It was a Happy Birthday for our esteemed writer Tanya as the Yankees defeated the Rockies tonight 3-1 and took the three game series from them. Taking two games out of three is always a formula for a successful season.
CC Sabathia would start this game for the Yankees and would not pitch for much of it due to a two hour rain delay before the top of the 5th. He would only pitch four innings and give up one hit and one earned run while strike out two and walking one batter. He was cruising along until the rain began to fall and due to the length of the delay, would not pitch another inning. It was up to the bullpen to keep the Rockies offense at bay, and keep them at bay they did.
Adam Warren would come in after the deluge for 1.2 innings and would walk two batter but give up no hits or runs. Those two walks would come with two outs in the bottom of the 6th with Carlos Gonzalez coming up to the plate. Lefty specialist Boone Logan would come in to face CarGo and get him to ground out to first to end the inning. Whew. Yankee rookie reliever and obvious monocle owner Preston Claiborne would pitch the 7th. His outing today was not quite as good as his previous two. He would give up a single to start the inning, get the double play the next batter, then proceed to give up two hits before he was taken out and replaced by David Robertson, who would strike out Todd Helton to end the 7th.
D-Rob would get two more K's and a ground out in the 8th before the ball was passed to Mariano Rivera. As you can see by the final score, Mo was Mo. Thirteen saves for the great one this year. He still hasn't blown one, which when you consider how many other quality closers have already blown saves this year is pretty impressive. Or you know, just Mo.
The offense did not score much today, but it was enough to get the win. The Yankees would score early in the first inning. Jayson Nix would walk, Robinson Cano would get him over to second, and Vernon Wells would drive him in with a single to get a run on the board. The Rockies would answer back in the bottom of the first and tie it, but thankfully offensive juggernaut of Chris Nelson, Lyle Overbay, and Chris Stewart would give the Yankees the lead in the top of the 4th with a Nelson double, an Overbay ground out to move Nelson to third, and a magic missile pop out from he Defensive Warlock to get Nelson home. Small ball at its finest. Cano would then hit a home run for Tanya in the top of the 5th to give the Yankees all the runs they would need to win today. Happy Birthday!
In an historic note without an exclamation point, Robbie would get his 1,500 career hit this afternoon in the top of the 3rd. Just pay the man already. The Yankees will head to Kauffman Stadium to face the Royals for a three game series. Phil Hughes will face Wade Davis.
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