Yankees show moxie with Texas comeback

After a devastating loss with Mariano Rivera on the mound Tuesday night, the New York Yankees could have easily folded against the Texas Rangers after being down five runs in the fifth inning. Instead, they showed moxie by mounting a comeback against staff ace Cliff Lee and the Rangers' vaunted bullpen.

If the Rangers had any illusions that the Yankees were going to fold for them like the rest of the American League West has, those illusions were shattered by the fierce rally and Mo slamming the door shut after allowing a leadoff triple in the ninth inning.

Marcus Thames has proven to be incredibly clutch in his limited playing time. Replacing Mark Teixeira in the three hole, Thames had five hits in 10 at-bats in Texas. He drove in one run with a monster blast and eventually knocked in the winning run.

Thames and his Yankee teammates knew how big last night’s game was. "There's no quit," Thames said of his team’s comeback, right before acknowledging "we really needed that one."

Yes, they did. The Yankees needed to prove they were no pushovers, that they could bounce back from a crushing defeat with their Hall of Fame closer on the mound. They passed the test.

Cranky fans need to lay off of Mark Teixeira

It's hard to believe, but there are blogs out there written by some very cranky fans criticizing Mark Teixeira for staying home with his wife while she gave birth to their third child.

This is one of the nicer entries that I've read and I've got to say that I'm surprised at the level of animosity toward Tex for wanting to be present for his son's first few days. He obviously wanted to be there to support his wife and welcome his child into the world and I have absolutely no problem with that.

Personally, if I was married to a man and he missed the birth of our child to go play baseball, I'd probably be headed to divorce court. But if I was divorcing Tex I'd get half of his $20 million a year and that's not such a bad deal. That annual salary may be a big reason why these fans are so cranky.

Of course it was frustrating watching Lance Berkman flail at and pop up pitches as the stand-in for Tex last night. Of course I would rather have Tex batting in the third spot than Marcus Thames. But there is a potential upside for the New York Yankees in that a couple of days off for Tex might help keep him fresh during the dog days of August, which will be great as the Yanks head toward the playoffs.

Yes, Tex has an obligation to his baseball family, but his obligation to his actual family comes first. I think most, if not all, of his Yankees teammates understand that. If they don't have a problem with him taking a few days off, then neither should we.

Yankee All-Stars have a rough day

With the exception of potential All-Star Nick Swisher, the New York Yankees All-Stars had a rough day yesterday.

It started with Phil Hughes struggling again. He looked dominant in the first two innings, but gave up a homer to start the third frame, the first of three long balls he would yield. Hughes is in one of those slumps that pitchers get into every once in a while. It's not as bad as anything CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett or Javier Vazquez have gone through this year, but the Yankees will be hoping he breaks the trend in his last outing this weekend before the All-Star game.

When I think of Mariano Rivera, I picture that scene from Terminator 2: Judgment Day when Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cyborg rips the flesh off his arm to reveal the machinery underneath. I have the image that one day, perhaps during his Hall of Fame acceptance speech, we'll see the same thing from Mo. How else do you explain how a skinny 40-year-old could be so dominant? So when Mo gave up a run yesterday, it was quite shocking. As Joe Girardi said, every once in a while Mo reminds us that he's human, even if we don't really believe it.

The All-Star batters collectively had a bad day, with Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez going 2 for 12, leaving eight runners on base. In other words, Mo should have had a bigger lead to guard, but the hitters continue slumping with runners on base. Luckily, Marcus Thames, fresh off the disabled list, bailed them out with his second walk-off hit of the year. And got some pie. Not apple pie for July 4th, but good enough.

Yankees can't shake injury bug

One player comes back, another goes down. That's been the theme for the New York Yankees over the last month and half. They just can't shake the injury bug.

While Jorge Posada is set to catch for the first time in nearly a month, Alex Rodriguez is out until at least Tuesday with a bad hip/groin. Posada has been working furiously to get back behind the plate, but it's well past time to start transitioning him to a designated hitter role, even if he hates it. But on the days Posada does catch, ARod may have to be the DH to prevent further stress on his 35-year-old body.

But it's not just the older guys who are getting hurt. Speedster Brett Gardner was sidelined with a thumb injury Tuesday. Although he went into yesterday's game when Marcus Thames strained his hamstring, Gardner is nowhere near 100%, with the thumb heavily wrapped and obviously hindering his swing.

Will the Yankees ever get completely healthy? Probably not, especially with the high average age of this team. But if they can stay healthy enough to remain competitive with those young studs in Tampa Bay, they can beat them with their experience and superior lineup.

Walk-off kids do it again vs Red Sox

There they were, the walk-off kids, aka the New York Yankees, snatching victory from what would have been a bitter defeat. And they celebrated the way they did all last year: with a pie in the face from AJ Burnett.

The walk-off wins started in earnest around this time last year, with three in a row against the Minnesota Twins. In place of Melky Cabrera, it was Marcus Thames, the Yankee farmhand who came home, getting pied by Burnett after hitting a shot you knew was gone from the crack of the bat. This was two batters after Alex Rodriguez, who led several of those come-from-behind victories last year, was right in the middle of this one, tying the game with a two-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon. Just like that, the Boston Red Sox were done.

I hope last night's victory finally puts to rest all the talk about whether Yankees-Red Sox has lost its juice. The reaction of the Yankee players, a joyous convergence on the mound led by ARod and Derek Jeter, told you all you need to know about how huge this victory was. A day after a shocking loss at the hands of their normally dominant closer Mariano Rivera, the Yanks took it to their archrivals, burying them deeper in the division.

Tough break for Granderson, Yankees

Bad break for Curtis Granderson having to go on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin, a type of injury that tends to happen easily in baseball and can be tough to recover from. Heading for third base, Granderson was in obvious pain and had to immediately be removed from the game by Joe Girardi. You knew it was serious when the manager mentioned the DL in his post-game interview without even knowing the MRI results.

If it's only two weeks, the New York Yankees can weather that storm. Brett Gardner has played very well offensively and defensively and Marcus Thames has hit a ton when he's been in the lineup. Any longer than two weeks, the Yankees will have to start thinking about getting some help.

Even before the injury, Granderson was struggling offensively, with just a .225 batting average, two homers and seven ribbies. In contrast, Austin Jackson, the centerpiece of the deal to get Granderson, is hitting .356 and has already scored 21 runs in the leadoff spot.
But the injury is a shame for Curtis. It seemed like he was getting really comfortable with the Yankees, enjoying playing with Derek Jeter & Co. and meeting Yankee legends like Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson. Hopefully, this will just be a minor bump in the road for him.

Gardner should be the everyday starter

Brett Gardner can impact a game in a way that no other player on the New York Yankees roster can. So why isn't he starting every day?

Joe Girardi has implemented an unofficial platoon with Gardner and Marcus Thames playing against lefties. Thames has done well when he's been in the lineup, batting five for 10 in the first two weeks of the season. But Thames has no home runs or ribbies and I doubt he'll be able to keep that average up for much longer. And his outfield play leaves much to be desired, with defense being a critical factor for a team so dependent on strong starting pitcher (Gardner usually relieves him later in the game).

Gardner's speed enables him to wreak havoc on the bases and the minds of opposing pitchers and infielders. Yesterday, he got three hits off balls that never left the infield and almost legged out another hit on a routine ground ball. Hitting in front of Derek Jeter, he's already scored eight runs, stolen five bases and driven in four of his own.

So why is Girardi so reluctant to play him every day? Beats me. I understand playing Thames against a really tough lefty as he did with Jon Lester and David Price. But routinely playing Thames against lefties and sitting Gardner baffles me. Why wouldn't you want to regularly use such a powerful weapon at your disposal? Maybe this is just an early season fluke and we'll see Gardner become the regular left fielder in the Yankees lineup.

Gardner deserves fair shot at starting spot

Days before baseball pitchers and catchers are due to report, Brett Gardner is already down in Tampa working in the batting cage and preparing for a tough battle for a starting job in the New York Yankees outfield.

Although Joe Girardi likes his speed and defense, Gardner is not a sure thing to win a spot in either center or left field. The Yankees proved that with the decision to bring in not just Randy Winn, but Marcus Thames late in the process. Typical Yankees mentality: they didn't want to spend the money necessary to retain Johnny Damon, but didn't quite trust Gardner to fill the spot so they brought in reinforcements.

Girardi said Winn will have a shot at winning the starting spot. But given his youth and skills, Gardner has to be given a legitimate shot to win and keep the starting spot. The Yankees have more than enough offense in that lineup and could use more balance on the defensive side. Plus, the speedy Gardner on base, hitting from presumably the 9th spot, ahead of Derek Jeter could turn the lineup over quite effectively.

Thanks to Keith Allison via Wikipedia for the photo.