Game 154 Wrap-Up: NYY 5 SF 1

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As recently as 2011, if your buddy told you he had tickets to watch CC Sabathia and Tim Lincecum pitch you would have been pissed that he didn't you.  Today, you'd probably come up with an excuse to not watch Sabathia and Lincecum pitch if he did invite you.  It's been a quick transition to below-average for these 2 former Cy Young winners, and the jury is still out on whether either of them can or will turn it around going forward.  They were getting the ball for their teams last night to start Mariano Rivera's final homestand, and CC could have given him a going away present with a vintage Sabathia outing.

Game Notes:

- The Yanks got on the board early with another Alfonso Soriano home run.  He went the other way to lead off the bottom of the 2nd and parked one over the short fence in right.

- Sabathia danced around a pair of baserunners in each of the first 2 innings, but couldn't erase a leadoff walk in the top of the 3rd.  Juan Perez doubled in a run on a poorly-located sinker and the game was tied at 1.

- Both Sabathia and Lincecum settled themselves down after the 3rd and kept the game tied into the 7th.  They each gave up a hit here or a walk there, hardly the type of dominance they used to display on their best days, but 1 run in 6 innings from these guys these days is a big deal.

- The Yankees set themselves up nicely in the bottom of the 7th with an Eduardo Nunez single and stolen base, a Brendan Ryan HBP, and a big 2-out walk to Ichiro.  Alex Rodriguez strode to the plate, bad legs and all, to face former Yankee prospect George Kontos.

- Kontos threw him 4 straight fastballs and A-Rod timed up the last one just right to hit it out of the park to right-center and give the Yanks a 5-1 lead.  If they were still seriously in the playoff race, it would have been the biggest hit of the year by far.

- With a 4-run lead in the late innings, Joe went to his bullpen horses.  David Robertson coaxed a double play ball to start the 8th and struck out Buster Posey to end it, and Mo went 1-2-3 in the 9th without the ball ever leaving the infield.


F*ck Yeahs:

- A-Rod: 1-4, HR, 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 K, 1 LOB.  Everybody knows how much he's struggling at the plate right now, which made the HR all the more unexpected and awesome.  It also broke the tie with Lou Gehrig for most grand slams all time.  Alex now stands alone atop that mountain at 24.

- CC: 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.  It wasn't quite vintage CC, but it was a much better outing than what he's typically produced in the second half.  That line looks more like the type of line vintage CC would have turned in on an off day.  1 run in 7 innings is still 1 run in 7 innings.  I ain't complaining.

Oh Nos:

- Cano & C-Grand: Combined 0-8, 3 K, 2 LOB.  Thanks for showing up, fellas.

Next Up:

Game 2 of the series is this afternoon, only 5 more at home for Mo.  Ivan Nova and Ryan Vogelsong are the scheduled starters.