New York Yankees defeat Cincinnati Reds 5-3 in interleague series-opener – MLB Update
The New York Yankees beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 in the first outing of the three-game series at the Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati on Monday, June 19 to take a 1-0 lead in the clubs’ first interleague series since 2008.
Since the start of the interleague play in 2007, it is the Yankees’ second season trip to Cincinnati after 2003 when the Reds won two-of-three games. This time, however the Yankees are in the best of their form with eight wins in their last 10 games and
with this victory, they have improved their record to nine-of-eleven games.
In this game, the Yankees had some devastating hitting in the top of the first inning to achieve an early 4-0 lead. Alex Rodriguez led the game off with an RBI single to become the highest RBI maker in interleague.
"I feel OK," he said. "Nothing north of that, for sure. I'm good enough to play. A lot of guys are banged up."
After Alex provided a positive start, Robinson Cano followed the same path and drove in an RBI single to take the lead to 2-0. Then Russell Martin hit a grounder to short-stop for an RBI single followed by the fourth run by Andruw Jones.
The Yankees were enjoying 4-0 lead before the start of the bottom of the first inning. Their starter Ivan Nova allowed an RBI single to Joey Votto in this inning but after this, he made an exceptional strike back. He then struck-out seven batters and allowed
three more hits over eight innings spell to earn his seventh win in his second interleague and 14th season start.
"They told me," Nova said. "When I was warming up in the bullpen, I was thinking, 'Keep the ball down, and keep it down all the time.'"
The Reds’ starter Travis Wood, after allowing four runs in his first inning, also struck back like Nova and tossed six more innings, in which he did not yield any further runs and struck-out six batters. However, he failed to escape from his fifth defeat
in his 16th start.
"With the Yankees coming in, I tried to be as calm as possible and treat it like any other game," Wood said. "Maybe I was (hyped up) and didn't know it."
In the eighth inning, Wood handed the ball to Jose Arredondo, who gave the Yankees’ Curtis Granderson a wobbly pitch to score his club their fifth run. The Reds’ closer Carlos Fisher did not allow any run in last inning.
The Yankees utilised three pitchers in the last inning. First, they brought in Luis Ayala but he allowed an RBI single after pitching three strikes. Then, Boone Logan replaced Luis, but he also allowed an earned run on his one and only pitch of the game.
However, their top closer Mariano Rivera took the game into his hands and managed to save his 18th game of the season.
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