Yankees take a 2-0 lead over Gwinnett

The SWB Yankees, behind a strong pitching effort by Ivan Nova, took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Gwinnett Braves in the best of five series. The final score, SWB 4, Gwinnett 1. Ivan Nova had one of his best outings of the year, going 7 innings, allowing only one run and striking out 5. As evidence that he was on his game, he had a groudout/flyout ratio of 15-1. Not too shabby! Once again, the bullpen was solid, shutting out Gwinnett for the second consecutive night. Zach Kroenke, who gave 2 innings of shutout ball last night, chipped in another inning tonight, followed by Kevin Whelan, who got the save. Whelan gave everyone a scare when he allowed the first two batters reach in the bottom of the ninth, but then struck out the side. The offense was good enough with Austin Jackson and Kevin Russo providing the big hits in a 2 run third, both RBI doubles. Reegie Carona and Juan Miranda each had 2 hits. The Yankees return home tomorrow night for what will hopefully the last game in this series. I will be at PNC Field with updates throughout the game. Oh, and not surprisingly, the forecast for Scranton tomorrow is for...wait for it....rain.