Bronx, N.Y., July 5, 2013 — The trip the Yanks made from Minnesota back to the Bronx after Thursday’s win covered a lot more distance than the amount of miles separating the two cities would have you believe. Yes, they traversed several states and a time zone, but so much more. In the Twin Cities, they scored runs in bunches in a way they have not in more than a year, so time was one barrier they crossed. But the biggest jump of all became apparent several innings into the battle with the Orioles in Yankee Stadium Friday night. Yes, they were back in the AL East.

It would be silly to try to describe why Miguel Gonzalez does well against the Yanks. He is an effective starter on a contending AL team. But even when the “Bombers” were earning that nickname, Gonzalez’s low nineties heater and slower sliders and split fingers were making them look silly. And he did the same Friday, even if the flailing Yanks were managing to drive up his pitch count all game. A first-inning leadoff Brett Gardner double was wasted, as was Ichiro’s Suzuki two-bagger in the fifth that soon set the Yanks up with bases loaded. In the latter case, third base coach Rob Thomson refused to send David Adams on a short fly to center with one down, and Vernon Wells (who had played a part in the early O’s lead), fouled out to first with the tying and lead runs on the bases, coming up short in the game’s at-the-time key moment. Gonzalez was still up 2-1 through five, but he had thrown 92 pitches, fully 40 more than Nova.

But Ivan was down at this point largely due to his own mistakes. He hit Chris Davis with a pitch leading off the second, and Matt Wieters followed by lofting a high fly to deep left. Wells drifted back and felt for the wall, but at the key moment stumbled into it as the ball bounced off the top of the wall and carried over for a two-run homer and a 2-0 Baltimore lead. Should Nova have allowed a 380-foot or so fly to left, right after hitting a batter? Of course not. But on the other hand, I’m sure Wells would admit he had a great shot to catch that ball, but his footwork getting back there failed him.

And Wells was instrumental in cutting that early lead in half, with a two-out single in the fourth, and then scoring from second on Luis Cruz’s single on a close play. Yankee fans were not only thrilled that the lead had been halved, but also because it was becoming clear that Nova, who has had as up-and-down an early year due to injury and ineffectiveness as you could imagine, was dealing, and the Orioles bats had gone totally silent. The Wieters homer was their second hit; a sixth-inning single, quickly erased by a double play, and a seventh-inning walk was all they could garner through nine.

Nova was throwing hard, routinely busting 95 mph heat, upping that a bit at will, with a knee-buckling curve in the 70s/80s and the occasional late change. He had three strike outs through four, then pounded six more through seven, finishing with 11 by adding one each in the eighth and ninth. He threw 20 of 31 first-pitch strikes, threw 70 of 102 pitches for strikes, and got to the 27-out mark by mixing 11 ground outs with the like-numbered K’s.

And if that wasn’t enough, he helped out on “D,” cashing in two 1-3’s on ground balls back to the box in the eighth, and busting for first in the top of the fourth where he finished off the rare 3-4-1 to retire Davis once Lyle Overbay at first slowed the hot shot and Robinson Cano retrieved it and fired to first. This last crowned a series of four great infield plays, two by new signee Cruz, then a great play from Cano that the fanbase has come to expect from their star. If there is a bigger disconnect than a Yankee team winning more low-scoring games than high-scoring ones, it’s the stellar infield defense the team has shown all year, even though 10 different guys have played third and shortstop.

But although Nova barely broke the century mark in retiring the O’s nine times, he was down 2-1 pitching for a team that had all of just one walkoff wins on the year. Once Gonzalez retired after six, bullpenners Troy Patton and Darren O’Day retired six of eight pinstripers to hold the Baltimore lead through eight. I found myself a bit piqued with the Stadium scoreboard that featured that O’s closer Jim Johnson led all of baseball in saves with 29, first, because it was just one more than Mariano Rivera’s total, but also because it revealed more than it showed: In just a few minutes Johnson would lead the AL in another stat: most blown saves, with six. (Rivera has one.)

Mired at .184, third baseman David Adams got the home ninth started with a base hit to right. Yankee bunts and Orioles “D” took over, as Johnson bobbled Gardner’s sac bunt attempt, and Ichiro’s following attempt worked because no one covered third when the ball came right up to Wieters. All 43,000-plus in attendance booed as Cano got a free pass to load the bases, but not when Travis Hafner worked a four-pitch, game-tying walk. Johnson’s 18-pitch ninth played out to a strange pattern: five straight strikes, then 12 balls in a row, then three strikes in succession to Wells. But Vernon lashed the last of these past Manny Machado at third for the Yankees’ second walkoff win of the year.

Julius Caesar, reputed to have been born in July (Julius) of 100 B.C., uttered the words “Veni, Vidi, Vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered) upon winning a battle in 47 B.C. Two thousand, one hundred and fifty years later, iVan noVa, Vernon wells and the Yankees were Victorious over the Orioles.

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!