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Two whole wins in a row!
The Yankees could not have started the second half much better than they have. The offense struck early and fairly often, putting up seven runs against All-Star Alfredo Simon and the Reds' bullpen. Meanwhile, Brandon McCarthy had a very good outing in his home debut for the Yankees. He allowed just one run and struck out nine. Throw in a couple nice innings from the bullpen and that added up to a 7-1 Yankees' win over the Reds.
The Yankees got on the board first in the bottom of the second when Carlos Beltran hit a two-out, solo home run. An inning later, the Yankees added more. Brian Roberts reached second when Jay Bruce dropped a fly ball. Kelly Johnson then grounded out, moving Roberts to third. Brett Gardner punched through a single, scoring Roberts. That gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
McCarthy allowed just two hits through the first four innings, but the Reds got some offense going in the fifth. With one out in the inning, Chris Heisey hit a solo home run, making it 2-1. Donald Lutz followed that with a double. McCarthy would come back with a strikeout and a ground out to get out of the inning with the Yankees still in front.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Yankees got that run back and more. Roberts and Johnson led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Gardner came up next. After a passed ball allowed both runners to move up, Gardner hit one towards the warning track in right. Bruce made the catch, but Roberts was able to tag up and score and Johnson moved to third. Derek Jeter then singled, scoring Johnson. That made it 4-1 Yankees.
An inning later, the Yankees picked up a couple more runs. Brian McCann and Beltran led off the sixth with two straight singles. After Ichiro Suzuki struck out, Roberts added another single, loading the bases. Johnson then hit a single that just bounced over the first base bag and stayed fair. That scored two runs and moved Roberts to third. Gardner then hit a sac fly that scored Roberts. The score was now 7-1 Yankees.
After the sixth inning offensive outburst, the Yankees would turn to the bullpen to start the seventh. It was a really nice home debut for McCarthy. He went six innings, allowing one run on six hits and no walks while striking out nine.
Adam Warren came in and worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning. After the Yankees couldn't add more in the bottom of the seventh, Shawn Kelley came in for the eighth. He allowed a lead-off double to Billy Hamilton, but got the next three hitters out to strand Hamilton and keep it at 7-1.
The Yankees couldn't score against the aptly named Jumbo Diaz in the bottom of the eighth. Kelley remained in the game and got the first out in the bottom of the ninth before Matt Thornton came in. Thornton got the last two outs without much trouble and the Yankees won 7-1. Seven runs in one game? Don't spend them all in one place, Yankees.
The Yankees and Reds will wrap up their series tomorrow at 1:05 eastern. Hiroki Kuroda will get the start for the Yankees, while Johnny Cueto will go for Cincinnati.
