Yanks 10, Indians 3: The Kid Was Alright!

Welcome to New York, Chase Wright. On a team full of All Stars, tonight was a special moment for a 24 year-old kid from Texas. Chase Wright got his first major league victory as the Yanks cruised to a 10–3 win over the Cleveland Indians.

Wright wasn’t spectacular, but I think a lot of his problems can be chalked up to nerves. Wright’s line: 5 IP, 5 hits, 3 walks (2 in the first inning, nerves?), 3 K’s and 3 earned runs. Like I said in the headline, he was alright. Actually, he was better than about $50M worth of starters in the rotation were in their first starts of the year.

No word on whether Wright will stick around long enough for another start, but I don’t see why not.

Wright was the emotional story of the night, but the Yankee bats did pretty much all of the talking. Jake Westbrook was absolutely lit up, and couldn’t get out of the second inning. The Yanks hit three bombs: Posada, Doug and A-Rod.

Thoughts: A couple of things struck me during the game. First, Alex Rodriguez usually doesn’t really heat up until the weather does. We could be witnessing a historic season. Through 12 games he’s hitting .375 with 8 HRs and 21 RBIs.

I may be getting ahead of myself, but I think the Yanks may be grooming Mo Rivera’s successor. Brian Bruney has the stuff, and the psycho make-up to be a closer in this league some day. His Achilles heel, before this year, has been control. He currently has 11 K’s against 3 walks, a good ratio. He’s 25, and if he keeps pitching like this, he’s going to find himself in pressure situations more often. Worth keeping an eye on.

Player of the Game: A-Rod. He’s too hot to ignore. Chase, I hope you get another shot at one, but I just couldn’t overlook A-Rod in this offensive explosion of a game.