Source: FanGraphs
Sometimes there’s just not much you can say. The Yankees were losing 9-0 after five innings, I had accepted defeat. It’s perfectly normal, losing is part of the game and sometimes you get blown out. Then FOX cuts away for the ninth inning of Phil Humber’s perfect game (how about that?) and comes back 15 or 20 or however many minutes later, and it’s 9-5. Neat. Twitter tells me Nick Swisher hit a grand slam and I’m glad they’re making the Red Sox sweat. Then Robinson Cano doubled and Mike Aviles made an error, and things got really interesting.
You start to think … wow, they’re really going to make them earn this win. That’s always appreciated. Then Mark Teixeira goes deep and it’s a one-run game. Down one with eight outs to go in Fenway Park? Oh hell yes, this is doable. The poor Red Sox never had a chance once they got to within one run. The Yankees scored fifteen unanswered runs from the sixth through eighth innings, turning this sure loss into one of the most memorable wins of my lifetime. Is that hyperbole? Maybe it is. I don’t care.
- This is going to sound crazy, but at one point 18 of 21 Yankees reached base (!). That’s an .857 OBP (!!) for two and one-thirds turn through the lineup (!!!). Bananas.
- Mark Teixeira hit two homers, one from each side of the plate. It was the 13th time he’s done that, extending his own Major League record. Believe it or not, the homer he hit from the left side cleared the Green Monster. It was his first opposite field homer as a lefty in three years and his second as a Yankee. Teixeira is hitting .288/.354/.508 following his recent hot streak. Hooray for that.
- Starting with the number eight hitter and wrapping around the lineup to the two-hole, those four lineup spots went a combined 11-for-19 with three walks. Swisher had the grand slam and also hit the go-ahead two-run double in the eighth. He currently leads the AL with 20 RBI. Swish and Teixeira became just the 20th pair of teammates to each have 6+ RBI in a single game since 1918.
- You know why the Yankees had a chance to win this game? Because the bullpen — specifically Clay Rapada, David Phelps and Rafael Soriano — kept it from getting out of control. It’s sounds funny that they kept a 9-0 then a 9-1 game close, but that’s what they did. With this offense and that ballpark, all they needed was a chance. Boone Logan and Cody Eppley did some fine work in the eighth and ninth innings.
- The nine-run comeback ties the largest comeback in franchise history, done four other times. They’ve done it three times against the Red Sox. The last time they came back from nine down was The Jorge Posada Game. The Yankees also scored seven runs in back-to-back innings for only the second time in team history.
- I don’t want to spend too much time on the negative given such an amazing game and comeback, so all I’m going to say this this: the Yankees can use Thursday’s scheduled off-day to skip Freddy Garcia’s next start and they would be foolish not to take advantage.
- MLB.com has the box score video highlights, FanGraphs some more stats, and ESPN the updated standings. I can’t imagine we’ll see a better WPA graph this season and the one above. That’s glorious.
The weather forecast for Sunday is not good at all, so the final game of this three-game set may not happen. If it does, it’ll be CC Sabathia against Daniel Bard in the ESPN Sunday Night game. If not, the Yankees will head to Texas for their three-game series starting Monday.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.