YANKEES & NOVA PUSH TO FIRST PLACE

Remember when everyone was worrying about the Yankees three weeks ago after losing seven of nine resulting in a last place tie with the Red Sox? Me neither. Following the Yankees’ 3-0 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday, the Bombers have now won 14 of their last 18 thus making up 5.5 games in the standings resulting in a first place tie with the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.

Ivan Nova started, and he was fantastic, again. He pitched 7 shutout innings, allowing just five hits while punching out six, though he did have some help behind him (more on that later). In his last two starts he’s pitched 15 innings while letting up just one run while striking out 11. It’s about time the real Ivan Nova shows up, and in total on the season, he has an 8-2 record with a 4.64 ERA.

Following Ivan Nova was a quartet of relievers: Cody Eppley, Clay Rapada, Cory Wade, and Boone Logan (save) who combined for two shutout, hitless innings. The reason why Rafael Soriano didn’t pitch the ninth was because of a blister, but Joe Girardi said that he should be available tomorrow (read HERE).

The Yanks didn’t muster much offense, but they didn’t need to because of Nova’s dominance. Robinson Cano, who went 2-for-4 on the evening, had a two-out RBI single in the first. In the second inning Raul Ibanez made his only hit on the night count as he took Braves’ starter Randall Delgado deep for a solo shot in the second.

The final run on the evening came in the third when Alex Rodriguez scored on a Delgado wild pitch. Nick Swisher did go 0-for-2, but he quietly had a great game. He worked two walks while robbing Brian McCann of a two-run homer in the fourth.

With this 3-0 win, the Yankees are now 35-25 which is tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the best record in the American League. Definitely a fan of that. Anyway, CC Sabathia (7-3, 3.69 ERA) will give it a go against Mike Minor (3-4, 6.57 ERA) in the middle game of this three game set on Tuesday.

 

--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse

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