Captain Clutch Does It Again

(REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
CLE	1	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	0		5	9	1
NYY	0	0	2	1	0	1	1	1	X		6	8	0

Another day another big hit from Derek Jeter. Today it was a solo home run in the eighth to give the Yankees a 6-5 lead over the Cleveland Indians. It was Jeter's third homer of the season. The run proved to be the game winner for the Yanks for their first win in their new home. Last season Jeter didn't hit his third home run until June 1st.

Four other Yankees hit solo homers on the day; Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira went back-to-back and belly-to-belly in the third. Melky Cabrera hit one in the fourth. And Robinson Cano added his third of the year in the sixth.

With the Indians leading 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh Damon led off with a walk. Teixeira then hit a swinging bunt to Indian's reliever Vinnie Chulk, but the right hander fired the ball away allowing Damon to score all the way from first to tie the game. That setup Jeter and his clutch homer in the eighth.

Joba Chamberlain made his second start of the year and struggled. In 4.2 innings pitched he allowed five runs on six hits, walked five and struck out four. As you can see from his high walk total he struggled with his command throughout the game. Of his 93 pitches, just 46 of them were strikes. I don't have to tell you how bad a ball to strike ratio that is. His velocity also doesn't seem to be there yet, according to MLB.com gameday, his average fastball was just 90 MPH.

On the positive side, the bullpen was actually very good today. Phil Coke looked very good in his 1.1 innings of scoreless ball. Jonathan Albaladejo retired the only three batters he faced. Brian Bruney continues to be ridiculous, striking out two of the three batters he faced. He also got the win, his second of the year. Here's his line over his last six outings: 5.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 12 K. Like I said, ridiculous.

Mariano Rivera had a bit of a rocky ninth but got out of it to pick up his third save of the year.

The Yankees showed a lot of grit today, coming back

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	5	1	1	1	0	1	2	.283
Damon, LF	3	2	2	1	2	0	1	.286
Teixeira, 1B	3	1	1	1	2	0	1	.179
Swisher, DH	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	.371
Posada, C	3	0	0	0	1	0	5	.242
Molina, J, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Cano, 2B	4	1	1	1	0	0	2	.405
Cabrera, M, RF	4	1	1	1	0	0	2	.286
Ransom, 3B	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.121
a-Matsui, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.148
Pena, 3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.143
Gardner, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.263
Totals	33	6	8	5	6	5	17
a-Struck out for Ransom in the 8th.
BATTING HR: Damon (1, 3rd inning off Reyes, 0 on, 2 out), Teixeira (2, 3rd inning off Reyes, 0 on, 2 out), Cabrera, M (1, 4th inning off Reyes, 0 on, 2 out), Cano (3, 6th inning off Jackson, 0 on, 0 out), Jeter (3, 8th inning off Lewis, J, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Jeter 4; Damon 5; Teixeira 4; Cano 4; Cabrera, M 4; Ransom; Gardner. RBI: Damon (3), Teixeira (4), Cabrera, M (2), Cano (8), Jeter (8). 2-out RBI: Damon; Teixeira; Cabrera, M; Jeter. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada 3; Jeter; Cabrera, M. Team RISP: 0-for-9. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (3, 2nd base off Reyes/Martinez), Damon (2, 2nd base off Reyes/Martinez). FIELDING DP: 3 (Cano-Jeter-Teixeira 2, Ransom-Cano-Teixeira).

INDIANS OFFENSE

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Chamberlain	4.2	6	5	5	5	4	1	5.06
Coke	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	6.75
Albaladejo	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.68
Bruney (W, 2-0)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3.00
Rivera (S, 3)	1.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0.00

INDIANS PITCHING

PLAYER(S) OF THE GAME: The Yankees bullpen (4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K)

HONORABLE MENTION: Johnny Damon (2-for-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, 2 BB)

Game three of this four game series is tomorrow afternoon at the new stadium. Chien-Ming Wang looks to rebound from his two awful starts to begin the season as he takes the mound for the Yanks, and Fausto Carmona will start for Cleveland. First pitch is set for 3:40 p.m., and the game is on FOX and WCBS 880.