07/18: Leiter Superb in His Return to the Yankees
Posted by: Seamus
Perhaps there is just something in the water in Florida. Al Leiter pitched his first game for the Yankees in 16 years and gave us a dominating performance, giving up a run on only 3 hits in 6 and 1/3. He struck out 8 Red Sox hitters as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox 5-3. The victory moved the Yankees past the Orioles for second place and only a half game behind Boston for the lead in the A.L. East. The Yankees have also moved into a tie with Minnesota for the A.L. wild card lead.
All Yankee runs came by home runs (Sheffield, Posada, and A-Rod). The Red Sox threatened in the bottom of the 9th as Tom Gordon allowed a home run to Manny Ramirez and then walked Kevin Millar before Joe Torre brought in Mariano Rivera. After an errant throw by Cano and two hits, Boston closed the gap to 5-3 before Mo finally settled down and recorded his 23rd save. Both runs scored in the bottom of the 9th were charged to Tom Gordon, so Rivera's ERA dropped to 0.93.
It was great to see Leiter come in and pitch like that against one of the best lineups in baseball when we weren't even sure before Saturday if we had a starter for last night's game. Even though he didn't finish the 7th inning, I'd have to say that last night's performance was one of the best performances by a Yankee starter all year. If he can contribute like this for the remainder of the season, then we're in pretty good shape.
Kevin Brown will return to the rotation tonight as the Yankees open up a three-game series in Texas. The Rangers trail the Yankees by 2 games in the wild card standings.
All Yankee runs came by home runs (Sheffield, Posada, and A-Rod). The Red Sox threatened in the bottom of the 9th as Tom Gordon allowed a home run to Manny Ramirez and then walked Kevin Millar before Joe Torre brought in Mariano Rivera. After an errant throw by Cano and two hits, Boston closed the gap to 5-3 before Mo finally settled down and recorded his 23rd save. Both runs scored in the bottom of the 9th were charged to Tom Gordon, so Rivera's ERA dropped to 0.93.
It was great to see Leiter come in and pitch like that against one of the best lineups in baseball when we weren't even sure before Saturday if we had a starter for last night's game. Even though he didn't finish the 7th inning, I'd have to say that last night's performance was one of the best performances by a Yankee starter all year. If he can contribute like this for the remainder of the season, then we're in pretty good shape.
Kevin Brown will return to the rotation tonight as the Yankees open up a three-game series in Texas. The Rangers trail the Yankees by 2 games in the wild card standings.
Patrick wrote:
Good job by Leiter. Welcome back.