The Quest for #28 - 2014 New York Yankees

[alpagoode]

You're doing great. Keep it up. I am so stoked.

Derek Jeter has come off of the DL for us. He went 1 for 4 in his first game back. In true Jeter style, he doubled in his first at bat, and drove in a run as we beat Detroit 7-1 on the 26th.

We sent Solarte down temporarily to accommodate Jeter. We will be bringing him back when the rosters expand to 40 players. I hated sending him down. We'll need his bat and versatility down the stretch. We are three games behind Detroit for the overall best record in the AL, and I would like to see if we can catch them, and play a lesser team in the first round of the playoffs if at all possible.

Key Yankees (as of August 28)

Ivan Nova 15 - 6 3.70 (leads the AL in wins)
Masahiro Tanaka 14 - 2 3.60

Mark Texiera .277 32 HRs 77 RBI
Carlos Beltran .269 27 HRs 80 RBI
Jacoby Ellsbury .284 15 HRs 66 RBI 26 SBs
Brett Gardner .302 26 SBs
Brian Roberts 18 HRs
Brian McCann .283 15 HRs


AS ALWAYS......GO YANKS!!!!!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by alpagoode

You're doing great. Keep it up. I am so stoked.

Derek Jeter has come off of the DL for us. He went 1 for 4 in his first game back. In true Jeter style, he doubled in his first at bat, and drove in a run as we beat Detroit 7-1 on the 26th.

We sent Solarte down temporarily to accommodate Jeter. We will be bringing him back when the rosters expand to 40 players. I hated sending him down. We'll need his bat and versatility down the stretch. We are three games behind Detroit for the overall best record in the AL, and I would like to see if we can catch them, and play a lesser team in the first round of the playoffs if at all possible.

Key Yankees (as of August 28)

Ivan Nova 15 - 6 3.70 (leads the AL in wins)
Masahiro Tanaka 14 - 2 3.60

Mark Texiera .277 32 HRs 77 RBI
Carlos Beltran .269 27 HRs 80 RBI
Jacoby Ellsbury .284 15 HRs 66 RBI 26 SBs
Brett Gardner .302 26 SBs
Brian Roberts 18 HRs
Brian McCann .283 15 HRs


AS ALWAYS......GO YANKS!!!!!

Thanks. I'm anxious to get in to September and the playoffs. I think we'll be able to shake off this mini slump. We've had a lot of off days recently so we haven't needed him, but we should be getting Cliff Lee back soon. He's eligible, just needs to show me a little more in AAA.

Good luck catching Detroit, and finishing strong. I can't believe how big of year Roberts is having for you. I also wish Brett Gardner was doing that for me. He's had a tough injury plagued year for me. He heats up, then gets hurt it seems.

[NYY #23]

The Yankees are off to Toronto where we'll send out Ivan Nova to try and stop our four game losing streak. Jose Reyes and Brett Lawrie would get to him in the first inning as the Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead. They'd strike again in the third when Reyes would reach on a bunt single and Lawrie would hit a two run home run to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead.

While Dustin McGowan was pitching well I was hoping that Nova could keep the game close and we'd be able to get to the Blue Jays bullpen early. In the top of the fourth we got a double from Brian McCann, single from Mark Teixeira, and sacrifice fly to score out first run, but the Jay would extend their lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

Brett Gardner would lead off the fifth with a single, and steal second despite a pitchout. He'd come home to score on a single by Dustin Ackley, and Kendrys Morales would hit a 2 run homer to narrow the Jays' lead to 4-3.

Ivan Nova would start to settle down, and retire the Blue Jays quickly. The Yankees were able to tie the game in the sixth when Brian McCann would lead off the inning with a walk, move to second on a single by Mark Teixeira, move to third on a walk to Dean Anna, and score on a sacrifice fly by Brett Gardner.

Kendrys Morales would lead off the seventh with his second homer of the game, and his 21st of the season to give us a 5-4 lead, and Dean Anna and Brett Gardner would hit RBI singles later in the inning to give the Yankees a 7-4 lead.

Ivan Nova would leave after 8 innings with a pitch count of 90, but he was in line for the win, and with a fresh bullpen David Robertson came in for his 26th save. Nova would improve to 10-9 on the year.

After the game we sent down Dean Anna and Matt Thornton and recalled Cliff Lee and Pedro Figueroa. After a complete game three hitter it looks like Lee is ready to rejoin the team. The Thornton and Figueroa swap was made with the playoffs in mind. I'm not a big fan of Thornton, and don't like the fact that lefties are hitting .341 against him. I'll take my chances with Pedro Figueroa, who was holding lefties to a .125 average.

Thornton will be back in September, but if we reach the playoffs I'd rather have Figueroa as the LOOGY.

[NYY #23]

Today's matchup in Toronto featured CC Sabathia taking on Brandon Morrow. The Yankees jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first when Dustin Ackley and Kendrys Morales doubled, and Chase Headley singled. Our lead increased to 4-0 when Mark Teixeira and Nelson Cruz hit back to back home runs in the second.

CC Sabathia was rolling along and gave up his first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth on a solo homer to Jose Reyes. Our lead was cut to 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth, and with two outs in the seventh I thought he'd be able to work out of a jam, but a two run double to Anthony Gose and Jose Reyes gave the Blue Jays a 6-4 lead.

In the top of the eighth Kendrys Morales hit a solo homer to cut the lead to 6-5, and Chase Headley reached on an error. The Blue Jays brought in Jeremy Jeffries to pitch to Brian McCann, and McCann gave us a 7-6 lead with a two run homer, his 20th of the year.

Our offense bailed out my poor decision of leaving CC in too long, and Shawn Kelley came on to pitch the eighth and David Robertson pitched the 9th for his 27th save.

With the 7-6 win over the Blue Jays and the Red Sox 5-2 win over the Rays the Yankees now lead the AL East by 8 games.

[NYY #23]

Cliff Lee made his first start for the Yankees since his injury and rehabilitation assignment today as we went for the series sweep of the Blue Jays. We wasted no time scoring when Nelson Cruz hit a solo home run in the first inning, although we squandered a bigger opportunity when we left the bases loaded. We scored our second run of the game on another solo home run, this time on Mark Teixeira's 21st home run.

Cliff Lee would allow the Blue Jays to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth though when Jose Bautista doubled home a pair of runs.

The game would remain tied at two until the seventh inning when we would score five runs, with the big hits a two run triple from Chase Headley, and a two run homer by Mark Teixeira.

Cliff Lee would exit the game after giving up a solo home run to Brett Lawrie before exiting the game, but he'd get his 11th win of the year, allowed 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and struck out 5.

With the sweep of the Blue Jays we're now 8 games up on the Rays with a day off scheduled for tomorrow before hosting the Red Sox and Royals for three games apiece this week.

[NYY #23]

With an off day today I went ahead and made some additions to the roster with the expanded September rosters. We're limited with who we can call up, but the additions will provide us with some depth. Most of the players have already seen time with us this year.

For pitchers we'll be calling up Vidal Nuno, Michael Pineda, Preston Claiborne, Cole Kimball, Matt Daley, and the infamous Matt Thornton.

John Ryan Murphy will be added to the roster as our third catcher, while Dean Anna will be brought back up to serve as a backup infielder.

Slade Heathcott and Nyjer Morgan will be recalled from AAA, with Alfonso Soriano being activated from the disabled list. They'll help provide some outfield help.

Let's take a look at how we're doing overall since August is now complete -



Let's take a look at our batting stats -



And pitching stats -

[NYY #23]

We began our three game series with the Red Sox today with Hiroki Kuroda on the mound going for his 11th win of the year. The Red Sox would be pitching Tony Cingrani who came over in a trade from the Reds. He was 8-6 with a 2.92 ERA before being traded to Boston, and he'd be 1-3 with a 5.09 ERA after today's start.

We jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Carlos Beltran hit a two run homer in the first, and added to our lead with five runs in the second. Derek Jeter doubled home a pair of runs, with Nelson Cruz and Carlos Beltran doubling home a run. Mark Teixeira singled home the final run of the inning.

With a 7-2 lead Kuroda rolled through 6 innings to pick up the win, and Michael Pineda pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief before Pedro Figueroa closed out the game by retiring the final two lefties. It's nice to have some extra arms in the pen, especially in games like this where our top relievers didn't need to get in the game.

With the Rays winning our lead in the AL East is 7 1/2 games.

[NYY #23]

Masahiro Tanaka entered tonight's start in third place in the American League in wins at 15, trailing Yu Darvish (17) and CJ Wilson (17). He may not be pitching as well as either of those pitchers, but he usually finds a way to get a win. It really looked ominous in the second inning for Tanaka after he allowed 4 runs on 5 hits. He was close to being lifted from the game before a caught stealing ended the inning.

Luckily in the bottom of the second the Yankees were able to rally. Chase Headley led off the inning with a single followed by a walk to Brian McCann. Mark Teixeira stepped to the plate next and hit a three run home run. Mark Carp was up next and hit a solo home run, and the score was tied at 4.

Tanaka would be a new pitcher when he stepped to the mound in the third, and didn't give up another run through 6 innings. He'd leave with the Yankees leading 9-4 and in line for his 16th win. Mark Teixeira hit his second home run of the night in the bottom of the third, a two run shot, his 24th of the year. One inning later Kendrys Morales would hit his 23rd home run of the year, his 23rd of the year.

Morales would also pick up an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. Between Morales and Teixeira they'd combine to go 4-7 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI. Not a bad game for the duo.

The seventh inning was time for our bullpen, and we ended up using 6 relievers. Some of the September callups got an opportunity why they weren't called up until September, but we escaped with a 10-8 win. Joel Hanrahan picked up the save, and both Shawn Kelley and Andrew Bailey pitched well. The important thing is we escaped with a win.

Our magic number is now down to 17, as modeled by former Yankee Oscar Gamble -

[NYY #23]

The Yankees were going for the sweep against the Red Sox today with Ivan Nova on the mound. Nova had some pretty electric stuff tonight, striking out the side in the first, and the second. Unfortunately he gave up a run in the second as well, another in the third, and two in the fourth.

With Jon Lester on the mound for Boston it was 4-0 after 5 innings when Nova exited after allowing 4 runs on 8 hits with 1 walk and 9 strike outs. We may have able to stretch another inning out of Nova, but he was up to 91 pitches, and Vidal Nuno came in to pitch 3 innings, and he allowed a pair of runs in his third and final inning.

Heading in to the bottom of the eighth it looked very bleak down 6-0. After Mark Teixeira grounded out to start the inning we got back to back home runs from Alfonso Soriano and John Ryan Murphy to make it 6-2 before Nelson Cruz flew out for the second out of the inning.

Derek Jeter and Dustin Ackley hit back to back singles to chase Lester from the game. Carlos Beltran drew a walk to load the bases against Junichi Tazawa to bring up Kendrys Morales. Morales has been hitting the ball well lately and connected on a bases clearing double to cut the Red Sox lead to 6-5 before Chase Headley grounded out to end the inning.

We brought in David Robertson to pitch the ninth, and in the bottom of the ninth Mark Teixeira greeted Koji Uehara with a home run to tie the game. We couldn't end the game, but sent it to extra innings. Dave Robertson pitched around a triple and struck out the side to keep the game tied.

With two outs in the bottom of the tenth we got a walk from Kendrys Morales and single from Chase Headley to put runners on first and third with Mark Teixeira coming to the plate. Teixeira lined a single to center and the Yankees walked off 7-6.

Teixeira came through with two huge hits tonight, and is now 15 for 28 over our last 8 games with 7 homers and 16 RBI. David Robertson improved to 5-1 on the year and lowered his ERA to 0.94. He now has 75 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings to give him 14.2 K/9. In a completely meaningless stat he has given up 5 earned runs all year, and 3 earned runs at the All-Star game without retiring a batter.

Our magic number is now down to 15 with the Rays losing with Thurman Munson representing 15.

[ThatOneJerk]

I'm really enjoying following this dynasty, and I'm a big Yankees fan. But, a word of warning: I've played two dynasties with the Yanks, starting this season, and in both, the age of the roster and the size of the contracts came back to haunt them in 2015. I know it's a small sample size, but in each, I've ended up with a losing season and getting canned. The worst was losing 101 games and Teixeira demanding a trade before the deadline.

It was an injury-plagued year for Ellsbury, Gardner, McCann, Robertson and A-Rod, plus I lost Nova to Tommy John surgery in late 2014 (I'm convinced it's the only reason I kept my job until the end of the season). The one bright spot was Slade Heathcott, who came up as an injury replacement and stuck, turning into the second coming of Paul O'Neill and making the All-Star team. Brian Roberts (who I kept after a solid 2014) also had a big year, hitting 17 homers and driving in 80 runs. Still, I got canned because of the losses, and Girardi quit because of front office interference.

I'm curious to see what happens for you, considering it's happened to me twice now. Keep it going!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ThatOneJerk

I'm really enjoying following this dynasty, and I'm a big Yankees fan. But, a word of warning: I've played two dynasties with the Yanks, starting this season, and in both, the age of the roster and the size of the contracts came back to haunt them in 2015. I know it's a small sample size, but in each, I've ended up with a losing season and getting canned. The worst was losing 101 games and Teixeira demanding a trade before the deadline.

It was an injury-plagued year for Ellsbury, Gardner, McCann, Robertson and A-Rod, plus I lost Nova to Tommy John surgery in late 2014 (I'm convinced it's the only reason I kept my job until the end of the season). The one bright spot was Slade Heathcott, who came up as an injury replacement and stuck, turning into the second coming of Paul O'Neill and making the All-Star team. Brian Roberts (who I kept after a solid 2014) also had a big year, hitting 17 homers and driving in 80 runs. Still, I got canned because of the losses, and Girardi quit because of front office interference.

I'm curious to see what happens for you, considering it's happened to me twice now. Keep it going!

Thanks. Yes, next year is definitely my biggest fear. The combination of age and salaries are going to make for a brutal year with the return of ARod and I made it even worse with Cliff Lee coming aboard.

I do play without being able to be fired, although maybe I can live on the edge. I haven't done much thinking about next year or beyond though, figuring I'd do what I can to go for it this year, and then pay the piper.

You aren't the first who has had success with Brian Roberts. I didn't have much luck with him, but that is good to hear about Heathcott. I'll keep my fingers crossed that he turns into something good for me too. I'd love to see Beltran spend less time in the outfield next year, and Gardner and Ellsbury spend more time in the outfield, but I'm going to need someone to play right field, and I think Heathcott may be my best option in the organization.

[NYY #23]

The 59-80 Royals were in town for a three game series and the Yankees had CC Sabathia on the mound going for his 11th win of the season.

Sabathia wouldn't last long tonight, existing the game after 5 innings, but today that was a good thing. After 5 innings Sabathia would leave the game after giving up 1 run on 4 hits with one walk and 5 strikeouts. He still had some gas left in his tank, but with a 15-1 lead I figured it was time to turn the ball over to the bullpen, and get some pitchers into the game who haven't pitched much.

Today was the day of the long ball for the Yankees as we hit 5 home runs tonight, including a grand slam by Kendrys Morales. Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann, Dustin Ackley, and Nelson Cruz added home runs.

Teixeira continued his hot hitting with a 3-5 night and 4 RBI, Brian McCann drove in 3 on 3 hits, and Slade Heathcott, Dustin Ackley, Nelson Cruz, Chase Headley, and Kendrys Morales all had two hits. Only Carlos Beltran had an 0-fer night, going 0-4, although he did draw a walk.

Matt Daley was the first pitcher out of the pen tonight and he allowed a pair of solo home runs in an inning. Cole Kimball came into the game next and pitched well. He pitched so well that he ended up finishing the game - 3 innings pitched, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, and 4 strikeouts to earn the save. Sure it was a cheap save, but he did his job, and if he continues to pitch like this maybe there is a spot for him in the bullpen permanently.

The Rays lost again tonight, taking down our magic number to 13. Having started watching baseball in the 80's Mike Pagliarulo was one of my favorite players, so Pags gets to represent number 13.

[NYY #23]

The Royals came into today's game on a seven game losing streak with Cliff Lee making the start. He'd have some trouble with the long ball today, giving up a solo home run in the first inning to Melky Mesa, a two run homer in the second inning to Justin Maxwell, and finally Justin Maxwell's second home run of the game in the 7th.

Those would be the only four runs he would allow though, and he left the game after 7 innings after allowing four runs on six hits with the Yankees trailing 4-3.

Our three runs would come on a solo home run by Brian McCann, a groundout by Kendrys Morales, and Dustin Ackley scoring on an error.

Shawn Kelley would come into the game and hold the Royals to no runs in the eighth and ninth, but we couldn't get anything going and fell to the Royals 4-3.

Despite our loss the Rays also lost, so our magic number drops to 12 - represented by Alfonso Soriano.

[NYY #23]

The Yankees have a comfortable lead in the AL East, have been playing well, and have the second place Rays coming to town for a three game series this week. While we do have an off day tomorrow I wanted to use today's game against the Royals to give some of our players a little bit of rest in preparation for that series. That meant that Michael Pineda would be making his first start in the majors since April 27th.

He would also deliver his best start of the year today as well going 6 innings while allowing 2 unearned runs on 8 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts. He left with a little bit left in the tank, but with a 13-2 lead there was no need to risk anything.

Our offense was able to feast off the Royals' pitching today. Brian McCann would get things started with a solo homer, and a sixth run third inning put things out of reach. Our offense really was a balanced attack tonight though. Chase Headley picked up 3 hits today while Brett Gardner, Dustin Ackley, Nelson Cruz, and Mark Teixeira each had 2 hits.

Cole Kimball came in to pitch the final three innings, giving up just one hit while striking out four and not allowing any runs.



Our magic number is down to 11 with the Rays also winning.

[HerbertMcHoover]

4-18 with a 5.43 ERA for Ventura? Wow, that's eyepopping.
Cashner as a Royal is also pretty interesting. Once the season ends, are you going to post the standings for the entire MLB? I'd like to see if anyone is doing worse than Kansas City. 60-82 seems like that could be the worst or second worst record in all of baseball.

Down to the final few weeks! Good luck.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by HerbertMcHoover

4-18 with a 5.43 ERA for Ventura? Wow, that's eyepopping.
Cashner as a Royal is also pretty interesting. Once the season ends, are you going to post the standings for the entire MLB? I'd like to see if anyone is doing worse than Kansas City. 60-82 seems like that could be the worst or second worst record in all of baseball.

Down to the final few weeks! Good luck.

Thanks. I'll definitely post the final standings once the season is done. The Royals are pretty bad, but are tied with three other teams at 60-83, the Blue Jays, Phillies, and Astros at 60-83. Two teams are worse though, the Orioles at 56-87 and the Brewers at 55-89. So between KC and Baltimore, two division leaders have fallen apart in my replay.

Cashner came over to KC for Danny Valencia and Humberto Arteaga (A). The trade hasn't worked out for either team yet.

Ventura has a 4.34 FIP, so he's not quite as bad as he looks. He's actually missed three starts with injury, and while he's had his share of very poor starts, he's had some bad luck too. Some of the games he's lost include 3-2 (3 times), 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, 1-0, and 4-2. The Royals just don't like to score for him during his starts.

[NYY #23]

Yesterday Mark Teixeira received some news, winning the American League Player of the Week after hitting .476 with 4 home runs and 14 RBI.

Today the Yankees welcomed the Rays to town for a showdown between the top two teams in the American League East. Showdown may be a little bit of a stretch with a 9 1/2 game lead over the Rays, but it was still a series that I wanted to win.

Masahiro Tanaka would be taking the mound for the Yankees, with David Price pitching for the Rays. With the game scoreless in the bottom of the third Brett Gardner doubled to lead off the inning, and came home to score the first run of the game on a single by Dustin Ackley.

The Rays would quickly tie the game in the top of the fourth when Mark Trumbo hit a solo home run. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth Chase Headley broke the 1-1 tie with a solo home run, and we got two more home runs after Brian McCann singled and Mark Teixeira homered.

We'd add a run in the fifth and sixth on our way to a 6-2 win. Tanaka would improve to 17-7 on the season. Every starter would get at least one hit tonight with the exception of the Captain, who was 0-4 on the night.



Our lead over the Rays grew to 10 1/2 games while our magic number dropped to 9.

[NYY #23]

Despite the fact that the Yankees come into today's game against the Rays with a 10 1/2 game lead this is a game that I really want to win. We've been on a roll lately, and I'd like that to continue, and we'd treat today's game like a playoff game.

Ivan Nova was on the mound today against Matt Moore. Nova came into today's game with a 10-9 record and 4.03 ERA, while Moore entered with a 12-8 record and 3.00 ERA.

It was a tale of two pitchers in the first couple innings. Ivan Nova quickly loaded the bases, but found a way to escape with giving up just a single run. The Rays again loaded the bases in the second inning, but Nova found a way to escape without giving up a run. Matt Moore retired the side in order. Their pitch counts after just two innings were Nova-48, and Moore-14.

It looked like it was going to be a really long night, but Nova settled in, and ended up going 7 innings, allowing only that first inning run. Moore continued to pitch really well. He didn't give up a hit until two outs in the bottom of the fifth, and it looked like our only hope was to wear him down and try our chances against the Rays bullpen.

But after 4 2/3 inning of no-hit ball, Mark Teixeira, Dustin Ackley, and Derek Jeter picked up back to back to back singles. The Captain drove in our first run of the game, and it was all tied up.

That would be Moore's only blemish in the game though, and he left after 8 innings of 4 hit ball, walking one and striking out 5. Shawn Kelley came out of the pen to pitch the eighth, and stayed on for the ninth, keeping the Rays off the board.

Jake McGee came on to pitch for the Rays in the ninth, and after striking out the first two batters of the inning Kendrys Morales stepped to the plate and delivered a walk off home run.

The Yankees escaped with a 2-1 win, in a game that felt like we were destined to lose. Shawn Kelley picked up his 11th win of the year with 2 effective innings.



Our magic number is now down to 7, so we get to showcase Mickey Mantle. The Yankees also improved to 7-1 in September, and the Rays fall to 4-5 in September.

[NYY #23]

CC Sabathia got the ball tonight to try and finish up the sweep of the Rays. The Rays would be sending Francisco Liriano to the mound. Liriano has pitched pretty well this year despite his record (11-12, 3.39), while Sabathia (11-5, 3.44) has been surprisingly healthy and effective. His 5.0 WAR is second on the team to Tanaka (5.7), so we were expecting a low scoring game.

Nelson Cruz got the scoring started early with a solo homer in the first inning, but hits would be at a premium for the Yankees. The Rays came back in the second to score a run when Mark Trumbo tripled and came home to score on a groundout. Hits would be at a premium for the Rays too as Sabathia was dominant tonight going 8 innings while allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5.

Liriano would strike out 9 and allow just 1 run and 5 hits in 6 2/3 innings. The score would remain tied until the bottom of the eighth when Dustin Ackley would single to extend his hitting streak to 19 games and come home to score on a double by Nelson Cruz to give the Yankees the 2-1 lead.

While Sabathia probably could have come out and pitched the ninth there was no need to tempt fate. With a rested David Robertson he came in to pitch a scoreless ninth and earn his 28th save.

The Yankees completed the sweep of the Rays to increase our lead to 12 1/2 games and lower our magic number to 5:



Barring an epic collapse I feel very good about our chances. We've got a double header tomorrow against the Orioles and we'll be activated Jacoby Ellsbury from the disabled list. Stephen Drew is scheduled to be activated Saturday. Keeping them and everyone else healthy will be key.

[NYY #23]

The Yankees were playing a doubleheader today and Hiroki Kuroda was making the start in the first game against Bud Norris for the Orioles.

Kuroda would pitch fabulous, taking a one hitter into the sixth inning. He did allow a two run homer to Steve Clevenger in the sixth, but those would be the only runs he would allow in 8 innings. Kuroda allowed 6 hits and a walk, while striking out 4.

The Yankees would take an early lead with a 3 run third inning. Derek Jeter, Dustin Ackley, and Carlos Beltran would hit singles to load the bases. That brought up Kendrys Morales, who would single home a pair of runs, with Brian McCann singling home the final run of the inning.

Our only other run would come on a Chase Headley home run in the seventh, a solo shot that put us up 4-2. David Robertson would come on to close out the ninth and earn his 29th save to preserve the win. Kuroda would improve to 12-5 on the year.



We're down to Lou Gehrig's number now, as our magic number falls to four.