Kuroda Dominates As The Yanks Beat The Rangers

ARLINGTON -- Hiroki Kuroda just doesn't seem to know what bad pitching is. Kuroda continued to cement his case to be the Yankees ace by tossing seven shutout inning against the Rangers, giving the Yankees more than enough to take down Texas 2-0 in the series finale.

Even better, the Yankees were able to string together some hits with their bats, putting runs on the board to ensure that Kuroda would walk out of Arlington with a win.

"He's pitching real good for us," Yankees catcher Austin Romine said, who collected a career-high three hits. "Every time he goes out there, we know it's going to be a real close game. It's Hiro. It's what he's doing. He goes out there and throws. I don't know how to explain it any other way."

Kuroda had it going for him all afternoon long. He was able to work himself out of jams to keep runs off the board and the Yankees in the lead. He finished after seven innings, permitting just six hits, all singles, a walk and three strikeouts on 100 pitches.

"That guy has been solid for us the whole year," Mariano Rivera said of Kuroda. "To come out and pitch the way he pitched today, it was brilliant. In this weather? He was outstanding for us. It means a lot. We needed to win this game. Period."

But Kuroda disagreed with everyone, saying that he didn't even pitch well, regardless of what his stat line might say about his afternoon.

"I don't think I had any particular pitch that was working well," Kuroda said. "From the get-go, I didn't have a good outing, but I was able to get big outs and put up a decent outing."

Two runs may not be a lot, but the Yankees collected some big hits when they need one, posting five doubles on the day, coming just a couple days after breaking a streak of 20 straight singles.

It was back to back doubles that put the Yankees on the board to open the top of the 6th inning off Rangers' starter Derek Holland.

Holland did his best to keep up with Kuroda, but in the end, the two earned runs he gave up just wasn't enough for the Rangers to overcome and help him out. Holland exited after 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits.

"It was a very good pitching duel going out there," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Both pitchers did their job on each side. They just happened to take advantage of the opportunities to put runs on the board, and we didn't."

The second earned run charged to Holland came after he had already left the game in the 8th, with runners on 1st and 3rd, Eduardo Nunez beat out a double play ball to let Robinson Cano scored from third, giving the Yankees a helpful insurance run.

After Kuroda left, David Robertson made easy work in the 8th inning, setting down the Rangers 1-2-3, giving way for Rivera close out the 9th, picking up his 33rd save of the season and closing out a much needed win for the Yankees in their final game in Texas.

"Whatever happens with the offense, all I want to do is make sure that I contribute to a win," Kuroda said. "With the two-run lead today, I think I was able to get big outs and get away with it."

Now the Yankees will head back home to open up a three-game series against the hot-hot Rays at Yankee Stadium. CC Sabathia will look to redeem himself after a rough outing against the Red Sox on Sunday.

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