Game 11 Wrap-Up: NYY 8 MIN 3

After a so-so first 2 starts that were more about survival than dominance, everybody was hoping this would be the night CC Sabathia started to find his command.  After a rough first few innings, he certainly gave Yankee fans a lot to be happy about and turned in a vintage CC performance.

Game Notes:

- CC started off looking like he was going to put on an encore performance from his first 2 starts, allowing 3 ER and 4 hits through 3 innings.  Once the offense got him the lead in the bottom of the 3rd, however, he was a different pitcher and worked the next 4.1 scoreless.

- From the 4th inning on, Sabathia's fastball command was the best its been all year and he used it to pound the zone, throw strikes, and work from ahead in the count.  That's a dangerous place to be as a hitter against someone with CC's arsenal and the Twins had no answer, managing just a walk after the 3rd.  CC sat down 13 in a row from the first out in the 3rd through the 2nd out in the 7th.

- Francisco Liriano has never had much success against New York and that trend continued last night.  He was either walking guys or leaving meaty pitches over the plate to hit, and the Yankees didn't miss.  When Brett Gardner is taking you for ground rule doubles and Chris Stewart is smoking base hits to left, it's probably time to hit the showers.

- Almost everybody got in on the action for the Yankee offense, with 5 guys each getting 2 hits, 5 guys driving in a run, and 3 guys scoring more than 2 runs.  The biggest stars were the UNusual suspects- Gardner, Stewart, and Andruw Jones, who cracked his 2nd HR of the year.

- After CC departed in the 8th, D-Rob came on to get 2 outs and Cory Wade closed out the 9th to get the Yanks back in the W column and back above .500.


F*ck Yeahs:

CC: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.  The 3 ER don't tell the true tale of how good CC was last night.  He had the hiccup after the dual ejection in the 3rd, but he was money for the rest of the night.

Gardner: 2-2, 2 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, and a very nice sliding catch to bail CC out of the 3rd inning.  Gardner was basically the leadoff man last night and he did a damn good job.

Stewart: 2-4, 3 RBI.  Chris Motherfucking Steward in the house!  Dude is so money and he doesn't even know it.

Oh Nos:

A-Rod: 0-4, 1 K, 1 BB.  Sorry, Al, but when you get outhit by The Stew and Eduardo Nunez and you're the only hitless member of the lineup in a win, you're the #1 candidate.

Next Up:

Hiroki Kuroda looks to keep the positive vibes from his Yankee Stadium debut going, and possibly turn them into some legit momentum against journeyman Jason Marquis in game 3 of the series tonight.