Bomber Bats Break-out

Derek Jeter stamped his name into another category in the history books on the third pitch he saw in Saturday’s game between the Yankees and the Astros. The New York shortstop socked Wandy Rodriguez’s 2-0 offering into the Houston bullpen in the bottom of the first. The solo shot tied Rickey Henderson for the franchise record 24 leadoff homeruns and gave the Bombers a 1-0 edge. The Yankees went on to beat the Astros convincingly, 9-3, in the second installment of interleague play. Rodriguez was tagged for eight runs and seven hits in the loss. Javier Vasquez manned the hill for New York, tossing seven solid innings of six hit ball for his sixth win of the season. Vasquez has won three straight starts and did not issue a base on balls yesterday. The Yankees climbed to a season-best 16 games over .500 with the victory yesterday.
Jeter’s leadoff blast set the tone for an offense roughed up the Houston left-hander. Houston’s Hunter Pence knocked home a run in the bottom of the second and Carlos Lee jacked a one-run homer in the third to give the Astros a 2-1 road lead. For Pence, it was his tenth tater of the season. The Bomber bats quickly answered by belting out three hits in a five run third. Jeter drew a full count walk and stole second on catcher, Humberto Quintero’s throwing error. Jeff Keppinger failed to make the catch on the play, and Jeter hustled to third base. Nick Swisher singled in the Yankee captain to knot the game at 2-2. Rodriguez walked Mark Teixeira and loaded the bases after allowing a Robinson Cano infield single. New York backstop, Jorge Posada, cleared the bases with a grand slam to pad the Yankee lead to 6-2. It was the 250th connection for the 38 year old catcher in his career, tying Graig Nettles for seventh on the all-time franchise list. With Alex Rodriguez out of the lineup, Joe Girardi’s offense received key contributions from other sluggers.
The Astros’ Rodriguez was lifted after consecutive walks in the sixth but Vasquez pitched deep into the game, yielding just one more Houston run. Lee crushed his fastball into the seats in the top half of the sixth for the DH’s tenth of the season. Lee wasn’t the only player with a multi-homer game Saturday. Jeter shipped another one over the fence good for three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jeter’s second dinger came off reliever, Jeff Fulchino. Vasquez’s velocity reached mid to upper 80’s and the Astros could barely touch him. The Bomber bullpen took over in the eighth, striking out two and giving up three hits. David Robertson and Chad Gaudin tossed two scoreless frames to finish out the Yanks’ refreshing 39th victory of the season. Houston hurler, Brian Moehler, will try to salvage the third game of the series at Yankee Stadium this afternoon. Phil Hughes seeks his ninth win for the Yankees, who are looking for the home sweep.

Parting Points: Posada’s grand slam wasn’t the biggest one in the MLB yesterday.
Boston’s Daniel Nava launched a slam on the first major league pitch he saw.

How about that gift goal for team USA?

Song of the day- Kris Allen’s cover of “Falling Slowly”