I’m going to be perfectly honest: I really didn’t watch very much of this game. I was too busy following all the trade deadline happenings, so I didn’t do much more than take a quick glance at the television every few minutes. I did listen though, which isn’t always the wisest of decisions when Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill are in the booth. Anyway, let’s quickly recap…
- The big blow of the game: Brett Gardner’s bases loaded triple in the fourth. All three runners came around to score, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead. Having the speedy Eduardo Nunez on first helped, a guy with even average speed wasn’t scoring ahead of the relay throws. Gardner’s not going to hit many grand slams (he does have one in his career), but triples are almost as good. He crossed the plate on Curtis Granderson’s groundout two batters later.
- Those four runs are all the Yankees would need, thought they had chances to score more. Nick Swisher left the bases loaded twice in the first three innings, once with a regular ground ball for out number three, once with a comebacker that Jake Arrieta turned into a 1-6-3 double play. They also left men at second and third in the sixth and men at the corners in the seventh.
- Freddy Garcia chugged through six innings, giving up two runs on five hits (all singles) and two walks. He struck out six and generated 14 swings and misses, his third highest total this year and more than he got in any game last season. The trio of Hector Noesi (two outs), David Robertson (four outs), and Mariano Rivera (three outs) closed the game out. Noesi allowed a single and struck out a batter, D-Rob struck out the side in the eighth.
- Derek Jeter left the game with a bruised right middle finger (he’s day-to-day), forcing some defensive shenanigans since Robinson Cano started at DH. Frankie Cervelli pinch-hit for Jeter in the fourth inning, then took over at second base while Nunez slid over to short. Cervelli had never played second before, not in the minors or majors. He had to make just two plays in the field, the first covering second on a steal attempt (runner was safe), and on the second he had to range to his left to snag a ground ball. He turned around and got the force out at second, which was pretty impressive. Cano came into the game for defense seventh. Nice job filling in, Frankie.
- Curtis Granderson had a single, both Nunez and Mark Teixeira had two singles and a walk, Swisher had a single, Eric Chavez a walk, and Russell Martin a walk. That sums up the offense outside of Gardner’s big triple.
- The Yankees wrapped up their ten-game homestand with a 7-3 record, losing one game each to the Athletics, Mariners, and Orioles. That’s a big success. Here’s the box score, here’s the advanced stats, and here’s the standings.
Now the Yankees hit the road for seven games against various forms of Sox. The first of four against the White Sox will be played Monday night, when CC Sabathia gets the ball against Jake Peavy. If you’re in the Windy City, RAB Tickets can get you into the game for cheap.
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