Game one!

The first two games of the regular season have come and gone, so here’s the first recap (from my memory)

Game One: Toronto (Roy Hallady) vs. New York (CM Wang)

Wang pitched seven strong innings. He was far from dominant, but less because of his pitching and more because of Toronto’s hitting. The majority of the hits he gave up were on ground balls through the infield, giving Toronto a few key base runners and the Yankees some difficult (and sometimes sweet) plays.

-The Yankees scored in the first on an RBI double by A-Rod after a base hit by Abreu. Abreu hauled ass from first to home and beat the throw by a pretty good margin – props to Girardi for making them run!

-Toronto followed up in the top of the second inning with some ground ball hits and sacrifices / fielder’s choices leading to a one run tie.

-Melky Cabrera made two outstanding grabs in center in the top of the fourth to rob extra base hits from Overbay and Hill.

-More small ball got CMW in trouble (runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out), but solid D by the infield held the Jays to one run, scored by Scutaro from third on a grounder to A-Rod. Rather than taxing the infield any further, Wang decided to just strike Rios out and let the guys rest a bit to end the inning.

-The Melkman homer-eth-ed in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 2. The ball was hit about 315′, just clearing the right field fence (314′) and earning Melky the first curtain call of the last season at (this particular) Yankee Stadium. Halladay was not impressed, nor happy, and hollered at Cabrera to sit down and shut up. The 55,000 in attendance stuck their tongues out in a remarkable show of third-grade level solidarity.

-Melky ALMOST made his third terrific grab in center in the top of the 7th, but ended up just missing the ball and allowing a double to Hill. Giambi followed with cat-like reflexes to grab a HARD liner from Scutaro. After a ground out that moved Hill to third, Girardisimo made the quickest mound visit I’ve seen. He probably said about 5 words to Wang (“Give it all you’ve got,” or something), left him in, and ran back to the dugout. Wang responded with a quick ground ball out and sat down for the night.

-Bottom of the 7th, base hit A-Rod, BB Giambi, and a ground out by Cano (and fancy footwork by Giambi), and a free pass to Posada loads the bases for Matsui with one out. Godzilla hit it hard to third, slightly misplayed by Hill, who threw out Posada at 2nd but allowed A-Rod to score the go-ahead run. Melky strikes out to end the inning.

-Top 8 brings out Joba, much to my delight. Also much to my delight he shut down the Jays with a ground-out, BB, and two strike outs (Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas). Some fist pumping was certainly in order. Noteworthy that Joba didn’t stick to fastball fastball slider – he mixed in the change and the curve with pretty good results.

-A lead off triple by Damon is wasted as Jeter and Abreu can’t produce a fly ball. The intentional walk to A-Rod brings up Giambi, who couldn’t seal the deal.

-Up one run in the top of the ninth, Mo takes the ball and shuts down the Jays for his first save of the season (and his second career opening day save according to PeteAbe) and the Yanks’ first victory! One down, 161 to go.

Melky gave a stellar performance to show why he belongs in center and that you can’t count out his hitting even if he is batting 9th. Wang pitch a solid 7 innings, then the Joba-Mo-Let’s Go 8th and 9th sealed the deal. I was most impressed (mostly due to low expectations) by Giambi, though – he flashed some leather at first to snag a hard line drive, plus fished some tough throws out of the dirt, PLUS he showed that even though he’s closer to slow than fast (much closer, in fact) he can run the bases intelligently. A-Rod was A-Rod and that’s always a good thing in April.

For you Jays fans (do I hear crickets? I think I hear crickets…), Halladay pitched a fine game as well, as he held the Yankees to only 3 runs. The Jays’ bullpen did a great job holding the Bombers to a one run lead as well. Scutaro stole two bags in two tries on two great throws from Posada. That’s speed. Eckstein is a scrappy little bastard of a hitter, which I like.

I’ll be back later with more, so stick around! And if any talking animals try to sell you tacos or beer while I’m away – for God’s sake, do what they tell you!