Controversy And Celebrations Top This Week In New York Yankees Baseball

Hello there, everybody! The New York Yankees season is only in the its second week, and controversy has found the Boys from the Bronx already.

More on that in a minute. But first, Derek Jeter celebrated passing Paul Molitor to grab eighth place on the all-time MLB hits list with a 2-for-5 performance as the Yankees opened the week with a 6-4 win over Toronto. Congratulatios Derek!

The Yankees got six quick runs as CC Sabathia picked up his first win of the season.¨It´s the beginning of the season and everyone’s trying to get adjusted,¨Sabathia said. ¨To be able to split these games is good going home…¨

So the Yankees did head home for the opener at Yankee Stadium and continued the celebration. This time the Core Four got together in honor of Jeter’s final home opener with a first-pitch ceremony that delighted the Yankees’ faithful. Hiroki Kuroda scattered eight hits in 6.1 innings to squelch any idea the Baltimore Orioles may have had in breaking up the party.

Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-for-4 and Alfonso Soriano showed signs of getting on track. Soriano went 2-for-3 helping Kuroda beat Ubaldo Jimenez 4-2.

Ellsbury and Soriano were at it again on Tuesday with six hits between them, but Baltimore crushed Ivan Nova and won 14-5. Nova surrendered ten hits and seven earned runs in just 3.2 innings. Manager Joe Girardi attributed Nova’s struggles to a sinker that didn’t have a lot of sink and a curve that wasn’t sharp.

Nova explained: ¨It ´s my consistency. Maybe my release point is not the same every time. So it’s something I have to work on.¨

So when Girardi handed the ball to Masahiro Tanaka on Wednesday, he was looking for a strong outing to give the bullpen some rest. Tanaka didn’t disappoint, striking out ten in seven innings. The Orioles swung and missed on 22 of Tanaka´s 101 pitches. But they also pushed across three runs against him, and two more against the Yankees’ ‘pen, to win 5-4. Brett Gardner went 2-for-4 and Carlos Beltran went 3-for-3 with a home run.

That set up the week’s big controversy. Michael Pineda struck out seven in six-plus innings as the Yankees bounced back to beat Boston 4-1 on Thursday. After a close-up camera shot seemed to reveal a substance on Pineda’s hand, he dismissed the accusation that it was pine tar.

¨I don’t use pine tar. It’s dirt, Pineda said.  ¨I’m sweating too much in between innings.¨

Apr 10, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Michael Pineda (35) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees looked for back-to-back wins against the Sox on Friday. But after Soriano homered for a 1-0 lead, Sabathia gave up two homers, including a three-run shot by  Grady Sizemore, as Boston won 4-2.

So it was a week of celebrations and controversy. And as always, the Yankees are in the middle of both. That’s a sign of an exciting year.

How about that!