Baidu_MLB/MLB_YANKEES HOME OPENER - April 07 2014.mp4

And

shortly

thereafter,

he

became

the

captain

of

the

Yankees.

Five

championships

later,

hoping

to

go

out

with

number

six,

Derek

Jeter

is

in

his

final

season

of

professional

baseball.

So

that's

the

Jeter

aspect

of

this.

Now,

Hiroki

Kuroda

is

going

to

get

the

start.

He's

done

this

before.

David

Cone

will

detail

that

when

we

get

back

right

here

on

YES.

The

start

today,

David,

in

the

home

opener

as

well.

He's

not

a

stranger

to

that.

He's

not.

This

was

opening

up

for

the

Yankees,

and

he

was

dynamite

that

day.

Six

strikeouts.

He

was

throwing

the

ball

everywhere

he

wanted

to.

He

ended

up

with

eight

innings

of

shutout

baseball

that

particular

day.

He's

had

some

big

moments

here

at

Yankee

Stadium

as

well.

He's

not

a

road

warrior,

that's

for

sure.

He

loves

home

cooking.

Check

these

numbers

out

in

the

Bronx.

ERA

in

a

hitter's

ballpark.

strikeouts,

walked

just

in

and

one-third

innings.

So

pretty

good

for

Hiroki

Kuroda

here

at

Yankee

Stadium.

It's

almost

time

for

first

pitch.

Lineups.

First

pitch

baseball.

The

Yankees

opened

the

season

on

the

road

with

six

games.

They

lost

two

out

of

three

to

the

Astros

in

the

first

series

of

the

year.

And

then

they

took

two

out

of

three.

From

the

Toronto

Blue

Jays

this

weekend.

No

off

days.

straight

days

in

a

row

coming

out

of

the

gate

from

spring

training.

This

is

the

beginning

of

a

three-series

homestand.

You've

got

three

against

the

Orioles.

Four

against

the

Red

Sox.

And

then

two

against

the

Chicago

Cubs.

An

opening

day

at

home

is

always

special.

There's

something

extra

special

this

year

because

this

is

Jeter's

final

opening

day.

It

is

Jeter's

final

opening

day.

It's

more

about

missing

last

year's

opening

day,

and

that's

what

he's

talked

about

more.

He's

always

going

to

deflect.

As

you

know,

with

Derek.

He's

not

going

to

like

all

the

attention

on

himself.

His

comment

was:

I

missed

last

opening

day.

That's

what

this

one's

about.

This

is

the

last

time

you're

going

to

see

that

guy

on

an

opening

day

at

Yankee

Stadium.

Now

it's

going

to

be

a

very

special

first

pitch

ceremony

because

the

Yankees

have

reunited

the

core

four.

You

know

who

those

four

people

are:

Mariano

Rivera,

Jorge

Posada,

Andy

Pettitte,

and

Derek

Jeter.

Before

the

game,

Derek

said:

I

can't

remember

the

last

time

we

were

all

together

on

a

field

at

the

same

time.

I've

seen

all

of

them

recently,

but

we

haven't

been

together.

Let's

go

now

to

the

public

address

announcer

at

Yankee

Stadium.

Paul.

The

Yankees

are

excited

to

have

two

very

special

ceremonial

first

pitches.

Throwing

out

one

pitch

is

the

man

who

is

the

Yankees'

all-time

strikeout

leader

and

ranks

third

on

the

Yankees'

all-time

wins

list.

Throwing

out

the

other

pitch

is

the

man

who

pitched

in

more

games

in

Yankees

history

than

anyone

else

and

is

Major

League

Baseball's

all-time

saves

leader.

No

two

pitchers

combined

for

a

win

and

a

save

in

the

same

game

more

than

the

times

these

two

Yankees

did.

And

later

tonight,

They

will

be

honored

together

at

the

New

York

Yankees

homecoming

dinner

with

the

Pride

of

the

Yankees

Award.

Ladies

and

gentlemen,

Please

welcome

back

number

Andy

Pettitte.

And

number

Mariano

Rivera.

Championships

they

won

together

in

pinstripes.

Two

of

the

core

four

have

a

little

snow

on

the

roof,

And

one

of

the

core

four

doesn't

have

any

snow

on

the

roof,

And

then

there's

Derek

Jeter,

But

it's

good

to

see

the

four

of

them

together.

It

was

special,

And

that

was

a

little

dangerous

because

Pettitte

cut

it

from

the

left

side

and

Mariano

cut

it

from

the

right,

it

could

have

gotten

dangerous

there

for

the

catchers.

That's

the

way

to

start

breaking

it

down,

David.

It's

so

weird

seeing

them

throw

out

the

first

pitch;

both

could

clearly

still

pitch

in

the

big

leagues.

Andy

Pettitte's

final

game

was

last

year

in

Houston.

It

was

a

complete

game

victory,

And

Mariano

Rivera

had

one

of

his

better

seasons

last

year

as

well,

But

they

decided

that

it

was

time

to

go.

That's

what

Derek

Jeter

decided

as

well

on

February

And

one

of

the

most

asked

questions

is,

Kenny,

at

least

I've

been

asked

this

a

lot,

David

Lough,

the

left

fielder,

will

lead

off,

batting

second

and

playing

right

field.

Nick

Markakis.

Adam

Jones

in

center

field

will

bat

third.

Cleaning

up,

the

first

baseman,

Chris

Davis.

Matt

Wieters

will

catch.

He'll

bat

fifth.

Nelson

Cruz,

the

DH,

will

hit

sixth.

Batting

seventh,

the

second

baseman,

Steve

Lombardozzi.

The

shortstop

is

Ryan

Flaherty,

hitting

eighth.

Jonathan

Schoop

is

the

third

baseman,

and

he

is

going

to

bat

ninth.

And

for

the

home

opener,

it's

going

to

be

Hiroki

Kuroda

getting

the

start

for

the

New

York

Yankees.

He's

two

and

three

in

his

career

against

the

Baltimore

Orioles.

And

he's

made

one

start

that

came

in

Houston.

He

actually

pitched

very

well

against

the

Astros.

Not

much

in

the

way

of

run

support.

And

he

came

away

with

the

loss.

Opponents

hitting

just

against

him.

Let's

check

out

our

pitcher's

scouting

report.

I

mentioned

run

support.

Hiroki

Kuroda

got

tagged

with

a

loss.

He

only

allowed

two

runs

in

six

innings

at

Houston.

It

was

the

loss

of

his

career

in

which

he

allowed

three

or

fewer

runs.

It's

the

most

since

of

any

pitcher

in

the

big

leagues.

The

good

old

days.

Last

year

he

pitched

very

well

in

day

games.

He's

done

that.

The

Yankees.

Here

at

Yankee

Stadium

days

starts.

He

is

and

And

last

year

he

had

nine

starts

during

the

course

of

the

season

in

which

he

did

not

give

up

a

run.

And

that

was

the

most

in

the

American

League.

Let's

check

out

the

defense

behind

Kuroda.

The

Yankees

have

Brett

Gardner

in

left.

Jacoby

Ellsbury

is

in

center

and

Carlos

Beltran

in

right.

In

the

infield,

It's

Yangervis

Solarte

at

third.

Derek

Jeter

at

short.

Brian

Roberts

at

second.

Kelly

Johnson,

the

first

baseman.

Brian

McCann

is

behind

the

plate.

Hiroki

Kuroda

is

on

the

mound.

In

the

middle

of

a

tough

stretch

to

start

the

season

for

the

Yankees,

As

we

mentioned.

straight

games

out

of

the

gate.

Usually

you

have

an

off

day

after

every

opener

that

you

play

in,

but

both

of

the

first

two

series

were

played

in

dome

stadiums.

You

didn't

have

to

back

up

for

a

rainout.

And

the

schedule

makers

didn't

do

that

here

at

Yankee

Stadium.

The

Yankees

play

again

tomorrow

afternoon

against

the

Orioles.

So

their

first

day

off

will

be

Monday,

a

week

from

today.

There's

Carlos

Beltran,

his

first

game

in

pinstripes.

Same

thing

with

Jacoby

Ellsbury

and

Brian

Roberts

as

well.

Kelly

Johnson,

Solarte,

and

behind

the

plate,

Brian

McCann.

So

a

lot

of

new

Yankees.

Lowe

is

ready.

Kuroda

is

ready.

Let's

do

it

here

in

the

Bronx.

The

first

pitch

is

low

and

we

are

underway.

Jim

Jimmins

is

the

home

plate

umpire

who

called

balls

and

strikes.

This

is

one

of

the

Orioles'

new

players,

David

Lowe.

Prior

to

the

trade

with

Kansas

City.

The

Orioles

said

that

Danny

Valencia.

The

right-handed

hitter

to

the

Royals.

But

Buck

Showalter

said

that

they

really

like.

They

would

like

him

to

kind

of

establish

himself

as

a

permanent

leadoff

guy

at

the

top

of

this

Oriole

lineup.

The

pitch.

Well,

There

were

years

when

the

Orioles

didn't

have

to

worry

about

that

leadoff

spot.

But

that

premier

leadoff

man

is

now

playing

second

base

for

the

Yankees.

Brian

Roberts.

Lowe,

as

you

might

expect,

has

pretty

good

speed.

He's

a

good

defender

out

in

the

outfield.

He

had

a

pretty

good

year

for

Kansas

City.

In

games,

he

had

a

average.

Derek

Jeter

gets

The

preacher

chant.

Signals

to

the

crowd.

And

they

cheer

again.

Swung

on

and

missed.

Low,

down

on

strikes.

Obviously

overcast.

The

lights

are

on.

degrees.

humidity.

Not

much

wind.

But

there's

a

chance

of

late

showers.

Maybe

about

o'clock.

So

hopefully

the

game

will

be

over

by

then.

We'll

see

if

it

holds

up.

The

rest

of

the

week

is

supposed

to

be

beautiful.

Here's

Nick

Markakis.

Orioles

coming

at

two

and

four.

And

yesterday.

They

won

a

game

to

snap

a

four

game

losing

streak.

It

was

their

number

one

starter

Chris

Tillman

who

beat

Justin

Verlander

in

Detroit.

Good

matchup.

Tillman's

really

establishing

himself

as

the

leader

of

that

Oriole

staff.

Coming

off

a

good

year

last

year

as

well.

Right

in

on

the

hands,

down

the

right-field

line.

It's

a

base

hit.

It

goes

to

the

wall.

Beltran

fields

it.

And

moving

to

second

with

a

double

is

Nick

Markakis.

You

might

notice

when

I

gave

you

the

Oriole

lineup.

The

absence

of

J.J.

Hardy.

Hardy

is

not

on

the

DL.

But

he

has

been

experiencing

back

spasms.

in

his

lower

back.

The

cold

weather

is

not

helping

matters.

So

he

is

not

playing

today.

And

the

Orioles

move

Ryan

Flaherty

over

to

the

shortstop

position,

which

has

been

well

manned

by

Hardy

over

the

last

few

years.

And

a

strike.

Adam

Jones:

last

year,

home

runs,

runs

batted

in.

The

premier

center

fielder,

one

of

the

key

players

in

the

Oriole

lineup.

Both

of

those

totals

that

Michael

mentioned

are

career

highs

for

Davis.

I

should

say

Jones.

Got

one

batter

ahead

of

us.

Michael

mentioned

that

Adam

Jones

is

one

of

the

better

outfielders

in

the

league.

In

fact

he

had

more

home

runs

and

more

runs

batted

in.

McCann

and

Kuroda

are

having

trouble

coming

to

an

agreement.

Remember,

there's

a

man

on

second

base

and

they

changed

the

signs.

You

know,

we

saw

this

a

little

bit

with

Sabathia

in

his

most

recent

start,

and

this

is

good.

Kuroda,

as

a

veteran,

has

a

very

clear

idea

of

how

he

wants

to

go

about

it,

and

McCann

is

obviously

a

veteran

catcher

as

well.

McCann

is

really

noted

for

his

signal-calling

in

Atlanta,

one

of

the

best

around.

He

really

knows

how

to

set

up

hitters

and

frames

exceptionally

well.

Defensively,

he's

one

of

the

better

catchers

around,

but

people

more

and

more

note

him

for

his

offense.

One-one.

Foul

back.

Well,

since

according

to

Baseball

Prospectus,

Brian

McCann

is

the

best

pitch

framer

in

baseball.

Followed

by

Jose

Molina,

Jonathan

Lucroy,

Russell

Martin

and

Ryan

Hanigan.

You

should

explain

what

a

pitch

framer

is.

It's

a

catcher

who

really

receives

the

ball

quietly.

Not

too

much

body

movement.

And

it

gives

the

umpire

a

really

good

look.

And

you

can

steal

some

strikes

on

close

pitches.

One-two.

Fly

ball

to

center

field.

Ellsbury

will

make

the

play.

For

the

second

half.

That'll

bring

up

Chris

Davis.

He

had

a

club

record

home

runs.

He

broke

Brady

Anderson's

record

from

Brady

had

Davis

hit

He's

got

power

to

all

fields.

This

is

one

of

the

strongest

hitters

in

the

league.

And

he

finished

third

in

the

MVP

balloting

last

year.

Behind

Miguel

Cabrera

and

Mike

Trout.

Now

the

power

numbers

went

down

in

the

second

half

of

the

year.

Many

theorized

he

was

tired.

The

league

started

to

pitch

him

tougher.

We'll

see

if

he

picks

it

up.

But

Buck

Showalter

said

you

can't

expect

him

to

hit

fifty-three

again.

So

if

he

hits

thirty-seven

home

runs

this

year,

you're

going

to...

Some

say

he

had

a

bad

year.

He

said

that's

not

fair;

thirty-seven

is

an

outstanding

year.

Well,

he

led

the

league

in

runs

batted

in

with

one

hundred

thirty-eight.

If

he

can

lead

the

league

in

runs

batted

in,

you

can

drive

in

runs

with

singles

and

doubles

as

well.

That

last

pitch

was

a

good

splitter.

Davis

is

a

good

low-fastball

hitter;

Corona

went

lower-than-low

and

got

him

to

chase

it.

He'll

want

him

more.

Really,

what

it

comes

down

to,

Kenny,

and

you

know

he's

a

great

hitter.

From

a

pitcher's

standpoint,

you're

trying

to

promote.

Bad

contact

off

the

end

of

the

bat,

and

from

a

hitter's

standpoint...

Especially

with

Davis,

it's

just

getting

good

balls

to

hit

and

laying

off

those

splitters

down

and

out.

You

mentioned

bad

contact

that's

what

happened

to

Adam

Jones

on

the

previous

out:

a

fly

ball

to

center,

but

it

was

off

the

end

of

the

bat;

he

couldn't

drive

it.

You

know,

I

mentioned

run

support.

In

my

scouting

report

on

Corona

and

Davis,

I

will

tell

you

I

think

you

will

agree

as

a

pitcher,

sometimes

it's

not

how

you

pitch.

It's

when

you

pitch.

And

Kuroda's

pitched

very

well

over

the

years

for

the

Yankees.

But

there

are

days

where

the

team

just

has

to

score

that

many

runs.

He's

one

of

the

pitchers

in

the

league

who

gets

the

lowest

amount

of

run

support.

Rounded

to

first.

Kelly

Johnson

is

there.

He

beats

Davis

to

the

bag,

and

that'll

do

it

here

in

the

first.

No

runs,

no

hits,

no

errors.

And

one

man

left.

Orioles,

nothing.

And

the

Yankees

are

coming

to

bat.

Score

on

the

top

of

the

first.

Now

it's

the

Yankees'

turn

against

Ubaldo

Jimenez.

Brett

Gardner

in

left

field

will

lead

off,

the

captain,

The

shortstop,

Derek

Jeter,

bats

second.

Batting

third,

Playing

center

is

Jacoby

Ellsbury.

Carlos

Beltran

is

in

right

field.

He'll

clean

up,

batting

fifth.

Catcher

Brian

McCann.

Alfonso

Soriano,

the

DH,

will

bat

sixth.

Batting

seventh,

playing

second

base,

Brian

Roberts.

Kelly

Johnson,

the

first

baseman,

hits

eighth.

Batting

ninth,

playing

third

base,

Jan

Hervis.

On

the

mound

for

Baltimore.

Former

Cleveland

Indian

right-hander.

He's

years

old

and

took

a

loss

against

the

Boston

Red

Sox

in

his

opening

start

of

the

year.

That

was

down

at

the

Camden

Yards

in

Baltimore.

He's

got

pretty

good

stuff.

You

look

at

his

numbers.

A

late

addition.

The

Orioles

signed

him

just

before

the

beginning

of

spring

training

along

with

the

DH

and

left

fielder

Nelson

Cruz.

He

is

a

man

of

steel.

S-T-E-A-L.

The

last

four

years,

he's

given

up

the

third-most

steals

in

baseball.

A.J.

Burnett

is

one

of

the

two

pitchers

ahead

of

him,

at

the

strong

second

half,

straight

starts

to

end

the

season

of

three

runs

or

fewer,

and

that

made

him

a

very

attractive

free

agent,

and

the

Orioles

signed

him.

Let's

check

out

the

defense

behind

Ubaldo

Jimenez.

We've

got

Moe

in

left,

Jones

in

center.

Marqueque

is

over

right

infield.

It's

Schoop.

Flaherty,

Lombardozzi

and

Davis,

third

to

first.

Leaders

behind

the

plate

and

the

men

as

is

on

the

mound.

All

right.

So

here's

Brett

Gardner.

Brett.

The

only

home

run

for

the

Yankees

on

their

six-game

road

trip.

Shows

but

takes

a

strike.

I

mentioned

the

man

of

steel

because

the

Yankees

have

been

stealing

bases.

Maybe

one

home

run

but

eight

stolen

bases

without

being

caught

in

those

six

games.

Ground

ball

to

the

first.

Davis

to

the

bag,

one

away,

and

that'll

bring

up

Derek

Jeter.

Starting

for

the

Yankees.

Number

two,

Derek.

Jeter.

Home

crowd.

Rising

to

their

feet

for

Jeter's

initial

bat

of

the

season.

Definitely

could

have

had

that

go

longer

if

he

stepped

out,

but

he

could

see

he

just

wanted

to

start

playing

baseball.

He

got

in

the

box

with

the

crowd.

He

was

standing

and

cheering.

They

wanted

Jimenez

to

throw

the

pitch.

The

last

time

I

heard

a

chant

like

that

during

a

game

was

Paul

O'Neill's

big

serenade

back

in

the

playoffs

in

his

last

game

here.

That

was

I

was

at

Game

of

the

World

Series

against

the

Diamondbacks.

Derek

was

asked

about

a

comment

Joe

Torre

once

made

that

Derek

doesn't

make

the

moment

too

big,

that

he

doesn't

get

too

excited.

Derek

said,

Well,

I'm

like

everybody

else.

He

said,

I

get

excited.

He

said,

I

just

don't

let

you

see.

But

inside

I

have

butterflies

in

big

moments.

He

gets

Jeter

down

on

strikes.

One

thing

you'll

notice

about

Jimenez

is...

From

the

windup,

he's

got

a

very

funky

delivery.

His

motion

is

all

arms

and

legs.

He's

tall

enough

to

begin

with

and

has

a

good

fastball

to

the

outside

corner

there.

Strikeout

of

Derek

Jeter.

Watch

the

motion.

Arms,

legs,

everything

moving.

You've

got

to

find

a

ball

there

somewhere.

He

kind

of

wraps

that

arm

around

the

back

of

his

backside

there,

you

know,

and

really

that's

when

he

turned

it

around

last

year,

Kenny.

They

were

trying

to

change

his

mechanics,

change

his

arm

swing,

and

they

said...

They

said,

"What

the

heck,

go

back

to

your

old

way?"

And

that's

when

he

started

letting

it

go

again

and

got

some

velocity

back.

This

is

what

I

got.

This

is

my

style

and

I'm

going

to

go

with

it.

He

did

help

Cleveland

get

to

the

playoffs.

He

went

in

September.

With

a

ERA,

that

made

him

American

League

Pitcher

of

the

Month.

That's

strange.

Ellsbury

was

one

of

the

big

free-agent

signings

by

the

Yankees.

But

he's

been

able

to

fly

under

the

radar

because

it's

all

been

about

Derek

Jeter's

final

season

and

the

arrival

of

Tanaka.

So

he's

getting...

Almost

an

easy

slide

into

the

Yankee

situation.

Ellsbury

kind

of

came

alive

in

the

series

in

Toronto;

he

had

seven

hits.

Those

were

against

the

Blue

Jays.

Primarily

a

leadoff

hitter,

he

led

all

leadoff

hitters

in

hits

last

year.

So,

Brian

McCann.

Will

be

batting

fifth

today.

It

will

be

interesting

to

see

how

Ellsbury's

power

translates

into

Yankee

Stadium

as

opposed

to

Fenway.

Certainly,

a

few

years

ago

he

had

home

runs

in

an

MVP-caliber

year,

and

then

I

think

just

last

year;

somewhere

in

the

middle

you

can

expect

a

power

boost

from

Ellsbury,

especially

at

home.

That

one

is

a

fly

ball

to

left

field,

and

that'll

do

it

as

the

Yankees

go

down

in

order.

One,

two,

three.

We're

going

to

the

second

here

at

the

stadium.

Yankees

nothing,

Orioles

nothing.

It

will

be

difficult

to

keep

four

players

on

one

team.

Four

great

players

on

one

team.

Andy

Pettitte

did

have

three

years

when

he

went

to

the

Astros.

That

was

because

he

wanted

to

go

home.

But

he

did

end

up

coming

back.

But

the

ability

to

keep

stars

on

one

team.

four

guys.

I

don't

know

if

you

can

afford

that

anymore.

David.

It

is

rare.

Even

seeing

one

player

like

Jeter,

a

la

George

Brett,

Cal

Ripken,

play

his

entire

career.

especially

a

career

that

spans

years

in

one

spot.

That's

not

going

to

be

a

rarity,

much

less

four

guys.

Four

guys.

Now

the

leadoff

hitter

will

lead

off

and

the

Yankees

will

go

into

their

shift

as

Solarte.

Solarte

moves

over

to

the

right

side.

Derek

Jeter.

He

moves

about

feet.

from

third

base.

The

Yankees

did

a

lot

of

shifting

in

the

first

six

games.

Wieters

has

hit

well

here

at

Yankee

Stadium

over

the

years;

he

comes

in

pretty

hard.

He's

got

a

six-game

hitting

streak

and

his

batting

average

is

At

least

for

the

first

week

he's

gotten

off

to

a

decent

start.

Well,

one

thing

all

of

these

dramatic

shifts

are

going

to

do

is

give

you

a

good

look

at

fielders

here.

All

the

defensive

metrics

out

there,

Kenny,

Sabermetrics

are

really

going

to

be

thrown

off

because

many

of

these

metrics

do

not

take

into

account

defensive

placement.

High

fly

ball

to

left

field.

Gardner.

Makes

the

play.

Nor

do

they

take

into

account

how

hard

the

balls

are

hit.

So,

in

terms

of

range

factor

and

range

finder,

trying

to

determine

the

range

of

a

defensive

player

and

how

many

balls

he

gets

to.

There

are

going

to

have

to

be

some

adjustments

to

some

of

these

sabermetrics.

With

regard

to

defensive

metrics.

There's

going

to

be

a

new

normal.

There's

Nelson

Cruz.

And

a

strike.

Cruz,

a

free

agent,

signed

a

one-year

deal

with

the

O's,

again

late

just

like

Jimenez.

The

Orioles

just

weren't

getting

any

traction

in

Baltimore

during

the

offseason.

And

they

finished

tied

with

the

Yankees

last

year

with

wins

in

the

East.

They

didn't

make

any

additions.

They

also

traded

away

their

closer

Jim

Johnson.

It

didn't

seem

like

they

wanted

to

improve.

And

then

they

went

out

and

spent

a

great

deal

of

money

on

Jimenez.

And

then

Cruz

signed.

The

city

got

excited

again.

So

did

the

members

of

the

team.

They

waited

so

late.

Because

the

prices

of

these

players

came

down.

Cruz

signed

a

one-year

deal

and

I

could

see

his

thinking:

he

wants

to

have

a

good

year.

He'll

hit

in

a

friendly

ballpark

in

Baltimore.

He's

already

hit

two

home

runs

there.

Maybe

get

back

out

on

the

market

again.

He

was

a

real

find

and

a

perfect

fit

for

the

Orioles

in

the

middle

of

this

lineup

in

that

ballpark.

I

think

Jimenez

was

a

little

bit

of

a

surprise,

a

million

four-year

deal.

That

was

when

Ervin

Santana

was

still

sitting

out

there.

Rounded

up

the

middle

for

a

base

hit.

Nelson

Cruz

with

a

single.

Here's

Lombardozzi.

Lombardozzi

came

over

to

the

Orioles

just

at

the

tail

end

of

spring

training.

The

deal

with

the

Detroit

Tigers

addressed

needs

for

both

teams;

the

Orioles

were

struggling

at

second

base.

Alex

Gonzalez,

the

veteran

shortstop,

was

in

the

Orioles

camp.

Tigers'

Jose

Iglesias

is

injured,

maybe

out

for

the

whole

season.

They

made

a

deal.

Gonzalez,

now

playing

short

for

Detroit,

has

already

paid

off

with

a

game-winning

RBI.

Cruz

leads

off

first,

held

there

by

Kelly

Johnson.

And

the

count.

Fly

ball

to

right-center.

Ellsbury

is

on

the

run.

He'll

make

the

play.

Nelson

Cruz

forgot

how

many

outs

there

were.

They're

going

to

double

him

up.

And

they

do.

Cruz

just

took

off.

Buck

Showalter

cannot

be

too

pleased.

No

runs

scored.

No

errors

on

the

play

because

of

the

double

play.

Nobody

left

on

base.

There

he

goes.

We're

at

the

bottom

of

the

second.

Introduced

to

the

crowd

along

with

the

extras

today;

did

not

run

out

to

the

line,

walked

out

slowly.

Brendan

Ryan

still

in

Tampa

with

a

cervical

spine

nerve

injury.

Still

not

doing

baseball

activities.

He's

a

ways

away

from

coming

back

to

the

Yankees.

Well,

there's

Buck

Showalter;

he's

probably

wondering

what

happened

there.

You

know

this.

He's

talking

to

Delmon

Young;

there

was

one

out.

Buck's

really

famous

for

that

throughout

the

game.

He'll

storm

up

and

down

the

dugout

and

he'll

challenge

guys

to

make

sure

they're

into

the

game.

He'll

talk

strategy,

as

he's

doing

right

there

with

Delmon

Young.

He

likes

to

keep

everybody

involved

throughout

the

course

of

the

game,

including

those

on

the

bench.

You've

got

to

be

ready.

Count

two

and

one

on

Beltran.

I'm

sure

this

is

the

day

that

Beltran's

dreamed

about

for

a

while.

He's

wanted

to

be

a

Yankee

for

a

long,

long

time.

When

he

became

a

free

agent

that

first

time,

he

ended

up

signing

with

the

Mets.

The

night

before,

his

agent

came

to

the

Yankees

and

said,

Carlos

would

go

to

the

Yankees

for

less

money

than

he

was

taking

from

the

Mets.

And

the

Yankees

just

didn't

have

a

fit

that

year,

So

he

ended

up

signing

with

the

Mets

and

had

a

nice

run

there.

And

this

time,

the

stars

aligned,

and

the

Yankees

signed

him

to

a

free

agent

deal.

And

he

ends

up

walking.

He's

been

a

good

player

for

a

very

long

time.

I

remember

his

rookie

season

in

with

the

Kansas

City

Royals;

he

was

the

American

League

Rookie

of

the

Year.

Yeah,

if

you

think

about

it,

the

Royals

had

a

great

outfield

back

then.

Think

about

Beltran

in

center,

Johnny

Damon,

and

Jermaine

Dye.

All

three

outfielders

were

traded

at

some

point.

That

was

kind

of

the

downfall

of

the

Royals

back

then:

when

they

traded

each

of

those

outfielders,

look

at

who

they

got

back

in

those

trades.

Kind

of

the

difference

between

them

and

the

Rays

and

what

they've

done.

Brian

McCann

pops

it

up

and

Wieters

makes

the

play.

You

see

one

thing

about

these

shifts

with

the

left-handed

hitters

at

the

plate.

Now

remember,

either

the

third

baseman

or

the

shortstop

is

going

to

be

playing

at

the

shortstop

position.

It's

going

to

place

more

pressure

on

the

catchers

on

foul

balls

over

toward

the

third-base

dugout.

Because

it's

a

long

run

for

either

the

shortstop

or

the

third

baseman

to

come

this

far

to

make

the

play.

It's

difficult

for

the

catchers

to

make

that

play

to

begin

with.

And

you

might

see

that

during

the

course

of

the

year.

A

ball

or

two

might

fall

in.

It

should

have

been

caught

with

normal

defense.

Here's

Alfonso

Soriano,

who

has

struggled.

On

the

opening

road

trip.

Just

one

hit.

Just

a

bloop

single.

So

he's

still

trying

to

find

it

up

at

the

plate.

He

says

he's

not

worried.

Well,

one

thing

Alfonso

has

been

doing.

He's

been

chasing

pitches

out

of

the

zone.

Especially

with

two

strikes.

He

gets

beat

by

two

inches.

Chasing

that

slider

down

and

away.

You

have

to

lay

off

those

pitches.

Fight

your

way

back

into

counts.

Then

you

get

better

pitches

to

hit.

Right

now

he's

got

a

good

hitter's

count,

two

balls.

No,

it

hasn't

been

that

way

for

the

first

week.

It's

always

been

one-and-two,

oh-and-two.

Soriano

is

traditionally

a

slow

starter,

and

especially

this

year

he

came

into

camp

with

the

flu

right

out

of

the

gate

in

spring

training,

which

took

him

a

long

time.

But

he's

the

type

of

guy,

as

we

saw

last

year.

What

do

you

do,

driving

runs

in

games

with

the

Yankees?

He

was

lightning

in

a

bottle

for

the

Yankees

after

the

trade.

Three

infielders

on

the

left

side

for

Soriano.

Count

three

and

taking.

Count

three

and

one.

Combined

with

the

Yankees

and

the

Cubs

last

year,

home

runs,

runs

batted

in.

And

he

walks.

So,

first

and

second,

One

man

up.

And

that's

going

to

bring

up

Brian

Roberts.

This

is

probably

a

little

odd

and

strange

for

Brian

Roberts.

who

came

up

through

the

Oriole

organization.

Really

well-liked

Oriole

player

for

the

longest

time,

but

left

as

a

free

agent.

Yeah,

it's

interesting.

I

saw

him

before

the

game

and

he's

standing

in

the

Yankee

dugout.

Oh,

a

whole

different

perspective.

On

this

side

of

the

field.

Note

the

high

on-base

percentage

and

the

low

average;

Brian

Roberts

can

really

eyeball

some

walks

as

well.

Very

disciplined.

Roberts'

last

four

years

with

the

Orioles

were

marred

by

injuries;

he

could

not

stay

on

the

field.

Sometimes

he

couldn't

even

get

on

the

field.

And

when

his

four-year

deal

was

up

a

big-money

deal,

million

a

year

the

Orioles

weren't

going

to

offer

him

that

kind

of

money.

Neither

did

the

Yankees.

And

he

wasn't

sure

if

the

Orioles

really

wanted

him

back.

They

didn't

make

that

big

push

when

the

Yankees

came

forward.

When

the

Yankees

came

forward,

he

said,

"Let

me

sign

there"

he

spent

years

at

Baltimore

and

was

a

two-time

All-Star.

He

is

one

of

just

five

players

in

Major

League

history

with

three

seasons

of

or

more

doubles.

From

my

standpoint,

from

what

I

understand,

they

didn't

even

make

him

an

offer

during

the

winter,

so

they

kind

of

told

him

that.

You

know,

he

considered

taking

his

services

somewhere

else.

Swings

and

misses

down

on

strikes.

Well,

Jimenez

really

reared

back

on

that

one

ninety-five

miles

an

hour,

right

by

Roberts.

Here's

a

guy

who,

one

year,

won

games

for

the

Colorado

Rockies.

That's

not

easy

to

do

pitching

at

altitude.

You

can

see

that

pitch

was

almost

right

down

the

chute.

But

he

had

so

much

on

it

that

Roberts

couldn't

catch

up

with

it;

this

inning

is

kind

of

a

microcosm

of

a

little

bit

of

everything.

He's

walked

two

guys

and

struck

one

out.

He

can

be

all

over

the

place.

Here's

Kelly

Johnson.

Yankees

think

his

swing

translates

to

this

ballpark.

And

they

can

see

some

power

from

him,

as

he

takes

a

strike.

He

has

transitioned

over

to

first

base.

Coming

into

the

season

he

had

played

four

games

there

in

his

career,

but

the

Yankees

really

don't

have

a

backup

first

baseman

to

share,

so

Johnson

is

doing

the

honors.

So

far

he's

done

a

good

job

over

there.

He

can

move

very

well.

He's

a

rangy

player,

so

I

think

his

skills

will

translate

well

over

to

first

base.

One

and

two.

Sort

of

eerily

similar

to

last

year

with

Lyle

Overbay

at

first

base

while

injured

players

were

out.

No

real

right-handed

bat

complement

yet.

As

the

Yankees

found

out

last

year,

that

was

probably

a

real

weak

spot

for

them,

even

though

Lyle

Overbay

did

a

great

job;

he

kind

of

got

exposed

against

left-handed

pitching.

Overbay,

a

born

and

accomplished

first

baseman.

That's

been

his

position.

Swing

and

a

miss.

The

Yankees

strand

two.

We're

going

to

the

third.

On

the

Audi

scoreboard

as

we

go

to

the

top

of

the

third

inning

at

the

stadium.

It's

nothing-nothing.

The

Yankees

and

the

Orioles,

first

game

of

the

three-game

set.

The

first

of

home

games

in

the

regular

season

for

the

New

York

Yankees

here

in

the

Bronx.

Ubaldo

Jimenez

worked

into

and

out

of

trouble

with

two

walks

and

two

strikeouts,

and

now

Hiroki

Kuroda

is

back

on

the

mound

to

face

eight,

nine

and

one

in

the

Oriole

order,

starting

with

Ryan

Flaherty.

The

shift

is

on:

three

infielders

on

the

right

side.

count

on

Ryan

Flaherty.

And

the

pitch

is

fouled

back.

One-two.

Swung

on

and

missed.

Flaherty

down

on

strikes.

Here's

Jonathan

Schoop.

That

one

is

fouled

down

the

third-base

line.

Here's

David

Lowe,

as

Corona

struck

out

two.

He

got

wood

on

the

ball.

A

lot

of

general

managers

pay

a

lot

of

money

for

hitters

who

can

stay

up

there

a

long

time

and

run

a

pitcher's

game.

It

was

no

joke.

He's

pitching

for

Pittsburgh.

I

think

he's

with

the

Dodgers

now.

Yeah.

Ground

ball

to

first.

Billy

it

is

So

Lourdes

walks

and

here

is

Brett

Gardner.

He

takes

the

ball

high.

Everything's

high

to

this

guy.

Look

at

this

thing

about

Gardner:

his

neck

starts

at

the

top

of

his

head.

His

ears

just

interrupt

his

neck.

My

kind

of

player.

Line

drive

base

hit.

There's

Salati

on

his

way

to

third.

No

throw.

Here's

a

guy

who

plays

your

position.

Gary

G.

I'm

not

familiar

with

him.

You

see

a

new

kid.

First

and

third.

Nobody

out.

Yankees

threatening

here

in

the

bottom

of

the

third

inning.

The

whole

gang

along

with

Billy

Crystal

in

the

booth

here

on

YES.

A

home

opener

in

Yankee

Stadium.

Peter

said

what

made

this

special,

in

addition

to

it

being

his

final

home

opener,

is

that

he

didn't

get

to

play

in

last

year's

home

opener.

Here

he

is

with

a

chance

of

driving

the

first

run

at

home

this

season.

Did

you

see

Yogi

over

in

the

owner's

box;

he's

here

today.

Yogi's

here

today.

That's

fantastic.

Back

to

Jimenez.

There's

one.

There's

two

and

a

run

scored.

So

Solarte

crosses

with

the

first

run.

No

RBI

for

Jeter.

And

the

Yankees

lead

Ball

stroked

well,

But

right

back

at

Jimenez,

who

gets

the

glove

up

in

time.

He

took

one

brief

look

at

Solarte.

He

didn't

decide,

I'll

go

for

two.

In

a

way

he's

trusting

his

teammates

to

score

him

some

runs.

He

knew

he

was

going

to

give

up

a

run

here.

Watch

the

pressure

that

Gardner

puts

on

Flaherty.

At

second

base

he

goes

in

there

very

hard.

Flaherty

flipped.

But

he

got

the

throw

off

in

time.

Because

he

watched

that

on

YES.

Clean

play.

Good.

Hard

slide.

There's

Ellsbury.

Here's

Carlos

Beltran.

Derek

Jeter

went

one

for

three

with

a

run

scored

in

his

first

home

opener

in

Who

drove

him

in?

You

didn't

start

that

game.

David.

That

was

Andy

Pettitte

in

the

snow.

Never

forget

that

opening

day.

The

pictures

of

Pettitte

with

snowflakes

almost

in

his

eyes.

Lincoln

scoreboard

one

nothing

Yankees

over

the

O's.

Nick

Markakis

takes

outside.

They

called

that

a

strike,

Kuroda

pitched

one

of

the

best

games

of

the

year.

Right

here

at

Yankee

Stadium,

it

was

against

the

Orioles

on

April

of

last

year:

nine

innings,

five

hits.

A

complete-game

shutout.

He

didn't

walk

anybody.

The

Yankees

won

it

was

an

excellent

performance.

Ground

ball

to

Jeter.

We're

gonna

spin

the

time

machine,

David,

bring

you

back

to

a

snowy

April

day.

Across

the

street,

that

scene

right

there,

unbelievable.

You

huddled

on

the

bench

or

did

you

go

back

to

the

clubhouse?

He

had

the

parka

on,

that's

for

sure.

We

didn't

know

what

a

"polar

vortex"

was

back

then.

But

it

was

certainly

something

like

that

going

on

back

in

Now

Adam

Jones,

against

Hiroki

Kuroda,

with

a

lead.

The

Yankees

got

their

run

because,

right

in

the

middle

of

it,

starting

the

inning

with

a

walk

was

Solarte,

who

is

certainly

not

disappointed

as

he

has

moved

into

the

starting

lineup.

He's

done

everything

you

could

possibly

want.

And

later

in

the

game

we'll

see

the

first

fan

photo.

So

Adam

Jones

held

there

by

Kelly

Johnson.

Tomorrow

is

an

afternoon

game

as

well.

Here

at

Yankee

Stadium,

a

start.

And

the

Orioles

right

now

are

in

the

midst

of

five

straight

day

games.

And

they

have

not

done

that

since

April

of

They

get

in

more

of

a

routine

with

the

night

schedule

when

that

starts

to

break

in,

but

in

April.

You'd

rather

be

playing

in

the

daytime.

It's

more

what

you're

used

to

doing

in

spring

training.

Lindsey

Barrow

is

Yogi

Berra's

granddaughter

and

she

tweeted.

This

is

a

picture

of

Yogi

on

his

way

to

the

ballpark

today.

It's

so

great

to

see

him

here

at

the

park.

And

she

had

told

me

that

he

really

wanted

to

come.

And

if

the

weather

cooperated,

They

were

going

to

make

sure

he

got

here.

And

he

is

here

enjoying

the

game.

And

we

thank

Lindsey

Barrow

for

tweeting

that

out,

the

guy

she

calls

'Gramps'.

Rumor

has

it

he's

still

coming

up

with

the

Yogi-isms

even

as

we

speak.

I'm

sure

he's

probably

got

a

line

of

the

day.

Kuroda

gave

up

two

runs

in

six

innings.

That

was

in

his

start

on

the

road.

I

was

in

Houston

for

the

game

the

Yankees

lost.

See

Corotta

being

very

careful

with

Davis

here.

Even

on

the

pitch,

making

sure

he's

going

for

the

corners.

Yankees

still

employing

that

extreme

shift

even

with

Davis,

even

with

Adam

Jones

on

first.

So

ground

ball

to

Solarte,

the

third

baseman

playing

second

base

right

there.

It's

going

to

be

tough

for

Derek

to

get

over

and

cover.

Orioles

are

a

very

powerful

team.

They're

the

only

team

in

the

major

leagues

last

year

that

hit

over

home

runs.

They

hit

to

be

exact.

And

Davis

was

their

leader.

of

them.

Let's

see

if

they

send

Adam

Jones

on

a

pitch

with

one

out.

They

do

not.

Fly

ball

to

left

field.

Toward

the

line

is

Gardner.

He

leaps

and

he

makes

the

play.

Tagging

Adam

Jones.

And

he'll

make

it

to

second.

That's

some

play

by

Brett

Gardner.

He

actually

caught

it

in

foul

territory.

And

there

is

not

much

room

over

there

for

an

outfielder

to

make

any

sort

of

play.

That's

the

leap.

As

Michael

called

it,

up

against

the

wall.

Amazing

things

are

happening

here.

And

here's

a

throw

to

second.

Adam

Jones

at

first

was

kind

of

heads-up;

he

followed

it

all

the

way,

tagged

up

and

was

able

to

go

to

second.

But

a

great

play

by

Gardner

in

the

corner.

Good

concentration.

The

leap.

Takes

it

away

from

that

fan

and

gets

it

back

in.

Yeah,

a

little

Steve

Bartman-like

action

down

the

left

field

line

there.

As

the

fan

tried

to

reach

over,

he

probably

would

have

been

ejected

had

he

touched

that

ball,

because

it

was

over

the

fence

and

in

the

field

of

play.

There's

Matt

Wieters.

That

was

subject

to

an

interference

call

or

maybe

even

a

replay.

For

Steve

Bartman,

the

Chicago

Cubs

fan

that

reached

over

in

the

playoffs.

Everybody

still

kind

of

talks

about

it;

it

haunts

the

Cubs

from

moving

further

into

the

postseason.

It's

Up

the

middle,

base

hit.

Adam

Jones

will

round

third

and

he

will

score.

It's

an

RBI

single

for

Wieters.

And

the

heads-up

tag

by

Jones

pays

off

as

the

Orioles

have

tied

the

game

at

one.

We

told

you

Wieters

has

been

a

hot

hitter

in

the

early

going

this

year.

His

average

was

at

coming

into

the

game.

It

jumps

up

a

bit

now

that

he's

one

for

two.

Now

let's

see

where

the

pitch

is.

It's

supposed

to

be

away

and

it's

sort

of

in

the

middle

of

the

plate.

He

just

drops

the

head

on

it.

Line

drive,

center

field,

base

hit.

You

don't

have

to

miss

by

much

when

the

hitter

is

really

swinging

the

bat

well.

If

you

catch

too

much

of

the

plate

he

usually

gets

good

wood

on

it.

As

Michael

said,

Jones

tagging

up

and

moving

to

second

on

that

catch

by

Brett

Gardner

pays

off

as

the

score

is

now

tied

on

the

Wieters

base

hit.

Now,

on

an

off-speed

pitch,

staying

back,

Wieters

hits

it

back

up

the

middle.

Clearly

locked

in

right

now.

Count

We

told

you

Tim

Timmons

is

behind

the

plate.

The

first

base

umpire

is

Todd

Kitchener.

Tim

Welke

is

at

second

and

Will

Little

is

at

third.

Tim

Timmons

is

calling

strikes

back

there

today,

Kenny.

So

you

better

be

ready

to

swing

the

bat

on

both

sides.

So

you've

seen

anything

close.

Anything

close.

Certainly

not

afraid

to

raise

that

right

hand.

As

you

watch

Corona

work

here.

When

he

gets

two

strikes

on

the

hitter

he

does

have

a

good

splitter.

It's

not

as

explosive

as

Masahiro

Tanaka's

but

it's

still

a

pretty

good

one.

There

it

was

right

there.

Didn't

quite

get

it

close

enough

to

the

strike

zone

to

get

Cruz

to

chase

it.

Good

pick

by

McCann.

Top

of

the

fourth

inning,

Corotta

is

pretty

much

a

three-pitch

pitcher.

Fastball,

slider.

And

a

split.

About

fastballs

and

equal

splits

between

his

slider

and

splitter.

The

count

is

full.

Kelly

Johnson

will

back

up.

Good

take

there.

Cruz,

As

you

see,

This

is

a

really

good

slider,

just

off.

A

lot

of

less

disciplined

hitters

would

have

chased

that.

The

runner

goes.

is

grounded

to

short.

Jeter

to

first,

And

that'll

do

it.

But

the

Orioles

tie

the

score.

One

run

on

two

hits

with

one

left

on

base.

We

go

to

the

bottom

of

the

fourth

inning.

Derek

Jeter

went

one

for

three

with

a

run

scored

in

his

first

home

opener

in

Who

drove

him

in?

I'm

going

to

say

Mariano

Duncan.

On

Lincoln's

scoreboard,

It's

a

game.

Look

at

him.

He's

calling

it.

Here's

Flaherty

in

the

background.

The

only

other

fielder

who

had

a

chance.

And

you're

right,

Kenny,

with

those

shifts.

You're

going

to

see

those

plays

a

lot.

He

avoided

the

shift,

so

that's

his

first

solid

hit

of

the

season.

The

other

hit,

which

was

in

Toronto,

was

a

blooper

to

right

field.

That

was

well

struck.

Yeah,

it's

a

confidence

builder.

When

you

haven't

been

hitting

well

and

suddenly

you

can

see

it

up

there.

Lombardozzi.

His

ball

was

hit

so

hard

he

didn't

have

a

chance

to

come

up

with

it.

A

little

bit

of

an

overshift

on

Baltimore's

part.

But

either

way,

that's

a

knock.

Hit

well

up

the

middle.

That'll

bring

a

smile

to

your

face.

Brian

Roberts

takes

a

strike.

At

one

time,

Soriano

was

a

big

stolen-base

threat.

He

had

a

season

in

Washington.

Then

three

other

seasons.

And

now,

while

he

doesn't

steal

as

many

bases,

he's

still

capable.

He's

still

capable

of

stealing

with

a

pretty

decent

success

rate

in

tight

ballgames.

As

you

mentioned

in

the

pregame.

Jimenez

is

fairly

easy

to

steal

off

of

as

well.

You

can

see

the

long,

extended

delivery

even

from

the

stretch.

That's

why

he's

the

man

of

steel.

A.J.

Burnett

and

Tommy

Hanson

are

the

only

two

pitchers

who

allowed

more

steals

since

He's

got

a

great

catcher

behind

the

plate.

Weeders

who

can't

make

up

the

time.

But

you

see

that

in

how

he

drops

his

hand

way

back.

Once

you

see

that

first

bit

of

movement.

You

have

to

take

off.

Kenny's

talking

about

the

arm

swing;

his

arm

action

swings

all

the

way

behind

him

with

a

long

stride.

That's

his

style.

He's

always

throwing

the

ball

that

way.

A

lot

of

old-time

scouts

thought

that

would

lead

to

arm

trouble

or

that

it

has

led

to

arm

trouble

for

him.

But

that's

the

way

he

learned

how

to

throw

the

ball

and

that's

the

way

he

probably

should

stay.

He

has

had

success

going

back

to

his

old

way.

I've

read

a

lot

of

theories

on

that.

David,

Where,

You

know,

A

team

wants

to

change

the

way

you

pitch

in

order

to

put

you

in

a

better

position

to

stay

healthy.

But

now

there

are

some

teams

that

go,

Listen,

If

we

get

six

or

seven

years

of

what

this

guy

does,

You

just

take

that

and

if

he

gets

hurt,

He

gets

hurt.

That's

exactly

right.

You

see

the

wrap

behind

his

back.

Most

pitchers,

You

know,

Have

a

circle

and

a

reach,

Sort

of

an

arc

to

their

arm

swing,

And

that's

kind

of

a

wrap

behind

him

and

a

stop.

Brian

Roberts

hits

one

deep

to

right

field.

Marquette

gets

back.

On

the

track

he'll

make

the

play

for

the

second

out.

But

you're

right,

Michael

just

to

finish

that

point,

it

is

so

hard

when

you

get

to

the

major-league

level

to

change

your

style,

your

whole

arm

action.

That's

what

was

done

to

him

after

he

hurt

his

arm.

Finally,

in

the

middle

of

last

year

he

went

back

to

his

old

way

in

Cleveland,

and

they

sort

of

encouraged

him

to

do

it,

and

his

fastball

and

velocity

started

to

come

back.

We've

seen

him

top

out

at

here

today.

So

certainly

it's

the

right

way

to

go

for

him

and

us.

Here's

Kelly

Johnson:

three

infielders

on

the

right

side.

Only

scope

on

the

left

side.

Snap

throw

to

first

and

Soriano

gets

back.

Kenny,

I'm

amazed

at

the

way

he

throws

the

ball

that

Jimenez

even

got

through

the

Orioles'

vetting

process,

because

they

don't

sign

pitchers.

Grant

Balfour

signed

the

contract.

They

looked

at

his

arm;

they

said

no,

that's

out,

and

they've

done

it

before

too.

Yeah,

that's.

They're

medical

people

who

are

really

sticklers

on

pitchers'

arms

and

shoulders

and

elbows

when

they

go

through

that

exam.

It

must

have

checked

out

okay

for

them

to

make

that

investment.

What

was

it,

million,

million

dollars.

It's

the

most

they've

ever

given

to

a

free-agent

pitcher.

Kind

of

get

the

feeling

that

Baltimore

sat

around

and

watched

all

the

moves

in

the

division

especially

with

the

Yankees.

And

kind

of

felt

like,

you

know,

what

we

need

is

a

pitcher.

Especially

after

the

Yankees

signed

Masahiro

Tanaka.

The

choice

for

the

Orioles

was

on

the

pitching

side.

It

was

either

Ubaldo

Jimenez

or

Ervin

Santana.

And

Santana

was

the

one

who

really

suffered.

Santana

had

a

great

year

last

year

with

Kansas

City.

But

he

ended

up

with

a

one-year

deal

down

in

Atlanta

at

the

last

minute.

And

Jimenez

got

the

four-year

million

deal.

That

will

also

cost

Baltimore

their

first-round

pick

next

year.

That

is

the

pick.

And

that's

why

some

teams

have

been

hesitant

to

sign

players.

Or

they

have

to

lose

that

number

one

pick.

I

think

you

really

have

to

know

what's

available

in

the

draft.

And

if

somebody

you

want

is

going

to

get

down

to

your

slot.

Or

might

get

down

to

your

slot.

Once

they

signed

Jimenez,

then

they

felt

comfortable

signing

guys

to

just

a

one-year

deal

because

they

didn't

have

to

give

up

the

first-round

pick.

They

gave

up

a

second-round

pick.

They

didn't

want

to

give

up

the

first-round

pick

to

sign

a

guy

to

a

one-year

contract.

Count

is

three-two

and

a

bit

high.

So

Kelly

Johnson

is

up.

And

that's

going

to

bring

up

Solarte.

New

pitching

coach

Dave

Wallace.

Looking

on,

Bendis

has

now

walked

more

batters

than

he's

given

up

hits

today.

And

over

the

years

it's

been

one

of

the

bugaboos

for

him:

the

base

on

balls.

He's

certainly

had

strikeout

stuff

in

his

career.

Jimenez

averages

about

strikeouts

per

nine.

And

about

walks

per

nine.

So

about

two-to-one.

Well,

many

times

this

year

so

far,

Solarte's

been

the

right

man

in

the

right

place.

And

now

he's

got

a

situation

right

here

with

a

couple

on.

Here

comes

the

new

pitching

coach.

We

just

talked

about

him.

Dave

Wallace

has

had

a

lot

of

success

over

the

years.

That

was

back

in

his

days

with

the

Dodgers.

He

worked

with

the

likes

of

Pedro

Martinez.

But

Pedro

was

in

his

formative

years.

Dave

Wallace.

That

pitching

coach

we

just

saw.

He

also

was

with

the

Mets.

He's

got

a

little

New

York

flavor.

I

had

some

experience

with

him

with

the

Mets

and

in

spring

training.

Very

impressive.

A

very

positive

pitching

coach.

He's

good

with

mechanics.

Very

similar

to

Mel

Stottlemyre

with

the

Yankees.

Great

pitching

coach

for

years

and

also

Matt

pitching

coach.

Well,

I

think

back

once

again

to

what

Billy

Eppler

told

me

in

Toronto

the

Yankees'

assistant

general

manager

likes

him

largely

because

he

puts

the

bat

on

the

ball.

That

was

a

pretty

good

pitch.

In

and

out

of

the

glove.

It

would

have

been

a

great

catch

by

Mark

Hankins

when

the

ball

came

out.

That

was

a

tough

pitch.

It

was

a

changeup.

Solarte

stayed

back

just

enough.

The

ball

landed

in

right

field

and

just

enough

that

Mark

Hankins

couldn't

hold

on.

You

could

see

he

was

fooled

but

flicked

the

bat

at

the

ball.

The

Yankees

like

the

way

he

makes

contact.

It's

a

good

pitch

from

Jimenez

and

excellent

play

coverage

from

Solarte.

And

unlike

football,

the

ground

can

cause

a

fumble

in

baseball.

It

takes

up

in

a

way

one

at

Through

at

bats.

We're

talking

about

making

contact.

Larkin

struck

out

one

time.

In

his

major

league

career.

It's

certainly

been

the

story

of

the

early

part

of

the

season

for

the

Yankees.

The

thing

I

like

about

him,

Michael

and

Kenny,

is

that

he's

a

nine-year

minor

league

player.

This

is

his

first

taste

in

the

big

leagues.

You

talk

about

paying

your

dues

and

earning

your

way

up.

Just

look

at

his

face.

How

hungry

he

is.

How

satisfied

he

is

to

finally

make

the

big

leagues.

He's

not

going

to

walk

very

often

either.

I

should

point

out

he's

only

walked

once

too;

today

he's

walked

twice,

which

is

a

great

story.

You

throw

Dean

Anna

in

that

category

as

well:

career

minor

league

player,

first

taste

of

the

big

leagues.

Very

humble,

too.

I

think

these

young

kids

can

infuse

some

energy

into

a

veteran

clubhouse.

Bright-eyed

and

bushy-tailed;

that

look

is

on

his

face

every

day

he

comes

to

the

ballpark

he's

very

thankful.

Grounded.

You

know,

people

have

a

tendency

to

think

of

Gardner

as

sort

of

a

slash-and-dash

hitter.

He

is;

he

can

hit

the

ball

well

to

the

opposite

field

and

back

to

the

middle.

Every

once

in

a

while

he'll

catch

with

his

speed,

or

if

you

hang

something

on

the

inner

half,

like

they

did

in

Toronto

yesterday

with

the

two-run

homer.

And

he'll

slash

it

down

the

right-field

side.

And

he

just

missed

what

would

have

been

for

him

an

extra-base

hit;

yeah,

he's

really

gotten

better.

That's

a

great

point,

Kenny,

and

Kevin

Long,

the

hitting

coach,

works

with

the

Yankee

left-handed

hitters,

especially

in

this

ballpark,

with

a

little

flip

drill

to

help

them

pull

their

hands

in

and

turn

on

those

inside

pitches.

Gardner

has

progressively

gotten

better

at

that.

It's

and

two

outs.

Back,

so

Solarte

will

go

again,

staying

put

at

third.

Kelly

Johnson.

Talk

about

experience

and

hunger.

Solarte:

minor

league

games.

Dean

Anna:

minor

league

games.

So

that

is

some

stick-to-itiveness.

A

lot

of

guys

would

have

given

up

on

a

pitch.

He

swung

and

missed.

And

Jimenez

gets

out

of

further

trouble.

One

run,

two

hits,

no

errors

Two

men

left

on

base.

We're

going

to

the

fifth.

Yanks.

From

around

the

majors

right

now,

the

Angels

lead

the

Astros

in

the

bottom

of

the

first;

more

games

to

come

this

afternoon.

A's

and

Twins,

The

pitch

to

Lombardozzi

is

a

strike

as

we

start

the

fifth

inning

here

at

the

stadium.

He's

up

the

count

Lights

have

been

on

all

day.

The

sun

is

really

a

rumor

today.

Overcast.

Cloudy.

Got

one

and

two.

There

is

certainly

a

chill

in

the

air,

and

rain

in

the

forecast,

and

pitchers

are

throwing

strikes

at

least.

On

the

Yankee

side

so

far,

punched

out

the

other

way

it's

a

foul

ball.

Now,

David

obviously

pitched

in

much

colder

temperatures

in

the

World

Series.

But

does

cold

weather

like

this

take

something

away

from

you

as

a

pitcher?

It

really

can,

Michael.

You

know,

I

used

to

look

at

about

the

cutoff.

Several

degrees

below

you

know

the

ball

got

a

little

slicker.

The

circulation

in

your

hands

and

fingers

was

a

little

more

difficult.

It's

just

hard

to

manufacture

spin

on

a

baseball.

Corotas

got

good

splitters

and

good

action

on

his

stuff

today

as

well,

so

I

don't

think

it's

quite

cold

enough.

To

affect

the

pitchers.

It

can,

really,

you

know,

as

I

said

before.

You

just

can't

get

the

perspiration

going.

You

can't

get

the

feel

or

the

tackiness

you

need

on

the

fingertips.

To

spin

the

ball,

either

on

sliders

or

even

splitters.

It

looked

like

it

was

a

spillover

fastball.

This

is

one

of

those

days

they

allow

the

pitchers

to

blow

it

to

their

hands.

Just

so

they

get

a

little

bit

better

feel.

Yeah,

there

it

is.

Look

at

that

movement.

You've

been

proud

of

that

one.

Strike

three

call

you

save

it

for

two

strikes,

the

left-handed

hitter

thinks.

But

this

is

inside.

No,

it's

not.

You

can

see

the

two-seam

rotation

coming

in.

Excellent.

I've

been

really

impressed

with

McCann

behind

the

plate.

the

plate.

Not

only

receiving

balls,

but

the

way

he

calls

a

game,

too.

An

attempt

at

a

drag

bunt

by

Flaherty,

foul.

Well,

you

know,

Kenny,

I

talked

about

it,

Michael,

you've

heard

me

talk

a

lot

about

catchers,

how

they

set

up

and

their

framing

ability.

But

you

watch

McCann

move

in

and

out

behind

the

plate.

And

the

target

he

gives.

Just

outstanding,

textbook.

If

you're

a

young

catcher

trying

to

get

the

most

out

of

your

pitchers,

watch

this

guy:

how

he

sets

up,

how

he

receives

the

ball.

Watch

the

target

he

gives

to

Kuroda

once

he

sets

up.

The

glove

never

moves.

Give

it

to

me

right

there.

You

can

see

some

good

catching.

Maybe

we

saw

one

today

where

he

was

silent.

Joe

Girardi,

of

course.

Very

solid

tandem

here

with

the

Yankees

back

in

the

glory

days.

McCann

certainly

is

the

total

package.

You

know,

all

the

emphasis

has

been

on

his

left-handed

swing

and

how

many

home

runs

he

has

hit

at

Yankee

Stadium.

I

think

the

way

he

catches

defensively.

It's

going

to

be

a

big

difference

for

this

Yankee

pitching

staff.

Especially

once

they

get

to

know

each

other

a

little

better.

But

even

catching

Sabathia

the

other

day.

You

know,

when

Sabathia

got

on

a

roll.

I

think

it

was

out

of

he

retired

in

a

row

in

the

middle

of

his

last

start.

He

and

McCann

really

got

on

the

same

page.

And

McCann

just

called

an

excellent

game

for

him.

Grounded

into

the

teeth

of

the

shift.

For

the

second

out.

He

was

getting

on

a

roll.

That

means

it's

almost

the

same

amount

of

time

between

pitches.

You

know

the

side.

When

the

pitcher

is

ready

to

go

at

each

pitch,

the

game

starts

to

move

along.

Working

both

sides

of

the

plate.

The

grass

is

getting

a

little

greener

across

the

street

there.

That's

what

David

used

to

pitch.

Right

here's

where

I

used

to

play.

Right.

Used

to

be

a

baseball

field

over

here.

Schoop

rips

one

inside

third

and

down

the

left-field

line.

That

is

going

to

go

into

the

corner,

dug

out

there

by

Gardner

and

Jonathan.

Schoop

with

a

two-out

double.

The

Orioles

expect

big

things

out

of

this

young

man,

one

of

the

jewels

of

their

farm

system.

Signed

out

of

Curacao.

And

that

ball

was

in

the

inner

third.

He

just

scoffed

it

down

the

third

baseline.

Not

much

of

a

chance

for

Sir

Larte.

That's

Will

Little.

The

third

baseman.

Getting

big.

Will

getting

big

over

third.

He

made

the

call

before

he

hit

the

ground,

It's

impressive,

too.

We

should

mention

Schoop

is

playing

third

because

Manny

Machado,

the

brilliant

third

baseman,

underwent

knee

surgery.

And

they

don't

want

to

rush

him.

He's

too

valuable

to

the

franchise.

He's

still

down

in

Florida.

They

are

not

putting

a

timetable

on

him;

they

won't

say

he'll

be

back

by

a

specific

date

because

they

think

if

they

put

that

date

there,

that

he'll

push

himself.

They

don't

want

to

push

him.

They're

hoping

around

May.

He

suffered

a

very

serious

knee

injury,

I

think

it

was

the

next-to-last

game

of

the

season

last

year

in

Tampa

Bay,

and

it

looked

innocently

enough;

he

was

just

trying

to

round

first

base.

His

knee

popped

out

and

he

had

surgery;

as

Michael

said,

they're

taking

their

time.

Here's

one

out

by

David

Lowe.

In

the

minor

leagues

it

was

Schoop

at

second

and

Machado

at

short.

That

was

the

combination.

Throughout

the

minor

league

system,

those

two

worked

their

way

up

to

the

big

leagues.

So

Schoop

is

spelled

S-C-H-O-O-P,

but

it's

pronounced

Schoop.

S.

C.

H.

O.

O.

P.

One-one.

Two

and

one.

Decent

pitch

count

for

Corona

so

far.

This

would

be

the

pitch

coming

here.

With

two

outs

in

the

fifth.

Two

and

two.

And

Schoop

was

sleeping.

That

second-base

play

to

end

the

inning.

The

tying

run

at

second

in

the

fifth

inning.

And

the

youngster.

His

mind

was

wandering.

We

almost

watched

McCann

kind

of

deke

him

and

set

up,

and

then

quickly,

right

at

the

last

minute.

He

is

out.

We're

halfway

through.

Most

hits

in

American

League

history

by

a

right-handed

batter.

Derek

Jeter

sits

atop

that

list.

passing

Paul

Molitor,

and

he's

fourth

on

the

American

League

list.

Behind

three

other

left-handed

batters.

So

he

has

the

most

hits

of

any

right-handed

batter

in

American

League

history.

Yeah.

We

also

have

a

note

here,

Michael,

that

once

he

passed

Molitor,

now

he

has

more

hits

than

anybody

he's

ever

played

with

or

against.

I

thought

it

was

interesting

the

other

day

that

Cal

Ripken

Jr.

was

quoted

as

saying

he'd

almost

trade

careers

with

Jeter.

Cal

Ripken

said

he'd

almost

rather

have

Derek

Jeter's

career.

I

saw

that.

He

mentioned

it's

all

about

winning

championships.

That

one

is

driven

deep

to

left

field;

his

family

thought

it

was

gone.

I

think

he

thought

it

was

gone,

and

it

just

hit

near

the

top

of

the

wall.

Buck

Showalter's

going

to

come

out

and

talk

things

over.

It

was

an

exact

pitch,

but

Derek

had

to

hustle

and

got

into

second

just

ahead

of

the

throw.

How

rare

is

it

to

see

him

break

it

down?

Well,

You

know

what?

I

think

if

you

hit

that

ball

in

July,

when

the

ball

carries

better,

it

is

gone.

Especially

down

the

line.

Yeah.

Let's

see,

it

didn't

miss

by

all

that

much.

Cool.

One,

Two

more

feet.

It's

out

of

here.

Good

play

by

David

Lowe,

too,

on

the

carom.

Boy,

We

get

a

good

look

at

this,

Man,

we've

got

the

best

cameraman.

Here

he

comes!

Yeah,

He's

in

there.

Well,

One

thing,

you

know,

that

we...

He

really

tested

that

ankle,

at

least

between

first

and

second.

So

he's

feeling

good

because

he

ran

well

once

he

got

to

first.

Well,

they've

been

here

from

the

start.

They've

seen

so

many

of

his

games.

Mom,

Dad,

Sister.

Now

his

nephew

as

well.

Luke's

one

to

right

field.

That's

going

to

dunk

in

for

a

base

hit.

Jeter

rounds

third.

He's

going

to

come

home

with

a

single

for

Ellsbury.

And

the

Yankees

lead

Just

watching

Derek

Jeter

run

the

bases

in

these

two

instances.

He

is

so

far

ahead

of

what

he

was

last

year

when

he

could

hardly

move

around

the

bases.

Now

watch

this.

Here's

the

base

hit.

He

recognizes

it's

going

to

fall

in.

Watch

this

burst

right

at

the

very

end.

He

turned

it

into

another

gear.

Run

scored.

Ellsbury

continues

his

hot

hitting.

Two

more

hits

today.

In

his

first

game.

In

pinstripes.

In

a

regular

season

game.

You

certainly

anticipate

the

aggressive

Ellsbury.

He's

picking

a

pitch

to

run

on

in

this

sequence.

He

missed

a

changeup

on

the

first

pitch;

that

would

have

been

a

good

one.

Another

changeup.

stolen

bases

last

year.

Clearly

one

of

the

best

base

runners,

if

not

the

best,

in

the

big

leagues.

Here

he

goes.

Pitch

is

high.

Throw

to

second.

Beautiful

throw.

They

got

a

perfect

throw.

He's

one

of

the

best

in

the

game.

He

didn't

win

the

Gold

Glove

last

year.

But

the

previous

two

years

he

did

it

primarily

because

he

could

do

this.

Really

shut

down

the

running;

the

throw

is

right

on

the

bag.

All

Flaherty

had

to

do

was

catch

the

ball

and

wait

for

Ellsbury

to

come

in.

Tell

you

what.

He

didn't

get

the

glove

out

in

front

of

the

bag.

Yeah,

You

laid

the

glove

on

top

of

the

bag.

He

said

he

is

safe.

Too

late

to

challenge

now.

A

drive,

a

base

hit

to

right

field

for

Carlos

Beltran.

Readers

got

a

good

ball

to

throw

there.

Two

changeups

at

a

mile-an-hour

fastball

up,

almost

like

a

pitch-out.

He

threw

out

percent

of

the

runners

who

attempted

to

steal

last

year.

He'll

be

a

free

agent

at

the

end

of

next

year

if

the

Orioles

don't

get

him

signed.

And

he

is

represented

by

Scott

Boras,

so

he's

probably

not

going

to

sign

early.

Boras

doesn't

do

that

with

his

clients

that

often.

That's

an

out.

Zach

Britton,

the

lefty,

up.

Cano

swings

and

misses.

And

see

how

shallow

Adam

Jones

is

in

center

field

even

against

the

power

bat

of

Brian

McCann

here.

Carlos

Beltran

at

first

base.

Beltran

used

to

be

one

of

the

preeminent

base

stealers

in

the

game.

And

he

had

a

high

percentage

of

stolen

bases,

and

when

he

left

he

was

going

to

make

it,

but

he's

not

that

type

of

player

anymore.

High

drive

to

right

center.

Jones

back.

The

first.

McCann's

getting

closer,

isn't

he.

Yeah,

he

had

a

pretty

good

read

on

that

one.

You

know

he's

hit

home

runs

for

six

or

seven

years

in

a

row.

And

the

thing

about

it,

playing

for

the

Atlanta

Braves.

Turner

Field's

one

of

the

biggest

ballparks.

In

baseball.

It's

more

pitcher-friendly.

He

didn't

quite

drive

that;

he

got

underneath

it

just

a

little

bit.

He's

already

up

to

pitches

here.

Two

outs

in

the

bottom

of

the

fifth.

Seven

hits

and

four

walks,

so

he's

had

to

work.

Only

two.

That's

why

the

Orioles'

bullpen

is

hot

right

now.

This

could

be

his

last

inning.

Last

hitter

up.

The

switch-hitter

Brian

Roberts

is

on

deck.

So

Showalter

will

have

a

choice.

Depending

on

the

outcome

of

this

at

bat.

With

a

count,

Soriano

did

a

good

job

of

spoiling

that.

If

the

count

had

been

anything

but

I

think

he

would

have

had

a

better

swing.

That

was

kind

of

a

hanging

slider.

If

he

gets

that

pitch

early

in

the

count

or

when

he's

ahead,

he's

more

aggressive.

He's

got

a

piece

to

stay

alive.

He

has

not

found

his

stroke

yet

out

of

spring

training.

He

hit

some

balls

well.

He's

getting

closer

though.

One

thing

we

saw

from

Soriano

last

year

in

that

big

second

half

for

the

Yankees

is

he

could

hit

the

ball

out

to

right

here.

He's

sort

of

noted

as

more

of

a

pull

hitter.

But

here

at

Yankee

Stadium

he's

got

the

pop

to

shoot

it

to

right.

Popped

up

shallow

left-center.

That's

going

to

drop

in

for

a

base

hit;

Jones

makes

the

throw.

So

a

base

hit

for

Soriano.

Now

two

for

two

with

a

walk.

This

might

be

the

breakout

day

when

you

start

getting

hits

like

this

off

the

end

of

the

bat.

These

are

real

confidence

boosters.

You

see

those

outfielders

who

have

to

play

back

and

respect

his

power.

They

come

on

and

can't

quite

get

to

it.

Those

dropping

in

the

outfield

are

the

ones

the

infielders

reach

for

and

can't

quite

get.

Those

are

the

ones

that

really

get

you

going

and

thinking

things

are

going

my

way.

The

opposite

feeling,

if

you're

on

the

mound:

Jimenez

makes

a

good

pitch.

He

induces

weak

contact

and

he's

still

out

there.

Tony,

I

think

this

is

going

to

be

his

last

batter.

If

he

doesn't

get

Roberts

out,

I

think

you'll

see

Zach

Britton

come

in

to

face

Kelly

Johnson.

And

even

if

he

does

get

him

out

in

the

inning,

I

think

you'll

see

Britton

next

to

get

out

of

the

inning

because

the

pitch

counts

are

getting

up

there.

Still

good

velocity

from

him,

and

as

he's

shown

the

ability

to

really

reach

back

when

he

needs

to

on

that

last

fastball.

He's

touched

today.

So

much

more

emphasis

nowadays

on

efficiency

from

starting

pitching

across

the

board.

Every

manager,

especially

early

in

the

year,

seems

to

look

around

the

mark.

They're

trying

to

squeeze

in

as

many

innings

as

they

can.

The

goal

nowadays

is

to

try

to

get

seven

innings

and

around

pitches.

The

ball

breaks

off

the

glove

there,

but

if

you're

Beltran

at

second

you've

got

to

make

sure

you

get

to

third

base

standing

up.

And

Wieters,

as

everybody

knows,

has

a

good,

strong

throwing

arm,

so

he's

capable

of

making

the

recovery

on

his

own

once

he

picks

the

ball

up.

Count's

a

solid

three-and-two,

so

the

runners

Will

go.

A

full

count,

two

outs.

And

that's

no

small

thing,

Michael.

The

fact

is

now

the

Orioles'

outfield

is

less

likely

to

throw

a

runner

out

at

the

plate

if

there's

a

base

hit,

because

they

have

a

running

start.

Adam

Jones

is

very

shallow

in

center

field

for

Brian

Roberts.

Three

very

strong

arms

out

there

in

the

outfield.

Roberts

has

had

some

good

swings

today,

but

just

hasn't

connected.

He

lined

out

to

right

field

his

last

time

up.

And

in

moments

like

this,

it's

put

up

or

shut

up;

you've

got

to

throw

a

strike

here.

He

finds

a

gap

here.

Two

runs

will

score.

Let's

go.

Trying

to

stay

loose.

Showalter.

He

signals

to

the

bullpen.

He's

going

to

call

on

the

left-hander

Zach

Britton.

Bases

loaded.

One

run

already

in.

Two

outs.

Kelly

Johnson

due

up.

Showalter

goes

to

the

pen.

That's

the

ticket

for

opening

day

here

at

Yankee

Stadium.

And

he

brings

in

the

left-hander.

Zach

Britton,

one

of

two

lefties

in

the

Orioles

bullpen.

He

will

face

Kelly

Johnson.

We've

seen

Britton

in

a

starting

role

in

the

past.

He's

been

in

a

couple

of

games

this

year.

Picked

up

a

win

in

relief.

He's

done

a

pretty

good

job.

He's

got

a

hard

sinker.

And

a

pretty

decent

breaking

ball,

but

for

some

reason

it

didn't

work

out

as

a

starter.

Bases

loaded

for

the

Yankees

as

they

try

to

break

this

open;

they're

up

three

to

one

here

in

the

bottom

of

the

fifth.

Yankees

and

two

and

home

opener

since

since

Twenty

five

and

five

at

home.

Pitch.

Now,

a

stat

that

shocked

me:

Kelly

Johnson

is

one

of

three

left-handed

batters

in

Major

League

history.

With

a

hundred

or

more

plate

appearances.

As

a

left-handed

batter

with

a

hundred

or

more

plate

appearances,

he

has

a

better

OPS

against

left-handed

pitchers.

Number

one

is

Enos

Slaughter.

Number

three

is

Kelly

Johnson.

OPS

is

on-base

percentage

plus

slugging.

Who'd

have

thought

that.

Certainly

career-wise,

on

a

thousand

plate

appearances,

yes;

but

those

numbers

the

last

couple

of

years

haven't

been

anywhere

near

those

career

numbers.

Kind

of

all

relative,

but

nonetheless

an

interesting

number.

He

should

get

a

good

pitch

to

hit

here.

The

count

was

only

two-all.

Down

the

middle.

Two

and

one.

It's

one

of

those

situations

where

your

starting

pitchers

are

sitting

on

the

bench.

Three

of

your

runs

are

out

there.

And

on

the

other

end,

the

relief

pitcher,

one

of

the

most

important

stats

is

inherited

runners

and

how

well

you

do

in

this

situation.

Yeah,

because

if

he

gives

up

a

triple

here

and

then

gets

the

next

guy

out,

he

has

a

zero

ERA

for

his

appearance.

But

he

didn't

do

his

job.

That's

why

you

have

to

look

beyond

ERA

when

you

evaluate

relievers

and

not

pay

too

much

mind

to

it.

Yeah,

There's

so

much

more

that

goes

into

it,

and

I

know

a

lot

of

relievers

really

take

pride

in

this

particular

stat.

Tough

situation

for

Britton

with

the

bases

loaded.

Forces

in

a

run.

That

RBI

goes

up

and

the

Yankees

lead

goes

to

Six

walks

now

for

the

Yankees.

And

that

run

is

charged

to

Jimenez.

There's

no

defense

for

the

base

on

balls.

The

Yankees

have

scored

in

the

last

three

innings

and

each

inning

they've

had

at

least

one

walk

included

in

the

rally.

Here's

Solarte.

And

a

strike.

Solarte

walked

and

scored

in

the

third

and

had

an

RBI

single

in

the

fourth.

Yankees

lead

It

was

a

good

second.

It's

part

of

the

skill

set

that

Solarte

has

that

helped

him

make

this

team.

The

fact

that

he

is

a

switch-hitter

as

well.

He

switches

around.

He's

going

to

bat

right-handed

the

first

time

today.

Among

other

things

as

well.

He

could

play

the

outfield

as

Kenny

mentioned.

Good

glove.

He

can

play

anywhere

in

the

infield.

They'd

probably

put

him

at

first

base

in

an

emergency.

We

saw

him

play

left

field

in

spring

training

and

handle

himself

pretty

well.

The

Yankees

gave

him

a

true

test

in

spring

training.

He

passed

every

one

of

them.

Tapped

right

back

to

Britton.

He

goes

to

first.

And

that'll

do

it.

The

Yankees

get

two

runs

with

Derek

Jeter

flirting

with

a

dramatic

opening

day

blast.

But

he

got

a

double.

And

he

was

driven

in

by

Ellsbury.

One

more

run

came

in.

Yankees

up

Yankee

Stadium

this

Saturday

afternoon,

April

Sunday

night,

April

the

Yankees

take

on

the

Red

Sox,

All

right,

We

go

to

the

sixth

inning.

Yankees

up

Their

home

opener.

Four

runs

on

eight

hits.

The

Orioles,

one

run

on

five

hits.

It's

going

to

be

the

top

of

the

Oriole

order

against

Hiroki

Kuroda.

David

Lowe.

Ground

ball

up

the

middle.

Moving

to

his

right

is

Roberts.

One

pitch.

One

out.

I

was

going

to

ask

you,

And

maybe

that

answered

it,

How

tough

is

it

that's

a

long

inning,

A

cold

day

for

him

to

stay

loose?

Very

tough.

You

know,

Obviously

Kuroda's

a

veteran

now.

It's

hard

to

stay

loose,

especially

in

those

long

innings,

and

then

you

get

a

break

and

get

a

quick

pitch

out

here

in

the

sixth.

I'd

always

try

to

sneak

out

there

and

get

a

few

extra

warm-up

pitches,

Michael.

I

would

be

the

first

one

out

of

the

dugout

when

the

third

out

is

made

by

the

opposing

team.

I'd

get

out

there

quickly.

And

tell

my

catcher

to

be

out

there

with

me

and

get

a

few

extra

warm-ups.

Now,

in

the

old

stadium,

you

didn't

have

that

option.

There

are

mounds

right

next

to

the

dugout.

Would

you

ever

throw?

I

think

I

might.

You

know,

certainly

you

couldn't

do

it

at

the

old

stadium.

But

as

you

said,

with

the

configuration

of

the

new

ballpark

and

the

batting

cage

right

behind

the

dugout.

It's

much

easier

to

go

play

catch.

Kuroda

has

been

very

sharp

today.

Very

efficient.

All

of

his

pitches

have

worked.

I

think

any

starting

pitcher

would

take

a

delay

of

his

team

to

score.

Would

have

waited

a

little

longer

for

a

few

more,

certainly.

Last

year

we

saw

Nick

Markakis

leading

off

quite

often

for

Baltimore,

but

they've

dropped

him

back

a

bit.

You

might

see

him

a

few

times

during

the

course;

it

all

depends

on

how

well

David

Lowe

plays.

He

played

left

field

for

them

last

year

before

leaving

as

a

free

agent.

He

was

a

good

player

for

them.

He

went

right

down

the

road

to

the

Washington

Nationals.

No

winning

did

he

top

pitches

so

he's

got

so

far

in

the

game.

Top

of

the

third.

Right

there

is

Solardi.

So,

Kenny,

you're

familiar

with

that

area.

He

doesn't

have

to

move,

right?

Well,

it

depends

on

where

he

was

living

in

the

Maryland

area.

If

he

was

north

of

Baltimore,

he's

going

to

have

to

move

south.

He

would

have

to

move

south.

You

don't

want

to

deal

with

two-city

traffic

just

to

get

to

work.

So,

two

down,

top

of

the

sixth

inning,

and

the

Yankees

lead

the

Orioles

four

to

one.

And

here's

Adam

Jones.

Adam

with

a

fly

ball

to

center

and

a

single

to

center.

He

also

scored

the

Orioles'

only

run;

that

was

in

the

fourth

inning.

Good

pitch.

Just

a

nasty

slider.

You

can

see

Kuroda,

That

pronounced

hesitation

in

the

middle

of

his

windup.

When

he

starts

to

get

that

going,

He's

starting

to

really

feel

it

right

about

there.

Grounded

to

third.

Solardi

backs

up,

gets

a

nice

hop

and

the

long

throw.

And

a

nice

scoop

by

Kelly

Johnson

to

end

the

inning.

Johnson,

a

novice

at

first

base,

did

the

job

on

a

tough

throw.

Hermes

Solardi.

Let's

take

a

look

at

that

one.

It

was

one

of

those

long

hops,

which

is

not

easy.

Johnson

pulls

it

in.

We

go

to

the

bottom

of

the

sixth

inning

here

at

the

stadium.

Top

of

the

order.

Brett

Gardner.

The

only

Yankee

who

did

not

come

to

the

plate

in

their

two-run

fifth

inning.

He'll

lead

it

off.

Gardner

is

one

for

three

today.

Out

Gardner.

Jeter,

and

Ellsbury.

Gardner's

base

hit

in

the

third

inning

is

stretching

his

early-season

hitting

streak

to

five

consecutive

games.

Nice

bunt.

That's

right.

Mo's

out

there.

That

was

retired

while

he

was

still

playing

last

year.

Mo

threw

one

of

the

first

two

pitches

today.

Thrown

by

Mo

and

Andy

Pettitte

to

Jorge

Posada

and

Derek

Jeter.

Chopped

toward

first.

That'll

bring

up

Derek

Jeter.

Last

time,

Jeter

doubled.

Very

close.

I'd

say

less

than

a

foot

from

a

home

run

right

down

the

line.

Hit

over

the

eight

in

a

three.

And

boy,

He

would

have

been

embarrassed

if

he

got

thrown

out

at

second

base.

He

thought

that

ball

was

gone.

Still

no

excuse;

you

have

to

run

until

it

clears

the

wall.

But

that

would

have

been

tough

for

him

to

take.

Yes,

it

certainly

would

have.

You

know,

with

every

hit,

we

talk

about

him

passing

Paul

Molitor.

With

that

double,

he

broke

a

tie

with

Ted

Williams

on

the

all-time

list.

He's

now

got,

Derek

now

has

doubles.

We

used

to

say

back

in

the

the

World

Series

team,

that

was

a

part

of

that.

It

was

a

team.

It

was

a

true

team.

We

had

no

Hall

of

Famers

on

that

team.

We

were

wrong.

Mariano.

Derek

Jeter

did

not

pass

go.

Go

directly

to

Cooperstown.

And

I

think

Jorge

Posada

will

get

consideration,

with

his

numbers

as

a

catcher.

So

right

now

the

team

actually

had

two

surefire

Hall

of

Famers;

here's

a

look

at

the

double

again

the

pitcher

threw

a

splitter

that

hung

up

and

they

just

missed

a

home

run,

a

shot

down

the

left-field

line;

hustle

on

the

play

produced

a

two-base

hit,

and

a

well-played

play

by

Low

that's

one

reason

the

Orioles

like

him;

he's

a

good

defender

and

a

big

prospect

for

the

Royals.

It's

kind

of

a

surprise

trade

by

the

Royals;

they

really

like

Valencia

the

deal

was

right-handed-hitting

Valencia

for

left-handed-hitting

Low.

You

mentioned

the

doubles:

he

needs

eight

more

doubles

to

tie

Lou

Gehrig

for

the

most

in

franchise

history;

Garret

with

is

just

a

bit

ahead.

We're

at

the

stadium.

We

had

heard

anywhere

from

to

o'clock;

hopefully

it

holds

off.

As

we

mentioned

earlier,

the

weather

the

rest

of

the

week

is

supposed

to

be

just

great.

Especially

for

early

April.

We're

lucking

out

in

that

sense.

The

home

opener

has

been

overcast

and

somewhat

damp

and

chilly.

A

lot

of

people

around

here

say

it's

about

time

After

a

long,

cold

winter.

He

could

not

hold

up;

he

went

down

on

strikes.

He's

one

for

four.

Stopped

towards

second.

Lombardozzi.

And

a

inning

by

Zach

Britton.

We're

going

to

the

seventh

here

at

the

stadium.

Yanks.

Photo

of

the

game.

Young

man

with

the

sign

today,

tomorrow,

forever.

A

Jeter

fan.

And

so

Derek

Jeter

is

going

to

be

the

subject

of

many

of

these

sets.

That's

the

little

girl

who

got

the

baseball

from

Houston.

When

Derek

took

it

away

from

the

lady

who

kept

trying

to

grab

it

and

made

sure

the

little

girl

got

the

baseball.

He

saw

the

sign

and

appreciated

it.

Their

whole

family

was

Really

happy.

The

whole

family

was

just

astounding

after

Derek

gave

her

the

ball.

Here's

the

moment.

Derek

saying,

No,

Not

you.

No.

Not

you.

She

was

acting

more

like

the

Chris

Davis

is

somewhere

on

the

grand

concourse.

Deeper

than

deep.

home

runs

will

dictate

that.

It's

like

those

little

games

when

the

big

hitter

comes

back

and

he

goes,

Everybody

back,

Everybody

back.

The

man-child

drove

it

the

other

way.

Gardner,

on

the

run,

can't

get

there

and

it

bounces

into

the

O's

bullpen

for

a

double

to

start

the

seventh.

Davis

had

seven.

Home

runs

against

the

Yankees

last

year.

This

is

a

powerful

guy.

We

talked

about

power

to

all

fields.

Those

look

like

they're

going

to

center.

There's

one

to

right.

There's

one

to

left.

There's

one

to

Fort

McHenry,

back-leg

style

off

the

firm

frontside

lean

back.

You

see

those

big

power

hitters

lean

back

and

launch.

Wieters

chases

an

off-speed

pitch.

McCann

makes

these

trips.

He

certainly

talks

to

his

pitchers

a

lot,

usually

with

a

man

on

second

base

as

we

saw

with

Sabathia.

Multiple

signals

being

given

now.

Corotta

with

a

great

day

going

here

and

a

man

on

second

now

with

nobody

out.

McCann

wants

to

make

sure

it

was

Wieters

who

hit

the

off-speed

pitch

for

the

RBI

single

earlier

in

the

game.

Let's

see

if

they

try

to

pound

him

in

here.

That's

the

spillover

pitch

that

Kenny

likes

to

call.

Maybe

take

a

shot

off-speed

down.

But

at

some

point

I'd

say

you've

got

to

try

to

test

him

in,

on

the

inside

corner.

Corotta's

had

excellent

movement

today

as

well

on

that

particular

pitch.

Another

thing

to

notice

one

thing

I

saw

from

Jorge

Posada

over

the

years,

and

I

just

saw

it

from

McCann.

With

a

runner

in

scoring

position

at

second,

he

doesn't

set

up

until

just

at

the

very

point

where

Corotta's

about

ready

to

deliver

the

ball.

Now

they

know

where

they

want

it

to

go.

They

just

don't

want

the

runner

On

second

base

to

know

where

it's

going.

McCann

just

didn't

like

how

that

was

set

up

there.

It

looked

like

they

were

going

to

take

a

shot

in;

he

set

up,

and

then

time

was

called.

McCann

did

set

up

inside,

maybe

to

tip

off

that

they

were

trying

to

throw

a

fastball

inside.

So

it's

the

cat-and-mouse

game,

especially

with

a

catcher

like

Wieters

and

a

veteran

like

Davis

on

second

base.

All

it

takes

is

a

little

head

shake

from

Davis

on

second

base

to

tip

off

Wieters

where

the

location

is.

See

the

late

set-up

there

just

at

the

very

end.

He

put

the

target

up,

took

a

shot

in

and

up—just

missed.

Now

do

you

go

right

back

to

the

splitter?

Off-speed,

or

do

you

try

to

double

up

and

come

right

back

in

again?

A

one-two.

Double

it.

You

went

with

a

splitter.

Excellent

location.

Corotta

has

been

spot

on

with

his

stuff.

All

of

his

repertoire

has

been

effective.

He's

made

very

few

mistakes

all

day

long.

Wherever

McCann

wants

it,

Corotta

has

almost

put

it

exactly

there.

Especially

down

in

the

zone.

All

of

his

misses

have

been

down.

Good

quality

low

strikes

all

day

long.

On

a

count,

he

serves

that

one

into

left-center

field.

It's

a

base

hit.

Chris

Davis

advances

to

third.

He'll

stop

right

there.

The

throw

is

cut

off

by

Johnson.

So,

first

and

third.

Nobody

out

for

the

Orioles

here

in

the

seventh.

That

one

kind

of

stayed

up

a

bit;

that's

why

Wieters

is

able,

as

Michael

said

before,

to

serve

it

into

center

field

for

a

hit.

He

just

went

out

and

got

it,

went

with

it,

and

that's

his

second

hit

of

the

afternoon.

Yeah,

both

of

his

hits

came

on

off-speed

pitches

today.

See

the

splitter.

This

is

great

plate

coverage

as

Kenny

said,

it's

up

just

enough

that

he

can

serve

it

over

the

shortstop's

head,

but

that

was

almost

off

the

plate.

That

conference

was

broken

up

by

Tim

Timmons.

And

here's

Nelson

Cruz.

And

there's

a

strike.

The

Yankees

certainly

would

take

a

ground-ball

double

play.

That's

the

exchange

for

a

run

given

up

here.

But

one

swing

at

the

bat

from

Cruz

is

also

a

tie

game.

Outside,

David

Phelps

is

now

in

for

Thornton.

And

the

pitch.

Line

drive.

Left

field.

Coming

on

is

Gardner.

He's

going

to

have

to

play

it

on

a

hop.

Chris

Davis

will

score.

Moving

to

second

is

Wieters.

It's

an

RBI

single

for

Cruz.

And

the

Yankee

lead

is

now

here

in

the

You

see

here,

This

is

one

of

the

few

sliders

that

Kuroda

left

in

the

middle

of

the

plate.

It's

been

in

the

middle

of

the

plate

all

day

long.

The

best

part

about

this

one

is

that

Cruz

doesn't

get

enough

lift

to

get

it

out

of

the

ballpark.

Just

down

enough.

That

it

ends

up

in

the

ballpark,

but

certainly

an

RBI

and

a

different

look

to

this

game

now.

It's

four

to

two,

first

and

second,

nobody

out.

And

that'll

bring

up

Lombardozzi.

Yankees

are

expecting

the

punt

here.

In

on

the

corners.

And

the

pitch

Nice

low

block

there

by

McCann.

See

Lombardozzi

looking

over

toward

third

base

down

the

third

baseline.

It's

third

base

coach

Bobby

Dixon

giving

the

signs.

Leadoff

at

second,

Cruz

is

at

first.

Nobody

out,

one

run

in,

top

of

the

seventh

inning.

Yankees

lead

the

Orioles

four

to

two.

That

one

is

to

left

field.

And

Gardner

with

the

play

for

the

first

out;

he

had

to

play

it

beautifully.

That's

going

to

do

it.

That's

going

to

be

the

last

pitch.

That's

it

today

for

Corotta.

Joe

Girardi

makes

his

way

out

to

the

mound.

And

he

is

going

to

bring

in

a

relief

pitcher.

To

face

Flaherty.

Corotta

will

get

a

nice

hand.

He

leaves

with

a

lead.

Runners

on

first

and

second.

One

out.

Big

spot

in

this

game.

Come

on

back.

they

have

runners

on

first

and

second,

one

out.

So

the

Yankees

bring

in

the

left-hander,

Matt

Thornton.

To

try

to

get

out

of

this

jam.

This

will

be

the

third

game

for

Thornton

one

inning,

one

hit,

one

walk,

one

strikeout.

He

showed

good

velocity

in

Toronto.

He's

always

been

an

excellent

fastball-type

pitcher.

Ninety-four

to

ninety-five

miles

an

hour.

And

the

pitch

is

low

with

J.J.

Hardy

being

out

with

back

spasms

not

on

the

disabled

list

as

of

yet

so

the

Orioles

can't

call

up

an

extra

player.

It

kind

of

puts

the

Orioles

at

a

disadvantage

because

they're

playing

shorthanded

by

one

man.

So

ordinarily

you

might

see

Buck

use

a

pinch-hitter

with

the

lefty

up

there,

Flaherty.

Who,

at

this

point

in

the

season,

had

not

been

hitting

well

at

all.

He

came

in

at

and

he's

for

today.

But

he

kind

of

has

to

leave

him

in

there

to

face

the

lefty.

One

ball,

one

strike,

one

out,

runners

on

first

and

second,

one

run

already

in.

Yankees

Orioles

Slowly

to

second

base.

Roberts

will

flip

to

Thornton

covering

to

get

the

out.

Runners

move

up.

Now

runners

on

second

and

third.

Probably

one

of

the

toughest

plays

for

an

inexperienced

first

baseman

as

Kelly

Johnson

is

at

first.

He

moves

well.

Probably

a

little

too

well.

He's

got

to

go

to

the

back

here.

He

gets

caught

in

no-man's

land.

And

a

good

play

by

Thornton

to

get

over

there.

But

to

me,

that's

what

I've

always

seen.

You

know,

he's

breaking

when

Roberts

is

right

there.

You

know,

and

that's

good

hustle,

but

the

wrong

move.

And

watch

Thornton

on

the

back

here.

Right

in

the

middle.

Dangerous.

As

we

saw

last

year,

Hudson

and

Eric

Young

came

up

with

a

play

like

that,

and

Hudson

ended

up

with

a

fractured

ankle.

So

Thornton

was

very

lucky

right

there.

Well,

that's

going

to

do

it

for

Thornton.

They'll

bring

in

the

right-hander

now,

with

Schoop

due

up.

That's

going

to

be

David

Phelps.

against

Jonathan

Schoop.

and

his

manager

is

going

to

bring

in

David

Phelps.

That's

powerful.

We'll

go

for

the

O's.

Ivan

Nova

walked

too

many

people

his

first

time

out,

but

pitched

well,

got

the

win.

It's

another

day

game.

Mark

that

down,

Runners

on

second

and

third,

two

men

out.

That's

what

Hiroki

Kuroda

did

today.

Six

and

a

third,

eight

hits,

two

runs,

didn't

walk

a

batter.

Four

straight

starts

for

Yankee

starters

without

a

walk

and

four

strikeouts.

But

now,

as

I

mentioned,

David

Phelps,

who

has

struggled

so

far,

comes

in

here

to

face

Schoop.

Those

are

the

numbers.

And

three

home

runs

in

Those

four

hits.

Let's

go.

Takes

a

strike.

We've

got

Wieters

at

third

and

Cruz

at

second.

Two

men

out,

Yankees

up

by

two

so

far.

Adam

Warren

has

really

distinguished

himself

coming

out

of

the

pen.

Phelps

is

a

starter

by

trade.

He

has

struggled

just

a

bit,

but

Joe's

showing

a

lot

of

faith

in

him.

Bringing

him

in

for

a

high-leverage

situation.

Phelps

offers

more

breaking

pitches

cutters

and

sliders

which

may

be

a

better

matchup

here,

but

we've

seen

Adam

Warren

gain

velocity

up

to

miles

an

hour

out

of

the

pen,

similar

to

what

happened

to

Phil

Hughes

in

when

he

went

to

the

bullpen

and

gained

a

lot

of

velocity.

Phelps

is

more

of

a

breaking-ball

artist.

He

relies

on

movement.

He

throws

sinkers.

He

uses

cutters.

He

throws

curveballs.

Tapped

right

back

to

Phelps.

He

comes

on,

gets

a

big

out

and

gets

out

of

a

jam;

the

Orioles

score

one

on

three

hits.

No

errors

and

two

men

left.

At

the

end

of

six

and

a

half

innings

of

play,

it's

the

Yankees

four

and

the

Orioles

two.

The

only

other

game

in

progress.

The

Angels

lead

the

Astros

Kole

Calhoun

with

his

second

homer

of

the

season.

And

that's

one

for

the

Angels.

C.J.

Wilson

in

line

to

get

the

win.

And

later

tonight,

keep

your

eyes

on

what

happens

at

Fenway

Park.

Texas

comes

in,

sending

Tanner

Scheppers

to

the

mound

against

John

Lackey.

Texas

hoping

to

have

the

same

kind

of

fortune

that

Milwaukee

had

over

the

weekend

at

Fenway

when

they

swept

the

Boston

Red

Sox,

guys.

Thank

you

very

much,

Bob.

And

here

we

go

to

the

bottom

of

the

seventh

inning.

Yankees

ahead

of

the

Baltimore

Orioles

by

a

score

of

That's

a

big

out

there

for

David

Phelps,

both

for

his

confidence

and

obviously

for

the

Yankee

team.

On

the

scoreboard,

Yankees

and

the

Orioles

And

Carlos

Beltran

will

dig

in.

It'll

be

the

middle

of

the

Yankees'

order.

And

there's

a

strike.

With

eight

hits,

the

Yankees

hold

a

lead.

Be

interesting

to

see

how

Joe

Girardi

pieces

together

the

latter

part

of

these

games

when

the

Yankees

have

leads

as

we

saw

him

go

to

Phelps.

He

had

a

nice

at-bat

there

and

made

a

good-quality

cutter

to

get

the

ground

ball.

Now

Adam

Warren's

warming

up.

So

those

high

leverage

situations

are

up

for

grabs.

We

saw

Dellin

Betances

get

one

of

those

high-leverage

situations

the

other

day

and

kind

of

struggle.

Warren

actually

pitched

yesterday.

He

pitched

the

seventh

inning.

A

one-two-three

inning

against

the

Toronto

Blue

Jays.

We've

seen

Kelly

in

that

situation

as

well.

So,

you

know,

it's

going

to

be

mix

and

match

for

Girardi.

And

certainly

the

high

leverage

situations

late

in

games

are

up

for

grabs

in

that

Yankee

bullpen.

And

as

quickly

as

you

could

gain

his

trust,

he

could

also

pull

back

a

little.

And

I

think

we

saw

that

with

Betances,

who

was

electric

the

time

he

pitched

in

Houston.

And

when

he

came

in

Toronto

and

could

not

throw

strikes,

we

saw

that.

I

haven't

seen

him

since.

He

didn't

get

that

much

leash

either.

They

took

him

out

of

the

game

right

away

and

brought

in

David

Robertson

to

close

it

out.

Two-two.

Still

two

and

two.

Nice

play

by

Rob

Thompson.

Swing

and

a

miss.

He's

done

a

pretty

good

job

other

than

that

bases-loaded

walk.

At

one

time,

the

Orioles

thought

he

would

be

one

of

their

big-time

starters.

He

had

some

arm

problems.

He

had

to

go

back

to

the

minor

leagues

for

a

while.

But

now

he's

kind

of

settled

into

the

bullpen.

Another

left-hander

kind

of

fell

in

that

category

too.

Brian

Matusz

has

been

a

pretty

good

reliever.

Another

lefty

for

the

Orioles

out

of

their

pen.

Well,

you

can

tell.

I

mean,

they've

taken

to

the

bullpen

just

pitching

from

the

stretch.

The

reason

for

that,

obviously,

is

most

of

the

time

as

a

reliever

you're

going

to

come

in

with

men

on

base

anyway,

so

you

better

be

ready

from

the

stretch.

There's

less

that

can

go

wrong

mechanically

from

the

stretch,

so

it

looks

like

a

reliever

now.

on

McCann.

The

Orioles'

bullpen

is

busy

again.

Ryan

Webb

is

up.

Five

righties

and

two

lefties.

Two-and-two.

Heavy

sinker.

Low

to

Center

field.

A

shoe-top

catch

by

Adam

Jones

for

the

second

out.

Adam

Jones

plays

shallow

to

begin

with,

and

that

was

one

of

those

ones

where

the

center

fielder

plays

a

little

deeper.

Played

this

one

on

the

hop,

the

late

Paul

Blair.

He

played

not

only

for

the

Orioles,

won

eight

Gold

Gloves

as

a

center

fielder,

but

also

spent

some

time

with

the

Yankees.

He

passed

away

the

day

after

Christmas

this

year.

Showalter

will

go

to

the

bullpen,

Britton.

He

pitched

two

innings

and

walked

one;

they

go

to

Webb.

Those

are

the

words

of

the

captain.

Derek

Jeter.

And

prior

to

the

ball

game

today,

There

they

are.

The

core

four.

Many

great

years

together

with

the

Yankees,

And

as

Derek

said.

A

lot

of

fans

grew

up

watching

him

and

his

accomplishments

in

the

Yankee

uniform,

and

they

were

right

on

the

corner

with

their

pitches.

Here's

Soriano

against

Webb.

But

they

were

up

short,

though.

They

didn't

get

on

the

mound.

They

got

up

short.

That

was

a

low-degree-of-difficulty

first

pitch.

Ryan

Webb

was

signed

by

the

Orioles

as

a

free

agent.

This

is

his

third

appearance

of

the

year.

He

now

faces

Alfonso

Soriano

with

two

outs

and

nobody

on

in

the

bottom

of

the

seventh.

On

two,

Webb

comes

on

to

strike

out

Soriano.

The

Yankees

go

down

in

order

against

the

Orioles.

With

that,

we

go

to

the

eighth

inning.

Four-two,

Yanks.

Four

to

two.

Corona

gave

the

Yankees

six

and

a

third.

Ellsbury

and

Solarte

each

had

an

RBI

single.

Leaders

and

Cruz

each

had

an

RBI

single.

So

we

go

to

the

eighth

inning.

A

lot

of

the

crowd

is

thinned

out

despite

it

being

a

close

game.

One

thing

we've

seen

from

Adam

Warren:

we've

seen

two

fastballs

at

He's

been

able

to

elevate

them.

High

as

Larry

Rothschild

says,

coming

out

of

the

bullpen,

he

knows

he's

got

maybe

one,

two

innings.

Last

year

he

did

a

great

job

as

a

long

man

out

of

the

bullpen.

And

sometimes

when

you're

the

long

man

out

of

the

bullpen,

you're

like

the

Maytag

repairman

if

the

starters

are

pitching

well,

you

don't

get

an

opportunity

to

work

very

often.

Now

we

don't

see

Sean

Kelly.

So

the

guess

has

to

be

that

Robertson

is

probably

not

available

today

because

he's

pitched

three

of

the

last

four

games.

That's

the

only

thing

I

can

figure.

Because

the

eighth

inning

has

been

Kelly's

inning.

So

it

looks

like

Kelly

will

close.

And

Warren.

Walks

David

Lowe.

Leadoff

walk.

That

sends

the

pitching

coach

scurrying

for

the

bullpen

phone.

You've

got

the

middle

of

the

order.

They're

going

to

show

up

pretty

soon

here.

Strike.

Two

more

cakes.

Certainly

could

see

Nuno

matching

up

with

Chris

Davis

in

this

inning.

I'm

sure

that's

what

Gary

Tuck,

the

bullpen

coach,

is

telling

him.

That's

the

lineup.

That's

your

guy.

Get

ready.

Fly

ball

to

center

field.

Ellsbury

comes

on

to

make

the

play

for

the

first

out.

Keep

it

off

the

fat

part

of

the

bat.

That

was

off

the

end.

He's

got

a

high,

lazy

fly

ball.

What

a

way,

and

here's

Adam

Jones.

Adam

is

one

for

three

so

far

this

afternoon.

Yankees

lead

four

to

two

in

the

top

of

the

eighth

inning.

Off

the

right

side.

He's

talking

about

Paul

Blair's

last

day.

He

did

pass

away

this

winter.

Unfortunately.

Great

center

fielder

for

the

Baltimore

Orioles.

Now

Brian

Roberts,

second.

He

is

the

second

player

to

join

the

Yankees

after

playing

a

thousand

games

for

the

Orioles.

Blair

was

the

other

one.

Blair

played

games.

For

Baltimore

before

he

made

his

Yankees

debut.

In

Got

away

with

one.

Yeah.

Jones

had

a

good

swing

at

that

one.

That

was

his

best

swing

of

the

day.

Sometimes

the

catcher

will

rush

out

there

and

say,

"Don't

throw

it

there

again."

Yep.

Right

there.

But

a

hitter

like

Jones

is

hot.

He's

not

going

to

miss

that.

That's

going

to

get

hit

very

hard.

missed

outside.

Good

pitch.

This

is

where

you

want

to

do

it.

Oh-two.

If

you're

going

to

miss,

miss

off.

You

see

McCann

frame

that

very

well.

He's

trying

to

steal

a

strike

right

here.

But

this

is

clearly

off

the

plate.

That's

Paul

O'Dell

say,

that's

in

the

other

batter's

box.

One-two.

Nuno's

ready.

The

two-two

pitch.

Now

that's

what

I

was

talking

about,

every

once

in

a

while.

You

saw

the

first

couple

were

and

as

the

at-bat

went

along.

That

fastball

got

a

little

harder.

A

little

faster.

On

this

one,

Jones

can't

catch

up

with

it.

This

is

kind

of

in

his

hitting

zone.

He

likes

the

ball

down.

And

right

on

by

low

heat,

too.

It's

almost

as

if

he

said,

"Well,

I

can

add

a

little

more

here."

Just

to

get

it

by

you.

Powerful

strikeout.

It's

interesting

that

Girardi

will

let

Warren

face

Davis

here.

With

Nuno

ready

to

go,

I

think

I

could

figure

David

is;

he

did

not

want

Davis.

Facing

Warren

as

the

go-ahead

run.

Warren

makes

a

mistake

here.

It's

a

tie

game.

He's

faced

Warren

twice;

Davis

has

two

hits

in

his

career.

I

would

agree

with

you,

Michael.

Maybe

as

the

go-ahead

run

here

at

Yankee

Stadium.

Nuno.

He

would

face

Davis.

Well,

maybe

the

fact

that

he

got

Jones

out.

Carry

on,

young

man.

He

saw

that

fastball.

He

liked

what

he

saw.

That

makes

it

one

and

two.

Davis

is

a

good

low-ball

hitter.

Every

once

in

a

while

you

throw

one

up

around

the

letters

and

he'll

chase

it.

But

you

gotta

have

something

on

it.

It

can't

be

a

mediocre

pitch.

He

had

a

real

good

swing

at

that

last

pitch.

He

did.

Right

down

the

middle.

Pitching

by

Adam

Warren.

He

survives

the

leadoff

walk.

We

go

to

the

bottom

of

the

eighth

inning.

The

Yankees

are

up

four

to

two.

Might

be

raining.

Brian

Roberts

takes

a

strike

from

Ryan

Webb.

The

Hyundai

scoreboard

shows

the

Yankees

lead.

Another

strike,

So

Roberts

is

playing

against

his

longtime

team.

then

a

walk.

How

about

this?

This

is

the

heart

of

the

Yankee

order.

By

the

way,

coming

into

this

game,

hitters

in

the

Yankee

order

hitting

And

today

they

have

four

walks.

A

hit.

And

two

RBIs.

And

a

run

scored.

With

Sean

Kelly,

he'll

close.

To

Webb.

And

that's

going

to

bring

up

Kelly

Johnson.

He

walked

with

the

bases

loaded

in

the

fifth

inning

against

the

lefty

Britton.

So

he's

walked

twice

and

struck

out.

Webb

kind

of

reminds

me

of

Darren

O'Day,

who

the

Orioles

have

had

in

their

bullpen

for

the

last

few

years.

O'Day

has

been

very

successful,

particularly

against

right-handed

hitters.

Same

sort

of

slinging-type

motion.

Hard

sinker.

Keeps

the

ball

down

really

well.

Same

sort

of

set-up

on

the

ball

too.

Maybe

not

quite

as

low

in

his

release

point

as

O'Day.

But

same

type

of

action.

What

all

general

managers

are

looking

for

nowadays.

All

you

hear

about

is

ground

balls

and

strikeouts.

Used

to

be

fly

balls

and

strikeouts.

A

la

Jim

Palmer

and

some

of

the

great

Orioles

pitchers

of

the

day.

Back

in

the

day.

Ground

ball

strikeouts.

Keep

the

ball

down.

Keep

it

on

the

ground

and

get

some

swinging

misses.

The

announced

crowd

here

at

the

stadium:

Forty

eight

thousand

one

hundred

and

forty

two.

They're

saying

it's

a

sellout.

For

the

home

opener.

Three

to

strike

three

right

down

the

middle.

Johnson

down

looking.

All

the

other

pitchers

have

kind

of

been

down.

This

one

is

up.

It

slings

back

off

the

plate.

Different

angle

for

Kelly

Johnson

to

look

at,

and

he

was

frozen.

I

like

to

call

that

an

O'Hare-type

pitch.

Changing

planes.

Here's

Yangervis

Solarte.

No

direct

flights.

No,

no.

Yeah,

Sometimes

you

got

to

go

the

indirect

route,

Although

I

don't

like

to

do

it,

Solarte

fouls

it

back.

games

in

the

minors,

and

here

he

is

in

the

starting

lineup

for

the

Yankees'

home

opener.

Pretty

heady

stuff,

and

he's

handled

it

well.

Made

some

good

plays

in

the

field.

Picked

up

another

hit.

His

decision

to

keep

him

and

designate

Eduardo

Núñez,

a

very

good

decision.

Up

to

this

point.

Good

off-speed

pitch

for

the

swing

and

a

miss.

It's

obviously

the

first

week

of

the

season,

but

you

can't

get

too

far

ahead

of

yourself.

The

lineup

right

now,

and

although

they

didn't

want

to

change

it,

it

did

solve

the

problem.

Everybody's

watching

the

video

on

Solarte

to

see

what

he

can

do.

He

hits

a

deep

drive

to

right

field.

Marquette

is

back

on

the

track

at

the

wall.

He

makes

the

play

for

the

final

out

of

the

inning.

So

flirting

with

a

home

run,

but

the

wind—uh,

it'll

be

tough

today.

We

go

to

the

ninth,

the

O's

down.

Home

opener.

Roll

call.

He

acknowledged

them.

And

then

he

almost

hit

one

out.

Almost

got

thrown

out

trying

to

stretch

it

into

a

double.

But

he

did

get

a

double.

And

then

quickly

thereafter,

he

scored

a

run.

So

an

eventful

home

opener

for

Derek

Jeter.

And

he's

three

outs

away

from

putting

a

win

in

the

home

opener.

And

the

guy

who's

come

in

to

get

the

three

outs,

Sean

Kelly.

As

David

Robertson

has

pitched

in

three

of

the

last

four

games,

obviously.

Not

available.

Ichiro

Suzuki

will

take

over

for

Beltran

in

right

field.

And

Matt

Wieters

would

lead

off

against

Kelly.

Pitch

outside,

The

shift

is

on.

Three

infielders

on

the

right

side.

Only

Jeter

on

the

left.

Sean

Kelly

has

never

recorded

a

save

in

his

career.

He's

two

outs

away

from

one

as

that

one

is

lofted

to

center

field.

Ellsbury

is

there.

One

down.

As

Michael

mentioned,

Ichiro

is

now

playing

right

field.

This

is

probably

the

best

defensive

outfield

that

you've

seen

in

a

long

time

for

the

Yankees.

In

terms

of

speed.

Throwing

ability.

And

they

play

the

ball

correctly

to

cover

a

lot

of

ground.

Cruz

with

two

hits

today.

That's

a

count.

Two

singles.

Run

and

RBI

for

Cruz.

Cruz

was

suspended

for

the

final

games

of

the

regular

season

last

year

because

of

his

involvement.

In

the

Biogenesis

situation.

And

as

Kenny

said,

signs

with

the

team,

plays

in

an

offense-friendly

ballpark,

put

up

big

numbers

and

put

the

suspension

Grounded

to

first.

Backhanded

nicely

by

Johnson.

Flips

to

Kelley

and

the

Yankees

win

Shawn

Kelley

picks

up

his

first

career

save.

Kelly

Johnson,

a

novice

at

first,

makes

a

nice

play

on

the

final

out

in

Derek

Jeter's

final

home

opener.

The

Yankees

win

this

one

and

they

go

over

for

the

season.

Let's

take

a

look

at

that

last

out.

Nice

play

once

again

at

first

by

Kelly

Johnson,

who

hasn't

had

much

experience

at

that

position.

Now

the

accurate

flip

and

the

ballgame

is

over.

Lombardozzi

had

quite

a

few

steps.

And

the

Yankees

finish

another

day

at

the

office

as

Joe

Girardi

pushed

all

the

right

buttons,

using

four

relievers:

Thornton,

Phelps,

Warren,

and

Shawn

Kelley

in

relief

of

Hiroki

Kuroda.

Hiroki

picks

up

his

first

victory

of

the

season

and

continues

his

domination.

MLB_YANKEES HOME OPENER - April 07 2014