(Ray Stubblebine of REUTERS and Julie Jacobson of the AP)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| LAA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 0 | |
| NYY | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 0 |
During the on-field post game interview with Kim Jones, Jorge Posada said that this Yankees team has a lot of life in it, and that's pretty much all you need to know about tonight's win.
The Yankees jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with a four-run first. Hideki Matsui drove in the first run with a sac-fly. Robinson Cano followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. Jorge Posada then stepped up and extended the Yanks lead to four with a two-run homer.
Yankees starter Andy Pettitte was very effective, and held that lead until there were two out in the sixth, that's when things went south. Quickly. With runners on second and third and two out Jeff Mathis hit a two-run single and the Yankees lead was cut in half. After loading the bases Pettitte was taken out of the game. His final line was very unimpressive; 5.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. It was one of those weird starts where everything is going right and then boom, all hell breaks loose.
Mark Melancon came in for the Yanks and on the first pitch he threw Gary Matthews Jr. lined a three-run triple into the right-center field gap, and the Angels led 5-4. He then threw a wild pitch allowing Matthews to score to make it 6-4. He would then walk Bobby Abreu before getting out of the inning by getting Torii Hunter to line out. It was not a nice Bronx debut for the rookie.
Jose Veras pitched the seventh and was awful. He walked the first hitter he faced and it just got worse from there. Three runs later the Angels led 9-4 and this game looked like it was destined for the loss column.
But that's not how things would work out, because like Posada said, this team has a lot of life in it and they fought back. With one out in the eighth Cano doubled, Posada walked, and Brett Gardner singled to load the bases. Melky Cabrera was up and he lined an RBI single to cut the Angels' lead to 9-5. Ramiro Pena was next and he also singled, driving in two. The Angels lead was now cut to 9-7. They would get one run closer in the inning when Derek Jeter drove in a run with an RBI groundout.
With the score still 9-8 in the bottom of the ninth Angels newly acquired closer and former Rockie Brian Fuentes came into the game. Mark Teixeira led off the inning with a walk - He may not be able to buy a hit, but at least the guy draws his walks. Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano both singled and the Yankees had the bases loaded and nobody out. And that brings up back to Jorge Posada. He worked the count to 3-2 and then lined a Fuentes fastball into left field for a game winning two-run single. Down five with five outs to go? It was easily the Yankees best win of the season.
Nick Swisher was hit on the right elbow by Angels' starter Jered Weaver in the first inning and eventually had to leave the game. He had X-rays taken and they came back negative. He has a bruised elbow and is listed as day-to-day.
I was at the game and it was my first full game in the upper deck. I couldn't really get a feel for it on opening day because the Yankees were getting killed and I spent a lot of time walking around. If you really loved the feeling of sitting on top of the field like it felt in the old stadium's upper deck you may be in for a bit of a disappointment. You are noticeably further back at the new place, but at the same time you have do a great view of the entire field.
One thing that really surprised me was the volume of the crowd. Thanks to the overhang all of the noise made is amplified, so it sounds a lot better than I thought it would. The fans were also very good and into the game.
In the end I was happy with my upper deck experience. It's not the old place - nothing will be the old place - but it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Here's some pictures from the game that I posted on the my Facebook page so you can get an idea for yourself.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .276 |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .293 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | .189 |
| Matsui, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .290 |
| 1-Berroa, PR-DH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Cano, 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .378 |
| Posada, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .288 |
| Swisher, RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .312 |
| Gardner, CF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .230 |
| Cabrera, M, CF-RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .321 |
| Pena, 3B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Totals | 35 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 14 | |
| 1-Ran for Matsui in the 9th. | ||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Cano (6, Rodriguez, R). HR: Posada (4, 1st inning off Weaver, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Damon; Matsui; Cano 4; Posada 5; Gardner; Cabrera, M; Pena 3. RBI: Matsui (10), Cano (17), Posada 4 (18), Cabrera, M (10), Pena 2 (4), Jeter (13). 2-out RBI: Cano; Posada 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Teixeira; Damon. SF: Matsui. Team RISP: 6-for-10. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Pena (1, 2nd base off Weaver/Mathis). FIELDING DP: (Cano-Teixeira). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Hunter at 1st base). | ||||||||
ANGELS OFFENSE
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Pettitte | 5.2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3.82 |
| Melancon (BS, 1) | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 |
| Veras | 0.1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.94 |
| Ramirez, E | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 |
| Albaladejo (W, 2-1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.50 |
ANGELS PITCHING
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jorge Posada (2-for-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI 2 R)
HONORABLE MENTION: Ramiro Pena (3-for-4, 2 RBI)
TOMORROW'S GAME
Yankees vs. Angels @ New Yankee Stadium
Game Time: 1:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
CC Sabathia LHP (1-2, 4.73 ERA) vs. Matt Palmer RHP (1-0, 6.00 ERA)
Game Time: 1:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
CC Sabathia LHP (1-2, 4.73 ERA) vs. Matt Palmer RHP (1-0, 6.00 ERA)
WHo would've thought after the first month the Yankees best offensive players would be Cano, Swisher, Cabrera and Pena. I'm glad we didn't do the Melk for Cameron trade more than ever.
ReplyDeletegreg
ReplyDeleteAndy was far from effective
Very very nice to have a win in come-from-behind fashion to talk a little less about A-Rod and a little more about the entire team and its play on the field.
ReplyDeleteHey, by the way, who exactly said the new Yankee Stadium wasn't as big a home field advantage as the former one? 6-2 baby! 5 wins in a row at home!
And I think that everything that the media made up about the noise of the Stadium was all crap, the crowd just couldn't get exited when the Yankees were down by 10 runs that's all.
Go Bombers.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteI didn't say he was effective overall, but while holding the Angels to zeros through 5.2 he was effective. Then everything fell apart.
Here's the sentence from the game summary:
Yankees starter Andy Pettitte was very effective and held that lead until there were two out in the sixth, that's when things went south.
I thought Andy did well. Yea he did leave with the bases loaded and gave up 2 runs but the bullpen should be able to get that last out to end the inning. It's part their fault too.
ReplyDeleteI was so excited that the Yankees were able to come back last night against good relief pitchers after it all seemed lost. I almost fell out of my seat in the Grandstand during the 9th because I didn't believe it was really going to happen.
ReplyDelete