07/25: Bats Stay Hot, Yankees Beat Royals, 9-4
Posted by: Patrick
The offense wasted no time yesterday, hurriedly pounding Scott Elarton and giving him this ugly, ugly line: 1.2 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. 4 runs were scored in the top of the first as the only out that Elarton recorded of the first 7 hitters was a sac fly by Abreu that scored Damon. A couple batters later, Posada singled in Jeter and A-Rod and Cano doubled in Matsui. Andy Phillips and Melky left runners stranded at 2nd and 3rd to end the run.
The 3 runs in the top of the second were added through an Abreu double (scoring Damon once again) and then through an impressive two out, small ball rally. With 2 outs, and Abreu on 2nd, Matsui singled to score him with Matsui advancing to second on the throw. Jorge Posada was intentionally walked (with a man on second and two outs, down by 6?). Then Cano walked. Then Phillips walked, scoring Matsui. 3 straight walks. For the second straight inning, Melky ended the run.
The Royals answered back in the bottom of the 2nd with 2 runs, thanks to an Alex Gordon double and a John Buck ground out. The Yankees added another run, thanks to a Melky Cabrera sac fly that scored Posada. The Royals added another 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th, with Mark Teahen sacrificing a man in and Russ Gload singling. Melky threw out Billy Butler at 3rd to end the inning. The Yankees would score the final run of the game in the top of the 6th, when a Johnny Damon RBI single scored Cano.
Not the greatest outing for Wang (6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), but it was plenty good enough tonight and the pen didn't allow it to get close, with Myers, Farnsworth and Bruney each pitching one scoreless inning to bring the game to it's conclusion.
Bobby Abreu was 2 for 5 with a double, 1 R and 2 RBI, Posada was 1 for 3 with 1 R, 2 RBI and 2 BB, Cano was 1 for 2 with a double, 1 R, 1 RBI and 3 BB, Damon was 2 for 5 with 2 R and 1 BB, Phillips was 1 for 3 with 1 RBI and 1 BB and Jeter was 4 for 6 with 1 R. A-Rod and Melky were the only Yankees not to collect a hit, although A-Rod walked and scored a run and Melky scored a run, as well. Tyler Kepner noted that this was the first time, in his career, that Cano has walked 3 times in one game. He has walked more times this year, in 99 games, than he did in either of his first two years (132 games and 122 games). He's actually on pace for 34 walks this year - which is the exact number of total walks of his first two seasons combined.
With the Red Sox beating the Indians, 1-0, we gain a game in the Wild Card to move up to 4.5 games back and remain at 7.5 games back in the division. Tonight at 8:10 PM ET, we'll have Mike Mussina (4-7, 4.97 ERA) against Gil Meche (7-6, 3.63 ERA). It'll be the first time that Meche has faced the Yankees since July 19 of last year. In that game, he pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 earned runs. He got a no decision, but the Mariners (his team last year) won by the score of 3-2.
The 3 runs in the top of the second were added through an Abreu double (scoring Damon once again) and then through an impressive two out, small ball rally. With 2 outs, and Abreu on 2nd, Matsui singled to score him with Matsui advancing to second on the throw. Jorge Posada was intentionally walked (with a man on second and two outs, down by 6?). Then Cano walked. Then Phillips walked, scoring Matsui. 3 straight walks. For the second straight inning, Melky ended the run.
The Royals answered back in the bottom of the 2nd with 2 runs, thanks to an Alex Gordon double and a John Buck ground out. The Yankees added another run, thanks to a Melky Cabrera sac fly that scored Posada. The Royals added another 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th, with Mark Teahen sacrificing a man in and Russ Gload singling. Melky threw out Billy Butler at 3rd to end the inning. The Yankees would score the final run of the game in the top of the 6th, when a Johnny Damon RBI single scored Cano.
Not the greatest outing for Wang (6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), but it was plenty good enough tonight and the pen didn't allow it to get close, with Myers, Farnsworth and Bruney each pitching one scoreless inning to bring the game to it's conclusion.
Bobby Abreu was 2 for 5 with a double, 1 R and 2 RBI, Posada was 1 for 3 with 1 R, 2 RBI and 2 BB, Cano was 1 for 2 with a double, 1 R, 1 RBI and 3 BB, Damon was 2 for 5 with 2 R and 1 BB, Phillips was 1 for 3 with 1 RBI and 1 BB and Jeter was 4 for 6 with 1 R. A-Rod and Melky were the only Yankees not to collect a hit, although A-Rod walked and scored a run and Melky scored a run, as well. Tyler Kepner noted that this was the first time, in his career, that Cano has walked 3 times in one game. He has walked more times this year, in 99 games, than he did in either of his first two years (132 games and 122 games). He's actually on pace for 34 walks this year - which is the exact number of total walks of his first two seasons combined.
With the Red Sox beating the Indians, 1-0, we gain a game in the Wild Card to move up to 4.5 games back and remain at 7.5 games back in the division. Tonight at 8:10 PM ET, we'll have Mike Mussina (4-7, 4.97 ERA) against Gil Meche (7-6, 3.63 ERA). It'll be the first time that Meche has faced the Yankees since July 19 of last year. In that game, he pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 earned runs. He got a no decision, but the Mariners (his team last year) won by the score of 3-2.
Joe DeRosa wrote: