Just like that, all the bad feels get washed away.
It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it? After Monday night’s extra inning loss to the Rays, the Yankees were amidst their first four game losing streak of the year and coming off their first sweep of the year courtesy of the Texas Rangers. Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner are banged up; A-Rod isn’t 100% yet. Andy Pettitte still isn’t back (although he’s probably only days away now), and Damaso Marte and Alfredo Aceves are never coming back. The road trip had been a disaster up to this point.
And by the fifth inning, things weren’t looking much better. Rookie right hander Ivan Nova has essentially dominated the Rays over the first four, but suddenly, like in his other starts, he began to falter in the fifth. Why this keeps happening, I don’t know; he’s a young guy and maybe he’s never pitched hits many innings before, or maybe you just have to work that much harder at the MLB level, and it’s tiring him. The bottom line is, after throwing about 50 pitches in the first four innings, the Rays put up a 7 spot in the 5th. Nova let four runs score before Joe Girardi finally lifted him for Boone Logan; I think Girardi wanted to see if Nova could wiggle out of trouble, and it didn’t happen. I don’t think he would have gotten that opportunity if the Yankees didn’t have such a big wild card lead and AJ Burnett wasn’t struggling the way he is. Logan came in and gave up a 3 run homer that gave the Rays a 7-6 lead, and all the optimism generated by Nova’s early performance and the home runs by Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez was whipped away. Logan was dominate after the home run, but the damage had been done… or so it seemed. Game Day.
The Yankees immediately tied the game on Robinson Cano’s double, scoring A-Rod, and it became a duel of the bullpens. Joba Chamberlain, Kerry Wood and David Robertson held the Rays in check until the top of the 11th, when Jorge Posada came up with a pinch hit homer that hasn’t landed yet. OK, maybe it didn’t go that far, but it was still pretty awe inspiring.
Mariano Rivera came on to get the save, and Carl Crawford got on board immediately, but was a base running disaster in the bottom of the 11th inning. He failed to tag out on a ball that was either going to be a home run or an out, and he made the last out at third. These are two fundamental no-nos that I wouldn’t expect Crawford to make, but he did, and the Yankees won the game because of it. Box Score.
I believe Girardi left Nova in to see if he could get out of a tough spot, as aforementioned, and he didn’t. I’d say that this eliminates any chance of Nova getting a start in the playoffs, despite Brian Cashman saying that they were going to start their best four guys and salary didn’t matter. Nova could be a candidate for the long man role in the pen for the playoffs, but if that’s something he’s never done, the playoffs might not be a good place for him to start.
Tonight’s the rubber game, and the Yankees really need to win this game, more for their psyche than for anything else. Sure, winning the AL East will get the Yankees home field advantage in the AL playoffs, but getting to the dance is what matters. Phil Hughes will match up against the one they call Big Game James, aka James Shields. If Hughes brings his A game, this could be a close game… They skipped his last turn, so who knows how that’s going to effect him – he might be fresh… or he might be rusty. I don’t know what to expect, so all we can really do is tune in and pray that our Lord and Savior, Mariano Rivera, gets an opportunity.
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Jamie Insalaco
