Teixeira Tater Tops Tigers

Should the Yankees remain fiscally responsible and not pursue Roy Halladay hard this summer, they will need performances like the one from Mark Teixeira Friday. On a night starter, A.J. Burnett, came out throwing flat, the All-star first baseman rescued New York by turning on a heater from Detroit’s injured flamethrower, Joel Zumaya.
The Yankees started the second half of the season and a 10 game homestand on the right foot after going into the All-star break losers of three straight. New York made a winner out of Phil Hughes, who pitched two scoreless innings of relief. The Yankees are not known for lighting up pitchers they have never faced before, especially left-handers. That was the case Friday when the Tigers countered Burnett with rookie hurler, Luke French.
The turbulent tossing Burnett fell behind on most Tigers hitters during the first two innings. The Tigers scored in the top of the first and the Yankees evened the contest in their half of the frame. Hideki Matsui singled to right field off French to score Johnny Damon. The AL Central leaders recanted the lead in the second on a run-scoring single by Placido Palanco. All-star outfielder, Curtis Granderson’s homerun made it 3-1 Detroit in the fifth inning. It was Granderson’s 19th long ball of the year. The Tigers committed two errors in the bottom of the fifth and it resulted in the beginning of New York’s 26th come from behind victory of the year.
Left-fielder for Detroit, Josh Anderson, allowed a Teixeira torch to skip under his glove. Damon scored on the play for his second time of the evening. Zumaya entered in the seventh inning but was not much of an effective reliever for the cats. He allowed a leadoff single by the Yankees captain, Derek Jeter, and a Damon double before the big bomb by Teixeira. Damon’s double glanced off Clete Thomas’ glove as the outfielder made a leap toward the wall. Mark then raked a 3-1 offering from the cagey Zumaya into the second deck in right field for his 22nd of the year and a 5-3 Yankee lead. You knew the ball was out of the park as soon as it left Tex’s bat. Mark has such a structured approach at the plate and it doesn’t matter how hard a pitcher throws at him. He can club the fastest fastball as long as it’s in his zone. Teixeira went 3-for-5 at the plate for the night. Zumaya will undergo an MRI this afternoon after exiting the game with serious arm pain. The runs recounted off Zumaya were the first delivered by New York ever.
Hughes bounced into action to bail out Burnett and punched out six Tigers in two innings with his 97 mph fastball on the mark. He scattered just three hits and has now pitched 15 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in his last 12 relief stints. Hughes lowered his ERA from 5.45 to 3.76 since joining the Yankees bullpen and switching from the starter role. Hughes has a 4-2 record. The shaky Burnett, who had not started since July 8th, was wild and only struck out one Tiger. Burnett gave up three Tiger tallies and six hits over six innings and 104 pitches. His pitch count continues to escalate but his production does not seem to improve. Mariano Rivera planted the seed by picking up his 24th save after a near hour rain delay in the bottom of the eighth. Rivera allowed a two-out double by Polanco and nothing else. The Yankees improved to 6-15 against division-leading teams this season. Detroit has lost three of four against New York this year, including the first at the new Yankee Stadium Friday night.

Parting points: Happy Birthday to Joe Torre.