"NOW THAT'S EMBARRASSING FOR THE HOME TEAM!"

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That title was a portion from BYB fanatic and true Yankee fan Frank Gentry. Smart guy.  Excellent fan. Great former writer for BYB and 100% correct. Got me.

Early yesterday morning I wrote AWKWARD? HOW ABOUT EMBARRASSED, DEREK?

In it, I wrote:

Source: Michael Reaves/Getty Images North America

"Derek Jeter didn't want to come to New York because this Marlins team is nothing more than the leftovers after he dismantled it. And showing up in his old house as he watches the New York Yankees demolish his handy work is not something he wants to attach himself too... not yet anyway. After all, his Frankenstein is not complete. And that's what it is folks. This isn't about seeing old friends and waving to the fans. This is about him not wanting to show his face."

Elsa/Getty Images North America

Last night, the Yankees lost to a hungry Marlins team, and because Bleeding Yankee Blue is not afraid to admit mistakes, I bring you a slap in my face by my bud, Frank Gentry:

Old baseball adage: Let the sleeping dog lie. Jeter's "leftovers" have clearly found motivation from somewhere. Meanwhile, high powered #Yankees trail 7-0 top 6th. Now that's embarrassing for the home team! #MattinglysMen

— T. Frank Gentry (@yankeefrank23) April 18, 2018

Frank's correct.  But I ain't wrong... I'm just wrong this time. 

Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America

But you have to admit, the Marlins played well last night and dismantled my theory for this game.

Hey... you gotta love baseball.   Why? Because you never know what will happen next.

Thanks Frank!

Go Yanks!

NIGHTMARE IN THE BRONX

In spite of the fact that destiny in the person of Raul Ibanez's heroics has helped to push the Yankees to the ALCS round of the playoffs, it seems that fate has stepped in to short-circuit Yankee hopes for anything beyond this round.  The Yankees could not capitalize on a miraculous ninth inning rally in game one of the ALCS championship series against the Tigers, and Yankee captain Derek Jeter broke his ankle in the twelfth inning while fielding a ground ball.  A devastating 6-4 12-inning loss to Detroit, and the loss of the teams best player and catalyst for success, has cast a pall over the Yankees and their fans.

The details of the game almost seem insignificant, but the results need to be considered in light of the Yankees' paltry hopes for success in this series.  Offensively, the Yankees' performance in game one mirrored their struggles during the second half of the 2012 season.  They loaded the bases in the first and second innings and again in the sixth but produced zero runs for the effort.  That futility established a new club standard for post season failure.

In the first inning, three Yankee walks brought Alex Rodriguez to the plate with two out.  ARod had been reinserted into the lineup for game one, and he was hitting in the sixth spot.  He grounded sharply to shortstop, but Jhonny Peralta was able to retire Ibanez advancing to second for the third out.

In the second inning, three straight two-out hits by Russell Martin, Jeter, and Ichiro Suzuki loaded the bases for Robinson Cano.  Cano's sharply hit ball struck Tigers' starter, Doug Fister, on the wrist of his throwing hand.  The ball ricocheted to Peralta who was able to retire Cano at first.  In spite of the solid blow to his wrist, Fister was able to remain in the game and pitched wonderfully for 6.1 scoreless innings.  Fister's success included retiring ARod two more times, once a 6-4-3 double play in the third and a strike out in the sixth.  In the sixth, the catcher did not catch the third strike cleanly but ARod made no effort to run to first and was tagged out by Gerald Laird as he walked away.  Eric Chavez pinch-hit for Rodriguez in the eighth inning. 

Fister got solid relief help from both Phil Coke and Joaquin Benoit to keep the Yankees scoreless through eight innings. 

Andy Pettitte pitched well until the sixth inning when allowed three hits, two walks, and two runs while facing eight Detroit batters.  Derek Lowe relieved Andy but gave up two more runs on two hits, including a HR by Delmon Young.  Those runs staked Detroit to a 4-0 lead which they held until the ninth inning.  Miraculously, New York rallied with four runs of their own in the bottom of the ninth.  Martin singled and scored on Ichiro's two-run HR off Tiger closer Jose Valverde.  Valverde subsequently gave up a walk to Mark Teixeira and another two-run HR to that man again, Raul Ibanez.  The Ibanez HR came with two out and dramatically tied the game at 4-4.

The Yankees squandered chances to score the winning run in the 10th and 11th innings.  In the 10th, Curtis Granderson walked and Girardi inserted Brett Gardner to pinch-run.  Gardner stole second and third but could not score as fly outs by Martin and Jeter left him stranded.  In the 11th, Ichiro Suzuki led off the inning with a single to center, but could not advance as Cano (0 for 6 on the night), Teixeira, and Ibanez flew out in succession.

In the twelfth inning, Girardi inserted David Phelps to pitch.  He was a disaster.  Phelps allowed three hits, a walk, and two runs that staked the Tigers to a 6-4 lead.  The second hit of that inning was an infield single to Jeter which he fielded while moving quickly to his left.  He went to the ground with a grimace and a yell and tried to flip the ball to Cano.  Jeter had to be carried from the field and Girardi reported in the post-game interview that Jeter's ankle was fractured.  Following that total and unimaginable disaster, the Yankees went out meekly in the bottom of the inning.  Chavez and Swisher struck out and Gardner grounded out to second base.

While it is only one loss in a seven game series, it felt much worse.  Yankee fans were unhappy with the team's performance most of the night and voiced their displeasure with vocal boos.  Rodriguez, Swisher (who botched a key defensive chance in the twelfth), and Curtis Granderson were the most obvious targets of Yankee fan wrath.

There was plenty of blame to be shared, and the pall cast by Jeter's injury seemed to combine with the fans' displeasure to create a really down atmosphere among the fans who stuck it out for the entire game.

The really unhappy final:  Detroit 6  New York 4  in twelve innings.  Detroit leads the 2012 ALCS 1-0. 

     

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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IBANEZ HOMERS TWICE IN ANOTHER MAGICAL POSTSEASON WIN!

Momentum and major advantage in the 2012 ALDS were hanging in the balance as the Orioles and Yankees squared off in game three of this playoff series that was tied at 1-1 after two games in Baltimore.  If Charles Dickens was still around to recap the early innings of this game, he might have titled his story "A Tale of Two Pitchers."

 

Oriole rookie starter Miguel Gonzalez was dominant through seven innings and Hiroki Kuroda was almost as strong for the Yankees, but he teetered on the brink in innings three through five of his eight innings of work. 

The Orioles produced a run in the third on a HR off the bat of Ryan Flaherty.  They followed with a major threat in the fourth by sending six batters to the plate.  A hit, a walk, and hit batsman loaded the bases with Orioles, but Kuroda was able to retire Flaherty this time on a come-backer to the mound.  That was a significant moment in the game that could have been disastrous for the Yankees.  Kuroda yielded a second HR leading off the fifth.  This time Oriole youngster Manny Machado ripped a Kuroda pitch to left field for the Birds' second run of the game and a 2-1 Baltimore lead.

The Yankees had scored in the bottom of the third on a Russell Martin double and Derek Jeter RBI triple to center.  Oriole outfielder Adam Jones broke in on Jeter's ball and could not recover as the wind seemed to push the Jeter fly ball just out of his reach.  Martin's run produced a 1-1 tie after three innings.  Otherwise, the Yankee offense struggled against Gonzalez.  During his seven innings of work, Martin and Jeter each had two hits.  Unfortunately, the rest of the Yankee lineup went 1 for 20 against the Oriole starter!  Gonzalez really hit his stride in innings six and seven as he struck out five of the last six Yankee hitters he faced.  Gonzalez did not allow a run after the third inning.

Kuroda was almost as good.  He retired the last eleven batters he faced and allowed zero runs after the fifth. 

With one out in the ninth, things looked shaky for the Yankees.  Trailing 2-1 with Oriole relief ace Jim Johnson on the mound, the Birds were two outs away from their second win of the series.  At that juncture, Yankee manager Joe Girardi made a major decision.  He sent Raul Ibanez to the plate to pinch-hit for Alex Rodriguez.  Some of the media mavens acted shocked by Girardi's move in the post-game interviews, but it was an imminently logical move.  Girardi got the left-handed Ibanez up to bat for the struggling Rodriguez and got the lefty-righty match-up that Joe loves to see in the Stadium.

Girardi's move paid off in spades!  Ina very dramatic moment, Ibanez homered to tie the game at 2-2!  Both bullpens were strong in innings ten and eleven and David Robertson remained strong for the Yankees in inning twelve.  The Orioles were not so lucky.  Raul Ibanez led off the twelfth for New York and was facing lefty Brian Matusz who was beginning his second inning of work.

Ibanez produced a result that forever more labeled this Yankee win as the Raul Ibanez game.  In an even more dramatic moment than the ninth, Raul Ibanez slammed a second HR to right, this one into the second deck, that secured the Yankees second win in this ALDS series and staked the Yankees to a 2-1 lead heading into game four tomorrow.

In an odd twist, the Yankees finished the game without both Rodriguez and Jeter.  Jeter departed after the eighth inning with a foot injury that was evidently sustained on a foul ball off his foot early in the game.  Jeter assured Yankee fans that he would be available tomorrow but he was hobbled by a noticeable limp when he departed in the eighth.  Regardless, the Yankees have a chance to close out the series tomorrow as Phil Hughes takes the mound against the Orioles and Joe Saunders.

Wednesday's happy final:  New York 3  Baltimore 2.  New York leads the ALDS by two games to one.    

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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THE MAGIC OF RAUL IBANEZ

With the Yankees' magic number at two and the AL East Division championship on the line, many New York fans decided not make an emotional investment in their team on Tuesday night.  While some fans may not want to admit as much, the magnitude of the game against the Red Sox did not produce the playoff atmosphere that we have all seen in Yankee Stadium in years past in this type of situation.  There were many empty seats, as fans decided not to brave the soggy conditions in the Bronx for this huge game.  On September 27th, Michael Kay speculated that the dreary atmosphere in the Rogers Centre in Toronto was a contributing factor to the Yankees' poor performance and 6-0 loss to the Blue Jays.  Astoundingly, it seemed as if the same thing could occur at the Stadium on Tuesday night as fan interest and enthusiasm seemed much lower than usual! 

 

Although Yankee starting pitcher, David Phelps, pitched credibly, he yielded two runs in the first inning on an opening single by Jacoby Ellsbury, a double by Dustin Pedroia that drove home Ellsbury, and a sacrifice fly RBI by Cody Ross.  The Red Sox led 2-0, and for much of the game, it looked as if that would be enough to produce a Boston victory and a devastating Yankee loss.  The Yankees did manage a single run in the bottom of the second on an infield single by Curtis Granderson who was able to continue to second base thanks to a throwing error by Pedro Ciriaco.  

 

Granderson stole third and was driven home on an infield single by Eduardo Nunez.  Boston held that lead until a lead-off HR by James Loney off Rafael Soriano in the ninth gave the Sox a little breathing room and a 3-1 lead going to the bottom of the ninth.

 

The Yankees entered the bottom of the ninth without a single comeback victory when trailing after eight innings.  New York was the only MLB team without a victory in that situation during the 2012 season.  For a brief moment, it looked like the Yankees would end that ignominious situation in the bottom of the ninth.  They scored two quick runs on a lead-off single by Granderson that was immediately followed by a clutch line-shot, pinch-hit HR by Raul Ibanez.  Game tied 3-3.  Following an Ichiro ground-out, Derek Jeter doubled to left, Nick Swisher was intentionally passed, and Alex Rodriguez worked another walk to load the bases for Mark Teixeira.  Teixeira flied out weakly to center on a broken bat pop-up that was so shallow, Jeter was forced to remain at third.  Robinson Cano ended the inning with a ground ball to second for the third out.

 

Mark Teixeira was very nearly the Yankee "goat" for the game.  He was 0 for 6 on the night, but that does not tell the entire story.  In innings one and three, he batted with one out and runners at first and third.  Both times he responded with ground ball double plays (6-4-3) to kill the rally and the inning.  In the fifth, Tex batted with Swisher at first and two out, and produced yet another ground ball to short to end the inning.  He also fouled out to first in the 8th inning, and grounded out to third in the 12th, to go along with his weak fly out in the ninth that left Jeter stranded at third with the winning run.  Teixeira may have been happy about the relative sparse and unenthusiastic crowd at Yankee Stadium, because he was treated to a scattering of "boos" following his last two plate appearances. 

 

It should be noted that Rafael Soriano received similar treatment when he yielded the extra Red Sox run in the ninth inning.  Yankee fans were not in a happy mood for much of the evening!

 

With Andrew Miller on as the eighth Boston pitcher of the game in the twelfth inning, something finally broke for the Yankees.  New York could not clinch the division due to the fact that the Orioles had already defeated Tampa Bay 1-0.  Nevertheless, the Yankees could cut the magic number to one, and they did just that with two walks (Francisco Cervelli & Granderson), followed by another clutch hit from Ibanez.  

 

Raul grounded a ball to the left side that just made it into left field over a leaping Francisco Cervelli who rounded third and beat the throw home for the winning run.  Yankee fans who braved the wet conditions and who stayed for the duration were rewarded with a 4-3 victory, made all the more sweet by fan-favorite Cervelli scoring the winning run!  The Yankees retain control of their own destiny and can win the AL East title tomorrow with another victory over Boston or an Oriole loss in Tampa!

 

Tuesday's final:  New York 4  Boston 3 in 12 innings.  

 

 

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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SLEEPER

In the seventh inning of Thursday night's series opener in Toronto, Yankee announcer Michael Kay wondered if the Rogers Centre atmosphere was negatively impacting the performance of the Yankee team.  Kay characterized the Yankee performance as "sleepwalking."  Fans who watched may have other theories, but mine tilts toward starting pitching as the explanation.  Very simply Ivan Nova was horrid, again, and Jays' starter Brandon Morrow looked like he was on a late drive to claim the AL Cy Young Award!

Morrow shut down the Yankees for seven full innings in spite of a decline in his fast ball velocity from a top speed of 95 to a low of 88 by the sixth inning.  Regardless, he allowed only four Yankee hits and only two innings of anything resembling a Yankee threat to score even a single run.  In the fourth inning, Robinson Cano reached on a one-out single to center.  Nick Swisher ripped a deep fly ball to left that was caught by Anthony Gose as he crashed into the electronic scoreboard in left.  Cano running all the way was easily doubled off first by Gose and the relay throw by Kelly Johnson.  Inning over; Yankee threat squashed.

In the seventh, Cano led off with a double to left and Swisher followed with a walk.  Two on and no outs and Morrow obviously tiring.  Nevertheless, Morrow rallied and struck out Curtis Granderson who was "K'ed" for the 189th time this season.  Granderson personified Yankee offensive futility.  He is 2 for 16 on the road trip and his average has plummeted to .228.  Yikes!  Morrow followed his strike out of Granderson by forcing fly outs from Russell Martin and Raul Ibanez.  Inning over; Yankee threat squashed.

As for Mr. Nova's performance, he could not come close to matching Morrow.  He allowed a walk to defensive hero Gose in the third inning and that was followed immediately by a "gopher ball" to Brett Lawrie.  The two-run shot was Lawrie's 10th HR of the season.  In the fifth, Nova allowed two more runs on a single by Gose, a ground out by Lawrie that advanced Gose to second, a bunt single by Colby Rasmus, and a two-run double to right off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. 

The Yankee bullpen, in the persons of Derek Lowe and David Aardsma, allowed tack-on runs in the seventh and eighth innings to end all doubt and eliminate any Yankee hope of a late rally.

By the time the post game rolled around, even Jack Curry was referring to the Yankees as a "sleepy" team.  Obviously New York did not play like a championship caliber team in quest of a division championship.  The Yankees missed a golden opportunity to widen the lead over the Orioles to two games.  Instead, the AL East Division race is a tight one-game differential.

Travel fatigue, lack of quality starting pitching, advanced age and declining performance, too many 'swing and miss' guys on the offensive side are just some of the theories that abound when the warts of this Yankee team are on display as prominently as they were on Thursday night.  Fans can decide for themselves what the causes of such a devastating loss actually are.  Regardless of the reasons, the Yankees' division championship hill got a little steeper on this late-September Thursday night.

Final score:  Toronto 6  New York 0.    

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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"LOOKS LIKE I PICKED THE WRONG WEEK TO QUIT DRINKING!"

Holy cow, what a game! As the distinguished Jack Curry said in the Yankee post-game wrap, "I don't really know where to begin."  I don't really know where to start myself with this wild affair featuring the Yankees and Oakland A's, but I will begin with pitching, or the lack thereof.  The two starters were awful.  Oakland A's manager Bob Melvin actually juggled his rotation to get a start for Travis Blackley in Yankee Stadium. He lasted all of two innings and allowed four runs, but only two were earned.  Blackley could have employed a lawyer to argue non-support, as third baseman Josh Donaldson made an error in the first that directly contributed to the first unearned run.  That argument would have required someone with the skill of Perry Mason to make the case, because Blackely was just as culpable.  He allowed two hits and three walks in the first inning alone.  In the second, Blackley allowed two more hits and contributed a wild pitch as another unearned run scored thanks to another Oakland error by second baseman Cliff Pennington.

The Yankees had similar pitching problems but without the errors.  Ivan Nova was erratic.  He allowed three straight doubles to start the game, and the first two Oakland runners scored.  Nova recovered to pitch a solid second inning, but then yielded a HR to Stephen Drew to begin the third.  Ivan then loaded the bases via two walks and single, and Joe Girardi had seen enough of Mr. Nova.  Reliever Clay Rapada allowed a run in the fourth inning and the score was knotted at 4-4 after four.  Both teams would scramble for pitching for the rest of the day thanks to the ineffective starting pitching.

The game stabilized somewhat as each team added one run over the next three innings.  Raul Ibanez hit a solo, pinch-hit HR in the fifth for New York to give the Yanks a 5-4 lead.  Oakland added a run in the seventh on a walk to Yoenis Cespedes, a single by Brandon Moss, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chris Carter.  The A's run tied the game at 5-5 and it stayed that way over the next five innings.  If you need help with that math, the game was tied at 5-5 through twelve innings.

The Yankees squandered a golden opportunity to score in the twelfth inning as they benefited from a hustle double by Raul Ibanez.  Unfortunately, Raul was gunned down at home on a contact play.  Ibanez had advanced to third on a passed ball, but was put out on a ground ball to Pennington at second.  Girardi had the contact play on with one out, and Oakland catcher Derek Norris held the ball as Ibanez crashed into him at home plate. The Yankees put two more runners on base via walks (Curtis Granderson & Eric Chavez) and that loaded the bases.  They were left loaded as Derek Jeter was retired via fly ball to right.

In the thirteenth inning, Freddy Garcia imploded.  Garcia had pitched well for three innings (10, 11, & 12), but in the 13th, he allowed a single and back-to-back HR's to Jonny Gomes and Cespedes.  Justin Thomas relieved Garcia and allowed yet another Oakland HR, this one off the bat of Chris Carter.  The Yankees appeared defeated at that point as the A's lead ballooned to 9-5 through 12.5 innings.  Miraculously, the Yankees rallied with singles from Suzuki, Rodriguez, and Cano to load the bases.  Ichiro scored via wild pitch and Eduardo Nunez followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Rodriguez.  Suddenly the A's lead had shrunk to 9-7.  Having a career day, Ibanez ripped a HR to right field that went "high and far" and tied the game at 9-9!  Wow! 

 (In Photo: Melky Mesa / Eduardo Nunez)

Cory Wade pitched like a closer in the 14th inning, as he retired the A's one, two, three.  In the bottom of the inning the Yankees got a lead-off single from Chavez and Melky Mesa made his major league debut in a pinch-running capacity.  Jeter sacrificed him to second and Suzuki was promptly intentionally passed.  ARod ripped a single to center and Mesa could have cruised home, but he missed third base!  He returned safely to the bag and the Yankees had the bases loaded.  Cano bounced back to the pitcher who fired home to force Mesa.  I'm really not making this up!  This stuff actually happened!  Nunez hit a fairly routine ground ball to first that should have ended the Yankee threat, but the A's first baseman, Brandon Moss, made an error that will live in infamy, especially if the A's miss the playoffs.  Suzuki strolled home and the Yankees had a 10-9 victory.  What else can I say?  Believe it; the Yankees still have a one game lead in the AL East division race, as the Oriole juggernaut rolled on in Boston with an extra inning victory of their own.

Saturday's unbelievable final:  New York 10  Oakland 9! 

Oh and for you youngsters out there who have never seen the film Airplane, Lloyd Bridges is the picture at the head of this recap and it's one of the more famous lines in the film, along with a few others...we found a clip on YouTube with those lines.


Enjoy the clip and the win! Go Yanks!

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT; YANKEES SWEEP JAYS

Even with a 7-3 record in the last ten games and a four game winning streak, the New York Yankees held only a paltry half-game lead in the AL East Division race entering the series finale with the Blue Jays.  Perhaps an even scarier part of the equation is the lack of a safety net.  The Yankees do hold a 4.5 game lead over the Angels for the final wild card slot, but all you really get from that is a "play-in" opportunity for the the real playoff show.  This new playoff structure makes wining the division crown an essential ingredient for a chance at long-term survival in October. 

 

The Yankees got help from aging veterans Andy Pettitte and Ichiro Suzuki yesterday in the sweep of a double-header, as they moved on toward that elusive division championship.  The Yanks would need plenty more of the same on Thursday night and for the remainder of the regular season schedule.  Unfortunately, the game did not start particularly well for the Bombers.  The offense looked anemic for two innings, mustering only a Russell Martin walk. 

 

Meanwhile starter Phil Hughes allowed a pair of early runs on two doubles, two walks, two hit batsmen, and a single.  The Yankees trailed 2-0 after 2.5 innings. 

 

In the bottom of the third, the Yankee offense stirred a little and produced a run on an Ichiro Suzuki solo HR to right field that cut the Toronto lead to 2-1.  In the fourth, Toronto's starter Aaron Laffey faltered and second baseman Kelly Johnson committed a costly error.  The Yankees took advantage of three walks issued by Toronto pitchers around the Johnson error.  Red-hot Ichiro ripped a double to right field to make those Jays' transgressions costly. 

Ichiro's hit scored two runs (Martin and Granderson).  After another walk, to Jayson Nix, and an RBI single by Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher powered his third grand-slam HR of the 2012 season.  It was also the 10th grand-slam HR of the season by the Yankees, equalling the team high in that category.  The Yankees lead was 8-2 after four innings.

 

Phil Hughes seemed intent on keeping Toronto in the game.  He allowed a two-run HR to Moises Sierra in the fifth and the Jays cut the lead to 8-4.  Hughes was removed after that fifth inning having thrown 102 pitches.  Hughes did manage to strike out four batters in the fourth inning, becoming only the second Yankee pitcher to achieve that feat in club history, but overall his outing was less than satisfactory and required an already over-worked bullpen to pitch nearly half of the game.

 

After the Yankees added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on a Granderson double, a Nix double and RBI, and an RBI single by Jeter, Derek Lowe righted the ship with two scoreless innings.  In fact Lowe pitched so well that pundits were wondering aloud why Girardi had removed him from the game at that point with New York holding a 10-4 lead.  The decision almost proved costly as Cory Wade and Joba Chamberlain conspired to yield three runs on five hits in a scary eighth inning.  Suddenly, the seemingly safe lead was down to 10-7 and Girardi was forced to warm Raphael Soriano for the fourth time in three days.

 

Soriano could not go, and David Robertson was assigned the closer role for the night.  DRob was more than up to the task as he struck out the side in the top of the ninth.  Robertson earned his second save of the season and preserved Phil Hughes' 16th win of 2012.  The Baltimore Oriole juggernaut was off on Thursday, so the Yankee win gives the club a full game lead in the standings with only thirteen games to play. 

 

The ugly, but very happy, final on Thursday night:  New York 10  Toronto 7.       

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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"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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YANKEES WIN BIG OVER ORIOLES

2 Recaps tonight on BYB.  In case you missed it earlier, here's Frank Gentry's recap titled IT'S ALIVE!. And here's mine...

The Yankees had to go to bed with a bad taste in their mouth last night as first base ump Jerry Meals cost the Yankees the game. There were other reasons why the Yankees lost that game, but that doesn’t erase Meals’ gaffe. Either way, the Yankees had to move on. The AL East was tied going into the fourth game of the set, but the offense and bullpen carried the Yanks to a huge 13-3 win on Sunday afternoon.

The offense seemed to be clicking of late since the return of Alex Rodriguez. Coming into this game they had scored at least five runs in three out of their past four games. (It would have been four straight if not for the missed call be Meals on Saturday) But on Sunday, the Yanks capitalized for 13 runs on 14 hits. Six of the nine starters had one hit each except for Nick Swisher, Steve Pearce, and Andruw Jones. Six different players had at least one RBI including Curtis Granderson who went 3-for-3 with five RBI.

He was a triple short of the cycle and he entered the game in the sixth as a pinch hitter for Andruw Jones. My favorite of the day, Derek Jeter, the captain, had a homer and 3 RBIs.  You can't beat it, the Captain is King!

The bullpen had to pick up 17 of the 27 outs thanks in part to another ineffective start by Freddy Garcia. (Though in fairness, he cruised through the first three innings, allowing just one hit before imploding for three runs in the fourth) The game was 5-3 at the time when Garcia was pulled, and the bullpen did marvelous, combining for 5.2 innings of one hit, no run, nine strikeout, and two walk ball. Joba relieved Garcia and he looked fantastic as he struck out four batters in a scoreless 1.2 innings. Boone Logan followed with a scoreless inning before Cory Wade (remember him?) pitched two scoreless, no hit innings while punching out three. Derek Lowe pitched a perfect ninth to seal the deal.

Some additional thoughts:

With Ivan Nova now healthy I can only help but wonder if this is in fact Freddy Garcia’s last start with the Yankees. As we’ve seen for weeks now, the guy just runs out of gas in the middle innings. I like him as a multi-inning reliever out of the ‘pen, but not as a starter. These games are important and the Yankees need length out of their starters. Maybe the couple of weeks Nova had off helped him. If he can pitch anywhere near what he did in the second half last season it would be a huge lift to the team.

I thought Joe Girardi did a really good job of managing this game. Last week I criticized him pretty heavily in my post titled YANKEES OUT MANAGED IN BAD LOSS TO ORIOLES. But in this game there is really no need to critique him. I thought pinch-hitting Curtis Granderson for the ultra-slumping Andruw Jones was the right move, as well as how he handled the bullpen. Good job, skip.

Final was Yankees 13- Orioles 3.

Thanks to this win the Yanks are back on top in the AL East standings by one game over the Orioles and two ahead of the Rays. The Bombers will get a much needed day off on Monday before playing a three game set in Boston. Hiroki Kuroda (13-10, 3.14) will oppose Jon Lester (9-11, 4.99 ERA) in the opener on Tuesday.



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



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