Game 66 Wrap-Up: OAK 3 NYY 2

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The lineup started a slump a bit last month, then they got a little shot in the arm when Curtis Granderson returned.  He went back down, they started to struggle again, and they got another little boost when Teix and Youkilis came back.  That boost didn't last very long, because they are mired in another slump and there isn't anybody close to returning to give that boost.  The Yankees, lame duck offense and all, were trying to salvage something from this Oakland series last night, and chances are they were going to need to score more than 3 runs to do it, even with their stopped on the mound.  They didn't.  For a looooooooooooooooong time.  And they lost again in pitifully ugly fashion.

Game Notes:

- Things certainly looked promising for the offense in the top of the 1st.  Brett Gardner led off the game with a double down the line, came home to score 2 batters later on a Robinson Cano 2-run jack, and the Yankees were off and running.

- And then, as they've been apt to do this last week, they tripped and fell over their own feet.  No runs and just 3 hits through the next 6 innings, along with 2 leadoff walks in the 2nd and 4th that were squandered by inning-ending double plays.

- Hiroki Kuroda was plenty good after a couple of down starts.  He had 1 bad inning in the 3rd when he got out of rhythm on a double steal, a walk, and a 2-out RBI double by Seth Smith.  Otherwise he was money.

- By "money," I mean "didn't allow any other hits in the game except for the 3rd inning" money.  He retired the A's in order in every other inning and really had his splitter working down in the zone as an out pitch.  Kuroda gave the Yanks 8 great innings, and with the offense's continued lifelessness the game went to the bullpens and extra innings tied at 2.

Remember This?

"... the commitment to field a championship team is paramount, and that won’t change. Our fans expect that.”

How about this?

“All I can assure the fans is, we’re always going to field a championship-caliber team every single year.”

How's that working out for you, Hal?  Where did "getting absolutely shut down by Jesse Chavez" fall on that championship-caliber team plan?

Diagnosing The Source Of Travis Hafner's Slump

(Courtesy of the AP)

He's managed to fly under the radar for over a month because other players like Vernon Wells and Robinson Cano have been slumping big time too, but Travis Hafner is in a similar production freefall himself.  After last night's 0-fer, he's down to .231/.346/.463 on the season, which is still good for a .350 wOBA that ranks second on the team but a far cry from the high .300s-low .400s value he was holding through his hot start in April.  Hafner missed a handful of games in the middle of April due to a shoulder injury and since he's come back we haven't heard much about any physical problems, yet his production continues to plummet.  What's going on with Pronk that he's become just as much of a black hole in the middle of the lineup as everybody else?  Glad you asked.

Game 65 Wrap-Up: OAK 5 NYY 2

("You wanna get a hit?"  "Nah, fuck that.  How 'bout you?"  "Nah."  Anybody wanna get a hit?"  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Not really much to say right now.  The offense is a complete dead stick out there and they aren't even giving their pitchers a chance to win the game no matter how well or poorly they pitch.  Since shooting their wad with that 6-run inning against Aaron Harang in Seattle they have fallen off the face of the earth and it's one of those rare times where I'm actually happy I don't have to watch the games.

Game Notes:

- Regardless of how bad the offense was last night, and it was bad, Phil Hughes was just as bad.  Another "Bad Phil" start.  He gave up a 2-run homer to Brandon Moss in the 2nd, an RBI double to John Jaso in the 5th, and he failed to make it out of that inning.

- What made the outing worse was Hughes' lack of command.  He walked a season high 5 batters in just 4.1 innings.  Homers, inability to put hitters away, inefficient pitch count.  That's the Phil Hughes Formula.

- Not going to waste any more words than I have to on the offense.  They got shut out through 5, were sat down 11 in a row from the 2nd to the 6th, and scored their runs on a Mark Teixeira sac fly and a Jayson Nix groundball single.

- Tough night for the bullpen.  Joba Chamberlain got knocked around for 2 runs to put the game out of reach in the 8th and Preston Claiborne finally issued his first walk of the season, falling just short of the MLB record in the process.

Defending Robbie Cano

(Courtesy of Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Pretend it's the start of the 2013-2014 offseason.  The top free agent available is a lefty hitter in his prime who hits for both plus average and plus power and owns a .307/.351/.503 batting line in 9 career seasons.  He plays an up-the-middle defensive position that the Yankees would desperately need to fill and plays it at a plus level.  He's almost universally regarded as the best player at his position, one of the top 10 players in all of baseball, and has been a perennial All Star, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and MVP candidate for the last 5 seasons.  Oh, and he also fired his agent earlier in the season, the one known for squeezing every last drop he can out of the free agent market, to replace him with a rapper whose ties to New York couldn't be tighter if he was a sidewalk in Times Square.

Homer-Prone CC

(Not the look you want to see.  Courtesy of the AP)

One of the more surprising things to read after last night's game was that CC Sabathia was up to 14 HR allowed on the season.  Even though I've spent plenty of time noticing and writing about how much more hittable he was this year, I honestly didn't realize it was that high.  That's 4th most in MLB and 2 more than resident Yankee "HR Giver Upper" Phil Hughes.

In tying this new trend to the rest of the major CC-centric talking points this season, I think this elevated HR rate (currently a career high 13.9%) can be linked directly to the drop in fastball velocity.  Not only have 7 of the 14 HR allowed come against his 4-seamer, 11 of them have come against right-handed hitters.  They're the guys squaring up CC better this season than ever before, and it makes sense that they'd be doing so against CC's diminished fastball.  Just one more hurdle the big fella has to overcome as he makes the transition away from being a power pitcher.

Mark Montgomery To The DL; I'm Not Surprised (Updated)

While it hasn't been as severe as it was last year, the Yankee farm system has dealt with its share of injury problems again this season.  They added another body to the pile yesterday when, as first reported by Chad Jennings, Mark Montgomery was placed on the Triple-A disabled list.  I haven't seen anything on what body part is the source of the move, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it was something related to Montgomery's pitching arm.

Montgomery has been sluggish this season, nowhere near the level of dominance he showed in 2011 and 2012.  His K rate is down to 26.7%, the first time he's been below 38% at any level, and he's walked 20 batters in 30 IP.  After throwing up a 1.88/1.33 line in Double-A to end 2012, Montgomery currently sports a 3.00/4.20 line in 2013 and has only 1 clean appearance without a baserunner out of 18 this season.  That appearance, if you wondering, was his first back on April 4th.

The smoking gun in trying to explain this regression could be Montgomery's diminished velocity.  He's reportedly been sitting at 89-90 for most of the season and not the 91-93 he lived at for the last 2 years.  It wouldn't surprise me at all if Montgomery's lost velocity and injury are both related to the heavy workload he took on last year.  Montgomery pitched 64.1 innings at High-A and Double-A last season and then another 10+ in the AZFL.  When he was announced as a selection for that league last year, I questioned the need for him to add more innings to his arm after only 28.1 in 2011 and now I can't help but ask that question again.

Because we don't know the nature of the injury yet, nothing can be said definitively.  But the pieces all add up to somebody who's been overworked and whose performance and health has suffered because of it.  I'd hate to see this become the first in a long line of health problems for Montgomery as a result of overwork.  The Yankee bullpen is in great shape right now, but he was and still is a big part of their future plans after Mo.

** UPDATE 12:10 PM- Mark Newman on what's wrong with Montgomery: "Nothing really."  That doesn't make me feel better. **

Game 64 Wrap-Up: OAK 6 NYY 4

(Courtesy of the AP)

With a more forgiving outfield setup in Oakland, Lyle Overbay was back in right field last night when the Yankees kicked off a series against the A's.  The decision was just as much a statement about Overbay's still-very-important value to this team as it was a statement about Vernon Wells basically being useless.  Wells hasn't hit for a month, to the point that his current offensive numbers are worse than what he put up last season.  The Yankees need to start turning things around offensively, and they had a tough pitcher against whom to try to do that in Bartolo Colon.  He's still going strong in Oakland and outpitched CC Sabathia last night.

Game Notes:

- Top 1st, bases loaded, 1 out, 0 runs from it.  I feel like I've heard this tune before...

- And that familiar sad tune looked like a big problem when CC gave up 2 runs in the first 2 innings.  His fastball velocity was back down to 90-91 and the Oakland hitters weren't fooled by it.  They were timing him up and teeing off.

- CC got the velocity up a tick in the middle innings, but he never found the command of his fastball and it seemed like the rest of his pitches suffered because of it.  He gave up the back-breaking 3-run HR to Derek Norris in the 5th on a poorly-placed curveball.

- It didn't help that the offense was lifeless again after the top of the 1st.  They sprinkled a few baserunners here and there through 7, never more than 1 and never past first base.

- They finally decided to wake up when the game was out of reach in the 8th.  Mark Teixeira hit the third of 3 straight singles to lead off the 8th to plate a run and drove in 2 more in the 9th to make the game respectable.

Rotation Appreciation

(Buck up, guys.  Ya done good.  Courtesy of the AP)

You don't have to be a genius to know that the starting rotation has been really good this season.  They're currently 4th in AL in ERA (3.75), 3rd in FIP (3.75), and 3rd in total fWAR (6.7).  They've put up these numbers despite dealing with injuries to multiple rotation members before and during the season, CC Sabathia's transition away from being a power pitcher, and 2 starts on their ledger when the starter didn't even make it out of the 1st inning.  The collective performance of the rotation, even with the bad starts mixed in, is the main reason the Yankees are still 10+ games over .500 while mired in another brutal offensive slump, and it's time each guy just got some props for the job he's done.

The Preston Claiborne Formula

(Courtesy of Howard Simmons/NY Daily News)

Preston Claiborne has been quite the unexpected surprise for the Yankees this season.  He's gone from relatively unknown fringe prospect to high-leverage bullpen contributor in just over a month, and he's the owner of one of the more notable current streaks on the team.  In 18.1 IP over his 13 appearances, Claiborne has still yet to walk a batter this season.  For any rookie pitcher with any level of command, that's impressive and it's what has helped push Claiborne up the leverage ladder as he continues to work effectively and earn Joe's trust.  How is a player who was so off the prospect radar, who didn't get nearly the ink that a host of other relievers with "more electric" stuff than he, doing what Claiborne is doing right now?  It's actually pretty simple.

What's Our Working Definition Of "Baseball Activities" Here?

We haven't heard much about the status of Derek Jeter lately.  But both the Yankosphere and MSM news outlets got their ears pricked up by this Andrew Marchand tweet yesterday:

Jeter is back on the field in Tampa. He took 25 dry swings today and fielded 20 grounders right at him, Brian Cashman told me. Story soon.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) June 10, 2013

And almost immediately there was a flurry of reports coming out about Derek Jeter "resuming baseball activities."

Ummm, did he really?  I don't know if my definition of that phrase differs from everybody else's but I don't consider 25 dry swings and basically standing in place and bending over slightly to catch a ball baseball activities.  I picked up a putter I had laying around my apartment last night and took 25 dry swings while I was watching the Sawx-Rays game and I didn't even break a sweat.  If those are considered "baseball activities" then the 20-25 second I spent in the shower vigorously rubbing shampoo into my head is a baseball activity.  So is the rather brisk walk I take to the coffee room to refill the mug and the walk back to my desk.

Point being, don't get excited about anything Jeter-related that gets reported for the next few months because he's nowhere near coming back.  The Yankees threw out the "after the All Star Break" date after the ankle setback, but that doesn't mean it's going to be the game after.  Jeter has a long way to go and it's going to be a very slow rehab process.  At this point, I feel confident saying that I think Alex Rodriguez will be back on the field before Jeter this season, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Jeter didn't play at all this year.  I don't consider what he did yesterday to be baseball activities, and I don't think we're actually going to read about him doing real baseball activities for quite some time.

The End Appears Nigh For Kevin Youkilis

(Pictured: Injury risk.  Courtesy of the AP)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Kevin Youkilis was out of the lineup again yesterday, for the same reason he's been out of the lineup for every game he's missed this season: his back.  Youkilis strained it diving for a ball at first base in Saturday's game and was held out yesterday by Joe after reportedly feeling stiffness "stiffness" in the back.  He'll get an extra day of scheduled rest today with the off-day, and Joe certainly sounded like he was going to play him on Tuesday.  But with the continued back problems limiting Youkilis' playing time and severely hindering his production, it's almost time to ask if he's done.

On Overbay's Role

The Yankees managed to pull out another squeaker yesterday, scratching a run across in the top of the 9th to beat Seattle and keep their "close game" record going strong.  Those of you who watched the game, particularly the final 2 innings, were probably left wondering if the game would have been that close late were it not a few questionable non-pinch hit moves by Joe late.  With 2 outs and a runner on 2nd, Joe let Vernon Wells hit against a righty, which led to an inning-ending groundout, and in the 9th he let both Reid Brignac and Chris Stewart hit with a RISP.

In both of these instances, Joe had Lyle Overbay ready and waiting on the bench and chose not to use him.  Overbay spent the majority of this weekend series glued to the bench after moonlighting as a right fielder against Cleveland earlier in the week.  Removing him from the outfield was the right move, but if Joe isn't going to use him as a lefty pinch hitter in obvious situations like yesterday then what the hell is Overbay on the roster for?

Jayson Nix: The Most Important Replacement-Level Player Around

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Almost as if to troll the growing group of writers and fans out there who keep wondering what he sees in Jayson Nix, Joe had him out there again last night starting at third base and batting 7th.  This came a day after he started Nix at shortstop and batted him second.  The constant usage of Nix in spots better suited for better players is starting to become a bit of a running joke in Yankeeland, as Joe's preference for a guy he constantly tags with the "just a ballplayer," "just knows how to play" label continues to defy logic or any kind of statistical analysis.  Naturally Nix came up with 3 hits, 2 RBI, and 2 SB in those 2 games - both Yankee victories - and so continues one of the stranger replacement-level seasons in recent memory.

Who's Going For A New Contract Here?

Brett Gardner's Last 10 Games: 14-34, 5 2B, 1 HR, 5 R, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K

Robinson Cano's Last 10 Games: 4-33, 1 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 8 K

Real tough go for Robbie right now.  He's swinging a lot, missing a lot, and his batting average has fallen below Chris Stewart's.  No matter how much weight, if any, you put into batting average, that's not a good comparison.  At least he's matched Gardner in SB over the last 10 games (1 to 1).

Good work, Brett.  Keep it up.  The middle of the order will show up to help you eventually.  Maybe.

(Nice dome too, bro.  Courtesy of the AP)

Game 63 Wrap-Up: NYY 2 SEA 1

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The Yankees got back on the winning side of things yesterday despite continued struggles by the offense.  Andy Pettitte turned in one of his best starts of the season, allowing just 1 ER in 7 innings, and put his team in the driver's seat to secure a series win today.  It was going to be an uphill battle against Yankee beater Felix Hernandez, but the first 3 games of the series already had been against far inferior pitchers.  Once again, the Yanks are left to just hope they score enough to win.  Today, that hope was fulfilled.

Game Notes:

- The lineup made King Felix work in the first 2 innings, with a Brett Gardner leadoff single and 2 walks in the 1st and 3 base hits in the second.  They only turned that into 1 run, though, on Gardner's second single of the day.

-  Phelps matched King Felix through 5, from the inefficient early pitch count, the run allowed in the 2nd, and then settling down after.  He got out of the 3rd on a double play and then sat down 6 in a row.

- Hernandez got bailed out by a Robinson Cano inning-ending GIDP in the 2nd and really settled down from there.  He gave up just 1 hit in his last 5 innings and struck out 4.

- Phelps finished the 6th in style with a pair of strikeouts and then gave way to the bullpen.  Boone Logan handled the 7th and David Robertson worked around a leadoff double to keep the game tied at 1 heading to the 9th.

- Seattle stuck with Yoervis Medina for the 9th and the Yanks made them pay.  Ichiro led off with a double, moved to second on a Jayson Nix sac bunt, and scored on an RBI single by none other than Chris Stewart.

- The offense did their part and got Mo a lead, and he held it down in the bottom half despite giving up 2 hits and a walk.  It was just barely enough to win, AGAIN, but I'll take it against Felix Hernandez.

Pineda Throws 4.1 Scoreless In His First Rehab Start

Michael Pineda's first MiL rehab start was pushed back to today due to weather and it sounds like it was worth the extra day's wait.  Pineda allowed just 2 hits and 0 runs in 4.1 IP for High-A Tampa today, striking out 4 batters and walking just 1.  He threw 68 pitches, 42 for strikes, and via Anthony Rieber he was regularly sitting 92-93 with his fastball.

Rieber also spoke with a few other scouts who were on hand to take in the start.  One said Pineda "looked like the guy I saw in Tacoma a couple of years ago," which has to be taken as a positive given that Pineda wasn't coming off major surgery then.  There's no word on when his next start will be and for what team he'll pitch (High-A has their ASG next weekend), but the positive momentum continues for Pineda's comeback.

Day 3 MLB Draft Notes

The Yankees got their high impact talent with their 3 1st rounders on day 1.  They got their fill of cheap college seniors and possibly unsignable HS players to control the draft pool on day 2.  Day 3 was the final day to try to find a few more diamonds in the rough, something the Yankees have had great success with in recent drafts (see: Austin, Tyler or Turley, Nik).  How'd they do in rounds 11-40?  Here's a few names that stood out.

- Round 12: Philip Walby, RHP, San Diego St.

Walby is a big right-handed with a lively fastball that sits low 90s and can hit the mid-90s when he dials it up.  It's been reported to have both late life and late movement, but his offspeed stuff needs work.  He profiles as another power reliever type.

- Round 13: Cale Coshow, RHP, Oklahoma Christian

If Walby is big at 6'3"/215, then Coshow is a monster at 6'5"/260.  He started at Oklahoma Christian after spending 2 unproductive years at Oklahoma and features plus stuff (mid-90s fastball, curveball, changeup).  The stuff is enough for him to start in pro ball, but he's going to need to work on his conditioning or also get put into the power reliever category.

More after the jump.

Nuno Could Be Headed To The DL

Speaking to the media before this afternoon's game, Joe Girardi confirmed it was a groin injury that caused Vidal Nuno to leave his Triple-A start in the 2nd inning last night.  There has been no official diagnosis of the injury yet, but it sounds very likely that Nuno will have to go on the disabled list.

This is another small ding the Yankees' have taken to the starting depth in the last 24 hours.  They lost Chien-Ming Wang yesterday to a Major League deal with the Toronto Blue Jays and now could lose Nuno to a significant chunk of time.  Ivan Nova now assumes the 6th starter role for the Major League club while Michael Pineda starts his rehab assignment tonight.

Jagielo's Right About His Opportunity, And Not For The Reason You Think

The Yankees' 2013 1st round draft picks held a conference call with the media yesterday, and while almost every beat writer tripped over himself and each other trying to keep the "Ian Clarkin doesn't like the Yankees" theme going, I found what Eric Jagielo had to say much more newsworthy:

“I definitely see an opportunity.  That was the biggest thing, hoping I would be drafted by some team that I can see myself in the future at the big-league level at third base. With everything I've read, there’s not much (standing in the way)."

That may sound cocky to some, and maybe it is to a certain degree.  It's also 100% right and it's exactly what I want to hear Jagielo saying.  And no, it has nothing to do with Alex Rodriguez, another idiotic non-story that the MSM beat into the ground on Thursday night.

Game 61 Wrap-Up: SEA 4 NYY 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

The Yankees had appeared to regain it almost as quickly as they lost it in the Subway Series coming into last night's game.  They had won 4 straight games, all on the road, and had clearly been the better team on the field in each game.  They were perfectly set up to keep the winning streak going last night against Jeremy Bonderman, former Detroit Tiger who hadn't pitched in the Majors since 2010 and was making only his second start back after getting dominated in his first last weekend.  Hiroki Kuroda was on the mound for the Yankees, looking to get back on track himself after a substandard outing against Boston last Sunday.  Somehow all of that added up to another ugly loss.

Game Notes:

- Yanks got on the board early thanks to a Brett Gardner leadoff double and an RBI groundout by Travis Hafner in the 1st.  Bonderman didn't look sharp from the jump and it looked like just a matter of time.

- They put 2 on in the 2nd and looked primed for a big inning, then Reid Brignac decided to bunt, missed, and got Vernon Wells thrown out in the process.  That play right there was basically the end of the Yankee offense for the night.

- Hirok wasn't at his best, but he was good enough through 3.  In the 4th things started to fall apart for him and frustratingly enough it happened against the bottom of the order with 2 outs.  Double by Michael Morse, back-to-back walks to Franklin and Shoppach, and a 2-run single by the immortal Brendan Ryan gave Seattle the lead.  By the time the dust settled it was 4-1.

- I said the offense ended after the 2nd and I meant it.  The Yanks mustered just 2 hits and 1 more walk in the final 7 innings, very reminiscent of what they did on Thursday night.  To have that kind of no-show against a pitcher like Bonderman is almost unfathomable.

- Good work by the Seattle 'pen behind Bonderman.  They tossed 3 shutout innings.  Preston Claiborne threw 1.2 of his own after Kuroda to keep his BB-less streak going.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 6/7/13

I'm holding down the fort at IIATMS/TYA this weekend while some of the other writers are on vacation and working, so it's double blog duty and a quiet weekend for me.  Between that and my 9-5 cube monkey job, I'm probably staring at carpal tunnel sometime in the near future.  Awesome.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, SG of RLYW ran some numbers, both offensive and defensive, to show how much the Yankees are missing Derek Jeter at short this season.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog attempted to put Phil Hughes' production into the proper perspective and then questioned if the Yankees could do better than that.

- On Tuesday, el duque of It Is High... went a step further and started to think about what the Yankees could get back if they traded Hughes.

- Bryan Van Dusen of The Greedy Pinstripes combed the Brewers roster for potential trade targets in anticipation of them possibly being sellers at the deadline.

- On Wednesday, Mike Axisa of RAB updated his Top 30 Prospects list in preparation for the draft.

- Rob Abruzzese of Bronx Baseball Daily looked at what could happen if all the Yankees connected to Biogenesis really do get suspended.

- Brian Heyman of LoHud got some commentary from both Mark Teixeira and Joe Girardi on what it means to have Teix back in the lineup and how he feels about his swing so far.

- Mike Eder of IIATMS/TYA broke down 2 of CC Sabathia's recent starts to see if there were any mechanical explanations for the difference in pitch movement.  Hey, as long as we aren't talking velocity.

- SJK of NoMaas got nostalgic about Jason Giambi and compared his offensive output in pinstripes to that of Mark Teixeira for anyone who still hates Giambi to look at.

- On Thursday, fishjam25 of Yankees Fans Unite commented on the changes Brett Gardner has made to his offensive game this season.

- Andrew Mearns of Pinstriped Bible ranked the top 10 draft picks in Yankee history.

This afternoon's Friday Jam is "Highway Star" by Deep Purple.  I don't think this song needs an explanation.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Meet Your Newest 2013 Yankee Draft Picks

(You could say it was "Judge"ment Day at that HR Derby.  Thanks, I'll be here all week)

Last night was a big night for the Yankees and the future of their farm system.  They were armed with 3 picks in the 1st round of the MLB Draft after getting compensation for losing Swish and Sour Puss to free agency this offseason and needed to make a splash.  The Yanks have been criticized for going off the board on talent in the 1st round of recent drafts and focusing on guys with good makeup and intangibles, something they kinda, sorta started to move away from last year with Ty Hensley.  While there were no bad apples in the bunch of picks last night, the Yankees were clearly looking for impact talent and most early analysis shows them to have succeeded in adding that talent.  After the jump, get acquainted with the newest possible future Yankees.

Close Game Performance Regressing After Hot Start

At the beginning of May I did a little post tracking the Yankees' stellar performance in close games.  Their combination of good pitching and inconsistent but relatively clutch hitting put them in a lot of those in April and they responded with a 12-3 record in games decided by 3 runs or fewer that drove their hot start.

How did that hot start translated to these last 5 weeks?  Not too bad.  The Yankees definitely regressed from their April performance, understandable given how unlikely it was that they'd keep that pace and how many close games they've played, but still came in over .500.  Since May 1st, the Yankees have gone 13-11 in 3-runs-or-fewer games, broken down to records of 2-2 in 3-run games, 5-3 in 2-run games, and 6-6 in 1-run games.  Included in the 1-run losses are the 2 late losses to the Mets and the extra-innings loss to Baltimore on the 10th-inning Nuno HR, so the results aren't that far from being much better.

For the season, the Yanks are now 25-14 in games decided by fewer than 3 runs.  It's still a very good record and still the driving force behind their continued competitiveness.  Even with the lineup starting to come together and come back around, expect a lot of close games like this to continue to be the norm.  If the pitching holds up its end, they should continue to perform well in these close situations.

Game 60 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 SEA 1

("Good game, Hughesy."  Courtesy of Getty Images)

While the prospect huggers of the world were getting jazzed up about the Yankees' 1st-round picks in the draft, the Major League ballclub was quickly putting the Seattle Mariners to bed out at Safeco last night.  They had Phil Hughes on the mound looking to improve upon his 0.2 IP disaster against Seattle the last time he faced them.  Hughes was very good last night, his lineup gave him plenty to work with, and this late-starting game was over early.

Game Notes:

- Hughes managed to get out of the 1st inning this time.  The second too, in 6 up/6 down fashion.  And he only needed 26 pitches to do it.

- The Yanks didn't get much off Aaron Harang the first turn through the order, but they saw everything they needed to see and crushed him in the 3rd.  With 1 out, Brett Gardner singled, Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira hit back-to-back HR on 4 pitches to make it 4-0 Yanks, and the route was on.

- It didn't stop until it got to 6 either.  After Teix, it was single Hafner, double Youkilis, single Wells, single Ichiro, and time to hit the showers for Harang.  Staked to a 6-0 lead, Phil didn't have to be very good.

- And yet he was anyway.  Great start for Hughes, who gave up just 1 unearned run in 7+ innings.  He was aggressive with his fastball, efficient with his pitch count, and more than good enough to get a win.

- Interestingly enough, reliever Blake Beavan actually shut down the offense after relieving Harang in the 3rd.  They managed just a single hit off of him in the final 6.2 innings.

- With a 5-run lead, D-Rob and Mo got to rest again as the new middle relief trio handled the final 2 frames without issue.