Yankees Offense Comes to Life

After three games of futility in the run scoring department the Yankees came out in Kansas City and showed why they are still a force to be reckoned with. Lyle Overbay had a game that will certainly stand out in his career as he collected four hits in five at bats with five runs batted in. Overbay began his night by hitting a two run home run off Kansas City starter, Wade Davis. He followed his home run with an RBI double and hit another double in the sixth inning facing lefty Bruce Chen which scored Ichiro Suzuki. He capped off his renaissance night by collecting an RBI single to give the Yankees lead some padding. Also coming up big in tonight's game was Ichiro Suzuki who went 3-5 with a home run and two RBI. Chris Nelson collected his first two runs batted in as a Yankee and Brett Gardner showed something with two hits including a run scoring triple in the top of the sixth inning when he was driven in by Robinson Cano on a single one batter later. The offense has not been blowing teams away this year but tonight goes to show that anyone has the ability to step up and put on a show. Lyle Overbay hasn't hit since 2010 but this year he has something to prove and is finding the perfect opportunity to do so in a Yankee uniform. The same goes for Chris Nelson and to a lesser extent, Ichiro.

Phil Hughes was essentially a non-factor in this game, pitching 5.2 weak innings, allowing two home runs in the process to balloon his season ERA to 4.43. Hughes got the win but Shawn Kelley was the pitcher of the game. Kelley pitched 2.1 perfect innings and at one point he struck out five straight hitters. He finished his night with six strikeouts and a slightly lower ERA. The Yankees bullpen came up big tonight, continuing their scoreless streak at 12.1 innings, meaning they have not allowed a single run to score in four straight games. Robertson and Mariano were unavailable in today's game meaning the lesser relievers had to step in and eat innings for the Yankees, who had a comfortable lead in the latter portion of the game. The pitching is what has been keeping the Yankees afloat most of the time because the offense does not score many runs in most games. This game was one of the more relaxing for the Yankees because they had a nice lead and scored a ton of runs. Girardi was also
able to enjoy it a little more knowing that this game was his 500th win as manager of the New York Yankees.

The Yankees will try to make it four in a row tomorrow evening as they will face James Shields, who has not pitched well against the Yankees as a Tampa Bay Ray. Andy Pettitte will make the start against a young Kansas City offense, many of whom have never faced the southpaw in their short careers.