Another night without Tulo in the line up and another tight pitchers' duel. The Yankees started off the scoring in the first when Vernon Wells went deep with one on to make it 2-0. Nicasio struggled in that first inning, throwing 27 pitches and setting himself up for a short night.

The Rockies struck back in the second with a Rosario double that was followed by Helton hitting his second home run of the year. Apparently Todd needed a two game rehab assignment after all as he looked a lot more solid at the plate tonight. The Rockies bats were silent the rest of the night, and it was left to defense and pitching to determine the outcome. Bad defense by Dexter Fowler created two scoring opportunities on two errors, but good pitching and good defense by Nolan Arenado kept the Yankees off the board until the ninth.

With the game tied, Weiss went with Rafael Betancourt to pitch the ninth. Vernon Wells reached on an infield single and then managed to "steal" second when Johnny Herrera dropped a perfect throw from Rosario. A walk to Lyle Overbay and a sacrifice bunt by Ichiro gave the Yankees runners at second and third with one out, but they had Lance Nix and Chris Nelson as the next two batters. With help from the umpire, Nix got a 2-0 count and then Weiss decided to intentionally walk him instead of challenge him. The Yankees pinch hit Hafner for Nelson and the strategy of Weiss seemed to work as Betancourt struck him out and then got a ground ball by Boesch. An umpire again intervened saying the runner beat out the throw from Arenado and the Yankees got the leading run.

Against a strike zone that suddenly became the size of the batter's box, the Rockies had little chance in the bottom of the ninth against Mariano Rivera. Even still, Cuddyer got a single and stole second before the Rosario became the third out. The strike zone in the ninth was horrific, this isn't fan bias, it can be seen on a replay of the game or on mlb.com. However, the Rockies sloppy play early and late (two errors and the Herrera drop) put karma on the side of the evil empire and now all we can work towards in a series win in the rubber game tomorrow. The Rockies need to stop enjoying playing against the Yankees and get mad at the stuff that is happening to them (Tulo's head getting aimed at, ended up hitting him in the back). This is an old, injured team they are playing and they need to crush them.

Record: 19-14

Games Back: .5

Chart:



Source: FanGraphs