Game 25 Recap

1. Leading off the second inning, CC Sabathia got ahead of Matt Wieters 1-2. Wieters then took a slider down and in, fouled off a changeup and was rewarded with a belt high fastball on the outer half of the plate. It was a smoked, opposite field line drive that never got very high but cleared the right field fence and put the O's up 1-0.

2. Alex Rodriguez singled to lead off the fourth inning. Cano flied out, then Posada moved A-Rod to second with a grounder. The Yanks mounted a two out rally beginning with a smashed line drive off the wall by Nick Swisher that went for a double and scored A-Rod. Brett Gardner extended the inning with a soft single to center and Randy Winn put the Yankees on top 4-1 with a three run shot into the Yankees' bullpen. Those were the only three scoring plays of the night.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• CC wasn't exactly dominant tonight, getting only two strike outs in his 8 innings of work. Maybe overpowering is a better word? He only gave up just one run, six hits and two walks and was helped about by double plays in the 6th and 7th innings. He also got a whopping 16 groundball outs, and when you are getting hitters to pound it into the turf like that, you don't really need to get too many K's.
  
  
• Aside from the fourth inning, Jeremy Guthrie had a pretty solid outing. Even in that one frame, all of the damage came with two outs. Like Sabathia, he gave up six hits (on HR), two walks and only struck out two.
  
  
• Early on in the YES broadcast they showed a clip of Cano hitting a ball over the top of the batter's eye in center field during this afternoon's batting practice. That, my friends, is a BOMB.
  
  
• With the doubles in the fourth and sixth, Nick Swisher is now 13 for 24 off Jeremy Guthrie with nine extra base hits.
  
  
• Randy Winn's three run homer was his first one in 491 ABs, dating back to last April.
  
  
• Francisco Cervelli took over for Jorge Posada behind the plate in the sixth inning. Apparently Posada was experiencing some tightness in his right calf and has probably already undergone an MRI.
  
  
• With two outs in the 7th inning, Sabathia's displeasure with homeplate umpire Bill Hohn came to a head. Sabathia put three fastballs that looked to be on the black but Hohn called them all balls. There was some jawing and Joe Girardi made a mound visit to calm down the situation. Sabathia recovered and got Caesar Izturis to ground out to end the inning and sat down the O's in order in the 8th.
  
  
• Perhaps the lack of strikeouts was a product of the tight zone?
  
  
• Mariano Rivera didn't pitch the 9th inning despite a 3 run lead for the Yanks - and during the Joe Girardi said that Mo felt some tightness in his left side starting on Saturday and should be ready to go tomorrow. No tests are scheduled.
  
  
• Joba Chamberlain filled in for Mo and aside from a walk to Matt Wieters, took care of business and picked up the save. It was the second of his career.
  
  
• The game wrapped up in a tidy 2:29. It feels like I always use that adjective for short games, but it's better than Michael Kay's "manageable", yes?
  
  
• The Yankees set a record for the lowest attendance at the New Stadium, a mark previously set on April 21st, 2009 - a game that Schiff and I were at.

Same time, same place tomorrow as A.J. Burnett and Brian Matusz lock horns.