Monday, April 28, 2008

Killing Them Softly (Postgame Notes 28 April 2008)

As far as wins go, tonight's may have been one of the oddest the Yankees will ever have this season.

In an inning where the Yankees only hit one ball out of the infield, they managed to score four runs, coming right back after a tough inning for Mike Mussina, taking the lead they would not relinquish.

Mike Mussina and Aaron Laffey matched each other well, taking a scoreless game into the fifth. While Mussina gave up his share of hits, until the bottom of the fifth, he was able to make the big pitches when he needed.

Even when Mussina struggled in the bottom of the fifth, giving up one run and loading the bases before recording his first out, he was able to escape the inning with only two runs.

Laffey was just as good--the Yankees did not get their first hit until the top of the sixth inning, and even when the Yankees knocked him out of the game, they did so with only one ball hit out of the infield, and two sacrifice outs.

The Yankees' bullpen--Jonathan Albaladejo, Kyle Farnsworth, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera--was excellent, retiring ten in a row to end the game. It was exactly what the Yankees needed--innings from Mussina and a good effort from the bullpen.

OPTIMIST TAKE: The Yankees won this game not with the home runs, but with the extreme small ball that everyone's been worried about them not being able to play. After losing the first two to Cleveland, they salvaged a split, both for the series and for the ten game road trip. They now get to return to Yankee Stadium for the first extended (as in, more than two games) homestand since the beginning of the season.

2 comments:

  1. It's been a tough stretch on the road. Tonight was a moral victory with Moose only giving up 2, 4 scoreless innings from the bullpen and the Yanks end up 1 game over .500 and 1 game out of first.

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  2. With everything that has happened to the Yankees this year, being one game over and 1 game out of first, you couldn't ask for more. I just hope the pen can stay fresh, they are throwing a lot of innings.

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