Bronx, N.Y., July 24, 2011 – The Yanks took the rubber game of their three-gamer with the A’s Sunday afternoon, prevailing in a way they could not the day before: They took a solid start from a vet and made it stand up. The Bombers couldn’t overcome the two-run third-inning homer off A.J. Burnett by Josh Willingham, coupled with the relentless bat of Hideki Matsui, on Saturday. But they achieved a 7-5 win this day despite an early two-run rally against Bartolo Colon, and the 5-for-5 day the 2009 World Series MVP threw at them.

Following a crisp, two-strike-out first inning around Matsui’s single, pounding 92- to 95-mph heat, Colon had the crowd a little worried Sunday. Suddenly the strike outs disappeared, even the called third strike that has become something of a trademark for him, and Colon became startling hittable for a short period of time in the second. After two quick outs, he suddenly surrendered two runs on Kirk Suzuki and Craig Pennington base hits and a two-run double from third baseman Eric Sogard, the second base hit of the youngster’s 2011 campaign.

Colon pitched around Matsui’s second hit in the third and a Conor Jackson single in the fourth, but the light-hitting A’s seemed to have him measured in the fifth once he walked Sogard leading off, his only free pass of the day. Jemile Weeks and Coco Crisp followed with long drives to center and left field, respectively, with Curtis Granderson making a fine running catch on the former just short of the left center field wall. But there was no rest for the weary as Matsui then drove a first-pitch fast ball to the gap in right center, and only an improbable leaping catch and tag at home by Russell Martin to complete a stellar 8-4-2 retained a lead the Yanks had just taken.

And Martin was in the middle of that offense too, along with spot starter Andruw Jones in left field. Entering the game with the fourth-lowest era in the American League, Oakland southpaw Gio Gonzalez struck out three in retiring the first five Yankees up in the game. But the Yankee catcher put the domination on hold with a two-out single, then stole second base with Jones at bat. And putting up the first of four good at bats on the day, Andruw cut the A’s 2-0 lead in half with a single to left field. The Yanks could do nothing with an error and walk in the third, but when Martin was hit with a pitch in the fourth, again with two down, Gonzalez was in trouble. Jones walked and Eduardo Nunez, in at shortstop for the DH’ing Derek Jeter, doubled past Willigham in left to give the Yanks a 3-2 lead.

The Yanks drove Gonzalez from the mound and seemingly took control of the game in the home fifth. Jeter worked a full count walk, and Granderson did more with his 3-2 opportunity, homering to right for a 5-2 lead. Mark Teixeira singled, moved to second on a fielder’s choice, then third on another Martin single. Jones’s rbi single got the score to 6-3 and Gonzalez, already at 111 pitches two outs into the fifth, out of the game.

Once Colon had survived the fifth on Martin’s great tag, he settled in, posting two called third strikes around an error and a liner to center in the sixth, and coasting through the seventh despite a one-out Cliff Pennington single, who inexplicably was thrown out stealing with his team down by three runs. And when I tell you that, now on the cusp of the eighth inning, David Roberston and Mariano Rivera came on you’d think the game was over. It was, but not nearly as easily as the few in the crowd who departed the heat and headed home at this point thought, I’m sure.

A Coco Crisp bloop to right off Robertson leading off the eighth became a double when Nick Swisher’s diving attempt at a catch failed, and Matsui (of course) immediately delivered him with a double of his own to left. David walked Willingham on a 3-2 pitch, then coaxed two outs on a strike out and pop-up. But Suzuki doubled to right center and the score became 6-4. It was Mo to the rescue though, a 2011 rarety with Girardi going to his closer in the eighth, but two pitches got a weak ground ball and all breathed a sigh of relief. The relief grew when Nunez used his speed to garner a seventh – insurance – run in the bottom of the eighth. Following his leadoff single, Brandon Laird bunted him to second and Nunez stole third with Jeter up. And he scored from there without a throw even though Derek bounced to short in a drawn-in infield.

Then came the nervous time, as Rivera, following a quick ground out, fell victim to four straight singles, none of them hit hard. Weeks’s barely got past Cano up the middle, and Crisp’s caromed off the Yankee second sacker’s outstretched glove. Mo broke Matsui’s bat on his fifth safety, and Willingham singled sharply enough to left to score just one. But then David DeJesus lined sharply down the right field line, where Teixeira made the grab and doubled the pinch running Ryan Sweeney off first to close the game, just like that. Phew!

The Yanks, the winners, had plenty of big contributions, ending with the big play by Tex, who also had a hit and scored a run. Granderson had the two-run jack, two nice running catches, and he started the big 8-4-2 to close the fifth, a relay which would have been futile had not Martin made a sparkling play on the other end. Martin, of course, scored two runs with two hits; Jones had two hits, a walk, a run, and two rbi’s; the same line young Nunez compiled, minus the walk.

But first star goes to Colon, who would have two impressive victories in a row now if not for the conceal-a-ball twist they’ve added to baseball in the Trop in St. Pete. Bartolo did not give us the outing we’ve come to expect, with just four strike outs and eight hits allowed over seven frames. After dominating with his cutting fast ball in the first, he mixed in a lot more mid-eighties sliders and changes than usual in the middle innings, perhaps adjusting his game to the almost-as-hot Stadium to give the home team seven innings. His 71/28 strikes/balls ratio bespoke a vet who knew it was not the day to waste pitches, the same lesson the 19 of 27 first-pitch strikes sends.

It was this day in 1965 that a musician and writer who is the poet of more than one generation, Bob Dylan, released one of his most memorable tunes, Like a Rolling Stone. The chorus could be speaking of a guy like Colon, a one-time Cy Young winner out of the game just a few short seasons later.

How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown?

Today Bartolo answered that question, the way he has been all season:

When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!