Well, you can’t have a Cliff Lee take the mound everyday. The Cleveland Indians showed some signs of being human today, as they gave up numerous home runs to Yankee batters. They were a different team out there. Without their ace(s) on the mound, the Indians take on a different look, at least not as confident for sure. Can you blame them? Who wouldn’t be confident (cocky even) if your pitcher won’t even allow base runners, let alone runs?
But it was another story today, as the Yankees faced Paul Byrd. They took some time mounting an attack, as they didn’t score their first run until the 4th inning. But once they scored that run, it was like the flood gates opened, and they started launching the ball all over the park. Byrd was hit hard and often after that. He ended up lasting 6.1 innings, after giving up 8 hits, 5 earned runs on 3 homers, giving him his third lose of the year.
Mussina won his forth straight, going 5 innings, giving up 4 hits, and 3 earned runs. He pitched well, and again, well enough to give the offense a chance to win it, which they did. The offense gets the “most valuable” in this one, with a barrage of homers throughout the game.
Here is how it looked in the box score provided by MLB.com/yankees:
HR: Damon (5, 4th inning off Byrd, 0 on, 0 out), Giambi (6, 4th inning off Byrd, 1 on, 2 out), Cano (4, 7th inning off Byrd, 0 on, 1 out), Betemit (1, 7th inning off Kobayashi, 0 on, 1 out).
This is exactely what you want to see if you are a Yankee fan. The offense just needs to build on this, and a .500 record (18-18) can be a thing of the past. Next up are those dreaded Tigers out of Detroit. This is the team that swept them at home only a week ago. Hopefully they can return the favor, starting tomorrow in Detroit.
