CC, Cano, A-Rod power Yankees to 3-2 win in Anaheim

(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

A night after losing 3-2 to the Angels the Yankees returned the favor, beating the Angels by the same score on the strength of yet another beastly CC Sabathia performance. Sabathia threw 8 2/3 innings of one-earned run (two runs total) ball, and only missed out on the complete game because the Angels Angeled their way to a cheap run in the bottom of the ninth. Joe Girardi correctly summoned Mariano Rivera at that point for what wound up being a one-pitch save, and the Yankees even the three-game set at one apiece.

The offense consisted of a Robinson Cano solo bomb, and an Alex Rodriguez go-ahead two-run blast in the 6th — his first home run since May 21. As an aside, is there anything more majestic in all of baseball to witness than an A-Rod home run? The swing and trajectory of his bombs almost defy description. When Alex gets ahold of one, there ain’t nothing better for my money — especially when it turns out to be the decisive shot. Aside from those bombs, the Yankees really let Ervin Santana off the hook in this one — he looked very hittable to me, and it seemed like a lot of weak hacks were being taken. Don’t get me wrong, the win is great, but you’d like to see ‘em plate more than three runs with 10 baserunners.

The Yankees also continued their bizarre season-long lack of scoring in the later innings, and believe it or not haven’t pushed a run across in innings 7,8 or 9 since last Monday, May 30, in Oakland, when they scored one in the 7th and another in the 9th. Of course, they also have four wins in five games over that span, so clearly the early run-scoring is working for them. The rubber match kicks off Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm, with Bartolo Colon facing Joel Pineiro.

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