New York Yankees 2012 regular season review – Part 47
After securing comfortable win in first two games of the series, the New York Yankees were in an excellent position to wrap up a famous series sweep against Oakland Athletics. Joe Girardi and his men made a very bright start to the contest.
Andruw Jones displayed some top quality hitting skills as he smacked a solo home run to left in the second inning to put his side on the board. Both teams had several scoring opportunities thereafter but failed to capitalise on them.
Mark Teixeira broke the deadlock as he doubled to deep right centre in the seventh inning to double Yankees’ lead to 2-0. A’s fought hard in closing stages of the contest but the night belonged to Yankees who held their nerves under pressure to complete
a deserving shutout victory.
"You're going to have good stretches, you're going to have bad stretches," captain Derek Jeter said. "When things are going poorly it's usually not as bad as it looks."
"He's been the backbone of this organization for a long, long time and when a guy like that passes you, I'd like to shake his hand and look him in the eye and say congratulations," Brett said in a statement released by the Yankees.
"It's humbling when you hear those names because any name you pass is a Hall of Fame guy," Jeter said. "It's pretty special, but I'm not thinking about it."
Starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda also played a big part in deciding the outcome of the clash. The veteran right hander used the conditions very effectively to lay the foundations of an impressive New York’s victory. Overall, Kuroda gave up four hits and in
eight solid innings while striking out three batters.
Relief pitcher Rafael Soriano also showed nerves of steel under pressure as he allowed just one hit in the ninth, helping the Yankees reach home safely. For the A’s starter, Tommy Milone also had a decent time on the mound as he gave up just two runs in
six plus innings. Relief pitcher Ryan Cook, Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes combined to toss up two plus scoreless innings but their effort went in vain.
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