Damon Bails Out Gardner

The Yankees earned their 3rd straight walk off win thanks to a 10th inning homer from Johnny Damon. Despite all the cheers from the fans in attendance, you could still hear the sigh of relief coming from Brett Gardner.

In the bottom of the 9th, sitting on 2nd base, Francisco Cervelli dropped one down to the right causing Twins catcher Joe Mauer to come up and field the ball. Cervelli would have beat out the throw and so Mauer held on. Brett made the turn at third and was tagged out by Mauer at home. If Gardner had help up, the Yankees would have had 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Robbie Cano popped deep into left and would have scored a tagging Gardner for the win. Instead, we went to extra innings.

There’s no room for stupid in the bottom of the 9th. Yankees 3rd base coach Rob Thompson clearly called for Brett to hold up at 3rd. You have to love young guys with enthusiasm, but there’s a fine line between being eager for a win and costing your team a victory. In the end, Johnny Damon made it all a moot point, but Girardi still needs to have a talk with Gardner.

That play aside, hats off to the Yankee bullpen. Tomko, Aceves and Rivera all were sharp. Burnett struggled at times, but gave up very few runs and lasted deep in the game. Albaladejo made things interesting, loading up the bases, but afterward Yankees pitching was lights out. In a tie game, late innings, the bullpen pitched extremely well in a high pressure situation. Given enough balls to swing at, the offense is going to produce a run eventually and the bullpen bought the team enough time to do it.

Aceves, Tomko, and Coke are the go-to guys in the bullpen right now in my book. Albaladejo is streaky and Veras and Ramirez are dangerous (Farnsworth type dangerous). Let’s see what Girardi does in the future once Bruney comes back. Hopefully he’ll stick with what’s currently working. I’d like to see Melancon back in the majors also, giving him some more big league experience.

This was another big win for the Yankees, who now have a nice win streak going, and have given the home town fans some memorable moments in the new stadium. Hopefully they can keep it up and do even better once guys start coming off the DL.

Joba Settling In

Joba Chamberlain lasted 4.1 innings yesterday, throwing 78 pitches. He had 5 strikeouts and only 1 walk, and looked like he had much better control than in previous starts. Joe Girardi said later that Joba should be ready to throw 90-95 pitches in his next outing. The transition from bullpen to starter is nearly complete, and so far, Chamberlain looks like the real deal.

The pitching star of the day was Dan Giese who didn't allow a hit or a walk in 2.2 innings and picked up his first major league win. Congrats Dan! It's only been a couple of games, but Giese has looked good and hopefully can stick around for a while. Are you reading this Joe Girardi? See how well things go when you have a decent long reliever in the pen?

Kyle Farnsworth had a day off supposedly because of a tweaked bicep that was getting an extra days rest. That left the set up job for Jose Veras. I personally like Edwar Ramirez as the setup man, but Veras is a close #2. Jose gave up 1 hit and didn't allow any runs. Mariano Rivera was his usual self; three up, three down.

The Yankees offense continues to show it's stuff. Johnny Damon went 2 for 5, bringing his average up to .328. Damon had the day off from fielding as Girardi put him in the DH spot to keep his legs fresh. Jason Giambi hit another HR, and certainly can hit the ball deep. Wilson Betemit was brought in as a defensive replacement, which again makes me wonder if Joe has watched any of the tapes of Betemit's defense this year.

So Joba looked good, Giese looked better, the bullpen was sharp and the batters were hitting. What's not to like?

Another Clutch Walk-off Win

Johnny Damon was the big hero this Saturday afternoon. Final score 12-11 after a walk off ground rule double in the bottom of the ninth inning.

It was an up and down game from the beginning. Andy Pettitte gave up runs, the offense would score runs. Things looked particularly grim when Mariano Rivera gave up a home run in the ninth to put the Royals back on top.

Jose Veras had a decent 1.1 innings of relief, allowing only one hit.

The story of the day was Johnny Damon, who went 6 for 6 and got the game winning RBI. Damon also tacked on 4 RBIs for the day.

Jorge Posada was back and went 2 for 4, allowing one stolen base.

This was the second walk off win in three games for the Yankees. It's hard to make much of anything out of it, but I'm definitely glad they won. The last time they had an emotional walk-off win, they proceeded to lose the very next game. Now back at .500, let's hope the Yanks can stay in the black for a while.

The offense produced today, and had big hits when they needed it. The flip side is that the pitching staff blew quite a few leads. Pettitte couldn't hold on and even the invincible Mariano Rivera gave up one.

It was definitely an ugly win, but at least it's a win.

Nice hitting Johnny!

Strong Outing For Pettitte

Andy Pettitte pitched a strong 7 scoreless innings today, providing the bullpen some much needed relief. Yankee fans need to hope and pray that Pettitte can stay healthy all year and not miss any starts.

Joba faced two batters but was unable to get an out and Bruney relieved him and let an inherited runner score, giving Chamberlain an earned run.

Johnny Damon went 2 for 4 and hit a 2 run home run. Chad Moeller continues to impress, also going 2 for 4. One of his hits bounced off of the centerfield wall and was half an inch from being a home run. He's done more than anyone expected and will be kept around for a while longer just in case Posada has a setback when he returns to catching.

Jason Giambi continues to struggle at the plate and is now hitting .109 for the season.

A Rod had a strained right quad and left the game. Expect him to be out for the better part of a week.

There were two rain delays, each of 37 minutes, but the wait didn't affect Mariano Rivera who came in and closed out the 9th inning.

This game should boost spirits a bit. Andy Pettitte was the star of the game and is still a cornerstone of this team.

It's hard to believe this Chad Moeller is the same journeyman with the abysmal bat in prior years. He's excelled in his latest big league stint. Good job Chad!

Final score: Yankees 7, Orioles 1.