With a 3-0 lead in the 2nd, Alfredo Aceves was touched up for a solo shot on an 0-2 count to Jason Kubel with a terrible fastball right down the middle. Sloppy defense by Aceves and Cody Ransom led to another run. Joe Girardi pulled Aceves in the 4th with 1 out and the bases loaded after he reached his pitch limit. David Robertson relieved him, and after punching out Nick Punto, lost the strike zone and walked in 2 runs, both charged to Aceves. One of the inexcusable walks was issued to the .180 hitting Matt Tolbert, setting up potential disaster when the Majors best hitter, Joe Mauer, came to the plate with the bases jacked. Fortunately, Robertson induced him to groundout and end the Twins last real threat of the game.
With the Yanks leading 6-4 in the 5th, Jonathan Albaladejo relieved an ineffective Robertson and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, earning his 4th win of the season. The Philthys, Coke and Hughes, pitched the 7th and 8th innings before Mariano Rivera wrapped up the Yankees victory with his 23rd save.
The Yanks offense was efficient, but nothing to write home about, with one exception. Mark Teixeira ended the longest homerless streak of his career at 95 ABs with a solo blast in the 5th off of Twins starter, Francisco Liriano. The Yanks scored 3 runs in the third with only one hit in the inning. A bases loaded walk to Ransom, a run-scoring groundout courtesy of Brett Gardner and a bloop single by The Captain capped the rally. Ransom and Gardner added RBI singles in the 4th, and for Gardner, it was his 3rd straight game with 2 ribbies. Hopefully, this will keep Melky Cabrera on the bench a little while longer. Melky played for Johnny Damon today and failed twice to knock in a run when he had the bases loaded and no outs in the 2nd and runners on second and third with no outs in the 4th. Ransom and Gardner cleaned up his mess both times as Melky continues to revert to his old unproductive ways. Tex's HR finalized the Bombers scoring for the day, and ironically, it was the only HR in the series for the Yanks, who scored 19 of their 20 runs without the long ball.
The Yanks and Sawx both have 3 games left before the All Star break, as the Yanks take on Anaheim and Boston concludes their 4-game set against KC.
Yankee notes: Jose Molina was activated from the DL before the game and the Yanks optioned Francisco Cervelli to Triple A. Cervelli, who hit .190 in Double A before being called up this season, was very effective as a backup and an outstanding defensive catcher. He hit .269 and handled the pitching staff like an old veteran and looks like he has a promising future as a backstop. Since ARod's return, the Yanks have a 38-19 record after starting the season 13-15 without him.
Yankees Record: 51-34 and tied for first
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