Yankees avoid sweep of Astros, win first game of the season behind Ichiro and ...
HOUSTON - Breathe easy, Yankees fans. The Bombers won't go 0-162 this season.
For all the talk of the big offseason acquisitions, it took a big game by Ichiro Suzuki and Yangervis Solarte for the Yankees to pick up their first win of 2014.
The pair provided an unexpected spark at the bottom of the lineup, scoring all four runs in the Yankees' 4-2 win over the Astros to avoid what would have been an ignominious sweep against a team that lost 111 games last season.
Solarte went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, picking up his firsts in all three categories. Ichiro, whose role on the team this year might be more uncertain than any other player, had two hits and two runs scored, starting two of the three run-scoring innings for the Yankees.
Ivan Nova became the first Yankees pitcher in the win column this season, though his performance was far from spectacular. He held Houston to two runs over 5.2 innings despite giving up six hits and five walks, hitting Jason Castro twice for a total of 13 baserunners.
Joe Girardi spoke before the game of Nova's maturity this spring, something that was evident in an outing that might have gone in a much different - read: worse - direction in the past couple years.
'I thought that it's a different Nova' Girardi said. 'It's someone that understands what his stuff is, what he needs to do to be successful and how he can really compete.'
Dave Robertson made a successful debut as Mariano Rivera's successor, throwing a scoreless ninth to pick up his first save of the season.
The win takes some of the pressure off Masahiro Tanaka, who flew ahead to Toronto Thursday to prepare for his big-league debut Friday night against the Blue Jays.
That Ichiro and Solarte were in the lineup at all seemed strange in only the third game of the season, especially as the Yankees were still seeking their first win.
'We've got a tough schedule these first couple of weeks,' Girardi said. 'Thirteen days out of the get go. Probably get into Toronto around 5 o'clock tonight, then you've got a night game, day game, so it will be tough.'
For the third straight night, the Astros jumped out to a first-inning lead after Nova loaded the bases, allowing a run to score on Jose Altuve's fielder's choice.
Nova loaded the bases again by walking Chris Carter, but he got out of the jam thanks to a Marc Krauss double play, starting a trend for the night.
Lefthander Brett Oberholtzer mowed through the Yankees' lineup to start the night, retiring the first seven hitters he faced as the Bombers' bats that produced three runs in the first two games continued to look helpless.
Ichiro, getting the start in place of Jacoby Ellsbury, lined a single to left field in his first at-bat of the season. Solarte, making the first start of his career as Kelly Johnson got the night off against the lefty, followed with another single, then Brett Gardner tied the game with a hit past a diving Altuve.
Jeter walked to load the bases for Carlos Beltran, whose sac fly gave the Yankees their first lead in 21 innings this season.
Jeter added an RBI single in the fifth to push the lead to 3-1.
Nova walked a tightrope all night, putting men on base in every inning. Just as he did in the first inning, Nova got inning-ending double-play balls in the third and fourth, squashing potential Astros rallies.
Houston cut the lead to one run as Jonathan Villar led off with a double, scoring on Dexter Fowler's single. Nova walked Robbie Grossman, but Cliff Corporan grounded into the Astros' fourth double play of the night, leaving the tying run on third base with two out.
A walk of Altuve - Nova's fourth of the game - put the go-ahead runner on, but Nova retired Chris Carter to end the inning, preserving the one-run lead.
The Yankees added a lucky insurance run in the seventh, as Ichiro doubled with two out, then scored when Solarte's pop up near the mound fell between three Astros infielders as Ichiro slid into home.
Nova got two outs in the sixth - with a walk in between them, of course - before handing the lead to Adam Warren, who retired all four batters he faced before Shawn Kelley pitched a perfect eighth.
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