Bronx Bomber Ball

photo from USATSI Pittsburgh Pirates ace Gerrit Cole is in the crosshairs of the New York Yankees, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports . The team that added the National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton over the weekend, is hoping to increase their talent on the mound as well with Cole being a potential major arm in the starting rotation.

The New York Yankees dropped the third game in the series to the Tampa Bay Rays 9-6 at Yankee Stadium as the away team avoids the sweep. Pitcher Sonny Gray had a tough start, only throwing 4.2 innings and allowing six runs. The highly touted trade piece has yet to figure out his late season form and may be playing himself into a bullpen position come playoff time, as this game represents his last start before the postseason. photo from New York Yankees

The New York Yankees take the first game in their four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays with a walk-off home run in the 11th inning. The back-and-forth game saw the Yankees tie the game in the ninth inning with two outs on a defensive lapse by the Rays. New York had more than a few opportunities to win the game in the first nine innings but needed more to win the contest 6-5. Photo Credit: AP The Yankees started the scoring in the second inning when Jacoby Ellsbury brought home Chase Headley with an RBI double. Ellsbury got the start in center field, after falling out of favor, and rewarded manager Joe Girardi with an early lead. Todd Frazier followed up with an RBI single, bringing in Ellsbury. The team continued the momentum one inning later when Gary Sanchez hit his 15th home run of the season. At this point it seemed as if Chris Archer wouldn't last long. However, he settled down and ended up pitching six innings, not allowing another run on the mound. Tampa Bay ...

The Yankees will travel out west to play the Seattle Mariners for four games, still looking for consistency game-to-game and a string of positive results. The Mariners themselves have seen a bit of a resurgence, going 7-3 in their last ten games and pushing to make a run at one of the Wild Card playoff positions in September. This series also proves to be a chance for new players such as Todd Frazier and David Robertson to make themselves at home on the road with their teammates. GAME ONE (Thursday, June 20 | First Pitch: 10:10 PM ET) Luis Severino (5-4, 3.40 ERA) vs. Felix Hernandez (5-3, 4.20 ERA) King Felix isn't quite as dreaded as he was years ago, especially after coming off the 60-day DL, but he is still a force to be reckoned with in the American League. Don't let his season ERA fool you. Over his last five games the Mariners ace as gone 3-1 with a 3.72 ERA. By no means lights-out, but given his 10-6 record against the Yankees, he may be looking to gain even more...

The New York Yankees give up four runs in the eighth inning at Minute Maid Park in a losing effort against the Houston Astros 7-6 on Saturday night. The loss is especially stinging considering the solid performance of Yankee prospect Clint Frazier who made his debut. The youngster went 2-4 with a key double that kickstarted the offense in the sixth inning, and he also hit his first career home run. Unfortunately the bullpen once again surrendered the game, costing the team a series win. Photo Credit: David J. Phillip | AP

The New York Yankees had a late night in Chicago but they'll have to put that series behind them as they open a three-game set against the Houston Astros on Friday night. The Astros are currently the best team in the American League and have shown little signs of slowing down. Their 54-26 record has built them a double-digit lead in their division while the Yankees are looking to reclaim a hold on their own. New York is still in free fall as they haven't won a series in over two weeks. This series will be a difficult test on an injury riddled team. Game One (Friday, June 30 | First Pitch: 8:10 PM ET) Michael Pineda (7-4, 4.12 ERA) vs. Lance McCullers Jr. (7-1, 2.53 ERA)  Photo Credit: MLB.com Michael Pineda has regressed in his last few starts, putting the Yankees in dire situations before they have a chance to set the table. Despite this he is still 7-4 and has shown signs of recovery after rough patches to deliver innings. His last start against the Texas Ranger...

The Yankees welcome the Texas Rangers into Yankee Stadium this weekend with the specter of one win in their last nine games hanging over the club. The horrendous west coast trip didn't stop their free fall as they lost two out of three to the Angels and could see themselves permanently falling out of first place without a series win. The team's strong home record is still a plus as they are 12 games over .500 at the Stadium. Still, they will need solid pitching from a shaky group to re-establish confidence in a side that looked as if they were cruising to a division win just two weeks ago.

The Yankees snapped a seven-game losing streak with an 8-4 win over the LA Angels on Wednesday night, avoiding their first eight-game losing streak since 1995. The win was marked by a strong bullpen which, with the exception of Tyler Clippard, didn't allow a run. Jordan Montgomery's strong allowed for an offensive resurgence led by home runs from Matt Holiday and Didi Gregorius. Photo Credit: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Kim Klement | USA TODAY Sports New York Yankees top prospect Gleyber Torres seemed to be on an unstoppable ride to the big leagues but that now has been cut short with news that the mega prospect will require Tommy John surgery. The injury occurred over the weekend when Torres slid, head-first, into home plate which you can see here . He exited the game with appeared to be an elbow injury which was later confirmed by the doctors. He tore the ulner collateral ligament in his non-throwing arm, effectively ending his 2017 season before he could reach the zenith. Torres was batting .309 for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders over the course of 23 games. He also had two home runs and 16 RBI. Before the call-up to Triple A, the 20-year old played 32 games with the Trenton Thunder in Double A ball, hitting .273 with five home runs and 18 RBI. While it is expected that the Venezuelan will miss the rest of this season, he should be ready to return early in 2018. In fac...

The Yankees have put distance between themselves and the Red Sox after having taken two out of three at Yankee Stadium and now welcome the Baltimore Orioles for another pivotal series. Currently, New York is three games ahead of the Red Sox and 3.5 ahead of Baltimore. A series win could go a long way towards easing tensions in an ultra-competitive division.

CC Sabathia redeemed the Yankees rotation with a strong outing in game two against the Red Sox as the home team won by a final score of 8-0. The bottom of the lineup did all the damage for New York as Didi Gregorius and Chris Carter hit home runs to provide the Yankees with all the offense they needed. The win gives New York a bit of relief in the standings, extending their lead in the division to two games. AP Photo

The New York Yankees are guaranteed a series win following an 11-7 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. A strong performance by Michael Pineda, combined with a multi-hit performance by nearly every start, led the Yankees to a dominating performance. It is Pineda’s fourth win of the season improving his record to 4-2 and it moved his ERA to 3.42. Photo Credit: Charlie Riedel | AP

The idea of Betances as a closer is a touchy subject. Yankees team president Randy Levine was critical of the star setup man and his agent after for what he described as a “half-baked attempt” to inflate the player’s value before the season. Betances, a three-time All-Star, lost a case for a $5 million arbitration deal and was instead awarded $3 million but the criticism didn’t end there. Photo via Sports Illustrated 

Yankees look to rebound after dropping three of four to the Houston Astros, welcoming a lackluster Kansas City Royals to Yankee Stadium for a three game set. New York still holds a razor-thin half game lead on the AL East but would like to put more distance between themselves and the Orioles before a major clash with the Boston Red Sox on the weekend. Joe Girardi and his team must believe that at least two wins over KC is not only possible but necessary to continue the team’s momentum.

The New York Yankees completed the sweep of the Chicago Cubs 5-4 after an epic, record-setting, 18 inning game. The contest set a major league record for most strikeouts in a single game as both teams fell into a run-scoring drought for nearly nine extra innings. It was in the top of the 18th that Aaron Hicks was pushed across the plate to give the Yankees the lead on Starlin Castro’s groundout into a fielder's choice. All of this after Aroldis Chapman surrendered a three run lead in the bottom of the 9th inning. Photo Credit: Nam Y. Huh | AP

The New York Yankees will travel to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates in a three game series this weekend and hope to keep some of their winning mojo from an extremely successful homestand. The team went an outstanding 8-1 over the past nine games with impressive pitching and dominant hitting. New York scored a combined 52 runs over the past nine games while only allowing 21.

The Yankees run-parade came to an abrupt end on Tuesday evening when the Chicago White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez shut down the offense pitching a strong eight innings while surrendering just one run. Manager Joe Girardi decided to sit key hitters, including the hot-bat Chase Headley and Aaron Hicks. Still, others like Aaron Judge and Starlin Castro did little to provide a spark for the offense. AP Photo

The New York Yankees opened 2017 at Yankee Stadium with a solid 8-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The team once again had an offensive outburst in the late innings this time with five runs in the eighth. Starlin Castro hit a home run, Chris Carter tripled and Matt Holliday doubled all in the eighth inning as the team cruised to their second straight win. The story of this game was Michael Pineda's run at a perfect game, which had broken up on an Evan Longoria double with two outs in the seventh inning. His outing helped spark the offense in an exciting home opener.   Photo Credit: John Munson