Yankees 6, Rays 4: Twas a Win

Well, uh, that game was something that happened.

You can't really say it was a great pitching performance. Hiroki Kuroda went through five innings pretty impressively, before unraveling in the 6th. It was mostly good, but it wasn't great. You can't say it was a great offensive performance either. Other than one big inning, the offense didn't look great, but the big inning still happened, and that can't be taken away. This game was just a win. And that's perfectly okay.

After the first inning, it looked as if the game might turn into a pitchers duel with both pitchers striking out the side. Kuroda struck out seven in the first three innings, and looked headed towards another big game. The offense also looked to be headed towards a big game after the third inning.

Eduardo Nunez walked to start the inning. He stole second and was driven in by a Derek Jeter single (single, but he advanced to second on thanks to a throw home). Nick Swisher moved Jeter over to third on a bunt. Alex Rodriguez continued his hot hitting driving Jeter home. He also somehow continues leading the Yankees in stolen bases. He stole third, (after he had already advanced to second on a wild pitch) as Robinson Cano walked. Russell Martin brought them both in with a home run, that ended up being all the Yankees needed.

Kuroda's unraveling began in the fourth, giving up a home run to Ben Zobrist on the very first pitch. The Yankees got that run back for him in the bottom half. Eduardo Nunez reached on a infield single, and stole both second and third bases, and was brought home by an Alex Rodriguez sac fly.

Kuroda fully unraveled in the top of the sixth, however. He walked number nine hitter Jose Lobaton to start the inning. Desmond Jennings then got on thanks to a groundball single. It was a bit more complicated than that though. It probably should have been a double play, but that ball appeared to take a weird hop which caused Alex to misplay the ball, leaving everyone safe. Zobrist then walked to load the bases with no outs. Longoria singled, driving in two. Kuroda did get a double play against Matt Joyce, but Zobrist scored from third, and suddenly the comfy lead was just two runs. Kuroda escaped the rest of the inning without trouble.

Other than Matt Joyce getting ejected for arguing balls and strikes, the rest of the game was fairly uneventful with both bullpens doing their jobs.

Good Thought

• No one can really argue that Eduardo Nunez's defense can be irritating, but he is really fun to watch when he gets on base

Bad Thoughts

• Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones are really, really bad. Like The Next Karate Kid bad. (Hilary Swank as Miyagi's next protege? Cmon. CMON.)
• That dude who interfered with Steve Pearce in the sixth inning is a twunt.

No matter what the Orioles do today, the Yankees will be in first as they go to sleep tonight. After an off day tomorrow, the Blue Jays come to Yankee Stadium for three games.

Box Score, Graph Thingy