05/09: Yankees vs. Indians; 5/8/08
Posted by: James
Another good game from Moose and some key hits from the sleeping bats of Giambi and Cano were enough to beat the Indians and put smiles back on the faces of the team and Joe Girardi. I guess that averting a sweep is cause for mirth...but the Yankees are still at .500, just finished up a 4-5 homestand and going up against another tough team.
Mussina was matched up against a potent Indians lineup and opposed on the hill by Paul Byrd and was up to the task.
The Yankees scored first in the bottom of the fourth when Johnny Damon led off the inning with a home run to right. Later in the inning and with two outs, Hideki Matsui singled (extending his hitting streak to 17 games) to bring up Jason Giambi who homered on the first pitch he saw to give New York a 3-0 lead.
Cleveland stormed back in the fifth to tie the game when Mussina hit Ben Franciso with a pitch and Franklin Gutierrez followed with a single. Casey Blakes scored them both with an RBI double and was then plated on a Kelly Shoppach single before Mussina got out of the inning. He threw 34 pitches in the fifth and came out of the game after the inning. Gassed after 86 pitches through 5; I wonder if it's the innings or the amount of pitches that we should now be working with as the limit of what Moose can give us.
In any case, the tie didn't last long as the Yankees took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth when Robbie Cano lead off the inning with a double. A line out and ground out put Cano at third with two out before Johnny Damon doubled him home for a 2-out RBI.
THe Yankees scored again in the 7th when Cano homered off of Byrd, which ended his day. Masa Kobayashi came into the game and Wilson Betemit greeted him with a long home run to center. 6-3, Yankees.
THe Yankee bullpen shut down the Indians the rest of the way. Ohlendorf (who has pitched quite a bit better of late) came in for two solid innings while Joba and Mo were their usual selves and the Yankees climbed back to .500 (and Cano and Giambi continued their pursuit of .200).
Mussina was matched up against a potent Indians lineup and opposed on the hill by Paul Byrd and was up to the task.
The Yankees scored first in the bottom of the fourth when Johnny Damon led off the inning with a home run to right. Later in the inning and with two outs, Hideki Matsui singled (extending his hitting streak to 17 games) to bring up Jason Giambi who homered on the first pitch he saw to give New York a 3-0 lead.
Cleveland stormed back in the fifth to tie the game when Mussina hit Ben Franciso with a pitch and Franklin Gutierrez followed with a single. Casey Blakes scored them both with an RBI double and was then plated on a Kelly Shoppach single before Mussina got out of the inning. He threw 34 pitches in the fifth and came out of the game after the inning. Gassed after 86 pitches through 5; I wonder if it's the innings or the amount of pitches that we should now be working with as the limit of what Moose can give us.
In any case, the tie didn't last long as the Yankees took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth when Robbie Cano lead off the inning with a double. A line out and ground out put Cano at third with two out before Johnny Damon doubled him home for a 2-out RBI.
THe Yankees scored again in the 7th when Cano homered off of Byrd, which ended his day. Masa Kobayashi came into the game and Wilson Betemit greeted him with a long home run to center. 6-3, Yankees.
THe Yankee bullpen shut down the Indians the rest of the way. Ohlendorf (who has pitched quite a bit better of late) came in for two solid innings while Joba and Mo were their usual selves and the Yankees climbed back to .500 (and Cano and Giambi continued their pursuit of .200).
