Yankees Offense Steps Up

The Yankees lineup slumped in April and the beginning of May, but it has started to come around just in time. The Yankees bats came through when the Yankees arms didn't last night. Consecutive singles by Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, and Bobby Abreu in the 12th put the Yankees ahead and Mariano Rivera slammed the door shut on a 7-6 win.

Chien-Ming Wang was ineffective and has now gone 5 straight starts without a win. The Twins reached him for single runs in each of the first three innings and added two more in the 6th, one of which scored after Wang left the game.

But the Yankees matched the Twins output, scoring 3 runs in the 1st and 6th innings, and held a 6-5 lead after 6. But in the 7th, Edwar Ramirez gave up his first run of the season, an opposite field home run by Michael Cuddyer to tie the game. Jose Veras, Kyle Farnsworth, and Ross Ohlendorf held the game in check until the 12th, with Ohlendorf narrowly escaping an 11th inning jam for his first win of the year.

The Yankees got on the board in the 3rd inning with a big break on an error by shortstop Nick Punto that would have been the 3rd out of the inning. Instead it put Damon on 3rd and Jeter on 1st and the Yankees took advantage. Abreu doubled in Damon and he and Jeter scored on Alex Rodriguez's 2-run single.

With the score tied 3-3 in the 6th, the Yankees struck again against Twins starter Boof Bonser. Hideki Matsui drew a lead off walk and Jason Giambi followed with a single to knock Bonser from the game. Jesse Crain came on and retired Robinson Cano on a pop up, but Jose Molina drilled a double into the right field corner to score Matsui and chase Giambi to 3rd. Melky Cabrera's sac fly to deep left plated Giambi and Damon's single to left brought home Molina for a 6-3 lead.

Wang appeared to be settling down after working out of a jam in the 4th and retiring the Twins in order in the 5th, but he ran into trouble again in the 6th. Singles by Delmon Young and Nick Punto put two on with 1 out, and the pair quickly pulled off a double steal to advance into scoring position. Carlos Gomez singled to right to cut the lead to 6-4, with Punto stopping at 3rd. Ramirez came on to face Alexi Casilla, who hit into a force out to narrow the Yankees margin to 6-5. Joe Mauer flied out to end the frame.

Both teams had opportunities to go ahead before the 12th, but came up short. A-Rod drew a 1-out walk in the 10th and promptly stole 2nd Base. But he got overly aggressive and was picked off at 2nd as he took too big a lead.

Ohlendorf struck out the first two hitters in the bottom of the 10th and then ran into trouble. Mike Lamb narrowly missed a home run before pulling into 3rd with a triple. The Yankees elected to intentionally walk Punto to face the more inexperienced Gomez. After Punto took 2nd on fielder's indifference, Ohlendorf struck out Gomez to retire the side.

Protecting a one run lead, Mariano Rivera made it look like child's play again, retiring the Twins in order for his 15th save in as many opportunities.

News and Notes

The Yankees stole a season-high 4 bases in 5 attempts.

Chien-Ming Wang is 0-2, 5.67 in his last 5 games.

Hideki Matsui went 1-4 to extend his hitting streak to 9 games.