06/18: Yanks Blow Huge Lead, Lose to Nats 11-9
Posted by: Seamus
There were some positives in this game, but unfortunately none of them came after the top of the 5th inning. The Yankees lost 11-9 in Washington after building up a 7-run lead in the 5th inning, only to watch it all slip away. The bullpen was the culprit, allowing just 5 of the 11 runs, but two scored on a double off Matt Smith that were charged to Shawn Chacon. Chacon himself was a bit shaky as he failed to hit his spots and had to leave the game before finishing the 5th inning because his pitch count was too high.
The Yankees scored 7 runs in the 5th to take a 9-2 lead, highlighted by a two-run homer by Alex Rodriguez and a grand slam by Johnny Damon. A-Rod finally had a decent game, going 2-5 and breaking a 2-2 tie with a home run. Damon's salami was one of four hits in the game for him including two doubles. Derek Jeter (.337) had three hits as well as Robinson Cano (.332), who increased his hitting streak to 15 games.
It was all downhill from there though. Chacon was only able to record one out in the bottom of the 5th, and the bullpen collapsed from there as the Nationals scored 4 in the inning to make it 9-6. The Nationals scored another two in the 7th to make it 9-8, highlighed by a home run by Daryl Ward off off T.J. Beam. In the 8th, the Nationals tied it after Soriano walked and stole both second and third, drawing a throwing error by Jorge Posada which allowed him to score. Jose Guillen tripled two batters later to score a chugging Daryl Ward from first and was then brought in by a single by Ryan Zimmerman.
I know that it's baseball and you win some and you lose some, but games like this just can't happen. The Yanks had this one. All they had to do is NOT play the worst 5 innings of baseball they played all year in order to hang on and win this one. I guess this goes without saying, but the pen was just awful. I'll give T.J. Beam a pass because he did pitch exceptionally well in his first inning of Major League work, but it seemed like getting guys out was like solving a rubix cube for these guys all day. Also, I know that we were short in the pen today but you can't have Mo go in for two innings on back to back days, especially on a day game after a night game.
Hopefully the Yankees will put this one behind them and take the rubber game of this three-game set tomorrow as Chien-Ming Wang will take on Michael O'Connor at 1:05 E.T. this afternoon. O'Connor is just 3-4 but his E.R.A. (3.70) is actually lower than the 7-2 Wang's (4.12). Wang's coming off a very good start against Cleveland and hopefully he can give the bullpen a much needed rest after the first two games of this series.
The Yankees scored 7 runs in the 5th to take a 9-2 lead, highlighted by a two-run homer by Alex Rodriguez and a grand slam by Johnny Damon. A-Rod finally had a decent game, going 2-5 and breaking a 2-2 tie with a home run. Damon's salami was one of four hits in the game for him including two doubles. Derek Jeter (.337) had three hits as well as Robinson Cano (.332), who increased his hitting streak to 15 games.
It was all downhill from there though. Chacon was only able to record one out in the bottom of the 5th, and the bullpen collapsed from there as the Nationals scored 4 in the inning to make it 9-6. The Nationals scored another two in the 7th to make it 9-8, highlighed by a home run by Daryl Ward off off T.J. Beam. In the 8th, the Nationals tied it after Soriano walked and stole both second and third, drawing a throwing error by Jorge Posada which allowed him to score. Jose Guillen tripled two batters later to score a chugging Daryl Ward from first and was then brought in by a single by Ryan Zimmerman.
I know that it's baseball and you win some and you lose some, but games like this just can't happen. The Yanks had this one. All they had to do is NOT play the worst 5 innings of baseball they played all year in order to hang on and win this one. I guess this goes without saying, but the pen was just awful. I'll give T.J. Beam a pass because he did pitch exceptionally well in his first inning of Major League work, but it seemed like getting guys out was like solving a rubix cube for these guys all day. Also, I know that we were short in the pen today but you can't have Mo go in for two innings on back to back days, especially on a day game after a night game.
Hopefully the Yankees will put this one behind them and take the rubber game of this three-game set tomorrow as Chien-Ming Wang will take on Michael O'Connor at 1:05 E.T. this afternoon. O'Connor is just 3-4 but his E.R.A. (3.70) is actually lower than the 7-2 Wang's (4.12). Wang's coming off a very good start against Cleveland and hopefully he can give the bullpen a much needed rest after the first two games of this series.
Patrick wrote: