Cano Leads Yanks to Victory

Tonight’s game against the Rays was not only great since we won, but it also had some history to it. Alex Rodriguez hit a home run in the first which now puts him at 521, tied with greats Ted Williams and Willie McCovey. It was a special moment for A. Rod. and he is obviously very happy about it as are us Yankee fans. Today’s game was just filled with homers, with four by the Yanks and three by the Rays. Among these was Robinson Cano’s pinch-hit home run, which gave the Yanks the lead in the eighth.

The game had been tied after Tampa dominated the bullpen in the seventh with three blasts. Ian Kennedy played into the seventh today and for the first time this regular season he looked good. He allowed 8 hits, but only three runs and he struck out 4. He left the game wobbling in the 7th after being hit by a line drive. It doesn’t look like anything too serious though, so that’s good.

Mariano Rivera came in to close the game and successfully did so, pitching 1.1 innings of shutout ball. He got the save and Brian Bruney got the win. Overall a good day, except for the bullpen.

Next up are the Rays again at 7:10EST tomorrow. The game will be aired on YES as Andy Pettitte takes on Edwin Jackson.

Not Hughes’ Best Night

Phil Hughes started against the Red Sox tonight, in the last game of the series. He struggled early on and ended up staying in for only 2 innings. His ERA is now 9.00 on the season after allowing seven runs last night. He did strike out three, so he wasn’t bad on all of his pitches. It was a really crazy game for both sides. Dice K stumbled as well, allowing four runs and walking six in 5 innings. He has huge control issues yesterday. The only people that had good days were some of the relievers (on both sides.)

Ross Ohlendorf came in after Hughes and pitched 3 innings, followed by LaTroy Hawkins who pitched 2 and Farnsworth who closed. They only allowed one run and five hits total. The big story of the night for the Yanks was that Jose Molina got injured. Jorge Posada had to come in despite being told he couldn’t play. The injury bug really seems to have hit early this year for the Bombers.

With this game the Yankees drop to 6-7, but it isn’t too bad even though it may seem like it. We are still within 1.5 games of the division leader (currently the Orioles!) and it is still April. Also, the Yankees have seen similar starts in the past few years and we’ve still made it to the postseason every year. Tomorrow is the beginning of a new series, against the Rays. Game-time is 7:10 EST and it will be aired on YES. Ian Kennedy is starting for the Yanks and Andy Sonnanstine for the Rays.

Curse of the Sox

The rumor of the Red Sox jersey being thrown under the concrete at the new stadium have been flying around for a few days now. The Yankees decided to investigate and some construction workers believed that it was done by some goon (hes actually been involved in some big criminal schemes) named Gino Castignoli who worked at the stadium for one day. They had a ballpark estimate of where the shirt would’ve been and with a few other workers they used jackhammers to dig in the area. Turns out there was a jersey there. I’m not really a superstitious person, so I didn’t care anyway, but for those Red Sox fans who are this is a slap in the face. They couldn’t even manage to hide a jersey under some concrete without the word spreading out.

Useless story, but we got some entertainment from it. Hank Steinbrenner, later said about Castignoli:

“I hope his coworkers kick the $hit out of him…It’s a bunch of bull$hit”

Red Sox Win After Long Delay

The Red Sox ended up beating the Yankees today after a 2 hour+ rain delay before the ninth. Mussina pitched 5.2 innings, letting up four runs off of eight hits. Three of those runs were due to a home run by Manny Ramirez in the bottom of the sixth. Girardi told Mussina to pitch to Ramirez despite first base being open and the Yanks ended up getting burned. Other than that incident the game was well played. The offense wasn’t on fire, but the opposition’s offense wasn’t too great either. The Yanks ended with six hits and the BoSox with nine. The final score was 4 to 3.

Tomorrow is the series finale in Boston. Phil Hughes will take the mound against Daisuke Matsuzaka. The game begins at 8:05EST and will be aired on ESPN.

Wang Leads Yanks to 4-1 Victory

Chien-Ming Wang proved his doubters wrong today as he lead the Yankees to a win against the Red Sox today, 4 to 1. Wang ended up pitching the complete game and allowed only 2 hits and 1 run in the process. He would have got the shutout as well, but Bobby Abreu missed catching a homer by J.D. Drew by a hair in the bottom of the 5th. Wang had great control over the ball and proved that he could pitch well at Fenway.

I think today’s game is a prime example of why Chien-Ming Wang is the ace of this staff. Some people argue that the Yankees don’t have one, but I beg to differ. He ended with 19 wins last year, and already has 3 in his first 3 starts this year. He is able to pitch long innings and usually has good command of the ball. He definetely has the stuff to lead a team and I believe that he will end around 20 wins again this year.

On the offensive side of the ball things are still a bit sluggish. They managed to get 10 hits, but only scored 4 runs. Jason Giambi finally did something on offense with a home run in the 7th. He still has a .095 batting average thus far, but maybe today’s homer will give him some momentum. Jorge Posada dhed again today, still recovering from his sore shoulder. Molina is doing a good job, so there isn’t much to worry about, but if Posada continues to dh, that could mean less at-bats for Damon.

Next game is against the BoSox again at 3:55 EST tomorrow. Game will be broadcasted on FOX as Mike Mussina takes on Josh Beckett.

Yankees Avoid Sweep

The Yankees avoided the sweep against the Royals today, in solid performance by several players. Andy Pettitte started and was able to lead the Yanks to victory with only 1 run allowed in over 6 innings of pitching. It is good to see Pettitte finally get some good back into his life. Skipper Girardi later said,

“Andy knows how to win big games, I don’t know if I would call this a big game, but you don’t want to be swept at the start of an eight-game road trip.”

That is definetely true and I think that this game also shows that Pettitte will still be able to concentrate and pitch like he did before this past offseason’s clamor. After Pettitte were Joba and Rivera, both who had a couple more good performances as each didn’t allow a run. Joba and Rivera have been solid this season and I believe that they are the best 1-2 punch in all of baseball for the 8th and 9th innings.

Another bright spot last night was the Yankee offense, which finally scored more than a few runs. It still wasn’t too many, but its a start. I said that the first time the Yanks scored 6 this season and we ended up going back into the offensive slump again, but hopefully this time it will be different. The Bombers ended with 12 hits, including home runs by Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, and Jorge Posada.

It’d be great if the Yanks can keep this momentum going into the upcoming road games, especially the next three, which are against the BoSox. Game one of the series starts tomorrow at 7:05EST. Clay Buchholz will face the Yanks for the first time. Pitching for the Bombers is Chien-Ming Wang. The game will be aired on YES.