This offense has to start scoring runs eventually. Right?
Ian Kennedy battled back after giving up three runs in the second, Jorge Posada delivered a huge pinch-hit, bases clearing triple in the sixth and Johnny Damon banged out four hits, but Victor Martinez drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a base hit off Ross Ohlendorf to lift the
Indians past the Yanks 4-3 on Saturday afternoon. The Bombers collected 12 hits on the day, but still failed to deliver with men in scoring position as they stranded 23 total runners.
The Good:Jorge Posada. The Yankee catcher started the game on the bench, but was summoned to pinch hit for Jose Molina with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth. The Yanks were down 3-0 when Jorgie laced a shot to left field. Cleveland outfielder David Dellucci made a diving attempt on the slicing liner, but came up short and the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Three runs scored on the play and Posada was standing on third with the three-run hit. Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Bombers would muster. Jorge also gunned out the speedy Grand Sizemore in the seventh. Posada finished 1 for 2 with the 3 RBIs.
The Bad:Ross Ohlendorf. The young righty entered the game in the ninth with the score knotted at 3-3 and quickly came apart at the seams. Ohlendorf struck out the leadoff hitter, but then allowed two successive singles. A wild pitch put runners on second and third and then after an intentional walk, Victor Martinez stepped up and punched the game-winning single to left. LaTroy Hawkins and Kyle Farnsworth flirted with danger in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but it was Ohlendorf that put his stamp on another frustrating loss. Ross' line: .1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 WP.
Robinson Cano. Cano's struggles continued. Robbie was given the day off at second, but came in to pinch hit for Morgan Ensberg with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth. It was the smart move on paper -- the lefty-hitting Cano against the right-handed Jensen Lewis -- but Cano is probably the last player the Yanks want up with the bases juiced. Canu carried a .220 career average with the bases loaded into Saturday's at-bat -- a ridiculously low number for a hitter of his caliber. And true to form, the Yankee second baseman whiffed. Cano finished 0 for 2 and is batting .152 on the season.
The Ugly:Blown call. This play went in the Yankees favor so I'm not complaining, but it was a horrible call nevertheless. Second base ump Derryl Cousins called Victor Martinez out on a play at second in the eighth that totally changed the complexion of the inning. With Martinez at first, Ryan Garko grounded to Derek Jeter who made a nice play and flipped to Cano at second for the force. Cano never had control of the ball (and might have had his foot off the bag), but Cousins somehow called Martinez out at second. So, instead of runners on first and second with no outs for the Indians, it was a runner on first with one out. Cleveland manager Eric Wedge argued and was eventually tossed. Bad calls are part of the game, but it looked like Cousins had a clear view of the play. The Indians failed to score in that inning, but the Yanks couldn't take advantage of that fortunate call as Derek Jeter grounded into an inning-ending double play with runners on first and third in the top of the ninth.
The Yanks made a roster move before the game as
Shelley Duncan rejoined the club. Frankenstein started in right field and went 0 for 2 with a walk and a run scored before being lifted for Bobby Abreu in the eight inning. The Bombers shipped lefty reliever Billy Traber to Triple-A to make room. That means the Yanks are without a lefty in the bullpen. It's a bit strange for the Yanks to be without a southpaw, but it wasn't like Traber was doing a great job against them -- lefty batters were hitting .375 against Traber in 16 at-bats.
Chien-Ming Wang (4-0) will try and halt the Yankee skid at three on Sunday and will battle last season's AL Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia (1-3). Wang has been shaky in his past two starts (19 hits in 10 innings) and has not pitched well in Cleveland during his career (0-1 with an 8.44 ERA in one regular season start and 0-1 with a 15.43 ERA in last year's playoff disaster). Sabathia began the season terribly, giving up 22 runs in his first three starts, but he pitched six scoreless innings and picked up his first "W" in his last start against the Kansas City Royals.
Could be a good pitching matchup -- on paper.
Leave a comment
