Yankees Get Away With "Opener Game"

Having had a rainout the day before, the Yankees were able to use pretty much any pitcher they wanted to use in the 1st game of yesterday's doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch stadium. And they did, including Josh Donaldson, in an 11-4 loss.

That meant that, in the 2nd game, they could still use any number of relievers, but they didn't really have a starting pitcher available. So they had to go the "opener" route.

They got away with it, probably because the opponent wasn't the Houston Astros.

Ian Hamilton pitched the 1st inning, and he allowed a run. Ron Marinaccio pitched the 2nd and most of the 3rd, and he allowed another run.

Michael King pitched the rest of the 3rd, and all of the 4th, and all the 5th, and all of the 6th. He really saved the Yankees bacon. Of course, according to the rules of the game, since he wasn't the final pitcher, he didn't get the save. But he got the win, which was more important.

Wandy Peralta pitched the 7th, Tommy Kahnle the 8th, and Clay Holmes the 9th. Like King's innings, theirs were all scoreless.

Of course, you also need to score your own runs. Harrison Bader gave the Yankees a sacrifice fly in the 1st inning. A triple by Anthony Volpe and a sac fly by DJ LeMahieu gave them 2 more runs in the 2nd. In the 9th, they got a run on a fielder's choice by Jose Trevino, and Gleyber Torres singled home 2 more runs.

Yankees 6, Cardinals 2. WP: King (2-4). No save. LP: Matthew Liberatore (1-3).

The series concludes this afternoon. Gerrit Cole starts against former Yankee Jordan Montgomery.