Monday night after work I went up to the Bronx to see the Yankees open up a three game series with the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium. Before I went inside, I walked a few blocks to 900 Gerard Avenue which is where the New Sunflower Chinese restaurant is located. I had my pre game meal there which consisted of fried scallops and fries. It was made to order so it came out steaming hot. I did enjoy it. After I ate, I walked over to the Stadium and I went upstairs to my seat in section 420B. When I got there, I was joined by David Sack and his friend Andrew who likes the Yankees. It was nice to see them again.
As for the game we saw, the Bleacher Creatures out in right field did their usual roll call for the Yankees when they were in the field to start the game. They also did a special version when the Yankees batted since this game marked the return of former Yankee and one of their favorite players, Nick Swisher who signed with Indians in the off season as a free agent. They acknowledged Swisher who was playing first base. Swisher responded by giving them his signature salute. It was a nice touch by the fans. It should be noted that when he took his first at bat that he got a nice ovation as well. He also drove in the game's first run in the top of the third inning on a fielder's choice off of Yankee starter Andy Pettitte who was making his 500th career start. Mark Teixeira gave the Yankees' a 4-1 lead as he hit a fly ball that barely landed on the porch in right field for a grand slam that cleared the bases off of Indians' starter Justin Masterson. The Indians rallied to tie the game at four in the top of the fifth inning as Mike Aviles hit a sacrifice fly to Robinson Cano who was out in the outfield back pedaling so he couldn't throw out Drew Stubbs who led off the inning with a double to make it 4-2. After Andy Pettitte got the second out of the inning, he walked Nick Swisher and Mark Reynolds. Carlos Santana followed with a two run ground rule double which tied the game at four. As a result, Andy Pettitte was pulled from the game. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Yankees regained the lead, 6-4 as Brett Gardner got a clutch two out single to center field. In the seventh inning, former Indian Travis Hafner hit a solo home run to extend the Yankee lead to 7-4. Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth inning and he allowed a lead off single to Michael Bourn but he then retired the next three batters including Nick Swisher who ended the game with a fly out to left. By doing so, Mariano notched his 20th save of the season and his 628th of his career in front of an announced crowd of 40,007.
Tuesday night after work I returned to the Bronx for game two of the series between the Yankees and the Indians. This time I stopped off at the Court Deli Restaurant and I bought myself a corned beef sandwich which I ate at my seat in section 420B row 7. Shortly after I sat down to eat, my pal and avid reader of my blog, Greg Venuto came by to say hello. He said he was sitting out in section 306 row 2 with his cousin. We got to speak briefly. As always, it was nice to see him again.
As for the game we saw, the Yankees got six shutout innings from their starter David Phelps who got run support from his teammates who made their four run third inning stand up enabling him to pick up the win. Ichiro Suzuki drove in the first run on a single to left and a few batters later Mark Teixeira put one on the porch again in right field for a three run homer to make it 4-0 off of former Met Scott Kazmir who started the game for the Indians. The Indians made it close in the top of the seventh inning when Drew Stubbs hit a three run homer off of reliever Joba Chamberlain to cut the lead to 4-3. The Yankees held on as David Robertson pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Mariano Rivera threw a 1,2,3 ninth to seal the deal. It was his 21st save of the season and the 629th of his career.
Wednesday night after work I met my parents for dinner at Romano's Famous Pizza and Gyro in Astoria. I got a pleasant surprise because they wound up bringing my niece Taylor and my nephew Jeremy with them. It was great to see them all again. As for dinner, we had all some pizza along with gyro and chicken souvlaki. It was all delicious. After we said our goodbyes, I went home to relax for the rest of the night.
Thursday night after work I went home and I made myself dinner then I watched game one of the NBA Finals on TV as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami Heat thanks to an amazing shot in the closing seconds by Tony Parker.
Friday night after work I wound up going home thanks to mother nature which caused the game between the Mets and the Marlins to get postponed at Citi Field. I wound up staying home with the King and we watched the baseball games that were played on TV that night.
Stay tuned for a special post that will recap the way we spent our weekend.
Thank you for reading and following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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