Texas Rangers 2 — New York Yankees 8
In a game of the top two offenses, Nick Swisher’s slam highlights a 8-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
David Phelps started in place of ace CC Sabathia and pitched a solid 5 innings in just his 4th start of the season. Against one of the best offenses in the game, Phelps gave up 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 3 and walking 1. His lone mistake was on a 1-2 curveball that David Murphy was able to put into the short porch at Yankee Stadium to leadoff the 2nd inning. The first run on Phelps’ start came on a perfect pitch that broke the bat of Nelson Cruz and fell just short of Curtis Granderson’s reach in the 1st inning. The best highlight of Phelps’ start was his pickoff abilities as he picked off two Rangers on the bases, Ian Kinsler at 1st base and Elvis Andrus at 2nd base. Derek Lowe made his Yankees debut and followed Phelps’ 5 innings with 4 solid innings of his own. He allowed 2 hits and struck out 4 without giving up a run to earn his first save of the season as he spent his entire time with the Cleveland Indians as a starter.
A 5-run 3rd inning was highlighted by Nick Swisher. With the bases loaded, Nick Swisher made the most of it with a no doubt grand slam to right field, his 200th of his career to change a 2-0 deficit to a 4-2 lead. In the same inning, Curtis Granderson had his own opportunity at a grand slam but fell short as his fly ball only resulted in a sacrifice fly to bring in the 5th run of an outstanding inning. Eric Chavez, who was unavailable to the team during the Toronto series with a sore back, showed no ill effects when he went deep off of Ryan Dempster for his 13th home run in the 6th inning. Then in the 7th, Ichiro Suzuki showed off his speed when he hit a triple to center field to start off a 2-run 7th inning. Derek Jeter followed up Suzuki with a double and Nick Swisher followed that with a single to complete his big night on the way to a solid win over one of the best in the league.
Win – David Phelps (3-3)
Loss – Ryan Dempster (6-6)
Save – Derek Lowe (1)
Notable
Rangers
*David Murphy – 2 for 4, R, 2B, Solo Home Run (10) in the 2nd, RBI (42)
*Nelson Cruz – 2 for 4, RBI (70)
Yankees
*Nick Swisher – 2 for 4, R, Grand Slam (15) in the 3rd, 5 RBI (63)
*Eric Chavez – 2 for 4, R, Solo Home Run (13) in the 6th, RBI (30)
Current Yankees Record: 68-47
