Game 118 Wrap-Up: NYY 14 LAA 7

(Courtesy of the AP)

A winning streak.  A real actual winning streak.  It seems like so long ago since the Yankees had one of those.  They stood on the precipice of one last night, and once again Joe decided to throw out a questionable lineup to get it done.  I get playing the L/R matchups, but Gardner and Ichiro both out of the lineup and Eduardo Nunez in the leadoff spot?  I feel like this isn't the first or even second time this has happened this season.  I get ready to bash Joe for it every time, but damnit if it doesn't always work out in his favor.  Last night's win was fun, a nice stress-free blowout to send everybody to sleep happy.  For one game at least, we got a look at what the improved offense can actually do.

Game Notes:

- Not a fun start to CC Sabathia's night.  He struck out the first 2 batters he faced, walked Mike Trout with 2 strikes after Vernon Wells failed to get to a foul ball, and gave up a 2-run HR to Mark Trumbo to put the lineup in an immediate hole.

- Wells made up for it in the bottom of the 2nd by leading off the inning with his 11th home run of the season, and (FINALLY!!!!!) his first since May 15th.  Obviously in direct response to my post on his weak H/R splits.  I see you, Vernon.

- Wells helped push another run across in the 4th with a 1-out single, and the Yanks grabbed the lead in the 5th on a 2-run homer by Alfonso Soriano.  They weren't fooled at all by a returning Jason Vargas.  Not at all.

- Some bad defense and a few walks cost CC another run in the 3rd, and those walks almost came around to bite him again when he walked the bases loaded in the top of the 6th.  Wells (in on everything) bailed him out by starting an inning-ending double play.  Sure it was aided by a bad call, but the Yankees have been on the other end of that stick enough times to have one go their way.

- The Yanks got to the bullpen early, and in the bottom of the 6th they struck against the soft underbelly of the middle relief.  The key at-bat was probably the Lyle Overbay walk to put 2 on and nobody out.  The loudest at-bat was Alex Rodriguez's 2-run double to finish off what ended up being a 4-run inning.

- It went from comfortable to lead to full-fledged blowout after a 3-run Soriano HR in the 7th and an Eduardo Nunez 2-run single in the 8th.  Little rain delay, little Dellin Betances meltdown, and that was that.


F*ck Yeahs:

- Wells: 2-2, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI.  Wells is best used in small doses these days, and Joe played the matchups to perfection with him last night.  Get him in against the lefty, let him get his hits against them, get him out as soon as the matchup turns.

- Soriano: 3-6, 2 HR, 3 R, 6 RBI, 2 K, 2 LOB.  That'll bring a little life back to The Stadium.  Good to see Soriano starting to break out after a slow start to his return.

-Overbay: 3-4, 1 2B, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 LOB.  Seemed like he was involved in the start of every big rally last night.

Oh Nos:

- Sabathia: 6 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 7 K.  This feels a little harsh.  CC was hardly at his best last night.  The 6 walks are proof of that.  He also managed to work around that lack of command and get through 6 innings of just 3-run ball.  The comically weak Anaheim lineup probably had just as much to do with that as CC did though, so I can't look at it as a good outing.

- Betances: 0.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.  Everybody was just kidding when they said they wanted you called up, bro.

Next Up:

Had an excellent pitching matchup on Monday night, and there's an even better one, at least on paper, tonight in Ivan Nova and Jered Weaver.  Let the better righty win.