Yanks sweep Sawx; clinch AL East title with 4-2 win
NEW YORK – The winning of the AL East was inevitable from the time the Yankees won the second game in Anaheim against the Angels on Tuesday night matched up with the Rangers losing in Oakland to clinch a playoff spot. Since then, we have been on a countdown until the day when they could pop the corks and celebrate.
That day finally came on Sunday.
With the Red Sox in the house and a chance to celebrate their first AL East title since 2007 with the victory, the Yankees went out and did what they had to do, accomplishing one of their first missions on the road back to the World Series and a potential 27th championship.
Their 4-2 win over Boston gave the Yankees win number 100 for the season and clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason. The road goes through Yankee Stadium.
After a 63-minute rain delay, Andy Pettitte (14-7) took the mound making his second start since having to miss a week with shoulder stiffness. He got into early trouble in the first when he yielded a double to Jason Bay and successive walks to Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz loaded the bases. An infield single by Mike Lowell scored Bay from third to give the Red Sox the games first run.
Boston loaded the bases in the third inning with nobody out, but Pettitte was able to minimize the damage. Lowell grounded into a double play that scored Bay to make it 2-0, and was able to strike out JD Drew looking to end the threat.
The Yankees quickly answered in the bottom half when Melky Cabrera took starter Paul Byrd’s first pitch and launched his 13th homerun of the season to cut the Red Sox lead in half.
Pettitte would settle down after loading the bases in the third inning to retire the next 10 batters he faced and 11 of the next 12. He threw six solid frames, allowing only two runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out four. The ability to keep Boston at bay planted the seeds for a Yankees comeback.
In the bottom of the sixth, they would rally. With two outs and no one on, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez singled. Teixeira would move to third on a wild pitch and with Hideki Matsui up, he took a 1-2 pitch and lofted the ball into right field that dropped in front of a sliding JD Drew, scoring both runs and giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead that brought a roar to the crowd of 47,576.
Not having Phil Hughes available, Manager Joe Girardi entrusted the one run lead into the hands of Brian Bruney to start the seventh that has struggled over the last several months and is battling for a spot on the postseason roster. Bruney delivered for his manager and the team by getting the next five outs. When Girardi went to the mound to remove the right-hander, he left to a deafening ovation as the crowd showed their approval.
Phil Coke came on with two outs in the top of the eighth to pitch to David Ortiz and was able to strike him out on a foul tip to end the inning.
Teixeira would give the Yankees added insurance in the bottom half when he hit a 1-0 pitch into the right field seats to make it a 4-2 game. In his inaugural season, the Yankee first baseman has battled from a slow start the first six weeks of the year to amass potential MVP numbers, with a team leading 38 homeruns and driving in 120 runs.
Needing three outs to seal the AL East crown, Mariano Rivera was brought on slam the door. After Lowell flied out, Drew singled to center and an error by Robinson Cano allowed Victor Martinez to reach safely and brought the go ahead run to the plate.
Rivera was able to get Casey Kotchman to ground out moving the runners to second and third. Jacoby Ellsbury came up and on a 1-1 pitch, a cutter came in on the hands of the Boston leadoff man and hit a slow chopper back to the Yankee great, who threw to first to officially clinch the division and the celebration ensued.
With everything wrapped up, the team can now begin to get their pitching lined up and allow players to recovering from any lingering injuries. Game 1 of the Division Series is slated to begin on the day of their choosing. They can either choose to start on Wednesday and have two off days, or elect for Thursday and go with four pitchers and one off day.
After losing the first eight games of the season series, the Yankees rallied to win nine of the final 10 games to even the year with their blood rivals at 9-9. The next time these two teams could meet would be in the American League Championship Series.
The Yankees would certainly sign up for that.
NEW YORK – The winning of the AL East was inevitable from the time the Yankees won the second game in Anaheim against the Angels on Tuesday night matched up with the Rangers losing in Oakland to clinch a playoff spot. Since then, we have been on a countdown until the day when they could pop the corks and celebrate.
That day finally came on Sunday.
With the Red Sox in the house and a chance to celebrate their first AL East title since 2007 with the victory, the Yankees went out and did what they had to do, accomplishing one of their first missions on the road back to the World Series and a potential 27th championship.
Their 4-2 win over Boston gave the Yankees win number 100 for the season and clinch home field advantage throughout the postseason. The road goes through Yankee Stadium.
After a 63-minute rain delay, Andy Pettitte (14-7) took the mound making his second start since having to miss a week with shoulder stiffness. He got into early trouble in the first when he yielded a double to Jason Bay and successive walks to Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz loaded the bases. An infield single by Mike Lowell scored Bay from third to give the Red Sox the games first run.
Boston loaded the bases in the third inning with nobody out, but Pettitte was able to minimize the damage. Lowell grounded into a double play that scored Bay to make it 2-0, and was able to strike out JD Drew looking to end the threat.
The Yankees quickly answered in the bottom half when Melky Cabrera took starter Paul Byrd’s first pitch and launched his 13th homerun of the season to cut the Red Sox lead in half.
Pettitte would settle down after loading the bases in the third inning to retire the next 10 batters he faced and 11 of the next 12. He threw six solid frames, allowing only two runs on seven hits, walking three and striking out four. The ability to keep Boston at bay planted the seeds for a Yankees comeback.
In the bottom of the sixth, they would rally. With two outs and no one on, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez singled. Teixeira would move to third on a wild pitch and with Hideki Matsui up, he took a 1-2 pitch and lofted the ball into right field that dropped in front of a sliding JD Drew, scoring both runs and giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead that brought a roar to the crowd of 47,576.
Not having Phil Hughes available, Manager Joe Girardi entrusted the one run lead into the hands of Brian Bruney to start the seventh that has struggled over the last several months and is battling for a spot on the postseason roster. Bruney delivered for his manager and the team by getting the next five outs. When Girardi went to the mound to remove the right-hander, he left to a deafening ovation as the crowd showed their approval.
Phil Coke came on with two outs in the top of the eighth to pitch to David Ortiz and was able to strike him out on a foul tip to end the inning.
Teixeira would give the Yankees added insurance in the bottom half when he hit a 1-0 pitch into the right field seats to make it a 4-2 game. In his inaugural season, the Yankee first baseman has battled from a slow start the first six weeks of the year to amass potential MVP numbers, with a team leading 38 homeruns and driving in 120 runs.
Needing three outs to seal the AL East crown, Mariano Rivera was brought on slam the door. After Lowell flied out, Drew singled to center and an error by Robinson Cano allowed Victor Martinez to reach safely and brought the go ahead run to the plate.
Rivera was able to get Casey Kotchman to ground out moving the runners to second and third. Jacoby Ellsbury came up and on a 1-1 pitch, a cutter came in on the hands of the Boston leadoff man and hit a slow chopper back to the Yankee great, who threw to first to officially clinch the division and the celebration ensued.
With everything wrapped up, the team can now begin to get their pitching lined up and allow players to recovering from any lingering injuries. Game 1 of the Division Series is slated to begin on the day of their choosing. They can either choose to start on Wednesday and have two off days, or elect for Thursday and go with four pitchers and one off day.
After losing the first eight games of the season series, the Yankees rallied to win nine of the final 10 games to even the year with their blood rivals at 9-9. The next time these two teams could meet would be in the American League Championship Series.
The Yankees would certainly sign up for that.
1 comment:
Enjoy it now boys....the playoffs start today...the Yanks will "pucker up" and go down the drain.
Post a Comment