ivan Nova will be the resuming pitcher tomorrow night, Freddy Garcia now gets the Game two start and CC Sabathia will be making the start on Monday for Game Three in Detroit.

After the game Sabathia said he was going to try and plead his case to start on Sunday. Tonight’s game only lasted until the top of the second inning but Joe Girardi still felt like Sabathia had thrown enough pitches and made the decision to push the big guy back until Monday. Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland was in the same predicament. His ace Justin Verlander will also start Monday.

Step 1: Sway to this.

Well, hullo bandwagon fans. Hop on in, there’s plenty of room.

Lucky for you we get a bunch of you every year. And not just on the first day of the postseason.

But if you find yourself rifling through www.Section203.com and you’re not exactly sure why Nick Swisher’s saluting to the right field crowd in the Bronx, or if you don’t know the right moments to cringe, or if you need to know when it’s time to go make some popcorn, flip the channel, maybe come back to the game later…

Well, that’s where we come in. Anyone can look up stats. Anyone can read postseason previews and make picks.

But it’s time to look past the numbers, for now. Keep reading, kids, we’ve got some learning to do.

» Continue reading “Welcome to the Bandwagon: New York Yankees”

ESPN couldn’t have planned it better.

There we were, celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday at midnight, and as we toasted to his health, Robert Andino of the Orioles hit a walkoff single to beat Boston in the ninth inning.

Then, maybe not a minute later, Evan Longoria went deep against the Yankees, as Tampa Bay clinched that wild-card spot and booted Boston from the playoffs.

Cue an ensuing hour of celebration at Backyard Ale House.

And all it took was two minutes.

Nothing but baseball could have given you that.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ahem, excuse me.

Yeah so the Yankees lost. Who cares. They’ve clinched everything they need to clinch. They have home field advantage for Division Series and the League Championship Series – if they make it. They can use this time to rest people. And they can totally screw with the Red Sox too! Wheee!

Of course, that’s not to take anything away from Big Game James Shields who held the Yankees to two runs in 8 2/3 innings but it’s not like the Yankees are really trying. They threw Hector Noesi out there to start the game.

The next couple of days will be very interesting. I’m just glad my team isn’t involved in the madness but that they can actually play the role of spoiler.

Or at least that’s what everyone is saying.

In the night cap of yesterday’s double header, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a three run home run off Scott Proctor in the top of the 14th inning to guide the Red Sox to a 7-4 victory over the Yankees.

The game was an odd one for sure. John Lackey actually pitched well, Ivan Nova was doing well then appeared to get gassed as the game went on, the Yankees looked like they were on their way to another surefire win after a three run first inning but then were shut down the rest of the game – aside from a Chris Dickerson sac fly to tie the game at 4-4 in the seventh.

With the win, the Red Sox now have a one game Wild Card lead with three games left. The team on their tail, the Tampa Bay Rays will be welcoming the ‘very tired, yet already clinched everything they had to clinch so who cares’ Yankees to the Trop for the final three games of the season.

In the first game of the doubleheader, A.J. Burnett shocked the world by pitching into the eighth inning, only giving up two runs – two solo homers – and leading the Yankees to a 6-2 victory. Burnett easily had his best game of the season and it marked the first time he has beaten the Red Sox in his tenure with the Yankees.

Derek Jeter raised his average to .300 after the afternoon game and did not play in the night cap.

So now it’s on to Tampa where the big question for Joe Girardi will be: To rest or not to rest? We shall see.

“I just wanted to come out and give him a headache. I’ve given him headaches all year. Why not give him a good headache?”

A.J. Burnett talking about his manager Joe Girardi after this afternoon’s 6-2 victory over the Red Sox.

CC Sabathia was denied his 20th win tonight, yet again, but who cares! The Yankees are the A.L. East Champions!

Considering how no one – myself included – picked the Yankees to win it, it makes the accomplishment that much sweeter.

In fact, a few weeks ago Mitch Williams of MLB Network – you know, the guy who gave up the walk off World Series winning home run to Joe Carter in 1993 – said the Yankees wouldn’t even make the playoffs. Right. Good call Mitch. He made that prediction when they had a pretty sizable lead in the Wild Card standings.

Amazing.

Even more amazing? David Robertson came in with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, threw one pitch, induced an inning ending double play and ended up with the win.

With the scored tied at two, Joe Girardi called Jesus Montero out of the game. When Jorge Posada – the man Montero replaced – stepped up to the plate with two on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth, the Stadium crowd knew they were about to see something special. They could feel it about to happen. And when Posada slashed a two run single into right field on an 0-1 pitch, the crowd roared. The Yankees went up 4-2 on the Rays and were just three defensive outs from clinching the AL East Division Title.

Rafael Soriano came in and closed it out in the ninth. His only blemish was a comebacker by Casey Kotchman. He struck out Matt Joyce to end the game and the Yankees celebrated on the field.

After all of the adversity – injuries, an iffy starting rotation, more injuries – the Yankees were able to clinch a spot in the playoffs and the Division on the same day. Now they have just over a week to get ready for the playoffs. They’ll be able to rest some guys who are banged up and set up the pitching rotation for the Division Series which begins on Friday September 30.

Oh and thanks to the Baltimore Orioles for beating the Red Sox, again and helping the Yankees clinch tonight. Bucking awesome.

It’s Wednesday September 21, 2011…

Guess who clinched a playoff berth this afternoon with a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays?

Guess who could clinch the American League East tonight – if they win the second game of the doubleheader and if the Red Sox lose to the Baltimore Orioles again?

THE YANKEES!

The team that so called experts were saying would finish third in the division because of their patchwork starting rotation.

Yeah.

This afternoon’s game was interesting to say the least. Thanks to Phil Hughes’s back spams, Hector Noesi made the start. He only lasted into the third inning, having given up two earned wons on four hits – the big blow being a two run homer by Desmond Jennings.

Then Joe Girardi called on his bullpen to keep the Yankees in the game. Raul Valdes, George Kontos, Aaron Laffey, Cory Wade, Boone Logan, Luis Ayala and Mariano Rivera kept the Rays scoreless. Ayala picked up the win and Rivera picked up his 44th save of the season and 603rd all time.

The hitting star of the game: Eduardo Nunez who homered in the eighth inning to tie the game. The honorable mention goes to Robinson Cano who doubled in Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter to put the Yankees up for good, 4-2.

Tonight CC Sabathia (19-8, 3.01) faces Jeremy Hellickson (13-10, 2.91) in the nightcap of the doubleheader. Sabathia is trying for win number 20. Again.

Flickr image by BaseballBacks

History was made today when Mariano Rivera recorded his 602nd save and took sole possession of the number one spot on the all time saves list.

Early on it looked like 602 would have to wait. The Yankees were up 5-0 and AJ Burnett was cruising. But, again, it was AJ Burnett pitching and he made things interesting – and stressful in the fifth inning. Minnesota pulled to within one and he didn’t even factor into the decision.

Some people were mad at Burnett’s performance but if you think about it, he was doing Mo a favor. He created the save situation. (Hahaha.)

Mo set the Twins down in order in the ninth, he got 602 out of the way, right away and with no issues whatsoever.

After Rivera struck out Chris Pamalee to end the game – the pitch before the final strike produced a broken bat foul ball, the Yankee Stadium crowd roared, his teammates surrounded him on the field to congratulate him and the Twins remained in their dugout applauding his achievement.

Following the hugs, Mo was about to leave the field with his teammates when Jorge Posada pushed him back onto the mound so he could be recognized by the crowd. Rivera looked embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Mariano Rivera is a very humble man and he is all about the team, never about himself but this was his moment and it was well deserved. With a smile on his face, he tipped his cap to the fans and to the Twins players and coaches who continued to salute him then walked off the mound to be interviewed by Kim Jones of the Yes Network.

Oh and by the way, this was Rivera’s 43rd save of the year.

Some Stats (Thanks to YES):
Russell Martin caught his 33rd Mariano Rivera save placing him 3rd behind Jorge Posada who has 368, Joe Girardi who has 73 and allowing him to pass John Flaherty who has 32.

The Yankees begin their now four game series against Tampa tomorrow at 7:05pm. The Yankees have a 5 and 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East standings and Tampa – at the moment – is now only 1 and 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card standings.

Things are getting interesting in the East folks. Buckle up, refill your Xanax prescriptions and try to enjoy the next two weeks.

Before I get to the numbers, here’s today’s lineup:

Jeter SS
Granderson CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Jones LF
Montero DH
Martin C

Burnett P

AJ Burnett is looking to even his record to 11-11 with a win over the undermanned Minnesota Twins. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it. He had a good start his last time out which means he’ll struggle today. My bad.

And now for the numbers: The magic number to make the playoffs is 5, to clinch the AL East is 7 and for Mo to be the all time saves leader is 1.

Happy Monday!