(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| N.Y. Yankees « | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | x | 4 | 7 | 0 |
CC Sabathia did everything he could to make sure the Yankees didn't get swept by the last place Mariners, throwing eight strong innings on his way to his tenth victory of the season. His first 7 innings went by without having to even break a sweat, holding Seattle to just four baserunners.
The Yankees bats weren't exactly on fire, but they were able to push across a couple runs off Ryan Rowland-Smith to give CC a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the first Derek Jeter led of with an infield single and Nick Swisher doubled to put runners on second and third. Mark Teixeira then drove in Jeter with a ground ball for the Yanks first run. They wouldn't score again until the fourth when Robinson Cano hit his 16th homer of the season.
With the score still 2-0 Yanks CC ran into some trouble in the eighth, and thanks to a passed ball by Jorge Posada, the Mariners were able to put two on the board (only one earned) and tie the game. Jason Bard walked to leadoff the inning--never a good thing. Two batters later Ichiro singled, and with two out both runners would move into scoring position on the passed ball. Russell Branyan then tied the game with a two-run single to right.
All in all it was a very good day for CC. In eight innings he allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, walked two, struck out four, and threw 71 of 117 pitches for strikes. It's starting to look like CC is starting to get into a groove.
The game wouldn't stay tied for very long, because Alex Rodriguez hit his 12th home run of the season in the bottom half of the inning, a two-run shot off David Aardsma. Mark Teixeira, who had two hits on the day, had previously singled.
Mariano Rivera then came on for a 1-2-3 ninth and picked up his 18th save of the season.
Boston was idle so the Yankees were able to increase their lead in the east to 1.5 games.
Toronto comes to town today to begin a three-game series in the Bronx. Game one of the series is set for 1:05 p.m. this afternoon. A.J. Burnett will try to get his act together as he faces Blue Jays lefty Brett Cecil. And the game will be on YES.
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Derek Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .283 |
| Nick Swisher, RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .287 |
| Mark Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .234 |
| Alex Rodriguez, DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .282 |
| Robinson Cano, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .353 |
| Jorge Posada, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .267 |
| Curtis Granderson, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .235 |
| Brett Gardner, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .317 |
| Ramiro Pena, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .176 |
| Totals | 30 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | | |
| Batting | ||||||||
| 2B - Nick Swisher (16, Rowland-Smith), Alex Rodriguez (19, Rowland-Smith) | ||||||||
| HR - Alex Rodriguez (12, Aardsma), Robinson Cano (16, Rowland-Smith) | ||||||||
| RBI - Mark Teixeira (49), Alex Rodriguez 2 (56), Robinson Cano (54) | ||||||||
| 2-OUT RBI - Robinson Cano (17) | ||||||||
| RISP: 0-4 (Mark Teixeira 0-1, Curtis Granderson 0-1, Alex Rodriguez 0-1, Robinson Cano 0-1) Team LOB - 5 | ||||||||
| Fielding | ||||||||
| Outfield Assists - Nick Swisher 1 | ||||||||
| PB - Jorge Posada (4) | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| CC Sabathia (W,10-3) | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3.33 |
| Mariano Rivera (S,18) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.89 |
| Pitches-Strikes - CC Sabathia 117-71, Mariano Rivera 13-9 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - CC Sabathia 7-12, Mariano Rivera 1-1 | ||||||||
| First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: CC Sabathia 13/30; Mariano Rivera 2/3 | ||||||||
| PLAYER OF THE GAME: CC Sabathia HONORABLE MENTION: Alex Rodriguez |
