Joba Dominant in Yanks 5-2 Win in Cleveland

(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

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

Winning pitcher - Joba Chamberlain (3-1)
Losing pitcher - Greg Aquino (1-1)
SV - Mariano Rivera (11)

The story of tonight's game was Joba Chamberlain. In eight innings the 23-year-old right-hander allowed two runs on four hits, walked two and struck out five. He made one major mistake on the day a pitch to Victor Martinez in the fourth that wound up in the right field seats. The second run he allowed came in the seventh when Shin-Soo Choo led off with a single, moved to second on a ground out, stole third, and then scored on another ground out. It was a great start for Joba, especially coming off of the rough outing in Texas.

What was most impressive about his performance to me was that he was economical with his pitches and was able to get deep into the ballgame. The eight innings was the longest outing of his career.

His stuff was as good as its ever been since Joba became a starter. His fastball had the kind of velocity we haven't seen since before coming down with shoulder tendinitis last August. According to MLB.com's gameday it averaged 93.9 mph, and hit 97 several times throughout the night, including in the 8th inning. Besides having a great fastball, his slider was devastating, and his also had a very good curve tonight. He threw 106 pitches on the night, 66 for strikes.

Not only did he pitch a great game, but he also made the defensive play of the game in the field. With the score tied at one in the fifth Cleveland had runners on first and second and nobody out. Kelly Shoppach tried to put down a sac bunt but popped it up, Joba came racing off the mound and dove - actually more of a belly-flop - towards the third base line to make a diving catch. He then got up and doubled up the runner off second for the double play. It was a major turning point in the game and a hell of play by Joba.

(Mark Duncan of the AP and Ron Kuntz of REUTERS)

The Yanks got on the scoreboard with a run in the third; Brett Gardner walked and stole second, then Derek Jeter reached on a bunt single. Nick Swisher then grounded into a double play and the Gardner came into score.

That would be all they'd get off Indians starter Jeremy Sowers, but they did have a chance to blow the game open when Sowers lost the strike zone in the top of the sixth walked the bases loaded with nobody out. Sowers was then taken out of the game and replaced by Greg Aquino, who first struck out Alex Rodriguez looking, then got Jorge Posada to ground into a force for the second out of the inning, and then Robinson Cano to fly out to left to end the inning.

This could have been a momentum turning moment in the game for Cleveland, but Joba threw a nine-pitch 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half of the inning and quickly got the Yankees back in the batter's box. In the top of the seventh the Yankees once again had a chance with bases loaded after Aquino walked Hideki Matsui, Gardner and Jeter. This time they didn't waste the opportunity. Swisher got ahead on the count 2-1 and lined a fastball off the top of the left field wall for a two-run double. He missed a grand slam by a foot. Aquino then intentionally walked Mark Teixeira to load the bases for A-Rod. Rodriguez hit a hard grounder just off Asdrubal Cabrera's glove for another two runs and the Yanks led 5-1.

Mariano Rivera came in for the save and retired the Indians in order, capping it off with a nice play on Choo's chopper over the mound. Mo needed just 13 pitches (9 strikes) to pick up his 11th save of the season.

Boston was off tonight so the Yankees' win moves them to a full game ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East. And for the 18th straight game the Yankees did not commit an error in the field and that is a new major league record.

“It’s quite an accomplishment. It’s something that a lot of people deserve credit for,” Jeter said. “That’s a complete team effort. We’ve been pitching real well as of late. But when you pitch, you have to play defense behind them and we’ve been playing pretty consistent. We’ve had routine plays and spectacular ones. We’ve made all of them pretty much.”

The Yankees now head home for a seven game homestand starting with three games against the Rangers. A.J. Burnett will start the opener tomorrow night in The Bronx, with Vincente Padilla going for the Rangers.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	3	1	2	0	2	0	1	.311
Swisher, RF	4	1	2	2	1	0	2	.236
Teixeira, 1B	3	0	1	0	2	1	1	.282
Rodriguez, A, DH	4	0	1	2	1	2	6	.259
Posada, C	4	0	0	0	1	1	7	.297
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	6	.308
Cabrera, M, LF	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.316
Berroa, 3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.143
a-Matsui, PH	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.263
1-Pena, PR-3B	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	.242
Gardner, CF	2	2	0	0	2	1	1	.265
Totals	30	5	6	4	11	7	25
a-Walked for Berroa in the 7th. 1-Ran for Matsui in the 7th.
BATTING 2B: Swisher 2 (11, Aquino, Lewis, J). TB: Jeter 2; Swisher 4; Teixeira; Rodriguez, A. RBI: Swisher 2 (31), Rodriguez, A 2 (19). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada 2; Cano 3; Jeter. GIDP: Swisher; Cano. Team RISP: 3-for-16. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (10, 2nd base off Sowers/Shoppach). FIELDING DP: (Chamberlain-Jeter).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Chamberlain (W, 3-1)	8.0	4	2	2	2	5	1	3.71
Rivera (S, 11)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.49

INDIANS STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Joba Chamberlain (8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (3.71 ERA)

HONORABLE MENTION: Nick Swisher (2-for-4, 2 double, 2 RBI, R, BB)

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees vs. Rangers
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
RHP A.J. Burnett (3-2 4.78 ERA) vs. RHP Vincente Padilla (3-2, 4.71 ERA)