Yankees top Athletics behind Nova and homers

Source: FanGraphs

The winning streak has reached three games, believe it or not. Given how terrible the Yankees looked at this time last week, I’ll take it. I don’t care how bad the opposing teams are. Let’s recap…

• Quality Start: Ivan Nova pitched well but he’s still not right, at least not when compared to the guy he was down the stretch last year. Maybe we should stop holding him to that standard. Nova allowed three runs — two on solo homers — in seven innings, striking out four and walking one. He still tends to miss his spot by a not small margin and quite frankly, Ivan’s got a little A.J. Burnett in him right now. That said, I’ll obviously take three runs in seven innings all season long.
• Dingers: Although the first run of the game came when Coco Crisp over-ran a Robinson Cano line drive, the Yankees did most of their damage with the long ball. Mark Teixeira launched a two-run shot to right in the third inning, Cano led off the fifth with a rocket to center, and Nick Swisher drove in a pair with an opposite field shot a few batters later. Teixeira’s ball had the most height but Cano’s shot was the most impressive, out to dead center on a line.
• More Offense: Two Yankees went hitless on the night (Derek Jeter and Eric Chavez) while five had two hits apiece (Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez, Teixeira, Raul Ibanez, and Swisher). Chavez did draw a walk however, as did Granderson and Russell Martin. It’s probably worth noting that Teixeira doubled but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. He now has 12 hits (four doubles, two homer) and five walks in his last 47 plate appearances to raise his season line to .231/.294/.406. That still stinks, but it’s better than the .212/.269/.364 line he had before this little hot streak.
• Leftovers: Left-handed batters vs. A’s starter Tyson Ross: 9-for-15 with three doubles, three homers, and two walks … Granderson had a pair of opposite field singles, only his sixth and seventh hits to left field this year … A-Rod stole his team-leading sixth base after swiping just eight in the last two years combined … Boone Logan (one strikeout) and Rafael Soriano (two strikeouts and one double allowed) threw scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively … Oakland’s bullpen retired 14 of 16 batters faced … Ibanez was left in to face a lefty in the late innings yet again … Chavez heard some boos, which is incredibly weak on the part of the A’s fans.

MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the nerd score, and ESPN the updated standings. About 700 lbs. worth of pitcher meet tomorrow when CC Sabathia and Bartolo Colon give it a go in game two of this three-game weekend set on Saturday afternoon.