Game 79 Wrap-Up: BAL 4 NYY 3

(I feel ya, bro.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

There was a bit of confusion yesterday afternoon when the Yankees announced that David Phelps had been scratched from his scheduled start and CC Sabathia would pitch in his place.  After a brief stir of wondering what happened to Phelps, it turned out last night was always supposed to be CC's scheduled day to pitch and a mistake had been made in setting the rotation order for the series.  It was CC's first shot at getting his 200th career win, an impressive milestone for any pitcher in any era but one even more impressive in today's baseball world where 300 now looks out of the question.  Sabathia looked well on his way to getting that win early before things fell apart in the later innings.  Once again, the Yankee offense was nowhere to be found to help him in those late innings and the Yanks lost their 3rd straight.

Game Notes:

- The lineup wasted no time in getting CC a lead in the top of the 1st.  Brett Gardner doubled to lead off the game, came around to score an a single by Robinson Cano, and it was 1-0.

- They stretched it to 3-0 in the top of the 3rd on a pair of RBI singles by Vernon Wells and Chris Stewart.  Jayson Nix and Cano set the table with singles of their own and the cushion was built.

- CC made it stand up through 5 innings with little issue.  In fact, he didn't allow a single hit in those 5 innings.  He had all his pitches working, threw them at different times in the count, and used his slider to neutralize the big Baltimore lefty hitters.  Dude was cruising.

- Then he hit a speed bump in the 6th.  After a Nate McLouth single and an Alexi Casilla infield single that David Adams basically let happen by trying to field the ball at first instead of covering the bag, Manny Machado doubled to right to score them both.  He came around to tie the game on another infield single off the bat of Adam Jones.

- McLouth struck the final death blow in the next inning, crushing a hanging 1-0 slider to right for the go-ahead HR.  CC stormed off the mound and threw a bit of a tantrum in the dugout after the inning and with good reason.  He let the game get away after being handed a lead.

- But give the offense credit.  They did their part to make sure there would be comeback, failing to get even 1 baserunner to second base or beyond from the 4th inning on.  You pretty much have to make no mistakes with this group supporting you right now, and CC made too many mistakes in the 6th-7th innings.


F*ck Yeahs:

- Cano: 3-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 LOB.  The hits were just all singles, but it's better than the 1-4s he's been putting up.

Oh Nos:

- Ichiro: 0-4, 1 K, 4 LOB.  Could have used a hit or 2 from him last night.  He wasn't able to get it done.

- CC: 7 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.  Adams and some crummy luck were a part of it, sure.  The bottom line is CC didn't make pitches when he needed to, something that's been a theme for him this year since his first start.

Next Up:

Phelps will be on the mound for the second game of this series this afternoon.  He'll be opposed by Zach Britton.