"I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER"

The race for the AL East Division crown is in full throttle and the Yankees are hanging by a thread as we march toward the finish. Saturday afternoon's matinee was a typical, tight, playoff-race September game. How would Ivan Nova hold up in his return to the rotation? Could the Yankees score any runs, or at least enough runs to win a game? Unanswered questions and playoff style drama for this mid-September match-up had fans on edge. One this was sure though, the Yankees are getting healthy again. With health comes confidence. With wins comes momentum...and Ivan Nova proved he's back, just at the right time. I love it when a plan comes together.

Desmond Jennings led off the game with a single to center and undoubtedly pulse rates in Yankee Stadium quickened. Nova managed to strike out Ben Zobrist and induce a ground ball double play from the always dangerous Evan Longoria. That set the tone for the six innings of work that Nova would complete. Ivan managed to record eight strikeouts in his outing and yielded four hits, two walks, and two runs -- first question answered.

The Yankees reverted to form offensively with back-to-back HRs in the second inning. It was the eleventh time the Yankees had used back-to-back HRs to produce runs in 2012. Raul Ibanez walked to start the inning and Curtis Granderson followed with a two-run HR off Rays' starter James Shields. It was a big blow in a difficult situation. Grandy was 6 for 56 versus Shields before that at bat. Eduardo Nunez followed with a solo-shot HR and the Yankees led 3-0 -- second question partially answered.

In the fifth inning, the Yankees produced a huge run. Joe Girardi had finally relented and moved Ichiro Suzuki into the lead-off spot for this game. In the fifth, the move paid dividends. Suzuki singled to center with two outs and managed to steal second during the Derek Jeter at bat that followed. Jeter. the Yankees' best and most reliable hitter, came through yet again, this time with a runner in scoring position ahead of him! It would prove to be an important run for New York. As happy as New York fans were with the fourth run of the day, some had to be wondering how many of the earlier one-run losses could have been salvaged with Ichiro hitting ahead of the Yankees best hitter since his arrival from Seattle.

The fourth run was critical because the Yankee bullpen made a mess of things in the seventh. Three Yankee pitchers (Nova, Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain) yielded two runs on three hits, and Rays' manager Joe Maddon spun his magic by using four pinch-hitters and a pinch-runner to help produce those results and cut the Yankee lead to 4-3.

With the game still very much in doubt, David Robertson pitched a perfect eighth, and the Yankees produced a big insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a Robinson Cano double to center and an Alex Rodriguez clutch RBI-single to center.

The Yankees seemed to slightly over-manage the ninth as Rafael Soriano pitched around Stephen Vogt, an 0 for 17 pinch-hitter, following a mound visit by Larry Rothschild. That move put the tying run on base and brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the person of Elliot Johnson. Soriano probably upped his contract renegotiation asking-price by striking out Johnson to record his 39th save, preserve Nova's 12 win of the season, and close a very important pennant race victory for the Yankee team!

Saturday's happy final: New York 5 Tampa Bay 3

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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