Game 26 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 KC 2

(The offense.  Courtesy of The AP)

The devastation of the Mo injury before the previous game was wiped away when he announced he was planning on coming back a few hours before last night's game.  The Yankees hit the field with clear heads and their ace on the mound, and got a win they really needed after a recent rough stretch of games.

Game Notes:

- Each pitcher started off with a rough 1st inning, Bruce Chen allowing 2 runs on a single to Jeter and a HR by Teix and CC allowing 2 on a single-double-double combination, and it was 2-2 after 1.

- After the 1st, though, suddenly the game turned into Shutdown City and CC and Chen matched 0s through 6 innings.  CC was very clearly the sharper of the 2, as he allowed only 2 more hits and did not walk a batter through the 6th.  Chen worked harder to get through his first 6 and hit the wall in the 7th.

- And when he hit it, he hit it HARD.  After a Robinson Cano single to lead off the 7th, Chen got the next 2 batters out and appeared to be in good shape.  A triple from Eduardo Nunez and a single by Chris Stewart and it was 4-2 Yankees with 2 outs, and a home run from Derek Jeter later in the inning made it 6-2.  A single 2-out run-scoring hit had been hard to come by lately.  3 in a row was practically unheard of.

- Fun Fact- Derek Jeter now has 5 HR on the season.  He had 6 all of last season.

- While Chen ran out of gas, CC kept chugging along and finished up with 2 more scoreless innings.  He exhibited great command again, keeping the ball down in the zone and generating a lot of groundballs, and this game marked the 4th straight that he's pitched into the 8th inning.

- If Joe is planning on having some sort of audition for the closer role with Mo out, I think it's safe to say D-Rob has the advantage.  Rafael Soriano was warming in the 'pen in the 8th as backup for CC in case he got into trouble.  After CC went 8 strong, it was Robertson who came in and sat down the Royals' 4-5-6 hitters in order, all via strikeout. 


F*ck Yeahs:

- Mark Teixeira: 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 LOB.  The dude hasn't forgotten how to hit from the right side.

- Sabathia: 8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.  4th straight win for the big fella, and he also hasn't lost a game in his first 6 starts.

- Jeter: 2-5, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.  Dirty.  Just dirty.

Oh Nos:

- RISP Fail: Every Yankee had a hit except for Jayson Nix, but despite 11 hits and 6 runs they still managed to go just 1-7 with RISP for the game.

Next Up:

Hiroki Kuroda will look to keep his forward progress moving on Saturday night when he faces someone named Felipe Paulino.  First pitch at 7:10 EST/6:10 Central.