Game 14 Wrap-Up: NYY 3 CHC 0

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The bad weather yesterday threw a wrench into the Yankees' plans for this weekend.  But as far as this short 2-game series against the Cubs was concerned, all it did was serve to delay the inevitable.  Masahiro Tanaka made his 3rd start today, a half-day later than he was scheduled to, and he didn't show any ill effects of the delay.  In fact, he was downright supreme in his mastery of the Cub lineup.  Hmmmmm, who predicted that was going to happen?  Oh that's right!

Game Notes:

- He didn't have to wait long for run support.  Carlos Beltran, hitting in the 2-spot again with Jeter sitting for the day game, popped a solo HR in the bottom of the 1st to give the Yanks a quick 1-0 lead.

- Tanaka immediately made that lead stand up by retiring 15 of the 16 batters he faced after the 1st.  The lone baserunner came on a bunt single in the 2nd that required a replay overturn to count.  Outside of that, he shut the Cubs down with a sick mix of sinkers, 4-seamers, and splitters.

- The lineup didn't generate much more offense against Chicago starter Jason Hammel, but they did enough.  They loaded the bases in the 4th on a pair of singles and a Solarte walk and plated a run on a Dean Anna sac fly, then scored another in the 5th on a Brett Gardner leadoff double and a pair of groundouts.

- The 1 would have been fine for Tanaka.  He allowed a leadoff single in the 7th but then finished strong with 6 straight outs through the end of the 8th, including 3 consecutive strikeouts to give him 10 on the day.

- Shawn Kelley came on in the 9th for the save and once again handled it with relative ease.  1 hit, 1 strikeout on a slider to end things, and the Yankees had the first game of the day.


F*ck Yeahs:

- Tanaka: 8 IP. 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K.  Dirty.  The guy is fucking dirty.  The poor Cubs lineup never even had a chance.  His stuff was too good, his command was even better, and the strategy he and McCann worked to set hitters up was way too advanced for their young minds to keep up with.  He got 16 more swinging strikes to extend his MLB lead, another double digit K game to add to his historic career start, and his 2nd MLB win.

- Beltran: 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 LOB.  I'm really digging this "Beltran in the 2-spot" thing Joe's got going right now.  I wouldn't mind seeing more of it even when The Captain is in the lineup.

Oh Nos:

- Scott Sizemore: 0-3, 2 K, 3 LOB.  Tough first day back at the plate for Double-S, but he looked pretty good at third base so I'm not going to put too much weight on it.

Next Up:

Don't have to wait long for this one.  Michael Pineda and Travis Wood will take the mound in a few hours for the nightcap of this doubleheader.