Yesterday, the Yankees died by the double play. Today, it gave them new life.
In a scenario eerily reminiscent of last Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to Minnesota, the Yankees took a substantial lead into the eighth inning, but watched as Rafael Soriano gradually frittered it away. With two runs already across the plate, Adrian Beltre lofted a long fly ball down the right field line that missed being a three run homer by about three seats. Disaster narrowly averted, Soriano escaped further damage by getting the Rangers’ third baseman to ground into an inning ending double play.
By escaping the jam, Soriano was able to preserve Freddy Garcia’s first victory as a Yankee. Over six strong innings, Garcia not only kept the Rangers off the scoreboard, but practically kept them off the bases altogether. Going into the game, there was some concern about how Garcia would respond to an almost three-week layoff (sans one relief inning), but the right hander featured a well located mid-80s fastball as well as a steady diet of even slower changeups and sliders to keep the Rangers off balance. His effort was only the fifth quality start turned in by a Yankee, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Freddy Garcia’s Pitch Breakdown
Pitch Type | Avg Speed | Max Speed | Count | Strikes/% | Swinging Strikes/% |
FA (Fastball) | 84.55 | 85.2 | 2 | 2 / 100.00% | 0 / 0.00% |
FF (FourSeam Fastball) | 85.82 | 87.5 | 33 | 22 / 66.67% | 0 / 0.00% |
CH (Changeup) | 78.33 | 83.7 | 24 | 16 / 66.67% | 3 / 12.50% |
SL (Slider) | 78.83 | 81.5 | 16 | 9 / 56.25% | 0 / 0.00% |
CU (Curveball) | 68.47 | 70.1 | 6 | 4 / 66.67% | 0 / 0.00% |
FS (Splitter) | 78.67 | 82.7 | 3 | 2 / 66.67% | 0 / 0.00% |
Source: http://www.brooksbaseball.net