Strong starting pitching has been at the core of the Yankees’ recent hot streak and that’s just what they got tonight. Hiroki Kuroda may not have made it look easy, giving up nine hits and two walks in six innings, but he made the pitches when he had to and limited the damage. The only real blemish against him was the two run homer–a long one at that–by Brian McCann in the fifth inning that put the Braves ahead 2-1. Kuroda, though, managed to get through the inning and all told, he struck out eight batters and looked pretty good doing it.
Like the Braves did last night, the Yankees jumped on the board ASAP. Derek Jeter led the game off with a double to right center and Curtis Granderson moved him over with a grounder to first. Alex Rodriguez then came up and laced a ball up the middle, scoring Jeter and giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. And, like they did last night, the Yankees got on top of the Braves thanks to a home run. After Jeter started the inning off with a single to (where else?) right field, Granderson came up and hit a homer to right, his 19th of the season, and just the second that Tim Hudson has given up all year.
The bullpen came in, starting with Boone Logan in the seventh. He struck out Brian McCann swinging. Boone then made it interesting by walking Dan Uggla and Chipper Jones, but he was able to work out of it with a fielder’s choice and a weak pop up to right. Another Yankee reliever, Cody Eppley, found himself in hot water in the eighth, but he was able to get out of it with a HUGE double play off the bat of Martin Prado, preserving the lead for Rafael Soriano, who recorded his 11th save of the season. The Yankees have a day off before heading into Washington, D.C., on Friday to take on the Nats. TYA will be well represented in D.C. as Eric, E.J., and I will all be there. There is also a gathering at the Big Hunt after the game on Saturday. Hope to see you there!
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2 Responses to Yanks complete sweep of Braves, win sixth in a row
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TIQ IQ
Can’t beat Kuroda up for the HR. All the Yanks starters are getting tagged at the stadium. The home/road splits tell the story. But the offense neutralizes the loss more often than not in the bottom half of the inning.
I think Kuroda is starting to find his comfort zone in the AL, and with his new team, and is really settling in. As the weather warms up I think he will really hit his stride. I see a 16 game winner by season’s end.
I don’t care about the number of wins Kuroda gets. I’d like to see 200+ innings, WHIP of below 1.225, K/BB rate above 3, a K/9 at 7, and a SLG% of around .415 or below.
By the way, Kuroda has give up 5 HR in 38.2 innings at home and 7 in 42.2 away. But his hits allowed and SLG% are much better at NYS.