Results tagged ‘ Jim Johnson ’
‘Pronk’ Bonks O’s In Ninth, Wells Wins It In 10th
GAME 44
YANKEES 6, ORIOLES 4 (10 Innings)
Some teams are built with a lot of money. Some teams are built with a collection of players with special skills. But successful teams are built with lots of players who have heart.
The 2013 New York Yankees are a team with an awful lot of heart and that was on display Monday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Down 4-3 with one out in the ninth inning and Orioles closer Jim Johnson on mound, Travis Hafner blasted an opposite-field home run into the bleachers in left-center to tie it and Vernon Wells laced a game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning as New York came from behind to down Baltimore in front of a paid crowd of 24,133.
Hafner and Wells embody the heart of what has been called “The Replacements” and they provided the Yankees with the clutch hitting just when they needed it.
The Orioles took a 3-2 lead away from left-hander CC Sabathia and the Yankees in the bottom of the seventh inning when Nick Markakis slapped an RBI double to left-center to score Alexi Casilla and J.J. Hardy followed one out later with an RBI double down the right-field line.
The Orioles made their 2012 wild-card run largely on the strength of their incredible 24-6 record in one-run games. But 2013 is looking like a much different season for them.
Johnson, who had entered the game having blown his last two save opportunities, fell behind Hafner 3-1 when the 35-year-old designated hitter sent a belt-high outside fastball into the 80-degree evening air and by the time it landed Johnson was hanging his head in disbelief.
David Robertson (3-0) came in to pitch a scoreless ninth inning that sent the game into extra innings, where the Orioles posted an incredible 16-2 record in 2012.
What a difference a year makes!
Ichiro Suzuki opened the top of the 10th with a line-drive double into the right-field corner off right-hander Pedro Strop (0-2)
Wells, who entered the game as pinch-hitter in the eighth inning then picked on a 1-2 hanging slider from Strop and slashed it to the base of the wall in left and the ball bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double that scored Suzuki.
After Austin Romine bunted Wells to third, Brett Gardner was retired on hard grounder and Strop walked Robinson Cano intentionally.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter replaced Strop with left-hander Brian Matusz to face Hafner. But Hafner spoiled the strategy by slashing a 0-1 slider into right for a single to score Wells with an insurance run.
Mariano Rivera, who entered the evening a perfect 16-for-16 in saves this season, pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th, punctuating his 17th save by striking out Chris Dickerson swinging to push the Orioles’ current losing streak to six games.
Believe me when I say that this one really hurt the Orioles.
Sabathia, who was 19-4 with a 2.90 ERA in his career against the Orioles including two victories in the 2012 playoffs, was unable to keep any of leads the Yankees kept providing him with throughout the evening.
Cano opened the scoring with a solo home run - his American League-leading 13th of the season - off former Yankee right-hander Freddy Garcia with one out in the first frame. David Adams followed with a one-out homer of his own, his first in the major leagues, in the second inning.
But Chris Davis reclaimed a share of the A.L. lead in homers with his 13th home run off Sabathia with one out in the bottom of the second.
Two innings later, Markakis tied it up at 2-2 with a one-out RBI single to score Steve Pearce, who led off the inning with a double.
But Lyle Overbay promptly untied it for the Yankees in the seventh with a leadoff home run in the bleacher sin right center off left-hander Troy Patton.
Sabathia then ran out of gas in the seventh and surrendered the lead to the Orioles.
Sabathia gave up four runs on 11 hits and he struck out two in 6 1/3 innings. Garcia, meanwhile, yielded two runs on three hits and two walks while he fanned two in six innings for the O’s.
The Yankees extended their winning streak to three games and, combined with the loss by the Boston Red Sox to the Chicago White Sox, they extended their lead in the American League East to 1 1/2 games. The Orioles fell to 23-21 and they are now a whopping five games behind the Yankees in third place in the division.
PINSTRIPE POSITIVES
- Hafner’s dramatic home run and RBI single in the 10th must have Yankee fans saying “Raul who?” because Hafner is making them forget how important Raul Ibanez was to the Yankees during the stretch drive and in the playoffs last season. Hafner is hitting .267 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs.
- Wells, another reclamation project courtesy of general manager Brian Cashman, knew his playing time would be reduced when Curtis Granderson returned but he is proving to be very valuable off the bench. With his game-winning double in the 10th, Wells is hitting .267 with 10 home runs and 24 RBIs, which is third on the club behind Cano and fellow “Replacement” Overbay.
- Adams’ rookie legend may be growing by leaps and bounds in just five major-league games. Adams was 2-for-4 including his homer. Adams also made some sterling plays in the field, which is surprising because he is not considered to be a good fielder. Adams is 6-for-18 (.333) with a home run and two RBIs and is looking like he might be staying long after Kevin Youkilis comes off the 15-day disabled list.
NAGGING NEGATIVES
- Sabathia was just not very sharp at all in this game. In his past two starts, Sabathia has given up 21 hits and two walks in 12 1/3 innings for Walks and Hits to Innings Pitched (WHIP) of 1.82. The Orioles used an opposite-field approach against the left-hander and they burned him repeatedly with it. Sabathia is also paying for a dip in velocity in his fastball.
- Granderson is struggling at the plate and it may be a byproduct of rushing through his rehab in just five games. Granderson was 0-for-4 with a strikeout and he did not get a ball out of the infield. He is 4-for-19 (.211) without a home run and an RBI in five starts.
BOMBER BANTER
First baseman Mark Teixeira reported on Monday that he took his first at-bats in a simulated game in Tampa, FL, and he was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk. It was the first at-bats for Teixeira since he tore the sheath in his right wrist in March. Teixiera is hoping to play in his first game of the season by June 1 but that timetable may be a bit too optimistic. . . . Both Youkilis (back) and Alex Rodriguez (hip) took ground balls and batting practice at the team’s spring complex on Monday as both rehab their injuries. Manager Joe Girardi said that Youkilis likely will not be activated before the Yankees return home in a week. Though Rodriguez was able to take ground balls at third base on Monday, his timetable has not changed. He is expected back some time after the All-Star break. . . . The Yankees entered the day with a all-time major-league best 18-0 record in one-run games this season and they were within two outs of losing their first one-run game. But Hafner’s homer and Wells’ RBI double allowed them to extend the mark to 19 games.
ON DECK
The Yankees will continue their three-game road series with the Orioles on Tuesday.
Right-hander Phil Hughes (2-3, 5.88 ERA) will start for the Yankees. Hughes will have to better on Tuesday because he is coming off what he called his worst major-league start on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners. Hughes lasted only two-thirds of an inning and gave up seven runs on six hits and two walks. He is 6-5 with 5.47 ERA lifetime against the Orioles.
Baltimore is countering with right-hander Miguel Gonzalez (2-2, 4.58 ERA). Gonzalez is being activated from the 15-day disabled list after he sustained a troublesome blister on his right thumb. He is 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA in his career against the Yankees.
Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast nationally by the MLB Network and locally by MY9.
Joe’s Move To Sub Ibanez For A-Rod Was Genius
“Choices are the hinges of destiny.”
- Pythagoras, Greek philosopher
ALDS GAME 3: KEY MOMENT
In the pivotal game of the Yankees-Orioles division series, manager Joe Girardi made one the boldest and ballsiest calls in major-league postseason history.
With his big power-hitter Alex Rodriguez 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in the game and 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in the series, Girardi elected to sit the most dangerous home run hitter of this generation and replace him with a 40-year-old left-handed hitter to face the American League’s best closer this season in right-hander Jim Johnson.
The Yankees were down 2-1 and they were two outs away from being left down in the playoff series 2-1 to the upstart Orioles.
But Girardi was resolute in his decision. He told Rodriguez to sit and Ibanez to grab a bat.
Think of the blowback if Ibanez had failed. The New York scribes would have had a foot race to the clubhouse for reaction from A-Rod. Headlines would have blared “Joe Loses Cool By Subbing Raul” or “Joe Panics; Yanks Fall.”
That, of course, is the nature of the New York media. They are with you until you fail and then you are left out to dry. Billy Martin, Yogi Berra Dick Howser were folded spindled and mutilated by the headline hungry denizens in the Bronx Zoo.
But after Johnson had retired Ichiro Suzuki, the crowd on the one hand stunned and, on the other hand, hopeful with fingers and toes crossed routed on Ibnez as he lumbered to the plate.
“Raul had to come through,” Girardi said. “Raul had some kind of day for us today, and you have to make decisions sometimes that are tough decisions. But I just had a gut feeling.”
Ibanez had his share of travails this season, too.
In spring training, Ibanez hit in the first three weeks of spring training as if he just picked up a bat at age 40 and was giving the major leagues a try. It was if he could not hit a ball off a tee he was so bad. But Girardi told the press that Ibanez was a professional hitter his entire career and that he had faith he would turn it around soon.
Sure enough, Ibanez starting roping line drives all over the place at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL, and the wolves (the writers) were forced to stop baying at the moon.
Ibanez then became an integral part of the Yankees success this season. Forced into playing more outfield than he had expected in the absence of starting left-fielder Brett Gardner, Ibanez hit 19 home runs, drove in 62 runs and batted .240 in 340 at-bats this season for the Yankees.
Of course, Ibanez also fell into a severe slump in late August that bled into September. Once again, Girardi kept faith with his veteran outfielder/designated hitter. And again Ibanez rewarded the skipper.
Beginning with a Sept. 22 game against Oakland in which Ibanez entered the game as pinch-hitter in the fifth inning and he ended up hitting two game-tying homers, he went on a full-fledged tear in the final two weeks of the season. Ibanez went 15-for-37 (.405) with five home runs and nine RBIs down the stretch.
He also punctuated his hot streak with a game-tying two-run pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth and a game-winning RBI single in the 12th in a must-win 4-3 victory the Red Sox on Oct. 2.
But those heroics on Sept. 22 and Oct. 2 were but a dress rehearsal for what he was being asked to do on Wednesday. It is one thing to pinch-hit for Casey McGehee (as he did on Sept. 22) or Eduardo Nunez (as he did on Oct. 2). It is quite another to pinch-hit for A-Rod.
That is pressure.
But Ibanez was able to cast it aside enough to concentrate on what he wanted to do: Get a Johnson sinker up enough so that he could launch it into the seats. Johnson provided it on the very first pitch and Ibanez took care of it.
The subdued but hopeful crowd of 50,497 seemed to rise as one while the baseball traveled on a low, line-drive trajectory towards the straightaway right-field. It rose well over the head of Oriole defensive replacement Endy Chavez and some five rows into the bleachers.
On the top step of the dugout cheering loudly was A-Rod.
“Maybe 10 years ago, I’d react a much different way. But I’m at a place in my career right now where team means everything,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t think there was anybody in the ballpark more excited for Raul than me.”
That home run, harkening Yankee fans back to the days of Bucky Dent, Reggie Jackson and Aaron Boone, allowed the Yankees to stave off what would have been a saddening blow to their playoff hopes. But Ibanez wasn’t having it.
The game remained tied until Ibanez’s next at-bat leading off the bottom of the 12th. Orioles manager Buck Showalter had opted to leave in left-hander Brian Matusz to face him.
Again, Ibanez was looking for a pitch up to drive. Matusz threw a chest high fastball but it was in the middle of the plate. Ibanez was ready and the sound so familiar to the fans rang out all over Yankee Stadium.
Ibanez, knew, Matusz knew and the fans there and those watching at home knew where it was going.
In one mere stretch of just two swings in two at-bats, Ibanez – should the Yankees advance to their 28th world championship – will be remembered in Yankee lore for what he did this evening.
While they are at it, they should also remember the guts it took for Girardi to push the correct button. Managers seem to get little of the credit and most of the blame in baseball.
This is not one of those instances. Girardi played his roster like a maestro and the music hit a real high note in the Bronx.
Orioles Step On Their Johnson To Lose To Yankees
ALDS GAME 1: KEY MOMENT
Orioles closer Jim Johnson entered the American League Division Series against the Yankees with a pretty imposing collection of stats from the 2012 regular season.
In the 54 games he had been called upon to save this season he had a major-league best 51 saves. He also was 2-1 with a 2.49 ERA and he only coughed up three home runs in 68 2/3 innings.
It was against this backdrop that manager Buck Showalter summoned Johnson into a 2-2 contest in the top of the ninth inning in Game 1 of the best-of-five series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Showalter was doing what most managers do when the home team is in a tie game in the ninth: Call in your closer to pitch a scoreless inning to give them a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth.
The right-handed Johnson was the perfect choice to pitch the ninth because two of three scheduled batters bat right-handed and Johnson also is known around baseball circles for his devastating two-seam fastball. On a cool, brisk evening like Sunday in Baltimore, hitting Johnson’s sinker is like trying to hit a bowling ball.
Hitters generally hit lots of weak ground balls against Johnson because it is so hard to get any lift on the pitch when it is located down in the strike zone.
The first scheduled hitter for the Yankees was Russell Martin, who was 0-for-2 with a walk in the game. Martin suffered through his worst season at the plate in 2012.
After spending most of the season hitting well below .200, or the so-called “Mendoza line,” Martin caught fire and hit .258 with seven home runs and 17 RBis after Sept. 1 to raise his season average to .211, 49 points below his career average.
Johnson threw his first pitch, a two-seamer, that ended up low.
It must have taken Martin all the strength in the world to lay off Johnson’s second pitch, another two-seamer that was close to the knees but home-plate umpire Tony Randazzo called it a ball.
Catcher Matt Wieters questioned the call without turning around as Johnson emitted a blank stare. Johnson wanted the pitch because he did not want to have to give in by throwing a fastball a bit higher in the strike zone on an 0-2 count.
Johnson also throws a nifty change-up and a curveball, however, Wieters called for a third sinker and Johnson nodded his OK. With many in the paid crowd of 47,841 in the ballpark cheering wildly for a team that had not played in a postseason game since 1997, Johnson went into his windup and threw the ball as Wieters set up his glove low and outside.
However, Johnson’s sinker not only did not sink, it also rode high and right to the middle of the plate. Martin saw the 93-mph fastball was up and swung his bat. Though Martin has been a poor hitter most of the season, there is one pitch he handles exceptionally well: The fastball.
He swung, the ball hit squarely on the sweet spot of the bat and it rocketed into the air on a line into left-field. Oriole left-fielder Nate McLouth, hearing the sound of the bat immediately, started moving back to the wall close to the left-field line. But the trajectory was high enough and the ball was hit hard enough that it carried well above his head and six rows deep in the bleachers.
Martin knew he had hit the ball it well.
“It’s a big lift. It kind of sparked us, it seemed like. A pitcher of that caliber, you’re not expecting to hit home runs against him. I was just trying to hit the ball hard, and luckily he left a pitch over the middle of the plate for me.”
Johnson knew immediately he made a big mistake. He hung his head as he rubbed up a new baseball. The Yankees now led 3-2 and Johnson’s task was to keep the score where it was to give his team a chance to either tie or win it in the bottom of the frame.
But Johnson’s evening fell apart after the Martin blast.
He would throw 14 more pitches in the inning and record only one out.
Raul Ibanez singled. Derek Jeter followed with a hit-and-run single to advance Ibanez to third. With Eduardo Nunez running for Ibanez, Ichiro Suzuki scored him with a swinging bunt down the first-base line that he beat out for a single.
After Johnson struck out Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano sliced a four-seam fastball to the opposite field in the corner in left to score two more runs.
Showalter bounced quickly out to the mound to remove his closer and Johnson left with Cano on third on a throwing error by shortstop J.J. Hardy trying to throw out Suzuki at the plate.
Reliever Tommy Hunter came on and Nick Swisher lifted 3-1 fastball to deep center to score Cano. The Yankees had turned a 2-2 nail-biter into a 7-2 laugher in the blink of an eye.
Johnson gave up five runs on five hits in just one-third of an inning.
On July 16, Johnson was similarly tagged for five runs on four hits and a hit batter by the Twins in a game in Minneapolis. However, the Twins already led the game 14-5 at the time.
On July 27, the Oakland Athletics rallied from a 9-8 deficit against Johnson to score six runs on five hits and a walk in one-third of an inning at Camden Yards to defeat the O’s 14-9. That was Johnson’s only loss of the season.
If you take away those two appearances, Johnson’s season ERA would been 1.02 instead of 2.49.
So the fact that the Yankees even got to Johnson for a run is remarkable. The fact that they scored five runs against him was just unreal.
Yankee first baseman and Maryland native Mark Teixeira summed it up the best:
“Johnson has been so great all year; eventually you’ve got to get to him, right? And tonight was that night.”
Jesus Saves: Montero’s 2 HRs Key Yankee Victory
GAME 139
YANKEES 11, ORIOLES 10
Some rookies arrive in the major leagues with so much hype they can never seem to be great enough to measure up to it. In just four games, Jesus Montero is writing a whole new chapter of his own greatness and nothing appears overhyped.
Montero, 21, hit his first and second major-league home runs and they proved to be the margin of victory as New York edged Baltimore in a Labor Day slugfest in front of 45,069 fans at Yankee Stadium on Monday.
With the game tied at 8-8 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Montero greeted Orioles reliever Jim Johnson by swatting an 0-1 fastball to the opposite field in right for his his first major-league home run. Yankee fans got on their feet and demanded a curtain call from their rookie power-hitting designated hitter. Montero complied and the Yankees had a 9-8 lead.
Before facing Montero in the fifth, Johnson had allowed only three home runs in 76 2/3 innings this season.
Two innings later, Johnson faced Montero again with one out and Russell Martin on first with a single. Johnson tried to pitch in to the rookie but on a 2-2 fastball, he missed over the plate and Montero hit an even longer blast into the right-field seats.
Yankee fans got on their feet and requested an encore curtain call from their new hero and Montero obliged. After four games, Montero is hitting .385 with two home runs and three RBIs.
Meanwhile, a fellow rookie Brett Lawrie of the Blue Jays made his impact on the 2010 division title race by cracking a walk-off solo home run with two out in the bottom of the 11th inning off Red Sox reliever Dan Wheeler as Toronto blanked Boston 1-0. The Yankees, who have won eight of their last nine games, have extended their lead in the American League East to 2 1/2 games over the Red Sox, who have dropped five of their last seven games.
The Yankees received a rare poor start from 34-year-old right-hander Freddy Garcia, who lasted only 2 2/3 innings and he gave up seven runs on nine hits. Garcia entered the game having thrown 15 quality starts in the 22 games he started this season. But he was victimized by four-run second inning and Mark Reynolds added a two-run home run in the third inning that drew the Orioles back to a one-run game at 8-7.
The Yankees pretty much did the same damage to the O’s’ young lefty Brian Matusz by scoring two runs in the first and adding six runs in the second inning.
Curtis Granderson chased Matusz in the second inning with a one-out, two-run double that drew the Yankees back to a one-run deficit at 5-4. However, Orioles reliever Chris Jakubauskas threw gasoline on the fire when he entered the game and walked Mark Teixeira, who hit his 36th home run of the season in his first at-bat, and hit Alex Rodriguez in the left arm on an 0-2 pitch to load the bases.
Jakubauskas paid dearly for his lack of control by giving up a grand slam home run to Robinson Cano, which landed well into the bleachers in right-center and gave the Yankees an 8-5 lead in an inning in which the Yankees sent 11 batters to the plate.
Matusz was touched up for five runs on five hits and two walks and he fanned three in 1 1/3 innings. Jakubauskas was charged with three runs on two hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning.
However, Garcia could not keep Baltimore from scoring. Reynolds’ home run drew the Orioles back to within 8-7 and Garcia was removed after giving up a single to Ryan Adams with two outs in the third inning.
Newly signed and recently called up lefty Aaron Laffey surrendered a one-out solo home run to Robert Andino in the fifth inning that drew both teams even on the day.
But Montero’s two home runs provided the Yankees with a margin they actually really needed badly because their bullpen continued to crack.
Luis Ayala was touched for a run in the eighth on a one-out double by J.J. Hardy and a single to right by Nick Markakis that scored Hardy. Markakis took second on an error by Chris Dickerson, who was inserted into right as a defensive replacement for Andruw Jones when the inning started. However, Markakis was thrown out on a relay from Dickerson to Derek Jeter to Rodriguez, who applied the tag on Markakis at third base.
The Orioles added another run in the ninth off future Hall-of-Fame closer Mariano Rivera.
Reynolds stroked a one-out single and reached second on a stolen base. One out later, Ryan Adams delivered a single to center to score Reynolds to make it an 11-10 game.
Rivera then hit pinch-hitter Nolan Reimold on a 3-2 pitch. Reynolds and pinch-runner Matt Angle then moved up a base on a double steal. However, Rivera ended the rally right there by striking out Hardy looking on a 2-2 pitch on the outside corner. For Rivera it was a very shaky 38th save in 43 opportunities this season.
Rivera now has 597 saves in his career and he soon could pass all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, who has 601.
Laffey (2-1) got credit for the victory in relief. Johnson (5-5) took the loss.
With the victory the Yankees’ season record stands at 86-53. The Orioles fell to 55-84 and they 31 games out of first in last place in the division.
PINSTRIPE POSITIVES
- When the Montero legend grows to epic proportions over the years you can say you were there to see the first two home runs and three RBis. When Montero was recalled on Sept. 1, manager Joe Girardi made it clear that Montero would start as the right-hand DH against left-handers. After this Labor Day exhibition, teams may revise their rotations to make sure they throw just right-handers. Montero easily blasted two long home runs to the opposite field in two at-bats. That is some major-league skills for just a 21-year-old rookie. General manager Brian Cashman better not trade this guy. It will be over my dead body. He is a keeper.
- Cano extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in the first inning. In the second inning he launched his third grand slam of the season. Before his nine-game hitting streak started, Cano had a 17-game hitting streak snapped at Baltimore on Aug. 28. Over his last 27 games, Cano is 39-for-112 (.348) with six home runs and 30 RBIs. With Cano’s four RBIs he passed Adrian Gonzalez for second place in the A.L. with 105 RBIs. Cano trails teammate Curtis Granderson by four RBIs.
- Granderson took over the major-league lead in RBIs with his two-run double in the second inning. Granderson leads the Brewers’ Cecil Fielder by two and the Phillies’ Ryan Howard by three. A few weeks ago it seemed Granderson’s competition for MVP would come from Adrian Gonzalez and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Red Sox. It appears that Cano is entering the discussion now.
NAGGING NEGATIVES
- Brett Gardner was the only Yankee starter without a hit. He was o-for-4 with two strikeouts looking and two routine infield grounders. To show how bad Gardner’s day at the plate was he made two of the three outs of the second inning. He started the inning out by striking out looking and ended the inning with a groundout. Gardner’s season average is down to .266
- Garcia was unable to keep his pitches down and it cost him dearly in this game. Of the 18 batters he faced, 10 of them reached base. This also refuels the discussion from so-called”experts” who say that the Yankees will regret using Garcia and Bartolo Colon in the playoffs because they will not pitch as well as they did during the regular season against inferior offenses. Garcia entered the game with the second-lowest ERA of the Yankee starters at 3.09. After this game it is now up to 3.50.
- Rivera did not look sharp in his inning of work. After giving up two hits, he hit Reimold on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. In the 27 pitches Rivera threw, 12 were balls. That is not the usual Rivera. Let’s hope it is a hiccup and not a trend going forward.
ON DECK
The Yankees continue their three-game series with the Orioles on Tuesday.
The Yankees will start or audition, if you prefer, Phil Hughes (4-5, 6.75 ERA). Hughes allowed six runs on eight hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings against the Red Sox in a 9-5 loss last Wednesday. However, Girardi saw enough positives in the effort to give Hughes another shot to stay in the rotation. Hughes is 4-2 with 5.51 ERA in his career against the Orioles.
The Orioles will throw right-hander Tommy Hunter (2-1, 6.21 ERA). Hunter has gone at least six innings in his last six starts for the Orioles. He is 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA in his career against the Bronx Bombers.
Game-time will be 7:05 p.m. EDT and the game will be telecast by the YES Network.
Orioles Get Their Asteroids Kicked By Yankees’ Nova
- Nova threw only 58 pitches and 41 were strikes and only three balls were hit out of the infield. Of the 18 outs he recorded, 11 were ground outs. Manager Joe Girardi said it was the best pitching performance of the spring but he would not say that Nova had locked up a rotation spot. With an ERA of 1.29 on the spring, it would be hard to deny him one at this point.
- Rodriguez connected for his third home run, a two-run blast off lefty Clay Rapada in the sixth inning to extend the Yankees’ lead to 4-0. Rodriguez added an RBI on a groundout in the seventh as the Yankees blew the game open. Rodriguez is hitting a sizzling .414 on the spring.
- Nick Swisher, who has been battling a sore shoulder in recent weeks, added two singles and drove in two runs. Mark Teixeira was 2-for-2 was hit by a pitch and walked as the Yankees started their projected starting lineup for the first time this spring and the offense broke out with 10 runs and 12 hits.
- Mariano Rivera, Mark Prior and David Robertson pitched scoreless baseball in the final three innings, giving up one his and one walk and striking out one.
- Brett Gardner was the only starter who did not get a hit on the night. He struck out his first two times up but did walk in the seventh and eventually scored during a five-run uprising.
- Swisher committed a base-running blunder in the first inning. Swisher was on third and Teixeira was on second with no outs. Rodriguez hit a hot smash to Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds. Caught off third, Swisher should have induced a rundown to allow Teixeira to move to third and perhaps get Rodriguez to second. Instead, Swisher tried to dive back into third. Reynolds tagged him, whirled and threw to first to double up Rodriguez at first.
- In their previous six games, the Yankees scored a total of 13 runs. They scored 10 against the Orioles and they hit .385 with runners in scoring position. Hitting with runners in scoring position and scoring runs has been the Yankees biggest problem over the past week.
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