Bronx, N.Y., June 5, 2015; Yankees 8, Angels 7 — Or was it 27 hours? Fans who chose to stay for Friday night’s top of the ninth inning had no idea what they were signing up for. Using the long ball, the home-standing Yanks had built a comfortable lead, then had a nervous moment midgame, but followed that with some more offense to “seemingly” put this one away.
Nate Eovaldi pitched effectively as his mates pounded out a 5-0 lead through five frames. A beneficiary of two early home runs, with Mark Teixeira pulling within one of the AL lead with his 17th, and padding his first-place standing in rbi’s with 43, the hard-throwing righty allowed just four hits while striking out four in five innings. He walked no one until missing with a 3-2 pitch to all-world Mike Trout in the fifth. Little did we suspect that more misses would follow. Eovaldi would record just two more outs, and leave with one down in the sixth having issued free passes to four of the last six batters he faced.
Chasen Shreve relieved and, despite allowing a walk of his own, restored order, after the Angels narrowed the margin to 5-1. The Yanks immediately responded with two more runs on a Brian McCann double and Stephen Drew’s second homer of the night — yes, that happened; read it over until it sinks in — so although Eovaldi had shown us how quickly a good game could turn bad, Shreve calmed us with a one-two-three seventh.
And the good times continued to roll. Alex Rodriguez, who had slipped past Barry Bonds into second place on the all-time rbi list with No. 1,997 on his run-scoring single in the fifth, doubled and scored an eighth run in the home seventh. The home team basically forced us to relax, loading the bases that frame, then stroking two more hits in the eighth. Young Jacob Lindgren struck out two around a walk in the eighth, and everything was coming up roses. No one was concerned when, at 10:10, long man Esmil Rogers was summoned to pitch the ninth with the good guys up, 8-1.
Teixeira got to take a seat, with Drew shifting to third base, as Chase Headley moved to first, and Jose Pirela manned second. The visitors did much the same, sitting Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. We all knew the ninth would be a formality. The first three Rogers pitches elicited a single and double, and a 1-1 popup to — right at — the first base position somehow fell, with Headley giving way to Pirela at the last possible moment. Incredibly ruled a hit, it was followed by a wild pitch, walk, then a single, and Rogers left with the score 8-3 and the bases loaded.
Dellin Betances came on for what now would be a save situation, but from the outset it was clear he did not have his pinpoint control. David Freese singled for two on a 3-2 pitch, and back-to-back, full-count walks reloaded the bases in a now 8-6 game, still with no one out!
A panicky crowd breathed a sigh of relief on a swinging strike out, then tensed as Didi Gregorius made a sprawling stop for a 6-4 force as the sixth run of the inning crossed. Pirela held the ball rather than try for the double play, and pinch hitter Carlos Perez, hitting .301, strode to the plate. When Betances got him swinging on a 2-2 pitch, Dellin had his second save of the season, and a few thousand people exulted in the near-to-a-miss escape, 8-7 Yankees.
Interestingly, this was not the first “easy win” the Yanks have struggled to nail down on June 5. They had a 7-3 lead on the Chisox on this date in 1977, but a ninth-inning tally allowed them to relax with an 8-6 victory built on six home runs, the last by a guy you don’t hear much about, George Zeber. And special kudos to Stephen Drew, who has rightfully taken a lot of grief over his offense, on this night. His three rbi’s via the two dingers topped his mates, and just he and Brett Gardner scored twice. And to Gregorius, who followed his eighth error of the season in the second with the biggest play of the night during those fateful 27 minutes.
Finally, allow another nod to the Yankee Prodigal, Alex Rodriguez, who had a 4-for-5 night, scored a run, and knocked in another. Eighteen years ago on this day, as a young shortstop in the Pacific Northwest, Alex became the first player in Seattle Mariners history to hit for the cycle in a nine-inning game. (The preceding one took 13 innings; ex-Yank Jay Buhner posted that.)
Ninth inning. What ninth inning? After 27 minutes of hell, these are the numbers I want to remember.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!