"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Can you say "Score Truck"? Uh-huh, I thought you could.

When I write a recap for this site, I always try to remember that I’m writing for two distinct audiences, those who watched every pitch, and those who did not watch at all. With that in mind, I have to give something of interest to those readers who already know everything I know about the game, but I also know that those who didn’t watch are looking for something more than they’d get in a generic recap over at the World Leader. They want to get a sense of the feel of the game, they want little details that would only be important to someone who lives and dies with the team. They want these one thousand words to make up for the three hours they weren’t able to spend in front of the television.

So how exactly do you do that for a game like this? Lemme give it a shot.

After registering a fairly convincing win over the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of Saturday’s split double header, the Yankees took no prisoners in the night cap as they scoretrucked the O’s, 17-3.

The home half of the first started out innocently enough, as Baltimore’s Zach Britton struck out Derek Jeter for the first out of the game. But here’s how the rest of the inning went: single, walk, single, error, double, single, single, single, single, pitching change, strikeout!, double, single, home run, walk, ground out.

It was 12-0, and the game was over — except that there were still eight innings left to play.

Ivan Nova was the beneficiary of all these runs, and unlike Phil Hughes a few days ago, he didn’t spit the bit. He made it through seven innings, allowing just two runs on six hits and a walk while striking out six. I listened to the radio feed for the first few innings, and John Sterling kept reminding us that you can’t really evaluate a pitcher when he has a fifteen-run lead, but if I were Phil Hughes, I’d be a little nervous.

Here are a few interesting notes from the game:

  • Robinson Canó finished 5 for 5 with two doubles and 5 RBIs.
  • Yes, I said RBIs and not RBI. Let’s all get over it.
  • Zach Britton is one of the top prospects in the Baltimore system, but here’s the combined stat line from his last two starts, Saturday and July 8th against the Red Sox: 1.0 IP, 13 ER, 13 H. That’s an ERA of 117.00.
  • Not surprisingly, Britton is the first player in major league history with back-to-back starts in which he allowed eight or more runs without completing the first inning in either start.
  • All nine Yankee starters had a hit in the first inning (Canó had two).
  • This was the first time the Yankees had ever scored twelve runs in the first inning.
  • Rafael Soriano made his first appearance since May, striking out two to close out the game in the 9th.
  • Contrary to several reports, this game will only count as one win.
[Photo Credit: Kathy Kmonicek/AP]

Categories:  1: Featured  Game Recap  Hank Waddles  Yankees

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7 comments

1 Mattpat11   ~  Jul 31, 2011 1:24 am

Runs Batted Ins!

2 monkeypants   ~  Jul 31, 2011 3:10 am

I love the Scoretruck. Thank you for inventing it!!

3 Mr OK Jazz Tokyo   ~  Jul 31, 2011 5:39 am

I'm Mr OK Jazz Beijing at the moment, missed the twin bill. Opened this post and saw Cano's beautiful smile, knew it was a good day.

Even better, Peking Duck dinner awaits this evening..hope it's worth the hype!

4 RIYank   ~  Jul 31, 2011 7:30 am

[3] Peking Duck in Beijing???

Why they changed it I can't say
I guess folks liked it better that way...

5 RIYank   ~  Jul 31, 2011 8:26 am

The Red Sox pulled out of their deal for Rich Harden. I bet the A's are very disappointed -- that looked like a sweet deal for them. (OYF does not agree.)

6 461toCenter   ~  Jul 31, 2011 11:01 am

I'm with you on RBIs, Hank. Old-school, sounds better.

Nice recap, as I could not watch on MLB.tv because I live too close to Baltimore.

WIN on Sunday!

7 Chyll Will   ~  Jul 31, 2011 12:00 pm

With a first inning like that, "scoretrucked" seems like a euphemism...

I'm guessing the Yanks are happier to see Nova back than Hughes, but I'm thinking that had more to do with the timing and effect of the moves.

[5] richhardenis interruptus...

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"This ain't football. We do this every day."
--Earl Weaver