07/20: Yanks Avoid "Throw Shoe at T.V." Type Loss
Posted by: Seamus
The Yankees are now off to a 2-0 start since the All-Star break, and if they can escape with victories in games like the one they took on Saturday they'll be in pretty good shape. Neither team really brought their "A" game and gave the other plenty of opportunities, but it was the Yankees who came out on top in the end after Jose Molina was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th for a 4-3 victory. The Yanks remain 5.5 games behind Tampa Bay for the A.L. East lead, but pulled to within four games of Boston for the wild card, who lost in Anaheim.
The Yankees jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the 2nd and it looked like they would roll, as Joba Chamberlain was dealing once again. Joba struck out eight in six innings of work, with the only run allowed being off a sacrifice fly by Ryan Sweeney.
The A's were able to tie the game in the 7th, though, and Jose Veras got an undeserved smattering of boos after a rough inning in which he allowed the tying run on a wild pitch. What was frustrating about it, though, was that he would have gotten out of the inning unscathed if it weren't for that wild pitch, as the other two men on base were left on.
The game remained tied until the top of the 9th, as the A's deviated from Billy Beane's style a little bit and manufactured a run off of Mariano Rivera. After a leadoff single by Jack Hanahan, Rajai Davis pinch ran and stole second base. Ryan Sweeney then brought Davis in with a scorching single to left.
Now here's the part where both teams begged to lose this game. Jason Giambi leads off the bottom of the 9th with a walk, who is subsequently pinch ran for by Justian Christian. With Jorge Posada at the plate, Christian attempts to steal second and trips and falls halfway there and is tagged out before Posada grounds out to first. After Robinson Cano doubled to left, it looked like the Yankees had by all accounts given this game to the A's, as not only did Christian blow it by tripping over himself, but he probably could have scored from first on Cano's double. Fortunately for the Yankees, Huston Street didn't want to put this game away either. On an 0-2 count, he served an outside breaking ball to Wilson Betemit, which was promptly served back into left centerfield, scoring Cano to tie the game.
The Yankees blew opportunities again to score in the 10th and 11th innings, but the A's didn't even give the Yankees a chance to screw up in the 12th, as Jose Molina was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to end the game.
Not the prettiest win for the Yanks, but it was a win nonetheless and a win they needed. Coming into this series, there were three teams ahead of them in the wild card standings and the Yankees are playing them all consecutively, so this is a potentially huge 9-game stretch. The Yanks will try to start off that stretch with a sweep this afternoon as Andy Pettitte will face all-star Justin Duchscherer in a battle of 10-game winners. Game starts at 1:05 E.T. and will also be carried on TBS for those of you outside the New York area.
The Yankees jumped ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the 2nd and it looked like they would roll, as Joba Chamberlain was dealing once again. Joba struck out eight in six innings of work, with the only run allowed being off a sacrifice fly by Ryan Sweeney.
The A's were able to tie the game in the 7th, though, and Jose Veras got an undeserved smattering of boos after a rough inning in which he allowed the tying run on a wild pitch. What was frustrating about it, though, was that he would have gotten out of the inning unscathed if it weren't for that wild pitch, as the other two men on base were left on.
The game remained tied until the top of the 9th, as the A's deviated from Billy Beane's style a little bit and manufactured a run off of Mariano Rivera. After a leadoff single by Jack Hanahan, Rajai Davis pinch ran and stole second base. Ryan Sweeney then brought Davis in with a scorching single to left.
Now here's the part where both teams begged to lose this game. Jason Giambi leads off the bottom of the 9th with a walk, who is subsequently pinch ran for by Justian Christian. With Jorge Posada at the plate, Christian attempts to steal second and trips and falls halfway there and is tagged out before Posada grounds out to first. After Robinson Cano doubled to left, it looked like the Yankees had by all accounts given this game to the A's, as not only did Christian blow it by tripping over himself, but he probably could have scored from first on Cano's double. Fortunately for the Yankees, Huston Street didn't want to put this game away either. On an 0-2 count, he served an outside breaking ball to Wilson Betemit, which was promptly served back into left centerfield, scoring Cano to tie the game.
The Yankees blew opportunities again to score in the 10th and 11th innings, but the A's didn't even give the Yankees a chance to screw up in the 12th, as Jose Molina was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to end the game.
Not the prettiest win for the Yanks, but it was a win nonetheless and a win they needed. Coming into this series, there were three teams ahead of them in the wild card standings and the Yankees are playing them all consecutively, so this is a potentially huge 9-game stretch. The Yanks will try to start off that stretch with a sweep this afternoon as Andy Pettitte will face all-star Justin Duchscherer in a battle of 10-game winners. Game starts at 1:05 E.T. and will also be carried on TBS for those of you outside the New York area.
James wrote: