Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Miranda Gets Pie As Yanks Make It 15 Walk-Offs

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
R H E
KC 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
3 5 2
NYY 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2
4 9 1

WP - Brian Bruney (5-0)
LP - Kyle Farnsworth (1-5)

Am I the only one who kinda feels bad for Kyle Farnsworth? I guess I am. Either way, the Yankees made it 50 comeback wins and 15 walk-off wins with their 4-3 victory over the Royals tonight in the Bronx. It really is amazing how this team is able to come back and win ballgames with relative ease. Tonight's win was the Yanks 102nd of the season and seventh in a row.

A.J. Burnett started the game for the Bombers and pitched very well. In 6.1 innings pitched the right-hander allowed just one earned on three hits, walked three, and struck out eight. He had good command of all of his pitches and threw 69 of his 108 pitches for strikes. It was his third solid start in a row and with one more before the postseason starts he's probably feeling very good about himself.

Burnett left the game with one out and one out in the seventh, giving way to Phil Coke. Coke didn't pitch bad, but he fielded his position terribly. With runners on 1st and 2nd and one out, threw what could have been an easy 1-6-3 double play ball into center allowing the Royals second run to score. Then with a runner on third, Mitch Maier grounded one back to Coke, but for some reason he threw to first instead of home allowed Alex Gordon to score the Royals second run. The only hit he allowed in the inning was a bunt single by Gordon.

Like Burnett, Royals starter Anthony Lerew also pitched very well, holding the Yankees to two runs on five hits in six+ innings pitched. Both runs came on solo homers, Mark Teixeira's 39th in the sixth, and Nick Swisher's 28th to lead off the seventh and cut the Royals lead to 3-2.

David Robertson made his first appearance since going on the DL, and looked as good as you'd expect. He got two outs, one on a strikeout, and walked a batter before leaving the game. He was a little rusty, throwing just 11 of his 19 pitches for strike, but after missing a few weeks you're going to be a little rusty.

It was another nice outing for Brian Bruney who threw 1.2 scoreless innings. He walked one and allowed a hit, but did not allow the Royals on the board and eventually picked up his 5th win of the season. Bruney was helped out a bit by a very smart play by Jerry Hairston. With a runner on first and nobody out in the 9th, Josh Anderson tried to put down a bunt, but popped it up and decided he didn't need to run. Hairston let the ball drop, then started a 5-6-4 double play. Bruney then struck out Maier for the final out of the inning.

That would set things up for the bottom of the ninth and another walk-off for the Yanks. Farnsworth came in to close the game out for the Royals. Where was Joakim Soria? After striking out Brett Gardner to start the frame, Francisco Cervelli and Eric Hinske hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with one out. After getting ahead 3-0, Robinson Cano was given the green light and hammered a ball deep to center for a game-tying sac fly. With Johnny Damon batting, Hinske stole second and moved to third on John Buck's terrible throw. The Royals then walked Damon to face Juan Miranda. The rookie then lined an 0-1 fastball off Farnsworth leg, the ball trickled into foul territory, everyone was safe, and the Hinske scored the winning run and it was pie time!

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Over in Boston the Sox lost again to the Blue Jays 8-7. Clay Buchholz allowed five homers on the night, but remember folks, this is all part of their master plan.

Meanwhile in Detroit the Tigers and Twins split their doubleheader so the Tigers lead remains at two.

The Yanks go for a sweep tomorrow night at the stadium, with Joba Chamberlain making the start. He will be facing Royals right-hander Robinson Tejeda. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be on YES.


AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Jeter, SS 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .333
Cano, 2B 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .322
Damon, LF 4 0 0 0 1 1 4 .281
Teixeira, 1B 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 .295
Miranda, 1B 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .333
Rodriguez, A, 3B 3 0 1 0 1 1 2 .286
2-Hairston, J, PR-3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .251
Matsui, H, DH 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .278
3-Cabrera, Me, PR-DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273
Swisher, RF 4 1 1 1 0 1 4 .250
Gardner, CF 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 .271
Molina, J, C 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .215
1-Guzman, F, PR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Cervelli, C 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .297
Pena, R, 2B-SS 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .282
a-Hinske, PH 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .246
Totals 33 4 9 4 5 7 15

a-Singled for Pena, R in the 9th.
1-Ran for Molina, J in the 7th. 2-Ran for Rodriguez, A in the 8th. 3-Ran for Matsui, H in the 8th.

BATTING
HR: Teixeira (39, 6th inning off Lerew, 0 on, 2 out), Swisher (28, 7th inning off Lerew, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Jeter; Teixeira 5; Miranda; Rodriguez, A; Swisher 4; Molina, J; Cervelli; Hinske.
RBI: Teixeira (121), Swisher (80), Cano (85), Miranda (1).
2-out RBI: Teixeira; Miranda.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Swisher 2; Damon.
SF: Cano.
GIDP: Teixeira.
Team RISP: 1-for-4.
Team LOB: 9.

BASERUNNING
SB: Hinske (1, 2nd base off Farnsworth/Buck, J).

FIELDING
E: Coke (2, throw).
DP: (Hairston, J-Pena, R-Cano).


IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Burnett, A 6.1 3 2 1 3 8 0 4.10
Coke 0.2 1 1 0 0 0 0 4.63
Robertson, D 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 3.24
Bruney (W, 5-0) 1.1 1 0 0 1 2 0 4.03

Pitches-strikes: Burnett, A 108-69, Coke 17-13, Robertson, D 19-11, Bruney 15-11.

ROYALS STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Juan Miranda (walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th)

HONORABLE METION: A.J. Burnett (6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K)

Tomorrow's Game


Yankees vs. Royals
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Joba Chamberlain (9-6, 4.72) vs. RHP Robinson Tejeda (4-2, 3.41)

14 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Give it to the Kid!

Greg Cohen said...

Ok, done.

Anonymous said...

wow that was a nice play by hairston. i somehow managed to miss that.

Greg Cohen said...

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that. Very smart play.

Anonymous said...

Farnsworth was out of the inning he just kind of got unlucky. Same thing with Coke he pitched well he just made some boneheaded fielding plays.

I never really had a problem with Farnsworth to me that was more Cashman fault for signing him to that contract.

Glad Burnett got off the hook for the loss. But this was another very good outing from Burnett where he didn't get a win. That is why win loss to me is overrated stat. Burnett now has a lower era than Pettitte. But Andy has more wins.

crossfire said...

The Yanks are assured of having the best home record in all of baseball with the win tonight. The sox could potentially tie them if they win out at home and the Yanks lose tomorrow.

I'm going to tomorrow's game. I'd like to see 2 things:

A good outing by Joba and a win to assure best home record.

The latter isn't truly all that important but it would be a nice bit of history in the Stadium's first year!

Anonymous said...

I WAS THERE IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Greg Cohen said...

Nice Anon.

Anonymous said...

Verlander last 3 outings

129 pitches
126 pitches
128 pitches

Hopefully the tigers wear him out just to so they can make it to the postseason.

Anonymous said...

Greg;

I did feel bad for Farnsworth. I normally call my 67 year old Grandmother (who is also a big fan like me) to celebrate. I told her i felt bad for Farnsworth, She laughed at me and said "Who cares we won." LOL............

Greg Cohen said...

Hahahahaha good story.... I feel the same way to a degree, but there's part of me that feels for the guy. Maybe him crying when he got traded is part of it. That was a sad scene. If tonight's game meant anything I wouldn't. At the same time I'm really happy for Miranda. He really looked happy to come through.

Bruce Beckett said...

Is Bruney pitching his way onto the roster for round one of the playoffs? And is Coke pitching his way off it? All of a sudden, Bruney is painting the outside corner again with his 97 mph fastball. Coke, meanwhile, is looking a liability due to his lack of brain power. I'm sure he'll be there as he's our No. 1 leftie but you can't afford to make mistakes like that in the post-season.

Anonymous said...

Glad the young kids were on the bench/field to see Hairston's play. A great veteran move and even better lesson ...RUN to 1B- as fast as you can - because the ghosts have moved across the street and they will take care of the rest. Go Yanks and Bubba Trammell where ever you are.

Anonymous said...

Glad the young kids were on the bench/field to see Hairston's play. A great veteran move and even better lesson ...RUN to 1B- as fast as you can - because the ghosts have moved across the street and they will take care of the rest. Go Yanks and Bubba Trammell where ever you are.