Game 152 / 84-68 / 2nd / -3 GB : After a short but moving ceremony honoring Yogi Berra, Michael Pineda and the New York bullpen out-dueled Yankee nemesis Chris Sale to open the final homestand of the season with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. The win increased their lead in the Wild Card standings to +4.5 games, and shaved 1/2 game off idle Toronto’s division lead.
Here’s the box score, full recap, and video highlights.
Yankees 3, White Sox 2
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- Carlos Belts One! Chris Sale looked ‘getable’ early on tonight, and Beltran got him in the bottom of the 3rd, a rocket to the left field seats, his 18th round tripper of the season.
- The 2K Club Alex Rodriguez became the 8th player in MLB history to score 2,000 runs, courtesy of Beltran’s 3-run blast.
- Hi, Socks! Almost lost in everything that’s been going on around the Yankees of late, old friend David Robertson made his return to the Stadium for the first time in an enemy uniform. D-Rob didn’t enter the game, but had an interesting chat with the press, including this quote: “You’re kind of under a microscope a little more playing here in New York. The media is a little different. You’re expected to win every day.” See the full article here.
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“Players go through months where you don’t hit well. April is the beginning of the hype and the focus isn’t on the team. It’s on the players. It’s an important month of the year, but for me, it wasn’t a good one. So I cannot let one month dictate the next one. So I got to forget about it, turn the page and go get it the next month.” ‐ Carlos Beltran (h/t: Chad Jennings/LoHud)
MEMORY LANE : On today’s date in 1990, the Yankees released Deion Sanders …
Today in 1985, New York traded Jim Deshaies and two minor leaguers (Neder Horta and Dody Ratherto) the Houston Astros for Joe Niekro …
On Septmeber 24, 1978, Yankee southpaw Ron Guidry ties the American League record for shutouts tossed in a season by a lefty when he blanks Cleveland, 4-0. ‘Gator’, with his ninth complete scoreless game, equals Babe Ruth’s mark, who accomplished the feat in 1916 with the Red Sox …
On today’s date in 1948, the Yankees defeated the Red Sox 9-6, while Cleveland loses at Detroit, 4-3. New York, Boston and Cleveland are now tied for first place in the American League with identical 91-56 records …
Today in 1934, the idle Detroit Tigers win the American League pennant, as the Red Sox beat the Yankees 5-0 in the season finale at Yankee Stadium. Babe Ruth walks in the first inning, limps to first base, and leaves for a pinch runner in his last home game as a Yankee.
(h/t: NationalPastime.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Today in Baseball History)
