Game 106 Wrap-Up: LAD 3 NYY 2

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The Yankees were back at it on the West Coast last night, taking on the Dodgers in another 2-game series that was unfortunately timed so that they'd get to face both Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw.  Chances were good we'd get to see another example of how weak this lineup still is with Andy Pettitte hitting at the bottom of the order, and if he was still without command of his cutter it could have been an ugly night for him on the mound against a dangerous lineup.  Pettitte had himself a nice little start, but it was another offensive blackout that led to the eventual walk-off loss.

Game Notes:

- The Yankees got a great look at the kind of young talent their lineup is missing immediately in the bottom of the 1st when Yasiel Puig doubled to deep center off Pettitte and came around to score on a Hanley Ramirez ribbie single.

- Lyle Overbay was responsible for the first 2 Yankee runs, in 2 completely different ways.  He led off the top of the 2nd with a solo home run, then plated Alfonso Soriano with a groundout in the 4th.

- Pettitte gave up another run on a Juan Uribe HR in the 2nd and didn't look particularly sharp in the first 3 innings.  It took a nice play by Ichiro to nail Ramirez at the plate for Andy to escape the 3rd inning without giving up another run.

- After that 3rd inning, it was like things clicked for Pettitte.  He found his fastball command and the rest of his pitches followed suit, as Andy retired 9 of the next 10 batters he faced through 6 and gave up no more runs through 7.

- Right on cue, the offense went into hibernation as Greinke found his game.  They put just 1 baserunner on in the final 5 frames, an Ichiro double in the 7th that was stranded.  The last 8 Yankees to come to the plate made an out, and only 1 of them got the ball out of the infield.

- Armed with firsthand knowledge of the offense's nothingness, Joe decided to play for extra innings in the 9th.  He went with Shawn Kelley instead of Mo or a second inning of D-Rob and it backfired when Andre Ethier singled, stole second, and scored on a Mark Ellis bloop single to center to win it for the Dodgers.  I thought you were supposed to play for the win on the road?


F*ck Yeahs:

- Pettitte: 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.  No walks and only 2 runs against one of the toughest lineups going right now.  We can build on this!

- Overbay: 1-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI.  Responsible for both runs last night and owner of the only hit of substance.

Oh Nos:

- Robinson Cano: 1-4, 2 K, 1 LOB.  If the Yankees want to stay in contention until September, Robbie needs to start heating up again and have a monster month of August.

- Joe: Robertson threw 9 pitches in the 8th coming off an off-day.  You have to hold the Dodgers scoreless in the 9th to even get to extra innings.  If you aren't going to go to your best relief pitcher in that situation how can you not leave your 2nd best out for another inning?  Made no sense.

Next Up:

Final game of this quick series is tonight and it's one worth watching if you've got no plans.  Hiroki Kuroda vs. Clayton Kershaw.