It took nearly the entire afternoon, but a win is a win.
Sidney Ponson spilled his guts out, the guys in the pen sparkled and Brett Gardner delivered the game-winning single in the 13th inning as the
Yanks trumped the Royals 3-2 on a sun-soaked afternoon in the Bronx. This game was not for the squeamish. The Bombers fell behind (again), battled back (again), left a battalion on the bases (again), but this time they came out on top (surprise!). The offense continued to sputter and Joe Girardi continued to make questionable calls.
I guess it was just business as usual for the 2008 Yankees.
How horrific were the bats? The two runs the Yanks scored in the seventh to tie the game were unearned. The Royals committed three errors (three!) and unleashed a wild pitch in the frame. Still, the Bombers need wins desperately right now so I won't dwell on the negative (see: Ugly).
The Good:Sidney Ponson and the bullpen. No, it's not the name of some '70s
prog rock group, but they did provide the soundtrack to this victory. Ponson delivered his fourth straight impressive start and relievers Damaso Marte, Brian Bruney, Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, Mariano Rivera and David Robertson held the Royals down the rest of the way. Marte was the only pitcher who didn't record an out on the day (he issued a walk to the only batter he faced), but it looked like he was squeezed on a 3-2 pitch. Anyway, I hope the Yankee offense took this crew out to dinner after the game because they were a huge part of Saturday's victory. Robertson came away with the "W" (and upped his mark to 3-0 on the year), but he all these guys deserve a pat on the back. The pitching totals: 13 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 1 hit batsman (Ponson), 1 WP (Ponson).
Brett Gardner. The rookie put together the best game of his short Major League career Saturday afternoon. It's been a rough go for the rookie this season and he's looked overmatched most of the time, but his spirit is strong. Gardner pulled a double down the right-field line in the sixth for his first hit of the day and followed that with a single in the seventh. But the biggest hit came in the bottom of the 13th when he slapped a base hit to left to bring Robinson Cano home with the winning run. It was Gardner's second game-winning hit of the season. I'm still not sold on Gardner at the big league level, but he sure has a flair for the dramatic. Gardner finished 3 for 5 with a walk and an RBI.
The Bad:Xavier Nady. I could make a case for almost every single Yankee batter in this space, but Nady is going to take one for the team on this one. X-Man worked out a walk in the fifth, but that was as good as it would get for him. Nady banged into a double play with runners on first and second and nobody out in the seventh that nearly killed a rally. X had a chance to atone for the twin-killing, but struck out with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth. All total, Nady left six runners on base Saturday afternoon. Shake it off, X. Nady finished 0 for 5 with a walk and 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:Wasted opportunities and strange decisions. The Yanks did nothing against Zack Greinke for the first three innings, but they rallied in the fourth. Johnny Damon singled to open the frame and Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu followed with base hits of their own. The Bombers were set up: bases loaded, nobody out and Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi waiting in the wings. Should be good for at least one run, right? Wrong! A-Rod struck out and Giambi bounced into a double play. The Yanks loaded the bases again in the eighth, this time with one out, and once again failed to score. Nady went down swinging and Robinson Cano flew out. Those were the two biggest wasted scoring opportunities (there were a few more, but I don't feel like reliving them). Then the bad decisions came. Ivan Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to begin the ninth. Gardner was up next and the situation screamed for a sacrifice. It was on at first, but Gardner fouled off a bunt attempt. Then Girardi called a hit and run on a 2-1 count. Gardner fouled the pitch off. A head scratcher. Gardner eventually walked. OK. Damon was up next and once again the situation cried "bunt!" It didn't happen. JD eventually struck out. I don't understand Girardi's logic. If Damon gets the bunt down, the Yanks would have had runners on second and third with one out and Jeter and Abreu coming up. The Royals would have had to either a) bring the infield in and pitch to Jeter or b) walk Jeter and pitch to Abreu with the bases loaded. Either would have been fine with me. The Captain eventually bounced into the inning-ending double play. It's been trendy to dump on Girardi (again, not without cause) and if Jeter got a base hit instead of grounding into his 150th double play of the season it wouldn't have mattered, but the thought process made no sense to me. And I won't even delve into Girardi's decision to go to Edwar in the ninth instead of Rivera. Some managerial decisions are hard, but these seemed like easy ones. Even to a scatterbrain like me.
Mike Mussina (15-7, 3.30 ERA) will go for the Yanks in the rubber game and the Royals will counter with Brian Bannister (7-11, 5.36 ERA). Bannister has been in a real funk and hasn't won a ballgame since June 23 against the Colorado Rockies. BB gave up three home runs in his last start against the Chicago White Sox and is 2-6 with a 7.74 ERA in 11 road starts this season. Bannister is 1-0 with a 7.56 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this year. Mussina is coming off a tough-luck no-decision against the Minnesota Twins, but the Bombers came back to win that ballgame 9-6 in 12 innings. The Moose has gone at least seven innings in three straight games and is 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in three August starts. Mussina picked up a no-decision in the Royals 3-2 victory against the Yanks on June 9 (8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K).
Don't stop believin.
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