Alex and Andy Attack

Alex Rodriguez celebrated his 20th career grand slam while everyone else was celebrating Memorial Day. The Yankees’ third baseman ripped a four run shot off Cleveland reliever, Chris Perez, to spark a seventh inning rout of the visiting Indians at Yankee Stadium yesterday afternoon. New York scored six runs in the seventh and added three more in the eighth in an 11-2 final against the Tribe. Veteran left-hander, Andy Pettitte, notched his seventh victory of the season in a seven inning, two-hit outing. Pettitte tied Whitey Ford on the Bombers’ all-time wins list with 236. The New York southpaw can lay claim to the lowest ERA of his career through ten starts. Pettitte has not issued a walk in his last 15 innings.
New York opened up a 1-0 lead in their first at-bats of the day. Rodriguez singled in centerfielder, Curtis Granderson from third base off Tribe tosser, Max Talbot. Talbot allowed three runs through six 1/3 innings and took the loss for Cleveland. The Yankees scattered nine hits against Talbot and finished with a season high 18 on the afternoon. Jhnny Peralta got a run back in the top of the second off Pettitte. Peralta pounded his fourth homerun, a solo shot on a 2-1 count, to tie the game at 1-1. Pettitte’s curveball was biting and effective from that point on. He utilized a cut fastball and occasional changeup to retire the last 14 batters he faced on Monday. The Yankees backed their starter with a run in the fourth to post a one-run lead. Brett Gardner’s base hit scored Nick Swisher with two outs but the speedy Bomber was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning after breaking the tie.
A-Rod broke open a close 2-1 contest in the seventh to give New York’s bullpen a comfortable cushion to work with. Perez’s ill-advised intentional walk to Mark Teixeira pitted runners at every base for the feisty Rodriguez. Rodriguez cranked a 3-1 offering beyond the centerfield fence to give New York a 6-1 edge before Robinson Cano followed with a long ball of his own off Chris Perez. Indian relievers, Chris and Rafael Perez combined to give up five runs in the seventh without recording an out. Pettitte was prepared to come back for the eighth inning after hurling just 90 pitches but Joe Girardi pulled his starter for Chan Ho Park. Park allowed a run on a pair of hits through two frames to hand the Indians their 31st loss of the year.
Thirty-five year old, Jamey Wright, yielded five hits and three runs to New York in an inning and a half relief. Rodriguez clubbed an eighth inning double off Wright to score Ramiro Pena. Pena filled in for the injured Derek Jeter, who took an early exit after getting beaned in the lower thigh with a pitch. The Yankees plated two more tallies off Wright on Cano’s infield single. Former Bomber, Shelly Duncan gave the Indians a run in the top of the ninth off Park, but it was hardly enough to erase a ten run deficit. The Tribe lost three out of four in the Bronx, their only triumph coming after Saturday’s seventh inning scoring barrage.

Parting Points: The Flyers deserved to win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but now find themselves in a 0-2 hole. Chicago was the better team last night.

Congratulations to Duke on their first Men’s Lacrosse title.

Roger Federer falls to Robin Soderling at the French.

Thursday Take-Twos (Ohio Omission Edition)

Omit Evan Turner from the Ohio State Buckeyes’ basketball roster. The junior point guard is declaring for the NBA draft and forgoing his senior year at OSU. That’s one loss for Ohio, but a major win for Chicago-native, Turner. Omit Cleveland baseball from the winless column. The Indians rallied past the Chicago Whitesox in an AL Central duel last night for their first victory of the season. Cleveland won 5-3 on Matt LaPorta’s tiebreaking double with two outs in the seventh. That should even the Chicago-Ohio score.
The explosive Player of the Year is headed to the pros. Turner is expected to be one of the top three picks in this year’s NBA draft. The 6’7” 21 year old collected just about every regular season award in college hoops. Turner was selected Big 10 Player of the year in addition to winning the Naismith Award and being the favorite for the Wooden Award. The Buckeye guard averaged over 20 points and nine rebounds per game in leading the OSU to their second best season in school history. Coach Thad Matta and the Buckeyes will surely miss his services next season. The Buckeyes suffered with Turner temporarily out of the lineup due to injury earlier last season. The team went just 3-3 in his absence. The leader of the Buckeyes, Turner made a quick recovery to piece together and unforgettable season and cap off a stellar collegiate career in Columbus. Turner seemed unsure of his role as a freshman and sophomore. Matta moved him to point guard this season, and that made a difference. Redefined and refined, Turner picked up triple-doubles in two of the first five games. His signature moment was perhaps his game-winning basket near half court to beat Michigan in the Big 10 quarterfinals. Turner orchestrated and incredible run through the NCAA tournament for the Buckeyes. Matta ensures the Buckeyes will have a strong recruiting class. But Turner’s departure leaves a bittersweet void on the roster. The junior won’t have a chance to win a national championship, but by declaring for the draft now, he will not risk costing the university a scholarship for next season.
The Indians scored three runs off Jake Peavy in the top of the fourth inning to erase a 3-0 deficit. The Indians scattered seven hits against a struggling Peavy. The right-hander didn’t look like the solid White Sox pitcher who finished 2009 going 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA. To his credit, he did have little offensive supply. One man provided the only RBIS for the home team. First baseman, Paul Konerko, connected on a two-run homer and delivered a sacrifice fly for the Chicago offense. It was Konerko’s second two-run blast in as many games. Cleveland tied the game during a three run fourth inning. Michael Brantley singled in a run after Peavy hit Mike Redmond with a pitch to load the bases. Grady Sizemore knocked home a pair of runs on a two-out smack to right field. The visiting team took the lead in the seventh when Shin-Soo Choo led off with a single and scored on LaPorta’s double. Choo scored a ninth inning insurance run on Andy Marte’s bases-loaded grounder. Randy Williams took the loss for Chicago. Fausto Carmona was the pitcher on the winning end. The Dominican Republic hurler tossed six wild innings of one hit ball but issued six walks. Left fielder, Juan Pierre, stole two bases and added a hit in the loss. Aaron Laffey, Joe Smith and Chris Perez worked in relief for the Indians. Perez worked the ninth for his first save of the year. He walked Mark Kotsay with one out before fanning Alex Rios. Marte’s diving stab of A.J. Pierzynski’s grounder to first base ended Chicago’s threat and sealed the win for Cleveland.

Parting Points: Look for quite a few Kentucky Wildcats on the draft board this season.

Tiger returns to the Master’s. Yawn.

Granderson is grand for NY---at least against the Red Sox. Let’s see what the outfielder does through the course of the season. I was all for this pick-up by the Yanks because I think he is a class act.

Thoughts and prayers for Maria Navratilova, who was diagnosed with breast cancer.