Neither the Yanks or Nats were "perfect" on Wed. (kudos to Matt Cain of the Giants), but they're looking quite good going into this weekend's series in DC. Both teams won their 6th game in a row with wins on Wed. afternoon and evening.
The Nats were led by the stud pitching of Stephen Strasburg, one season removed from major surgery. He's come back in 2012 to go 8-1 so far. In addition, he became the first pitcher in the majors this season with over 100 Ks. The big bat on Wed. belonged to rookie Tyler Moore, who started in place of Adam LaRoche. Moore - who was mentioned a couple years ago on this blog when he was a Single-A player in nearby Potomac (see link above) - had an incredible afternoon going 3/4 with 2 HRs and 5 RBI.
From the POST:
The Nationals have risen to their lofty status both riding and producing the fevered joy that comes when a new hero emerges each game. With LaRoche nursing a sore right foot after fouling a ball off it on Tuesday night, the Nationals turned to Moore, the 25-year-old Mississippian who started the year at Class AAA Syracuse and had slugged 62 homers over the past two seasons in the minor leagues.
In his first stint in the major leagues earlier this season, Moore appeared sparingly and went 3 for 19 with seven strikeouts. He learned that, while not playing every day, he needed to be more aggressive.
“The first time, I didn’t really know what I was going to be doing coming off the bench,” said Moore, who was recalled from Syracuse last week. “I felt more comfortable with what I had to do.”
The Nationals are now a franchise best 15 games over .500 and hold a five-game lead in the NL East.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, the Yanks swept the Braves to win their 6th game in a row. Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda continued his recent brilliance and Yankees slugger Curtis Granderson (who is looking for places to eat and things to do in DC on Facebook) provided the offense with a two-run blast to give the Bronx Bombers a 3-2 win. Granderson now has 19 HRs on the season.
From the Times:
The game started under perfect conditions, and the Yankees later noted with amusement that a message on the scoreboard in center field declared there was 0.0 percent chance of rain.
“And it rained 98 percent of the game,” Mark Teixeira said.
Jeter led off the game with a double to center and went to third on a ground out by Granderson. He then scored on Rodriguez’s single to center, which was a good sign for the Yankees. Rodriguez had collected at least one run batted in 17 of the Yankees’ games, and they have won them all.
It is an odd statistic, to be sure. So is the fact that Granderson, who hit his 19th home run and is on pace to hit 40 homers for the second straight year, still claims that he is not a home run hitter.
“Math is just crazy like that,” he said. “It just happens from time to time. I get lucky and they end up going out of the ballpark.”
The Yankees now hold a one-game lead in the AL East over Baltimore, and a 37-25 record on the season. It's still a very tight division, which makes these games this weekend even more important.
The pitching match-ups that await the big crowds on the DC waterfront:
Friday night: Gonzalez vs. Hughes Saturday afternoon: Zimmermann vs. PettitteSunday afternoon: Jackson vs. Nova
GO YANKEES.
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