This was an exciting game to watch, but also an excruciatingly painful one for those who love an old fashioned pitcher's duel. The two teams combined for 17 runs and 26 hits, 7 of those leaving the yard. It was also a day of good news and bad news. Bad news first.
Phil Hughes didn't have it today. He fell behind, left pitches up in the zone, and when he got ahead, couldn't put hitters away. He lasted only 4 innings, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits and two walks. Miguel Cabrera took him deep twice on pitches he simply did not locate or execute well.
Bartolo Colon replaced Hughes in the 5th and immediately served up a two run homer to Brennan Boesch. He would allow two more runs, but settled down in the 7th and 8th. His final line: 4 IP, 6 hits, 4 runs, and 5 strike outs. Joba Chamberlain would come on to pitch the 9th, giving up a run on 3 hits, striking out 1.
Now the good news.
The Yankee offense combined for 12 hits and scored 7 runs. Jorge Posada homered twice, Tex hit his 3rd homer of the season, and Robinson Cano added another that barely made it over the right field wall. Nick Swisher was 3-3 with two walks, and Russell Martin went 3-4.
It seems like everything coming off Mark Teixeira's bat has been hit hard. I love what I've seen from him so far, and I'm curious to see if he can continue his play throughout April. The same goes for A-Rod. He's healthy, locked in, and scorching the baseball.
It has to be awesome for Yankee pitchers to know that their offense will be there to pick them up, but they can't expect them to score 11 runs. If you told me the Yankees would have 12 hits, with four of them leaving the yard, and they would still lose, I wouldn't have believed you.
Overall, as a Yankee fan, you have to love what you've seen from the lineup so far. However, after today, questions about the pitching will pour in, despite the small sample size.
Play of the game: Jorge Posada's homer in the 5th inning upped the Yankees chances of winning by 18%.
Comment of the game: MattF15's reference to Oprah.
Answers to the questions of the day: 2003, the Blue Jays, and Mike Mussina.