On a night of remembrance and reverence, Curtis Granderson led the Yankees to an important victory with what may very well have been his best game donning the pinstripes. Granderson went 2 for 3 with two homers, five RsBI, two walks, and a stolen base, and is now batting a solid .273/.369/.578 with 11 HR since re-tooling his swing in mid-August.The Yankees offense performed quite well as a whole. Granderson, Derek Jeter, and Nick Swisher each had two hits (with Swisher also drawing two walks), and Francisco Cervelli had three hits and three runs. Only Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez failed to reach base, though Rodriguez did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Ivan Nova pitched well until the sixth inning, where he began laboring despite a fairly efficient pitch count (78). The bullpen kept things interesting, with Boone Logan, Chad Gaudin, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera combining to allow 6 hits, 2 BB, 2 ER (and an inherited run from Nova) in only 2 IP. Were it not for Kerry Wood's four out effort, I'm not quite sure that the team would've held on. While I'm not terribly concerned, it's sort of awkward to see Rivera's September line - 9.1 IP, 10 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 HBP, 3.86 ERA, and two blown saves in seven opportunities. Here's hoping this is random variation and not a late-season swoon.
Game two is a rematch of last Wednesday's game, with James Shields taking the hill for the Rays and Phil Hughes starting for the Yankees. The game is set to start at at 7:05 pm on MY9.
Player of the Game: Curtis Granderson
Honorable Mention: Francisco Cervelli and Kerry Wood
