Game 111: Late, late, late, LATE inning heroics.
HOLY COW. OH MY FRICKIN' WORD. No matter what the final score says, this was a damn good ballgame. Anytime you're scoreless into multi-extras, it's either inept hitting or really good pitching - we'll go with really good pitching. It's a shame that AJ can't get the win for this, because he pitched his *** off but the Yankees got the win and frankly......that's all that matters. BTW, I just want to give some props to the Boston pitching staff; keeping a lineup like ours silent until the 15th inning isn't easy and they deserve a lot of credit for performing as well as they did. It's a shame for their fans it had to end the way it did, but they should still be damn proud of how well their team played anyhow. Yeah yeah yeah, I just threw a compliment to the Red Sox. It's late/early and I'm tired.
Speaking of our pitching, holy hell did it turn out big time. The Sox offense is slumping pretty bad right now anyway, but you never know with them - they can turn on a dime and kill you in a heartbeat. Keeping that in mind, it was FANTASTIC to see all our pitchers tonight really come through. AJ pitched a flawless 7.2 innings, giving up only one hit and striking out 6. Our pen did just as well, pitching a combined 7.1 innings, giving up 3 hits and striking out 8. They also walked none. So big time kudos to the pitching for really stepping it up. Let's hope CC has a complete game shutout in him later today because our pen is dead and gone right now.
The offense though......................before Alex's walk-off, it was nothing doing. I said this during the write up for Thursday's game: We score lots of runs and the next game is Cold Bat City. And last night's game? 15 innings of epic squanders and poor plate discipline. I was wondering how much longer it was going to go on. 9 hits over 15 innings is pretty crappy, I won't lie. Aside from Alex, who went 2-7 with 2 RBI, the other big hitters tonight were Matsui (2-5) and Robbie Cano (2-6). Derek FINALLY got a hit in the 15th which is what set up the Alex walk-off, but he got on my nerves too many times to get a mention in the Stars section. So again.......GOD BLESS YOU ALEX.
Stars of the Game™
Other Stars™ go out to the following for their immense contributions: Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera, Alfredo Aceves, Brian Bruney and Phil Coke.
I'm glad I stayed and watched the whole thing! A-Rod's walk off was awesome. That oughta shut up people who say A-Rod doesn't/can't hit in the clutch. But BIG kudos to A.J. Like you, I wish he had gotten the win, but a win's a win, right?
Report any abuse or spam
//I'm glad I stayed and watched the whole thing! A-Rod's walk off was awesome. That oughta shut up people who say A-Rod doesn't/can't hit in the clutch. But BIG kudos to A.J. Like you, I wish he had gotten the win, but a win's a win, right?//
Oh, I just ignore people who say that Alex isn't "clutch". 11 of his 20 homers this season have either given tied the game or given us the lead/win. So they can suck on that for a while. Alex has been hampered by injury this season so he's not having his typical A-Rod year, but as long as he isn't costing us outs or losing us games, I don't care. He'll have surgery during the off-season and hopefully be completely 100% next season.
As for AJ, yeah it does stink that he doesn't get the win for the game, but he should still be happy with how he performed; Josh Beckett is no slouch. They were teammates in Florida (2003, anyone?!) so maybe there was a bit of an extra incentive for him to pitch well against him.
Report any abuse or spam
This game came down to which pitcher would make a mistake. Luckily it was Tazawa in the 15th -serving up the curve ball that flew over left field.
Burnett pitched his heart out tonight, and aside from the 6 walks, he gave up only 1 hit through 7.2. I liked the way he tipped his hat to the crowd afterward. At first I could not understand why Girardi put the hook on Hughes after 1/3 of an inning, but seeing the 3-4-5 hitters at the top of the ninth, I understood why Mo was shelved in.
CC goes up against Buchholz tomorrow. The latter is no slouch and is capable of turning in a nasty performance on the mound. Let's hope the Sox bats remain quiet.
Report any abuse or spam
//CC goes up against Buchholz tomorrow. The latter is no slouch and is capable of turning in a nasty performance on the mound. Let's hope the Sox bats remain quiet.//
Buccholz has NOT been good of late and has been draining their pen. After this game, one would think the impetus would be on him to last as long as he can to keep Tito from going to the pen early. Same goes for CC. We're going to need 7 innings MAX out of him. Hughes could probably pitch today, he didn't throw many pitches last night. So you figure you have CC for 7 innings, have Hughes come in for the 8th and maybe have Mo pitch the 9th if we have the lead.
I cannot stress enough though - we NEED CC to go 7 innings. Anything past that would be gravy, obviously.
Report any abuse or spam