Nova, Offense awaken in Win over A's

After seven strong innings from Nova and three home runs by the offense, the Yankees muscled their way to a 6-3 win over the Oakland A's on Friday night. Nova's off-speed pitches were working, and he went to them when he was in trouble. He left two pitches out over the place for Ka'aihue and Reddick to crush into the right field seats. The third run Nova surrendered was via sac fly for Kurt Suzuki. Overall, the seven inning, three run start for Nova was a successful one. He also struck out four in the Yankee win. Nova's record now stands at 5-2 with an ERA that needs to come down from 5.46.

The Yankee offense certainly did their part last night by powering their way past the starter Tyson Ross. The slugged three home runs and four doubles against the righty starter. Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher's bats finally came alive after Teixeira had a double and a home run and Swisher went opposite field for his round tripper. The offense managed to go 2-10 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight on base. A .250 average with runners in scoring position certainly isn't sparkling but it's an upgrade over where the Yankees have been over the last two weeks with runners on. 

Tonight, lefty CC Sabathia faces off against former Yankee Bartolo Colon in the second game of the three game set. Look for Alex Rodriguez to do well against his former teammate in the 4:05 YES start.