09/20: Rivera Holds On, Yanks Continue to Close in on Boston
Posted by: Seamus
It was a little bit gut-wrenching towards the end, but the Yankees won a nail biter by the score of 2-1 and moved to within a game and a half (1 in the loss column) to the Red Sox, who were swept in Toronto. Detroit also lost, giving the Yankees a 5.5 game lead in the wild card race.
The Yankees jumped ahead 1-0 in the 2nd with a solo shot to right field by Hideki Matsui, and went ahead 2-0 in the 5th after Doug Mientkiewicz scored on a wild pitch by Brian Burress.
Mariano Rivera labored in the ninth, as he entered the game with a 2-1 lead and took 34 pitches before finally striking out Scott Moore with the bases loaded to record his 30th save in 33 chances.
Andy Pettitte improved his record to 14-8 with a stellar performance, allowing a hit per inning but still only allowing 1 run to cross the plate in 7 and 2/3, and as James mentioned, became the first Yankee draftee to win 200 games (163 with the Yankees, 37 with the Astros).
So now a 10th straight A.L. East crown becomes so much more realistic. Most were saying that the Yankees would have had to sweep this past weekend to have any chance, but that was obviously contingent upon the assumption that the Sox would not be swept in Toronto and the Yankees would take all three at home against the Orioles. If the Red Sox go 4-5 the rest of the way, the Yankees could take it down with a 6-4 finish, or 7-3 if the Red Sox go 5-4. Heck, the Yankees now have a magic number of 11 to clinch the A.L. East (sure, you can have "magic numbers" when you're behind, why not?), which is only two higher than Boston's number.
The Yankees will get today off before beginning a three-game set against the Blue Jays tomorrow night at the Stadium. The pitching match up should be a great one, with Chien-Ming Wang facing Roy Halladay.
The Yankees jumped ahead 1-0 in the 2nd with a solo shot to right field by Hideki Matsui, and went ahead 2-0 in the 5th after Doug Mientkiewicz scored on a wild pitch by Brian Burress.
Mariano Rivera labored in the ninth, as he entered the game with a 2-1 lead and took 34 pitches before finally striking out Scott Moore with the bases loaded to record his 30th save in 33 chances.
Andy Pettitte improved his record to 14-8 with a stellar performance, allowing a hit per inning but still only allowing 1 run to cross the plate in 7 and 2/3, and as James mentioned, became the first Yankee draftee to win 200 games (163 with the Yankees, 37 with the Astros).
So now a 10th straight A.L. East crown becomes so much more realistic. Most were saying that the Yankees would have had to sweep this past weekend to have any chance, but that was obviously contingent upon the assumption that the Sox would not be swept in Toronto and the Yankees would take all three at home against the Orioles. If the Red Sox go 4-5 the rest of the way, the Yankees could take it down with a 6-4 finish, or 7-3 if the Red Sox go 5-4. Heck, the Yankees now have a magic number of 11 to clinch the A.L. East (sure, you can have "magic numbers" when you're behind, why not?), which is only two higher than Boston's number.
The Yankees will get today off before beginning a three-game set against the Blue Jays tomorrow night at the Stadium. The pitching match up should be a great one, with Chien-Ming Wang facing Roy Halladay.
