09/28: Yankees at Tampa Bay, September 27th
Posted by: James
Game 159 looked to be a fairly uninteresting game going in. The house money/rest everyone line-up was in as six of the regulars got a rest. Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Jorge Posada, Doug Mientkiewicz and Melky Cabrera were not in the line-up. Still, there was two big reasons to watch this game and they were both under the age of 24. Scott Kazmir was and starting and in need of 6 strikeouts to pass Johan Santana as the K leader for the majors. Phil Hughes was looking for a solid start against a good hitting team (Tampa Bay was 5th in the AL in scoring after the ASB - .276/.346/.443/.788 line for the team) to solidify his role on the postseason roster.
For the first 6 innings, the story was definitely the pitching. Hughes and Kazmir matched zeroes until the bottom of the fourth when Carlos Pena took Hughes deep for his 44th homerun and 119th RBI of the season. Anyone who expected that from Pena, raise your hands. Now hit yourself with that hand because you're lying.
Bronson Sardinha did get his first hit in the Majors in the third but it wasn't until the sixth that the Yankees even made Kazmir really work. Alberto Gonzalez hit a one-out single and was brought home on a Johnny Damon RBI double. Kazmir got out of the inning but that was it for him, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER and 10 Ks. Wow - I'm sure that somewhere, there were some Mets fans watching that performance (against a very good hitting AL team) and wondering whatever happened to Victor Zambrano.
In the very next inning, the Yankees broke the tie against the (much maligned) Tampa Bay bullpen. With one out, Shelly Duncan singled and Robbie Cano doubled him over to third. It was Cano's 40th double of the year and he's now hit that mark two straight years. With Jose Molina up and one out, the Rays brought the infield in and it immediately burned them and Jose punched a soft single right past the drawn-in field for 2 RBIs. 3-1 Yankees.
Phil pitched through the 7th and was effective, giving up 4 hits and 2 walks (5 Ks) on 102 pitches. Joba Chamberlain came in (yes, he was used on back-to-back days) and was his usual effective self over on inning, giving up one hit but striking out 2 on 20 pitches. Righty Jose Veras came in for the ninth and nailed the door shut for his second career save (he's 2-2 now). Yankees win.
For the first 6 innings, the story was definitely the pitching. Hughes and Kazmir matched zeroes until the bottom of the fourth when Carlos Pena took Hughes deep for his 44th homerun and 119th RBI of the season. Anyone who expected that from Pena, raise your hands. Now hit yourself with that hand because you're lying.
Bronson Sardinha did get his first hit in the Majors in the third but it wasn't until the sixth that the Yankees even made Kazmir really work. Alberto Gonzalez hit a one-out single and was brought home on a Johnny Damon RBI double. Kazmir got out of the inning but that was it for him, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER and 10 Ks. Wow - I'm sure that somewhere, there were some Mets fans watching that performance (against a very good hitting AL team) and wondering whatever happened to Victor Zambrano.
In the very next inning, the Yankees broke the tie against the (much maligned) Tampa Bay bullpen. With one out, Shelly Duncan singled and Robbie Cano doubled him over to third. It was Cano's 40th double of the year and he's now hit that mark two straight years. With Jose Molina up and one out, the Rays brought the infield in and it immediately burned them and Jose punched a soft single right past the drawn-in field for 2 RBIs. 3-1 Yankees.
Phil pitched through the 7th and was effective, giving up 4 hits and 2 walks (5 Ks) on 102 pitches. Joba Chamberlain came in (yes, he was used on back-to-back days) and was his usual effective self over on inning, giving up one hit but striking out 2 on 20 pitches. Righty Jose Veras came in for the ninth and nailed the door shut for his second career save (he's 2-2 now). Yankees win.
