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| Ivan Nova pitches against the Braves in the 1st inning of Monday night's game. (Getty Images) |
The Yankees defeated the Braves 3-0 Monday night to extend their win streak to 4 straight. The Yankees also moved into a first place tie with the Tampa Bay Rays with the win tonight. The last time the Yankees were in first place was April 24th.
Ivan Nova started for the Yankees and he was outstanding. Nova did not allow a run in his 7 innings of work. He allowed 5 hits, struck out 6, and walked 1. He threw 107 pitches, in which 61 of them were for strikes. He improved his record to 8-2 on the year.
The Yankee offense did their damage early against the Braves start, Randall Delgado. The Yankees scored 1 run in each of the first 3 innings.
Robinson Cano was able to come through with a 2-out RBI single to center field in the top of the 1st to score Alex Rodriguez, which also gave them the early lead.
Raul Ibanez would give the Yankees a 2-0 lead with a solo shot to right field in the 2nd inning. It was his 10th home run on the year.
The third Yankee run came when Randall Delgado threw a wild 3-2 pitch with two outs and the bases loaded. Alex Rodriguez was able to score standing up.
Joe Girardi pulled all the right strings tonight when it came to the bullpen. Girardi used 4 pitchers to get 6 outs. Cody Eppley, Clay Rapada, Corey Wade, and Boone Logan helped secure the Yankee win with their excellent relief appearances.
Instead of calling of Rafael Soriano for the save in the 9th, Girardi mixed and matched to get the victory. He told reporters on the post-game show that Soriano had a little blister on his finger. Soriano said he was fine, but Girardi wanted to give him a day.
The Yankees and Braves will play Game 2 of 3 tomorrow.
