CC’s Struggles Continue, As Do the Yankees’ Bats
The Yankees won in walk-off fashion the day they welcomed their captain back, but the walk-off would be their downfall on Tuesday’s start to a tour of the West Coast. The Dodgers took an early 1-0 lead when they hit Andy Pettitte for an RBI single in the first inning, and though Lyle Overbay smacked a solo shot to begin the top of the second, a Juan Uribe homer in the bottom frame put LA back ahead by 1.
Pettitte settled down and Overbay drove Alfonso Soriano home on a groundout in the fourth inning, tying the game at 2 apiece, but New York’s offense stagnated from that moment forward. Andy stayed on to pitch 7 complete innings and David Robertson worked a 1-2-3 eighth before Shawn Kelley gave up an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, handing the Dodgers a 3-2 victory.
Wednesday’s close to the two-game set was even tighter, as Hiroki Kuroda and Clayton Kershaw dueled their ways up and down the other team’s lineup. New York threatened in the second inning with two men on base and one out, but Kershaw worked out of the inning without any damage. Los Angeles did not show much life until the seventh when they had two on and two outs, however they could not capitalize on the situation either.
Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings and Kuroda’s 7-inning shutout was kept intact by Boone Logan in the eighth. Fortunately, Ronald Belisario could not hold down the ninth for the Dodgers; after Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki reached base on walks, Lyle Overbay hit a 2-out RBI single to finally break the 0-0 tie. Confusion in the outfield on a Jayson Nix popup allowed him to reach first safely, and Suzuki and Overbay came home to put the Yanks ahead 3-0.
Mariano Rivera came out for what will presumably have been his last appearance in Dodger Stadium, and notched two strikeouts en route to his 34th save this season as the Yanks evened the short series.
Curtis Granderson returned to the active roster last night, but the addition of another healthy player to the starting lineup did not provide any extra offense to a team which has sorely needed it all season long.
CC Sabathia struggled in the early going against the Padres, walking in a run in the first inning after being visibly upset with the umpire’s strike zone, then allowing a second to score on a groundout. Being in a National League ballpark, however, he had an opportunity to make up for it in the top of the second; after Eduardo Nunez (who has now moved to 3rd base following Jeter’s return) drove in the first Yankee run on a double, CC brought him home on a groundout to first base.
The score remained tied 2-2 until the bottom of the fourth when Sabathia gave up a homerun to Logan Forsythe and an RBI triple to Everth Cabrera, giving San Diego a 4-2 lead. A fifth Padres run allowed midway through the sixth ended CC’s night, but the pitching change did little good. Joba Chamberlain gave up a homer in the seventh and Adam Warren allowed another in the eighth. New York could not score again, and the Padres won 7-2. Granderson went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in his first game back from injury.
The series will continue at 8:40 PM tonight, and finish at 4:10 PM tomorrow.
Mets Go Long Yet Again, Come Out Ahead
The Mets looked to have finally found some success against a Marlins team which, despite its poor record, has been a thorn in New York’s side all season long. After winning Monday’s start to a 4-game series 6-5, Juan Lagares put the team ahead 2-0 in the fourth on Tuesday with a 2-out, 2-RBI triple.
Zack Wheeler had a no-hitter going through seven and a third innings, but a trio of successive singles batted in 2 Miami runs in the bottom of the seventh, tying the game and taking Wheeler out of contention for a decision. The rest of regulation went scoreless, and the Mets pulled ahead in the 10th when a John Buck single brought David Wright and Marlon Byrd in to score. Bobby Parnell closed out the game with three groundouts, earning his 22nd save and giving New York the 4-2 win.
Miami turned the tables on Wednesday, getting out to an early lead in the second inning when Jake Marisnick launched a solo shot off Jenrry Mejia. After starting the bottom of the third with a single and a double, Mejia gave up two sacrifice flies in a row, giving Miami a 3-0 lead.
Ike Davis put the Mets on the board with an RBI double in the sixth, and Eric Young cut the lead down to 1 in the eighth when he ran home on a passed ball. That was the last break New York would catch, however; they lost the game 3-2.
There was even less offense to be had when Matt Harvey took the mound for Thursday’s close to the series. Sadly, the falloff in production was entirely on the Mets’ side. After 5 scoreless innings Harvey started the bottom of the sixth by giving up two singles. He got the next two batters out, but could not get out of the inning before allowing an RBI single followed by a walk and another single to Donavon Solano for two runs. Those runs stood up as New York was shutout; the team lost 3-0 and Harvey was credited with his 3rd loss.
Hoping to avoid a third straight loss when the team hosted Kansas City last night, David Wright rocketed a 2-run shot into the stands in the first inning last night. The resulting 2-0 lead lasted through most of regulation as Dillon Gee pitched 7 shutout innings, but after he left the game in the eighth LaTroy Hawkins let in the first Royals run on a groundout.
Working without Bobby Parnell, who was unavailable for the night, the bullpen could not hold Kansas City down in the ninth. David Aardsma gave up sac. fly to Lorenzo Cain, and the score was tied 2-2. The Mets could not score in the bottom of the inning, nor could either team break the tie in the tenth despite putting runners in scoring position.
With two outs and Omar Quintanilla on base in the bottom of the eleventh, Eric Young ended extra innings on a 2-run walk-off homerun, giving New York a 4-2 victory.
The interleague matchup will continue at 1:10 PM this afternoon, and finish at the same time tomorrow.