Melky Cabrera Impressive, CC Sabathia Shows Grit In Sundays Yankee Win
August 2, 2009 · Doug Rush · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Melky Cabrera is making a case for being the long-term solution in center field for the Yankees.
Cabrera went 4-for-5 and hits for the cycle today. It’s the first time in 14 years a Yankee has hit for the cycle.
Melky has gotten his average up to .292 and is having an outstanding year in 2009.
Cabrera’s home run put the Yankees ahead on Sunday and gave them the confidence needed to win the final game of the series. Then after a single and a double, he had one final chance to accomplish a rare milestone.
Melky hit the ball over Jermaine Dye’s head and you can tell the whole team and every Yankee fan in attendance wanted the triple and the cycle. When he got there, the place broke out in applause. The umpires tossed in the ball for him to keep.
The whole Yankee bench was celebrating with him. It goes to show the 2009 team really does root for each other and is like one big family, something Yankee fans haven’t seen in years past.
As far as CC Sabathia goes, he didn’t have his best stuff today in the ace showdown with him and Mark Buehrle, but Buehrle didn’t either.
However, Sabathia lasted seven innings, allowed ten hits and five runs, walked none and struck out five to get the win.
Sabathia is now 11-7 on the year.
What was impressive was Sabathia really ground this one out for the Yankees. Even without his best stuff, he still found ways to get hitters out and found a way to get through seven innings.
Phil Hughes continues to pitch great after one rocky outing, and Mariano Rivera was great again for his 30th save on the season.
Back to Sabathia. The big man showed how tough he is in this game. Sure he gave up the two home runs to Dye and Jim Thome, but it didn’t rattle him, and he continued pitching strong and attacked the White Sox hitters.
It showed today how much the White Sox fans love Buehrle, he’s pounded by the Yankees for 12 hits and seven runs in 4 1/3 innings, yet when he is taken out of the game, Buehrle is given a nice ovation. That was nice to see.
Also, Gordon Beckham is a star in the making. He wore out the Yankees this whole weekend and his 3-for-5 effort today was no different. Beckham is the future of this team, and a future All Star.
The newest Yankee, Jerry Hairston, Jr. played a great game today both on offense and defense.
Defensively, he played third and gave Alex Rodriguez a half-day off. Hairston made nice plays in the field and looks like he will become an important weapon for the Yankees this season.
Offensively, he went 2-for-3 with an RBI and he looks like he is already a better option than Cody Ransom is off the bench. Hairston looks like he can be a boost of fresh energy for the Yankees in the second half.
Overall, the White Sox were better at home, and were the better team this weekend as they took three out of four games, but the Yankees were able to leave not getting swept and stay in first place as they leave Chicago on a positive note.
When these two meet again in late August in the Bronx, it’ll be a much more important series with serious playoff implications.
The Yankees will get a much needed off-day to travel to Canada for a quick two game series with the Toronto Blue Jays before the big four game series at home with the Red Sox.
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