The Yankees took two of three from the Reds early this week in Cincinnati due to stellar pitching performances in the first two games of the series from Nova and Garcia. The offense was persistent throughout the three games but struggled against Cueto in the third (game 2 of the doubleheader). The threat of rain washed out the second game of the series although no precipitation fell during game time leading to conspiracy theories that Johnny Cueto's tight neck had swayed the Reds into calling the game. Instead, a twin-bill was played on Wednesday.
@ Reds (Monday, June 20th; Nova vs. Wood) Yankees Win 5-3
Offense: A- New York doesn't receive an A due to the lack of production in the middle innings. 4 runs in the 1st and 1 in the 8th totaled the Yanks run scoring, going 3-6 w/RISP. They combined to have 9 hits but only 2 walks. Andruw Jones and Robbie Cano grounded into double plays.
Starting Pitching: A Nova was brilliant. His best start of the season, allowing 1 run over 8 innings on just 4 hits and no walks while striking out 7 on 105 pitches.
Bullpen: C Mariano Rivera had to clean up Ayala's and Logan's mess despite a 4 run lead heading into the 9th. Rivera ended up with the save, his 18th.
@ Reds (Wednesday, June 22nd; Garcia vs. Leake) Yankees Win 4-2
Offense: B+ There were not fireworks throughout the game but 4 runs on 6 hits did the trick. Posada had the winning hit, a two-run HR in the top of the 6th to give the Yanks a 4-2 lead immediately after the Reds had tied the game in the bottom of the 5th. Cano had a two-out RBI in the 3rd.
Starting Pitching: A Garcia threw 7 quality inning allowing 2 runs but none earned (giving him an A instead of an A-). Ramiro Pena's inexperience allowed 2 runs to score in the 5th.
Bullpen: A+ Another great outing with Robertson and Rivera combining for two innings of one hit baseball.
@ Reds (Wednesday, June 22nd; Gordon vs. Cueto) Reds Win 10-2
Offense: C 4 hits and 4 walks led to 2 runs off of Johnny Cueto who continued his dominant season. The Yanks left 7 men on base and went 0-9 w/RISP.
Starting Pitching: C Gordon struggled through 5 innings, allowing 5 hits and 4 runs. 3 home runs didn't help matters.
Bullpen: D+ Noesi had his first poor outing of the season. 6 runs allowed over 1.2 innings on 8 hits ballooned his ERA to 4.12! It will be interesting to see how he responds in his next outing.
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