"Now, what is this site about, how Joe Torre ruined pitchers' arms? Is that it?"
-Michael Kay, August 18, 2009

Friday, April 17, 2009

Yankees power way to victory despite Joba’s poor start

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The Yankees hit five solo home runs to right field on their way to defeating the Cleveland Indians 6-5 Friday afternoon at Yankee Stadium for the team’s first win in the new building.

They won despite a shaky outing for Joba Chamberlain in which he walked five and gave up five earned runs in only 4 2/3 innings.  He threw 93 pitches for only 46 strikes (49.5 percent).

Chamberlain gave up a one-out solo home run to Mark DeRosa in the first inning.  The Yankees would then take the lead in the third on two solo home runs by Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira.

However, Chamberlain continued to struggled in the next two innings.  Ben Francisco had an RBI single in the fourth, while DeRosa, Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko each drove in runs in the fourth.

The Yankees were unable to chip away at the lead in the fifth, even though Brett Gardner was on third with one out.  That would be the last inning for Indians’ starter Anthony Reyes.

With Reyes out of the game, the Yankees scored a run in each of their final three at-bats against the bullpen.  Robinson Cano hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to cut the lead to 5-4.  In the seventh, Vinnie Chulk’s throwing error led to Damon scoring from first to tie the game at 5.  Then in the eighth, Derek Jeter had the first game-winning RBI in the new Stadium for the Yankees – a two-out solo home run to give the Yankees a 6-5 lead.

Mariano Rivera struggled a bit in the ninth, giving up two singles and a hard-hit ball that was flagged down by Gardner.  He eventually struck out two batters for his third save of the year.  Brian Bruney struck out two batters in the eighth and was rewarded with the victory.  He is now 2-0 and has struck out 12 batters in six innings pitched.

Chien-Ming Wang will look to improve on his poor start to the season.  He will face Fausto Carmona at 3:40 p.m. on FOX.

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