Bronx, N.Y., July 20, 2010 — Fans hearing that the Yankees and Angels evenly split 30 hits between them in a 10-6 Bombers victory might think they know what kind of game this was, and go looking for who knocked in all the runs. But this game had some strange twists, and frustrating moments and, before it was over another one of those “you don’t see that everyday” moments as well, one sure to bring a smile.

The Angels and Javy Vazquez set an early pattern where they reached him for roughly one harmless hit per inning but, relying on fly outs mostly, Vazquez retired them easily, and with a minimum of throws. Willy Aybar singled to start the game and catcher Bobby Wilson and Bobby Abreu reached safely early, but through four innings Javy retired 12 of 15 batters on just 37 pitches. The Yanks, meanwhile, taking Tuesday night frustrations against a rookie out on veteran Joel Pineiro, pounded the Anaheim righty for 10 hits and a 6-0 lead on 82 pitches.

Assumption number one: Piniero was not long for this game, while Javy seemed to be turning in the long start a weary Yankee pitching staff needed. To make this leap, however, you needed to ignore the fact that Vazquez never did establish any of his off-speed pitches, that he started the game throwing 88 mph fastballs and rarely if ever touched 90, and that not one Angels batter swung and missed in the first four innings. A strike is a strike, and an out an out, but the change in the top of the fifth could hardly have been more dramatic. Juan Rivera and Kevin Frandsen reached safely, and once Wilson homered the Yankee lead was halved, and Javy had thrown 25 pitches while not recording an out. Willy Aybar singled and moved to second on a slow roller, the first out of the inning. The inning might still be going on now but on a fifth pitch to Abreu, Ayabar inexplicably broke for third. Francisco Cervelli pegged him out and Abreu’s check swing strike on the next pitch ended an inning the Yankee righthander appeared to be unable to.

In the bottom half Pineiro was finding himself, and he was one person having little trouble with home plate ump Paul Emmel’s decidedly wide zone, which would become a bigger part of this game’s story as it went on. Joel notched two called strike outs around Cervelli’s double in the fifth, and would retire the side in order in the sixth. Joe Girardi, on the other hand, either decided Vazquez’s long inning was an aberration, or that he didn’t have the arms to finish the game without another inning out of his starter. Four pitches into the sixth, the Angels had a double to the wall and a Hideki Matsui home run, and the score was 6-5. David Roberston came on and survived the frame with the lead intact, but only because once the Angels loaded the bases on a walk and two singles around two strike outs, Howie Kendrick’s full count line shot to right was hit directly to Nick Swisher.

Once Pineiro retired the Yanks in the sixth, thereby bizarrely outlasting Vazquez in the game by three outs, Girardi still had nine outs to find and limited options. Boone Logan retired lefty batters Abreu and Matsui around a Torii Hunter single, and Joba Chamberlain came on, but he walked a batter and the bases were loaded again once Rivera topped a ball toward third for an infield hit. But Joba coazed another grounder, bouncing Frandsen to third to preserve the lead, and the game changed yet again.

Anaheim setup man Scot Shields, more often than not a bane of Yankee lineups over the years, took over in the bottom of the seventh and struck out Robbie Cano, who had homered earlier, on three pitches. But young Juan Miranda, DH’ing in Girardi’s lineup, homered to right for a 7-5 lead. Curtis Ganderson and Cervelli followed with singles, bringing Brett Gardner up. When Emmel called a strike on an inside pitch after a foul ball, the Yankee left fielder protested and was immediately tossed from the game. Inserted into a seemingly hopeless 0-2 at bat, rookie Colin Curtis brought some magic to the plate with him. He worked the count full, then hit a home run to right to settle matters.

Chamberlain was reached for two hits and a run in the eighth to forge the 10-6 final, and Mariano Rivera pitched a one, two, three ninth, striking Juan Rivera out to end a game that at one point seemed would be a breeze, at 4:15 in the afternoon. Javy was good to start, and Mo (of course) at the end, but this “W” belonged to the offense that had barely showed up the night before. Struggling Derek Jeter singled three times, and scored after each, Mark Teixeira had three hits and three rbi’s, and Curtis had his three-run bomb as well. Swisher and Granderson had two safeties apiece and the Yanks homered three times.

So the Yanks retain the best record in baseball, but some concern needs to be raised about the 2010 team’s all-season strength: the starting rotation. With Andy Pettitte out for perhaps five weeks and Phil Hughes treated pretty rudely by this Angels team Tuesday, Vazquez’s inability to pitch a solid five innings was disappointing. It’s encouraging that Javy threw strikes; he issued no walks, had no three-ball counts until the troublesome fifth, threw 16 of 23 first-pitch strikes, and the 59/21 strikes/balls ratio was a percentage rarely seen. But just two of those strikes were swings and misses; the Angels struck 19 balls with bats through four frames, but then another 18 in the fifth. It took Vazquez two more pitches to negotiate the fifth than he needed for the first four innings and, as can be seen from his brief appearance in the sixth, he may never have escaped if not for Aybar’s foolish stolen base attempt.

On a day of turnabouts, Javy definitely had a nice start that morphed into one he’ll prefer to forget. But Colin Curtis turned an at bat and a game in way he is sure to remember for the rest of his career, including the curtain call he took after his long shot.

BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!