Bronx, N.Y., May 2, 2010 — It would be easy to misunderstand how the Yankees overcame the White Sox in the third of three in Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon. The Bombers blasted the White Sox, it’s true, running up a 12-0 lead before Mark Melancon allowed a meaningless three-run home run in the ninth inning. They amassed 16 hits, blasted three home runs (none of them of questionable length), and Yankee batters reached base 22 times in eight frames.
They did all this with cleanup hitter Alex Rodriguez getting a rare day off, and their starting center fielder on the 15-day DL. Five different hitters both scored and drove in multiple runs, they were never retired in order, and they sent as few as four batters to the plate in just two innings. Struggling (all season) Mark Teixeira had four hits, recently slumping Nick Swisher had three and homered for the second straight day, and even way-below-the-Mendoza line Nick Johnson hit three line drives, though just one fell in for a double (and two rbi’s).
One month in, the story of the defending champs’ 2010 season has been dominated by poor to inconsistent offense (lots of holes in the lineup), stellar defense, and superb starting pitching from four of five guys. All the hits and runs seem to make Sunday’s win stand out from many they eked out the first month. But to best grasp this victory on a very warm afternoon in the Bronx, don’t look at how different it was, but rather how similar.
The Yanks amy have won a laugher, but Phil Hughes didn’t pitch one. What the young righthander did was turn in his best start since the near no-no in Oakland, and his second best start of the year. He allowed one walk and four hits over seven innings. Early on he dueled Chicago lefty Mark Buehrle in a tight battle through four innings. Phil had a good fastball, and featured it all day, mixing in the occasional cutter and a nice slow curve just enough to keep the Chisox guessing. He threw 20 of 25 first-pitch strikes, and his 68/30 strikes/balls ratio wasn’t just good, it was superb. Chicago put up one long at bat in each of the first four frames to drive Phil’s pitch count up to 68, but he subdued nine of the next 10 batters on just 30 throws. Hughes mixed up the outs too, getting six each by ground balls, strike outs, and outfield flies.
Those first four innings were every bit a pitcher’s duel, one the Yankee righty prevailed in by a 2-0 score, largely due to one of the unexpected effective hitters of the early year. It’s no surprise that Robbie Cano crossed with the first run following a leadoff double in the second, but he was still on second base after back-to-back grounders to short when Brett Gardner pulled a 1-0 Buehrle pitch into the first base hole. The best Paul Konerko could do was deflect the ball. He never had a chance to nab the speedy Gardner at first, but Cano scored too as the ball rolled slowly into short right field.
The Yanks were finding the range on Buehrle, but they failed to score after loading the bases in the third, and Mark Kotsay made a nice leaping catch of Marcus Thames’s home run bid into the right field corner leading off the fourth. Gardner followed by working a full count and, realizing the veteran southpaw wanted no part of his base-stealing threat on first, went for the high fastball that followed and blasted it double-digit rows back in right for a 2-0 lead.
Hughes responded with his first quick inning by getting a groundout and fly out, then surrendering a Juan Pierre single. But the Yanks guessed right and pitched out right away and Jorge Posada pegged Pierre out to close the top of the fifth on seven pitches. Four batters into the bottom half, Cano rocketed a three-run home run well back in right, and the rout was on. Posada and Thames reached base afterward, but once Buehrle popped Gardner up to second, his day was done.
With the Yankee offense rollling now, the most telling comment regarding Chicago righthander Tony Pena’s outing that followed was that he was “lucky” to allow just four more runs pitching it into the seventh. Derek Jeter singled to start the home sixth, but Nick Johnson’s second hot shot of the game became a 6-4-3 on a fine grab by Alexei Ramirez at short. Yankee offense blunted but not stopped, Teixeira followed with his third of four hits, and Nick Swisher homered to right. Posada saw nine pitches before doubling to lead off the seventh, and two walks and an error later, Johnson and Teixeira delivered back-to-back two-run doubles and the Yanks were up 12-0.
As is clear, the list of good performers is impressive. On defense, even Thames came a long way to make a tumbling catch on an A.J. Pierzynski fly to short left in the second, Posada nabbed Pierre stealing, and Cano made another stellar stop up the middle, knocking down an Andruw Jones base hit bid in the sixth and throwing to Jeter for a force. Tex and Swish led the hits parade with four and three, respectively, while Jeter, Cano, Posada and Gardner had two. Every starter either scored or drove in a run except for Thames, and he had a hit, reached twice, and was robbed of a home run.
General Henry Martyn Robert, author of “Robert’s Rules of Order,” would have celebrated his 173rd birthday this day. The Yanks continue to roll, and lots of players deserved and earned kudos on this one. Which is fine. As long as we keep some sense of order, and hand out the top stars where they belong.
Brett Gardner knocked in both runs in a tight game that stood at 2-0 Yanks halfway through. And Phil Hughes bested veteran Mark Buehrle in a game that was a pitcher’s duel for just as long. With those congratulations now a part of the public record, this latest display of Yankees appreciation is now open.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!