Royalty w/o 4/15 in review

Monday as you already know from reading along that the King and I spent our time in Boston and Pawtucket, Rhode Island experiencing another horrific day in our lives. It reminded us of 9/11/01 on a smaller scale. For no good reason, three innocent people lost their lives and others lost limbs which have altered their lives for forever while others were treated for various injuries as a result of this terrible act. Life is short enough. You never know when the next lunatic is going to strike again. With that being said, we have to be grateful for those who we consider our friends and family. Some of us have more than others. Regardless of what you have, you should count your blessings and savor your time together. My thoughts and prayers are with those people affected directly and/or indirectly. With that being said, we say stay strong, Boston. We're all behind you in this time of need.

Tuesday night after work I went up to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees open a three game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks who beat them back in the 2001 World Series which ironically occurred right after 9/11 here in NYC.

Earlier that afternoon, the Yankees announced that they were going to honor those affected in Boston by having a moment of silence. In addition, the flags were all at half staff in remembrance of the tragic events that took place. Furthermore, after the third inning, they played a Boston favorite these days at Fenway Park. I'm referring to Neil Diamond's song, Sweet Caroline. It was a nice classy touch by the Yankee organization to acknowledge those who are in need of everybody's support during this unfortunate time.

Yankees & Boston Unite - Stay Strong

It was an emotional night at the ballpark. Once the game started, things seemed back to normal for us in the stands. It should be noted that in honor of Jackie Robinson Day which was also on Monday, the players all wore his number 42 as a tribute to him breaking barriers back in 1947. The Yankees made sure that they put up the player's real number on the scoreboard so people like us who keep score could figure who the players were. For whatever reason, they didn't do that at Fenway Park on Monday morning.

As for the game we saw, the Yankees fell behind 2-0 as the Diamondbacks scored twice in the top of the third inning. The Yankees responded in the bottom of the fourth as Robinson Cano hit a three run home run to give them a 3-2 lead. They added an insurance run in the seventh inning as Eduardo Nunez hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2. Fittingly the real number 42 these days, Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth inning and he retired the Diamondbacks 1,2,3 to notch another save which was his third of the season and the 611th of his legendary career as the Yankees closer. Ironically the Yankees won, 4-2 which symbolized the theme of the number 42 for Jackie Robinson on this night.

Wednesday night after work I returned to the Bronx for game two of the three game series with the Diamondbacks. This time things were getting more back to normal if you will but Boston is still and be in our prayers for the foreseeable future.

As for the game we saw, CC Sabathia started for the Yankees. He got roughed up early as first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit a two run homer to give the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead. They tacked on another run in the fifth inning as left fielder A.J. Pollock hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. In the seventh inning, the Yankees offense finally awoke. They rallied to tie the game at three as Diamondbacks' starter Wade Miley unraveled with two outs in the inning. He wound up walking in a run to make it 3-1. After he departed reliever Tony Sipp came in and he gave up a two run single to Brett Gardner which evened the score. The Diamondbacks escaped further damage for the time being. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Travis Hafner came up as a pinch hitter with two out and nobody on. He proceeded to hit a homer to right center field which turned to be the difference as the Yankees won again, 4-3. Sabathia allowed three runs in eight innings as he picked up the victory. Mariano Rivera threw another 1,2,3 ninth inning to preserve the win as he recorded his 612th career save.

Thursday night after work I repeated the process again. This time the Diamondbacks did their best to lose again. They took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Didi Gregorius who was recently called up from the minor leagues hit his first major league home run. The King and I saw him play back in March 2012 for the Cincinnati Reds in a spring training game in Goodyear, Arizona. In the sixth inning, Martin Prado, a former Atlanta Brave, hit a solo homer to make it 2-0. The Yankees answered back in the bottom half of the sixth as Robinson Cano hit a solo shot to get the Yankees on the scoreboard at 2-1. They evened the score again with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning when catcher Francisco Cervelli who's not known for his power hit a home run to left field to send the game into extra innings. After both teams threatened but didn't score in the eleventh inning, the Diamondbacks finally broke through with four runs in the top of the twelveth inning as Cody Ross got a single to drive in the first run and former Yankee Eric Chavez delivered a bases clearing three run double to give the Diamondbacks a 6-2 victory as they avoided getting swept again like they did in the 2001 World Series which they won by winning all their home games.

Stay tuned for some special posts that will recap the weekend we spent mostly at Citi Field with a side trip to Philadelphia for Sunday night baseball.

Thank you for reading and following along.

Yours truly,

Gary Herman