Bronx, N.Y., October 2, 2012 – The only Yankee September 2012 call-up to have not yet seen action that month finally got into a game Tuesday night on October’s second day, as Francisco Cervelli crouched behind the plate to take Derek Lowe’s first pitch in the top of the 11th. In for defense once Russell Martin was pinch-run for in the eighth, and Eric Chavez had hit for Chris Stewart in the 10th, Cisco failed to corral a Lowe wild pitch in a tense 11th, but teamed with the veteran righty through two scoreless frames.
And then Cervelli got his first chance to hit in the 12th. A team that had three times failed to score what could have been the difference maker with a man on third and one out, most recently in the dramatic ninth inning, looked to go meekly against Boston southpaw Andrew Miller, with a groundout and a called third strike, and Cisco quickly fell behind, 0-2. But Miller lost the plate, walked the catcher to first and then to second on eight missed pitches. Two pitches later, Cisco was rolling across home plate on Raul Ibanez’s single, and yet another “biggest win of the year” was cashed in.
Yankee fans who had danced in the aisles all night Monday suffered through a depressing slog this night, although it would have been much worse had the Yanks not started the game on time through precipitation that morphed from a light rain to an enveloping mist, and back again, most of the game. Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, regulars who sat Monday, reached David Phelps for early hits in the first, and when they scored the Yanks were in an early 2-0 hole. Phelps improved dramatically from that point, and Boston “ace” Jon Lester was anything but. However, despite the fact that Lester delivered pitches that resulted in 10 hits, an error, and a walk, the Yanks mustered but one unearned run through abbreviated rallies off him through the first six innings.
It was no mystery who was more than often at fault for the failed rallies. Mark Teixeira, playing just his third game in over a month, and just his second since rejoining the team yesterday, repeatedly failed to convert with a runner on third and one out, grounding into two double plays and popping out to short center in the three absolute “lowlights” of his 0-for-6 day. Solid work by Phelps, Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain, aand David Robertson got the home team through eight innings with just four hits and the two runs allowed; the Yanks had accumulated 11 hits, but still just the one run, by that time.
Things looked bleak when James Loney added a singleton home run off Rafael Soriano in the top of the ninth. But Curtis Granderson, resuming a bat suspended when pinch runner Brett Gardner was picked off first on a balk move by Craig Breslow in the eighth, singled to start the ninth, and pinch hitter Raul Ibanez homered to right for the 3-3 tie. Jeter followed with a one-out double, but eventually Tex would pop out with the bases loaded and one down, and the game went to extras.
The Yanks failed to mount much going forward, although following a one-two-three home 10th with Ibanez lining deep to the left field corner, Alex Rodriguez threatened to drive across Swisher, who had singled two outs earlier in the 11th, with a long liner to left center. No such luck; Ellsbury ran it down in the gap. Meanwhile, Boston failed to do anything with a single in the 10th and a single and walk in the 11th, and hoped to score following a Pedroia infield single with one down in the 12th.
Back on August 28, 2007, during a Red Sox/Yankees tilt in the Bronx, an unexpected celebrity appeared midway through the game, as a squirrel began frolicking and climbing up and down the right field foul pole in the old stadium across 161st Street. Rocket J. (Rocky) Squirrel had little to do with that game’s outcome, even though Johnny Damon’s two-run game-winning shot to right for the 5-3 Bombers win barely cleared “Rocky’s” pad high above 161st Street.
On Tuesday, with Pedroia on first and one down in the 12th, it was brought to the umpires’ attention that a small bird, perhaps a petite starling, was hanging near second base. A member of the Stadium grounds crew was coaxed on-field to see if he could remove the bird, a reasonable-seeming suggestion that the tiny flyer rejected. Once the crew member finally succeeded through several frustrated attempts in removing the winged visitor, Nava promptly bounced into a 6-6-3, bringing the Bombers to the plate. Five players later, Ibanez singled Cervelli home, and the game was won.
October 2 will be always known, as long as the game of baseball is played in the Bronx, as the day light-hitting Bucky Dent shocked Boston with a home run in 1978. In addition, this Tuesday marked what would have been the 122nd birthday of Groucho Marx, a celebrity who utilized a bird (a duck) attired like himself to spark the fun on his game show, You Bet Your Life.
Bud Abbott, beloved comic foil of partner Lou Costello, was also born October 2, in his case five years after Groucho, in 1895. When Nava came to bat in the top of the 12th inning, any number of fans in the stands were asking, “What’s on second?” The answer? A bird, and a 6-6-3 twin killing followed by two outs, two walks, and a Raul Ibanez game winner.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!