It’s hard to believe that the Yankees and Red Sox still have another game to play tonight, but that will be a little easier to do after this afternoon’s Yankee win. This game featured a ton of lead changes and blown opportunities for both sides, but a run manufactured by patience, speed, and a little luck put the Yanks on top in extra innings, a lead they held onto.
The big story was Andy Pettitte, who was making just his third start since coming off the disabled list. He was just okay, running his pitch count high because of eight strikeouts, so he exited after facing just one batter in the fifth. Andy’s stuff looked fine but his command is still a little off, missing just off the corner or catching a little too much of the plate. The biggest problem was that all three runs he allowed came after there were none on and two outs in the inning. Some shaky defense (due to both the sun and poor reads) contributed, but those two outs runs are always frustrating.
Robbie Cano was the star of the game offensively, whacking a pair of doubles and solo homer. Curtis Granderson tripling to drive in the Yanks’ first run and then came around to score the second, plus he also walked twice. Mark Teixeira plated a run with a double off the wall in addition to his single and walk. It wouldn’t be a Yankee game without some RISP FAIL, as they went just 3-for-21 in those spots with a dozen left on base. Runners were stranded in scoring position in the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and tenth innings. When they did finally break through with a hit with RISP, it was an infield single on a Derek Jeter check swing that scored the hustling Brett Gardner from second. It’s not exactly how they drew it up, but it works.
Andy gave way to David Robertson, who wiggled his way out of some self-induced trouble (2 BB, 3 K after coming in) before combining with Boone Logan for a scoreless sixth. Logan got charged with a run in the seventh when Joba Chamberlain allowed the inherited runner to score, but it was all moot when Kerry Wood had his first major meltdown in the eighth. After striking out Darnell McDonald on a knee-buckling curveball he walked three consecutive batters to load the bases. The tying run scored on a wild pitch, but the second out of the inning came when Josh Reddick got greedy and tried to score as well. Wood applied the tag at the plate for the out, then struck out the next guy to end the frame.
Phil Hughes chipped in a scoreless frame in the ninth, assuredly his last appearance before the ALDS, before giving way to Mariano Rivera in the tenth. Jeter’s infield single scored Gardner in the top of the frame, and Mo made quick work of the bottom of Boston’s lineup, retiring all three men he faced with ease. Hughes picked up his 18th win of the season, and I feel safe calling it his weakest. We’ll have a regular game thread along for the second game shortly, but for now here’s the WPA Graph and a link to the box score.
Up Next
The Yankees and the Red Sox finish up their long day of baseball, and the second game will start at 9:15 p.m. A.J. Burnett will face Daisuke Matsuzaka.
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