07/18: Pettitte Matches Halladay and Yanks Come Back Late to Beat Jays
Posted by: Patrick
For the first 7 innings, the scoreboard looked the same for both teams. They both scored 1 run in the 1st inning and then nothing further. In the top of the 1st, Frank Thomas doubled to score Alex Rios. In the bottom half, A-Rod singled home Johnny Damon to tie it up. And then a whole lot of zeroes. Halladay and Pettitte matched each other right down the line until they were both lifted to start their respective halves of the 8th.
Halladay: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Pettitte: 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
For the 8th, the Yankees turned to Kyle Farnsworth and the Blue Jays turned to Scott Downs. The inning started with a Frank Thomas single. Howie Clark pinch ran and Farnsworth made a throwing error on a pick off attempt which allowed Clark to advance to second. Lyle Overbay lined out to Phillips for the first out, but Aaron Hill doubled home Clark to retake the lead. Farnsworth was able to get out of it from there, getting Gregg Zaun to fly out, intentionally walking Matt Stairs and, finally, inducing a John McDonald fly out to end the 8th.
In our half of the 8th, after Bobby Abreu and A-Rod made two outs to start it off, Godzilla and Posada put together back to back singles to put the tying run in scoring position. Unfortunately, Cano struck out to end the rally.
In the 9th, Brian Bruney relieved Farnsworth and he was terrific, retiring Alex Rios, Vernon Wells and Troy Glaus in order to keep the Yankees at just 1 run back. The Blue Jays brought in closer Jeremy Accardo to face Andy Phillips, Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon. Phillips led off with a single and Miguel Cairo pinch ran for him. Cairo stole his 8th base of the season, moving up to 2nd. Melky singled to right with Cairo being thrown out at the plate for the first out. Melky moved up to second on the throw home and proceeded to steal third. Damon walked to make it 1st and 3rd for Derek Jeter.
But, Jeter didn't really have to do anything to keep this game going. Accardo did it for him by balking, which allowed both runners to move up a base, making it a tie game. With the winning run in scoring position, both Jeter and Abreu grounded out to short to end the 9th.
Luis Vizcaino was called on to pitch the 10th. Excepting a single, he didn't really have any trouble and the game remained tied. With A-Rod due up, the Jays turned to Casey Janssen. But, he hit A-Rod, putting the winning run on base. And then Alex was allowed to move to second on a wild pitch. Godzilla struck out for the first out and they opted to intentionally walk Jorge Posada to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out for Robinson Cano. But, Cano beat them with a walk off single to left, scoring A-Rod and ending the game.
So, in the last full inning (3 outs), the Blue Jays had a balk, a hit batter and a wild pitch. All of which proved costly.
Vizcaino got the win, improving his record to 6-2 and lowering his ERA to 4.53 - the lowest it's been since April 18 (1.08). Melky was the only Yankee with 3 hits, going 3 for 4 with a run. Matsui was 2 for 4 with a walk while Cano was 2 for 5 with that RBI. The top 3 hitters in the order (Damon, Jeter, Abreu) combined to go 0 for 13, though Damon did manage 2 walks and a run. The bottom 6 were 10 for 24. A-Rod was 1 for 4 with 1 run and 1 RBI.
The Royals beat the Red Sox, 9-3 and the Indians beat the White Sox, 6-5 in 11, so we gain a game in the division (8 games back now) and remain at 7 back in the Wild Card. Tonight at 7:05 PM ET, we'll have the Rocket (2-4, 4.20) against Shaun Marcum (5-3, 3.68).
Halladay: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Pettitte: 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
For the 8th, the Yankees turned to Kyle Farnsworth and the Blue Jays turned to Scott Downs. The inning started with a Frank Thomas single. Howie Clark pinch ran and Farnsworth made a throwing error on a pick off attempt which allowed Clark to advance to second. Lyle Overbay lined out to Phillips for the first out, but Aaron Hill doubled home Clark to retake the lead. Farnsworth was able to get out of it from there, getting Gregg Zaun to fly out, intentionally walking Matt Stairs and, finally, inducing a John McDonald fly out to end the 8th.
In our half of the 8th, after Bobby Abreu and A-Rod made two outs to start it off, Godzilla and Posada put together back to back singles to put the tying run in scoring position. Unfortunately, Cano struck out to end the rally.
In the 9th, Brian Bruney relieved Farnsworth and he was terrific, retiring Alex Rios, Vernon Wells and Troy Glaus in order to keep the Yankees at just 1 run back. The Blue Jays brought in closer Jeremy Accardo to face Andy Phillips, Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon. Phillips led off with a single and Miguel Cairo pinch ran for him. Cairo stole his 8th base of the season, moving up to 2nd. Melky singled to right with Cairo being thrown out at the plate for the first out. Melky moved up to second on the throw home and proceeded to steal third. Damon walked to make it 1st and 3rd for Derek Jeter.
But, Jeter didn't really have to do anything to keep this game going. Accardo did it for him by balking, which allowed both runners to move up a base, making it a tie game. With the winning run in scoring position, both Jeter and Abreu grounded out to short to end the 9th.
Luis Vizcaino was called on to pitch the 10th. Excepting a single, he didn't really have any trouble and the game remained tied. With A-Rod due up, the Jays turned to Casey Janssen. But, he hit A-Rod, putting the winning run on base. And then Alex was allowed to move to second on a wild pitch. Godzilla struck out for the first out and they opted to intentionally walk Jorge Posada to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out for Robinson Cano. But, Cano beat them with a walk off single to left, scoring A-Rod and ending the game.
So, in the last full inning (3 outs), the Blue Jays had a balk, a hit batter and a wild pitch. All of which proved costly.
Vizcaino got the win, improving his record to 6-2 and lowering his ERA to 4.53 - the lowest it's been since April 18 (1.08). Melky was the only Yankee with 3 hits, going 3 for 4 with a run. Matsui was 2 for 4 with a walk while Cano was 2 for 5 with that RBI. The top 3 hitters in the order (Damon, Jeter, Abreu) combined to go 0 for 13, though Damon did manage 2 walks and a run. The bottom 6 were 10 for 24. A-Rod was 1 for 4 with 1 run and 1 RBI.
The Royals beat the Red Sox, 9-3 and the Indians beat the White Sox, 6-5 in 11, so we gain a game in the division (8 games back now) and remain at 7 back in the Wild Card. Tonight at 7:05 PM ET, we'll have the Rocket (2-4, 4.20) against Shaun Marcum (5-3, 3.68).
