A quick baseball update for ya, and what has gone on, prior to, and now that it's the first games back since the All Star break. There has been a lot that has gone on right before the break. Some good, some bad, but mostly bad for one team in particular. The team is not one I am to fond of, but non to less you never want anything bad to happen to anyone. That team would be the New York Yankees.
The Yankees have had one of the worst starts they have ever had. Injuries have plagued their team, and it just seems like if it can go wrong, it has gone wrong. Besides the injuries there's also the biogenisus scandal going on, which one player specifically is right in the middle of it. We'll get to that a little later, right now the injuries is what interests me the most.
The Yankees have had almost all of their stars go on the DL, some of which are still there. Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, these are just some of the names for the Yanks that are on the DL, and it's not looking good. A Rod has been out all year and is finishing up his rehab assignments now, and Teixeira has been back for only a handful of games this year. The newest name to this ever growing list of injuries is Derek Jeter. Jeter has just been put on the 15 day DL with a strained Quad. He says it feels fine, yet he hasn't ran on it yet. So, I don't know how he can sit there and say it's fine, when he hasn't tested it out yet.
The next thing that really is hurting the Yankees is the Biogenisus scandal, that has A Rod right smack dab in the middle of it. He has already been caught before using PED's, and this will be his second offense. For second time offenders, it can bring up to a 100 game suspension, and that will crush the Yankees this season. They've only had A Rod for one game this season, and he only produced one hit, and had to be taken out before the game was over because he was have discomfort in his quad. There's only one other catch to this story, and that's Rodriguez might not just be suspended for 100 games, he could receive a life time band from the game of baseball for lying about using PED's.
To make matters worse for the Yankees, their first series back from the All Star Break, they get the Red Sox. A rivalry game that means everything to both these teams. The Red Sox beat the Yankees very easily by a score of 4-2. Doubront got the win, bringing him to a 7-3 record and is looking strong moving forward. Pettitte got the lose bringing him to 7-7 on the season and isn't looking good.
The scoring got started in the Bottom of the 1st inning when Ellsbury homered to right on a 1-0 count. After that Napoli was able to reach base for Gomes. Gomes hit a 2 run blast over the monster on a 2-2 count. Making the score 3-0 Red Sox. Another point wasn't scored until the Top of the 4th inning when Catcher Saltalamacchia committed an error, and Gardner was able to score. The next points were scored by the Yanks on a double to left from Stewart scoring Overbay. This was the Top of the 5th inning. This put the Yanks back in the game, but not for long. The Sox got yet another run, and the final run of the game, in the Bottom of the 7th inning on a single to right from Iglesias scoring Gomes. After that closer Uehara would come in and get his 9th save of the year and shut it down.
New York didn't need this game to go the way that it did. As of right now, based on the way they've played and how well the rest of their Division is doing, they only have a 7% chance of making the playoffs this year. This is very uncommon for the Yanks, they have been consistently in the post-season for the past 17 times out of the last 18 years. To make matter worse for the Yankees, the Pittsburgh Pirates have over a 90% chance of making the post-season this season, and they haven't had a winning record for a record breaking 21 straight seasons.
The Battling Buccos are having one of the best starts to their season in a long time. They've won more games in the first half of the season, then they've ever had since 1996. In my opinion, they have a great team and everyone is doing their part, and helping this team to make a playoff run. There's only one problem with this, and that's the Division that they play in. It's one of the hardest Divisions in the Majors if you ask me. With the Reds, who are always a tough team, the Cardinals, who are always at the top of the Division, and the Brewers, who the Pirates just can't seem to beat, it makes it very hard to make the playoffs. But I'm not asking for a playoff birth this season. I'm asking for a winning season to break this streak of losing ones, as I'm sure every Pirates fan is wishing for.
This baseball season has been one of the most unpredictable seasons I've ever seen. With teams who shouldn't be up in the running for the playoffs, to teams who are always up there, being at the bottom of the Division. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season plays out, and will keep you up to date with everything that happens along the way.
Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.
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