Bronx, N.Y., July 5, 2007 — The Yankees and the Twins played a good, old-fashioned ballgame in a steamy Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon. Minnesota jumped on Yankee starter Kei Igawa for two quick runs in the top of the first, and they reached Mariano Rivera for a score in the ninth. But the Yankees pounded three home runs in between, and they beat the Twins in a very uncharacteristic way.
Fans arriving a little early got to see Igawa in controversial mode, dancing around the outfield as part of his hour-plus pregame routine. The Yanks feel that Kei may run out of gas early in games because of these exertions. But although his outing wasn’t a particularly great one, one could not use today’s game to effectively test that theory. Kei had two bad innings, one early, one late(r).
It was an Igawa bugaboo from early Spring Training that got things started poorly, as he walked leadoff man Jason Bartlett on six pitches to start the game. The Twins shortstop motored around to third on Joe Mauer’s single up the middle, but a Joe Torre lineup tweak got good results early. Johnny Damon had his first start in weeks in center, Hideki Matsui DH’d, and Melky Cabrera, playing left, nailed Michael Cuddyer trying for second on a single that gave the Twins a 1-0 lead. Justin Morneau fouled off four straight pitches before singling in Mauer for run number two, but Igawa stiffened and struck out two to minimize the damage.
Minnesota righty Jason Slowey retired the Yanks in the bottom half, but not before Cabrera put a second print on this game with a hard single to right. That Melky has been gaining confidence and points on his average as June broke into July became critical as this game went on. Igawa blanked the Twins over the next two, retiring six out of seven around a Cuddyer walk in the third, with help from yet another Jeter catch, whirl, and touchdown pass to first to nail Bartlett in the second.
That third-inning Igawa free pass, though inconsequential, was distressing because Kei was pitching with a lead by then. The Yankees smacked back-to-back line drives to start the second, with nothing to show for it, but Robbie Cano broke that spell with an 0-1 home run to right. Not satisfied that the lead had been halved, Andy Phillips, who is looking more comfortable as the everyday first baseman, stroked a double the other way to right. Then Miguel Cairo, playing third base in the first 2007 game Alex Rodriguez has not played, doubled to left for the equalizer. Damon worked a five-pitch walk, and Slowey pounded four straight strikes to Cabrera. Fouling off the second and third, Melky lofted the last one to right for a three-run home run, and the Yanks had a 5-2 lead.
The Bombers kept the pressure on via a Jeter single, but Matsui went down swinging to end the inning. Bobby Abreu drilled a one-out double in the third, but when he failed to score, Minnesota pounded Igawa in the top of the fourth to tie matters at 5-5. DH Jeff Cirillo lashed a double over Damon’s head to lead off, though Johnny made a fine diving catch on a followup Torii Hunter liner to his right, with Cirillo crossing to third. Luis Rodriguez lined to Jeter, but with two outs Igawa walked light-hitting Nick Punto, and the Twins made him pay. Bartlett doubled to left. Cabrera ran back to field a carom that never came, as the ball died at the base of the wall, and Punto scored behind Cirillo without a throw. When Mauer stroked a single over Jeter’s leap at short, it was a tie ballgame.
Minnesota Manager Ron Gardenhire had seen enough of Slowey after a Damon walk and Jeter single in the bottom half of the fourth, replacing him with Dennys Reyes, an effective lefty cog in one of the best bullpens in the League. Reyes finished that frame, and pitched around a Cano single and Phillips walk in the fifth, but Matt Guerrier came on in the sixth after Cabrera delivered his third hit, a hard single to left. The Minnesota righty held the Yanks scoreless through the seventh despite Matsui and Phillips singles, one in each inning.
A Cirillo popup to Jeter that closed the fifth came on Igawa’s 97th pitch. He had gotten help that frame when Cano made a fine stab up the middle and throw across his body to retire Hunter. With three good innings and two shaky ones behind him, Kei left with three (swinging) strike outs and a 62/35 strikes/balls ratio, but two of his three walks scored. The 16 out of 24 first-pitch strikes was a good sign, and he allowed five tallies on seven hits. Igawa continues to be a work in progress, but the Yanks and their fans are looking forward to the day that Philip Hughes has recovered enough to take that spot in the rotation.
While the bullpen has been a Minnesota strength all year, the Yankee pen situated under the awning next to Monument Park has been something of a House of Horrors. Even with a 5-5 score, it was hard not to feel Minnesota had the advantage. But although the Twins relievers were good, the guys emerging single file from the New York pen were better. Luis Vizcaino used two strike outs to survive a Punto single in the sixth, and he teamed with Cano on a fine play on a Rodriguez bouncer into the second base hole. Scott Proctor erased a leadoff, seventh-inning walk to Mauer by coaxing a 4-6-3 out of Justin Morneau. And Kyle Farnsworth survived a deep Cirillo fly to right after a nine-pitch battle in a one-two-three top of the eighth.
Twins setup man Pat Neshek, the subject of a spirited Minnesota push in the vote to fill the All Star squad, struck out Cabrera and Jeter Wednesday in a one-two-three eighth inning. He looked as dominant today in fanning both Damon and Cabrera to start the same frame. But Jeter worked him for a five-pitch walk, and the submarining righthander missed with three straight to Matsui. Would Joe green-light him? He did, but Hideki missed, fouling the pitch off. But he did not miss again, and Hideki homered for his second straight game, a majestic tape-measure blast to the bleachers in right for a 7-5 Yankee lead.
Nothing comes easy in this life, and you can add Thursday’s top of the ninth to that list. Rodriguez lined a single just over Phillips’s glove to get it started against Mariano Rivera. Jason Kubel batted for Punto, and his bouncer up the middle eluded Jeter’s glove and the Twins had runners on the corners with no one out. But Mo got Bartlett swinging on three pitches, and Jeter made a strong throw to retire Mauer on a grounder into the hole as Rodriguez crossed with Minnesota’s sixth run. Michael Cuddyer fouled three of the next six pitches as the count went full, and it wasn’t until first base ump Wally Bell ruled that the Minnesota rightfielder did indeed go around on pitch number seven that the Yanks could celebrate a hard-fought win.
After a frustrating Independence Day loss, the Yanks prevailed Thursday 7-6 in 3:33 under a sky that threatened but never broke, and the home team cashed in a key victory in a four-game series win against one of several teams in the fight for the Wild Card. Though Igawa went five while allowing three walks, seven hits, and five runs, the Yankee pen carried the team through four to a line of just three hits, one walk, and one run.
Forty-five years ago on July 6, the Yankees beat the Twins 7-5 in Minnesota in a game famous for one of the many Mickey Mantle highlights fans of the late Yankee slugger thrill to. The Mick homered his last two times that day, and the two he smacked in the next day’s 6-3 victory gave him four home runs in four at bats. With the Old Timer’s festivities now just two days away, rooting for a Yankee team that outhomered their opposition three to none, as the team did this day, fits like a well-worn batting glove.
But that the Yanks won 7-5 while scoring every run with two outs made it all the more special.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!