TAMPA, FL., March 9 — One of the things you learn quickly when scoring games and counting pitches is that numbers can play tricks on you. You come across patterns that are very telling, but you notice others that are the baseball equivalent of farmers finding vegetables shaped, they swear, like famous people.
The other day when the Yanks traveled 100 miles south to face the Red Sox, we opted for the Blue Jays’ opener in Dunedin, versus the visiting Phillies. (It was our third opener, as we saw the Yanks help the Phillies inaugurate Bright House Field, and then the Yanks whip the Phils in the first game of the Legends Field season.) The Jays opened with ace Roy Halladay for two frames, then prospect David Bush tossed two, and Francisco Rosario threw the three-run fifth. The weird thing? All three pitchers threw exactly 25 pitches.
I mention this as a way of dissecting the horrendous third inning lefthanded Yankee reliever Gabe White suffered through on Tuesday. He actually threw 36 pitches, but the last 11 were to the last four batters, when he got three outs while allowing one single. Gabe entered a game in which the Yankees were leading, 2-1, on Alex Rodriguez’s two-run bomb and two scintillating innings from ace Mike Mussina in his first outing of the spring. Mussina whiffed three and allowed one run on a high hopper by Chipper Jones followed by J.D. Drew’s triple into the right center field gap, and threw seven of 10 first pitch strikes and 42 pitches through two.
The Yanks retaliated quickly, as Jeter singled over second with one down and A-Rod drilled John Thompson’s first offering well over the wall in right center. (And by the way, whether or not any of the predicted troubles arise from Rodriguez’s attempted switch to third base, or added pressure on Jeter to perform flawlessly, we can put the rumors of a rift between these two to bed. The chemistry between them is obvious. They talk all the time, and wherever you find one, even in practice, you find the other. These guys like each other.)
After an uneventful second, the Yanks tabbed lefty White, and second baseman Marcus Giles tied the game on a drive just to the right of center. 2-2, one pitch. Gabe fell behind Chipper Jones with a ball, and managed a call strike on a 3-1 pitch before walking him. Seven pitches. J.D. Drew followed his first-inning triple by hitting a bomb to right that may have crossed Dale Mabry Avenue that separates Legends Field from much of the game parking and from Raymond James Stadium, where the Buccaneers play football. 4-2 Braves, eight pitches.
White managed an 0-2 count to Adam LaRoche, whose father, Dave, famously tossed “La Lob” with the Yanks some 20 years ago, on a foul and a called strike. The Braves first baseman hit a bouncer up the middle, and as if he needed it, at that moment White and the Yankees got a bad break. Jeter showed good hustle in hurrying to field the ball head-on rather than to his side, but his plant foot was on the edge of the outfield grass, he slipped as he prepared to throw, and had to eat the ball. When ageless Julio Franco bounced a single in the hole between Jeets and A-Rod on a 2-2 pitch, the Braves had two on and White had thrown 16 pitches. He started third baseman Russell Branyan, the former Indians prospect, with a swinging strike and got another to even the count at 2-2. Branyan fouled the next pitch, and when White missed twice, he was facing bases loaded, with three runs in, after 23 pitches.
The Braves turned heads a year ago when they traded front-line starter Kevin Millwood to their division rivals in Philly for third-string catcher Johnny Estrada. And when they allowed free agent Javy Lopez to leave this year, it became clear that Estrada would get a real shot at the starting job with newly acquired Eli Marerro backing up. If Johnny is feeling the pressure, he did not show it this today, as he blasted the 1-0 pitch (and number 25 of the inning) for a grand slam and an 8-1 Braves lead.
The Yanks would respond with two on a Giambi double to left and Rodriguez and Matsui singles, and notched single scores in the sixth (a Posada double) and the seventh (Bubba Crosby and Miguel Cairo singles), but they couldn’t recover. And truth be told, the Yankee pitching was exceptional for eight of nine innings. Young hard-throwing Scott Proctor struck out the side in the fourth and was victimized in the two-run fifth where he actually coaxed tree harmless pop ups and a strike out, because A-Rod erred in calling for one that was then blown to the right side and fell in. Rivera went two innings while throwing — you guessed it — 25 pitches. Second Yankee lefty reliever Felix Heredia threw a 1-2-3 eighth, though he did go 3-2 on the first two guys, and young Jimmy Mann tossed a quiet ninth. But the damage had been done.
Perhaps worthy of mention is another hit by Enrique Wilson; an effective, though not very tested, day in right field by Travis Lee, who was robbed on a shot to the left field wall; and a full day in center by Bubba Crosby. He singled in five at bats but was robbed on a liner to first, and made a fine running grab at the wall in the eighth.
But this one was all about the pitching, 141 pitches that retired the Braves effectively eight times with 11 strike outs, and 25 pitches that ended the Yanks’ day almost before it began.
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!