The Yankees defeated the Royals 9-7 on Tuesday night, moving 1/2 game ahead of the Red Sox to lead the AL East. Robinson Cano homered and drove in four runs, but the star of the night was the Yankees bullpen. After Ivan Nova was knocked around for seven runs in 5 1/3 innings, the relievers came in to pitch 3 2/3 perfect innings, striking out five batters along the way. Mariano Rivera K’d two in his save inning, earning the 591st of his career.

The 5′ 7″ Tim Collins pitched a perfect ninth for the Royals. The rookie reliever uses a “back to the batter” delivery, which has helped him to 43 K in 55 1/3 innings. He’s walked 39, however. The interesting thing to me was watching him face Derek Jeter. Derek stands 6′ 3″, which is tall, but not unusual for a baseball player. It might have been the camera angle, but you could see how Jeter towered over the pitcher. It looked like David vs. Goliath, and David won again.