Results tagged ‘ Citi Field ’
Kuroda making case for All-Star consideration
The All-Star Game will be at Citi Field in a couple of months, and there has been a lot of talk in Flushing about Matt Harvey, the Mets’ impressive rookie, perhaps getting the nod as the starting pitcher for the National League. Not to take any thunder away from Harvey, but it may not be a bad idea if the American League gave serious consideration to the Yankees’ Hiroki Kuroda as its starter.
Oh, sure, it’s far too early to get into that discussion. One thing is certain: when that topic does become heated, figure Kuroda to be in the middle of it, right up there with Felix Hernandez, Clay Buchholz, Matt Moore, Yu Darvish, Jon Lester and the other All-Star starter contenders.
Say what you want about the Blue Jays’ 17-25 start, but the Toronto lineup is still formidable. Yet Kuroda mowed through it seemingly without breaking a sweat.
“He had all three of his pitches going – fastball, slider, splitter,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He pretty much gave the bullpen the night off. He has been doing that for us all season.”
The first inning was an indication that it might be a special night for Kuroda. Melky Cabrera led off the game with a double. Kuroda then struck out Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion and got the third out by gloving a searing line drive by J.P. Arencibia.
“I felt good after those first two strikeouts,” Kuroda said.
Asked how he was able to catch Arencibia’s dart, Kuroda said, “I don’t know.”
After Melky’s hit, Kuroda got 19 consecutive outs before yielding a second hit, Encarnacion’s one-out single in the seventh. Kuroda walked Muenori Kawasaki in the third inning but picked him off. The righthander had five strikeouts in his eight innings, and it was hard to believe that 41 of his 109 pitches were called balls.
Kuroda improved his record to 6-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.99, clearly the best of each in the rotation. He has been a one-man gang against Toronto with 12 consecutive scoreless innings against the Jays. Opponents are hitless in their past 25 at-bats with runners in scoring position against Kuroda and 2-for-30 for the season. He has pitched at least seven innings without giving up a run in nine of his 42 starts with the Yankees, which matches Hernandez and the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw for the most such starts in the majors over the past two years.
The Yankees tied the score right away by scoring off Mark Buehrle in the first inning. Brett Gardner tripled to left-center and scored on a groundout by Robinson Cano. The first of two sacrifice flies by Jayson Nix gave Kuroda the lead in the fifth, and the bottom of the Yankees’ order constructed the bulk of a three-run rally in the seventh.
How about the 3-4-5-6 hitters combining to go 1-for-16 and still the Yankees winning, 5-0? Nix had a 0-for-0 game with two walks and two sac flies, the first Yankees player to get four plate appearances in a game without an official at-bat since Derek Jeter Sept. 12, 2006 against the Rays. Rookies David Adams and Austin Romine had a double and a single apiece, and rookie pitcher Preston Claiborne tossed another scoreless inning (that’s eight now in six appearances). Gardner also walked and singled in a run. It was all nice to see, but the way Kuroda pitched was unnecessary.
Can Derek make the All-Star team?
Do not be surprised if Derek Jeter earns a spot on the American League All-Star squad even though he probably won’t play an inning of baseball before the game, which is scheduled for July 16 at Citi Field in Flushing.
The Captain is extremely popular with fans all over the country. Just last year, he received more than 4.4 million votes, the third highest total of any AL player. Only Josh Hamilton and Jose Bautista were ahead of him, and no other shortstop was within three million votes of Jeter.
Jose Reyes, in his first year in the AL with the Blue Jays after being traded from the Marlins, might have threatened Jeter’s hold on the All-Star vote at shortstop. But Reyes is also out for three months with an ankle injury, so his chances of overtaking the Captain seem out of the question now.
How weird would it be for Jeter to win an All-Star spot without having played a game? Well, go back to 1989. Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt retired in late May while batting .203 in 148 at-bats. The All-Star balloting was only a week old, and yet when it was over Schmidt was voted onto the National League squad as the starting third baseman, even though he had not played for six weeks. You could say that at least Schmidt played as many as 42 games, but then again, he was not very good in many of them. The future Hall of Famer was invited to the game that year at Anaheim Stadium and took a bow, but his place in the NL starting lineup was taken instead by the Mets’ Howard Johnson.
So don’t bet against Jeter.
2013 All-Star ballot released
Major League Baseball marked the official start of All-Star balloting today for the 84th All-Star Game that will be held Tuesday, July 16, at Citi Field.
Yankees fans might have to make sure of write-in votes to help some of the players make it onto the team. The ballot does not include catcher Francisco Cervelli or outfielder Vernon Wells, for example. Chris Stewart is listed as the Yankees’ catcher, and the three outfielders on the ballot are Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson and Ichiro Suzuki. Granderson has yet to play a game. Nor have first baseman Mark Teixeira or shortstop Derek Jeter. All had been expected back in May, which is why they were named to the ballot.
Jeter’s case has changed, obviously, with another break in his surgical left ankle that will keep him out of action until after the All-Star break. Alex Rodriguez, recovering from hip surgery, was never expected to play before the All-Star break, so Kevin Youkilis is listed as the Yankees’ third baseman. Also on the ballot are second baseman Robinson Cano and designated hitter Travis Hafner.
MLB’s All-Star balloting program is the largest of its kind in professional sports. Last year, more than 40.2 million ballots were cast, which was a record. This year, more than 20 million Firestone All-Star ballots will be distributed at the 30 major-league ballparks, each of which will have 25 dates for balloting, and in approximately 100 minor-league parks.
Fans may also cast votes for starters 25 times exclusively at MLB.com and all 30 club web sites, including Yankees.com. – online or via their mobile devices – with the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com Ballot Sponsored by freecreditscore.com.
Every major-league club will have begun its in-stadium balloting no later than Tuesday, May 7. When the in-stadium phase of balloting concludes Friday, June 28, fans will have the opportunity to cast their ballots exclusively online at MLB.com, the 30 club web sites and their mobile devices until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, July 4. Firestone is once again the exclusive sponsor of the 2013 In-Stadium All-Star balloting program. The ballot features an All-Star sweepstakes, in which a winner will be rewarded with a trip for two to MLB All-Star Week, including airfare, hotel accommodations and tickets to the All-Star Game and other MLB All-Star Week events.
“All-Star Balloting is more popular than ever, and we hope for another record-setting year in 2013,” commissioner Bud Selig said. “Major League Baseball is thrilled that fans throughout the world will continue to choose their favorite players for the greatest sporting event of the summer. We look forward to adding a new chapter to the remarkable National League tradition of New York City at Citi Field this summer.”
This will mark the ninth time the All-Star Game has been in New York. The Yankees have been the host team four times in the Bronx – 1939 and the second of two games in 1960 in the original Yankee Stadium and 1977 and 2008 in the renovated Stadium. The game was also in Manhattan twice when the Giants were the host team at the Polo Grounds – 1934 and 1942 – and once each in Brooklyn when the Dodgers were the host team at Ebbets Field in 1949 and in Queens when the Mets were the host team at Shea Stadium in its inaugural season of 1964.
For the fifth consecutive year, this year’s ballot will feature the Home Run Derby Fan Poll. Fans will get to select three players in each league who they would most like to see participate in the Home Run Derby. The Fan Poll also will be available online at MLB.com.
Cano, the winner of the 2011 event at Chase Field in Phoenix, is one of the 10 American League candidates, along with designated hitter Adam Dunn of the White Sox; first baseman Prince Fielder of the Tigers; third basemen Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, Evan Longoria of the Rays and Adrian Beltre of the Rangers; and outfielders Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays, Adam Jones of the Orioles and Josh Hamilton and Mike Trout of the Angels.
The 10 National League candidates are catcher Buster Posey of the Giants; first baseman Joey Votto of the Reds; third baseman David Wright of the Mets; and outfielders Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals, Ryan Braun of the Brewers, Bryce Harper of the Nationals, Jason Heyward of the Braves, Matt Kemp of the Dodgers, Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates and Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins.
The AL and NL All-Star teams will be unveiled Sunday, July 7, on the 2013 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show presented by Taco Bell, televised nationally on TBS. The AL All-Star Team will have nine elected starters via the fan balloting program, while the NL All-Star Team will have eight. The pitchers and reserves for both squads – totaling 25 for the N.L. and 24 for the A.L. – will be determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers – the AL’s Jim Leyland of the Tigers and the NL’s Bruce Bochy of the Giants.
Immediately following the announcement of the rosters, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each league’s 34-man roster via the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by freecreditscore.com. Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each league over a four-day period and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes Thursday, July 11. Now in its 12th season with more than 350 million votes cast, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on MLB.com, club sites and their mobile phones.
This year’s final phase of All-Star Game voting again will have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the game, fans will vote exclusively online at MLB.com and the 30 club sites via the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year’s recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.
2013 schedule out; Yanks-Mets down to 4 games
Major League Baseball released its preliminary schedule for the 2013 season Wednesday. It reveals the change in inter-league play based on the Astros’ move from the National League Central to the American League West that will create two 15-team leagues and require inter-league play on a daily basis.
What that means to the Subway Series is that instead of two three-game series, the Yankees and the Mets will play consecutive two-game sets May 27-28 at Citi Field and May 29-30 at Yankee Stadium. This is a good idea. Six games each year was at least two too many. Remember, in the first two years of inter-league play the New York clubs played one three-game series, in 1997 at Yankee Stadium and 1998 at Shea Stadium. The downside is that there can be a series split, which would take away the reward of bragging rights.
The Yankees will open the season with at home against the Red Sox for the first time since 2005. The Yanks are 18-11-1 in 30 previous Opening Day games against Boston, including a 4-4 game due to darkness in 1910 at old Hilltop Park. The Yankees will play 19 of their first 32 games at home.
The other inter-league matchups for the Yankees will be against the NL West with home games against the Diamondbacks April 16-18, Dodgers June 18-19 and the Giants Sept. 20-22 and road games at Denver May 7-9, Los Angeles July 30-31 and San Francisco Aug. 2-4. The Dodgers’ visit will mark their first regular-season games at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will have inter-league games in every month of the season.
The Astros will come to the Stadium as an AL team for the first time April 29-May 1. The Yanks will end their season with a three-game series Sept. 27-29 at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.
CC disabled because of muscle strain
The Yankees will have to do without their staff ace for at least the next couple of weeks. CC Sabathia was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday reluctantly. Sabathia, who took part in a HOPE Week celebration in a suite at Yankee Stadium before Wednesday’s game against the Indians, did not want to go on the DL but accepted the Yankees’ cautious approach.
The lefthander, who has a 9-3 record with a 3.45 ERA, has a strained left adductor muscle, which is near the groin. General manager Brian Cashman said that Sabathia likely would not have been disabled had the injury occurred in a September pennant stretch but at this point in the season “it is better to be safe than sorry.”
Sabathia soreness in the area during his past start Sunday night against the Mets at Citi Field when he failed to pitch into the seventh inning for the first time this season. He did not tell Yankees manager Joe Girardi or pitching coach Larry Rothschild of the condition because he did not consider it serious. Sabathia did a full bullpen session Tuesday and still felt discomfort, so he finally told the Yankees about it.
Sabathia’s next start was to have been Friday night at the Stadium against the White Sox, an assignment that was to go to Freddy Garcia. The righthander began the season in the rotation but was sent to the bullpen April 29 when his record was 0-2 with a 12.51 ERA. Garcia was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in nine relief appearances spanning 15 innings to lower his season ERA to 6.91.
But Freddy had to pitch Wednesday as Girardi was forced to go to the bullpen early after starter Andy Pettitte came out of the game in the fifth inning after being struck in the leg by a line drive. Another option for Friday night might be righthander Adam Warren, who is 5-5 with a 3.55 ERA at Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“There is no doubt we are going to miss him,” Girardi said of Sabathia. “We have a pretty experienced club. We lost the greatest closer of all time [Mariano Rivera]. We were able to respond. We lost our setup guy [David Robertson], and we were able to respond. We were without Alex [Rodriguez] for the first couple of months a couple of years ago and were able to get through that. We just have to fight through it. Our belief is it is only going to be two starts.”
CC vs. R.A. not so OK after all
Sunday night’s finale of the Subway Series at Citi Field was another case of a dream match-up not living up to its marquee value. The anticipated pairing of the Yankees’ CC Sabathia and the Mets’ R.A. Dickey was something of a letdown as neither pitcher was at his best. Neither was involved in the outcome, either.
The Yankees got to Dickey for five runs and five hits in his six innings during which his pitching line had some elements of a knuckleball pitcher (one hit batter, one wild pitch, one error) that he had been avoiding in his magical, 11-1 season. Perhaps the best thing Dickey did was to single in the fifth inning and eventually come around to score.
Sabathia had leads of 4-0 and 5-1 but failed to get through the sixth inning for the first time this season. His defense failed him as well as only one of the five runs he yielded was earned. CC’s catcher, Chris Stewart, made two throwing errors, one of which led directly to a run. An error by second baseman Robinson Cano helped fuel the Mets’ sixth when they tied the score with three more unearned runs.
The Mets lead the majors in two-out runs, and the four they got to square things by the sixth were all of that variety. Dickey scored in the fifth on a two-out single by Ruben Tejada. The last pitch Sabathia threw was hit for a two-out, two-run single by Andres Torres. Tejada followed that with another two-out, RBI single off reliever Cory Wade, who walked David Wright to load the bases but came back to strike out pinch hitter Kirk Neuwenhuis.
Cano atoned for his muff the next inning when he powered a 2-0 changeup from Miguel Batista over the center field wall for his 16th home run. That would prove the deciding run in the Yanks’ 6-5 victory that gave them a 5-1 record in this year’s Subway Series.
Mets manager Terry Collins had hoped Citi Field would play larger than Yankee Stadium and the long ball would not be as much a factor as it was two weekends ago when the Yankees swept the three-game set. They out-homered the Mets, 8-2, at the Stadium in that series and nearly did the same, 7-2, at Citi Field.
Winning pitcher Boone Logan (2-0), David Robertson and Rafael Soriano (15th save) combined for three shutout innings as the Yankees’ bullpen again dominated the Mets. In the six Subway Series games this year, Yankees relievers combined to go 3-0 with three saves and a 1.65 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. So it was not just home runs the Yankees used to handle the Mets.
You keep hearing about how the Subway Series has lost much of its appeal and lacks the intensity of past years. Don’t believe it. This year’s home-and-home series drew a total of 270,828 persons to Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. They averaged 45,138 per game and drew the two largest gates in Citi Field’s four-season history.
With the Major League Baseball schedule changing next season due to realignment with the Astros moving from the National League Central to the American League West, the Subway Series is likely to be reduced from six games to four or perhaps even three. Many of the players on both teams and both managers seem to believe that is a good idea, a view that might not be shared in the front office when they consider that two or three capacity crowds will probably be sacrificed.
Yanks end two of Dickey’s streaks
The Yankees ended R.A. Dickey’s string of one-hitters and his consecutive innings streak of no earned runs all in the same inning – the third – Sunday night. The righthander, who pitched one-hitters in his previous two starts, lost his chance for three in a row when Alex Rodriguez beat out an infield hit to third base, the Yankees’ second hit of the game.
And there would be more to come. The Yankees reached base regularly in the early going. They scored more runs in the third inning – four – than Dickey had allowed in a game in all but one of his 14 previous starts. He allowed eight runs in a 14-6 loss at Atlanta April 18 but no more than three runs in any other start.
Dickey worked out of trouble in the second inning when the Yankees loaded the bases with one out. Dickey put the first runner on with an error by dropping a toss from first baseman Justin Turner while covering first base. He then walked Nick Swisher and gave up a single to right by Raul Ibanez, but third base coach Rob Thompson held Mark Teixeira at third base. Dickey kept the ball in the infield after that by retiring Chris Stewart on a pop to second and CC Sabathia on a fielder’s choice.
One of the amazing aspects of Dickey’s remarkable season is his walks total – only 21 in 99 innings coming into this game, a terrific ratio for a knuckleball pitcher. The Yankees’ patience at the plate resulted in Dickey issuing three walks in the first three innings. A-Rod’s infield single was between walks as the Yankees again loaded the bases.
They have not done well when the bags are full this year (.181 entering play Sunday night), but they reversed that trend against Dickey. Teixeira scored Curtis Granderson with a sacrifice fly, a run that ended Dickey’s stretch of 44 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run, thereby leaving intact Dwight Gooden’s franchise mark of 49 such innings in 1985.
Swisher tore into a 2-1 knuckler and drove it over the right field wall for his 11th home run and a 4-0 Yankees lead. Before the game, Swisher talked about how he sometimes bats right-handed against knuckleball pitchers but that he would stay on the left side against Dickey because of the power aspect. Nine of Swish’s home runs have come while batting left-handed.
Dickey had another of his incredible achievements stopped in the fifth inning. After he hit Granderson with a pitch to begin the inning, Dickey was charged with a wild pitch while facing Rodriguez that allowed Granderson to take second base. It was the first wild pitch thrown this season by Dickey coming in his 104th inning, an astonishing feat for a knucleballer.
A-OK match-up: CC vs. R.A.
The Yankees and Mets finish off this year’s Subway Series with one of the best marquee match-ups in the history of this New York-New York rivalry with CC Sabathia opposing R.A. Dickey on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball at Citi Field.
Dickey with his 11-1 record, 2.00 ERA and consecutive one-hitters with double-digit strikeouts has been the talk of baseball lately. It is a feel-good story about a 37-year-old veteran who has risen to the heights on the command of the pitch most difficult to control.
Switch hitters like Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher batted right-handed against right-handed knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield, especially at Fenway Park because of the Green Monster. Bernie Williams also used to bat right-handed against Wakefield. Tex and Swish say they will not do that against Dickey and will hit from the usual left side against a righty pitcher.
Neither switch hitter has had a great deal of success against Dickey. Swisher is only 1-for-10 (.100) and Teixeira is 2-for-11 (.182), although one of the hits was a home run. Of the Yanks in Sunday night’s lineup, Alex Rodriguez and Raul Ibanez have had the most career success against Dickey. A-Rod is 6-for-13 (.462) with two doubles and Ibanez is 8-for-25 (.320) with three home runs. Eric Chavez, who is not in the starting lineup, has 4-for-12 (.333) with a homer off Dickey.
Mets hitters who have given Sabathia the most trouble over the years are Andres Torres at 5-for-11 (.455) with two doubles and a triple, Ike Davis at 3-for-6 (.500) and Scott Hairston at 3-for-10 (.300). Jason Bay is 3-for-12 (.250) with two home runs off CC but is on the disabled list due to a concussion.
Sabathia and Dickey both pitched complete-game victories with 10 or more strikeouts in their past starts June 18. Sabathia struck out 10 batters in a 6-2 victory over the Braves at Yankee Stadium. Dickey tossed a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory over the Orioles at Citi Field.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time the Yankees and the Mets each had complete-game victories with double-digit strikeout totals on the same date. It was also the first time since 1900 that pitchers from two different New York teams (including the Giants and the Dodgers before they went to California in 1958) accomplished the feat on the same day.
Home runs + quality pitching = success
Yankees manager Joe Girardi has finally admitted publicly what we all pretty much new. The Yankees need to hit the ball out of the ballpark to win games. All there struggles hitting with runners in scoring position point to that. Despite batting .217 in clutch situations, the Yankees are in first place in the American League East largely because of two elements – quality pitching and power hitting, both of which were on display Saturday night.
The Yanks guaranteed their winning of this year’s the Subway Series with a stirring, come-from-behind, 4-3 victory over the Mets at Citi Field. It was all Mets for six innings until the Yankees began hitting the ball over the fence. They have taken four of five games from the Mets this year, which turns Sunday night’s series finale into merely a marquee match-up between CC Sabathia and R.A. Dickey.
Raul Ibanez’s three-run home run in the seventh inning off Chris Young was the Yankees’ only hit in eight at-bats with runners in scoring position in this series, but it was a big one. It tied the score after the Yankees had looked pretty lifeless for six innings. One out later, Eric Chavez got a pinch-hit homer, the first of his career, to put the Yankees ahead.
The Yanks’ bullpen handled the rest. Spelling Ivan Nova over the final 3 1/3 innings, winning pitcher Clay Rapada (2-0), Cody Eppley, Boone Logan, David Robertson and Rafael Soriano (14th save) combined to hold the Mets to two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. From the third out of the sixth through the second out of the ninth, all eight of those outs by the Mets were on strikeouts. In all, the Mets struck out 15 times in the game.
Rapada came on for Nova and ended the sixth with a strikeout of Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who had homered three innings earlier, after the Mets had gone up, 3-0. Logan inherited a one-out, runner on third situation in the seventh and struck out two left-handed hitters, Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy. Robertson had a no-contact eighth with two walks and three strikeouts.
Soriano had two strikeouts sandwiched around a single by David Wright before Murphy excited the record Citi Field crowd of 42,122 with a fly ball to the warning track in right where it nestled in the glove of Nick Swisher. No leap at the wall this time.
“We’re a home run-hitting club,” Girardi had said Friday night when three Yankees home runs were not enough to avoid a 6-4 loss. “We are who we are. There are basketball clubs that are built around 3-point shooting and when they don’t make their 3’s they don’t win. If we hit two- and three-run homers, we usually win games.”
Plainer truth could not be spoken about the 2012 Yankees. They lead the majors in homers with 110 in 70 games, including 32 over their past 18 games. The Yankees are 41-15 when they hit at least one home run and 30-7 when they hit more than one. In games when they fail to go yard, the Yankees are 1-13. They have out-homered the Mets this year, 13-4.
But let us not forget pitching. The Yankees made sure that fans remember that aspect in helping to end a three-game losing streak and ensuring bragging rights over the Mets for another year.
Nova’s unbeaten road streak continues
Ivan Nova remained undefeated on the road in his past 16 starts away from Yankee Stadium, and he has Raul Ibanez to thank for it.
Nova was staring at the possibility that he might suffer his first road loss since June 3 last year at Anaheim when he left Saturday night’s Subway Series game at Citi Field trailing, 3-0. One of the runs against Nova was unearned because of an error by Alex Rodriguez, but the righthander was stung by a Kirk Nieuwenhuis home run in the third inning and a two-out, RBI single by opposing pitcher Chris Young in the sixth.
Ibanez changed all that for Nova in the seventh when he followed a walk to Mark Teixeira and a double by Nick Swisher (his 1,000th career hit) by leaning into a first-pitch fastball from Young and driving a tracer-bullet liner over the right field fence for his 11th home run that took Nova off the hook by tying the score.
Nova did not extend his 12-game winning streak on the road, but he didn’t lose the game, either. The pitcher of record became Clay Rapada, who took over from Nova after Young’s hit and got out of the inning by striking out Nieuwenhuis.
Rapada was in position for the winning decision when Eric Chavez batted for him in the seventh and homered to left off Jon Rauch on a 0-2 fastball. It was Chavez fifth home run of the season and 237th of his career but his first in a pinch-hitting role.
The assault came after Young had held the Yankees to two singles and two walks over six shutout innings. The Mets went a complete turn in the rotation with their starters not allowing a run over the first five innings of games.
Jack O'Connell
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