New York Massacre

The Yankees-Red Sox Series has been a nightmare for the Bronx Bombers. First it was a blown save with two outs in the ninth by Mariano Rivera, then a nine run 7th and 8th inning by Boston the next night which lead to two Boston wins and today was no different. David Robertson, Mariano Rivera, Boone Logan and Adam Warren were all unavailable for the Yankees today so the bullpen looked pretty dismal. After a 1-2-3 first inning for Yankees starter David Huff who replaced Phil Hughes in the rotation, the torture started. In the top of the second, David Ortiz started off the inning with a double then Mike Napoli continued to haunt the Yankees this season with a two run homer which gave Boston the lead. Then in the bottom of the second, an RBI single by Lyle Overbay got the Yankees right back in it 2-1. But in the top of the third a three run shot by Jonny Gomes got Boston to a 5-1 lead. Boston then scored five runs in the fourth and two more in the second which blew the game wide open. With the Yankees trailing now 12-3, the most of Yankee Stadium cleared out but a few hard core fans stayed the rest of the way. Xander Bogarts hit his first MLB home run in that five run fourth inning and it looked like the bombers were done. But a two run double by Brett Gardner, RBI singles by Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano, and a two run double by Mark Reynolds put them right back in it 12-9. But after Mike Napoli homered again, Boston took game three 13-9. It was the first time an A.L. team has scored 8+ runs in three straight games and lost all of them. The Yankees wild card hopes are slowly slipping away as they fall three games back of Tampa Bay.

Soriano’s Walk-Off helps Yankees Avoid Sweep

After going 0-8 in his first two games back as a Yankee, Alfonso Soriano went 4-5 with a home run and three RBI’s today in the win for NY. Today also marked the return of the Captain, Derek Jeter. On the first pitch he saw, Jeter drilled it to right for a solo homer that gave the Yanks a 1-0 lead. Then a Vernon Wells sac fly and a Ichiro RBI single had the Yankees out in front 3-0. But the Rays came storming back after a Kelly Johnson RBI double and a three run bomb by Wil Myers. Then in the bottom of the third Yankees DH Alfonso Soriano hit his first homer as a Yankee since 2003 and the Yanks regained the lead 5-4. Phil Hughes was pitching for the Yankees, and in the top of the fifth Myers did it again for Tampa with a game tying homer. It was Myers second of the game and the games got tied up. In the bottom of the ninth Brett Gardner started the inning by walking then took second on a balk. Then came Jeter and he walked intentionally finishing 2-4 on the day, Cano then struck out and then came Soriano. On the first pitch of the at bat Soriano went up the middle and Gardner scored and the Yankees won 6-5 and avoided a sweep at home.

Soriano’s walk of single:

Papi Wins it For Boston

Just like 2004, David Ortiz was a hero in Boston. No, this wasn’t a playoff elimination game or against the hated Yankees but every regular season game counts.  In the early innings Red Sox started Jon Lester found himself in a bit of trouble allowing a two-run homer to Jeff Baker, then Adrian Beltre homered off Lester. But Boston came fighting back with some runs of their own. In the third, Dustin Pedroia drove in a pair with a RBI double. Then, Mike Napoli grounded out to tie the game in the 7th. The game remained tied in the bottom of the ninth with nobody out and David Ortiz up. He did what he has done for many years, won games. On the first pitch of the at-bat Ortiz hit a hard liner that carried over the wall in right almost exactly where Ortiz hit the walkoff homer in the 2004 series against the Yankees. The Red Sox had won another stunner 6-3. 

In Hot Water

 

 

 

 

MLB will further look in to the Miami Biogenesis clinic. Baseball superstars including Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Gio Gonzalez, Melky Cabrera and Nelson Cruz were all connected to this clinic. All players have denied reaching out to Anthony Boesch (The owner) but that didn’t stop MLB from checking into this case. If they find out the players purchased anything from the clinic, MLB will issue a 100 game suspension which in the Brewers cases, they would be play 2/3 of the season without their superstar Ryan Braun. Boesch has agreed to participate in this investigation and further details should come out in the next few weeks or so.

WBC 2013

In honor of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, here are the rosters to the 2013 WBC. Judging from the lineup and pitching staff, Venezuela. Come on, a team that has both Miguel Cabrera and Felix Hernandez must be good. Plus covering the field is Salvador Perez, Gerardo Parra, Elvis Andrus and Marco Scutaro, then Asdrubal Cabrera, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez and Pablo Sandoval in the middle of the lineup. This team is really scary. Team USA also has a lot of great players like Gio Gonzalez, Giancarlo Stanton, Ryan Braun and R.A. Dickey.

Here is MLB Network’s Hot Stove Breaking down the team USA’s WBC roster via mlb.com:

Here is the entire rosters for every team of the WBC 2013:

Team USA
P R.A. Dickey (Toronto Blue Jays)
P Jeremy Affeldt (San Francisco Giants)
P Ryan Vogelsong (San Francisco Giants)
P Craig Kimbrel (Atlanta Braves)
P Luke Gregerson (San Diego Padres)
P Chris Perez (Cleveland Indians)
P Vinnie Pestano (Cleveland Indians)
P Tim Collins (Kansas City Royals)
P Derek Holland (Texas Rangers)
P Glen Perkins (Minnesota Twins)
UT Ben Zobrist (Tampa Bay Rays)
C JP Arencibia (Toronto Blue Jays)
C/1B Joe Mauer (Minnesota Twins)
C Jonathan Lucroy (Milwaukee Brewers)
1B Mark Teixeira (New York Yankees)
2B Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati Reds)
SS Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia Phillies)
3B David Wright (New York Mets)
UT Willie Bloomquist (Arizona Diamondbacks)
OF Giancarlo Stanton (Miami Marlins)
OF Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Brewers)
OF Shane Victorino (Boston Red Sox)
OF Adam Jones (Baltimore Orioles)
P Heath Bell (Arizona Diamondbacks)
P Mitchell Boggs (St. Louis Cardinals)
P Steve Cishek (Miami Marlins)
P Kris Medlen (Atlanta Braves)

JAPAN
P Masahiko Morifuku
P Atsushi Nohmi
P Kenji Otonari
P Toshiya Sugiuchi
P Tetsuya Utsumi
P Tetsuya Yamaguchi
P Takuya Asao
P Takeru Imamura
P Kenta Maeda
P Kazuhisa Makita
P Hirokazu Sawamura
P Tadashi Settsu
P Masahiro Tanaka
P Hideaki Wakui
P Daisuke Yamai
C Shinnosuke Abe
C Ryoji Aikawa
IF Yuichi Honda
IF Hirokazu Ibata
IF Atsunori Inaba
IF Nobuhiro Matsuda
IF Kazuo Matsui
IF Shuichi Murata
IF Hayato Sakamoto
C Ginjiro Sumitani
IF Takashi Toritani

CHINA
P Bruce Chen
P Tao Bu
P Kun Chen
P Shuai Li
P Wenming Li
P Xin Li
P Yu Liu
P Jiangan Lu
P Xia Luo
P Qingyuan Meng
P Song Ran
P Haifan Yang
P Yangyong Yang
P Dawei Zhu
C Wei Dong
C Weiqiang Meng
C Wei Wang
IF Xu An
IF Ray Chang
IF Fujia Chu
IF Xiaolei Du
IF Delong Jia
IF Yubing Jia
IF Lei Li
IF Shu Okamura
OF Xiao Cui
OF Jingfeng Lai
OF Zhenhong Lu

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
P Fernando Rodney
P Santiago Casilla
P Octavio Dotel
P Pedro Figueroa
P Kelvin Herrera
P Alexi Ogando
P Joel Peralta
P Wandy Rodriguez
P Esmil Rogers
P Pedro Strop
P Edinson Volquez
C Miguel Olivo
C Carlos Santana
IF Robinson Cano
IF Edwin Encarnacion
IF Miguel Tejada
IF Jose Reyes
IF Adrian Beltre
IF Erick Aybar
IF Hanley Ramirez
OF Melky Cabrera
OF Nelson Cruz
OF Carlos Gomez

AUSTRALIA
P Ryan Rowland-Smith
P Adam Bright
P Tim Kennelly
P Steven Kent
P Peter Moylan
P Chris Oxspring
P Andrew Russell
P Dushan Ruzic
P Warwick Saupold
P Ryan Searle
P Clayton Tanner
P Brad Thomas
P Matthew Williams
P Brendan Wise
C Allan de San Miguel
C Matt Kennelly
IF James Beresford
IF Josh Davies
IF Brad Harman
IF Justin Huber
IF Luke Hughes
IF Mike Walker
IF Stefan Welch
OF Corey Adamson
OF Mitch Dening
OF David Kandilas
OF Joshua Roberts
OF Chris Snelling

BRAZIL
P Andre Rienzo
P Gabriel Asakura
P Noris Chacon
P Rafael Fernandes
P Luiz Gohara
P Murilo Gouvea
P Hugo Kanabushi
P Kesley Kondo
P Rafael Moreno
P Oscar Nakaoshi
P Thyago Vieira
P Carlos Yoshimura
C Bruno Hirata
IF Felipe Burin
IF Alan Fanhoni
IF Iago Januario
IF Daniel Matsumoto
IF Pedro Okuda
IF Leonardo Reginatto
IF Lucas Rojo
IF Marcio Tanaka
OF Tiago Magalhaes
OF Mike Magario
OF JC Muniz
OF Paulo Orlando
OFJean Tome

CANADA
P Phillippe Aumont
P John Axford
P Jesse Crain
P Jim Henderson
P Shawn Hill
P Chris Leroux
P Trystan Magnuson
P Scott Mathieson
P Andrew Albers
P Jameson Taillon
P Scott Richmond
P Dustin Molleken
P Mark Hardy
C Chris Robinson
C Russell Martin
IF Jonathan Malo
IF Cale Iorg
IF Taylor Green
IF Brett Lawrie
IF Justin Morneau
IF Pete Orr
IF Jimmy Van Ostrand
OF Rene Tosoni
OF Tyson Gillies
OF Adam Loewen
OF Michael Saunders

CHINESE TAIPEI
P Hung-Chih Kuo
P Chien-Ming Wang
P Hung-Wen Chen
P Yi-Hao Lin
P Chia-Jen Lo
P Ching Lung Lo
P Wei-Lun Pan
P Jen-Ho Tseng
P Ching-Ming Wang
P I-Cheng Wang
P Yao-Lin Wang
P Yao-Hsun Yang
C Ta-Hung Cheng
C Chih-Kang Kao
C Hung-Yu Lin
IF Chiang-Ho Chen
IF Yung-Chi Chen
IF Yen-Wen Kuo
IF Chih-Shen Lin
IF Han Lin
IF Cheng-Ming Ping
OF Chien-Ming Chang
OF Szu-Chi Chou
OF Che-Hsuan Lin
OF Wu-Hsiung Pan
OF Dai-KangYang

CUBA
P Freddy Alvarez
P Odrisamer Despaigne
P Vladimir Garcia
P Norberto Gonzalez
P Yander Guevara
P Raciel Iglesias
P Ismel Jimenez
P Darien Nunez
P Vicyohandrys Odelin
P Wilber Perez
P Alexander Rodriguez
C Yulexis La Rosa
C Frank Morejon
C Erier Sanchez
IF Jose Abreu
IF Erisbel Arruebarruena
IF Danny Betancourt
IF Jose Fernandez
IF Yulieski Gonzalez
IF Yulieski Gourriel
IF Andy Ibanez
IF Luis Rivera
OF Alexei Bell
OF Rusney Castillo
OF Frederich Cepeda
OF Alfredo Despaigne
OF Guillermo Heredia
OF Yadiel Hernandez

ITALY
P Jason Grilli
P Chris Cooper
P Yovany D’Amico
P Tiago Da Silva
P Alex Maestri
P John Mariotti
P Luca Panerati
P Nick Pugliese
P Dan Serafini
P Brian Sweeney
P Matt Torra
C Drew Butera
C Francisco Cervelli
C Tyler LaTorre
IF Anthony Rizzo
IF Alex Liddi
IF Jeff Bianchi
IF Chris Colabello
IF Anthony Granato
IF Nick Punto
IF Alessandro Vaglio
OF Lorenzo Avagnina
OF Mario Chiarini
OF Chris Denorfia

MEXICO
P Alfredo Aceves
P Luis Ayala
P Marco Estrada
P Yovani Gallardo
P Miguel Gonzalez
P David Hernandez
P Rodrigo Lopez
P Luis Mendoza
P Oliver Perez
P Sergio Romo
P Fernando Salas
C Rod Barajas
C Ali Solis
IF Alfredo Amezaga
IF Jorge Cantu
IF Luis Cruz
IF Danny Espinosa
IF Adrian Gonzalez
IF Edgar Gonzalez
IF Ramiro Pena
OF Karim Garcia

NETHERLANDS
P David Bergman
P Robbie Cordemans
P Bayron Cornelisse
P Jonatan Isenia
P Jair Jurrjens
P Diegomar Markwell
P Shairon Martis
P Tom Stuifbergen
P JC Sulbaran
P Berry Van Driel
P Loek Van Mil
P Orlando Yntema
C Spencer Kieboom
IF Xander Bogaerts
IF Yurendell de Caster
IF Jurickson Profar
IF Jonathan Schoop
IF Andrelton Simmons
IF Curt Smith
IF Hainley Statia
IF Nick Urbanus
OF Wladimir Balentien
OF Randolph Oduber
OF Roger Bernadina
OF Andruw Jones
OF Kalian Sams

PUERTO RICO
P Giancarlo Alvarado
P Jose Berrios
P Hiram Burgos
P Fernando Cabrera
P Xavier Cedeno
P Jose De La Torre
P Nelson Figueroa
P Dicky Gonzalez
P Javier Lopez
P JC Romero
P Hector Santiago
P Giovanni Soto
P Javier Vazquez
C Yadier Molina
C Martin Maldonado
C Jose Molina
IF Mike Aviles
IF Ivan De Jesus
IF Irving Falu
IF Luis Figueroa
IF Andy Gonzalez
IF Carlos Rivera
IF Pedro Valdes
OF Jesus Feliciano
OF Carlos Beltran
OF Angel Pagan
OF Alex Rios
OF Eddie Rosario

SPAIN
P Ricardo Andres
P Jose Cruz
P Sammy De Los Santos
P Eric Gonzalez
P Ivan Granados
P Ricardo Hernandez
P Remigio Leaf
P Eddie Morlan
P Leslie Nacar
P Antonio Noguera
P Manuel Olivera
P Richard Salazar
P Nick Schumacher
C Leo Hernandez
C Adrian Nieto
C Blake Ochoa
IF Barbaro Canizares
IF Paco Figueroa
IF Jesus Golindano
IF Nestor Perez
IF Juan Salazar
IF Yunesky Sanchez
OF Engel Beltre
OF Daniel Figueroa
OF Yasser Gomez
OF Daniel Martinez
OF Gabe Suarez
DH Rafael Alvarez

VENEZUELA
P Henderson Alvarez
P Ronald Belisario
P Enrique Gonzalez
P Felix Hernandez
P Cesar Jimenez
P Jose Mijares
P Francisco Rodriguez
P Anibal Sanchez
P Carlos Zambrano
C Ramon Hernandez
C Miguel Montero
C Salvador Perez
IF Elvis Andrus
IF Asdrubal Cabrera
IF Miguel Cabrera
IF Pablo Sandoval
IF Marco Scutaro
OF Carlos Gonzalez
OF Gerardo Parra
OF Martin Prado

South Korea
P Woo-chan Cha
P Woo Jun Chang
P Tae-Hyon Chong
P Won-Sam Jang
P Yong-Chan Lee
P Kyung Eun Noh
P Seung Hwan Oh
P Jae Seo
P Seung-Lak Son
P Wonsang Yoo
P Hi-Sang Yoon
P Suk-Min Yoon
C Kab-Yong Jin
C Min-Ho Kang
IF Jeong Choi
IF Keun-Woo Jeong
IF Jung-Ho Kang
IF Sangsu Kim
IF Tae-Kyun Kim
IF Dae-Ho Lee
IF Seung-Yeop Lee
IF Si-Hyun Son
OF Jun-woo Jeon
OF Hyun-Soo Kim
OF Jin-Young Lee
OF Yong-Kyu Lee
OF Ahseop Son

Sunny on the other side

Finally the time has come baseball fans! That’s right, spring training will start tomorrow kicking off a month of games which will be played in Arizona and Florida. If you didn’t know the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues have mixed teams from both leagues. Also, releasing March 5, is MLB 13 The Show, the hit baseball video game for the Ps3 and the Ps Vita. Opening day is to start on April 1.

Gio Gonzalez, A-Rod and Nelson Cruz Linked with Steroid Clinic

The title says it. These three players have been linked to a Steroids camp in Miami. Though Rodriguez says he has not taken steroids since 2003, the Miami Herald has reported that these players, in the offseason came to this training camp. Cruz and Gonzalez have never tested positive for steroids before. Gonzalez was in the talk for Cy Young, and Cruz had a pretty good season. If they do test positive they should all be suspended.

Top 7 Hitters Right Now

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Cashman: A-Rod could miss 2013 season

The Yankees might be without their 38 year old, 14x all star for the entire season of 2013. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on a radio interview “I think because (of) the serious nature of the surgery and the condition that he’s trying to recover from, you know, there is that chance.” I think, the Yankees will be fine with replacement, free agent signing Kevin Youklis. But the absence of A-Rod might have a impact on the Yankees on a good way. Maybe the presence of a former PED user caught NY off guard and that is why they didn’t do as well as they should have. But maybe when Rodriguez returns the following season maybe the surgery will have a positive impact on A-Rod. He won’t look like the A-Rod of 2007 when he hit 57 home runs but me might look like the A-Rod of 2009 when the Yankees won the World Series or the A-Rod of 2010 when he hit 30 home runs.

Breaking: Justin Upton to Braves

Once in different leagues, the two Upton brothers will now be playing about 50 feet from each other in the out field. After BJ Upton signed 5 years for $75m, today Justin will be traded for third baseman Martin Prado, right-hander Randall Delgado, shortstop prospect Nick Ahmed and right-handed pitching prospect Zeke Spruill. Third baseman Chris Johnson will also be going to Atlanta in the deal. So I look forward to watching the Upton brothers in Atlanta.