Bronx, N.Y., July 20, 2009 — The Yankees kept their roll going Monday night with yet another victory in the Stadium, this one over the Orioles after having swept the Tigers over the weekend. It was the third straight (and perhaps last, for a while) beautiful day in the Bronx, and although they’ve had quality starts in all four games (and wins) since the All Star break, this made three playoff-quality outings by a starting pitcher in a row. CC Sabathia, Joba Chamberlain, and Andy Pettitte went exactly 21 innings among them, and in those frames they surrendered all of two runs.
Pettitte’s sixth pitch (all strikes) Monday night was hit for a home run by Baltimore right fielder Nick Markakis. By the time Andy left the game 103 pitches later, the Orioles hadn’t dented the scoreboard again. But that long ball put him immediately behind young O’s righty David Hernandez, a gifted hard thrower who showed poise beyond the 48 pitches it took him to get his first six outs. During those first two frames, Hernandez allowed three hits and walked two, and looked to be destined to be watching this one from the bench, or the showers, in just a few innings.
To be fair, it was then, after Eric Hinske had tied matters with a home run of his own in the second, that the hard thrower took control of the game. Via his two-out walk in the fifth, Johnny Damon was not just the only Yankee baserunner after the second until Hernandez left after six; right then he was the lone Yankee to reach first base until the ninth inning. A Yankee-fan-centric way to look at it might theorize that the team’s hitters suddenly realized they were facing yet another picher they had never seen before, and they went into instant prevent-offense mode. It’s a pattern we’ve witnessed all year.
But that view steals credit from Hernandez that he earned in this game. Showing an effective change to mix with 96-mph heat, the righthander retired 12 of 13 in innings three through six on just 45 pitches, just over three tosses per at bat. He did so with a couple of strike outs, four fly balls and a bunch of meek putouts by first baseman Aubrey Huff against the vaunted Yankee lefty bats. Surely had not Hernandez had his pitch count rise so quickly early in the game, the seven-pitch sixth he threw would have earned him another inning. But at 103 pitches, Baltimore went to southpaw Mark Hendrickson and righthander Jim Johnson in the seventh and the eighth, and they set down the next seven batters on 21 pitches, again just three per at bat.
All of which made it imperative that Pettitte throw a beaut, certainly a better game than his last few, and the veteran did exactly that. Andy didn’t allow a second hit until the fifth, and sunk pills to batters in the sixth and the seventh to remove Baltimore hits three and four from the basepaths on double play grounders. And in case you’re thinking it was just a case of the wise older chucker fooling young studs into hitting his pitches, think again. Andy had no strike outs after two innings, but when he got young catcher Matt Weiters swinging leading off the eighth frame, it was his eight punch-out, six of them swinging. Certainly there was something of the wise vet at work going on though. He got those six swinging whiffs while making O’s hitters swing and miss just eight times on the night. Pettitte threw 20 first-pitch strikes to 28 hitters, he walked just two, and his 76/33 strikes/balls ratio was more than textbook-perfect.
Still, with the darts the Orioles pitching staff were throwing, would it be enough? Perfect as he was, Pettitte left the game under fire, as a Cesar Izturis single and Brian Roberts’s 0-2 double off the base of the foul pole in right had visiting runners on second and third with one down in that eighth inning, in a 1-1 game. With a seemingly dormant Yankee offense, the game was surely on the line.
The formula calls for me now to extol the wonders of the lefty Phil Coke’s performance coming out of the pen, but throw the script out on this one. Coke arrived with no feel whatsover for the zone. Markakis struck his first pitch hard on one hop to Mark Teixeira at first; I have to believe that no other first baseman in the American League (sorry, Kevin) both snags the hop and makes the perfect peg home. Molina’s resting glove allowed the sliding Izturis to retire himself for the second out. Then it gets bizarre, as Coke threw a ball into the dirt that caromed off Molina and rolled 10-15 feet behind the plate. Jose retreated, snagged the slow roller, and threw to the charging Coke whose swipe tag nabbed the sliding Roberts despite a cunning around-the-plate sliding attempt.
Once Johnson retired the Yanks in order, something the fans had become used to, in the eighth, Coke came out and pitched even worse. His first pitch in the ninth dove at Adam Jones’s feet. Jones took first, although Joe Girardi made the umps confer on the call; did it hit him? Who knows? Nobody overruled Adrian Joihnson’s call, and Jones was at first with no outs. With Jones breaking for second, Huff stroked a sinking liner to center on a 1-1 pitch. Melky Cabrera got a good read and broke toward the infield well, finally snagging it just inches above the grass. Alfredo Aceves relieved, retired Melvin Mora on a fly to center after Jones stole second, then set down Nolan Reimold on a fly to left following an intentional walk.
Johnson continued O’s pitching dominance retiring A-Rod on a grounder to second to start the home ninth. He missed with a pitch to Hideki Matsui, then broke the DH’s bat on the second of three straight foul balls on sinking fastballs. The fifth pitch was just a bit more up in the zone, and the veteran lefty slugger slashed it deep into the bleachers in right field for yet another Yankee walk-off, comeback win.
The whole planet was abuzz all day Monday with the 40th anniversary of man stepping on the moon. And Yankee Stadium was no exception on a gorgeous night. With three astronauts hovering over the lunar landscape on that day, two made it to the surface, proclaiming a “giant” step for mankind. With their fourth straight victory the Yanks reclaimed a share of first place in the best division in baseball. In 1969, the score was, Astronauts 2, Moon 1.
Not only did the Yanks cash in yet another great start Monday night, they did it by winning 2-1, also, for the third straight game. Has a nice “ring,” don’t ya think?
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!