Yanks, Sabathia in seventh heaven

I made it home today shortly before 7 p.m. and turned on the game just in time for the top of the first. As I got dressed for the gym, I witnessed what would be CC Sabathia’s worst inning. Two singles, a stolen base and a ground out led to a 1-0 Baltimore lead. Little did I realize that the O’s wouldn’t get much of anything for the rest of the evening.

I walked into the gym just in time for A-Rod’s at bat. As he drilled that 3-2 pitch into left field for another no-doubt home run, I walked away smiling. Everything was clicking for the Yankees recently, and tonight would be no exception as the Yanks trampled the Orioles 9-1 for their seventh straight victory.

For the next five and a half innings, the game would look nothing like the first. In his six frames after the rocky start, CC Sabathia utterly dominated the Orioles. He allowed just two more baserunners on one hit and one walk, both in the fifth inning, and struck out seven. He walked away with his fourth victory and his ERA is now down to a Sabathia-like 3.43.

For the last few turns through the rotation, Sabathia has been utterly dominant. In 25 innings, he has allowed 12 hits and nine walks while striking out 20 and giving up just three earned runs. That’s a 1.08 ERA for those keeping score at home.

As Sabathia was dealing, so was Brad Bergesen. The Orioles’ youngster kept the Yankees’ bat in check through six innings. In fact, the Yanks managed just one hit after A-Rod’s home run until the seventh. In that inning though, the Orioles just fell apart.

Hideki Matsui, mired in a slump, grounded out to the start the inning. Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano both walked, and Chris Ray came in to try to get the next two outs. He wouldn’t get any as a single, error, double, error, single and a home run would give the Yanks seven runs in the inning and an insurmountable 9-1 lead. By then, the rest of the game was simply a formality, and Brian Bruney and Brett Tomko closed it out.

It was a perfect seventh consecutive win for the Yanks. Sabathia cruised through seven innings. A-Rod and Mark Teixeira both homered, and the team went 4-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Two hours and forty nine minutes after it began, the Yanks walked away with their 22nd win. A-Rod has homered in four straight games. Mark Teixeira has hit six over his last ten games, and the Yankees are 9-2 since Alex returned to the Bronx. Life is good right now for Yankee fans indeed.