After the Yanks salvaged the four game series in Detroit by winning the final two games in dramatic fashion, a stop off in Toronto was supposed to allow the team to take a breath before heading home to host Texas and Boston, but the air got a little tight when they found out they needed to shut CC Sabathia down again, this time for an elbow fender-bender.
Manager Joe Girardi gave the slumping Curtis Granderson the night off against lefty Ricky Romero in the opening game and inserted the athletic Ichiro into the lineup to play center field. The move must have brought good fortune to the Japanese star as he delivered 5 RBIs for only the third time in his MLB career. Freddy Garcia was on the mound for the Yankees and kept the game close for most of the way before the Yankee bats busted the game wide open later on. With a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 4th, Garcia had runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one out and the Blue Jays (without Jose Bautista still) threatening to take the lead. The junk-throwing Garcia wiggled his way out of the jam by striking out veteran Omar Vizquel and then getting catcher Jeff Mathis to ground out. Mark Teixeira gave the pitching staff a little more breathing room with a solo shot in the 8th, and then Ichiro added a single that brought home two more and made it 6-2 Yankees. Toronto did answer in the bottom of the inning with another run to cut it in half 6-3, but the Yanks peeled off another 4 runs in the top of the 9th, including two more RBIs from Ichiro and the game ended up at 10-4 when it was all said an done. The Yanks reclaimed their prized 20 games over .500 mark.
The man who was supposed to have been the Yankees No.2 starter coming into this season, Ivan Nova, hadn't thrown a good game in eons, and needed a solid sub-.500 club in order to get himself back on track. Opposing pitcher Aaron Laffey for Toronto certainly wasn't making it easy as both starters exchanged zeroes on the board for the first three innings. Girardi had his righty lineup playing against the lefty Laffey and in the top of the 4th, Jayson Nix singled in Mark Teixeira to break open the scoring. With two runners on, the next hitter Casey McGehee, crushed a ball Mark McGwire steroids-style to the upperdeck of left-center that gave the Yanks a 4-0 lead.
Nova burped a run back in the bottom of the 4th after giving up his first hit of the game, but didn't implode this time and was solid through 7.1 innings with only giving up 2 runs and striking out 10 to finally get a win again, his 11th of the season. Derek Jeter scored McGehee in the 6th with an RBI double. With the 5-2 lead, Rafael Soriano worked the 9th for his 28th save of the season.
Going for the sweep, the joy of such of a possibility had to take a backseat when it was learned CC Sabathia had to be placed on the 15-DL for the second time this season. The Yankees ace felt discomfort in his elbow before his last start in Detroit, and although was able to pitch effectively to win the game, with a nearly 6-game lead in the AL East the front office was taking no chances in shutting the big guy down for a few weeks. As a patchwork with Sabathia's arm on the shelf, GM Brian Cashman went out to pick up the recently released Derek Lowe.
As for the final game, Phil Hughes didn't even give the Yankees a chance early on. The enigmatic Yankee homegrown pitcher was steamrolled for 6 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning after already being behind 1-0. Ryoto Igarashi was needed to start the 5th inning as Hughes was done after surrendering 7 earned runs, and he was no better as he gave up three more runs from a Rajai Davis double. Down 10-1 by the 6th inning, the Yankees finally went to work scoring 3 runs from a solo homer from Jeter and then a 2-run shot with the bat of Robinson Cano. The Yankees best chance to tie the score came an inning later when they plated three more runs to make it 10-7, and had Andruw Jones up at the plat with the bases loaded. One swing could've tied or even given the Yanks a lead, but instead Jones grounded into a fielder's choice and the rally was dead. Hughes had dug too big a hole for the powerful offense to be able to crawl out of for the 10-7 loss.
Even with the failed sweep, the Yankees seem to be back on track and the timing couldn't be better with the 2011 AL Champion Texas Rangers backing their bags for a trip to the big city....
Manager Joe Girardi gave the slumping Curtis Granderson the night off against lefty Ricky Romero in the opening game and inserted the athletic Ichiro into the lineup to play center field. The move must have brought good fortune to the Japanese star as he delivered 5 RBIs for only the third time in his MLB career. Freddy Garcia was on the mound for the Yankees and kept the game close for most of the way before the Yankee bats busted the game wide open later on. With a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 4th, Garcia had runners on 2nd and 3rd with only one out and the Blue Jays (without Jose Bautista still) threatening to take the lead. The junk-throwing Garcia wiggled his way out of the jam by striking out veteran Omar Vizquel and then getting catcher Jeff Mathis to ground out. Mark Teixeira gave the pitching staff a little more breathing room with a solo shot in the 8th, and then Ichiro added a single that brought home two more and made it 6-2 Yankees. Toronto did answer in the bottom of the inning with another run to cut it in half 6-3, but the Yanks peeled off another 4 runs in the top of the 9th, including two more RBIs from Ichiro and the game ended up at 10-4 when it was all said an done. The Yanks reclaimed their prized 20 games over .500 mark.
The man who was supposed to have been the Yankees No.2 starter coming into this season, Ivan Nova, hadn't thrown a good game in eons, and needed a solid sub-.500 club in order to get himself back on track. Opposing pitcher Aaron Laffey for Toronto certainly wasn't making it easy as both starters exchanged zeroes on the board for the first three innings. Girardi had his righty lineup playing against the lefty Laffey and in the top of the 4th, Jayson Nix singled in Mark Teixeira to break open the scoring. With two runners on, the next hitter Casey McGehee, crushed a ball Mark McGwire steroids-style to the upperdeck of left-center that gave the Yanks a 4-0 lead.
Nova burped a run back in the bottom of the 4th after giving up his first hit of the game, but didn't implode this time and was solid through 7.1 innings with only giving up 2 runs and striking out 10 to finally get a win again, his 11th of the season. Derek Jeter scored McGehee in the 6th with an RBI double. With the 5-2 lead, Rafael Soriano worked the 9th for his 28th save of the season.
Going for the sweep, the joy of such of a possibility had to take a backseat when it was learned CC Sabathia had to be placed on the 15-DL for the second time this season. The Yankees ace felt discomfort in his elbow before his last start in Detroit, and although was able to pitch effectively to win the game, with a nearly 6-game lead in the AL East the front office was taking no chances in shutting the big guy down for a few weeks. As a patchwork with Sabathia's arm on the shelf, GM Brian Cashman went out to pick up the recently released Derek Lowe.
As for the final game, Phil Hughes didn't even give the Yankees a chance early on. The enigmatic Yankee homegrown pitcher was steamrolled for 6 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning after already being behind 1-0. Ryoto Igarashi was needed to start the 5th inning as Hughes was done after surrendering 7 earned runs, and he was no better as he gave up three more runs from a Rajai Davis double. Down 10-1 by the 6th inning, the Yankees finally went to work scoring 3 runs from a solo homer from Jeter and then a 2-run shot with the bat of Robinson Cano. The Yankees best chance to tie the score came an inning later when they plated three more runs to make it 10-7, and had Andruw Jones up at the plat with the bases loaded. One swing could've tied or even given the Yanks a lead, but instead Jones grounded into a fielder's choice and the rally was dead. Hughes had dug too big a hole for the powerful offense to be able to crawl out of for the 10-7 loss.
Even with the failed sweep, the Yankees seem to be back on track and the timing couldn't be better with the 2011 AL Champion Texas Rangers backing their bags for a trip to the big city....
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