This could be the one that finally turns this team around.
Ian Kennedy pitched his best game of the season by far, the pen followed suit with three scoreless innings and Robinson Cano laced a two-out, RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth to lift the
Yanks to a 2-1 victory over the Orioles at The Stadium. Both teams pitched well in this ballgame and, in a way, both teams were winners. But in another more accurate way, the Bombers were the winners.
Joe Girardi also flipped his lid in the final frame. Jason Giambi was called out when home plate ump Chris Guccione ruled that a 2-2 pitch hit the knob of the bat and settled into the glove of O's catcher Ramon Hernandez. G.I. Joe would have none of it (even though it looked and sounded like the right call) and seemed to channel the ghost of Billy Martin, complete with the hat slam down and a Rockette-style kick, on his way to being ejected. It fired up the crowd (and I'll admit it, I had a smile on my face during the tirade) and maybe, just maybe, sparked the Yanks to their first come-from-behind victory under his watch.
The Good:Robinson Cano. Hits were at a premium Thursday night in the Bronx and Robbie came through with the biggest one of the game. Cano is still stuck in neutral offensively and was batting only .198 at home coming into tonight's action, but his clutch opposite-field single brought in Hideki Matsui for the the game-winning score. Give credit to Godzilla too, he hustled from second with the crack of the bat and cut the third base bag beautifully to beat the high throw from Jay Payton in left. But Cano was the hero of the day for this one. Cano finished 1 for 4 with the big RBI.
Ian Kennedy. So where has this guy been all year? Kennedy looked like a completely different pitcher Thursday night. Oh, sure, he still threw too many pitches and walked too many guys, but he wasn't afraid to throw his fastball (which also seemed to have a little more giddy-up to it) and actually kept the damage to a minimum when he got into trouble. Baltimore scored a run in the top of the third on an RBI-triple by Freddie Bynum and had the bases loaded with only one out, but failed to push another run across. The O's actually pulled out an old time play with Bynum at third and Brian Roberts at first. Roberts took off for second and then fell down between first and second. The Orioles wanted to get the ball in Jason Giambi's hands, and they did, but Bynum didn't take off for home. I'm shocked that more teams don't do this. The Giambino is scared to death to make a throw (and with good reason) and bounced the ball to third, but A-Rod was able to corral it. Roberts swiped second, but the runner stayed put at third. Anyway, I-Kenn seemed to gather strength after he got out of the inning and allowed only one more hit the rest of the way. It goes down as a no decision and Kennedy has yet to crack the victory column, but it was a step in the right direction. Kennedy's totals: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 K.
Hideki Matsui. Godzilla scored both Yankee runs on Thursday night. Matsui also picked up two hits and was robbed of another on a great play by right fielder Nick Markakis in the first inning that turned into a tough-luck double play. Both of Matsui's hits led off the inning and they were the reason the Yanks put up a deuce in this game. Matsui finished 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
The Bad:Alex Rodriguez. The Yanks only had eight hits on the night (and five of them came courtesy of Johnny Damon and Matsui), but A-Rod turned in his first O-fer since returning from the disabled list. I may be a hard grader on this one, but I've got to keep Rodriguez from falling into any bad habits. A-Rod finished 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:Suspension, surspension. Now, really. What is attempted beaning, anyway? Do they give out Noble Prizes for attempted chemistry? Well, the hammer fell on
LaTroy Hawkins for his "actions" Tuesday night. The Hawk was tossed after throwing a pitch up and in to Luke Scott and Major League Baseball suspended him for three games and fined him an undisclosed amount. Hawkins maintains that it wasn't intentional (well) and will appeal the ruling.
The Yanks will welcome in the Seattle Mariners for a weekend set beginning Friday night. Game 1 will feature a pair of lefties as Andy Pettitte (3-5, 4.42 ERA) goes against Erik Bedard (3-2, 3.24 ERA). Bedard fell to the Yanks 5-1 on May 2 at The Stadium despite giving up only one earned run in seven innings. A-Rod missed that game and possesses a .417 average with two homers in his career against Bedard. Pettitte has dropped four of his past five games and hasn't won since April 20. Ichiro Suzuki is a lifetime .435 hitter against Pettitte.
Let's see if Thursday's thrilling win has a carryover effect.
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