Yankees and Dutchies in MLB, Thursday April 23
The year started with not much faith in this Yankee team from my side. Still I don’t think that they will be a contender but after the series vs the Tigers, there is some belief coming.
First the close loss with a very good outing by C.C. Sabathia. Then the 5-2 win on Tuesday and the 13-4 win on Wednesday. Those wins gave me some hope of a decent season.
Yesterday Masahiro Tanaka took the mound. The cold weather made it hard for him to throw his two-seam fastball and he had some problems finding the strike zone in the first innnig. But after giving up the opening run to Detroit, he settled down and cruised through this game. In 6.1 innings he gave up three hits, walked two and fanned six. In this low scoring and low hit game, both teams collected only three hits. The difference between both teams was that, with Jacoby Ellsbury on third, Arribal Sanchez balked in the game tying run. Two innings later, Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a double to center field and advanced to third base on a sac bunt by Brett Gardner towards first base. Ellsbury scored the game winner on Brian McCann’s ground out.
The one-two punch Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller retired the remaining seven batters for the win and the save.
Didi Gregorius had two plate appearances in which he walked and flew out. In the top of the seventh, he was replaced by Mark Teixeira, who flew out to right field.
In a game in which the red hot Mets tied their record winning streak of eleven games, Andrelton Simmons saw the ball very well. He went 2 for 3 with a double, two runs batted in, a walk and a strikout. In the top of the second inning, Simmons drove in A.J. Pierzynski with his double. The Braves lost 6-3
The Red Sox fell 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays. Xander Bogaerts, who went hitless in the previous four games went 1 for 2 and raised hit batting average from .294 to .302. Besides this hit, which was one of only three hits of the Red Sox, he drew a walk. A sad game for Clay Buchholz, who struck out ten but didn’t get the needed run support.