Saturday, August 8, 2009

A-Rod's Walk-Off Ends Classic in the Bronx


(REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine)


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

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
R H E
BOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 X X X
0 4 0
NYY 0 0 0 0 0 2 X X X
2 9 1

WP - Phil Coke (3-3)
LP - Junichi Tazawa (0-1)


It was an instant classic in the Bronx last night, a 5-hour, 33-minute classic to be exact. Both teams matched zeros over the first 14 and a half innings until Alex Rodriguez's two-run blast off Junichi Tazawa in the bottom the 15th that won it for the Yanks.

It was A-Rod's first homer in 73 at-bats and it couldn't have come at a better time. To me this was A-Rod's signature Yankee moment. Not only was it a walk-off homer against the Red Sox, but considering the rivalry and how amazing a game this was, it has to be his Pinstripe Moment.

It was a classic pitchers duel from the start with A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett both on top of their games and matching zeros over the first seven+ innings.

After struggling his first two times against the Sox Burnett was brilliant tonight. He did have some command issues and walked six, but still was able to hold the Red Soxto no runs on just one hit over 7.2 innings pitched. Tonight's game shows you just how good Burnett's stuff is. You have to have great stuff to walk six people and still not allow a run.

On the other side Beckett was just as dominant if not more. He allowed no runs on just four hits, walked two, and struck out seven in seven innings of work.

After both starters left the game it was time for the bullpens to take over, and boy did they ever take over. No matter who each manager called out of the pen, that guy came out and did his job.
Phil Hughes replaced Burnett to get the final out of the eighth. Then Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth. Alfredo Aceves followed with three great innings. Next was Brian Bruney who threw two very impressive innings, and looks like he's starting to round into form. And finally Phil Coke pitched a scoreless 15th to pick up his third win of the year. Combined the Yankees pen threw 7.1 innings and allowed no runs on three hits, walked two and struck out eight.

Give the Red Sox bullpen a ton of credit as well, They used six guys (Okajima, Bard, Ramirez, Papelbon, Delcarmen and Saito) to get through innings 8-13, and all of them did the job they were asked. Tazawa, who was making his MLB debut, gave up a few hard hit balls in a scoreless 14th and would have lost the game then if it hadn't been for J.D. Drew's fantastic leaping grab in right on Eric Hinske's line drive. Then in the 15th he gave up the big two-run shot to A-Rod.

Each team had their chances to put across a run, but each time the pitchers either made the big pitch or a fielder made a great play. Both teams just played great, great baseball tonight.

I don't know if I've ever seen a better regular season game. The 7/1/04 game (Jeter's dive/Flaherty's walk-off single) was close, but I think this one was better. Regardless of how great a game it was, it was a huge win for the Yanks. They beat Beckett, A.J. proved he could beat Boston wearing a Yankee uniform, and the Yanks are now 4.5 games ahead in the AL East.

They will look to take this series with CC Sabathia on the mound tomorrow afternoon in the Bronx. He will be facing laptop thief Clay Buchholz. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m., and the game can be seen on FOX.


AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Jeter, SS 7 1 1 0 0 1 5 .314
Damon, LF 7 0 0 0 0 2 1 .282
Teixeira, 1B 6 0 0 0 1 2 1 .284
Rodriguez, A, 3B 7 1 2 2 0 2 1 .261
Matsui, H, DH 5 0 2 0 1 0 0 .264
Posada, C 5 0 2 0 1 3 3 .281
1-Pena, R, PR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .267
Molina, J, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .246
Cano, 2B 6 0 2 0 0 1 4 .310
Swisher, RF 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 .246
Hairston, J, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .257
a-Hinske, PH-RF 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 .260
Cabrera, Me, CF 5 0 0 0 1 2 7 .282
Totals 51 2 9 2 7 14 26

a-Walked for Hairston, J in the 10th.
1-Ran for Posada in the 14th.

BATTING
2B: Cano (29, Beckett).
HR: Rodriguez, A (20, 15th inning off Tazawa, 1 on, 2 out).
TB: Jeter; Rodriguez, A 5; Matsui, H 2; Posada 2; Cano 3.
RBI: Rodriguez, A 2 (62).
2-out RBI: Rodriguez, A 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jeter 4; Posada 2; Cabrera, Me 2.
GIDP: Cabrera, Me.
Team RISP: 0-for-11.
Team LOB: 12.

BASERUNNING
SB: Rodriguez, A (8, 2nd base off Bard, D/Varitek).
CS: Matsui, H (1, 2nd base by Beckett/Varitek).

FIELDING
E: Posada (6, catcher interference).
DP: 2 (Cano-Jeter-Teixeira 2).


IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Burnett, A 7.2 1 0 0 6 6 0 3.67
Hughes, P 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.58
Rivera, Ma 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1.91
Aceves, A 3.0 1 0 0 1 3 0 3.38
Bruney 2.0 1 0 0 1 2 0 5.56
Coke (W, 3-3) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.70

Pitches-strikes: Burnett, A 118-65, Hughes, P 5-3, Rivera, Ma 16-10, Aceves, A 37-27, Bruney 39-20, Coke 12-8.

RED SOX STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: A.J. Burnett (7.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 6 K)

HONORABLE MENTION: A-Rod and the pen


Tomorrow's Game

Yankees vs. Red Sox
Game Time: 4:05 p.m. | TV/Radio: FOX, WCBS
LHP CC Sabathia (11-7, 3.95) vs. RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1, 6.05)

17 Comments:

Brian said...

Great game!!! Instant Yankee Classic!!! I also have to tip my hat to the Red Sox for their outstanding effort.

BTW: The 2004 classic you’re referring to happened on July 1, 2004, not the 31st.

Anonymous said...

First real classic game at the new stadium. This game will be remembered for a long time.

Outstanding job by the yankee bullpen. Especially by Aceves and Bruney, those two pitched 5 scoreless innings. Bruney in his first inning of work was filthy. He hit 97, if Bruney gets going the yankees have the best bullpen in baseball.

Anonymous said...

“I had goose bumps all the way to the dugout,” AJ Burnett said. “It was awesome. It was an environment that I can’t describe. The whole place was still packed in the 15th. To come off the field and get that kind of an ovation like that is one thing. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. It was amazing.”

TeeJay said...

Another positive was Hughes only threw 5 pitches and Mariano only pitched 1 inning.

They both will be avaliable for Saturday's game.

JC said...

And Coke only threw one inning, too. So we should have Hughes, Coke and Mariano all available.

TeeJay said...

Francona's bullpen management was horrible. Even if the red sox scored on Coke did he expect Tazawa to lock down the save. LOL there was no way the yankees were going to lose that game.

He put a must win game for his club in the hands of a 22 year old kid who has very little experience in the minors. Every reliever was 1 inning and done. He could of used Bard, Ramirez or Delcarmen for an extra inning a piece.

Girardi still had Melancon and Robertson in the pen. Girardi outmanaged Francona.

TeeJay said...

Francona's bullpen management was horrible. Even if the red sox scored on Coke did he expect Tazawa to lock down the save. LOL there was no way the yankees were going to lose that game.

He put a must win game for his club in the hands of a 22 year old kid who has very little experience in the minors. Every reliever was 1 inning and done. He could of used Bard, Ramirez or Delcarmen for an extra inning a piece.

Girardi still had Melancon and Robertson in the pen. Girardi outmanaged Francona.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone explain why Girardi doesn't bunt with 2 on and 0 outs on 2 occasions??

will said...

Because girardi is a total tool who doesntrealize he's going to be lucky to get one run. Was at the game last night and there were several such questionable non-movies by girardi. It is also worth mentioning in this summary that Jeter was maybe the only batter with 3 huge opportunities to push across a run and he failed each time, instead ending the inning.

Never the less it was a great game. I left after 13, it seemed like only a war might end it. I sawthe arod home run at a bar just after getting off the subway. The stadium was about 3/5 full when I left. AJ got a huge ovation, the whole stadium was standing.

Anonymous said...

i wanna see theos twitters now

Anonymous said...

john henrys sorry

rpb said...

I watched from a bar in norhtern VA just outside Washington DC with Yankee and Red Sox fans.

As opposed to the night before, that was a baseball game! A classic pitching duel that hung on every pitch.

Greg Cohen said...

I really have no idea why he didn't have Melky bunt with two on and nobody out. Girardi manages a little screwy in these big games.

Anonymous said...

Greg,
How about that bunt by Damon? I don't understand how a professional cant bunt.

Greg Cohen said...

That was terrible.

crossfire said...

I have been saying all year that the new Stadium had to build it's own history.

Last night's game goes down as the best game at the Stadium so far and the first truly classic game there so far.

I envy all of you who were there. I was on the edge of my seat at home and I can only imaging how great it must have been to be there.

I think this quote from the Boston Globe's website sums it up perfectly...

"The night had deepened and the zeros had mounted and no one could do anything offensively. But with Tazawa on a major league mound for the first time, and Rodriguez at the plate, the void was simply too big. And then it happened, finally. Rodriguez smashed that pitch deep and far, way beyond left fielder Josh Reddick.

Jeter crossed the plate, then Rodriguez, the first time anyone had made it home in a game that ended in the 15th inning, a game ticketed for epic status on the YES Network and bound for the recycling bin at NESN."

classic said...

I'm so mad I missed the game. Such a classic case of bad luck on my part. I wish I could have been there.