Tuesday's word for the Yankees: gutty.
Andy Pettitte pitched seven dogged innings, Hideki Matusi launched a homer and drove in two and Derek Jeter showed that he can play in back-to-back games by collecting three hits as the
Yanks downed the Rays 5-3 to sweep the mini two game set. Tampa Bay out-hit the Yanks 10 to 8, but the Bombers worked out nine walks as they moved back up over .500 at 8-7.
The Good:Andy Pettitte. This performance wasn't pretty, but it showed that Pettitte can still bear down and win even without his best stuff. The Rays mounted a two-out, two-run rally against Pettitte in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead, but then the veteran lefty got tough. Pettitte allowed only one run and two hits the rest of the way and earned his second win of the season. Andy looked particularly determined in his final inning and finished up strong. A very good sign. Pettitte's performance: 7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 5 K.
Hideki Matsui. Godzilla roared in the second inning by smacking his third home run of the season to give the Bombers a 1-0 advantage. Matsui then directly and indirectly helped the Yanks score two runs in the fourth with a little ol' ground ball. The Yankees had runners on second and third with no outs when Matsui hit a grounder to first base. Bobby Abreu scored and Alex Rodriguez advanced to third as the Yanks tied the score at 2-2. Big deal, right? Well, A-Rod would come on home on a wild pitch from Rays pitcher Edwin Jackson to give the Yanks a 3-2 lead. Sometimes a ground ball is all it takes. Matsui finished 2 for 5 with a run scored and 2 RBI.
Derek Jeter. The Captain delivers! Jeter still doesn't look like he's 100% healthy, but that doesn't mean he can't get the job done. DJ banged out three singles on Tuesday night and raised his average up to .303 on the year. Maybe it was the number (Jeter wore No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Tuesday night. If you didn't already read it, Erin from
Beantown West had a nice write up on Jackie Robinson Day. Check it out). Jeter finished 3 for 4 with a walk, a run scored and a run batted in.
The Bad:
Jason Giambi. Every Yankee had at least a walk or a hit on the night so this was a tough one, but Giambi still looks out of sorts to me. He hit the ball hard a couple of times, but went hitless on the night. The Giambino finished 0 for 4 with a walk as his average fell back under .100 (.094) on the season.
The Ugly:And that makes three. The Yankees had countless opportunities to bust this game wide open and failed to deliver. Well, that's inaccurate. The Yankees had
three huge opportunities to bust this game wide open and failed to deliver. The Bombers had bases loaded with one out in the seventh with Abreu and Rodriguez due up. No runs. In the eighth, the Yanks had bases loaded with two outs and Johnny Damon at the dish. No runs. Then in the ninth, the Yanks had first and second with no outs and A-Rod, Matsui and Giambi coming to bat. No runs. Unacceptable!
The Yanks will travel back up to New York and take on the Red Sox in another mini two-game set on Wednesday night before heading back out on the road. Game 1 will pit Chien-Ming Wang (3-0) against Clay Buchholz (0-1). These two pitchers squared off last Friday in Boston with the Yanks coming away with a 4-1 victory. Buchholz pitched well that night for Boston (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K), but Wang was dominant (9 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K).
Let's see what the rematch brings.
Leave a comment
