Game Three: Mariners 6 Yanks 2
Inconsistency is the appropriate word to describe the Yankee offense. Andy Pettitte is back and he was very effective for one who had retired and had to begin again from single A baseball. He pitched 6.1 innings, scattered 7 hits but gave up 2 two-run homers that killed him. Well, mainly because the Yankee offense could not deliver when they had the chance. Again, another bench player, Chavez provided the 2 RBI for the Yanks. The Yanks need to sweep a series every now and then. A big three game sweep against the Orioles and we will be in First place. Let’s go Yanks!!
MLB.com Recap:
NEW YORK — The Yankees threw a welcome-back party for Andy Pettitte on Sunday, but Justin Smoak and Casper Wells had other ideas as they spoiled the reunion with two-run home runs in Seattle’s 6-2 victory.
And while all the buzz in the Bronx was about Pettitte’s return after a two-year absence, Seattle’s own veteran, Kevin Millwood, wound up stealing the old-timers’ show with seven innings of one-run ball for his first victory for the Mariners.
“It was almost like a throwback ’99 game — Pettitte vs. Millwood,” said Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. “But Kevin knows how to pitch. He doesn’t throw too many balls straight. He works around the strike zone. We really couldn’t get too much going.”
Millwood, 37, allowed just three hits in helping the Mariners snap an eight-game road losing streak. It was his 164th career win, ninth on the Major League’s active list, and first against the Yankees since 2009.
“He’s pitched a lot better than his numbers indicated,” said Mariners manager Eric Wedge after Millwood improved to 1-4 with a 5.09 ERA. “He’s had a few bad innings, but he was outstanding today.”
Yet even Millwood was talking about Pettitte after the 39-year-old pitched his first game in the Majors since temporarily retiring after the 2010 season.
“I was watching him. I think everybody was kind of curious,” said Millwood. “But it was pretty much what everybody expected. He’s pretty much the same guy he was two years ago. He’s going to get a lot of people out and win a lot of ballgames. It’s just Andy Pettitte. It’s who he is.”
Pettitte competed fairly well with four runs allowed on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, but the Mariners got to him with home runs by Smoak in the fourth and Wells in the sixth.
Smoak’s line shot over the left-field wall was his fourth homer of the season and first extra-base hit since a home run in Detroit on April 26.
It was also Smoak’s first home run of the season batting right-handed, where he was hitting .097 coming into the game. The blast came after catcher Jesus Montero walked with two outs and was the first hit of the game off Pettitte…..Read More
Box Score and Highlights:
Game Two: Yanks 6 Mariners 2
Mlb.com Recap:
NEW YORK — As they prepare to welcome back a fixture to their rotation, the Yankees may be discovering that their current starters can hold their own quite well.
Phil Hughes became the latest Yankees starter to impress on the team’s homestand, pitching 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a 6-2 win over Seattle on Saturday. When Andy Pettitte takes the mound Sunday in his first start since 2010, he will be in position to finish off a sweep of the Mariners.
After appearing to be in danger of heading to the bullpen to make room for Pettitte, Hughes has responded with back-to-back strong starts after starting the season 1-4. Saturday’s win came on the heels of a 6 2/3-innng outing in Kansas City in which Hughes allowed three runs and picked up the win.
“I don’t think, really, there’s been a turning point,” Hughes (3-4) said. “It’s been a process overall to get myself right. Sometimes you can hang on to momentum and stuff like that when you’re pitching well. It’s hard to get any worse than the beginning of the year.”
After Hughes’ outing, Yankees starters are 4-0 with a 1.31 ERA through the first five games of the homestand. The team’s only blemish in the Bronx this week came when David Robertson blew a save and wasted a 1-0 ninth-inning lead in Wednesday night’s loss to the Rays.
“It was a good day,” Hughes said. “I probably didn’t have my best fastball or my best curveball, but my changeup really allowed me to get out of some jams there and make some good pitches when I was behind in counts.”
Hughes started the game with a nine-pitch first inning and needed only 35 pitches to get through the first three frames. He ran into some trouble in the fourth, when he allowed a one-out single to Ichiro Suzuki and then walked former Yankee Jesus Montero. But he recovered to get a popout and a strikeout and strand both in a 28-pitch inning.
“Him and Russell did a really good job of mixing his curveball and his changeup in,” manager Joe Girardi said of Hughes and catcher Russell Martin. “Fastball inside to hitters, moving it around, I thought they did a really good job.”
Seattle entered the game ranked 29th in the Major Leagues with a .289 team on-base percentage. Hughes took advantage, striking out four and walking one before a pair of two-out singles chased him from the game in the eighth inning. Saturday’s start marked only the third time since the start of the 2010 season that Hughes had recorded an out in the eighth inning…….Read More
Box Score and Highlights:
Click Image
Sell My Junk Car operates many junk and scrap yards throughout the country. Sell your junk car to us, and get paid top dollar for your junk cars. Why not go Direct and get the cash you deserve for your junk car.