Yankees Begin To Put Opening Weekend Behind Them

YANKEES 5

ATHLETICS 3

After two days of constant debate how the new wind currents seem to be affecting the jet stream in the new Yankee Stadium, causing ball to fly out of the park with ease, and, more importantly, after days of concern about Chien Ming Wang, the Yankees finally started playing like the Yankees and drove right past the soft hitting Oakland Athletics in the first regular season night game at the new stadium.

With the always reliable Andy Pettitte on the mound for the Bombers, the Yankees were able to put this one away early. In the bottom of the second, Nick Swisher led off with a walk, then Hideki Matsui lined a double to left to move Swisher to third. Brett Gardner laced a single to right center to allow both runners to score easily. Two batters later, Johnny Damon singled off of his former team to drive home Gardner to make it 3-0. Finally, Mark Texieria added another single, this one to left to drive in Derek Jeter.

The four runs were enough for Pettitte, who went seven innings, scattering nine hits and two runs. What is even more impressive about Pettitte's effort is the fact that he didn't strike out a single batter but was still extremely effective.

Still, the big concern with the Yankees is their leaky bullpen, and Brian Bruney did little to earn any confidence of his manager and the fans, when he allowed Jack Cust to score on a Mark Ellis double to cut the Yankee lead to 5-3. However, Dr. Clutch, a.k.a. A. Mariano Rivera, was excellent in the ninth, earning his fourth save of the season. The Yankees are now 8-6 on the year. BOX SCORE.