(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| N.Y. Yankees « | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | 3 | 6 | 0 |
SV: M. Rivera (11)
Tonight's matchup in the Bronx between Javier Vazquez and Brian Matusz turned into quite a pitchers duel, but thanks to some shoddy Oriole defense the Yankees were able to eke out a 3-1 victory.
Both pitchers made just one major mistake tonight, and both led to solo homers. The Yankees struck first when Curtis Granderson smacked his third homer of the season in the 5th. A half inning later, Vazquez allowed the O's to tie it on a solo shot by Corey Patterson.
Besides the Patterson homer Vazquez only got into real trouble one other time, and that came in the seventh when the O's loaded the bases with just one out. At this point I'm sure most of you out there were wondering where Joe Girardi was, and why Vazquez was still in the game. But the manager showed trust in his starter and Vazquez rewarded him with two huge outs. First, he struck out Adam Jones for the second out, and then go Julio Lugo to hit into a fielder's choice for the final out of the inning. The strikeout of Jones was easily the biggest out of the game and it was also Vazquez's seventh and final strikeout.
Vazquez would allow just four hits and a walk to go along with those seven K's in seven innings pitched. It was a very impressive start for Vazquez, who pounded the zone all night and had his fastball consistently sitting at 90-91 mph. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come. And thanks to two Yankees runs in the bottom of the seventh he was also able to pick up his fourth win of the season.
L
ike Vazquez, Brian Matusz would also get himself into some trouble in the seventh, but unlike Vazquez, Baltimore went to their pen and it ended up costing them. It shouldn't have, though, because with two out and runners on second and third Os reliever David Hernandez got Alex Rodriguez to hit a weak grounder to third. It should have been the third out, but Miguel Tejada's throw short-hopped Ty Wigginton at first, he couldn't come up with the ball, and both runners scored.
The Yankees also threatened one inning earlier, putting runners on the corners with nobody out, but failed to score. Luckily, they got a second chance and were helped out by Tejada's poor throw. Either way, they had the lead and now it was time to hand the ball over to the bullpen.
Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera both got through their innings with ease. Joba needed just eight pitches to get through a 1-2-3 eighth, and then Mariano followed with a scoreless ninth for his 11th save of the season.
It was another nice day for both Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. Jeter picked up two hits to extend his hitting streak to nine games and his multi-hit game streak to six. He's now batting .307 on the year. Cano also picked up two hits to extend his hitting streak to 15, and raised his average to .366.
Both pitchers made just one major mistake tonight, and both led to solo homers. The Yankees struck first when Curtis Granderson smacked his third homer of the season in the 5th. A half inning later, Vazquez allowed the O's to tie it on a solo shot by Corey Patterson.Besides the Patterson homer Vazquez only got into real trouble one other time, and that came in the seventh when the O's loaded the bases with just one out. At this point I'm sure most of you out there were wondering where Joe Girardi was, and why Vazquez was still in the game. But the manager showed trust in his starter and Vazquez rewarded him with two huge outs. First, he struck out Adam Jones for the second out, and then go Julio Lugo to hit into a fielder's choice for the final out of the inning. The strikeout of Jones was easily the biggest out of the game and it was also Vazquez's seventh and final strikeout.
Vazquez would allow just four hits and a walk to go along with those seven K's in seven innings pitched. It was a very impressive start for Vazquez, who pounded the zone all night and had his fastball consistently sitting at 90-91 mph. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come. And thanks to two Yankees runs in the bottom of the seventh he was also able to pick up his fourth win of the season.
L
ike Vazquez, Brian Matusz would also get himself into some trouble in the seventh, but unlike Vazquez, Baltimore went to their pen and it ended up costing them. It shouldn't have, though, because with two out and runners on second and third Os reliever David Hernandez got Alex Rodriguez to hit a weak grounder to third. It should have been the third out, but Miguel Tejada's throw short-hopped Ty Wigginton at first, he couldn't come up with the ball, and both runners scored.The Yankees also threatened one inning earlier, putting runners on the corners with nobody out, but failed to score. Luckily, they got a second chance and were helped out by Tejada's poor throw. Either way, they had the lead and now it was time to hand the ball over to the bullpen.
Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera both got through their innings with ease. Joba needed just eight pitches to get through a 1-2-3 eighth, and then Mariano followed with a scoreless ninth for his 11th save of the season.
It was another nice day for both Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. Jeter picked up two hits to extend his hitting streak to nine games and his multi-hit game streak to six. He's now batting .307 on the year. Cano also picked up two hits to extend his hitting streak to 15, and raised his average to .366.
The Yanks look to make it 5-1 on this current homestand when they send Phil Hughes to the mound tomorrow night in the Bronx. Right-hander Brad Bergesen will get the ball for the O's. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be on YES.
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Derek Jeter, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .307 |
| Nick Swisher, RF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .312 |
| Mark Teixeira, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .220 |
| Juan Miranda, 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .217 |
| Alex Rodriguez, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .293 |
| Robinson Cano, 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .366 |
| Marcus Thames, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .303 |
| Francisco Cervelli, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .311 |
| Curtis Granderson, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .240 |
| Kevin Russo, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .222 |
| Brett Gardner, LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .299 |
| Totals | 31 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 7 | | |
| Batting | ||||||||
| 2B - Derek Jeter (12, Matusz), Alex Rodriguez (13, Matusz) | ||||||||
| HR - Curtis Granderson (3, Matusz) | ||||||||
| RBI - Curtis Granderson (8) | ||||||||
| Team LOB - 8 RISP: 1-9 (M Teixeira 0-1, F Cervelli 0-1, C Granderson 0-1, M Thames 0-1, J Miranda 0-2, A Rodriguez 0-1, N Swisher 0-1, R Cano 1-1) | ||||||||
| Fielding | ||||||||
| DP - Jeter-Teixeira | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Javier Vazquez (W,4-5) | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6.06 |
| Joba Chamberlain (H,11) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.56 |
| Mariano Rivera (S,11) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.56 |
| IBB - Wieters by Javier Vazquez | ||||||||
| HBP - Scott (by Javier Vazquez) | ||||||||
| Pitches-Strikes - Javier Vazquez 103-63, Joba Chamberlain 8-5, Mariano Rivera 19-12 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Javier Vazquez 8-5, Joba Chamberlain 1-2, Mariano Rivera 3-0 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - Javier Vazquez 26, Joba Chamberlain 3, Mariano Rivera 4 | ||||||||
| PLAYER OF THE GAME: Javier Vazquez HONORABLE MENTION: Derek Jeter |
