Bombers Steal One
04/06/2007
The good news is that the New York Yankees are 2-0. They defeated the Royals last night, however not in the fashion that they would have liked. Trailing 6-3 as they went into the bottom of the 8th, the Bombers benefited from two Kansas City errors in the inning, which led to three of their four 8th inning runs. Those unearned runs allowed the Yankees to edge out a close, and probably undeserved, victory by a score of 7-6. Hideki Matsui led the charge, driving in the go-ahead run in the 8th, and going three for four at the plate. His performance earned him player of the game honors, as he drove in one and scored another. Derek Jeter also collected three hits for the Yanks, and Bobby Abreu hit the first New York homerun of the season as well, a solo shot in the 1st inning off of Kansas City starter Colt Griffin.
Griffin pitched well, keeping the Royals in the game with a strong performance. He allowed two earned runs over 4.2 innings, and left the game with a lead. Mike Mussina made the start for New York, and struggled at times, allowing five runs to cross the plate in just six innings of work. However, the Yankees bullpen of Joe Kennedy, Justin Speier and Mariano Rivera worked the final three innings while holding the Royals to just one run. Mariano’s save was his first of the season, and was a 1-2-3 effort with two strikeouts. Speier earned the win, despite giving up a run during an inning of work, thanks to the New York rally in the bottom of the 8th. The Yankees will wrap up their series with the Royals this afternoon, as Andy Pettitte returns to the Yankee rotation to take on Odalis Perez.
Yankees – 7 - 12 - 2
Royals – 6 - 9 - 3
WP: Justin Speier (1-0)
LP: David Riske (0-1)
S: Mariano Rivera (1)