Bronx, N.Y., May 11, 2005 — On April 29, the Yanks lost a game to the Blue Jays in Yankee Stadium in two hours and eight minutes. Two hours into today’s getaway afternoon tilt with the Mariners, the teams were tied at 9 runs apiece through just four innings. The Yankees leave town after the 13-9 win in a much-needed and impressive five-game winning streak, but Joe Torre won’t be using this one next time he wants to illustrate the way the game is supposed to be played.
Carl Pavano started well enough, falling victim to a soft infield bouncer toward first that the speedy Ichiro Suzuki legged out for a base hit, and getting Randy Winn to strike an 0-1 one-hopper to A-Rod at third that had 5-4-3 written all over it. But Rodriguez fired his throw behind Rey Sanchez, who got the start at second over Robinson Cano this day. With the ball bounding into short right, it was first and third with no one out. No problem. Carl got Adrian Beltre swinging and then a weak foul on his first pitch to Richie Sexson. But Sexson homered to right for a 3-0 lead, and it didn’t stop there. A 3-2 single up the middle by Raul Ibanez set up Brett Boone’s two-run bomb to left, and Jeremy Reed singled before Carl stifled the uprising.
The funny thing is that once he got both Miguel Olivo and Wilson Valdez swinging, he had struck out the side. Five runs, five hits, one big error, nine batters, 34 pitches, and the Yanks were in a quick 5-0 hole. But this was a crazy game, and veteran Seattle southpaw Jamie Moyer was also extended to 34 tosses, faced nine Yankees, allowed five hits, was victimized by an infield error with one on and no out, and when the frame came to an end we were in a 5-5 tie. Derek Jeter had singled to right to start it, and shortstop Valdez got no one when Boone flipped him Tony Womack’s (should have been a) double play grounder because he dropped the ball. A walk to Sheffield loaded the bases, and Hideki Matsui cleared them on a 2-1 double to the wall in left center. A-Rod, Jorge Posada, and Bernie Williams singles around a Tino Martinez strike out plated the other two.
That a half inning as ugly as the one Pavano had endured could be so nearly duplicated boggles the mind, and the boggling (and bumbling) didn’t stop there. Both teams would make another error, with A-rod’s fourth-inning miscue precipitating another uprising, but Sexson’s bobble of Bernie’s sixth-inning roller led to no scores. Womack and Sheffield back-to-back bouncers with one down in the second couldn’t be handled, and Gary’s plated Tony, who had just swiped two of his four stolen bases on the day, for a 6-5 Yankee lead.
The Yanks had it going with a Posada, Williams single, double starting the third, but the team failed to score. And Seattle missed a second and third, one out opportunity after Beltre’s double in the second. Derek Jeter was awarded a three-run sixth-inning home run by first base ump Tim Welke, even though his ball was clearly foul (though accuracy in reporting forces me to add that the umps got it right after the Yanks had posted the runs and celebrated the score).
But perhaps the dysfunctionality of this game was typified in a bizarre set of circumstances that occurred during Derek’s at bat. Sexson had flubbed Bernie’s one-out bouncer for an error, and Bernie raced to third on Sanchez’s single over second. After Jeet’s homer was overruled, he took a pitch for a full count, and Sanchez broke for second as home plate ump Bill Welke punched Derek out on a called strike. Olivo fired to second, but reliever Shigetosi Hasegawa cut the throw, perhaps a set play to catch Bernie in a double steal? No dice, Williams barely moved. But Sanchez had stopped halfway to second, realizing he would have been out if the throw went through. And Williams didn’t really threaten much even then, with Sanchez caught in a rundown. No matter. The Mariners threw home and then to first anyway, and by the time the tag at first on a sliding Sanchez was missed, we were back with all the players where they had begun, except for a dejected Jeter, who not only had lost a home run and three rbi’s, but also clearly felt he was called out on Ball Four.
But ugly game or not, this was one the Yanks needed to win, and their failure to score in the home third haunted the crowd in another bad Pavano inning in the fourth. He fell behind Ichiro 3-0 with one down, and the crafty right fielder drilled the subsequent 3-1 pitch into the bleachers in right for a 6-6 tie. Winn flied to Matsui, but Rodriguez made his second error on Beltre’s bouncer down third. Carl walked Sexson on a full count, went ahead on Ibanez, but failed to get the call on 1-2. The 2-2 pitch landed in the right field Tier boxes and Seattle was up 9-6. Boone bounced the next pitch on the left center field warning track for a triple when an unsure Womack couldn’t get under it, but Pavano retired Reed to end the inning (and his day’s work).
Moyer had failed to finish the second, and lefty Matt Thornton escaped that frame and the two hits in the third. But he didn’t escape the daily dose of Tino Martinez heroics in the fourth. Leading off, Sheffield worked a 10-pitch walk, but on the seventh pitch he pulled one higher and fouler even than the usual, and only a light stanchion over the upper deck seats in section 22 prevented the ball from clearing the Stadium. A-Rod walked after a Matsui fielder’s choice, and Tino hit a moon shot just fair right down the right field line for a three-run jack and a 9-9 tie. Martinez has now homered in five straight games.
Jeter did homer to right on the first pitch of the home fifth for a 10-9 lead on a ball that never went anywhere near the foul pole. After Womack followed with a single up the middle and his fourth stolen base, Sheffield blasted a 1-1 pitch to left center that hit the pathway the Yankee relievers take when they are coming into a game, and the Yankees led 12-9, though they trailed in home runs, four to three.
Pavano did not come out for the fifth. Despite the fact that eight of the nine runs Carl allowed scored on rallies that got into gear on Rodriguez errors, he wasn’t good, and home runs was the problem. His 59/29 strikes/balls ratio was good, and he did make the Mariners swing and miss 15 times, for six strikes outs, all of them swinging. But of the 19 batters he faced who did not strike out, 13 reached, on 10 hits, two errors, and a walk.
As for Rodriguez, he singled, was hit by a pitch, walked, was struck out twice, and scored twice. And with the two bad errors, he made three nice plays, nailing Boone at first on a hot shot down the line in the sixth, snagging an Ichiro liner in the seventh, and on an Ichiro fifth-inning bouncer he had to go into foul territory to corral. The Seattle right fielder was called safe on a close play, but that Alex made it close was impressive. Also flashing leather was Sheffield, who made a fine running grab on an Olivo drive in the third. But Womack, who was a big contributor with two singles, four stolen bases, and three runs scored, ran poor routes in failing to catch Beltre’s second-inning double, and Boone’s fourth-inning triple.
It became another game when Paul Quantrill and Tanyon Sturtze came on for two innings apiece, the former to start the fifth. Both notched a strike out, and they allowed three singles between them. Mariano Rivera warmed briefly but he sat down when Posada equaled the home run count and forged the final 13-9 score with a shot to right off reliever Putz in the eighth. Tom Gordon finished, striking out two to give the Yanks 10 on the day.
What never changed was the day. A 69-degree temp with 53 percent humidity warmed perhaps, but not a great deal. The sun was relentless, but pleasant. Thursday is an off day, so Yogi Berra’s 80th birthday (which is Thursday) was feted before the game, with him providing a special first pitch. Radio announcer Suzyn Waldman led the Stadium in singing Happy Birthday! following the top of the sixth.
The team goes west with a little a life following on the five-game winning streak that was extended this day. The Yankees are back, and the League knows it, despite ongoing player issues. But this was a kookie game. Almost 48,000 enjoyed the win, as did I. But I enjoyed Monty Python too, a comedy phenomenon that formed this day in 1969.
If I want a baseball comedy, I’ll pop in Bull Durham.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!