In between the Pinstripes #18

In between the Pinstripes_18: Runs at a premium
Well that’s one way to set up a rubber match in Pittsburgh. To say that “the bats came alive late” would be an understatement about the bombers. The Pirates did make a few errors that helped the Yankees balloon the lead up to 11-5. The bullpen did work a little extra, but with all the large margins in games recently, the pen had to get in some work today.

Chris Carter finally hit a home run, and an important one at that. Carter hit a 3-run pinch hit bomb that gave an 8-5 lead at the time. Carter has been extremely underwhelming in limited action and has lived up to his pace of 200+ strike outs. Hopefully this is a preview of what’s to come over the course of the season.

Michael Pineda didn’t have a great outing, but it didn’t matter at the end of the day. Pineda’s finally line was: 5 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 6 strike outs. Pineda was on the hook for the loss when he left the game, but lucky for him a 5 spot in the Top of the 6th gave Pineda a no decision. Holder and Clippard had a rough go of it, going a combined 1.1 innings, giving up 2 runs, on 3 hits, and a walk. Betances settled things down, going 0.2 innings, ending the 7th which would lead to yet another 5 spot in the Top of the 8th. Betances got credited for the win his second and just a good overall team win for the bombers tonight.

In a game full of offense (11 runs of offense), the Focus Player of the Day has to be from the power surge in the Steel City. It isn’t every day that the number 8 hitter has the best day out of the entire lineup, but that’s exactly what Ronald “Speedy Gonzalez” Torreyes. Torreyes went 4-5 with 2 RBI’s, and a run scored. For that he is the Focus Player of the Day. There will be a real discussion when Didi comes back about taking Torreyes bat out the lineup just based off the production that the bombers have gotten from him to start the season.  

Looking ahead to the rubber match tomorrow afternoon, this game is going to be hard for me personally. The Yankees face former bomber Ivan Nova for the first time, and to see one of my favorite Yankees in another uniform will be tough for the first couple of innings. Nova this season is 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 3 starts and is coming off a loss against the Cardinals. Nova didn’t pitch bad, going 8 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs, striking out 3 and walking none. His opposition is the rookie southpaw Jordan Montgomery for the Yankees, and well he just seems to get better with each start. Montgomery got his first Major League win against the White Sox last start going: 6 innings, giving up 7 hits, 3 runs, and striking out 4. We will see how long Montgomery goes being that it is a National League park and the previous starters (Sabathia and Pineda) couldn’t get passed the 5th inning. But, the Yankees won and won big—so you can “Start spreading the news,” and get ready for a good rubber match tomorrow afternoon.
Sources:(mlb.com)

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