The Yankees’ bats were lackluster in the first game of the doubleheader, but they came alive in the second game, despite Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez sitting on the bench.  A pair of bombs from Curtis “I’m not a home run hitter” Granderson and a strong outing from Ivan Nova helped the Yankees get back on a winning track, as they won 8-3.

New York fell behind early as Nick Markakis doubled to left in the first inning.  He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly form Adam Jones for a 1-0 lead.  They added another run in the second when a single by Mark Reynolds was followed by a double from Ryan Adams.

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After weathering Irene in their Baltimore hotel, the Yankees opened up a doubleheader with the Orioles Sunday afternoon.  Starting pitching has been a problem for the Yankees in August, but Bartolo Colon put together a strong outing.  Unfortunately, the Yankees’ offense was still hibernating and they took a 2-0 loss to Baltimore.

The game stayed scoreless through six innings, as both Colon and Zach Britton kept the offenses guessing.  Neither team managed more than one baserunner in an inning.  Nick Markakis gave the Orioles lineup some energy, when he started the bottom of the seventh with a double to right.  Vladimir Guerrero knocked a one out single to right field, momentarily forgetting that he has slowed down a bit and getting thrown out easily at second.  Unfortunately, Markakis crossed the plate for the first run of the game, giving Baltimore a 1-0 lead.

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I’ve been having a blast riding out Hurricane Irene in Baltimore, so I didn’t get much of a chance to weigh in on the controversy over the scheduling of this series around the storm, but suffice it to say that I’ve certainly heard a lot about it in Baltimore.

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