Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fans Boo Flat #Yankees

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fans Boo Flat #Yankees: Fans Boo Flat Yanks Yankees at the mediocre .500 mark By Rich Mancuso BRONX, NEW YORK, JULY 2- The night before, Tampa Bay pitcher Chris ...

Fans Boo Flat #Yankees

Fans Boo Flat Yanks

Yankees at the mediocre .500 mark

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, JULY 2- The night before, Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer put the New York Yankees a game closer to the mediocre .500 mark. David Price, rumored to be on the trade market, was on the mound Tuesday night in the Bronx for the Rays. He helped make it official, because the Yankees at the halfway point are 41-41 after a 2-1 loss, and second straight to the resurgent Rays.

The anemic hitting of the Yankees continued. Four hits and only one that went for an extra base says a lot, though Price was a primary reason why the Yankees failed once again to spark a rally. The left-hander, (7-7) through seven innings held the Yankees. He gave up one run and struck out nine.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi can’t find the answer, though he knows a veteran lineup has the capability to be more aggressive at the plate. “These guys have proven track records,”

he said without mentioning names. “These guys have to get it done. They have to grind it out. It’s not just a couple of guys going… it’s a number of guys.”

Struggling, that describes the Yankees who have matched a season high four-game losing streak and losing eight of their last 10 games.

Last year, it was the injuries that reduced the hits and run production. But a spending spree in the off-season and bringing in some power hitters supposedly was to be the answer. At the halfway point, more so in the month of June, the Yankees were near the bottom in the American League from an offensive standpoint.

That does not stand well with a fan base. They could be heard booing the Yankees in the ninth inning, their last at bat attempt to come from behind. Price was dominant, and the Ray’s bullpen finished the job with two scoreless innings and did not allow a hit.

“I don’t know,” Girardi said when asked again about the struggle to get hits and produce runs. “I don’t think you forget to hit in a year.” He was obviously referring to Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann, two of the high priced players on a team with a $200 million payroll who had productive years in the National league last year with the Cardinals and Braves.

The only high priced acquisition that has been respectable, but not incredible, has been Jacoby Ellsbury.

Archer, who has success against the Yankees, was dominant Monday night. And Price, who is on the radar of many teams as the trading deadline looms, was just as dominant. Good pitching will stop good hitting, but the Yankees have not been able to come up with the big hit indicated by a team hitting .249 with runners in scoring position.

Price almost reached 10-strikeouts for a sixth straight start. Had he accomplished that, he would have joined Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan as an elite group to achieve that accomplishment, and he has been one of the reasons why Tampa Bay is 13-7 since June 11th.

“That would have been cool,” Price commented. It was his 23rd career start against the Yankees and he has never reached double digits against them. The Yankees could use another reliable starter but Price may not be going nowhere the way he has been pounding the strike zone.  

Pitching has not been the Yankees issue. They may get CC Sabathia back from the disabled list a few weeks after the all-star break. Hiroki Kuroda pitched eight good innings and he became the second pitcher to go eight or more this season, next to Masahiro Tanaka. James Loney hit his fifth home run in the sixth inning that was the decisive run.

The Yankees only highlight at the plate were the two hits from Derek Jeter, a leadoff double in the fourth inning, their first hit off Price. And for Jeter it was another milestone, his 534th career double tying him with Lou Gehrig for first place on the Yankees’ all-time doubles list.

“The guys we have- have to get it done. That’s the bottom line," Girardi said. And the Yankees better get it done soon, because at the halfway point it does not look promising for a happy summer ahead in the Bronx.    

Comment Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com  Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso www.newyorksportsexaminer.com

#Yanks lose

Rays Have Their Way with Yankees

Archer did not get the decision but handled Yankees again

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, JULY 1- Again at Yankee Stadium Monday night Chris Archer of the Tampa Bay Rays had his way with a team that can’t figure him out. The Yankees knew what they were up against when Archer got on the mound. His last start in the Bronx was July 27 of last season, a 2-0 shutout. Though he did not figure in the decision of the Rays 4-3 win 12-innings, a win for his team was more important.

Archer is a catalyst towards getting Tampa Bay back into contention. The first half is over, and the Rays are sitting last in the AL east with the second worst record in baseball. They need him, and David Price, if he is not traded, to get some wins for a second half run.

And when he is on the mound against the Yankees, Archer seems to almost make it appear it is a guarantee win. He was 4-0 coming into the game against New York, and left with a 3-2 lead but did not figure in the decision. Regardless a 1.51 ERA in five career starts against the Yankees is impressive.

“I don’t know what it is,” he said about pitching in the Bronx and the Yankees. Archer pitched seven innings and was that close to another win. But the Yankees’ Brian Roberts tied the game with one-out in the ninth inning.

Had he won, Archer would have been the first pitcher to go 5-0 starting a career against the Yankees. The last one to do that was Hall of Famer Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators, from 1907-08, when the Yankees were known as the Highlanders.

Archer smiled when he was told that he would have been in great company.

 “I just have success against this team and it’s cool because it’s a little different team from last year,” said Archer. “When I have good catcher and good defense behind me it lifts our spirits. We’ve been playing really well as of late.”

It was that type of game for the Yankees, again failing to get the runners home and capitalizing on that home run by Roberts to right field. They lost for the seventh time in nine games but only trail first place Toronto by 2-1/2 games in a mediocre division. 

Mediocre enough that if the Rays go on any type of winning streak they could make a run in the second half, as they have won eight of their last 12-games. 

 Archer knows that significance of not getting a win on his record. A win for the team is more important. The Rays are looking to narrow their 9-1/2 game deficit in the division.

 It may look impossible, but mediocrity and good pitching can make it interesting by September.

“He is still learning for a young pitcher and getting better,” Rays’ manager Joe Maddon commented about his starter. “My theory, to win a road game in extra innings is good for nay teams moral.”

Said Archer, “We can come out and win a game like that is special for us. Knowing we can accomplish that it’s special for us. We are not looking at the standings. We know what team we are.”

On the contrary, the Yankees may still be trying to find out who they are. Because two key off-season acquisitions, Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann, part of a $450 million spending spree, continue to disappoint and are not driving in runs. They went a combined 2-for-10, in the four hour and thirty-five minute marathon.  

"I think every team in this division probably feels that they are somewhat fortunate to be where they are with the records that have," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Being 41-40, you wouldn't necessarily think you would be right in the thick of it."

One thing is certain. The Yankees won’t face Archer again in this three-game series as they get David Price Tuesday night. 

Comment Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com  Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso  www.Newyorksportsexaminer.com  

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Deadly Weekend

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Deadly Weekend: Deadly Weekend Two Bronxites Dead After Wave of Weekend Violence By David Greene At least three people were killed and 16 injur...

Deadly Weekend

Deadly Weekend

Two Bronxites Dead After Wave of Weekend Violence

By David Greene

At least three people were killed and 16 injured after a wave of weekend violence across the city that has claimed the lives of two Bronxites.

Police say Highbridge resident Jason Bragg, 33, was discovered shot to death on 219 Street in St. Albans, Queens at 10:22 p.m. on Saturday, June 28. He had been shot once in the head and discovered lying face down on the sidewalk.

Bragg's killer remains at large, but police continue to investigate.

At 4:59 a.m. on Sunday, June 29, police were called to 2766 University Avenue at East 195 Street after a male victim was shot in the chest. He later died at St. Barnabas Hospital.

One police source stated, "acting on the description provided by a 911 caller, members of the 50th Precinct immediately initiated a canvas and the suspect was apprehended in the immediate area of the shooting."

Police would question and later charge Jason Delgado, 29, who lived across the street from the shooting scene at 2761 University Avenue, with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.

Investigators would later identify the victim as Roderick Romney, 24, a life-long resident of nearby Reservoir Avenue.

One neighbor of Romney's claimed that the victim and perpetrator had been friends. Delgado was expected to be arraigned on Monday, June 30.

In other Bronx shootings, a man was shot in the back at just after midnight on Sunday, at 730 Kelly Street within the 41st Precinct command. The unidentified victim is expected to survive.

Later the same day a man was reportedly stabbed at 1725 Andrews Avenue. Police were looking for a suspect described as a black male, wearing a black shirt and black hat, who fled southbound on Andrews. The unidentified victim was recovering at a local hospital.

Two people were shot at just before 10 p.m. on Sunday at 1115 College Avenue. Police say a female victim transported herself to a local hospital and a 14-year old male was shot in the ankle. Both victims are recovering at Lincoln Hospital.

At just after midnight Monday, June 30, a person was reported shot at 3406 Gunther Avenue, that victim was not expected to survive and no other details were immediately available. 

Reporters covering the LGBT Pride Parade in Manhattan on Sunday say Mayor Bill de Blasio ignored questions about the shootings, but his office later issued a statement that read, "The Mayor and the Police Department are working closely to put hundreds of more officers on the streets, deploy cops to areas experiencing crime spikes and utilize innovative strategies to catch bad guys and keep neighborhoods safe."

Officials say that 100 of those uniformed officers will be hitting the street's across the five boroughs in the coming week.    

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): #Yanks

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): #Yanks: Sox Strike Again Fans Unsure Which Way #Yanks are Heading By Rich Mancuso BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 30- The late June rivalry in the Bronx wit...

#Yanks

Sox Strike Again

Fans Unsure Which Way #Yanks are Heading

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, JUNE 30- The late June rivalry in the Bronx with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox still had some meaning. Ask the Red Sox, who took two of three from their AL east rivals with an 8-5 win Sunday night at Yankee Stadium. More importantly the Yankees had an opportunity to narrow the gap with first place Toronto and that awaits another day.

And that can happen over the next three games, narrowing their two game gap, or taking first place as this stretch of 15-straight with divisional opponents concludes with last place Tampa Bay. Yes it is still early, with Monday night the halfway point for the Yankees however winning series against teams in the division are just as vital.

“We don’t want to go out here and lose games,” Carlos Beltran said. “Feels right now these last two games we haven’t been able to do that.” Beltran did his part with a 3-for-4-night, including his 366^th career home run in the fourth inning, tying Lance Berkman for fourth place on baseball’s all-time home run list among switch hitters.

His eighth home run in the fourth inning, a solo shot to right at the time narrowed the Boston lead to 4-3. Mark Teixeira led off the inning with his team leading 15^th home run. Both long balls coming off John Lackey (9-5) who earned the win, allowing five run on six hits.

Lackey did not produce a quality start of 6.0 innings or more, three-runs or less, for the third time in his last 13 outings. And in the position the Red Sox are in, also at the halfway point of their schedule, they need Lackey to produce.

This is a year of the mediocre AL east. The Yankees know, with any type of winning streak that they can take control, even though they are not the Yankees that battled the Red Sox over the years when the division belonged to the two rivals.

“Anytime you win a series on the road, particularly against a team that's ahead of us, these are key,” Boston manager John Farrell said. There is plenty of time to overcome a six-game deficit in the division and the defending world champions with all of their first half problems are realizing the same thing:

Winning a series against the Yankees in the Bronx was important. The Red Sox, a team in transition, are also reaching into their minor league system for that extra help. Mookie Betts, their 21-year-old outfield prospect made his Major League debut and got his first single in the fourth inning.

“It was great,” he said. And it came with no extra pressure, if that can be understood, because it came during a game in what has been described as the biggest rivalry in sports. Derek Jeter can echo those sentiments and remember the first time he took part in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry as a rookie.

Except, Jeter, did not get the first of many hits against Boston. He had many significant and big hits over the years when the Yankees and Red Sox battled down to the wire for a spot in the post season.

And then there is David Ortiz. He has made the Yankees miserable over the years in this rivalry, and that continued Sunday night. Ortiz has hit 40 home runs against the Yankees since putting on the Boston uniform in 2003, and he launched one off Chase Whitley in the third inning. It was the 450^th of his career and good for 37^th on the all-time list.

Whitley said he was frustrated about the pitch to Ortiz. The Yankees have got more than expected from the rookie right-hander, but this was his second straight loss of four innings and five earned runs. And it comes at a time when the Yankees want to make some significant inroads in the division.

Whitley can’t always be a difference maker as the Yankees wait for CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda to return from the disabled list. When these teams meet in September for six more games, pitching could be the decisive factor as to where they are headed in October.  

"We are all going through are issues, there is no doubt about it, in the division," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "As I said, it is probably going to come down to the end and it is going to be who handles the injuries the best. Obviously, we need to play better. I'm sure every club in our division says that."

This time the Red Sox were the better team, next time it could be the Yankees and that is what makes this rivalry so special. 

 Comment Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com  Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso  www.newyorksportsexaminer.com