Cheered on by Kate Upton and helped by excellent defensive play, Max Scherzer allowed just two runs over seven innings. But a lack of run support from a no-show offense doomed Detroit's ace to his fourth loss of the season.

Despite neither starting pitcher being particularly sharp, both the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees struggled offensively. But the Yankees overcame Max Scherzer and stingy Detroit defense by Ezequiel Carrera and Ian Kinsler to scratch across a pair of runs in the second inning. A dominant performance from the Yankees' bullpen would make a one run lead hold up over the final four innings in a 2-1 victory over the Tigers.

Helped by some patient Tigers at-bats, Brandon McCarthy (W, 4-0) made the shortest start of his five game Yankees career, pulled after 116 pitches and 5 2/3 innings. Despite the high pitch count, McCarthy left with the lead, having held the Tigers to one unearned run on five hits, striking out eight and walking two.

McCarthy got credit for the win, his fourth straight as a member of the Evil Empire's rotation. But it would be the New York bullpen which made the biggest difference in the game. Four relievers combined to slam the door on Detroit's offense with 3 1/3 innings of one hit baseball, retiring the final seven Tigers in order. Closer David Robertson pitched the ninth to record his 30th save.

Detroit starter Max Scherzer (L, 13-4) wasn't at his sharpest, allowing at least one base runner in each of his first six innings of work. Scherzer would ultimately battle his way through seven innings, giving up two runs on nine hits, walking three while tying his season low of four strikeouts. Scherzer took the hard-luck loss, falling short in his attempt to win what would have been his MLB leading 14th game.

Phil Coke continued to pitch well, tossing a scoreless eighth. But it wasn't enough on a night when the Tigers' bats went silent.

The Yankees weren't an offensive juggernaut, out-hitting the Tigers just 9-6. Jacoby Ellsbury led the Yankees with two hits, driving in their first run with a third inning sacrifice fly. Brian McCann wrapped up the Yankees' scoring with a thrid inning, two out RBI single.

A lengthy top of the second was one of the few innings where the Tigers' offense showed signs of life.  A double, single, and walk  loaded the bases with just one out, yet Detroit didn't score a run. The Tigers also forced  McCarthy to throw 34 pitches in the inning, yet he still struck out the side.

You can have great pitching and defense, but you still need to score runs to win. What little offense the Tigers could muster came from Victor Martinez's two hits. Kinsler drove in the Tigers' only run, singling home Andrew Romine in the fifth.

ROARS:

Ezequiel Carrera: For one night, replace "OH JACKSON!" with, "HOLY CATS!" Detroit's newest outfielder allied fears over center field defense in the third inning when he made one of the best catches you'll ever see on Jacoby Ellsbury's bases loaded drive to deep center. The speedy Carrera laid out to make a ridiculously good diving catch, robbing Ellsbury of three RBI and an extra base hit. Forced to retreat to first base, Derek Jeter's reaction was one word - "WOW."

What a catch! pic.twitter.com/FajTNQzej2

— MLB Fan Cave (@MLBFanCave) August 5, 2014

MLB.com video with several angles of the catch and Mario Impemaba's "Holy cats, did you see that?!"

Here's a looping version as well, so you can watch it in perpetuity.

Yes, this is a Catch of the Year candidate. Thank you, Ezequiel Carrera. http://t.co/CkqBOBsUrP

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) August 5, 2014

Carrera also had his first base hit as a Tiger - a two out double in the seventh.

Ian Kinsler: Kinsler pulled off a pair of defensive gems of his own. In the third, not to be out-shadowed by Carrera's grab, Kinsler made a diving grab into the hole, throwing out Chase Headley from his knees to rob him of an RBI single and end the inning. In the fifth, Kinsler went far to his left to grab Brian McCann's chopper before turning and firing to second to start an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, stranding a runner on third. Kinsler also drove in the Tigers' only run of the game with a fifth inning single.

Victor Martinez: Martinez singled and doubled, the only Tiger with two hits.

Max Scherzer: Pitched in and out of trouble all evening, walking three and scattering nine hits. But Scherzer scratched and clawed his way to a quality seven inning outing, allowing just two runs.

Phil Coke: Replaced Scherzer, tossing a shutdown 1-2-3 eighth.

Yankees' base running: Brett Gardner's TOOTBLAN bailed out Max Scherzer, running the Yankees out of the fourth inning. Martin Prado on second and two out, Gardner singled through the shift on the right side. Prado was held up at third and Torii Hunter's throw (shockingly) hit the cut-off man. But Gardner never stopped running, and was well on his way to second when Miguel Cabrera cut off the throw. After a short rundown Garner was tagged out, Predo was still on third wondering what in the Hell Gardner was thinking, and the inning was over.

HISSES:

Injuries:Eugenio Suarez was forced to leave the game in the fifth inning when he injured his left knee while stealing second base. An awkward slide forced Detroit's rookie shortstop to immediately call for a replacement, Andrew Romine entering the game. It's the second time this season Saurez has injured himself sliding into second. He did the same during his first big league appearance on June 4, missing the next two games with a knee sprain. Let's hope it's no more serious than that, otherwise the Tigers may have some major issues at shortstop.

Eugenio Suarez left tonight's game with a left knee sprain and will be reevaluated tomorrow. #tigers

— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) August 5, 2014

Miguel Cabrera: A walk was the only positive to an otherwise bad game at the plate. Cabrera was 0-for-3, including a weak, first pitch swinging nubber to end the seventh, stranding the game-tying run in scoring position.

Alex Avila: Another rough, rough game with the lumber.  Avila was 0-for-4 and two strikeouts, including a swinging K with two on and one out in the second, and stranding a pair when he bounced out to end the sixth.

J.D. Martinez: The other Martinez had a off night with three swinging strikeouts in his final three at-bats.

NOTES:

Kate Upton, Justin Verlander's significant other was in attendance tonight. Eye candy she may be, good luck she was not.

"you're like the 5th best starter on the team" RT @blessyouboys: Any lip-readers in the house? RT @blessyouboyshttps://t.co/xxr3kpYO04

— Lana Berry (@Lana) August 5, 2014

This ad on the backstop at Yankee Stadium caused more than a little social media confusion with Detroit Red Wings fans in the first inning tonight.

No, the Red Wings aren't buying advertising in New York. It's the "magic" of television. From another angle, you can see the green screen:

RE: the Red Wings ad behind home plate - it's a green screen. The ad is CGI.

— Bless You Boys (@blessyouboys) August 4, 2014

The more you know...

STREAKS AND STATS:

With a right-hander on the mound for the Yankees, center fielder Ezequiel Carrera received his first start as Tiger. His last appearance in a big league starting lineup was May 4 of last season, as a member of the Indians.

Carrera's double in the seventh was his first hit as a Tiger.

Ian Kinsler's RBI single in the fifth extended his hitting streak to six games.

The acquisition of David Price has lit a fire under the other four members of Detroit's rotation. Max Scherzer extended the rotation's streak of pitching at least seven innings while allowing just two runs or less to four games. Over the past four starts, Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, Anibal Sanchez and Scherzer have thrown a combined 30 innings, allowing just 6 earned runs, a 1.80 ERA.

In nine appearances covering 8 1/3 innings since the All-Star break, Phil Coke has a 2.16 ERA. Going back to the start of June. Coke has an ERA of 2.45 over his last 23 games.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs

ROLL CALL:

TOP TEN COMMENTERS:

TOP RECS:

The series that chronicles the highs and lows of the Royals roster.

If nothing else, the Royals have refused to fade totally out of the postseason picture. Given, nothing really was done to improve the team at the deadline, the closeness of this part of the race is really only due to a Toronto losing streak, and counting the 2nd Wild Card Games Back is sort of a sucker's game. Still, Kansas City has moved to 1.5 games out of the final "playoff spot," even if they'd have to leapfrog the hilariously overpaid New York Yankees roster and the Blue Jays.

So 57-53, more up than down right now. Meaningful baseball (or whatever your favorite euphemism is) at the beginning of August. Is it because of our wonderful Pitching Staff? Let's check those Ups and Downs for the past couple weeks.

James Shields -

The difference between Shields of recent years and Shields of this year has been well-documented on this blog. To throw my own (considerably smaller) hat into the ring, you can sort of see the loss of 10% of his stuff this year just by looking at the DIPS numbers. Strikeout rate inching downward, home run rate rising slightly, walk rate down from last year. It's as if Shields is pounding the zone a little more often because he knows he's not getting as many hitters to chase.

Shields last three starts, in keeping with his performance after about, say, May, have been a mix of legitimately great outings (7 IP, 7 K vs. the White Sox), ones where a better hitting team would've pounded him (10 baserunners allowed in six innings to the Twins, only one RA), and  voodoo mastery (8 IP, 2 K vs Oakland). He's actually dropped below his strand rate for his career after sailing above it for most of the year, so he was due a bit of luck. Keep 'em off the board for a little while longer, James, and it's hard for us to be unhappy with you.

Jason Vargas -

Only had one start since returning from an appendectomy. Was pounded for seven runs in it. His ability to regain form is one of the keys at the Royals making a run down the stretch.

Jeremy Guthrie -

Recovered to worse-than-average MLB starter in his last couple starts after looking like the disaster artist in the previous stretch. Guthrie sometimes has starts that make you think that he'll retain his value (what's left of it) well next year (six scoreless vs Oak), and then there's the starts like the one versus Cleveland where it's difficult to remember a time where he could get anyone out.

Danny Duffy -

Duffy's Jekyll and Hyde routine continues, to the point where it's no sort of expect. Every-so-often a guy like him will take a step forward in command/control and become something legitimately special. And sometimes, with Duffy, you can see that guy. He's turning 25 soon, though, and his career walk rate is 4.24 per 9. I've really enjoyed watching him in the rotation this year, and sometimes he looks awesome (he shut down Cleveland on two hits and two walks over seven), and then other times he walks six Minnesota Twins and I just want some vodka.

Yordano Ventura -

Ventura burst through that wall we were talking about last time, striking out 14 hitters over 13.1 innings against Cleveland and Minnesota. It's not setting the world on fire, but seeing him miss bats with regularity after such an extended dry spell was pretty fun. It does bear mentioning that, at 120+ innings this season, it will be interesting to see how he's handled down the stretch.

Greg Holland -

It's getting to the point where whenever Holland actually allows a run, I seriously think about giving him a down arrow.

Wade Davis -

I would say the same thing about Wade Davis, but he never allows runs anymore.

Bruce Chen -

One bad spot start and one good mop-up appearance sounds like what we can expect from Chen going forward. I hope the Royals at least tried to flip him at the deadline, though I think I know how a phone conversation that starts out "Bruce Chen is available" ends.

Kelvin Herrera -

Well, he's still here and still pitching well. I'm sorry I advocated trading you, Kelvin, but I don't want to hear any "no one could've predicted this" if you decline next season, mmkay?

Aaron Crow -

"Decline?" said Aaron Crow. "Decline is my middle name!"

Jason Frasor -

3 IP in 5 appearances so far. Nothing really to write home about, but effective in his limited role. The perfect Royals trade acquisition!

Francisely Bueno -

Still wins the award for "Royal I'm most likely to forget" when I list off the members of their bullpen to friends who want to know who's in the Royals bullpen. Yes, I have weird friends.

Scott Downs -

Starting to think the baseball gods are playing a cosmic joke on me by making me write a couple words about the performance of Scott Downs every week.

~

The Royals are back in action in Arizona tonight, looking to catch the Yanks and Blue Jays. Happy Tuesday!

It's still early, but the Yankees don't have many better options in 2015

The Yankees need pitching. That comes as little surprise to anyone because we hear it every year. Continuously. Well, next year is going to be no different. Right now the 2015 rotation is completely up in the air, and while there are some top flight choices due to be out there on the market, the Yankees could also use a mid-rotation guy. Sure, the Yankees should go after the likes of Jon Lester and Max Scherzer, but signing Brandon McCarthy to a one or two-year contract would be a good option too.

Since coming over from the Diamondbacks in a trade for Vidal Nuno, McCarthy has maintained a 2.55 ERA and 3.06 FIP in 24.2 innings, a substantial improvement since his time in Arizona when he was battered around with a 5.01 ERA. Of course, this is all a small sample size, but if you're someone who believes in midseason trades turning into tryouts for next year, McCarthy has to be opening eyes.

The 31-year-old right-hander might be one of the best examples of a pitcher made for Yankee Stadium and the Yankees themselves. He's never walked many batters over his career with a 2.30 BB/9, never going above 2.0 in a single season over the last four years. He gets a good amount of ground balls at 43.2% and had limited home runs to a sub-1.00 HR/9 over the last three seasons before 2014, giving him three specific strengths that the Yankees often look for.

Most importantly, he's recovered from whatever the Diamondbacks did to him. McCarthy began to throw a cutter back in 2011 with the Athletics and it may have been the pitch that revitalized his career after missing all of 2010. Using the pitch for the first time, he put up a monstrous 4.5 WAR and suddenly became known as a big league pitcher again. As we all know, the cutter is used to keep hitters off balance and get them to make weak contact and generate ground balls, so it's no wonder his ground ball rates went from 34.4% in his first five seasons to 45% from 2011 through 2013.

Suddenly, for reasons unknown, Arizona had McCarthy stop using his cutter. He went from throwing it 36.9% of the time to just 10.2% of the time with the Diamondbacks in 2014, that way he could start throwing more curveballs, something that they had been making him do since 2013. Moving away from a pitch that had kept hitters to an 89 wRC+ over four seasons didn't seem like much of a good idea, but it was compounded by the fact that batters have crushed the more abundant curve to a 122 wRC+ these last two seasons. It's no wonder that his platoon splits have essentially reversed from struggling against lefties in 2011 and 2012 to struggling against righties in 2013 and 2014. It's also what likely led to the jump in home run to fly ball ratio to 20% – double his career norms – before his trade to New York.

Now that he's allowed to throw his more effective cutter and diminish the use of his battered curveball, he's been able to pitch more effectively and more like the player he used to be. This is the type of pitcher the Yankees should be interested in bringing back.

At this point, there is not a single pitcher you could say is definitely going to be in the 2015 rotation. Even if everyone is healthy, there's Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, and CC Sabathia. Hiroki Kuroda will be gone, Ivan Nova won't be ready to start the year, and David Phelps should probably not be expected to be in the rotation, so adding McCarthy would be a nice way to bring some stability into a very volatile situation.

Of course, McCarthy isn't known for his durability, so while that is something to keep in mind, it also shouldn't be a deal breaker, especially since it should keep his final cost down. So far he looks better in the Bronx, and if he maintains the rest of the way, the Yankees need to seriously consider him as more than just a rental.

Even for those who don't despise A-Rod, forming an opinion on the man is a challenge.

Today is a bit of a bizarre day in Yankees history. One year ago today, months of investigation finally came to a head as Major League Baseball officially brought the hammer down on Alex Rodriguez and several other players. Most of those players agreed to 50-game suspensions in wake of the Biogenesis clinic scandal. That group consisted of Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, and Francisco Cervelli, just to name a few of them. Brewers slugger Ryan Braun also agreed to a 65-game suspension about a week or so beforehand, admitting he lied about protesting his innocence when he tested positive for PEDs following his National League MVP season of 2011 and setting the stage for these suspensions.

If the story had just involved those players, it would not have been ignored, but it certainly would not have become the baseball story of 2013. No, A-Rod's role blew the story up. MLB levied a mammoth 211-game suspension against A-Rod, more than triple what they gave everyone else in the scandal. The ban would cover the remainder of the 2013 season and the entire 2014 campaign. MLB felt it was in the right because it was revealed that A-Rod had been using PEDs over multiple years and that he had been actively trying to tamper with the investigation.

Yet to add to the surreal nature of the imposing suspension, A-Rod had the right to appeal it, and he was finally healthy after spending the first four months of the season rehabbing from his second hip surgery. The Yankees were desperately trying to stay in the pennant race as well. Thus, A-Rod exercised his right to appeal, and on the very same day that he was suspended 211 games, he made his 2013 season debut. It was a spectacle the likes of which we might never see again. The series of bizarre events that conspired from the beginnings of 2013 until a reduced 162-game suspension was upheld in January of 2014 has been written about countless times since then, most notably by Steve Fishman in New York magazine (twice) and 2013 Yankees beat writer Andy McCullough in the 2014 Baseball Prospectus annual.

Amid all the trips to Bizarro World with inappropriate e-mails from Randy Levine, gummy bears, "the man from Milwaukee," night club injections, robberies at a tanning salon, suitcases of MLB cash at a diner, convicted felons, "Fred," Mike Francesa, and of course, brunch, the story's still not over. The notoriously shady doctor Anthony Bosch was taken into custody today for distributing PEDs to high schoolers. MLB's investigation relied heavily on this corrupt figure, making it difficult for even the most ardent of A-Rod haters to say that Bud Selig was acting as an shining light of justice and purity throughout the ordeal. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether or not A-Rod will actually return to baseball next year or if the Yankees will simply release him with $61 million left on his contract to rid themselves of the headache.

So what can Yankees fans make of Alex Rodriguez at the moment? Many sympathize with the rest of baseball fans and detest him for his involvement with PEDs, his postseason struggles as a Yankee aside from the 2009 playoffs, and for his personality, which his critics have often labeled as phony. I am decidedly not in this crowd. I find it too convenient that people ignore his amazing run in the 2009 playoffs, as the Yankees would have faced some serious challenges to win that year if he did not step it up with multiple late game-tying homers throughout the postseason. That entire year is a cherished memory for me, as it was the first time I closely followed a World Series championship team from start to finish (as I believe I've mentioned before, my struggles in Little League led to me being disillusioned by baseball for years, so I didn't really get to enjoy the 1996-2000 teams during their times). I absolutely refuse to let people tarnish my memories of that glorious 2009 season by bringing A-Rod down. That will never leave me.

The quibbles with his personality have mostly just amused me. So he acts like he's phony sometimes. Big deal. Hundreds of athletes are the same way, and few people say much about them. Sure, there's a vast difference between most of those guys and one of the greatest players in the history of his sport in A-Rod, but I just don't care if he occasionally puts on an act.

I think it's off-putting that he's probably an adulterer, but there are many, many worse people in sports. Murderers. Dog killers. Drunk drivers. Drug addicts. Racists. Misogynists. The list goes on and on. When people say that A-Rod is their most hated athlete, they are not comprehending just how truly reprehensible most of these guys seem to be.

A-Rod just isn't nearly as awful a person as so many other athletes, so it's hard for me to be too bothered by him. That being said, he's nowhere close to perfect. I don't care much about PED suspensions, but it does annoy me that he admitted to using steroids and then continued to use them anyway, risking suspension and thus putting the Yankees' various season plans in jeopardy. Even the greatest of A-Rod fans who are also Yankees fans would have to be at least a little perturbed by that.

Nonetheless, I cannot bear that much ill will toward A-Rod for all he's done, especially given all the joy he brought in 2009.

Also this,

this,

and this:

Seriously, he's ridiculous in a way that just amuses me. It will be some time before I truly know what I think of A-Rod, but I know I don't hate him. After all, it's just a game.

Bye, LOOGY

While the non-waivers trade deadline has passed, moves can still be made here in August and that's what has happened today. In August, most teams expose many of their players to the waiver wire in order to gauge interest on the market. When a claim is made, teams can then pull back the player for the remainder of the season, work out a trade, or simply give the player, contract and all, to the claiming team. In a surprising move, Matt Thornton has been claimed off waivers by the Nationals and the Yankees have handed him over to them.

While Thornton has been solid this season, an 83% contact rate with only a 7.8% swinging strike rate is not a recipe for a good future. The 37-year-old still makes $3.5 million in 2015, something the Yankees likely did not want to pay for and now won't have to. It's likely the Yankees saw an opportunity to dump a guy before his value flatlined and they're now better for it.

The new LOOGY will likely end up being David Huff, however, there are a few options in the minors who could get the call. Tyler Webb has made it through three levels this season and now has 13 strikeouts in only 8.2 innings at Triple-A. He previously racked up 51 Ks in only 35.2 innings at Double-A as well, so it's safe to say that he's ready for a taste of the big leagues. 2014 draft pick Jacob Lindgren has also just been promoted to Double-A after striking out 30 in only 13.1 innings this year. If the Strikeout Factory manages to make it up here after just a month in the minors that would definitely be something exciting to watch.

UPDATE:

Source says LHP Rich Hill coming up to take Thornton's bullpen spot.

— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) August 5, 2014

Martin Prado is an upgrade over Ichiro Suzuki in right, but to get the most out of him, the Yankees should use him at several positions

When the Yankees acquired Martin Prado with minutes to go before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, they got a player whose greatest asset is versatility. At 30, Prado has the unusual distinction of having played 245 or more games at three different positions during his career - second base, third base, and left field. He's also played 56 games at first and even sixteen at shortstop. Prado isn't an Eduardo Nunez who gets stuck into different spots because he isn't good at any of them. While he's been slightly below average on the right side of the infield with a career UZR/150 of -3.4 at first and -7.9 at second, he's been solid at third (4.3 UZR/150) and excellent in over 2,100 career innings in the outfield, amassing a UZR/150 of 13.3.

The Yankees traded for Prado primarily to be their starting right fielder for the rest of the season - ironically so, since his pinstriped debut in Boston last Friday night was only his second career game at that position. Learning right field won't be too difficult a transition for Prado. He's been extremely sound when asked to play left, and right is the easier of the two corner outfield spots in Yankee Stadium. An average to slightly below average offensive player in three of his last four seasons, Prado's not exactly the knight in shining armor many Yankee fans envisioned riding in to save a lineup that's presently ranked in the lower half of the American League in runs per game. But he should help. His 88 wRC+ makes him practically an All-Star next to Ichiro Suzuki, who at the time of the trade was hitting .269/.320/.316 on the season and .240/.277/.273 since June 1st. The .870 OPS Prado put up against lefty pitching in Arizona should also help a Yankee team that's short on right-handed hitting.

If the Yankees pigeon-hole Prado as the every-day right fielder, though, they won't be maximizing his worth. Comparisons to Ichiro aside, there isn't that much value in a league average-hitting corner outfielder, so to really get the most out of him, they'll need to move him around and make themselves better at multiple positions. In a typical game where everyone's available and versus a right-handed pitcher, Prado's most lucrative spot is right. But against lefties, he should play second. The also newly acquired Stephen Drew is hitting .094/.216/.125 against southpaws this season with an almost unfathomable wRC+ of 0. It's a small sample size, but he wasn't much better in 2013, when he posted a vs. LHP line of .196/.246/.340 and a wRC+ of 54. Ichiro's reverse splits have made him more productive versus lefty pitching the past couple of seasons, batting .375/.444/.475 against them this year, albeit in only 46 plate appearances, and .321/.331/.421 in 2013. With Prado around, there's really no reason for Drew to ever be in the lineup against a lefty starter ever. Tonight is the first time the Yankees will face a left-handed starter since the deadline, so we'll get an early peek into how creative Joe Girardi intends to be.

The Yankees can also improve their defense by moving Prado around the diamond. Derek Jeter, unfortunately, left his range somewhere in the late nineties, but Drew has become more than solid at his natural position over the past few seasons. When Jeter starts at DH, which could happen more often once Carlos Beltran's elbow is strong enough for him to play the outfield, Prado can play second with Drew at short. When Mark Teixeira needs an off-day or a DH day, Prado can fill in at first or at third with Chase Headley at first like we saw last night, leaving Brian McCann behind the plate where he belongs.

Heading into 2015, Prado's flexibility could help the Yankees, too. It will remain unclear what Alex Rodriguez has to offer, probably well until spring training, or even after. Although Headley is arguably the better player, marking Prado as the A-Rod alternative at third might make more sense, since he can still contribute elsewhere if the centaur is actually good to go as he nears forty. The Yankees will likely do their best to upgrade right field, but if that's unattainable it will remain an option for Prado. If Rob Refsnyder is dealt away, or if he's still not ready in Brian Cashman's view, he can always play second. The $22 million that Prado is owed between 2015 and 2016 is a lot to pay for a guy with no certain position, but the fact that he can theoretically be used in any of five different roles gives the club more options in what they look for in the off-season in trades and free agency.

According to several reports this afternoon the Washington Nationals claimed New York Yankees' lefty Matt Thornton off revocable waivers and have since reportedly worked out a deal to acquire the 37-year-old left-hander.

CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman was first with the news that the Washington Nationals claimed veteran left-hander Matt Thornton off revocable waivers from the New York Yankees:

#nats put in claim on matt thornton, and nats get him

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) August 5, 2014

After claiming him, the Nationals had 48+ hours to work out a deal with the Yankees.

As MLBTraderumors.com's Jeff Todd noted in his write-up on the deal which was worked out this afternoon, the fact that the Nats were awarded the claim meant that no AL teams and all of the NL teams with worse records than the Nationals passed on the opportunity to claim the 37-year-old, 11-year veteran who is (0-3) this season with New York with a 2.55 ERA, a 2.73 FIP, six walks (2.19 BB/9) and 20 Ks (7.30 K/9) in 46 games and 24 ⅔ IP.

Heyman's sources then confirmed that the Nationals were acquiring Thornton, after making the claim:

"Thornton will beef up the strong Nats pen from the left side, but it'll be a substantial savings for the Yankees... Thornton has a $3.5-million salary for next year per his existing contract."

The CBSSports.com reporter noted that it wasn't known if the Nationals sent anything to the Yankees in return.

Matt Thornton has only allowed a run twice in last 28 appearances since 5/20. @JonHeymanCBS reporting Nats have claimed and been awarded him

— Jim Bowden (@JimBowden_ESPN) August 5, 2014

• Several sources have since confirmed and commented on the reports:

Can confirm report by @JonHeymanCBS: #Nationals have acquired LH reliever Matt Thornton on waivers from #Yankees.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 5, 2014

Thornton move saves #Yankees about $4.5M. Rest of ’14 salary, plus $3.5M in ’15. NYY working on other things, could redirect money.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 5, 2014

The Nationals were rumored to have been after a left-hander at the Non-Waiver Trade Deadline last week with  Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore reporting that the Nationals, "... made several offers to teams for a handful of relievers in the final minutes," before the Deadline, and, "[t]hey would have landed one," according to a source, "but they did not want to part with Class AAA Syracuse outfielder Steven Souza."

The Nationals added infielder Asdrubal Cabrera in a deal with Cleveland that sent IF Zach Walters to the Indians and now they've added the reliever they were rumored to be after to bolster their bullpen depth.

The #Nats have acquired LHP Matt Thornton on a waiver claim from the #Yankees: http://t.co/Pyg0YFGgEZ

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 5, 2014

The Yankees get to take on David Price for his first start with the Tigers and hopefully they give him a warm welcoming.

Tonight's #Yankees lineup (6 PM, YES) Gardner LF Jeter SS Ellsbury CF Teixeira 1B Beltran DH McCann C Headley 3B Prado RF Ryan 2B Kuroda P

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) August 5, 2014

Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, and Jacoby Ellsbury remain at the top of the lineup. Mark Teixeira seems to be less dizzy today and is back in the lineup. Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Chase Headley follow, with Martin Prado in right and Brendan Ryan giving Stephen Drew a day off at second base.

It appears that the waiver wire is going to get a workout today now that Matt Thornton has been sent to the Nationals after a claim was made. It is believed the Yankees will use the money they saved, about $1 million in 2014 and another $3.5 million for 2015, to make a deal with another team.

Despite Rich Hill being the move to replace Thornton on the roster, it remains possible that 2014 draft pick Jacob Lindgren could be called up sometime soon. Joe Girardi has also stated that the likes of Tyler Webb and James Pazos have gained the team's attention this season.

Cashman says thornton deal was about flexibility - $, contract length, ability to bring up the young kids.

— Daniel Barbarisi (@DanBarbarisi) August 5, 2014

In a somewhat puzzling move, the Yankees have allowed the Nationals to acquire Matt Thornton for little beyond salary relief.

The Washington Nationals have acquired southpaw reliever Matt Thornton from the New York Yankees, according to CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman. The Nationals were awarded a waiver claim on Thornton earlier today, and it appears the Yankees were willing to hand him over for next to nothing, as other than salary relief, it's unclear if the Yankees will receive anything in return.

Thornton fits the Nationals' need of a lefty arm perfectly, and the 37-year-old is actually in the midst of a very strong season. In 24.2 innings pitched, the 2010 All-Star has a 2.55 ERA, 2.73 FIP, 7.3 K/9, and 2.2 BB/9, all of which represent his best marks since his heyday with the White Sox in the late aughts and early 2010's. The trade represents Thornton's first move to the NL, as he has spent the entirety of his 11-year career in the American League with the Mariners, White Sox, Red Sox, and Yankees.

New York will save more than $4 million by giving up Thornton, as the left-hander is currently in the first year of a two-year, $7 million deal he signed with the Yankees over the offseason. Still, the move is somewhat puzzling considering the Yankees are very much in contention, and Thornton is a valuable piece to have.

Taking Thornton's place on the Yankees' active roster will be fellow left-hander Rich Hill, who has been called up from Triple-A. The move could also be foreshadowing a looming call-up for 2014 second rounder Jacob Lindgren, who has shot through the minors, and is already at Double-A less than two months after being drafted.

The NL East-leading Nationals have acquired a left-handed reliever at a reasonable rate in Matt Thornton.

The Washington Nationals have bolstered their late game effectiveness by picking up the Yankees' left-handed reliever Matt Thornton off of waivers.

In his 11th year, Thornton has been very solid for New York this season with a 2.55 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched, and 12 holds in 46 appearances without surrendering a single home run. Relatively speaking, the former Red Sox pitcher is a strikeout machine. His 411 punch-outs since 2008 are the most by a left-handed reliever in that time frame.

Not surprisingly, the southpaw pitches particularly well against left-handed batters, who have hit just .233 against him in his career. A first round selection for the Seattle Mariners in 1998, the one thing that the Nationals won't be getting from Thornton is a significant amount of postseason experience. He has just one appearance on his resume -- a single scoreless three-inning performance against the Tampa Bay Rays from 2008 as a member of the Chicago White Sox.

Thornton's new team will pay a prorated portion of his $3.5 million dollar salary for the remainder of this season and the entirety of that same salary next year, bringing the total cost of the acquisition somewhere in the $4 million dollar range for the Nats. They sit just three games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East despite outpacing them by almost 70 in run differential.

The former Cy Young winner will not need major knee surgery and hopes to "have a normal offseason."

New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia had a bone spur removed and will avoid microfracture surgery on his right knee, according to reports from ESPN New York's Danny Knobler.

Following confirmation from his doctors ruling out the more serious operation, Sabathia has begun setting up a plan to pitch at the beginning of next season and scheduling a stem-cell injection later this month. "I'll have time for it to work this time, instead of trying to rush back," Sabathia told Knobler. "I have five months. Hopefully I'll be able to have a normal offseason."

He'll look to improve on the two worst seasons of his career in 2013 and 2014. The 2007 Cy Young winner struggled mightily this season, starting just eight games in the majors while posting a 5.28 ERA and giving up 10 home runs for his troubles.

Those troubles were made worse when he attempted to make two rehab starts in the minors before being shut down for good. However, with no cartilage under his kneecap, seasons like this may become the norm rather than the exception in what could be a Hall of Fame career.

The Yankees let this one slip through their fingers...

After a big win against Max Scherzer and the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers, the Yankees sent Hiroki Kuroda - last remaining member of the opening day rotation - to face David Price.  This marked Price's first start as a member of the Detroit Tigers after Tampa Bay moved him at the trade deadline as part of a three-team deal, and the Yankees were certainly looking to give him an ugly start to his Tiger career.

Detroit didn't waste any time getting on the board, tagging Kuroda for a run in the top of the first.  Rajai Davis hit a leadoff single and, after an Ian Kinsler pop out, Davis moved to third on a Miguel Cabrera single up the middle.  Davis then tagged up and scored as the next batter, Victor Martinez, lifted a fly ball towards Brett Gardner in left.  While Kuroda managed to limit the damage after that, the Tigers had struck first and had a 1-0 lead.

The Yankees tied the game up in the second on a Brian McCann homer, and they would take the lead in the bottom of the third.  Brendan Ryan led off the inning with a double, ripping the first pitch he saw from David Price into left and just missing a home run by a few feet.  Gardner moved Ryan to third with a sacrifice bunt, but Derek Jeter followed that up with a weak grounder to second that failed to score Ryan.  However, Jacoby Ellsbury was not about to let the leadoff double go to waste - he slapped an 0-2 fastball hard down the third base line for an RBI double, giving the Yankees a one run lead.

Kuroda settled down after the first, at one point retiring twelve batters in a row.  The score would stay 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when new Yankee Martin Prado hit New York's second homer of the night off David Price to make it 3-1.  The Tigers cut the lead to one in the top of the sixth with an Andrew Romine solo shot to the short porch in right, and then, in the seventh, the Tigers tied up the score.  After singles by Martinez and Nick Castellanos, Alex Avila smacked a two out liner to right, scoring Martinez and knotting the score at three apiece.

The game would remain tied through nine full innings and head to extras, as the Yankees failed to get to David Price and - after Kuroda exited following the sixth - Dellin Betances and Shawn Kelley flummoxed the Tigers hitters.  Still, with Price going almost nine full innings, this left the Tigers bullpen in a lot better shape than the Yankees, who used two of their best relievers just to get the game into extra innings.

The first reliever the Tigers brought in was ex-Yankee Joba Chamberlain, who pitched relatively well except for the fact that he hit Derek Jeter, which only served to get him more boos from the Bronx crowd.  The bullpens battled back and forth for a few innings, with the Yankees getting some good performances from David Huff and Esmil Rogers.  Unfortunately, as the game stretched on, the Yankees quickly found themselves tossing out worse and worse pitchers, while the Tigers had Joakim Soria and Joe Nathan waiting in the wings.  This eventually cost New York, as mediocre Matt Daley gave up a solo shot to Avila in the top of the twelfth to give the Tigers a one run lead.

Still, the Yankees almost tied the game back up in the bottom of the inning.  Nathan came in to shut the door, but Chase Headley had other ideas.  Leading off the inning, Headley pulled a breaking ball towards right-center and it looked like it might get out, but J.D. Martinez brought it in on the warning track, breaking Headley's - and our - hearts, as he was just a couple feet from tying the game in dramatic fashion.  Nathan then took care of Prado and Stephen Drew easily, and that was that, a 4-3 loss for the Yankees.

The Yankees had a great chance to sneak out a win here, as they were up 3-1 on Price in sixth.  Kuroda wasn't quite good enough to get the win, but he isn't completely to blame, as the Yankees offense just vanished after the sixth inning.  Tomorrow, the Yankees will face their third Cy Young winner in three days (are you tired of hearing about all their Cy Young winners?), as Justin Verlander will take on Chris Capuano.

David Price went 8 2/3 innings and struck out 10 in his first game as a Detroit Tiger. Alex Avila drove in the go-ahead run in the 12th inning with a solo home run, which handed the Tigers the win over the Yankees.

David Price made his first start as a member of the Detroit Tigers Tuesday night and he went 8 2/3 strong innings, allowing just three runs. The Tigers evened the series against the New York Yankees when they won 4-3 after 12 innings thanks to home runs by Alex Avila and Andrew Romine.

Price may not have been completely at the top of his game, but that didn't stop him from going nearly nine innings and striking out 10 in the process. He gave up two home runs but he also saved Tigers manager Brad Ausmus from having to go to the bullpen early as he remained strong into the ninth.

The bullpen did what it was supposed to do and allowed no hits in a combined 3 1/3 innings. The win went to Joakim Soria and Joe Nathan earned the save, however, it may have been an entirely different outcome were it not for the inning-eating efforts of Price.

The Tigers offense was nowhere to be found for the majority of the game. Rajai Davis had a leadoff single, Miguel Cabrera singled to put Davis at third and Victor Martinez hit a sacrifice fly to put the Tigers on the board in the first inning.

However, the Yankees would even it up with a home run in the second. The Tigers would fall behind in the third with an RBI single by Jacoby Ellsbury and a solo home run by Martin Prado would increase the Yankees lead to 3-1.

There would not be another hit until the sixth inning when Romine hit a solo home run and Avila hit an RBI single in the seventh to tie the game 3-3. The game would remain locked up at that score until Avila crushed a home run to deep right field for the go-ahead run in the 12th inning.

ROARS:

Andrew Romine: Hit a home run into the right field seats to put the Tigers within one of the Yankees by a score of 3-2 in the sixth inning. Home run, folks. This is not a drill. (MLB.com video)

APOCALYPSE COMING

— Rob Rogacki (@BYBRob) August 6, 2014

Andrew Romine hit a home run...won the trade? No that's not right. Fire Leyland? No...what's the joke?? What's the joke???! — Neil Weinberg (@NeilWeinberg44) August 6, 2014

Alex Avila: There must be a full moon out. The two least likely people expected to come through for the Tigers, came through. With two outs in the seventh inning, Avila scorched a 1-0 ball to right field for an RBI single that tied the game 3-3. That paled in comparison to his main performance, however, when he smoked a 1-0 fastball into the right field seats for the go-ahead by way of a home run in the 12th inning. (MLB.com video)

David Price: His debut in a Tigers uniform went well even though he wasn't as sharp as he normally is, and he wracked up 10 strikeouts through 8 2/3 innings. The only two big mistakes Price made were when he got behind in the count on James McCann in the second inning and Martin Prado in the fifth inning. Both resulted in home runs, the first of which tied the game 1-1 and the second gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

Bullpen: The bullpen shenanigans were nowhere to be seen. Joba Chamberlain pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out two and allowing no hits. Joakim Soria and Joe Nathan came out and combined for two scoreless 1-2-3 innings.

HISSES:

Tigers offense: Much like Monday night, the offense was left in the baggage claim section at the airport for most of the game. Following Martinez's sacrifice fly, Hiroki Kuroda retired the next 16 Tigers with five strikeouts before Romine's home run in the sixth inning. After Avila's RBI single in the seventh the Tigers went back to their docile ways until Avila's go-ahead homer.

Extra innings: It gets late and there comes a point where someone just needs to end it so everyone can go to bed. Thank goodness for Avila.

NOTES::

Torii Hunter left the game in the ninth inning after being hit by a pitch on the left hand. X-rays came back negative and Hunter will be re-evaluated on Wednesday. He is currently day-to-day and Suarez is a possible for returning to the lineup on Wednesday.

Ian Kinsler did his best Ryan Raburn impression in the seventh inning when he attempted to start a double play. It didn't go so well. Well, at least he got the one out and it wasn't entirely his fault thanks to the wet grass.

RT @JimmyTraina: Ian Kinsler's throw to second was an LOL. https://t.co/C91SsM0QZG

— Bless You Boys (@blessyouboys) August 6, 2014

STREAKS AND STATS:

• David Price struck out 10 after going 8 2/3 innings, allowing just three runs and has gone at least eight innings in 10 of his last 14 starts.
• David Price became the first Tigers pitcher to strike out 10-or-more in his debut with the team since 1914.
• Alex Avila became the first Tigers player to hit a regular season home run in the 12th inning or later against the Yankees since Lou Whitaker did it in 1984.
• The Tigers and Yankees played 12 innings without walking one batter. The last time two teams played 12-or-more innings without walking a batter was between the Dodgers and the Pirates on July 25, 1917.
• Andrew Romine homered for just the second time in his career Tuesday night.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs

ROLL CALL:

TOP TEN COMMENTERS:

TOP RECS:

and Jim Johnson and Rich Hill land jobs

• The Indians loss last night included an unfair bit of bad luck. CLE and CIN players were both in disbelief.
• Adam Dunn pitched the 9th inning of Chicago's 16-0 loss to Texas. He allowed a run on two hits and struck out nobody. BUT ADAM DUNN. PITCHED.
  
• Michael Bourn shows signs of improvement in rehab assignment with RubberDucks | Ohio.com
• SOO you want to be a Major League general manager? Here's what it's like to try to trade in August.
• One such deal took place yesterday: The Nationals acquired Matt Thornton from the Yankees.
• Entering last night's game, Carlos Santana and Yan Gomes were 1st and 4th respectively in MLB in WAR over the past 30 days.

• The Marlins surprisingly DFA'd Jacob Turner. If there was ever a guy we should buy low on, this is it. Turner was the headliner of the package Miami received for Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante. Turner is two years removed from an ERA+ of 122 and one year removed from a 103. You may remember this game that he pitched against us last year.
  
• And finally... bahahahahahahaha (x2)!

The @Tigers agree to Minor League contract with RHP Jim Johnson.

— MLBRosterMoves (@MLBRosterMoves) August 6, 2014

The @Yankees sign LHP Rich Hill to an @MLB contract; select him to 25-man roster.

— MLBRosterMoves (@MLBRosterMoves) August 5, 2014

Justin Verlander, still in search of his first career win at the new Yankee Stadium, will face left-hander Chris Capuano in the third of four games between the Tigers and Yankees.

Detroit Tigers (62-48) at New York Yankees (58-54)

Time/Place: 7:05 p.m., Yankee Stadium

SB Nation blog:Pinstripe Alley

Media: Fox Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Pitching Matchup: RHP Justin Verlander (10-9, 4.66 ERA) vs. LHP Chris Capuano (1-2, 4.50 ERA)

Chris Capuano started the season with the Boston Red Sox, serving as a jack-of-all-trades out of their bullpen. He entered games as early as the fifth and as late as the 12th inning for the Sox, allowing a 4.55 ERA and a 4.05 FIP in 31 2/3 innings. He wasn't used as a LOOGY, facing roughly 60 percent right-handed batters, but he still allowed lefties to hit .306/.342/.472 in 79 plate appearances. This goes against his career numbers, as lefties have a meager .632 OPS against him in his 10 big league seasons.

Capuano didn't go directly from the Red Sox to the Yankees, but it was a quick transition. He was released by the Sox on July 1st, then signed with the Colorado Rockies on July 4th. Capuano didn't make any major league appearances with the Rockies, but allowed a 2.79 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in four minor league starts. The Yankees were apparently paying attention, as they purchased him from the Rockies just three days after he struck out 11 in a Triple A start. Capuano joined the Yankees' rotation almost immediately, where he has allowed six runs in his first 12 1/3 innings. Four of those runs came in his last start, a 6 1/3 inning effort against his former teammates at Fenway Park.

Justin Verlander looked a little shaky through the first few innings of his last start, but settled down to have his best outing of the season. He allowed two runs on eight hits in eight innings, striking out five without a walk. Even more encouraging was the fact that the runs were scored on a trio of seeing-eye singles and a should-be error when Nick Castellanos had Brandon Barnes dead to rights at home plate on a routine ground ball. Castellanos threw high and Barnes snuck under Bryan Holaday's tag. Verlander was not laboring at any point during his start -- even the two-run seventh inning took just 23 pitches -- and did not allow a runner to reach third base in any inning besides the seventh.

Hitter to fear:Derek Jeter (.364/.429/.455 in 49 plate appearances)
Hitter to fail:Mark Teixeira (.079/.182/.158 in 44 plate appearances)

The endless love that Derek Jeter gets from the national media may be irritating to some, but the numbers he has put up in his career are no joke. Those big numbers haven't escaped Justin Verlander, as he has allowed an .883 OPS to the Captain in 49 plate appearances. Other than Jeter, however, not many of the current Yankees have given him trouble. Ichiro Suzuki has a .308 batting average in 67 plate appearances, but is just 3 for 21 since 2011. Mark Teixeira, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Stephen Drew, Carlos Beltran, and Brian McCann are all hitting under .250 in their careers against Verlander.

Outlook

While Verlander's velocity fell in five July starts, his whiff rate is slowly climbing towards career levels. He has a 9.1 percent whiff rate in his last four starts, including a whopping nine swings and misses on his fastball in his last start. The dip in velocity may be by design (again), as Verlander was still able to dial the heater up to 97.4 miles per hour in his last start. Fortunately, Verlander may not need to be at his best tonight. The Tigers have handled left-handed pitching well all season long, especially during their previous series. In three games against the Rockies, the Tigers scored 15 runs in 16 1/3 innings against the Rockies' three left-handed starters.

Prediction

The offense picks up a struggling Verlander and the Tigers win their second game in a row.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting daily $18,000 Fantasy Baseball leagues. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Click here for details.

Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from August 5th.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L 1-4 vs. Syracuse Chiefs

1B Jose Pirela 0-4
2B Rob Refsnyder 0-3, K, HBP
LF Zoilo Almonte 0-4, 2 K
DH Kyle Roller 0-3, BB, K
3B Zelous Wheeler 2-3, BB - batting .297 this season
C Austin Romine 2-4, double, RBI, K, pickoff - 16th double this year
CF Antoan Richardson 0-4, 2 K
SS Carmen Angelini 0-3
RF Taylor Dugas 1-3

Matt Tracy 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, K - 54 of 88 pitches for strikes
Nick Rumbelow 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 7-5 vs. Altoona Curve

LF Jake Cave 2-4, RBI, K, HBP - batting .329 w/ Trenton
CF Mason Williams 1-4, triple - third triple of the season
C Gary Sanchez 2-3, HR, 3 RBI, E2 (14th) - 12th homer of the season
RF Tyler Austin 1-3, triple, RBI, BB, K - batting .275 this season
1B Greg Bird 1-3, HR, RBI, BB - first homer/hit w/ Trenton
3B Dan Fiorito 1-3, triple, BB, K
DH Tyson Blaser 1-4, RBI, K
2B Jose Toussen 1-4, K, SB
SS Ali Castillo 1-4, K

Jaron Long 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, WP - 58 of 95 pitches for strikes
Phil Wetherell 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB
Nick Goody 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, K
James Pazos 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K - 1.29 ERA w/ Trenton

High-A Tampa Yankees:W 5-2 vs. Brevard County Manatees

CF Mark Payton 0-4, K
SS Cito Culver 2-3, RBI, BB, SB - batting .215 this season
DH Eric Jagielo 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, K - 13th homer of the season
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 0-3, BB, K
RF Aaron Judge 1-2, HR, RBI, 2 BB, K - 6th homer w/ Tampa
C Trent Garrison 0-3, BB
2B Angelo Gumbs 0-4, 3 K
1B Reymond Nunez 2-4, double, K
LF Jose Rosario 0-3

Brett Gerritse 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, WP - 10 GO/2 AO
Kyle Haynes 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, K
Alex Smith 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 6-2, L 0-1 vs. Savannah Sand Gnats

Game 1:

SS Abiatal Avelino 0-3, BB
DH Tyler Wade 1-4, double, RBI, K, SB
RF Dustin Fowler 1-4, 2 K
3B Miguel Andujar 3-4, 2 doubles, RBI
1B Mike Ford 2-3, triple, RBI, BB
CF Michael O'Neill 2-2, 2 RBI, SB
2B Gosuke Katoh 1-4, 2 K
C Kale Sumner 0-2, BB
LF Brandon Thomas 1-3, 2 K

Andy Beresford 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, K - 13 of 24 pitches for strikes
Chad Taylor 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB
Stefan Lopez 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Game 2:

CF Michael O'Neill 1-3, CS
SS Tyler Wade 0-3, 2 K
RF Dustin Fowler 0-3, K
3B Miguel Andujar 0-2, HBP
DH Mike Ford 1-3
1B Jackson Valera 1-3
2B Gosuke Katoh 0-2, BB, K
C Eduardo de Oleo 0-2, K
LF Yeicok Calderon 0-1, BB

Justin Kamplain 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, E1 - 33 of 55 pitches for strikes
Angel Rincon 2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, hit batsman

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees: Off

GCL Yankees 1:L 2-3 vs. GCL Astros

SS Tyler Palmer 2-4, double, triple, 2 RBI
CF Leonardo Molina 0-4, K
3B Drew Bridges 0-4, 4 K
DH Dalton Smith 1-4, 2 K
C Alvaro Noriega 1-4
RF Miguel Mojica 0-4, K
LF Dominic Jose 0-2, K
1B Roybell Herrera 0-3, 2 K
2B Derek Toadvine 0-2, BB, K, CS

Orby Tavares 3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Deshorn Lake 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB
Francis Joseph 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

GCL Yankees 2:W 2-0 vs. GCL Blue Jays

CF Frank Frias 1-4 - batting .313 this season
LF Ericson Leonora 2-4, HR, 2 RBI - fourth homer of the year
SS Angel Aguilar 2-4, E6 - fielding error, seventh of the season
DH Jake Hernandez 1-4, K
1B Bo Thompson 0-4, 2 K
RF Wilmer Romero 0-4, 2 K, OF assist
2B Jake Anderson 1-3, K
3B Graham Ramos 1-3, E5 - fielding error, second of the season
C Rainiero Coa 0-3, K

Caleb Cotham 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Elvin Perez 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Lee Casas 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Mike Noteware 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Derek Jeter's been a sub-par defensive shortstop for a while now, and has been especially bad in recent years. Should the Yankees have moved him to another, less premium, position?

It's no secret that Derek Jeter's not much of a defender these days. The wear and tear from playing shortstop everyday for the last 20+ years has done a number on the 40-year-old's mobility. And while he fields just about everything hit directly at him, his glacial range makes him one of the worst defensive shortstops in baseball, according to advanced fielding metrics. A little more than one in every six balls in play are hit to the shortstop's part of the field, making it one of the worst places to hide someone with such limited mobility. However, Jeter continues to man shortstop everyday because...well because he's Derek Jeter. And some would argue that moving him off of his signature position would be tantamount to a slap in the face, especially during his farewell tour.

Simply put, Jeter's not going anywhere at this point. If the Yankees were to make a change, the PR fallout would far outweigh the added benefit of a few runs saved over the last few weeks of the season. Poor defense is nothing new for Jeter. The cap'n hasn't always been as porous as he is today, but his D has never earned much praise from advanced metrics. Per Fangraphs, he's been worth a whopping 145 runs worse than the average shortstop over the course of his career. Many would argue–correctly–that these stats may not be a perfect representation of Jeter's true defensive talent. Publicly-available defensive stats are imprecise measurements that can be wildly inaccurate in single-season samples and shouldn't be considered gospel, especially for seasons prior to 2002, when batted ball data first became available. Still, it's probably safe to say that, even in his prime, Jeter's defense was average at best -- and probably closer to poor. At some point, the Yankees should have seriously considered another defensive home for Jeter, where his lack of range wouldn't have have been as much of a detriment to the club.

Jeter broke into the majors for good as a 21-year-old in 1996, and the Yankees rattled off four World Series titles in the next five years–all with Jeter manning short. It's hard to fault the Yankees for not messing with something that was working, but maybe they should have been starting to think about it. Jeter's bat was a key cog in the Yankees' lineup during the dynasty era, but he gave much of that value back on the other side of the ball. His offense was worth 163 runs above average from 1996-2001, but he was 66 runs worse than the average shortstop. After adjusting for position, that made him roughly 20 runs worse than the average fielder.

It's hard to say how heavily the Yankees front office weighed defensive metrics at this point, or if they even considered them at all. This was right around the time of the Moneyball movement and before advanced statistics became widely accepted across baseball. Whether or not the Yankees were aware of it, the statistical evidence against Jeter's defense was starting to pile up. Still, they continued to run him out there through the early aughts, and he continued to play a below-average shortstop. In fairness, there weren't any obvious landing spots for the Jeter during this span. Most erstwhile shortstops end up at either second or third base, and the Yankees were pretty well situated at those positions. At second, they had a budding star in Alfonso Soriano, while the hot corner was manned by the likes of Scott Brosius, Robin Ventura, and Aaron Boone. Perhaps they could have shifted Jeter over to third base following Brosius' retirement in 2001, but that would have necessitated bringing on another shortstop, and the free agent crop of shortstops was pretty thin that offseason. There just weren't a ton of other shortstops to be had at that point.

Then came the 2003-2004 offseason. Jeter was fresh off of his fifth consecutive below-average season at short. Meanwhile, the Yankees had an opening at third base following a season-ending injury to Aaron Boone in January. To fill the gap, they swung a trade for then-shortstop Alex Rodriguez. If there was ever a good time to move Jeter to a non-shortstop position, this was probably it. Jeter had a track record of poor defense, and at 30, had reached the point where his defensive skills were likely to fall off a cliff. Most importantly, the Yankees had a far superior defensive shortstop on the roster and an opening at third base (and second base since they traded Alfonso Soriano for A-Rod). Of course, the Yankees didn't go that route, opting instead to move A-Rod to a new position.

We all remember how great of a hitter A-Rod was in his prime, but, believe it or not, he was also a pretty slick fielder back in the day. Per UZR, A-Rod was the best shortstop in baseball from 2002-2003, putting up an impressive +24 UZR --leaps and bounds better than Jeter's -4 mark. On defense alone, A-Rod was worth something like two wins more than Jeter before he made the switch to the hot corner.

Based purely on the numbers, it seems silly that the Yankees moved A-Rod to third in deference to Jeter. They had two shortstops -- one great and one poor -- and they opted to have ~25% more balls hit to the poor one. Of course, it wasn't exactly that simple. No matter what the data said, "replacing" Jeter with A-Rod would have been a PR nightmare. Essentially, they would have been signaling that they had found a player better than their newly-minted captain. The Yankees' hands were tied.

Following the 2004 season, there wasn't really another obvious opportunity to move Jeter from his signature position, at least not without dramatically shaking up the roster. A-Rod was entrenched at third base for the next eternity, and Robinson Cano cemented himself as the team's second baseman of the future when he hit .342 as a 23-year-old in 2006. So Jeter remained at short, consistently gracing the bottom third of UZR leaderboards year-after-year.

Given the circumstances, its easy to see why the Yankees never shifted Jeter to another position. His obvious landing spots were adequately filled through most of his Yankee tenure, and when there was an opening, making that switch would have sparked a controversy that they, understandably, chose to avoid. But given Jeter's play over the past couple of years, you have to figure they wish they had given it more thought.

Jeter may have been a pretty lousy shortstop, but he was obviously still an excellent player. And all things considered, wasn't even a terrible defensive player. He was just miscast as a shortstop, which happens to be one of the most difficult positions on the diamond. As Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs put it, "Jeter’s like the worst beer from an excellent brewery". All told, Jeter's been worth a remarkable 74 fWAR over his career. That's good for 45th all-time, and is more than enough to justify his Hall of Fame induction six years from now, even before considering his postseason overtures. Yet as great as Derek Jeter's been, its hard not to think the Yankees could have added a few more wins to their ledger if their captain hadn't been shoehorned into a position slightly above his defensive skill level.

Now we're getting into it!

Comment of the Game

Since we had both a regular thread and an overflow thread, there are two posts worthy of the COTG. The first goes to long time lurker repeater1990, who has decided to join us once again. He even claimed he was going for the COTG today and he did not disappoint. The second COTG goes to yesterday's winner, long time listener. Again, he's a COTG vet here folks, so you've got to be on your game.

Best GIF of the Recap

MinigunMadness once again claims the Best Recap GIF trophy yesterday, as his was the only one Rec'd.

Top Five Rec'd Comments of the Day

People agree with ShaunRunDMC on the whole Ortiz thing.

ArunK tells us exactly what to root for in the O's/BJ's matchup

John Erving remembers A-Rod. Miss you, Centaur.

Numbers four & five are a combo from ShaunRunDMC & John Erving, which PSAers agree with!

Fun Questions

• Which Yankee hits a HR today?
• Best attire that a male can wear?

Heeeeeeeey.

When the Yankees drafted Dante Bichette Jr. as their top pick in the 2011 MLB draft, which came 51st overall in the supplementary round, draft pundits immediately derided it as an overdraft, much like their selection of Cito Culver the year prior. While that remains true, Bichette has done his best this year to make the Yankees' decision look better.

The son of four-time All-Star and 274-homer slugger Dante Bichette, the graduate of Orangewood Christian High School in Florida got off to a fast start in his professional career. With the Yankees' Gulf Coast League Rookie ball affiliate, the righty immediately won the GCL Rookie of the Month in July 2011 and was eventually named the GCL MVP for hitting a staggering .342/.446/.505 with a 172 wRC+ in 52 games. That performance was enough to rocket him to #5 on John Sickels' 2012 Top 10 Yankees Prospects list, and #6 on Baseball America's version.

For as promising as that debut season was though, DBJ's next two years were hell, and not just because he spent them in South Carolina (I kid). The Yankees thought highly enough of the 19-year-old to have him skip Short-Season ball in Staten Island and go straight into full season play with the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs. There's no beating around the bush--DBJ was awful in Charleston. In 2012, he slipped to a .248/.322/.331 triple slash with an 84 wRC+ in 122 games, and repeating the level next year, he was actually a little worse--.214/.292/.331 with an 82 wRC+ in 114 games. Sure, he regained some of his power with 11 homers after struggling to a dismal three in 2012, but he was hitting for less contact and striking out more (24.5%).

What hurt him the most seemed to be playing half his games at Charleston's infamous Riley Park. "The Joe" is an extremely pitcher-friendly park, and in his two years there, DBJ struggled to a .230/.285/.306 triple slash in 2012 and a dismal .184/.251/.300 triple slash in 2013. It seemed like any hopes of DBJ reclaiming his relevance were lost, as he was 21 years old at the start of 2014 and seemingly unable to escape A-ball. He wasn't on many Top Yankees Prospects lists, and he didn't even crack Pinstripe Alley's own preseason Top 30 Prospects list.

DBJ turned to his accomplished father for support, and he was gracious enough to resign as the Colorado Rockies' hitting coach in 2013 to focus on his son. They reportedly corrected some problems in his swing, and as Jesse recounted in April, he looked a lot better in minor league spring training:

During spring camp, according to Steffan Segui of Baseball Prospectus, Bichette showed a more simplified approach at the plate; "his swing is now rock, identify pitch, and roll. Short and quick, don't ask questions." This appears to be a stark improvement from his previous mechanics at the plate where he'd be "huge rock, never identify pitch, Javier Baez-type leg-lift, front shoulder bails, hands drop, then roll."

Perhaps inspired by these improvements, the Yankees started him in High-A Tampa despite his shaky couple of seasons, and DBJ hit the ground running. Now playing half his games at the more neutral Steinbrenner Field He crushed Florida State League pitching to a .321/.442/.440 batting line in April, and though he cooled off somewhat, he maintained a high performance level. Through 109 games, DBJ hit .271/.352/.410 with 27 doubles, nine homers, a .354 wOBA, and a 120 wRC+. He cut his strikeouts to 19.6% and increased his walk rate from about 8.6% in Charleston to 10.9% in Tampa. Yankees on Demand recently did a feature on him:

Now, DBJ's hard work has paid off. Today, it was revealed that he would be promoted to Double-A Trenton. He'll face another big challenge contesting a pitcher's park with Trenton's daunting Arm & Hammer Park, but perhaps this time he'll be more prepared for tackling those hurdles. He still has a tough road to the big leagues, as he needs work on his defense at third base, and back in Tampa, the more highly-regarded Eric Jagielo was starting more often over him while DBJ covered the designated hitter spot. Nonetheless, if DBJ can keep hitting through the higher levels of the minors, the Yankees will have to find a spot for him sometime in the future.

It's good to have you back, DBJ. Now bring back your Twitter account, we miss you!

The Braves and Yankees are zombie teams that will never die. Only one of them can be the true zombie king, though.

Earlier in the year, I wrote two articles about the Yankees: One had a title of "The Yankees are completely screwed" but ended with an acknowledgment that the Yankees were a zombie franchise that was going to feast on us and live forever. One had a title of "The Yankees will be absolutely fine" but ended with an acknowledgment that they were probably screwed. This is known, in writer's jargon, as "being a weasel" and "having it both ways."

In the comments of the "completely screwed" piece (which did 30 times the traffic, in case you were curious), a reader noted that the Braves are the real zombie franchise, specifically mentioning Aaron Harang, who is enjoying his best season in years. If you're a believer in fielding-independent pitching (FIP), note that his FIP is the best of his 13-year career. Of course it is. There's something to the zombie Braves, too.

Here we are with less than two months left, and the Yankees and Braves are both in the mix for a playoff spot, groaning, staggering after the first-place teams with a slow, exaggerated gait. Except there's a difference, which I'll attempt to explain in a Braves-centric way.

The Yankees really are absurd and undead. They have more good pitchers on the 60-day DL than most teams have on their roster, and that's not including Masahiro Tanaka, who hasn't officially been transferred to the 60-day yet. Considering the Yankees weren't flush with majors-ready prospects for the rotation, they should be several games under .500 by now. No team can withstand that kind of loss.

In a way, the Yankees haven't. Based on the runs they've allowed and the runs they've scored, they should have something like a 53-59 record — they're far, far closer to the Cubs' Pythagorean record than they are to the Blue Jays'. Yet they're ambling about, looking for brains, and pestering the Blue Jays and others for the second wild card spot. It's ridiculous. Did you know that Derek Jeter is 40 and still starting at shortstop, even though he has the range of a beach umbrella, and the Yankees are still contending? Unreal. Unholy.

The Braves are also hanging in there, but just barely. They've lost seven in a row coming into Wednesday, falling further and further behind the Nationals in the NL East. Like the Yankees, they shouldn't be here, not after losing the bulk of their rotation before Opening Day. Yet they've done remarkably Braves things to keep everything afloat, plugging in young players to replace disintegrating veterans (Tommy La Stella) and plugging in veterans to replace disintegrating young players (Harang). It's kept them in at least one playoff race.

The difference between the two zombie teams: I can't help but be terrified at what the Braves would look like if everyone did what they were supposed to.

Take yourself back to the beginning of the season, and pretend your job was to be optimistic about the Braves despite the injuries to Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy. Make a list of the things a reasonable person could have expected. Here's what I would have gone with:

• B.J. Upton moving from the worst player in baseball to someone who belongs on a major league roster
  
  
• Chris Johnson continuing to be a successful average-dependent player
  
  
• Andrelton Simmons recapturing his rookie ability at the plate and becoming a more well-rounded player
  
  
• Jason Heyward rediscovering his power stroke and turning into a veritable force, rather than a player whose WAR and dWAR are necessary for everyone to fully appreciate him

In other words, the Braves were going to have to hit their way out of the mess. This isn't to suggest they've been nothing but unlucky this season — the seasons from Justin Upton, Alex Wood, Julio Teheran, Evan Gattis, Harang and most of the key bullpen cogs have helped the Braves contend in the first place. But when I look at the Braves, I don't wonder why the team is where they are, fighting for a playoff spot, but not as convincingly as they might like. I wonder why they aren't better. They seem like a well-run machine that's spitting out chocolates just a little too fast for Lucy and Ethel at the moment, but is still impressive in its efficiency.

The Yankees make no sense. Chris Capuano is currently in their rotation because he has to be. The lineup is overstuffed with over-30 hitters on the way down because it has to be. They've been outscored on the season because of course they have, look at the roster. Yet they're still contending. It's taken about two decades for the Royals to get to a spot where they can contend quite like this. The Yankees contend like this even after they trip over a tricycle and get their foot stuck in a bucket. It's effortless and freaky, even when everything goes wrong.

Perhaps 10 years ago, I would have appealed to luck over process, suggesting that the universe would correct for this run of good cards eventually. Except I'm pretty sure there's something tangible masquerading as intangible, here. The Yankees are the Road Runner, who isn't going to fall into the canyon because he doesn't look down. It doesn't make sense, but it's almost like there's something to the idea that a belief that they're going to contend, no matter what happens, is contagious. There's an earned arrogance that translates into things like one-run wins and outperforming Pythagorean records. Maybe.

All I know is that the Yankees are still zombies, and they're going to chew our noses off before coming back for more next year. The Braves are a good team that's made the best of extenuating circumstances. The Yankees are undead and at your door. Don't bother with the science or the explanations. Just run.