The unstoppable force that is the 2010 Yankees continued to lay waste to all comers on Sunday afternoon, dumping Texas 5-2 and completing their first sweep of the year.Andy Pettitte had a third straight strong outing to open up the year, holding the Rangers to four hits over eight innings of two-run ball. Big Tex finally got on the home run board, and Ramiro Pena picked up a big two-out base hit in the 3rd inning to give the Yankees a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
When the team plays this crisply and effectively, there really isn't that much to discuss. The pitching has, for the most part, been absurdly good, and the offense has been an absolute joy to watch. Nothing beats watching the Yankees obliterate the opposing starter's pitch count, and this game was no different, as Rich Harden needed 94(!) pitches just to get through 3 2/3 innings.
If there's anything to gripe about after a wonderful 9-3 start, you could point to Tex's and Nick the Stick's sub-.200 batting averages, and Nick Swisher has fallen into a somewhat disconcerting slump as well, but they'll each come around soon enough. That the team is averaging 5.75 runs per game without the offense firing on all cylinders is rather mind-boggling.
Should be interesting to see (well, at least read about the next morning -- damn west coast night games) what the Yankees can do against Oakland, who's currently fielding the best pitching staff in the AL on this young season, leading the league in both ERA (2.58) and xFIP (3.93) as of this writing.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteafter deciding the season was a bit too young to rely on stats, I took a look at the Athletics schedule and run totals... and i wasn't that impressed. its not like they were playing the yankees, red sox and rays. true, they played the angels already this year, but did the angels impress you when they were in town? (compared to the rangers - ha! yes, I would say so!) i wonder what their numbers would look like if they had the yankees schedule - or the red sox or rays schedule, for that matter? Oakland is going to have to prove to me they're for real!
~jamie
Hey Jamie,
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing a lot of Yankee fans feel similarly about Oakland. It seems unlikely that they'll continue to this strong.
Additionally, they've only played one team with a fairly strong offense so far -- Los Angeles. Otherwise it's been nothing but a steady diet of Seattle and Baltimore for Oakland.
Something tells me Billy Beane's boys are in for a rude awakening/market correction this week.