The Yankees put their hope and trust in youngster David Phelps tonight. Yankee fans probably felt that challenging the two-time AL
reigning champion Rangers, and fighting for their own division crown,
without CC Sabathia would be somewhat like the Biblical David challenging
Goliath with his sling shot. New York fans were hoping for a similar
outcome as the Goliath of the American League sent newly acquired Ryan Dempster to the mound.
The Rangers pecked away at Phelps in the first and second innings. Elvis Andrus scored in the first on a Nelson Cruz RBI single to center. David Murphy greeted Phelps rudely to start the second with a HR to right field and the Rangers led 2-0 after two innings. In the third, the Rangers managed two more hits off Phelps but could not score.
The bottom of the third was the Yankee offensive
highlight inning, and turned the game in New York's favor. Russell Martin and Raul Ibanez both singled to right to start the Yankee half of
the key inning. After an Ichiro sacrifice moved the runners to second
and third, Derek Jeter walked to load the bases. The dramatic blow of
the game followed immediately as Nick Swisher drove a HR deep to right
field.
It was Swisher's sixth career grand slam and the 200th HR of his career! The Yankees took a 5-2 lead and never looked back. Yankee Security was able to recover the ball for Swisher.
It was Swisher's sixth career grand slam and the 200th HR of his career! The Yankees took a 5-2 lead and never looked back. Yankee Security was able to recover the ball for Swisher.
The Yankees added another run in the third as Robinson Cano
earned a walk that was followed by two singles and an RBI sacrifice fly
to center off the bat of Curtis Granderson. After the offensive
fireworks, Phelps steadied himself. Like the "little engine that could"
Phelps threw 78 pitches through five. The Yankee version of David
allowed only one more hit in the fourth inning. He had enough rocks in
his pouch to slay the AL Goliath and was credited with the win, his
third of the season.
The Yankees played tack on with a HR from Eric Chavez
in the sixth and two more runs in the seventh. Ichiro led off the
seventh with a stand-up triple to center; he scored on an RBI double by
Jeter. Jeter then scored on a Nick Swisher single. Swisher's single
gave him five RBI on the night. The Rangers did not score again. After
Phelps departed, newly acquired Derek Lowe pitched four strong
innings. Taken off the Cleveland scrap heap, Lowe allowed only two hits
and struck out three in his four innings of work. Lowe was also
credited with a save, his first of the season.
The pitching effectiveness of Phelps and Lowe was
important for another reason. The win minimizes the impact of
Sabathia's stint on the disabled list. CC will miss only one more start
after tonight's game, or at least that is the plan. The two pitchers' combined effectiveness against
a normally potent Texas offense could hardly have been any better had
Sabathia been able to pitch. Phelps and Lowe stifled Ranger hitters to
such a degree that older Yankee fans were thinking Texas seemed more
like the team of their ancestral lineage, the Washington Senators, than
the current AL West powerhouse.
Finally... on this date in history marks the untimely and tragic
death of Mickey Mantle in 1995, as well as the death of Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto just five years back. In spite of the the sad memories, Yankee
fans can celebrate the big win in game one of the Texas series.
The two best teams in the AL square off again tomorrow, but tonight the Yankees celebrate the final:
New York 8 Texas 2
--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer
Twitter: @yankeefrank23
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ORDER A BYB SHIRT NOW, DROB WEARS ONE! Also, Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.
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