Bart out-pitched Verlander! Who'd have thunk that a month ago?
Jim Leyland rode his ace through six innings and 127 pitches, but he walked four and allowed eight hits, leading to three runs. The Yankees really should've scored more than thrice against Verlander, but they went 2-14 with RISP. Conversely, Bartolo Colon was rarely in trouble. He didn't walk one batter and struck out seven. Two of the three runs he conceded came via solo homers by Alex Avila. His low pitch count allowed him to complete seven innings with fewer than 100 pitches. He again flashed a low to mid-90s fastball with crazy 2-seam movement, inducing 10 groundouts against two flyouts. Of his 97 pitches, all but six were fastballs.
The offense sputtered after getting to Verlander early. Jorge Posada lined a bases-loaded double in the first that scored two, then a Brett Gardner single and Eduardo Nunez double led to the third run. But they waited to score again until the ninth. Hopefully the two hits apiece (including a double) from Swisher and Posada signal the end of their slumps.
A lot of credit should go to Curtis Granderson for his 12-pitch leadoff AB in the ninth against Jose Valverde, which seemed to mess him up - he followed with a four-pitch walk, two singles and a wild pitch that helped the Yanks get their fourth and fifth runs.
The "Seventh Inning Guy" (Joba) pitched the eighth inning (what's the world coming to?!) and looked dominant, tossing 10 of 14 pitches for strikes, reaching 98 MPH on the radar gun. Mo was Mo in the ninth.
Play of the Game: Nick Swisher's ninth inning single that scored the go-ahead run, scoring Mark Teixeira from second (31%).
Comment of the Game: Jedi Master A-Rod