Bronx, N.Y., July 22, 2015; Yankees 4, Orioles 3 — The Yanks ensured themselves a series victory against the Orioles Wednesday night with yet another one-run win, going 11 games over .500 for the first time this year, and pushing Baltimore six full games back. Ivan Nova was able to go six once his team handed him a 3-0 lead in the first, and chipped in with some key defense along the way.
Nova looked a bit shaky early, as Manny Machado smacked a few balls hard before he worked an eight-pitch walk to start the game, but once Travis Snider flied deep to center, Ivan escaped when Stephen Drew doubled the O’s third baseman off second on Adam Jones’s humpback liner up the middle. The loud bottom half featured a Jacoby Ellsbury double, Brett Gardner single, and Mark Teixeira laser shot inside the foul pole. A single and walk followed, but young Kevin Gausman kept himself — and his team — in the game with back-to back strike outs.
The new life got Nova through a quick, nine-pitch second featuring his first two of nine ground-ball outs, including a stunning Stephen Drew dive and catch in short right and throw to his pitcher covering to retire visiting right fielder Chris Davis. But as Gausman stiffened, Ivan was reached for three hits in four at bats to start the top of the third, the second a first-pitch line drive homer to right by Ryan Flaherty. It was 3-2, and with Machado’s following double, Baltimore threatened to eradicate the Bombers’ early thunder. Ground ball outs to second, then third closed the frame with the narrow lead still intact.
Ground ball outs and Yankee “D” became the template and carried Nova through six. It was a good thing too, because Gausman retired 12 of 14 into the fifth, even escaping a Carlos Beltran leadoff double in the fourth. The Yankee righty, meanwhile, had allowed his last hit in that ugly third, but back-to-back walks to the seventh- and eighth-place Orioles hitters to start the fifth filled the drama quotient, and more. Following a sac bunt, Chase Headley snatched a Machado one-bouncer over the third-base bag, and Teixeira routinely collected yet another one-bounce throw for the out. Nova got two more ground outs around his third strike out and a deep fly to center, and took a seat, as Chasen Shreve, Dellin Betances, and Andrew Miller cashed in the lead.
There was a twist, of course, as Alex Rodriguez blistered a Gausman sixth-inning fastball to the deepest home run in the Stadium this year, an opportune subplot, because Davis would homer off Miller in the ninth, and the Yanks still escaped with a 4-3 win. Nova threw 94-mph heat down to low 80s curves, walking three and striking out three with 57 of 94 pitches thrown for strikes. He surrendered just the three hits, but he would not have survived for the win without the ground-ball pill he got going in the second. He got Baltimore batters to swing and miss just four times.
Ivan seems to be in a lively battle for third starter in the rotation with Nate Eovaldi and CC Sabathia, as the bullpen continues to prove its quality night in and night out. The offense is helped with the return of Ellsbury from the DL, but is still largely being carried by the power bats of Rodriguez and Teixeira. If there’s a fly in the ointment, the team has wasted four booming doubles the last two nights. The trade deadline approaches and the Yanks — who obviously carry improving their club through a swap or two in their DNA — might make a move to resolve that kind of problem. Stay tuned.
And now the team approaches a game three vs the Orioles having, since the All Star break, opened at least a six-game lead against Baltimore, Tampa, and Boston, with Toronto slightly closer. They’re playing well, and in a fan’s heart of hearts, you hope the trend will continue. Mystery author Raymond Chandler would have turned 127 this day. Philip Marlowe starred on this scribe’s pages, and the hope is that the title of one of Chandler’s best describes what is taking place between the Yankees and their AL East flag rivals right now. Hopefully, the Yanks have embarked on,
The Long Goodbye
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!