Another nod to the Metropolitan defense. If not for two first inning mis-plays, the Yankees get maybe one run rather than three.
With Jeter on second, Nick Swisher grounded to Daniel Murphy who threw to third instead of first, and both runners were safe. A couple batters later, Robbie Cano grounded into the first of his three double plays, only Murphy dropped the throw. On top of all that, Posada popped a ball into shallow centerfield only for the Mets middle-infielders to look at each other as the ball dropped in. The Yanks eventually scored their fourth run later that inning.
And how about Mo? Getting his 500th save and first RBI in the same game. What was Jerry Manuel thinking letting K-Rod pitch to Jeter instead of Rivera? Did he actually fall for the decoy of Cervelli on deck? Did he utterly not believe in K-Rod to throw strikes with the bases loaded?
One Yankee should be thanking his lucky stars they won this game: Robbie Cano. If the Yanks had lost, he would be getting killed - nay, destroyed right now. He went 0-4, was caught stealing, and left nine runners on base... nine! He hit into two double plays, and was only spared a third and fourth because of an error and the fact there were already two outs.
The Yanks went 1-8 with RISP and scored only four runs despite 11 walks.
Now for Wang; eh. I actually think he pitched better in Atlanta, but suffered bad luck; tonight he was very lucky to only give up two runs. He had good velocity but was often falling behind hitters and walked three. But he finally got into the sixth inning! Hughes looked great again in relief, throwing two hit-less innings. Then Mo came in for a four-out save and shut the door for #500 (only the second pitcher to do so).
It made me think how great it's been watching him. Not just that he's a great pitcher, but he's respectful, reserved - you never hear about him partying until 2 a.m., hooking up with mistresses on the road, getting into arguments with teammates, showing up the other team, etc. We're all lucky to have witnessed the greatest closer of all-time (not just on the field, but off too).
P.S.: Jesus Montero hit his first Double-A homer. May it be the first of many. He's now at .288/.356/.379 after 18 games.
- Not to be outdone is Austin Jackson, who hit his second Triple-A homer, raising his slugging average to .431.