October 3, 2012
Well, the New York Yankees have clinched the American League East in fashion. On the 162nd game of the season, who would have thought it would come down to this. The Yankees would put a cherry on top of their season as they defeat the Boston Red Sox 14-2. It was in the bottom of the 7th inning right in the middle of an Alex Rodriguez at-bat when the fans at Yankee Stadium suddenly erupted as they realized the scoreboard showing the Baltimore Orioles had lost 4-1 to the Tampa Rays which secures the Yankees on top and ending up clinching the East. Also the Yankees end up with the best record at 95-67 in the American League rewarding them with home-field advantage throughout the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Let the celebrations begin, Champagne in a clubhouse frenzy and the Bronx and Yankee fans celebrating everywhere with the playoffs to look ahead to. Well it was Huroki Kuroda who would be sent to start and early at the top of the first, it did not seem well as Cody Ross singled in Jacoby Ellsbury to give Boston a 1-0 lead. The Yankees would turn on the power against Daisuke Matsuzaka as Curtis Granderson cranked a 3-run homerun in the bottom of the second to put the Yanks in the lead 3-1. It would be the Bronx Bombers from that point on. Robinson Cano powered a 2-run homer in the third giving them a 5-1 lead, then in the 5th, Cano would launch another 2-run bomb way into the right field deck seats. Matsuzaka's night would be done, and the rest of the damage came off of Boston's bullpen. The Yankees led 7-1 and Robby Cano would add two more RBIs in the 6th. Yankees would lead 9-2 in the bottom of the 7th when Curtis Granderson crushed one to right-center for his second homerun of the game as well. Robinson Cano would go 4 for 4 on the night with 2 homeruns and 6 RBIs. Huroki Kuroda pitched an extraordinary 7 innings giving up just two runs and end his season record at 16-11. The Yankees would go on to win 14-12.
Certainly many great highlights and key positives for the New York Yankees the way they finished the season and hot at the right time going into the playoffs. Robinson Cano's 9 game-hitting streak in the final games of the season certainly is a highlight but more impressive is his .615 batting average with 3 homeruns and 14 RBIs. His two homeruns constitutes for 33 homeruns on the season and 94 RBIs. Curtis Granderson hit homeruns number 42 and 43 and winds up with 106 RBIs on the year. The Yankees tonight not only tied their all time record of 244 homeruns in a single season, they also surpassed it and now have 245 with Granderson's shot. The Captain Derek Jeter is certainly an impressive story with the .316 batting average and his consecutive season record of 200 hits or more. Closer Rafael Soriano collected 42 saves in replacement of Mariano Rivera. Raul Ibanez contributed big down the stretch especially during the critical recent games that helped boost the Yankees.
It was just a few games ago when it all seemed that the Yankee season was indeed in jeopardy as the Orioles tied them for the AL East. It dwindled down to the remaining games as the Yankees went 14-4 in their final 18 games. Manager Joe Girardi certainly proud of his team, "It is not easy to do what these guys did, win 95 games in our division". Not only winning 95 games, but the fashion in how the New York Yankees fought and pulled through. The tail end of their pitching staff was in question early in the season with newly acquired starter Michael Pineda out for the entire season and Andy Pettitte unavailable for a big part of the summer months. Starters C.C Sabathia was injured early in the season and Ivan Nova also went through shoulder injury. Outfielder Brett Gardner was disabled for the majority and probably the worst that befell the Yankees was when closer Mariano Rivera was injured for the remainder of the year while catching a fly ball during a practice routine back in May. Then Alex Rodriguez spent time on the disabled list and so did Mark Teixeira late in the season. It was a team plagued with injury all throughout their lineup and for this team to pull together and maintain their position in the Major Leagues was quite a remarkable one.
The Yankees lead was 10 games in July and many saw the number slowly dwindle down as the resilient Baltimore Orioles gave chase in the East. When it finally came down to the wire, and players knew they must step up and fight to maintain first, it is exactly what they did, "If we controlled our own destiny, everything was in our control" - Curtis Granderson.
The Yankees with the clinch and the win will now enter the postseason for the 51st time in their illustrious history and the 24th time with the best record in the American League. They will either face the division rivals Baltimore Orioles or the Texas who play a one game playoff to determine the first round match-up. Congratulations and now the real season begins as the American League East Champions Yankees have their eyes on the playoffs!
B.C Sports
Brian C
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