Desert Drilling

It was a dreary day for desert baseball. The top-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils were doused and eliminated by South Carolina in the College World Series. The major league slugging Diamondbacks were then drilled and drubbed by the defending champions. Alex Rodriguez and the robust Yankee lineup rocked the Diamondbacks last night at Chase Field in Phoenix, lifting Andy Pettitte to his ninth win of the season. The New York southpaw pitched a two-run, seven hit ball game through seven innings as the Bombers dispatched the Dbacks and coasted to a 9-3 road victory. Rodriguez banged a two-run homerun to center in the first inning and finished with three RBIs. Pettitte, the 38 year old hurler, picked up his sixth straight win, and 238th of his career, while fanning seven Arizona batters.
Dan Haren gave Arizona a strong outing and contributed at the plate with a pair of RBs in the second inning. Pettitte walked Chris Snyder to load the bases for the Arizona pitcher. The DBack’s ninth hitter poked an opposite-field single to right to drive in the first two Arizona runs. Haren tossed seven innings of six hit ball and struck out eight Bombers. His only blemish following the Rodriguez bomb was a three hit third inning in which the Yankees scored a run on a Rodriguez base hit. The Yankees third baseman went 2-for-3 with a walk. Haren held the Yankees in check after the third, allowing only a Pettitte single. The Yankees finished the night with twelve hits, eight of which came off the bats of the first four batter in the lineup.
The visitors busted the game open after Haren’s exit in the eighth with 109 pitches under his belt. New York tacked on six combined runs off Arizona relievers, Esmerling Vasquez and Chad Qualls. The six spot started with Mark Teixeira’s RBI single. Robinson Cano added a run-scoring base hit before Qualls was summoned from the DBack’s bullpen. Jorge Posada lofted a sacrifice fly to score Teixeira. Curtis Granderson drove in a run and scored the final tally of the big inning on pinch hitter, Colin Curtis’, double. Cano also crossed home on the extra-base blast. It was Curtis’ first big league hit and first two RBIs that certainly capped off a firm frame for the visiting team. Joba Chamberlain and Dave Robertson relieved Pettitte in the final two innings with a seven run cushion. Chamberlain issued a walk and struck out two in the eighth, and Robertson allowed a run on a Kelly Johnson’s double. The Yankees improved to 44-27 on the season and play the rubber game of the series late tonight. Dontrelle Willis toes the rubber for Arizona against former Dback, 6-6 Javier Vazquez.

Parting Points: Wimbledon updates- Samantha Stosur lost to a qualifier, eighth seeded, Fernando Verdasco was dropped by a clay courter and James Blake suffered a straight set thumping against a Dutchman. What do these three losses have in common?
I did not recognize any of the winners’ names.

The Marlins fired Freddy Gonzalez and the USA pulled off a last-minute win to advance at the World Cup.