We've come a long way since the Joba Rules. Joba Chamberlain was once a dominant reliever, giving up a total of two runs during his debut season in 2007 (with a 1221 ERA+), and maintaining a 2.60 ERA the following season, striking out 118 batters in 100.1 innings over 12 starts and 30 relief appearances. However, since the failed attempt to convert him into a full-time starter in 2009, he's been a below-average reliever, save for an injury-shortened 2011 campaign. This season, Chamberlain may be having the worst year of his career, with personal worsts in ERA+, walk rate, and home run rate. Most of us don't expect much from him anymore, but some are still holding out hope that Chamberlain can regain some of his previous form. Here's a detailed look at what he'll need to do in order to reverse this trend, tables courtesy of BrooksBaseball.net.

Trajectory and Movement - from 03/30/2007 to 09/28/2008

Pitch Outcomes - from 03/30/2007 to 09/28/2008

Sabermetric Outcomes - from 03/30/2007 to 09/28/2008

This is the biggest available sample of "Good Joba," from 2007 to 2008. Even if you weren't watching his outings during this time period, it's not hard to tell why he was so good. Chamberlain mixed his pitches well, transforming from a two-pitch reliever in 2007 to mixing in elements of five pitches for most of 2008, and gaining a lot of confidence with his curveball. His setup pitch, the hard fastball, induced a lot more swings than one might expect, but a surprisingly high number of these resulted in fouls or pop-ups. His slider became a dominant out pitch, with a very high whiff rate, and it was complemented well by the emerging curveball, which kept batters swinging at a pitch they couldn't handle. All in all, Chamberlain's stuff was successful in 2007 and 2008, and he maximized the impact of a five-pitch repertoire by relying on two or three strong pitches and occasionally throwing something different to keep hitters guessing. At the time, it seemed like Chamberlain would be a consistent long-term option as either a starter or bullpen ace.

Trajectory and Movement - from 03/01/2009 to 10/31/2011

Pitch Outcomes - from 03/01/2009 to 10/31/2011

Sabermetric Outcomes - from 03/01/2009 to 10/31/2011

From 2009 to 2011 is what I'll call "Intermediate Joba," as his play was typically no better than average during this period, but he still showed signs of his potential. He lost velocity on his fastball and gained some on his curve, but lost some movement on it. Between these time periods, Chamberlain's ability to get called strikes significantly decreased on all pitches (other than the change up, which he had begun to utilize a little more), which suggests that his stuff had become less deceptive, leading to a higher overall line drive rate. Furthermore, and perhaps most ominous, was the fact that his out pitch, the slider, had become much less effective. While the swing rate was stable, largely because he threw it primarily in two-strike counts, batters were whiffing much less often than before, and they had begun to hit the ball in the air rather than on the ground. However, while these issues were troubling, Chamberlain still often flashed his potential enough to not cause too many worries.

Trajectory and Movement - from 03/01/2012 to 08/26/2013

Pitch Outcomes - from 03/01/2012 to 08/26/2013

Sabermetric Outcomes - from 03/01/2012 to 08/26/2013

Over the past two years is where Chamberlain has looked his worst overall. While they're still technically utilized, he's all but abandoned his sinker and change up in favor of his top three pitches. The curveball continued its downward trend, in terms of movement, and, as both it and the fastball became less and less effective, Chamberlain began to throw the slider much more often than before. That pitch, though, was hit in the air just as often as it was hit on the ground, which never bodes well, but especially not for a pitch that, even at its best, was always somewhat susceptible to a home run. And double especially when that pitch is your go-to out pitch when ahead in the count. The ever-increasing line drive rate is probably the biggest reason for his spike in hit rate over the past two seasons, and the weighty home run rate (nearly 1.5 per nine innings) is likely an offshoot of his inability to consistently get strikes when needed.

So what does Chamberlain need to do in order to improve from here on out? To put an entry into the "easier said than done" department, he'll need to keep hitters guessing like he did during his good department. In my mind, that means throwing the slider less and bringing back the change up. While the issue with the slider can be summarized as giving up too much contact, this is most likely a result of hitters predicting the pitch than any change in delivery or pitch directory. With better conditioning, he may be able to regain some some fastball velocity, which would likely increase the effectiveness of his setup pitch that he has seemed to lost confidence in during the past two seasons. It's not as simple as just an adjustment in pitch selection, but I think these tables show trends that suggest where Chamberlain has room for improvement.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• The Tampa Bay Rays and why I hate young people
• The rise of the "Big Three" in September 2007 and how they helped clinch the Wild Card
• Who will the Yankees call up in September?
• Yankees weekly preview: 8/26-9/1
• Should we worry about Hiroki Kuroda?

Yesterday, Phil Hughes turned in another dud of a start, as he failed to get through five complete innings for the 10th time in 2013 out of 25 starts. He gave up seven hits and five runs, but while two of those runs were unearned due to Ichiro Suzuki's uncharacteristic error, Hughes proceeded to give up a big run-scoring double to Adam Lind immediately after that as well.

Hughes's ERA- jumped up to 119, the seventh-worst mark among all qualifying AL pitchers and the fourth-worst among AL starters. His FIP- of 111 isn't much better, and even his xFIP-, a figure that has always made him seem better than he is since is normalizes home run rate, went up to 109, the sixth-worst xFIP- in the league. His WPA for the season is -1.82, which is also sixth-worst among all AL pitchers, and his ugly 10.1 H/9 is the fourth-worst in the league. Even his basic win/loss record of 4-13 accurately demonstrates how horrible Hughes has been for the Yankees in 2013. It's not breaking news.

With important playoff race starts for Hughes potentially coming up soon against the hard-hitting Orioles and Red Sox, an obvious question must be posed: Is there any point to gambling on Hughes any longer? The Yankees currently sit four and a half games behind the Athletics for the second Wild Card spot, and both the Indians and Orioles stand in front of them for that race. The second Wild is almost certainly going to have at least 88 wins, and to reach that minimal number, the Yankees have to play at a .612 clip (19-12) for the remainder of the season. Each loss they suffer hurts even more since they don't have many to work with, and they have won a Hughes start just once in the past month. (They are 9-16 in Hughes starts on the season.)

If Hughes receives as many starts in September as he did in August, then the Yankees will be risking him in five games down the stretch. They can't afford to stick with Hughes, who has simply not pitched well for the entire season and has had essentially two good months since the May 2010. Hughes has proven time and again that he cannot be a reliable starter. They have to at least try something different than cross their fingers and hope for the best with Hughes.

Obviously, this effort would be easier for the Yankees if they had any obvious candidates to replace Hughes in the rotation. Their best option from last year, David Phelps, is injured and unavailable. Michael Pineda, once considered a candidate to grab a rotation spot once he got back to the major leagues, was shut down with shoulder stiffness earlier in August. That leaves David Huff, Adam Warren, and Brett Marshall as the only legitimate options.

Huff has been superb in relief for his last two appearances, a combined 8 1/3 scoreless one-hit innings, but he was regarded as a punchline prior to then given his unstable career marks of a 126 ERA- and a 117 FIP-. Warren has pitched to a nice 90 ERA- this season in the pros, mostly out of the bullpen. He was unimpressive in his spot start last Wednesday though, and the last time he was a full-time starter in 2012, he managed just a mediocre 3.71 ERA in Triple-A. Additionally, despite his fine relief work this year, lefties have hit him hard with a .318/.389/.581 triple slash. That leaves Marshall, who also made an underwhelming spot start earlier this year (back in May). He pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed just two hits in his most recent Triple-A start against the PawSox, bringing his ERA in August down to 3.65. However, on the season, he has not handled the transition from Double-A to Triple-A well at all. He has a 5.13 ERA and 4.62 FIP in Scranton, both figures that are worse than Hughes's numbers in the majors.

The field is uninspiring, but something new has to be done. Try riding the hot hand with Huff or Marshall, or give Warren another chance to redeem himself since he has earned a shot with yeoman work out of the 'pen. Yesterday on Twitter, WFAN's Sweeny Murti argued that "can't be any worse" is not a good way to make decisions. I normally like Murti, but in this case, gambling on the  status quo to change when it simply hasn't in three and a half years is worse. Other options should be explored if there's even a remote chance of success. If the Yankees miss the playoffs by a couple games, Hughes's crappy starts will be an easy target for blame. If they just try someone else, they can at least say they attempted to do something about it. Sure, Huff, Warren, and Marshall could all easily flop as well since their track records aren't great, but when the competition is Hughes, even a fluky mediocre start will appear impressive in comparison.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Yankees 2, Blue Jays 5: Phil Hughes pitches as well as you've come to expect
• Can Joba Chamberlain turn around his career?
• Yankees Fans: Hope is a good thing
• This week in GIFs: Nova twerks; Girardi responds; A-Rod does ill
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/26/13: Eric Jagielo leads Yankees in shutout win

Ichiro Suzuki is having a terrible second half in 2013. He compiled a .283/.320/.393 batting line with a 92 wRC+ in the first half, but has fallen to a .238/.262/.262 batting line with a mere 38 wRC+. Ichiro has been a -0.2 WAR player since the All-Star break. That is more than likely fueled from his incredible defensive value because the one Yankee that has been worse than him, Eduardo Nunez with a -0.4 WAR in the second half, actually has a 92 wRC+ as well.

Of all qualified batter in the league, Ichiro currently ranks third worst in wRC+ behind only Alcides Escobar and Trevor Plouffe. He's fourth worst in walk rate with a 2.14%, has the second worst ISO with a .025, and eighth lowest on base percentage with a .262, despite the fact that his value has always been in his ability to get on base. Thankfully, his defense has allowed his WAR to rank as only the seventeenth worst batter in baseball.

Looking for what he is doing wrong, it seems that he's hitting more ground balls (51.1% in the first half vs. 55.4% in the second half) and he's hitting a lot less fly balls (28.1% vs. 22.3%). Along with his very low isolated power, it seems that what little power Ichiro had is now completely gone. He's not really hitting the ball with much authority, so more balls are becoming ground balls. He isn't even getting on base since his walks are down (5.3% vs. 2.4%), essentially making him worthless over the last 38 games he's played.

Sure, his defense is nice, but at this point he really shouldn't be getting playing time over Alfonso Soriano (130 wRC+, 1.2 WAR), Curtis Granderson (141 wRC+, 0.8 WAR) or Brett Gardner (87 wRC+, 0.4 WAR) if he's not going to hit. Even Vernon Wells has been hitting better (101 wRC+, 0.2 WAR), and if Vernon Wells is playing better than you, maybe it's time to reassess your priorities. Oh wait, 2014 says everything is fine.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• The Tampa Bay Rays and why I hate young people
• The rise of the "Big Three" in September 2007 and how they helped clinch the Wild Card
• Who will the Yankees call up in September?
• Yankees weekly preview: 8/26-9/1
• Should we worry about Hiroki Kuroda?

Rosters for the Arizona Fall League have been announced by MLB and the Yankees will be sending three prospects out west as part of the Scottsdale Scorpions. Outfield prospects Mason Williams and Tyler Austin will join catching prospect Peter O'Brien on the Scorpions as the Yankees representatives. The AFL has mainly been a place where prospects at any level of the minor leagues can go to get some extended work in after the regular minor league season is over. The extra time presents a chance to have a prospect make up for lost time or work on something new.

After experiencing a few injuries this season, including being currently on the disabled list, Austin will likely be one of the prospects hoping to use the AFL to make up for lost time. If the Yankees are serious about his progression through the levels of the minor leagues, and it appears that they are, they will want him to be ready for the next step come spring training 2014. In addition to making up for lost time, the Yankees are reportedly going to have him try his hand at first base while in Arizona. After being drafted as a catcher and moved to third base before ultimately finding a spot in the outfield, Austin doesn't have a true defensive home. It doesn't hurt for the team to try to see where he can stick, particularly if they view him as the prospect closest to the major leagues.

Williams missed a chunk of the 2012 season after an injured shoulder required season-ending surgery. His 2013 return with the Tampa Yankees didn't really go as planned for one of the Yankees' top prospects after he struggled offensively most of the season. Likely because of the injuries to the Trenton Thunder outfield, Williams was recently promoted to Double-A out of more necessity than merit. The struggles at the plate haven't subsided, so it's likely that the team wants him to go to Arizona to work out whatever has him in such a funk with the bat. Perhaps encouraging results will make the team feel like they can start him out in Trenton next season, since nothing Williams has done this year really indicates that he has mastered the High-A level.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from Williams, O'Brien has done nothing but hit all season between Low-A Charleston and High-A Tampa. His inclusion on the AFL roster is likely because of his defensive shortcomings. Few people believe he has the skills to stick behind the plate as a catcher, and he's played a good chunk of games at third base for Tampa, even after Gary Sanchez's promotion to Tampa. O'Brien has been a butcher in the field, particularly at third base, having committed 16 errors in 57 games since he was promoted. If the Yankees want him to stick at the hot corner or catcher, he's going to have to make strides defensively. Perhaps some extra time in the AFL can help him inch a little closer to where they want him to be.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Hiroki Kuroda and the invasion of the body snatchers
• Ichiro Suzuki has been terrible in the second half
• With wins at a premium, it's time to pull the plug on Phil Hughes and the status quo
• Can Joba Chamberlain turn around his career?
• This week in GIFs: Nova twerks; Girardi responds; A-Rod does ill

Robinson Cano left tonight's game against the Blue Jays after getting hit in the hand by J.A. Happ in the first inning. He was able to stay in the game after Steve Donohue checked out his hand, but after Alfonso Soriano hit a three-run home run directly after his at-bat, he was pulled from the game. Eduardo Nunez replaced him at second base in the bottom of the first when the Yankees went out on defense.

Happ had previously broken Curtis Granderson's arm in spring training at the beginning of the year, so if Cano is seriously injured, you can blame everything on him. At this point, the season rests on the structural integrity of Cano's hand. If it's broken, that would mean the season for him, like it did Jayson Nix. The Yankees offense needs their best hitter, so that would likely be the season for them when they're still several games out of a playoff spot.

Yankee hitters have seemingly gotten hit and injured by baseballs several times this season. Granderson was hit twice and broke a bone both times, Nix broke his hand, and even Francisco Cervelli broke his hand off a foul tip from behind the plate.

We're all waiting to hear word on Cano's X-rays.

UPDATE

XRays negative on Cano. Day to day.

— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) August 28, 2013

Cano said he feels Friday is realistic for him to play again

— Erik Boland (@eboland11) August 28, 2013

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Arizona Fall League 2013: Yankees send Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, and Peter O'Brien
• Hiroki Kuroda and the invasion of the body snatchers
• Ichiro Suzuki has been terrible in the second half
• With wins at a premium, it's time to pull the plug on Phil Hughes and the status quo
• Can Joba Chamberlain turn around his career?

Star New York Yankees second baseman and soon-to-be free agent Robinson Cano left Tuesday night's game against the Blue Jays after being struck in the wrist by a pitch.

Cano, a left-hander, began to swing at a J.A. Happ offering that came in high and inside. The ball went under his right wrist, but hit his left squarely on the wrist below the pinky finger.

A trainer came out to examine Cano, and it was eventually decided that Cano would be allowed to stay in the game to run the bases. He would score on a home run by Alfonso Soriano later in the inning. However, Cano was taken out of the game before the Yankees took the field on defense. Eduardo Nunez replaced him at second base.

X-rays on Cano's wrist came back negative, and for now he is listed as day-to-day with a wrist contusion. If the bruise worsens, it could spell a stint on the disabled list, however.

Cano has seen action in all 132 games the Yankees have played in 2013. However, it looks like that streak may be in danger. He was named to his fourth consecutive All-Star team earlier this season and is hitting .305/384/.506 with 24 home runs.

Cano, 30, will be a free agent for the first time at the end of the year. As arguably the best second baseman in all of the MLB, he figures to see a big payday.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• Mets trade Byrd, Buck to Pirates | Neyer: Mets week just got better

• So much for Byrd’s T-shirt night in New York | #Lookit

• Goldman: Heyman can vote for Scherzer without apologizing

• Neyer: Ryan Howard and the stupid people

• Mets’ Matt Harvey tears UCL | Brisbee: What the Mets will miss

Yankees 7 Blue Jays 1

Another game, another loss.

Four batters into the game we were down 4-0. It wouldn't get any better.

J.A. Happ had a rough start to things. He started off allowing a Brett Gardner double, then Derek Jeter singled, a hit batter (putting Cano out of the game) and a Alfonso Soriano 3-run homer and basically the game was over there. Happ gave another Soriano homer in the 3rd inning. In total 4.2 innings, 7 hits, 5 earned, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He gave up a lot of hard hit balls.

Esmil Rogers relieved and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing 2 more solo home runs.

We didn't do much on offense either. 9 hits. 3 for Moises Sierra. 2 each for Rajai Davis and Ryan Goins. Goins is now hitting .421. Edwin Encarnacion, Mark DeRosa and J.P. Arencibia all had 0 fors. Well, Brett Lawrie was 0 for too, but just an 0 for 1, with 2 walks. Kevin Pillar drove in our 1 run, driving home Goins.

The Jays hit into inning ending double plays each of the last four innings, adding to the fun of the game.

Moises Sierra had some misadventures on the base paths. He was thrown out trying to score from second on a single. It was a bad send by third base coach Rivera, Sierra waited to make sure the ball made it through the infield and was out easy at the plate. Later in the game Moises ran into Goins grounder to between 1st and 2nd, making himself the first out of the 8th inning.

No Jays of the Day today.

Happ gets Suckage for his -.291.

Anyone else tired of bad baseball?

Good news for Cano:

X-rays on Robinson Cano's hand were negative after he got hit by a pitch (GIF included): http://t.co/Zn5SBO30Au

— SB Nation (@sbnation) August 28, 2013

You see negative is positive to doctors.

All things considered this was a pretty good day for the Yankees. The offense hit four home runs, their starting pitcher was sensational, and the Yankees beat the Blue Jays for the 14th time in 16 tries. But the win was almost a side show to the simple relief that the Yankees will go home on Tuesday without any casualties.

J.A. Happ, who I'm guessing gets a bounty for injuring Yankee hitters, hit Robinson Cano on the wrist in the top of the first inning. He would stay in the game to run the bases and later came around to score, but he was then replaced at second base by Eduardo Nunez. This, to Yankee fans anyway, got very very close to a nightmare scenario in a season where they've lost seemingly every important starting regular at some point or another. Currently four games out of the final wild card spot, making up that kind of ground in a little over a month without their All-Star second baseman would make an already difficult task nearly impossible.

But for once, something good happened to the 2013 Yankees. Happ failed in his attempt to injure multiple Yankees in a span of six months. Cano did not have a broken hand- he instead has a contusion and is listed as day to day. He may not play tomorrow, but he'll be playing next week.

Even with all this heart-stopping injury drama, there was still a game today. And the game itself was all Yankees from the start. Brett Gardner led off the game with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a single by Derek Jeter. Cano then got hit by a pitch courtesy of Happ to put two men on base for Alfonso Soriano. Soriano deposited the next pitch into the left field seats and the Yankees doubled their run total from last night before recording an out.

Soriano would get to Happ again with his second homer of the night leading off the top of the third, the 400th of his career. Happ got through the fourth inning and got the first two outs in the fifth before walking Alex Rodriguez. Sensing that his night was nearly over, Happ was determined to snipe at least one more Yankee from the mound before departing for the evening. His final target was Curtis Granderson, but thankfully he barely missed his hand this time around. Granderson wound up drawing a walk before Happ was replaced by Esmil Rogers.

Mark Reynolds homered to left off of Rogers to lead off the sixth and Rodriguez connected for a monster solo shot in the seventh for the Yankees' seventh run of the night. It was the fourth home run of the season for A-Rod and #651 for his career. This was mentioned on the broadcast, but it took 20 games for Rodriguez to match the home run total of Yankees third baseman over the first four and a half months of the season.

Those seven runs were more than enough for Andy Pettitte, who pitched seven shutout innings tonight, allowing five hits and striking out three. Andy has given up just one earned run in his last 19.2 innings, and tonight was his first scoreless outing of the season. After a difficult stretch through the middle of the season, Andy Pettitte is looking like Andy Pettitte again at just the right time. With the struggles of Phil Hughes and and inconsistency of CC Sabathia, Pettitte's turnaround has been very important to the success of the starting rotation.

Adam Warren came on to pitch the final two innings for the Yankees in relief of Pettitte. He scattered five hits through the final two innings but only allowed the one run, getting some help on a nice play in the outfield by Soriano and a double play started by A-Rod to end the game in the ninth.

Nunez appeared to injure himself on the artificial turf in the top of the eighth, as he fell to the ground on a single off the glove of Jeter and he had his knee looked at on the field. He stayed in the game and singled to center in the top of the ninth before being lifted for a pinch runner. It is just a tweak per Joe Girardi, and he's also day to day. Reynolds played second base in this game.

The Yankees wrap up their series in Toronto tomorrow before an off day on Thursday, and then unarguably the most important homestand of the season. Hiroki Kuroda and Todd Redmond are the starters.

Box score.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Cano leaves game after hit by pitch
• Arizona Fall League 2013: Yankees send Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, and Peter O'Brien
• Yankees Fans: Hope is a good thing
• Ichiro Suzuki has been terrible in the second half
• With wins at a premium, it's time to pull the plug on Phil Hughes and the status quo

Yesterday on Pinstriped Bible

• Yankees 7, Blue Jays 1: Offense hits four home runs in win
• Cano leaves game after hit by pitch
• Yankees lineup vs. Blue Jays; Joe Girardi likely to re-sign
• Arizona Fall League 2013: Yankees send Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, and Peter O'Brien
• Hiroki Kuroda and the invasion of the body snatchers
• Ichiro Suzuki has been terrible in the second half
• With wins at a premium, it's time to pull the plug on Phil Hughes and the status quo
• Can Joba Chamberlain turn around his career?
• Yankees Fans: Hope is a good thing
• This week in GIFs: Nova twerks; Girardi responds; A-Rod does ill
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/26/13: Eric Jagielo leads Yankees in shutout win

Around the Internet

• SB Nation | Noah Jarosh:Alex Rodriguez became just the fifth player to hit 650 home runs in his career.
• Grantland | Ben Lindbergh: What has Derek Jeter's defense cost the Yankees?
• It's About the Money | Brad Vietrogoski: The Yankees are now stealing bases like crazy, hoping to keep their playoff chances alive.
• New york Daily News | Mark Feinsand: Derek Jeter no longer holds the fate of the team in his hands, he is merely just another cog in the machine.
• NoMaas | SJK: Phil Hughes is what he is; a below-average starting pitcher.
• It's About the Money | Michael Eder: The Yankees need to see what Austin Romine has now.
• Bombers Beat | Bryan Hoch:Alfonso Soriano reached the 400 home run club last night.
• It's About the Money | Michael Eder:Austin Romine has revamped his swing and with the noted improvements, it's time to see if he can maintain success over a larger sample size.
• NotGraphs | Carson Cistulli:Derek Jeter's name keeps popping up in French articles on the internet.

Quick Hits

• The hope is for Robinson Cano to return to the lineup on Friday.
  
• Eduardo Nunez only tweaked his knee last night.
• Mark Reynolds is the emergency second baseman if Nunez can't play.
• Yankees prospect Zachary Varce has been promoted to High-A Tampa.
• A Fanpost from our site by Joe Connor was published in an online newspaper.

Questions of the Day

• Should Derek Jeter remain the starting shortstop or do the Yankees need to find someone else for 2014?
• What would be the most ridiculous out of position experience?
• Who is your favorite actor?
• Have you ever broken a bone?

Coming Up Today

• Baby Bomber Recap 8/27/13 @ 9 am
• Greatest Yankee Comeback Seasons @ 11 am
• Curtis Granderon's impressive return from the disabled list @ 12 pm
• 2013 Yankees and Batted Balls @ 3 pm
• New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays at 7:07 pm (Game Thread at 6:30 pm)

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W 2-1 vs. Pawtucket Red Sox

LF Corey Patterson 0-3, BB, K
C JR Murphy 2-3, BB, K - batting .264 with SWB
3B Ronnier Mustelier 0-4, RBI
1B Dan Johnson 0-4, 3 K
DH Randy Ruiz 0-4, K
2B David Adams 1-4, K
CF Adonis Garcia 2-4
RF Neil Medchill 2-4, RBI, K - batting .333 with SWB
SS Addison Maruszak 0-2, BB

Graham Stoneburner 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, BB, 3 K - nine groundouts, three flyouts
Dellin Betances 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, BB, 4 K, HB - 24 of 41 pitches for strikes

Pawtucket got out to an early 1-0 lead in the third inning before the RailRiders offense rallied back and the SWB pitchers combined to keep the Red Sox off the board for the remainder of the game.

Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 5-1 vs. New Britain Rock Cats

CF Mason Williams 0-4 - 9 for 57 with Trenton
LF Ramon Flores 0-4, K
2B Jose Pirela 2-3, 2B, BB - 24th double of the season
C Gary Sanchez 1-3, BB, E2 - pickoff error
1B Kyle Roller 0-4, 2 K, E3 - seventh of the season
SS Carmen Angelini 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI - 12th and 13th doubles since his promotion
DH Ben Gamel 0-4
RF Yeral Sanchez 1-3, HR, 2 RBI - second homer of the season
3B Reegie Corona 1-3, RBI, 2 K

Nik Turley 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R/0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, E1, HB - three groundouts, eight flyouts
Zach Nuding 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, BB, K

Turley turned in a gem of a game and the Thunder offense used two runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings to pick up their 70th win of the season and maintain their lead for a playoff spot.

High-A Tampa Yankees:L 2-3 vs. Clearwater Threshers

SS Cito Culver 1-3, BB, 2 K - batting .306 with Tampa
CF Taylor Dugas 1-3, BB
2B Rob Refsnyder 1-4, RBI - batting .406/.524/.500 over his last 10 games
3B Peter O'Brien 0-3, BB, K
DH Dan Fiorito 0-3, BB, 3 K
RF Cody Grice 0-3, BB, K
1B Jose Toussen 1-3, RBI, BB
C Jeff Farnham 0-3, BB - batting .313 with Tampa
LF Mikeson Oliberto 0-3, K, SB

Joel De La Cruz 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K - eight groundouts, zero flyouts
Eric Ruth 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K
Zach Woods 1.2 IP, 0 H, 2 ER, 5 BB

The Tampa Yankees allowed one hit and lost the game. Minor League Baseball.

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 8-1 vs. Greenville Drive

CF Danny Oh 3-5, K - batting .262 this season
SS Jose Rosario 1-4, 2B, BB
1B Greg Bird 1-5, HR, 3 RBI, K - 20th homer of the season, eight-game hitting streak
RF Ericson Leonora 1-4, 2B, BB, E9 - fielding error
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 2-4, RBI, BB, K
C Jackson Valera 0-5
DH Reymond Nunez 2-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI - 14th and 15th homers of the season
LF Fu-Lin Kuo 1-4, BB
2B Ty Afenir 1-4

Eric Wooten 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 9 K, WP - four groundouts, two flyouts
Tyler Webb 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
James Pazos 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

A five-run first inning helped power the RiverDogs past the Drive as Wooten and crew held Greenville scoreless after their run in the bottom of the first inning.

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:W 4-3 vs. Vermont Lake Monsters

SS Derek Toadvine 0-2, BB, 2 K, 2 HBP, E6 - throwing error
LF Michael O'Neill 1-5, 2B, RBI, E7 - 16th double of the season
3B Eric Jagielo 0-2, 2 BB, K
1B Mike Ford 0-2, 2 BB
CF Brandon Thomas 2-3, 2B, BB, K - 7th double of the season
DH Bubba Jones 1-3, RBI, BB, K
C Trent Garrison 0-4, K
2B Hector Crespo 0-3, RBI, BB, 2 K
RF Daniel Lopez 1-2, RBI, 2 BB, K, 2 SB

Andrew Benak 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, WP - two groundouts, five flyouts
Sam Agnew-Wieland 3 IP, 1 H, 2 R/0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Nick Rumbelow 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R/0 ER, 0 BB

Vermont gave the Yankees a run for their money at the end of the game but their rally ultimately fell short by a run in the top of the ninth to give Staten Island their 28th win of the season.

Gulf Coast League Yankees 1 Highlights:

SS Tyler Wade 2-5, RBI, BB, 2 SB - batting .309 this season
2B Bryan Cuevas 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI, BB
DH Gosuke Katoh 1-4, RBI, BB, K
CF Dustin Fowler 0-5
RF Eladio Moronta 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB
C Radley Haddad 1-4, BB, K

Erick Canela 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, WP - ten groundouts, zero flyouts
Victor Beriguete 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Gulf Coast Yankees 2 Highlights:

SS Claudio Custodio 0-3, HBP
RF Tyler Austin 2-3
3B Miguel Andujar 1-5
DH Luis Torrens 1-3, BB, K

Elvin Perez 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Dayton Dawe 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K, 2 WP

Alfonso Soriano has been reinvigorated by his return to the organization that groomed him for the majors. In 30 games with the Yankees, he's hit 11 homers with a slash line of .275/.315/.575. Sure, he's not walking, but when you're flashing power like that, it's of little consequence.

Those 11 homers helped him to a goal that, not that long ago, while still adorned in Cubs' blue, seemed like it would have to wait until next year, the last season of his current mega-contract. He reached it on Tuesday in Toronto against the Blue Jays, going deep twice for career home runs number 399 and 400.

It's a shame that 399 and 400 aren't swapped, as the former was a more impressive blast that traveled over 400 feet. The second one barely made it over the wall, and, according to Hit Tracker Online, would have been gone in just four parks in the entire game.

I think we can give him a pass, though, seeing as it's the 400th homer of his major-league life. He's probably got a few air miles saved up by now.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• Mets trade Byrd, Buck to Pirates | Neyer: Mets week just got better

• So much for Byrd’s T-shirt night in New York | #Lookit

• Goldman: Heyman can vote for Scherzer without apologizing

• Neyer: Ryan Howard and the stupid people

• Mets’ Matt Harvey tears UCL | Brisbee: What the Mets will miss

After going 2-for-4 at the plate with a walk against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night, Curtis Granderson has continued to show no ill effects at the plate since returning from the disabled list. After returning from his broken pinky finger that cost him 60 games, the Grandyman has hit .291/.412/.455 in 97 plate appearances and 24 games. Just what the doctor ordered.

Granderson's production hasn't been quite as noticed as it probably should have for a variety of reasons. There's the whole Alex Rodriguez drama, Soriano's return to the Yankees (and being awesome at the plate to go along with it), and Derek Jeter's return from injury, among other stories, have overshadowed Granderson's awesomeness thus far. However, it shouldn't go totally unnoticed. To go along with the positive production they've received from A-Rod and Soriano in their returns, plus Robinson Cano's and Brett Gardner's production they've received all season, and finally the potential production they'll get out of Derek Jeter, this gives the team six legitimately good hitters in the lineup which is something they've been desperately searching for all season long.

The recent hot stretch aside, 2013 has been a lost year for Granderson. It was supposed to be a big year for him, given it's his contract year and all, but the broken forearm he suffered in Spring Training (Hate you, J.A. Happ), to go along with the broken pinky he suffered just 10 days after returning, have cost Granderson a boatload of games this season and a potential big payday in the off-season. He'll surely get the qualifying offer from the Yankees, and if he accepts it (who knows if he would at the point. That's probably another post for another day) the Yankees will get a rock-solid middle of the order bat on a one-year, ~$14 million deal. Lost games and future with the Yankees aside, it's real nice to see Grandy continue to hit well at the plate and help lead the Yankees to a possible, albeit improbable, wild card berth.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• With wins at a premium, it's time to pull the plug on Phil Hughes and the status quo
• Arizona Fall League 2013: Yankees send Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, and Peter O'Brien
• Ichiro Suzuki has been terrible in the second half
• Can Joba Chamberlain turn around his career?
• This week in GIFs: Nova twerks; Girardi responds; A-Rod does ill

When Andy Pettitte announced that he would return for the 2013 season, fans reacted with cautious optimism. Sure, Pettitte was turning 41 and would be the oldest starter in baseball, but he had pitched so well last year with a 2.93 ERA in 14 starts (limited by a freak injury) between the regular season and playoffs after his retirement comeback that there was cause for hope. The season began well for Pettitte in April, as he carried a 2.22 ERA through four starts and despite one awful game against the Astros, he had a still-solid 3.83 ERA at the end of play on May 16th. A trapezius muscle strain cut that last start short after 4 2/3 innings though, and Pettitte spent a couple weeks on the disabled list recovering from the injury.

Pettitte was simply not the same pitcher upon his return from the DL. His Game Score of 71 against the Mariners on June 8th was his only such mark of at least 60 over the next two and a half months. From June 3rd through August 11th, Pettitte was awful, and it's a minor miracle that the Yankees went 6-7 in his starts given his 5.14 ERA, 11.9 H/9, average Game Score of 44, and .321/.352/.458 triple slash against. He wasn't giving the Yankees effective pitching or even bullpen relief, as he averaged fewer than six innings per start. His ERA ballooned to 4.62 and his weighted ERA- for the season hovered in the 110s, a mark far higher than any of Pettitte's other 17 seasons.

The combined disappointments of Pettitte, CC Sabathia, and Phil Hughes made it appear unlikely that the Yankees could even attempt a playoff run. Although Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova were superb, the Yankees needed at least one of the aforementioned struggling starters to recover if they wanted to get back into the playoff hunt. They could not realistically expect Kuroda and Nova to consistently carry the weight of exceeded pressure of winning all their starts.

The Yankees began a crucial series in Boston on August 16th, and they sent Pettitte out to face the difficult Red Sox offense. Staked to an early lead, Pettitte turned in a fine performance, limiting the Red Sox to six hits, one walk, and three unearned runs over 6 2/3 innings, a Game Score of 60. He has faced the Blue Jays in his last two starts, and while they have not had slugger Jose Bautista, they have had legitimate threats in Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Reyes, league-average producers Brett Lawrie and Mark DeRosa, and Pettite's nemesis Rajai Davis. Over the two outings, Pettitte threw 13 innings of one-run ball, the one run coming on a lone J.P. Arencibia solo homer.

The efforts of his previous three starts have lowered his ERA to a more respectable 4.05 mark and his ERA- to a league-average 98. Using Baseball-Reference's ERA+ and Play Index to compare Pettitte to his fellow age-41 starters across history, he now ranks in the middle of the 66 pitchers. He relies on his vast array of pitches to beat hitters since he longer has the same velocity he had when he was younger. Although his fastball and changeup have mostly failed him this year, he is generating success from his reliable curveball and cutter, both of which are positively rated by FanGraphs and PITCH F/X.

Essentially, Pettitte is rebounding in a way that Hughes could only dream about. It's still too soon to say that Pettitte is completely reliable since he's still only made four good starts out of his last 14 games, but Pettitte at least appears to be back on the right track. They need reliable starting pitching going down the stretch if they want to make a legitimate run at the Wild Card. His important upcoming potential starts against the Orioles (if Joe Girardi decides to skip Hughes on Sunday and start Pettitte on normal rest) and Red Sox do not seem quite as foreboding as they once did. Perhaps it's folly to think that a 41-year-old could possibly beat those great offenses, but thankfully, Pettitte has recovered to provide some cause for hope in what could be his last chance at playoff glory.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Curtis Granderson's impressive return from the disabled list
• Greatest Yankee comeback seasons
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/27/13: Eric Wooten strikes out nine in Charleston win
• Yankees 7, Blue Jays 1: Offense hits four home runs in win
• With wins at a premium, it's time to pull the plug on Phil Hughes and the status quo

In the three starts that Hiroki Kuroda has made against Toronto this year on April 20th, April 25th, and May 17th he has pitched 21.1 innings and allowed only four earned runs. That's good enough for a 1.69 ERA against the Blue Jays this year. His stats in those games also include 11 hits, 15 strikeouts, three walks, two home runs and a world of hurt for Toronto hitters.

Kuroda has amassed 320 pitches thrown in his three starts against the Blue Jays and the breakdown is as follows: 18 fourseamers, 133 sinkers/shuuto, 78 sliders, 17 curveballs, and 73 splitters. If you're good at math, then you'll realize one pitch wasn't picked up by pitch f/x as that only equals 319 pitches. If you want to see what that looks like in GIF form then I have just the thing (click on the links below the GIFs if they don't work):

via itsaboutthemoney.net

With his reliance on the three S's of the slider, sinker, and splitter he has at his disposal three pitches with three different types of movement. The slider breaks away from right handed batters with a hard bite, while the sinker runs in quite hard on their hands. Against left handed hitters, the splitter tumbles down and in one their hands resulting in an extremely hard to hit pitch:

How should the Blue Jays go about beating Hiroki Kuroda if they haven't fully boughten into TankFest 2013 yet? Well, just five days ago the Tampa Bay Rays chased Kuroda from the game after six innings milking him for seven earned runs and four home runs. All but one of Tampa Bay's runs came off the long ball and the game wasn't even at Yankee Stadium, where home runs soar more frequently than narratives from Buck Martinez's mouth. Three of the four home runs off Kuroda in that game came within the first three pitches of the at-bat, which is similar to how Toronto hit them off him back in April.

Kuroda has such great control that hitters seem to pounce on the first hittable pitch they see and swing hard. Since the Blue Jays have so many black holes in their lineup, having the power hitters swing freely with home runs as their intention seems to be a possible winning strategy for tonight's game. If they wait until Kuroda is into pitcher's counts, then they can expect to see pitches like these all night:

via sports.cbsimg.net

TankFest 2013!

The Chicago Cubs grinded out a tough victory last night in Los Angeles, so that's good to see.

Hopefully the Blue Jays can finally solve Hiroki Kuroda tonight.

Note: all statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs and reflect the 2013 season up to 8/27. Other than that they're totally accurate, I swear.

During the Yankees weekend series I, like many of you, was wondering how many times they could possibly hit the ball solidly right at a Rays fielder. It seemed to be happening constantly. But those frequent misfortunes got me to pondering just how much the type of contact the Yankees have been making has impacted their struggles on offense this year. A lower team OBP is an obvious culprit in their general ineptitude, but what about balls in play?

Interesting enough, the types of batted balls between the teams are not terribly divergent. Groundballs, flyballs and line drives make up similar percentages for both of the teams. Where you can really see the difference is the percentage of flyballs that stay in the park for the 2013 squad. Also notable is just how many of the hits for the 2013 team have come on bunts and infield hits, which is not surprising for a team that featured Ichiro Suzuki and Brett Gardner for the entire campaign. Certainly seems like a tally in the win column for the long ball versus small ball debate.

But what of the individual Yankees in 2013? Does Eduardo Nunez hit popups in the infield as much as my distain for him would indicate?

(Minimum 100 PA)

I would say so, as Nunez, Ichiro, and Vernon Wells pop the ball up on the infield more than anyone on the team. This is particularly egregious for two players as fast as Nunez and Ichiro. And in a shocking upset, line-drive machine Robinson Cano is actually second in LD% to the fallen Jayson Nix. Also, Chris Stewart hits far too many fly balls for a player with the raw power of a damp napkin. Amazingly, over one quarter of all of Alfonso Soriano's fly balls hit go for home runs. He really is the quintessential "all or nothing" hitter.

So what do all of these numbers show? Other than being another example of the '13 Yankees having had to rely on an absurd number of powerless hitters for much of the year, not much. But if you have zero pop to speak of, do try to hit on the ground or on a line. Thankfully, with sluggers like Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano and Curtis Granderson now in the lineup, the fly balls are traveling much further.

More from Pinstriped Bible:

• Arizona Fall League 2013: Yankees send Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, and Peter O'Brien
• Hiroki Kuroda and the invasion of the body snatchers
• Ichiro Suzuki has been terrible in the second half
• With wins at a premium, it's time to pull the plug on Phil Hughes and the status quo
• Can Joba Chamberlain turn around his career?

Yankees 2 Blue Jays 7

That was nice, it's very rare that we take an early lead and we hold on to it.

The first inning was a lot of fun, a 2-run double for Brett Lawrie and a 2-run strikeout for J.P. Arencibia, You have to love productive outs. If you missed it, with Brett Lawrie on second and Rajai Davis on first, JP watched strike three, almost right down the middle, but Yankee catcher had the ball go off the side of his glove. JP ran to first, Stewart ran to the get the ball, then threw it wild to first and Brett and Rajai scored. The most fun play we've had all season. I'm pretty sure I've never seen a 2-run strikeout before, but then JP strikes out so much, sooner or later, it was bound to happen. Normally these really weird plays go against us.

When was the last time we were up 4-0 at the end of the first inning? Don't answer, it will make me sad.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a 2-run homer in the 2nd and we got our last run in the 3rd, singles from JP and Anthony Gose and sac fly from Jose Reyes.

We had 10 hits in all. 2 each from Ryan Goins (who has a .455 average now), Lawrie, JP and Moises Sierra. The only ones not to hit were Reyes and Davis.

Todd Redmond was pretty good, he had some help from some nice defense. He went 5.2, 3 hits, 2 earned, 4 walks and 7 strikeouts. He got some nice defense from Gose, Goins and Encarnacion. Our defense looks so much better with Ryan Goins at second base, having someone with range and a good arm there makes such a difference.

Our bullpen was great too. Aaron Loup went 1.1 scoreless, with 2 strikeouts. Sergio Santos and Darren Oliver each had a scoreless inning, each with 2 strikeouts.

This was the first start, against us, this season that Hiroki Kuroda didn't look like Cy Young. Before today he had a 2-0 record, with a 1.70 ERA in 3 starts against us.

Jays of the Day are Lawrie (.298 WPA) and Redmond (.124).  No one gets the Suckage award.

We had a good game thread tonight, 25 of us put up 577 comments. Kraemer_17 led the way, a gritty performance.

Yesterday on Pinstriped Bible

• Eduardo Nunez scratched from lineup, Mark Reynolds starting at second base
• 2013 Yankees and baseballs in play
• Resurgence of Andy Pettitte pivotal to Yankees' playoff hopes
• Curtis Granderson's impressive return from the disabled list
• Greatest Yankee comeback seasons
• Baby Bomber Recap 8/27/13: Eric Wooten strikes out nine in Charleston win

Around the Internet

• New York Post | Ken Davidoff: Amid all the distractions surrounding Alex Rodriguez, he is quietly reaching Willie Mays' home run total.
• It's About the Money | Brad Vietrogoski: Reflecting on all the hit by pitches that resulted in injuries this season.
• Baseball Nation | Grant Brisbee: The Yankees have had one of the best bullpens in baseball for the last two years.
• It's About the Money | Michael Eder:Andy Pettitte has made mechanical adjustments in order to improve his inconsistencies.
• MLB.com | Jonathan Mayo:Mason Williams and Tyler Austin, the Yankees prospects, who will be playing in the Arizona Fall League and are ranked in the top-50 in MLB, combine to bring 95 prospect points to their team.
• Baseball Prospectus: What we might experience if these position players, including Ichiro Suzuki, pitched.
• CBS Sports | Jon Heyman:Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, Curtis Granderson, and Phil Hughes all rank in the top 30 of free agents.

Quick Hits

• Vernon Wells, Joba Chamberlain, and David Huffmade fun of Eduardo Nunez by creating a chalk outline on the spot where he collapsed in the infield on Tuesday night. Someone put a wheelchair in front of his locker too.
• Jose Gil has been promoted to Triple-A.
• Tyler Austin started his rehab assignment with the GCL Yankees.
• Melky Mesa has been placed on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.

Questions of the Day

• Who would you start over Phil Hughes this weekend?
• Do you think Hiroki Kuroda retires if he continues to struggle for the rest of the season?
• If you could create a completely authentic costume, which fictional character would you dress up as?
• Do you prefer Baby Back, St. Louis Style, or Short Ribs?

Coming Up Today

• Baby Bomber Recap 8/28/13 @ 9 am
• The painful death of CC Sabathia's changeup @ 11 am
• Weekend series against Baltimore may be the Yankees' last stand @ 12 pm
• Why Andy Pettitte deserves to make the Hall of Fame @ 2 pm
• It's time to abandon ERA as a useful statistic @ 3 pm

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W 5-4 (12 innings) vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs

2B David Adams 1-5, BB, K
C JR Murphy 3-6, 2 2B, HR, RBI, 2 K - fifth homer, 18th and 19th doubles with SWB
LF Ronnier Mustelier 3-6, 2 2B, 2 K
1B Randy Ruiz 0-5, RBI, K
CF Adonis Garcia 2-5, 2 RBI, CS, put out
DH Jose Gil 2-5 - promoted before the game
RF Neil Medchill 0-4, BB, K
3B Addison Maruszak 1-5, K
SS Alberto Gonzalez 1-4

Caleb Cotham 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R/1 ER, BB, 2 K, WP, 2 E1 - seven groundouts, three flyouts
David Herndon 2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, K
Yoshinori Tateyama 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Matt Daley 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Murphy and Mustelier, possible September call-ups, led the RailRiders offense to an extra innings win over the IronPigs with six of the team's thirteen hits in the game.

Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 9-8 (12 innings) vs. New Britain Rock Cats

CF Mason Williams 0-6, K
DH Ramon Flores 3-6, 3B, 2 RBI, K - fifth triple of the season
2B Jose Pirela 1-5, BB - E4 - throwing error, sixteenth of the season
C Gary Sanchez 2-6, RBI, K, pickoff
1B Kyle Roller 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, K - 16th homer of the season
SS Carmen Angelini 1-5, RBI
LF Ben Gamel 2-4, RBI, BB, OF assist
RF Yeral Sanchez 1-5, 2 K
3B Reegie Corona 0-5, E5 - fielding error, twelfth of the season

Scottie Allen 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R/2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, HB - four groundouts, five flyouts
Pat Venditte 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Danny Burawa 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R/0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, WP, 2 E1
Tom Kahnle 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Charley Short 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R/2 ER, BB, K

After getting out to an early 3-0 and falling behind twice in extras, the Thunder prevailed on a Sanchez RBI hit that plated one of two runs in the bottom of the 12th. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two.

High-A Tampa Yankees:W 2-0, W 2-0 (9 innings) vs. Clearwater Threshers

Game One:

SS Cito Culver 0-2, BB, K
CF Taylor Dugas 1-3, CS, put out - batting .292 with Tampa
2B Rob Refsnyder 0-2, BB, 2 K
3B Peter O'Brien 0-3
1B Dan Fiorito 1-3, SB - sixth SB of the season
RF Cody Grice 2-3
C Tyson Blaser 2-3, K
DH Jose Toussen 0-2, RBI
LF Ali Castillo 0-2, RBI

Rony Bautista 5 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K - five groundouts, five flyouts
Taylor Garrison 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K, WP

Despite allowing more hits to the opposition than their offense could muster, the Yankees pitchers tossed a shut out to take game one of the doubleheader.

Game Two:

SS Cito Culver 2-4, 2B, K, CS - batting .310 with Tampa
2B Ali Castillo 0-3, BB, SB, CS
DH Rob Refsnyder 1-4
3B Peter O'Brien 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, K - 10th homer since his promotion
1B Dan Fiorito 0-3
RF Jose Toussen 0-2, BB, 2 K, CS
C Jeff Farnham 0-2, BB, K
LF Cody Grice 1-3, K
CF Mikeson Oliberto 0-3

Branden Pinder 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K - seven groundouts, zero flyouts
Edixon Mejia 1.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, HB
Ben Paullus 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Alex Smith 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K, E1

Both teams were held scoreless through the seven innings of the regular game until O'Brien hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give Tampa the sweep of both games.

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:L 1-2 vs. Greenville Drive

CF Jake Cave 1-4, 3B, BB, SB - 17th stolen base of the season
SS Jose Rosario 1-4, RBI, K, SB, E6 - throwing error
DH Greg Bird 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K - 100 walks this season!
LF Ericson Leonora 0-4, K
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 0-5, 2 K
1B Reymond Nunez 1-5, 2B
RF Danny Oh 3-3, 2B, BB, SB - 12th double of the season
2B Fu-Lin Kuo 0-3, BB, 2 K, CS, E4 - fielding error
C Wes Wilson 0-4, 2 K

Rookie Davis 5 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, WP - four groundouts, four flyouts
Derek Varnadore 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K - nine groundouts, one flyout
John Brebbia 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, BB

Davis' Charleston debut did not result in a win after the bullpen let him down a bit in a close game. The RiverDogs were doubled up in the hit column. Also, Bird has more homers in Greenville this season than any member of the Drive. Amazing.

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:W 3-2 vs. Vermont Lake Monsters

2B Derek Toadvine 0-2, BB, K, HBP
LF Michael O'Neill 1-4, 2 K, CS, put out
3B Eric Jagielo 0-3, BB, K
DH Mike Ford 1-4
RF Yeicok Calderon 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, K - 16th double of the season
CF Brandon Thomas 0-4, 2 K
1B Bubba Jones 1-3, 2B, K - 16th double of the season
SS Tyler Wade 0-3, 2 K - first game with Staten Island
C Isaias Tejeda 0-3, K

Conner Kendrick 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 2 K - four groundouts, three flyouts
Dillon McNamara 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Andy Beresford 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K, HB

Both teams scored two runs a piece in the sixth inning but the Yankees managed to push across an extra run in the eighth inning to break the tie and give themselves the win.

Gulf Coast Yankees 1 Highlights:

2B Gosuke Katoh 2-4, SB - batting .315 this season
DH Austin Aune 1-4, 2 K
3B Renzo Martini 0-4, 2 K
RF Eladio Moronta 2-4, put out
CF Jordan Barnes 2-4, 2B, RBI

Nestor Cortes 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K - four groundouts, one flyout
Mariel Checo 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 3 K, pickoff
Hector Bello 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, WP
Daury Aquino 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, BB, K

Gulf Coast Yankees 2 Highlights:

SS Thairo Estrada 0-4, 3 K
DH Miguel Andujar 0-3, BB, 2 K
C Luis Torrens 1-3, K
CF Sandy Brito 1-3, K, E8 - fielding error

Omar Luis 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, BB, 8 K, WP, 2 HB - three groundouts, three flyouts
Samuel Garcia 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Jose Pena 1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, K

Last week Minor Leaguer started a new feature called Thursday's Three Things (if you could read that out loud, mimicking Daffy Duck's voice, I'd appreciate it). This week, ML passed it off to me, with the rather flimsy excuse that he wanted to sleep tonight. Doesn't he know, bloggers never sleep? Or is that cheaters never perspire? Oh, I got it, bloggers never get paid (though what that has to do with the subject at hand, I'll never know). Hmmm maybe it was me that should have slept.

Without further ado, here are this week's Thursday's Three Things:

Thing 1: Ryan Goins (that's it, just Ryan Goins)

Six games into Ryan Goins' MLB career, Ryan is hitting .455/.478/.545, with 5 runs scored. Now he isn't going to hit like this forever, but he's been a lot of fun to watch, and that's a rare thing this season. He really looks like a pro out there, but then it is easy to look good when you are hitting .455.

Beyond the batting average, his defense at second base is far better than anything we've seen at the position this season. Our starting pitching has been awful, but how much of it is due to the awful defense we've been playing. The middle infield has been a large part of why the defense has been so bad (as well as Melky in left field, JP behind the plate and everyone that played third while Brett was hurt). One of the things I'm hoping the Jays do for next year is find an excellent defensive 2B. I don't care if he hits or not (it isn't like Maicer Izturis was channeling his inner Cano). It is starting to look to me like Goins might be that guy that can play excellent defense at second.

One of my favorite baseball truisms is never judge a guy on a hot streak. Goins isn't as good with the bat as he's looked (no kidding Tom, how many .455 hitters do you know). Sooner or later, the hot streak will end and then we'll be able to put together a more realistic view of Goins as a player.

Anyway, let's have a little contest. The contest is: Pick the date of the game and the inning that Ryan Goins' batting average first drops under .400. I don't have a prize for the winner, but I'll figure something.

Thing 2: JP brings in two runs on a strikeout.

One of the great things about baseball is the chance to see something you've never seen before. I'm sure that I've never seen 2 runs score on a strikeout before, and if someone told me I was going to see something like that, I'd have bet that it would be the Jays screwing up badly enough for that to happen. Of course, if the Jays allowed those runs, Morosi would be telling us that we have no winning baseball instincts.

One of the several funny things about this is that JP took a fastball right down the middle of the strike zone for strike three. Shouldn't you be ready to, at least, foul anything off that's over the plate. But, had the pitch been 2 feet off the plate, you know he would have swung. Of course, that catcher Chris Stewart couldn't catch the ball, down the center of the strike zone, is also pretty funny, especially after listening to Buck tell us what a great defensive catcher the Yankees have in Stewart.

You know, with the number of times JP strikes out, I guess it was only a matter of time until this happened. If an infinite number of monkeys can write Shakespeare (or one can write a blog post), then an infinite number of JP strikes should, sooner or later, produce this:

Thing 3: Brandon Phillips gently airs his complaints with a reporter

So, this isn't safe for work or our site, but Brandon Phillips has the same problems with reporters that J.P. Arencibia does, but JP uses less Mother ******** when he complains about it. Phillips was unhappy that a reporter talked about his OBP and was too negative (we've heard all this before). I should apologize to JP, as it appears he could have handled he problems with the press in a far worse way.

I understand players being upset with reporters or bloggers, or random fans shouting things. It is really hard to take criticism with good humor. If you are a major league baseball player, you get far more of it than any of the rest of us do. But players really shouldn't do stuff like this:

Traditionally, the calling card for CC Sabathia has been his devastating slider. Combined with a plus fastball, the pitch was murder on lefties and a dominant out pitch. But Sabathia's second most effective pitch over his MLB career has been his changeup, reaching its peak effectiveness last year as opponents were limited to a 35 wRC+ when facing it.

CC Sabathia's advanced statistics by pitch: Career

But it has been an entirely different story in 2013.

CC has allowed 16 extra-base hits in 2013 off of his changeup, versus just three in all of 2012. Because of this CC has been reduced to only having one effective pitch, which is okay for a reliever, but a real problem for a once front-line starter.

But the problem with CC's changeup does not appear to be velocity-related as one might assume. The difference in speed between his fastball and changeup is actually exactly the same as it was last year (6.4 MPH). But he's getting fewer swinging strikes with the pitch and hitters are making much better contact. The pinpoint control necessary to throw an effective changeup just isn't there. And if you don't spot it properly, a changeup is basically just glorified batting practice.

Hopefully CC can work out whatever problems he's having with his changeup in the offseason. The dip in velocity is problem enough without being able to throw your pitches accurately. Otherwise, CC is likely to have another season where he's one of the league leaders in XBH allowed. And considering the size and length of his contract, he would become quite the albatross for the Yankees. And that is not a fat joke.

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