Andy Pettitte has made a career of winning games after a Yankees’ loss. On Thursday, he threw eight innings of one run ball in a 4-2 win over the Red Sox, staying true to form. Pettitte’s win was the Yankees’ first of the season and the team’s first lead since Game Five of the division series last year, snapping a six game streak without a lead.
Pettitte allowed eight hits and a walk striking out just three, but three double plays and no hits with runners in scoring position left the Boston bats mostly quiet.
One of the main fears for this year’s Yankees’ lineup has been a lack of power, but the Bronx Bombers found its groove from the unlikeliest of places. Brett Gardner added to a 2-0 lead (brought on by a two-run single by Lyle Overbay) with a solo home run into the first row in right. Another anemic power hitter, Francisco Cervelli, gave the Yankees its fourth and final run with a solo home run to left, making the score 4-1 at the time. New York now has four home runs in its first three games and Cervelli, a heavily scrutinized half of the starting catcher tandem this year, now has three RBI in two games.
With the win, the Yankees are now 1-2 and will go on to face the Detroit Tigers. Ivan Nova will start the opener of the series and it will finish with a blockbuster pitching matchup between CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander on Sunday.
Yankees News and Notes:
- Mark Teixeira has said he is eyeing a May 1st return from the DL. News surrounding the Yankees’ first baseman has been mixed, ranging from the possibility of missing the season to now this, a May 1st return. Girardi was sure to caution Teixeira would have to go through an entire spring training before being activated.
- Hiroki Kuroda‘s next start is up in the air, but Kuroda has announced he expects to make it. The Yankees will not really know anything until after his bullpen session.
- Gardner ended a scoring threat after Jackie Bradley Jr. hit an RBI double with two outs off Pettitte. David Ross hit a bullet to dead center but Gardner used his speed to track it down, a ball Curtis Granderson likely doesn’t reach. Brian Cashman said on Wednesday Granderson would return to center field when he comes off the DL sometime in May.
- The Yankees are eyeing a May 1st return for Derek Jeter and may get Phil Hughes back by mid April. This team should look a lot different this time next month.
- Mariano Rivera notched his first save of the season, yielding two hits including a Johnny Gomes double. The Red Sox were able to score a run off Rivera, but the game ended when Bradley Jr. was caught looking in his first ever at bat vs the future Hall of Famer.
