After being in the dumps about two weeks ago, the Yanks returned back to the Bronx after a much needed 6-3 road trip and were looking to leap over the Rays in the AL East standings. Two teams ahead of the Yankees, the Orioles and the Rays, had been struggling in recent games and it gave the surging Yanks a great opportunity to make up some ground.
Trying to put his subpar start in Anaheim in his rear view mirror, Andy Pettitte took the ball in the first game against the Rays' "Big Game" James Shields, who has been nothing but in his last few starts against the Yankees. Pettitte made it look too easy as he put the Rays to sleep with no runs and two hits over 7.1 innings. Even returning Yankee fan favorite, Hideki Matsui, recently picked up by Tampa to help their offensive woes, wasn't able to make a dent and became one of Pettitte's 10 strikeout victims. The offense kept Shields in the palm of their hands as usual and blasted him for 7 runs in his 5 innings of torture, highlighted by a 4th inning grand slam by Russell Martin of all hitters. The defense didn't help Shields either as a pair of early errors led to two of the Yankees first runs. The seldom used Freddy Garcia made a rare appearance in a winning cause in the 8th inning to finish the Rays off for the 7-0 win.
In keeping with the theme of strong starting pitching by the Yankees recently, and also trying to repent after an evil performance in Anaheim, Ivan Nova took over where Pettitte left off. Going up against Alex Cobb (I know...who?...) Nova came within inches of throwing a complete game shutout. Up 2-0 thanks to solo homers from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano off of Cobb earlier in the game, the offense tacked on 2 more insurance in the bottom of the 8th, which proved to be mighty later on.
Girardi allowed Nova to come out in the top of the 9th, as he was cruising along all game, to finish it off. But then a lead off triple, followed by another triple made the score 4-1 Yanks with a potential run standing at third. Rafael Soriano entered the game to clean up Nova's mess.
Like a machine, Soriano refused B.J. Upton, standing on 3rd, to score. First victim Matt Joyce popped up to the catcher. Next, Ben Zobrist struckout, and that set the stage with a familiar face in Hideki Matsui who could make it 4-3 with a swing of the bat, with the dangerous Carlos Pena batting behind him who could make it 4-4 with another swing. Instead, Soriano challenged Matsui with a fastball and Godzilla took it to the very end of the warning track as Yankee fans held their breath, but luckily it safely landed in the glove of Nick Swisher to end the game at 4-1. With Soriano's 8th save of the season, he secured Nova's 7th win and help the Yanks pass the Rays in the standing by a half-game.
Looking for the sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees had to like their chances with sending their 7-2 ace CC Sabathia to the hill. Opposing him was the equally difficult David Price at 7-3, but the Yanks had been able to rough up Price in his last few visits to the Bronx. This time Rays manager Joe Maddon didn't put Matsui in the lineup and it seemed to have a reversal of fortunes for the Yankees. Tampa had a 5-1 lead by the 4th inning with Sabathia not being sharp at all, plus Jayson Nix having a difficult time playing in left, as Brett Gardner's eminent return can't come soon enough. An inning later, the Yankees had a sign of life to possibly tie the game with one swing, or at least cut into the deficit. With bases loaded and only one out, Alex Rodriguez battled David Price to work the count to 3-2 and fouled off pitch after pitch, until Price finally got A-Rod to strikeout. Rodriguez returned to the bench to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Cano after that grounded out and that was the Yanks last big chance of the night. Although they added another run in the 8th to make it 5-2, the Rays answered back with 2 more runs in the 9th and the game ended with a 7-3 final. With the win, the Yankees got the series, but the Rays took back their half-game lead in the standings.
With a third of the season already gone, A-Rod stands at a whopping 9 homers and only 22 RBIs, and for thirty-million a year in salary is on course for 27 homers and 66 RBIs. He'll get his chance to erase the bases loaded strikeout from fans' memory as the 31-25 club enters Round 1 of the Subway Series against the surprising Mets...
Trying to put his subpar start in Anaheim in his rear view mirror, Andy Pettitte took the ball in the first game against the Rays' "Big Game" James Shields, who has been nothing but in his last few starts against the Yankees. Pettitte made it look too easy as he put the Rays to sleep with no runs and two hits over 7.1 innings. Even returning Yankee fan favorite, Hideki Matsui, recently picked up by Tampa to help their offensive woes, wasn't able to make a dent and became one of Pettitte's 10 strikeout victims. The offense kept Shields in the palm of their hands as usual and blasted him for 7 runs in his 5 innings of torture, highlighted by a 4th inning grand slam by Russell Martin of all hitters. The defense didn't help Shields either as a pair of early errors led to two of the Yankees first runs. The seldom used Freddy Garcia made a rare appearance in a winning cause in the 8th inning to finish the Rays off for the 7-0 win.
In keeping with the theme of strong starting pitching by the Yankees recently, and also trying to repent after an evil performance in Anaheim, Ivan Nova took over where Pettitte left off. Going up against Alex Cobb (I know...who?...) Nova came within inches of throwing a complete game shutout. Up 2-0 thanks to solo homers from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano off of Cobb earlier in the game, the offense tacked on 2 more insurance in the bottom of the 8th, which proved to be mighty later on.
Girardi allowed Nova to come out in the top of the 9th, as he was cruising along all game, to finish it off. But then a lead off triple, followed by another triple made the score 4-1 Yanks with a potential run standing at third. Rafael Soriano entered the game to clean up Nova's mess.
Like a machine, Soriano refused B.J. Upton, standing on 3rd, to score. First victim Matt Joyce popped up to the catcher. Next, Ben Zobrist struckout, and that set the stage with a familiar face in Hideki Matsui who could make it 4-3 with a swing of the bat, with the dangerous Carlos Pena batting behind him who could make it 4-4 with another swing. Instead, Soriano challenged Matsui with a fastball and Godzilla took it to the very end of the warning track as Yankee fans held their breath, but luckily it safely landed in the glove of Nick Swisher to end the game at 4-1. With Soriano's 8th save of the season, he secured Nova's 7th win and help the Yanks pass the Rays in the standing by a half-game.
Looking for the sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees had to like their chances with sending their 7-2 ace CC Sabathia to the hill. Opposing him was the equally difficult David Price at 7-3, but the Yanks had been able to rough up Price in his last few visits to the Bronx. This time Rays manager Joe Maddon didn't put Matsui in the lineup and it seemed to have a reversal of fortunes for the Yankees. Tampa had a 5-1 lead by the 4th inning with Sabathia not being sharp at all, plus Jayson Nix having a difficult time playing in left, as Brett Gardner's eminent return can't come soon enough. An inning later, the Yankees had a sign of life to possibly tie the game with one swing, or at least cut into the deficit. With bases loaded and only one out, Alex Rodriguez battled David Price to work the count to 3-2 and fouled off pitch after pitch, until Price finally got A-Rod to strikeout. Rodriguez returned to the bench to a chorus of boos from the crowd. Cano after that grounded out and that was the Yanks last big chance of the night. Although they added another run in the 8th to make it 5-2, the Rays answered back with 2 more runs in the 9th and the game ended with a 7-3 final. With the win, the Yankees got the series, but the Rays took back their half-game lead in the standings.
With a third of the season already gone, A-Rod stands at a whopping 9 homers and only 22 RBIs, and for thirty-million a year in salary is on course for 27 homers and 66 RBIs. He'll get his chance to erase the bases loaded strikeout from fans' memory as the 31-25 club enters Round 1 of the Subway Series against the surprising Mets...
No comments:
Post a Comment