September, this is our most desperate hour. The Yanks haven’t had much luck at Tropicana Field of late. Of their last 10 games in Tampa, they’ve won just 1 game. With the AL East lead diminishing, and the Rays just 3.5 games behind them, they need to take as many games as possible over this [...]

The last few weeks of Yankee baseball.

Yanks vs. O’s at the Stadium this afternoon. Wei-Yin Chen and David Phelps are on the mound opposing each other and they’ll take on these lineups:

BALTIMORE

1. Nick Markakis (L) RF
2. J.J. Hardy (R) SS
3. Nate McLouth (L) LF
4. Adam [...]

Get three coffins ready.

The next 16 games are the biggest of the year. Three teams are left contending for the AL East playoff spot, and over the next two weeks, the Yankees will play 13 games against the Orioles and Rays. This is the stretch-run, these are the most important games of 2012, and [...]

Series against AL East teams down the stretch have become way more important than they should be. Even with Andruw Jones batting cleanup, whenever we have Sabathia on the mound against Happ, I like the odds.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher 1B
Robinson Cano 2B

I could take a somewhat optimistic approach to analyzing this lineup and point out that it’s a righty-heavy group against a southpaw that has been battered by most every opponent – gaining the platoon advantage against such a pitcher may well be icing on the cake. A more pragmatic mindset may note that Romero has [...]

For all of the (very justified) lamentations surrounding the injuries that have befallen the Yankees this year, thank whichever God(s) you may or may not worship that you are not a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays. Our neighbors to the North have lost some hundred and thirty-eight thousand games to injury thus far this [...]

..and Cleveland, sort of. But no one could have ever done more to help a Yankee rival than the Dodgers did last night. As I’m sure you know, the Dodgers and Red Sox made a blockbuster deal that effectively has given the Sox a get out of payroll jail free pass and granted them absolution [...]

CC Sabathia returns to the mound and his old stomping grounds tonight as the Yankees take on the Cleveland Indians at the Jake (I don’t care if that’s not the name anymore). He’ll be opposed by Charlie Kluber and the lineups are as follows:

NEW YORK:

1. Derek Jeter (R) SS
2. Nick Swisher [...]