We’ve all seen it and been frustrated by it before. A random Yankee pitcher is en route to having a nice clean inning by retiring the first two batters, but that third out turns into a chore. There’s a walk or a bloop hit, then another, then the run scoring double into the gap, and before you know the other team is threatening to break things open even though they had two outs and none on at one point in the inning. The Yanks seem to have been plagued by these two out rallies over the last few seasons, but last night they finally managed to turn the tables a little bit.
Nick Swisher opened the scoring with a solo homer in the very first inning, but of the eight runs he and his teammates pushed across, that was the only one to be scored with less than two outs. They scored four more runs in the inning when Jorge Posada singled one in with two outs, Lance Berkman doubled in a pair one batter later, and Granderson singled in another after that. Five runs in the inning, four with two outs. In fact, both Berkman and Granderson were in two strike counts when they got their hits.
With Swish on first in the seventh, Alex Rodriguez extended the inning with a two out single before Robbie Cano dunked the double into left to score both runners. Cano, like A-Rod, had two strikes on him at the time of the hit. The Yanks struck again the next inning when Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter hit back-to-back doubles after Berkman and Granderson grounded out to start the frame. Gardner was staring at a two strike count when he pulled the ball down the first base line. Tampa was oh so close to ending the inning during each of these rallies, but they just couldn’t get it done.
Scoring two out runs isn’t exactly a repeatable skill, but what it does is exemplify how deep and circular the Yankee lineup is. Well, the A-lineup anyway, and of course that’s what we’ll see come playoff time. Last night the Yanks had Berkman, Granderson, and Gardner batting 7-8-9 when they’d probably be batting 3-2-1 for most other teams. Berkman has a .443 OBP since August 8th and will retire will a resume that warrants Hall of Fame consideration. Granderson has hit more homers than anyone not named Troy Tulowitzki or Jose Bautista since reworking his swing in mid-August, and oh yeah, Brett Gardner has one of the seven best OBP’s in the AL this season at .388. That’s video game stuff at the bottom third of the order.
There are zero easy outs when the Yanks have their best starting nine in the game as Tampa learned on Tuesday. That allows them to prolong innings and have more chances at two outs rallies like the ones we saw last night. Two out runs aren’t critical to success, but they certainly don’t hurt, and as we know from watching the other team do it to the Yanks, there’s an element of demoralization to being unable to stop the bleeding with two outs. That’s what the Yankee lineup does when things are going right; it scores runs and demoralizes the opposition. Both traits were in full effect and on display last night.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.