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Ivan Nova went up against the reigning Cy Young and MVP winner Justin Verlander, and neither made it out of Yankee Stadium with a decision this evening. Nova's line was pretty ugly, giving up 11 hits and six earned runs over 5.1 innings, but what the line won't tell you is that absolutely nothing went Nova's way tonight. In the 3rd inning, four straight ground balls made it out of the infield for hits. A fly ball to left in the second inning was botched in true Raul Ibanez fashion, going for a triple. Shaky defense on the part of Robinson Cano also added to the tough luck night for Nova.
It's only fitting that another defensive miscue would win the game for the Yankees in the bottom of the 9th with Derek Jeter scoring on a passed ball with Alex Rodriguez at the plate. It was an ugly game, to be sure, but I'll take that result every time. With Joe West behind the plate, there were plenty of questionable calls to go around, one which got Joe Girardi tossed from the game after arguing over a Russell Martin strikeout. Pathetic and embarrassing.
Big offensive contributions came from Alex Rodriguez and Russell Martin, who each had a home run in the game. Nick Swisher doubled twice and Mark Teixeira drove in the game-tying run in the 8th inning with a sac-fly.
Boone Logan relieved Nova in the 6th inning, allowing a Prince Fielder RBI single with the run charged to Nova. Cory Wade followed with 1.1 scoreless innings, but threw in an error that luckily amounted to nothing. After that, the game was in the capable hands of David Robertson and Mariano Rivera, who allowed no hits and struck out three between them.
With the news coming through during the game that the Angels had released Bobby Abreu, who the Yankees tried to trade A.J. Burnett for this offseason, does anyone think that Cashman might be on the phone as we speak? If not, should he be? I just don't know how much more Raul Ibanez defense I can watch.
Comment of the Game: Let's Talk About Tex Baby who said what we were all hoping had come true.