(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| TB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |
| NYY | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | X | 5 | 6 | 1 |
Winning pitcher - Andy Pettitte (6-2)
Losing pitcher - Andy Sonnanstine (4-6)
SV - Mariano Rivera (14)
The Yankees hit four solo homers on their way to their 5-3 over the Rays in tonight's rubber game at the new stadium. Mark Teixeira hit his league-leading 18th homer in the first to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. Nick Swisher extended the Yankees lead to 3-0 with a two-run shot in the third. Then, after the Rays tied it, Johnny Damon regained the lead with a solo homer in the sixth. Derek Jeter added a solo homer over of his own in the eighth for a little insurance.
Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees and had an OK game, very similar to Joba Chamberlain's start yesterday. In six innings Pettitte allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, walked three and struck out seven, he threw 104 pitches, 64 for strikes.
The Yanks spotted him a 3-0 lead, but he got into trouble in the fourth, and allowed Tampa to tie it. Ben Zobrist reached on an error by Alex Rodriguez to lead off the inning. He then moved to second on a wild pitch and later scored on a Michel Hernandez RBI single. Gabe Kapler then tied the game with a two-run homer. He settled down before leaving the game after the sixth, and thanks to the homers by Damon and Jeter, Pettitte was able to pick up his team-leading sixth win of the year.
Phil Hughes made his first appearance (it's about time) out of the bullpen and looked very good. He pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, retiring B.J. Upton on a grounder to third, Carl Crawford on a groudner back to the mound, and then striking out Evan Longoria to end the inning. He had great stuff tonight, all of his fastballs were either 94 or 95 mph and his curveballs had great movement. He threw 11 pitches, 7 for strikes. I'm not saying they should keep him in the pen for good, but they could have a weapon on their hands for at least the next few weeks.
Phil Coke came in for the eighth and was also very good. He didn't not allow a hit in one scoreless inning, but he did walk a batter. His velocity was also very good tonight, he regularly hit 93-94 on the gun.
For the third straight day Mariano Rivera came in for the ninth and for the second day in a row made quick work of the Rays. He needed just 11 pitches to get through Kapler, Matt Joyce, and Upton. It was his 14th save of the season. The only negative to his outing tonight is now he's most likely unavailable for tomorrow's series opener against the Red Sox.
Speaking of the Sox they were off tonight so the Yankees head to Fenway with a one game lead in the division. A.J. Burnett will get the ball for the Yanks in the opener, he will be facing Sox ace Josh Beckett. The game will be on MY9, and first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
How important is the upcoming Yanks-Sox series, and what are your expectations?
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .306 |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .299 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .286 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .248 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .300 |
| Posada, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .297 |
| Matsui, DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .246 |
| Swisher, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .257 |
| Gardner, CF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .265 |
| Cabrera, M, CF-RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .297 |
| Totals | 28 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |
BATTING HR: Teixeira (18, 1st inning off Sonnanstine, 0 on, 2 out), Swisher (12, 2nd inning off Sonnanstine, 1 on, 2 out), Damon (12, 6th inning off Sonnanstine, 0 on, 1 out), Jeter (8, 8th inning off Sonnanstine, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Jeter 4; Damon 4; Teixeira 4; Cano; Swisher 5. RBI: Teixeira (51), Swisher 2 (35), Damon (34), Jeter (26). 2-out RBI: Teixeira; Swisher 2. GIDP: Swisher; Rodriguez, A. Team LOB: 2. FIELDING E: Rodriguez, A (3, fielding). DP: (Jeter-Teixeira). | ||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Pettitte (W, 6-2) | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4.22 |
| Hughes, P (H, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.30 |
| Coke (H, 3) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.24 |
| Rivera (S, 14) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.20 |
RAYS STATS
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Nick Swisher (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, R)
HONORABLE MENTION: Mark Teixeira (1-for-3, HR, RBI, BB
Tomorrow's Game
Yankees @ Red Sox
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: MY9, WCBS 880
RHP A.J. Burnett (4-2, 4.69 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Beckett (6-2, 4.09 ERA)
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: MY9, WCBS 880
RHP A.J. Burnett (4-2, 4.69 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Beckett (6-2, 4.09 ERA)
15 Comments:
Nice work by the bullpen. Coke looked good he looked like the Phil Coke of last year.
Like you said the only downfall was that Mariano had to get the save. I thought in the first couple of innings it had a chance of being a blow out. Oh well winning these games against Tampa Bay are very important too.
I'm thinking Girardi would use Aceves to try to get the save tommorow against the red sox.
Tune into the YES Network for the pregame starting at 6:00PM. Then after the game against the Red Sox on UPN then turn back to the YES Network for the postgame!
David Cone will be in studio!!!
Once Bruney comes back the yanks should get rid of Jose Veras. I would keep Phil Hughes in the bullpen. I think he can be a very good reliever and make this bullpen dominant. Also, the yankees could use Hughes in spots where he can pitch 3 or 4 innings to maintain his arm strength just in case they need him to start again. They can use him in 1 inning roles too similar to how the red sox use Justin Masterson.
Anon, I completely agree! Time to get rid of Veras! Rivera, Bruney, Coke, Robertson, Hughes, Aceves, Tomko looks like a very versatile group.
Great Post... I love your Blog... I agree about Hughes but am scared if they use him in the bullpen then stretch him out he could get injured... But he looked amazing tonight!!!
Hey guys, I was at this game. Great game at that. In fact so great me and a bunch of friends are on our way up to boston right now. Yea I know its raining please pray this isn't a wasted trip for us. Also a yanks win would be great too. Wish me luck as I will be in full yanks gear in boz seats out by the pesky pole. Go yankees !!!
Hey guys, I was at this game. Great game at that. In fact so great me and a bunch of friends are on our way up to boston right now. Yea I know its raining please pray this isn't a wasted trip for us. Also a yanks win would be great too. Wish me luck as I will be in full yanks gear in boz seats out by the pesky pole. Go yankees !!!
I thought Pettitte's second inning was a good an inning as he's pitched since the WS runs. He jus needs to string a few more of those together to keep his pich counts down. Go Yanks. Happy B'Day Thurmon - RIP
That's great, Rob, have a good time in beantown.
Robert, thanks for reading, glad you like the site.
You're right, the Yankees are going to have to be smart with Hughes so they avoid ruining his arm. But if they kept him in the pen for a while and then slowly extended him I think he'd be OK. They just can't rush him back to being a starter now.
It would be a waste to have a guy with Phil Hughes' talent in the starting rotation - keep him in the bullpen where he belongs! We need a decent setup man to get things going for Mo.
That last comment was utter sarcasm of course. Just fueling the fires of the Joba silliness.
I do agree that keeping him in the pen is probably the wrong move in the long-term, for the exact reason you mentioned - he's too talented to waste in the pen. But until they get Bruney back and/or Wang proves he can't start I have no problem with him in the pen for a little while.
Also, Joba is much better than Hughes at this point in their careers.
Leaving Hughes in the pen for now is fine. He could certainly benefit from more big league experience. I'm surprised Girardi only used him for one inning last night. He could have stretched him out for the 7th and the 8th.
Hopefully, if he can continue to pitch well out of the pen, he'll be ready for a rotation spot next year.
I was surprised about that too. From what I've been hearing they wanted to make sure he would be available tonight if needed and the extra inning might have made him unavailable tonight.
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