Yankees take series with big 7th inning

The New York Yankees rode an eight-run 7^th inning to take the Subway Series 2-1 over the Mets in interleague play today at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

For six innings, Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey kept the Yankees' bats largely quiet and preserved a 3-1 Mets lead. The Mets squandered eight situations with runners in scoring position during those innings, leaving Pelfrey on his own behind a two-run lead--the only score from the Yanks to that point was a Curtis Granderson home run in the 1^st inning.

Fans and the media were grousing that the Yankees could hit the long ball but the Mets were playing effective small ball, pushing runners around the bases to gain the advantage. In the 7^th inning, the Yankees showed they could play small ball, too.

A weakening Pelfrey gave a ground-ball single to Brett Gardner and walked Chris Dickerson. Then the wheels came off, as Pelfrey hit Yankee catcher Francisco Cervelli with a fastball in the shoulder as he tried to bunt. Clearly, Pelfrey was missing his pitches, but Mets coach Terry Collins stayed with him, and the Yankees made him pay.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter singled Gardner and Dickerson home, and Collins finally pulled Pelfrey, but the bullpen couldn't put out the fire that was started. Granderson sacrificed the runners over, Mark Teixeira was walked, then Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano each singled a run in. Gardner doubled two more runs in, Dickerson added a two-RBI single, and the Yankees were almost assured a victory. The last two innings were uneventful, giving the Yankees a 9-3 victory.

Luis Ayala (1-0) earned the win for the Yankees from the bullpen for his 1 1/3 innings of work. Pelfrey's loss dropped him to 3-4 on the year.