Yankees Take 1-0 Series Lead With Russell Martin Sparking Late Galore Of Runs.
Sunday night for game 1 of the only competitive divisional series in the AL, we saw a face-off of new rivals in the AL East which featured the Bronx Bombers and the birds of Baltimore. For nearly 8 innings, both teams had a very close competitive duel until the 9th inning when the Yankees bats finally came alive.
Starting off things in the top of the first, the captain and greatest Yankee of all time Derek Jeter singled to center and would later score on a double hit by Ichiro Suzuki to give the pinstripe’s a 1-0 lead. This game would turn into virtually a pitcher’s duel with CC Sabathia and Jason Hammel both showing their best pitches in only game 1 of a 5 game series to show both teams are serious about this year postseason.
In the bottom of the 3rd, the Orioles bats would come alive briefly in their only scoring inning of the game as Lew Ford and Chris Davis got two back-to-back singles as the two were in scoring position. Lefty Nate McLouth would single to right which drove in both Davis and Ford to give Baltimore a 2-1 lead. CC would survive the inning on a grounded double play. In the top of the 4th, Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher would both get walked which would set up an RBI for A-Rod on a single hit by Mark Teixeira to even the game a 2-2.
Jumping to the top of the 9th, the score was still even a 2 all, but the Yankees bats would come alive with Russell Martin setting things off with a solo homer to regain the lead for the Yanks. Raul Ibanez and Derek Jeter would both hit singles setting up more potential scores and they did with Ichiro Suzuki singling as Eduardo Nunez (pinch runner for Ibanez) would score. A-Rod would strike out but Robinson Cano would bust the game open with a double to left to bring in both Jeter and Suzuki. After an error by shortstop J.J. Hardy, Cano would make it all the way to third which he would later score on a sac-fly from Nick Swisher to put the game at a 7-2 lead.
C.C. Sabathia who pitched all 8 innings would start the inning in hopes of closing out a complete game but after a double by Lew Ford, skipper Joe Girardi didn’t wanna see his ace in a bad situation later on in the inning. David Robertson would come in as the reliever and get the final strike out on pinch-hitter Ryan Flaherty.
Heading into game 2 of the series, the Orioles now look to Wei-Yin Chen who’s produced a 4.02 ERA this year with a 12-11 record. Baltimore doesn’t want to head back to NY down 0-2 with the last three games being at Yankee Stadium. Definitely a must watch and must win game tomorrow for the O’s. Yankees great, Andy Pettitte will make his return to postseason play Monday night which should be entailing for the continuation of a great series.