Sunday, May 29, 2011

Bullpen Rests as Sabathia Helps Yankees Avoid a Sweep

If nothing about their first two games at Safeco Field qualified as relaxing for the Yankees, Custom Soccer Jerseys then Sunday allowed Manager Joe Girardi to sit in his figurative Adirondack chair, sip a tall glass of iced tea and just watch and enjoy.
His starter, C. C. Sabathia, worked eight innings to rest a taxed bullpen. Every member of the starting lineup contributed a hit, including three by Curtis Granderson. The Yankees scored first and, for a change, ac milan jersey did not return the lead. That combination produced a 7-1 victory against the Seattle Mariners, a welcome change from the misery that had defined their weekend.

In averting a three-game sweep, the Yankees avoided the problems that had knocked them out of first place in the American League East. After failing to take advantage of decent showings against the Mariners’ best pitchers, Michael Pineda and Felix Hernandez, they battered the left-hander Jason Vargas for six runs in three innings, with Andruw Jones delivering the decisive hit, arsenal jersey a bases-clearing double in the third.

No lead has been safe for the Yankees this series, from 3-0 on Friday night to 3-1 on Saturday, when a stalled comeback resulted in a 12-inning loss. The length of that game, combined with an early exit by Ivan Nova, forced Girardi to exhaust nearly his entire bullpen, using six of seven relievers. Three of them — Luis Ayala, Hector Noesi and Dave Robertson — were unavailable Sunday, chelsea jersey placing the burden on Sabathia to provide distance and excellence.

The Mariners were no match for Sabathia, who gave up a sixth-inning homer to Justin Smoak but little else. He struck out five while allowing five hits and three walks, two in the fifth inning when the Mariners loaded the bases with one out. But Sabathia induced a comebacker from Ichiro Suzuki, fired home for the force out before Francisco Cervelli completed the double play with a throw to first. Even though the Yankees were leading, 7-0, Sabathia pumped his fist and pointed at Cervelli as he walked off the field.

The Yankees went ahead, 1-0, in the second on a home run by Nick Swisher, before piling on Vargas in the third. After Granderson scored on a two-out single by Robinson Cano, his eighth hit in 12 career at-bats against Vargas, england soccer jersey Swisher drew a walk to load the bases for Jones. He ripped an outside fastball into the right-field corner, easily scoring Alex Rodriguez and Cano. Swisher also came around to score, ruled safe despite replays showing that catcher Chris Gimenez tagged him on the left arm as he slid by. The missed call cost the Mariners another run, when Eduardo Nunez followed by belting a triple into the gap in left-center field, driving in Jones to put the Yankees up, 6-0.

In his last two starts, spain soccer jersey Jones has homered twice and driven in seven runs, a surge likely to earn him regular playing time against left-handers and bury Jorge Posada deeper into a part-time role at designated hitter. With the Oakland left-handers Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez scheduled to work the final two games of the series that begins Monday, Girardi suggested that he would continue to rotate right-handed hitters like brazil soccer jersey Derek Jeter and Rodriguez into the D.H. spot, shifting Jones into outfield duty.

INSIDE PITCH

Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson are the first set of Yankees teammates to combine for at least 15 home runs during the team’s first 50 games since Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

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