New York Yankees crush Washington Nationals 7-2 in series opener – MLB Update
New York Yankees crushed Washington Nationals 7-2 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C on Friday, June 15 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
The Yankees continued their impressive winning streak on Friday evening to improve their record to 38-25. Manager Joe Girardi and General Manager Brian Cashman will be very relieved men these days.
New York have now grabbed the first place on American League East Division standings and credit must be given to them for showing great fighting abilities and determination after making a poor start to the season.
The New York Yankees entered the series with an incredible six game winning streak and they were taking on a team that was as hot as them. However, despite their loss to the Yankees, the Nationals have a mighty 38-24 win-loss record and they are expected to bounce back strongly in the second game.
Alex Rodriguez provided the Yankees with a perfect start as he singled to shallow right in the third inning to put his side 1-0 ahead. Nick Swisher also made his presence felt with an RBI single to left in the third as the Yankees doubled their advantage to 2-0.
"It's one of those things where the first couple of at-bats don't go the way you want them to, you keep your head up and adjust as the game goes on," Granderson said. "If it's not your first at-bat, it's your second, third or fourth at-bat. Never give up an at-bat."
"We didn't have a ton of opportunities off Gio, but the one inning, we got a couple two-out hits. Then we broke the game open obviously a little later on, but we've been getting important hits," Girardi said.
With momentum on Yankees’ side, Captain Derek Jeter reached on infield single to shortstop and Curtis Granderson doubled to deep left in the seventh inning.
Granderson added a solo home run to right in the bottom of the ninth to take the lead beyond Nationals’ reach at 7-1. Starting pitcher Phil Hughes secured his seventh win of the season as he gave up just one run and six hits in six solid innings.
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