July 8-9 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY
YES Network
Wednesday's game belonged to Mark Teixeira, who ripped a pair of solo home runs (they looked nearly identical in pitch type, location and where the ball landed in the right field seats) and made a number of great plays in the field in the Yankees' 5-4 win.
It also marked the return of Jacoby Ellsbury and Andrew Miller from the disabled list. Those two are extremely important to New York's playoff chances and Ellsbury looked fine playing his first game since May 19 (1-for-4, infield single), while Miller looked rusty. The southpaw gave up a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to Marcus Semien, which turned a 5-2 lead into a one-run game.
Stephen Drew had a nice at bat and launched a solo home run in the eighth. I'm happy he hit it because it turned out to be the winning run, but it also didn't help his chances of being removed from the roster any time soon. Baseball is full of mixed emotions.
The rubber game also went to the Yankees, 6-2. The highlights:
1. Masahiro Tanaka looked destined for a short, horrific outing when he allowed two runs in the second, but the right-hander was dominant the rest of the way. Tanaka went 7 2/3 innings and allowed just two hits (both in that second) and an earned run, retiring 18 of the last 19 batters he faced (Billy Butler struck out in the fourth, but reached on a wild pitch).
2. Brett Gardner not only had three more hits, including a solo home run, but was named to the AL all star team to replace the injured Alex Gordon. It's the first all-star nod in Gardner's eight years as a big leaguer.
3. With Miller and Betances both unavailable, Chasen Shreve and Adam Warren handled the set up/closer duties just fine, combining to get the final four outs to preserve Tanaka's gem.
4. In Ellsbury's second game back, he again looked healthy and his single in the fourth brought home two and turned out to be the winning runs.
Baseball Phrases with Al Leiter
"Show pitch"
"Pulled the string" (said twice)
"Plus-pitch/"plus-stuff"
"He smelled a hit"
"Emergency hack/swing" (3)
"A boatload of scouts"
"Closers: it's a different animal"
"The it-factor"
"Good baseball man"
"Table setters"
"His repertoire is what it is"
I had a repertoire once, you know.
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