New York Yankees 2012 regular season review – Part 54
With series tied at 1-1, New York Yankees were looking to regroup and fight back to secure another important series victory. Manager Joe Girardi used his resources perfectly in the finale and the Yankees secured a comfortable 5-1 win to wrap up an impressive
win against their American League rivals.
Yankees’ starting pitcher Phil Hughes showed the stuff he is capable of as he allowed just four hits and one run in his first complete game of the season. Striking out batters at regular intervals, Hughes created all sorts of problems for the Tigers’ batting
lineup.
It was Hughes’ fifth win of the season. Credit must be given to him for raising his game play to a higher level under pressure. Hughes outpitched 2011 American League Most Valuable Players Justin Verlander, who took his fourth loss of the season after allowing
nine hits and five runs in just over six innings. It should not be wrong to say that the Yankees were well prepared to tackle his fastballs and slider and they were rewarded big time.
"It feels great. The big thing here has been pitch count and not going very deep into games," Hughes said in a post game interview. "My fastball was staying more true, had some good life on it. I just felt a lot better overall."
"I was uncomfortable right from the start, because the pitches that I practice every day weren't getting me strikes," Verlander said. "To get a strike, I had to come over more of the plate than I normally do, and that's a big problem against that lineup."
Relief pitcher Duane Below and Brayan Villarreal combined to pitch two plus innings but their effort was not enough to save the Tigers from an embarrassing series loss at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan.
Yankees’ Captain Derek Jeter had a big impact on the game as he homered to right in the first inning to put his side on the board. Mark Teixeira hit a sacrifice fly to centre and slugger Alex Rodriguez homered to centre in the third to end the game on a
bright note for New York.
Tags: