Monday, September 7, 2009

No history but Yanks take 2

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the nightcap by the score of 11-1. A.J. Burnett got the start and pitched 6 innings giving up a run on 4 hits with 8 strikeouts. This was a huge game for him as he hasn't won in 6 starts but got the win tonight. This may be the game that gets him going and now he can finish strong and into the playoffs. Edwar Ramirez, Jon Albaladejo and Mike Dunn finished off the game. It was a good game to get the backups in as Ramiro Pena, Shelly Duncan and Francisco Cervelli all got into the game. Mark Teixeira had a big night with a couple of homeruns. The story of the game was Derek Jeter and he went 0-8 combined in the doubleheader and remains 3 hits shy of tying Lou Gehrig. The important thing here is that the Yankees took both games and now their magic number for clinching the division is at 16 and 19 for homefield advantage. The Yankees in a tight game in game 1 broke through late and Phil Hughes and Mo closed the game out in fine fashion as usual. Mariano now has save 35 in a row. Chad Gaudin will make the start tomorrow and maybe get through 5 but the Yankees bullpen is in good shape for tomorrow. The Yankees have gone 50-18 in their last 68 games. The Yankees are 36-22 against the AL East which is the best division in baseball. They have also won 24 of their last 30 against division foes. Yankee relievers since Aug 5th have gone 12-0 with 10 saves and a 3.34 era. The 12 game winning streak by the bullpen is a new franchise record according to the Elias Sports Bureau. 11 was the record before by the 1940, 61, 99 and 2000 teams. Austin Jackson who is one of the top prospects went 2 for 2 today to finish the regular season at 300. In 132 games he had 67 runs scored, 23 doubles, 9 triples and 4 homeruns. He drove in 65 runs and stole 24 bases in 28 attempts. He walked 40 times and struck out 123 times. He needs to cut down the strikeouts and walk a little more but he is only 22 and this was his first season in AAA. I am sure he will start there next year and go from there.

No comments:

Post a Comment

 

Resistance Bands is a Free Blogger Template