Debut Goes Well for Mitre as Yankees Lead the Division
Sergio Mitre Pitches Solidly as Yankees Win and are Alone in First
Last night was another victory for the Yankees, and another loss for the Red Sox. Now the Yankees are in sole possession of first place! The Yankees beat the Orioles last night by the score of 6-4. Sergio Mitre made his Yankee debut last night and did well, which is good because he is going to stay here for a long time since Wang had a setback with his injury.
Pitching Analysis: Sergio Mitre pitched 5 & 2/3 innings while allowing 4 runs, 3 which were earned, and striking out 4. Mitre surrendered a run in the first, probably a bit nervous in front of a large crowd in Yankee Stadium for the first time. He settled down in the second, and gave up a hit but nothing else. He had a little trouble holding on baserunners.
But Brian Roberts is not your average baserunner. In the top of the third, Roberts led of with a single and then stole second. As Roberts is doing his customary dance off second, Mitre has him picked off, and throws to Cano, who boots the ball. Roberts wound up at third. With no one out, Adam Jones grounded out, scoring Roberts. I’m sure Mitre didn’t want to give up the run, but I know he was glad to have Roberts off the basepaths! He got out of the inning wihtout any more trouble.
Mitre then had a nice 12 pitch 1-2-3 4th, and a quick 5th with the help of a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
In the 6th, Markakis led off with a single, followed by a single from Huff. Luke Scott then grounded out to Tex, and the runners advanced. With second and third and 1 out, Mitre surrendered a 2 run single to Melvin Mora, bringing the score to 6-4 Yanks. He then got Nolan Reimold to strike out. On that positive note, Girardi pulled out Mitre, who got a very nice hand, and brought in Aceves who got Wieters to pop up for out number 3.
Aceves pitched the 7th also, and Coke pitched the 8th. Mariano nailed down his 27th save of the year. Nice pitching today. I’m proud of Mitre for throwing strikes, inducing double plays when he had to, and for giving a solid start to give the Yankees the chance to win. Nice job!
Defensive Analysis: It was pretty solid, accept for Cano booting the pickoff throw. The Yankees turned some nice double plays, and Cano was the centerpiece of many, making up fot that misplay. There was a really nice double play in the top of the 8th where there was a sharp liner hit right at Tex, who then stepped on first to double up Markakis. He is so smooth at first!
Offensive Analysis: There were more runs last night. I liked how the Yankees scored their runs in many different ways: a homer, sac fly, and a clutch single.
In the bottom of the second, Arod built a run for the Yankees. He led off with a walk, then stole second, moved to third on a fly to right by Posada, and scored on a sac fly by Swish to tie the score at 1. They didn’t get a hit that inning, but they got a run!
In the bottom of the 3rd, Cody Ransom walked with 1 out. With Jeter up, they did a run-and-hit, and Jeter singled, moving Ransom to third. Then on the first pitch to Damon, Jeter stole second. Damon made out and then Tex walked. With the bases loaded and 2 out, Arod proved he is clutch again, and singled to left bring 2 runs home and giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the 4th, Swisher lead off with a walk, and Cano hit a monster 2 run homer into the Yankee bullpen in right. After Melky grounded out, Ransom walked and stole second, Jeter walked, and Damon singled to drive Ransom home.
The Yankees played very well last night. I liked how they were aggresive on the basepaths. I wish Joe Girardi would do that every night. The Yankees have a lot of guys who can run. Anyway, the heroes last night were Sergio Mitre for having a successful debut and picking up his first win as a Yankee, Robinson Cano for his homer, and the Texas Rangers for beating the Red Sox and helping us get into first place! Thanks Rangers! We love you!
Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees 