CC strong, A-Rod delivers gives Yanks to 1-0 lead
NEW YORK – In the days leading up to the postseason, Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia were the two men front and center that had the most pressure on them to eradicate their previous playoff failures.
They are the two highest paid players at their position and thus, coming through in October is a requisite.
Consider last night a good first step.
Each player had shaky beginnings, but once they settled in, their true talent took over and the rest of the Yankee team proceeded take a 1-0 lead in the AL Division Series against the Minnesota Twins with a 7-2 Game 1 victory in front of 49,464 in the first playoff game at new Yankee Stadium.
If this is a sign of things to come, the Yankees will feel as if they are unbeatable. Sabathia gave the crowd some early angst giving up a leadoff double to Denard Span, who moved to third with one out on a passed ball by Jorge Posada. The Twins were unable to put a run across when Joe Mauer struck out and Michael Cuddyer flew out to center to end the inning.
The Twins arrived in New York at 3:05 AM, with many of their players forced to get sleep on the plane ride after celebrating their division title on Tuesday night. Without the ability to lineup their pitching, Brian Duensing was given the nod to start the series opener.
Duensing kept the Yankees off the scoreboard for the first two innings keeping hitters off balance with a variety of pitches. Of his first 30 pitches through two frames, he had only thrown six balls out of the strike zone.
In the third inning, Minnesota got on the board. Denard Span grounded into a double play after Nick Punto singled. The successive hits plated the games first run. Orlando Cabrera singled and Joe Mauer doubled, followed by a single to right by Cuddyer to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. It would become 2-0 when a cross up between Sabathia and Jorge Posada (the second of the game) allowed another passed ball as Mauer scored.
50 times during the regular season, the Yankees rallied from a deficit to comeback and win. Last night continued that trend. In the bottom half, Melky Cabrera reached with one out on an infield single and Derek Jeter tied the game at two by pulling an inside pitch and driving it over the left field wall for his 18th career postseason homerun. Nick Swisher would give the Yankees the lead in the bottom of the fourth when he would double into the left field corner with two outs, scoring Robinson Cano all the way from first base make it 3-2.
After two terrible at bats, Alex Rodriguez stepped to the plate with two outs and Jeter on second, and got his first hit, singling to left center to extend the lead to two.
Duensing would be removed from the game after the hit and Francisco Liriano was summoned from the bullpen to face Hideki Matsui. On a 2-1 pitch, Matsui lifted a deep fly ball to center. Denard Span headed back as the ball began to carry in the 25 MPH winds and continued all the way over the fence for a two-run shot to make it 6-2 game. It was Matsui’s 14th bomb this season against left handed pitching.
Sabathia began to settle down in the middle innings, yielding only one hit in the middle three innings. While not having the higher velocity on his fastball that he showed over his last 12 starts of the season, he kept Twins hitters guessing by utilizing his cutter, changeup and slider to generate swing and misses.
The Yankee left-hander worked into the seventh inning and got into a little trouble. Matt Tolbert was hit by a pitch and Nick Punto reached when a hard groundball ricocheted of Sabathia’s foot. Joe Girardi came to the mound after Span flew out to right to take the ball from his ace as he left to a thunderous ovation from the Stadium crowd.
In 6 2/3 innings, Sabathia gave up eight hits and two runs (one earned), striking out eight and not walking a batter.
Phil Hughes came on and Orlando Cabrera worked him for the first nine pitches. On the tenth pitch, Hughes would blaze a 94 MPH fastball past him for the strikeout to conclude the inning.
Rodriguez would get his second hit of the night when he laced a single over the head of Jason Kubel in right, scoring Jeter and extending the Yankees lead to 7-2. Combined, Jeter and Rodriguez combined to go 4-for-6 with two walks, a homerun and four RBI. On the night, the offense went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position and two out, driving in five runs.
After giving up a single to Joe Mauer to start the eighth, Hughes struck out Cuddyer. Girardi went to Phil Coke and he induced a line out from Kubel for the second out. Joba Chamberlain would then come on to get the final out of the inning, getting Delmon Young ground into a force play at second.
Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation to seal a Yankee win and a series lead. Friday night, they will look to take a 2-0 lead before going to Minnesota for Game 3.
Nick Blackburn will start for the Twins and AJ Burnett will start for the Yankees.
NEW YORK – In the days leading up to the postseason, Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia were the two men front and center that had the most pressure on them to eradicate their previous playoff failures.
They are the two highest paid players at their position and thus, coming through in October is a requisite.
Consider last night a good first step.
Each player had shaky beginnings, but once they settled in, their true talent took over and the rest of the Yankee team proceeded take a 1-0 lead in the AL Division Series against the Minnesota Twins with a 7-2 Game 1 victory in front of 49,464 in the first playoff game at new Yankee Stadium.
If this is a sign of things to come, the Yankees will feel as if they are unbeatable. Sabathia gave the crowd some early angst giving up a leadoff double to Denard Span, who moved to third with one out on a passed ball by Jorge Posada. The Twins were unable to put a run across when Joe Mauer struck out and Michael Cuddyer flew out to center to end the inning.
The Twins arrived in New York at 3:05 AM, with many of their players forced to get sleep on the plane ride after celebrating their division title on Tuesday night. Without the ability to lineup their pitching, Brian Duensing was given the nod to start the series opener.
Duensing kept the Yankees off the scoreboard for the first two innings keeping hitters off balance with a variety of pitches. Of his first 30 pitches through two frames, he had only thrown six balls out of the strike zone.
In the third inning, Minnesota got on the board. Denard Span grounded into a double play after Nick Punto singled. The successive hits plated the games first run. Orlando Cabrera singled and Joe Mauer doubled, followed by a single to right by Cuddyer to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. It would become 2-0 when a cross up between Sabathia and Jorge Posada (the second of the game) allowed another passed ball as Mauer scored.
50 times during the regular season, the Yankees rallied from a deficit to comeback and win. Last night continued that trend. In the bottom half, Melky Cabrera reached with one out on an infield single and Derek Jeter tied the game at two by pulling an inside pitch and driving it over the left field wall for his 18th career postseason homerun. Nick Swisher would give the Yankees the lead in the bottom of the fourth when he would double into the left field corner with two outs, scoring Robinson Cano all the way from first base make it 3-2.
After two terrible at bats, Alex Rodriguez stepped to the plate with two outs and Jeter on second, and got his first hit, singling to left center to extend the lead to two.
Duensing would be removed from the game after the hit and Francisco Liriano was summoned from the bullpen to face Hideki Matsui. On a 2-1 pitch, Matsui lifted a deep fly ball to center. Denard Span headed back as the ball began to carry in the 25 MPH winds and continued all the way over the fence for a two-run shot to make it 6-2 game. It was Matsui’s 14th bomb this season against left handed pitching.
Sabathia began to settle down in the middle innings, yielding only one hit in the middle three innings. While not having the higher velocity on his fastball that he showed over his last 12 starts of the season, he kept Twins hitters guessing by utilizing his cutter, changeup and slider to generate swing and misses.
The Yankee left-hander worked into the seventh inning and got into a little trouble. Matt Tolbert was hit by a pitch and Nick Punto reached when a hard groundball ricocheted of Sabathia’s foot. Joe Girardi came to the mound after Span flew out to right to take the ball from his ace as he left to a thunderous ovation from the Stadium crowd.
In 6 2/3 innings, Sabathia gave up eight hits and two runs (one earned), striking out eight and not walking a batter.
Phil Hughes came on and Orlando Cabrera worked him for the first nine pitches. On the tenth pitch, Hughes would blaze a 94 MPH fastball past him for the strikeout to conclude the inning.
Rodriguez would get his second hit of the night when he laced a single over the head of Jason Kubel in right, scoring Jeter and extending the Yankees lead to 7-2. Combined, Jeter and Rodriguez combined to go 4-for-6 with two walks, a homerun and four RBI. On the night, the offense went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position and two out, driving in five runs.
After giving up a single to Joe Mauer to start the eighth, Hughes struck out Cuddyer. Girardi went to Phil Coke and he induced a line out from Kubel for the second out. Joba Chamberlain would then come on to get the final out of the inning, getting Delmon Young ground into a force play at second.
Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation to seal a Yankee win and a series lead. Friday night, they will look to take a 2-0 lead before going to Minnesota for Game 3.
Nick Blackburn will start for the Twins and AJ Burnett will start for the Yankees.
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