Doug Davis Dominates: Cubs 3, Yankees 1

Doug Davis entered this game 0-5 with a 5.90 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. He had walked 18 batters and allowed 36 hits in just 29 innings pitched this season. He hadn't won a game since May 5th, 2010, and hadn't completed seven innings of work since October of 2009.

So, it was only fitting that he would exit this afternoon's game after 7.1 shut out innings. Only Robinson Cano's grounder and Eduardo Nunez's infield single allowed a Yankee to reach base via a hit until Nick Swisher's 1 out double in the eighth inning finally chased Davis.

Sean Marshall came on to replace Davis and struck out Curtis Granderson, but Mark Teixeira singled home the Yankees' first run and gave Davis his only earned run of the game.

Teixeira's single chased Marshall and allowed Alex Rodriguez to come to the plate as the tying run, but Carlos Marmol struck him out with a fastball out of the zone after throwing four straight sliders.

In the ninth, the Yanks had runners on first and second with two outs, but Chris Dickerson struck out to end the game. You have to wonder how this inning would have wound up had Reed Johnson not robbed Cano of a lead off hit to start the ninth.

On the other side of the ball, Freddy Garcia pithed relatively well. In the first inning, Garcia allowed an RBI double to Starlin Castro on a ball that Granderson misplayed, and also allowed an RBI single to Aramis Ramirez. Ramirez would also drive in the Cubs' final run in the bottom of the third.

After Ramirez's RBI single, Garcia settled down and retired eleven Cubs in a row before miscommunication allowed Tony Campana to reach base on a drag bunt. After the bunt, Garcia retired the next four Cubs he faced before giving way to Luis Ayala in the eighth, who pitched a perfect inning.

It was a tough loss, but the Yankees had their chances. They went 1-6 with runners in scoring position and the team left eight men on base. 

Tomorrow, A.J. Burnett will take on Ryan Dempster in another afternoon game as the Yanks try to even this series.

Box Score.

Play of the Game: Castro's first inning double.

Comment of the Game: This one goes to IGYAR (correct me if I'm wrong and I'll fix it) for a comment he made during his broadcast. Special thanks to Yankees2 for transcribing it.