Kuzul

The team with the best record in baseball has some major issues as the calendar approaches September. The Yankees remain atop the American League East, leading the Rays by one game. They do, however, have some issues and I’ve noticed many fans becoming concerned.

While they have a right and reasons to be concerned, it’s not quite time to panic just yet. It’s not one area that causes concern either. It’s multiple areas.

Starting pitching has been up and down of late. Ace CC Sabathia has really been the only consistent performer. A.J. Burnett, expected to be the number two starter this season, has been inconsistent to say the least. The righty had a very good start to the season before it all seemed to fall apart.

Recently the Yankees felt they had gotten Burnett back to normal. Then he delivered a bad performance last night against the Seattle Mariners. The Yankees will need Burnett down the stretch.

Phil Hughes has been a dependable starter all season. The problem comes when the Yankees limit his innings. The team has not announced an official plan for Hughes but it seems more and more likely they will limit him to somewhere around 170 regular season innings.

Javier Vazquez is another pitcher that has been very inconsistent. After a horrific start to the season, Vazquez has been much better. If he can figure out a way to keep the team in the game each and every time he steps on the mound, the Yankees will be much better off.

Andy Pettitte remains out with a groin injury. Originally he was expected to be back with the team right around this time, but he has since suffered a setback.The veteran lefty is an integral part of the Yankees rotation.

In Pettitte’s absence, Dustin Moseley has filled in nicely. While having an ERA over 4.00, Moseley has kept the Yankees in most of the games he has started. He allowed the Yankees to stay pat at the trade deadline instead of trading a key piece for another starter.

With Pettitte still out, Hughes being limited, and Vazquez and Burnett being inconsistent, the Yankees still may need some help. Sure they have Sergio Mitre who could be used in a spot start to give some guys rest, but I don’t think the Yankees want to try that again.

There are some reports that Ivan Nova will be promoted from Triple-A, most likely when rosters expand September 1st. Nova, the Yankees top pitching prospect at Scranton, will be used in spot starts to give the rotation some rest.

For full article, go to Double G Sports.

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Most people say that 2010 so far has been the “year of the pitcher.” Well, there have been some fabulous hitters this year too.

A lot of these guys from this list could be MVP candidates, and that’s why they are on this list, because they’re that good.

Making my decisions for these ten players was extremely difficult, but I think I made the right choices.

All the stats used in the article are current as of 8-19-10.

Feel free to voice your opinion.

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The Yankees concluded a four game series against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, winning 11-5, and thus winning their first series in the month of August.

Phil Hughes looked shaky early on, surrendering a two run home run to Miguel Cabrera in the first inning, but that would be all the damage he would allow, retiring 11 straight batters to end his day.

Sergio Mitre was not as effective as he has been recently, allowing three runs in his three innings to close out the game, but he did earn his first career save today.

The Yankee offense was the real story of the day, erupting for 11 runs on 11 hits and five walks.

Robinson Cano led the charge, going 3-5 with three RBI and three runs scored, and fell a triple shy of the cycle, he has also hit a home run in three straight games now.

With Lance Berkman on the DL, Austin Kearns took over the DH role today, going 2-4 with two RBIs.

Most of the damage was done in the sixth inning, which saw nine runs cross the plate and 13 batters step in the box.

I think that this series was really what the Yankees needed to get back on track, a sweep would have been perfect but winning the series is really what it’s all about.

This series was almost a must-win for the Yanks, as the Rays and Red Sox are getting stronger and neither one of them seem to be fading at all, so three wins here was big as it looks like the AL East will come down to the wire this year, as it has so many times in the past.

Winners of three games in a row now, the Yankees welcome the Seattle Mariners to the Bronx Friday night, a series which the Bombers should also win, considering how bad the Mariners are this year, and the fact that they don’t have Cliff Lee anymore helps as well.

Noteworthy: Lance Berkman was placed on the 15 day DL and shortstop Eduardo Nunez was called up from Scranton/Wilkes Barre, Nunez popped out to the catcher in his first major league at bat, Phil Hughes improved to 15-5 on the year and is tied for second place in wins, Jorge Posada passed Thurman Munson for 17th on the all-time Yankees hit list with 1,559 career hits.

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After only scoring one run in the series opener on Monday, New York had no problem scoring against Detroit pitching in the final three games.

The Yankees used a nine-run sixth inning Thursday afternoon to break open a close game en route to an 11-5 win over the Tigers at Yankee Stadium.

New York took three of four from the Tigers and improved to a season-high 29 games over .500. Detroit pitching allowed 27 runs in the four-game series.

Miguel Cabrera continued his assault on Yankee pitching in the top of the first. With a runner at first and two outs, Cabrera homered off Yankees starter Phil Hughes to give the Tigers an early lead. It was his fourth home run of the four-game series and his 31st of the season.

After being held hitless over the first three innings, the Yankees got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Teixeira and Cano singled. Swisher followed with a run-scoring single to center field on a 3-0 pitch. After Posada flied out to deep left, Granderson delivered an RBI single to tie the game at two.

With the game tied at two in the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees used an offensive explosion to run away with the game. Mark Teixeira led off with a walk and scored on Robinson Cano’s RBI double to left-center. After Nick Swisher walked, Jorge Posada swung at a 3-0 pitch and delivered a run-scoring single to score Cano from second to give the Yankees a 4-2 advantage.

Daniel Schlereth relieved Tigers starter Rick Porcello and walked Curtis Granderson, the only batter he faced. With the bases loaded and still no outs, Austin Kearns greeted new pitcher Robbie Weinhardt with a two-run double to deep center field. After one out, Brett Gardner walked, but ball four eluded Tigers catcher Alex Avila, allowing Granderson to score from third.

Derek Jeter continued the sixth inning scoring spree with a two-run triple to center field. Cano, batting for the second time in the inning, capped off the nine-run inning with his 24th home run of the season to give New York an 11-2 lead. Cano finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI.

After New York’s nine-run sixth inning, Detroit answered with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh off of reliever Sergio Mitre. Jhonny Peralta hit a solo home run with one out and Austin Jackson added an RBI single up the middle with two outs to cut the Yankees lead to 11-4. The Tigers added another run in the top of the eighth on Brennan Boesch’s RBI single.

Despite allowing a home run to Cabrera in the first, Hughes (15-5) became the fourth American League pitcher to win 15 games this season. He allowed two runs on four hits with six strikeouts over six innings. Hughes won his second consecutive start for the first time since winning five straight from May 28 to June 19. Mitre allowed three runs on six hits in three innings of relief but was credited with his first save of the season.

Porcello (5-11) held the Yankees hitless over the first 3.1 innings before falling apart in the sixth. He allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks over five innings.

New York will open a three-game series against Seattle on Friday at Yankee Stadium. Felix Hernandez (8-10, 2.62), who has two complete game victories over the Yankees this season, will start for the Mariners. A.J. Burnett (9-10, 4.66) will take the mound for the Yankees. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.

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The state of the New York Yankees has caused legitimate worry.

Latest news:

·Alex Rodriguez—out.

·Andy Pettitte—return pushed back to mid-September.

·Nick Swisher, AJ Burnett—playing hurt.

Now, the Bombers are tied atop the AL East, as the Tampa Bay Rays have played catch-up.

The Boston Red Sox are lurking not far behind and just activated 2B Dustin Pedroia from the DL. Pedroia is a powerhouse.

No one count out the Toronto Blue Jays either, this team is unbeatable when hot as Tampa, New York and Boston have recently experienced.

Even squeaking out a win on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees looked tired, and dare I say old.

Sans-A-rod has never fared well for the line-up. The Yankee bats tend to center themselves around A-rod’s talent, which is just human nature. The team can win games without A-rod and that is what must happen till he gets healthy.

Cano, Gardner, Graderson, Cervelli, Joba, Robertson, and Hughes were great at the start of 2010.

These young Yankees, as a group are as talented as the Rays or Braves. The difference is budding bombers have an arsenal of veteran all-stars to fall on when the going gets tough. It’s a nice luxury.

Those same veterans, like A-rod, Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Pettitte, Burnett, and Sabathia lead the youngsters, minus Granderson, to a championship in 2009 and now it’s time to pay them back.

It’s time for fans to start facing reality about the state of our elders, but also embrace the future because it is bright.

For now, the remaining regular seasons games will test the reigning champs who have no cushion wins to lean on. That is why losing to teams like the Royals is just making the quest harder.

Just getting to October is the focus because no point in thinking about it yet. Even as a member of the elite AL East guarantees nothing because the NL teams are better than ever.

The truth is it’s time for the fans to encourage the team, who are in the midst of transitioning. No more booing one mistake, just be quiet out of respect if it is all you can do.

Personally, the 2009 and current 2010 Yankee teams are different. They win as a team, lose as a team, fight as a team, support one another as a team and that is rarefied air in sports these days.

It’s about time the fans followed because there is no ‘I’ in team.

Only teams win games, which lead to post-season berths but genuine champions repeat, so LET’S GO YANKEES!

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As the baseball season nears its end, and the playoff races begin to heat up, everybody is debating about who will make the playoffs and who won’t.

Well, I am here to talk about the AL MVP race and who I think will win it.

As of right now, the two main candidates for the AL MVP are obviously Miguel Cabrera and Josh Hamilton. They are both having outstanding season for the teams which are both in playoff races.

Alot of people think it’s all about the batting statistics that determines the Most Valuable Player, but that is not true.

To be the MVP for your league you have to be able to hit, run, field, and basically be somebody who plays all-out all of the time.

Now, let’s take a look at their offensive stats as of 8/12/10.

Josh Hamilton

.357 avg/24 HR/78 RBI

Miguel Cabrera

.339 avg/26 HR/93 RBI

Josh Hamilton has a nearly 20 point lead in the batting average department, but Miguel is easily dominating in both the home runs and runs batted in.

As I said earlier, though, it’s not all about the hitting. You have to be a complete player and Miguel Cabrera is not a complete player.

In tonight’s game versus the Boston Red Sox, Josh Hamilton had four hits, along with a walk and a stolen base. He also scored from second on a weakly hit ground ball by Vladimir Guerrero that tied the game up heading into the ninth inning. If that isn’t enough, he made two incredible catches in the outfield that may end up on SportsCenter or Baseball Tonight later.

Now, I may be biased because I am a die-hard Rangers fan, but I just speak the truth. As Tom Grieve said, “If you haven’t watched the Rangers, you haven’t seen the best player in baseball.”

Miguel Cabrera is also having a fabulous year with the Detroit Tigers. He has pretty much been one of the only run producer in Jim Leyland’s offense.

He is leading all of the MLB in runs batted in, and is ten homeruns behind the Major League leader of 36. Miguel is having a career-type of year at the plate, but he is not a complete player like Josh Hamilton.

Cabrera doesn’t play much defense and he doesn’t run around the basepaths particularly well, which is almost the complete opposite of Josh.

Josh goes all-out and fearless on the bases and with how much he gets on, he gets a lot of chances to run wild on the bases.

The only other real candidates for the AL MVP are Paul Konerko, Robinson Cano, or, possibly, Adrian Beltre. Here are their offensive statistics as of 8/12/10.

Paul Konerko

.302 avg/28 HR/78 RBI

Robinson Cano

.327 avg/21 HR/72 RBI

Adrian Beltre

.331 avg/21 HR/79 RBI

I highly doubt any of them will will win the MVP this year, although they are also having incredible years for their respected teams.

So it’s like this: If there is a better MVP candidate in this league, I have no idea who it is. Hands down, that’s what it is, feel free to argue.

Please comment and thank you for reading!

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The New York Yankees lost a heart-breaker to the Texas Rangers in the 10th inning, final score 4-3.

It’s no big secret that the Yankees are losing, winning only 4 of last 11 games and falling fast.

The Bombers first place lead is dwindling down, now just a half-a-game over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Red Sox are playing catch-up sitting at five games back and also making the AL East a three-team event again.

Yankees starting pitcher AJ Burnett looked really good… again. For how long is a total crap-shoot. The Yankees need Burnett to perform more than ever because he could make or break whether October baseball happens.

The below list could be either interpreted as a fan’s cry for help, or a Yankees what NOT to do rant. Hey, my Yankees are slumping and at times a fan need to vent.

Let’s call it one fan’s observations:

1. If the Yankees MVP is sick with the flu and running a fever… why is he even at the ballpark? Especially when it is 120 degrees? Definitely a bad idea to pinch-hit Robinson Cano in the 6th inning.

2. Skipper Joe Girardi decides to NOT start Jorge Posada, when Mark Teixeira is in NYC as his wife had a baby boy and Cano is “out” with the flu… great idea. Girardi then claims that Posada’s shoulder hurt in the post-game, but he looked like he was fibbing and it was obvious.

3. Nick Swisher cannot be the only player that hits, with flashes of A-Rod on occasion. Hope Tex jumped on a plane to Texas because the team needs him NOW, more than ever.

4. Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns have been Yankees for two weeks. GM Brian Cashman gave the impression that the two were to give the Yankees bench-depth down the stretch, so why is Girardi playing them so much? Since the day these two showed-up have things started to collapse. Kind-of ironic timing, don’t you think? Playing Granderson and Gardner everyday worked better and the proof is the team was winning.

5. In 2009, the Yankees were the kings of the walk-off wins. The Yankees had more fight in their eyes, which the Rangers and Red Sox seem to have stolen.

6. Girardi has acquired a smirk on his face and I don’t know what to think of it. It started in Tampa in the third game of the series, which was on the line as both teams had taken a game. Girardi look liked he was testing things out. Why the hell else would Lance Berkman be playing first base in a spilt series with the Rays? I presumed the Yankees would put their best players out there to get a win and that was not the case. It was thoroughly disappointing, shocking and cocky of Girardi.

7. This is short and sweet. Don’t leave runners stranded on-base. It is unacceptable going 0-9 and ditching 11 teammates on the pads against the Red Sox; in a game the Bombers should have won.

Am I turning into a hater-fan?

Not at all, just a frustrated one.

One team in the AL East will not make the post-season. Whoever it may be, their fans will be heartbroken.

READ MORE AT… LADY LOVES PINSTRIPES.

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Considering that it is August, post-season baseball is just two months away. With the playoffs looming, the way the standings will ultimately shake out could be determined relatively soon. 

Many of these determining factors come down to how teams can mesh, second half track records, and team health.

However, on each contending team, there are certain individuals that hold the key to contention for the remainder of the regular season. Heading into the second week of August, now is the time for the difference-makers to stand up and propel their team to meaningful wins.

Here are 15 game changing difference-makers on different contending teams that will help decide the fate of their respective clubs as the 2010 MLB season heads down to the wire.

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It was supposed to be a matchup built for national television.  AJ Burnett vs. Josh Beckett, two hard-throwing, old-school pitchers facing off in Yankee Stadium.

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