Mitre Shows Improvement in Yanks 5-2 Win

(REUTERS/Marcus Donner)

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

WP - Sergio Mitre (2-1)
LP - Lucas French (2-3)
SV - Mariano Rivera (35)

Thanks to a defensive mistake and a big blunder on the base paths by Ichiro Suzuki the Yankees were able to come away with another victory over the Mariners. This time by the final score of 5-2. The win was the Yankees fifth in a row and improves their MLB-best record to 74-43. Boston lost to the Rangers last night so the Yanks lead is now up to 7.5 games in the AL east.

Sergio Mitre started for the Yankees and easily pitched his best game as a Yankee. In 5.1 innings he allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. He wasn't great, and did leave the bases loaded with just one out as he walked off the mound in the sixth, but it was still much better than his previous starts. He continues to get better with each start, so the idea of having him stay in the rotation isn't getting easier and easier to take. A 7.5 game lead helps too.

After the Yanks fell behind 1-0 after on an unearned run in the bottom of the first they came back with a four-spot in the top half of the second thanks to one of those Mariner mistakes Robinson Cano led off the inning with single off Mariners starter Luke French. Jerry Hairston Jr. then hit a fly ball to center for out number one. That's when Melky Cabrera stepped up and hit a routine flyball to right-center. Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez converged on the ball, but both thought the other was going to go for it, and by the time Gutierrez realized he had to make the catch the ball was already bouncing out of his glove. E8, and the Yankees had runners on first and second with just one out.

Jose Molina drove in the Yankees first run with an RBI single. Derek Jeter followed with a sac-fly to give the Yanks a 2-1 lead. Then Nick Swisher stepped up and launched his 19th homer of the year, a two-run shot down the left field line, and the Yanks led 4-1. All four runs were unearned.

Mitre gave up a second run in the bottom of the fourth on a Rob Johnson RBI single. He got out of that jam and then got through the fifth pretty easily before running into trouble in the sixth. Ken Griffey Jr. led off the inning with a strikeout, but that would be the last out Mitre would record on the night. Russell Branyan singled, Jack Hannahan walked, and Rob Johnson loaded the bases with an infield single to knock Mitre out of the game.

David Robertson came in to replace Mitre and did a hell of a job cleaning up the mess he left. First he struck out Josh Wilson for the second out of the inning. Then after going 3-2 on Ryan Langerhans, he got a very generous called strike three from umpire C.B. Buckner on a pitch that to me looked like a ball.... Oh well, I'll take it.

Robertson got into some trouble in the seventh when he allowed two of the first three batters to reach to put runners on first and second with just one out. That would be it for Robertson and Phil Coke came into the game.

Coke started things off by striking out Griffey. Then the Yanks got their third big break of the game. With Branyan batting with a 2-0 count, Ichiro, who was on second base, decides to try to steal third. Molina made a strong throw to Alex Rodriguez, with him making an equally nice tag. Three out.

I still can't figure out what the hell Ichiro was thinking. First of all you never steal third with two out unless you are certain you can make it. Second, he's fast enough to score on most singles anyway so moving up 90 feet doesn't help him that much. Third, you have a home run hitter, representing the lead run standing at the plate with a 2-0 count. It was just a complete brain fart on the part of Ichiro, and I couldn't have been happier about it.

Coke would go on to pitch a 1-2-3 eighth to complete his very nice outing. Both he and Robertson struck out three batters a piece.

The Captain added an insurance run with a solo homer in the top of the ninth extending the Yankees lead to 5-2. It was Jeter's 15th homer of the season, and hit number 2,672 of his career. That's significant because Jeter now needs just one more hit to tie Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio for most career hits by a shortstop.

Mariano Rivera came in for the ninth and picked up his 35th save of the season. He's now converted 35 saves in 36 opportunities, and 31 in a row. He added two strike outs to bring the Yankees bullpen total up to 8 on the day. 3.2 innings pitched, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts for the Yankees pen tonight, a pen that's been the best in the AL since June 1st.

The Yanks have no won 12 out of their last 13 games, they're 23-6 since the All-Star break (best start to a second half in franchise history), and 36-11 since June 24th. So yea, things are going well. They go for the four-game sweep tomorrow afternoon with Joba Chamberlain on the mound. Left-hander Doug Fister will make just his second career start when he takes the ball for the Mariners.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	4	1	2	2	0	1	1	.320
Swisher, RF	5	1	1	2	0	1	1	.242
Teixeira, 1B	4	0	1	0	1	0	1	.288
Rodriguez, A, 3B	2	0	1	0	2	1	0	.258
Posada, DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	5	.277
Cano, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.319
Hairston, J, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.261
Cabrera, Me, CF	4	1	0	0	0	1	2	.269
Molina, J, C	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	.253
Totals	35	5	10	5	3	5	11
BATTING 2B: Hairston, J (20, French). HR: Swisher (19, 2nd inning off French, 1 on, 2 out), Jeter (15, 9th inning off Aardsma, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Jeter 5; Swisher 4; Teixeira; Rodriguez, A; Cano 2; Hairston, J 2; Molina, J 2. RBI: Molina, J (9), Jeter 2 (52), Swisher 2 (62). 2-out RBI: Swisher 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada; Cabrera, Me 2. SF: Jeter. GIDP: Posada. Team RISP: 1-for-4. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING E: Cano (5, fielding). DP: (Jeter-Cano-Teixeira).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mitre (W, 2-1)	5.1	7	2	1	2	3	0	6.04
Robertson, D (H, 1)	1.0	2	0	0	0	3	0	3.15
Coke (H, 14)	1.2	0	0	0	0	3	0	4.71
Rivera, Ma (S, 35)	1.0	1	0	0	1	2	0	1.94

Pitches-strikes: Mitre 92-54, Robertson, D 28-20, Coke 18-10, Rivera, Ma 17-1.

MARINERS STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Derek Jeter (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R)

HONORABLE MENTION: Sergio Mitre (Hey, at least he's showing improvement.)

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees @ Mariners
Game Time: 4:10 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-2, 3.85) vs. LHP Doug Fister (0-0, 0.00)