Heat Wave: The Game

The heat wave continued through the weekend. Though thunderstorms were predicted throughout Sunday afternoon, all we had was a 5 minute downpour. It wasn't even enough to interrupt the rubber game of the Yankees/A's series. I bet the players actually enjoyed the refreshing wash after playing 3 days in 90-100° weather. Hot temperatures affect the game. There's no doubt about it. Michael Kay showed us the stats at the beginning of Friday's game. It was statistics collected from a decade of baseball showing that 90-100° temperatures result in about 10 runs scored. So bats get hot and pitchers get exhausted. It must also have something to do with the way the ball carries through the air.

Sure enough, Friday's game was a 17-7 Yankees win. When Oakland scored first, it felt like it was going to be another long night with the Yankees working from behind the whole game. Oakland scored another in the second. Then the heat came into play as the Yankees exploded for 5 runs in the bottom of the 2nd… and a whopping 9 in the 3rd. Game over? Not quite yet. Oakland scored 3 in the 4th and 2 more in the 5th, knocking Phil Hughes out of the game. That would be it though. The Yankees tacked on another 3 insurance runs to win the blowout. They had 17 hits total. All starters but Granderson had at least one. He did have 2 walks and 2 RBIs though.

The next game was a low scoring Yankees loss 4-3 on Saturday. The heat wave effect was still on though as the Yankees had 10 hits and the A's 9. Both teams just stranded more guys than Friday. Of note, Jeter had 2 hits on Friday and another 3 in this game, really padding his average. Remember, I said he'd get up to 300 by the end of the year and I still believe that.

On Sunday's game, the A's outhit the Yankees 15-9, but the Yankees did better in the RISP stat and got the 7-5 win. Colon was solid, only giving up 2 runs. Mariano Rivera got his 25th save, bailing a rare blunder by Robertson for a 4-out save. That gave Rivera 15 straight seasons with 25 or more saves as he continues to put the best closer in MLB history out of reach of any mortal for eternity!

It was a great weekend series with the Yankees finally breaking out of the 500 2nd half mark. It was nice to see Hideki Matsui too. He got a great round of applause during his first at bat. The fans recognized his milestone 500th homer last week and will never forget that he won the 2009 World Series along with Andy Pettitte.