Carlyle Pitches Well in No-Decision

Yankees starting pitcher, Buddy Carlyle, pitched well in a no decision against the Wichita Rays. Carlyle arguably "out pitched" John Smoltz. Carlyle went 7 strong innings, gave up 5 hits, 1 earned run while walking 1 and striking out 10. Unfortunately for the Bronx Bombers, Mariano Rivera could not hold the lead in the 9th and recorded his 6th blown save of the season.

The Rays won the game in 14 innings 3-2.

On a side note, recently acquired outfielder, Delmon Young, recorded his first hit in pinstripes. Young was 1-for-6 with an rbi.

Nippert Less Than Stellar in Debut

The Batavia Yankees' newest acquisition, Dustin Nippert, made his debut and looked less than stellar against the Wichita Rays. Nippert entered the game in the 8th inning with the Rays holding a 3-1 lead. Nippert pitched 1 inning, gave up 6 hits, allowed 7 runs to score (all earned) and surrendered 2 home runs. Ouch! Welcome to the Yankees Mr. Nippert.

The top of the Rays order did most of the damage in the ballgame. Jose Reyes, Carl Crawford and Magglio Ordonez were hitting 1-2-3 in the order and combined for 7 hits, 6 runs and 6 rbi's.

The Rays won the game 10-1.

Yankees Have Decisions To Make

With the regular season winding down and the Yankees out of the playoff picture, the Yankees will turn their focus to the offseason "hot stove" time and face themselves with some serious decisions to make. General Manager, Dan Thurston, has been quoted as saying, "We need to get younger. Period." The Yankees appear to be starting a 2-3 year plan of rebuilding with youth through trades and the draft. This has already been evident with the trading of right fielder, Bobby Abreu to the Sycamore White Sox for outfielders Delmon Young and Rocco Baldelli and left handed starting pitcher Aaron Laffey.

The Yankees face themselves with difficult decisions on expiring contracts for fan favorites Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada. "We obviously would love to have all of these players back, however, does that make the best sense for where we are and where we want to go? That is what we will be deciding at our off-season organizational meetings." Rumors are flying that Thurston has had trade discussions with more than one franchise that are interested in these experienced players. "We will be looking at all possibilities to acquire talent to make the Yankees a better franchise."