Game 50 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 STL 4

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Well that was a fun one, huh?  Today's series opener in St. Louis, the classiest baseball town in the US (wank), featured a little bit of everything.  There was some timely hitting, some good pitching, some great defense, and a ton of managerial moves and decisions that factored into the game.  It was no short matinee by any means, but a really entertaining and great game to watch.  In the end, the Yankees were able to come out on the winning side.

Game Notes:

- The Yanks needed 9 pitches to get a run off Michael Wacha in the top of the 1st on a Brett Gardner walk and back-to-back singles by Jeter and Ellsbury.  The Cards needed just 8 in the bottom half to tie the game up on a Matt Carpenter triple and a Kolten Wong ribbie double.

- Wacha retired 11 straight after the rough start, then got burned by an exact repeat of the 1st.  Ichiro walked to start the 5th and the Yanks put 2 more singles together after him to regain the lead.  A sac fly from Gardner extended it to 3-1.

- Chase Whitley matched Wacha's 0s through 4, and once again he came to the 70-80 pitch mark that has signaled the end of his day.  Joe let him work past that and Whitley made it through the 5th before gassing out and loading the bases in the 6th.  The Cards converted that into 2 runs to tie the game again.

- Gardner's 1-out single gave the Yankees a chance to go ahead in the 8th.  But Derek Jeter decided to not swing and protect him on a 3-1 base stealing attempt and Gardner was gunned down by Yadier Molina to end the threat before The Captain K'd to end the inning.

- Carlos Martinez and Dellin Betances each showed off their top notch relief stuff for 2 innings to pitch the game into extras.  Alfredo Aceves did the job and got them to the 12th, when the offense finally pieced together another rally.

-  Jacoby Ellsbury walked and stole second, Brian McCann was plunked, Yangervis Solarte sac bunted them over, and Mike Matheny intentionally walked Ichiro so lefty Randy Choate could pitch to Brian Roberts hitting right-handed.  Roberts singled to start a 3-run inning that also featured a clutch ribbie single by new backup first baseman Brendan Ryan.

- D-Rob was summoned for the save and he worked around a Derek Jeter throwing error to get it done, fanning 2 Cardinal hitters with a series of nasty curveballs.

Memorial Day Injury News Roundup

Hope everybody is enjoying their Memorial Day.  Here's the latest on the batch of injured/rehabbing Yankees if you're near a computer:

- Michael Pineda is slated to pitch 2 innings in an ExST game in Tampa tomorrow.  No word on how many of these games he's expected to pitch or what his pitch count will be.

- Carlos Beltran took 15 dry swings with a fungo bat today and felt good, and the plan is for him to take more tomorrow.  According to Jorge Castillo, tomorrow's session will include 30 swings with a real bat.

- Via Dan Barbarisi, Shawn Kelley threw on flat ground from 75 feet today "with no issues".  I imagine the team will see how he feels tomorrow before making a decision on the next step.

- If you missed it earlier, Mark Teixeira was scratched from the lineup with stiffness in his surgically-repaired right wrist.  Sounds minor, some normal post-surgery effects.  Details can be found in the post below.

Mark Teixeira Scratched From Today's Lineup (UPDATED)

Mark Teixeira was penciled in as the starting first baseman today when the Yankee lineup was first released.  A few minutes ago, he was scratched and replaced by Kelly Johnson.

Multiple beat reporters had the story, but so far there has been no explanation from the team on why Teix was scratched.  Thinking back to the tired legs he talked about having during and after the Milwaukee series, maybe it has something to do with that.  Better to play it safe with him with how shorthanded the middle of the batting order is right now.  More on this story as it becomes available...

** UPDATE 12:55 PM- Via Mark Feinsand, Teix's right wrist was feeling stiff.  Joe decided to give him a day off today to rest it and said he was "hopeful" he could have Teix back in the lineup tomorrow. **

** UPDATE 12:57 PM- A few more details on the wrist, via Dan Barbarisi and Andrew Marchand.  According to Joe, Teix has been dealing with the stiffness for a few days, but it's not considered a big deal and no tests are scheduled.  That's good news. **

Game 49 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 CHW 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

Masahiro Tanaka had his winning streak dating back to 2012 ended earlier this week in Chicago.  It was the first time a team got to face him for the second time, which was naturally a big talking point after the results of the start, but Tanaka chalked it up to poor command on all his pitches and an off-day.  He got a chance to face the other Chicago team for the first time yesterday.  With no command issues, no Jose Abreu, and no history for the White Sox to go on, Tanaka could get started on another winning streak.  He did just that.

Game Notes:

- Tanaka got a nice, fat 4-run cushion to work with in the top of the 2nd thanks to 4 hits, a walk to load the bases, and a sac fly.  Brett Gardner's 2-run single was the biggest hit.

- He made that lead stand up by holding Chicago hitless over the first 3 innings.  They made him work for it (50 pitches in those 3 innings), but Tanaka was better at finishing with 2 strikes than he was against the Cubs.

- That high early pitch count did come back to nab Tanaka in the 6th, when he gave up a leadoff double and 2-out single to give Chicago their first run of the day.  A pair of walks in the 7th signaled the end of Tanaka's day.

- He got plenty more run support from his team.  Derek Jeter tripled and scored in the 4th, singled home Alfonso Soriano in the 6th, and Brian Roberts hit a solo HR in the 8th.

- Adam Warren picked up Tanaka in the 7th and worked a scoreless 8th.  Matt Daley did the same in mop-up 9th inning duty and the Yankees got themselves a split.