It wasn't pretty, in fact, it was downright ugly at times, but the New York Yankees out-muscled the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9-5 on Opening Day for their first victory of the 2007 season.

Carl Pavano started out okay for the Yanks, but ran out of gas by the fifth inning.  He also received zero help from his defense.  The Yanks nearly went around the horn with errors from A-Rod, Jeter and Phelps and the D-Rays went 3-4 in stolen base attempts.  Still, it was an uneven day for Pavano: 4.1, 6 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), 2 BB, 2 K.  He walked off the mound with one out in the 5th to a mixed response from the crowd.

But, the bullpen was up to the task and allowed only 3 hits the rest of the way.  Newly acquired Luis Vizcaino impressed in his one inning of work and came away with the win.  Now, you don't want your bullpen to pitch 4 2/3 innings every day, but it was the positive to come out of the negative.

The Yankee offense seemed lethargic through the first 5 innings, but caught fire in the 6th as the sun finally punctured through the clouds.  Jason Giambi had a monster game as he drove in the first two runs for the Yankees this season in the first inning and then provided the team with the go-ahead and game-winning RBI in the seventh.  Alex Rodriguez's day started off terribly (error in the top of the first, strikeout with runners on first and second in bottom of the first), and the fans let him know about it, but he finished strong.  His base-hit and stolen base in the seventh set up Giambi and his two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth put the game away.  Even though it was just one game, it was great to see A-Rod battle back from a difficult beginning.

Another positive was seeing Bobby Murcer back in the YES booth.  Murcer was very upbeat and was kidding around with Michael Kay, Joe Girardi and Ken Singleton in the third and fourth innings.  The Yanks also displayed a montage of Murcer's career highlights on the JumboTron at the stadium which brought the fans out of their seats.  Some of the Yankees also popped out of the dugout to wave at Murcer in the booth.  

All in all, a good day.  There were positives (the bullpen, A-Rod, Giambi) and negatives (Pavano, the defense, Johnny Damon leaving with cramps), but most importantly the Yanks came away with a victory.

Now, take a lap and hit the showers.

We'll see you on Wednesday. 

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