Friday, August 28, 2009

Make it 11 Walk-Offs for the Yanks

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
R H E
Chi White Sox
0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
2 8 1
NY Yankees
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
5 10 0

WP - Brian Bruney (4-0)
LP - Randy Williams (0-1)

It was a battle of two quality left-handers at the stadium tonight, with CC Sabathia facing off against Mark Buehrle. Both starters pitched very well. CC cruised over the first six innings, holding the Sox scoreless on just four hits.

The Yanks gave him a 2-0 lead with two solo homers; Derek Jeter led off the first with his 17th of the season, and two innings later Johnny Damon smacked his 23rd of the year.

That's how the score would stay until the seventh when CC got into some trouble. Jermaine Dye led off with a double and then Carlos Quentin walked to put two on with nobody out. Yankee-killer Alex Rios then lined a double into right to score Dye and cut the Yanks lead to one. CC then got Alexei Ramirez to line out to Robinson Cano for the first out. The next few plays saved the game for the Yanks.

Ramon Castro was up next and and grounded one to third, Alex Rodriguez fielded the ball and then fired a strike to Jose Molina at the plate to cut down Quentin as he tried to score. Jayson Nix then his another grounder towards third, this one hugging the foul line, but A-Rod once again came through with a big play stopping the ball from rolling into the outfield. That brought up Gordon Beckham, and he lined a game-tying single into right, Nick Swisher charged the ball and fired it to the plate, Molina made a great pickup and an even better bare hand tag for the final out of the inning. My description above doesn't do justice to the great defense the Yanks played in the inning, if you watched the game you know what I mean.

That would be it for CC who once again pitched a fantastic game. In 7 innings the big lefty allowed two runs on eight hits, walked one, and struck out ten. In 27 starts this year CC has lasted at least 6.2 innings in 22 of them. The more I see from CC the more I realize he's exactly the type of ace this team has needed for a pretty long while.

Buehrle was also impressive, holding the Yankees to two runs on eight hits over six innings of work.

The game would remain tied over the next three innings as both bullpens pitched very well. Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera, and Brian Bruney combined to throw three perfect innings. Hughes, who hasn't been getting a lot of work lately, showed no signs of rust as he struck out the side in the seventh.

Then, with two on and two out in the bottom of the tenth, Robinson Cano made it 11 walk-off wins for the Bronx Bombers in 2009 with his three-run homer off White Sox reliever Randy Williams. The stadium went nuts and Cano got a pie in the face. It was a great way to end a cold and wet Friday in the Bronx.

If the weather allows the Yanks will try to take game two of the series tomorrow afternoon when Sergio Mitre faces off against former Yankee Jose Contreras. Based on the forecast I think this one gets washed out, but you never know. If they do play, first pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.


AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Jeter, SS 5 1 1 1 0 0 2 .329
Damon, LF 5 1 2 1 0 1 1 .290
Teixeira, 1B 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 .286
Rodriguez, A, 3B 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 .267
Matsui, H, DH 4 0 1 0 1 1 4 .268
1-Hairston, J, PR-DH 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .260
Swisher, RF 3 1 0 0 2 1 4 .241
Cano, 2B 5 1 1 3 0 1 5 .313
Cabrera, Me, CF 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .268
Molina, J, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .239
Totals 39 5 10 5 4 5 20

1-Ran for Matsui, H in the 10th.

BATTING
2B: Teixeira (35, Buehrle).
HR: Jeter (17, 1st inning off Buehrle, 0 on, 0 out), Damon (23, 3rd inning off Buehrle, 0 on, 0 out), Cano (21, 10th inning off Williams, R, 2 on, 2 out).
TB: Jeter 4; Damon 5; Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A; Matsui, H; Cano 4; Cabrera, Me 2; Molina, J.
RBI: Jeter (60), Damon (69), Cano 3 (68).
2-out RBI: Cano 3.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Swisher; Cano 4.
GIDP: Molina, J.
Team RISP: 1-for-7.
Team LOB: 9.

FIELDING
Outfield assists: Swisher (Castro, R at home).


IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Sabathia 7.0 8 2 2 1 10 0 3.56
Hughes, P 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3.28
Rivera, Ma 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.83
Bruney (W, 4-0) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.34

Pitches-strikes: Sabathia 113-78, Hughes, P 14-10, Rivera, Ma 10-6, Bruney 19-13.

WHITE SOX STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: CC Sabathia (7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10)

HONORABLE MENTION: Robinson Cano (1-for-5, 3-run walk-off homer in the 1oth)

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees vs. White Sox
Game Time: 1:05 p.m. TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Sergio Mitre (2-1, 6.82) vs. RHP Jose Contreras (5-12, 5.09)

6 Comments:

JC said...

Part of me hopes the game does get washed out tomorrow. Maybe that means they can skip Sergio's spot in the rotation?

Kevin said...

Cano hammered that pitch, but i need to know if im the only one who jumped off the couch when arod hit his ball in the 10th. I thought for sure that baby was going out...Im sure that would have given him a one inning pass from the boo's in todays game

crossfire said...

You were not alone Kevin. I was off the couch with my fist pumping in the air.

ARod shouldn't get booed in the first place. Without his plays in the 7th, Cano never gets a chance to be the hero in the 10th.

Vinsanity13 said...

I thought that ball was out too, and by a long way as well.
Died on the warning track, too bad, it would have been good for his confidence. I think people don't realize he's playing hurt, just like Jeter last year, he's gonna come back much stronger and healthier next season. And with the core of the team coming back as well minus Matsui, look for a bright 2010 as well if no one gets injured.

Wow, I got a little bit carried away, let's focus on 2009!

Go Bombers. Has anyone any indication about how's the weather in the Bronx? Thanks.

crossfire said...

It looks like there will be rain all day but the game should be played.

Greg Cohen said...

Kevin, I thought A-Rod's was long gone off the bat... Remember in Major League (or Major League 2) when someone hits a homer off I think Vaughn and the one of the bleacher fans says "it's too high" and they all make fun of him? Well, A-Rod hit his too high. Cano's got out because he was a low liner.