Finding Mr. Wright

or Fill in the cliche of your choice ________________________________

No matter how you put it, Chase Wright did the Yankees a tremendous solid last night. Sh*t, now I sound like Stuart Scott. The kid went out and threw 5 innings - not so great, but not so bad, and the Yankees offensive exploded against Jake Westbrook for 8 runs in two innings, and went on to a 10-3 win.

Wright worked through some early innings jitters, and picked up the victory after allowing 3 runs, including a Travis Hafner HR, in his 5 inning stint. After walking the first two batters of the game, Wright retired the next 3 hitters, with a run coming home on a ground out by Victor Martinez.

The Yankees quickly got that run back plus another in their half of the 1st, and then rocked Westbrook in the 2nd. Doug Mientkiewicz hit his first home run since June of last season to increase the lead to 3-1. Johnny Damon doubled and came home on a Bobby Abreu single, and then Alex Rodriguez crushed a Westbrook offering on to the netting in front of the retired numbers in left field. A-Rod's major league best 8th home run made it a 6-1 game. And the Yankees weren't done yet. After a Jason Giambi single, Jorge Posada hit his 200th career HR into the right-center field bleachers. Indians manager Eric Wedge finally sent Westbrook (0-2) to the showers and Wright had all the cushion he needed.

Pitching in front of his parents, siblings, and friends, the 24-yr old, who had only pitched 2 games above single 'A', gave the fans, and himself, a night to remember.

~~~

A-Rod also had an RBI single in the 1st and now has a major league high 21 RBI for April. The record is 29.

The Yankees clicked on all cylinders last night, in a good recovery from Sunday's tough loss to Oakland. Brian Bruney, Mike Myers, and Chris Britton combined for 4 shutout, hitless innings after Wright departed.

Hafner's home run was his 1st in Yankee Stadium.

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