They came into Boston to win, and at first, against a very good Jon Lester, it didn't look like they had it in them. Sure, Bartolo Colon was bound the give up a run or 2, but the key was holding the Red Sox down once the Yankees scored and they did... and life is good.
(Photo: Getty)The 6th inning was big for the Yankees tonight as they did what I asked them to do. I specifically asked Curtis Granderson to continue to lead the Yankees in THE YANKEES RALLY CRY...WIN, and, thank goodness, he did. I wrote:
"Look, I love a Yankees win but I love a Red Sox loss more, especially this time of year. Keep the hot hitting coming; Do you hear me Mr. Granderson? You have proven to be a true leader of this Yankee team and your leadership is needed more than ever right now."
Grandy got a key hit to tie it. Nick Swisher got a key double and pulled us ahead, Grandy scored, 3-2 Yankees. It was huge, you have to love that.Bartolo went 5 innings tonight, and while he wasn't lights out, he was respectable. I really can't ever get angry at Colon. He doesn't show much emotion, but he knows he role and does it well. Tonight he pitched 4.2 innings, gave up 6 hits and 2 runs striking out 2.
Eduardo Nunez was on base 3 times tonight, the second time he was on base, it was on a walk and he scored the first Yankee run... it was the beginning of the rally of the 6th inning.
4 names stand out tonight:
- Nick Swisher: He's not the greatest outfielder in the world, but he looked like a gazelle the way he sprinted to that ball that Crawford hit in the bottom of the 6th inning. Nick grabbed it on a bounce and was able to cut down Crawford to only a double. If it goes past Swish, that's an inside the park home run, to echo what the great Ken Singleton said. He's right, Crawford's got speed.
(Photo: Getty)- Boone Logan: It kills me to say... but you have to give credit where credit is due. Boone Logan did a great job tonight, and for that I'm thankful. Getting Gonzalez on 3 pitches was huge and he deserves credit. I'm not going to lie, he was borderline Mitre in my book, but tonight he gets a pass. Good job.
- Rafael Soriano: RaSo pitched an excellent 7th inning. He looked relaxed and he looked ready to play. To me, that was the key to his return. If he came back with attitude, he'd poison the whole clubhouse, but if he came back willing to do whatever it took to win, the Yankees momentum would not be tainted. Attitude is huge during a winning streak, let's hope it sticks.
- Mariano Rivera: Mo just locked down the Sox tonight. He looked great and pitched like he was 20 years old again. No doubt, he's the greatest.
Final Score tonight: Yankees 3 - Red Sox 2. The Yankees are in first place, alone. The time is now, 8 game winning streak and more to come. 1 games in the bag. Let's get more... I'm greedy.
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As typical, I agree and associate myself with all your comments and analysis above.
ReplyDeleteWhen Skip took out Bart, I thought it was the right move as well, though I must concede, I also was holding my breath, in terms of Logan have a Mitre-esque like rest of the inning!
"The 6th inning was big for the Yankees tonight as they did what I asked them to do...."
After we got out of that jam, in my mind, mentally, (and of course, it was just logical) I just felt we needed to, at a modicum, get a run on the board, change the momentum and dynamics of our confrontations, so far, with Boston this season, and we came thru...
BTW, an inch or two and Swish scores (what a big two out double!) on Jones' shot up the middle.