Joba Chamberlain Dominant Again As Yanks Shut Out Bucs

Do you think the ill-informed critics who opposed Joba Chamberlain's move from the bullpen to the rotation are the same people who wanted the Yankees to trade Alex Rodriguez after the 2006 season?

Joba was superb once again Wednesday night, shutting out the Pittsburgh Pirates through 6.2 innings while surrendering just six hits, walking one, and striking out seven. 

Chamberlain picked up his first win as a starter, but it was the fourth victory in five Joba starts for the Yankees, as the young right-hander continues to have a positive impact on the injury-plagued rotation.

Here are the grades from the Bombers' 10-0 pounding of the Pirates.

Joe Girardi, Manager (A+)

Not only did Girardi allow Joba to throw a career-high 114 pitches, but he also had his offense attempt three bunts (two were successful) and one steal.  It all added up to a perfect night for the Yanks.

Melky Cabrera, CF (A+)

Cabrera filled in nicely at the top of the order for the banged up Johnny Damon.  The centerfielder was 2-5 with a walk, 1 RBI, and a run scored.  He also stole a bag and made a couple nice plays in the field.

Derek Jeter, SS (A+)

The Captain extended his hitting streak to 13 games in style as he went 3-3 with two doubles, a walk, an RBI, and three runs scored.

Bobby Abreu, RF (A+)

I don't usually give out this many perfect grades, but how else can you assess Abreu's performance on Wednesday.  He went 3-4 with a three-run homer and fired a missile home from right field to retire Ryan Doumit at the plate.

Bobby also attempted a bunt with Jeter on second and no one out in the third.  He fouled it off, but was able to advance the runner later in the at-bat with a ground ball to the right side.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B (A)

A-Rod's 1-3 with a walk seems paltry compared to his teammates' contributions in this game.  I wasn't too pleased with Rodriguez's dirty slide into second in the first inning, but it did lead to two runs.

Jason Giambi, 1B (C+)

Giambi was 1-4 with two RBI, but his grounder in the first should've been an inning-ending double play if not for A-Rod's slide, and his RBI single later in the game was nothing more than a blooper that found some real estate in right field.

Jorge Posada, C (C)

Posada was 1-4 with a base on balls.

Robinson Cano, 2B (A+)

Could this be the game that finally gets Cano going in the right direction?  He was 3-5 with a solo shot.

Justin Christian, LF (B-)

Christian followed up his 2-4 debut on Tuesday with a 1-4 performance that included a walk, two runs, and a bunt single (a man after my heart).

Alberto Gonzalez, PH-SS (INC)

Gonzalez went 0-2 in garbage time.

Jose Molina, PH-C (INC)

Molina grounded out for A-Rod in the eighth before catching the last two innings.

Wilson Betemit, 1B-3B (B)

Betemit entered in a double switch and went 1-2 with a run scored.

Joba Chamberlain, SP (A+)

Joba's ERA as a starter is now a minuscule 1.80 and while his batting average is still .000, he worked a walk and laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt Wednesday.  Through his first five starts, I'd say the "experiment" is a success.

Ross Ohlendorf, RP (A+)

Faced four batters, retiring them all and striking out three.

Jose Veras, RP (B-)

Gave up two hits but no runs in the ninth to preserve the shutout.  In fact, the bullpen hasn't given up a single run in the last 13.1 innings pitched in relief of Joba Chamberlain.  Yeah, how ever will they survive without him?

Yankees' Overall Grade (A+)

Just a day after a horrible performance in the first game of this interleague series, New York turned in one of its most complete outings of the year.  Thursday they go for the series win before returning to the Big Apple for a four-game, three-day, two-stadium set with the Mets.