Bronx, N.Y., September 16, 2012 – The Yankees prevailed 6-4 over the Tampa Rays in an afternoon tilt under a gorgeous sunny sky in the Bronx on Sunday, in a game where it seemed early that the teams could have saved some time and money by giving much of their respective squads the day off. With Hiroki Kuroda pitching around a first-inning Ben Zobrist double and Matt Moore around a walk, the first nine outs of the game were recorded on strike outs, eight of them swinging.

To be fair, Moore was the more dominant hurler to start, not only attested to by Zobrist’s ringing double off the right-center field wall, but also the three-pitch strike outs of both Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano the Tampa southpaw got in the first. But while the young Rays southpaw hit Andruw Jones with a pitch and survived Curtis Granderson’s drive to the wall in the second before posting a fourth strike out, Kuroda whiffed three swinging in that frame, and another in a one-two-three third. By the time the Yankee vet pitched in that inning, the “K” battle was over.

That Moore’s third-inning leadoff walk to Eduardo Nunez was a mistake is a given. That’s always a problem. But as successful as David Price was pinning Nunez to first base with multiple throws on Friday night, the same strategy spelled disaster for Moore. Two or three tosses in, an unthreatened Nunez began toying with him, driving him to distraction with repeated false starts toward second. An off-stride sideways flick to first was equally ineffective, and Eduardo finally took second easily on a 1-1 pitch to Jeter. Two pitches later, Nunez’s break off second on Derek’s clean line single to right center was so bad that once the outfield throw was futilely diected toward home, the Yankee Captain was easily able to take second. A surprise Nick Swisher sac bunt got Jeter to third and the infield in; Alex Rodriguez’s ground single up the middle got the Yanks a second tally on hit No. two. A walk, and Russell Martin home run later made it five runs on just three hits. Compounding matters, an error (that probably should have been ruled a hit) by reliever Brandon Gomes on a Nunez bouncer in the fourth, two stolen bases and an A-Rod sac fly to the wall brought a sixth run. The fourth and fifth Yankee hits did not figure in the scoring.

By the time Alex drove in that sixth run, Tampa had scored on Kuroda, a first-pitch home run in the top of the fourth by Zobrist. But Hiroki continued to deal, posting his eight and ninth strike outs retiring six straight through the fifth, having made just 68 pitches. But a sixth inning of horrors gave Tampa a chance. A leadoff walk (ouch!) and Desmond Jennings’s swinging bunt base hit got it started, with the dangerous Zobrist to follow. The Tampa shortstop lifted a foul pop past the Yankee dugout on 2-2, but a Yankee fan wearing No. 33 initially battled Steve Pearce for the ball in Bartman-esque fashion, eventually giving way just as the ball caromed off the first baseman’s glove. The price of moat seats can run into four digits, but there are things a fan does not, or should not, demand of his team at any price.

A walk ensued, bases loaded with nobody out, but Evan Logoria bounced a dp ball toward third, only it hit something in the infield grass and bounded high over Rodriguez’s glove for two runs and a 6-3 score. Undaunted, Kuroda coaxed another bouncer, this one to second, and the fourth Tampa run scored on the 4-6-3. Hiroki then struck out B.J. Upton for the third time, his 10th strike out, but the 33-pitch battle ended his day after six innings.

It was an astounding performance, if slightly marred by the sixth, because of the two walks; the hits were a dribbler and a bad bounce. He struck out seven of the first Rays up in the game, pounded 17 first-pitch strikes to 23 batters, and allowed four runs on just four hits and the two free passes. The 62/39 strikes/balls ratio was solid, but the makeup of those 62 strikes was truly extraordinary. Sixteen were called by home plate ump Paul Emmel. But the 46 remaining were evenly divided between balls struck and swings and misses. Deploying nothing more than a low-nineties fastball, deceptive slider, and the occasional split finger, he had major league hitters missing his pitches as often as they hit them! Take it from someone entirely too obsessed with the numbers: You will not see the likes of that often.

Boone Logan and David Phelps held the lead through the seventh, despite a double and walk, and David Roberston delivered another one-two-three eighth before Rafael Soriano collected his 40th save, starting the ninth by retiring Upton swinging, earning B.J. the golden sombrero. There had been some excitement early, as Emmel issued warnings to both benches once Moore threw a pitch near Curtis Granderson’s head two batters after the crushing three-run Martin home run in the third. Tampa Skipper Joe Maddon was thrown out once he objected, and five frames later DH Matt Joyce followed him after arguing a swinging strike out in the eighth. Jerry Meals, covering first base eight days after crushing Yankee hopes on a bad call and two days from costing them a run in Friday’s loss, survived the fracas with barely a comment despite some close calls at first.

Falling in the season’s final month, September 16 is of course the date of some pretty big days in Yankee history, but one of the most poignant, in 1979, was a loss, as the Yanks fell to the Tigers 8-4 in 12 innings on Catfish Hunter Day. And Tim Raines had one of his biggest days in the bigs playing for the Yanks on this day in 1996, as his three home runs led the way in a 10-0 shutout of the Blue Jays.

And 49 years ago, on September 16, 1963, the sci-fi classic TV series The Outer Limits debuted. While the three additional strike outs the Yankee pen added to Hiroki Kuroda’s 10 carried him to his 14th win, it was with the 23 Rays swings and misses that he achieved something rare, as many missed swings as baseballs struck,

Outside the Limits

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!