| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| N.Y. Yankees | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | |
| Houston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
For the first time since April 22nd, when they were 12 and 10, the Yankees moved to two games over .500 with tonight's 2-1 victory over the Astros.
Tonight was the third start of Joba Chamberlain's career, and his best. In 6 innings pitched Joba allowed 1 earned run on 6 hits. He did struggle with his control a bit, and only striking out 2, but he was still very effective. To me that's what was so impressive about his start tonight, he didn't have his best stuff or command, and the results were still very good. Usually a 22 year old doesn't hold an opponent to 1 ER over 6 when they don't have their best stuff. Joba has gotten better and better with each start, and I would hope that fans are slowly realizing why it was the right move to put him in the rotation now, rather than later.
Jose Veras replaced Joba in the 7th and dominated. Like Joba, he seems to get better every outing. Tonight he pitched the 7th and 8th, didn't allow a base runner, and struck out 3. He was throwing strikes, and he had great movement on both his fastball and curve. Veras also picked up his first win of the season.
Mariano Rivera had pitched in five of the last six days, so he had tonight off. That meant that the Yankees closer tonight was Kyle Farnsworth. So naturally I thought The Farns would blow the game, and he may have had it not been for some terrible baseball by the Astros.
After getting ahead 0-2 on the leadoff man, Ty Wigginton, Farnworth threw four straight balls, the final one hitting Wigginton on the forearm. And just like that the Astros had the tying run on with nobody out, but that's when the bad baseball began. Michael Bourne attempted a sac-bunt, but popped the ball up to Farnsworth for the first out. Then Wigginton tried to steal second, apparently forgetting that Jose Molina had come in to replace Jorge Posada a couple innings earlier, and was thrown out. Farnsworth completed the inning by striking out pinch-hitter Geoff Blum, and all of Yankee-Land let out a huge sigh of relief. The save was The Farns' first of the season.
Let's all hope that this doesn't give Joe Girardi any crazy ideas, you know, like using Farnsworth as the setup man again.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Chamberlain | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.48 |
| Veras (W, 1-0) | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.32 |
| Farnsworth (S, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.15 |
ASTROS PITCHING
The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the first on an Alex Rodriguez RBI single scoring Bobby Abreu, but after that Astros' starter Shawn Chacon held the Yankees in check until he got into a little trouble in the 7th and was replaced by Wesley Wright, who got out of the mini jam.
With the score tied at 1 in the 8th, Derek Jeter launched an opposite-field HR off Doug Brocail to give the Yanks a 2-1 lead. The homer was Jeter's 4th of the season and 199th of his career. Jeter has been struggling lately and it was good to see him get that big hit.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .271 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .217 |
| Abreu, RF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .290 |
| Rodriguez, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .316 |
| Matsui, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .325 |
| Giambi, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .258 |
| Posada, C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .301 |
| Veras, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| b-Damon, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .319 |
| Farnsworth, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Cabrera, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .258 |
| Chamberlain, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
| a-Betemit, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .218 |
| Molina, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .216 |
| Totals | 31 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 17 | |
a-Flied out for Chamberlain in the 7th. b-Struck out for Veras in the 9th. | ||||||||
BATTING HR: Jeter (4, 8th inning off Brocail, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Jeter 4; Rodriguez; Matsui 2; Posada. RBI: Rodriguez (33), Jeter (28). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Betemit; Molina. GIDP: Posada. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Abreu (6, 2nd base off Chacon/Ausmus). | ||||||||
ASTROS OFFENSE
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jose Veras (W, 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K)
HONORABLE MENTION: Derek Jeter (GW Solo HR in the 8th) and Joba Chamberlain (6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 Fist Pump)
Game two of this three game series is tomorrow night at Minute Maid Park. Mike Mussina takes the mound for the Yanks, with lefty Wandy Rodriguez starting for the Astros. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., and the game will be on YES, and WCBS 880.
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