Chad Green’s strong start and Mark Teixeira's milestone homers power Yanks to 6-3 win
Chad Green, making his second career start, pitched a spectacular game to help the Yankees salvage a game from this weekend’s series against the Padres with a 6-3 victory on Sunday afternoon. After giving up eight hits and four earned runs in his Major League debut on May 16, Green hurled six innings of one run ball while striking out eight batters today. It was the kind of start the Yankees were desperately looking for, especially when you consider the struggles of New York’s offense all season long.
As mentioned above, the Yankees simply struggle to score many runs. That took a late change during today's game. The Yankees put up six runs, with Didi Gregorius scoring two of them. In the second inning, Didi reached on an error to lead off the frame. He later came around and scored on a 4-3 double play off the bat of Ronald Torreyes, which gave New York a 1-0 lead.
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| Photo Credit: Lenny Ignelzi | AP |
Green would give that run right back in the bottom half of the inning when Yangervis Solarte tagged him with a solo home run, his fifth of the season.
But in the fourth, Gregorius turned on an 0-1 slider and clobbered it down the right field line and into the short corner at Petco Park for a solo home run, which gave the Yankees the lead once again.
After the sixth, the Yankees had a 2-1 lead, which meant one thing: “No-Runs DMC.” Betances came in to pitch the seventh, and struck out a pair to help get out of a two-on, nobody out jam. Andrew Miller came in to pitch the eighth. He struck out one and didn't show the command we’re used to seeing from him, but still worked out of a jam as well.
In the eighth, Mark Teixeira led off with a homer, which also landed into the corner over the right field wall. That blast was the 400th of Teixeira’s career, as he became just the fifth switch-hitter all time to reach the 400 home run mark. It was also a huge insurance run for the Yankees.
The Yankees enjoyed an offensive outburst in the top of the ninth inning which was started on a one-out walk to Jacoby Ellsbury. After stealing second base, Brett Gardner drove him home with a single up the middle. Teixeira followed suit with an absolute bomb - his second homer of the game - to push the score to 6-1, New York.
With the bombers up by five heading into the bottom of the ninth, Joe Girardi turned to Anthony Swarzak, who faced two batters in the ninth. He would give up a single to Solarte followed by an Alex Dickerson two-run home run to make it a 6-3 ballgame. Swarzak's inability to shut down the Padres forced Girardi to turn to Aroldis Chapman. Chapman set the Padres down in order with one strikeout picking up his 16th save in 17 tries.
After the sixth, the Yankees had a 2-1 lead, which meant one thing: “No-Runs DMC.” Betances came in to pitch the seventh, and struck out a pair to help get out of a two-on, nobody out jam. Andrew Miller came in to pitch the eighth. He struck out one and didn't show the command we’re used to seeing from him, but still worked out of a jam as well.
In the eighth, Mark Teixeira led off with a homer, which also landed into the corner over the right field wall. That blast was the 400th of Teixeira’s career, as he became just the fifth switch-hitter all time to reach the 400 home run mark. It was also a huge insurance run for the Yankees.
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| Photo Credit: Lenny Ignelzi | AP |
With the bombers up by five heading into the bottom of the ninth, Joe Girardi turned to Anthony Swarzak, who faced two batters in the ninth. He would give up a single to Solarte followed by an Alex Dickerson two-run home run to make it a 6-3 ballgame. Swarzak's inability to shut down the Padres forced Girardi to turn to Aroldis Chapman. Chapman set the Padres down in order with one strikeout picking up his 16th save in 17 tries.
The player of the game goes to Chad Green. The rookie was asked to come up and pitch in order to push CC Sabathia back one day because Girardi did not want him to have to hit during interleague play. The rookie showed great poise on the mound, giving the team one of the best starts of any pitcher this season. His three pitch arsenal of a four-seamer which reached 97 MPH at it's peak combined with a sinker in the low 90's to keep the ball on the ground and a low-mid 80's curveball to get strikeouts were all working in full force this afternoon.
The biggest play of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning. With the Yankees clinging to a 2-1 lead, the Padres were threatening with two runners on and only one out. Alex Dickerson hit a line drive right back up the middle. Green snared it, and threw to second to double off Solarte and end the inning. That was the only real danger that Green faced during his six innings of work. Green was lifted in the top of the seventh, as Carlos Beltran pinch hit for him.
Winning Pitcher: Chad Green (1-1, 4.09 ERA): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 HR
The biggest play of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning. With the Yankees clinging to a 2-1 lead, the Padres were threatening with two runners on and only one out. Alex Dickerson hit a line drive right back up the middle. Green snared it, and threw to second to double off Solarte and end the inning. That was the only real danger that Green faced during his six innings of work. Green was lifted in the top of the seventh, as Carlos Beltran pinch hit for him.
Losing Pitcher: Andrew Cashner (3-6, 4.42 ERA): 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
Save: Aroldis Chapman (16): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Notables:
Didi Gregorius: 1-5, HR (9), 2 R
Save: Aroldis Chapman (16): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Notables:
Didi Gregorius: 1-5, HR (9), 2 R
Mark Teixeira: 2-5, 2 HR (6,7 - 400th and 401st career homers), 2 R
Aaron Hicks: 3-3, 2B, BB
Jacoby Ellsbury: 2-4, SB, R
Yangervis Solarte: 4-4, 2B, HR (5)Jacoby Ellsbury: 2-4, SB, R
What’s Next?
The Yankees travel to Chicago to start a three game series against the White Sox. Tomorrow’s pitching matchup will pit CC Sabathia (5-5, 3.17 ERA) against James Shields (3-9, 5.85 ERA). First pitch is set for 2:10 PM EST.
Article by: Dan DeGregorio
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