Source: FanGraphs
Can the Yankees play the Athletics all the time? Must be nice to be in the AL West, huh? The Yankees won their fourth straight with a 9-2 drubbing of Oakland on Saturday, giving them 26 runs in their last four games. They’d scored 25 runs in their previous nine games combined (two wins, seven losses). Let’s recap…
- Tex Power: With two homers (one to right, one to left-center) and two singles (one through the teeth of the shift), Mark Teixeira is now the proud owner of a 104 wRC+. It took 46 games, but he’s finally producing at a rate better than the league average. Tex has hit three homers in the first two games of the series and four in his last ten games. Welcome to 2012, buddy. We’ve missed you.
- CC Power: It wasn’t CC Sabathia’s best outing — two runs in the first three innings, including a solo homer by lefty Josh Reddick — but he settled down well and retired 11 of the final 12 men he faced on just 40 pitches (3.33 P/PA) after throwing 69 pitches to the first 18 batters (3.83 P/PA). His fastball command was off again and I can’t help but wonder if it’s related to the weight loss, like it’s throwing off his delivery or something. Sabathia had a similar issue last season before packing on a few pounds during the summer. That said, I’ll take two runs in seven innings all season.
- Misc. Power: Robinson Cano hit his second homer in as many games, third in four games, and fourth in eight games. He doubled and singled as well. Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, and Eric Chavez all had two hits apiece though Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez could only muster one walk each. Raul Ibanez didn’t reach base at all. The Yankees couldn’t do anything wrong offensively, they pushed runs across with singles and a sacrifice fly then blew it open late with the long ball. Should make everyone happy.
- Leftovers: Wasn’t a fan of Chris Stewart’s third inning bunt (surprise, surprise), but Jeter managed to single through the drawn in infield so it didn’t really matter … Cory Wade struck out two in a perfect eighth inning while Cody Eppley walked one in an otherwise uneventful ninth … the Yankees scored runs in six of nine innings, roughing up former teammate Bartolo Colon for six runs in his six innings … Granderson got caught stealing for the third time in four chances this year (what’s up with that?).
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs the nerd score, and ESPN the updated standings. The Yankees will look to complete the sweep on Sunday afternoon behind Hiroki Kuroda. Soft-tossing left-hander they’ve never seen before Tom Milone stands in their way.
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