Game 65 Wrap-Up: NYY 6 SEA 3

(Courtesy of the AP)

Well how do you like them apples?  I wasn't expecting more than 1 win in this series, if I'm being honest.  The Yankees have been absolutely brutal to watch for the last 2-3 weeks and the Mariners were playing pretty good ball.  But behind another outstanding start from Chase Whitley and another encouraging offensive performance, they pulled off the road sweep.

Game Notes:

- Didn't want long to score again last night.  Derek Jeter singled to right in the top of the 1st and 4 pitches later the scorching hot Jacoby Ellsbury laced a 2-run homer into the right field seats to put the Yanks up early.

- Whitley gave 1 back in the bottom of the 2nd when he hung a first-pitch slider to Logan Morrison.  There's his first MLB home run allowed, exactly as I predicted.

- His offense got him that run back and then some in the 3rd on an Alfonso Soriano 2-run double, then tacked another on in the 4th on a leadoff walk, a base hit, a sac bunt, and an RBI single by Jeter.  Where did this offensive flexibility come from?

- Whitley did give up 1 more run, but set a new career best by working into the 8th and leaving with 2 outs so Matt Thornton could face Robinson Cano.  Of course Thornton walked him, but he recovered to get Kyle Seager out.

- Thornton handed over to Shawn Kelley for the 9th.  In his first appearance since coming off the DL, Kelley gave up back-to-back 1-out doubles for the third Seattle run, forcing Joe to use D-Rob for the save.


F*ck Yeahs:

- Ellsbury: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3 LOB.  4th home run of the season, on base multiple times again, and made an outstanding running catch at the wall to rob Cano of a double.  He did leave the game late with hip tightness, but Joe said it's nothing and that he will play tonight.

- Jeter: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB.  Went 7-12 in this series after looking like a bag of smashed assholes since late April.  Is it something left in the tank or just a sputter?

- Whitley: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.  No walks.  That's the key.  You can live with home runs when you don't walk batters and make them multi-run home runs.  Just ask Tanaka.  But seriously, why was Whitley not a starter all along?

Oh Nos:

- Yangervis Solarte: 0-4, 2 K, 3 LOB.  I suppose it's not the worst thing in the world that his importance has been minimized recently.

Next Up:

Yanks stay on the West Coast for a 3-game weekend series in Oakland.  David Phelps and Sonny Gray are the scheduled starters for tonight's series opener.