Damon Saves The Day With 3-Run Blast

(AP Photo/Rob Carr)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NYY	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0		5	11	0
BAL	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		3	10	0

Winning pitcher - Joba Chamberlain (2-1)
Losing pitcher - Jim Johnson (2-1)
SV - Mariano Rivera (6)

Until the seventh inning this one looked like a lot of games lately. The Yankees gain a bit of momentum on Mark Teixeira's solo homer in the first, only to have it quickly erased when Joba Chamberlain allowed a three-run homer to Aubrey Huff in the bottom half of the inning and it was 3-1 O's. And that's how things remained for the next five innings.

Like his start against Boston, Joba was able to find himself in the second and was pretty good from then on. He did have a little trouble in the third and fourth, but each time was able to work his way out of the jam. Over six innings he allowed three runs on nine hits, walked two, and struck out nine, with all three runs and five of the hits coming in the first. Joba's first inning issues are likely due to a problem with his pregame routine. I think he's not ready to go and may need to make a few more throws in the bullpen. It wasn't a great start for Joba; he threw too many pitches, his ball-to-strike ratio wasn't good (104/64), and obviously once again had a bad first inning. But he did keep the Yankees in the game, and once again after the first he looked very good.

Koji Uehara pitched very well for the O's. He was mixing his pitches and had the Yankees batters off-balance all day. His only mistake of the day was the homer to Teixeira in the first. In six innings he allowed a run on six hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out five. Thank goodness he only lasted six.

The O's went to their pen in the top of the seventh calling on left-hander Jamie Walker. Walker struck out Nick Swisher to start the inning, but then Robinson Cano stepped up and took walker deep to right center for a solo homer, cutting the Yanks deficit to one. Melky Cabrera was then up and he flied out to left for the second out, and that would be it for Walker.

After dominating the Yanks last night Jim Johnson was next out of the O's pen. Francisco Cervelli was up and hit a slow grounder in between first and second, Brian Roberts fielded that ball but his throw could not beat the hustling Cervelli to first and the Yanks had the tying run on. Derek Jeter was then up and reached on another infield single, this time a slow roller in between third and the pitcher's mound. For a team with no luck at all, those were two lucky hits. That brought up Johnny Damon, and after working the count to 3-2, he hammered a 96 MPH fastball into the seats in right for a three-run homer to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead.

Is there anyone you'd rather have up in a big spot than Damon right now? The guy has been doing nothing but get big hit after big hit for a week now, hitting five homers and driving in 15 runs. It's just a shame the rest of the team has done nothing.

The game wasn't anywhere close to over, after all the Yankees bullpen still had three innings to blow the lead. Joe Girardi went with Phil Coke, and Coke stepped up big time. He allowed just one hit and striking out one over a scoreless seventh and eighth. It was a very impressive outing for Coke, who is quickly putting a strangle hold on the setup man role.

Mariano Rivera came in for the save in the ninth and looked a lot better than he did on Thursday. He did walk a batter, but did not allow another runner and picked up his sixth save of the year. His cutter had great movement and his velocity was also much better. After averaging just 89.8 MPH with his fastball on Thursday his fastball was averaging 92.1 today.

It was a good win for the Yankees who deperately needed something positive to take into their off day tomorrow. You don't want to head into a series with a first place team after losing seven of eight and two of three to the last place O's.

A couple things did bother me today. First was Melky Cabrera's mindless play in center field. With a runner on first and one out in the fourth Felix Pie hit a lazy chopper up the middle and Melky tries to throw out Ty Wigginton going to third allowing Pie to get to second. First of all, there was no way he was getting him, Wigginton is slow, but he's not that slow. And second, the most important thing there is keeping the double play in order. This isn't the first time we've seen Melky make a stupid throw, so I have to wonder if anyone on that coaching staff does any actual coaching.

The second thing that bothers me is that this team has been scoring too many of their runs via the homer. It seems like every time people are on base everyone is trying to hit the ball out of the yard and be the big hero. I'd like to see a little more small ball and a few more manufactured runs.

As for that whole Aubrey Huff fist pump crap, I didn't like it, and if I were Joba I'd probably put one in Huff's ribs. But at the same time I understand why Huff did it and I'm fine with that and his explination. “He’s done it a couple of times to me when he’s struck me out, Huff said. "For me, it’s just in good fun. I always told the guys that if I get him, I’m going to give him a nice fist pump. For me, it wasn’t really showing anybody up. I was just trying to have some fun with it. He does it all the time and I figured you know what, why not?” Fair enough, but pitchers all over this league pump their fists, why so many people are fixated on Joba is beyond me. I just watch Jonathan Papelbon have an orgasm on the mound after closing out a save against the Rays, and I don't think anyone is going to make a big deal out of it.

After tomorrow's off day the Yanks head to Toronto for a three game series against the Jays beginning on Tuesday. In a great pitching matchup A.J. Burnett will face off against his mentor, Roy Halladay in the opener.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	4	1	2	0	1	1	1	.273
Damon, LF	5	1	1	3	0	3	4	.314
Teixeira, 1B	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.198
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	.182
Matsui, DH	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.265
Swisher, RF	4	0	1	0	0	3	0	.270
Gardner, CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.227
Cano, 2B	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	.321
Cabrera, M, CF-RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.333
Cervelli, C	4	1	2	0	0	0	2	.273
Totals	37	5	11	5	1	9	13
BATTING 2B: Cano (8, Uehara), Cabrera, M (4, Sherrill). HR: Teixeira (7, 1st inning off Uehara, 0 on, 2 out), Cano (6, 7th inning off Walker, 0 on, 1 out), Damon (9, 7th inning off Johnson, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Jeter 2; Damon 4; Teixeira 4; Rodriguez, A; Swisher; Cano 6; Cabrera, M 2; Cervelli 2. RBI: Teixeira (17), Cano (18), Damon 3 (25). 2-out RBI: Teixeira; Damon 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cervelli; Damon. GIDP: Damon. Team RISP: 1-for-5. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING DP: 2 (Chamberlain-Cano-Teixeira, Jeter-Cano-Teixeira). Pickoffs: Cervelli (Mora at 1st base).

ORIOLES OFFENSE

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Chamberlain (W, 2-1)	6.0	9	3	3	2	5	1	3.89
Coke (H, 1)	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3.29
Rivera (S, 6)	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	3.65

ORIOLES PITCHING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Johnny Damon (1-for-5, GW 3-run HR)

HONORABLE MENTION: Phil Coke (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K)

The Yankees have an off day tomorrow before they open a
three-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Tuesday.