A month ago, if I had seen this series on the schedule, I would have said “easy sweep.” Something has happened in Miami though and the Marlins have been one of the hottest teams in baseball. Fortunately, the Yankees took care of business and at least won the series. And what turned into a three game, three day series turned into a game on Friday and two on Sunday because of the rain out on Saturday.
On Friday, Chien-Ming Wang was given a three game lead in the fifth inning and while the Marlins crept back into the game, they fell a run short. Wang is now 8-3 and he gave up four runs on nine hits in seven innings of work. Kyle Farnsworth made things interesting and he gave up a run in the eighth, but Mariano Rivera did his job and pitched a perfect ninth for his fifteenth save of the season. Jorge Posada drove in three runs and Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi scored twice.
In game one on Sunday, Mike Mussina outdueled Dontrelle Willis. Mussina gave up a single run on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in seven innings. Once again, Kyle Farnsworth made things interesting and he loaded up the bases in the eighth but he got out of his own jam. Rivera was lights out and he picked up save 16. The only offense came from Jason Giambi, who homered and drove in two runs.
In game two, the kids got the better of us although three unearned runs helped out the Marlins’ cause. Some rookie (Anibal Sanchez) made his first start of his career and shutout the Yankees over almost six innings. Shawn Chacon pitched well, but not well enough and Derek Jeter had two hits in the 5-0 loss.
The Red Sox have won eight straight and we’re now 2 1/2 games back. Even worse, Robinson Cano might be the latest casualty. It might be time for Brian Cashman to pull the trigger and make deal. Regardless, next up are the last place Braves (sounds weird saying that) so hopefully the Yankees can roll over them.
