Yankees Open The Floodgates With Offensive Barrage, Streak At 7
The Yankees opened the floodgates at Yankees Stadium last night with an offensive storm against the flightless Cardinals with a bird of their own that finally took off, nailing down their seventh straight win.
The Yankees seemed to grasp that it was only a matter of time before their sputtering offense would take hold to join the pitching party the team is hosting at Yankee Stadium.
And so it was that last night the team put on a show before a National TV audience, issuing a wake-up call to a country that hasn’t heard from the Yankees in a while. Oh yes, we’re back.Thirteen hits and seven walks producing nine runs
Thirteen hits, including home runs by MIA first baseman Greg Bird and Aaron Hicks, together with seven walks yielded nine runs as the Yankees won their seventh straight.
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Pitching? Of course, there was pitching. Of late, you wouldn’t expect anything less, and Michael Pineda did not disappoint tossing six almost perfect innings, allowing only six hits and two runs in recording his second win of the season.
The performance by Pineda, who gave his team a second consecutive quality start, would, under normal circumstances, be enough for the team to host a party.
And all you need to know about Pineda last night is that he threw first-pitch strikes to 23 of the 27 batters he faced.
But the real cause for celebration lay in the return of that sweet swing from Greg Bird, who went 3-3 plus a walk that raised his batting average by a hundred points overnight.
The Yankees, and in particular, Joe Girardi, were determined to keep running Bird out there, knowing that it was only a matter of time that a player who can hit, will hit. Girardi tells CBS Local.com:
"“I think he has to play through this to get to the other side,” Girardi said. “There’s a little bit of a track record, and we really believe that he’s going to hit.”"
His use of the term “other side” is interesting as Bird’s disappearance from the lineup was always filled with mystery and intrigue, especially given the torrid rate he hit at during the preseason. Girardi, who is fast becoming the
Girardi, who is rapidly becoming the Yankees guru for all things baseball this season, had seen a few things on Saturday from Bird that told him last night was on the horizon, but until you see it, in this game you never know.
Video Courtesy of the YES Network
Hits were spread up and down the lineup last night, and only Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury were unable to contribute.
Chase Headley, who is looking more and more like someone who is out to prove that all that talk over the winter was just a waste of newsprint, had two more hits last night, raising his average to .410. Is he going to hit .400 this year? Probably not, but his start this season erases any doubt that the team would again have to cope with a Headley who hit .150 with no extra base bits for the entire month of April last year.
Turning The Page
The Chicago White Sox (6-5) arrive at the Stadium tonight to begin a three-game set with the Yankees. The team will not face the big left-hander, Jose Quintana, in the series that will conclude with a night game on Wednesday before the Yankees fly to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates at PNC Park.
James Mongomery gets his second big league start tonight, and he’ll be followed by Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka.
On paper, these should be easy wins for a team on a seven-game win streak which will be playing at home before adoring crowds. But the pressure that comes from winning is often the same as the pressure that comes from losing. So, the Yankees need to be careful these next few days.
The fact that they have three starting pitchers going in the series, each with something to prove, should help the team stay focused.