A game-winning home run by Derek Jeter. A save by Mariano Rivera. And the giddy fans exiting the ballpark to a Frank Sinatra serenade of "New York, New York."
That's a little more like what they were looking for, no? The Yankees' 6-5 win over Cleveland was the club's best shot to erase the bitter taste of Thursday's ballpark-opening drubbing that couldn't have been eased with any amount of fruit stands, art galleries or new restaurants.
On Friday, the club was more like its normal self, living up to the title of the Bronx Bombers with five home runs and some vintage clutch performances from old standbys, Jeter and Rivera.
"You don't want to wait a long time," manager Joe Girardi told reporters of getting the club's first win at the ballpark. "You want to make it your home."
Not that there won't be some adjustments. There have already been questions about the crowd noise being as loud -- perhaps because the corporate folks forking over $2,500 for a seat are more interested in the deals they're discussing than the action. In Friday's game, plenty of vacancies were spotted in those high-priced seats and some others.
Then there's the question of the home runs flying out of the park. Sure, the Yankees are known for their home runs and the dimensions are the same, but with so many balls flying out of the yard in the few games that have been played there it does seem like there's some video-game baseball going on at times.
In any case, the place sure felt a lot more like home for the Yankees with some familiar sights mingling with all those unfamiliar ones.
YANKEES 6, INDIANS 5: Led by five home runs, including the game-winner from captain Derek Jeter in the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees claimed their first victory in their new home. Mariano Rivera came on for the save to cap a day filled with blasts from Jeter, Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano.
