The Yankees have not exactly lived up to their billing as the best offense in baseball this season--until tonight. The Yankees bats powered them to a 15-9 win over the hated Red Sox at the stadium to tie the series at 2-2 and also tie them in the standings at 9-7.
From the first inning, the Yankees bats were alive. Bobby Abreu took a pitch up in the zone out for a bomb, and then A-Rod followed up with an absolute bomb to give the Yanks a 3-1 lead.
Boston would tie the game, but again, the Yankees bats came alive, highlighted by a Derek Jeter single with the bases loaded. Since coming back from his injury, Jeter has been great.
Even when they trailed 9-7, the Yankees scored four in the fifth to re-take the lead for good, including a game-tying rbi single by Robinson Cano.
And to make matters better, they added four in the eight of Mike Timlin to make sure Mariano did not have to pitch three days in a row.
After an offensively frustrating first 15 games, it was good to see the bats come alive. You knew it would happen at one point or another. And tonight, in a game against our biggest rivals, the bats came through in a big way.
The real positive sign tonight was the bullpen. Chien-Mien Wang was brutal tonight, giving up eight runs over four frames. This happens with Wang, though, so Yanks fan should not be too worried. Also, he was working with a catcher he had no previous experience with and he was facing a team that he had just seen.
The bullpen only gave up one run over five innings to preserve the win. Russ Ohlondorf was shaky, but LaTroy Hawkins pitched great and Brian Bruney managed the final two innings without a run. With such a shaky start to the season for Hawkins and the number controversy, it was nice to see him pitch so well. He is working his way into the 7th inning man over Kyle Farnsworth.
Anytime you can beat the Red Sox, it's always good. But a game where the Yankees trailed twice and their starting pitching was awful, is especially rewarding. Let's keep it up tomorrow.
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