In what was turning out to be a disastrous beginning to the season, Ivan Nova stepped up and provided the Yankees with something they haven't had yet in 2012, a good start.
Nova went 7 innings and struck out 7 to help the Yankees secure a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. With the win, the Yankees were able to remove the giant zero that was in their win column seemingly forever. Although Nova scattered 10 hits, he gave up no walks and was helped out by a number of double-plays. Derek Jeter brought his hot bat to Camden Yards with a 4 for 4 effort, but unfortunately Jeter is the only one in the lineup who is hitting with any consistency. Andrew Jones also chipped in with his first homer of the season, and looking at him, I still can't image he was once a gold glove center fielder.
The second game was one of those marathon games the Yankees always seem to have when they visit Camden Yards. It took 12 innings to get there, but the Yankees squeaked out a 5-4 win over the Orioles thanks to another clutch hit from newest old guy on the roster, Raul Ibanez.
Derek Jeter led off the game by doing A-Rod's job and smack a homer deep over the centerfield wall to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead. Freddy Garcia wasn't able to follow up on Nova's good start and uncorked 5 wild pitches, something that hadn't been done since 1989 when Nova was only 2 years old. All night the Yankees left runners on base and were a putrid 1 for 12 with RISP. It looks like A-Rod can't even hit a ball out of the infield at this point and the days of Teixeira batting over .250 is in a museum somewhere. A key blunder in the game was by Yankees third base coach Robbie Thompson sending Swisher home on the Cano double with no outs and Swisher was nailed dead to rights at the plate. Then again, with A-Rod and Tex coming up next, can you blame Thompson? Ibanez came up in the 12th inning and smacked a RBI double into the Baltimore windy night. After going up by 1 run, Mariano came into the game to notch his first official save of the season.
The final game of the set was yet another extra innings affair at Camden Yards, but this time it only took the Yankees 10 innings to accomplish the 6-4 victory. The Grandy Man finally showed a pulse this season with 2 hits, including his first homerun of 2012 that gave the Yanks an early 2-0 lead.
CC Sabatthia was less than stellar again and struggled through 6 innings and gave up 4 runs. To CC's defense, or lack there of, he interfered with a sure double-play ball which led to Baltimore's first 2 runs. Maybe they should just let him eat again.
Girardi rolled the dice in the bottom of the 9th to walk the bases loaded and put the winning run on third, but this time Rafael Soriano make him look smart by striking out Adam Jones to send the game into extra innings. Of course, Soriano was his usual happy-cheery self coming into the dugout.
Nick Swisher came to the plate with a runner on in the 10th, and if there was ever a player who was due for a big hit, it was him. He launched a no-doubt-about-it homerun into the right field seats on a 3-2 pitch from Orioles reliever Kevin Gregg. Later on, the ball was tossed back onto the field and almost hit Swisher. A real reliever, Mariano Rivera, came into his third consecutive game to lock down his second save of the season to cap off the magnificent performance from the Yankees' bullpen all series long.
Next up at 3-3, the Yankees head home to have A-Rod and Albert Pujols purchase a small country....
Nova went 7 innings and struck out 7 to help the Yankees secure a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. With the win, the Yankees were able to remove the giant zero that was in their win column seemingly forever. Although Nova scattered 10 hits, he gave up no walks and was helped out by a number of double-plays. Derek Jeter brought his hot bat to Camden Yards with a 4 for 4 effort, but unfortunately Jeter is the only one in the lineup who is hitting with any consistency. Andrew Jones also chipped in with his first homer of the season, and looking at him, I still can't image he was once a gold glove center fielder.
The second game was one of those marathon games the Yankees always seem to have when they visit Camden Yards. It took 12 innings to get there, but the Yankees squeaked out a 5-4 win over the Orioles thanks to another clutch hit from newest old guy on the roster, Raul Ibanez.
Derek Jeter led off the game by doing A-Rod's job and smack a homer deep over the centerfield wall to give the Yankees an early 1-0 lead. Freddy Garcia wasn't able to follow up on Nova's good start and uncorked 5 wild pitches, something that hadn't been done since 1989 when Nova was only 2 years old. All night the Yankees left runners on base and were a putrid 1 for 12 with RISP. It looks like A-Rod can't even hit a ball out of the infield at this point and the days of Teixeira batting over .250 is in a museum somewhere. A key blunder in the game was by Yankees third base coach Robbie Thompson sending Swisher home on the Cano double with no outs and Swisher was nailed dead to rights at the plate. Then again, with A-Rod and Tex coming up next, can you blame Thompson? Ibanez came up in the 12th inning and smacked a RBI double into the Baltimore windy night. After going up by 1 run, Mariano came into the game to notch his first official save of the season.
The final game of the set was yet another extra innings affair at Camden Yards, but this time it only took the Yankees 10 innings to accomplish the 6-4 victory. The Grandy Man finally showed a pulse this season with 2 hits, including his first homerun of 2012 that gave the Yanks an early 2-0 lead.
CC Sabatthia was less than stellar again and struggled through 6 innings and gave up 4 runs. To CC's defense, or lack there of, he interfered with a sure double-play ball which led to Baltimore's first 2 runs. Maybe they should just let him eat again.
Girardi rolled the dice in the bottom of the 9th to walk the bases loaded and put the winning run on third, but this time Rafael Soriano make him look smart by striking out Adam Jones to send the game into extra innings. Of course, Soriano was his usual happy-cheery self coming into the dugout.
Nick Swisher came to the plate with a runner on in the 10th, and if there was ever a player who was due for a big hit, it was him. He launched a no-doubt-about-it homerun into the right field seats on a 3-2 pitch from Orioles reliever Kevin Gregg. Later on, the ball was tossed back onto the field and almost hit Swisher. A real reliever, Mariano Rivera, came into his third consecutive game to lock down his second save of the season to cap off the magnificent performance from the Yankees' bullpen all series long.
Next up at 3-3, the Yankees head home to have A-Rod and Albert Pujols purchase a small country....
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