The premier rivalry in sports used to deliver Roger Clemens against Pedro Martinez, provide a stage to see Manny Ramirez face Mariano Rivera and for Red Sox and Yankees fans to scream their lungs dry.
Friday night we got Vidal Nuno against Brandon Workman, nobody on either side of the aisle resembled Ramirez or Rivera and “Boston [Stinks]” didn’t fill Yankee Stadium.
Yet, for Nuno it was the most important game of his short big league career and he made it count.
Only because the Yankees didn’t have an alternate option to replace the struggling left-hander and manager Joe Girardi believed skipping him would cause more harm to the other four starters than good, Nuno faced the Red Sox.
Though the Red Sox are a shell of what they were winning the World Series last year, Nuno was a big part of a 6-0 Yankees victory that was witnessed by a sold-out gathering of 48,522 at Yankee Stadium.
“With the fastball I didn’t make mistakes. It was another day I proved I could pitch here,’’ said Nuno, who threw 5²/₃ shutout innings, allowed two hits, two walks, fanned five and earned his first victory at Yankee Stadium. “A couple of weeks have been a grind. This is a confidence booster.’’
After giving up 12 earned runs and 14 hits in 9 ¹/₃ innings the previous two starts the Frontier League alumnus needed a lift.
Helping Nuno (2-4) be more aggressive was catcher Brian McCann, who the lefty didn’t shake off at all. Also adding assistance were back-to-back homers by Kelly Johnson and Brett Gardner in the three-run fourth inning that pushed the lead to 4-0 and McCann’s two-run homer in the eighth.
Derek Jeter, who celebrated his 40th birthday Thursday, also had two hits and scored a run.
“It seems like we are hitting a few more, so I believe they [homers] are going to come,’’ Girardi said following the Yankees’ second straight victory that moved them to within two games of the AL East leading Blue Jays.
The home runs are nice, but the story was Nuno, who gave up five homers in the previous two outings at the Stadium.
“Stayed out of hitters counts. that’s a big part of staying in the yard. When the ball stays in the yard, he puts up zeroes,’’ McCann said. “It’s about confidence. He established the strike zone.’’
A leadoff walk to Brock Holt in the first did little to instill confidence but Nuno retired the next three. Jonny Gomes opened the second with a single but never left first base. Holt doubled with one gone in the third and didn’t advance. After Holt’s double Nuno retired 10 straight before walking David Ortiz with two outs and the bases empty in the sixth.
Girardi called for Dellin Betances, and he teamed with Adam Warren and Matt Thornton to complete the Yankees’ sixth shutout of the season.
“When he’s on he’s as comfortable and easy to play behind as anyone on this team. He works really fast, he gets the ball and the ball was popping out of his hand,’’ Johnson said. “His ball was sharp. We scored a lot of runs but one was all we needed.’’
Pedro against Clemens is long gone. Manny and Mo, too. And don’t you pine for Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek getting into a shoving match at home plate? What would you give to see Don Zimmer get in Pedro’s face?
Now we get Nuno against Workman and Friday night, but that was plenty for the Yankees.