Yankees Wallop Their Way to Sweep

The Yankees didn't know what to expect when they sent Kei Igawa and Matt DeSalvo out to start their day-night doubleheader with the Devil Rays on Saturday. At the end of the night they had come away with a very satisfying sweep after pounding the D-Rays 17-5 in the nightcap. Earlier in the day they had come from behind to take a 7-3 win in game 1.

Luis Vizcaino (8-2) picked up the victory in both games after entering each in the 6th inning. The Yankees jumped all over game 2 starter J.P. Howell (1-4) for 3 runs in the 1st inning, a run in the 2nd, and 3 more in the 3rd. But leading 7-2 in the 5th, DeSalvo couldn't finish the inning to get the win. When B.J. Upton singled in 2 to cut the lead to 7-4, Joe Torre quickly went to Mike Myers to face the left-hand hitting Akinori Iwamura. Myers, suddenly effective again, struck out Iwamura for the 2nd out of the inning. Vizcaino then came on and retired Brendan Harris on a liner to left.

The Yankees turned a close game into a blowout with a 5 run 6th inning. Made more satisfying by the fact that it came against former Yankee reliever, who never provided much relief, Jay Witasick. Melky Cabrera lead off with a single and Witasick threw away Wil Nieves' sacrifice bunt to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Johnny Damon's bloop fell in front of a stumbling/lunging Jonny Gomes and got by him for a 2-run double. One batter later Bobby Abreu singled to right to extend the lead to 10-5, and then Alex Rodriguez slammed his bat down on the Devil Rays. A-Rod blasted his 33rd home run of the season, and number 497 all-time, on to the netting in left-center field for a 12-5 lead.

The Yankees weren't done, adding 5 more in the 7th, capped off on Hideki Matsui's homered in both games and now has 8 3-run blast. MatsuiHRs in the month of July. That's half his total of 16.

Coming in with a 2 game losing streak, things didn't look to hopeful after B.J. Upton and Ty Wiggington belted solo home runs in the first two innings off of Igawa. (Upton is 7-15 in the first 3 games of the series, with 3 HR and 6 RBI.) But the extremely overpaid left-hander managed to escape further trouble in all 5 innings he worked and left with the game tied 2-2. The tie came courtesy of his fellow countryman Matsui, who smacked a 2-run HR off of Rays starter Jason Hammel.

The Yankees went ahead for good in the 6th against reliever Jae Kuk Ryu. Abreu singled and Ryu (1-2) hit A-Rod to put two on with no one out. Ryu bounced back, striking out Matsui and Jorge Posada, but Robinson Cano singled through the right side. Abreu beat Delmon Young's throw home, with A-Rod and Cano each moving up a base. That would pay off as Mr. July, Andy Phillips, singled to right to drive in both runners and gave the Yankees a 5-2 lead. Then Yankee Stadium really went nuts.

Shelley Duncan, playing in just his 2nd major league game, swung at a low Ryu offering and hit a laser into the left field seats for his 1st major league home run. Duncan nearly killed his teammates with high fives and helmet smashes, and at his teammates urging, took a curtain call for a very receptive packed house.

Scott Proctor gave up a solo home run to Raul Casanova to cut the lead to 7-3 in the 8th, and after Proctor allowed a lead off single to Greg Norton in the 9th, Torre was taking no chances. It wasn't a save situation, but it was definitely a case of "Gotta go to Mo". The red hot Upton singled to put 2 on with no one out, but Rivera retired Carlos Pena and Delmon Young. The Yankees Hall of Fame closer made things a little tighter by hitting Wiggington to bring the tying run to the plate, but Mo froze Gomes for a called strike 3, and the Yankees had the day portion of the twinbill sewn up.

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Ironically, on the night the Yankees acquired Jose Molina, Wil Nieves had his best game at teh plate. He had 2 doubles, 2 sac bunts, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Out of options, he'l be designated for assignment when Molina reports.

The Duncan brothers had a very successful day. In addition to Shelley's HR, Chris hit one for the Cardinals.

Photos courtesy of AP