For the first time in seven long weeks, the Yanks are back in at least a tie for 1st place in the AL East. It may only last a day in this tough division, but it's worth noting based on their recent strong play. The Bombers were led by the stud above, Ivan Nova, last night: Nova pitched seven innings of 6 K ball, and even added a hit to help his own cause. Nova is now 8-2 for the season.
From the Times:
They took a meandering route, but after they fell into a tie for last place on May 21, when their record sagged to 21-21, the Yankees have won 14 of 18 games to catch the idle Tampa Bay Rays atop the division. At 35-25, the Yankees are a season-high 10 games over .500, tied with the Rays.
There are still 102 games remaining, and those may include slumps, injuries and distressing stretches of subpar baseball. But for now, a glance at the standings reflects the Yankee-centric view of the world, where they share the best record in the jumbled American League.
“It’s nice to kind of be back in this spot, because this is where we feel we belong,” Nick Swisher said. Much of the credit for the recent surge goes to the starting pitching, which continued Monday when Ivan Nova overcame command problems and some hard-hit balls to throw seven shutout innings. He scattered five hits and struck out six to improve to 8-2.
But perhaps the most enjoyable part of the evening for him was not slogging through the seventh unscathed, but collecting his first major league hit. It came in his first at-bat in the second inning, and the fifth at-bat of his career, when he laced a single into a right center.
The ball was duly retrieved for him — he said he signaled to have it thrown into the dugout — and when he returned to the dugout, the first-base coach Mick Kelleher asked him if he wanted to keep it. “I said, ‘Of course I do,’ ” Nova said, with a smile.
Nova always wanted to be a hitter. As a child he idolized the Dominican slugger Vladimir Guerrero and hoped that he, too, could one day crush baseballs as Guerrero used to. Instead, Nova became a pitcher in the American League. So earning that first hit was something to cherish, and Nova vowed to showcase the ball in a special place in his house.
“I’m putting it right next to my bed,” he said, which is where he keeps the ball from his first victory.
The Yanks continue this week with two more against the Braves, before heading to DC to take on the Nationals. On Saturday, we'll see a match-up of Andy Pettitte vs. Jordan Zimmerman. I look forward to seeing Pettitte, one of my favorite all-time Yanks, who is doing well in his return season from retirement. Pettitte turns 40 on Friday, so we also share a birth year and close birth dates. (By the way, 19-year old Bryce Harper had three hits again last night in another win for the Nationals. The local baseball club doesn't appear to be slowing down either.)
GO YANKEES.
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