Teixeira Leads Yanks over Mariners
On a night where the New York lineup missed the presence of Alex Rodriguez, who sat Friday night to rest, the middle of the order came up clutch and took down the Seattle Mariners. With his second game deciding home run of the week, Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira went 1-3, with the biggest blast coming in the top of the ninth, off of Mark Lowe. A night removed from CC Sabathia’s best performance of the year, Andy Pettitte pitched six solid innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs. The bullpen was the story for the Yanks, as Brian Bruney, Phil Hughes, and Mariano Rivera combined to throw three scoreless innings to bring the win home for New York.
With the bats missing home run threat Alex Rodriguez, the lineup still produced, everyone except Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui had a hit. Going into the top of the ninth, the score was deadlocked and Lowe looked to have another solid inning in a year where the 26 year old reliever has compiled a 3.08 ERA. Lowe wasn’t effective as the first batter he faced in the inning went yard with Mark Teixeira rounding the bases to give the Yankees the lead. Teixeira, who is the leading candidate for AL MVP, only strengthened his case for the award, hitting his 30th home run and racking up his 86th RBI. Derek Jeter also had a solid game, going 1-4 and keeping his batting average at .318, an average tops among AL shortstops beside Jason Bartlett. Nick Swisher came up clutch in the ninth, providing some insurance with a blooper in the ninth which scored Jorge Posada to give Rivera a two run lead, something #42 would never give up.
Leading 4-2 in the last inning, Rivera wasted no time, throwing nine pitches and getting three outs without giving up a hit. For the Yankees, Friday’s win only strengthens the hope for fans for a World Series championship in 2009 as the team rallied around their best player and won even without Rodriguez. If the starters can get at least into the seventh inning with a lead, they should expect to get the victory as the bullpen has been excellent this half of the season. With Rivera picking up his 34th save of the season, a Major League best, the Yankees improve to 73-43, the best in baseball.
