Ellsbury, Murphy Power Yankees Offense Past Cardinals in Rubber Game

After getting shutout yesterday, the Yankees were no doubt in dyer need of a victory.

The Bombers, who had just 5 hits in last night's loss, had fallen to three games out of first place, with a star-lacking lineup this evening making them appear to be weak. 

That wasn't the case though, as the Pinstripes scored seven runs off Cardinals Starter Shelby Miller on way to a 7-4 rubber game win.

For the first two innings, the Yanks' offense failed to get a runner in scoring position, but for the next two frames the bats couldn't be stopped.

The Yankees' original rally began with runners on first and second and one out in the top of third, when Jacoby Ellsbury lined a single to right-center to give New York an early 1-0 lead.

Two batters later, backup Catcher John Ryan Murphy added to the advantage, driving in two more with a hit of his own followed by an RBI Fielder's Choice from Ichiro.

In their next half-inning, the Bombers continued to embarrass Miller, crossing home three more times thanks to a two-run single from Ellsbury, his second and third RBIs of the contest, and a liner to right from Brian McCann, scoring Ellsbury from second.

At that point, the ballgame looked to be over, as the Pinstripes had a dominant 7-0 lead.

Unfortunately, that wasn't completely true, as New York's Hiroki Kuroda ended up surrendering three runs on 9 hits in his 5.2 frames of work, costing him a quality start.

Still, that line was good enough for #18 to get the win, improving his 2014 record to 4-3 and slightly raising his ERA to 4.57.

After he left this one, Dellin Betances, who originally wasn't supposed to appear, came in to get the last out of the sixth, inducing a Matt Holliday flyout on the first pitch he threw.

Following him, the usually-perfect Adam Warren entered the contest, leaving a man on second in a rough five-out performance. 

That runner would eventually score in the bottom of the eighth on a single surrendered by David Robertson, who did bounce back later on to end the non-save situation with three consecutive strikeouts, lowering his ERA to a solid 2.20.