Lucky 13: Postseason Pie Part Deux

When Chone Figgins singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning, I was pretty sure the Yankees would be heading to Anaheim tied 1-1. You'd figure the walk-off magic had to wear off at some point. The invincibility could only last so long, right? It had been a long night with little scoring and a cold, steady rain was beginning to fall.

When A-Rod led off the bottom of the 11th and promptly found himself in a 0-2 count against Brian Fuentes, the outlook appeared even more grim. Freddy Guzman and Brett Gardner were the next two Yankees on deck and only one could have been pinch hit for - by Jerry Hairston Jr. or Francisco Cervelli if the Yanks were really desperate.

But Fuentes left a fastball in the middle of the plate and A-Rod served it over the right field wall, just out of the reach of a jumping Bobby Abreu. The game was tied again and hope was restored.

It took two more innings, three more Yankee pitchers and a terrible decision by Macier Izturis before Jerry Hairston crossed the plate and won the game for the Yanks, but the Yanks would not be denied.

Too much went on during this 13 inning marathon to do a blow by blow recap, so let's head for the bullet points:

• A.J. Burnett was solid, with the exception of the 5th inning. He loaded the bases and via a single, walk and HBP and uncorked a wild pitch, but buckled down and didn't give up the lead. All told, he went 6 1/3, gave up 3 hits, struck out 4, walked 2 and allowed 2 runs.
  
  
• Joe Saunders did give up a home run, but largely stifled the Yanks otherwise, holding them to 2 runs of 7 IP and striking out 5 while walking just 1.
  
  
• The Yankees are now 17-0 this season when tied after 7 innings (including Game 2 of the ALDS). And that's not just at home. The team has continued to defy the odds over and over again, and the snowballing confidence has become a real asset. You could hear it in the post game comments. They've had an uncanny knack for coming away with the win under any circumstances or conditions or against any closer. Call it what you will - luck, magic, mojo, juju, never-say-die attitude, destiny, aura, positivity, good karma, clutchiferousness, God; the stuff that the best teams always have working for them (at least in retrospect) - it's certainly been on their side so far.
  
  
• Both teams fared miserably with runners in scoring position, combining to leave 30 men on base. The Yankees were 0-8 w/RISP, scoring their runs on two solo homers and an error while the Angels were 3-15 and with only 2 RBI. (The other run came on the WP by Burnett.
  
  
• Robinson Cano drove in a run with a triple in the second inning, but made some really big mistake which nearly sank the Yankees' chances from there on out. He rapped into a double play, erasing a lead off single in the 7th inning and made two errors on routine balls but was thankfully bailed out by his pitchers each time. The Yanks had no errors in the previous 4 games this postseason but had 3 tonight.
  
  
• Similarly, Derek Jeter homered in the third inning, but hit into a twin killing of his own and muffed a potential double play ball in the field.
  
  
• Joe Girardi asked Mariano Rivera for 2 1/3 innings, the most in an appearance since Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Mo was as brilliant as ever, needing only 25 pitches to sit down 7 batters.
  
  
• Alfredo Aceves was the one who gave up the single to Chone Figgins in the 11th, the only one of the 7 relievers the Angels got to.
  
  
• A-Rod's homer was only the 3rd game-tying extra inning HR in postseason history. That's nearly unbelievable at first blush, but if you consider that only the home team can tie the game in extras, it's merely incredible.
  
  
• After Girardi used three pitchers in the 12th inning of a still-tied game, the only man remaining in the bullpen was Chad Gaudin. With the threat of a postponement still looming, it could have been costly to use four of his pitchers for less than one inning (Coke, Joba, Hughes and Marte). Girardi kept firing bullets and luckily, the offense bailed him out before the chamber was empty. And since Nick Siwsher was lifted for a pinch runner in the 7th, it would have been really empty.
  
  
• The decision by Macier Izturis to go to second base on the last play of the game was real, real bad. You've gotta take the sure out there. The Angels has almost no chance of turning two and getting the force at second would have done them essentially no good with the winning run already on third.
  
  
• Last night's game was only the 5th postseason game ever to end on an error.
  
  
• And lastly, meteorologists get a lot of flak for getting things wrong all the time, and usually I refrain from piling on, but this weekend is an exception. FAIL. We were told over and over again that rain would wreak havoc over one or both of these games but neither was so much as delayed. I understand it's not an exact science, there's gotta be some accountability.

The Yanks now lead the series 2-0 and will head for better weather out in Anaheim. The swing between 1-1 and 2-0 is huge because if the Yanks has lost this game, they would have gave up homefield advantage and shortened the series to 5 games.

It's late and that's all I've got for now. Chances are we will have some more thoughts about this game tomorrow today, so check back before football fires up.

Great win. Goodnight.

Frankie Files Fourteen

Tonight's game had a little bit of everything: some nice defensive plays, timely hitting, quality relief pitching, and few strategical moves that paid dividends. In the end, it added up to the Yankees fourteenth walk-off victory of the season, this time at the hands of Francisco Cervelli.

The Yankees jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Derek Jeter drew a leadoff walk and came around to score a double that Mark Teixeira crushed to deep center field. Hideki Matsui then drove Teixeira in.

After a scoreless second inning, Toronto tied the game in the third. Jose Bautista destroyed a leadoff homer to center, falling just short of the facing of the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar, short hopping the concrete wall on the left center field side of Monument Park. After Gaudin took a Marco Scutaro liner off his arm and then made a circus behind-the-back play on an Aaron Hill comebacker, Toronto tied the score on an RBI groundout from Adam Lind.

In the sixth, Gaudin was gave up the go-ahead run on another groundout and exited shortly thereafter. Despite leaving the game trailing, it was another solid if unspectacular start from Gaudin, a representative effort from a back of the rotation starter.

Damaso Marte relieved Gaudin, notching a big strikeout of Travis Snider to end a first and third two out threat. Marte gave way to Brian Bruney to start the seventh. Bruney allowed hits to both batters he faced and was promptly yanked, earning himself a mid-inning hook for a mind-numbing eighth consecutive outing. Phil Coke cleaned up Bruney's mess, but allowed one of the inherited runners to score giving Toronto a 4-2 lead.

The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the inning. Robinson Cano hit a one out double, followed by Melky Cabrera reaching on an error. Johnny Damon pinch hit for Jose Molina and whiffed; Derek Jeter walked to load the bases, and then Jerry Hairston ended the inning by grounding into a fielder's choice. Joe Girardi then made an astute double switch, inserting Francisco Cervelli in Hairston's spot as the new catcher, and Brett Gardner in Damon's spot.

After Phil Hughes held the fort in the eighth, the Yankees finally broke through in the bottom of the inning. With Alex Rodriguez on first, Hideki Matsui launched a home run to right to tie the game at four. It was Matsui's 25th long ball of the year, tying the second best season total of his Major League career. It also tied Yankee club record for most home runs by a designated hitter, matching Don Baylor's mark from 1984. It was also Matsui's 12th HR of the year against left handed pitching.

Mariano Rivera took care of business in the ninth, leaving the Yankees positioned for the walk-off. Thanks to Girardi's earlier double switch, Brett Gardner led off. He singled, then promptly stole second base despite everyone in the park knowing he was going to attempt to steal the bag. Gardner moved to third on Jeter's groundout, setting the stage for Francisco Cervelli's single to left to end the game. With that, the Yanks split the two game set with the Jays and set themselves up for a far more enjoyable Thursday off day.


(Photos)

My Morning Song

Good morning Fackers. So I skipped last night's game to go see The Black Crowes. All I missed was the Yankees 13th walk off win of the year. The Yanks are 48-20 at home. More than 25% of those victories have been walk offs. That's pretty impressive.

Last night's hero was Nick Swisher, who in one evening, increased his Yankee Stadium home run total by 66.7%. Hopefully last night makes his Yankee Stadium home run haze blow away.

It's Wednesday. The good news: it's not as much of a hump this week. The bad: thanks to the holiday, you gotta make it all the way through rather than just to lunch for the work week to be half over. We'll be back to help you on your way.



Dizzy found me last night,
Saw some kind of new light,
I woke up in a whirlwind,
Just you watch my head spin.

The spectacle that made you cry,
It's a thrill a minute plane ride,
It's over time at ring side, no lie.

March me down to the seven seas,
Bury me with a ruby ring,
Kiss me baby on an Easter Sunday day,
Make my haze blow away.

A Cup Of Coffee And A Link Dump

Top of the morning to you, Fackers. I'm going to be tied up for the early part of the day, so I thought I'd brew up some links to keep you busy while I'm gone.

According to Buster Onley, the Yankees put a waiver claim on Brad Penny earlier this month and have interest in signing him now that he's asked for and recieved his release from the Red Sox. Hey, he's better than Sergio Mitre, right...?

Brendan as IIATM,S looks at Josh Willingham as a potential offseason trade target for the Yanks. He's having a a great year, but isn't the kind of player the Nationals are likely very attached to considering he's 31 and about to hit arbitration.

Great post from Mike at RAB looking at Joba's pitch selection, namely his reliance on the slider. When he first came up, hitters simply couldn't identify it, especially when contrasted with his 98MPH fastball. Now with his velocity sitting considerably lower and full scouting reports on his tendencies, the pitch is loosing its effectiveness.

With Derek Jeter climbing in the Yankee record books in seemingly every category, Jonah Keri takes a look at where he ranks among the greatest Pinstripers of all time.

Mr. Cashman makes life a little more difficult for the Red Sox. Matthew Pouliot looks at how it might harm the career of the player involved.

Did you know THIS is what Kate Smith looked like? If you were part of our live chat yesterday you did.

Another voice of reason from WEEI. However, I think Jim Rice could carry Derek Jeter's jock... very intimidatingly.

Last night, Nick Green did his best Nick Swisher impression.

So now it appears that the list of positive tests in 2003 never should have been seized the the government in the first place, which means that the names on it never would have been leaked. Our pal Craig reminds us that calling for all of the names on the list to come out is a fool's errand, and thinks that the names may continue to leak.

Lar from wezen-ball takes a deep (as in cavernously deep) look at walk-off wins over at The Baseball Analysts.

John Dewan takes a second shot at the ability of first basemen to scoop throws.

Another tough break for the Mets...

A list of the 12 best Mets quotes of all time. Amazingly, "He has lobby myself" didn't make the cut.

It's football, but take a look at the scrap heap.

More football... Another beat writer bites the dust. Damn you Gannett! /shakes fist at the sky.

A poisonous pitcher plant that eats rats? Bad. Ass. Now when are they going to start growing some in the NYC Subways?

More science... Are we descended from aquatic apes? Carl Everett certainly doesn't think so.

That's it for now. Matt will have some thoughts on Phil Coke shortly and we have some bigger stuff coming this afternoon, hopefully. Catch you later on.

Hurts So Good

Today was supposed to be a getaway game. A West Coast road trip without an off day was looming over the Yanks and the best case scenario would have been to get out of there quickly with a win, and board the plane to Seattle. The length of the game turned out to be the least of their problems.

It started as soon as the Yankees came to the plate. Leading off the bottom of the first, Jeter was in the hole 1-2 against Ricky Romero when he took a curveball off the top of his unprotected right foot. It didn't appear certain that he would stay in the game, but he hobbled to first, advanced to third on a double by Johnny Damon and scored on a grounder by Jorge Posada.

The Jays answered with a homer in the 2nd by Randy Ruiz, his second in as many nights. The Yanks added two more in the 3rd and 4th on solo shots by Johnny Damon and Robinson Cano to retake the lead and subsequently stretch the margin to 3-1. In between those two, Ramiro Pena was brought in for Jeter at shortstop, which is never a good sign. X-Rays were negative on his foot but Jeter may still need some time off to recover.

Through his first five innings, A.J. Burnett managed to distribute 7 hits, a walk and a wild pitch such that Ruiz's solo shot was the only run scored against him. In the sixth, however, it caught up to him. After retiring Vernon Wells, he allowed back to back singles to Ruiz and Edwin Encarnacion. A.J. followed this up with another wild pitch, which moved the runners over, and a single, which scored Ruiz. He got Joe Inglett to strike out for the second out of the inning, but with an 0-2 count on Marco Scutaro, Burnett's third wild pitch of the day rolled far enough away from Posada for Encarnacion to tie the score at 3.

From our seats in Sec. 410, none of those wild pitches, let alone all of them, looked like they should have been scored as such. This might explain why Burnett didn't want to talk about them after the game. David Robertson threw another one that hit Posada in the glove in the 7th inning which was also scored a WP. Shortly thereafter, Jorge was hit by a foul tip on his bare throwing hand, but unlike Jeter, remained in the game for the duration.

After Burnett exited the game, the Yanks bullpen was once again flawless. Phil Coke, D-Rob and Phil Hughes combined to keep the Blue Jays off the board through the end of regulation, at which point Chad Gaudin made his Yankee debut. While the Yanks went down in order in the bottom of the 9th and 10th, Gaudin kept the Jays off the board in the tops of the 10th and 11th.

Just like Jeter in the first, A-Rod was hit by a pitch leading off the

inning. Also like The Captain, A-Rod stayed down for an extended period of time while Joe Girardi and Gene Monahan checked where he had been hit above his elbow protector. Knowing that some majorly awkward defensive switches were going to have to be made, A-Rod gutted it out and took his place at first base. The other walking wounded, Posada, singled to left and moved A-Rod to second. Robinson Cano stood at the plate, with runners in scoring position no less, and ripped the first pitch he saw into the gap in right center, it one bounced against the wall, and that was that.

It wasn't an expedient at 3 hours and 56 minutes, nor was is painless, with three very close calls on injuries during the game. Now the Yanks have are headed out to Seattle with three nicked up core starting players and a taxed bullpen, but they finished the homestand at 6-1 and still hold a 5.5 game lead over the Sox, who won easily behind Josh Beckett.

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A Special Guest Apology

/Barry White voice

Melky, I'm sorry baby. I never should have given up on you like I did. The thing was... well, you just... you hurt me so bad. All of last season, Melky, the pop ups, the strike outs. I couldn't handle 'em. They were drivin' me mad. We didn't make the playoffs, and you know that the lack of production from CF was a major reason for that. I know you know that. 

I never should have written that post after that walk off homer you hit against the A's where I said that you still shouldn't be starting. I shoulda looked at Brett Gardner's numbers, because they were no where near as good as yours, Melky. I guess sometimes we let our judgements get clouded by emotion, and we can't see the forest through the trees. 

And now I'm torn, ya know? Because both of y'all did some amazing things last night and I don't know who to choose. Your numbers are almost exactly in line with your 2007 season, and back then you were a servicable Major League player. But now we're two years older and the road ahead don't look the same, ya dig? 

But part of me is sayin' that it's too good to be true; that these numbers ain't gonna last. I'm worried are gonna do me wrong, just like you have in the past. You're gonna get all free swingin' and wild, causin' your on-base to drop to .300 like it was last year and then your gonna leave me high and dry. Please prove me wrong, Melky. I'm beggin' you.

But no matter what happens between us, I'mma aaaallllways remember last night: