Source: FanGraphs
The Yankees scored six runs on Friday night, the same number of runs they scored in their previous four games combined. It seems like their plan is to win every game by 4+ runs so they don’t have to worry about finding a replacement closer for Mariano Rivera, which is something I can get behind. Let’s recap…
- Two Outs: Bruce Chen had a man on first with two outs in the seventh and the bottom of the order due up, but he never got the final out. Eduardo Nunez tripled into the right field corner to plate Robinson Cano, then Chris Stewart pixie-dusted an RBI single to left to score Nunez. With Chen on the ropes, Derek Jeter launched a two-run homer to left that effectively put the game away. Two-out rallies are my fave.
- Beast Mode: CC Sabathia has now gone exactly eight innings in each of this last three starts. He only struck out five Royals on Friday, though he held them to two runs and at one point retired a dozen in a row. The only thing that annoyed me is that he gave up three extra-base hits to left-handed batters, which isn’t something he should be doing. Sabathia only threw 108 pitches and other than a little trouble in the first and eighth, it was a stress-free start.
- Future Closer: It wasn’t a save situation, but David Robertson struck out the side in order in the ninth inning. He’s now struck out the last eight batters he’s faced and ten of the last eleven. That’s pretty cool. Rafael Soriano was warming with men on base in the eighth before Sabathia escaped the jam. Does that tell us anything about who gets what role? I dunno.
- Leftovers: Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer in the first, his seventh career dinger off Chen … Cano had a legit line drive single to right (not another ground ball with eyes) and a fly out to the warning track, which I hope is a sign he’s getting himself together … everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit except for Jayson Nix, plus Jeter and Tex had two knocks apiece … the recently recalled Dewayne Wise pinch-hit for Nix late and doubled to left, plus it was neat to have a defensively competent outfielder on the field in the late innings … it’s nitpicking now, but how awful was
that hit-and-runsending the runners in the fourth? The lead-runner (Tex) is arguably the slowest guy on the team and the hitter (Cano) swings at everything and wasn’t going to take ball four if his life depended on it. Ran themselves right out of an inning.
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the nerd score, and ESPN the updated standings. Hopefully the bats are starting to come alive and the Yankees can build off this win. They’re due for a six or seven game winning streak. Game three of this four-game set is a dreaded Saturday night game. Those should be outlawed. Hiroki Kuroda gets the ball against Felipe Paulino, who is coming off the DL to make his first start of the season.
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