Pitching, Hitting, Defense—Check, Check, and Check
By Cole Hoyt, Contributing Writer and Loyal Yankees Fan
The American League East’s first place New York Yankees completed the three game series sweep of the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night. The rain had no effect on the Yankees win, but the lighting was a spectacular sight to see.
Curtis Granderson added some special effects of his own in the sixth inning with a towering shot to the right field bleachers at Turner Field. The win Wednesday put the Yankees one game up on the chasing Baltimore Orioles.
Within the last four games, three of the Yankees “W’s” were on account of Yankees bats who homered to secure the lead. More importantly, the Yankees bullpen has been phenomenal, and now boasts the second best E.R.A. in the American league at 2.75.
Yankees rookie Cody Eppley as well as Rafael Soriano came up big with a combined total of three scoreless innings. Eppley came into a jam in the seventh inning of the ballgame with runners on the corners and less than two outs. When commenting on the young pitchers after Wednesday night’s win, Manager Joe Girardi told reporters:
“We’re putting these guys in situations that they probably didn’t expect to be in, some of them, this year.” (courtesy New York Times)
With runners on first and third, and only one down, Yankees fans held their breath as the game was put into the rookie’s hands.
Tuesday night was a big milestone for interim closer, Rafael Soriano. With the help of Alex Rodriguez’s late game grand slam, Soriano recorded his 100th save. Only about 500 more to go to pass his predecessor Mariano Rivera, who is the Major League Baseball’s all-time saves leader.
Yankees fans are begging to have Joe Girardi start catcher Russell Martin behind the dish again. In the last eight games in which Martin has started, the Yankees starting pitchers are at a perfect 7-0. Just as impressive is the 1.25 earned run average achieved during the same time frame.
Yankees will start Phil Hughes against the red hot Washington Nationals.
The buzz around the 19-year old rookie sensation, Bryce Harper is worthy. Harper’s .303 batting average and 19 runs-batted-in are something that the Yankees are keeping in mind when planning their attack.
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The Nationals record at (38-23) is something that no sports fan could have predicted. The Yankees (37-25) plan on keeping their winning streak alive, that’s for sure!
Pinstripes fans are bursting with joy because the Yankees take on the Braves after the weekend series at Nationals Park for an early-week three-game series. And the good news keeps coming. The Yankees will take on the struggling Braves at home. If the Yankees execute a similar game plan, fans should look forward to a back-to-back sweep of Atlanta.
Understanding that it is easier said than done, if the Yankees continue to dominate on the mound, times are looking very, very good for Yankees fans. On Friday, the Yankees will take on Gio Gonzalez whose record is an impressive 8 wins and 2 losses. Yankees hitters plan to keep on hitting, and hope to raise the bar on Gonzalez’s 2.35 E.R.A.
With the Yankees stellar fielding, incredible pitching, and productive hitting, the Yankees can beat any team in the league.