Game 93 Wrap-Up: NYY 3 BAL 0

(Courtesy of the AP)

These interdivisional games are going to be crucial if the Yankees are going to have even the slightest hope of hanging around in the playoff races while Tanaka is on the shelf.  They blew a golden opportunity to take the opener against the Orioles on Friday when the offense couldn't come through again and wasted a great start by David Phelps.  Rookie Shane Greene was back on the hill yesterday for his second start of the week and he turned in another stellar performance of his own.  The offense didn't do much to help him either, but the bullpen was up to the task of securing the victory and sending the Yanks to a critical rubber match today.

Game Notes:

- The Yanks left 2 men on base in the top of the 2nd, and looked primed to do the same in the 3rd after Jacoby Ellsbury struck out looking.  Mark Teixeira lined a double to right to score 1 run and not totally waste the scoring chance, although Derek Jeter was gunned down at the plate to end the inning.

- Greene retired the first 10 Orioles he faced, using his hard sinker to generate lots of GB outs and set up his slider and curveball.  His first baserunner allowed came on a 1-out walk in the 4th and the Orioles didn't get their first hit until the 5th.

- That hit turned into 2, and Greene had to strike out Nick Hundley to halt that threat.  The O's put 2 more men on in the bottom of the 6th with no outs and once again Greene escaped with a GB double play and another K.

- With the lead intact, the offense came around to give him a little insurance in the top of the 7th.  Kelly Johnson singled, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Jeter single, and Ellsbury doubled to right to score Jeter and extend the lead to 3-0.

- Greene pitched into the 8th before giving way to the bullpen.  Shawn Kelley cleaned up David Huff's mess to end the 8th and David Robertson pitched a perfect 9th with 2 more strikeouts to save the win.  Impressive start, impressive finish.

F*ck Yeahs:

- Greene: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K.  This is definitely not the Shane Greene we saw in April and May.  He's gotten back into his comfort zone as a starter, his command has returned, and he's looked downright dominant in his first 2 MLB starts thanks to his sinker.  He throws it hard and throws it down in the zone and his 10 GB outs plus the 9 Ks is a testament to how good his location was with it yesterday.

- Top of the Order: Combined 4 hits, 4 BB, 2 R, and 3 RBI from the first 4 guys in the batting order, and that's without Brett Gardner contributing much of anything.  3 hits from Big Mac was pretty nice too.

Oh Nos:

- Ichiro/Brian Roberts: Combined 0-8, 2 K, 8 LOB.  And these guys were hitting 6th and 7th.  Shows how short and weak the lineup is right now.

- Rob Thomson: Jeter was thrown out at the plate to end the 3rd and Ellsbury was thrown out at the plate to end the 7th.  Why Thomson thought it was a good idea to send Ellsbury against Adam Jones is something I can't explain.

Next Up:

Series finale and final game before the ASB today, and it'll be Chase Whitley getting the spot start in Tanaka's place.  He'll face Baltimore rookie Kevin Gausman.  This game is almost a must-win.