WHY THE YANKEES DE-THRONED KING FELIX

The Yankees needed this win, no doubt. They lost 2 of 3 in Anaheim to the Angels and they wanted to get off on the right foot against the Mariners in Seattle. But going into the game it looked like a tough task. King Felix Hernandez was going for the Mariners against Phil Hughes. So it was their ace against our number five guy. But, as John Sterling says; "You just can't predict baseball". He's right, as the Yankees were able to knock Felix around for the tune of six runs in six innings during the win.The Yankees were able to use a little small ball in the third inning to get their first run off Hernandez. A couple of singles by Brett Gardner and Chris Dickerson put runners at the corners and the Captain, Derek Jeter, drove in Gardner on a grounder after Dickerson stole second. The offense then exploded in the 5th as Mark Teixeira hit a solo shot--his 37th of the season--Chris Dickerson hit a mammoth two run homer, while Eric Chavez and Brett Gardner each had RBI hits. Also, catcher Austin Romine went 1 for 4 and picked up his first career big league hit. Good job Austin, hopefully that's just the first of many.
Phil Hughes was pretty good in this one. He went six innings, allowed one run on five hits and three walks while striking out three. It's now back to back good starts following his two sub-par outings against Oakland and Boston. Scott Proctor and Luis Ayala pitched the final three frames when the game was 9-1. Too bad they didn't have Andrew Brackman or Dellin Betances pitch in this one.

Final Score: Yankees 9 - Mariners 3

It's always good to win the first game of a three game series. The Yankees now have their biggest lead in the AL East this season, and it's at four games ahead of the free falling Boston Red Sox. The Yanks send out A.J Burnett (9-11, 5.27 ERA) to square off against Charlie Furbush (3-8, 4.84 ERA) tomorrow evening.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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