Joba pitches past A’s

The most debated Yankee player this season, Joba Chamberlain, pitched very well for the Yankees (59-37) in an 8-3 victory over the lowly Athletics (40-55).

Quick ‘Cap:
A close game throughout, the Yankees blew the game open in the eighth. In a 4-1 ballgame, the Yankees rallied for four runs commenced by Jorge Posada’s leadoff bomb. As soon as he hit it, Mariano Rivera, who had just started throwing, sat right back down.

The Yanks gave David Robertson a shot in the ninth after Phil Coke did a beautiful job in the eighth. Robertson was a little shaky, but he wasn’t about to blow a seven-run lead. But it was Joba Chamberlain was the guy who held the A’s to one run over seven innings.

Three of the first four Yankee runs were scored via groundouts. Derek Jeter was responsible for the first run when he drove in Melky Cabrera, who went 3-for-4, on a single. Full box score here.

Thoughts:
Joba is the story of the night, of course. He tried to pitch into the eighth for the second time in his career, but totally fell apart. Luckily Coke was there to clean up his mess.

Line of the Night:
Chamberlain: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. He only threw 56 of his 100 pitches for strikes, nevertheless, it was a very strong outing.

Up Next:
The Yankees will look to extend their winning streak to nine in Saturday’s afternoon delight. Two lefties Gio Gonzalez (1-2, 9.33) and Andy Pettitte (8-5, 4.62) will battle it out.