It's Good to Be Back

At long last, I'm back in the good old U.S. of A. Jay is off at the dirty hippy jamband concert tonight, no doubt in the midst of a 45 minute noodle-rific face melting guitar solo, so I'm going to throw up a game recap, despite the fact that I have been able to watch exactly one inning of Yankee baseball since last Wednesday's game. So forgive me if this is poorly constructed or if it sounds like I put it together from looking at the box score and reading the play by play - because that's exactly what I did.

Just as I have returned home (to America at least, won't be officially home until tomorrow), the Yankees returned home after a successful 5-2 road trip, starting their second series with the Rangers in nine days. Derek Jeter led off the first with a single, the tenth time he's done so in the last twelve games, extending his hitting streak to sixteen games. But the real action didn't begin until the bottom of the second inning.

Jorge Posada led off with a base hit, and was then thrown out at third on a Hideki Matsui base hit, allowing Matsui to take second on the throw. Matsui moved to third on a Melky Cabrera groundout and was then driven in by Brett Gardner. A Jeter infield single and a walk by Johnny Damon loaded the bases, then all three runners advanced on a balk by Vincente Padilla. Padilla then plunked Mark Teixeira to re-load the bases, but A-Rod let Padilla off the hook by grounding out to end the inning.

Texas countered in the top of the third. After getting two quick outs, A.J. Burnett allowed a walk to Michael Young and a double to Hank Blalock. Nelson Cruz then added to Texas' league-leading HR total, launching one to left and giving Texas a 3-2 lead. They would be the only runs Burnett would surrender on the night.

The eighteen game errorless streak ended in the fourth, as Elvis Andrus stole second and Jorge Posada's throw sailed into centerfield, allowing Andrus to take third.

The Yankees countered in the fourth. A Johnny Damon RBI single plated Cabrera to tie the score at three. Teix then got plunked for the second time in as many plate appearances and he was none too happy about it, voicing his displeasure to Padilla. Teix would not have to wait long to take out some aggression. With the bases loaded and one out, A-Rod hit a potential double play ball to Ian Kinsler. But Teix went in high and hard on rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus, breaking up the double play, allowing Jeter to score the go-ahead run (the 1,500th of his career), and most importantly, keeping the inning going.

The Yankees capitalized on the opportunity. Cano singled Damon home, chasing Padilla. Posada singled off Padilla's replacement, Derek Holland, scoring A-Rod, followed by a Matsui homer that scored Cano and Posada. When the inning was over, the Yankees had scored seven and taken a commanding 9-3 lead.



The scoring for the night was capped in the sixth as Posada blasted a three run homer to right, that I'm told just missed the upper deck, making it 12-3.

Meanwhile, Burnett cruised, going 7 innings, allowing 8 hits, 3 ER, and 8 Ks to just 1 BB. It was the second straight victory for Burnett, both of which have been impressive performances. From there on, it was garbage time, as the likes of Angel Berroa, Brett Tomko, and Jose Veras finished out the night. Fortune is smiling upon the Yankees right now, as even the combustible Veras turned in a perfect ninth.

Anyway, it's good to be back. I'll have some more content tomorrow, recapping my excursions over the past several days. And I look forward to watching a Yankee game again.