Yankee Talk: Subway Series Edition - Starring role

Yanks get six strong from Vazquez, hold on to beat Mets

FLUSHING – Maybe this is the start of good things to come from Javier Vazquez.

The Yankees would like to say it is more a continuation of his past performance.

All of it, except the ending.

For the third straight outing, Vazquez delivered a solid performance, earning his third consecutive victory as the Yankees need one big hit and then had to hang on for a close 2-1 decision over the Mets in front of 41,382 at Citi Field.

Vazquez, the pitcher much maligned in New York for his poor outings this season and skipped two weeks ago to avoid facing the Red Sox at Fenway Park, appears to have turned the corner, hurling six shutout innings allowing only one scratch hit before a bruise to his pitching hand on a bunt attempt.

Replays showed that injury took place on the attempt before he effectively laid the bunt down. On the return to the dugout, he shook his hand slightly in pain. Upon removing the glove, Manager Joe Girardi and the training staff noticed blood coming from his right finger profusely and immediately removed him from the game.

Taking him out was an incredibly tough decision considering the way he was pitching during the game, dominating Mets hitters to where when Jose Reyes popped up to Derek Jeter with to end the sixth inning, he had only thrown 69 pitches for the evening.

They would need all of those scoreless on this night against Hisanori Takahashi, making his first career major league start.

Takahashi held the Yankees scoreless through the first two before mounting a threat in third when they got the first two men on with no outs. Vazquez’s first sacrifice of the game was followed by Jeter striking out and Brett Gardner grounding out to end the inning.

Another scoring chance went by the very next inning when with runners on second and third and one out, Nick Swisher struck out and Francisco Cervelli flied out to center to keep the game scoreless.

Takahashi threw six scoreless innings of his own, giving up only five hits, walking only one and striking out five over 101 pitches.

Finally, the Yankees broke through in the seventh with some generous Mets fielding. With call-up Elmer Dessens in the game, Swisher singled to center and then Cervelli’s slow groundball fielded by Cora sailed past Reyes into left field allowing runners to move to second and third.

This brought up Kevin Russo, a native of West Babylon, making his first major league start. He got his first hit back in the third, but in the seventh, he would drive in his first runs when he took a 1-0 hanging slider and drove it down the line into the corner for a two-run double to give the Yankees the first runs of the game.

The Mets tried to mount a comeback in the bottom half when Cora singled to left and Ike Davis reached on a throwing error to first by Cervelli. Girardi removed reliever Damaso Marte and brought in Joba Chamberlain, who would strike out David Wright looking and Pagan to half-swing at a slider in the dirt to end the threat.

Chamberlain would deal 1 2/3 scoreless on the night, striking out three and handing the ball off the Mariano Rivera for what was to be a simple save and Yankees win.

Rivera made it look that way when he got Reyes to fly out and Cora to ground back to the mound.

Jason Bay would then double deep off the top of the wall in left and Davis would double into the right center gap to score him to pull the Mets within a run and brought Wright back to the plate with a chance to tie the game.

Swinging at the first pitch, Wright would hit a routine grounder to Cano to end the game and give the Yankees the first game of the weekend series.

Saturday matches up a pair of young, powerful right-handers as Phil Hughes goes for the Yankees and Mike Pelfrey pitches for the Mets.