Bronx, N.Y., August 3, 2008 — Everything went pretty much as expected through the first half of Sunday’s Angels/Yankees game in the Bronx, which is to say the hometeam was in trouble. Halos starter John Lackey had pitched a one-hit shutout in Boston last time out, and he was blanking the Yanks on three singles through four. On the other hand, struggling number five Yankees starter Darrell Rasner was beset by 10 baserunners and five runs already.
But it was Anything Can Happen Day in the Bronx, and it certainly did. First, Dan Geise came on to throw three scoreless frames, and Lackey wilted in the hot sun, surrendering four quick runs. What’s more, the Angels still clung to a one-run lead because one of the best Yankee baserunners, Bobby Abreu, pulled a rock in the sixth that prevented the fifth run from scoring. He was thrown out at third on a potential sac fly before the tying run scored on the same play.
The Yanks, therefore, found themselves in an all too familiar and uncomfortable position: trailing Anaheim in a tight game in the latter innings with the game turned over to the bullpens. Superior pen work and stellar defense have stymied Yankee efforts repeatedly in the past, and the overwhelming majority in the 54,000-strong crowd not wearing red hats anxiously watched as sizzling rookie righthander Jose Arredondo came on for the seventh. And second baseman Howie Kendrick evoked unpleasant memories when he immediately made a nifty grab on a Johnny Damon base hit bid up the middle and pegged him out.
It was time for another change though, and Gary Matthews, subbing in center for Torii Hunter, coasted to deepest center and settled under a long Derek Jeter drive, only to drop it for a two-base error. Abreu promptly redeemed himself by singling for the tie. Having struck out twice and walk oce thus far, Alex Rodriguez smacked one under Chone Figgins’s glove at third for what could have been another error, but was called a single. Jason Giambi’s hitting woes continued with a popup to left, leaving it up to newly acquired left fielder Xavier Nady, whose two-run double had highlighted the sixth-inning uprising against Lackey. Xavier swung hard and missed at 1-0, the drove a three-run home run deep into the left field boxes for a stunning 8-5 Yankee lead.
Wait. There’s more. A change in the Anaheim/New York dynamic 2008 Yankee fans might want to promote is that there’s a pretty good bullpen in the Bronx as well, and righthander Edwar Ramirez has been one of its stars. He came on to pitch the eighth in relief of the superb Geise and promptly struck out the first two comers. But among the many incongruities in this oddest of games were the at bats of Angels rightfielder Reggie Willits, a .185, ninth-place hitter. He had already walked three times, the first two starting rallies that drove Rasner from the game.
Geise had walked him too, but pitched out of it, and now Ramirez did the same, in a seven-pitch battle. Figgins followed with a hard single off A-Rod’s glove, and Erick Aybar worked yet another seven-pitch walk to load the bases. With Mariano Rivera unavailable due to back spasms, Joe Girardi stuck with Ramirez, holding lefty Damaso Marte back for the ninth, but Mark Teixeira quieted a noisy ballpark with a grand-slam home run to right, giving the A’s a 9-8 lead.
It was at this point that anything-can-happen kicked into hyper mode, and Ivan Rodriguez, who had homered for the first Yankee run, led off the bottom half against Angels setup man Scot Shields with a single. Shields fell behind Melky Cabrera, who was trying to bunt, 3-0, then got two called strikes. Just then Girardi replaced Rodriguez with speedy Justin Christian, and he ran to second as Melky drilled a hard hopper up the middle. In his haste to make the dp, Aybar bobbled the grounder, for the second Halos error of the game. With Figgins in defending a bunt, Christian broke for third. Chone dove back to the bag, and catcher Jeff Mathis made the peg, but it rolled into left field as Christian scored and Cabrera moved up two bases as well. We had a 9-9 tie.
With the infield in, Damon walked, then he took second as Jeter bounced out. Abreu walked, and Figgins made the third error of the inning, and fourth of the game, by muffing a Rodriguez grounder. Robbie Cano singled for two, Nady for one, and Christian for one and the Yanks had a 14-9 lead.
Fourteen runs is not as rare as you might think, particularly on Anything Can Happen Day. Ten years ago this day, the Yanks scored big in destroying Oakland 14-1, while an August 3, 1982, 14-2 Yankee loss in a doubleheader sweep by the White Sox got Gene Stick Michael fired, replaced as Yankee Manager by Clyde King by order of a perturbed George Steinbrenner. There would be no postseason play for that team or the 12 that followed it, a fate today’s double come-from-behind win should help prevent in 2008. A lively offense, a lights-out pen, and decent starting pitching are what’s needed on the coming 10-game road trip. It starts Monday in Texas and moves to Anaheim against the Angels on Friday.
The pitching hero of this day was long-man Dan Geise. The hitting stars were the 3-for-4 Abreu (despite his base-running gaffe), Ivan Rodriguez with two hits, and most of all Xavier Nady, who homered, doubled, had four hits, and drove in six (which would have been seven without the Abreu goof). The vibrant offense of the last two days has been a sight for sore eyes, but the team will need similar work on the mound too. That becomes difficult with Darrell Rasner getting the ball every fifth day. When asked about Rasner’s performance, Girardi often replies that he is just “missing his spots.” By now most Yankee fans hope he finds them in AAA Scranton. Will he be replaced before Friday’s start?
Hey. Anything Can Happen.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!