August 7, 2014, Bronx, N.Y. — After going 2-0, in effect, against three Detroit Cy Young winners in succession, relying on veteran hurlers, the Yanks hosted the Bengals in an even more tight, tense contest — if that’s possible — on a gorgeous Thursday afternoon today. But this time the home team handed the ball to 25-year-old rookie Shane Greene, taking on veteran Rick Porcello, 13-5 on the season, in Greene’s sixth major league start.

And both pitchers delivered, big time. Greene posted a two-strike-out, nine-pitch first; Porcello replied by retiring the Yanks on seven throws. The Detroit righty came back with two punch outs of his own in the second, both on called third strikes, after Don Kelly had broken through for the game’s first hit, a two-out second-inning single. Greene was reached for a walk in the third, and a one-base hit and a free pass in the fourth, this after Jacoby Ellsbury had tracked down Ian Kinsler’s liner to deep left center.

But this was not typical of Shane’s day. Pounding 94 mph heat, he used a slider and fastball to get the early K’s, but Greene subdued this Tigers lineup on ground-ball-producing sinkers — 13 of them for outs, including a Victor Martinez 4-6-3 to close the top of the sixth, with runners on the corners and one out. And it was a good thing too, because Porcello was on his game as well. He walked none, struck out five, and scattered nine hits, only one for extra bases. This was Stephen Drew’s fourth-inning ground rule double down the left field line that drove in the game’s lone run, though had it not bounded into the stands, it would have scored two.

The fourth did not appear to be the Yanks’ best shot; they collected consecutive singles leading off the sixth, as they had earlier done with one down in the third, but double plays short-circuited both chances. But once Martin Prado and Ellsbury lined out to center and left field, respectively, to start the fourth, Carlos Beltran and Chase Headley singles set the table, and Drew floated an opposite-field fly that landed near the line. It was the first of two times Porcello allowed three baserunners in an inning, and it cost him the game.

Greene used just 98 tosses to survive eight innings, coaxing Joe Girardi to hand him the ball for the ninth, and a chance at a complete game. But pitch No. 99 was a Kinsler single, setting up a ninth inning as tense as any the Yankees and their fans survived all week. The rookie’s 64/35 strikes/balls ratio was very good; he finished by throwing nine first-pitch strikes to his last 12 batters, for a 19/11 mark on the day; he elicited 12 swings and misses from the Detroit lineup; but he collected his third win because of what happened when his offerings hit bats: four fly outs and two infield liners to go with the 13 ground-ball outs.

Perhaps spoiled after the almost shocking late rally — after four full months, forget “almost”; the eighth-inning, three-run rally Wednesday night was the answer to far too many prayers — the home team reverted to form on offense. After failing to tack on runs in the third and the sixth, they loaded the bases in the eighth, but Prado bounced to short, and the game went to the ninth at just 1-0. David Robertson followed Greene by walking Victor Martinez on five pitches, pushing Kinsler to second, but the Yankee closer coaxed a 4-4-3 from pinch hitting Miguel Cabrera. Although Kelly’s soft floater toward the middle briefly looked destined to find outfield grass, Drew closed and collected it, and the victory was complete.

August 7 sets up well historically for the day Shane Greene almost threw his first complete game. On this day in 1929, Babe Ruth set a record by hitting grand slams on consecutive days in a 13-1 win over the A’s, the same day Yankee World Series hero Don Larsen was born in Michigan City, Indiana. And although the Yanks lost 8-5 to Dan Petry and Detroit on August 7, 1983, it was Bobby Murcer Day in the Bronx. And on this day in 1972, a few guys with genuine bona fides were added to the Hall of Fame: Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez, Early Wynn, and Yogi Berra.

Yes, Shane had a great day in Yankee Stadium, but it was not his birthday. That honor goes to Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene, who drove British General Cornwallis out of the South into Virginia. The general would have been 272 this day. Shane Greene, however, born in November, had a pretty great day nonetheless. So let’s just tip our Yankee caps to both when I conclude this with,

Happy Birthday, Mr. Greene

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!