This Week In New York Yankees Baseball

Hello there, everybody. Welcome to This Week In New York Yankees Baseball! An otherwise marvelous week for the Boys from the Bronx ended in a thud on Friday night.

There was joy in Yankeeland on Sunday as the Yanks beat the Red Sox 3-2 to win the series with the Sox . Ivan Nova straightened out his control woes with seven-plus strong innings, allowing Boston only two runs. Unlike his previous start, his sinker was sinkin´and his curve was curvin´. Best of all, he had no walks, showing that he was back in command.

Carlos Beltran provided the big bat for the Bombers. He had three hits in all. While that comes as no surprise to Yankees fans, Beltran did find himself playing first base after Francisco Cervelli injured himself hustling down the first base line. Cervelli´s hustle paid off when a challenge by manager Joe Girardi resulted in Cervelli being ruled safe to keep the inning alive and allowing the Yankees to score.

After Tuesday´s game was postponed due to weather, the Yankees had a rare doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs. Masahiro Tanaka, who already hurt Cubs´fans feelings by spurning them to play for the Yankees, made them even more despondent by striking out ten in the Yankees 3-0 win.

That gave Tanaka 28 strike outs in his first three starts, a Yankees record! Tanaka surpassed Al Leiter´s 25 strike outs in 1987. And once again it was Beltran who led the way on offense with a solo home run in the fourth inning.

In the second game, Michael Pineda pitched six strong innings,  as the Yankees won 2-0 to complete the double- shut out sweep.

On Thursday, the Yankees headed to the familiar confines of Tampa Bay to take on the Rays. CC Sabathia persevered through seven innings, allowing only one earned run to earn his second win.

Offensively, it was the ¨S and S¨ boys, Yangervis Solarte and Alfonso Soriano, who lit up the scoreboard. Soriano went three for five with a homer, and Solarte matched him by going three for five with his first MLB home run.

And the Yanks appeared to be on their way again Friday night. But after jumping out to a 4-0 lead over the Rays, the bullpen faltered. Yankees´relievers entered the game with 15 1/3 scoreless innings. But Adam Warren and Cesar Cabral allowed seven runs combined, as the Rays won 11-5.

It was particularly difficult for Cabral. After bouncing  numerous pitches in the dirt and hitting three batters, he was ejected. I guess it´s one, two, three batters hit and you´re out of the old ball game! Hopefully, Cabral was designated for assignment with an hour after the game ending!

But the bottom line is the Yankees finished the week right where they want to be, in first place, a game ahead of Baltimore and Toronto. How about that!