Recap: Joba Leads Yankees Past Indians

• Joba Chamberlain was awesome yesterday, going 8 innings for the longest outing of his career while allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits. He walked two, struck out five, and made a stellar defensive play that I am sure you have seen already, a full body dive to catch a bunt and start a double play. Anyone wondering why the Yankees consider him a starter got their answer last night. Joba was sitting 93-96 all game, and hit 97 in the 8th inning against his final batter, while dealing with those annoying midges all game. His curveball was really working, giving him three pitches that were well above average. In all, it was a fantastic display from Joba and hopefully is the sign of things to come.
• The offense had a strange night, as the Yankees managed to have a hard time with soft tossing lefty Jeremy Sowers and then failed to score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 6th. The three batters who hit in that spot, A-Rod, Jorge Posada, and Robinson Cano, left 6, 7, and 6 runners on base respectively. However, the Yankees once again loaded the bases with one out in the 7th, and Nick Swisher delivered with a two run double. Joe Girardi showed faith in Swisher by batting him second in the place of the resting Johnny Damon, and he came through with 2 doubles and a walk. Swisher has looked a lot better at the plate lately, hopefully signifying the start of a hot streak like the one we saw in April (a guy can dream, right?). A-Rod followed Swisher’s big hit with an unclutch two run single, giving the Yankees a 5-1 lead that turned into a 5-2 victory. 
• Melky Cabrera returned to the lineup and went 0-3 with a walk. WHile the line does not look great, he did hit one ball quite hard, and had a number of good at bats. It is good to have him back in the lineup, and hopefully he can pick up where he left off.
• Derek Jeter had two hits and two walks, raising his average to .311 and his OBP to .385. He looks spry in the field and focused at the plate. With Jeter and Damon hitting well in front of A-Rod, Tex, and Posada, the Yankees should score a ton of runs.
• The Yankees set a record for consecutive errorless games with 18, and Mark Teixeira was once again stellar in the field to preserve the streak. While the error is a pretty incomplete statistic, it is nice to see that the team is avoiding errors on the basic plays.

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