Knuckle Curve » melky cabrera

Melky Cabrera Hits for the Cycle

Stephen Kersey — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:20:01 +0000

Melky Cabrera of the New York Yankees hit for the cycle on Sunday. With a home run, single and double heading into the ninth inning, Cabrera hustled to get the necessary triple as his teammates cheered on in the dugout.

The Yankees haven’t seen one of their players hit for the cycle since Tony Fernandez accomplished the feat in 1995. Overall, Cabrera is the 15th Yankee to hit for the cycle.

On the season, Cabrera is now hitting .292 with ten homers and 40 RBIs. He also has 19 doubles, five steals and an on-base percentage of .355. The 24-year-old Cabrera first made it to the big leagues in 2005. His batting average, on-base percentage and home run are all career-highs.

Powered by Cabrera’s memorable outing, the Yankees were able to defeat the Chicago White Sox by a final count of 8-5. C.C. Sabathia picked up his 11th win of the season, while Mariano Rivera got his 30th save. Mark Buehrle, who recently pitched a perfect game, saw his record drop to 11-5 with the loss.

Here is a video of Melky Cabrera hitting for the cycle:

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Rodriguez and Cabrera Clutch for Yankees

Stephen Kersey — Sun, 24 May 2009 02:24:58 +0000

Heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, the New York Yankees trailed the defending World Series champions 4-2. The Philadelphia Phillies then put Brad Lidge on the mound to close out the deal. Not so fast.

Alex Rodriguez, who was hitless in his first three at-bats of the game, hit a two-run homer to tie the game. A few batters later, Melky Cabrera connected on a game-winning hit to send the Yankees to win another walk-off victory.

With the win, New York has now won 10 out of their last 11 ballgames. They are 25-18 on the year and 14-8 in the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees sit .5 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East.

Even with the loss, the Phillies are on top of the NL East at 23-18. They had built their lead in this game thanks to a Raul Ibanez solo shot and a John Mayberry three-run homer, but Brad Lidge wasn’t able to hold on to the save.

Last year, Lidge didn’t blow a save all year long. This was already his third blown save and he has a massive ERA of 9.16 to go along with a record of 0-2.

Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (Image: Newscom)

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Melky Cabrera and the Bleacher Creatures – Video

Stephen Kersey — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:38:55 +0000

Melky Cabrera of the New York Yankees has an embarrassing incident involving the Bleacher Creatures. The Bleacher Creatures, which are a rowdy bunch of Yankees fans located in the bleacher seats, do a role call each game. During this role call, players are to acknowledge the Bleacher Creatures.

In this video, Melky Cabrera tried to acknowledge the Bleacher Creatures while making a play in the field. The result? Not a good one as you will see once you watch the video:

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New York Yankees in Last Place – Solutions?

Stephen Kersey — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:24:20 +0000

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees on Thursday to send the Yankees into last place. The Rays won the game 5-2 behind a strong pitching performance from Scott Kazmir and a two-run homerun by backup catcher Shawn Riggans.

The Yankees are now 20-22 and in last place in the AL East. The Rays, with a record of 24-17, are in first place.

How can the Yankees turn save their season?

1. Get Healthy
The Yankees are dealing with a number of injuries at the moment. Most prominently, the team is without Hall of Fame third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez has a strained quadriceps that has kept him out of the lineup for the entire month of May. In that time, Rodriguez has only been seen choking in the delivery room. Besides Rodriguez, veteran catcher Jorge Posada and young starter Phil Hughes are also battling injuries. Posada has a shoulder injury, while Hughes has a broken rib.

2. Get Hitting
The Bronx Bombers are more like the Bronx Bunters this year. No player on the team is having that great of a season at the plate. Jason Giambi leads the team with seven homeruns – but he also has a batting average of .184. Veterans like Bobby Abreu and Derek Jeter are having decent but not great seasons. Young players like Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera haven’t lived up to their potential. The Yankees need a hot bat to emerge.

3. Get Pitching Depth
Chien-Ming Wang has been very good for the Yankees this year. Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte have had their ups and downs but overall they have been good enough. The problem is the rest of the rotation is in shambles. The Yankees were hoping that Hughes and Ian Kennedy could be the other two starts, but Hughes is hurt and Kennedy has been ineffective. Whether it’s a trade or a young pitcher stepping up, the Yankees need a more balanced rotation.

4. Get Torre?
While the Yankees are struggling, Joe Torre has the Los Angeles Dodgers at 21-19. Could the Yankees be showing signs of missing Torre? Perhaps. George Steinbrenner and his twin son Hank Steinbrenner won’t give current manager Joe Girardi as much leeway as they gave Torre. If the Yankees don’t turn it around ASAP, Girardi might be sent packing.

Does Joe Girardi Hear Joe Torre’s Footsteps?

Photo: Newscom

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