A-Rod Ties It, Melky Wins It, In Another Walk-off Win

(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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

Winning pitcher - Jose Veras (3-1)
Losing pitcher - Brad Lidge (0-2)

After the game Alex Rodriguez told the media that "As long as we have the last three outs or last six outs, we feel like something good's going to happen." Can you blame them? For the fourth time this homestand the Yankees walked off with a win. Today they had to come back from a 4-2 deficit in the bottom of the ninth.

Johnny Damon led off the inning with a walk off Phillies closer Brad Lidge, and as John Sterling says, it's always the walks. Lidge was able to strike out Mark Teixeira, but that would be the end of his success on the day. After falling behind in the count 1 balls and 2 strikes, Alex Rodriguez was able to work the count full. Lidge came in with a fastball and A-Rod deposited it in the right field seats for a game tying two-run homer. Robinson Cano then singled up the middle for a single. That brought up the king of the walk-offs, Melky Cabrera, but before he could do anything Cano go into scoring position by stealing second on Lidge, who is pretty slow to the plate. It was just Cano's second steal of the year, and it came at a great time. Melky got ahead on the count 2-1 and dunked a Lidge slider into right center for a game winning RBI single. Cano scored and the Yankees mobbed Melky near third base.

I said yesterday that I think the most important game of any winning streak is the game after the streak is snapped. Getting back in the W column is very important for any team, and to do it the way the Yankees did today was huge.

Andy Pettitte made the start for the Yanks today, and while he gave the Yankees some length by going seven innings, his performance wasn't too good. He allowed four runs on five hits, walked two, and struck out five. He threw 114 pitches, 67 for strikes. He made two major mistakes, a solo homer off the bat of the red hot Raul Ibanez in the second, and a three-run homer by John Mayberry Jr. in the fifth. It was Mayberry's first career home run. I didn't see most of Pettitte's performance, but based solely on the numbers it wasn't too impressive. I know he made just two real mistakes, but that doesn't make the four runs in seven innings any better.

Phil Coke pitched 1.2 solid innings out of the pen, allowing just one hit. After retiring the first two batters of the top of the ninth he was removed from the game for Jose Veras. Veras retired the only batter he faced, which was good enough for his third win of the year.

They've now won 10 of their last 11 and are a 25-18, which, thanks to the Mets, ties them for second with the Boston Red Sox. They also trailed in the ninth today only to come back and win. Omir Santos hit a two-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon with two-out in the ninth to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. David Wright, Luis Castillo and Ramon Martinez made great defensive plays in the bottom half to preserve the win. The Yanks also gained on the first place Blue Jays, who lost to the Braves tonight by the score of 4-3.

The Yankees look to win another series and make in 9 out of 10 on the homestand tomorrow at the new stadium. Talk about a great pitching matchup, tomorrow it will be a battle of aces as CC Sabathia will take on Cole Hamels. I've been looking forward to this matchup since I saw the probable pitchers list last week.

(Here's some good news about a former Yankee, Jason Giambi hit his 400th career home run today in Oakland. He is the 44th player in major league history to hit at least 400 home runs. Congrats to the Big G.)

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	4	1	1	1	0	2	1	.277
Damon, LF	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	.304
Teixeira, 1B	4	0	2	0	0	1	1	.263
Rodriguez, A, DH	4	1	1	2	0	0	2	.204
Cano, 2B	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	.314
Cabrera, M, CF	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	.317
Swisher, RF	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	.226
Cervelli, C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.303
a-Gardner, PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.244
Berroa, 3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167
Pena, 3B	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	.254
b-Matsui, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.250
Cash, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.063
Totals	31	5	8	5	1	9	5
a-Doubled for Cervelli in the 8th. b-Struck out for Pena in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Cano (12, Happ), Gardner (4, Madson). HR: Jeter (7, 6th inning off Happ, 0 on, 1 out), Rodriguez, A (7, 9th inning off Lidge, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Jeter 4; Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A 4; Cano 3; Cabrera, M; Gardner 2. RBI: Swisher (24), Jeter (21), Rodriguez, A 2 (13), Cabrera, M (19). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jeter. S: Cabrera, M. GIDP: Rodriguez, A. Team RISP: 2-for-6. Team LOB: 3. BASERUNNING SB: Damon (4, 2nd base off Lidge/Coste), Cano (2, 2nd base off Lidge/Coste). FIELDING DP: 2 (Pena-Cano-Teixeira 2).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte	7.0	5	4	4	2	5	2	4.30
Coke	1.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.19
Veras (W, 3-1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.89

PHILLIES STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Alex Rodriguez (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.)

HONORABLE METION: Melky Cabrera (1-for-3, RBI, and his third walk-off hit of the season.)

Yankees vs. Phillies
Game Time: 1:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
CC Sabathia LHP (4-3, 3.43 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels LHP (2-2, 4.95 ERA)