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Yankees Game 154: A-Rod stands alone atop the grand mountain

(Elsa/Getty Images)

San Francisco Giants 1 — New York Yankees 5

 

The Yankees win was fueled by a pair of home runs, one historic, in tonight’s 5-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.

In a matchup that would have been worth the price of entry years ago, the Giants’ Tim Lincecum went head-to-head with the Yankees’ CC Sabathia. In the second inning, Alfonso Soriano would give the Yankees a lead on the first home run since Brendan Ryan (yes, him) hit a home run just atop the Green Monster in Boston. The home run gave Soriano 100 RBI for the season but it also gave the Yankees a one-run lead.

CC Sabathia was counted on to hold onto the lead but after a leadoff walk to Brandon Crawford, Juan Perez would hit a one-out double and the game would be tied at one again.

The stars of year’s past returned to form and kept the game tied at one through most of the game.

In the seventh inning, Eduardo Nunez would hit a single to the right side of the infield. First baseman Brandon Belt made a first step towards the ball but retreated to first base. Second baseman Joaquin Arias hesitated when seeing Belt’s first move but stopped and the seeing-eye single would leak through the infield. Lyle Overbay would strike out and during Brendan Ryan’s at-bat, Nunez would attempt to steal second base. It wasn’t a great slide but the second base umpire mistakenly called Nunez safe at second. Ryan would be hit by a pitch and the rookie J.R. Murphy would be left in for a big spot with the potential to put the Yankees ahead but he hit a ground ball behind third base. Pablo Sandoval would get the force out at third and attempted to get Murphy at first base but the throw pulled Belt off the base and Murphy reached.Ichiro Suzuki would walk on Lincecum’s 121st pitch and that would be when manager Bruce Bochy brought on the hook.

Three lucky breaks and a tired Tim Lincecum would leave the bases loaded for former Yankee reliever George Kontos. Alex Rodriguez would take the first pitch high and swung at a pitch in the dirt. The next pitch would be a ball in a 2-1 count that could have been 3-0. But the count would be irrelevant. Alex Rodriguez would take the 2-1 pitch to right center field and the deep fly ball would be a grand slam.

In addition to giving the Yankees the 5-1 lead, the grand slam was the 24th of his career. This ended a tie atop the all-time grand slam leaders, surpassing Lou Gehrig.

David Robertson would allow two to reach in his eighth inning but he would get a double play and a strikeout to carry on the bridge to the greatest of all-time. Mariano Rivera would come on in a non-save situation but the fans were ecstatic to see #42.

Mariano Rivera was vintage Mariano Rivera too. Against Hunter Pence, Mariano Rivera missed by just a little on an 0-2 pitch and nearly hit the same location, but better as he got Pence looking for the first strike. The next out came on a lazy pop up to Robinson Cano. The last out came when Rivera jammed Hector Sanchez, getting a broken bat and an easy ground ball to Lyle Overbay and the Yankees sealed the win.

In seven innings, CC Sabathia allowed one run on seven hits while walking three and striking out four. He allowed a total of ten to reach base but this was his best start in a long time. If CC Sabathia has found what made him so good again, a postseason spot may not be beyond the grasp of the Yankees.

 

Win – CC Sabathia (14-13)

Loss – Tim Lincecum (10-14)

 

Notables

Giants

*Juan Perez – 2 for 4, 2 2B, RBI (6)

*Hector Sanchez – 2 for 4

Yankees

*Alex Rodriguez – 1 for 4, R, Grand Slam (7) in the 7th, 4 RBI (18)

*Alfonso Soriano – 2 for 3, R, BB, Solo Home Run (33) in the 2nd, RBI (100)

 

Current Yankees Record: 81-73

 

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