A 10-year ride that included a World Series title in 2009 and a return to prominence in 2017 ends with Girardi simply saying the Yankees didn't want him back.
Those Yankee fans who clamored for Girardi to be let go after Game 2 of the ALDS against the Indians got their wish.
"With a heavy heart I come to you because the Yankees decided not to bring me back," Girardi said in a statement.
The decision by the Yankees is surprising considering the Yankees overachieved in 2017. With so many young players, the team wasn't expected to be competitive this season, but Girardi got the most out of the budding talent as the Bombers won 91 games and advanced all the way to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
Under his guidance, Aaron Judge became a superstar, belting 59 home runs, breaking a Major League rookie record. Luis Severino became the ace of the pitching staff, and the Yankees found budding young stars in guys like Clint Fraizer and Gary Sanchez. In all, Girardi set the Yankees up nicely for years to come. Whomever takes the job will have a plethora of talent to work with.
The Yankee job instantly becomes both the games most coveted job, and worst job. Why? With so much good talent on this team, it would take monumental incompetence to fail. There are no excuses for whomever takes over -- the Yankees are expected to win right away.
With both Girardi and Brian Cashman as free agents, the thought was that both would be back. It appears that only Cashman will return to his role as General Manager.
Whether Girardi ends up with the Washington Nationals, who still have an opening, or elsewhere, or just retires is anyone's guess. If he does plan to manage again, he's going to command a high price and will want to run a team that can win right away. he
As for the Yankees, the battle to find his replacement begins...
The New York Mets have their new manager in former Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway.
After a weekend of intense speculation that the franchise would go for someone familiar like hitting coach Kevin Long, or former bench coach Manny Acta, the franchise decided to go with one of the best pitching coaches in the sport as its next skipper. While nobody knows how Callaway will do in the pressure cooker of New York City, this was an intriguing and bold move by the Mets.
For starters the hiring of Callaway means that the Mets were willing to be wowed by someone from the outside. Just having an open mind is huge points to the Mets front office, because they reeled in a man who learned from one of the best in the game in Terry Francona.
Speaking of Francona, it is interesting to note that even he was was wowed by Callaway when he first met him in 2012. The story goes that when Francona took the Indians job, he was encouraged to meet with Callaway as a potential candidate for his pitching coach. Within five minutes, Francona knew he wanted to work with Callaway. Together the duo turned around the Indians into a World Series contender. Since 2013 the Indians 3.65 team ERA is the best in baseball. This season alone, Cleveland led the league in ERA (3.30), shutouts (19) and were third in the league in opponents batting average at (.236).
What's more the last time a Terry Francona pitching coach got a managerial job, his name was John Farrell. He would win a World Series and a couple of division titles in Boston. While Farrell and Callaway are two different people, it's a worthy comparison considering where they both came from.
Considering the Mets are built on pitching, hiring a pitching guru makes all the sense in the world. And he will have his hands full. Callaway's two biggest projects will be getting both Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard back on the right track. Both starters are coming off injury plagued years. The expectation now is that Syndergaard will return to form, but Harvey is another story.
Harvey has turned a once bright career into one plagued by injuries and off-the-field trouble. After coming back from a shoulder injury in September, Harvey was 1-4 in 22.1 innings with an ERA of 11.28. He was awful. His command was gone, his confidence shattered. Not to mention he has had a rough relationship with the Mets over the years. If the Mets are going to get anything out of Harvey this year, his walk year, Callaway might be the right guy to get Harvey back on track. If Callaway can't get Harvey to steady his career in 2018, nobody can.
Aside from Syndergaard and Harvey, Callaway will be tasked with guiding the likes of Zach Wheeler, Steven Matz, Seth Lugo, Rafael Montero and even embattled closer, Jeyrus Familia back to form. All these pitchers showed tremendous promise two years ago when the Mets were a World Series team. They hope that Callaway can show them the light.
Considering Callaway's success with the Indians, he should be the right man for the job. He turned Trevor Bauer from mediocre pitcher to solid starter, and a Game 1 Postseason pitcher in 2017. Bauer set career highs for wins (17) and strikeouts (196) this season under Callaway. In addition he has guided some of the sports best pitchers in Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and relievers like Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.
Miller, who saw continued success with the Indians when he was sent there last season after a trade with the Yankees, said of Callaway, "Mickey is a really good communicator with everybody, whether its Cy Young or a guy that has been up and down. I think his personality will work as a manager as it did as a pitching coach."
But it won't be all pitching that Callaway has to worry about. He will need to find a way to communicate with Yoenis Cespedes, who has been an odd player with the Mets. He will need to find a third baseman for a team that doesn't know what to do with oft-injuried David Wright, and has to get the most out of youngsters Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith. It's a tough job. But if Callaway took good notes from his friend, Francona, then maybe the Mets found the right guy.
Only the Jets could find a way to tease us this long. For three quarters of football the New York Jets looked like and played like a legitimate ... (dare I say) ... playoff contender. They thoroughly dominated the Miami Dolphins for three quarters. The Jets offense carved up Miami's leaky secondary with ease, and the defense was having its way once again with Jay Cutler.
Then with the Jets leading 21-14 in the third quarter, Cutler got hurt, leaving the game after getting drilled into Hard Rock Stadium's dirt-painted-green turf, giving way to Jet-killer Matt Moore. But long before Moore settled into tearing the Jets apart, as he usually does, Moore threw a killer interception to Marcus Maye. The Jets quickly turned that Moore mistake into points when Josh McCown connected with Austin Seferian Jenkins for a 10-yard score to push the Jets lead to 28-14.
A 14-point lead with 15 minutes to go. This game should have been over. The Jets should have been well on their way to their fourth win of the season and a huge statement to the NFL and the AFC East.
Instead that fourth quarter turned into a nightmare. One that will live in infamy for years to come. Put Sunday's meltdown in Miami right up there with the Marino's Fake Spike, A.J. Dewey running around the Jets in the Mud Bowl in '83, the Buttfumble and many other legendary pitfalls in Jets lore.
The Jets were flagged for 12 penalties on Sunday, a fair number of them coming in the fourth quarter as the Jets gave away free yards to the Dolphins like it was going out of business. The biggest culprit was cornerback Buster Skrine who was flagged three times in the fourth quarter alone. The other was Robbie Anderson who decided to slam his helmet into the ground when the game had completely turned on its head late in the fourth quarter.
As for the execution it horrendous. Matt Moore lit a fire into the Dolphins and there was nothing the Jets could do to stop it. Moore's performance for Miami was eerily similar to the one he had against the Jets last season. It is no coincidence he is 3-1 against the Jets when he starts the game. He just owns them.
Moore needed just three passes to get Miami into the end zone for the first score, including a 28-yard bomb to Kenny Stills to make it 28-21.
Now the Jets were in full panic mode. Instead of slowing the game down, the Jets true colors showed. First play: Josh McCown incomplete pass. 2nd play: Jets called for holding. 3rd play, Matt Forte for five years. 4th play: McCown sacked. It was a nightmare.
Once Moore got the ball back he tore up the Jets who were on their heels, including getting Skrine on two huge holding calls. Before anyone could blink the Dolphins were in the end zone again with 6:42 to go in the game.
The funny part about Sunday was that even when the Jets made you think they would at least play for overtime, the tricked you again. After finally stopping Miami's offense, the Jets had the ball at their own 15-yard line with 47 seconds to go. They would need to be really smart with the ball just to get into field goal range with the time remaining. Still, playing for OT wouldn't be a bad idea either.
But leave it to the Jets to screw it up. First play from scrimmage and McCown was picked off at the 20 yard line. A gift pick if there ever was one to set up Miami's winning field goal.
Successful teams know how to remain in control of the game and finish it off. That is not who the Jets are. The immaturity of this franchise was on full display on Sunday. From the execution on the field to the play-calling, specifically of the offense, the Jets completely unraveled. Yes, this is a team is in a "rebuilding year." And, yes, this is a team that was not expected to do much this season. But when a team like the Jets holds a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter that can should not be lost.
It is up to Todd Bowles to correct this. It is up to Todd Bowles to get through to his players to stop the penalties -- that is a message that apparently has not gotten through to this point. Perhaps benching Skrine and Anderson would send a message, because clearly these young men just don't get it.
The Yankees spectacular run in 2017 came to a screeching halt last night in the Lone Star State as the Houston Astros move on to the World Series after 4-0 victory over the Bronx Bombers in Game 7.
After getting shutdown by Justin Verlander in Game 6, the Yankees had no answer for the combination of Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers, both of whom combined to three-hit the Yankees.
For a team that has prided itself on power, the Yankees were totally stymied in every single game that was played in Houston in this LCS. In four games, New York scored only three runs. That is not going to win any games. To do nothing against Morton and McCullers is unacceptable.
Soon the Yankees inability to do anything offensively caught up with them in the fourth inning when Evan Gattis launched a 2-2 slider by CC Sabathia off the facing in left field for a solo home run to give the 'Stros a 1-0 lead. With the way the Yankee offense was hitting, the one run was more than enough.
It's not like New York didn't have a chance. They're best shot to do anything came and went in the fifth. Greg Bird led things off with a double and Aaron Hicks walked. However Todd Fraizer hit a hard grounder to third base that Alex Bregman made a tremendous play on when he threw home to nail Bird out at the plate. The throw was perfect. The tag by catcher Bryan McCann was even better.
The Yankees were turned aside, and the Astros put the game away in the bottom half of the inning. With Tommy Kahnle in the game, Jose Altuve ripped a pitch over the right field wall for a solo homerun to make it 2-0.
After Carols Correa and Yuli Gurriel singled, McCann killed his old team again when he doubled in both runners with a base hit to right. 4-0 Astros. The party was on.
While the ending was disappointing for New York, it did little to diminish what was a tremendous season for the Yankees. With so many young players, they were not expected to be a playoff team this year. They exceeded those expectations by leaps and bounds. Aaron Judge became an MVP candidate his first full season, and the Yankees have established a nice core with Judge, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino and many others who are coming up through the pipeline.
The next question for New York will be the future of manager Joe Girardi. Girardi does not have a contract for next season and there has been plenty of speculation about his future. Girardi earned the right to be back in 2018. He has managed this team extremely well and deserves the chance to see it bear fruit next season.
The New York Yankees are just one win away from the World Series. The team that nobody thought would even be close to returning to the Fall Classic this season, let alone the ALCS continues to prove the doubters wrong. It has been a season of comebacks for the Yankees, the Bronx Bombers have made the postseason their own comeback story.
First it was the wild card game against the Twins where they trailed 3-0. Then it was the Indians series in the ALDS where they were down two games to none. Now it is the ALCS. The Yankees were down two games to none against the Astros, and erased that deficit, and, at the same time, exercised their Dallas Keuchel demons in one foul swoop to take a 3-2 series edge.
All New York has to do is beat Justin Verlander on Friday night and their ticket to the World Series will be punched.
Keuchel just didn't have it. Five days after frustrating the Yankees offense with a collection of off-speed pitches in Game One, the Yankees had him figured out in Game Five. With two out in the bottom of the second inning, Starlin Castro lined a 1-0 fastball off the top of the wall in left-center to get the party started. Three pitches later, Greg Bird lined a 2-0 fastball down the right field line to bring Castro home with the games first run.
Those two hits were the breakthrough the Yankees had been looking for. Now it was time to take Keuchel to the woodshed.
In the third inning, Chase Headley singled to lead things off. Brett Gardner then reached on a Fielder's Choice. Finally, Aaron Judge brought the roof down on Keuchel when he lined a double to left to score Gardner to make it 2-0 Bombers.
The Yankees were not done. They successfully knocked Keuchel from the ball game in the fifth inning with Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregarious delivered back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 4-0. Keuchel's day was done after 86 pitches. His final line 4.2 innings pitched, allowing four runs on seven hits.
It was almost like the cherry on top when Sanchez came back in the seventh inning and planted one in the left field stands for his first home run of the postseason to cap off the Yankee scoring at 5-0.
As for Mashairo Tanaka, he was absolutely brilliant. Tanaka was incredible for the third straight postseason game. He held the Astros to just three hits over seven innings, while striking out eight and walking one. He totally befuddled an Astros lineup that has gone into a proverbial funk in the LCS. In the LCS alone, the Astros are hitting .153 as a team. In two starts against Tanaka, the Astros have managed only two runs on seven hits over 13 innings. Tank's postseason ERA dipped down to 1.38.
With the series back in their favor, the Yankees head to Houston looking to win one of the next two games in order to punch their ticket to the World Series for the 41st time in their remarkable history. Will their old rivals the Dodgers be there? We'll see. LA holds a 3-1 lead in the NLCS against the Cubs. But before the Yankees start thinking about Hollywood, they need to write a finish to this script in the ALCS.
All rise, the Judge is back. Aaron Judge awoke from his postseason slumber to help deliver a much needed laugher for the Yankees as they blew away the Houston Astros 8-1 in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. After two crushing losses to open the series in Houston, the Yankees won a game the desperately had to have to keep the series alive.
Judge played a key roll in the win. First he robbed Yuil Gurriel of extra bases when he snared in a fly ball against the right field wall. Then, a couple of innings later, Judge destroyed a Will Harris cutter and planted it over the left field wall for a 3-run homer that blew the game wide open at 8-0.
For a man who has really struggled to find his stroke this postseason, Judge's Game Three performance was a reminder of how dominant he can be. If it serves as a turning point will depend on how he does in Game 4 on Tuesday afternoon.
Judge wasn't the only headline grabber of the night. The Yankees started the party early when Todd Fraizer flicked a low fastball from Charlie Morton and dropped it just over the right field wall for a 3-run homer to give the Bombers a 3-0 lead.
From there it was the CC Sabathia Show. Sabathia dominated the Astros, holding them to just three hits and no runs. While CC did walk four batters, he struck out five and gave Joe Girardi his best performance of this postseason.
Sabathia has been that stabilizing for the for the Yankees all season. He is 10-0 in games where the Yankees are coming off a loss. Talk about being a stopper? That is exactly what he has been this year, and exactly what he was Monday night.
With the series now a 2-1 Houston lead, it is up to Sonny Gray to keep the momentum going for New York. Gray hasn't pitched too well since being acquired from Oakland. This needs to be his best performance as a Yankee if the Yankees are going to make the Astros truly sweat the rest of this series out.
It was Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series. The Yankees were playing host to the Baltimore Orioles. Then Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter lined a pitch to right that a young boy named Jeffery Maier leaned over the wall and knocked over the fence for what the umpires called a home run. It was fan interference, but the umpires let it slide, and the Yankees would go on to win the game, and defeat the Oriles in the LCS, en route to the 1996 World Series title.
Fast forward 21 years later, the Yankess might be experiencing the Jeffery Maeir situation once again. Only this time it is going against them. With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Astros shortstop (how ironic) Carlos Correa launched a 99-mph fastball to right. Aaron Judge tried to make a play on it until 12-year old Carson Riley leaned over the wall and knocked the ball off the top of his glove and into the seats. The umpires called it a home run. Even worse, the umpires reviewed it and still called it a home run. It should not have been. It should have been fan interference. Talk about Karma.
In a series where the Yankees have been incredibly unlucky, the home run by Correa was one of many nightmarish moments for the Bronx Bombers in Game 2.
In the third inning, Brett Gardner tried to leg out a triple, but a great throw from right by right fielder Josh Reddick nailed Garnder as he came in sliding head first into the third base bag. The umpires reviewed it and confirmed that Gardner was out as third baseman Alex Bergman clearly got his glove on Gardner's arm as he came in.
Then there was the ending. Again Correa was involved when he smacked a double into the gap with speedy Jose Altuve rounding the bases. The relay throw from the outfield came into the Didi Gregorious who tried to make the throw home as Altuve was rounding third and heading for the plate. The ball beat Altuve home, but catcher Gary Sanchez bobbled it and Altuve slide in safely. Again Yankees manager Joe Girardi tried to argue, making the case that Gregorious was interfe
red with by Correa. Not so. The throw was in time, it was all on Sanchez for dropping the ball.
Not only was luck not on the side of the Yankees, their offense was invisible. Justin Verlander was untouchable. He held the Yankees to just a run on four hits while striking out 13 batters over nine complete innings. How good was Verlander? He was hitting 96 mph on the gun at his 122nd pitch of the ball game. He was lights out.
Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, who both have struggled all postseason long, were a combined 0-for-8 on the night. There is no stress for the Houston pitchers against this Yankee lineup that has posed no threat to anyone in this series thus far.
As for Luis Severino, he was good until he got hit by a line drive and left the game. The Yankee bullpen which was phenomenal in the ALDS, was good again. Tommy Khanle and David Robertson combined to throw four shutout innings of the Astros. Then came Aroldis Chapman and the bottom fell out.
Game 3 is Monday night in the Bronx. The Yankees need three things: 1) They need to hit. 2) They need to keep pitching well. 3) They need a little Jeffery Maier-type luck to go their way this time around.
ASTROS 2 - YANKEES 1 HOU leads series 1 - 0
Dallas Keuchel continued his mastery of the Yankees in Game 1 of the 2017 ALCS, as he guided the Stros to a 2-1 victory and 1-0 series edge in this best-of-seven match-up. If the Yankees are going to win this thing and get to the World Series, they are going to have to figure out Keuchel who owns a 0.71 ERA in two postseason starts this year, and has a 0.00 ERA in 13 innings against New York in the playoffs. Remember it was Keuchel who blanked the Yankees over six innings in the 2015 Wild Card game.
The Astros' ace dominated New York's see-fastball, hit-fastball offense with a heavy dose of soft stuff. Changeups, sinkers and a whole lot of sliders. His hardest pitch clocked in at 92 mph. Against a lineup like the Yankees, being crafty can be a work of art. And for seven innings on Friday night, Keuchel delivered a masterpiece.
He gave up only four hits, all singles, and struck out 10 batters. He handled the likes of Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregarious with virtual ease, confusing them all with off-speed pitches on all levels of the plate. There was no way they could keep up.
This is not to say the Yankees didn't have a shot in Game 1. They did thanks in big part to their former-ace Mashairo Tanaka, who turned his second brilliant postseason outing in a row. Unfortunately for Tanaka his performance was overshadowed by that of Keuchel's. Tanaka held the Astros to just four hits over six innings, shutting down the highest scoring offense in the American League. He kept George Springer and Josh Reddick silent. Carlos Beltran was quiet, and Brian McCann was like a church mouse.
But the biggest problem for Tanaka on Friday was one man. Jose Altuve. All 5-foot-6 inches of him. Altuve had three hits on the night, none bigger than the single that he bounced between Tanaka's legs that led to an infield single in the bottom of the fourth. Altuve then used his legs to kill the Yankees. He stole second base, and later scored on a RBI base hit by Carlos Correa to give the Astros a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Cuban defector Yuli Gurriel had the hardest hit of the day, a two-out smash hit of a single to drive in Correa to make it 2-0 'Stros.
An inning later, the Yankees tried to answer in the top of the fifth. Greg Bird singled and Matt Holliday reached on an Altuve error. With two on and none out, Keuchle jammed Todd Fraizer into a fly out to center, and struck out Brett Gardner swinging on a slider down and away.
Now it was Judge's turn. Judge who still looked somewhat uncomfortable at the plate, guessed right on a 3-2 slider and looped into left field for a base hit. The Yankees misjudged the depth of the outfield and sent Bird around third, who wound up a dead duck at home plate for the final out of the fifth inning. While manager Joe Girardi did challenge the play afterwards, the fact that the third base coach sent Bird on a shallow single to left was a hideous coaching decision, and one that haunted the Yankees all night.
How so you ask? Well, ironically, Bird blasted a solo shot to right field off the foul pole to make it a 2-1 game in the ninth. Imagine if the Yankees had been more patient, and scored that run in the fifth inning? We'd likely be looking at a brand new game in the ninth.
Instead it wasn't meant to be. It was Dallas Keuchel's night, and Jose Altuve's night instead as the Astros grabbed the early series lead.
Will the Bird home run serve as a turning point? If the Yankee bats come to life on the hard throwing Justin Verlander, Saturday afternoon, then maybe we can look at that solo homer as the hit that ignited the team. We'll see. The Yankees will need Luis Severino to pitch lights on Saturday if they are to bring this series back to the Bronx knotted up at one.
In the course of two games the Yankees have gone from dead team walking to just 27 outs from a date with the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series. That is how rapidly things can change in a five game playoff series. The Yankees brought the thunder to their game against the Indians on Monday, coming away with a 7-3 win before a rocking Yankee Stadium.
The Stadium was on fire from first pitch, with the echo of deep chants, cheers and euphoria spread throughout the building, making it seem more like a European soccer event, or even the late 90's when the Yankees were kings of the baseball world.
There is something about this Yankee team that is endearing. They never give up. Last week they were down 3-0 in their wild card game to the Minnesota Twins and pulled it out. In this division series they were down two-games-to-none, with the manager's head on the proverbial chopping block. Now, if they win on Wednesday, Game 2 in Cleveland would be reduced to a mute point.
The Yankees are facing a winner-take-all Game 5 because Joe Girardi trusts his guys, and they rewarded him for his confidence. It's been that way all season.
Right from the get-go, the Bronx Bombers jumped out on Indians starter Trevor Bauer, who was pitching on three days' rest, leaving little doubt that this series was far from over. Todd Fraizer, the New Jersey kid who the Yankees acquired from the White Sox over the summer got the party started when he lined a double down the left field line to score Starlin Castro with the games first run. Frazier's hit proved to be contagious. Aaron Hicks followed with a RBI single of his own to make it 2-0. Brett Gardner singled to center, and Aaron Judge brought the house down with a two-run double to left. 4-0 Yankees in the second inning.
The lead proved to be more than enough for starter Luis Severino who was masterful in his second postseason start. Like the Yankees, Monday was a rebound performance for the Yankees ace. Last week he only lasted a third of an inning against the Twins. On Monday, with the exception of surrendering a pair of home runs to Carlos Santana and Roberto Perez, Severino dominated.
He gave the Yankees seven strong innings, allowing only three runs on four hits while striking out nine batters. The Indians had no answer for Severino's fastball, which he blew by hitters like it was going out of style. As the night wore on, and with each strikeout notched to his belt the chants of "Severino" bellowed through the confines of Yankee Stadium.
Soon those cheers turned to chants of "Tommy, Tommy" as reliever Tommy Kahnle shut the door on the Indians with two brilliant innings in relief. Kahnle, was the forgotten piece in the Yankees trade with Chicago. While Fraizer and David Robertson were the headlines of that deal, the Yankees got Kahnle as well. He rewarded the Yankees confidence in him with his best outing of the season.
He came into the game after Dellon Betances walked Yan Gomes and Francisco Lindor. With the Yankees leading only 7-3, this was a huge moment for the New York native, and he didn't disappoint. He struck out Jason Kipnis on a changeup high and out side. He then jammed Jose Ramirez into a fly out to right, and finally struck out Jay Bruce swinging to end the inning.
Kahnle was so good that Giradi left him out there for the ninth. The righty proceeded to overwhelm Santana, Michael Brantley and Lonnie Chisenhall, striking all three hitters out to end the ball game.
The boos that the Yankees heard from their fans before Game 3 were now turned to delirious cheers. Suddenly fans are thinking big again. The Yankees now head to Cleveland for a Game 5 that many thought wasn't going to happen. Even if they lose to Corey Kluber on Wednesday, just the fact that the Yankees never gave up on themselves and their manager is a victory in itself.
It was a thrilla in the Bronx. The New York Yankees answered the call and shut up the critics after a disastrous Game 2 with a thrilling 1-0 win over the Indians to keep their season alive for at least one more night.
It is amazing how things can change in the matter of 48 hours, but that is exactly what the Yankees did Sunday night. On Friday, Yankees fans were ready to ship Joe Girardi out of town after a controversial decision not to challenge a supposed "hit by pitch" on Lonnie Chisenthall that led to a 5-run inning for Cleveland. Two days later the Yankees flipped the script and left Yankees fans cheering with a performance for the ages.
Never has the new Yankee Stadium rocked as loudly as it did on Sunday. The fans could feel something special was happening and the players fed off it.
Mashairo Tanaka needed the performance of his career against 18-game winner Chris Carrasco and he delivered big time. He showed raw emotion, and fed off every second of the moment. For a guy who had taken a lot of heat for not showing ace like stuff since he arrived here in 2014, Tanaka pitched, arguably his best game in Yankee pinstripes.
Tanaka gave the Bronx Bombers seven shut-out innings, allowing only three hits, while striking out seven. The righty set the tone right from the onset when struck out Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez to open the ball game, then came back to strike out Yankee killer, Jay Bruce to open the second inning. The strikeout of Bruce was one of four strikeouts of the Indians slugger on the night as the Yankees succeed in changing their game-plan against him.
Whenever Tanaka found himself in trouble he found a way to get out of it. In the top of the fourth inning he surrendered a one-out triple to Jason Kipnis. With Ramirez and Bruce coming up, it was easy to think the Indians would scratch out a run, but Tanaka had other ideas. He worked a five-pitch at bat to Ramirez, always staying ahead in the count, before striking him out swinging for the second out. Then he overpowered Bruce with a series of splitters that the slugger couldn't keep up with for another strikeout to get out of the inning.
But that moment wasn't the greatest of the night. In the top of the sixth with a runner aboard for Cleveland, Tanaka left a meatball over the plate that Lindor crushed toward right. The fans stood a-gast as the ball traveled through the air. With all that great work by Tanaka it looked like it would be 2-0 Indians in just seconds. Then the ball found Aaron Judge. A little hop is all Judge needed with his 6-foot-7 frame, as he brought the ball back into the ball park for the out as the Stadium exploded with cheers.
The Curtain Call:
Bottom of the seventh inning, still scoreless and former Yankee Andrew Miller was on the mound for Cleveland. In 18 career playoff games, Miller owned an ERA of 0.90. The chances that the Yankees would scratch out anything against him was next to none. Greg Bird didn't get the memo.
Even with the lefty-on-lefty matchup, Bird took a Miller fastball and ripped the cover off it when he launched a rocket into the right field stands for a solo homer. The Stadium exploded, the lights flickered as Bird rounded the bases with a homer that landed somewhere on the George Washington Bridge.
1-0 Yankees.
Believe it.
Aroldis Chapman made the lead stand up. He struck out Yan Gomes and Giovanny Urshela to end the eight inning, then worked out of trouble in the ninth inning with a strikeout of Bruce and a fly out by Carlos Santana to put the game on ice.
Gotta believe is typically a saying for the team across town, but the Yankees are telling their fans to believe in the improbable comeback. We'll see what happens.
The Giants season has gone from being over to being a total dumpster fire. Not only did Big Blue lose to the Chargers 27-22, but they may have lost Odell Beckham Jr. for the season. With four minutes left in Sunday's game, Beckham landed awkwardly on his left ankle and had to be carted off the field. Early indications are the injury is a fractured left ankle -- the same ankle he injured in August in preseason. There will be an MRI on Monday to determine what kind of surgery is required. Chances are Beckham will need surgery and could miss the rest of the season.
That is a huge blow to the Giants, who also lost Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepherd to ankle injuries in the first half and never returned. Dwayne Harris was carted off the field with a fractured foot.
The injuries are the lead for what was a horrible day for the Giants, as the fell to 0-5 for the first time since 2013. They started 0-6 that season.
Eli Manning was under siege all day. He was sacked five times, and never really had any time to throw as the Chargers front seven was all over him thanks to the Giants leaky offensive line. Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa both had big days with two sacks a piece.
Defensively, the Giants had no answer for Phillip Rivers, who early in the game had a bad snap for a safety and threw a crucial interception in the end zone. It didn't matter, because it was Rivers who got the last laugh.
After the Giants took the lead on Manning's 29-yard touchdown pass to Roger Lewis, Rivers moved the Chargers on a 12-play 92-yard drive that culminated in a 25-yard score to Hunter Henry to give Los Angeles a 17-16 lead.
Even when the Giants did something right, they found a way to screw it up. Case in point, Manning's 48-yard touchdown to Beckham quickly became a sideshow when New York was called for delay of game on the extra point attempt. The Giants tried to go for two and missed it.
That would come back to bite them.
Later in the fourth quarter with New York clinging to a two-point lead, Joey Bosa stripped Manning of the football for the second time and the Chargers fell on the football at the Giant 11-yard line. Rivers would find Melvin Gordon for the game winning score three plays later.
To say that this game was ugly would be an understatement. The New York Jets had absolutely no business winning this football game, but did so because the Cleveland Browns just can't help themselves from being ... well ... the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns could have easily blown the Jets out were in not for a series of stupid mistakes that sunk them. Let's review:
Mistake #1: At the end of the first quarter, the Browns were moving the football well on New York, with DeShone Kizer actually playing well. After an 18-yard scramble by Kizer on third and three at the Jets 24, Cleveland had a 1st and goal at the Jets six. It seemed almost certain they would score. Ah, but it wasn't to be. Kizer tried to lateral a football to Isaiah Crowell, but the running back wasn't expecting the football and fumbled it. The Jets fell on it, killing Cleveland's drive.
Mistake #2: Thanks to a couple of big throws by Kizer, the Browns were able to erase a couple of offensive penalties to get into field goal range for their kicker Zane Gonzalez. Little did we know Zane Gonzalez would turn into Nick Folk. Yep, he missed it wide left.
Mistake #3: After the Jets gift wrapped Cleveland an interception that put the ball in New York territory, Cleveland shot themselves in the foot when Kizer was picked off by Marcus Maye on third and three from the Jets four yard line.
Mistake #4: Zane Gonzalez .... enough said.
Mistake $5: With Kizer benched, back-up Kevin Hogan was tearing up the Jets defense. He moved Cleveland deep into Jets territory to set up a cheap shot field on fourth and two at the Jets four. With New York already leading 10-7, it was a no-brainer to kick the field goal. Instead, Hue Jackson decided to put his offense back on the field, and the Jets stuffed Crowell for no gain to force a turnover on downs.
As for the Jets, they didn't play well in this game. The offense struggled early, and the running game which was so key to the Jets win over Jacksonville, was non-existent on Sunday. Elijah McGwire was held to just 20 yards on 11 carries and Bilal Powell left the game with an undisclosed leg injury. In addition, a lot the Jets issues in the ground game can be attributed to an offensive line that finding ways to draw penalties, and couldn't block the Cleveland pass rush. It was embarrassing.
It was not until the Jets went into a no-huddle just before halftime that the offense started to show life. Quarterback Josh McCown was 4-for-5 on the Jets final drive of the first half, including connecting with Jeremy Kerley down the sideline for eight yards with six seconds to go. The completion got the football into field goal range for Chandler Catanzaro who nailed the field goal from 57-yards out.
After Maurice Claiborne picked off a Kevin Hogan and brought it back into the Browns red zone, McCown went back to work for the Jets. He hit McGwire for 11 yards to the Cleveland two, and then hit Austin Sefarian Jenkins in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown to give the Jets a 10-7 lead.
Perhaps the best moment of the day for the Jets came in the fourth quarter when New York answered the defensive stand against Cleveland with an 8-play 97-yard drive for a touchdown that put the game away. McCown was 6-for-6 on the drive, but his final two passes were the most important completions of the game. On third and eight at the Cleveland 42, he hit Jeremy Kerley for 18-yards to the Browns 24. Next, McCown connected with Jermaine Kearse on a fade pattern to the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown to put the Jets up 17-7.
Overall, McCown was 23-of-30 for 194 yards and two touchdowns. He wasn't great, but he was good enough when he had to be, especially with the way Cleveland shutdown the Jets run game.
At 3-2 the Jets are now tied for first place with the Bills and Patriots. New York will play host to New England next Sunday at the Meadowlands. Should be fun.
Week Five of the NFL season is now upon us, and this is a huge week for a number of teams. The Giants and Chargers do battle in a match-up of 0-4 teams. One will have to win this game, at least we think. Meanwhile the Jets visit Cleveland for a dangerous game against the lowly 0-4 Browns.
INDIANS 4 - YANKEES 0 CLE leads series 1-0 For all intents and purposes the Yankees season is on the brink in Game 2. Why? Because they face the Indians best pitcher, Corey Kluber in a game they must have after Trevor Bauer dominated them on the hill in Game 1, as the Indians came away with a 4-0 victory. Bauer was awesome for the Indians. He had a Yankees offense that led all of baseball in home runs, and was second in RBI's, total bases and hits to just two singles in six-and-two-thirds innings of work. In fact, Bauer was so good he had a no-hitter going for him until Aaron Hicks broke it up with a double in the top of the sixth. A lot of people questioned Terry Francona's decision to go with Bauer in Game 1, especially with guys like Kluber and Carlos Carrasco at the ready. But Francona, ever a manager who has the pulse of his players, said no to the skeptics and rolled with Bauer -- a pitcher he saw turn his career around in 2017 with 17 wins in 31 starts, including striking out a career high 196 batters. Bauer rewarded his manager's confidence. He mixed and matched nicely, keeping the Yankees off-balance, and more importantly getting them to chase pitches inside and tight, and high and away. The strategy, just don't leave it over the plate. Pretty simple. Perhaps Bauer's biggest moment of the night came in the fourth inning after a passed ball on a strikeout of Aaron Judge. With the Indians clinging to a 1-0 lead, Bauer was able to get Gary Sanchez to bounce into a inning-killing double-play on the first pitch. While it was still early, the Indians had won. It wasn't just Bauer who was the star of the show for Cleveland. This night also belonged to a certain former New York Met named Jay Bruce. Bruce, whom Cleveland acquired from the woebegone Metropolitans reminded New York fans watching back home what they missed. He just barely missed an opposite field homer in the bottom of the second, as the ball caromed off the scoreboard in left for a lead-off double. Bruce would later score on a double-play ball to give the Indians the 1-0 advantage. Two innings later after Edwin Encarnacion was walked, Bruce blasted a Sunny Gray fastball over the right field fall for a two-run homer and a 3-0 Indians lead. But that was not all. Bruce would tack on one more RBI for good measure on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth off Jamie Garcia. Jay Bruce 4, Yankees 0. Now the Yankees must win on Friday afternoon. CC Sabathia will go for the Bombers against the aforementioned Corey Kluber. In case you needed to be reminded Kluber won 18 games this year. He's a candidate for the Cy Young Award, and to top it off dominated the Yankees back in August. Last year in the postseason Kluber was 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA in six starts. He looks to pick up where he left off. Sabathia is the perfect pitcher for Joe Girardi. He was tied for wins on the Yankees this year with 14, and is one of the few connections left to the Yankees last world championship in 2009. In 18 postseason starts, CC is 9-5. If ever was the time for Sabathia to be a stopper, now would be the perfect time.
The Yankees are moving on to Cleveland after coming from behind against a very game Minnesota Twins team in Tuesday's AL Wild Card. After falling behind 3-0 in the games' opening inning, this group of young Bronx Bombers showed why this playoff game would be different than playoff contests before this one.
Two years ago in this very spot, the Yankees lost to the Houston Astros. That would not be the case this time, even if the early results didn't look too good.
The Yankees need to give a lot of credit to Chad Green and David Robertson. Both relievers stymied the Twins in the middle innings, allowing the Yankees to grab the momentum back and ride it all the way to victory.
Green came in when the game was teetering on the brink. Yankees starter Luis Severino struggled in his postseason debut, allowing home runs to Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario as the Twins jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
When Green came into the game, he was looking at runners on second and third with two out with Jason Castro coming to bat. Green overpowered Castro, striking him out to end the inning. Green would give the Yankees two solid innings of relief, allowing only one run and left with the game tied at four in the top of the third inning.
As for Robertson, he was masterful. The 3.1 innings of work Robertson gave New York was the longest outing of the season for him. His previous long was 2.2 innings on September 11 against Tampa Bay. He struck out five over his three-plus innings of work, and even induced a huge double-play ball on Joe Mauer with one out in the fourth inning to keep the Yankees up 5-4.
Without Robertson's effort, this game could have gotten away from New York. It didn't, proving that Brian Cashman made the right move bringing Robertson back when the Yankees reacquired him from the White Sox before the trade deadline.
Offensively, the Yankees teed off on Ervin Santana and reliever Jose Berrios. Didi Gregorious 3-run blast in the bottom of the first inning tied the game at three, sending Yankee Stadium into a tizzy. An inning later, Brett Gardner went yard for a solo shot off Santana to give the Yankees their first lead at 4-3.
New York would regain the lead in the third inning on Greg Bird's RBI single, scoring Gary Sanchez to make it 5-4. The Bombers put the game away in the fourth when Aaron Judge cracked an opposite field two-run homer to give the Yankees a 7-4 lead. It was Judge's first career postseason home run.
The Yankees had three home runs on the night, with Gardner, Judge and Sanchez all collecting multi-hit games. As for Gregorious, his home run was a continuation of his tremendous second half. In September alone, Gregorious had six home runs and 25 RBI, which was second only to Judge who had 15 homers and 32 RBI in the month of September. The fact that both players remain hot into October is a great sign for the Yankees.
With Minnesota now behind them, the Yankees turn their attention to the Cleveland Indians on Thursday. The defending AL Champions are heavy favorites to beat the Yankees because of the plethora of pitching they possess. Still, expect the Yankees to give them a run for their money in this series. This is a Yankees team that has nothing to lose, and doesn't know the meaning of postseason inexperience. This will be a tremendous fun to watch.
Don't blame the offensive line for this one. Don't blame Odell Beckham Jr. and his antics either. Don't blame Eli Manning, who put his team on his shoulders for 60 minutes on Sunday. The Giants 25-23 loss to the Buccaneers, which has dropped this team to 0-4, is all the fault of head coach Ben McAdoo.
Why? Because he has allowed this team to be this bad. It's no longer about one unit being bad. The Giants are finding ways to lose, especially games that they should win.
Throw away last week's loss to Philly, because this was the game the Giants should have won. They fell behind 13-0 and stormed all the way back to make it ball game. Eli Manning engineered a 7-play 62-yard drive and scored a touchdown by himself before the half to cut the deficit to 13-10.
Early in the third quarter, Manning had the Giants rolling again, hitting Beckham, Brandon Marshall and Sterling Sheperd on short precise throws to keep the chains moving on an 11-play 61 yard drive. A drive that culminated with Manning finding Wayne Gallman of all people for a four-yard score to make it 17-16 Giants with 4:19 to go in the third quarter.
Eli was great.
Odell was also great. In the fourth quarter, he made two huge catches, one for 42-yards to the Tampa Bay 33-yard line, and another one on a huge third and five conversion. He did this all while battling a high ankle sprain that seemed worse now than when he tweaked it six weeks ago in Cleveland. In some ways it was Odell's Willis Reed moment to play while hobbled. The Giants scored on that possession too, when Manning rolled right and hit Rhett Ellison for the go-ahead score with 3:16 to go in the game. The Giants led 23-22.
But one common theme Sunday was this, the Giants once vaunted defense was pathetic on Sunday. Forget the fact that Bucs kicker Nick Folk missed three field goals, because the Giants were giving away opportunities to the Bucs like it was going out of style. From allowing a 58-yard bomb from Jamies Winston to O.J. Howard early in the game that gave the Bucs a 13-0 lead, to allowing the Bucs to answer every single Giants score, they had on answer on Sunday.
When the Giants cut the deficit to 13-10? The Giants allowed Winston to march the Bucs 72 yards in 12 plays for a field goal to make it 16-10.
When the Giants finally had a 17-16 lead? The Giants defense gave it back, when Winston connected with Cameron Brate on a 14-yard score to give the Bucs a 22-17 lead.
Then there was the finish. With the Bucs in a no-huddle the Giants put no pressure on Winston, who scrambled for a first down, and hit Mike Evans for 14-yards to move the ball to the Giants 48. Winston remained perfect as he hit his next three passes including a 26-yard pass down the sideline to Brate who beat Landon Collins on coverage. That catch set up a cheap shot field goal for Folk, which he made barely. Even if Folk had missed the kick, the Giants were called for off-sides when Collins jumped the snap, which would have given Tampa another shot.
It's not even the Christmas season and the Giants are in the giving mood. Merry X-mas Tampa Bay signed McAdoo Claus.
Speaking of Ben McAdoo, what the heck is with his comments after this disaster? When asked by the Daily News' Gary Myers about the defeat, McAdoo said he was "not surprised" by the defeat, adding success one year doesn't translate to the next year. Well ain't that encouraging from the HC of the NYG? McAdoo's comments are totally ignorant and emblematic of a coach who has no clue of what he is doing. In week 1, he threw his quarterback under the bus. Last week he wouldn't take any responsibility for his wide receiver's childish actions. This week, he's not surprised. This guy has put more feet in his mouth than Rex Ryan did in six years destroying the Jets. If this continues, hopefully McAdoo won't be "surprised" when the Giants can him after the season.
For three quarters the New York Jets had done just about everything right against a good Jaguars team. They held a 20-10 lead; Bilal Powell and Elijah McGwire were killing the Jaguars front seven with one big run after another; Luke McCown was managing the game nicely, and the Jets defense was smothering the Jaguars.
The game was heading for a blowout victory for the Jets, especially when McCown dropped a dime into the hands of Robby Anderson for a 41-yard completion to the Jacksonville 14-yard line. Another field goal, or even a touchdown, and Jets would be walking to a 2-2 record. It wasn't to be, as the Jets reminded us all why this imperfect team can be both exciting and frustrating to watch.
McCown tried to lateral the football to Powell, but the ball bounced off his shoulder and was picked up by Myles Jack who dashed 81-yards the other way for a shocking Jaguars touchdown to make it 20-17. At this point it was easy to think, "here we go again, more stupid Jets tricks."
Maybe it was the fact they were playing the equally inept Jaguars? Maybe it was the fact this team has plenty of guts? Maybe its a combination of both? Because the Jets didn't allow the Jaguars to steal the game from them.
After Josh McCown threw a horrible interception late in the quarter, after his intended receiver slipped, it looked all but over. Jacksonville had the football at the Jets 34, and you knew it was just a matter of time before they scored the winning touchdown. That never happened. Credit the Jets defense, and give credit to the Jaguars for shooting themselves in the foot. Jacksonville actually had the game winner when Leonard Fournette scored on a 23-yard dash to the corner, but a huge holding penalty was called on the Jaguars, nullifying the touchdown.
The Jets defense stiffened, holding Jacksonville out of the end zone and forcing a tying field goal to make it 20-20.
In overtime, we were subjected to probably the worst execution of football we have ever seen as neither team could establish anything offensively. It looked like the game was destined to end in a tie, until Jets punter Lachlan Edwards pinned the Jags at their own five yard line on a beautiful 70-yard punt. The Jets forced Jacksonville into a three and out and got the ball back with great field position and 1:50 to go in the overtime. The Jets finally positioned themselves for the game winner which Chandler Catanzaro nailed to give the Jets a stunning 23-20 victory. Standouts and Points of contention:
The Jets have a running game: Bilal Powell and Elijah McGuire were both amazing on Sunday. The duo ripped apart the Jaguars for 256 yards on the ground. The highlights came early when Powell avoided a tackler, got up and ran untouched into the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7.
Then, in the third quarter the Jets took full control of the contest, when McGuire burst through the seams and went untouched for a 69-yard score to hand New York a 17-10 lead. If these two guys keep it up, the Jets don't need Matt Forte back, who is nursing a leg injury. In addition, the Jets offensive line deserves a lot of props for creating so much running room for this duo on Sunday.
The Jets don't Trust Josh McCown: It became painfully obvious after the backwards lateral-turned Jaguars fumble recovery, the Jets changed their entire game plan for the rest of the day. Before the fumble the Jets allowed quarterback Josh McCown to make some plays with his arm, but after the scoop-and-score by Jacksonville, offensive coordinator John Morton went into a shell and never allowed McCown to do anything to hurt the team again, opting for an ultra-conservative game-plan.
Honestly, you can't blame Morton, because McCown was awful on Sunday. He was holding the ball way too long and took a number of horrible sacks. For example, in the first quarter the Jets had the ball at the Jaguar 35, but McCown took a couple of hideous sacks on the possession, knocking New York out of field goal range.
Then in the second quarter, he had the Jets at the Jags 42 after a beautiful throw to Austin Seferian-Jenkins, and proceeded to take two huge sacks that put the Jets in a third and 28. Eventually the Jets tried a field goal and missed.
Overall, McCown took five sacks and threw a pick. He was bad. While it is nice the Jets have won two games with him under center, they are better off with Bryce Petty at quarterback. The sooner the change is made under center, the better it is for the Jets, especially if they want to make something of this season.
Penalties: The Jets were called for 10 penalties on Sunday. While Jacksonville was not any better in that department, the Jets were hurting themselves all day with one bad flag after another. Most of those penalties came on the offense, which is to be expected with a bad quarterback (McCown) and a mediocre offensive line. The Jets have to clean that up, big time.
What's Next? The Jets play the Cleveland Browns Sunday in the Josh McCown Bowl. McCown spent the last couple seasons in Cleveland, so I am sure he will have revenge on his mind. This is a tricky spot for the Jets. Cleveland is 0-4, and is due for a victory. Todd Bowles needs to make sure his team isn't coming into Cleveland too confident.
