Cabrera hits for cycle as Yanks salvage final game
CHICAGO – For Melky Cabrera, it has been a long road back since being optioned to the minor leagues late last season.
He had been a consistent member of the Yankees for the past two and a half years, but inconsistent play last season along with some lackadaisical effort in the field finally led to him being shipped back.
It was a painful pill to digest, but this season he was given a second chance and has made good on it. On Sunday, he put together a day for the history books.
Cabrera hit for the cycle, and powered a 15-hit output by the offense, which shook off their three previous losses and beat the White Sox 8-5 in front of 36,325 at US Cellular Field.
Going up against starter Mark Buehrle, whom two starts ago pitched a perfect game, and followed that up with 17 perfect outs in his next start before giving up five runs and five hits in a loss to the Minnesota Twins, the Yankees jumped on him early and drove him out of the game early.
Buehrle has typically been a bad matchup against the Yankees as his now 1-6 career record shows. His insane ability to throw strikes and being around the plate allows for more contact and they have taken advantage.
In the second inning, after Alex Rodriguez flied out, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano each hit singles. This brought up Cabrera who crushed a high fastball on the first pitch into the White Sox bullpen to make it 3-0.
The game was in the hands of CC Sabathia, who was 14-4 against the White Sox in his career, including 8-1 at US Cellular Field.
In third inning, he would give the lead back. After a one out double by Scott Podsednik, Gordon Beckham continued to sizzle against Yankee pitching by lacing an RBI single to right to make it 3-1. Jermaine Dye would tie the game with a two run homer to right and Jim Thome made it back-to-back to give the White Sox the lead with an opposite field blast to make it 4-3.
It was going to be the Yankee offense that was going to have to bail out Sabathia (he is 11-11 in games he has started this season), and they would in the fourth.
Cabrera led off the inning with a double and Jerry Hairston Jr. sacrificed him over to third. With a drawn in infield, Jose Molina singled home Cabrera with a lined single up the middle to tie the score. After Derek Jeter single, Johnny Damon would single to center, bringing home Molina to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead.
Buehrle’s day would conclude in the fifth when after a single and a walk to Rodriguez and Nick Swisher began the fifth inning, Cabrera recorded his third hit of the day by lifting a shallow single to center to bring home Rodriguez to make it 6-4. Manager Ozzie Guillen came to the mound to make the change to reliever Tony Pena, who promptly gave up an RBI single to Hairston, scoring Swisher on the play.
The final numbers were not pretty. In 4-1/3 innings, Buehrle (11-5, 3.79) gave up seven runs and 12 hits in 75 pitches.
Armed with the lead, Sabathia settled down over the next four innings, setting the White Sox down in order through the middle frames. In the seventh inning, Chris Getz would triple into the right field corner with no one out. However, Sabathia would be stingy and did not allow him to cross home plate. He struck out Jayson Nix swinging for the first out. A come backer to the big left-hander held Getz again for the second out and Podsednik would pop out weakly to the mound to end the threat.
Starting the eighth, Sabathia would give up a ground-rule double to Beckham, who was 7 for 19 in the series, and brought Joe Girardi to the mound. The day was over for his ace pitcher as it saw him handed a three-run lead, gave it back, but bear down once he was given a second lead and took the ball into the eighth inning. Considering the circumstances, while he didn’t pitch well, he was able to get the ball into the right hands.
Phil Hughes came on, and was able to strike out Dye on a foul tip. He would walk Thome on a high 3-2 pitch, but came back to strike out Paul Konerko looking for the second out.
Having not used Mariano Rivera since Wednesday, Girardi would use him for four outs. He gave up an RBI single to Carlos Quentin to make it 7-5, but struck out Getz looking to end the inning.
In the ninth, Cabrera would become the first Yankee to hit for the cycle since (fill in year). On a 3-2 pitch, he lifted a fly ball into right center that Dye misplayed off the bat and rolled to the wall. Melky was off to the races and the relay throw was not in time as he was able to accomplish the historic feat.
Facing pitcher Scott Linebrink with two outs and a 2-2 count, Derek Jeter gave the Yankees much needed insurance by singling home Cabrera on a base hit through the left side to give them a three-run lead again.
Rivera would pitch a scoreless ninth to notch his 30th save and lower his ERA to 2.01. Sabathia earned his 11th win of the year and Hughes lowered his bullpen ERA to 0.91.
The win help them sustain their 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox with off an off day on Monday before traveling to Toronto for a quick two game series with the Blue Jays. All of this is a prelude to the big four game series starting Thursday night at The Stadium against Boston.
CHICAGO – For Melky Cabrera, it has been a long road back since being optioned to the minor leagues late last season.
He had been a consistent member of the Yankees for the past two and a half years, but inconsistent play last season along with some lackadaisical effort in the field finally led to him being shipped back.
It was a painful pill to digest, but this season he was given a second chance and has made good on it. On Sunday, he put together a day for the history books.
Cabrera hit for the cycle, and powered a 15-hit output by the offense, which shook off their three previous losses and beat the White Sox 8-5 in front of 36,325 at US Cellular Field.
Going up against starter Mark Buehrle, whom two starts ago pitched a perfect game, and followed that up with 17 perfect outs in his next start before giving up five runs and five hits in a loss to the Minnesota Twins, the Yankees jumped on him early and drove him out of the game early.
Buehrle has typically been a bad matchup against the Yankees as his now 1-6 career record shows. His insane ability to throw strikes and being around the plate allows for more contact and they have taken advantage.
In the second inning, after Alex Rodriguez flied out, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano each hit singles. This brought up Cabrera who crushed a high fastball on the first pitch into the White Sox bullpen to make it 3-0.
The game was in the hands of CC Sabathia, who was 14-4 against the White Sox in his career, including 8-1 at US Cellular Field.
In third inning, he would give the lead back. After a one out double by Scott Podsednik, Gordon Beckham continued to sizzle against Yankee pitching by lacing an RBI single to right to make it 3-1. Jermaine Dye would tie the game with a two run homer to right and Jim Thome made it back-to-back to give the White Sox the lead with an opposite field blast to make it 4-3.
It was going to be the Yankee offense that was going to have to bail out Sabathia (he is 11-11 in games he has started this season), and they would in the fourth.
Cabrera led off the inning with a double and Jerry Hairston Jr. sacrificed him over to third. With a drawn in infield, Jose Molina singled home Cabrera with a lined single up the middle to tie the score. After Derek Jeter single, Johnny Damon would single to center, bringing home Molina to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead.
Buehrle’s day would conclude in the fifth when after a single and a walk to Rodriguez and Nick Swisher began the fifth inning, Cabrera recorded his third hit of the day by lifting a shallow single to center to bring home Rodriguez to make it 6-4. Manager Ozzie Guillen came to the mound to make the change to reliever Tony Pena, who promptly gave up an RBI single to Hairston, scoring Swisher on the play.
The final numbers were not pretty. In 4-1/3 innings, Buehrle (11-5, 3.79) gave up seven runs and 12 hits in 75 pitches.
Armed with the lead, Sabathia settled down over the next four innings, setting the White Sox down in order through the middle frames. In the seventh inning, Chris Getz would triple into the right field corner with no one out. However, Sabathia would be stingy and did not allow him to cross home plate. He struck out Jayson Nix swinging for the first out. A come backer to the big left-hander held Getz again for the second out and Podsednik would pop out weakly to the mound to end the threat.
Starting the eighth, Sabathia would give up a ground-rule double to Beckham, who was 7 for 19 in the series, and brought Joe Girardi to the mound. The day was over for his ace pitcher as it saw him handed a three-run lead, gave it back, but bear down once he was given a second lead and took the ball into the eighth inning. Considering the circumstances, while he didn’t pitch well, he was able to get the ball into the right hands.
Phil Hughes came on, and was able to strike out Dye on a foul tip. He would walk Thome on a high 3-2 pitch, but came back to strike out Paul Konerko looking for the second out.
Having not used Mariano Rivera since Wednesday, Girardi would use him for four outs. He gave up an RBI single to Carlos Quentin to make it 7-5, but struck out Getz looking to end the inning.
In the ninth, Cabrera would become the first Yankee to hit for the cycle since (fill in year). On a 3-2 pitch, he lifted a fly ball into right center that Dye misplayed off the bat and rolled to the wall. Melky was off to the races and the relay throw was not in time as he was able to accomplish the historic feat.
Facing pitcher Scott Linebrink with two outs and a 2-2 count, Derek Jeter gave the Yankees much needed insurance by singling home Cabrera on a base hit through the left side to give them a three-run lead again.
Rivera would pitch a scoreless ninth to notch his 30th save and lower his ERA to 2.01. Sabathia earned his 11th win of the year and Hughes lowered his bullpen ERA to 0.91.
The win help them sustain their 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox with off an off day on Monday before traveling to Toronto for a quick two game series with the Blue Jays. All of this is a prelude to the big four game series starting Thursday night at The Stadium against Boston.
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