Yankees Top Angels, 11-5, On Jackie Robinson Day

The first series of the year in Yankee Stadium went according to plan as the Yankees took the rubber match 11-5 on Sunday night.

With the entire squad donning #42 on the backs of their jerseys, the Bombers wasted no time getting on the board early and often.

After Ivan Nova surrendered a second inning solo home run to Mark Trumbo, the Yankees rattled off eight consecutive runs before the Angels would respond. Raul Ibanez would knock home Robinson Cano in the bottom half of the second inning to knot the game 1-1.

Curtis Granderson would be credited with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the third to put New York up 2-1. Alex Rodriguez followed that with an RBI single, Cano worked a walk, Mark Teixeira doubled home Rodriguez and Nick Swisher's sacrifice fly would top off a four run inning to bring the score to 5-1.

Batting with Russell Martin and Brett Gardner on, Derek Jeter would slam his second home run of the season opposite field to blow the game wide open, 8-1. Jeter is 15 for 41 this season (.361) with two home runs and six RBI. He's struck out only three times in 43 plate appearances. He's also got four doubles.

Nova had another solid outing, going six innings allowing four earned runs on eight hits and two walks while fanning eight batters. He was tagged for two home runs, first by Trumbo and a two-run dinger by Chris Ianetta, but was overall effective. Nova has now won 14 consecutive decisions, tying Whitey Ford for third most consecutive wins by a Yankee pitcher in franchise history. Run support is a beautiful thing, my friends.

Rafael Soriano was less than stunning, pitching 2/3 the seventh inning while allowing two hits and two walks to force home a run and make the game 8-5 Yankees.

David Robertson would enter and retire Trumbo on a fly ball, cleaning up Soriano's mess and becoming a hero yet again. He'd also pitch a scoreless eighth inning.

The Bombers would add some insurance in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an RBI single by Swisher and a two-run mammoth shot off the bat of Ibanez, his second of the young season, to give us our 11-5 final score.

Boone Logan struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth, with Torii Hunter working a walk in-between strikeouts.

Comment of the game: pastor2b explains Japanese pitchers.