MARTIN WALK-OFF & THE YANKEES MOMENTUM

Oh what a night! It was an emotionally back-and-forth night for those who watched the whole game. Russell Martin, whose hitting has been much maligned this season, saved the Yankees bacon tonight. On a night when the closer blew the save, Martin hit a walk off home run to bring excitement and optimism back to the Bronx. This, of course, was after a fantastic performance by CC Sabathia and a blown save by Rafael Soriano.

CC Sabathia took the mound, with an extra day's rest, trying to re-establish himself as the ace of this pitching staff. He certainly did so tonight. He came out of the gate strong, striking out the side in the first. He walked a batter in the first, and did not allow another base runner until the sixth. It was nice to see his fastball reaching 94-95 mph, with his slider in the mid-80s'. It really makes him hard to hit, and it showed, as the Athletics looked lost against him. It also helped to keep CC's pitch count down, not throwing his 75th pitch until the 6th inning.

Jarrod Parker also came out strong, retiring the first seven batters he faced. He held the Yankees scoreless through the first 3 innings and the final 3 innings. His change up was hard to hit, his fastball was reaching 93-94 mph, and his location was very good. The Yankees have a great hitting team, and should be scoring more runs, but we have to give credit where credit is due. Parker pitched very well tonight.

Rafael Soriano, who literally pulled double duty on Wednesday and consequently was unable to pitch last night, perhaps should have been given another day of rest. He blew the save on what was a 1-0 game by giving up a home run to Brandon Moss. It is easy to judge Joe Girardi's decision-making. Many did on Twitter and Facebook. A manager should always know whether their players are good to go. However, to his credit, Soriano has 42 saves on the season in 45 tries. Many were on short rest. I understand why he brought him in - it was an important game. Despite not having his best stuff, he did keep it to one run and gave the Yankees a chance to get a walk off win. So you cannot really blame Joe too much. I still feel comfortable giving Soriano the ball in the ninth every time out.

The Yankees hitting did have a bright spot in the bottom of the 4th inning, playing some nice small ball. Nick Swisher led off with a single to right. Swisher showed some aggressive base running by tagging up and pretending to go for second on Robinson Cano's fly ball to left, drawing a throw. It paid off in the next at-bat as he moved to third on an Alex Rodriguez base hit to left-center. Curtis Granderson hit a sacrifice fly to bring Swisher in for the first run of the game. Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in. We love it!

Ichiro Suzuki continued his red-hot streak, as he went two for three on the night. Ichiro reached on an infield single, in one of the weirdest plays we've seen.  The ball went in Jarrod Parker's shirt, and it did not come out until Ichiro reached first. Weird, but we will take the hit!

Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to 15 games, hitting his league-leading 204th hit. It also brings his career total to 3292, pulling him to within 23 hits of Eddie Collins and 10th place on the all-time hits list. It will be hard to do it in the 12 games left this season, but you never know with the Captain!

David Robertson held Oakland down, as he came in for a 3-up 3-down 10th inning. It was exactly what the Yankees needed - a confidence boost that the bullpen could hold Oakland to one until they scored.

An honorable mention goes to Eduardo Nunez. He made a fantastic catch in the top of the seventh on a liner from Josh Donaldson to end the inning. He also stole second in the bottom of the eighth, putting a man in scoring position for a potential insurance run.

Anytime you have a game where the pitcher holds the opposition scoreless for 8 innings, the MVP is the starting pitcher. What impressed me the most was that even as late as the 8th inning, CC was still hitting 95 on the radar gun. The only reason Oakland loaded the bases in the 8th was that the slow roller that he induced wasn't charged by Eduardo Nunez, and the next pitch was too far inside. Sabathia completely dominated tonight. I have written in the past that CC simply does not look like an ace. Tonight, he looked like an ace. It could not have come at a better time.

Final Score: Yankees 2, Athletics 1

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon

My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

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