(Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle)
By: Joe O’Reilly Pure Sports NY
The Yankees began the second game of the season much like the first with no hitting and no run support. After this offseason one of the last things to be questioned was the Yankee hitting with the additions of Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltran. In the first two games the question has already come up…Where are the Yankee bats? Well, they better find them fast because in the second game of the season some Yankee fans are beginning to panic( NOT ME) after lossing two straight out of the gate to one of the worst teams in baseball.
Houston came out swinging or should I say Dexter Fowler came out swinging starting the series off by going 4-8 with 4 runs scored and a home run which he hit in the first inning off Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda would settle in after that striking out 5, walking 1, and giving up only 3 hits in 6 innings. His performance would still fall short with Fowler continuing to perform hitting a leadoff triple in the third inning. Next at bat was Grossman who hit a hard grounder that was to much for Teixeira who was awarded an error for the mishandled grounder and Fowler scored for the 2-0 lead.
The Yankees scattered 7 hits through the game, but not much clutch hitting to drive in runs when it counted. They went 0-10 with runners in scoring position and left 8 men stranded. The one lonely run came in the 7th when Brett Gardner worked a leadoff walk. Next up, was Brian Roberts who got his third hit of the game, a single to left field, driving Gardner to third. Rookie Yangervis Solarte grounded into the first double play of his big league career, but was lucky enough to have the speedy Gardner score on the play and that was it for the Yankee Offense. On the bright side Brian Roberts started two games with no bumps or bruises and had 3 hits to get his season moving.
Player of the Game : Dexter Fowler Houston Astros
Joe O’Reilly – Pure Sports NY