Game 14: Yanks homer, but almost blow lead against Rays
The Yankees offense was on so much fire that I thought the game would be a one-sided laugher. Everyone got into the act, from A-Rod’s 4 hits to Johnny Damon and Morgan Ensberg’s HRs to the returning Derek Jeter’s base clearing double to AAA emergency backup 33-year old catcher Chad Moeller getting a single on a pitch out.
Ian Kennedy worked hard enough, and was leading 7-2 after 6. He looked exhausted after 6, and I told my wife that he should not start the 7th. I had read a study that showed in the Modern Era, the 7th inning feels like the 9th inning for a pitcher, and that the “new complete game” for a pitcher is 7 innings.
So, Girardi started Kennedy in the 7th, and he promptly got hit HARD with a line drive to the hip, and was taken out. No word on his injury yet. But that set up the Tampa Bay Rays to rally with multiple homeruns against two pitchers with ERA’s that were 0.00: Billy Traber and Brian Bruney. (Bruney actually gave a homerun up to Desperate Housewives Eva Longoria.)
THANKFULLY, pinch hitter Robinson Cano won the game with a solo shot HR, and closer Mariano Rivera recorded 4 straight outs (including the same batters (BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena) who drove in 5 runs in the 7th.
Anyway, this game was bittersweet since the middle relief collapsed. However, I am happy the Yanks showed Rays pitching who’s the boss, and that Cano became Hero of the Day. In fact, Belle was upset that Girardi pinch hit rookie Alberto Gonzalez (who has been pretty good in certain situations) for Cano, since Cano had been in a 2 week slump. I didn’t say a word until after Cano did what I knew he would. Have faith in Robinson Cano. He killed Snapshot Joe Atlantic for one night!
RELATED ARTICLES:
- Shelley Duncan Fights Rays
- 2010 All Star Game: Why Didn’t Joe Girardi Pinch Run David Ortiz with A-Rod?
- Game 9: Royals Zack Greinke shuts out Yanks; Bullpen starts
- Captain Clutch Jeter and Little Cody beat Rays
- Joba strikes back, beats Rays
- CC Sabathia Flirts with No-Hitter, Yanks Kills Rays 10-0
- Game 33: Yanks sweep Mariners, 8-2
- Game 4: Tampa Bay Rays crush Yanks
- Game 89: Brett Gardner beats Red Sox
- Game 3: Yanks win Blue Jays Series
- Game 25: Indians win 4-3 against Yankees
- Game 39: Rays bite Andy Pettitte
- What is the Yankees post-season roster? My picks…
- Game 90: Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter beat Tampa Bay Rays
- A.J. hot again, Yanks win Angels series in LA
- Andy Pettitte is back
- Game 118: Angels SWEEP Yankees at Anaheim
- Derek Jeter ties Loe Gehrig’s hit record
- Game 128: Yanks rally with HRs sink Orioles
- Game 6: Wang, Joba, Mo beat Rays
Very true
I love it.
You gotta win these kind of games, where something goes wrong, throughout the course of the season.
I was sooooo thrilled when the Yanks went up 8-7 after the Rays had marched all the way back.
I loved it when Rivera struck out the final hitter. I was listening the Rays broadcast, and the guy was selling something about the hitter or the on-deck guy, and he didn’t even have time to finish his point.