| Final 10th | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N.Y. Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Texas « | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
Well, you don't see that everyday, but even the great Mariano Rivera is human. Mo allowed three singles in a third of an inning, capped off by David Murphy's walk-off single that beat the Yankees 4-3 last night in Texas.
I'm sure most fans were pleased when Mo walked onto the mound in that tenth inning, I know I was. But it just wasn't his night. Michael Young started off the Texas tenth with an infield single. Josh Hamilton followed with a single to right that moved Young into scoring position. Then, after Vlad Guerrero moved Young to third with a ground out, Mo walked Nelson Cruz intentionally to load the bases and set up a force at every base. After falling behind 3-0 on Murphy, Mo battled back fill the count at 3-2. But on the sixth pitch of the at-bat Murphy hit a line drive to right to drive in Young with the winning run.
It wouldn't have come down to this if the Yankees hadn't spent another game wasting opportunities to score. As a team they went 3-for-11 with RISP and left 9 men on base.
In the fourth, the Yanks had runners on second and third with one out, but C.J. Wilson struck out Lance Berkman and then got Francisco Cervelli to fly out to end the threat.
An inning later the Yankees would break through for a run when Nick Swisher doubled home Derek Jeter to tie the game at one. The inning could have been bigger, but Swisher was then thrown out at the plate on Marcus Thames single.
The Yanks then took a 2-1 lead when Cervelli drove in Austin Kearns with an RBI single in the sixth. That inning, like the two previous, would also end with a couple Yankees stranded on base.
Texas would regain the lead on another big hit by David Murphy, a two-run homer in the sixth, but Alex Rodriguez would tie the game two innings later with a solo homer. They'd have a couple more chances the rest of the way, but each chance fell short.Besides Mo's meltdown, Yankees pitching wasn't the problem tonight. A.J. Burnett pitched pretty well in his first start since his back starting acting up. In 7 innings he allowed three runs on six hits, walked two, and struck out four. The only real mistake of the night for Burnett was Murphy's blast, but that at-bat might not have taken place had Derek Jeter made a better throw and completed a 4-6-3 double play a few batters earlier. In Jeter's defense, Josh Hamilton was all over him and made the throw very difficult.
Boone Logan and David Robertson followed Burnett with two innings of scoreless ball.
Tampa won, so the lead in the East is down to just a half game.
In what looks like a terrible matchup for the Yanks on paper, Javy Vazquez goes up against Cliff Lee in game two tomorrow night. First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. and the game will be on YES and ESPN.
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Derek Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .276 |
| Nick Swisher, RF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .296 |
| Marcus Thames, DH | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .308 |
| Alex Rodriguez, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .264 |
| Austin Kearns, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .272 |
| Curtis Granderson, PR-CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .239 |
| Lance Berkman, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .237 |
| Francisco Cervelli, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .255 |
| Brett Gardner, CF-LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .279 |
| Ramiro Pena, 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .204 |
| a- Robinson Cano, PH-2B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .330 |
| Totals | 38 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 9 | | |
| a-grounded out for Pena in the 6th | ||||||||
| Batting | ||||||||
| 2B - Nick Swisher (26, Wilson), Austin Kearns (19, Wilson) | ||||||||
| HR - Alex Rodriguez (18, Francisco) | ||||||||
| RBI - Nick Swisher (67), Alex Rodriguez (89), Francisco Cervelli (32) | ||||||||
| 2-OUT RBI - Nick Swisher (29) | ||||||||
| CS - Alex Rodriguez (3, 3rd base by Wilson/Molina) | ||||||||
| RISP - 3-11 (F Cervelli 1-3, M Thames 1-1, B Gardner 0-2, L Berkman 0-2, A Kearns 0-1, N Swisher 1-1, R Cano 0-1) Team LOB - 9 | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| A.J. Burnett | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4.87 |
| Boone Logan | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.96 |
| David Robertson | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.95 |
| Mariano Rivera (L,3-2) | 0.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.09 |
| IBB - Moreland by David Robertson, Cruz by Mariano Rivera | ||||||||
| Pitches-Strikes - A.J. Burnett 112-68, Boone Logan 4-3, David Robertson 29-15, Mariano Rivera 16-8 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - A.J. Burnett 7-10, David Robertson 2-2, Mariano Rivera 1-0 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - A.J. Burnett 29, Boone Logan 1, David Robertson 7, Mariano Rivera 5 | ||||||||
| PLAYER OF THE GAME: David Murphy (2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, 2 BB) HONORABLE MENTION: Austin Kearns GOAT OF THE GAME: Mariano Rivera |
