The buzz was not quite the same as if the game had been played Monday afternoon, but there was still an electricity in the air last night as the Yankees opened the season with a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.2nd Baseman Aaron Hill mishandled Hideki Matsui's potential double play grounder in the 7th allowing Alex Rodriguez to score what proved to be the game winning run.
Joe Girardi then turned the game over to his two fireballers, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera to close the game out. Chien-Ming Wang pitched seven solid innings in helping the Yankees win a major league record 11th straight home opener. But it was Melky Cabrera's star that shone the brightest last night.
With the game tied 1-1 in the 4th, Melky ran down a Lyle Overbay shot in the gap in right-center, crashing into the wall after making the putout. The very next hitter, Hill, lined one in the gap to left-center. This time the Melkman delivered with an extended lunge and catch that finished with a face first slide in the grass.
Then in the 6th, with the Yankees trailing 2-1, Melky hit a Yankee Stadium short porch home run. His high fly to right field just cleared the 314 ft. sign down the right field line for a game tying shot. An already ticked off Roy Halladay (0-1) barked at Melky to get back in the dugout when the centerfielder took a fan prompted curtain call.
The Yankees game winning rally started in the 7th when Alex Rodriguez, who had doubled in the first Yankees run, singled to start the inning. Jason Giambi followed with a walk and then made the base running play of the night. Robinson Cano hit a chopper up the middle that was fielded by shortstop David Eckstein. Giambi stopped and ducked away to avoid the possibility of a tag. When Eckstein threw to first to retire Cano, Giambi scampered into 2nd, beating 1st Baseman Lyle Overbay's relay.
The Blue Jays chose to intentionally walk Jorge Posada to set up the double play possibility. Halladay got just what he needed when Matsui hit a sharp grounder to Hill's right, but the ball kicked off the 2nd Baseman's glove. Hill quickly scrambled and flipped to Eckstein who barely made a bare hand grab for the force out. But the damage was done and Girardi could go to his "big two" for the final six outs.
Notes and Quotes
Neither team took batting practice due to the afternoon rain showers.
Reggie Jackson, escorted by Yogi Berra, threw out the ceremonial first pitch and fired a strike to Jose Molina.
The cadets from West Point still handled the National Anthem and Color Guard duty, but the planned F-18 flyover was scrubbed.
It was sad not having Bob Sheppard at the opener, and it was even odder listening to fill-in Jim Hall try to speak with the same inflection. As expected, a recorded version of the "Voice of God" was used when Derek Jeter batted.
| Toronto | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Eckstein, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 |
| Stewart, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| Rios, RF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| Wells, V, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .000 |
| Thomas, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 |
| Overbay, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Hill, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
| Scutaro, 3B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Zaun, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 |
| Totals | 32 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 16 | |
| BATTING 2B: Hill (1, Wang). TB: Stewart; Rios; Thomas; Overbay; Hill 2; Zaun. RBI: Scutaro (1), Stewart (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Zaun; Rios; Eckstein; Thomas. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Rios (1, 2nd base off Chamberlain/Posada), Scutaro 2 (2, 2nd base off Wang/Posada, 2nd base off Wang/Posada). FIELDING DP: 2 (Overbay-Eckstein-Overbay, Eckstein-Hill-Overbay). | ||||||||
| Toronto | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Halladay (L, 0-1) | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3.86 |
| Downs | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| NY Yankees | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| Abreu, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 |
| Rodriguez, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .667 |
| Giambi, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 |
| Posada, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
| Matsui, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Cabrera, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .333 |
| Totals | 29 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | |
| BATTING 2B: Rodriguez (1, Halladay). 3B: Damon (1, Downs). HR: Cabrera (1, 6th inning off Halladay, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon 3; Jeter; Abreu 2; Rodriguez 3; Cano; Cabrera 4. RBI: Rodriguez (1), Cabrera (1), Matsui (1). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Giambi 2; Cabrera. GIDP: Posada; Rodriguez. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING CS: Jeter (1, 2nd base by Halladay/Zaun). FIELDING DP: (Cano-Giambi). | ||||||||
| NY Yankees | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Wang (W, 1-0) | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.57 |
| Chamberlain (H, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Rivera (S, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
IBB: Posada (by Halladay), Rodriguez (by Downs).
Pitches-strikes: Halladay 95-61, Downs 13-6, Wang 92-56,
Chamberlain 21-14, Rivera 12-8.
Ground outs-fly outs: Halladay 15-2, Downs 3-0, Wang 13-6,
Chamberlain 1-0, Rivera 1-1.
Batters faced: Halladay 27, Downs 5, Wang 28, Chamberlain 4, Rivera 3.
Umpires: HP: Gary Darling. 1B: Jerry Meals. 2B: Bill Miller. 3B: Paul Emmel.
Weather: 64 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 8 mph, Out to LF.
T: 2:31.
Att: 55,112.
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