Red Sox - 000 100 200 - 3 9 0 Orioles - 302 010 00x - 6 9 0The Orioles scored early and often against Stewart (2.2-7-5-0-1, 48) and swept the three-game series. Baltimore remained tied for first place in the AL East with the Yankees, who rallied from a four-run deficit and beat the Blue Jays 9-6.
Ellsbury, CFThe Orioles and Yankees are tied (91-67) for first place in the AL East. Each team can clinch a playoff spot with a victory today.
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Gomez, 1B
Valencia, 3B
Lavarnway, C
Nava, LF
Ciriaco, DH
Iglesias, SS
The Yankees botched multiple scoring opportunities in a 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays Saturday afternoon and also missed a chance to put themselves in position to clinch at least a playoff spot.
A victory and an Angels loss later Saturday would've guaranteed the Yanks entry into the postseason. Instead, the Yanks really only have themselves to blame for losing to the hapless Jays ...
But if the Yanks continue to play the way they did Saturday, their foray into serious October baseball likely will be brief. ...
The roller coaster ride that has been September took a significant drop Saturday. How costly it was remains to be seen but it was severe and self-inflicted. ...
Through five innings they were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.
Late in the game and down a run they watched Ichiro Suzuki get caught attempting to steal second in the seventh and pinch-runner Brett Gardner in the eighth.
The best teams lose 60-70 games, so defining any one loss as unacceptable is usually for the irrational ranting of talk radio.
But I will say this about the Yankees' 3-2 loss yesterday to the Blue Jays:
It was unacceptable.
These past few days were supposed to be the Yankees' chance to separate themselves from the Orioles, or at least knock a few more days off the calendar without losing ground. Instead they lost a game and a half over the last three days. ...
[T]he blame for Saturday's setback didn't fall on Pettitte's 40-year-old left arm. Instead, it was the lack of clutch hitting — again — that doomed the Yankees to another one-run loss.
Runner at second, nobody out in the second? Chris Stewart popup, Derek Jeter strikeout, Ichiro Suzuki popup.
Bases loaded, nobody out in the third? Curtis Granderson popup, Andruw Jones strikeout, Eduardo Nunez lineout.
How about first and second, nobody out in the fifth? Granderson fielder’s choice followed by a 3-6-3 double play by Raul Ibanez.
Sensing a trend? ...
"Tomorrow is going to be a must-win," Nick Swisher said.
Red Sox - 000 021 000 - 3 5 1 Orioles - 010 200 10x - 4 7 1The Orioles edged the Red Sox and moved into a tie for first place in the East.
Ellsbury, CFThe Orioles are 1 GB the Yankees in the AL East - with five games remaining. Baltimore leads the wild card standings by one game.
Podsednik, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Gomez, 1B
Saltalamacchia, C
Lavarnway, DH
Ciriaco, 3B
Aviles, SS
Red Sox - 100 000 000 - 1 1 1 Orioles - 600 030 00x - 9 12 2Boston's lone hit was a bunt single by Scott Posednik to begin the game. He scored an unearned run on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly, giving the Red Sox an early lead which lasted only a few minutes.
Podsednik, CFThe Red Sox finish up their disappointing 2012 season on the road, with three games in Baltimore, followed by three in New York. How Boston plays over those six games will have a definite effect on who wins the AL East.
Ciriaco, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Loney, 1B
Saltalamacchia, DH
Lavarnway, C
Nava, LF
Iglesias, SS
W L GB
Yankees 90 66 ---
Orioles 89 67 1.0
Yankees Orioles
Fri 0928 at TOR vs BOS
Sat 0929 at TOR vs BOS
Sun 0930 at TOR vs BOS
Mon 1001 vs BOS at TBR
Tue 1002 vs BOS at TBR
Wed 1003 vs BOS at TBR
Obviously, the plan should be to lose three in a row, then win three in a row.
Can anybody here play this game?
On a night when so much was on the table for the Yankees, they delivered a miserable performance against a putrid team that started a good pitcher.
Ivan Nova didn't pitch well. Robinson Cano dropped a relay throw and made a baserunning mistake. Right fielder Ichiro Suzuki botched a ball on the warning track. And the hitters wilted in front of Brandon Morrow. ...
Presented with a chance to push their AL East lead to two lengths over the idle Orioles with six games remaining, the Yankees instead hold a one-game advantage ...
If we were still in April, they would shrug this one off as quickly as would Amanda Bynes a parking ticket. ...
Instead, the Yankees' 6-0 loss to the Blue Jays last night at Rogers Centre, feels like a golden opportunity blown. Their postseason position remains very much up in the air. ...
The stakes are enormous; the Yankees want absolutely no part of the one-game, wild-card playoff they would face if they lose the divisional battle to Baltimore.
New York lost for the third time in five games and wasted a chance to go two up with six to play. ...
Nova, knocked out in the third inning of his previous start, has not won back-to-back outings since a five-start winning streak from May 25 to June 17. The 87 extra-base hits off Nova are the most yielded by any big league pitcher.
[E]very time you think this race is over, the Yankees pull the Orioles back into it. Their lifeless performance against the Toronto Blue Jays, who have nothing to play for ... means their lead in the AL East is whittled back down to one game with six to go ...Bryan Hoch, MLB:
Nova wrote his name into Yankees history by allowing a pair of extra-base hits tonight, which gave him a team-record 87 XBH's allowed this season, eclipsing the record of Andy Hawkins (86 in 1989). But Hawkins needed 208.1 innings to accomplish his feat. Nova? 170.1.
If the Yankees were looking at this start as Ivan Nova's chance to audition for meaningful postseason innings, the right-hander wasn't able to provide much of a convincing argument.
Nova is lined up for one more start, on Tuesday at home against the Red Sox. If the Yankees are still in a dogfight with the Orioles, do you think Joe Girardi will feel secure with his roller-coaster righthander on the hill?
Neither do I.
Rays - 000 030 100 - 4 8 0 Red Sox - 010 001 000 - 2 4 0The Red Sox finished their 2012 home schedule with their worst record in 47 years.
Ciriaco, 3B
Podsednik, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Loney, 1B
Saltalamacchia, C
Lavarnway, DH
Nava, LF
Iglesias, SS
Rays - 030 002 000 - 5 11 1 Red Sox - 011 000 000 - 2 7 1Price (9-7-2-0-13, 112) threw a complete game and Jeff Keppinger hit a three-run homer in the second inning.
Ciriaco, DH
Nava, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Gomez, 1B
Lavarnway, C
Valencia, 3B
Lin, CF
Iglesias, SS
Orioles - 000 010 000 - 1 6 1 Red Sox - 000 100 01x - 2 9 0
Podsednik, CFHere's a crazy factoid from Peter Abraham: The Red Sox have trailed at some point in each of their last 32 games.
Ciriaco, 2B
Pedroia, DH
Ross, RF
Loney, 1B
Saltalamacchia, C
Valencia, 3B
Nava, LF
Iglesias, SS
Orioles - 110 102 100 003 - 9 15 1 Red Sox - 100 200 210 000 - 6 13 1A three-spot off Alfredo Aceves in the 12th inning gives Baltimore its 16th consecutive extra-inning victory.
Ciriaco, DHBaltimore begins the day 1 GB the Yankees, who beat Oakland 2-1 in 10 innings last night. The Athletics and Yankees also play at 1 PM today.
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Lavarnway, C
Gomez, 1B
Aviles, SS
Valencia, 3B
Nava, LF
Podsednik, CF
Orioles - 000 202 000 - 4 10 0 Red Sox - 001 010 000 - 2 8 0
Ciriaco, 3BThe Orioles (85-64) begin this three-game weekend series at Fenway Park 1 GB New York in the AL East. The Yankees (86-63) are hosting the Athletics.
Podsednik, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Lavarnway, C
Saltalamacchia, DH
Loney, 1B
Nava, LF
Iglesias, SS
Red Sox - 000 002 011 - 4 10 1 Rays - 000 000 016 - 7 10 1
Ciriaco, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, DH
Lavarnway, C
Gomez, 1B
Aviles, 3B
Nava, RF
Podsednik, LF
Iglesias, SS
Red Sox - 102 000 000 - 3 5 2 Rays - 011 307 01x - 13 15 0
Red Sox - 000 121 300 - 7 9 0 Rays - 003 000 200 - 5 3 3
Ciriaco, 3B
Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Loney, 1B
Saltalamacchia, C
Lavarnway, DH
Podsednik, LF
Iglesias, SS
Red Sox - 000 002 300 - 5 6 0 Rays - 000 010 001 - 2 6 3The Red Sox did not get their first hit of the night until there were two outs in the sixth inning.
Ciriaco, 3B
Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Loney, 1B
Saltalamacchia, DH
Lavarnway, C
Podsednik, LF
Iglesias, SS
Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0 7 2 Blue Jays - 000 000 32x - 5 7 0
Podsednik, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Ellsbury, CF
Ross, RF
Loney, 1B
Saltalamacchia, DH
Lavarnway, C
Ciriaco, 3B
Iglesias, SS
Red Sox - 010 100 001 - 3 6 2 Blue Jays - 100 010 000 - 2 5 0For the second game in a row, a ninth-inning rally carried the Red Sox to victory.
Ellsbury, CF
Nava, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Ross, RF
Loney, 1B
Saltalamacchia, C
Lavarnway, DH
Aviles, SS
Ciriaco, 3B
CC Sabathia lost control – and another lead – in the fifth inning Friday. The night ended with the Yankees losing yet another key game with their fading – tiring, hurting? – ace on the mound.
Fill-in shortstop Eduardo Nunez also made a costly error in the ninth in a 6-4 loss to Tampa Bay at the Stadium ...
[GM Brian] acknowledged the lefty's drop in velocity – to the low-90s – in recent games.
Sabathia also has failed to hold leads in each of his five starts since his second DL stint, with the Yanks losing the last four.
Every time CC Sabathia goes out and fails to dominate since returning from the disabled list, the more it feels as if the Yankees could actually blow this thing. ...
Suddenly it feels as if the Yankees are in real danger of winding up in that do-or-die game the two wild-card teams will play under the new playoff format.
What else is there to think if Sabathia is going to continue to be rather ordinary?
After another subpar performance, Sabathia again said his left elbow that sidelined him last month isn't an issue.
"I'm healthy enough to go pitch," Sabathia said. ...
"I still believe in CC," the Yankees manager said. "I know his heart. ... In the back of your mind, you expect him to be CC," Girardi said.
Time is running out.
Mixing a concoction of sarcasm and snideness, Suzyn (Ma Pinstripe) Waldman let the Red Sox have it Wednesday evening, the night after they walked off with a 4-3 win in the ninth.
"John, you would've thought they won the World Series the way they celebrated," Waldman contended on WCBS-AM.
Never mind that the Yankees have also participated in similar regular-season, ninth-inning fiestas. Never mind that her partner John (Pa Pinstripe) Sterling has been known to break out in song - no matter what inning - when a certain Yankee hits a home run. ...
[T]here's something strangely compelling about Ma and Pa chronicling Yankees exploits in a legit pennant race with no wild card safety net. This is something the Bombers and all of their broadcasters are not accustomed to.
Sterling and Waldman are feeling the heat and intensity. ... Night after night, as the lead dwindled down to a precious few games, Sterling was despondent - more so than usual. ... During this stretch, it might have been prudent to put Sterling under a suicide watch.
Sterling, almost on a nightly basis, goes into a funk after an opponent takes a 2-1 or 3-1 lead. ...
Sterling's mood shifted drastically later when he broke into song after each of Curtis Granderson's two home runs. Wonder what Waldman is doing while Sterling is singing. Making sure the ball actually goes over the wall, perhaps?
Red Sox - 000 320 003 - 8 10 0 Blue Jays - 003 001 010 - 5 7 1
Ciriaco, 3BThe Red Sox - 2-13 since August 28 - begin a seven-game road trip in Toronto (WEEI preview). After three games against the Blue Jays, it's down to Tampa Bay for four games against the Rays. Then it's back to Fenway Park for the season's final homestand.
Ellsbury, CF
Aviles, 2B
Ross, RF
Gomez, DH
Lavarnway, C
Nava, LF
Loney, 1B
Iglesias, SS
Yankees - 000 100 100 - 2 5 0 Red Sox - 000 000 000 - 0 6 2
Ellsbury, CFWell, there's an infield that, back in the spring, you never would have expected to see for a mid-September game against the Yankees.
Podsednik, DH
Loney, 1B
Ross, RF
Nava, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
Aviles, SS
Ciriaco, 3B
De Jesus, 2B
Yankees - 000 300 200 - 5 11 1 Red Sox - 000 100 201 - 4 10 3There was no walk-off magic for a second consecutive night.
Ellsbury, CFRyan Lavarnway:
Ciriaco, 3B
Pedroia, 2B
Loney, 1B
Ross, RF
Saltalamacchia, C
Nava, LF
Podsednik, DH
Iglesias, SS
Nothing would be more awesome than knocking these guys out of the playoffs.
ESPN:On July 19 Since Today Yankees 57-34 --- 22-28 79-62 --- Orioles 47-44 10.0 32-18 79-62 --- Rays 47-45 11.0 30-19 77-64 2.0
[T]he Yankees have never blown a division/league lead of more than 6 games. The largest blown lead was 6 games in 1933.
Yankees - 100 002 000 - 3 6 1 Red Sox - 002 001 001 - 4 12 0
Ellsbury, CFThe Red Sox have a chance to spoil the Yankees' playoff hopes with a strong showing in the six games they have against the AL East leaders. In addition to three games this week, Boston visits the Bronx to close out the regular season on October 1-3.
Podsednik, DH
Pedroia, 2B
Loney, 1B
Ross, LF
Lavarnway, C
Kalish, RF
Ciriaco, 3B
Aviles, SS
