Sunday, May 24, 2009

Yanks Tie it in Ninth But Fall to Phils 4-3 in 11

(REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
R H E
Philadelphia
0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
4 11 1
NY Yankees
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
3 13 0

Winning pitcher - Clay Condrey (4-0)
Losing pitcher - Brett Tomko (0-1)


First, I should say that this was a great homestand. To win eight of ten and pull to within one game of first place is more than any of us could ask for. With that said, today's loss still stings. Especially after they came back to tie it in the bottom of the ninth off Brad Lidge again.

With the Phillies leading 3-2 Lidge came in hoping to make up for his blown save and loss yesterday, but Lidge's nightmare season continued. Robinson Cano led off the inning with a single, much like his single in the ninth of Saturday's game. Then with Melky Cabrera up, pinch-runner Ramiro Pena stole second to put the tying run is scoring position. Once again, for what seems to be the fourth or fifth time this homestand Melky came through with huge hit, this time an RBI single up the middle to tie the game at three. At this point I thought there was no way they'd lose the game. And they certainly had thier chances.

After Melky Cabrera tied the game, Hideki Matsui, who had an awful game, struck out for the first out, but with Nick Swisher batting Melky stole second and the Yanks were a single away from another walk-off win. But Swisher and Brett Gardner both grounded out and Lidge got out of the jam. One inning later Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon both singled and the Yanks had runners on first and second and nobody out for Mark Teixeira, once again a single away. Teixeira worked the count to 3-2, but Phils' reliever Clay Condrey got Tex to ground into a 4-6-3 doubleplay and the Yanks quickly had two out. Alex Rodriguez was then intentionally walked and Ramiro Pena (who had pinch ran for Cano in the ninth) lined out two center.

The Phillies would then take the lead in the top of the eleventh with a run off Brett Tomko. He got the first two batters of the inning out, but then walked Chase Utley. Utley stole second and then Carlos Ruiz lined a single down the third base line scoring Utley. Seriously, if there was one player I wish the Phillies didn't have this series it would have been Ruiz. He was a pain in the ass all series, both offensively and defensively. Notice how many times he comes up in this summary and you'll get an idea of the impact he had on this game.

As for the starters, both CC Sabathia and Cole Hamels pitched very well. Sabathia gave the Yankees eight solid innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, he did not walk a batter, and struck out four. He threw 110 pitches, 75 for strikes. The turning point in his performance and probably the game was the top of the third inning. With nobody on and two out Ruiz singled. Then Jimmy Rollins lined a ball to right center, Gardner, who really had no chance at catching the ball, came in a dove, allowing the ball to get past him, Ruiz to score, and Rollins to get to second. Shane Victorino then came up and line an RBI single to give Philly a 2-0 lead. Had Gardner played that ball safe - like he should have - who knows how that inning and the game plays out. The third Phillies run off CC came in the top of the sixth on an RBI double by Raul Ibanez. He was up on the count 1-2, but left a fastball belt-high and Ibanez mashed it.

Hamels was very impressive today, he held the Yanks to just two runs on eight hits over six innings. He struck out five, and like Sabathia, he also did not walk a batter. The first Yankees run came in the bottom of the third on a Johnny Damon RBI double with two out. Teixeira then singled but Damon was once again thrown out at home by Jayson Werth. I should also give credit to Ruiz who made a great play blocking the plate and holding onto the ball. The second Yankees run came on a broken bat solo homer by Teixeira in the sixth, it was his 13th homer of the year.

Like I said before this loss stings. How great would it have been for the Yanks to finish off this homestand with another walk-off win? Anyway, I'm trying to convince myself to look on the bright side and be happy about the 8-2 homestand. I suggest you do the same. This team is playing very good baseball right now and they're just a game out of first. The key now is to continue playing good ball. The Yanks now set off on a seven-game road trip against the Rangers and Indians, starting with three games in Texas. Hopefully they come back home in first.





RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Jeter, SS 5 0 3 0 0 1 1 .287
Damon, LF 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 .307
Teixeira, 1B 5 1 2 1 0 0 3 .268
Rodriguez, A, 3B 4 0 0 0 1 3 1 .189
Cano, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .313
1-Pena, PR-2B 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .250
Cabrera, M, RF 5 0 3 1 0 0 1 .328
Matsui, DH 5 0 0 0 0 2 4 .241
Cervelli, C 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .306
a-Swisher, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .225
Cash, C 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .059
Gardner, CF 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .244
Totals 43 3 13 3 1 6 17

a-Grounded out for Cervelli in the 9th.
1-Ran for Cano in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Cervelli (1, Hamels), Damon (10, Hamels).
HR: Teixeira (13, 6th inning off Hamels, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Jeter 3; Damon 3; Teixeira 5; Cano; Cabrera, M 3; Cervelli 2; Gardner.
RBI: Damon (29), Teixeira (34), Cabrera, M (20).
2-out RBI: Damon.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Matsui; Gardner; Pena.
GIDP: Teixeira.
Team RISP: 3-for-12.
Team LOB: 8.

BASERUNNING
SB: Cabrera, M (4, 2nd base off Lidge/Ruiz), Pena (2, 2nd base off Lidge/Ruiz), Jeter (9, 3rd base off Hamels/Ruiz).
CS: Cabrera, M (2, 2nd base by Hamels/Ruiz), Gardner (2, 2nd base by Durbin, C/Ruiz).


IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Sabathia 8.0 9 3 3 0 4 0 3.42
Veras 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 5.59
Rivera 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.75
Tomko (L, 0-1) 1.0 1 1 1 2 0 0 4.15

PHILLIES STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Ruiz (3-for-4, 2B, BB, game winning RBI single in the top of the 11th, and he threw out two base runners trying to steal.)

HONORABLE MENTION: Melky Cabrera (3-for-5, game tying RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.)

GOAT(S) OF THE GAME: Brett Tomko (Allowed game winning run in top of the 11th.) and Brett Gardner (Don't dive when you have absolutely no chance of catching the ball.)

Yankees @ Rangers
Game Time: 2:05 p.m.| TV/Radio: YES, WCBS 880
Phil Hughes RHP (2-2, 7.06 ERA) vs. Matt Harrison LHP (4-3, 4.71 ERA)

6 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Tough loss I thought the top of the 10th with runners on 1st and 2nd was when we were going to win the game. Thats the part of the game that drove me crazy.

But overall great 10 game homestand winning 8 games was a great job by the yankees. The yanks are only 1 game behind the red sox and we lost all 5 games to them isn't that crazy. The yankees are really in great shape right now.

Anonymous said...

The yankees need more players like Daniel Murphy. That kid is a gamer he is like a young Wade Boggs. I dont care that he is hitting 248.

Anonymous said...

You mean, we need more players that drop routine fly balls?

No thanks.

Steve said...

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Anonymous said...

Brett Gardner is too much of gamer. Sometimes he gets too aggressive. He really should be playing more though. His hitting improved a great deal from last year. Last year he could never get the ball out of the infield.

Greg Cohen said...

Steve, email me at SlidingIntoHomeBlog@gmail.com.