Yankees Series Thread vs. Texas Rangers

[Dry1313]

Bottom 6th:
Lance Pendleton, Phil Hughes' replacement on the roster, is up in the pen.
Swisher grounds to SS on a low and away changeup that followed a brushback fastball.
Harrison is pitching really well. Only 75 pitches through 5.1
Teixeira pops up a changeup to Torrealba.
ARod dinks one up the middle to Kinsler to end the inning.

Through 6, Texas is up 5 to 1.

[Dry1313]

Top 7th:
Lance Pendleton making his Yankees debut! Good for him. Taken back from Houston after being a Rule 5 pick this winter.
K's Elvis Andrus to record his first career out, and the Yankees save the ball for him. Always fun to see.
Pendleton strikes out Michael Young looking. Save that ball too.
Beltre flies to CF.

Pendleton puts down 2, 3, 4 in the violent Rangers lineup in his ML Debut. That's something he'll never forget.

After six and a half, Texas leads 5-1.

[Dry1313]

Bottom 7th:
Cano rips a single into CF off of Harrison to extend his hitting streak to 7 games.
Jones grounds to Harrison, who throws to Andrus onto Moreland for the double play.
Posada flies to deep RF.

The Yankees ground into their 5th double play of the day.

After 7, 5-1 Texas.

[Dry1313]

Top 8th:
Cruz pops to the Martin.
Murphy flies to Jones.
Torrealba grounds to Jeter.

Pendleton sets down the first 6 batters he faces. I could get used to this guy, with performance like this.

After seven and a half, Yankees trail by four.

[Dry1313]

Bottom 8th:
Martin strikes out looking.
Granderson homers to deep RCF.
Jeter singles to the right side, knocked down by Kinsler, but he can't makes the play at first.
Swisher is up (.500 vs. LHP, 3/28 against RH, but they leave in Harrison with 98 pitches and two hits on the day!)
Swisher grounds into a double play (Kinsler to Andrus to Moreland) to end the inning.

Yankees ground into their sixth double play of the day, tying the AL record for GIDP in a single game and making Washington look like a genius.

After 8, it's 5-2 Rangers. If things stay this way, the Yankees will have to beat last year's ROY and saves leader, Neftali Feliz.

[Dry1313]

Top 9th:
Moreland flies to Granderson.
Borbon flies to Granderson.
Kinsler grounds up the middle, Jeter makes a great play to throw him out at 1B.

Pendleton goes 3 strong, retiring 9 straight. Great first outing for him.

After 8 and a half, Yankees trail by three; it's now or never, Bombers!

[Dry1313]

Bottom 9th:
Teixeira grounds to 2B.
Yankees 1-6 hitters have each grounded into a double play tonight; wow.
ARod smashes a ball off of the bullpen wall in LF for a 2B.
Cano grounds to Beltre at 3B.
Chavez hitting for Andruw Jones.
Chavez singles up the middle, ARod scores!

[Dry1313]

Gardner pinch running for Chavez
Now batting: Jorge Posada! HIP HIP! JORGE!
Gardner grabs 2nd on defensive indifference, Ball one.
Ball two.
Strike one down the middle, Posada taking the whole way.
Ball three outside.
(Russel Martin on deck)
Posada walks on a breaking ball, low!
Tying runs are on base!
Eduardo Nunez is pinch running for Posada.
Martin flies to Cruz to end the game.

Yankees lose, 5-2. double plays by the offense and walks by the pitching killed the Yankees tonight.

[BuckFoston]

6 DP.. Can't win a ball game hitting into 6 DP. I was hoping to see walk off wins in back to back nights but just didn't happen for us.

I guess it's time to see Garcia on the bump.. Gonna be interesting.

Can't hit into 6 DP today though.. We won't be winning a ball game if that continues to happen.

[BuckFoston]

Little shake up in the lineup today.. Gardner and Martin are out. Gustavo Molina and Andruw Jones getting the start today.

[BuckFoston]

Tex stays behind the ball and drives one to the opposite field for his 5th HR of the year!

[BuckFoston]

Another....... Double........ Play...............

[Dry1313]

1 out in the 9th, Rivera in; Yankees up 5-2.

2 outs on a flyout to Gardner.

Torrealba doubles to RF over Swisher's head (why was Swisher so shallow?)

Moreland pops to Jeter, and the Yankees win! Mariano has 6 saves to date.

[Dry1313]

Garcia was dealing today
Teix with a big homer
Cano with a huge homer to make up for Soriano's botched outing
Joba throws a scoreless 7th

Obviously the biggest impact from today's game is Garcia's outing. With the way Hughes is struggling, with the volatility of Nova, and with Garcia's track record, this could be huge for the Yankees going forward.

Obviously we can't just blow up one start, but the results are promising, and every Yankees win is important.

Yankees 5-2; Series tied 1-1. Rubber game tomorrow!

[BuckFoston]

Well.. Actually pretty pleased with Garcia's outing. 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 K, 0 ER.

He's not really gonna over power anybody with his stuff or blow anything by anybody but he actually hit his spots pretty well today and kept the ball down. His command was good and he was able to spot the ball where he wanted. Only 1 K but like I said.. He's not who he used to be and he's not going to blow anything by anybody. He uses his command and the ability to spot the ball to get batters out.. He was crafty today and pitched well.. Had a lot better outing than Hughes...

Soriano gave up two but Cano got them right back for us driving one deep. And of course, Mo got us the save. Good win today for the Yanks. 5-2.