Yanks Cruise in Game 1, 9-4. - N51_rob's Blog

N51_rob's Blog

Yanks Cruise in Game 1, 9-4.

Posted on April 17, 2012 at 12:08 AM.

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Baltimore, MD Brian Matusz did his best, pitched reasonably well. It wouldn't be enough though as the Orioles were mystified by Ian Nova's fastball, change-up combination and they fell to the Yankees 9-4 in front of a capacity crowd.

Matusz did his best in the early innings, working out of a jam in the first when he struck out Curtis Granderson and Mark Texeria following two one out singles. He was tagged by Raul Ibanez in 2nd for a solo home run, but managed to work out of the inning down only 1-0. In the 3rd an error allowed Jeter to reach base he struck out A-Rod, then got some defensive help when Adam Jones gunned down Jeter who was trying to go from 1st to third on a single.

The Oriole bats were struggling but managed to put runners in scoring position after singles by Hardy and Markakis, Jones sacrificed them over to 2nd and 3rd, with only one out. Nova fought back to sitdown Wieters and Betemit to end the inning and the threat. It was a common occurrence as Nova was able to change speeds effectively all game.

Matusz, got into trouble in the 6th inning, a single by Robinson Cano, followed by a ball that hit Matusz and bounced high in the air resulted in two on, and none out, Matusz missed his spot on a change up to Texeria who jumped on the pitch for a 3 run HR. Matusz was done as Pedro Strop came in. He served up a solo HR to Andrew Jones before retiring the side in the 6th.

Luis Ayala started the 7th out and it would be a nightmare for Ayala and the O's. Ayala watched a Alex Rodriguez took a tough pitchers pitch into right to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Ayala served up a gopher ball to Granderson for another 3 run home run and a 7-0 lead. Ayala would load the bases before geting out of the jam with a strike out if Ibanez.

Baltimore would score their first runs of the game in the bottom of the 7th. Adam Jones singled as moved to second on a fielders choice. He then scored when Betemit drove him in with an RBI single, Baltimore got another run, when following a Mark Reynolds walk to move Betemit to 2nd Chris Davis drove him in. The inning ended 8-2

It was all over from there. Adam Jones did manage to his his 2nd HR of the season. The Orioles continue to struggle with pitching. The team has shown an abilty to hit, the ball, but the failure to get outs, is becoming more and more problematic.

Baltimore and New York play game two tomorrow and Wei-Yin Chen makes his first MLB start against Freddy Garcia.

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