Tampa, FL, March 2 — It was incumbent first baseman Jason Giambi’s turn to pole a three-run first-inning home run to give the Yanks an early lead on the Phillies on Sunday, this time in Legends, soon to be Steinbrenner, Field. The lefty power hitter did nothing to hurt his case playing first base in the field either, and he collected both the homer and an even more impressive line double to the gap in left against lefty pitching.
Jason was helped in an offense that continued their onslaught on opposition pitching by plating seven runs on Bobby Abreu’s second straight two-hit, two-run day, and a home run and a triple off the bat of left fielder Jason Lane, a nonroster invitee with his cap in the first-base ring as well. Andy Pettitte turned a 4-0 lead over to Steven White after two, but wildness by both White in the fourth and Brian Bruney in the eighth allowed Philly back into the game. The visitors even grabbed a brief lead, but young center fielder Justin Christian singled home Alberto Gonzalez for the equalizer in the bottom of the eighth, and managers Joe Girardi and Charlie Manuel shook hands following a scoreless ninth, sending the remaining fans home with a 7-7 tie in regulation.
The best news for Yankee fans, perhaps, was that veteran southpaw Andy Pettitte shrugged off a painful offseason chock full of distractions and looked in midseason form in his two frames. After a weak popup by Jimmy Rollins to start the game, Pettitte fell behind center fielder Jayson Werth 3-0, recovered to a full count, but barely missed on the 3-2 pitch. Small matter, as Chase Utley’s bouncer to Derek Jeter was tailor-made for a twin killing. Andy was even better the second frame following the Giambi-produced three-run bulge. A weak grounder up the middle was flagged by Robbie Cano on the third-base side of second, and he managed a looping one-hop throw to Giambi even though he and Jeter nearly collided. Jeter then ranged into the hole to flag Pedro Feliz’s grounder, and beat him to first with his leaping turn-and-throw to first. Ump Eric Cooper called the clearly tardy Feliz safe, but Pettitte picked him off on a 1-2 pitch, and then dropped a slow cutter past DH Valentino Pascucci to end two innings and his day on 20 crisp throws.
The lead was 4-0 when righthander White, who worked his way to AAA Scranton last year, took the mound, with Lane’s second-inning fence-clearing drive to left accounting for run number four. The Phils scored their first run on three quick singles, but a 4-6-3 and a good catch by Melky Cabrera on Werth’s wind-blown long drive to center quieted the visitors. Giambi had victimized southpaw Cole Hamels, Philly’s best starter, in the first. Now he followed Abreu’s second single with a hard low liner to left center off diminutive southpaw Fabio Castro. Abreu scored standing up when the relay dribbled into the infield, so when White took the mound for the fourth, the lead stood at 5-1. The visitors loaded the bases on an Utley single and two four-pitch walks on either side of a fielder’s choice grounder. Had Cano handled Jeter’s toss cleanly, it’s possible that the Yanks may have turned two on the slow grounder, but not certain. White continued to pitch like he needed miracles from his defense. He got one more, but not the two he would need. Alex Rodriguez snagged So Taguchi’s roller down the line and made an impressive touchdown pass to first for an out as the Phillies’ second tally crossed. But when Alex dove and tried for the backhand on first baseman Brennan King’s subsequent hot shot down the line, it bounced over his glove, two raced home, and the score had closed to 5-4.
Lane helped fashion a two-run lead right away when his long drive to right center leading off the bottom of the fourth glanced off Werth’s glove for a triple. Cabrera delivered Lane with a first-pitch sac fly, but the Phils closed the score to 6-5 when Pat Burrell lined Kyle Farnsworth’s second pitch of the sixth inning over the left field wall. Biggest Philly kudos of the day go to righty Carlos Carrasco, who not only went three innings on March 2 when starters are going two and relievers one, but did so in style. He quieted the rampaging Yanks on just a Cano infield single through the fifth and sixth, then allowed one-out singles to third baseman Cody Ransom and right fielder Colin Curtis in the seventh. Having already thrown 32 pitches and apparently tiring, he stiffened. First, he floated a 3-2 strike past Wilson Betemit, and then got Jose Molina swinging at a high fastball to keep the Phillies close.
It mattered, because Brian Bruney came on for the eighth missing the zone, just as he had done too often one year ago. He walked right fielder Andy Tracy on five pitches, got a 3-2 flyout to center and struck Pascucci out on three piches. But consecutive singles by Casey Smith, Brandon Watson, and Greg Golson first tied it and then gave Philly the lead at 7-6. It was a particularly big hit for center fielder Golson, who followed by singlehandedly turning the Yanks aside in the bottom of the eighth. The home team did manage to knot things on a two-out Alberto Gonzalez infield single, an errant pickoff throw, and Justin Christian’s two-out single, yes. But that was after first baseman Juan Miranda exhibited some of his hitting prowess, leading off with a vicious 1-1 missile deep into left center. Golson’s full-body, full-stretch dive that saved the day was such a fabulous catch that Yankees fans and Phillies fans alike cheered in appreciation.
Still, the news out of Yankee camp continues to be good. Key offensive perfomers continue to impress, the front-line pitching has dominated, and Latroy Hawkins was effective. He pitched the fifth inning like he had indeed established a new style with Colorado in 2007: He produced three routine ground balls in 10 pitches. Jose Veras retired the Phillies on six pitches in the top of the ninth.
In Yankee history, 81 years ago this day, Babe Ruth established a new salary threshold when the Yankees rewarded with a $70,000 contract. And 15 years later, rocker Lou Reed was born on March 2, 1942. Had Steven White and Brian Bruney not taken a “Walk on the Wild Side” this day, the Yanks would have recorded a victory rather than a tie.
BTW,TYT
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!