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NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 06: Starlin Castro #14 of the New York Yankees celebrates his second inning three run home run against the Houston Astros with teammates Brian McCann #34 at Yankee Stadium on April 6, 2016 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Opinion
·1 min read

Star(lin) power: Bronx Bombers blast off

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Somewhere a curmudgeon New York baseball beat writer is penning a column about how there were way too many home runs hit at Yankee Stadium Wednesday evening. Not this one. The Bronx Bombers were back in business and the Houston Astros were blasting off too. There was a late 90s feel, as the New York Yankees used patience, persistence and power, winning 16-6.

Once again as the late great Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot by watching.” Here’s what I observed in the Yankees victory.

A Starlin among the stars:

Starlin Castro‘s seven-RBI are the most by a Yankee in his first two games with the team. Castro also matched Babe Ruth and Tino Martinez with the most RBI across the first two games of the season. Castro went 4-for-5 with five-RBI and hit an absolute bomb during the second inning. It’s incredible how the Chicago Cubs at one point were rumored to want one of the stud starters on the New York Mets for Castro and the Yankees obtained him for swing man Adam Warren.

Six in 36:

As mentioned above, the Yankees busted out the walking sticks and the whooping sticks. Their 36-minute first inning, produced a six-run frame, chasing starter Colin McHugh and tagging him with a 135.00 ERA. The Yankees coaxed seven walks on the evening, including four from Brett Gardner.

Bronx Bombers back:

Castro, Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran all went yard, matching the Astros in a slug fest.

#BADMike:

See also

Michael Pineda struggled to pitch to the scoreboard and barely made it across the five inning finish line for the winning decision. While there’s no shame in getting rocked by the likes of Carlos Correa (twice, including once off the restaurant window in center) and George Springer, Pineda is the 2016 version of Melido Perez.

Rotating villa Nova:

In Spanish, the word “nova” means “no go.” Ivan Nova proved to be the stopper (raise your hand if you had him registering the Yanks first save of the season) and shut down the potent Houston lineup. Nova fanned five across four scoreless frames.