Soriano Drives In Six, Yankees Win A Blowout

When the Yankees score runs, everybody goes home happy! There's no doubt that everyone went home happy Tuesday night in the Bronx, when the Yanks offense exploded for 14 runs and 19 hits in their blowout win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Alfonso Soriano had his best game since rejoining the Yankees, driving in a career-high six runs, including a pair of homeruns, one in the 5th that gave the Yanks a 4-3 lead, then the second in the 7th, putting them ahead 12-3.

"It felt more like the old days," Soriano said. "We scored 14 runs today, so I hope we can do that more often. I know it can't happen every day because the other team gets paid to get us out, but I hope we continue playing like we played tonight."

CC Sabathia didn't have a great outing, walking people in tough situations, putting runners on base, and throwing a lot of pitches. Although he had five strikeouts through the first two innings, it was one little mistake in the first that put him into an early hole.

After striking out the first two hitters, CC had Mike Trout into a two-strike count, when he lifted a fly ball into foul territory in right field, Vernon Wells ran it down but missed the ball, giving Trout another life. CC would walk Trout, then immediately gave up a two-run homerun to Mark Trumbo.

Wells made up for his missed play in the first by sending one over the right field wall in the second, putting the Yankees on the board to make it a 2-1 game. It was Wells' first homerun since May 15th.

Sabathia gave up one more run in the third inning when he walked Chris Nelson -- one of the 10 guys that's played third bases for the Yankees this season -- with the bases loaded, forcing in a run to put the Angels up 3-1.

From there, the blowout began and the Yankees didn't look back. Jayson Nix scored Wells from third base on a groundout to the shortstop in the 4th inning. Then in the 5th, Eduardo Nunez singled to center with one-away, leading to Soriano blasting a two-run shot to left field, giving the Yanks their first lead of the game.

Los Angeles had a great chance to tie the game in the 6th inning, with the bases loaded, Tommy Field lined a ball to left field, with Nelson tagging from third base, but the home plate umpire ruled that Nelson left third too early, thus he was called out for the third out of the inning.

The Yankees started to pull away in the bottom half of the 6th, putting up a four-spot after an RBI groundout by Nunez, an RBI single Soriano to bring home Overbay, and a two-run double by Alex Rodriguez, extending the lead to 8-3.

Another four-run inning in the 7th put the game officially out of reach, when Nunez drove in his second run of the game on a fielders choice, setting up Soriano for his second homerun of the game, a three-run longball to make it a 12-3 game.

"He said he was feeling good today and sure enough, he went out there and delivered," Granderson said. "He hit a ball to left and a ball to right. That's a good sign for a hitter that's starting to get hot. Hopefully, it's a good sign of things to come."

Shawn Kelley come into the ballgame to replace Sabathia in the 7th, who finished after permitting three runs on three hits, walking a total of six batters and striking out seven on 110 pitches. Kelley was good once again, giving up just one-hit in 1 2/3 innings.

"I thought CC was excellent," Girardi said. "He probably should've pitched about eight innings with as many outs as he got, but we gave him a lot of extra outs. He kept them in check."

With two outs in the 8th, Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided to bring his young, highly talented prospect, Dellin Betances. After just one pitch, the rain came down, causing a 26-minute rain delay, but Betances came back out and fired two fastballs Grant Green, with the third strike at 97 mph, to end the inning.

Nunez continued his good game in the bottom half of the 8th inning, singling up the middle with the bases load, driving in two more runs, piling on a 14-3 lead. After Betances struck out the first batter of the 9th, the next six Angels reached base, including a three-run homerun by Trout to make it a 14-7 game.

Once Betances walked Nelson, who drew three walks on the night, Girardi was forced to make an unwanted to to the bullpen, bringing in Joba Chamberlain, who would record the final two outs of the game, giving the Yanks a 14-7 victory.

For the first time since July 10th-12th. the Yankees have won three straight games, and four of their last five overall. The Yanks remain 9 1/2 games back of the Red Sox in the AL East, but did gain ground, now sitting just 5 1/2 back of the second Wild Card spot.

"That's why I love the Yankees," Soriano said. "The clubhouse and the dugout are always relaxed because everybody has confidence. That's the most important thing. Sometimes we may not play good, but we haven't lost the confidence. Everybody feels comfortable and that's what I like."

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