Sergio Mitre Good Enough, As Yankees Best Orioles
July 21, 2009 · Jordan Schwartz · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
The Yankees are now in sole possession of the best record in the American League, and they have Sergio Mitre to thank?
Well, sort of.
Mitre’s 5.2 inning, four run effort was good enough to earn the win, as the New York bats supplied him with six runs of support.
The 28-year-old right-hander, who was making his Yankee debut, entered the start with a career 10-23 record and 5.36 ERA in five major league seasons. But he looked sharp at times, as he attempts to secure the No. 5 spot in the rotation in place of the injured Chien-Ming Wang.
Mitre should get just one more start to impress the front office before executives decide whether or not they want to acquire another pitcher at the trade deadline.
Here are the grades from the Bombers’ 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Joe Girardi, Manager: (A) The Yankees were very aggressive against O’s catcher Matt Wieters, stealing three bases on four attempts.
The most impressive example of small ball came in the second, when Alex Rodriguez led off with a walk, stole second, was advanced to third on a fly ball by Jorge Posada, and scored on a sac fly by Nick Swisher.
Girardi was also once again masterful in his use of the bullpen. He used Alfredo Aceves to get four outs in the sixth and the seventh.
And while I probably would’ve let Ace come back out for the eighth, since he had only thrown 12 pitches, I didn’t have a problem with the skipper going to Phil Coke to face three lefties—who were a combined 0-13 against him.
Derek Jeter, SS: (A-) The captain was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, but he struck out with runners on second and third with one out in the sixth. Jeter also put a scare into all Yankee fans when he came up limping after sliding head first into home.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the always extra-cautious Girardi gave Jeter the day off tomorrow to rest his leg. Afterall, it is a day game after a night game and the Yanks appear to have a favorable match-up, with A.J. Burnett facing Jason Berken (1-7, 6.44).
Johnny Damon, LF: (C) Damon had an RBI single in four at bats, but failed to get the run home from third with less than two outs in the third. He’s now 9-for-14 in those situations. Damon also misplayed Melvin Mora’s single in the sixth, allowing a second run to score on the play.
Mark Teixeira, 1B: (D+) Teixeira was 0-for-3 with a walk.
Alex Rodriguez, DH (A+) A-Rod had a clutch two-out, two-run single in the third to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. He also added two walks and a run scored on his half day off.
Jorge Posada, C: (D+) Posada was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, and 0-for-1 throwing out base stealers, but I’ll give him some credit for calling a good game and advancing A-Rod to third with one out on a fly ball in the second.
Nick Swisher, RF: (B+) Swisher’s sac fly to center tied the game in the second. He also walked and scored.
Robinson Cano, 2B: (A+) Cano was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in the fourth. Defensively, he made another one of his patented flip throws to first going to his right, but also misplayed a pickoff throw from Mitre, which led to a run early in the game.
Melky Cabrera, CF-LF: (F) Catching Matsui’s helmet bouquet Monday didn’t help Cabrera, who is now 0-for his last 10.
Cody Ransom, 3B: (A) Ransom filled in nicely for A-Rod at third for a change. He doubled, walked twice, scored two runs and did not make an error.
Brett Gardner, CF: (INC) Gardner came in for defensive purposes in the ninth.
Sergio Mitre, SP: (C+) Mitre gave up four runs—three earned—on eight hits and one walk in 5.2 innings. He also struck out four in his first major league start since Sept. 2007.
Mitre might want to pitch a little bit better next week if he wants to assure the Yankees don’t make a trade to replace him in the rotation.
Alfredo Aceves, RP: (A+) Aceves retired all four batters he faced.
Phil Coke, RP: (A) Coke gave up a hit in a scoreless eighth. Again, no need for Joba.
Mariano Rivera, RP: (A) Mo protected a two-run lead against the bottom of the order. Bravo.
Yankees Overall Grade: (B) Five straight wins put the Pinstripes a game up on Boston for first place in the East.
Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison.
Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com
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