Yankees Win First Series of Year

The Good

Tanaka and Pineda were very good in their first starts of the season.  Tanaka pitched 7 innings allowing 3 runs (2 earned) and striking out 8, Pineda pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball striking out 5.  Tanaka got a win, and Pineda took a loss, but it was a good sign for these two pitchers.

Ellsbury seemingly woke up this weekend having 3 hits on both Friday and Saturday.  Guys like Ichiro and Solarte are providing a lot of offense for the team early on.  One of the most encouraging signs is how often this team is running.  Ellsbury, Gardner, Roberts and Ichiro stole 7 bases over the weekend.  That's a very different look for this team.

It also turns out that we have a decent bullpen.  With the exception of David Phelps' outing, a game we were going to lose anyway since we couldn't score a run, our bullpen pitched 5 shutout innings and recorded it's second save under Robertson.

The Bad

Teixeira is on the 15-day DL.  On Friday night he messed up his hamstring while participating in baseball related activities.

The Ugly

This may not be as ugly as it first appears, but Sabathia ended up going 6 innings and allowing 4 runs last night, far from the ace-like expectations we have of him.  It may not be as bad as it looks because through 5 innings, Sabathia had allowed just 1 run, and then unraveled in the 6th.  It could still be early enough in the season where he is still figuring out how to pitch deep into games.  We'll see in his next start how he does.

Finally, RJG Is For The Children

After what seemed like an eternity, the Yankees hit their first homerun, dumping 2 whole dollars into the Children's Health Fund coffers.  Thank you Brett Gardner.

Brett Gardner 1hr = $2

Total 1hr = $2