NYY: Game 2: Yankees def. Royals

In case you didn't hear, there was some history made this afternoon in the Bronx.

Final Score: Yankees 16, Royals 8
WP: Myers (3-0, 2.50 ERA)
LP: Bale (0-1, 3.38 ERA)

Man, Myers really knows how to pick up those wins. He got a grand total of one out in this game, relieving Phil Hughes with two outs in the 5th inning. Hughes started strong, blowing fastballs by Royals and picking up a nice number of strikeouts early. In 4.2 innings he struck out 5. Hughes had a rocky third inning, where he gave up two runs, but he settled in for a scoreless fourth. With a 6-2 lead heading into the 5th, Hughes allowed a 2-run homer to David DeJesus. After giving up another run, Hughes was pulled one out shy of giving himself an opportunity for the win. It was 6-5 at the time, with a runner on base. Myers allowed a hit, scoring the run and making it 6-6.

But the hot weather had the bats on fire for another game. Bad day for Johnny Damon, who went 0-for-6 with 3 Ks. But other than him, it seemed like everyone contributed. Multi-hit days for Jeter, Abreu (inc. a solo homer), A-Rod (inc. his 500th homer), Matsui, Cano (4-for-5), and Betemit (with his first career start at 1B). In fact, all of the above had at least 3 hits in the game.

The big blow came during a four-run first inning. Alex Rodriguez hit the first pitch he saw from former Brave Kyle Davies and sent it past the LF wall, just shy of the foul pole. It was a three-run shot. A-Rod was given a curtain call by the Stadium fans and was greeted at homeplate by his teammates. Great moment, especially given the treatment A-Rod suffered from these same fans last year. (That treatment has now been passed on to Kyle Farnsworth who, at least, has done a little more to deserve it than A-Rod ever did.)

Betemit made Brian Cashman look like a genius with his hitting and his hard style of baseball, with a clean slide into 2nd base preventing Tony Pena Jr. from completing a double play. A run scored. It was as difficult to judge him at 1B this afternoon as it would have been to judge Shelley Duncan yesterday in RF. Shelley got, what, one fly ball hit to him all afternoon? Betemit does need some help with his footwork. On an offline throw from Alex Rodriguez, Betemit stayed on the bag instead of moving to his left to get the ball and tag catcher John Buck. The result was a dangerous play, with Buck running into Betemit's arm. He was fine, but it could have been ugly. Andy Phillips and Miguel Cairo make that play. Interesting that they're giving so much attention to Betemit at first base. I didn't think there was much chance of them DFA-ing Cairo, but if the intent was to send down Shelley Duncan when Giambi is ready to return why does Betemit need to be proficient at first base? If Phillips/Giambi/whoever plays 1B needed a day off, they could just spell him with Cairo. It's going to be very interesting to see how this turns out.

Roster Moves: For Phil Hughes to be activated on the major league roster today, Sean Henn was optioned back to Scranton. He will remain on the 40-man roster, however, as Colter Bean (or - as I affectionately called him during Spring Training - Colter freakin' Bean) was designated for assignment. Bean wasn't very good in the opportunities he was given on the major league roster, but he was a likeable guy. Kinda like Shelley Duncan without the pop. Should be interesting to see what happens if/when they decide to make the move for Joba Chamberlain. The rumor is that Bruney would be sent down to Scranton, but he did pitch a nice inning this afternoon.

As for tomorrow's afternoon game:

RHP Mike Mussina (6-7, 4.75 ERA) vs. RHP Gil Meche (7-8, 3.70 ERA)

Moose was decent in his last start against the White Sox, allowing three earned run over six innings. But his effort looked Herculean next to the eight homeruns hit by the Yankees offense. In his July 25th start at Kansas City, Mussina picked up the win. He went 5.2 innings and allowed one earned run on six hits and two walks.

Gil Meche is coming off a tough luck loss against the Twins. He went seven innings on July 30th, giving up just two earned runs on seven hits while striking out six. He took the loss against Mussina in his only outing of the season against the Yankees. Meche went long, with 7.1 innings, but allowed five runs, including two homeruns hit by Cabrera and Rodriguez.