Bronx, N.Y., September 20, 2011 – The Yanks won their second straight game of a homestand that they hope will witness their clinching of the AL East crown and home field in the upcoming ALDS and ALCS. And they did it behind yet another masterful outing from Ivan Nova, a rookie right-hander who pushed his season mark to 16-4, and all but guaranteed that he’ll be toeing the same mound on October 1 in game two of the ALDS.

An enigma, if a very good one, Nova, who was buckling knees with a devastating slider just a few weeks ago, returned to his more familiar fastball/curve recipe Tuesday night, taking advantage of an early lead and nine quick outs to propel him toward victory. You could call his back-to-back seven-pitch frames starting the game vs the visiting Tampa Rays lucky, but I wouldn’t advise you to do so in front of Jim Kaat, because Nova was utilizing that crafty lefty’s “hit bats” strategy and elevating it to an art form in this one.

Two of the three first-inning liners against his early fastball – Desmond Jennings’s laser to Derek Jeter’s left, and an Evan Longoria missile over Nick Swisher’s head in right – were mashed, while Matt Joyce’s liner to Mark Teixeira that erased Johnny Damon’s leadoff single in the second, on an L3 double play, got Ivan back to the Yankee pen at six up/six down on just 14 throws. A Kelly Shoppach hit by pitch in the third extended Ivan to 12 throws that frame, but the 26 pitches he used to navigate nine outs were an amazing 50 less than Wade Davis needed to go the same distance.

After surviving two walks on 29 pitches in the first, Davis was tattooed on four hits in succession on his first eight pitches to start the second, even if the fourth featured Brett Gardner legging out a sac bunt attempt. The Tampa righty stiffened and struck Jeter out on six pitches, but Curtis Granderson cleared the bases with a one-strike double into the right field corner, his first of two two-baggers on the night, for a 4-0 lead. Had the teams realized how dominant Nova would be, they could have called it off right then, so each could rest up for the Wednesday all-day twin bill.

Nova would not have a clean inning after the three-line-out first, but he continued to hit bats and would not be threatened until the Rays loaded the bases with no one out in the seventh. But with a two-hit fourth and a leadoff double in the sixth behind him, Ivan was up to the task, even if Larry Rothschild stopped by to pay his respects and seventh-inning man Rafael Soriano warmed in the pen. Nova had not struck out anyone until getting two in the fifth, an inning he entered with just two swings and misses to his credit, and closed the sixth with a third K, but he took the “wooden” approach yet again in the seventh. He got Jennings on a short fly to left, then retired the speedy B.J. Upton and the inning with a 5-4-3 double play.

Two more ground balls (11 of 23 outs on the ground) started the eighth, but Joe Giraadi replaced him with Boone Logan after Ivan allowed a two-out walk, just his third of the game, but all in the final three frames. As Logan coaxed a third-out grounder some in the crowd whooped as the out-of-town score from Boston changed from 5-4 Sox to 7-5 O’s, something we assume the Rays players enjoyed seeing as well.

The Yanks were loose and sharp as witnessed by Swish’s smooth grab in the first, nice plays by Jeter on Upton (in the fourth) and Jennings (in the fifth), and a stellar scoop of Eric Chavez’s throw to Tex on a 5-3 in the eighth. But once Luis Ayala came on for the ninth, they got simply filthy. First, pinch hitter John Jaso was nailed on a classic Cano against-momentum toss from the shortstop side of second. Then after a walk, the Jeter one-hop snatch, flip to Robbie, turn to Tex 6-4-3 against Dan Johnson was over so quick, no one in the stands was ready to cheer on the ending of the 5-0 shutout final.

It was a nice day for an impressive Yankee late-season victory in their seeming inexorable march to the post. On this day in 1923 the team clinched its third pennant, the first one that would bring them a World Series Championship. The team dedicated a plaque to the late Thurman Munson on September 20, 1980. And this was the day in 1961 that Roger Maris, who will be honored, in a way only the pinstripers can, this coming Friday, stroked his 59th home run of that record season in his team’s 154th game.

A fitting win on a big Yankee day, “Curtis-y” of

I-Van and the Grandy Man

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!