Abreu Arrives

And Promptly Draws a Walk


The Yankees had their first game with Bobby Abreu in the line-up. He drew a walk on 9 pitches, then scored a run. More importantly the Yankees won and are now first in the AL East.

Rodriguez drove this one on a low line to right-center field, and the ball skipped to the wall for a double that tied the score, 1-1. For all the talk about Rodriguez’s lack of clutch hitting, the hit brought his average to .300 with runners in scoring position.

Abreu followed with a nine-pitch walk, fighting back from an 0-2 count and checking his swing twice on balls. Giambi, whose plate discipline is similar to Abreu’s, was impressed.

“Bobby really pours on the pressure by taking a great at-bat right there,” Giambi said. “He’s going to be big in our lineup, because he can do the little things that don’t look big on the scorecard, but they end up being big situations that help the ball club.”

Abreu’s walk loaded the bases, and after a strikeout, Williams connected with the game-breaking hit. It put Wright in position for a victory after he struck out Vernon Wells to end the top of the fifth.

Now that's all fans are asking for. Tough at-bats that lead to lots of runs.