Bronx, N.Y., September 17, 2007 — There was a seasonal chill in the air Monday night as the Yankees hosted the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx to start the last regular-season homestand of the year. The good news coming in was that the Baltimore team is struggling badly. But the Birds have dominated the Bombers this year, winning eight of 12 with six games to go.
It looked to be more of the same early, as Yankee rookie Phil Hughes struggled coming out of the box. The pesky Brian Roberts doubled down the right field line beyond the reach of first base defensive wiz Doug Mientkiewicz on a ball that Eric Cooper ruled fair but looked clearly foul from the stands. Tike Redman singled Roberts to third after fouling off a couple of two-strike fastballs, then kept up the pressure by stealing second. Nick Markakis fouled off a two-strike fastball as well, then punished a hanging curve into the left center gap, and three batters in, the Orioles were up 2-0. But following his recent pattern, Hughes righted himself, and escaped the sudden onslaught on a popup, a slow roller in front of the plate, and a ground ball to short.
Hard-throwing Daniel Cabrera, the Baltimore starter, can dominate when he harnesses his control, but he rarely does. He no-hit the Yanks for 8.3 frames last September, and dominated them in one of two 2007 starts as well. He pitched around Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez singles in the first, but he gave back the lead the next inning. Boston Braves reliever Ray Boggs plunked three Cubs batters in one inning on this day in 1928; following a leadoff Jorge Posada one-base hit, Cabrera tried to match that, loading the bases by hitting both Jason Giambi and Robison Cano in succession. Mientkiewicz’s liner into the right field corner scored two, though Markakis got his first of two asssists by pegging Doug out at second.
The Baltimore righty stopped the bleeding with two strike outs, but the Yanks followed Cabrera’s lead all night. The next time his control wavered, he fell behind Hideki Matsui 3-0 with two down in the third. The Yankee left fielder, the AL Player of the Month in July who struggled during late August, tomahawked the next pitch into the right field bleachers for a 3-2 lead. Leading off the fourth, there was Cabrera again, issuing a free pass to Giambi. Robbie Cano ripped an rbi double to left center, with Jason motoring around and barely beating the relay at the plate. Moved to third on a Mientkiewicz sac bunt, Cano scored when Johnny Damon snuck a slow hopper into center field against a drawn-in infield, and the Yanks had a 5-2 lead.
Hughes, meanwhile, became suddenly dominant in his own right, retiring 14 of the next 16 after the shaky first. One of two singles was removed on a double play, and he was in control until suddenly losing it with two down in the sixth. The low-nineties fastball that the Birds had pounded in the first became elusive when paired with an effective and biting curve ball a full 20 mph slower. Philip even mixed in the occasional low-eighties change of pace, a work in progress he will need against the more powerful lineups. It took 33 labored throws to garner three outs in the first; the next twelve took but 46 pitches.
But then as quickly as Hughes had become dominant, he suddenly regressed to tentative. Coaxing a fly to left and a soft liner to get two outs in the sixth, he missed with eight of the next nine tosses, surrendering his only two walks to Miguel Tejada and Aubrey Huff around a first-pitch double off the bat of Kevin Millar. When his next pitch missed to Melvin Mora, Joe Torre replaced him with Edwar Ramirez, who threw ball two, but then struck out Mora swinging on the next three pitches to close the frame.
Understandably, the Hughes news in mixed. He threw just 10 of 25 first-pitch strikes, and the 57 strikes among 97 pitches was not a ratio you’d really want. But, following three hits and two runs in the first, the Orioles stroked just three hits against him afterward. Also encouraging was that he kept his pitch count manageable after the 33-throw first. He hit bats for six grounders, four medium flies, two harmless popups and two not very well struck liners. He wasted no time, coaxing just four swings and misses to post his three strike outs, all swinging.
But if the Yanks are going to give a national TV audience marathon games approaching five hours in length when they’re on the road, let it be said they’re not shortchanging the paying customers at home in that respect either. Their 2007 contests routinely approach or cross the 3.5-hour threshold, and this one came in at six minutes short of four hours. Although the home team upped its lead to 7-2 when Cabrera’s wildness led to two more in the bottom half of the sxth, fans couldn’t rest assured they had a win this night until the final minute. A Bobby Abreu double and an A-Rod sac fly plated Mientkiewicz and Damon, who led off with walks, the second off reliever Jim Hoey, as Baltimore Manager Dave Tremblay finally put a stop to Cabrera’s largesse. But Baltimore reached Ramirez for a third run, and threatened more, in the seventh.
Jay Payton, Roberts, and Redman hits produced the run for 7-3, and when Edwar hit Tejada with a pitch to load ’em up, Jose Vizcaino came in to face Millar as the tying run. Trying to hit the mark with his slider, Jose fell behind 3-0, pinning some customers who were prepping to leave to their seats. Millar broke for first after each of the next two throws, but home plate ump Jeff Kellogg called each a strike, and Millar fouled a fastball straight back. By then, all but a few in the stands stood rhythmically clapping, as Millar fouled yet another, then swung and missed at high outside heat, and the inning was over.
The Yanks scored their eighth and last run following a Jeter double leading off the eighth, a safety that propelled Derek past ex-teammate Bernie Williams into fourth on the all-time Yankee hits list at 2,337. Southpaw Kurt Birkins, whose terrible numbers are affected by a recent nightmare outing in which eight straight batters reached against him, had relieved Hoey in the seventh, but lefty-hitting Abreu had no trouble, and singled Derek home two pitches later for the final home team score.
Kyle Farnsworth, who had not pitched in eight days, largely due to a stiff neck, came on for the ninth, and the fact that he was rusty showed. Farnsworth pitched himself into the Yankee fan doghouse earlier this year, and even though he has not allowed a run in nine of his last 10 appearances, he gave up a long home run against the Red Sox, and a weary crowd eager for this game’s end did not like what they saw. Roberts worked him for a leadoff walk, moved to second on a fielder’s choice (a signature Cano grab and throw across his body) and scored on a Markakis single. A second out and another single brought on Mariano Rivera, who allowed a first-pitch rbi double to Huff. This brought Mora to the plate as the tying run, but Rivera cashed in another save by pounding five straight strikes. The Orioles third sacker swung at all five, and missed the first, second, and fifth for the 8-5 final.
New York is replete with 1967 memorabilia this summer, with the Whitney Museum offering a show on the psychedelic art of the Summer of Love. There has been a superb re-imagining of the Beatles ’67 masterpiece Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and a concert of the Jimi Hendrix Experience is coming, both appearing at the Beacon Theatre. And as the Yanks close out their regular season home schedule this coming weekend, the 40-years-removed classic rock musical Hair is being presented in Central Park.
Outdating those cutural phenomena by one year, Monday is the 41st anniversary of the premiere of the classic TV series Mission Impossible. As the month comes to an end, the Yankees’ task is clear. They must win, and win often, both to ensure a 13th straight appearance in the playoffs, and to give them the best possible position going in. Coming off a 7-2 road trip, and an 8-5 home win against a team that has caused them nothing but trouble, they seem to be on track.
Championship number 27, it appears, has become a Mission Possible.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!