Yankees Season Rests on Arm of Hughes

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With the Yankees in an 0-2 hole in the American League Championship Series, Joe Girardi will depend on Phil Hughes to save the Bombers season. 

The Yankees will be in Detroit for Game 3 tonight against the Tigers, and feel that maybe going on the road to play will help the team loosen up and get out of their offensive funk. The Yankee offense has been non existent this postseason, and have now put the Yankees two games away from elimination, and every game becoming a must win. So, much for loosening up at the plate. The Yankees lineup has struggled from top to bottom, with few bright spots. 

Raul Ibanez has carried the Yankee offense this postseason with three home runs, all coming in the ninth inning or later to to tie or win the game. Ichiro Suzuki has also been hot at the plate, especially in the ALCS. Suzuki is hitting .400 with a home run and two RBI. After Suzuki and Ibanez, no Yankee is hitting above .250 this series, and have combined for zero home runs along with zero RBI. 

The Yankee pitching has kept this team in the postseason, and still give the Yankees hope if they can continue to keep the Tigers lineup at bay. Tonight the task of taming the Tigers is given to Phil Hughes. In Hughes' ALDS start, he went 6 2/3 innings, giving up four hits, striking out eight, and the only run he allowed was a solo home run. 

Hughes will be facing the reigning AL Cy Young and AL MVP winner Justin Verlander tonight. Hughes faced Verlander in Detroit during the regular season, and out dueled Verlander with a complete game. Hughes allowed four hits and a solo home run in the Yankees 5-1 win over the Tigers. Unfortunately for Hughes, he will have to put up a similar performance tonight, and hope the Yankee bats can get him any kind of run support. 

Every game has become do or die for the Yankees, and a loss tonight in Detroit spells the end of the season for the Bronx Bombers who have been anything but. If the Yankees need some inspiration to climb out of this hole they have dug, perhaps they should look at the 2004 ALCS where they were up three games to none on the Boston Red Sox, and ended losing the series 4-3. 

Game 3 between the Yankees and Tigers will start at 8:00 pm tonight.

Mark Teixeira Injures Calf

nypost.com

Mark Teixeira Injures Calf

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira suffered a strained calf in the 4th inning causing him to leave them game after scoring on a base hit by Russell Martin.

The injury was diagnosed as a grade 1 calf strain the same injury that caused Derek Jeter to miss 3 weeks last year. The Yankees are expecting Teixeira to miss around 1-2 weeks which will be a big blow to a lineup that is already missing Alex Rodriguez.

"I don't know; It could be as little as a week," said Teixeira, whose calf was wrapped in the locker room. "Or it could be two weeks, but I don't really know."

The Yankees will have options to fill in for Teixeira at first, as Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Casey McGehee, and newly reacquired Steve Pearce can all play the position giving Girardi some options.

Mark Teixeira was hitting .255 with 23 homeruns, and 81 RBIs batting mostly in the cleanup spot for the Yankees.

The Yankees will be entering a tough spot in their schedule with lots of important division games, and will try to hold on to their slim 3.5 game lead over the Orioles while they try to get healthy.

Ivan Nova Placed on DL

tucsoncitizen.com

Ivan Nova Placed on DL

The Yankees suffered yet another injury to their pitching rotation, as starter Ivan Nova will be placed on the 15 day DL with inflammation in his right shoulder.

Nova said that he first felt some stiffness in the shoulder while facing the last batter on Tuesday night against the White Sox.

Ivan has struggled since the All-Star break going 2-5 with a 6.40 ERA, but Girardi and Nova both said the injury has nothing to do with the injury.

"Any time a guy says he has a little stiffness in his shoulder, you're going to worry," Girardi said Wednesday. "We don't think it's anything too concerning, but we've got to make sure."

The one bright spot for the Yankees is that C.C Sabathia will be back on Friday to start the season against the Indians. The Yankees do need to show some concern though because their division lead has been cut to 2.5 games by the Rays. All of the injuries the Yankees have had has not lead to a very good second half of the season with only a .500 record.

Sabathia Headed to DL

hardballtalk.nbcsports.com

C.C Sabathia Headed to DL

Yankees suffered another injury blow to the team as ace C.C Sabathia will be heading to the 15 day disabled list for the second time this season. Sabathia will be heading to the DL this time due to stiffness in his elbow. The elbow first started acting up in Seattle, and continued to give him issues in Detroit when he only threw 94 pitches.

"As far as our concern, it's pretty low," Girardi said. "It's not like it got any worse. He wants to pitch on Monday, which I'm not surprised, because he said he's dealt with it before. We just decided, let's try to get it cleaned up now."

Sabathia was on the DL in the end of June and into July with a groin injury that cost him to miss 3 starts. C.C is 12-3 on the season with a 3.56 ERA, and has thrown 141.2 innings.

It appears that David Phelps will be getting Sabathia’s start on Monday against Texas, as Phelps has been great so far this season in the bullpen and making a few starts. Phelps is 2-3 with a 2.42 ERA in the majors this season. Yankees are also expected to sign veteran Derek Lowe who was designated for assignment about a week ago.

Yankees Tame Tigers to Split Series

Yankees vs Tigers Post Game Recap 8/9

The Yankees were able to pull off the come from behind win against the Tigers to split the 4 game series by winning on Thursday by a score of 4-3.

Hiroki Kuroda was able to pitch pretty well against a very good Tigers lineup picking up the no decision. Kuroda pitched 6.1 innings allowing ten hits, three runs, and had five strikeouts.

Clay Rapada ended up getting the win for the Yankees for his 3^rd of the season, as Rapada pitched to the final two batters in the 7^th inning getting them both out.

Closer Rafael Soriano was called upon in the 8^th inning to get the final out, and then went back out in the 9^th for the four out save. A lead off double and then a single left Soriano with a tough take with runners on the corners and no outs, but he got two infield pop ups, and then Andy Dirks flied out to center to end the game for his 27^th save of the year.

Raul Ibanez was able to have a good day at the plate going 2 for 4 hitting his 15^th double of the season, 2^nd triple, and knocked in his 50^th RBI of the year.

Mark Teixeira after a clutch hit last night was able to do it again in the 8^th inning hitting his 20^th homerun of the season to tie the game.

Eric Chavez hot hitting continued right after Teixeira, as Chavez hit the go ahead homerun for his 12^th of the season going back to back to take the lead in the top of the 8^th inning.

Nick Swisher had a tough day after a very good night going 0 for 5 with two strikeouts in the protected two spot in the order.

A rare Joe Girardi ejection happened in the 5^th inning, as Girardi flipped out throwing a great rant on a play where the umpire Tim Welke ruled a ball foul and then fair about a second later lead to Girardi freaking out and getting tossed from the game.

Yankees will heading up north to Toronto to face the Blue Jays, as Freddy Garcia (5-5, 5.00) will face Ricky Romero (8-8, 5.47) to start the series.

Alex Rodriguez Breaks Hand, Out 6-8 Weeks

usatoday.com

Alex Rodriguez Breaks Hand, Out 6-8 Weeks

The New York Yankees suffered a big loss before they actually lost the game to the Mariners, as third baseman Alex Rodriguez was hit in the left hand in the 8th inning by Felix Hernandez.

Alex took a 91 mph changeup from Felix off his left hand in the top of the 8th inning, and it was obvious by his reaction that something was very wrong with Rodriguez as he went down screaming in pain.

Eric Chavez will be the main man at third base for the next 6-8 weeks with Alex out, and Jayson Nix should be seeing some more time there as well as Chavez will need some days off here and there. Chavez is having a great season for the Yankees, as before the Rodriguez injury he was getting a good amount of starts at third base due to his great glove, and his success hitting this year. Eric is hitting .269 with 8 homeruns, and 20 RBIs in 64 games.

Yankees players and staff were all upset to see Alex get hurt, as it will be a tough blow losing a middle of the order hitter.

Ironically Chavez suffered the same injury as Alex "They told me it would be six to eight weeks," Chavez said while recalling his own injury. "It was eight weeks to the day that I got back."

"It's nondisplaced, which is good," Girardi said. "But we're going to have to make some changes, which is too bad, because Alex was just starting to feel good again."

"It's too bad about what happened," Garcia said. "It's a big loss for us. The pitch just got away from him. It happens."

Mark Teixeira was one of the more optimistic Yankees when asked about it. "It's unfortunate; it's a huge loss," he said. "But we just picked up Ichiro (in a trade Monday). That means there's going to be more chances for him to play and help us."

Yankees will be playing the final game of the series against the Mariners without Rodriguez on Wednesday afternoon, as they’ll look to survive this injury and keep their lead in the division.