*******2009 AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!*******
(REUTERS/Bill Kostroun) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| LAA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2 | |
| NYY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X | 5 | 9 | 0 |
WP - Andy Pettitte (1-0)
LP - Joe Saunders (0-1)
SV - Mariano Rivera (2)
He certainly lived up to the "Big Game Andy" nickname tonight. With the Yankees coming off a tough game five loss on Thursday, Andy Pettitte came up big with 6.1 solid innings to lead the Yankees to their 40th World Series. The last thing the Yankees wanted was to head to a game seven tomorrow and have to use CC. Even if they had won the game they'd have completely screwed up their starting rotation for the World Series, and against a team like the Phillies that could be fatal. This was as close to a must-win as it could be, and Pettitte really stepped up. The southpaw allowed just one run on six hits, walked one, and struck out six on his way to his 16th postseason win, moving into first place on the all-time postseason wins list.
Of his 99 pitches, 64 were strikes, and he did a great job of controlling both sides of the plate. He didn't get into too much trouble, only getting into two major jams on the night, the first leading to the Angels only run. Jeff Mathis led off the third with a double, then after retiring Aybar and Figgins, Bobby Abreu gave the Angels a 1-0 lead with an RBI single. ... OK, I know that isn't really a jam, but it did lead to a run. ... In the bottom of the sixth the Angels had runners on 2nd and 3rd with two out, but Andy was able to get the dangerous Kendry Morales to ground out to end that threat.
He was also helped by a mental mistake that helped him avoid trouble in the second. Vladimir Guerrero led off the inning with a single. But when Morales flew out to shallow right, Vlad strayed too far off first and Nick Swisher came up firing to double him off. There was no reason why he should have been that far away from the base, but they spent the whole series making mistakes, so why would that change tonight?
The Angels 1-0 lead only lasted one inning, and it would be their last lead of the 2009 season. Robinson Cano led off the bottom of a three-run fourth with an uncharacteristic walk. That was followed with a single off the bat of Nick Swisher, his first hit in what seems like forever. Melky Cabrera then moved the runners over with a sac bunt and Derek Jeter walked to load the bases with one out. Johnny Damon stepped up and gave the Yankees the lead for good with a two-run single to left-center. This came just two innings after failing to come through with the bases loaded and two out. Mark Teixeira then reloaded the bases with a single and Alex Rodriguez walked to drive in the Yankees third run. The fourth ball was probably a strike, but who cares. The walk would knock Angels' starter Joe Saunders out of the game after just 3.1 innings, but Darren Oliver came in and stopped the bleeding in 2.2 great innings in relief.
With the Yankees still leading 3-1 Pettitte was taken out of the game in the 7th after a one-out single. Joba Chamberlain relieved him and looked pretty sharp. The first batter he faced was Maicer Izturis. He hit a tailor made double play ball, which was booted by Jeter, but thanks to a lucky bounce and a heads up play by Cano the Yanks were still able to retire the lead runner. Joba then retired Erick Aybar on a grounder to end the inning.
In the eighth Mariano Rivera came in for a six-out save. The greatest ever did run into some trouble in the inning and actually gave up a run -- his first postseason run allowed in the Bronx since 2003. Chone Figgins led off with a bloop single to shallow left. Abreu then line a sharp grounder that looked ticketed for right field and runners on the corners with nobody out, but Teixeira saved Rivera with a very nice diving play. Just another big inning avoided thanks to a great play by Tex. What else is new? Torii Hunter then grounded out for the second out, but Guerrero hit a two-out RBI single to cut the Yankees lead to one.
Rivera would retire the next batter to end the inning, then, thanks to a few more mental mistakes by the Angels, the Yankees would give Mo all the insurance he'd need. Scott Kazmir came in for an inning of relief work and like game four he didn't have his best stuff. He started things off with a walk to Cano... Two walks in one game? WOW!... Swisher then laid down a nice sac-bunt, but Morales couldn't handle the throw from at first and Swisher reached on an error. Cabrera then laid down another sac-bunt, this time Kazmir threw it over Morales' head allowing a run to score. Later in the inning Teixeira drove in the Yankees fifth run with a sac-fly to the warning track in right-center.
The long rest on the bench seemed to be just what Mo needed (I'm sure the two runs helped too.) because he was very sharp in the ninth. After needing 21 pitches to get through the eighth Mo needed just 13 to retire the Angels 1-2-3 in the ninth -- the final out on a strikeout of Gary Matthews Jr. -- to wrap up the Yankees 40th American League title. It's been another fantastic October for Mo. Thanks to today's run his ERA has ballooned to 0.84 in 10.2 postseason innings. With tonight's save he now has 37 career postseason saves.
A-Rod had another strong game, reaching base five times and driving in his sixth run of the series. He finished the series hitting .429/.567/.952 and would have taken home the ALCS MVP if it wasn't for the dominance of CC Sabathia. In two games CC went 2-0, with a 1.13 ERA to take home the award. In 16 innings he allowed 2 earned runs on 9 hits, walked 3, and struck out 12.
Even on TV you could tell how electric the crowd was, not only when they clinched, but from the very first pitch. It sounded like the old place, and now the new place has its first pennant. They now have a date with the Phillies in the 2009 World Series, which begins on Wednesday in the Bronx. It will be a battle of lefties and former Indians as CC Sabathia takes on Cliff Lee. There will be a lot more on the series in the next two days. For now, check out the celebration photo gallery at the bottom of this post.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Jeter, SS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .259 |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .300 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .222 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .429 |
| Posada, C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | .200 |
| Matsui, H, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .238 |
| Cano, 2B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .261 |
| Swisher, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .150 |
| 1-Gardner, PR-CF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF-RF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .391 |
| Totals | 28 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 19 | |
1-Ran for Swisher in the 8th. | ||||||||
BATTING TB: Damon 2; Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A 2; Cano; Swisher; Cabrera, Me. RBI: Damon 2 (5), Rodriguez, A (6), Teixeira (4). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada 3; Damon 2. S: Cabrera, Me 2; Swisher. SF: Teixeira. GIDP: Posada 2; Teixeira. Team RISP: 2-for-8. Team LOB: 12. FIELDING Outfield assists: Swisher (Guerrero at 1st base). DP: 2 (Cano-Teixeira, Swisher-Teixeira). | ||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Pettitte (W, 1-0) | 6.1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2.84 |
| Chamberlain (H, 1) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 |
| Rivera, Ma (S, 2) | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.29 |
Pitches-strikes: Pettitte 99-64, Chamberlain 7-4, Rivera, Ma 34-23.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Andy Pettitte (W, 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)
HONORABLE MENTION: Alex Rodriguez (2-for-2, 3 BB, RBI)
CELEBRATION GALLERY
ON THE FIELD
PLAYERS SPRAYING FANS WITH CHAMPAGNE
IN THE CLUBHOUSE
(Pictures come from the AP, REUTERS, and some
I found on the YES Network message board)
PLAYERS SPRAYING FANS WITH CHAMPAGNE
IN THE CLUBHOUSE
(Pictures come from the AP, REUTERS, and some
I found on the YES Network message board)
Here's a video from the AP of some raw video from the clubhouse celebration:
