- Opening day for the Yankees and Rays began with fireworks on both sides. The pitching matchup, v. , should have been a battle of arms, instead it was a battle of hits. With the Rays batting in the first inning, Sabathia walked , gave up a single to Longoria, and then Girardi called for the intentional walk to . Carlos Pena took advantage of his bases loaded situation, and hit a grandslam in his first at bat back with the Rays. The Yankees were able to get 2 runs off of a struggling Shields in the second inning thanks to a ground out and a wild pitch ball 4 to . In the third the Yankees were able to yet again get men on against the Ray’s ace, and scored on a fielder’s choice (terrible play) by Carlos Pena trying to throw Cano out at home. In the next at bat, hit the first Yankee homerun of the year, a 3 run homerun making the score 6-4. answered back in the bottom of the 3rd with a homerun of his own, but after that both pitchers settled down.
- Without much help from homeplate umpite Joe West, Sabathia went 6.0 innings, giving up 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, and earning 7 strikeouts. Setup guys went 1.0 inning, 1 BB, 1 K, and went 1.0 innings 1 hit, 1 walk, and struckout the side. Of course, Houdini needed men on the corners to get the strikeouts going. It was a 6-5 game when was given his first save opportunity of the year, and after a single by and triple by , the game was tied. Girardi ordered Longoria and intentionally walked to set up the force play at each base, and after striking out , Rivera gave up a huge flyball single off Pena’s bat to win the game for the Rays. Offensively, went 2 for 5, had a big day going 2 for 3, with 2 walks and 2 runs scored, and Gardner went 2 for 4 with 1 walk and 1 K. () It was a frustrating but good game to start the season, and after today’s 7-6 loss, the team will face the Rays tomorrow night at 7:10pm on YES and the MLB Network. (RHP v. LHP )
- Brien Jackson at It’s About the Money disagrees with Joe Girardi’s plan to to platoon Gardner and this year, as well as play Eduardo Nunez against left-handed pitchers.
- FanGraphs wrapped up their 2012 Organizational Rankings today with the Yankees listed at #1. Mike Axisa does a great job of summing up the team’s strengths and weaknesses, but mostly strengths.
- Marc Carig from The Star-Ledger has the story on backup catcher Chris Stewart‘s journey getting to Tampa today.
- And today’s workouts, which includes playing catch again today.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Recent Comments