So, Ivan Nova had a pretty decent day. The Yankees' starter got some early run support and put it to excellent use. Nova shut down the Giants over nine innings, earning a complete game shutout as the Yankees won 6-0.
After going hitless in the first two innings, the Yankees scored the game's first runs in the third. Mark Reynolds and Brendan Ryan led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Ryan Vogelsong then managed to walk Chris Stewart. That loaded the bases with no one out and brought Ichiro Suzuki to the plate. Despite my predictions that Ichiro would ground into a triple play, he ended up doing something relatively productive. Ichiro hit a fly ball to center field that was deep enough for Reynolds to tag up and score. Ryan and Stewart were also able to move up a base, which was handy as Ryan was then able to score on an Alex Rodriguez ground out. Robinson Cano followed that with a single, which scored another run and made it 3-0.
The Yankees added a few more runs an inning later. Curtis Granderson led off with a single and was brought home on Eduardo Nunez's home run. That made the score 5-0. Two innings later, an Alfonso Soriano solo home run put the Yankees up 6-0. That was all the offense the Yankees got, but it was all they needed.
With Nova on the mound, San Francisco couldn't get anything going offensively. Only two Giants even made it into scoring position against Nova. Pablo Sandoval hit a one-out double in the second inning and Brandon Belt hit a ground rule double in the fourth. All the other Giants' hits were singles.
Nova was allowed to come back out for the ninth to try and finish off a complete game. He got the first two hitters to fly out, but Nick Noonan prevented a 1-2-3 inning with a single. But Nova came right back and struck out Johnny Monell to end the game and finish off a complete game shutout. Nova allowed just six hits and one walk over the nine innings, while he struck out seven. He was super.
Tomorrow will be an emotional day at Yankee Stadium, as Mariano Rivera will be honored and it'll be Andy Pettitte's final home start. First pitch is at 1:05 eastern.