Late Rally Leads Yanks to 7-4 Win

(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
LAA	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		4	9	1
NYY	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	3	X		7	12	0

It was a nice win for the Yankees in the the Bronx last night as they beat the Angels 7-4. A.J. Burnett started for the Yankees and did not have a great outing. He lasted seven innings and allowed four runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out five. He threw 108 pitches, 67 for strikes. It was Burnett's third straight sub-par outing after starting the year on fire.

He was rocky from the start, allowing a lead off triple to Chone Figgins. Figgins later scored on a Bobby Abreu RBI single. (Surprisingly, Abreu did not get that loud of an ovation, but he did get a roll call from The Creatures.) The Angels added two more in the top of the second on a solo homer off the bat of Mike Napoli and a sac fly by Eric Aybar. The fourth Angels' run came in the top of the fifth. Aybar led off with a double (thanks to Damon's arm) and then Figgins drove him in with a RBI single.

The one thing Burnett did do was last seven innings and give the bullpen a bit of a break. With Burnett's seven innings, each of the five Yankees' starters went at least six innings over the last five games, and if the Yankees can continue to get that sort of length out of their starters they will win a lot of games.

Trailing 1-0, the Yankees came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the first. With nobody on and two out Mark Teixeira hit a double deep in the left-center field gap. Hideki Matsui then stepped to the dish and line an RBI single up the middle.

After Burnett gave the lead back to the Angels with two runs in the top of the second, Johnny Damon hit a solo homer, his fourth, to cut the lead to 3-2.

In the bottom of the fourth the Yankees had runners on first and third with one out, and Derek Jeter was batting. He lined a 1-1 pitch into right for what appeared to be an ordinary RBI single, but Abreu allowed the ball to get past him and Ramiro Pena was able to score all the way from first, and the Yankees led 4-3. Abreu was then serenaded with "Bobby" chants from the bleachers.

With the score now tied in the bottom of the 8th the Yanks put a three spot on the board to put the game away. With one out Robinson Cano singled, Jorge Posada then hit a ground-rule double and the Yanks were set up with 2nd and 3rd. The Angels then intentionally walked Nick Swisher to load the bases for Melky Cabrera. Melky lined the first pitch he saw for an RBI single into right. Pena then stepped up and lined a two-run double into the right field corner. I was always in favor of Brett Gardner starting, and I still think he deserves more of a chance, but for now they have to keep playing Melky.

Phil Coke pitched a scoreless 8th inning to pick up the win, his first of the year. I know I mentioned this the other day, but he's really been a lot better since his early season struggles.

Mariano Rivera came on for the ninth. He allowed a hit and struck out two to pick up his fifth save of the season.

I was at the game, sitting in section 235 of the LF bleachers. It was a decent crowd considering it was a cold, mid-week game. The seats behind homeplate appeared to be a little less empty than it had been during the first homestand. Maybe it was because of the Angels, or maybe it was because of the price cut, who knows. You can check out the view from the seats as well as more photos from the night on this blog's Facebook page.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	4	0	2	1	1	0	0	.287
Damon, LF	4	1	1	1	1	0	4	.295
Gardner, CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.220
Teixeira, 1B	4	1	1	0	1	1	5	.200
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	1	0	0	1	.292
Cano, 2B	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.366
Posada, C	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.275
Swisher, RF	2	2	1	0	2	0	0	.312
Cabrera, M, CF-LF	4	0	2	1	0	0	2	.327
Pena, 3B	4	1	2	2	0	0	1	.269
Totals	34	7	12	6	5	3	15
BATTING 2B: Teixeira (3, Ortega), Posada (6, Speier), Pena (1, Speier). HR: Damon (4, 3rd inning off Ortega, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Jeter 2; Damon 4; Teixeira 2; Matsui; Cano; Posada 2; Swisher; Cabrera, M 2; Pena 3. RBI: Matsui (9), Damon (10), Jeter (12), Cabrera, M (9), Pena 2 (2). 2-out RBI: Matsui; Jeter. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano; Pena; Damon; Teixeira 2. GIDP: Cabrera, M; Teixeira. Team RISP: 5-for-11. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Cabrera, M (2, 2nd base off Ortega/Napoli). FIELDING DP: (Pena-Cano-Teixeira).

ANGELS OFFENSE

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Burnett	7.0	8	4	4	1	5	1	5.40
Coke (W, 1-1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.72
Rivera (S, 5)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2.79

ANGELS PITCHING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ramiro Pena (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R)

HONORABLE MENTION: Melky Cabrera (2-for-4, 2 RBI, SB)

TOMORROW'S GAME

Yankees vs. Angels @ New Yankee Stadium
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
Andy Pettitte LHP (2-1, 2.96 ERA) vs. Jered Weaver RHP (2-1, 2.45 ERA)