Moment of Clarity

Thursday, April 27, 2006
Home Game 9
Yankees 4 Devil Rays 1
Subway Race Winner: 4 train
Cap Game: #1



Chacon threw his first inning warm ups to Moment of Clarity by Jay-Z. And after tonight, he just may have broken out of that messy start he had to begin the season. According to what I heard on the post-game, he says he didn't have his best stuff. He had trouble locating his slider (or something to that effect). But he did end up pitching a nice, crisp game. 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 Ks (eerily similar to his line from Saturday, but with 1 less walk). This is, what, the 5th quality start in a row for the Yanks. Hopefully these last two starts from Shawn are indicative of good things to come this season.

Hendrickson did a pretty good job of keeping the Yankees' bats at bay (they scored 4 runs on 5 hits). The only real blast came from Sheff in the 1st. But Gathright made a leaping grab and robbed him of what was probably a home run. It was so good they actually showed a replay on the Diamond Vision. But, the Yankees did something they couldn't do last night, they manufactured runs. In the 6th they took advantage of a couple walks and an error. Giambi tied the game with a ground out to first with the bases loaded. Matsui followed with a single up the middle to take the lead at 3-1. In the 7th, Damon walked and then scored on a Jeter double to the right field corner. Jetes was 3-3 with a run and an RBI, bumping his average up to .408. I just hope he stays this hot when Damon comes out of his slump. That would be one nasty 1-2 combination.

I'm glad Matsui came through with that go ahead RBI. Steve at Was Watching brings up a good point about the pressure he has to perform well here. He not only has to live up to the expectations of the Bronx, but also to an entire country. With the lineup constructed as it is (with OBP king Giambi ahead of him) they need him to do well. Hopefully he can build on tonight. He made a couple nice plays in the field too, holding both Hall and Gathright to singles.

Random Notes
– A-Rod received his MVP award before the game.

– I've heard complaints about the people who work at the Stadium (security guards, food service, etc.), that they're rude, or they're not helpful or whatever. But I have to say, there are some really nice people working there. I was about to walk up the ramp to my seats when one of the security guards stopped me to ask how I was. She was there when I got clocked in the head on Opening Day. She even asked about my aunt too. I also got a call last week from someone in the organization following up to make sure I was OK. Sometimes it's just the little things.

Tomorrow Jaret Wright starts against Roy Halladay. The last game I saw him start, he got thwacked with a ball in a chest. And in the start that I saw before that, he got hit with a broken bat. Both of those games were against Toroto, too. Let's hope for no more projectiles coming his way this time (and hope he can at least keep the score close).

In attendance record: 3-1